Baby Food Making 101: I Freaking Did it!

sI’ve already cooked more these first three weeks of the year than I did all last year combined.

Before this week I had never bought a squash or a pot roast before. But I bought and made both last night.

This is a big accomplishment for me. HUGE. I am conquering my fear of the kitchen.

How?

Well, a few ways. For one, I dusted off a fabulous wedding gift--My crock-pot--And put it to use.

I also owe part of my thanks to my iPhone. I downloaded the All Recipies app so I could have all of my recipes on my phone with shopping lists etc etc, plus get ideas because I’m not one of those people who can just look in my cabinet and know what it can make (but last I checked there weren’t recipes including Cheetos, Twizzlers, cereal and rice anyway).

The extremely daunting part of cooking for me is finding the ingredients at the store, so I emailed screen shots of the shopping list to my husband (who now also has an iPhone) so he could grocery shop with our daughter while I was at work, and I could cook it in my crock pot the next morning. This was how I cooked last week. I made chicken, and beef stew.

One thing he couldn’t find on the list was the top sirloin pot roast, so I looked for it at the store a couple of days ago. I had to phone a friend (aka my mother in law), to figure out which kind I wanted and decided on the rump roast.

Then I headed over to the produce isle. I wanted to buy a squash because my daughter loves the NuturMe squash I bought plus I just got this in the mail, and my friend gave me this book as a baby shower gift, so I wanted to try to make baby food myself dangit!

I didn’t see an organic option for squash so I went with the non-organic in hopes that it’s not so bad. Organic baby food or homemade puree? I’m not sure which is better. I'm hoping the latter since I'm going through all of this effort!

Did you know squash is a dang big vegetable? I didn’t. Each looked like they could feed her for a year. It was a dollar something a pound and the small one I picked was nearly three pounds so it cost us about four bucks. It had better last awhile. I thought to myself as we rang it all up.

After putting the pot roast dinner in the crock-pot and getting Lil’ J down for a nap I got to work on her squash. The directions that came with my baby food processer recommend making 1/3 the squash, so I chopped up a third of it, realized I need to peel it too, so I chopped the ends off. Then I put it in the processor, pushed the steam and blend button and let it do the rest of the work. But what do I do with the rest of the squash?

I was going to wrap it in foil and stick it in the fridge but then I realized it would probably save me a lot of time if I just made it all at the same time (am I smart or what?). I posed the question on twitter and got several ideas for how to cook the rest. One mom suggested an easy oven steam recipe.

I cut the squash in half long ways (and discovered a pumpkin-looking inside, who knew?!) scooped the seeds out, then placed it in a glass pan and filled it with water (I flipped it over after this picture).

Put it in the over at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

When it came out it was super soft. For about 2/3 of it I scooped it out and pureed it, and put it in ice cube trays to freeze for later (I've heard you can reheat it easily by warming it with water, breastmilk or just in the microwave). 

The other 3rd I sliced up, peeled off the skin, and set it aside for dinnertime and future meals where she may want to feed herself or what many people call "baby lead weaning" but I just call "feed your dang self."

I mentioned before trying a bit of this method as well as and purees, and tonight I let her eat the squash I had steamed and cut while we ate pot roast. She seems to like it (and broccoli we were eating). She sits on the table for now cause she doesn't have a high chair yet but I'm thinking of getting one of these space saver chairs for her from CSN.

And me? I feel like a Domestic Goddess! (Remember, I made pot roast too... I'm seriously on a roll).

I just bought my first sweet potato and I'm going to go at it again!

The Start of a Healthier Lifestyle

I have been sick for way too long! I feel like as soon as I get over one illness, I get another. I have now been well for only 10 days during the past month. That is not a good ratio. To combat my seemingly sickly constitution, I have decided to make a conscious effort to eat better and to make time to get more excercise. I am also going to be meeting with a nutritionist next week to help me figure out what else I can do to boost my immune system.

My first step as I am finally feeling better from my recent Flu, was to menu plan for the following week and create my shopping list. I do have a number of healthy cooking cookbooks, as I love to cook and I do try to cook healthy meals. I just had gotten off track of late so need to refocus on this. I pulled out my Heart Smart cookbook by Bonnie Stern and started leafing through the recipes. I decided on the following recipes for this week (as we had a lot of the ingredients already in our freezer):

1. Sweet Chili Chicken
2. Moroccan Meatballs
3. Cod Baked in Tomato Sauce with Onions
4. Penne with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Bocconcini

Most of these recipes are fairly easy so are a good choice. I also want to introduce new flavours for the girls to expand their palate.

Wish me luck on my first week towards eating better. Next step: Join a Gym!!!

My (not so) Secret Cheese Dip Recipe: What I'm Makin Monday

I'm not a cook by any means, but I'm learning ok?

So when I offered to help out with some snacks for a friend's baby shower I was reluctant to choose anything I'd have to make.

I read off the list of my options to a friend at work.

"Fruit or veggie platter, chips and queso, cake..."

My friend suggested I take the the chips and queso because it's not hard to make, and it's inexpensive.

At first I was intimidated by the idea of making something myself, but she told me a secret recipe with only two ingredients: Velveeta cheese and two cans of Rotel.

GENIUS. I thought. I'd make this yummy dip and everyone would think I spent an hour slaving by hand to make it so tasty *evil laugh*.

Little did I know my secret recipe wasn't so secret after all. In fact, the husband of the mama-to-be made that very same cheese dip when we visited them days before the shower.

Then at the shower, when I was running late and resorted to making the cheese dip at the party, all the ladies oohed and aahhed about it being their favorite way to make a sauce for chips.

So, it may not be top secret, in fact, I believe I saw the very recipe on the side of the Rotel can. But I still got to feel like a cook for 30 seconds, nonetheless.

My beautiful friend and mama-to-be!

I'm going to work on cooking more next year. I say this every year but I'm REALLY going to work on it this time! I have a game plan. I'll decide what I'm making, give my husband a grocery list, and he'll buy the stuff I need while I'm at work. Then I'll cook when I get home. Finding the ingredients at the store is half my battle. So maybe if I make him do that part I can conquer the kitchen.

Another challenge for me is finding recipes I like and can understand. I'm going to resubscribe to E-Mealz and pull your submitted recipes from here (link also now in my sidebar). If When I make it, I'll link to your shared recipe. It's my effort to be more domestic, and to eat better. Thanks for your help!

What did you make? Link up!

<a href="http://babymakingmachine.blogspot.com/search/label/makin%20monday" target="_blank"><img alt="What I'm Making Monday" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/4571783992_a80397e7d1_o.png" /></a>
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Lactation Cookies: Show Me What You're Makin' Monday

That's right. Lactation Cookies! No, they're not made with breast milk but made FOR breast milk. I heard of these way back when, before I was even pregnant. I remembered them a couple of weeks ago when I started to worry a little about my supply. It's been up and down a little since I've been back at work and I kinda have been thinking I'd try a few easy things that could help. And what better excuse to eat cookies?

Hardier Lime

I looked up my previous post on the topic and found Hardier Lime's shop and bought mix for a dozen oatmeal raisin milk enhancing cookies! I think it was only like $8 for a dozen, not bad!

Believe it or not I didn't have vanilla so it took me a week or so to get around to buying some, then another week before I got around to making them. Today was the perfect day since I was down in the dumps about spilling a bottle of breast milk after pumping *sad face*.

I just started taking an herbal supplement with feungreek (more on that later) and I thought these cookies would not only cheer me up, but help as well.

The instructions were super easy and I never, and I mean hardly EVER (maybe once every few months) bake. So I was so happy with how quick and easy these were. It normally takes me reading the directions time and time again to make sure I don't screw it up, but even with me reading these 5Xs it only took about 20 minutes total to make, including the 8-10min baking time.

I just took them out of the oven and took a bite and they are SOOOO yummy!

What do you think? Want to try? Everyone who leaves a comment before next Monday the 15th will be entered to win a bag of these milk enhancing cookies! Follow @hardierlime on twitter or link up to What I'm Makin' Monday below and get an extra entry. Just leave an extra comment to let me know!

Winner will be announced on my Facebook Page.

What did you make this week? Share on What I'm Makin' Monday. It can be food, a craft, a tip, anything!

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HELP! I Need Your Recipes!

If you know me, you know I'm NOT a cook. But as my appetite grows bigger and bigger the more I'm realizing I need to find more things to cook and fast, or I'm going to turn Spawnie into a double cheeseburger meal! I'm not a big chef... Not in the least. Usually the thought of cooking a new recipe sends me into a mild panic attack to be followed by a migraine as I try to decipher the steps to make it.

Last year I took a stab at making more foods. I joined a frozen meal making group with my church, and made 3 frozen meals to store... Two of them are still in my freezer. At least when I'm ready to make them the directions are on the bag as there's no way I'd remember how to cook what's in them.

My friend gave me a recipe for stomboli, and it's become one of my favorites to make. The first couple of times I made it, it took me several hours to translate the ingredient: "A clove of garlic"? what the heck is that? "Genova Salami," as opposed to regular?.. I had no idea there were so many kinds of a simple meat. I bought my first bottle of olive oil to make that recipe, and it came out really good!

About my third time making it for us I got a little cocky and rushed it. I accidentally turned the oven up an extra 100 degrees and sadly, this was the result:Luckily I have such a sweet husband cause although it was burnt black, he ate it anyway and told me the inside was good.

I've gotten a little more confidence since then and started making things that I was craving from scratch. Like beignets and peach cobbler for example. And I was beginning to stock up on what are basic cooking and baking essentials for many.While I haven't personally felt like I've succeeded in accomplishing my goal of "learning how to cook" I have crossed off the Baby Bucket List the desire to "feel more comfortable in the kitchen." Now that I'm more comfortable, I need to know what else to make.

Cookbooks intimidate me. I usually judge a recipe by:
1. How pretty the picture looks
2. How many ingredients I understand.
3. How many ingredients there are (more than 5-8 breaks me into a nervous sweat reading it).
4. How long it takes to make.

Usually flipping through books I only spot a select few that fit my immediate qualifications. I was getting good at eating healthy when I had the goal of getting pregnant, now I've been slacking a little. As a part of my "Future Mama" journey on Modern Mom, they hooked me up with nutritionist, Julie Hammerstein, and she was able to give me A LOT of good tips on what types of meals are good, and what to make sure I'm eating, so now I'm more inspired to MAKE stuff.

So I've decided to turn to you... My fellow blog friends! Please please please leave your recipe ideas! I've started using allrecipes.com which is great, but it's sometimes hard to use if I'm not sure what I'm looking to cook, and daunting when people leave all of those extra comments about what to add/take out.

So if you know something that would be easy for a culinary talent-deprived mom-to-be please share! I'm hoping to get quite a few recipes down pat before Spawnie gets here! If you have some already written on your blog I've put up a linky for you to add it. just put the name of the recipe in the title and link to that post!

Also please let me know book ideas and anything else you think would be helpful!

The Miracle

I've crossed another item off my Baby Bucket List... Possibly the most difficult one to accomplish, it's really a miracle, and you're know what I mean if you're read THIS... I feel comfortable in the kitchen.

I'm trying not to get my hopes too high... It's only been a few items, but a few items is better than no times right? I've made four meals... three from scratch in the last two weeks... And trust me this is A HUGE accomplishment (if you've read this blog or know me you know what I mean)!

We had a couple from church over last week and they ate my Stromboli. I got the recipe from a friend at work. She let me copy it out of a little magazine she had and said she made it and it was pretty easy. I went through and copied several recipes. Here's how I decide if I'm going to cook something.

1. Does the picture looks good? If "yes" then go to #2

2. How many ingredients are needed? If more than six it's out of the question. If six or less, go to #3.

3. Do I understand all of the ingredients? This one is tricky because most of the time the answer is "no," but if I can figure it out using my "Goggle" and "phone-a-friend" lifelines then I'll usually give it a go.

The Stromboli barely passed... I didn't understand garlic cloves, and almost used two entire garlic heads instead of what the recipe called for... Two minced garlic cloves. Luckily, my MIL bailed me out before it was too late. Above was the finished product (but in leftover form).

Sunday was casserole day at my job. I had been craving peach cobbler and we needed some dessert stuff so I decided to try to make peach cobbler. I looked up a recipe on allrecipes.com, found an easy one and had hubby go get the ingredients for me while I was at work Saturday. This morning I threw it all together and it turned out yummy!!

It's actually FUN for me to cook now! Looking for recipes is a little time consuming but I've found when I'm craving something, or get a good review about something, I'll give it a try! My favorite part about cooking is having people say they like my stuff... Including hubby. He has been really nice and helped me get all of the stuff together, he even helped me make the Stromboli.

My skill is definitely a work in progress but I'm feeling more comfortable now and actually enjoying it. It's also making me feel more "motherly" which is fun. That way when my kids are too old for breast milk I may actually be able to make them solid food.

So come on friends! Send me your favorite recipes and sites! I'm all for trying them out now! And thanks for all of your encouragement in the past, it's really helped.

The Homemaker in Me

I think I've figured out why I don't like cooking... you eat it and it's gone. There's no lasting enjoyment or opportunity to "show off" as in other homemaking projects. My husband thinks it's strange that I take pictures of everything I cook. I've been really good lately about making stuff... It's still been ingredients all conveniently placed in a box, but a couple of weeks ago I made this chicken Alfredo stuff and I had to cook the chicken on the frying pan and cut it and everything! Yes, I took a picture...I accidentally deleted it though and I'm really mad!

Anyway, like I was saying, I like some other homemaking projects like sewing for instance. I never thought I'd want to sew but after seeing a lack in cute matching collars and leashes for my boy dog I decided to learn how to make him some! Now I have my own small business making collars for a shop in Utah as well as lots of people here in Austin!

Lately I've noticed some of my friends dress up their cute little girls in the most ADORABLE hair bows!! I MUST learn how to make them! Anyone know how? I can't imagine it being very difficult. It almost seems like a matter of gluing.


I'm hoping if I start soon I can have a different color/design for every day of my darling little girl's infant/baby/toddler life!... And hopefully even have some for shower presents along the way.

I've told myself I WILL NOT buy things for a baby I'm not pregnant with... But I never said I wouldn't MAKE something *evil smirk*

The Regret

I got one of these a few years ago. It sat in my closet for a year collecting dust. When a co-worker mentioned wanting one I sold it to her for 200 bucks! Now I am thinking of cooking and stuff and I kinda wish I still had it. But then again, I've only used my hand-mixer once in four years...It was a big mess. Do you have one? Should I get another?

The First Accomplishment

I cooked! I made Chicken Parmesan. It wasn't completely homemade but it was made at home!

Originally I was going to make chicken alfredo but the dogs ate the chicken I had on the ocunter defrosting, so I had to make the parmesan instead.

The box said "Ready in 30min" which really means an hour for me but it came out well. The picture doesn't look pretty but I promise it tasted yummy! I even lad leftovers so I could eat it at work the next day.

The Update Part 1

Here's an update on my previous challenges (cooking and jogging):
I suck.... I ran once this last week and haven't cooked yet. Cooking is just REALLY hard for me. I printed out all of these yummy recipes that seemed like they'd be easy to cook, but I got SO overwhelmed and got a headache just trying to figure out what was what at the store. Basically anything that needs more than five ingredients is out of the picture for me right now. I bought a couple of boxed dinners that have the stuff you need... Chicken, parmesan sauce, and all that extra stuff separated into different baggies. Then on the box it takes me through step by step how to make it. I know it's pathetic, but seriously that's all I can do... And I haven't even done THAT yet!! I'm making the chicken parmesan tonight though. I'll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile, please let me know your favorite EASY (key word there) recipes. I'm seriously going to take baby steps with this cooking thing.

PS: Everyone keeps telling me about allrecipes.com but I can't seem to find the easy section... where's that?

The First Challenge

The first challenge I'm making for myself is the task of cooking. I don't like cooking, I never know what to cook. I don't know if my attention span is that short or what but I give up after reading the seventh ingredient. My husband doesn't cook much either so for the sake of my future offspring, I've decided I'll try once again to learn this skill.

Thanks to recommendations from my friends I've found allrecipes.com to be a great website for 15 minute meals. People have also told me about Rachel Ray's website and a few others but I wasn't able to quickly locate the fast and easy section so I'm sticking with this for now.

I printed out about 12 recipes that are either crock pot meals or meals that claim to be prepared in 15 minutes or less. I'm making a reasonable goal of cooking at least one new recipe a week. I'm starting next week! I'm not sure what I'm making yet but I will be cheesy and post pictures once it's complete.