Making Baby Food

For all those new mommies or mommies who were just wondering about making baby food. I will tell you that it's not the easiest thing to do unless you have the correct tools for this. Making your own baby food will not necessarily save you a ton of money; however if you want to know what's in your child's food this is the way to go! So who's with me?!

Let's go!

Items you  need:
-Great processor of some sort. I'll tell you right now that if you can afford to get one of the processors specifically made for baby food, I'd spend the money. I bought a mini food processor and it doesn't make the texture smooth enough for Gavin. Here are some brands to try and where to find them:
   -Baby Bullet-Your local Bed, Bath and Beyond- Buy, Buy, Baby-or online. (Hint you can use your 20% off coupon at BBB!!
   -Beaba Baby food Cooker-online and at Williams Sonoma (this one is quite pricey and I tried pulling    it apart and putting it back together in the store, it was a little tricky.)
   -Honestly you can just google baby food makers and come up with a huge list of them!!
 -Great fresh foods on the approved list for each stage. Remember not all foods have to be organic,        items that have a thick skin don't need to be organic, only the thinner skinned fruits and veggies.
  -Ice cube trays or some other type of storage for the food.
  -Baby food recipe books or some recipes you've googled online!
  ARE YOU READY TO MAKE SOME BABY FOOD?!

So I've purchased the Baby Bullet at Bed Bath and Beyond for 52.00 with the 20% off coupon you get in the mail! I will post pics and a review after I use it tomorrow. If you're not willing to spend the money and you just have a mini food processor you can still make some of the foods. A mini food processor works fine if you're making avocado, strawberries (please watch out because they are on the allergy list), very soft steamed carrots, bananas, or any other soft fruit.

Stay tuned for another post on some great foods to start out with your little one and some pics of some food I've made with fresh fruit and veggies using the Baby Bullet and my mini food processor. So get ready to gather your products and lets make some baby food!

Happy Reading!
LGMM

Lean Mommy Time!

So losing weight as we get older is so hard! I remember how easy it used to be when I was in high school and my early 20's. I look back and say "Man I weighed less back then!" Well mommies after we have that first baby, at least for most of us; the weight loss is so hard from here on. So I decided to do something about it. After I had Gavin I dropped the 16 lbs. I gained within 2 weeks which was amazing, but once I was unable to breastfeed the weight started pouring on! I was so angry and just upset because I didn't gain much, I didn't pig out and crave things while I was pregnant, but I have him and then the pounds just start setting in!

So over a month ago most of you watched the Royal Wedding and Kate Middleton was in the headlines for many things....one being for her and her mother's time on The Dukan Diet. What is the Dukan Diet you ask? Well it's an amazing French Doctor that designed a 4 Phase diet that you can live on the rest of your life so Clay and I got the book. I read the book, some parts 3 times so I'd be sure to understand it all! I was amazed by what he was saying in his book! So I decided I'd take this journey.

Well with all the changes in my household I haven't had the chance to start it yet, however I'm going by the Key principles in his book, pure/lean proteins and all the good vegetables on his list of 100 good foods to eat and lots of water! I started out at 189 lbs. and after almost 3 weeks has passed and I've lost 12 lbs. weighing in at 177! I haven't even started walking/jogging with Gavin yet because I've been so busy. My key is that I'm drinking so much water, even with all my meals so that allows me to not be hungry and snack throughout the day. I will post updates on this journey and feel free to ask questions or buy the book because it will amaze you! I will start the actual diet after Gavin's birthday because I'd like to enjoy some cake and fun food on his big day because cheating in the phases is not recommended so I'll eat like I've been doing and start running/jogging and hopefully drop even more!

Then when I start the actual diet I won't have as much to lose. My goal is 136 (according to what Dr. Dukan says my True Weight should be). And ladies I would recommend this diet because he doesn't go by the "American Standard" of what your weight should be by your height! That chart is so bogus I will say! It says I should weight 100-110 lbs. Seriously?! In what world do they live in...oh wait that's right the imaginary world of models and movie stars!!

Happy Reading Friends!

Trying to be Green

Alright mommies out there everywhere....how hard is it to really be green? Well let me answer that for you. It's pretty darn hard! For a long time I was using cloth diapers then I'd go through a period where it was disposables....well I'm here to say that I'm back to using my cloth diapers and it's really not as hard as people think it is!

Whether you have a stash of 40 cloth diapers or a stash of 10, any little bit helps out environment! Just think the savings you get when you're not having to buy disposables all the time! I just wish I would've figured out my groove way before now when my son is 10 months, but hey it's not always easy doing this. I usually just use one disposable a day now at night because he's a heavy wetter and I haven't quite figured that out with a cloth diaper yet! And some days he may use 2-3 if we are out and about.

So what's in my stash?
-6 gdiapers which I love! I'm able to restuff these at least 2-3 times unless it's a messy diaper so this makes for not as much laundry!
-one Fuzzibunz OS diaper that I love as well!
-2 Thirsty Duo Diapers that are amazing!
-1 Happy Heiny Diaper OS that rocks as well.
-one trainer pant by Thirsty, but it's too big for him right now so we don't get to use them.

So again I say just 10 cloth diapers and that puts you doing laundry every 1-2 days which isn't bad with all the new HE machines we have now. They use less water which again is another Green savings! I also wanted to pass on that I will becoming a Cloth Diaper consultant soon so if you or anyone you know uses cloth diapers and would love a friendly person to purchase from I'm that mommy! I've been in Sales for most of my life and I've been there on the learning curve with cloth diapers so I know what you're going through!

Here's to being Greener!

I Feel Like Curry Chicken Tonight!

So I had great intentions to have a delicious meal of Curry Chicken served over brown rice when Clay came home tonight. Well that was NOT what happened!

I put all the ingredients in the crock pot around 12:30, went to go get lunch and head over to check on my dad after his surgery. All I could think about was the sweet smell of Curry when I got home. Boy I just worked myself up to how I was going to walk into the kitchen and be bombarded by this beautiful aroma of sweet spices. Well I drive up, getting myself ready for this aroma.....and guess what!!

I open the kitchen door and do I smell Curry?! NO!! I run to the crock pot in a panic because 4 hours later there's raw chicken in the crock pot with no smell of those sweet aromas!! My heart just sank, not only because I didn't get greeted by this smell I was expecting and I was hoping that the chicken didn't go bad. Well luckily for me the chicken was still semi-frozen! Well needless to say we have Curry Chicken for dinner tomorrow and I've gotten to enjoy the sweet aroma of Curry since then!

LGMM

Baby On The Go

Man do I have a very active child! He just goes and goes, and goes some more! Hmmmm...maybe like the Energizer Bunny?! Well we are still having random Gantrums here and there! This little boy will not take naps like he used to. I will tell you that I'll be researching lots of great healthy crock pot recipes because this little guy is going to be keeping me on my feet!

If anyone ever told you that you'd lose weight once your children become mobile...I really think they may be on to something! I think that once my eating is even more healthy and I'm back into my routine of the gym, the pounds will drop because he doesn't stop the whole day until it's bed time! Even then it's a Gantrum from time to time! He'll just stand up in his crib and have his Gantrum and then finally wear himself out!

I need to figure out a way to wear him out quite easily?! Any suggestions from my fellow moms out there on how to do this with a 9 almost 10 month old?

Enjoy reading! I'm on a role now! Here's to some great blog posts soon!
Cheers,
LGMM

Crunchy Mom

What's in a name.....

So I'm a Crunchy Mom. Yesterday I showed a house with drool all over my right boob from Gavin chewing on me and I realized that somehow during my day I ended up with 4 tiny holes in the bottom of my shirt! Luckily the people I was working with are my friends or this Crunchy Mom may have been in some trouble!

What exactly is a Crunchy Mom you may ask? Well a crunchy mom is one that has been out in public with spit up, drool, baby food, maybe some pee or poo on you! I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's just one of those things that you just can't help sometimes. Being a mom just involves turning the other cheek sometimes and not caring what that person in line is thinking of the odd spots or stains on your clothes lol! Now the name "Crunchy" sounds awful, but it's really not in these terms. I mean how many of you moms have gone out like this with something on our clothes, even just thrown your hair in a quick ponytail and no make up because it's just one of those days?!

If you said no, hmmmm....you may be lying to yourself ;o) I will admit that these days, make up has not been my top priority like it used to be. When you have a baby on the go, that doesn't really leave you much time for a lot. Now if he's down for a nap and I'm able to get my shower in, dry my hair and he's still asleep, then yes a quick run of make up is for me! But to all you fellow Crunchy moms out there! It's really not so bad being "Crunchy", sometimes there's just not enough time in a day for those luxuries I once enjoyed!

Cheers,
LGMM

Gantrums

Ok, so about 2 weeks ago I had my first experience with a tantrum and Gavin (hence the name Gantrum). I will tell you that Clay and I are two of the luckiest parents out there to have such an amazing baby, and no we're not biased! My mom even said I was a good baby, but Gavin is a much happier baby than I was. Well that all changed about 2 weeks ago!

Since Gavin has become very mobile, and when I say very, I mean it! There's not a waking moment that he's not crawling and getting into everything nowadays! Well because of that Gavin decided to start throwing tantrums to get his way, I will admit that he got it for about 2 days until I realized what he was doing. So in listening to all my mommy friends and my own mother, I made a hard decision and let Gavin cry it out one evening. Man was I in store for something that I never knew would be so hard....

I put him to bed right at 9 so it was nice and dark, he had a fun bath, a great dinner, etc. Well I laid him down in his crib and then the tears started, since I didn't go in and pick him up, the "Gantrum" ensued! Wow that baby has some lungs on him let me tell you! I had to call my mom about 45 minutes into his "Gantrum" and tell her, "Do you hear this?" She told me to just wait it out and go in there, give him his paci, rub his back and tell him I loved him.....and so I did this for about an hour and 30 minutes. I will tell you that it's the most disheartening thing to hear your child scream like that.


So the lesson learned was not to let him have his way!! The next night he cried for a total of 20 minutes, so obviously he was a quick learner because I wasn't quite sure I wanted to handle another night of a "Gantrum" of almost 2 hours like I did the night before. I'll tell you that he hasn't had another Gantrum since then, fingers crossed it stays that way.

Cheers,
LGMM