Homemade Baby Food

This was my second time around since Judah has been on solids to make his baby food. The cost of jar baby food just gripes me and I cringe every time I have to buy some. We do keep some on hand for when we go out, but at home he eats the homemade. This particular round I did green beans, peas, and carrots, all frozen. When I make squash and sweet potatoes, I use fresh. I didn't have time this particular day to all of the veggies. I can't afford to buy all organic veggies so I buy what I can afford and wash the fresh veggies with my hydrogen peroxide veggie wash.



I started out with three pans and cooked the veggies until done. I strained them and then put them into a blender. You don't have to have a baby food maker to make homemade baby food. A regular blender does fine. Puree until smooth. The thicker veggies, such as sweet potatoes and peas, will require you to add a little water. Add a little at a time though until blending smoothly.

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When finished with that step, pour into ice cube trays and freeze. When completely frozen pop out and put into ziplock bags, label, and store in the freezer.



*Tips*- Let the frozen trays sit for at least 10 minutes before you pop out the veggies or you will break them, especially if using cheaper trays. I have found the Rubbermaid ones work the best. They are expensive, especially if you buy in bulk so look for them used at second hand shops. I usually use 8-10 at a time.



I steam the squash to prevent it from being too squishy. I never microwave any of the veggies. Microwave cooking is not healthy and will radiate the food. It doesn't take that much time to stove top cook.



When your baby hits 8-9 months and can handle thicker textures, simply puree the food you prepared for supper for your family, minus the spices for heat reasons.



Four cubes is equal to one- 4 oz. jar. For lunch and supper I will set out four cubes before breakfast to ensure thawing. If I forget, I simply take them out of the freezer when I do remember and put them into a glass container to warm in our toaster oven. Like I said, I never warm his food in the microwave unless I'm in a pinch.



For his fruits at home, he eats fresh bananas or apple sauce. I buy the unsweetened jar applesauce and will add fresh pureed blueberries if they are on sale. When apples or pears are on sale, feel free to make your own applesauce or pearsauce.

Clean Sweep Part 1

OK so my friend Alisha asked me months ago to blog about organization since I guess she thinks I'm so good at it:) This first post is just an overview. I will get into specifics in a later post this week.

I confess I do enjoy organizing and have done it for other people in our church when I was in high school. Kinda nerdy you might think for a high school girl to organize people's game closets, but it was my hobby of sorts. It is therapy for me to organize a cabinet, toss some toys, label bins, alphabetize our movie cabinet. You catch my drift. By now I guess you have me pegged. I am Type A, perfectionistic, clean, and sometimes OCD (I have it balanced.)

When I am on a mission to organize anything (books, toys, clothes) I first rid out of the obvious things first, i.e., outdated clothes, broken toys, toys with missing pieces, novels I don't wish to read again, clothing with stains, etc. Those go into the dump pile.

I then begin to sort the remaining items. Clothes or shoes that I haven't worn in a year or two go.

My not-so-favorite purses go (Most of us have our favorites that we carry all the time so toss the ones that are too small to hold your stuff.)

Toys that Libby is no longer interested is or that she has too many of go (babies, barbies, balls.)

When ridding through magazines, keep your favorite issues that you will refer back to, but then dump or give away the rest.

Instead of continuing to buy fiction books that you probably won't ever read again, check them out at the library or borrow them from a friend. I do have my stash of Janette Oke books that I loved reading as a teenager that I want to pass on to Libby. Those type of books are ok to keep, just don't go overboard.

If you have board games that are missing pieces, get rid of them. If you haven't tried buying replacement parts (if they are available) you probably won't now.

I will always get new clothes. The kids will always get new toys.Don't be afraid to throw away, give to charity, take to consignment. You can earn some extra money on those items that are still in good condition.

Immediately put those items into trash bags or boxes and load them up into the car so you won't be tempted to go through the pile again and keep the things you really didn't want to get rid of. Plus by loading them into the car it keeps the clutter down in the house from having bags and boxes piling up.

So your assignment for the next two days is to pick one closet/room in your house and rid out of one particular item or group of items (games, magazines, clothes, shoes, books, toys.)

Be ready for part 2 on Wednesday.

Happy ridding!

*Not happy organizing because we're not there yet...we're only in the ridding stage*

Clotheslines

I love clotheslines. I grew up watching my mom hang out our clothes until I could hang up the clothes myself. It's been on my husband's to-do list to put one up for us, but he hasn't had the time. There's just something about clothes that smell of fresh air and sunshine. My mom sent me this poem about clotheslines and I wanted to share it with you. Enjoy and smile as you read.

THE CLOTHESLINE

A clothesline was a news forecast to strangers passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep when clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link as neighbors always knew
if company had stopped on by to spend a night or two.

It's then you'd find the fancy sheets and towels on the line,
along with linen tablecloths of intricate design.

The line announced a baby's birth to folks who lived inside
when brand new infant clothes were hung so carefully with pride.

The ages of the children could so readily be known.
By watching how the sizes changed you'd know how much they'd grown.

It also told when illness struck as extra sheets were hung.
Then nightclothes and a bathrobe, too,haphazardly were strung.

It said Gone on vacation now!when lines hung limp and bare.
It told We're back! when full lines sagged without an inch to spare.

New folks in town were scorned upon if wash was dingy gray
as neighbors raised their brows and looked disgustedly away.

But clotheslines now are of the past for dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home is anybody's guess.

I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
when neighbors knew each other best
by what hung on the line!

-By MARILYN K. WALKER

Here's The Plan

So a friend of mine and I have been talking recently about vitamins and supplements and which ones are the best, which ones to put our family on, and which ones are affordable for our limited budgets. There are so many products out there that it's all so overwhelming researching it. I want to get the most for my money nutritionally speaking. Not all brands are the best or comparable to other brands. Just because it says "All Natural" doesn't mean it is. I prefer to have supplements that are not sweetened with fructose.

I talked to our local chiropractor about what supplements children (2 years and older) should be on and she recommend a good quality fish oil, a good quality multivitamin, and a probiotic. Now, when I say good quality, I am not referring to the GuumiBear vitamins from Wal-Mart that are full of artificial colors and flavorings. They are not worth the money. I highly recommend a whole food vitamin with maximum absorption without added sugar, preservatives, colors, or flavorings.

Libby is currently on a powdered probiotic, a liquid fish oil, and "Catalyn", which is explained below. I am researching alternative products that are cheaper, but still a great product.

Kellie, our chiropractor sold us a whole food supplement for kids (similar to a multivitamin) from the company Standard Process called "Catalyn" chewable. Libby was even taking this one at 14 months just smashed and added to her food. Now that she has teeth she can easily chew it. It has 19,000 phytonutrients! Awesome stuff, but it's a little pricey for me to keep buying it. So I found an alternative that our whole family can take. Children simply take half the dose. It's an organic liquid vitamin. And it fits our budget. It only costs $16.26 for 30 oz. So no need to buy three different vitamins for all our needs. This one will do the trick.

I also found her a chewable softgel fish oil at $17.99 for 180

softgels by Nordic Naturals.

Garden of Life also has "Primal Defense" for kids which is a probiotic powder for $16.25. Children can start taking that as soon as they can

start other liquids besides formula or breast milk, which is around six months of age.

So, I was able to find three different products with a price that fits our budget.

Here are a few brands that I highly trust that I myself have taken personally or my family has taken. This list is not exhaustive, but I simply can't list everything.

Garden of Life (excellent products. A little on the pricey end)

Nordic Naturals (makes great products for kids)

Standard Process (available only through health food stores or licensed health care professionals)

Integrative Therapeutics (again, only available through health care professionals).

So what am I taking you ask? Well, I am simply just going to take a good multivitamin as I described above and fish oil softgels at 180 softgels for $12.72. I love yogurt and sour cream so I get my probiotics in that way. Be sure and eat yogurt that is free from high fructose corn syrup, the ingredient in most store bought yogurt. I buy the organic variety at Wal-Mart without added antibiotics and hormones.

Where am I getting all these supplements at such affordable costs? http://www.vitacost.com/. They sell everything from vitamins, bath and body supplies, to food, to books, etc. They are well below retail price and shipping is only $4.99 no matter how much you order. So head on over there and check out there products.

Included in my order (which I will purchase when Joey gets paid this week) is all natural toothpaste without flouride (that's another post), deodorant without aluminum (that's another post), all natural baby products, and other bath care products. I currently purchase my toothpaste and deodorant from Wal-Mart both from the company Tom's of Maine, but vitacost has them much cheaper.

This is the toothpaste I am getting for Libby without flouride.

Hope this info isn't too overwhelming, but rather helpful in helping you decide the best products for your family's needs. Every family is different and the needs different and the budgets different so do what you can afford.

More to come in a later post information about aluminum and flouride.

Sewing 101

After several futile attempts at finding Libby some summer shorts at resale shops and because I am feeling thrifty, I have decided to sew her some myself. Wal-Mart and Target wanted $3.50 and $4.00 respectively for their solid and print shorts and because she needs several pairs, I opted out of spending so much money. A friend has blessed Libby with many hand-me-down shirts in awesome condition, but no bottoms to match them so she has been unable to wear some of them because she has no shorts to match. She has a few pairs of blue jean shorts and a few pairs of capris but no comfy, cotton, play shorts. I purchased a pattern from Wal-Mart and then went through my scrap fabric pieces and raided my mom's bins as well. I spent 2 1/2 hours today cutting out seven pairs of shorts. Libby helped by handing me the pins as I needed them. I showed her that they poked so she was very careful as she gave them to me. The navy and white checked fabric was from an old pair of capris my mom had outgrown that she kept back for such a project as this. She never lets anything go to waste. So, seven pairs of shorts technically will not cost me anything other than the elastic. Pretty cheap if you ask me. I still need to purchase other solid fabric as some of her shirts have prints on them and it would definitely be a no-no to put a printed shirt with printed shorts...I just couldn't do that:) Once I get the hang of making the first pair, I should be able to whip out a pair in less than an hour. It's been a while since I have sewn anything and even that was curtains and throw pillows and an easy-step-one-hour-skirt-with-elastic for me. My mom is overseeing my endeavor on the first pair to make sure I am doing it right, but after that I should be able to sew them on my own. I need to start learning to make more things besides pillows and curtains. I would love to pass on sewing skills to Libby. My mom is a great seamstress but I just wasn't interested growing up and I regret that. I would be so far ahead if I had learned when she wanted to teach me as a child. It's never too late to start though. I am excited about it and I know I will feel a great sense of accomplishment. I will post pictures when I am finished.

Grocery Savings

I have been doing comp (competitor) ads for years at Wal-Mart. For those of you new to that concept, I will explain. Wal-Mart is guaranteed to meet any competitor's price on any item in their store as long as it's brand for brand and size for size.

For instance, if Brookshire's has Bush's brand (15 oz.) refried beans on sale for .59 cents a can then Wal-Mart will match that price as long as you present the ad verifying proof of the sale, it's the same brand and same size. They will match not only grocery items, but household items as well; storage totes, shampoo, band-aides, light bulbs, etc. What if it's a store brand grocery item? If IGA has their brand of cheese on sale, then Wal-Mart will match it with their store brand (Great Value or Sam's Choice). Produce doesn't have a brand per say but if Diamond has regular avocados on sale then you can't comp ad Wal-Mart's jumbo avocados. Easy as pie!

It's takes a little more effort to check the weekly ads, but the savings are worth it. The big Sunday paper puts out their weekly grocery adds to all the local grocery stores. My mom subscribes to a local paper that puts out Diamond and IGA adds plus she gets the local Brookshire's add each week in the mail. The money she spends on the paper each year is minimal to the savings she reaps on groceries. We even share the ads between us so we don't miss out on anything.

Why go through all that trouble you ask for a few grocery or household items? When you are on a limited grocery budget as we are then every cent helps. Even if you don't have a grocery budget because money isn't an option, grocery money saved can be spent elsewhere or given to missions. God desires each of us to be a good steward of the money He has given us whether you're on a budget or not.

Like today. I had three different ads I was using to comp groceries. I will list the few things from those ads. 5 lb bag of russet potatoes for $1.79 (regularly $3.97). WOW, that's a $2.00 savings. Roma tomatoes for .50 cents per lb (regularly .97 cents a pound). Bell peppers were 5/$1.00 (20 cents each) (regularly .68 cents each). Green cabbage was .38 cents per lb (regularly .97 cents per lb. Avocados were 5/$1.00 (regularly .68 cents each). Rotel was .68 cents a can (regularly over a dollar per can). I saved nearly ten dollars!!

That's just a few things. I saved so much money just on produce alone. It's too good not to take advantage of. So it takes a few extra minutes. It's so worth it. You might not need five bell peppers. Use two then slice the other three and store in the freezer to use for fajitas or some other recipe later. That's what I do. Plan your meals around the sales. If cabbage is that cheap, find a few meals to use cabbage for that week. You will save more money in the long run and it will make you feel good that you were able to be thrifty and be a better steward of God's blessings.

If you have any questions about comp ads, I will be glad to help you. Like I said, I have been doing them for years so I guess you could call me a pro by now.

Try it and see how much you save!! Happy Shopping.