DIY- homemade baby food

Over the next few weeks I'm going to blog about ways to save money on food.  Every time I plan a cooking club for my moms group, it makes me do some "homework" which is good.  So if I'm plotting money saving tips I might as well blog about them.
First I'm going to blog about a way to save oodles of money on your grocery bill by making your own baby food!!

Alex's gestational 6 month bday is TODAY so I am thinking about starting with just a little bit of solid food very soon!  We haven't been in a rush due to his prematurity, eczema, and adequate weight gain.  Milk is still the most important.

Now I know there are tons of philosophies out there. But if you're choosing to do pureed baby food for your little one...give this a try!  It's easier than you might think and it really doesn't take that long.  Below is what you might need:

*Some sort of blender or food processor (I got the Baby Bullet as a shower gift), food mill, or even a fork for older babies who can handle chunky foods.
*Your food of choice (avocado and sweet potato are great firsts)
*Ice cube trays (or tupperware if you prefer)
*Liquid:  I used pumped breast milk.
You could also use formula (though I learned by helping a friend make food that this can be a really expensive addition) or water.  You'll want some liquid initially to make the food runny enough for your baby to handle.  As they get older you might not need much or any at all.  The texture of your food also affects this.

 

So first cut open your avocado.  This particular one was 88 cents at WinCo.  If you choose organic it will up your cost a bit but this may be important to you.

 

Squeeze out the avocado into your blender and add some of your chosen liquid.

 Puree until smooth.  Check for consistency and add additional liquid if necessary until you think it's a good thickness for you little one. I ended up adding about 5 ounces of breast milk to one avocado.

 

Spoon the puree into ice cube trays.  I was reminded by a friend how little babies initially eat, so I only filled the trays up half way so as not to waste very  much.

 

Cover your trays with plastic wrap.  I've learned that tin foil isn't a good idea because it could possibly leach something yucky into your food.   I don't know too much about this- but it's just as easy to use plastic wrap so might as well.  Throw in the freezer overnight (or all day)!

 

Next day pop out the cubes! (This is my favorite part for some reason.  So fun.)

 

Label a freezer bag with contents/date and add cubes.  The general rule is that baby food will last for 3 months in the freezer (which is also how long breast milk will last in a regular freezer).

 

All done!!

Your only expense is the ziploc bag and the avocado (88 cents) for 28 mini cubes of baby food.  Breast milk is essentially free.  Use any ice cube trays you have on hand (these ones were 2 for $1 at the Dollar Tree) or buy the cutesie ones at the baby stores if you want.  I have a few fun ones that came with my baby bullet that I will use once Alex is eating more.  

To defrost, just take cubes out of the freezer the night before and leave in the fridge in a small container.  I don't like to microwave baby food because there is breast milk in there and also because it just doesn't heat that evenly.  I tend to put my container of defrosted food in a bowl of hot water to warm up a bit or you can just serve it cold/room temperature.

Avocado is for sure one of the easiest to make as it doesn't need to be cooked (just like banana).  Things like sweet potato, squash, and vegetables do take longer to make because they  need to be roasted or steamed first.  I might throw a sweet potato or squash in the oven first thing in the morning and it cooks while we're eating breakfast and getting ready.  It can be pureed up at a different time after its cooled if we are taking off to run errands or visit friends.

Additional resources:    

Wholesome baby food    (great to look up a certain food for nutrition, when it's appropriate to offer, and suggested ways to cook to retain the most nutrients)

Kellymom

Weelicious

Just for the stay at home mamas....don't you eat bon bons all day too?

I don't know about other stay-at-home mamas but I do find it funny/bothersome/intersting when I hear parents say that waking up at night with their kid was so hard b/c they have to go to work and function. As if those of us staying home to care for children don't have to function? Or those moms that are sick saying...if only I didn't have to go to work, I'd just lay around the house and watch movies and nap all day. As if those of us staying home to care for kids/home do get to do those things.
Being a mom is a hard job. Working or at home. I get that. But to stand up for at home mamas...I must say that this is NOT what I do all day:

-Sleep in til 10 and crawl out of bed to a new day
-Eat bon bons
-Lounge in PJs all day
-Put my feet up and read a leisure book for 2 hours
-Take a 2 hour nap
-Get my hair and nails done
-Watch my favorite soap
-Watch a movie
-Chat for an hour on the phone with my BFF
-Go shopping at the Gap

Not that any of those things are bad...but not things one can really do when they're taking care of little kiddos. My day looks a little more like this:

-Wake up at 4 am to nurse baby
Wake up (if I had fallen back asleep)at 5:30 when hubby leaves
Be summoned at 6:30 to "Mommy, where are you?" from the toddler. Quickly pull on some clothes.
Get tot up, dressed, breakfast prepared, hands washed, teeth brushed, hair brushed, bottom wiped, etc. while simultaneously...
Getting baby up, nursed, and changed.

Start emptying dish washer,
Build lego towers,
Start laundry,
Read Winnie the Pooh three times,
Go shopping...at WinCo with two littles (my work out for the day)
Unload littles and the bags of cold groceries,
Nurse baby,
Clean spit up out of my belly button,
Text hubby,
Tantrum and time out for tot,
Make lunch, nap time stories and cuddles,
Hang out with baby who may or may not enjoy a nap....,
Bring up the rest of the groceries that are still in the car,
Finish emptying dish washer while listening to a pod cast,
Do more dishes, sweep kitchen, peel and cut sweet potatoes for dinner,
Switch laundry,
Chat on the phone....with the pediatrician/pharmacist/insurance/other boring place that takes all our money.
Probably nurse baby some more. Convince baby that taking a nap while his brother naps is a great thing to do.
Pass out on the couch for 5 minutes to read Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God.
One of the two or both wake up.
Snack time,
Several diaper changes in there,
Play time,
Tantrum and a time out for the tot,
Send an e-mail or two,
Build some more Lego houses. Do a 24 piece puzzle. Snuggle the tot while reading Mickey Mouse. Explain the difference between a squirrel and a chipmunk.
Switch laundry again
Clean up something.
Sing songs with Mateo,
Lay on the floor with Alex,
Clean up more spit up,
Hang up tiny outfits in closets,
Make dinner and have it on the table at 5:30 when the hubby gets home.

Fortunately for me, my hubby is very appreciative of everything that happens in a typical day at home with two little boys. And I am equally appreciative of him getting up early every day to go to work and financially support our family.

And, though I got tired re-reading my list, I would not rather be anywhere else on any given day. I may be a bit tired, a bit frumpy, but content in my current role. It's the hardest job I've ever had and if anybody tells you it's easy there is something very wrong with them. And, though I am with my boys every single day, I really don't get tired of them....especially when they take their naps and sleep at night :)

DIY- Resurrection Eggs....Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!! My heart is full tonight. I think Easter is my favorite. Huge reasons for celebrating, plenty of fun, and not nearly as much commercialism or pressure.

This year I was inspired to make a set of Resurrection Eggs. Basically, they are plastic eggs with an item inside of each one that goes along with a bible verse and tells a part of the story of Jesus' death and resurrection.

If I've learned anything this last week of scavenging, it's that there are MANY ways to make these eggs. You can buy a set here.

We considered buying one- just to get the cute tiny donkey that came in one of the eggs :) But the hubby and I both thought it would be neat to make our own set...and you can probably do it with stuff you have at home! Even if you don't want to buy one, you can get a lot of ideas from the product description. They show what verse/item/story goes along with each egg. Thanks to Biblegateway.com, I was able to look up each verse and copy/paste it into my word document instead of typing up each one. Helped a lot.

You might also like to read this blog...this mom had some neat ideas on how to use the Resurrection Eggs and shares the items she chose to use.

I got some ideas from both places and here is what we came up with. Aaron is way more creative than me and was the brain behind many of these. For each egg there is a verse and a brief explanation. When we tell Mateo the story we'll simplify it quite a bit. He's 2. But it's nice to have a guide. And tomorrow at Easter lunch we'll read the verses that go along with each item.

Egg 1: DonkeyWe didn't have a donkey but found a little deer in Mateo's toys that we "de-antlered" and used a brown sharpie to cover the spots. Hopefully Mateo will believe it's a donkey :)

Egg #2: Silver Coins

We used a few silver coins that Aaron got in the Czech Republic. Thought it might be neat to have "foreign" coins.

Egg 3: A cupI decided that a thimble would make a perfect tiny cup and it was something I actually had! Aaron thought that those tiny cups they use to serve the juice at communion might fit in an egg but we didn't have one. My first idea was a barbie cup- but I am fresh out of those with all boys!

Egg 4: Praying in the garden


The one sold online shows a figurine of two little praying hands but we decided to go the garden route for this verse and use a pretend flower to represent the garden of Gethsemane.

Egg 5: The whip
A little piece of twine that I was about to toss in the trash was quickly re-purposed to represent the whip.

Egg 6: Crown of thorns
Aaron went out in the yard to clip off a little piece of our rose bush to represent the crown of thorns. We also have plenty of blackberry briars to choose from but a rose stick is a bit stronger.

Egg 7: The Cross
This is a little cross that I've had forever. It used to be part of a necklace I think and you used to be able to read a prayer inside. Loved being able to use it for this.

Egg 8: DieThe die is what the store bought one used to represent casting lots. Just about everyone has an extra die laying around it seems.

Egg 9: The spear


This was all Aaron. Toothpick and tinfoil to represent the spear that pierced Jesus.


Egg 10: Linen cloth
You could use any type of fabric for this but Aaron found an extra cloth for cleaning iPhone screens that was nice and soft.

Egg 11: The stone

This one is pretty self explanatory. Find a little rock or stone to represent the tomb where Jesus was buried.

Egg 12: NOTHING



The empty egg is what it's really all about. While preparing the eggs is kind of fun, typing up the verses and stories brought on some sadness as you detail all that Jesus endured for us. For you. For me. But the empty egg, representing the empty tomb, is what it's all about. Jesus is alive. He conquered death, paid the price for our sins, and prepares a place in heaven for all his followers. Listen to this song by Generation Unleashed. It's great. I think Aaron and I have listened to it about 18 times today.

I am Alive

Music by Generation Unleashed
Written by Isaac Tarter

All I want is You
Cause You Have Changed My Life and I am New
Because You Died for Me, I’ll Live for You
Because You Died for Me, I’ll Live for You

How Can This be that You Were Condemned
You Took My Place so that I Could Live

I am Alive, cause You are Alive
Jesus Your Presence is Changing My Life
I’m Saved by The Power of Your Life in Mine
I’m Saved by The Power of Your Life in Mine

Lifted by Your Hand
You Took Away the Weight of All My Sin
And I am not the Same because of You
I am Not the Same Because You Live

Let Your Glory Fall, Holy Spirit Fill Us Now
Let Your Presence Come Down

12 things you may not know about me and my preemie...

1. Just because Alex was a decent weight at birth (5 lbs 8 oz) does not mean he didn't miss out on 6 weeks of development in the womb.

2. Size really isn't the most important part in thinking about preemies.....though weight checks and percentile grids are something I see quite a bit of...especially the first several months. Three different percentile grids to be exact: one for preemies at their real age compared to other term babies, one for preemies at their adjusted age compared to term babies, and one for preemies compared to other preemies.

3. Nursing a premature baby is extremely challenging. They are not born being able to eat and it's a tough learning curve. It almost always requires a lot of pumping for Mom. I wouldn't say that nursing has been enjoyable for me (so much pumping, latching issues, clogged ducts, etc.)but it's important to me that Alex get breast milk so I do it anyways and I'm grateful it's worked out thus far.

4. I've donated the equivalent of 11 gallons of breast milk so far to 5 different babies/moms that needed it for a variety of reasons. Read more about milk sharing here. I guess I'm a 21st century wet nurse and I like being able to help other babies that need the liquid gold.

5. I am not supposed to leave Alex in a day care/nursery setting until RSV and flu season are over. So yes, I'm probably an over-protective mom but I'm also following doctors orders. RSV could be very dangerous for Alex to get and would likely require hospitalization.

6. Alex gets a monthly RSV vaccine called synagis. I was hesitant, for some reason, to let him have this....but kiddos born before 35 weeks, in the right season, and with older siblings (3 for 3 here) are at higher risk. After Mateo's respiratory infection I'm really glad Alex was vaccinated.

7. Alex will be behind on developmental milestones. Six weeks in utero cannot be made up with 6 weeks in the real world. A home nurse comes out through a free program every other month to do a weight and developmental check so I really try not to worry about his development because any concerns would be noted by the checks. I still do worry occasionally, though...

8. Even though I never particularly wanted more than 2 kids and even though I really don't enjoy the baby stage too much, I still mourn that I will not be able to have more kids....


9. I'm not completely anti social but bringing Alex around lots of people when he was brand new was just not something I was willing to do- even for a baby shower. It's just not worth it.

10. I wash my hands about 60 times a day.

11. Alex is perfectly and wonderfully made by a God who loves him and has great plans for his life (Psalm 139) and (Jeremiah 29:11).

12. Alex has the best smile....and the cutest mohawk.

I unaplogetically love cloth diaprs.

It's true. I use cloth diapers. And I like it. Not only does it save us a ton of money but I love creating less trash, too. Yes, it takes more effort to wash and prepare the diapers but I've found I don't mind the prep too much and it's well worth it. Especially since I am a stay at home mom, my "salary" comes in the form of how I save money and utilize our resources.
Mateo usually loves helping me fold diapers. I think he learned his colors that way and also how to fold in half and stack things lol. I am not going to teach you about cloth diapers in this post. But a favorite is BumGenius one size diapers because they have never leaked for us and will fit from newborn through potty training (7-35 pounds supposedly). So you are only buying one size of diaper. We didn't have too many of these with Mateo- the are a bit more expensive, but have a lot more with Alex and they are nice. With Mateo we did a different version- "Thirsites" covers and good old cloths.
Bum Genius Diapers...
These are the BumGenius one size diapers and there are three adjustment sizes. The blue is on the biggest and the yellow on the smallest. My 2 year old is potty trained but we still put him in a diaper at night so this is an easy way to do it. We also never bought any pull ups. Those are priced ridiculously! I had considered buying some washable pull ups but ended up just using cloth until underwear.

There are all sorts of estimates on how much the average per child costs to diaper. This of course ranges from how much you pay for your diapers (Are you a crazy couponer or a Pampers at full price customer?) and of course how long you use diapers...probably 2-3+ years to some extent. For three years it could be $3,000 one source said. I found that hard to believe...but either way you are going to spend a lot.

Another nice thing about cloth is that you can reuse them for a second or third child. Even if you bought 20 Bum Genius diapers at FULL PRICE (Which I wouldn't do)...you will still only spend $360. Total. If you go with Thirsties that's cheaper but maybe not as convenient.

For Alex I have Bum Genius diapers and some Econobum (cheaper brand similar in style to Thirsties) diapers that were only $5 each!

And there is something satisfying about a clean stack of cloth diapers ready for the changing table....

So to sum up...cloth diapers are cute, have less chemicals, are cheaper, and help me create less waste. Win win. I wash them 2-3 times per week, have not noticed any rise in water bills, and spend about $6 a year on detergent.


Sorry if this post makes no sense. I'm holding a fussy sick 6 month old who won't sleep. Will probably edit later haha.

Design on a Dime...puzzles

So it's no secret that I'm not a decorator. With limited free time and money it is just not on the top of my to-do list. Aaron and I like a clean and organized home that's functional and welcoming but having everything look like a Martha Stuart magazine just isn't on our priority list or in my talents. Maybe someday. That said, if Mark Brunetz from Clean House offered to come decorate our house for free I would NOT turn him down!

Anyways- we moved Mateo to his new room last June around his birthday and I really hadn't put much on the walls. Since my 2 1/2 year old is obsessed with putting together jigsaw puzzles at the moment, I decided to glue together some of his 24 piece puzzles and hang them up like posters.

Mateo's little work table that has become his "puzzle table".

I found some modge podge in the basement and glued the puzzles together over some wax paper on a cookie sheet. I did need to crack the window!


The modge podge glue gives it a nice glossy finish and I used used a small paintbrush that I had in my teaching supplies....though a bigger one would have been easier. My bottle of modge podge had a price tag of $5 and I barely made a dent in it. Once the front dried I also did the back. Not for looks but just for stability. "Puzzle glue" is the same thing.

My mom gave me the idea of gluing thin wood on the back so one Saturday morning Aaron and Mateo took a "man field trip" to the hard wood store and found some perforated board that would be suitable. It cost $6 for a large sheet and he only used about a third of the board for four puzzles.
This is what the back looked like. The board will keep it from warping. I have glued large puzzles together before and it's always hard to find a frame the right size- so this was a good alternative. Aaron used gorilla glue to attach the board to the puzzle and some tiny nails to attach the "self leveling picture hanger" (that metal thing with the ridges ;)

Clifford!

Mickey Mouse!

Cars!

Winnie the Pooh

So now Mateo has 4 "Puzzle Posters" on his wall that he put together himself and have some of his favorite characters. And it cost just a few dollars plus the puzzles themselves.

Make it yourself: Beans

I didn't know pinto beans came in a can until college when my roommate Renee was making burritos one night. I was mesmerized! Really? I had no idea! I guess I was a little bit naive lol.

Growing up my mom always made "frijoles" by buying the dry beans and cooking them on the stove in this very pot (which has been passed on to me :) It's a very special pot to me and I love each and every crack. I took it out for this picture and when Aaron walked in he said, "Oooh, frijoles?". I had to break it to him that it was just the pot. But he does love my homemade beans.

I often make beans in my crock pot as well. I have found it to be cheaper and healthier and ridiculously easy. Over the last few years I have expanded my homemade bean cooking to include black beans and garbanzo beans. And now that we have a deep freezer I can make large batches to freeze and pull out at my leisure. Below is how I make garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas):

First I sort the beans. This was always my job as a kid and it's important because occasionally you will find a pebble! This is not nearly as common now that I buy them in the bulk section and they are sifted a bit more, but especially if you buy 5 or 10 lb bag of dry beans. Anyways, sort the beans and rinse them in a strainer.

I soak them overnight in my crock pot (or regular pot if I'm going to cook them on the stove). Cover with plenty of water as the beans will swell up a LOT. You could also choose to soak them during the day and cook them overnight (which is what I happened to do with this batch).



Come morning time the beans will have absorbed most of the water. Rinse them again. Then put them back in the crock pot fully covered with fresh water (or broth). Cook on low all day (about 8 hours). The crock pot option is especially nice if you're at work all day or if you're going to be out and about. Traditionally pinto beans in my family were cooked with a ham hock bone. You can cook them plain in water to be seasoned later, add salt, broth, etc. However you want. I cooked these garbanzo beans plain with a little sea salt. Tomorrow I'm going to make pinto beans with some homemade chicken broth.
8 hours later you have a huge amount of garbanzo beans. [If cooking on the stove top you would simmer on med-low for about 2 1/2 -3 1/2 hours...adding additional liquid as needed]


What am I going to do with all these garbanzo beans you ask?

Freeze them in Tupperwares. The smaller containers are just the right amount to add to a salad. The larger containers are just the right amount to make a large batch of hummus. My WinCo receipt said all these beans cost $2.70 and it will last us a long time! Make sure to leave in some of the liquid when you freeze them. You can drain it later.

I also love keeping pinto beans in the freezer to pull out for breakfast burritos, 7 layer burritos, etc. Black beans are especially good in rice bowls (like Yumm bowls), as a side dish with enchiladas, in salads, and more.

Though you may not believe it from some of these posts, I don't like spending a ton of time in the kitchen making dinner. I much prefer to prepare stuff ahead of time. Beans are one of those things that are easy to make ahead of time, freeze and defrost well, and are very inexpensive.

Now...if I can only convince my 2 1/2 year old that beans are delicious....then I will be a happy camper :)