Baby food crazy!!!

When feeding your baby you always want to give them the best. You want it to be fresh and healthy. With my first kids I didn't really know about anything. I just pretty much did what the pediatricians said or the books told me through reading.

This time around I wanted to make sure that I knew what Logan was eating. If I couldn't read the ingredients and understand them, then he cant have them. Seriously, people all those added ingredients aren't necessary for a baby.

I decided there is nothing better than knowing what's in their food. So I decided that I would make his food this time. I know books and doctors like to say "don't feed them till they are 6 months". I don't agree. My son is always hungry. Breast milk and formula doesn't keep him satisfied. I am not going to shut him up with sticking a bottle in his
mouth every hour. Not happening.

Once Logan turned 4 months I started him on baby cereal. Not a lot, just enough to make sure he would be okay with eating it. Now the key thing to remember, if your baby is not good at being a supported sitter you should not try it yet. Wait until they can sit in their highchair, or bumbo and they aren't falling all over the place.

Kids can be allergic to food so you need to be smart when starting out. The number one fruit that is recommended to start is apples. So I prepared homemade apples for little man, and it did not disappoint him. He loves them.

It took me less than an hour to make them. Not bad. The biggest thing for me was it only cost me $3.71 for 6 apples which would make about 20oz. Cant beat that.  Now I only did 3 apples because I wanted to make sure he was going to like it before I made them all.

Here is what you will need to make your own:

1. Nutri-bullet or any blender
2. 6 organic apples (of your choice)
3. Apple slicers
4. Pairing knife or peeler
5. Glass container
6. Double broiler
7. 2 ice trays
8. Freezer bags
9. Label's
10. Water
11. Plastic wrap
12. Spoon/fork

Wash your apples before you start. Slice the apples with your apple slicer. Remove the unwanted core. Now, you can peel them first with your peeler, but I liked the pairing knife much better. So if you didn't use the peeler first, use the pairing knife to remove the skin. Then dice your apples up in to little squares (all the same size).
Add water to the bottom of your pot (I used a cup) your steaming your product not submerging it. Start on high to bring up to a rapid boil. Now add your apples to the basket of your double broiler and add the lid to cover. Once your water is boiling turn all the way
down to low.
The apples took 11 mins to get to the tenderness you need. Remove the apples and let cool for 2 mins (don't throw out the water. You may need it). Now add your apples to your Nutri-bullet or blender. I added maybe 2 tablespoons of the hot water. Now blend away.
Once it has reached the consistency of what you want for you baby, pour it into the glass container to cool all the way down before putting it in the ice trays.
Once it is completely cooled, spoon the apples into the ice tray (fill them up all the way) and wrap with plastic wrap.
Place in your freezer over night. Pop them out in the morning into the freezer bag and label.

How to label them:
DATE:08/01/2014 CONTENTS: APPLES

Now you can store them in individual bags or in one big freezer bag like I did. For me it is all about saving so no wasting here with individual bags.

I hope your kids enjoy, I know Logan does.
Next either carrots or green beans. I cant wait. I truly enjoyed making these for him.

Note: Mix the food with baby cereal until about 6 months, then you can just do the food alone.

I love you for reading.

Confessions of a school crazy mama

Well summer is almost over and that time of year is about to be here. Time for school to start. Even if your child has been in school before here are a few key tips for getting ready.

1. Get a full supply list for your child's school.
2. Find out if the school is uniform or free dress.
3. Check to see if the school has a policy about the snacks your child brings.
4. Know what size clothes and shoes your child wears.
5. Make your list

I believe that these 5 things will help you tremendously with getting ready for the school year. Trust me, I spent way too much at the beginning of the school year because honestly I just didn't know. So lets go in a dissect why each point is important.

School clothes at the beginning
of kindergarten 2013.

Now for me number 2 is what really makes a difference. Sariah went to two different schools last year. The one that she started at didn't have a policy in dress attire. It was openly free dress. I hated it. I found that I was spending way to much on clothes that were just going to potentially become ruined. Although they look cute and what not it still isn't worth the amount of money going in. It is school and they are going to paint, play and get messy. Now once I took her out of that school due to lack of education I put her in a Prep. academy school that had a strict dress code policy. Uniform was a must. I found that I spent less money on her clothes and she still looked cute. I wasn't worried about her coming home and having a stain, because most her clothes were dark and the stains weren't that visible. Also must of the uniforms I found to grow with the child. The all have elastic pull strings on the inside. Love it.



Only purchase what they need for home
through out the year the teacher
will ask for what they need.

I am not sure about your child's school, but I do know that the two schools Sariah went to they give you a list full of items the child has to bring. This is where I have an issue. Granted I do understand that not all parents have money, I get it. What I don't understand is why I spent way over $70 dollars in supplies for my child's class and she never once came home with homework on the colored paper, the white paper or any paper for that fact. I was very taken aback that on the first day they ask the
parents to bring in the supplies and maybe 1/3 actually do. I will go on record saying this now " I will not do this again". I did it for both schools and although her academy did use the paper and sent her home with homework I truly felt used because I was so willing to spend my money on the classroom. Keep one thing in mind the supplies that you bring are not for your child alone. It is to supply the whole class because schools are not wanting to give the teachers anything like when you and I went to school.
I put number 3 on there because Sariah didn't allow certain things to be brought. One that I saw a lot

I like to organize the snacks
so that she can choose what
she wants to take.

was hot Cheetos being taken from the children and thrown into the trash. That child would go home with a note telling the parents to please not send them to school with those. Not every school cares, because at her first school every kids brought them. I sent Sariah to school with a variety of snacks so that she could make the decision on what to eat. One day she came home and told me a teacher took her string cheese from her and put it into the trash. I am sure you all are thinking what the hell. Right, so as you can imagine I was furious. What is wrong with string cheese? I went to the school and asked for a list, that was not one of the items that weren't allowed. The teacher was just being overly strict and rude. It is nice to know that the school cares about what is going into our kids body, but it is not okay for teachers to make up there own rules. With that said make sure you know what they can and cant have so you don't waste your money on thing that are going to be asked to put into the trash.

Sariah's first day of school 2013.

Number 4 is very simple, If your child is currently in a size 6 and he/she is just fitting it perfect, don't buy all size 6. Be smart it is money that you worked for don't throw it away. I would recommend only buying maybe 2 pants in the current size and the next size up there after. Depending on how you like to do your school clothes shopping it is going to be up to you. I like to buy for the whole first part of school. So for example, Sariah will be starting school in Aug. I will buy her clothes for Aug till Dec. When winter break is over I will buy her a whole new set. Now her shoes I buy all through the year. My baby has big feet and they keep growing. Also she is rough at school on her shoes. I don't spend a whole lot of money on her shoes because I know they play and I don't want to be mad that I spent $80 on some shoes that she can only wear for so long. Now if you don't mind and you got it like that, honey boo do you... LOL
Well we have made it to the end, number 5. Simple, make your list for the items you see fit to buy. Stick to it, if it isn't on the list your probably don't need it. Saving money and saving time is something I know that I have to do. I cant go all willy nilly in target because everything is cute, or I think she may need it. I need a strict list so I don't get side tracked. Oh yeah and something that might be a bit of a tip, leave your children at home if possible with daddy. They see everything and want it all but they don't need it...

I hope this helped you out. For more tips leave your comments, add me and ill see you tomorrow...