{Home made baby food: Chicken with sweet potato & apple}

I've always known i wanted to make my own baby food for our children

Thats why, when G refused the spoon, i was so heart broken

at 6 months we offered her first food, sweet potatoes, she loved them! 

She ate a few bites every night for about a week, then suddenly, NO MORE

Miss G did not want anything to do with a spoon, or pureed food.

I was so confused! 

G was interested in solids, just not solids from a spoon

She would eat anything that she could pick up & eat herself, so i started cutting foods  into little chunks, like carrots, tofu, pears.. etc. She Loved those! 

Then suddenly, she started to refuse her little chunks! 

What is going on with this child! 

I tried to get her to eat the plum organics baby pouches. It was hit or miss. one day she would suck down the whole thing, the next day, she wanted nothing to do with it & would scream, cry & shake her head as we put it close to her. 

Desperate, i went online & purchased a book that looked interesting, its called "Top 100 baby purees" by annabel karmel. There are some pretty yummy looking recipes in there! I thought, hey, why not give a couple of these a try, maybe she will really like one! 

The first recipe i made from this book was a puree of Apples, Sweet potatoes & chicken.

& to my surprise, she ate it.

ALL of it

I scraped the little bowl clean & had to get more for her hungry little mouth! 

That was over a week and a half ago, & every night since then, she has successfully eaten {atleast} 4 oz of homemade baby food. 

Ive made lots of recipes from this book & froze them, so we are set for a while.

Every night, i switch it up & give G a different puree, expanding her tastebuds, & not just giving her the same thing over & over, so it stay exciting for her! 

She Cant get enough! 

So Here is the recipe for that first recipe i prepared, 

{Keep in mind that i gave this to our 9 month old daughter. I dont think this recipe is appropriate for a baby younger than 6/7 months.}

Chicken With Sweet Potato & Apple

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

 {We use Earth balance-its dairy free}

1/4 Cup chopped onion

4 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast chopped

1 large sweet potato chopped

1/2 large apple peeled, cored & chopped

1 cup chicken stock or broth

* Saute your onion in the butter for 2-3 minutes, then add the Chicken & continue to Saute until chicken starts to look opaque

* add the sweet potato, apple & broth or stock. 

Bring to a boil, then cover & let simmer for 15 minutes

* puree to correct consistency 

Serve it to your sweetie! 

This recipe makes A lot of food, so you will want to properly freeze & store the remainder.

I will do a post soon on how to do this :) 

I forgot to take pictures of that part! 

{6 years}

Today William & i are celebrating 6 years together.

Not 6 years married, but 6 wonderful years of dating, turned engagement, turned marriage :)

In these 6 years we have done so much together: 

Graduated highschool

Worked together in a restaurant

went to ASU

got engaged {July 17th 2008} 

got married {March 8th 2009}

Moved into a small one bedroom apartment, & Lived off of Ramen & Frozen Pizzas

worked 6 days a week each

Had one car to get us both back & forth to school & work {That was hard!} 

Then we bought a house, a fixer upper

got a puppy 

& another car {hallelujah!} 

& now we have a baby together, a sweet little girl named Giuliana.

I cant believe everything we have been through together already! 

Im 21, that means i have been with willy for about 1/3 of my life. 

We have had the chance to watch each other grow up & mature in so many ways.

Thats pretty cool :) 

I couldn't imagine life without him

He is my knight in shining armor

My prince

The one person who knows all of my faults & still chooses to love me 

Here's to many more years together with the man that still gives me butterflies

Love you william :) 

{5 minute pillow cover}

Ok. So i didn-'t even think about doing a post about this until AFTER i finished the project, so i apologize for the "fake" reenactment pictures :) Oh & i also apologize that these are instagram photos.. i've gotten way too lazy to use my camera. I guess thats what happens when you become a mama! 

I have been slowly working on my little project list for G's room. Making a fun pillow was one of the little things on the list.  Also on that list is Painting her dresser, & her crib, & adding a chair rail to her wall, sheets for her crib, .etc... all in due time! I'm just happy i got this pillow finished.. finally!

So choose your fabric, & lay it out INSIDE OUT

Drape your inside out fabric over the pillow you are making the cover for. 

Drape it so that the fabric slightly over laps itself in the middle of the pillow, to forma a pocket. {Does that make sense?}

Mark the edges around the shape of your pillow with a pen & pull the pillow out. Place pins on the marked line to hold the fabric together. 

Ok so this is the overlapping pocket i am talking about. This is what makes it possible to easily remove the cover for washing. 

Sew your marked edges

Turn your pillow case RIGHT SIDE out & stuff your pillow in

Place your pretty new pillow on a chair, or couch or bed! Its the perfect way to add a touch of color, easily!

This project really took me 5 minutes & I only used about 1/2- 3/4 yard of fabric, that cost $2.

A $2 personalized pillow? Perfect! 

Happy Friday :) 

{sticky baby rice balls}

Im always excited to try a new recipe for G, now that she is old enough to eat more solids!

G likes anything she can feed herself... meaning she does not like to be spoonfed, which can be tough sometimes.  She really likes the Plum organics baby puree pouches though, because she can hold it & squeeze it herself. & they are nice to have on the go! Whoever invented those pouches is a GENIUS! They are perfect for the baby who does not want to be fed with a spoon, like G.

I just recently heard about the Infantino Squeeze station , it enables you to make your own fresh baby food pouches! Im hoping to get one sometime in the near future so that we can give it a try! 

Has Anyone tried the squeeze station yet? 

What are your thoughts?

When G is not eating a puree pouch, she is eating solids that she can pick up & put into her own mouth.

Some of G's favorite solids to eat are:

cooked Sweet potato chunks

Cooked butternut squash chunks

Firm tofu chunks

cooked carrot slices

kidney beans

Cooked rice

Banana chunks

cooked apple pieces

Peach chunks

Mango chunks

watermelon & cantelope chunks

As you can see, we have tried quite a few different things with her. She's a good little eater. 

As of right now, @ almost 9 months old, she eats one solid food meal a day at night, plus a couple random snacks during the day. {Usually a little bit of a puree pouch or a baby mum mum} I still nurse her 6-7 times a day, as she is still learning to eat her solids! 

I have really been trying to introduce different flavor combinations.

This is my latest recipe

Its pretty darn good too. I kept eating the rice balls as i made them :) 

{Baby rice balls}

first you are going to need cooked rice. 

White, brown, whichever you prefer! I prefer brown, but I used white because we were out of brown.

Next, place your warm cooked rice in a food processor or blender & pulse a couple of times.

Then add your choice of other ingredients & blend until it becomes a texture that your baby can easily eat.

I added: Carrots, apples, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, tofu & a little bit of cinnamon. {G loooves cinnamon!}

after it is all blended, take out small spoonfulls & roll them into balls. 

As they cool they become more firm & stay intact

Store in an air tight container in your fridge! 

Super easy

G has really enjoyed them a lot! she ate about 10 of them last night! Little piggy :) 

Happy Friday! 

{DIY whipped coconut oil body butter}

I have mentioned in previous posts the different issues I have had with my skin & now, our daughters skin. We both have very sensitive, dry skin. I am always looking for new skincare rituals that dont irritate our skin. 

I have also mentioned in the past our love for coconut oil. We use it for everything in our house! Cooking, as lotion, as make up remover, deodorant..etc. So when i saw a link on pinterest on how to make whipped coconut oil body butter, i knew immediately i had to give it a try.

I have been using it for a few days & Oh my gosh you guys, I LOVE IT! 

It has made our dry sensitive skin super soft, no irritation ..& It smells great : )

I definitely recommend giving it a try!

You will need:

1 C Coconut oil

1-2 tsp Vitamin E creme or oil {I used cream}

a mixer 

first off, make sure your coconut oil is not melted. 

I live in AZ, so my coconut oil is always melted. 

Before i began i just put my oil in the fridge for a couple of minutes & that firmed it up just enough.

Place your coconut oil & vitamin E in a stand mixer 

Whip on high for 6-8 minutes, or until it looks like whipped cream :)

But dont eat it! 

Scoop your freshly whipped coconut oil into a container & make sure to store it in a place it wont get too warm. I keep it in the medicine cabinet in our bathroom & it has held up quite nicely!

apply it to your body as you would your regular body lotion

After applying, wait a few minutes to put on your clothes, so that it can soak into your skin, & not your clothes! It is oil, after all!

Enjoy! 

In other news, This past weekend has been very busy! 

I spent a lot of time at the hospital with one of my good friends from highschool, my made of honor, Marelle!

She had a sweet baby boy! G has another new friend!

Welcome to the world Jaxon Grimes :)

& Congratulations again Marelle & Dustin, You will be wonderful parents!

We spent the rest of the weekend with my younger sister, watching every disney movie we own!

G was introduced to some of my favorites, like Lion king! Favorite, favorite, favorite!

Well, happy Tuesday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!