Baby Food Making- Day 4 - Bananas

Oh Bananas...
 I feel bad devoting a whole post to this but...


Bananas truly are the easiest to make(next to avacados).
You really dont even need a blender when your child gets a little older. But here it is!

1. Peel
2. Puree    (don't forget to sniff and enjoy the beautiful scent you have just created)
3. Store

(* the only unfortunate thing is that frozen bananas will brown.)

Thinking about bananas I remember i used to not be so fond of bananas. Then one day my husband bought some organic bananas and told me I HAD to try some. It rocked our world. They were so much more tasty than the gross ones I had been used to eating.

I don't blame people when they say they don't like bananas, all I used to taste was an unripened banana PEEL not the fruit that is supposed to be inside!

As I am always telling my students and non vegetable eating relatives... Just try it!


You might just like it better than you thought you would!

Baby Food Making- Day 4 - Pears

First of all let me say how much I love pears.

Last year about hits time and earlier we (I the pregnant one) would go through about 8 pears a week. Maybe that's why I knew the Shenandoah would just eat em up! So when I got ready to make pears I knew they would be a hit even though I would have to NOT eat the pears so that I could make baby food with them.

So I went to the store to get an apple corer/wedge because after my APPLE experiences I knew it would make things go alot smoother!

1. Now with the appropraite tools in hand I washed, peeled, and cored the pears.
2. I then placed them in a baking dish with a small amount of water, covered with foil and baked for about 20-30 minutes.
3. When they had thoroughly steamed and gotten very tender, out of the oven and into the blender.
4. Puree.  With pears, because they are so juicy you may not even need any of the remaining water from cooking to thin out your baby food.
5. Place in containers and store.
6. Enjoy!

Baby Food Making- Day 5 - Carrots

And so it began... My attempts at making baby carrots which I am proud to say was not that hard nor was it really that time consuming. After trying some myself I will be making carrot popsicles in the future. I thought they were just delicious! I would much prefer my carrots frozen and on a stick than in cooked pureed form!

So Shenandoah and I set off... her with her teething ring in hand while I scrubbed the beautiful bounty of carrots which I have been drooling over for days. We began and the beautifully fresh organic carrots were smelling lovely. (I wish I had taken a picture of the carrots before I broke them from their stems and greenery!)

Now they were scrubbed, prepped, and ready for cooking!

I added about and 1/2 in of water to the bottom of my pot sliced the carrots fairly thin (so the would cook faster) and added it to the water. They steamed for about 20-30 minutes on high heat until they were very tender.

Shenandoah says... that was quick!

Mmm, my kitchen now smells delicious!

 All of the materials you need to make baby food out of your carrots are pictured here. Fancy baby food makers are nice but really my experiences with my blender have been super easy. 

I added the carrots to the blender and I added about a 1-2 cups of water (or breastmilk) small amounts at a time. (this will depend on the "stage" of baby food you desire to make and also how much water is already in your carrots.) 

I found much of my information about carrots and other baby food here... http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/nitratearticle.htm

 Once I blended the carrots well I alternating adding water and more carrots until I reached my desired consistency.

Since my food here is "1st" foods consistency, all i had to do is pour the food into the hard plastic ice cube trays and guide with a spoon.

Once all of the trays are filled give the tray a little rap on the counter so that they settle. (I advise against the cheap plastic ice cube trays. They are a pain to get the food out of and not to mention for repeated use the type of plastic DEFINITELY matters!)

As far as storing your freshly made wholesome baby food, most guidelines say frozen baby food can be stored between 1-3 months. If you are going to use it sooner, refrigerated baby food should be used within  a week.

Bagged and tray baby foods! (and a lasagna)

Then all that is left is finding room in your freezer and letting the set overnight! The next day I pop them out of the trays and put them in ziplock bags and label them. 

Next time I would love to find the right type of peas to make with my carrots!!! Mmm.. peas and carrots!

That was a lot of description but all in all it is not that hard. 

For all the concise folks here is your "recipe" for success!

Now that all the work is done... I think its time for a nap!

1. Clean (peel carrots if not organic) & chop carrots

2. Steam carrots until tender.

3. Puree carrots and water or breast milk until desired consistency achieved. 

4. Add to desired containers.

5. Store
6. Enjoy!

A Spring Break of Baby Food Making

And so it began...

Mmm. Fresh Pears

Spring Break was a week of baby food making. Sunday we went to market and gathered a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables and stocked the shelves of our home and all for the smallest member of our family. The 6 month old is finally ready to REALLY start eating baby food. She has been super interested for a while now and we have fiddled with some food in the fresh food mesh feeders which she loved!

On the agenda was bananas, pears, apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and avacados.

As I was discussing with Mother in law and sister in law, regular store bought food (not even organic) costs about 50cents per container for starter foods. For my prices I made Pink Lady apples for about 8 cents a serving and made about 50 servings from one and a half bags of organic apples.

Monday I started with apples, which was quick and speedy even considering I didn't have an apple wedge/corer. (That has since been remedied). Apples Link

I also made lasagnas this day and cut grass followed by getting sick. This is why Tuesday there was almost no baby food making. Luckily I managed sweet potatoes. This took more effort than I expected, maybe because I would have rather been sleeping but oh well. Sweet Potatoes Link.


Wednesday I was feeling better but baby was sick all night/day and only wanted to be held... even during naps. Tough day. Needless to say there was definitely no baby food making today. (Was glad I got all done yesterday!)

Thursday I had a rejuvenated spirit and tackled pears and bananas. Both are very easy to make! PEARS  BANANAS

Friday I was my busiest since I knew my week was coming to an end. I had a happy baby who watched and played while mommy made CARROTS, finished assembling lasagnas, and made dinner and breakfast for months... WHOLE WHEAT WAFFLES! Luckily for Sarvis, Ross and Forrest they got to sample these delicious treats as they were being made. In the words of Forrest... "How do you make these? They are so good you don't even need syrup!"
This was a great compliment seeing as how I ended waffles and cleaning etc around midnight...(short visit to grocery store to gather needed ingredients for this weekends cooking adventures!)

In upcoming posts I will tell how I made each of these delectable items. Unfortunately for you, I did not document all of the cooking experiences with pictures like I should have.
Hey... give me a break I am still new to this whole blogging thing and it has been quite a week!

A Vampire Weekend

So good morning to you and happy 10 day weekend for me!
Due to inclement weather last week we here in the south have had an entire week off from school! HIP HIP.....

Today's thought: baking breads.
It surprises me how easy baking is (even though some recipes may take a little knowledge and practice) and how expensive store bought bread  is in comparison to how much it costs to make!
I believe I will be doing a lot more baking of all types of breads. Call me the equal opportunity bread baker...

I have recently had a large amount of time free and at home to love on my baby girl and also to try out some baking experiments.
I loved having time to try new things and do the things I wished I had time for. I was thrilled to visit my brother, sister-in-law and new baby niece and bring them two varieties of bread for recuoperation!
(I know when I was done laboring I was dead hungry and could have eaten an entire loaf of banana nut bread but I had never made it before!)

Here is a new creation from the snow days.

Pumpkin Banana Nut Bread
2 1/2 c flour
1c brown sugar
1c granulated sugar
2 c pumpkin
3 or 4 over ripe bananas; mashed
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp soda
2 tbs powder
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c butter;melted
3 eggs

Eating Organic

As my husband and I noticed the past couple of years, many people have questioned our eating habits and choices. They don't so much ask WHY we eat organic but almost mock our choices. (some, not all.)

Not that I mind if I or my children eat something other than organic sometimes but I suppose some people are set in their ways and brands and choose not to research the concept further. I think most of their distrust of organics are primarily the price. I am a pretty big penny pincher myself but I like to "splurge" on things of quality. One area I will always be ok splurging on is food.

If "our bodies are temples", and "we are what we eat," then why do people (even highly devout persons of faith) put such crap into their bodies. Pesticides, antibiotics, steroids, foreign substances and so on...

I cant always splurge on an all organic diet but when i can i lie to now which items are better, in terms of how much pesticides etc they use.

So if you care to read the info about the top 12 pesticide ridden produce and the bottom 12 items see below and choose wisely.

Here is the the info that everyone should know about produce from the EWG.

These are the 12 fruits and vegetables that consistently have the highest levels of pesticides.

1. peaches 
2. apples
3. sweet bell peppers 
4. celery
5. nectarines
6. strawberries
7. cherries
8. pears
9. imported grapes
10. spinach
11. lettuce
12. potatoes

In contrast these are the 12 produce picks with the least amount of pesticides:

1. onions
2. avocados
3. frozen sweet corn
4. pineapples
5. mangoes
6. asparagus
7. frozen peas
8. kiwi
9. bananas
10. cabbage
11. broccoli
12. papayas

Paternity Leave, Maternity Schmleave

After reading this article (linked below) I began recollecting what I knew about maternity leave in modern society, in particular my own experience with what seemed a very unfair process.

Most doctors/midwives will recommend a leave from work for at least 6 weeks maybe more if cesarean was involved/twins/complications... a "babymoon" if you will, for both mother baby and hopefully even dad to learn new things about each other.

In my personal experience as a school teacher, I was quickly introduced to FMLA. awesome in theory so if something does happen not allowing you return to work quickly you wont loose your job over it. "GREAT," I thought.
Then when I started speaking with fellow mothers they mentioned that they hoped I had been saving vacation days for my maternity leave.

What in the world? Was I just really naive and inexperienced or had things changed since they had their children 20 years ago???

After further investigation it was true. I had luckily not taken but two sick days in my 2 years of teaching and had almost enough days to take a full 6 week leave... almost.
Then I remembered a male co-worker whose child was born last year. He mentioned to me that he was given 3 "freebie" days which do not count as sick/vacation leave but are typically used for bereavement, jury duty etc. He was given 3 days of what I like to call "Paternity leave" where I was given no days except what I had earned.

I'm not saying he shouldn't have been given those days but I guess my naive self assumed the American society had grown a little more female-friendly especially in a career industry dominated by WOMEN!
I know I may seem a little frivolous but three days of pay makes a difference especially when your spouse is unemployed and you are trying to pay hospital bills on a not so great health care plan.

So when people asked how much "Maternity Leave" did i get/take, I tell them none.
I took a 6 week babymoon out of my vacation days. Now with no more vacation days the entire rest of the year healthy living is no longer a wish but a necessity.

--> (dad and baby on our familial babymoon!)

And now... looking down at my healthy 4 month old napping in my arms while I type, I realize she is so alert, happy and cute DESPITE all negative factors around her. She has loving, positive parents who care about raising a mindful member of society who thinks.

We are still so new at parenting but I believe that we are doing a pretty good job at it so far!

1. Babymoon