Baby Food: The Cost of Convenience 2

Last Saturday I started looking at how much it costs to buy prepared baby food.  I went through cereals, veggies, and fruits.  This week I would like to take a look at foods for older babies.  Keep in mind that I pay no more than $1/lb. for produce and dry goods or $2/lb. for meat.  Therefore, any meal I serve will cost below $2/lb. and often costs less than $1/lb.

Gerber ham & ham gravy:  2.5 oz. for $0.87

Regardless of how much it costs, meat from a jar is just gross.  But then you realize you're paying $5.57/lb. for ham and ham gravy!  Ew!

Gerber Graduates, cinnamon apple oatmeal:  4.5 oz. for $1.59 (sale price)

This is different than the blended fruits with oatmeal that I mentioned last week because it has chunks for babies who are learning to chew.  I can cut April's fruit into chunks and add it to oatmeal for a lot less than $5.65/lb.

Gerber Yogurt Blends, banana:  14 oz. for $2.47

I pay $0.40-$0.50/lb. for bananas and I make my own yogurt.  Much cheaper than $2.82/lb.

Gerber mixed vegetables and chicken:  6 oz. for  $0.80

Now this is a little more reasonable at $2.13/lb.  But it is starting to look like food I would feed the rest of my family.  I may as well just feed my baby the fresh food I'm cooking at home.

Gerber spaghetti in tomato sauce with beef:  6 oz. for  $0.80

Same deal as the mixed vegetables and chicken.  I bet my spaghetti tastes much better though!

Gerber Graduates, mashed potatoes and gravy with roasted chicken and carrots:  5.3 oz. for $2.15

Notice that this meal is mostly potatoes.  Potatoes are definitely not worth the $6.49/lb. that this baby meal costs.

Gerber Graduates, spaghetti rings in meat sauce:  6 oz. for $1.28

My kids won't eat stuff like this.  Which is good, because it would cost me $3.41/lb.

Beech Nut Steamies, macaroni and cheese:  12 oz. for $2.67

Homemade just tastes so much better!!  And doesn't cost $3.56/lb.

Beech Nut Steamies, chicken vegetable stars:  12 oz. for $2.67

Oooo!  Soup with cute little stars that are perfect for baby!  It will cost $3.56/lb.

Campbell's condensed chicken and stars:  10.5 oz. for $1.50

Here's basically the same thing not marketed for babies and it only costs $2.29/lb., but it's even less once you  reconstitute it.

El Guapo star pasta:  7 oz. for $0.25

Or you could make your own soup with cute little stars even cheaper.  These can be found in the Mexican section, right next to the cute alphabet noodles!

This marks the end of my weekly baby food posts.  I will definitely post special diet milestones:  first birthday cake, first cow milk, first peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  So be on the lookout for those.  Thank you so much for following along on our feeding journey.  April and I hope we have encouraged you to save some money by making your own baby food!