Make Your Own Baby Food - Save Tons of $$!

picklewart.blogspot.com


Awhile back I had posted on my Facebook wall about making homemade baby food. I actually had a lot of inquiries about this process.

First of all, I would just like to point out the financial benefits of making your own baby food. I bought organic carrots (full-size) for $.88 at Walmart. I have made it with the organic baby carrots ($1.94) but have since discovered they're not necessary. The full size are just as good, cook nicely, are just as organic, and cost less than half the price (no, I don't peel them, I just chop the ends off)! One bag of carrots made up a batch of 8 jars of baby food (this is based on the stage 2 size medium jars). If you buy jars of organic baby food, you'll pay approximately $.80 a jar (That's $6.40 for 8 jars of organic baby food) . Regular baby food can be bought for around $.56 a jar (That's still $4.48 for 8 jars of regular baby food!). In either case, when you do the math, by making organic, in this case carrot, baby food, you save $5.52!

Second, making baby food is simple, simple, SIMPLE. It's simply a process of first preparing the vegetable for cooking... removing peels (sweet potato), straining out thicker bits if preferred (post-pureed peas), cooking in a bit of water (I microwave but you could steam as well), and pureeing in your blender with a touch more water. It took me far longer to let the carrots cook on their own in the microwave than it did to prep them and puree them. EASY! Then, the last step is to store your baby food. I've heard of freezing it in ice cube trays, but I prefer to reuse baby food jars and freeze in the jar. (I have plenty of jars since I don't prepare ALL my baby food. You may find that some fruits are not cost effective...) Something you'll notice from the picture is my orange spoon... you might prepare yourself for some stained utensils when taking on the pureeing process. There's something about pureeing brightly colored foods that lets them stain things... I have a sacrificial spoon I use when doing this. Other than that, making your own organic or even regular baby food is a breeze and well worth the time!

Read more...

Winter Wonderland

picklewart.blogspot.com

Our 6 inches of snow out here sure did a number on the place... it's beautiful. The chickens pretty much held up in their house, but Courtney did go out and try to make some paths for them thru the white stuff... and Grace went to help, of course. There was a bit of sledding as well too.


Back inside where it was toasty warm, we had a rodeo with cowboy Garrett. Yeehaw! Ain't he a cute li'l feller?

And then there's Grace. She's also somethin' ain't she?

Read more...

Stuck Stuck Stuck in the Snow!

Well, just like I expected, we got stuck after church trying to climb back up our driveway in my little car. We made it part of the way, but just couldn't climb to the top of that daunting straight uphill driveway we have. We tried. We really did. We spent about 15 minutes trying with all our might! BUT, with the spirit of an Indy 500 pit crew, Courtney jumped out to meet the challenge. Any excuse to get the Jeep... especially when it involves showing up my poor little car. Well, it would be nice to have my own 4x4... :-)

Read more...

Garrett Had a Half Birthday!

picklewart.blogspot.com

Happy half-birthday to my boy! Yep, we celebrated with cake and everything! Grace even put all the candles on the cake.

He also had his baby dedication today. Pastors Justin Guffey and Brandon Tucker did the service, and they did a great job.

Garrett takes his 6 month accomplishments pretty seriously too. He jumped so hard in his jumperoo that he just sacked out right then and there. I think that with all the teething, we all may be ready for a nap now.

Read more...

The Friendship Project

Click here to view the Proverbs 31 Ministries blog post on The Friendship Project

My friend Lisa emailed the content of this to me, and it really hit a chord. So many of us yearn for these kinds of relationships but just can't seem to figure out how to cultivate them. We're busy... there's no doubt about that. We're working, struggling with ailing family members, trying to just keep up with taking care of our own. We're tripping over our little ankle biters, juggling nursing schedules, rushing around to keep up with housework. We have homes, farms, a chore list a mile long, projects, crafts and hobbies that we love (and need) to have in our lives. We serve in multiple ministries at our church. All good and necessary things that I don't believe any one of us would be quick to rid ourselves of. Lets face it, we (um, that would be I ) sometimes feel like we're just barely getting by as it is and can't imagine adding more to the load. But nowhere in there are we building a support system for ourselves or others. Not only does it take a village to raise kids, it takes a village to get one another through hardships, through tests and other trials, and yes, to be there to praise God with one another - in good times and bad.
~And it takes the knitting together of our hearts to make it more than just another duty to do it for one another.

Here's a hit-home excerpt from this Proverbs 31 Ministries blog post:
"I am realizing that women of all walks of life crave friendships. And yet so many of us feel that we are lacking meaningful, authentic relationships. How is it that a church full of women with a common thread of faith are not friends? Worse yet, if we aren't friends, can we hope to offer authentic relationships to those who enter the doors of our churches every week?"

The timing of Lisa's email to me was uncanny to say the least. Many would call it coincidence. I call it God's perfect timing.
Thank you Lisa.

Read more...