Craft From The Past: Ribbon Flower Corsage

I found this idea over at V and Co. Mine didn't turn out quite as cute, but I really like the idea of wearing it on a sweater or purse. I was even thinking it might be fun on a headband....we'll see. This is how it turned out.

Have a safe and great Labor Day weekend!! What are your plans??

 

Baby Food Galore: Peas, Apples, Peaches, Apricots, & Cherries

I am so far behind on sharing baby food recipes so I'm just going to do a giant post to catch up. Hope you don't mind ;-)

Peas

Super easy. Steam frozen peas for several minutes, about 5-7, until tender. 

Puree in a blender or food processor. 

At this point it's pretty chunky. If your baby doesn't mind, you're done. For a first time feeding, I'd go ahead and push it though a sieve to make it more smooth.

I did a big bag of frozen peas, 32 oz I think, and got 16 1/4 jars! I don't remember the exact price of the bag, maybe $2.50, so that comes to about $0.16/jar!

Next up, Apples!

Peel and slice the apples and steam for 10-12 minutes until fork tender. 

Blend 

Add a little of the cooking liquid if needed to thin it out.

I got 10 jars from 3lbs of apples. Again, I don't have my receipt but I think the bag was about $3 so $0.30/jar!

Mmmm Peaches

This one was the hardest to make. I got THE best batch of peaches at the store so it was really hard not to eat them all before they hit the pan! haha

But the ones that made it through, I cut them in half and took out the seed.

Steamer basket for 3-5 minutes

Let them cool and the skins will come right off.

Puree and this stuff is sooooo good, save some for your baby! 

7 jars for about $2 is $0.29/jar.

Apricots

Another really yummy fruit. Take 1 cup of dried apricots and 1 cup of water. 

Place in a pan and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. 

Apricots should pierce easily with a fork. 

Puree apricots in a food processor until smooth, adding cooking liquid as needed. 

So the 1 cup made 5 jars. I think it was about $0.30/jar.

Cherries!

Yummy, I had a hard time not eating a bunch of these too.  Take 2 cups of cherries.

Pit the cherries. I didn't have a cherry pitter so I just cut them in half and pried out the pit. hehe

A little bit of a change on this one. Puree the cherries first. 

Then heat the cherries in a pan until hot for about 3-5 minutes. Let cool completely and serve or store. 

I don't have a pictures, but it made 4 large jars of cherries. About $0.40/jar.

Whew, well I think I'm caught up for now. There are a whole bunch of homemade and wholesome baby food. I love making Ben's food because I know exactly what went into it and it is just so darn CHEAP!! Love it!!

Getting Berry Stains Out of A White Shirt

I have no idea where last week went, it sure went by quickly! We've got some exciting stuff brewing at our house and we've also had quite a few bumps in the road this week so I haven't been getting much done. Andrew is still doing really well with using the potty. He's taken a couple naps in his underwear with no accidents and usually wakes up in the morning with a dry diaper, so we're excited.

I'm getting really excited for the Shaklee Global Conference this week.  I can't wait to meet everyone who shares a passion for natural, non-toxic, and safe products. Shaklee has really changed our home! 

I made Andrew some mixed berry juice/smoothie the other day and of course since he was wearing a white shirt, he spilled it down the front. I was just asking for trouble though, wasn't I? Giving him berry juice around a white shirt...tisk tisk

Normally, I might be worried about stains, but with Shaklee I didn't have to worry. I just took the shirt off him and threw it in the sink with some Nature Bright. I let it soak a couple hours, rinsed it well, then put it through the wash like normal.

Good as new! The best part is there about Nature Bright is all natural and biodegradible and it contains NO phosphates and NO bleach. Why does does that matter?

Did you know that bleach is actually considered a pesticide by the EPA? The human body is like a sponge, the skin absorbs much of what it comes in contact with. So I feel it's very important to keep pesticides and other harmful products off our skin and out of our house completely - That's why I love Shaklee! Plus it works everytime!