Hi J.,
We never fed our daughter jarred baby food. Don't try to "over-engineer" it... start with sweet potatoes, sqaush, carrots, either boil them in the microwave, cook them in the oven or on the stove top and mash. That's it. If he's just starting out and needs it thinned, use some formula or breast milk, or water. Same thing with pears, apples and other starters fruits. No need to add any salt, sugar or anything.
Our daughter was willing to tolerate a fair amount of texture from the beginning, so we didn't purree for that long. We started just fork mashing pretty quickly. I really think this helped, because we've never had any problem "transitioning" her to table food. She's still eating the same foods she always ate.
Once you get past the starters, you can also buy high quality frozen fruit and veggies and mash or puree. (If you're like me, I don't always have fresh stocked in the fridge) We started with peas, heated in a pyrex in the microwave and then pureed with some formula in a small food processor. As she developed her pincer ability, we just put them on her tray. She also LOVES spinach... Green Giant makes a whole leaf frozen spinach in a box, with just enough water to steam it. You can cook the whole box and give it to your son a little at a time. Its a great food for grabbing and no worry about choking whatsoever.
Other things to try once your pediatrician gives you the green light and your son is chewing more: shredded cheese, Cheerios (of course!), whole wheat bread in little pieces, shredded chicken (just cook it however you would for yourself and the rest of the family and then shred it with a knife), little tiny pasta shapes, scrambled eggs (same as you would for yourself).
We generally make enough for two or three sittings and don't bother with freezing. In the very beginning it might be worthwhile, especially if you take the time to bake a large batch of sweet potatoes, but I generally find freezing unnecessary.
One thing that is worth (and easy) to freeze, is meatballs. If you make meatballs, make an extra few and then dice them up for the baby. We're blessed to have an Italian Grandmother who makes chicken, turkey and beef meatballs by the dozens and brings them over for the baby. We keep them in zip lock freezer bags and break out a few at a time. Once your son is older, this is a great way to give him meat.
Ok, so considering I recommended to keep it simple, I've left you quite a long post! Sorry about that. Good luck and enjoy!
