Feed your baby the freshest, most nutritious foods: It's a

Feed your baby the freshest, most nutritious foods: It's a snap to make your own baby food recipes!

Babies are so much fun! You get to cuddle them, kiss them, tickle and bring a smile to that cute little face. As any Mom knows, it's a 24/7 job, but one of the best jobs in the world. It's also quite an expensive adventure ... between diapers and clothes alone, your budget is screaming 'Uncle!'. Baby food, like all food, just keeps going up. If you've never thought of making your own baby food recipes, you should, because this can save you soooo much money! Here we've got the essentials on how to make a baby food recipe it's a snap. There's also the bonus of knowing that your baby is eating the freshest, most nutritious food available, with no preservatives, added sugar or salt, as you find in many commercial products.

Buy a baby food grinder or baby food mill. Comparison shop a coffee bean grinder works just as well if it's cheaper, buy it. Coffee grinders are made to stand up to repetitive grinding of hard coffee beans, so this little appliance will stand up to the task and last for as long as your baby is eating baby food. The coffee grinder is also quite easy to clean and has room for a nice sized serving.

Once your pediatrician clears your baby for fruits, meats and veggies, you can start making your own baby food recipes. I remember, years ago, buying those little - and pricey jars of commercial meats for babies. My baby did not like the meats, in particular. I could hardly wonder why. Beef was a very unappetizing jar of 'food'. It smelled worse than it looked! So I started (after checking the safety with my pediatrician) grinding freshly cooked meats in my coffee-grinder-turned-baby-food machine. She loved chicken, which was also a healthy low-fat protein meal.

Incidentally, one of the many advantages of making your own baby food recipes is that, when you don't add salt or sugar, your baby won't become accustomed to these 'flavor enhancers'. This means that when they reach the age of eating regular food, they won't be likely to be loading up their plate with the salt shaker, nor find sugar so tempting.

Smoothies for babies? Sure, why not? This makes a great tasting, nutritious breakfast for a baby that also promotes the later desire to consume plenty of fruits. Toss a banana, a few strawberries, orange juice and some plain yogurt into your blender. Now that's an instant breakfast! In fact, you can make enough for both of you in just 5 minutes.

For veggies, take a handful of frozen peas from a bag, and blend until pureed in your baby food grinder. Add a tablespoon or so of chicken broth and give it another buzz. Scoop into a bowl and warm it in the microwave to cook the pureed peas will cook quickly. Test the temperature and serve. These bright green peas look so much more appealing than the commercially prepared jar version.

See how easy it is to make your own healthy, tasty baby food recipes? Think of all the money you'll save, too!