Thoughts on Homemade Baby Food

Ok so maybe one day I will take a few pictures and show the process on this but I thought I would just share my thoughts on the subject.

After I had Thing 1, I decided that I would do as much organic food for him as possible. I nursed him...but didn't eat organics myself...it's much too expensive. Then came the dilemma of starting solids. I decided that I would wait until he was closer to 6 months to even start rice cereal, just to make sure he was ready. Believe me He. Was. Ready. I did Earth's Best organic rice cereal. I had been researching homemade baby food for some time and if I thought I could do it I would have even ground brown rice on my own. As it turned out I just made everything the kid ate.. and now that he is 2 he is a very good eater and will try pretty much anything.

Now I have Thing 2 and he is now eating baby food. I absolutely LOVE making baby food. I have so much fun trying new things out. With this little kiddo I have been much better at exploring new things and adding a little bit of spice to what he eats.
The other day I baked a butternut squash down and as I was pureeing it I added a little cinnamon and nutmeg to the mix and .... mmmmm it was tasty!
I love knowing exactly what my baby is getting and everything that is in it. When possible I make stuff that I have grown or that has been grown on my grandma's farm..that way I know that there has been no chemicals used on it either.
At first I thought it was going to be hard to take food with us or time consuming. But I have found that it is not any more difficult that than remembering to grab pre-packaged baby food. I freeze everything I make in an ice cube tray, once it is frozen solid I put the cubes in a freezer bag marked with the month it was made and what the food is. Then, when I have to go some where and take the food with me I just grab whatever cubes I want, put them in a bowl with a lid and usually by the time I am ready to feed them the cubes are thawed out. It's a simple process.
As far as making it I just steam whatever it is that I have bought/picked then run it through my Magic Bullet.( I have heard that there is a Bullet made just for making baby food but what I have works just fine.) I add a little liquid, usually breast milk but some times just water, and then any spices and puree. Then I freeze whatever we don't eat that day.
The biggest plus to making my own would be the money saver it is for me. I recently went to Dieberg's and bought Organic carrots, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes. I spent about $8 (it was actually 7 and change) and that gave me about 60 - 70 meals. Had I gone out and bought those same meals in pre-package baby food I would have spent $20 - $30. So it is a big savings for me. There are too many benefits to not make my own baby food. And it's something I really enjoy doing. Even my now 2 year old Things 1 like to "have baby bites of the baby's food" It's a win for all of us.

Living in Love

This book was sent to me free of charge in exchange for my review from Waterbrook Multnomah publisher

I don't really know what I was expecting when I starting reading this book but it seems that I did have expectations of it being good and a useful tool to help my marriage grow.

It did not disappoint. This book was helpful on many levels. The one point that was most helpful me and I took most to heart was the section on communication.

Communication is never something that I have been good at and therefore is a part of our marriage that has struggled. It's something that I have been thinking about for sometime now but just couldn't find a way to fix it. With the help of this book I had the tools to try and be a better communicator.

 I loved that the authors were so open and acknowledged that they had struggles. I loved that they talked about baggage. I have never looked and things this way. I always thought of it as problems and it just seemed like such a downer. But looking at my past as baggage really helped......because it's much easier for me to see myself throwing away my baggage than "getting rid of problems"

Living in Love was a well written book. One that I will keep on my shelf and keep as a reference guide in years to come.

Marriage is a journey and this book really helped me make strides in the journey I am on.

Back to Reality

We have spent the last week in Gulf Shores, AL

On the beach

and at the pool.

We had a grand time

Doing nothing.

Now we are back

trying to find our routine

and wishing we could just go play at the pool.

This little dude had a blast in all the water.

He swam from 8 in the morning

to 8 at night.

Only eating when we made him.

He walked the beach in the morning.

Then came right in and put on a swim suit.

He lived in on...

for a week straight.

Now he says, "I wanna go to a schwimin pool"

ALL. DAY. LONG.

Guess we better get a pool to play in.

We loved our trip

And are thinking that we will make it an every year thing.

If only we could buy real estate down there.....