I have a fan

I officially have a fan. Avery, daughter of my friend Jodie, is a fan of my baby food. Now it isn't just myself and Evaline that think I'm awesome.

Tomorrow's project: sewing a cloth diaper. I've been looking at several patterns online the past week or so, and I've decided to give it a try. It's going to be a million degrees out again, so I may as well stay inside and sit by the sewing machine all day.

144 ounces for $21.56

This morning, I made 144 ounces of baby food for $21.56.  That is approximately 41 stage 2 tubs of food, which would cost approximately $25 around here. I made this for a friend (she's paying me in bows for this batch) because she wants to save money. Depending on what you make, you really don't save a whole lot of money. In this batch of food, I made two of the most expensive things that Evaline eats regularly: avocado and plums. They are crazy expensive. I'm wondering if my friend is going to want me to continue making food for her, or if she is going to decide that it is more convenient to buy the tubs.

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man! *toot toot*

So today I made spinach. This is going to sound really appealing, but it looks like something that should be coming out of miss baby's butt rather than going in her mouth. It was the easiest thing to make though. I bought 2 9oz bags, threw them in the steamer basket (2 baskets per bag) for about 5 minutes, then transferred them to the blender for 30 seconds or so, and it was done. Ended up with one tray of spinach, grand total $3. Now we'll just have to hope that she likes it. If not, it's getting hidden in her carrots, just like the peas.

On another subject, I have a serious problem with cloth diapers. I have a complete stash. Yeah, I could use a few more inserts for my pockets, but they aren't a necessity. I can't quit window shopping, or buying from gals posting on facebook, or checking craigslist. It's ridiculous. It doesn't help that I've decided I like aplix better than some of my snaps, because now I feel like I need to buy more aplix diapers. I only have 3, and she's going to outgrow them at some point because they are sized. *sigh* Such a rough life.

A busy day!

That right there is $9.46 worth of food.A full tray of sweet potatoes plus 2 small containers, one tray full of squash plus one small container, one tray plus 6 cubes of blueberries, 10 cubes plums, plus one container of plums with blueberries. Took about an hour to do all this. It was quite the productive morning in my house yesterday!

The following is a list of things we've tried, both single foods and combinations. Also going to make a list of what I'd like to try in the next couple of weeks. 

What we've tried (single foods)
Butternut squash

Apples (usually gala apples, used red delicious once and they were way too sweet)

Peas 

Pears

Sweet potatoes

Avocado

Nectarines

Peaches

Plums

Yellow Squash

Cucumber (not cooked, I just gave her a chunk to bite on)

Banana

Broccoli

Carrots

Cauliflower

Green beans (which do not freeze well for me...ugh)

Mango

White potatoes

Watermelon

Chicken
Yogurt

Some of the better mixtures

Avocado and banana

Chicken, carrots and potatoes

Sweet potatoes, apples and a dash of cinnamon

Mango and blueberry

I've also "let" her nom on bread and whatever else she happens to steal out of my hands/mouth. She's particularly fond of trying to steal my bacon.
So far she is not a fan of most things green. She actually eats broccoli better than peas, which is odd to me. I have to mix her peas and green beans in other food for her to eat them, which stinks, but at least she's eating them. Favorite veggie is by far carrots. Fruit is a toss up between blueberries and mangos. 

Ev is going to be gone the next couple days, and I usually use the days she is gone to make up new food. Some of the things I'm thinking about include apricots, papaya, pumpkin, eggplant, and spinach. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to pick up. Suggestions?

Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots

Tonight we had our first go-round with meat. It didn't go as badly as I expected, but it definitely wasn't her favorite thing. I put 1/2 a frozen chicken breast in 1/2 inch of water and boiled it until it was done. Cut it into 4 pieces, threw it in the blender. Then I grabbed a few chunks of potato and few chunks of carrot from the crock pot, and threw them in. Added some of the water from the chicken and pureed it until it was as smooth as I could get it. The chicken was still somewhat chunky. She really liked the flavor, but I think the texture was throwing her off. It was almost like it was getting stuck in the back of her throat. No choking, but lots of strange looks. When I sat down to eat my dinner, I mashed up some potatoes and carrots from my plate and gave her a couple bites. I couldn't get it as smooth with the fork as I did with the blender, and she was making faces about it. Definitely not ready for chunky foods yet.

We also tried yogurt for the first time today. I bought some all natural something or other plain yogurt and mixed it with a cube of blueberries. She LOVED IT. I literally couldn't shovel it in fast enough.

I think I'm going to be done adding new foods until this time next week. Unless I find something good on sale tomorrow when I hit the grocery store :)

Just because I can!

So anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to talk about making my baby food and my awesome (if small) stash of cloth diapers. This is going to be my place to talk about these things so that everyone who doesn't care doesn't have to hear about it. I'll post pictures and recipes of my baby food, things that I find work well/don't work well when making baby food, and other assorted things.

Making baby food is like crack to me. I spend so much time looking online and thinking about what the next thing I can make is. I have a freezer full of food, and I want to make more even though we don't currently need it. Same goes for cloth diapers. I technically have enough, but I always want more. Don't tell me about deals (or really, DO!) because I'll think I need to buy more.

Now, I'm off to make some chicken for the small one