Grocery shopping for baby

I try to get my shopping done at Aldi, but there are usually a couple of items that I think I need that Aldi does not carry.  So recently I was standing in the dreaded line at Albertsons with my bar of laundry soap, and I was almost moved to TALK TO A STRANGER.  I just don’t do this.  Strangers are bad.  Strangers are scary.  It’s none of my business what strangers do.  However, I was thisclose because of what the lady in front of me was buying.  She had some normal groceries, and then 30 jars of baby food.  Based on the size of the jars, they were the level 3 or almost toddler kind, which I think run upwards of a dollar a pop.  I wouldn’t know, since I haven’t purchased one in over ten years (Dodge was my practice child and I didn’t have my system down yet*).  

Let me be explicitly clear here: My issue with jarred baby food is the price and nothing more.  The ingredients and nutritional value are totally fine.  I have no desire to debate what kind of food is best for baby.  All I know is what is best for mom’s bank account.  For her thirty dollars, this lady probably could have fed her baby solid food for his entire babyhood instead of just a week if she would have put back the jars and bought some fruit and veggies in the produce department.  Making baby food does not require a recipe, special equipment, or any extra time.  Really!  You don’t even need a blender.  You're not making special food.  A bowl, a spoon, an ice cube tray, and a freezer and you’re done.  A few ideas:

1) Smash up an avocado or a banana.

2) Open a can of peas – perfect first finger food!  Mash up with whatever kind of milk your baby drinks if you want them smoother.

3) Peel, chop, and cook down some apples in water.  Applesauce in minutes.

4) Nuke some carrots in water until they break up easily with a spoon.

You can do this one meal at a time – just cook and mash a bit of whatever fruit or vegetable you’re already having for yourself.  Or, you can do batches at a time, spoon into ice cube trays, freeze, and pop into freezer bags for storage.  Take out a couple at a time, thaw, and serve. 

It’s a no-brainer, people.  Thirty dollars is like eight fancy coffees for Mom. 

*Note to self: write blog on why you need to have more than one kid to work out all the bugs in the parenting system.  Obviously our system had a lot of bugs since we have so many little Supruns.