Other Baby Gear We Like...

My husband does not like this stuff sitting around the house. I agree that the space they take up is not ideal, but I think the benefits outweigh the inconveniences of the space we lose to them. And it is only for a short time, so why not just enjoy it?

Here are some products we either registered for and recieved as gifts when our daughter was born, or had loaned to us. I also listed the reasons why we liked each item.

• Boppy swing - portable, neutral colors, small for a swing, less annoying music than other swings, long battery life, good price

• Baby Bjorn Bouncer - folds flat for storage or travel, adjustable (3 positions), large weight limit, no batteries required...we have this older discontinued model, the most recent model was just recalled.

• Exersaucer - allows the child to explore various toys in a "safe" area if you are making dinner, taking a shower, etc., lets them bounce, jump, and strengthen their legs while upright (we put away the swing when it is time to start using this - when they start sitting up). We have one that is a hand-me-down and doesn't require batteries. It's great.

• Primo EuroBath Tub - not at all necessary, but we are still using it with our two year old as well and she loves it so it has definitely been a good buy. Check out the reviews. Saves water, too.

For those of you that have/have had young ones, what are some of your favorite baby pieces?

Bits of This and That

I made some awesome blueberry pancakes and homemade syrup last night. Thanks, mom, for picking blueberries for us!

I've tried the Soap Nuts once so far. They do get stuff clean, but I'm not so sure how well they work on spots/stains, yet. And we need something that works on spots/stains in our household. We get quite dirty.

I've been going through Swagbucks for my internet searches for a few months now (though not rigoriously) and just turned in some swagbucks I'd earned for a $5 amazon giftcard. I added the swagbucks widget to the very bottom of this blog. If you are interested in signing up and earning giftcards just for doing your normal internet searching, too, I'd appreciate you using it!

I don't understand why people hate the Baby Wise book. I am reading it for the second time in preparation for this baby. I didn't follow it to a "t" last time, but it definitely helped me. Nowhere in it does it say it is the only way to raise a baby. In my opinion, I think it should be required reading for all new parents. I'm not saying everyone has to follow it (I didn't, completely). But I think everyone should at least have the information in their heads to know what is possible. That's just my two cents.

I made the Fruit Leather last week using pureed fresh strawberries with a tad bit of lemon juice. I used the 3rd method listed for drying it. The parts that turned out weren't bad, but it was tricky to dry it out. I had to do it for longer than it says to. Some of my edges burned and yet the centers were not dry enough. I felt like a wasted a good portion of it. I did 3 pans. Perhaps my puree was too watery or I should have tried one of the other methods at a lower temperature. Also, some of my plastic wrap melted, which is scary. I think parchment paper would be the better option, as in Laura's recipe. So, it wasn't a total failure, but I think I'd rather just eat the fresh fruit next time!

And by the way, all the healthy snacks from the snack exchange were delish, but I think these Crispy Cheese Crackers were my fav!

Menu Plan 7/27/09

I'm trying to be frugal this week and buy as little as possible because we are already over-budget on groceries this month... not as much as last July, though! Why is July a tough month for us to stay in budget? I think it is the birthdays and all the fresh stuff... those are good things!

Breakfasts:

Oatmeal or Granola with Milk

Muffins

Strawberry-Orange-Mango Smoothies

Lunches:

PB&J Sandwiches

Veggie Straws

Fruit (Plums, Peaches, Pluots, Nectarines)

Dinners:

Monday - Out to eat for our anniversary!

Tuesday - Quesadillas, Salad

Wednesday - Crustless Spinach Quiche

Thursday - Tuna Cheesies, Zucchini

Friday - Taco Salad (homemade seasoning)

Saturday - Leftovers

Sunday - ???

Dessert:

Maybe over the weekend I'll make Key Lime Pie. We love this recipe!

More of Menu Plan Monday...

Helpful Baby Products

Baby is on the brain since I am now full term (37 weeks). Here are links to some of my posts from last year regarding baby products I really like:


Breastfeeding aids- what worked for me

Baby bottles

Nursing cover

Compact stroller

Jogging stroller/Infant carseat

Baby carrier

Sippy cup

Baby bib

Baby shoes


I am not a fan of lots of stuff, but I will also share this week on a couple other additional pieces of gear that while might not be necessary, have also been good buys for us and have gotten a lot of use!

Preparing Sweet Corn

Fresh corn on the cob... We've eaten a lot of it this week. Here are two things I learned and one thing I discovered:

1. According to the lady I buy it from, she will clean the corn and put it in ziplocs in the fridge, and they will eat off of it all week.

2. You can put it in a pot, cover it with water, bring it to a full boil and then remove it, and it will be perfectly done.

3. When fixing mulitple cobs, I melted butter, poured it over the drained corn in the pot, added salt, and shook it up. (Easier than individually buttering and salting 8 half-cobs.)

Photo from stockvault.net

New Reads

Well, I've been somewhat lazy this week and don't have much to say, but wanted to share a couple blogs that are not new, but are ones that I have just recently added to my Google Reader to read on a regualr basis and have been enjoying very much!

Whatever - I so want to schedule a family photo shoot with her!

Young House Love (formerly This Young House) - Inspiring design ideas... You must check out their house tour as well as their wedding album!

Now I have to go watch my favorite summer show: So You Think You Can Dance! Have a good night!

Menu Plan 7/20/09

For the blueberry muffins last week, I ended up trying the blueberry variation of this recipe, minus the topping. They were moist and not crumbly; we really liked them. Maybe it is the coconut oil?!

Breakfasts:

Oatmeal with Milk

Bananas

Lunches:

PB&J Sandwiches

Veggie Straws

Peaches

Dinners:

Monday - Sloppy Joes

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - BLT's

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Pineapple-Pepperjack Chicken ~ It's my birthday! :)

Saturday - Grilled Cheese

Sunday - Blueberry Pancakes

Sides:

Salad Greens

Sweet Corn

Watermelon

Baked Beans

Sounds like summer, right?

Dessert:

Individual Fruit Pizzas (sugar cookies topped with cream cheese and fresh fruit)

Other:

Make Fruit Leather for our healthy snack exchange

Find more menu plans here...

Sewing Cloth Baby Wipes

I wish I had a serger. Not that I know how to use one. But it probably would have made my finished product a little nicer.

But this is about being thrifty... This was proabably my thriftiest project yet. One that my husband would question whether it was worth my time - as in could I have earned the money to purchase these new in less time than it took me to make them? Maybe, but I actually had the time (for once!) to try making these, so I did.

Last Sunday afternoon I set up shop at the kitchen table.

A newly cut stack of 7x7 inch flannel remnants from my stash.

An hour and a half later, the same stack, each piece now zig-zag stitched around the edge to discourage fraying. Time will tell.

If you are interested: my favorite baby wipes solution recipe that has been in use for nearly a year now with our daughter.

Liza's Chicken

Well, I am making progress. I have all the fixings prepped for 1 BIG casserole that I plan to assemble and freeze tomorrow. See the recipe for "Liza's Chicken" below. Growing up, my sister used to request this casserole for her birthday dinner.

It has been a couple years since I have made this dish, mainly because of the ingredients in it that I now try to avoid. So here's what I am doing differently now...

I made a big batch of homemade condensed cream soups the other day (an effort to avoid msg). I bought a box of fresh mushrooms for cream of mushroom and a bunch of celery for cream of celery. I made a double batch of each kind, so that should be the equivalent of 4 cans of each. (Somehow I ended up with a little bit more cream of celery than cream of mushroom. Maybe the mushroom one just cooked off more when I was heating it and letting it thicken). I have used this recipe before for cream of chicken, using all butter - no oil, and using organic chicken Better than Bouillon paste and been very pleased. Usually cream soups gross me out, but these taste so good I actually want to lick the rubber spatula. You can tell a difference! Now I am happy that I will have some extra of each kind frozen in ziplocs for future healthy casseroles in the coming months.

The recipe below also calls for Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing, but I have used other chicken flavored kinds before, such as the 89 cent box from Aldi. This time I am attempting to make my own out of homemade croutons from leftover bread ends with poultry seasoning added.

I made this dish (the cheap and easy way) for a friend who had a baby back in May, and she requested the recipe the next day... so I thought I would share it here, too:

Liza's Chicken

4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up
8 oz. medium egg noodles, cooked
1/4 lb. butter, melted
1 can celery soup
1 can mushroom soup
1/2 c. sour cream
Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing
Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt (or Mrs. Dash)

Grease bottom of 9x13 inch casserole dish. Put in noodles and sprinkle melted butter over noodles. Sprinkle with Jane's Krazy Salt (this is an important ingredient) and then layer chicken. Mix soups and sour cream. Spread over chicken and put Pepperidge Farm stuffing on top. Top with some additional pieces of butter and bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees.

Nursery Picture and Pregnant Me

Here's a quick peek into the nursery we've set up in our old guest room. It is pretty basic, but we like it, and I guess that's what matters. The crib and chest of drawers were mine when I was little. We refinished them before our daughter was born and used them with her, too. To the right of the doorway (you can't see it) is the changing table my husband built with willow baskets underneath to hold the diapering supplies.

One of my pet peeves is when people hang things too high on the walls. Well, we are guilty of it now: I think the wall art needs to be a little lower, but oh well. Try to ignore that fact, please. Thanks.

And because I haven't posted any pictures of myself here in a long while, here is a pregnancy picture of me at 36 weeks. I feel huge, like the baby is going to fall out sometimes. My belly button has been popped out for probably 5 months now, and there's no hiding it, even with a bandaid.

I am self conscious to post this picture, but Katie did it, and encouraged me to as well. So I'm giving in to peer pressure. I haven't done a lot of pregnant belly shots. I'd appreciate it if you'd ignore the end-of-a-sweaty-summer-day-weird-hairdo in this one :)

Easy (and Cheap) Wall Art

Here's what I did, but you could modify as needed...

Materials:

• 1 package of 12 x 12 cork boards (Mine came in a set of 4 from JoAnn's for $6.99. Bonus - I had a giftcard to spend so they cost me nothing out of pocket.)


• Fabric (I used stuff I already had in my fabric stash.)


• Duct tape (In thin strips so it is not too heavy.)


• Foam tape for hanging (Came in the package with the cork boards.)

Directions:
1. Cut the fabric slightly larger than the cork boards.*
2. Align it how you wish and wrap around neatly and secure on the backs side with strips of duct tape. (You might be able to use hot glue, but tape seemed simpler to me. I thought it would lay flatter, too.)
3. Hang using the foam tape. I helped my husband use a meter stick/level to space them and hang them evenly above the baby crib. Works for me!

*I starched and ironed the fabric first to help it appear smooth and tight.

Menu Plan 7/13/09

Breakfasts:
Blueberry Muffins (I want a new, good, healthy recipe. Suggestions?)

Waffles with Homemade Syrup

Smoothies ( I always put these on our list when we have the frozen juice and fruit, but we hardly ever get around to making them!)

Lunches:
PB&J Sandwiches
Cottage Cheese

Carrots, Cucumbers, and Squash with Homemade Ranch

Peaches, Plums, Nectarines

Dinners:

Monday - Homemade Macaroni and Cheese, Salad

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Grilled Chicken Wraps, Corn on the Cob

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Cheesy Chicken and Rice with Broccoli

Saturday - Leftovers

Sunday - Spaghetti, Salad

Dessert:
What should I make/bake?

The ice cream from last week turned out with great flavor, just a little grainy with the chocolate. Not sure where I went wrong. It is pretty tasty in milkshakes, though.

Visit the Organizing Junkie for more menu plans on Monday!

I Soaked Some Grains!

This is one of those things I have read about, but never had the time to try. Maybe because those recipes that include soaking grains seem more complicated, and I like things simple.

Well, the other day I was making a double batch of these Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins with Raisins (except mine were without raisins). I wanted to make them fresh on Saturday morning. We like these muffins for breakfasts because they are moist and slightly sweet without being too sweet. On Friday night, I decided to get stuff ready for the morning. The easy recipe includes oats and buttermilk and says to mix and let sit for 5 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. This time I was using mock buttermilk (a combo of lemon juice and milk). I thought, hey, instead of just 5 minutes, how about I let them sit overnight (actually soak the grains for 12 hours!) and mix up the rest of the ingredients in the morning? So that's what I did.

I didn't really notice a difference in the end result of the baked muffins. They may have been a little fluffier than before. But I was pretty excited to know that I had soaked grains for the first time ever! And it was easy!

The Week's Update

Well, I can finally say "check, check, check, check, and check" for the summer to-do list. Of course, every week I have places to go, things to do, stuff to get, but at least those goals that I listed there have been accomplished and that feels good. I need to wash baby things and pick up a few odds and ends, but the big preparation stuff is out of the way.

Here's a confession though: I have no meals made and frozen in the freezer. Maybe I will do a few, but I am probably not going to go crazy like some people. First, our freezer is not that big. Second, my husband needs something to do on his time off :) (Kidding. Partly. Maybe.) Third, I am going to enjoy other people cooking for me while I can. And finally, I know I will have to cook again at some point anyways. So there's my justification for being lazy and unprepared! Remind me of that later. No, don't...

(I think I am saying all this to try to motivate myself to make some stuff because I am feeling guilty because I bet it will come back to bite me. Also, the idea of casseroles kind of make me want to go "bleh" right now. Hmm, but I have one on the menu this coming week... That's strange. Anyways. Let me know if you have any good freezer-friendly recipes I should make and that may help motivate me even more.)

Other tidbit: I am cancelling our produce order for the next two weeks so that I can use that money to go to our local orchard for fresh peaches, sweet corn, and tomatoes!

My mother-in-law and I went to my favorite fabric store in the whole world today and picked out 14 fabrics for the new baby quilt. It is going to be true reds, blues, greens, browns, and white. Bold, classic colors, with a few modern patterns in there. Here's a sample of a few of them.

Also, I hope to take pictures of the nursery soon and share my latest wall-art project. It only cost $6.99 plus tax. Not too shabby. Similar colors as above. My husband hung it up tonight. I am not really a blue person (isn't that the most popular favorite color though?) but am having fun incorporating some into the nursery since it is a boy, after all. Last time, we didn't know, so the nursery was very neutral: think dark furniture, white linens, and red accents.

I took some coconut oil put in in a sealed container in the bathroom and have been using it for body moisturizer. So far, I like it. It has a scent, but not coconut-y. If you've never smelled extra virgin unrefined coconut oil, you don't know what you are missing. I think it smells good enough to make you want to taste a spoonful. I wouldn't reccomend that, though. But I would reccomend getting some! I went to Mountain Rose Herbs through the link on Lindsay's site to place my order since she is an affiliate for them. She has been the one to enlighten me the most on the uses and benefits of coconut oil so I thought she should get the kickback.

Lastly, my friend Staci had a great idea. Bake up some healthy snacks, meet up with our mom's group table, and divide them up and swap so that each participant gets a variety and goes home with a stash. We're thinking granola bars, homemade cookies, crackers, and muffins. Etc. We haven't done it yet, but it is in the works. I'll let you know how it goes.

Last week was busy week, hence the lack of sharing until now (and you are bombarded). This week looks to be calmer. We'll see!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Frugal Finds

Here are my frugal finds of the week...

Someone had an event at my dad's work and left several plants for people to take home, and my mom graciously brought us one. So now we have a real, live palm tree in the corner of our bedroom. Thanks, mom! Let's hope I can keep it alive. (I found the white pot in the garage, but my husband wants me to get some moss to put in it to cover the old pot inside.)

My work had their annual rummage sale this week and I stopped in to check things out. For $2.50 I got a Baby Bjorn potty chair for future potty training ($1), two like new paperback books to be for gifts for others (50 cents ea.), and this metal lunch box (50 cents). I think it looks kind of retro. Maybe we'll use it for lunches, or maybe to store small toys. I'm sure there are lots of other uses we could come up with for it, too! Any ideas?

By the way, the ranch dressing was a success! It is more oniony and potent than the bottled, so you don't have to use much. It is fresh tasting (and maybe a little less "zingy/zippy" than bottled) and it actually got my husband's approval! I made it with 1/2 mayonaise and 1/2 buttermilk.

Menu Plan 7/6/09

A few things on the menu are new experiments this week: the homemade ranch, the bbq rollups, and the ice cream... we'll have to see how they go!

Breakfasts:

Granola with Blueberries and Milk

Orange Juice

Smoothies

Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins with Raisins

Lunches:

PB&J Sandwiches

Veggie Tray w/ Homemade Ranch Dip

Fruit

Dinners:

M - Mexican Tortilla Skillet, Lettuce Salad, Cornbread?

T - Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Lettuce Salad

W - Hamburgers, Lettuce Salad

Th - Mom's Lasagna, Fresh Green Beans

F - Leftovers

S - BBQ Chicken Cheddar Rollups, Veggies

S - Leftovers

Dessert:

Rich Chocolate Ice Cream (without an ice cream maker)

Visit the Organizing Junkie to find more menu plans!

Coconut Oil has Arrived!

It's here! I ordered it last week. I wasn't forseeing any leftover money in the grocery budget for June, but I was almost certain that barring no emergencies, we wouldn't be overbudget. I felt like I did decently, even if not amazingly, with my goal. So I went ahead and placed my order since we hadn't used any of our clothing/entertainment/miscellaneous money for the month (Are we really that lame? I hope not... We did go on vacation! And we spent a boatload on truck repairs - ugh! Anyways.) With shipping, it was about $50. I wonder how long it will last before we use it all?

Thanks for putting up with all my lists of food this past month. It has helped me to see things written out and has reassured me that while watching every penny, we were still eating well, at least in my opinion. I won't bore you with as many details of our shopping and eating in July, but I will still be working hard to stick within the same budget!

Also-

My find at Costco today that I was excited about: Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Organic Sugar...10 lbs. for $7.xx. It cost twice as much as the conventional sugar, but it is not as expensive as I see it online. I have never seen this carried before at Costco. I don't know if it is going to be a product that they regularly offer, but I hope it is!