I was sitting here at my computer having eaten a snack of a bagel and cream cheese when Ari came over and was playing at my feet. I gave her a spoon to chew on because she loves chewing on spoons (and banging them on things, they make terrific noises) so the chewing sounds she was making didn't concern me. Until I looked down. And she had not one, but TWO bagels in her lap because she had apparently found the package, opened it, gotten out two bagels, and was happily munching on one of them.
Oh, and I have good news! My daughter doesn't choke while cramming bagel down her throat. Also, she likes bagels.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Awesome Mommy Moments #2
So I was changing Ari's diaper today and there were these crusty white clumpy globules in it. Something that shouldn't be coming out of any of my child's orifices, ever. I freaked out for about 3.2 seconds before I realized it was dried cottage cheese from lunch that had dropped into the giant black hole that forms near her belly button when she sits down.
P.S. I filed this under "food" because I want someone to be searching my site under the "food" label and read this post. Because that would be hilarious.
P.S. I filed this under "food" because I want someone to be searching my site under the "food" label and read this post. Because that would be hilarious.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Meals for Ari
If you're reading this on Facebook, you'll miss all the links, you should come to my blog. :)
Ari has begun three meals a day! She still nurses a lot, but we added the extra solids to help her stay full longer on the doctor's recommendation (she's still waking up three or four times a night to eat). Some friends have expressed interest in the fact that I make Ari's baby food, so I thought I would share a typical day of meals for Ari. :)
Making your own baby food is easy, cheap, healthier, and tastes better. It's actually good!! When I have to eat some of Ari's food to get her interested in it, I don't have to pretend to enjoy it. In fact, sometimes I'll just sit there and eat tiny bites myself, and she'll reach for the plate, and I'll say "Oh, no, this is good stuff, Mama's gonna eat this," and keep eating it. Then she REALLY wants some. ;) I make all her meals entirely out of organic foods, and it's cheaper than if I bought the Gerber stuff in the store. She's also able to chew solids now, from easily mashed up foods like pasta and banana to even crunchier (but still easily dissolved) foods like graham. I haven't yet attempted to make my own graham crackers, but I bought some organic graham flour at the HEB the other day and plan on trying it out soon! (Our kitchen is busy with banana bread right now.)
"Recipes" are below. That's in quotes because I really just kind of make it up. And I haven't included recipes for pureed stuff. You just cook it and put it in a food processor.
A note: Don't ever add salt to baby food, they can't handle sodium like we can and it will overwork their kidneys and is dangerous. They can eat salt that naturally occurs in stuff, but don't use it as a seasoning. Also be careful with nitrate rich foods, such as carrots and spinach, until your baby is 8 months old. Just research it. :)
Breakfast:
Frozen waffle (organic Archer Farms homestyle waffles): I leave this frozen, it kind of serves as a teething biscuit (thanks for the tip, Paige!)
Fruity oatmeal
Lunch:
Macaroni and cheese (sometimes with some pureed chicken)
Veggies (if it's something like peas I might mix it in the mac and cheese, it's better than it sounds ;)
Snack (sometimes):
Cheesy crackers or graham crackers or puff cereal or a teething biscuit
Dinner:
Pureed veggies (peas and carrots and corn or broccoli and carrots etc)
Pureed fruit (applesauce with a dab of cinnamon comes in handy ;)
Yogurt
Chicken
Leftovers from lunch (usually some mac and cheese left)
Diluted apple juice
Okay, so now for recipes:
Fruity oatmeal is pretty easy. I buy the organic oat bran from the bulk section of HEB for like $0.77 a pound, so it's about 5 cents a serving or so. Cook it with apple juice and mashed up banana and it turns into a fantastically healthy and delicious grit type breakfast.
Macaroni and cheese is a lot of fun and one of Ari's favorites. (You can buy organic flours in the bulk section at the HEB for less than a dollar a pound, or you can mill your own for even cheaper.) What makes this work is the pasta. I found this pasta at the HEB the other day - it's absolutely perfect. Rice, beet, and spinach based, it's tiny, swirly, colorful, and perfect for tiny fingers to grab. There's no wheat to worry allergy conscious mamas and it tastes wonderful. So I cook the pasta (don't cook it for as long as it says or for as long as you're used to cooking wheat pasta, it only takes a couple of minutes or it gets soggy...which isn't bad if your baby isn't chewing yet, anyway) and meanwhile make the cheese sauce. Put a pan on low to medium low heat and melt some butter into it then add flour (you can substitute a rice flour for entirely wheat free but I've never done this so you'll have to watch it closely). Cook it until it's a paste then add some milk and keep stirring and cooking until it's a thinner paste. When you are ready to add the cheese, add it. A mild flavored cheese works best and it needs to be finely shredded. Only cook the cheese long enough to melt it. You might need to add more milk/cheese to get the consistency you want, but the longer you cook the cheese the lest awesome it will taste. ;) Pour the sauce over the pasta, and voila! Instant fave. :D
The chicken is just as fun. (To save money and still eat very healthy, you can buy the organic chicken from the HEB when it goes way on sale because it's going to go bad in 24 hours, so it's cheaper than normal chicken, then cook it all at once and eat it throughout the week.) You can cook it however you want and then puree it with a bit of water or milk (or juice if you're bold). The last time, I breaded mine with some flour, milk, egg, and a bit of seasonings (some rosemary and such) then cooked it in a pan with a bit of sunflower oil and pureed it. She loved it! (And so did Justin and I. ;)
So there you have it! A day in the life of a mobile, eating Ari! Good enough that you can sneak some off your baby's plate. ;)
Ari has begun three meals a day! She still nurses a lot, but we added the extra solids to help her stay full longer on the doctor's recommendation (she's still waking up three or four times a night to eat). Some friends have expressed interest in the fact that I make Ari's baby food, so I thought I would share a typical day of meals for Ari. :)
Making your own baby food is easy, cheap, healthier, and tastes better. It's actually good!! When I have to eat some of Ari's food to get her interested in it, I don't have to pretend to enjoy it. In fact, sometimes I'll just sit there and eat tiny bites myself, and she'll reach for the plate, and I'll say "Oh, no, this is good stuff, Mama's gonna eat this," and keep eating it. Then she REALLY wants some. ;) I make all her meals entirely out of organic foods, and it's cheaper than if I bought the Gerber stuff in the store. She's also able to chew solids now, from easily mashed up foods like pasta and banana to even crunchier (but still easily dissolved) foods like graham. I haven't yet attempted to make my own graham crackers, but I bought some organic graham flour at the HEB the other day and plan on trying it out soon! (Our kitchen is busy with banana bread right now.)
"Recipes" are below. That's in quotes because I really just kind of make it up. And I haven't included recipes for pureed stuff. You just cook it and put it in a food processor.
A note: Don't ever add salt to baby food, they can't handle sodium like we can and it will overwork their kidneys and is dangerous. They can eat salt that naturally occurs in stuff, but don't use it as a seasoning. Also be careful with nitrate rich foods, such as carrots and spinach, until your baby is 8 months old. Just research it. :)
Breakfast:
Frozen waffle (organic Archer Farms homestyle waffles): I leave this frozen, it kind of serves as a teething biscuit (thanks for the tip, Paige!)
Fruity oatmeal
Lunch:
Macaroni and cheese (sometimes with some pureed chicken)
Veggies (if it's something like peas I might mix it in the mac and cheese, it's better than it sounds ;)
Snack (sometimes):
Cheesy crackers or graham crackers or puff cereal or a teething biscuit
Dinner:
Pureed veggies (peas and carrots and corn or broccoli and carrots etc)
Pureed fruit (applesauce with a dab of cinnamon comes in handy ;)
Yogurt
Chicken
Leftovers from lunch (usually some mac and cheese left)
Diluted apple juice
Okay, so now for recipes:
Fruity oatmeal is pretty easy. I buy the organic oat bran from the bulk section of HEB for like $0.77 a pound, so it's about 5 cents a serving or so. Cook it with apple juice and mashed up banana and it turns into a fantastically healthy and delicious grit type breakfast.
Macaroni and cheese is a lot of fun and one of Ari's favorites. (You can buy organic flours in the bulk section at the HEB for less than a dollar a pound, or you can mill your own for even cheaper.) What makes this work is the pasta. I found this pasta at the HEB the other day - it's absolutely perfect. Rice, beet, and spinach based, it's tiny, swirly, colorful, and perfect for tiny fingers to grab. There's no wheat to worry allergy conscious mamas and it tastes wonderful. So I cook the pasta (don't cook it for as long as it says or for as long as you're used to cooking wheat pasta, it only takes a couple of minutes or it gets soggy...which isn't bad if your baby isn't chewing yet, anyway) and meanwhile make the cheese sauce. Put a pan on low to medium low heat and melt some butter into it then add flour (you can substitute a rice flour for entirely wheat free but I've never done this so you'll have to watch it closely). Cook it until it's a paste then add some milk and keep stirring and cooking until it's a thinner paste. When you are ready to add the cheese, add it. A mild flavored cheese works best and it needs to be finely shredded. Only cook the cheese long enough to melt it. You might need to add more milk/cheese to get the consistency you want, but the longer you cook the cheese the lest awesome it will taste. ;) Pour the sauce over the pasta, and voila! Instant fave. :D
The chicken is just as fun. (To save money and still eat very healthy, you can buy the organic chicken from the HEB when it goes way on sale because it's going to go bad in 24 hours, so it's cheaper than normal chicken, then cook it all at once and eat it throughout the week.) You can cook it however you want and then puree it with a bit of water or milk (or juice if you're bold). The last time, I breaded mine with some flour, milk, egg, and a bit of seasonings (some rosemary and such) then cooked it in a pan with a bit of sunflower oil and pureed it. She loved it! (And so did Justin and I. ;)
So there you have it! A day in the life of a mobile, eating Ari! Good enough that you can sneak some off your baby's plate. ;)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Ari and the Teething Biscuit
We gave Ari a teething biscuit the other day, because the list on the back of the box of milestones she's supposed to have accomplished before she can have one was completed! So she tried them out. They are the wheat teethers from Earth Baby Organics, but I think we're going to switch to the non wheat version...either way, she LOOOVES them. She's never sat in her high chair for so long! She got so messy and covered in cracker from top to bottom and did NOT enjoy the cleanup that ensued! We ended up just having to give her a bath because the washcloth just wasn't getting into all the nooks and crannies she managed to stuff cracker into. ;) Looks like we found a new staple treat... :D
Saturday, July 12, 2008
My Husband is Awesome
Justin is signing up to be an illustrator with iStockPhoto, a cheap stock site where he can submit illustrations for download. I just had to brag on him a bit, he created an image today for his application and I thought it was just hilarious.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
You've Won!
Okay, so 1 in 6 ain't horrible odds, but I do like winning things. Especially when those "things" involve Dr. Pepper. So when I picked up a 2 liter of the goo for a party I noted the "1 in 6 wins!" on the bottle and decided that, this time, I would actually take the time to enter the stupid code on the stupid internet, thereby signing myself up for a lifetime of ridiculous spam, to see if I could get my hands on a free bottle of sweet tasting, carbonated liver poison.
After the party, Justin and I gathered around the computer and signed up for our Dr. Pepper membership, which is on a horrible written, cumbersome, GIGANTIC website that nearly ate our computer four times. Then I entered my code. I waited...waited...and YES! Wow! I won! Alright, and now to claim my prize! What greatness would it be? A free small fry with purchase of a franchise? A fountain drink redeemable at 10 convenience stores nationwide? Maybe even a 2 liter?
"Congratulations, Amber, you did it! Claim your WALLPAPER PRIZE now!"
Wait...what?
I won a...a what?!
That's right, folks. 1 in 6 wins ain't gonna cost this company a DIME. Because I am now the privileged recipient of a FREE downloadable advertisement for my computer desktop! What happened to the days when stupid marketing schemes like prizes on a coke meant popping the top and out comes a five dollar bill instead of soothing liquid goodness?!
Oh, well. This is America, right? Maybe next time I'll buy a Coke.
After the party, Justin and I gathered around the computer and signed up for our Dr. Pepper membership, which is on a horrible written, cumbersome, GIGANTIC website that nearly ate our computer four times. Then I entered my code. I waited...waited...and YES! Wow! I won! Alright, and now to claim my prize! What greatness would it be? A free small fry with purchase of a franchise? A fountain drink redeemable at 10 convenience stores nationwide? Maybe even a 2 liter?
"Congratulations, Amber, you did it! Claim your WALLPAPER PRIZE now!"
Wait...what?
I won a...a what?!
That's right, folks. 1 in 6 wins ain't gonna cost this company a DIME. Because I am now the privileged recipient of a FREE downloadable advertisement for my computer desktop! What happened to the days when stupid marketing schemes like prizes on a coke meant popping the top and out comes a five dollar bill instead of soothing liquid goodness?!
Oh, well. This is America, right? Maybe next time I'll buy a Coke.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Dinner's Ready
Today, as I was getting off of work, I was thrilled to get a text message from Justin that said, "Dinner is ready!" Justin's idea of "dinner is ready," apparently, means, "I've boiled three hot dogs and there's bread in the pantry."
Monday, May 12, 2008
Back :)
This past Mother's Day weekend was a big event for us; we hosted both mine and Justin's family in our apartment for the weekend to celebrate Mother's Day and Ari's baby dedication. In preparation, I laid off blogging and any other "extra curriculars" for over a week to prepare. But now I'm back!
Justin had a "social" at his junior high last weekend. I went for moral support ;) and it was pretty fun. Not a lot of Jr. Highers showed up, but the few that did looked like they were having a blast. I caught Justin on video dancing with his daughter. :) We're having technical difficulties right now, but I'll upload it later.
"Uncle Jerd" (Justin's brother, Jared) loved playing with his "fluff" (Talsi). He really just needs to take her home with him. Except I think she might go insane without Toby around. She really does love Jared, though. Goes crazy whenever she sees him. I mean, look how happy she is!
This IS her happy face. I promise.
Toby was pretty hyper the whole time. He gets REALLY excited when he sees my inlaws...so we "short leashed" him. (I.E., tied him to the couch.) He was very confused.
On Saturday, my brother James head butted Justin. You can see the bruise on his left eye lid. The kids at his school kept asking if he was wearing eyeliner because it really looks like he is! Not the cute girl kind, but the punk rocker kind. You can't see it well here, but it's pretty funny. In response to his kid's questions about eyeliner, Justin said that he says, "No, my brother [in law] head butted me." I told him I was glad. That's a much more manly answer than "Yes."
My brother is morally opposed to Senior pictures, so the fact that we were able to get even five minutes out of him for a few shots was a miracle. I think I'm going to be able to convince him to let me take him on an actual photo shoot while I'm in Dallas for his graduation. I'm looking forward to it, it should be fun. :)
Ari's baby dedication went well, the video is on Facebook and YouTube. My mom took over a hundred pictures, but the camera is BRAND new and she wasn't used to working it. (Anyone who has ever switched to digital from film will know what I'm talking about!) Anyway, there was a technical malfunction and we don't have any of the pictures, but we do have a few to make up for it. :) This is me and my pretty newly-dedicated baby. The bib may be off-putting, but it's better visually than the puddle of saliva that had already collected on her dress from picture taking. ;)
Here is Grandma Linda with her grandbaby. I think Ari was a bit sick of being passed from person to person and was making sure we lodged her official complaint.
Here's her Grandpa Joe singing to her. It's the first and last thing he always does around her. She has no hope at NOT being a musical child. ;) She really loves some of his songs (and really hates others! ;)
After everyone had gone and the bustle had died, me and Ari settled down to put her to sleep. Her bedtime story tonight was "The Secret Garden." She was a bit worried at the part when Dicken was introduced, but she settled down after she found out he was okay. :)
Today I put her to sleep in her bassinet. I promise she was right side up when I left her!
No story with this one, I just love this picture.
Tonight I made homemade pizza with mozzerella, pepperoni, green peppers and a whole wheat crust. It was absolutely fantastic.
And THEN, I remembered why I don't cook like that very often. This was only one table! It's clean now...after an HOUR!
Well that's all for my update for now, I'll be posting more about the past couple of weeks of my haitus as it comes to mind and as media becomes available. In the meantime you can check out my YouTube or Facebook accounts for more. (Though my Facebook videos are set to "public," my YouTube videos are private, so email me if you want permissions to view them.)
Justin had a "social" at his junior high last weekend. I went for moral support ;) and it was pretty fun. Not a lot of Jr. Highers showed up, but the few that did looked like they were having a blast. I caught Justin on video dancing with his daughter. :) We're having technical difficulties right now, but I'll upload it later.
"Uncle Jerd" (Justin's brother, Jared) loved playing with his "fluff" (Talsi). He really just needs to take her home with him. Except I think she might go insane without Toby around. She really does love Jared, though. Goes crazy whenever she sees him. I mean, look how happy she is!
This IS her happy face. I promise.
Toby was pretty hyper the whole time. He gets REALLY excited when he sees my inlaws...so we "short leashed" him. (I.E., tied him to the couch.) He was very confused.
On Saturday, my brother James head butted Justin. You can see the bruise on his left eye lid. The kids at his school kept asking if he was wearing eyeliner because it really looks like he is! Not the cute girl kind, but the punk rocker kind. You can't see it well here, but it's pretty funny. In response to his kid's questions about eyeliner, Justin said that he says, "No, my brother [in law] head butted me." I told him I was glad. That's a much more manly answer than "Yes."
My brother is morally opposed to Senior pictures, so the fact that we were able to get even five minutes out of him for a few shots was a miracle. I think I'm going to be able to convince him to let me take him on an actual photo shoot while I'm in Dallas for his graduation. I'm looking forward to it, it should be fun. :)
Ari's baby dedication went well, the video is on Facebook and YouTube. My mom took over a hundred pictures, but the camera is BRAND new and she wasn't used to working it. (Anyone who has ever switched to digital from film will know what I'm talking about!) Anyway, there was a technical malfunction and we don't have any of the pictures, but we do have a few to make up for it. :) This is me and my pretty newly-dedicated baby. The bib may be off-putting, but it's better visually than the puddle of saliva that had already collected on her dress from picture taking. ;)
Here is Grandma Linda with her grandbaby. I think Ari was a bit sick of being passed from person to person and was making sure we lodged her official complaint.
Here's her Grandpa Joe singing to her. It's the first and last thing he always does around her. She has no hope at NOT being a musical child. ;) She really loves some of his songs (and really hates others! ;)
After everyone had gone and the bustle had died, me and Ari settled down to put her to sleep. Her bedtime story tonight was "The Secret Garden." She was a bit worried at the part when Dicken was introduced, but she settled down after she found out he was okay. :)
Today I put her to sleep in her bassinet. I promise she was right side up when I left her!
No story with this one, I just love this picture.
Tonight I made homemade pizza with mozzerella, pepperoni, green peppers and a whole wheat crust. It was absolutely fantastic.
And THEN, I remembered why I don't cook like that very often. This was only one table! It's clean now...after an HOUR!Well that's all for my update for now, I'll be posting more about the past couple of weeks of my haitus as it comes to mind and as media becomes available. In the meantime you can check out my YouTube or Facebook accounts for more. (Though my Facebook videos are set to "public," my YouTube videos are private, so email me if you want permissions to view them.)
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