Turkey, Potato, Carrot Baby Food

I really enjoy making baby food. There is just something that makes my heart swell with joy knowing that I am making yummy, healthy food for my little baby. 

But my first little Bug moved on to table food when he was 7 1/2 months old!  Way too soon for me and I had a whole freezer full of food! :(

So when Sunshine arrived on the scene, I really wanted him to like baby food better than Bug did!  I decided to make yummy, well seasoned, and interesting baby food so he would stick with it longer! And it did work, Sunshine ate baby food until about 8 1/2 months!  Not, much longer, but I'll take it! ;)

Here is one of Sunshine's favorite recipes I made...

Turkey, Potato, Carrot Baby Food
I had just made a turkey, so I made some into baby food.  This is just what I did. I'm sure you can do this many different ways and it will still taste great!

1/4 pound cooked turkey - I used mostly dark meat so it was juicy
3 potatoes
4 carrots
Onions from the turkey
Enough turkey broth to cook in

Boil and carrots and potatoes and onion in the turkey broth.  I added a little water to it also, but it was mostly broth.

Once the potatoes and carrots are soft, add in the turkey meat and let it simmer for about five minutes.

Then dump it in the food processor or blender and add the water/broth to make it the desired consistency.

Once blended, spoon it into ice cube trays to freeze. Once they are frozen, crack them out of they trays and put into freezer Zip-lock bags and label!

When your baby is ready to enjoy, just take out a cube or two and warm them up!  I just know your baby will love it! :)

Homemade Cream of Chicken

So I have a confession to make... I LOVE CREAM OF CHICKEN!!!

But lately cream of chicken has not been loving me.  Recently, I  have been trying harder and harder to get my home free of heavily processed foods.  So, my body was not used to all the processed junk in cream of chicken, and every time I ate it, I felt awful! 

But getting rid of processed foods is not an easy task!  Processed foods are every where.  And at times it can seem REALLY DAUNTING to get rid of all the processed foods, especially a staple like cream of chicken. :)  

What I decided to do was to take baby steps to making my menus more natural.  The first thing I did was to really look at labels for High Fructose Corn Syrup and eliminate it wherever I could.  Most thing I could find a different brand with no HFCS.  But somethings there is just no alternative... syrup being one of them.  And I am not ready to switch to real maple syrup because I have heard it doesn't taste like "syrup", as ironic as that is!! ;)

The second thing I wanted to cut out was cream of chickens soup.  Have you ever looked at a label of cream of chicken?!  You can hardly pronounce the ingredients, let alone know what they are!  I decided I was going to learn how to make my own cream of chicken.  I searched Pinterest high and low to find a recipe that I liked and sounded good.  But I had no clue where to start.  I was also really looking for simplicity so it wouldn't be too much more work than just opening up a can of cream of chicken.

Looking at recipes and doubting my abilities to make a copy cat type recipe left me going for months without some of my favorite recipes.  And then one day I ran across this recipe, and let me tell you, it is GOOD!  It doesn't taste just like cream of chicken, because it is natural, but I honestly think it tastes even better than cream of chicken. 

I got the original recipe from this website, but I have made a few tweaks to the original recipe and I will explain my recipe below.

Homemade Cream of Chicken

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups milk, divided

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp parsley flakes

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1.  Bring the broth and 1/2 cup milk to a low boil.  (Just a side note, that I do not use chicken broth. I use 2 1/2 cups water and about a tablespoon of chicken broth flavor/bouillon.)

2.  Whisk all the spices and flour together with the remaining 1 cup milk. (Another side note, I have found that using whole milk makes this much thicker.  2% milk is OK, but I wouldn't go any lower than that!)

3.  Once the liquid is at a low boil, slowly whisk in the flour and milk mixture. 

4.  Continue to simmer and whisk for 5 to 10 minutes.  As the sauce cools, it will thicken.  

This will make the equivalent of about 2 cans.  Once you have this base made, just treat it like you would in any recipe you usually use cream of chicken in.  

One thing I have done to make this recipe easier is I make up about 10 packets of the flour and spice mix at a time. 

This way, I just grab one out of the cupboard and get my liquids boiling.  It really is a fast process and the more you do it, the faster it seems to go!  And it is SO much better for you than the processed stuff from the can!

I hope you and your family enjoy! :)

Lavender Rice Indoor Play

My Bug is an active toddler!  One of his favorite things to do is run through the house shouting, "Run! Run! Run!"  This can make things a little crazy, especially when he is so loud he wakes up Baby Sunshine!  

And because of Baby Sunshine, we can't go outside as much as Bug would like to.  So I was searching Pinterest for fun inside activities and I came across the idea of playing with rice.  

All you need is some rice and a few buckets/containers.  I put everything into an under the bed plastic storage tub that I had laying around and it does help to contain the mess! :)

But, on  the plus side, I have swept my kitchen floor more this past week than I have in the five months we have lived in this house! ;)  

And honestly, it really isn't as bad as you would think it is to clean up!  It sweeps up super fast!  Especially if you have an awesome helper like I do! 

I also added a couple drops of lavender essential oil to the rice to add the calming effects to the play.  I have been bringing out the rice to play with when Bug just needs a little break because he is getting too hyper!  And the calming lavender really seems to help him relax and refocus!  

He is just so cute!  And he's having so much fun! 

Helping my kid to be a kid and just play... That's my goal these days!  

Cassandra :)

Fabric Bins

I have a hard time spending money on things for myself.  Especially if I'm spending money on something to make my life easier, more organized, or making a space prettier.  So I am always thinking of ways I can make the things that I want to buy in the stores. 

One of my favorite things to make are fabric covered storage bins.  I think that bins are so expensive for what you are actually getting.  In fact, that's what I asked for this last Christmas... BINS!  I was really wanting them for a walk in closet/pantry we have at our house, but I wasn't wanting to spend the money on them, so I asked for them for Christmas.  Not your usual Christmas present, but I loved it! :)

Anyways... I have found a really simple way to get cheap and good looking storage!  All you need is a sturdy box and about a 1/3 to 1/2 yard of any kind of fabric and a hot glue gun.  

I find that diaper boxes work great!  Also boxes from Sam's Club or Costco that the bulk food stuff comes in, like granola bars, canned fruit, etc.  Since I couldn't handle the smell of cloth diapers while I was pregnant, I have quite a few diaper boxes and I can't throw them away because they are sturdy and a perfect size to make homemade bins from!

Basically all you do is wrap the fabric around the box, hot glue it to stay, and wrap up the corners like a present.  These boxes probably wouldn't be good for toy storage or storage boxes that are filled with heavy things, unless your boxes are super strong and sturdy.

I mostly use them for cloth diaper storage, extra boxed food (noodles, rice, pasta, etc) storage, and tupperwear lids and container storage.

First, cut your fabric to fit your bin, then hot glue down one side.  I have made some before where I put the fabric all the way to the bottom of the box. It just depends on how pretty you want the inside of the box to look!

Then do the same thing to the other side.

Cut a piece of fabric to fit the side of the box.  Next, flip out the corner pieces so you can insert the side panel. 

Glue the side panel in, making sure to glue it inside the box also.

Then glue the flaps down, on top of the side panel.  Almost like wrapping a present.  If you want the sides to be neat and clean, fold the edge over so no cut edges are showing. 

This is what the finished side panel should look like. 

And there you have your finished storage box! Like I said above, it might not be the fanciest storage box, but it looks a lot nicer sitting on a shelf than a diaper box!  And they are super fast and easy to make!

Hope you enjoy your cheap and easy storage solutions!

Cassandra :)

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Bake Recipe

My Bug does not like meat... any meat.  It is really hard to get him to eat meat.  The best way to "trick" him into eating meat is to mix it in with other stuff... like a hotdish or in a sauce or something like that.  

Tonight for dinner I was going to make chicken, alfredo, and broccoli.  Everything was going to be cooked separate and then put together on the plate to eat.  I knew that he would only eat the noodles and alfredo sauce, and maybe the broccoli if I mixed it in.  But he would not eat any of the meat.  So I had an idea to make it into a hotdish. (casserole for all you non-North Dakotans! :) )

And it actually is really yummy and I was able to get Bug to eat the meat (chicken).

Here's the recipe:

1 pound noodles, cooked - I used bowtie for fun

1 1/2 cups chicken pieces or cubes, cooked

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 jars of alfredo sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix it all up in a 9x13 pan and bake with foil for 30 minutes at 350*.

Take off the foil and bake for another 10.

And enjoy!  

This was super simple and way easy to make!  And the fact that it is more kid friendly is a HUGE bonus too!

Cassandra :)

  

Yeast Diaper Rash and How to Treat it Naturally

My little Sunshine has a yeast diaper rash!  It is no fun to be a mommy and see your little one have something wrong! :(

I generally use cloth diapers, but I was having gall bladder surgery, and thought it would just be easier to use disposables during the surgery time when the kiddos would be taken care of by family, and then also once we got back home and I was recovering.  I decided to use up some cheap off brand (Up & Up) diapers I had gotten as a gift when Bug was a baby because I was tired of having them around the house.  My Sunshine's bum was getting red so I put some diaper rash cream on it, but it seemed to be getting worse, not better.  Then, it was kind of looking like dry skin, so I put some healing lotion on it.  That wasn't helping.  I went back to cloth, which made it stop getting worse, but it wasn't helping it get better.  I tried coconut oil and tea tree oil... guess what, not working!  I was at a loss!  I had Sunshine's 2 month check up a few days after I felt like I had tried all my options, so I waited to see what the doctor had to say until then.  

So I go to the doctor and talk about everything I had tried to heal the rash. Then he opens up Sunshine's diaper and immediately said, that's a yeast infection!  He asked me some questions and we figured it was just a diaper rash that got infected by yeast in his poo and turned into a yeast infection. 

The doctor gives me a prescription for Nystatin.  I go home, thinking this is going to just clear it all up and we can be done with this!  Well it wasn't working, and it still wasn't working, and you guessed it, not working still after using it for a week and a day.  Boy was I frustrated!  It was going on about three weeks total that Sunshine had had a diaper rash/yeast infection! The doctor said if it wasn't better in two weeks, to come back.  But I knew he would just give me another kind of cream and I didn't really want just another cream.  

So I turned to my friend the Internet to try to find some homemade and natural remedies.  And this is what I found...

This website is awesome!  But this recipe for yeast diaper rash cream is even more awesome!

I mixed up a double batch and started using it right away!  I have been using it for three days, and the yeast infection is starting to clear up!  I am sold on this!  I think the most important thing is that I got raw and unrefined coconut oil.  I'm not sure if you can just get that in the regular coconut oil area at a Wal-Mart type store, because when I bought my first jar of coconut oil, I was looking for refined so it wouldn't smell like coconut.  And since I had to go to the natural health shop for the grapefruit seed extract, I just picked some up there.  I also get my infant probiotics at a natural health food store.

Here is the recipe from the website that I linked above...

1 Tablespoon raw and unrefined coconut oil.

1/2 Teaspoon powder probiotics

About 20 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract 

2-3 drops essential oil - Lavender or Roman Chamomile 

Like I said, I doubled the recipe so I wouldn't have to mix it up again super fast.  I also did not add an essential oil.  I might have added lavender if my essential oils had come in the mail before I made this, but I am new to the essential oil world and after going back and forth on whether or not they are necessary, I finally ordered some!  

I have continued to give my Sunshine his daily dose of probiotics. I have just been way more intentional about it, because honestly, some days around here are crazy and I forget to give it to my kiddos! :(

I also have been using disposables while treating this infection.  Cloth holds moisture right next to the bum, which helps yeast to grow (they like it warm and moist!).  Disposables wick moisture away from the bum.  I have been using a sensitive type of diaper, and while I would rather be using cloth, I think this has also helped in the healing process.  

Another thing I have been doing is letting Sunshine's bum air out.  I was kind of freaked out about letting him go without a diaper, but once I tried it, it really wasn't that bad.  In fact, more times than not, he doesn't even pee!  I just put him on a towel and we do tummy time for a bit.  Then, when he gets tired of that, I hold him sitting up and he just sits there looking around the room.  After I air him out, I definitely see an improvement in the rash.  

One thing to remember, and not get too discouraged about, is night time.  Right now, my Sunshine is sleeping for about 4-5 hours at a time.  Which means a wet diaper is on him for that amount of time.  So in the morning, it is going to look worse than it did when you put the baby to bed.  But if you keep up with the cream, airing out time, and lots of diaper changes through out the day, it will help the nights from getting so bad!  

I hope this works for you like it did for us!  It really was a sanity saver for this worried momma who didn't know what else to do!  It it so reassuring to know that the infection is on the downswing and I am using products that are safe and natural for my baby!

Cassandra :)

An update - A day after I wrote this post, I got a super bad ear infection.  I had to start taking antibiotics, and antibiotics make yeast infections flare up.  So I called the doctor because Sunshine's bum wasn't getting any worse, but it wasn't getting better like it had been.  He told me to just get some Monistat cream from over the counter.  I have been using that and it is slowly getting better, but I know the antibiotics I am taking are making the healing process so much slower!  

I just wanted to say that because of this silly ear infection, I was not able to see if the cream I made above of coconut oil, etc. really did work to totally clear up the yeast rash.  

Cloth Diaper Wipes Spray

So it's been a while... again...

And without going into a lot of details, let's just say that my life has been a roller coaster of sickness (nauseous all pregnancy), moving, sickness (more nauseous all pregnancy), having a baby, taking care of a baby and 18 month old, getting used to being a farmer's wife, and then having gallbladder pain and then eventually surgery while still taking care of my two kiddos, life has been a little overwhelming at times!

But I have gotten back into cloth diapering.  I quit cloth diapering when my Bug was about 10 months old.  I felt awful putting the chemicals on his bum, but with how nauseous I was all pregnancy, I could not handle cleaning out poopy diapers and putting diapers that had been in the pail all day into the laundry.  The smell literally made me throw-up!  But now that that's all over, and my newborn had EXTREMELY bad diaper rash, I am back to using them again!

While I was on a cloth diapering hiatus, I have gotten a little more into the world of natural things and chemical free living.  I have started using Melaleuca products and it has made me more aware of all the junk we put in and on our bodies.

So when I made cloth diaper wipes spray, I used my chemical free products to make it.  With the exception on the Baby Oil, that was still Johnson and Johnson.  I also want to say that there is nothing wrong if you use Johnson and Johnson.  I thought more natural things were so expensive and not really worth it, but then I found the Melaleuca Company and got chemical free, natural products for cheaper than you can get in the store.  But don't beat yourself up if you do use the regular stuff!

Here is how I make my cloth wipes spray:

1 cup water (boiled to get bacteria, etc. out and make the water last longer if you are making a large batch)

1 TBSP Baby Oil with Vitamin E

1 TBSP Baby Soap

1 TBSP Baby Lotion (This can be left out)

6 Drops Tea-Tree Oil (Melaleuca Oil)

I usually make 4 to 6 cups at a time and keep it in a sealed container.  I fill a spray bottle with the solution and then spray the wipes as I need them.

I thought I had already written about this, but I couldn't find anything on it when I looked earlier, so I'm writing about it now!  But if it is somewhere else and you are reading about this again, sorry! :)

Also, for those of you on the fence about using cloth wipes because you might thing it is gross, just try it!  I thought the same thing and it was way more hassle using disposable wipes and cloth diapers.  And cloth wipes work so much better than disposable ones!  I just use some cut up pieces of fleece squares and they work AWESOME!!  Just try it, I know you will love them!

But I am so glad that life is getting back to "normal" and I have time and energy to blog again! 

Looking forward to chatting with you soon!

Cassandra :)