If you’re going to make baby food at home, I recommend preparing large batches of a few different foods at one time. You’ll spend less time prepping everything and cleanup will go a lot quicker. This will save time compared to making small batches of food throughout the week.
You can freeze the food so it’s ready when you need it. I found some fantastic food storage containers — they’re called Baby Blocks and are made by OXO.
The containers are versatile because they can go straight from the freezer to the fridge or microwave, and then right into the dishwasher making cleanup easier. Another thing I love about them is that they don’t leak! You can grab one in the morning and toss it into a cooler bag (or just the diaper bag if it’s a short trip) without worrying about applesauce leaking all over the place.
The containers come with stackable trays to help keep things organized in your fridge, freezer and cabinets — this was a big selling feature for me. Now that my daughter is eating regular “table food” meals with us, we use the containers for leftovers. She also enjoys pulling them out of the cabinet and stacking them on the kitchen floor while I cook.
During our baby food days, we would steam/bake/puree a bunch of food on the weekend and then freeze it so we had enough ready for a week or two (we brought our own food to daycare as well). Throughout the week, I would just pull out a container of food from the freezer and put it in the fridge overnight to thaw. Then it would be ready when we needed it in the morning.
There were a few nights where I forgot to pull something out of the freezer, so I would either put it in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes (similar to thawing frozen breast milk), or if we were in a hurry I would thaw it out in the microwave for a minute or so.
For some useful tools to make large batches of baby food at home, please see my previous posts about the Baby Bullet Turbo Steamer and Power Chef System. The Mash & Serve Bowl works really well for single servings of fruits and veggies — especially bananas!
I purchased three sets of the 4-oz Baby Blocks containers (includes four of the 4-oz containers and a storage tray). The 4-oz containers worked really well for us because we could take one 4-oz container to daycare in the morning and they’d give her half for breakfast and half for lunch.
They also offer 2-oz Baby Blocks containers (includes six of the 2-oz containers and a storage tray). There is a 12-Piece Baby Blocks Set that includes both the 4-oz and 2-oz container sets, but you don’t save any money compared to buying them separately (and it’s only available online).
I bought all of my Baby Blocks containers from Babies R Us (they carry both sizes in store and also offer them online), but you could also order them online from Target (not offered in stores), Bed Bath & Beyond (not offered in stores) or from OXO’s site.
For links to all the sets from Bed Bath & Beyond, OXO and Target, please see the Resources bar on the right side of the page. There is also a link to a PDF with care instructions from OXO. Check out the video, too.
This blog is truthful and based on personal experience with the products or items mentioned. It doesn’t have sponsors, and no one paid to receive positive reviews of their products. All of the links provided are for your convenience and are not “affiliate links” — Valerie doesn’t receive payment or kickbacks if people purchase products based on her recommendations.
Valerie Moe is the Senior Graphic Designer for Minnesota Parent magazine. She lives in Bloomington with her husband and their 17-month-old daughter. You can comment below or contact her directly here.
