Adventures into Baby Food : Fruits

We have finished all the veggies and are moving onto fruits! I'm loving making food for Jack and this time my mom got to join in on the fun since they were in town :)

Things you will need:

1. Cutting board
2. Large Knife
3. Peeler
4. Pots
5. Produce (apples, plums, peaches, pears, beets, squash)
6. Blender (or any mixing device like a food processor or stick blender)
7. Spoon and Fork
8. Containers to cool food in before using the trays
9. Freezer trays

Step by Step How-To:

Apples:

1. Peel and cut the apples into chunks.
2. Put all the chunks in a pot and cover with water.
3. Boil the water until the chunks are soft and tender. You can check this with a fork.
   
4. When they are ready put them in the blender and puree. 
   
5. Remember - NEVER EVER add seasonings to your purees. I love me some cinnamon on apples but until your little one has tried and passed each food never add anything to them, that way you know exactly what caused any potential allergic reactions.
6. Then pour the puree into a dish to cool. Don't add hot puree to your freezer trays, they might warp or break. All the dishes I used to cool my purees are microwave safe and thus safe for hot items.
7. Once they are all cooled fill up your trays. Remember DON'T combine any purees into the same cube. You want a single fruit in each cube.
   

Pears:

1. Peel and cut the pears into chunks.
2. Put all the chunks into a steamer. I have a steaming basket for one of our pots but you could also use an actual steaming appliance.
3. Once the chunks are soft and tender put them in the blender and puree.
4. Then put the puree into a dish to cool.
5. Once it's cool fill up the freezer trays.

Peaches:

1. Peel and cut the peaches into chunks.
2. These can go straight into the blender and pureed. They don't need to be cooked unless you want to boil them to get the peel off but that just seemed like over kill to me.
3. Because they weren't cooked they don't need to cool so they can straight into the freezer tray.

Plums:

1. Peel and cut the plums into chunks.
2. These can go straight into the blender and pureed. They don't need to be cooked unless you want to boil them to get the peel off but that just seemed like over kill to me.
3. Because they weren't cooked they don't need to cool so they can straight into the freezer tray.

Beets:

I know what you're thinking; these aren't fruits but I wanted another veggie for him to try so here we are.

1. Peel and cut the beets into chunks. Also cut off and throw away the top greens you only want the bulbs at the ends like radishes.
2. Put all the chunks into a put and cover with water.
3. Boil until the chunks are tender.
4. Once they are soft place all the chunks into the blender and puree.
5. Then put the puree into a dish to cool.
6. Once it's cool fill up the freezer trays.

Squash: 

Also not a fruit but Jack's favorite so it's nice to have on-hand. I did it a little different then last time and it worked out so much better.

1. Peel the squash. This isn't as easy as it sounds because the rind is very thick. Keep peeling until it turns a brighter orange color, the light tan color is still rind. That part isn't edible so make sure to get it all off.
2. 
3. Scoop out the seed section like a pumpkin and cut the squash into chunks.
4. Put all the chunks into a pot and cover with water.
5. Boil until the chunks are soft and tender.
6. Once they are soft place all the chunks into the blender and puree.
7. Then put the puree into a dish to cool.
8. Once it's cool fill up the freezer trays.

I boiled and steamed mine all at the same time which was pretty nice. The apples were done first, then the pears, then the squash, then the beets.

How much does this all yield?

-Apples : 3 = 14 oz
-Pears : 3 = 12 oz
-Peaches: 3 = 20 oz
-Plums : 8 = 15 oz

-Beets : 3 = 13 oz
-Squash :1 = 20 oz

And this whole process still only took 2 hours. So I highly recommend it to everyone.

How much did this save?

Apples = $2.11
Pears = $0.60
Peaches =$6.85
Plums = $4.13
Beets = $1.99
Squash = $2.27

That's a total of $17.95. Since it yielded 94 oz then it's $0.19 an oz!! The store averages around $0.40 an oz so that's over a 50% savings! Or a savings of $19.65!!

This experiment has worked out so well for us and I hope it helps you save some money too. Because let's be honest you can always spend that extra money on baby toys ;).

I wish you all the best of luck in your baby food adventures.

Blog's 1 Year Anniversary!

Happy Paper Anniversary!!

One year (and a few days) ago I started this humble little blog. I wanted to document my pregnancy for out of town family and friends and have something for my growing family to look back on. I never thought it would be what it is today.

I now have readers all over the world and a wonderful mommy blog community. I want to thank all my devoted readers for following this crazy journey and for not judging my new "mommyhood" too harshly, well at least not out loud :).

I've really enjoyed writing for all of you and I thank you for reading every intense, crazy, weird, embarrassing, but especially nerdy moment.

Happy Anniversary! I appreciate each and every one of you.

Now let's ring in the new (blog) year!

5 Month Must Haves

#1 Jumparoo - This is amazing! I spent what felt like hours picking out the right one. I even put them all on the ground at the store and let Jack play in them for a little while to see what tickled his fancy. This is the one we ended up with. Of course it was the most expensive, but anything for kids right ;).

#2 Rattle Ball - This was a splurge buy. I figured since we were already at the store I might as well see if there were any sitting toys that were on sale. This was $10 at Babies-R-Us and Jack has fallen in deep love with it. He giggles at the rattle noise, chews on the dangly pieces, and tosses it around. The best $10 ever spent.

#3 Touch Books - Jack loves touching everything but especially turning the pages of a book. I sit with him in my lap and read to him over and over. He reaches out and turns every page. I try to stay away from regular books since those pages are likely to give him paper cuts so I hunted down some board books and ones that have soft things to touch and eat. The ABC one is our favorite since it's a long enough "story" and the pages are big and the pictures are bright colors.

#4 Freezer Trays - As you know I am making all of Jack's food. And these freezer trays are amazing! They have lids which is my favorite feature so I can stack them on top of each other and save much needed freezer space. They are also super easy to use. Just fill with puree and freeze, then when it's time to eat just run the back under hot water for a few seconds and the cube slides right out without defrosting the whole tray! I can't imagine making Jack's food with any other tray.

Jack's 6 Month's Update

*This is a little late but I wanted to wait until Jack's appointment today to fill out his stats.

 

Weight: 14.13 (7%)

Length: 26.5" (51%)

Loves: He still loves his bath time. He also loves his jumparoo and anything he can chew on. He has a growing fascination with my hair and facial features; though nothing beats him reaching out and giggling while he grabs my nose.

Hates: He hates being ignored, turn your back on him for a minute without distracting him with a toy first and good luck.

Milestones: He is a great sitter but he can't figure out how to lay back down or move once he's done. He has also officially decided that rolling over from belly to back isn't as bad as he originally thought. He has been an avid roller from back to belly but was hesitant to go the other way. But since Max and I have been very avid about letting him cry and always rolling him back over instead of picking him up he has learned to do it. Parenting win!

Sleep: He is a great sleeper! I usually put him down around 9 and he gets up around 6 and even 7 sometimes! We're spoiled now so he better not regress in anyway ;)

Eating: He has been eating veggies for a couple months now. We've tried peas, green beans, carrots, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes. He liked everything but the carrots and his favorite was the squash. It's so cute to see him try new things. We're going to move onto fruits and today we start a more breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedule!

Teething: Nothing yet but he chews on everything so we're keeping an eye out!

Jack's First Cabin Trip

Over the weekend the Thursday Crew, aka our nearest and dearest friends that we have dinner with every Thursday for the past 6 years, headed back up to the cabin! It has been exactly a year since our last visit. Last time I was only 10 weeks pregnant with Jack, and now he's almost 6 months old! Time flies when you're having fun :)

I took Friday off to pack up and get things ready, like I have done for all our trips haha, no surprise there. I basically packed exactly the same things I did for Jack when we went to Houston. Once we had everything packed we loaded up the car and headed out.

When we go on car rides with all of us including the dogs we usually put Jack in the middle and one dog on either side. Honey is a beast in the car, she pants super loud and throws drool everywhere. She also refuses to sit down and instead posts her legs against the seat back as if she's going to lunge out of the car at any moment. This results in her getting tangled in the seat belt we have her buckled into. Well about half way through the drive we hear Jack scream. We look back to find honey still buckled in but standing halfway over Jack, her nails digging into his legs. So I scramble into the back, try to unbuckle her so she can get off Jack and onto the other side of him with Gus. I finally get her unbuckle but now she's scared, so I have to push and wrangle into the opposite seat with Gus. Poor Gus just sat there staring at me as if to say "Why would you let her do this to me". So now two dogs are shoved into one seat, Jack in the middle, and me in the other trying to calm them all down. And Max is in the front alone. It must have been a scene for all those driving by :).

But about an hour later we made it up to the cabin and everyone was happy. We got everything unloaded and it was time to feed Jack. After his bottle I laid him on the rug to play and Max and I decided to wind down and read some books from the overstocked bookshelf. I can't even remember the last book I read so this was a real treat. And they even had one of my favorites, The Thorn Birds.

Later that night our friends trickled in and we just sat around enjoying the lack of internet, phones, tv's etc. and instead enjoyed each other's company and conversation. Oh and enjoyed playing with Jack too ;)

The next morning we all slept in, even Jack slept in an extra hour until 7, and then got up and had a nice big homemade breakfast. The boys then went off shooting and the girls stayed behind with Jack and the dogs. We decided to go for a short walk down the road, probably 2 miles in total. The dogs were great and Jack slept the whole way in the carrier.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing games. Because the girls got back first we sat outside on the patio and played various games while Jack rested in his bouncy chair. And when the boys came home they set up in the living room to play Risk. Each group could hear the other yell and scream and cuss as the games went on; it was pretty hysterical.

The rest of the night included dinner, more games, and of course libations. You could tell no one was going to feel good the next morning ;). Honey also tried to make up with Jack for the bumpy car ride. She laid down next to him and cuddled up while he played. She even let him grab and play with her ears and fur. Both of our dogs are so amazing with Jack and sometimes it even brings tears to my mommy eyes :). I don't know if Jack forgave her but I sure did.

We all woke up groggy and tired; except Jack. He woke up fussy and moody. Nothing seemed to calm him down. He guzzled his morning bottle and was still grumpy. I spent the rest of the morning dealing with him while everyone else tried to clear their hangover for the drive home. We had AMAZING pancakes (shout out to Sarah) and bacon for breakfast but Jack barely let us scarf them down before he was whinning again.  We got the whole cabin packed up and locked down and just as we were about to leave I decided to give Jack another bottle instead of pushing him through the drive. Sure enough he guzzled it down and then was perfectly happy. He was fussy all morning because he was hungry and now he's happy just as we are leaving :). Ah the joys of motherhood.

It's also tradition to make a diary entry, if you will, in the Cabin "log" book. Every trip you have to write a little something about your adventures. Since this was Jack's first time we  put him on my lap and I held the pen while he attempted to make a few scribbles. It was adorable. He is immortalized in the Cabin book forever :)

On the way home we decided to put Jack behind the passenger seat and let the dogs have the rest of the back seat in hopes that maybe Honey wouldn't freak out this time and try to jump/walk on Jack. This worked like a charm!! She stayed on her side and Jack on the other and then to top it off Jack slept the whole way home!

It was a great trip and can't wait for the next one in Spring when Jack is 1! WHAT?!