Useful

I have fourtrays for freezing baby food.  When I amcooking for my little guys, I am constantly wishing that I had 100 ofthem.  When cooking and freezing cubes ofpureed food is not necessary, I want to throw these trays away.  They do not fit in the cupboards neatly andtake up quite a bit of room.  They alsoseem to be the first item that loves to fall out and bonk you on the headwhenever you are searching for something. Or is that just my clumsiness?

Like themajority of 30-something women, I waste quite a bit of time on Pinterest.  I have found many ridiculous ways to reuseand craft with common household goods and rarely find something practical.  When I do, I feel the need to share.  I am a believer of freezer cooking andreusing and have trouble throwing things away. I also buy organic, which makes my grocery bill a bit higher than thosewho do not.  I love to save money andcoupon and I am constantly looking for a deal. I was elated when I found a post on Pinterest that not only gave me usefor my baby food freezer trays, but also gave me an idea for saving food.

I cook withbuttermilk, whipping cream, etc. when needed and always find myself throwingaway a portion of the carton.  Of course,this is after it sits in my refrigerator long after the expiration date.  Now I take my baby food containers and fillthem with the remainder of the carton and freeze.  Each of my containers are one-ounce cubes, soit’s easy to pull out what I need for a recipe and thaw.  It has never occurred to me to freezeleftover dairy and I’m delighted by this idea. It’s saving me tons of money (especially since I bought a new cartonevery time I needed even the smallest amount) and has given me new uses for myfreezer trays long after my baby food days (although I’ll probably downsize tomy favorite two).

Autumn comfort food for toddlers

The birthdaycake once again received rave reviews.  I’mthinking of making individual servings to bring into work.  The cream cheese icing was much richer thanthe milk-free version that I made for my first son.  I think that it was preferred.  It also made it feel a bit more breakfast-ywhich fit into the brunch theme.  Give ita try - it really is a delicious cake!

I’mactually making quite a bit of baby food again. I’m going to make my favorite pumpkin polenta recipe this week (now thathe can have milk!)  This recipe is adapted from The Petit Appetit Cookbook and I usually double it.  Below is the original recipe size (before doubling). 

2 cups milk(we use organic whole milk, but I have used goat’s milk before)
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ teaspooncinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
½ cup organic polenta (aka cornmeal. I buy Bob’s Red Mill online)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or butter substitute
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Combine thefirst six ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat.  Add in the polenta and whisk to combine (becareful – polenta will “jump” out of the pot).  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, whiskingoccasionally until thick.  Remove fromheat and stir in butter and syrup.

My firstson loved this so much that I fed it to him long after he was eating solidfoods exclusively.  I love that both ofmy boys were born in autumn and I could make this for them when they turnedone.  There is just something comfortingabout that pumpkin spice flavor when the leaves are changing.

Cost

Updates

The change process has been slow, but good.  I’ve lost some weight and I have incorporatedsome routines that I hope to become habits that are definitely beneficial to myhealth.  Overall, I’m feeling good aboutmy progress, confident that it will continue, and I’m happy with the changesthat I’ve made.

I have done the unthinkable. I have actually made baby food for son #2.  I honestly had written myself off as a lostcause.  Those little jars and packets of organicbaby food are so accessible and so darn easy. And then one day I tasted it. Ugh.  I should have known.  I’ve never seen bananas that color, so ofcourse they wouldn’t taste like bananas. You call that squash?  C’mon.  Squash actually is a bit sweet, nothing likethat mush in that jar.  That’s when theguilt really started to set in.  Yes, Ihave a happy, healthy little boy, but I know that his food could be some muchbetter and just as importantly taste so much better.  It was time to start making baby food.  I’ll admit, I haven’t gone all out like I didthe first time around.  I supplement withjars, but mostly for protein.  Themajority of fruits, starches, and veggies are all being made by me.  And what a difference!  It tastes like food from the earth, not blandmush.  Wouldn’t you know it, my littleguy now loves bananas.

His first birthday is approaching.  I always feel like that first year goes somuch quicker than any of the others. Just like the first son, I want to make a cake that won’t put him insugar shock and create a cranky mess of a boy for the rest of the day.  I decided to go with the same recipe that Iused the first time around with the exception of the icing.  I’ll definitely make cream cheese icing thistime.  The cake and icing were a hit atthe last party, but my preference is the cream cheese icing.  This party will be a bit different.  The timing is unfortunate since we have ahuge amount of events happening all within hours of each other.  My dad is getting remarried, so we decided todo a brunch the next morning to celebrate my soon to be one year old’sbirthday.  This cake will incorporateperfectly into a brunch menu.  Here isthe recipe again:

Pumpkin Apple Harvest Cake
By Cait Johnson, author of Witch in the Kitchen

1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup organic sugar
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped apple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar for topping (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare an 8-inch round cake pan bygreasing and flouring it.
2. Combine pumpkin, eggs, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add flour,cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, and salt, stirring to combine. Add apples andnuts, stirring again. Pour mixture into prepared pan (smooth it out as thepumpkin makes it bake in whatever shape it goes in there with).
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes outclean.
4. Cool the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invertthe cake onto the rack, remove pan, and cool cake completely.
5. When ready to serve, turn cake on to a pretty plate and top with whippedcream or confectioners’ sugar, if desired, or serve plain.

I am so excited for another autumn birthday and a chance toreuse this recipe.

The last update is that I am anticipating a pretty majorsurgery in January.  One of my goals isto make and freeze a variety of 30 meals beforehand.  It will be a challenge, but I have been menuplanning and I’m actually looking forward to getting started.  If you want to follow me and my organizing,planning craziness, I am posting my progress on my other blog.

Getting healthy

So, it’s been a long time…

Now I have two little boys and, although it’s hard for me to believe, the baby is already eating solid foods regularly. I know that he should be at eight months old, but can someone please tell me where the time went? If you think that time flies with one child, then don’t have another. I swear that it’s passing twice as fast now!

I’m obviously eight months post-partum and at this point with my first child I was already wearing my pre-baby clothes. I found that the weight did not come off quite as easily with my second. I’ve been depressed, upset, and just annoyed that I have to borrow clothes and nothing fits well. I hate getting dressed in the morning, especially for work, constantly feeling that my clothes are ill-fitting and I just look unprofessional.

I honestly started investigating diet pills, Weight Watchers, and various other options hoping for a quick fix. Of course, none of these provided that. Now it’s the middle of June and I had to buy a swimsuit that I wasn’t embarrassed being seen wearing. I am now beyond frustrated. I went back the all of those weight loss plans that promise results and debated which one I would try again. I factored expense first, but then started considering health risks. That’s when it finally hit me – if I am a healthy eater then the weight will take care of itself. Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier?

Here I am again. Back to my blog. Trying to dedicate myself and my family to a healthier lifestyle. I plan to do this very slowly this time. My thought is that if I make little changes periodically that stick, I will be better off than making big changes that will feel unattainable.

This time it’s not about baby food. Although I am ashamed to admit, I haven’t made any of #2’s food, but he has only eaten organic since birth. I would like to do more for him and I might incorporate some of that, but this time I want the changes to be bigger. I want my entire family to be affected. I want to further my research on all of the things that I know are slowly poisoning us, first on the list is high fructose corn syrup (I totally don’t buy those “corn sugar” and “in moderation” commercials). I want to make the majority of our food, including all of the “easy” things that we eat, like making and freezing burritos and meatballs and other grab and go foods. I want everyone in my house to be healthy, to feel healthy, and to get closer in this journey.

If anyone is still reading this and would like to join us or has any suggestions or tips, I want that, too! We all know how important communities are and these kinds of changes are difficult and need support.

I thought that I would start with food, but I’ve found that exercise has actually been easier to incorporate, so I am starting with that. Currently, I am using weights for about 15 minutes each morning (rotating between upper and lower body daily) and walking for 30 – 40 minutes over my lunch break (when I can, which I usually can, although this June heat is brutal right now).More research into our food to come. Until then, let’s get healthy!!

This is what happens

when cooking together cuts into nap time.

Has it been a year already?

As September approaches, so does the little man’s first birthday. Since so many people want to see the new house and, of course, love the little guy, we decided to have a party. And a bigger party than we would usually have for such an occasion. How does a newly organic mommy manage to feed so many guests and (most importantly) her son organically on a budget? Well, I don’t know the answer to that yet, but I will let you know once it’s all over.

What I do have the answer to is CAKE! I have spent more hours than I care to admit researching this issue. I want a healthier cake, but I also want it to taste really, really good. I want this to be a happy occasion for all involved – birthday boy, guests, and later into the evening, parents. The later into the evening is referring to not having to take care of a sick, vomiting little boy after preparing for and hosting a birthday party all day. I also have to consider his lactose intolerance and a slight reaction to bananas, plus his likes and dislikes.

Here is the recipe that I have decided to use:

Pumpkin Apple Harvest Cake
By Cait Johnson, author of Witch in the Kitchen

1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin puree
 2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup organic sugar
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped apple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar for topping (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare an 8-inch round cake pan by greasing and flouring it.

2. Combine pumpkin, eggs, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, and salt, stirring to combine. Add apples and nuts, stirring again. Pour mixture into prepared pan (smooth it out as the pumpkin makes it bake in whatever shape it goes in there with).

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

4. Cool the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack, remove pan, and cool cake completely.

5. When ready to serve, turn cake on to a pretty plate and top with whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar, if desired, or serve plain.

Any ingredient that can be organic will be. I am going to omit the nuts. I am not sure if my son will have a reaction and I don’t love them, so adios! I am also going to purchase a cake pan in the shape of the number “1” to make it cuter and less obvious that it’s not a traditional birthday cake.

Now, the next question – frosting? Once again, I have spent hours upon hours trying to find a recipe. I feel that this cake just screams for a cream cheese frosting, but immediately threw that idea out. Then, I thought that I would do a simple powdered sugar and water glaze and just give up the idea of the frosting covered baby pictures. But I don’t want to have to compromise. Just because the little guy isn’t tolerant of milk doesn’t mean that he should have to give up the experience of fun with frosting. So, I began my research again. I found that a lot of people recommend prepared store bought frosting that doesn’t contain any milk. I would prefer to skip the preservatives and make my own. I have it narrowed down to two recipes, and I probably won’t make up my mind until I have to go shopping for the ingredients. Here they are:

Frosting #1

This icing is lighter than a frosting, but a bit richer than a simple glaze. Perfect for denser cakes or muffins, this is an easy recipe that only takes minutes to make.
Makes about 2 1/2 cups
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup plain unsweetened soy yogurt
1 T. hot water
1 t. vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, combine the confectioners’ sugar, soy yogurt, hot water and vanilla extract, beating until smooth and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Icing can be used chilled slightly or immediately.

Frosting #2

This frosting is, quite literally, the icing on the cake! It is really important to make sure that your soy margarine is cold when you start mixing and that you do not add the vinegar and vanilla until the powdered sugar and margarine are well combined. If the soy margarine is too warm or the vinegar is added at the beginning of mixing, the margarine will "separate," and you'll have less a frosting and more a soupy sloppy sweet sauce. This recipe is really simple to make; you just have to follow it!
Makes about 2 cups frosting
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
1 ¾ cups confectioners sugar
6 T. dairy-free soy margarine, such as Willow Run
2 t. apple cider vinegar
1 t. vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on low speed, cream the powdered sugar with the soy margarine, adjusting the speed up to high once the powdered sugar is incorporated into the margarine. Add the cider vinegar and vanilla extract, and continue to mix on high speed until frosting holds stiff peaks. Store in a covered dish or container in the refrigerator until ready to use.