How do ya like them apples?

So since it has been winter the last few days (I had to resort to turning on the heat last night because Mary kept waking up in the 62 degree house) - I decided to make Mary some warm, comforting applesauce yesterday.
Early this spring my Mother-in-law (MIL), Ellen asked me if I would like a BEABA. It is the greatest thing to make babyfood with. (If you don't have one - you can always use a steamer basket and a blender/food processor.) I of course accepted her generous offer and have been making Mary's baby food since. I had bought some jars of baby food before I had really planned on making it from scratch. And I used them up early on. But since then, I had decided to try to make it myself.
This past week, I hadn't been able to make more yet - even though it is very easy and not that time consuming at all. Still, there is always plenty on my to do list and I just hadn't gotten to it. I thought in the mean time, I would pick up a few jars of baby food until I could make more.
Well, that day, Jeff sent me an article that found that unsafe levels of lead (actually any amount is not considered safe for kids and babies) were recently found in tons of kids foods and baby foods - brands like Gerber, Langers, etc. Mostly, they were found in juices and canned fruits. It made me so angry!
So, that day at the store, even though I knew which ones to avoid, I just couldn't really buy any baby food. And I also looked at the labels - carrots, apples, peas - and knew that I could totally make all these myself. I just needed to do it.
So I have yet to buy baby food (though I am sure I probably will again at some point). But the whole experience just reiterated what I've always been taught - that prepackaged things are never as good for you. And especially when it comes to Mary - I want her to be safe and healthy.
Here is the link to the article:

kids foods may contain lead

Anyway, I have made lots of foods for Mary - winter squash, bananas, apples, pears, peas, blueberries and bought food this week to make carrots, sweet potatoes, and apricots.
Here are some pictures of the Beaba in action!

The apples are steaming in the basket.

After the steaming is done, you put the apples in the bottom part of the Beaba and blend away.





Delicious applesauce with cinnamon and allspice! Oh! And this is Mary's new highchair we got this weekend. We really needed it because she was just in the Bumbo on the counter before this. I love the Bumbo - but I was really getting nervous that she might wiggle out of it soon. Here is what she was in before. . .



My fuzzy cutie bear