Near to Nothing: Baby Food: Bananas and Potatoes

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Baby Food: Bananas and Potatoes

By far, the easiest baby food to make is bananas. No boiling, no roasting, no chopping, and no puréeing necessary. Simply peel and mash. There’s nothing else to it.

Shallow bowls work better than deep bowls.

I buy my bananas at Costco. The price does vary from one week to the next, but the last time I bought a bag, it cost $0.99 for 3 pounds. According to the USDA’s National Nutrient Database, a large banana is 36% refuse. This means I pay about $0.52 per pound of edible banana.

Now consider this:

These pre-packaged bananas come in two 2.5 ounce containers. I don’t know how much you would pay for this at the store as someone gave this one to me, but I can assure you it costs much more than my mashed-at-home Costco bananas. And you would need more than three of these two-packs to get one pound of bananas.

If your baby can’t eat a whole banana at once, no worries. Simply cut the banana in half while still in the peel. Use one half and return the other to the fruit bowl for another time. Just slice off the cut end of the second half before using. You could even use it the next day.

Sorry for the blur. This was the best photo I was able to get
while trying to feed her left-handed with a boy climbing
on the chair behind me.

This week I also started April on potatoes. The main thing with potatoes is that you can’t run them through the food processor. They become gummy and stiff, kind of like glue. I use my potato masher for large batches or a fork for small quantities. You could also use a mixer.

Just wash, peel, and boil the potatoes until very tender. Because they are very starchy, you will have to add a good amount of liquid (water, breast milk, or formula) to achieve the desired consistency.