When I was pregnant, if you had told me that I would be making my baby's food by hand one day, I would have laughed my head off! Never could I have predicted that I would be advocating making your own baby food. I was a career driven, professional woman who believed that Gerber was best doing those sorts of things.

But it really is so EASY to make your baby's food, and you save tons of money, and best of all, you know what goes into it! That is the key for me. How do you really know what goes into store-bought baby food? You must be very trusting, to just accept (and hope) that the "professionals" are doing what they're supposed to be doing, and taking all the precautions they are supposed to be taking.

Baby food is really not complicated; for the most part it is one fruit or vegetable or sometimes two. When you are cooking dinner, boil up a few extra carrots. When they are cooled, use one of those Braun hand blenders (they cost about $20) and blend up those five or ten carrots with some of the water that they were boiled in. THERE! You've just made baby food. And it took you about 45 seconds. And, you know those carrots are just carrots. Jars of baby food carrots that you buy are actually mostly water. There's a tiny bit of carrot mixed in, but they are whipped so much with so much water, that really they are hardly even nutritious by the time baby is eating them.

Now, you may be wondering what to do with those carrots. You spoon them into an ice cube tray. Each bit is about two ounces. Any time you want to give some to your baby, just pop one out and microwave it, or leave it in the fridge to thaw.

Other foods to cook for your baby include:

Zucchini (and other) squash - wash and cut into small pieces. Boil or steam for about 10 minutes. Puree and freeze just like the carrot example.

Potato - peel and cut into cubes. Boil and mash with some water.

Green beans - scrub beans well and cut off both ends of the beans. Follow instructions for zucchini.

Peas - Use frozen peas or fresh peas, not canned. Canned peas may have too much sodium. You can boil and then mash with a fork. Add water or breast milk to make a smooth consistency.

Sweet potato - Pierce it with a fork and then microwave just like a potato, or cook in the oven for about an hour. These are so very nutritious for your baby!

Apples - All babies like apples, don't they? Wash and peel two or three apples and then cut into smallish pieces. Boil or steam -- do not add any sugar or cinnamon! -- and then puree just like the carrots.

So there you have some easy ways to make homemade baby food for your baby. It really is very easy, and when you make big batches and freeze them, it's even easier. You always have fresh, healthy baby food on hand, that you know how was made and what went into it. No one will take better care of your baby than you will!