We recently profiled a cool Austin company called Local Baby that creates baby food from locally grown and organically farmed produce. Are you into that kind of nutrition for your baby? Do you have a similar service in your area.

We're also big fans of the Beaba Baby Cook which makes creating your own food of this kind really easy.

So we welcome recipes, feeding ideas, suggestions of providers and products -- even questions about the need to go to such lengths to feed your baby.

Sound off on health conscious baby food.

Daddy Clay,

We're many months away from solid food in our house, so I can only speculate as to what we'll do when our little shaver starts eating something other than breast milk and gripewater.

Portland, OR is a big market for this sort of thing - people out here are into the local, organic, cruelty-free, consecrated-by-woodland-fairies thing big time. However for our family I think the cost of buying prepackaged food is going to be prohibitive.

We love our local Farmer's Market - I have to admit, locally grown produce (especially leafy greens) seems so much higher in quality there - , and my wife likes to buy local food. So using those ingredients, we'll probably make our own baby food, when the time comes.

Cheers

Roger

(We also have a deliver-to-your-door local organic produce service in these parts, and I subscribed to it for a while, but ultimately it didn't work for me. They give you a box of whatever is in season. What the hell do you do when the only things in season are beets and butternut squash, and you can't stand either of them??)

Incidentally - your mention of the Beaba food processor piqued my interest, so I looked it up - $150 seems steep! Is there anything this processor can do that a steamer, blender, and minor amount of elbow grease can't do?

-Roger

As a person who hate leftovers - seriously, I'll grate 1/4 of a carrot for a salad and never eat the rest of that carrot - I rarely buy fresh veggies because they go bad quickly if I don't cook often - I like the idea of being able to use the rest of that carrot to feed a baby and I can freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays and then reheat just the right amount I need.

Also because I am so lazy when it comes to food the Beaba Baby Cook is great because it grinds and cooks the food in one processor. I don't have to dirty up a bunch of pans or bowls or appliances. And when you have kids you need all the extra time you can get. That convenience factor might be worth the $150 if you use it over the span of multiple kids.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to put the Beaba on your baby shower registry.

@roger_pdx

You can do what the Beaba does with a couple of other pieces of kitchen gear -- it's the convenience factor that you pay for. Plus it looks really cute. And just makes it more likely that you will actually get around to making the stuff.

I like @ddavis idae of registering for it. Also a great 1st birthday present!

I'm with you on the beets on the home delivery. We've been feeding those to the Guinea pig.

I hear ya - time vs. money.

Maybe it's a function of where we're at. Right now we are trying to scrimp pennies wherever we can. We have a pretty good self-confidence in the kitchen, so the prospect of making mashed carrots doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

I've bought food processors in the past (when I was single) and at the end of the day, it seems I can get more done faster w/ basic tools.

Then again, we've got a ten-week old. You guys are the ones who have kids on solid foods, not me. You just can't beat the voice of experience - so maybe eight months from now, I'll be logging into amazon.com, snagging that Beaba as fast as I can click "buy now"

Cheers,

Roger in Portland

(anyone remember the Ronco Turnip Twaddler from "Bloom County"? )

We take Abby to our local farmer's market every Sunday to load up on veg for meals for us and her. Last year everything was cooked well and pureed in our Vita-Mix blender. They are not cheap, but it paid for itself with silky smooth purees (and tequila slushies for Mommy).

Dan

A couple of friends of ours who are ahead of us baby-wise got & swear by the Beaba. I do most of the cooking anyway [& love it], so using the stovetop steamer & food processor has not proved challenging or time intensive. I might guess that it would save me some time each time I prep baby food, but it does not seem to be enough of a benefit to warrant the purchase. Besides, we are already space-challenged in our kitchen & it's one more countertop alliance to find a spot for.

My 2 cents,

Steven