Easy Glazed Carrots for Toddlers

We tend to try and stay away from processed and pre-packaged food at our house so I've never understood the point of things like the Gerber Graduates which are basically TV dinners for toddlers. However, days like today it might have been useful, too bad we didn't have any nor did I want to run to the store to get some.

This afternoon was spent running errands and we didn't get home until late. Normally this would have meant a quick stop somewhere to grab dinner on the way home, but we'd decided to do the Eat at Home Challenge for the month of July so while we seriously considered stopping in the end we didn't. This isn't a huge issue for us grown-ups since we can grab a snack now and wait a bit for dinner, but it was pushing A's bedtime so she needed to eat and eat now and preferably a balanced meal. The solution was actually easier than I thought it would be. We cut up some cheese (lunch meat or canned beans might have been better, but I forgot to grab more at the store last night), grapes and half a roll. Not bad, but I really wanted a veggie. After a minute of thinking I invented this recipe:

Toddler Glazed Carrots:
1 carrot (sliced)
pinch of brown sugar
sliver of butter

Put the sliced carrot into a small glass bowl, top with brown sugar and butter and microwave for 45-60 seconds or until carrot is fully cooked. Stir well and blow on it until it is cool enough to eat.

Maybe not the world's healthiest dinner (especially after DH decided she needed strawberry jam on her roll), but it is tasty, filling and reasonably balanced. The best part is that it took less than 5 minutes to throw together which is a lot less time than we would have spent waiting in the drive-thru line and not really any worse than reheating a TV dinner. Plus, it is a heck of a lot cheaper than either of those other options :)

I'm posting this recipe because it would also come in handy on those days when DH and I want to have salad as our veggie because A. really can't handle the lettuce. We almost always have carrots in the fridge so I can mix her up an easy alternative and we don't have to avoid salad and other hard to chew greens.

Making Dinner Happen

Lately I've realized that I'm generally really tired by the end of the day. Maybe it's being pregnant, maybe it's chasing an active toddler or not getting enough sleep. It is probably a combination of all of these things. However, no matter the cause, the effects are getting bothersome. I haven't had the energy for blogging and even if I did I haven't had a lot of energy for doing neat things to blog about. The biggest effect though has been on dinner. I'm sure that any of you with young kids know how hard it can be to make dinner quickly with a toddler trying to get your attention or even when said toddler is "helping". My old solution was to either do some prep while A. was napping, or more often to just wait until DH got home and whip up dinner while he played with A. Since the two of them love spending time together this worked really well for a long time. However, now by the time DH is home from work I'm tired and just want to sit down and rest for a bit so we were eating more convenience foods or opting to eat out more often. On the surface these options are okay and they certainly still get us fed. However, they aren't great for the pocket book and it gets increasingly hard to combine eating out with eating healthy. This has been really bothering me lately because I feel like in some ways I am failing my family (gotta love that mommy guilt). Thankfully, I am working on some solutions. Since I figure I'm not the only one to run into this problem when life gets crazy I thought I'd share what I'm doing right now and ask for suggestions for improvement.

The first thing I'm working on is planning ahead. When I'm tired thinking comes harder for me so I tend to put it off hoping that it will be easier later. Unfortunately, before long I find that I'm in the 6pm time crunch and still don't know what to make and have to figure something out now because A. has to get to bed. In the past I've tried to plan a weekly meal plan, but something always comes up and throws off the schedule. I'm hoping to get to the point where I can have a weekly plan with enough flexibility to really work, but in the meantime I am focusing on having a plan before bed the night before. This goal is smaller and thus more obtainable which means I'm not failing at it nearly as often. DH and I will take a couple of minutes after A. goes to bed each night to look at what we have in the fridge and what needs to be used. Then I come up with a meal plan for the next day based on a combination of that and what the schedule is looking like. If I'm not sure of the next day I try to come up with a back-up plan too just in case and then pull anything I'll need that is currently frozen up into the fridge to start thawing.

The second thing I'm doing is to take advantage of A's nap to get dinner started. I don't have to have everything done, but if I have dinner started or even just have prepped ingredients by 4pm the whole evening seems to go smoother. I got this idea from this blog. It has a ton of tasty recipes that can be done in bits and pieces through out the day. Before I found it I had never thought of prepping a casserole in the morning when I had energy and sticking it in the fridge so that I could just pop it in the oven 40 minutes before dinner instead of trying to push through the end of day exhaustion.

Right now these are the two things I'm focusing on. An example of how it works would what we are doing tonight. Yesterday when I was digging through the freezer to grab out some frozen veggies to go with dinner I accidentally ripped the plastic on some ground beef. This made the dinner decision a little easier because I knew that if I left it in the freezer it would get freezer burn so I pulled up the meat. I realized that I had been craving Swedish meatballs for a while, but hadn't made them because they require you to have thawed ground beef (mine was always frozen) and the time to mix and shape the meatballs, brown them, make gravy and then simmer them. We've been on the go a lot and when you are getting home from a play date 30 minutes before dinner there just isn't time for that. Today we didn't have any plans, but I also finally realized I could use a small crock pot. This meant that after lunch I put A. down for her nap and then grabbed the (now thawed) meat from the fridge. I mixed and shaped the meatballs and then browned them in a skillet. Once they were brown I put them in the crock pot and then made gravy with the pan drippings, beef broth and some Marsala wine. I let it boil long enough to cook off the alcohol and then poured it over the meatballs in the crock pot. I set the already hot meatball mixture to low and it is now simmering away making the house smell nice. At that point I realized I really needed to sit down because my stupid ankles were starting to swell (this happened when I was pregnant with A. too, no amount of water, rest, salt, etc. ever helped much, but my blood pressure was always really low so no worries). While A. is playing this afternoon I'll wash and chop up some broccoli and throw it in the top of the steamer and put the whole thing in the fridge. That way, when DH is home we can hang out as a family for a little bit and then I can slip away to the kitchen to start some rice and boil water to steam the broccoli while he plays with A. If I'm really on top if it I'll have the water and rice measured and the pots on the stove so I just have to turn on burners, but we'll see. Worst case, if I do nothing else today, I can start some rice and put the last of the giant bin of salad on the table and call it good. We'll have a balanced, tasty meal and I don't have to feel bad for collapsing on the couch as soon as DH walks in the door because dinner will be busy making itself.

These are helping most days, but I'm still not getting a "good" dinner on the table every single night. I'd love to hear suggestions on how to improve this plan or any other tips for getting a healthy, tasty dinner on the table when you are exhausted at the end of the day. Please share.

Tuesday Tip: Bacon

I don't know about you, but I love bacon. The only problem is that it is really expensive for a food that isn't terribly healthy and mostly adds flavor and fat. For us bacon is a "sometimes food". Most of the time I keep an eye on the sales and look for coupons, but sometimes I really luck out. You see, I don't care if my bacon is pretty, or uniform, I just like the flavor so I keep my eyes out for "bacon ends and pieces". Not every store carries them, but if the store you go to cuts their own bacon keep an eye out for it. The ends and pieces are the slices that are too short, too thick or thin, the ends from pieces that are too long, etc. The are whatever is leftover that isn't perfect, but they are still bacon and generally cost half as much as the normal kind. Sometimes you'll get bits that are mostly fat and other times you'll get big hearty bits that are more like ham than bacon. You can either eat them as is and enjoy the variety (which is my favorite way) or chop up the bits you don't like and use them on salad, in omelets, on pizza, etc.

The other tip I have is to save the bacon grease after you cook bacon. All you need is a glass jar that you can keep in the fridge. After you cook your bacon pour off the grease into the jar and save it in the fridge for later. By saving it you are saving it instead of pouring it down the drain you are saving money and your drain at the same time. This may sound silly and a little overly frugal, but bacon grease has a great flavor and can really enhance a lot of dishes and the bacon grease is free (once you've already bought the bacon) while butter, margarine and oil have to be purchased. Instead of scrambling or frying your eggs with a little bit of butter try bacon grease. Then you can get the flavor of bacon without actually making fresh bacon (or eating all those extra calories). It is also great for frying greens, the flavor of the bacon really pairs well with the more bitter greens and can help take the bite out of them. Next time you want an interesting, and cheap, side dish try using some of that bacon grease to fry up potatoes, add a little garlic powder or season salt for a dish that really says "comfort food". There are so many places that using bacon grease in place of butter or oil can enhance the flavor of the meal while cutting the cost just a bit (especially if you use real butter).

How about you? Have you heard of bacon ends and pieces? Do you save your bacon grease for use in later meals? If so what is your favorite use for bacon grease?

Maple, Date, Walnut Granola

DH and I love granola. We'll eat it with yogurt and fruit, with milk or even plain as a snack. It may not be low in fat, but it is healthy and filling and a little bit of fat is really important. The only problem with granola is that it tends to be really expensive. I've been hearing for years about how you can make your own granola, but all the recipes I have seen included a ton of ingredients I didn't have and seemed to involve a lot of steps and mess. It just never seemed worth it. Then I came across this. It described a simple, basic granola that you made in a skillet. I was hungry and really wanted a snack, but didn't know what to make when I found the recipe. I did a more basic version using flax seeds (which was what we had on hand) and honey that was somewhere between that recipe and the original. (I used 2T. butter, 2T local honey, 1c. rolled oats, 1/4c. flax seed and a dash of cinnamon if you are interested.) It was amazing, and what's more it only took 5-10 minutes. It was so good I started to experiment with what I had in the pantry and came up with a new recipe. It only took a few minutes and was super tasty. If you want to try it, here is the recipe. It is easy, tasty, cheap and healthy. What's not to love?

Maple, Date, Walnut Granola
1 c old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 c chopped walnuts
1 tbs. butter (though walnut or canola oil would work too)
2 tbs. maple syrup
1/4 c finely chopped dates
dash cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
pinch of salt

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and mix in the maple syrup. As soon as those are well mixed add the walnuts and saute them briefly (1-2 minutes). Add the rolled oats and stir to mix well. Sprinkle on the spices and stir so they are mixed evenly. Remove from heat, mix in the dates and then spread it on a cookie sheet to cool.

I like to give it 10 minutes to cool, but if you are in a real hurry you could pour cold milk on it and eat it sooner. The big thing is to make sure you don't burn your mouth on the hot sugar. This is one of my favorite treats, I hope you will try it too. You can also use honey, agave syrup, molasses or a mix of water and brown sugar as the sweetener and use any combination of seeds, nuts, spices and dried fruit that appeals to you. Enjoy!

ETA: This is now linked to Pennywise Platter. Check out the link for other tasty, frugal, healthy recipes and ideas.

Homemade Baby Food

Before A. was born I was pretty sure that I would make my own baby food. A friend had told me how easy it was and one look at the price of those tiny jars was enough to convince me that it made economic sense. My only worry was finding the time, but I had visions of being crazy productive during the long naps I was sure my baby would take. After A. was born I realized that finding time might be harder than I thought and was starting to waffle on the idea of making my own baby food when she developed food allergies. She was allergic to dairy, soy and corn which meant that many of those jars and boxes of baby food were off limits to her. There is only one brand of rice cereal that she can have and only one brand of puffs. While many of the "stage 1" foods were okay, the later stages were more questionable. Even the standard toddler fair of Cheerios is off limits for the time being (she seems to have outgrown the allergies, but we aren't going to reintroduce the food to her until after her first birthday). Luckily I like cooking and DH was more than willing to play with A. in the evenings while I cooked. I scoured the internet to find recipes convinced that with the popularity of prepackaged baby food it had to be hard to make your own. I came across a website with a ton of information on what to fix and how to fix it. I also had a baby food cookbook and a couple of different sized ice cube trays for freezing so I set myself a time and went for it.

It really was easy once I got into the swing of things. I did have some problems like the time the prunes wouldn't come out of the ice cube trays (turns out the puree was too thick so they never fully froze) or the time that I wound up giving up on the blender and the food processor for my sweet potatoes and running the whole thing through the food mill. Then there was the time that I was trying to mash a banana with a fork, only to have bits go flying out of the bowl onto the floor...But other than that it was really easy. I learned that it makes more sense to combine making the baby food with making my food which saved me a ton of time. If I was roasting a chicken for dinner I would wrap a few sweet potatoes in foil and throw them in the oven too. Pull them out with the chicken and set them aside to cool. By the time we were done with dinner they were cool enough I didn't burn myself and the skins would peel off with the foil. Then I'd run them through the food mill (neither my food processor nor my blender liked how thick the roasted sweet potatoes were) and throw everything into ice cube trays. If I needed to make carrots I would make enough that DH and I could have carrots with dinner and then throw the rest in the food processor for A. Between this and a few batches of steamed fruit we were able to get through the puree stage. Now we are to the stage that I would have preferred to start with had A. not been so demanding about starting solids before she could feed them to herself. (I'd really wanted to try "baby led weaning", but starting at 4.5 months A. would scream if she saw us eating and not sharing. The first time we gave her applesauce she scarfed down as much as we would give her.)

Now that we are out of the puree stage and into the finger food stage things have gotten both easier and harder. Life is easier because I don't have to worry about pureeing or mashing foods specifically for A. Her favorite thing is to eat whatever we are eating. However, this means that whatever we are eating has to have something that she can eat too. She also prefers to feed herself so whatever we do has to be something that she can pick up with her fingers as she hasn't mastered a spoon yet. This means that if we have something like soup I have to figure out a way to feed her too. In some cases it is easy enough to just pull some meat and/or veggies out of the soup and give her those. In others she may get something completely different from what we are having. However, this post is getting really long so I will talk about the specifics of finger foods another day. I mostly want to say that if you don't mind some failures you can make your own baby food. In our case it was very much needed both from an financial standpoint and an allergy standpoint, but next time I think I will do it even if those aren't concerns just because it is fun to be able to play with stuff and it is nice to know exactly where the food is coming from. That is, unless I can convince the next kid to hold off on solids until they can feed themselves...

Solar Power

In many ways solar power for our homes is a nice idea, but out of most people's price range. There is one case, however, where this isn't as true. What would you say if I told you that you could buy a solar powered clothes dryer for less than $15 (or a high-end, top of the line model for under $50)? What if I told you that it would make your whites whiter and could dry your clothes in less than half the time of a normal dryer? Not only that, but it is easier on your clothes so that they will last longer. This amazing dryer doesn't heat up the house the way a conventional dryer does and can even leave your children with fond memories of it's use. Yet, despite all of it's wonderful attributes, this solar powered clothes dryer is anathema to most HOAs. Can you guess what I'm talking about? Yup, it's a clothesline...
They are generally frowned upon because they are considered "low class" or "trashy". (Which is really funny since Martha Stewart is one of the biggest proponents of line drying clothes.) The bottom line is that there are some times when a clothesline is much better than an electric dryer. In Arizona small things are frequently dry by the time you finish hanging up the rest of the load and your sheets don't get as wrinkled. Plus, there is nothing nicer than standing between two wet sheets hanging up laundry on a hot day. (Really, I'm not a masochist, we don't have that type of humidity so it is lovely and cool.) Having grown up with both I've been missing having access to a clothesline and finally decided that I don't care about the HOA and installed one that I can pull down when it's not in use. I spent less than $15 for everything I needed (including clothes pins) and only took a few minutes to install. If this one works half as well as I foresee we will be installing more eye bolts and making some extra removable lines with clips on each end so that we can hang even more of our laundry out. I am really looking forward to saving electricity and money. (Especially since the A/C won't have to work as hard to keep the house cool on laundry day.)

How about you? Have you ever used a clothesline? How did you like it? Would you consider trying it again (or even for the first time)? If you don't like a clothesline or agree with the HOA that they should be outlawed, why? I'd love to hear everyone's opinion on the subject so please share.

Easy Fresh Salsa

When it comes to tomatoes "our cup runith over" of late. I love tomatoes as much as the next person, but we have been getting two baskets of tomatoes from our CSA for more weeks than I can remember now. These are great sauted with squash and some onion and served over pasta. I love them eaten fresh both in salad and on their own. However, there is a limit to everything. If I had more I would can them, but we never get enough at one time to fire up the canning pot. Then I saw the post on Food in Jars about making homemade salsa. We had a big bag of chips to go with our summer favorite of tomatillo salsa so this pico de gallo is perfect, or would be if I had all the ingredients. Since necessity is the mother of invention I fit the recipe to work with what I had on hand. Here's what worked for me:

I used:
1 pint of tomatoes (this is how our CSA tomatoes come, just visualize how many would fit in a pint basket)
1/2 a small onion
1 small handful of cilantro (in a real pinch fresh parsley could be used)
salt and pepper to taste
lemon juice
Chop up each ingredient and put it into a wide mouth quart jar. Once everything is in there put on the lid and shake it to mix everything together. Let it stand in the fridge for a few hours for the flavors to meld (or as long as you can stand if a few hours are out of the question). Enjoy!
A few notes. You may have noticed that I didn't add any sort of chilies. I like my pico de gallo to be really mild, if you don't you might want to finely chop a chili like a serrano or a jalapeno and add it depending on what you like. This is especially important if you use parsley either because that is what you have on hand or because you are one of the unfortunate souls for whom cilantro tastes like metalic soap. Also, I used lemon juice because that's what I had, if you have it lime juice would work better. Finally, I didn't add garlic because we'd just run out. If you have garlic you might want to add that too.

Try making this salsa, it is a quick, easy and tasty way to use up some off those overly abundant summer tomatoes. The best part is that as long as you don't go crazy with the chips it is pretty healthy too since it has no fat and is just fresh veggies. It is also cheap because it uses foods that are frequently in season at the same time and is a great alternative to store bought salsa.

This recipe is linked to Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet. Head over there to check out other great recipes.

Sewing For Baby, Part 4: Toys

There are so many baby toys on the shelves that you might wonder if it really makes sense to make your own. After all, you can buy plastic toys that are brightly colored and light up and ones that talk. Or you can go the more natural approach and buy toys that are hand crafted from wood by family owned businesses. Some people (myself included) have a worry in the back of their minds about toys produced in China containing lead or other harmful toxins. However, I can buy toys produced in Germany under good working conditions and strict quality control standards. So why would I bother making toys?

There are many answers to this question, but the one that springs to my mind first is "tradition". When I was a kid my granddad made my sister and I cars for our Barbies out of wood, empty shoe polish tins and old lids. My mom made us dinosaurs out of scraps leftover from various projects and remnants (I'm assuming). My dad helped me make a swing in the back yard and let my sister and I build things with scrap wood. One of my earliest memories of my mom sewing was when she was working on a larger version of the ball you see to the left. The ball was probably about 6" across and belonged to my little sister. It had some of the neatest fabrics, various scraps that went together to make a pleasing whole. As a kid I always thought this ball was really neat, not just because it was neat in and of itself, but because my mom was clever enough to make it. I would love it for my children to remember me that way.

This alludes to a second reason to make toys for your children. Even the simplest toys are special when they are made with love. Add a dose of creative play and special memories are created. Even a simple gauze swaddle blanket, made at home because Target didn't have them for sale when we needed them, can become a fun toy. We use ours to play peek-a-boo, build forts, provide shade and act silly. I can only imagine how much more fun we will have as my daughter gets older and starts playing pretend. The best part is that since I made it myself I was able to pick colors like coral, melon and kelly green that are so saturated that they are fun in and of themselves. I love that they things that I make to fill my need to be creative can help my daughter fill hers.

Another reason to make your own toys is that you can make something that can't be found in stores. My daughter is small for her age which means she has small hands. When she reached the stage where she wanted to grab, hold and toss toys they were all too big for her hands. I found a pattern for this puzzle ball in Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts and realized it fit the bill perfectly. I checked out a copy from the library and was able to use the instructions and scraps from old projects to make this ball for free. The ball is big enough to have some real substance, while still having surfaces that can be grabbed with small hands. Add to that the bright colors (or make it in black and white for a young baby) and it is a real hit.

The final reason to make your own toys is, obviously, cost. Good toys are expensive and even cheap toys add up quickly. While I definately try to limit the number of toys my daughter has and only offer a few at a time so that they stay interesting and engaging, the cost still adds up. Given a choice I would rather she play with sturdy toys that aren't going to break. Toys that are not made in sweat shops, but instead giving what money I do spend to companies that treat their workers with respect and provide them with a living wage and safe working conditions. I want toys that are made by someone who cares, not by the lowest bidder. These toys cost more and for good reason. Unfortunately, I can only afford so many and my daughter does need enough to keep her entertained and stimulated. I don't want her to feel that she has to sacrifice because of my ideals so I make up the difference as best I can and she seems to like the arrangement. If she seems to be really drawn to a given fabric I use some in a toy that she can play with. I focus on how special each individual toy is instead of on how many she has or doesn't have. This is the balance that works for us. What about you? What kind of toys do you buy for your babies and children? Do you think about the impact that those toys have or how your child will receive them? Do you try to teach lessons through play or do you feel it is better to let your child discover them on their own? I'd love to hear the thoughts of anyone who has time to answer.

Sewing For Baby, Part 3: Clothes

One of the best parts of having a little girl is all the cute outfits. There are cute outfits for boys, but the selection is nothing like what is available for little girls. From skirts and dresses to rompers and jeans, little girls can wear anything. The problem is that all of these cute outfits can add up to a budget nightmare. So what's a frugal parent to do? Well there is always the garage sale option, and craigslist, and even Ebay. These can all be great places to get cute clothes cheap. The biggest problem I've found with these is that I have to go through a bunch of stuff that I don't want to find something I like. To say I am picky about what my daughter wears would be an understatement. This is where sewing your own comes in handy.

All the major pattern companies have patterns for baby clothes. You can go to their websites and figure out which patterns you like and then watch the sales at your local fabric store. I find that mine generally have at least one brand of pattern on sale every couple of weeks and they rotate through the brands. By being a little patient I was able to get a ton of baby patterns for $0.99-$1.50 each. You can also wait for fabric and notions to go on sale and get everything for a cute baby outfit for half price. The other thing to watch is the remnant bin. All fabric stores have them, these are the bolt ends and the scraps "too small to save". The fabric in the remnant bin is perfectly good fabric, there is just less than 1 yard of it so you can buy it at half price. Since most baby clothes take 1 yard or less of fabric this is a great option. The outfit above was made from a 1/2 yard of fabric I found in the remnant bin. I had to get rather creative with the pattern placement (make sure you follow the grain line and print direction if you want it to look right) and there wasn't enough for the lining, but I was able to pull it off. Unless you looked at the inside or read this post you would never know that the outfit is lined with muslin instead of matching fabric.

One of the other nice things about making your own baby clothes is that it is probably your best bet at getting cute boy clothes. You can pick a fabric you like and combine it with a fairly simple pattern and get something that is both adorable and boyish. This is a great option for all of you who complain about the lack of good boy clothes. All it takes to get custom clothes is a good pattern, a sewing machine and some time. Also, just because the first outfit takes you forever don't assume that all outfits will. The first time I made this pattern took every free moment for a full week. The second time only took about 4 hours worth of naps.

These patterns are more complicated, if you have a girl there are some dresses that can be made in under an hour. Please consider sewing for your children. You never know, their favorite outfit might well be something that you make yourself. I know I always loved the clothes my mom made me (we won't discuss some of the vocabulary I may have picked up while she was doing so). ;-)

Cloth Diapers

Before my daughter was born I had decided that we would use cloth diapers because I liked the idea of being able to reuse them and I didn't relish the idea of having to drag myself to the store with a baby because I'd run out of diapers. I also liked the idea that we wouldn't be making nearly as much trash with cloth diapers as with disposables. As it is we rarely fill a 13 gallon trash bag in a week and this is something that makes me happy. As I learned more about cloth diapers I also realized how cute they can be which was a big selling point (does that make me shallow?). I had a lot of people tell me that it would be too much work and that I'd switch to disposables in no time. I figured that I was more stubborn than that and decided to prove them wrong. I had one friend who had used cloth diapers for her kids telling me that it was easy and it turns out that she was the one that was right. From the time my daughter was about a week old she was almost exclusively in cloth diapers. We used disposables for one vacation and we have used them as extras in the diaper bag for when we run out of cloth diapers because they take up less space. All in all we have only ever used one package in each size of diapers and we've had to make an effort to finish each small package. For us cloth is just so much easier (not to mention cheaper, more environmentally friendly and better for our daughter's sensitive skin). This leaves me wondering why everyone doesn't use them. I understand that a large part of their appeal for us is due to the fact that we have a washer and dryer in our home. I can understand someone not doing cloth diapers if they don't have this, but what about those that do? All I can figure is that people don't know how great they can be so I am going to answer a few questions that I had before I started. If anyone else has questions please let me know and I'll be glad to answer those too. Cloth diapers may not be for everyone, but they are worth looking into if you have a little one in diapers.

Aren't cloth diapers hard? Don't they take a lot of work?
No, they really aren't. We use prefolds and waterproof covers with a snappi. This is one of the hardest things to get onto a squirmy baby and they are still pretty easy after a little practice. If you are worried about it there are a ton of diapers on the market that work just like disposables except that you wash them instead of throwing them away. We use these (actually, we use the older version, but those aren't available anymore) at night when we aren't awake enough to bother with multiple steps. As for washing we just do a cold water wash with a little detergent followed by a hot wash with 1 tbs. of Charlie's Soap laundry powder. Everything that isn't waterproof goes in the dryer and I pull the waterproof covers out and line dry them. They can go in the dryer, but they last longer this way. When you're done you don't even need to fold stuff if you don't want to. It's not like it matters if your diapers get wrinkled, you can just use out of the basket.

What about when I'm out and about?
Some people use disposables when they are out and I had done this at first. However, I found that it is actually easier to just use cloth out. I even use wet cloth wipes in a wipe case because it is so much easier. I have a wet bag that I put everything in and it keeps the wetness and odor in, even when there is a poopy diaper. When I get home I just dump the whole thing into the diaper pail and toss the wet bag in after. (It helps that I have more than one wet bag.) This is why cloth wipes are so much easier, if you use disposable wipes you have to pull them out separately.

What about the poop?
First of all, I don't know how many of you have read the diaper package, but technically you are supposed to scrape the poop out of disposable diapers before throwing them away. This is to prevent ground water contamination when it rains at the dump. However, I don't know of anyone who does this because most anyone who knows either ignores it or switches to cloth. That said, poop isn't hard to deal with when you are using cloth diapers. If you are exclusively breastfeeding (no formula, no solids) the cold water wash will take care off all the poop. It will wash it safely into the sewer/septic system. (Note: If you use gray water for watering your plants you won't want to do that when washing diapers, the water really should be going to the sewer/septic system for these loads.) If you are using formula and/or your baby is old enough to be eating solids then you have a few options. You can use the old "dunk and swish" method, you can buy (or make) a diaper sprayer or you can use liners. We really like the liners. You can buy either reusable or flushable liners or you can buy microfleece and cut it to size to make your own. We used the last option as I was able to find microfleece on sale at Fabric.com and make all the liners we will ever need for about $4. Another thing to consider with the poop question is whether or not you are having problems with blow-outs. The closest thing to a blow-out we have ever had was when I didn't get the cover on tightly enough and we had a dime-sized amount of poop on the outfit. I have never had baby poop on the car seat, stroller, baby carrier, crib sheet or my shirt. We have never had to throw away an outfit or scramble to get the car seat clean after. I have heard these stories from other moms, but never experienced it myself. The cover has always contained even the largest, nastiest messes including diarrhea! Just a thought...

What about daycare?
We haven't had to worry about this, but it might be worth asking. The regulations vary from state to state and in many cases a daycare might say "no" just because they think cloth diapers are hard. If you supply them with all-in-one or pocket diapers and a wet bag to put them in they may be more willing to work with you. If you use day care and want to use cloth diapers talk to them, it may be more possible than you think.

These are the questions I get most often, but there are a ton more that I'm forgetting. If you think of anything please ask. I know that they aren't for everyone, but they are a lot easier than most people think. If you decide to stick with disposables that's fine, but don't do it just because the marketing campaign has you thinking that cloth is just "too hard". When we used disposables on our last vacation our whole family was really happy to get home and switch back to cloth because we'd missed it so.

Sewing for Baby: Introduction

When it comes right down to it all any baby really needs is love, a safe place to sleep, food to eat, diapers, a few clothes and a safe carseat. If you breastfeed and use cloth diapers babies really aren't that expensive (provided you have good insurance to cover the medical bills, of course). However, there are so many cute baby things out there it is hard not to go crazy. So what's a crafty mom on a budget to do?

The answer of course is to make some of those toys, decorations and clothes that are so cute and add up so quickly. In this series I will discuss some of the options and projects that you can sew for your baby or as an amazing shower gift for a mom-to-be.

Never underestimate the power of homemade shower gifts. One of my favorite gifts before my daughter was born was a sling that a friend made for me. When my daughter was tiny that sling and others like it were the only way that I ever got anything done because she needed constant holding. As she has gotten older and more independent I have used it for quick trips out because it is so much easier than bothering with a stroller. My daughter also has some beautiful handmade toys, including a knit elephant from my sister that comes with on "adventures" and a couple of balls that I have sewn for her that are well received by the babies in our playgroup.

Remember, everything that you make for a child is not just a physical object, but a solid manifestation of the time, energy and love that you put into creating it; so try not to swear too much when you mess it up ;-)

In this series I am going to talk about some of the things I have sewn for my daughter, but I am always on the lookout for new projects so please share anything you have made or patterns that you want to make. I will be posting these once a week on Mondays with normal blog content in between. Enjoy!

Let's Talk Turkey

Normally we think of turkey as a food that is reserved for Thanksgiving or maybe Christmas when we have a lot of people around to help us eat it. Our household only has two adults so you would think that roasting a turkey for just us would be rather crazy. However, last week I found a whole turkey breast on sale for $0.99/lb and bought it because I know how much my husband likes roast turkey. I rubbed it with butter and sprinkled on sea salt and freshly ground pepper and roasted it up in the oven until the thermometer reached 170F. I also threw in some sweet potatoes from our CSA for the last hour or so and a loaf of sour dough bread to warm up for the last 10 minutes or so. While the turkey was resting I made up some gravy and we had what many would consider a "fancy" dinner with very little time and effort on my part. I love these sorts of meals because they make me feel like I have done a wonderful thing for my family without having to spend all day at it.

The meal was tasty, but we had a bunch of meat left afterwards. The next day for lunch I'd planned on doing turkey sandwiches, but DH didn't want to wait long enough to cut the bread and just ate the turkey straight. After this we still had turkey left, though at this point it was getting hard to slice.

For dinner that night I picked as much as I could off the bones and threw it in a casserole dish with diced new potatoes and a couple of carrots, both from our CSA share. I added the remaining gravy (thinned with some wine because we didn't have much left) from the night before, put the lid on and baked it in the oven until it was hot and bubbly. I was originally planning on putting some drop biscuits on top and calling it "turkey pot pie", but there wasn't enough room left in the dish so I'm calling it "turkey pot stew". This was quite tasty and there was enough left over for lunch the next day. I then threw the bones into the crock pot with more carrot, some celery, onion and a few herbs. I poured water in almost to the top, turned it on low and wet to bed. By the next morning I had 14 cups of stock that was happy to bubble away until I had time to deal with it. At that point we threw out the bones and said goodbye to the turkey.

The turkey breast cost me $6.47. All the vegetables (except the celery in the stock) were from our CSA share which is large enough that we really have to work to use them. This turkey fed us from Sunday night through lunch on Tuesday and left us with enough stock in the freezer that we won't have to buy any for quite a while. Normally I wouldn't have bought a single cut of meat that large for two adults and a baby because I would worry about it going to waste. However, we finished it off before we got tired of it and had several cheap, healthy, enjoyable meals. From now on turkey will be on my list of meats to buy when it gets cheap enough. Maybe next time I'll even consider buying a whole turkey...

Grocery Sales

Shopping sales can be serious business or a great game.

If you are anything like me you've heard about all those people who pay next to nothing for their groceries and wondered how they do it. How can you get a box of good cereal (eg. Cheerios or Chex) for $1 or free toothpaste? As I look for ways to spend less and live more I started looking into how this works. At first I was sure it wouldn't be useful for us because we don't buy a lot of stuff that comes in boxes and that seems to be what the sales are for. However, I've started looking closer at the grocery ads (with some help of course :-) and have found some money savings.

The idea of "super couponing" is that you combine sale prices with coupons to get a really good deal. One example is that while I was walking down the aisle at a grocery store a couple weeks ago I saw a manufacturers coupon for $1 off 2 boxes of Cheerios. Since we like Cheerios I grabbed the coupon. Since then I have started watching the ads. Sure enough last week I saw a one-day-only sale where Cheerios (and other cereal) was selling at 2 boxes for $3. When this is combined with the coupon the total price is $2 for 2 or $1 each. That's a really good deal, but we don't eat a lot of Cheerios and it isn't saving if you wouldn't have bought it otherwise.

Where I have found the real savings to come in for our family is in shopping the meat and produce sales. I do home canning so when I see strawberries for $0.99/lb I know that by buying 3 lbs. I can make enough jam to last us for several months (or would have been if I hadn't made two batches of strawberry jam in as many weeks when strawberries were 2 lbs for $3, doh). I was also able to find chicken leg quarters on sale in 10lb bags for $3.90 or $0.39/lb. I grilled about half of those when we had family in town and tossed the rest into Ziploc bags with marinade, pushed the excess air out and froze them. I am still very new to this sale thing, but I am already saving money. Having the pre-prepped food in the freezer is a life saver when I am tired and hungry and just want to hit up the local burger joint.

I'm still no expert and have a lot to learn, but it is kinda fun to sit down and figure out how to get the best deal on things that you would buy anyway. It is also really nice when they day has been busy to be able to pull a bag out of the freezer and have a meal mostly prepared. Normally by lunch time I can tell how crazy my day will be. This means that if it looks like I won't have time to cook the meal I had planned I can grab something out of the freezer and set it to thawing in the refrigerator so that dinner will be taken care of without having to resort to some of the less healthy options for a quick meal. Today is Wednesday, the first day of the new grocery sales. Look through the ads and any coupons you have and see what deals you can find.