Making Baby Food

I get SOO many emails about how we make our own baby food, and I just wanted to go ahead and type this up for those of you who are interested!

I didn't make our baby food with Blakely Anne, so this was an ALL new experience for us! We never really decided "ahead of time" that we would make our own food, but when Miles was about one month old something came up in my News Feed about commercial baby food. Since the whole Infant Tylenol & Similac Formula ordeals over the past couple of years --- I'm always watching for things being recalled. ANYwho, It was just some information on baby food, how it is made, what it contains, and how it is distributed. The one thing that caught my attention... Baby Food has a shelf life of about 3 years. I don't know WHY, but I instantly imagined myself putting a banana in a jar and checking on it 3 years later. Disgusting.

It was THERE that I decided we would offer Miles the freshest food possible. Aside from the bug parts & other grossness involved in commercial foods, some of the nutrients are lost in the extreme heating process needed for canning. I want to give him all the nutrients that I can. Okay --- so where do you start?

If you are like me... you google EVERYTHING. Literally, Blake & I will be in the grocery googling how to prepare certain fruits & veggies that we have never heard of.

Here are the things that you NEED to know to be super successful:

1: START HERE: I came across a GREAT site that I refer to quite often, Wholesome Baby Food . It has menus by ages, how to prepare foods, what NOT to feed them, etc. I have it bookmarked. LOVE it.

2: We bought a Baby Bullet, though I'm sure that any food processor would be fine.

3: If you want to make a supply of up to 3 months at a time... you need A LOT of storage options. I have tried everything from super expensive plastics to dg ice cube trays...I first purchased extra kits that went along with the baby bullet. (These are okay) I think got silicone ice cube trays (also good, but only make like 12 ounces at a time). I then purchased the Munchkin Food Storage trays (sold at Walmart) hoping for more storage options. WRONG --- COMPLETE waste of plastic. NEVER ever ever buy these... they are the devil. If you hear me banging on the counters for an hour in the kitchen, It is probably because I am trying to get a single cube out. ANYWAY ---- the BEST, Easiest, and CHEAPEST way --- Regular old ice cube trays. Let them freeze, then pop them out easily into labeled freezer bags. Boom.

4: We also keep some foods fresh, or on hand. Microwaving a sweet potato or peeling a banana is super simple and wholesome! Bananas are easy to carry with you too! The only thing that we buy pre-packaged is Apple Sauce... it has to be the kind that says "Natural" and "UnSweetened". Those are easy to take too!

5: ALWAYS keep the water that you use in steaming the fruits/veggies. Any nutrients that seep out, you can restore back into the puree. We are NOT big fans of juices, and do not use any in our foods. ( & Our Doctor completely agrees with us!)

6. Puree Small Amounts at a time and ensure that you have NO clumps. (I have found that the longer you cook things, the less likely you will have clumps) But the clumps are a choking hazard. (After pureeing, I put them into a bowl to look for clumps and then into the ice trays.

7. Messiest/Grossest: Avocado is semi messy, but doesn't HAVE to be cooked. Pomegranate is super messy and requires lots of boiling. Plums are SO hard to remove skin/cook/cut, but one of Miles faves, so I suck it up.

8. Browning: Banana, Pear, & Avocado all brown. They say use a tad of lemon/lime juice to help prevent it. (By help --- they mean, it's still going to brown a tad. It's okay, the food is still just as good.) The freezing process browns it a little.

9. We did our own meats recently-- Ham, Chicken and Turkey. It is completely possible & I KNOW the ham is delicious. We couldn't stop eating it! It was SO good.

10: Squash: Bake the butternut or acorn squash whole in the oven instead of cutting it and steaming it! With that being said, we steam most everything! 

Miles Faves:
Avocado
Banana
Pear
Plum
Carrot
Green Beans
Peas
Sweet Potato
Apples
Ham

 We have paid less than $100 on Miles Homemade Baby Food for A WHOLE YEAR! Of course, we have bought commercial foods every now and then (Trips out of town, some at the grandparents houses, etc) But we have pretty much stuck with the homemade foods.

If I can think of anything, I will update more! I just wanted to put all of this info in one place :))


Xo,
Kayla

Lunches - Week 3: Letter B

Week 3

Blakely's lessons for the week focused on the letter B. They learned more about the nursery rhyme, "Little Boy Blue", and all about birds!

Little Boy Blue goes like this:
Little Boy Blue,
Come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow,
The cow's in the corn;
Where is that boy
Who looks after the sheep?
Under the haystack
Fast asleep


Our plan was to have a sheep, a haystack (of pretzels) and the horn on the cheese. Most of it happened... haha! She loved it! And this just happened to be her FAVE meal so far! So, we will be seeing a lot more celery in her box! OH! And I also never tell what she drinks, so I figured I would add that in today (I send two boxes of juice and water) I send the "Fruitables" juices. We LOVE them!

Turkey & Cheese with Mustard
Pretzels, Raisins, Apples, Celery, Babybel, Peanut Butter & Nutella for dipping., Fruitables

We put an owl in a tree for Day 2! She is pretty excited about the owl :)

Turkey & Cheese Sandwich
Cheese, Apple Fig Newton, Yogurt, Raisins, Apples, Pretzels, Celery, Peanut Butter/Nutella for Dipping.

This week also had a beautiful full moon!! Blakely & I decided to take a picture of it :) She used my cell, I used my 5D Mark II. Image was shot at 300mm f/8 1/100 ISO 800

:) 
XOXO-
Kayla

Week 2 - Letter A

Week 2 came and went! This week, Blakely's class learned about the letter A!

The events for her week were: Johnny Appleseed & Making Apple Sauce! They also had to bring something from home for show and tell that started with the letter "A"

We only did two lunches this week (It was my grandmother's birthday - so we took her out to dinner and got home too late for me to make something --- so we had a lunchable!) Blakely was HIGHLY upset when she got to school and had a lunchable instead of a "Sweet Treat" -- this is what she calls her shaped sandwiches now! I'm guessing she heard a teacher say it :)

 Going with the Johnny Appleseed Lesson - Blakely Had An apple shaped sandwich (Turkey and Cheese), A Babybel Cheese, cold rotisserie chicken chunks, Apple Slices, And mashed Sweet Potato, with Cinnamon, Marshmallow & Caramel Drizzle

On Show & Tell day, she had an alligator, who was in a broccoli swamp (With dipping ranch)! Goldfish, Strawberries, Grapes, and string cheese!

Blakely's Show & Tell item: An ALARM clock. Okay, actually it was just a battery powered Cinderella clock with an alarm on it.... but I couldn't get her to take the cool toys. So, ALARM clock. I told her to make sure to say ALARM. Because otherwise all the other 3 year olds would be like... ummmm... that starts with a C. :)

Day 3 and it's perfection :)

I found MUCH more success in Blakely's lunch yesterday! yay! Her teacher said she saw her eating the salad, and she gobbled the Reese Cup sandwich up (of course) And as far as I know ate her fruits, she also nibbled other things, but the best part: NO soggy-ness and everything was perfect for her to eat at lunch!

Instead of taking everything straight from the freezer, I let it "thaw" in the fridge over night, and then put it in her lunchbox with ice packs. It seemed to do perfectly, and the lettuce even looked good! Yay! :)

Now, let me just say: I made Blakely's peanut butter sandwiches and reese cup sandwiches ahead of time, and froze them. So, letting them thaw was something that had to be done. No, it's not hard to whip up a pb, but I break out EVERY time I touch peanut butter. So, I started making her sandwiches in advance, in bulk, and freezing them (I usually make enough to last about a month) --- that way, I only have to have an allergic reaction once monthly, instead of each time she wants a sandwich! It has worked perfectly for us!

Our final day of her first week back to school is here! We made it to school on time everyday (SHOCKING) and today is "Show & Tell" They are to bring a favorite toy and tell the class about it! Blakely takes her favorite toys everyday, so it was no big deal! haha!

Here is what she will have for lunch today:

I'm using the Goodbyn again today, Added a little bit of salad, with carrots. She LOVES the multi-grain Club crackers, so we had to have a couple of those! She is having String Cheese wrapped in corn tortilla & turkey breast. Grapes and raisins (her faves) and a couple fig newton!

The mustard touched the tortilla, so I don't know how that will work out!

Guess what! It is FRIDAYYYYYY! (Currently singing Rebecca Black's Friday song --- if you haven't heard it, google it, please. It's super cheesy)

Enjoy the weekend, we have a weekend of two weddings, and a pro fishing tournament in Mississippi!

Here is a classic that Blakely will have for snack!!:

Much love,
Kayla

Bento - Days 1 & 2

Well, I learned a few lessons about freezing foods & thawing foods this week! (Trial & Error, right?)
Read on to learn about soggy-ness and sandwiches.

For Blakely's first day, I went with a "Back To School" Theme... We had a "short" school bus, with Celery/Broccoli Trees & Grapes with Raisins.

Our Sandwich was good ole bologna & Cheese on Wheat with Oreos for wheels.

It was all fun and games until everything thawed and the sandwich soaked up the excess water... Fortunately I had several other foods packed for B. (Granola, Peanut Butter, and Fruit Snacks) So she was good!

So, what we learned is... Bread soaks up whatever. So, on Day 2, we are separating the sandwich from everything else. They are to bring a Family photo to school, so I talked with Blakely about how Jesus, our family, and our friends love us. (Goes back to her Awana lessons) So, I decided to do hearts (for love). Plus, what girl doesn't love little hearts?

B said she wanted salad, & Reese Cup sandwich (I'll explain in a second) We also are sending Strawberry's & Grapes. Of course, I have some back up foods since we are just starting to experiment with what she wants for lunch! She's got a granola bar, fruit snacks, yogurt and a couple of apple fig newton.

Reese Cup Sandwich: Nutella & Peanut Butter mixed on Wheat :) She eats 'em right up!

The Box We are using is the Goodbyn Bento On-The-Go, I picked it up at Target for around $9. I has two other stackable containers as well, I just didn't need them today! 

Much Love,
Kayla

Back To School | School Bus Cake & A little lesson

Tonight is the last night before Blakely goes back to school... She will be in Pre-K3 this year and has to go 3 days a week (I'm not a fan!) Anyway, she is starting a new school and has VERY mixed emotions about it. Today I said, "Are you ready to go to school tomorrow and make new friends?" Her answer... "But Mommy, I don't know how to make friends..." Pitiful, right? I just told her she would know when she got there, as long as she is nice! Anyway, to cheer her up --- I decided to go ahead and bake her a fun little cake!

The only bad part --- I was out of yellow food coloring. It must have been destiny, because when I ran to the store, there was a little old man in front of me in line. The cashier asked if he wanted to donate his change to their "literacy" fund. His reply, "Nah, I need some literacy myself, I can hardly read." That really struck something in me. The cashier told him to take some information, that the program could help him. He proceeded to tell part of his story, and it turns out... he is 70! I cannot imagine going through all of my life not knowing how to read some things. He had to quit school to help take care of the family (which seemed to be common then).

I am in awe that a man could go so long without knowing how to read the things around him. Reading is SUCH a gift, and one of my favorite things to do!! Could you imagine not being able to pick up a book and read? Or not being able to help your children with homework? We are SO fortunate to be able to read the things around us, get lost in a good book, and be able to do something that comes so natural to us! With that, I'm SO thankful for my education, and even more thankful that Blakely has the chance to go to Pre-K3 and learn her letters this year. It's the first step to reading --- and I REALLY hope she loves to read as much as I do!

Okay, on to the cake...

It was simple... I had the following things:

Yellow Cake Mix
White Icing
Black/Blue/Yellow/Orange Food Coloring
11x9 Baking Dish

Basically, once your cake is cooled, cut a square from the top left corner (and eat the square, duh). Then I used a drinking glass to cut out the "circles" for the wheels (give those cake parts to the hubby)!

You will only need a little blue & black icing, so separate those out into small bowls.
Add yellow dye, with a drop or two of orange ---- just to make that "school bus yellow" color!

I used a butter knife to frost the yellow & blue parts (You can totally tell haha) and added the black to a ziplock bag, cut a tiny triangle from the corner, and piped the icing on where I needed it!

I used some fudge stripe cookies for the wheels, and VIOLA!! School bus.  I think we will do this every year!

It's not the most beautiful thing, but it only took a few minutes, and she LOVED it!!!

 Well... turns out, Blakely does already know some letters... as I was writing the letters on the school bus cake, she read off "O" and "L" ... Big girl!!

 While I was piping on the letters... I hoped with all my heart that I didn't misspell "SCHOOL"!! hahaha!

 Mommy, Miles & Blakely --- last night of Summer!

 Well... I guess that's it! I have clothes laid out, babies bathed and asleep, and now it is my turn :)

Much Love,
Kayla

A little intro...

Hey hey hey!

Welcome to our little place on the web. I already have a professional blog (which I rarely I have time to update) So I doubt that I will be 'Johnny on the spot' with this one --- but I will try. My reasoning behind the new blog:

I love fast food as much as the next girl, but I don't want my children to become a statistic. Obesity rates are craaaazzyyyy and I would like to give them the best possible nutrition while I am the one picking for them.

Me, personally --- I'm a super finicky eater (to the point that I annoy myself), and after having Blakely Anne, my current food allergies decided to peak, while others decided to introduce themselves. I have always known that I was allergic to fish, I suspected beef (though I had not eaten it since I was about 3 --- the last time I ate it was "traumatic" enough for me to remember) --- and that is where I thought it stopped. I had eaten peanuts a couple of times as a teenager, but had always eaten peanut butter sandwiches. Let's fast forward to now: I can't TOUCH peanut butter or peanuts without breaking out. If I go out to eat, I have to be sure to tell them not to even let my chicken touch a grill that fish has been on. (Made that mistake before!) Anyway, I do have some challenges when picking food for my children, some I will not eat, some I cannot eat --- but I am DETERMINED to introduce them to as much variety as possible, I think I'm doing pretty well so far, considering that lately, my little 3 year old has began ordering SALAD when out to eat. ---- Unheard of, right?? Especially when myself nor Blake order salads! (I did try it during my last pregnancy though!)
Okay, on with it now...

I'm not a health freak. Fast food IS tasty and convenient --- and I can throw back 10 Chicken McNuggets with no regrets...  but REAL, healthy, unprocessed foods are just as tasty and often convenient --- sometimes all you need is a litttttttllllleeeeee bit of knowledge and some preparation!  SO... I'm creating this page to document our journey, what we learn, and how we will do it. Now, I'm not saying we are cutting out fast foods --- we are just going to be making more awesome lunches for our little girl for school ;)

Be sure to follow me and motivate me to post more haha!

Much Love,
Kayla