Baby Food

I started writing this blog, in order to share recipes, sewing ideas and help others. Of course some folks think I have ENTIRELY too much time on my hands. Maybe someday I will have time to share more cooking, sewing and recipes. 


I kind of have this thing that I want my grandkids to eat well. Even tho it is CLEARLY out of my hands. I am not the "bowls of M&M's all over the house" kind of Gramma, but love to make cookies and goodies with the kids and let them help me make applesauce and things out of the garden. I try to have real food here when they come to visit. When Cohen was in the NICU, there was SO little I could do for him, I started making applesauce. It grew from there. 


I see so much on line on "how do I make food for my baby". (Google it and you get: About 810,000,000 results (0.26 seconds) My response has always been, as we did, smash up whatever YOU are eating and toss it on the tray! I am sensing that this answer will not cut it anymore...


Jana is not real keen on touching raw meat of any kind. She said he could legally have chicken now, so I offered to take this on. 


SO here is: CHICKEN DINNER FOR COHEN. 


Go to the hen house and find your least productive laying hen, start a LARGE pot of boiling water on a fire in the yard...JUST kidding! 


I used 2 large chicken breasts
4 large peeled carrots
1 cup white rice cooked. 
Cut the chicken in cubes, cook it on the stove top. cut the carrot in chunks, boil till done. Make one cup white rice. 

When it is all cooked, I put it all in my Cuisinart, the chicken, rice and carrots AND the water from the carrots. Whirl away. It is pureed and ready to eat, or freeze. I leave some tiny chunks of carrots and rice in a bowl, to put on his tray so he can practice feeding himself. 

You get THIS

I then choose the appropriate size cookie baller. He is using the "big boy" scoop now, 


I blob the mixture on a tupperware lid and freeze. 

( Set them beside all the other food  you have been making him, sweet potatoes and applesauce. Follow the same procedure for these yummy dishes.) They are easy to just pick off these lids. 

When they are frozen, put them in a freezer bag and back in the freezer. You can pull out what he will eat that day and put it in the fridge, till you warm it up.  Add water or formula if it is not "runny" enough for your baby. These are very easy to take WITH you, too, when on the road. 

ALWAYS label what goes in your freezer. I am pretty sure my husband will be excited when he sees the "muffins". I guess they are healthy... 

So there it is, Google it now and you will get About 810,000,001 results (0.26 seconds!


I just wanted to share how EASY it is and not hard to get your baby some yummy, 
REAL food. Have you SMELLED those jars of baby meats? Cat food smells more appetizing. If you feed it to your child, I think YOU should have to eat a jar first!!  

The happy helper! 

Soap Day

Well, it is FINALLY here. Soap day. I have been pinning recipes, saving containers, and using up the rest of our soap products. It is official, we have NO more laundry soap, dishwasher soap, dish washing soap. So the day is here.

To back up a bit, my dear husband has been working really LONG hours, for a LONG time. He is a turnaround planner at the BP refinery and has been working long and hard since the fire on February 17. They moved his "spring" turnaround up several weeks, which threw it all into high gear. I can count the days off he has had on one hand! They call it "fatigue management". He usually tries to call me at some point in the day to see "what I am doing". today was no different. I said, "making soap!". I usually get the same response to pretty much whatever I say, as he is so tired. Like, "that's nice". Today was "WHAT?". I am sure he pictured me out in the yard with a small fire, stirring a black cauldron of lye and whatever, as in days of old. After that, I'd be slaughtering the chickens... I assured him it was not a big deal and I'd be careful and remember to turn off the stove. He always thanks me for putting up with this crazy schedule and I always say, "don't worry, I am VERY self entertaining." While that is true, I am ready for this to be OVER and have him be around home.

So here we go: All the folks who put up the lovely pictures and directions, and explain it all, are all over Pinterest, so I won't do that here.

I used this for the laundry soap, this for the dish soap, this for the dishwasher soap and this for the room deodorizers. My favorite!

I made my list at went to Walmart, as that is where the blogs said I could find most the ingredients. The blogs also do the cost breakdown and the HUGE savings I will be seeing!

So for a grand total of :$26.95 I got all the ingredients to make all the soaps. 

I was busy mixing all this up in my vat

As the dog was waiting patiently where he always does when I am cooking, hoping I will spill, what I am sure is in HIS mind, is Steak tartar!!

Here is the finished pile of soap and little air fresheners. SO when there is a run on the market for laundry soap, you know where to come! I will trade you for a bag of rice!! 

This is from the laundry soap gal:

"Why would I bother to make laundry detergent when I could just conveniently grab a bottle off the shelf at the store?  Several reasons, the first of which is cold, hard cash.  I have always purchased the large economy bottles of a name brand “he” (high efficiency) laundry detergent.  It’s not the cheapest, nor is it the most common $14-a-bottle brand.  I pay, on average, $8.00 for a 75-load bottle of my old detergent.  I would have been happy to cut that price in half.  Instead, I discovered that by making the recipe I am going to share with you, a 75-load bottle of DIY detergent saved me $7.79¾!!!  That is a little more than a 97% savings!  Hello!  Making my own is no longer JUST an option.  It’s ridiculous not to.  It cost only 20¼¢ for the ingredients to make a 75-load bottle of detergent!  Translate that savings over a year’s worth of laundry and that put’s a tidy sum back into our family’s budget."

Where WAS the internet, Pinterest, and all these great ideas when I had 5 kids at home, doing 5 or 6 loads of laundry a DAY. (out in the yard, over a boiling cauldron, and beating it on a rock!). I could have saved a FORTUNE! With all this savings I figure it will free up  a bit more cashola to spend on my favorite passion....    SEWING!

Please check out my daughters blog to find out what we are up to with all the fabric!

If you need a project, or want to know what all the fabric is about, check this out! 

Happy Sunday! 

Caprese Salad

OK, maybe I have been watching entirely TOO much of the Food network. BUT we are trying some pretty tasty food. I am currently in love with the Heirloom tomato pack from the Green Barn.
 It is the next best thing to fresh tomatoes from the garden.  


Caprese Salad
Ingredients:
As many tomatoes as you want. In summer I slice the large ones, now I am cutting these yummy cherry tomatoes in half.
Glaze with Balsamic vinegar of Modena (you can make your own balsamic vinegar reduction, but I LOVE this stuff. My sister in law found it for me several years ago. )


Real Mozzarella cheese
Fresh Basil leaves
Olive oil for drizzling
sea salt and pepper


Slice tomatoes in half, top each half with a cube or the cheese, add a small piece of the fresh basil, add top tomato. I put a toothpick through the cherry tomatoes. You don't need a "top" with regular tomatoes. 
Drizzle olive oil and the Balsamic glaze over the tops. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper.  Serve with a crusty bread, or with beef for dinner. We eat them with everything! 

Again, I remind you I am NOT a photographer, I am a cook! 

Leap Day 2012

I guess I never really noticed Feb 29 before. And there is really nothing special about it this year, other than it is snowing? I got to thinking.. hmm every 4 years, now THAT might be do-able. I am not much into New Years Resolutions, etc. But maybe if I look back in FOUR years and see if anything has been accomplished, or changed much, maybe I will have a chance!!

The snow looking out my "office" window. About 6 trees are now GONE. 

You can see the log piles.. We are hoping to enlarge the garden. 

New this year, is turning John's room into my "office?. Warren calls it my command center. I have my sewing, crafting, computer, and every project under the sun going on up here... John has pretty much moved out. He is attending Gonzaga University in Spokane and in summers he works elsewhere. This summer it will be at UC Santa Barbara in California in their Quantum Computer "group". I do not know what this is, but he assures me it is on the edge... with John, I am pretty sure of that. 


Also I have taken up "swimming". I am not a real swimmer, but I do like it and enjoy flapping around the pool for 30 minutes a day. It is good for me. 


My current sewing projects include: baby buntings for the NICU, Making slippers out of felted sweaters, I have a few purses cut out, and bibs, and baby shoes and "mug rugs" for coffee cups on the desk. 


I have started trying to scrap book a bit after about a 10 year lapse. 


I plan to enlarge the garden spot, We had 6 trees cut down last week to make room. Also Sunday we thought it would be a GREAT idea to get a couple weaner pigs. The grand boys thought they could help with that. I told them how much FUN pigs are, and I really need them to go along with my 24 chickens! 

Eggs-$2.00/dozen

Add to this the fact that Warren is a turnaround planner at the refinery and they just had a very significant fire, and he has not seen the house in daylight since summer... (well, weekends) a lot of the general house/yard chores fall on me. 


SO I will post a report on Feb. 29, 2016 and let you know how all these projects went for us!


I really do love my life, my family and all that goes with that. I have always been very thankful I could stay home with my kids and did not have to go away to work. 


I do volunteer at the Thrift Store, which I love. Lots of wonderful folks there. 

My "office". Lots of projects. 

We have lived in this small house about 24 years. We  have a little living room and dining room. This is where it all has happened for many years. I have always sewed and scrap  booked at the dining room table. So when I go up to my office, Warren always asks where I am and what I am doing! 

This is my real live Joann's cutting counter. I was pretty sure I had to have this when the were remodeling and giving these away. It is great for cutting quilt pieces. Now that it is here, it will never leave. It took 6 men to haul it in. Warren says when I am done with it, we will chop it up for firewood, as there is no way to get it OUT otherwise. he put some really nice doors on it, so I hate to see it chopped up. As you can see, more projects...

The dining room table. A few projects of the day, here. This DOES get cleaned off by the time Warren gets home from work. 

This is Chucks old dining room table, we brought it in for Thanksgiving seating, and well, I decided to take up with my scrap booking...

This is the current pile of books by my chair. I tried to take a picture of my living room and kitchen, which currently ARE clean and pretty much stay that way with only 2 of us and a dog. 

He does not REALLY have his own laptop and pillow, it just looks like that...

March of Dimes March for Babies

We are marching for Team Cohen and Carter in the March of Dimes March for Babies, in Seattle on May 5. 

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. I'm walking in March for Babies because I want to do something about this. And I need your help.

My identical twin grandsons were born at 25 weeks. Cohen spent 130 days in the NICU at the UW. Carter is our angel in heaven. Please continue pray for Cohen's AMAZING progress and health! He is our HUGE (but little) miracle! Thanks to all the nurses, drs and all who supported my daughter and son in law!

Please support my walk. Making a secure donation is easy: just click the 'donate now' button on my page. 

http://www.marchforbabies.org/GrammaCAR

Thank you for helping me give all babies a healthy start!

The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.

Thank you for your support! 

To all of my MANY followers... All 2 of you! you can get a widget for your website to vote for COHEN! 
Lets get those votes going.

I guess I do not know how to add a widget... 

Snowed in, sorta. Today's Ramblnigs

Snowed in, Sorta

Jana wanted someone to write  a blog so she had something to read. She has the adorable baby to write about and take pictures of. I  have the dog. And he has made it known, he is NOT going outside for ANY more pictures! He has a heated mattress beside my desk and that is where he prefers to be. 

Marty-Pretending to be asleep so he does not have to go outside

He DID go out yesterday, before the winds started. But got high centered

He wanted back in RIGHT away. 

I have gotten out for several snow shoe trips around the 'hood and that has been fun. But the low temp got to 7 today and winds and blowing snow have made things a bit treacherous. Some sites say wind chills as low as -2. 

Here is a video of the snow in our neighborhood...

I had to go out and tend to the girls and my eyeballs got all dried out from the wind and my nose hairs froze. It was a quick trip. One of the eggs had all ready frozen solid, in the shell. 

Then I spent some time washing eggs. LOTS and LOTS of eggs. 

So being inside for a few days has been great. I COULD get out, but why? Our neighbors have a big drift in front of their house, where someone always tries to "shoot the wall" and gets stuck in the middle. I really don't want to be that person this year...One year it was higher than the milk truck. 

As I was thinking over what I have done today, and yesterday, I kind of made a list of "you know you have been snowed in for too long when..." I don't think I have ever thought I was snowed in for too long. I love the snow and the weather. I love the break from rain.  This is a compilation of 35 years of living out in this county. All the things we have experienced.  I know we don't have it as bad as the rest of the country most years. 

You know you have been snowed in too long when:

You convince yourself that 3 grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast is ok. 

You use all the stuff in the cupboard to make "Chex Mix" because it sounded good, but you don't actually HAVE any chex cereal.

You spring clean the WHOLE kitchen because you have been up since 3:30 am to send your husband out into the storm to go to work. THEN decide to make soup and can it, trashing the kitchen again.

THEN decide to make "real" baby food for you newest grandson, from your garden carrots, so he has something to snack on when he comes to visit. 

This is a "warming trend"

You are making coffee and drinking it out of a canning jar, so you don't have to bother with a refill

You bought chalkboard paint and want to get your moneys worth, so anything not being used is now a chalkboard...(any body want one?)

You wonder if THIS sign caused all this.

You gut  all the closets in the house to organize them. But now have to put it all away

You decide to get some chicken feathers for your husband, who ties flies, as you are SURE he will want to start in when he gets home from work. Dry them on the heater vent and then wonder what all the white stuff is floating all over the house

You bundle up all the kids and take them out to the road to watch the garbage truck go by, as NOTHING has been down your road in a week. 

You hear shouting."She can fly she can fly!"You look out the window to see your 4 yr old sailing across the yard attached to a 1 ton plastic  feed bag. Dear brother wanted to see if she could fly in a 40mph nor'easter. Yes, she can fly, she only weighs 30 lbs! 

Your 6 yr old daughter comes in and both her front teeth are missing, they fell out on the ice. Her brother goes back out in the storm and finds the teeth, so the tooth fairy can come!

Getting dressed is putting  on you clothes and then putting your bathrobe over it all to keep warm. 

Dressing your kids in their snow suits to go to bed, as you only have wood heat. 

Your husband and boys hike over to the neighbors with 5 gallon buckets to bring home water so we can flush the toilet, as the water has frozen again...

Then sit down with a canning jar full of coffee. I am looking at the pictures the kids got me for Christmas. Remember all the happy and crazy times. Hope that they remember their childhood with some good memories. I know I did  not always do things right, but I loved it all so much.. I so appreciated being able to be home with my kids and not have to work. Things were tight, but we survived it all. It is a joy seeing them with their own families and the memories they are making. It is far more fun to have a snow man, snow woman and a snow tractor out in your front yard, and then noticing they are wearing all MY snow stuff! 

I have been blessed. Thank you Lord!

Oh good, it has started snowing again...

You can find Jana's blog here

and

Karen's Blog here

THIS cracks me up. SO true if you watch any Seattle news.. That is if your satellite dish is not full of snow...