I make all my own baby food

I make all my own baby food. Wait, did you read that right? Surely not--there's no way she could work full time, have 2 kids, and make all her own baby food. Who is this girl--superwoman??

Actually...........NO. I'm just that cheap, folks.

Making you own baby food is really not that hard, time consuming, or messy. And the savings, both in your wallet, and on the environment are significant. That's right, folks, I'm a closet environmentalist. Yeah, I use disposable diapers, but I try to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as I possibly can. More on that later, maybe.

I actually have no idea about the nutritional aspect of making your own baby food--I mean, I know what's in the fruits & veggies I'm feeding my babies, obviously, but I've never taken the time to figure out how it compares to the stuff in jars. I will say this, though, I was given a jar and I noticed that it doesn't expire until November...of 2011. What could possibly be in there that would keep it from expiring until my daughter was 2 1/2 years old???? I really recommend Jessica Seinfeld's (yup, THAT Seinfeld) book "Deceptively Delicious." It has tons of great recipes, and breaks down all the nutritional information for fruits and vegetables into kid-friendly portions.

Before we get started on the recipes and HOW I actually do this, you need to start with all the right equipment. I was fortunate in that I already had everything I needed to start making my own baby food except for the little "jars" I use. This post is getting kind of long, so I've decided to break it up into several posts. Sooooooooooo........... coming over the next couple of weeks you'll find the following posts:

In my next post, you'll find out all about the equipment I use to make my own baby food.

We'll get started with bananas and some "recipes" I use in the post after that.

How do I do it all? You'll find out!

Stretching Formula

I talked about the type of formula we use here. My doctor recommends the Enfamil Lipil, and we get the generic kind. In today's economy, many people are trying to make their money go further than ever, and are pinching pennies until they scream. Here's what we do to help take that already-a-whole-lot-cheaper-formula go even further.

As many pregnant women know, baby samples are fairly easy to come by. You get them by registering (I know we got a ton when we registered at Babies 'R Us), you can get them from your doctor, and you can get them by checking out sites like www.freebies4mom.com and www.moneysavingmom.com. A good friend told me that as long as you don't mix soy formula with milk-based formula, you can mix in a little bit of a sample with your baby's formula. She suggested a 1 part sample to 2 parts of your baby's regular formula.

I usually use her formula down about 1/3 of the way, dump in the sample (make sure you take out the measuring spoon first!), and shake. This does a decent job of mixing the formula and my babies have never had any problems with it. It doesn't help a lot, but it helps a little, and I've found that doing lots of little things can help a lot.

Tip on Tuesday

No one likes trimming a baby's fingernails and toenails. They're teeny, they're tiny, they're wiggly, and oh-my-gosh-if-I-cut-his-perfect-little-skin-I'll-just-die. It happens. We've all been there. Here's how to avoid it:

Those are regular "nail scissors" and no, girls, you can't buy them in the baby department. They don't come with duckies on them and they won't match your baby's little brush and comb set. I don't actually know what they're used for in the big-girl world, come to think of it.

I try to wait until my baby's sleeping to trim her nails. I take her tiny fingers and trim the little nails of using the scissors. I cut cleanly from the one side of the finger to the other. The little nails are so thin and paper-like that they cut easily. You can see that, by using this technique, it would be next to impossible to cut your baby's skin. Don't even think about trying it with regular scissors--the rounded edge is what keeps your baby's fingers safe.

Happy trimming!

Have a mommy tip to share?? There are 2 ways to share:
1) Post a comment on this blog.
2) Write a "Tip for Tuesday" on your blog and post a link here.

Back in the Saddle

Okay, so it's been a few months. Almost 2, to be exact. What happened? Well...

I started back to school. Going back to work after being off for 5 months was quite and adjustment for our family. In addition to my little 5 month sabbatical, we're now a family of four. Right after Bailey was born, we were still pretty much a family of three--we were "baby owners" as we like to say. But at 6 months of age, Bailey is now a full-blown member of our family, and a force to be reckoned with.

We like to say, "Jack made us parents, Bailey made us a family."

Bailey has turned into a sweet, smiley, pre-toddler (she's way to big to be a "baby," just ask her). We're crazy about this little girl, although we'd love to feed her "stay little juice" every once in a while. She was rolling all over the place by 3 months, crawling at 4, and now, at just past 6, she's starting to pull up on things. Our lives are officially over :)

Jack has kind of plateaued as far as milestones go--he can sing almost any little song, has all his teeth, can count to 10, knows his shapes, has no interest in his colors, sing the ABC's, and carry his plate to the dishwasher all by his little self. He continues to be a joy and a challenge each day.

Jack & Bailey continue to be BFF, getting more adorable by the minute. They are starting to really "play" together, each thinking that the other is pretty fantastic. My living room is lost cause--we can't pick up toys as fast as they can get them out. And Bailey has developed a taste for magazines.

Now that I'm teaching full time in addition to being a wife, mother, and house keeper, this blog is going on the backburner for a while--at least it's getting back on the stove, though, right?? My current goal is to write at least two posts each week--one "Tips on Tuesday" and one bottle/feeding related post. We'll see how this goes, but I'll need you to keep me accountable :)

So, welcome back to Bottle Feeding, I took a little break, but I'm back & I'm better than ever :)