Cheap Baby Food

I originally intended on making Jackson's baby food, but have found that store-bought baby food is easier and cheaper.  We mashed up peas, bananas, avocados, oatmeal, etc instead of buying any Stage 1 food.  But pureeing Stage 2 and 3 foods is quite challenging without a food processor.  We currently cut up everything we're eating into bite sized pieces, so Jackson has sampled everything we've eaten. 

We've priced baby food at all the local grocery stores, Wal-Mart, Sam's, and Save-a-Lot.  Surprisingly, the cheapest we've found is at Big Lots.  We didn't even know Big Lots sold baby food until we were looking for discounted Christmas decorations earlier in the week.  You can get a 4.5 oz jar (Stage 2) for $0.30 and a 6 oz jar (Stage 3) for $0.50.  They have a pretty good selection and offer Beech Nut and Earth's Best (organic) for the same price.  Jackson LOVES all the flavors so far, so Jesse and I stocked up.  We bought 22 jars for less than $8, which is cheaper than anywhere else we've found.

Jesse made fun of me for creating a display pyramid.

Each day Jackson generally has 2 jars, 4 bottles of formula, and whatever table food we give him at dinner.  We'll replace the jars with table food once Jackson gets a few months older and Jesse and I have a more routine schedule.