Canning

This weekend, I got the great opportunity to pick, prepare, and can apricots with our friend Holly. It made me remember that so many of the methods past generations used for cooking and preserving are still so relevant today; without some time spent canning those preserves, a giant tree of apricots would never be able to be enjoyed year 'round. It's pretty awesome to be able to taste real, homemade preserves in the middle of winter, remembering summer's harvest.

There's something so fulfilling about picking fresh fruit at 8 AM (hence the shots of Holly on the roof), standing over the stove and watching your fellow canner disco dance, and following canning procedures found here. If you've never canned, and are looking for a way to preserve the fresh fruits and veggies you love, it's worth a shot. You may be surprised at how rewarding it is.

When the hubs and little A. tried them, they agreed that it was absolutely worth the time. Mmmmm.

If you do can, what do you like to preserve? I'm thinking about a round of peaches, strawberry jam, and possibly tomatoes. Thanks, Holly, for reminding me of what a great process this is!

Saving Money, Starting Solids.

I'll be honest from the get-go. When Ava started eating solids, yes, I knew homemade was better for her. Yes, I knew that when grocery shopping, I should try to stay at the outer edges of the grocery store near the produce, meat, and dairy while avoiding the sugar and snack aisles. But what really, really drove me to make homemade baby food was that it's so much cheaper!
Plus, when I tasted both jarred and homemade, it was obvious which would be more enticing to my little one.

And so, fellow penny pinchers, we will be looking for ways to save you money as you feed your litle foodies. I'll start with a simple puree comparison.

I'll even break it down using our local In Season market's price, which sells produce only from local farms (usually folks claim that it's too expensive to buy local, organic, which is not always true as long as you do your research).
Acorn squash: price per pound- $1.00, one squash= $2.50
Earth's Best first squash baby food jar at Sunflower= 89 cents per serving. (2.5 ounces a serving).
Amount of food you could make from one squash= at least 12 ice cube sized- portions (6 servings for a hungry baby, more for a baby just starting out.) Amount it would cost for 6 jars of baby food= $5.34. Your savings= $2.84!

That may not seem like much, but if you add that up over time, for the hundreds of jars of baby food your baby would otherwise be consuming, it's a huge savings of up to thousands of dollars.

If you are just starting solids for your little one, or have started in the last few months and hope to learn how to start incorporating homemade, we'd love to show you how to save money too! Plus, your baby will thank you (with a gurgle and smile) when he or she will get to try new textures and fresh tastes.