Baby Food Basics

As a new mother I am learning a lot every day. Baby K is now 6 months old. I can't believe how the time has flown or how quickly he is growing. While he is still small for his age he loves food. He frequently tries to grab mine or anything else he can reach.

After sensing his growing interest in food and frustration with nursing we started him on cereal. Once his body had adjusted to that we introduced more variety. Since his doctor has given us the go ahead we are slowly introducing new items to his diet.  Baby K now loves applesauce, pears, yams, bananas, and avocado. (Please avoid strawberries and honey for the first year.)

My two biggest resources have been other mothers and a book. Hardly surprising since I know a lot of women with babies and I love to read. Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes has been very helpful as I have started making Baby K's food. I feel so accomplished feeding Baby K something I made by myself.* I know it was made with organic produce, has no added sugars or fillers, and tastes delicious.

You actually don't need anything fancy to make baby food. Though to be honest I did need to buy a steamer. I know. I know. What real cook doesn't have a steamer? One who was afraid of vegetables until just a couple of years ago and is slowly adding new ones to the menu. My husband had to show me how to use my steamer. :) It's a good thing I have him around.

The Tools:
Steamer*
Good pot with a lid
Blender
Containers

• Steam your lovely produce. Organic if you can manage. I understand that it can be expensive. 
• Blend it into a lovely puree.
• Place into a container. It will last in the fridge for about three days or the freezer for 3 months.

I generally use a large Snapware in the fridge and dish it into smaller bowls when feeding K. I've been using these Ziploc containers for on the go feedings. But they tend to leak with the runnier foods like applesauce or pears. I might need to invest in the Ziploc Twist & Lock kind. I'm still looking into good alternatives for freezing food. Anyone out there have any good recommendations?

*I am not an expert on baby food. Please consult a doctor if you have any concerns.

**A steamer is great for holding in all the great nutrients your baby needs. Not all produce can be steamed. Some like hard squashes and sweet potatoes should be cooked in your oven. If you don't have a steamer you can use a crockpot with a small amount of water.

Diaper Diva - Pampers

Yesterday I wrote a post about getting the most out of your diaper purchases. I mentioned Amazon Mom and Huggies Rewards.

Today I want to fill you in on Pampers Loyalty Program.  It is called Gifts to Grow.  You can find codes inside your packages of diapers and wipes and Pampers shares free codes fairly often.  I started my account long before I had a baby and just entered in free codes whenever I ran across them. (Freebies2Deals helped me accumulate most of my points.)

Pampers recently shared a code on their twitter account for President's Day. Make sure you enter it in before 12 (CT) on 2/24/13.  FBPRE20W93DAY13

I am currently debating on which Shutterfly offer I want to use all my points. What are you saving  your points for?

Diaper Diva - Huggies

If you have a little one in diapers than you know the struggle of trying to find the best deal. I recommend Amazon Mom. It helps save us a ton of money and I don't have to lug a huge box home from the store. Which is nice because I inevitably try to get everything inside at once and it ends up that I drop something 80% of the time. You think I would learn.

Another thing you can do to get the most bang for your buck is to sign up for the loyalty programs and turn in your codes. Both Huggies and Pampers have a program that gives you small rewards for choosing their products.

Huggies program is called Huggies Enjoy the Ride. Each time you buy a Huggies product look for the small code written on the sticker (usually found inside the package.) Log into your account and type in the code. The points add up slowly but you feel so satisfied when you turn them in for a fun reward.  I'm aiming for one of these two rewards. I still have a long way to go, but I get so excited whenever I get a new code.

Codes can be found in packages of diapers and wipes, online at their site, and sometimes from their twitter and facebook feeds. Don't have an account yet? Type your email into the comments below and I will send you an invitation. Just for signing up through me you get an extra 10 points.

Newest Adventure

My husband and I have started the new adventure of Parenthood. With all the family visiting and the adjustment to less sleep blogging got put on the back burner. Don't worry. I will be back. Until then, Happy Holidays!

Creating a Haven

My husband and I watch Go On together. The characters are kooky, the storyline is fun, and I don't feel like anyone is pushing an agenda. (The premise of the show is a radio sports announcer loses his wife and must go to a therapy group to cope.) A lot of the people in the support group use different coping techniques to deal with stress, anger, depression, or loss. One of the characters has an entire town in his mind that he can retreat into. While I think this is a little excessive, I think that creating an oasis is not a bad thing.  Do you have a mental and physical place that you can retreat, regroup, and recover? 

My haven is my home. In order to maintain this feeling I like to keep my home as organized and clean as possible. I love walking into my kitchen and seeing an empty sink. (Though this is often not the case.) I love being able to find the things I am looking for in a pinch. I love having a freshly made bed. But all of that takes maintenance. Surprisingly a lot less maintenance that one would think. A while back a stumbled upon the Fly Lady. Weird name but suprisingly effective website. She taught me the 15 minute rule.

Set a timer for 15 minutes. Do as much as you can in those 15 minutes. When the timer goes off stop and regroup. Sometimes that means setting a new timer and going on. Other times that means taking a short break to reward yourself.  There are 1440 minutes in one day. Using 15 of those is 1/96 of your day. I think I can give 1/96 of my day to create a better haven in my home. What about you? What can you accomplish?