B is for Babyfood

Well, at baby boy's check up the doctor gave us the thumbs up for starting baby food!

What was that you said, good doctor?!?

Real food?!?

Does the good doctor realize this is just a new born baby?

He cannot possibly be old enough to start real food! I mean he is only....uh oh! He is 5 months old! He is old enough to start eating real food!!

Where is the time going? At this rate I will be begging Daddy-o for another baby by the end of the year!
Shh...don't tell him!!

But that does bring up another chore that mommy gets to tackle. We don't "do" store bought baby food. I know it would make my life a ton easier to just purchase it. However, we are on a budget and it tickles me to save that money. So the savings are well worth my time.

We (by 'we' I mean me) decided to introduce foods on a weekly basis. I also chose to introduce new foods on Tuesdays. That gives me a chance to make new foods on Mondays.

First up, sweet potatoes!!

This is by far one of the easiest foods to prepare.

Wash and place your sweet potatoes on a tin foil lined pan.

It is as simple as roasting your sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for 45 minutes (sometimes they take up to an hour). The potatoes should be tender to touch. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel and dispose of the skins. You can either mash the flesh with a potato masher or throw them in the stand mixer with the whisk attached. The stand mixer does an awesome job getting the job done. I wish I would have thought about this when I was making food for the girls! That is it! The sweet potatoes are made!! Easy Peasy!!

He LOVES sweet potatoes!!

Next up, peas!!

These are also super easy. You can use fresh or frozen peas. I used frozen. Place the peas in a steam bag or a steamer. Follow the direction for the bag or steamer. Once the peas are steamed, begin mashing them through a fine strainer. This part is a little long and boring. But soon you will have nothing but skins left in your strainer. Throw the skins away and store the flesh. 

This will be really thick!! I freeze the food as is. Upon defrosting the food, add breast milk, formula, or water. Mix it well until you get the desired thickness. 

I wish I could tell you Baby Boy likes peas, as well! But he gags! haha

Maybe they will grow on him!?!

Oatmeal Cereal
Sassy Sue loved oatmeal cereal! So I thought, why not try it with Baby Boy? That is when I found that yucky word: "wheat gluten"!!
::Gasps::
So that is where her first gluten came from!! :( I did not know I was poisoning her at such a young age!

As many of you know, Sassy Sue has Celiac Disease. Celiac is a genetic disease, which means she got it from either me or Daddy-o. Knowing that piece of valuable information makes us look at feeding this little guy a little differently. We will not introduce wheat or gluten into his diet until we are able to determine if it effects him.

I thought we would just skip oatmeal altogether! But she can have gluten free oatmeal, so I decided to make my own. And boy was it easy (and gluten free)! :)

1. You simply put the rolled oats (not instant) into the blender and grind into a powder.
2. Sift to remove any large pieces.
3. Cook 1/2 cup of ground oatmeal with 2 cups boiling water for 10 minutes.
4. Cool.
5. Mix with your fruit of choice.
6. Serve or freeze.
    The End!

Now how easy was that?? AND!! It tastes great!!

Storage

There are many ways you can store your baby food. I like simple! So the old fashioned ice cube tray comes to play. Simply, scoop the food into the tray and freeze. Once it is frozen, remove the cubes and place them in an airtight container. Make sure you label your containers and date them!! They all starts to look the same when you get into other foods and you don't want them to be eating old food. One ice cube is enough to feed Baby Boy one meal if it is mixed with breast milk. I simply grab a cube out of the container, defrost, mix it with milk, and he is ready to go.

Benefits

Like I already said, the first benefit is the price. The second benefit is the health. I know exactly what I am putting into his food. There is never a question about freshness or taste. Which brings me to number three: a good eater. Homemade baby food tastes worlds better than store bought food! I would actually eat this stuff!!

Stay tuned for more baby food posts. I will be working on carrots, blueberries, pears, and many more in the next few weeks!!

With Love,
Kenan

A is for Chunky Apple Chicken Salad

Here in Grangerville we eat A LOT of apples! There are some times of the year that we will go through 4 bags of apples in a week! Did you catch that?? 4 bags!!

We do everything from muffins to chicken salad. Chicken salad is one of my all time favorite things to make, especially in the summer! 

Here in the south it has been hot and muggy. We have had crazy thunder storms every afternoon for well over a week. And a few weeks ago, it rained for about 10 days straight! ::gags:: And when it gets hot, I do not want to cook, nor do I want to eat! So we snack! And I usually have a container of chicken salad hanging out in the fridge. 

This is a super easy salad! Think of it in twos.

2 cooked chicken breasts shredded 

2 ribs of celery (finely chopped)

2 pink lady apples

1/4 cup finely chopped bread and butter pickles

1/2 - 1 cup mayonnaise (this varries on how juicy the apples are)

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1/8 teaspoon paprika

Mix the ingredients in a medium bowl. Chill for at least 1 hour prior to serving. Enjoy!!

I serve this with Glutino Crackers. But you could use your favorite cracker or pita chip! And every chicken salad needs a side of fruit.

I hope you guys enjoy this super easy and tasty lunch!!

Much Love,

Kenan

I'm back with TWO announcements

Well! I'm baaack!!

I have been on a wonderful little blogging vacation to drink in the joys of motherhood. Our sweet baby boy arrived in late January!! He is such a little blessing. I cannot explain the love and joy he has brought into our lives.

This baby has been a balm to my heart. I cannot wait to share our precious gift with you all!

 He is such a sweet baby and his sisters are absolutely in love!! But more on that later!

I am here today to announce a weekly blog hop with some friends. The girls and I will be going through the alphabet a letter at a time. I am so very excited about this blog hop. I am pumped to be getting back in the swing of things. I am pumped that you guys are going to get to experience the ends and outs of our crazy lives. Get ready for honesty. Get ready for recipes. Get ready for chaos! :)

Much Love,
Kenan

Until We All Come Home...first book review

I have read some great books in my life. But recently, I won a book from another mommy blogger at Organized SAHM. Thanks, Tara!!

This book came with great reviews so I was SUPER excited about picking it up. But it did come with a warning! The warning was very simple, "You won't be able to put it down!"

Boy, was she right!

Until We All Come Home by Kim de Blecourt was an adoption story like I have NEVER read!

Admittedly, I am not familiar with the in's and out's of the local adoption process and much less familiar with the process abroad. But, I did not expect to read about how twisted and corrupt the Ukranian foreign adoption process was.

Kim spent nearly a near in Ukraine solely devoted to bring HER son home. During much of this time she was without her husband in a male dominated land. The last few months of the process, Kim cared for her own daughter as well as the son she was adopting. It was then she found herself trapped (for nearly two weeks) in a small apartment with two young children who had an abundance of energy.

It seemed that God was saying "no" every time there was an easy path to be taken. However, Kim would cry out and He would answer every time!!

If you are looking for a wonderful page turner, I strongly recommend Until We All Come Home by Kim de Blecourt. You will not be disappointed!

Enjoying the Little Things

There are many reasons I love home schooling.

But now that I am being forced to have more down time, I have been able to enjoy the little things with the girls.

For example, today we were able to take a walk for the first time in a few weeks. :) We talked with the neighbors and totally enjoyed our 70 degree December morning!

But this afternoon, Libby (THE bulldog) was whining to go out, as soon as I sat down to rest. Trying to put her off a few more minutes, I rubbed her belly. This worked for a millisecond until she started routing around in the basket of blankets.

You will never guess what she found! A roll! Yup, a dinner roll!!

I guess, yesterday, when I wasn't feeling well a dinner roll (in a ziplock bag) ended up in the basket of blankets.

Libby quickly ran out the back door to bury the roll. And the girls were on the chase.

It is great to be able to enjoy the little things with these crazy kids (and bulldog) of mine!

(This was taken at Easter, but it shows exactly how much the girls love Libby. They HAD to include her in the egg hunt. I think they may have been cheating a bit!!) 

Easy Beef Stew!

When the cold weather comes to town, I want to hibernate and eat warm food! One of my favorites is Stew Beef. However, every recipe I have ever made contains some type of flour. Well, that is all well and good, but foods thickened with gluten free flour doesn't reheat well! So I tried something new. I came up with this recipe out of sheer desire to eat comfort food!! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Oh, and by the way, this was Daddy and kid approved!!

Here are the stars of the show. Yep! That is it! The only thing I added that isn't pictured is salt and pepper. If I were to add anything else, it would be mushrooms. But we were out! Oh well!

Start by getting about a tablespoon of olive oil hot. Next add your finely chopped onions. You will notice all the vegetables are cut pretty small. You don't have to do this at all. My little ones will only eat them if they are cut up small.

Brown the onions well before adding the beef. Brown the beef well, but it does NOT have to be fully cooked. It is actually better if it rare!

Once you have the beef cooked add enough water to cover the beef. Stir in the carrots and celery.

And not for the GREAT part. Bring it to a boil, turn it down, and walk away!! Let it go until the vegetables are tender and/or you are ready to eat! I usually serve this with rice, but potatoes would be great as well. Or if you want throw the potatoes in the pot!! Enjoy!!

Gluten Free on the Cheap!!

Charlotte has officially been gluten free for two years! It doesn't seem like it has been that long. Many times, I feel like we just began this journey! A gluten free diet has been WONDERFUL for our baby girl!! She is a totally different person. When she does get gluten, watch out world!! She is a bear! She is a three year old force to be reckoned with!! Needless to say, we try to insure she NEVER gets it!!

Gluten free can be expensive!! In the summer, it isn't bad at all! We eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. In fact our house looks like the corner market in the summer. The fall and winter in a totally different story!! And Charlotte is beginning to notice that her food is different! 

We attend a Classical Conversations meeting every Tuesday and we eat lunch together as a group. No big deal normally, but it obvious that her food looks different. So we make a lot of homemade "lunchables"!  But, Charlotte's crackers cost $5.32 a box! There are 3 (or so) lunch portions in a box. And she LOVES these crackers. She would eat them for any meal! We make her stick to snacks and occasionally for lunch. We also pack her snack for every outing, including church and play dates!

We have been spending $6.50 on bread, $8.32 on pretzels, $5.32 on regular crackers, $5.32 on garlic bagel chips, and about $5.00 on cookies per WEEK (some weeks we don't buy the pretzels)!! ON ONE CHILD! Needless to say, I am always looking for a cheaper price! Occasionally, you can find them on sale, but a sale is rare! 

So a few weeks ago, I found this website. I know I am behind on the times, but I really don't order a lot of things online. Maybe it is the fear that the delivery man will be eaten by the dog! She has never eaten anyone, but I am pretty sure she has caused the occasional change of undergarments! 

Whatever the reason, I overcame my fear last Friday. I placed an order with Vitacost! I received my order today! That is right, the order was placed on Friday and received on Monday!! 

**Vitacost is a company that carries pretty much anything health food (not just gluten free stuff)!**

Check out the comparison!! 

Grocery Store		Vitacost
Pretzels Crackers Bagel Chips Cookies	$8.32  $5.32 $5.32 $5.50	Pretzels Crackers Bagel Chips Cookies	$5.29 $3.79 $4.94 $4.79

I ordered multiple boxes of everything and 4 new things to try. It ended up costing $65.22! That is nearly $70 in savings! I also received an emailed coupon for 10% off my next purchase. I am pretty sure we have enough GF food to last Charlotte about 2 months!! The only "necessity" I will need to buy is bread. I am one happy mommy!! 

Now I have been planning on writing this post as long as I was satisfied with the company, but when I picked up my invoice it had a beautiful little treasure on the top of it! They have a refer a friend program!! That is right, by me referring you I get $10 AND you get $10!! How awesome is that?!? Just use the link attached and we will both receive our little gift. I hope you guys are as satisfied as we have been. https://www.vitacostrewards.com/eMuYNTv