Homemade Baby Food is Fun?

I never thought that I would say it, but making baby food is FUN! Before I gave birth to my dear son, I thought to myself. I really ought to make his food from scratch. It will be cheaper and I'll be able to avoid the things that my husband and I are allergic to. And didn't my mom used to make baby food for my sister and me? I'd be carrying on a tradition.

Well, when the time came to start the little dear on solid food, those pre-made jars and containers in the grocery store suddenly seemed to sparkle like precious jewels. Being a bit of a magpie, I bought them. I told myself it was for research purposes. I needed to know how finely to puree the food at home and what sorts of foods are appropriate for my bundle of joy. Yeah right. I truly enjoyed taking the easy road. After all, you have only to open the container and start shoveling it into the baby's mouth.

My food processor remained on it's shelf glaring at me every time I looked at it. It knew very well that I am capable of boiling some veggies and pureeing them into oblivion. My mother in law passed on the hand operated food mill she had when my husband was a baby. Obviously she wanted me to save money and make the food myself. Not only did my electric processor accuse me of not doing things the right way, but now the food mill glared just as hard.

I've always been good at ignoring people who are telling me what to do. So I set it aside and continued to buy baby food off the grocery store shelves. I filled precious cupboard space with the little squares of easiness and lived happily. Sort of.

My beloved husband's grasp on reality is, shall we say, tenuous. He has struggled with mental illness for the last ten years. He does admirably well. But the past couple of years have not been especially easy for him. He has not been able to work steadily for a while now. When we found out I was pregnant, we thought, well, okay, he'll be a stay at home Dad. That might actually help him out. The baby will most likely be on some sort of schedule and schedules are great for my husband. Caring for the baby would give him a sense of accomplishment. Yes it would be hard, but he's a strong person. He's a loving person. He can do this.

He fell off his rocker and kicked it to the other side of the room. It was too much for him. So I quit my job with the great insurance and something approaching a decent wage to be at home with my family.

We could not afford commercial baby food any more. The food grinder squealed with joy. The food processor jumped off of the shelf and onto the counter. My pots simmered with anticipation of cooking large quantities of food for my family. All of the appliances had a little party. I went to work cooking and pureeing. The baby screamed in abject fear at the sound the food processor made. I have never before seen anyone so terrified. The pureeing would have to be done with him in absentia. No making small batches that he can eat in one or two sittings. No grinding up a portion of our dinner for him so that I could make one meal instead of two.

Now I spend the hours between ten o'clock and midnight (It's safe to say that we're night owls.) boiling up sweet potatoes and vegetables then setting the food processor in motion while the little dear sleeps blissfully unaware of the noise in another part of the house. As this is the time I would like to take for myself, I've decided to make great big batches of the stuff and freeze it so that I do not have to spend every night doing this.

This evening, my husband wandered into the kitchen as I poured puree into ice cube trays. He laughed in delight. "That's wonderful!" he exclaimed. "You're the kind of wife I always wanted!" Sincere flattery goes pretty far with me. He earlier in the evening told me the roast chicken I had made was the best chicken he'd ever had in his whole life. Go me!

I digress. As I poured the goop into ice cube trays, I thought, "This is actually pretty fun." I enjoyed it so much that I made an extra batch of peas for the little guy. Who knew I would love making my own baby food so much?