Brussel Sprouts Baby Food

So easy!!! I normally make baby food and I don't track how much I put in.. but I did this time!

1 pack of brussel sprouts from Trader Joe's - about 4 cups in the Vitamix

Steam the brussel sprouts

I have peas pictured, yes I know these aren't brussel sprouts, but I didn't think to take photos until I was on the next batch of vegetables which were snow peas!

Mix in Vitamix with 2 cups of water and 2 ice cubes

Blend blend blend

Pour into ready to eat bowls or freeze into ice cube trays

For ice cube trays, spray some non-stick Pam onto the saran wrap before covering to prevent freezer burn (not always guaranteed but helps).

After trays have frozen, remove from trays and store in ziploc bags with labels (dates if you might take a long time... Jordan goes through these in about 2 - 3 days).

The Truth About Making Baby Food VS Buying It

If you're breastfeeding, I don't really think making baby food will help you SAVE money unless you already have the tools. Over the course of however many babies you choose to have (the more you have, the more you'll save), you may end up saving money but the start-up costs are quite hefty.

This is what you'll need, in order of importance.

1) Baby (they are expensive - haha, it's a joke.. if you didn't get that, stop now)

2) Vitamix (yeah, you can get a baby food maker but that's useless after your baby grows up, the Vitamix has a useful life of 7 years and cost about $400 at Costco and acts as a food processor, smoothie maker, ice cream maker, bread dough mixer, shake maker, baby food maker, peanut butter maker, hummus maker, sauce maker, and apparently I learned it also grinds wheat. It is truly amazing and the one kitchen appliance I use almost daily. It's also easy to wash and makes baby food making a cinch!)

3) Steamer - I use my old school Chinese rice cooker because all I have to do is add some water on the outside of the bowl, put the veggies on turn it on.. don't have to watch for it as it will just turn to warm when done. I say old school because the new kinds out there make it easy to steam rice but useless for anything else besides rice. The brand I use is the Tatung rice cooker which runs for about $75 on Amazon but don't cheap out and get the tiny one (which my mom gave me in college and is too small for anything except a prop on your shelf to indicate you are Chinese)

4) Ice cube trays - These run for about $2.99 at Target

5) Ziploc bags -$7 for about 52 per Amazon

6) Saran wrap - $6.25 for a roll of Kirkland Stretch-Tite

7) Permanent marker - $3 for 2 markers

8) Pam or equivalent spray - $2.99

9) Tupperware containers - bite sized baby ones work the best, I got Nuk ones with caps but any small Tupperware will do, or you can save the glass or plastic containers from store bought baby food and reuse those. These cost me $5.99

Estimating about $5,550 for all costs in, minus the baby you're looking at $550 which is conservative because the Vitamix, rice cooker, saran wrap ziploc bags and ice trays can be used for non-baby stuff too! Baby food costs about $1.99 for a pack of 2 which can last my 6 month old baby about 1-2 days. Assuming he eats at the current amount for 3 months, that is about 45 days at $2 or about $90 to buy.

To make, I calculated the following: Food costs of $6 bucks a week (for veggies and fruits I'd make into baby food) over the course of 12 weeks or 3 months which is $72 bucks plus an amortized $15 / month if I assume my start-up costs can be spread over 36 months which would be $45 for three months which turns out to be a total of $117 to make my baby food.

So $90 to buy versus $117 to make... equals a difference of $27 bucks for three months or $9 more per month. Why in the world would I make my baby food, right?

I started to think about how weird it was that unopened baby food can just sit out unrefrigerated until opened. What are they putting in it that enables them to let it sit out at room temperature? Who knows?! But it can't be good! The whole point of homemade cooking for the family is so we know what we're putting into our body and why we only eat out once a week. So why in the world would I give my son baby food that is $9 cheaper per month and not really know what is in there? Why not just feed him what I know are real vegetables plus water (decided not to use my frozen breastmilk because then the food made might not last as long in the fridge)? So that is why I decided to start making baby food. Truth be told, the stuff above makes it very easy to do. And I feel good knowing my son is eating what I made versus something labeled as peas but probably filled with who knows what!

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake!

I made some pumpkin alfredo and unfortunately for me, the pumpkin in a cans come so large... I had to make some pumpkin pie milkshake with the leftovers!

2 cups milk

2 cups vanilla ice cream

1 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

1T brown sugar

1/4 cup whip cream

3/4 cup pumpkin from a can

Add a few dollups of whip cream on top and...perfection.

Pumpkin Chicken Alfredo

For Halloween this year, we had our friends, the Oldroyds join us for dinner and FHE. In celebration of Halloween, I decided to make something festive and went with pumpkin alfredo taken from Our Best Bites. It was delicious - and not just per my husband, even the Oldroyds thought so (unless they were just being nice...)

It was so easy.. and with the leftover pumpkin from a can, we made pumpkin pie shakes!

Makes 10 servings (we had four people with leftovers enough for one person's lunch)

Ingredient List:

3 T Light Cream Cheese

2 T Flour

2 T Butter

1/2 yellow or white onion chopped

1 cup low fat milk

3 cloves of garlic (use the store pre bought container kind!)

3 chicken breasts

1 t sage

1 t dill weed

2 T chicken broth

1 package of pasta - fettucine

1/4 cup of pumpkin from a can

vegetables (optional)

In a blender, mix:

3 T light cream cheese

1 cup low fat milk

In a saucepan, heat 1T butter and 3 cloves chopped garlic for 30 seconds and add milk mixture. Stir constantly for about 10 minutes, sauce will thicken.. then remove from heat, add 1 cup of Parmesan cheese and put a lid on it (so it continues to steamy cook). While you're doing this, have your husband help grill some chicken (I just sprinkled some pepper and salt on it and had him grill it and then I cut it). You can also steam some broccoli if you want some vegetables in the pasta.

Start pasta - cook as normal... I used little circle fun pasta from Costco. I like how they look but the thickness of the pasta goes great with a thick sauce like alfredo.

In another saucepan, on medium heat melt 1 T of butter, put in about 1 cup of chopped onions and stir and cook until it's translucent and smells yummy. Add in 1 t of dill weed, 1 t of sage and 2 T of chicken broth and keep cooking for 1-2 minutes, then add the alfredo sauce and 1/4 cup of pumpkin from a can and swirl, mix, swirl and add cooked pasta in and keep mixing... remove from heat and dinner is served!

Egg Salad

Sometimes when I forget to think about what's for dinner, I like to make egg salad. Full of protein and so easy to make!

Boil 6 eggs
T mayonnaise
3/4 T Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon curry powder
some salt and pepper
2 green onions diced

Mix and serve with cheese and lettuce on wheat bread and dinner is served.