MIA

So I have been MIA for the last two weeks.  I've been extremely busy and I haven't been home for the last week, so that's my excuse.  Today I will try to post a few of the blogs I have been working on.  That and a few other things- like a weeks worth of laundry, unpacking from our little stay away from home, taking more Easter Pictures of my little love in her Easter dress, making baby food because I have almost run out, and hopefully organizing my coupon hoard.  We'll see if this is a productive day!

So Long Kroger!

Many of you have heard that Kroger is discontinuing their double and triple coupon program effective Wednesday, April 13, 2011.  When I heard the news I was completely heartbroken.  Devastated to say the least.  I didn't want to believe it.  I Googled it and looked on coupon blogs and it was true.  For about a week, I would just randomly say aloud, "What am I going to do?"  Couponing has been a major factor in allowing me to stay home with my daughter.  Actually, if it weren't for couponing we would not be able to survive.  

So tonight, I had some "Me" time and I went to Kroger.  I brought all the coupons that I had wanted to use before the doubling and tripling ended.  I grabbed a Starbucks and travelled up and down the aisles- Soaking in my last shopping experience.  By the time I had reached the check out, I had convinced myself that I could still get good deals and that I didn't need to completely Quit Kroger.

Then the checkout began.  Worst experience I have ever had at Kroger.  They refused to accept one of my coupons, so I made them take the item off my order.  Then, the checker refused to take another coupon, so I was like, "Fine, I'll go to Customer Service."  Then the bagger used two carts for all my groceries and did not offer to help me out.  Ummm... How am I supposed to get two carts full of stuff all the way to the back of the parking lot where my car is????   Then after I stood in line at Customer Service the guy made me pull several of my frozen items out of bags, so I could prove that I had 15 dollars of frozen items to get my 3 dollars off.  I had already circled the items on my receipt.  I got my $3.22, rearranged my groceries to fit on one cart, and left.  

As I was driving home, I thought of a song that describes my feelings perfectly...

Kroger- You lost me.  I was loyal to you and unfortunately you have been disloyal to me.  I am moving on.  

The NEVER Ending List

Oh I don't even know where to begin.  I seriously feel like I can't get anything done.  As soon as I mark one thing off my list, I add 2 more.  My house has never looked so out of order.  It's bad.  Like really bad.  And normally I pride myself in my OCD ways.  But for the past week I have been in a funk.  And it doesn't help that Miss Ava has been moody all week.  I really think we may have a tooth finally coming in...Finally!!  

So does the list ever end of tasks, and cleaning, and laundry, and errands, and child rearing?

How I wish it did...But I know it never will....

A girl can wish though. 

Making Baby Food: Green Beans

This week Ava is going to try Green Beans!  Yummy!  So of course I had to make them myself!


How to Make Your Own Green Bean Baby Food:


1.  Buy Green Beans.  I got Organic Green Beans from Kroger.

2.  Trim the ends of the beans.  I used kitchen shears, so I could do it a little faster.  Also, I trimmed them on the floor while Ava was playing, which was fine until she decided she wanted to help!

3.  Rinse the beans.  A good rinse.  Even though these beans are organic, which means no pesticides :), you never knew who's dirty hands actually picked the stuff out in the field!

4.  Put the beans in a steamer and steam until soft.  Since I did almost 2 pounds of beans, I set the steamer for 25 minutes.

5.   Put half of the beans in a food processor.  Puree for several minutes.  Pour into bowl.   Puree the other half. (If I had used one pound of beans, I would not have had to divide it.)

6.  Put all the pureed beans back into the food processor and add the leftover liquid from steaming the beans.  Puree for a minute or two.  Use this liquid instead of clean filtered water because the liquid from steaming the beans is full of nutrients.

Liquid from Steamer

7.  Next place a sieve over a bowl.  Using a rubber spatula, scoop portions of pureed beans into the sieve.  Use the rubber spatula to press the beans through the sieve.  Repeat until all the puree has gone through the sieve.  Some of the puree will not go through the sieve, just discard it.

Discarded Puree

8.  Using a clean spatula, scrape the bottom of the sieve to remove the puree.  Use a clean spatula! You do not want to cross contaminate the puree that has been pressed through the sieve with the puree that has not gone through the sieve.  (I hope that makes sense!)

9.  Give the puree one good stir and scoop into ice cube trays using a cookie scoop.

10.  Wrap the trays in Saran wrap and freeze over night.  I leave them over night, so I know they are nice and frozen.

11.  Pop the cubes out and into a labeled and dated plastic baggie.  Getting the cubes out can be kind of a chore, but if you run some warm water over the bottom of the tray, the cubes will pop out easily.  My brother, of all people, gave me this tip.

Simple!  Easy!  Nutritious!

I am not going to lie.  Making the green beans was a lot more complicated than pears and sweet potatoes.  It was kinda a pain, but worth it in the end!

Ava, on the other hand, did not like her green beans!  After I would put a spoonful in her mouth, she would scrunch up her face and shudder just to get them to go down.  Hopefully after a few days, she will love them!

My Teeny Tiny Pile of Glory

My family is on a budget.  And when I say budget, I mean it's tight.  Like really tight.  We are a one income family, with a new baby, and trying to save every penny we can, and live as frugally as possible. So couponing has become a necessity for our little family.  I've been doing it for a year now.  I've saved tons of money.  I'm still learning how to work it, but it has definitely been worth the time.  Couponing has allowed my family to never do without.  We always have a stocked pantry.  We have at least 2 months worth of cleaning and laundry supplies stockpiled.  We have a full medicine cabinet.  And most importantly, we will never run out of toilet paper! 

So today I made a quick trip to Target.  I love going to Target.  I love leaving Target with a bag full of goodies.  I love when the goodies cost me only pennies....

My Pile of Glory

This is what I got:

Transaction #1

(2) Dove Men Body Wash $3.99-> Clearance Price $3.38 2 Target Coupons -$1.00 off and 2 Manufacturer Coupons $1.00 off. Total Cost $1.38 each.

(1) Up and Up Travel Tissues 4 Pack $.99 -> Target Coupon $.50 off.  Total Cost $.49.

(2) Olay Foaming Facial Wash $4.99 -> 2 Manufacturer Coupons $2.00 off.  When you buy 2, receive a $5.00 gift card.  Total Cost $2.99 each.

Transaction #2

(1) Fisher Price Smart Screen Laptop -> $17.99- Target Coupon 20% off any Fisher Price Toy and Manufacturer Coupon $5.00 off.  Total Cost $9.39.  

Oh and I used the $5.00 gift card, so it was really $4.39.

Total Before Coupons: $36.99 (Not including tax)

Total After Sale Price and Coupons and Gift Card: $13.62 (Not including tax)

Total After Tax: $14.61 (40% Savings)

I think I did pretty well.  Now Mommy's face will be clean, Daddy will smell good, and Ava can play on her own laptop instead of Mommy's.  And most importantly, Mommy can wipe her tears when she sees her precious Ava do something amazing!

Making Baby Food: Pears

Ava's pediatrician told me that there was no exact science to feeding a baby.  She said that most people make it more complicated than it really needs to be and to approach it however I wanted, but to feed her one thing at a time and wait 3-4 days before we tried something new.  So I decided that I was going to feed her a vegetable, then a fruit. And repeat until she had tried everything.  The first baby food that I made was sweet potatoes.  After a few days Ava really started to love them.  So now we are moving onto pears...

1. Buy pears.  I bought four organic pears from Whole Foods.

2. Cut the pears in half with a knife.

3. Peel pears using a vegetable peeler.  I read that the skin is actually okay to leave on when you puree it and that babies are able to digest the skin easily, but I felt like it would be more gentle if I removed the skin.

4. Cut pears in half again and remove the core using a knife.

5. Cut pears into cubes with a knife.

6. Rinse pears with water.

7. Place pears in a food steamer. And set for 15 minutes. 

8. After pears are done steaming, place them in a food processor for a few minutes.  Pears are pretty water dense, so adding water to the food processor is not necessary.      

9. Pour pureed pears into a bowl. Using a cookie dough scoop, scoop the puree into ice cube trays.  I found that using the cookie scoop worked best with little mess, especially for thicker purees like sweet potatoes.

10.  After all the puree has been scooped into the trays, wrap the trays with plastic wrap.

11.  Place trays in freezer and wait 24 hours.

12.  Dump the cubes into a labeled and dated freezer bag.  I have to use a knife to wedge the cubes out.  Put back in freezer immediately, so they don't start to melt.  Pears are good in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Depending on how much your baby eats, you will know whether you need 1 cube or 2.  Each cube is about 1 ounce of baby food. About an hour before Ava eats, I put a cube in a bowl, so it can defrost.

Simple. Easy. Nutritious!

Ava eating Pears for the first time.
(I put the pears in a leftover container of prunes, I swear!)

Making Baby Food

So when I was pregnant I had decided that I was going to make as much of Ava's food as possible.  My reasoning? Well I thought it would be fun.... Will I make every pureed meal that will ever hit her lips?  Probably not.  I know I will buy a few jars here and there for convenience and/or lack of time.  Here's where it all began....

Ava was still on TM and a daily bowl of cereal when she became a little backed up.  I called the doctor and the doctor told me to mix some prunes with oatmeal cereal.  So off to Target I went.  I saw an aisle devoted to baby food...I have had no reason to explore this aisle because I have been making her food for the past 6 months....Needless to say it was kinda overwhelming.  Who knew that such a tiny thing could have so many meal choices. 

Anyways, so I picked up the package and read the back of the prunes.  The ingredients listed were: Prune Puree (Dried Prunes, Water) Simple enough, right? 

So I read the package of the Organic Prunes.  This is what the label read: ORGANIC PRUNE PUREE (DRIED ORGANIC PRUNES, WATER), TUNA OIL (SOURCE OF DHA), GELATIN, CHOLINE BITARTRATE, ALPHA TOCOPHERYL ACETATE (VITAMIN E).

My First Thought: Why are there so many preservatives and other crap in the jar of "Organic" baby food?

My Second Thought: What is in the "Regular" baby food that they (Gerber) don't have to list?

My feelings: Concern, wonderment, and just plain Scared.  I want the things that go into my child's body to be the best for her.  I want her diet to be pure.  I want her to have the healthiest options.

So I started making Ava's baby food.  So far I've made sweet potatoes and pears.  I'll post more on that later.... As for now... Ava's up from her nap!