My baby food making adventure!

When I got pregnant there were a few things that I knew I wanted to do once the baby arrived. I knew I would be using cloth diapers (I'll try and write a post about that adventure one of these days) and I knew I wanted to make my own baby food. I have friends who have played around with making their own baby food and I nannied for a family who made all their own baby food and I just knew it was something that I wanted to do. Now some people do it so that their child can eat all organic and while maybe I'll get to that point right now that is not why I do it nor do I buy all organic. I'm still researching on the things that should be bought organic versus those things that don't really matter either way but I am just not on the organic train yet, maybe one day. But instead I wanted to do it because a) I wanted to know exactly what my child was eating and b) it save a TON of money! This goes for the cloth diapering and breast feeding as well! And if you know me at all you know that I am all about saving money! Blaine and I knew when we decided to have a baby that there were a few sacrifices and concessions we would have to make in order to afford to keep the same lifestyle that we had before and I can gladly say that all of these things have been super easy and really are better for all of us anyway!
So thats just a little about why I decided to make my own baby food now I'll share with you my method! Now I know that for alot of families especially those who both parents work outside the home it seems entirely to daunting and time consumng to make your own baby food but honestly its not difficult at all! It does require some time but if you could set aside one afternoon a month then you have all the time you need!

Here is my stash of produce for this month! I make baby food once a month and store it in the freezer. It stays fresh and is easy and quick to defrost and serve. I like doing it once a month because that way I can make a variety of fruits and vegetables and the thought of having to make stuff once a week or so is too daunting for me... once a month totally doable! This month I made Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, peas, apples, pears, and peaches. Peyton also eat bananas and avocado but those I mash up fresh since there is no need to cook them. I buy baby carrots because they are easy to just put in the steamer and walk away to let them cook. No need to peel and chop! Whatever makes things a little easier and saves some time I'm all about. Peas I use frozen and this is because there is just no way I'm going to cook and shuck a bunch of fresh peas. You shouldn't used can peas for this but frozen vegetables are frozen at peak freshness and they are just as fresh when you thaw them so essentially I'm getting the same quality with half the work! I used frozen peaches this time around for the same reason and also because peaches aren't really in season yet so the price for fresh peaches isn't very nice! this summer when peaches are in season and are on sale I will happily make them from fresh until then frozen is quick easy and just as good!

Now some things I boil, some things I steam, and some I bake. It all just depends on the veggie or fruit. For the most part though I steam all the fruits since they tend to get real soft I don't want then to break up in the water and then I would loose half my fruit. Steaming them gets them good and soft while still staying in tact. Carrots I also steam. I don't really have a particular reason for this except that its just easy! Carrots tend to take about 20 mins to steam nice and soft while most of the fruits only take about 10 to 15 minutes.

The squash I bake. 400 degree Oven for about an hour. I always start my squash first thing because I knew it takes the longest and I can just put it in and forget about it while I get other things going.

The sweet potatoes and the peas I boil. Some people will say to steam it all because it allows the veggies to retain more of the nutrients but I use some of the cooking water when I puree it so I figure I keep as much nutrients as possible. Plus I don't cook them to death so I they maintain plenty of nutrients!

Because I don't have a ton of big pots and only one steamer pot I have to do things in batches. Plus I only have so many ice cube trays so I have to freeze things in batches as well. Today I start the sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots all at once. While they were going I put Peyton for nap and began cleaning. When the carrots and potatoes were cooked through I turned them off and let the sit to cool down a bit before moving on to the next step. The squash stayed in the oven until I was done with my cleaning and ready to start pureeing things then it was done too and I was good to go! 

So before now I was using this little itty bitty mini food processor to make her food which took me forever but I did it and I made it work. But now thanks to my wonder Mother in law I have a full size food processor to use which made things soooo much easier! I just load up one veggie or fruit at a time add a little of the cooking water and puree it up. Veggies seem to need a bit more water than the fruit. the fruits are just naturally juicy so they take much less water so keep that in mind otherwise your fruit with be super thin. I usually mix all the baby food with cereal when I'm getting ready to serve it so if it ends up a little thin I dont mind. I'm still learning as I go at this point. 

Once I got it all puree and have made sure its all smooth I spoon it out into ice cube trays. Since my little one is just starting to eat food I still make it all completely smooth. But the great thing about making your own baby food is as your baby grows you can play with the texture of things and make it more or less chunky depending on how they like it! 

Once the ice cube tray is all loaded I tap it gently on the counter to get all the air out and just to even it all out and place it in the freezer. I only have 7 ice cube trays so I have to make things in batches which works out cause I usually only get a few things done before little miss wakes up and wants to nurse or needs a diaper or just doesn't want to be playing alone anymore so I just let what I have finished get good in frozen while I tend to her and then come back to it.

Once the ice cube trays are completely frozen I transfer them into labeled freezer bags for storage! And there you have it! This pictures is missing apples and pears because they were still freezing when I took this picture but this is enough to last my little one an entire month! She eats two cube twice a day mixed with a little formula and cereal. Each cube is about an ounce of food! So far she has like all the food I've made for her! The peaches and peas are new this month so we shall see what she thinks of them when its time to try them out! 

I hope some of you find this informative and perhaps even inspirational. I tend to lay everything out on the counter and just get to work. Between each fruit or veggie I rinse everything real good and then get it ready for the next round at the end I give it all a good wash or run it through the dishwasher and poof I'm done! I love only doing one set of dishes! It takes some time and a little prep work but the peace of mind the money you save is so worth it!! This month I spent approx. 15 dollars on the stuff to make her food for this month. Gerber step 1 costs approx 1.25 for two containers which is about 2.5 ounces so my child would eat two of those a day. Which would add up to over 30 dollars a month! That is a 50% savings!! Now I realize that some stores may have a special on the gerber or what have you but really it would have be a really good sale to make it not be a savings! And if you buy organic those jars run like 99 cents a piece! But not only am I saving money but I am also able to give her a variety of food and I know exactly what I am giving her and that makes it worth that extra bit of time it takes!!

Day 2

Another successful day on my journey through the 20 day challenge to a clean and organized home! Todays task was to clean the master bedroom. This room we tend to keep picked up and I had just cleared off my dresser this weekend so I already had a head start! But I got busy dusting, cleaning windows, washing bedding, and vacuuming. Since we don't keep a whole lot of knick nacks and things in this room either decluttering was an easy task as well today! (I guess my lack of decor is coming in handy) And the organizing task today was to organize the top drawers of the night stand. Well my night stand doesn't have a drawer so I organized blaine's which mostly just had old reciepts and things that needed thrown away so in no time I was all done! Then for the quick five minute task I gave our dining room chairs a good wipe down with some clorox wipes and I was good to go! I was able to complete everything plus make about half of my baby food batch (more on that in the next post) all while little Miss took her first nap of the day!
I am feeling so accomplished and productive through this challenge and can't wait to get all the way through so each room in the house can be nice and organized! I have always been terrible about organizing and when I finally do it it never lasts long. And then I never want to do it again because the task is so overwhelming to me but this challenge breaks it down and makes it so easy and totally doable in the time that I have during the day. I'm so glad I found it! Tomorrow the Journey takes us to the Laundry room! Stay tuned!! I'll try and take pictures each day but today I forgot!

20 day Challenge : Day 1

Well I have completed day 1 of my 20 day challenge to a clean and organized home and I am so excited about it. Blaine stayed home today in fear of getting stuck at work with the snow (that never really came) so he was able to help me out and it made it go by so quickly and we were really able to get it done well and even a little above and beyond what was on the list! So here the break down of what we did today along with a few after photos just to keep things a little more interesting. Today was the kitchen but it wasn't about going through all the cabinets or anything like that it was just a basic cleaning. Since we did our dishes last night I didn't have to worry about that so I started with wiping down all the cabinet doors while blaine cleaned the vents and the light fixtures. We wiped down all the walls, washed the windows, cleared off all the counters and wiped them down real good, gave the sink a good clean which it defintely needed, cleaned the microwave and dusted the inside and outside of the china cabinet. It sounds like a lot but with both of us on a mission to get it done while Peyton napped it only took about an hour and half!

The decluttering task for today was to declutter the countertops but my counter tops weren't cluttered. I keep a few things that I use regularly on my counters and a few pretties and thats it so there was no need for me to declutter! WIN!
The organizing task for today was to organize underneath the kitchen sink... I have organized this several times before and it always ends up being a mess again and there are always things under there that don't really need to be there so it was about time to do this anyway and since I knew I was going to be starting this challenge I stocked up on a few little basket things at the dollar tree the other day so I was prepared!! So now its nice and organized and clean!!

And the final task for the day was the five minute task which was supposed to be tidying up a bookshelf. well lets just say that our office could be a 20 day challenge all on its own so since i didn't have a bookshelf put together for me to tidy Blaine and I took that time (and then some) to rearrange and clean up and attempt to hang a shelf (need some anchors) and put together our bookshelf instead. We got a good dent done so now I won't be so overwhelmed when the office comes around in my 20 day challenge!
And on top of all those things I made dinner, vacuumed, did laundry, washed dishes, took car of peyton, and even got some relaxing time in front of the tv!! It was a very very productive day!! I am so excited to see how the rest of challenge goes and to see how much easier and simpler things are going to be to find and keep organized once its all said and done!! Hopefully my little adventure will give you some motivation to do a little spring cleaning yourselfs or just get your to do list done cause if your like me you have a to do list a mile long thats been building for months but the motivation just never found me but now it has and I am so excited!

A time for change

Well as you could probably guess since  I haven't been blogging much lately after my 2013 goals post that my goals have for lack of a better word... FAILED! I have every intention of picking them all back up and trying again though don't you worry! If I'm being completely honest I have been in a bit of a funk as of late and it has definitely affected my motivation to do much of anything other than those things are absolutely necessary. Maybe its the winter time and lack of sunshine, maybe its the whole not having a car for the past three months and counting, or maybe its just something that happens sometimes but no matter what is causing it I've had enough! I kept telling myself oh well when it gets nicer outside it'll be better or when I have a car again it'll be better, but enough is enough! No more excuses! Today is a new day and I fully intend to get out of this funk starting NOW! With that being said stay tuned for updates on the restart of my goals coming soon!
In the process of coming out of this funk I've decided that I need to get better at this whole housekeeping thing! I have no excuses anymore about not having the time I mean lets get real yes I have a small child at home with me but she's pretty easy and sleep at least 3 hours out of the day so at the very least I could get 3 hours of housework done! Well as most of us our I'm a bit addicted to pinterest and as I was enjoying some quiet time with my coffee before Little Miss woke up this morning I came across a pin about a 20 day challenge to a clean and organized home... BINGO! This things is awesome and I'm so excited about it! Its a lady for australia who does this whole blog about organization and housekeeping and she has some awesome ideas! For me the daily tasks like laundry and dishes and vacuuming (yes with my dog it is DAILY) are not a problem yeah the laundry gets away from me now and again but who doesn't it! But its the organization and all the other that I just can't ever seem to really get a handle on so I think this challenge will be perfect to get me going, get some organization in the areas that we desperately need it and hopefully kick start me to continuing these tasks in order to stay that organized! Plus this lady is genius on how she breaks it all up and she does no major cleaning on weekends! Hello break and family time! Now that is my kind of woman! So this weekend I'm doing a few prep things and come Monday I am starting this challenge! And hopefully by the end of the 20 days (4 weeks since she doesn't do weekends) by home with be cleaning, more organized, and just generally better! So wish me luck and if any of you want to join in on the fun here is a link to the start of the challenge!!

http://theorganisedhousewife.com.au/organising/20-days-to-organise-and-clean-your-home-challenge-pre-challenge-task-1/

2013 Goals

I know I'm a little behind but its been a little busy around here so I haven't had time to sit down and write this post out but its been in my head for like a week! So I don't do the new years resolutions and for the past several years I haven't done anything, just lived life the same as I had the year before but this year I decided that I needed to set some goals for myself in the new year. Now that I stay at home with Peyton I feel like in order for me to feel accomplished I need to have some goals for myself. They are all small things that have very deep seeded meanings behind them not just your run of the mill I want to lose weight this year! I wanted my goals to truly have purpose and meaning for me so that they will be that much easier to accomplish and I can say very proudly that so far I have kept each one of the my goals! But I thought it would be nice to write my goals on here and every so often I'll give an update of how those goals are going for me that way I have a few extra people holding me accountable! So here goes!
1) Read my Bible daily - this is something that I have always struggled with but it has always been something that I know I should be doing so this year because I not only want to do it for myself but I want to be able to set the example for my children in the future I'm determined to make this habit stick and so far it has been amazing! God has opened up that bible exactly where I needed it to be everyday!
2)Tithe the way god wants us to - this has been on my heart for months and every week at church I feel like the pastor is talking straight to me because this is something I've struggled with forever but I decided to pray about it the entire month of December so that I would have peace about it when we started doing it in the new year and so far so good!
3) Run 1 full mile without having to walk - I am NOT a runner and never have been but I'm determined that I'm going to start a little at a time!
4) Exercise at least twice a week - I want to lose weight as much as the next woman but for me its so much more than that I want to be healthy for myself and for my children and that is really what its all about. So far this has been a lot of fun I've found some kickboxing videos I really enjoy and a few fun do with your baby exercises that have been really good! And made me very sore!
5) Be more adventurous - I am a worrier and I am a play it safe kind of person but my husband is not and I know there are things he would love for us to do together if I would just be a little more adventurous so this year it is my goal to let go of some of the fears and be more adventurous. Plus I dont want to teach my children to fear everything so this is my goal.
6) Send more birthday cards - not just birthday cards but just cards in general. I am always thinking of my friends and family especially on their special days but I've never been good at remembering that little card that I know personally can make all the difference and brighten someones day so I want to start that habit.
7) Read 5 new books- lets be honest we watched entirely too much tv in my house so I hope by setting a goal to read more the tv will turn off a little more plus I want to expand my horizons on the types of books I read! Gotta keep the brain working!
8) Read with Peyton each day - I want her to have the love of reading and learning and I know that it can start now so we start everyday by reading a story from her bible stories for kids book and she loves looking at the pictures and listening to mommy read! Not only will this teach her a love for reading but it is also starting the habit of starting the day with god and that is what I want for her more than anything!
9) Pray Daily - I've always been a prayer randomly when something happens but I want to pray continuously and with purpose. i want to have a relationship with god that i can pray with him for anything and everything and nothing at all so I've added a prayer to the end of my bible reading everyday!
10) Be a better wife - this is just a goal to better myself and my marriage. i think we all have things to work on but you have to admit before you get change it so this is my way of starting the change!!

Well there you have it my goals and their purpose for 2013! Wish me luck!!

Our New Years eve Adventure

Ok so I mentioned in my previous post that we had a bit of an adventure on new years eve while were trying to drive home from Nebraska. The trip started out nice a sunny and calm and no worries in the world. Peyton was behaving Blaine was driving and I was reading in the backseat... all was right in this little road trip world of ours. We made a stop in York to eat lunch, and feed Peyton and then it was back on the road. Well once we get back on the road it seems the further south we go the darker the sky gets until eventually we hit snow. Ok not so bad until we continue going and the snow just gets heavier and heavier to the point that visibility is not super great at this point and the road are starting to get covered. So by the time we make it to Concordia Kansas which is about 50 miles north of Salina my nerves are completely shot and I tell Blaine I don't think its safe to go any farther. He tries to argue at first but after seeing how upset I was about it says ok we'll stop. So I see a sign that there is a holiday inn express just a mile into the town and we say great we'll stop there and get a room. At this point I've called people to check the radar for me and by the looks of the radar we were going to getting out of the storm anytime soon and it was supposed to continue on into the evening and night (it was about 3 in the afternoon at this point). So we go up the road to the Holiday Inn.... and of course this hotel sits on probably the biggest hill in this entire town and we can't get up the drive to the parking lot. Blaine tries both entrances and somehow doesn't get us stuck (I was terrified) so by this point I'm in the back seat in tears because I'm so upset and scared and I just want me and my little baby off of the roads and out of the cold. We had seen a super 8 motel just a few blocks back so Blaine says we'll just go there and thats what we did. They had a room, gave us a discount cause Blaine works for the federal government and so we bundle up and get out of the car and into the hotel. Blaine brings in the few things that we need for the night without unpacking the entire car in the snow and we just get comfy. Peyton naps a bit we watch some tv and play some angry birds just trying to make the best out of a not so great situation. Blaine treks next door in the snow to Mcdonalds later in the evening to get us some dinner (love my hubby) and we watch tv till we can't keep our eyes open anymore and call it a night. It def wasn't a super great New Years eve in fact I'm pretty sure we were asleep by 10 but around like 1230 Peyton made a few little noises that made us both stir a bit look at the clock realize it was after midnight we both said "happy new year" in our most unenthuased sleepy voice and went right back to sleep LOL! Aren't we so much fun!! Then in the morning we got up, had some breakfast, loaded the car back up and hit the road. The roads were still pretty gross when we first got started but by the time we made it to Salina they cleared up pretty well and we managed to make it home without anymore incidents! It was not the road trip home that we had planned by any means but thankfully I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who keeps calm in bad situations and we were able to make the best of it. All that matter to me was that we were together and that we were safe but man I can tell you the words "Home Sweet Home" never rang so trip after that trip!!!

Nebraska Christmas

We are home from our vacation and after two days of travel I have never been happier to be home. But thats a story all its own so I'll save that for my new years blog post! Anyways, we really enjoyed our time in Nebraska this christmas and we were all very blessed as usual! We drove up the day after christmas and as we drove we watched the temperature drop and the snow started getting deeper and deeper! LOL! But it was a beautiful sight and the roads were good so I didn't mind too much... although it was def. COLD! We spent a lot of time just relaxing and hanging out with family which lets be honest is my ideal vacation! We were able to celebrate our nieces birthday on Thursday along with Blaine's dad's and then we just enjoyed a lazy relaxing day Friday and did a little shopping as well. It was relaxed unplanned and wonderful! Then saturday was family day. We started the day by taking family pictures and let me tell you that was quite a task LOL! Considering our family pictures included 14 people and 6 of those people are 4 and under! So we planned it all out so that the children were napped and fed and happy. Well that would have been wonderful if the portrait studio hadn't been AN HOUR BEHIND! So needless to say our plan was out the window and the kids were OVER it by the time it was our turn to take pictures! But we did end up with a decent picture of the whole family and a pretty cute one of just the 6 kids... I dont really know how we managed it but we did LOL! After the lovely experience we all went back the Blaine's parents and enjoyed a day playing and laughing and eating... the way the holidays should be. We had a wonderful lunch of all the typical holiday food and then we opened all our gifts and we were so very blessed and Peyton is such a lucky little girl!! It was so fun and such a wonderful time! Then we just spent the evening enjoying eachothers company! Sunday we just had another lazy relaxing day and enjoyed every moment of it! Then we drove home... which is a story all its own! For now I'll leave with you some pictures from our trip!

There was lots of snow when we got there and it snowed a bit while we were there as well.

Peyton just hanging at having some tummy time!

Blaine and I having fun at Tempey's Bday party

Another snowy picture

Blaine was super excited LOL!

My sweet baby girl ready for a day of shopping!

Cousin Love!

Riding in the shopping cart for the first time!

Aly and I ready for family pictures and christmas!

Papa playing with his boys!

Peyton and Me hanging out! Enjoying our vacation!