Baby Teething Biscuits

I have the "do it myself" attitude lately and I am afraid my daughter already has that too! She is too funny. Scanning Pinterest during nap time got me thinking that I could make a healthier more natural teething biscuit. I ended up finding a few different ones and making it work for me. Simple swaps like white flour for whole wheat flour and vegetable oil for coconut oil, I think I have a winner, baby tested and approved :) Once this batch is gone I will work on other flavors and combos! Eeekkk exciting. This is a one bowl wonder! Start with 1 large bowl. 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of baby rice cereal. I use this cereal.

Next add in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. Melt it down first, then measure out 2 tbsps. Gotta love Trader Joes!

Add in rest of ingredients. 4 tablespoons of water, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1 medium sized ripe banana, mashed. Mix all together. The "dough" is very dry, do not add more liquid! Just take off your rings and mix it with your hands until it is all blended, it will get there. I did not flour my counter but you can. Roll it out to about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thickness and just like cookies, pick the shapes of your choice. I dug out quite the variety because I wanted to see what was easiest for her to hold and eat. I did stars, bunnies, candy canes, apples, and moons. This batch of dough made approximately 20 teether cookies. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and place your cut outs on a baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Yes I did the taste test before I let her chew on it....seriously not bad! I mean, if I get hungry in the car and it's all I have on hand, I wouldn't put it past me to eat one :) Once they are done cooking, let them cool and store in an air-tight container. I kept some out and froze the rest!

Later that evening I couldn't wait to see if she liked it...she loved it! We tried the candy cane shape first so she could grab it easier and it has rounded ends in case she hit her face. We are not that graceful yet. I may rethink the whole pointy star thing :/ The entire time she was chewing on it and my husband kept warning me they make the biggest mess and he couldn't believe I was letting her "eat" it on the couch. Who cares right? Babies are messy but these biscuits are not! At least not yet! I made a believer out of him too! Enjoy!

Next we will try out the bunny for Easter!

Homemade Baby Food-Sweet Potatoes

Yes you can do this! It is much easier than I ever thought it would be. I know what you may be thinking, " You only have one child and no job away from home, you have time." Am I right? Hopefully by the end of this post you will be able to judge for yourself and if you have the time to read this, you have the time to do this :) I did a little trial run so that when I am ready to actually stock up and make food in bulk, it will go nice and smooth. I have been taking tidbits and suggestions from the internet and from other moms who make their own baby food too. I decided to start with sweet potatoes. I chose to buy Organic because I wanted to use the ends for a starter in my garden this coming Spring. Yes, I am going to overachieve and try to grow some of the produce I will be feeding my baby. I have had a garden for the past 3 years and thought why not change up my crop! If you are just starting out on solids, make sure you are only introducing 1 new food at a time with at least a week between foods to observe for any allergies your baby may have. If you are going to make your own I found this chart on Pinterest to be helpful of when you should buy organic. You may have heard of the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen.

What you will need:

Steam bags- Glad brand or ZipLoc Zip'N Steam bags is what I have on hand and worked great Food Processer- I was going to buy the Baby Bullet because I thought I needed it, wrong. I have a regular Magic Bullet AND a food processer which worked perfect. I used the Bullet because it was going to be an easier clean up, just throw it in the dishwasher (except the machine part). There are so many cups and sizes with the Bullet I will be able to puree multiple things in the future without stopping to clean each cup. Knife Vegetable Peeler Cutting Board Saran Wrap- to cover your ice cube trays while they freeze ZipLoc Freezer Bags Baby water if you don't want to use tap water or filtered water from your home (your choice), formula or breast milk.

Ice Cube Trays- I used  these silicone because the food pops out easier then banging the plastic ones on the counter until it comes out, plus that may wake the sleeping baby! P.S use a 20% off coupon for Bed Bath & Beyond to save extra money on these trays!

Directions: Wash your produce. This should always be the first thing you do before you eat something so obviously you should do this before feeding it to your baby.

Peel your potatoes and chop into cubes. Place into steam bags and microwave according to package directions. Glad bags states 3 cups of potatoes, steam for 7-8 minutes.

While you are waiting for your taters to steam, set up your Bullet. I used the large cup with the 4 prong blade. The flat blade did not puree as well, leaving chunks. Once your microwave dings, remove and let cool for a few minutes! DO NOT BLEND POTATOES PIPING HOT OR IT MAY EXPLODE. I know this from watching Chopped on the Food Network :) I blended this into 3 batches so I could make sure it was all pureed, plus I had no idea what I was doing. If you have any liquids leftover in the bag from steaming, use them, they have some nutrients from the potatoes. You will have to add more liquid of your choice, a lot more than I thought initially. I chose to add water because I did not want to use my already pumped milk and because the formula we have on hand expires in June. Add water a little at time to achieve the consistency you prefer. Once pureed, pour or spoon into ice cube trays, cover with Saran wrap and freeze.

My 2 large sweet potatoes made 26 "cubes" of food, which is plenty to start with because I need to see 1.) If she likes it 2.) If she has any allergies toward it 3.) She won't start out eating more than 1 or 2 cubes at a time, that is already almost 2 weeks of taters! Now throw your Bullet pieces, knife, peeler, ice cube trays when food is frozen, cutting board, if it will fit (mine does), into your dishwasher and you are done! Once frozen, about 3-4 hours later, pop out of trays and put into your freezer ZipLoc bags. Make sure you label the bag with the date and what you are freezing! Your food should be good up to 3 months in your fridge freezer and 6 months in a deep freeze. My husband told me to start looking for a deep freeze before I take over our fridge freezer. Haha.This little taste of making my own baby food seriously gets me excited to make my own concoctions and to puree what we are eating. She will hopefully develop a diverse palate and learn to love food!

So ya think you can handle this?? Let me know if you try to tackle homemade baby food and please share your favorite baby recipes with me! After she starts eating her sweet potatoes we will be tubbin more often in our pink whale!

Homemade Laundry Soap

I started making my own laundry soap about 2 years ago and haven't turned back yet! No, I don't have to make my own but why not when I have the time and it saves a little money? Wouldn't you rather spend your saved money on something more exciting than detergent? Well I would. It really is so simple and takes a max of 10 minutes, seriously. I use this in my HE ( high effenciency) washing machine, I do not hand wash :) and it works great!The down side is you don't get the hundreds of scents to choose from, it really doesnt have a "scent" per say, it just cleans your clothes. But why do you need to mix the smell of fresh spring detergent with your expensive perfumes anyways? I DO buy some smelly thing like Unstoppables and put them in with my towels and sheets, I like them to smell fresh! Also, I have not tried to wash my baby's clothes with this detergent. Not saying you can't, I will just wait a bit. You can find all of these ingredients needed at...Walmart. Sorry, but true. I have nothing against Walmart, just don't go on the weekends, around holidays or before a storm! Just head for the laundry aisle and you can gather up most of your list!

You will need: 1 glass container with a lid (doesnt have to be glass, mine just sits out on the counter.) 1 scoop that is 2 tablespoons ( find in the cooking area) 1 box of Borax 1 box Arm & Hammer washing soda 2 -1 lb boxes regular baking soda 2 bars Fels Naptha-grated into small bits 2- 1.3 lb containers of Oxi Clean ( can use a generic brand) 1 paper bag- I use a small shopping bag. Easy to stir and pour soap from Grater Spoon/knife or something to stir with

Directions: Pour all ingredients into paper bag, mixing/stirring well. Grate Fels Naptha with a large holed cheese grater ( medium size if you wish.) Add grated soap to mixture, mix together well. Pour into glass container and you are ready to use! I added the cute burlap bow for fun on my glass jar.

* I half this recipe because my glass jar can't hold the full recipe. For my family it lasts up to 5+ months! Use 1 scoop for normal soiled laundry and 2 scoops for soiled laundry.