Makin' baby food...sweet potatoes for my Bentley

Bentley is my youngest of five children. For my older four I always just took the easy way and bought them baby food in the jar. Just a little FYI about jarred baby food...it is mostly water. Yes it's more convenient, but you are only paying for half of what the label says. In these tough economic times I need to make sure I get ALL of my money's worth. Bentley just turned six months old today, which means my little man will be starting solids. Today I decided to try making my own baby food and sweet potatoes were on the menu today.

you'll have to forgive the low quality of the pictures as my camera's flash decided to call it quits today.

So the first thing I did after giving me sweet potato a good rinse was to boil it for about 20 minutes. It may take a little longer depending on how big the potato is. A good test is to stick a fork in it to see if it's tender.

A great little tip I learned from my mother-in-law is to take the sweet potato directly from the boil in water and stick it in cold water. Let it sit for a bit and the skin will slide right off.

Once you've peeled the potato and made sure to remove any buds that may be on the potato, all yu have to do is mash it up. It would probably be easier to use a food processor, but really the potato was so soft that all I needed was a potato masher.

I then scooped out, by tablespoonfuls, the potatoes onto a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Each tablespoon holds about 1/2 ounce.

Place the cookie sheet in the freezer until the portions are solid. Then you can pop them off of the wax paper and stick them in a plastic freezer bag.

Now whenever it's time to feed my little man, I just take a portion out, warm it for a bit, add some breastmilk, and baby is ready to eat!

Of course, you can do this with other fruits and vegetables, too. The best part is that you know EXACTLY what your baby is getting!

My newest hat...and a great little model!

So I just wanted to post my newest hat here. It will probably be the one my son sports from now until Valentine's. This isn't the best quality picture, since I took it with my phone.

I will get some more of these made up in different sizes (NB, 3-6 months, 6-12 months) and post them up in my Etsy shop soon. You can get to my Etsy shop by clicking the banner at the top of my blog here. If you are a crocheter and would like the pattern only then just click this link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeezyMomsCreations?ref=ss_profile.

The Easiest Pumpkin Muffins Ever!

One of the things I take pride in is that I am a breastfeeding mommy. For almost 6 months I have exclusively breastfed my son Bentley. I never thought I would get so into something as simple as giving my baby the best nutrition ever. I mean come on, it's just milk...or not. (Yes, this is where I go off-subject on my breastfeeding rant.) Breastfeeding is the most natural, best gift anyone can give their baby. Now I'm not saying that you are wrong or a bad mom if you don't...to each his (well, her) own. So back to these muffins. I go to a monthly group called M.O.M.S. (Mothers of Milk Support). The main focus of our group is of course, breastfeeding, but we also talk about anything mommy-related. A few months back we discussed nutrition and how to disguise fruits and veggies for our picky little eaters at home. The lovely lady who heads up the group showed us a simple way to make muffins that are healthy and great for us who are frugal.

So here is the ingredient list:

Yup, that's all...just one box cake mix and one can of pumpkin. You just mix the two together and scoop it into your muffin pan and bake at the recommended temperature on the cake mix box. you are not limited to the white cake as shown. In M.O.M.S. Group we were treated to some that had been made with a devil's food mix and some that had been made with a spice cake mix. They were both delicious.

All it takes is 30 minutes and they are done!

And there ya have it...quick, easy, and delicious muffins. And since pumpkin is loaded with Vitamin A and fiber, they aren't bad for ya either!

Cool Breastfeeding Facts

Since I am a breatfeeding mommy, I thought I would look up some interesting facts on mommy's milk. This list is straight from this site: http://forums.ivillage.com/t5/Newborn-to-6-mo-Questions/Cool-Gee-Whiz-Bf-Facts-poll/m-p/19590587.
Did you know....
1.Human milk has over 300 ingredients, including interferon, white blood cells, antibacterial and antiviral agents, while formula has only 40 ingredients.
2.Human milk has been shown to kill cancer cells in a laboratory dish and has been used in oncology.
3. The human breast "custom-makes" antibodies to fight whatever pathogen the infant is exposed to in the environment.
4. Breast milk has been used to treat eye infections, ear infections, pimples, cold sores, and nail fungus and prevent infection in scrapes and scratches.
5. In some parts of the world, donated organs are bathed in breast milk for the protective factors.
6. There were 22 "significant" recalls of formula for potentially life-threatening situations.
7. Human milk lactoferrin is patented for use in killing E. Coli in the meat packing industry.
8. Donor milk is being used to treat malabsorption and short-gut syndromes, renal failure, inborn errors of metabolism, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, immunodeficiency diseases, burn cases, cardiac problems, and infectious diseases such as intractable diarrhea, gastroenteritis, infantile botulism, sepsis, pneumonia, and hemorrhagic conjuctivitis in both children and adults.
9. Adoptive moms, grandmothers, and yes, even men (!) have been able to lactate for an infant.
I bet ya didn't know all of that about breastmilk, huh?? Feel free to add more in the comments!! Have a great weekend you guys!