Showing posts with label Homemade baby food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homemade baby food. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2008
Ideas needed
So Amelia has an aversion to pureed foods ever since her flu earlier in October. She was totally into solids and then...she won't have any of it. I have tried feeding her the food on my finger, eating from the bowl to make it seem like my food, getting different spoons, different places, different foods. Nada. (Well that isn't exactly true...she did kinda eat some apples the other night...but then the next day when she tried them again she didn't want anything to do with them.) I have also tried to make the puree thick and then just putting it on her tray to feed herself...nothing gets in her mouth. I am stumped and I can't keep up with her voracious appetite with breast milk so we are having to supplement with formula. I don't usually ask for advice on her...but I am on my knees. HELP!!! Thanks!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Meal Plan Monday
OK, I know most of you come here for updates on Amelia.
This blog is also a way for me to keep track and refer back to different events and trials.
Yesterday, I was mandated to stay home from work. (I am a registered nurse). They are laying off about 100 full time positions from our hospital next month. I thought my job was recession proof? The reasoning is many people are approaching health care differently and many people are unable to pay their existing bills. This in addition to the hospitals investments going south has racked up a huge deficit. In order to counter this deficit they are laying off many employees. I think in the Twin cities together about 400-500 full time positions will be let go!!! We will be taking on more patients and expected to do more with less. (As if we weren't already!!!) I hope I am not one of the nurses laid off. I have 6 years experience but since becoming pregnant with Amelia I have dropped off the extra curricular scene at work. I also tend to put in a little bit of over time here and there. (I am working on this.) Because of this I am looking for ways to cut some corners and save money.
1.) We cloth diaper. Since we pay for laundry it costs about $3.00-$5.00 a week to wash and dry. I would love to hang dry but it really isn't an option, though I may start to just get them half dry in the dryer and hang them the rest of the way instead of adding an extra quarter. I figure we save about $5.00 a week on diapers so about $20/month or about $240/year + we don't buy wipes either. I haven't calculated the savings on that...but I am sure it adds up too. Since Amelia has been born I have bought a total of 3 packages of diapers. She grows out of them faster than I can use them up.
2.) Eating in more. We are still working on this one. I used to be really good about cooking dinner every night I didn't work...but since Amelia some nights I just don't feel like cooking.
Guy doesn't cook. Though he has tried a couple times. He just needs some confidence in the kitchen. (My children will be confident and competent in the kitchen; no excuses.) Amelia already loves to watch me cook. I will be posting weekly meal plans for accountability and suggestions for frugal nutritious recipes are welcome.
3.) Making convenience foods at home. Like instant oatmeal. (Pre-soak oatmeal the night before and it takes the same time as instant oatmeal and tastes SO much better.) Granola bars. I made my first batch last night. They are TASTY!!! The recipe will be posted soon so stay tuned!
I am thinking about making bread...thinking about it. I will need to borrow my mother's kitchen aid mixer (It's just gathering dust in her closet anyway since they aren't home much.)
I am also thinking about making burritos to freeze. I love those things and for $2.00 a pop for organic frozen burritos it kills me. Any one have a good recipe that stands up well in the freezer.
Also I am buying the big container of yogert and spooning out what I need. If I need to take some to work I put it in a double ziplock...works just fine...kinda like go-gert.
4.) We are rewearing our clothes as much as possible. With a $50.00 dollar a month laundry bill we are really trying to cut back on laundry. Using towels for the whole week or more and rewearing shirts that aren't smelly or soiled. This is a little bit harder with Amelia but I am trying to be better about getting bibs on her to keep her outfits cleaner longer and to reduce changes.
5.) I am home making Amelia's baby food. This is so easy and so much more economical.
6.) Breast feeding...it's virtually free and the best for Amelia. Win win!
7.) We don't have cable, we use an antenae.
8.) Brewing coffee at home and taking it togo. I actually buy togo cups (I know bad bad...) but I know myself with thermos' and I forget them in the car and they get all moldy and then I get grossed out and this prevents me from using them and I just get a coffee from Starbucks. So I spend $3.00 on 12 to go cups at Target and I figure this saves me money in coffee and lost thermos'. I am going to work on this one.
9.) Making muffins and cookies at home. I love a good scone with my coffee. I have been going to the bread smith WAY too much. I will take a walk with my coffee and home made muffin to a park bench and eat it and be happy I have $5.00 in my pocket!
10.) Making smoothies at home. I use my jamba juice cup over again and fill it with my own smoothie and walk with Amelia. If I need to pitch it while walking I can and I feel like I went out...I know pathetic, but it's true!
11.) Taking fewer showers. My hair is falling out at record pace...a post pregnancy thing. So I have been taking fewer showers. It seems to have slowed it down...plus my skin isn't so dry. Win Win...plus it is better for the environment.
12.) Borrowing or getting used baby gear.
This blog is also a way for me to keep track and refer back to different events and trials.
Yesterday, I was mandated to stay home from work. (I am a registered nurse). They are laying off about 100 full time positions from our hospital next month. I thought my job was recession proof? The reasoning is many people are approaching health care differently and many people are unable to pay their existing bills. This in addition to the hospitals investments going south has racked up a huge deficit. In order to counter this deficit they are laying off many employees. I think in the Twin cities together about 400-500 full time positions will be let go!!! We will be taking on more patients and expected to do more with less. (As if we weren't already!!!) I hope I am not one of the nurses laid off. I have 6 years experience but since becoming pregnant with Amelia I have dropped off the extra curricular scene at work. I also tend to put in a little bit of over time here and there. (I am working on this.) Because of this I am looking for ways to cut some corners and save money.
1.) We cloth diaper. Since we pay for laundry it costs about $3.00-$5.00 a week to wash and dry. I would love to hang dry but it really isn't an option, though I may start to just get them half dry in the dryer and hang them the rest of the way instead of adding an extra quarter. I figure we save about $5.00 a week on diapers so about $20/month or about $240/year + we don't buy wipes either. I haven't calculated the savings on that...but I am sure it adds up too. Since Amelia has been born I have bought a total of 3 packages of diapers. She grows out of them faster than I can use them up.
2.) Eating in more. We are still working on this one. I used to be really good about cooking dinner every night I didn't work...but since Amelia some nights I just don't feel like cooking.
Guy doesn't cook. Though he has tried a couple times. He just needs some confidence in the kitchen. (My children will be confident and competent in the kitchen; no excuses.) Amelia already loves to watch me cook. I will be posting weekly meal plans for accountability and suggestions for frugal nutritious recipes are welcome.
3.) Making convenience foods at home. Like instant oatmeal. (Pre-soak oatmeal the night before and it takes the same time as instant oatmeal and tastes SO much better.) Granola bars. I made my first batch last night. They are TASTY!!! The recipe will be posted soon so stay tuned!
I am thinking about making bread...thinking about it. I will need to borrow my mother's kitchen aid mixer (It's just gathering dust in her closet anyway since they aren't home much.)
I am also thinking about making burritos to freeze. I love those things and for $2.00 a pop for organic frozen burritos it kills me. Any one have a good recipe that stands up well in the freezer.
Also I am buying the big container of yogert and spooning out what I need. If I need to take some to work I put it in a double ziplock...works just fine...kinda like go-gert.
4.) We are rewearing our clothes as much as possible. With a $50.00 dollar a month laundry bill we are really trying to cut back on laundry. Using towels for the whole week or more and rewearing shirts that aren't smelly or soiled. This is a little bit harder with Amelia but I am trying to be better about getting bibs on her to keep her outfits cleaner longer and to reduce changes.
5.) I am home making Amelia's baby food. This is so easy and so much more economical.
6.) Breast feeding...it's virtually free and the best for Amelia. Win win!
7.) We don't have cable, we use an antenae.
8.) Brewing coffee at home and taking it togo. I actually buy togo cups (I know bad bad...) but I know myself with thermos' and I forget them in the car and they get all moldy and then I get grossed out and this prevents me from using them and I just get a coffee from Starbucks. So I spend $3.00 on 12 to go cups at Target and I figure this saves me money in coffee and lost thermos'. I am going to work on this one.
9.) Making muffins and cookies at home. I love a good scone with my coffee. I have been going to the bread smith WAY too much. I will take a walk with my coffee and home made muffin to a park bench and eat it and be happy I have $5.00 in my pocket!
10.) Making smoothies at home. I use my jamba juice cup over again and fill it with my own smoothie and walk with Amelia. If I need to pitch it while walking I can and I feel like I went out...I know pathetic, but it's true!
11.) Taking fewer showers. My hair is falling out at record pace...a post pregnancy thing. So I have been taking fewer showers. It seems to have slowed it down...plus my skin isn't so dry. Win Win...plus it is better for the environment.
12.) Borrowing or getting used baby gear.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sweet potatoes for Pumpkin!
Last week I started solids with Amelia. It was more of a "sensory experience" than a nutritional experience. Amelia spit it all out and made the cutest sour puss faces. So...we took a break from solids for about 4 days. Today I introduced Amelia to sweet potatoes. She gobbled them up. Very little spitting and squirting it out of her mouth. She finished a whole cube of food. I was impressed. She wanted to put the spoon in her mouth, herself. So I let her help me guide the spoon into her mouth. She is a very determined (AKA stubborn) little girl. (I love it!)Here are some pictures Amelia's first tastes of Organic homemade sweetpotatoes I made for her. I also tasted the puree...it was REALLY good. And so fresh tasting...I was a little jealous of her lunch.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Farmer's Market
This Sunday Guy, Amelia, and I went to the Saint Paul Farmers Market. We had a blast. Guy and I got breakfast at one of the stands. Fall is in the air and so are a lot of the fall vegetables. I was like a kid in a candy store, except it was a veggie paradise! We bought acorn and butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green beans and broccoli. I made sweet potatoe baby food for Amelia when I got home. (I am freezing it as she isn't quite ready yet for soilds). I plan to cook the butter nut squash and make some of it also into baby food to freeze for Amelia. It was so much fun to get out as a family for an outing. Amelia was loving it. Looking at everything. She loves to people watch. By the end she was tuckered out. 
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