Making cereal - it's cheaper and easier than you think!

Making Boogie's cereal seemed like a chore when I first learned it was even possible.  Perhaps I was being naive, but I never realized that I could give him cereal that didn't come in a box from the supermarket.  When I first read about it somewhere on the internet, I was kind of blown away.  Did people really do that?

Besides, baby cereal is cheap...right?

Turns out it isn't.  I wish I could give you a true cost comparison but I haven't taken notes recently and all I know for sure is that on a week-long trip to NJ recently, I spent about $1 on whole grains - oats, millet, and rice - from the bulk bins at my friend's favorite supermarket.  All were organic and the grains lasted for the week without any left to spare and without leaving us underfed :)

The same amount of commercial cereal (a one week supply) would have cost about $3.99 because we prefer Happy Baby HappyBellies organic cereal, but I could have gone with Earth's Best for about $2.79.  And he would have taken care of most of the package.  So even if you assume that he would have eaten about half the Happy Baby cereal, that's still $2, or twice the cost.

I bought a giant bag of Organic Quinoa recently for $8.99 at Costco. That works out to $2.25 per pound, which is less than what the bulk bin cost is at Whole Foods here.

A word of caution -   If you batch grind your grains, you will need to measure differently.  They will fluff up after grinding and you may need 1 1/2 x as much for a batch of cereal than if you measure, then grind, every couple of days.  This isn't really a problem, though.  You just measure it, grind it, and then measure it again to see how much to use later.  Just store any pre-ground grains in the fridge in an air-tight container.

Here is 1/3 cup of Quinoa before grinding.

...and here is the same Quinoa, after grinding.  It's hard to see but its about 1 1/2 x as much.  My little red bowl has a marking inside for 1/4 cup, and the full bowl is 1/2 cup.  I should probably have levelled the contents for the picture, but I didn't think about it.

Here's my 1/4 cup of Quinoa, again, before grinding.  Maybe this is too many pictures but it also illustrates how it grows after grinding.  I use a simple Krups grinder - it is reserved ONLY for grinding baby food and things baby can eat, like flax seeds, so that I don't have to be super picky about cleaning it since it can't be submerged in water.

See how big it gets?  Okay, you get the idea.  Let's move on.  Before you grind, measure out 2 cups of water and put it in a small pot on the stove to boil.  If baby is only easting a few tablespoons of food a day, you can half this and you'll want to use less cereal to water.

When it comes to a boil and your grains are ground into a nice fine powder (look for a flour-like consistancy), whisk them in.  This is important because if you don't use a whisk, you'll have undercooked lumps floating around in watery mess and your baby will look at you like you are a martian if you try to feed it to him.  Also, undercooked grains are not good for baby!  Set the timer for 10 minutes, and whisk every couple of minues until it's done.  ALWAYS taste it to make sure it is cooked well.

Measure the first time and then guess the next.  I have 6oz bowls and this is what 1/2 cup of cereal looks like in them.  I pour the first three, then put the rest in a bowl with two cubes of fruit (if its breakfast) or veggie (dinner) to help it cool down easier.  Some people believe it should go directly into the fridge.  I let it cool for about 5 minutes before sealing the lids and sticking it into the cold.

Here's Boogie's breakfast.  Once the apples melted and the cereal was nice and cool, I added a dash of cinnamon because Boogie loves cinnamon!

Yup, he's an eater.

Down the hatch!

All gone!







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Tag! You're It! Tuesday

My first game of Blog Tag!

 

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Yogurt for Boogie

I love to give Boogie yogurt every day because I believe that it will help keep his digestive tract healthy.  So far, we haven't had any stomach sickness (or, for that matter, any sickness!) so I'm going to assume it works until we have a problem.

I started out buying the little individual cups of YoBaby from Stoneyfield Farms.  The plain is, in my opinion, the best way to go.  I add our own fresh fruit puree for flavor sometimes, but we take it plain most of the time.  I think it is important for him to not get used to having added sugar in yogurt.

I realized one day that I was spending too much on yogurt this way.  Those 6 cups, about 4oz each, cost about $2.99.  That's about 24oz, or about $.13 cents per ounce.  If I buy the 32oz organic "cream top" (whole milk) yogurt for $2.99, it's only about $.09 per ounce.

Because it is "cream top" yogurt, you do have to stir it up well to mix the cream in, but you need to do that with the little cups as well because they do the same thing.

I typically freeze half of the yogurt so that it keeps longer, because he isn't eating 32 oz of yogurt in a week, and after 6-7 days I start to feel like it's not fresh enough anymore.

So I freeze 4 6 oz glass bowls with about 4oz of yogurt in each one and when there is only about 1-2 servings of yogurt left in the original container, I take one out of the freezer.  They sometimes take a whole day or longer to completely thaw (my fridge is cold, what can I say?)

I'm still a fan of the individual cups for travel.  If we are going to be out for lunch, they fit nicely into a cooler bag made for holding a bottle/sippy cup.  Our glass bowls with the lids fit well, too, but they are a tight squeeze.  In general, though, I recommend feeding yogurt with no added sugar at least 90% of the time so that as your kids grow older, they are not accustomed to that extra sweetness.  You can always add fresh fruit puree and it will naturally sweeten without additional sugar.  Boogie even likes veggies with his plain yogurt, such as sweet potato.  The other day he wanted his broccoli mixed in!



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Staying organized with Boogie's meals

I stay organized, making sure Boogie gets at least most of what he needs day to day with a simple dry erase board my mom bought on clearance at an office supply store a few months ago.
 
I took some Sharpie markers and created a "chart" listing the main food groups and how many servings he needs per day, and then added a box for each serving.  I use a dry erase marker to check them off after meals.  I also have a blank at the top for what day it is so that if my darling husband gets up with Boogie on Saturday morning so I can sleep in some, I know later whether he has started a new day or forgotten, and then I can ask him what he had for breakfast.

It's also nice because some mornings when Boogie and I get downstairs, said darling husband has written in the new day with something cute like yesterday's, "show your tongue off day!", to which he added in between the other food groups, "show your tongue 50-100/day," and several boxes to check off.

Recently, my father taught Boogie to stick out his tongue when someone asks, "Where's your tongue?"  It's a lovely habit I look forward to trying to break.  He LOVES to show off his tongue!  We are trying to teach him to point to his nose in response to, "Where's your nose?" but so far he just sticks his tongue out, proving that he is really not aware that the thing he is sticking out is called a tongue.  But he's getting there :)

Typically, Boogie gets a serving of baby  porridge for breakfast and 1-2 servings of fruit, sometimes mixed in but usually separate.  Lunch is 3-4 oz of plain whole milk yogurt with another serving of fruit, a piece of toast, and some veggies.  Some days he doesn't eat that much, though!  Dinner is generally veggie-loaded with 2-3 servings (depending on how much he has had earlier), some whole wheat pasta, more cereal, or a whole grain that hasn't been pureed prior to cooking (like quinoa or rice), or some whole wheat bread or pita.  Some days he gets chicken either in "meatball" form or just cooked bits.  The other day I put a bit of sweet curry powder on the chicken and he loved it!

Boogie also gets an egg 3 times a week, usually scrambled, for breakfast.  He also enjoys tofu, beans, and now hummus.  I try to go easy on meat-based proteins because I think its good to not get him used to meat every day, or even several times a day, while he is young.  He also loves bits of cheese, but who doesn't love cheese??

UPDATE - My darling husband reminded me that if you draw over over the sharpie marks with the dry erase marker, it will remove the sharpie marks.  So if you want to try this, make sure you make the boxes big enough to draw an "x" inside without touching the lines.

Also, when it inevitable gets skuzzy looking, use rubbing alcohol to remove the old sharpie marks instead of buying the pricey white board cleaner.



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Save money on organic juice by not buying it

I save money on juice by not buying it.  But that doesn't mean Boogie only gets to drink water.  Mostly, he is still getting his "drinks" from mama, but I do offer him a sippy cup of water (and sometimes when I'm feeling lazy I just put water in a cup and hold it for him) with every meal and he typically drinks about half an ounce to an ounce.

But I do give him what I call "juice."  When I cook apples to make apple sauce, I save the cooking liquid, strain it, and freeze it in ice cube trays just like I do his purees.  I do the same with pears, peaches, mango, etc.  Soon I am going to add veggie "juice" as well, though I will probably mix it with apple or pear at first so that he can get used to the taste.

I suppose I could just not ever give him anything but water, but I offer him a cube of "juice" mixed with water (I estimate it to be about 25% fruit liquid) has the same effect that straight juice does as far as his, ah, diaper issues.  His pediatrician told me to give him straight juice if his stools are firm or if he seems constipated, but I just cannot fathom buying a bottle of juice and then throwing most of it away.  I did this once, and ended up boiling and freezing it into trays and it was a bigger pain in the bum that just freezing the cooking liquid, since I'm already in baby food mode.

This way, any nutrients that come out in the cooking water, go right back into Boogie later :)

And when he starts drinking veggie "juice," my hope is that he will get accustomed to drinking things that are not sweet.

As you can see above, one batch of apples also yielded about 14oz of "juice."  This lasts us a good two weeks and its FREE.



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Using the Apple Method for other baby foods

Using the same method as with The Apples, you can also make:

Pears
Peas
Sweet Potatoes*
Winter Squash*
String Beans
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Carrots**
Parsnips
Beets**
White Potatoes

I could go on but I think you get the idea. If it is more cost effective to buy bagged frozen fruit,m especially when they are not in season, you can also simmer frozen fruit right from the bag until it is thawed and, if baby is new to the game, nice and soft. Then puree as usual.


*I prefer to bake or roast sweet potatoes whole (350 until very soft), scoop out the flesh, and puree. With Winter squash, I cut in half, scoop out the seeds and whatnot, and bake at 350 until a fork can go right through it, then scoop out the flesh and puree. I believe they are more flavorful this way, but boiling is fine. Steaming is also a good option.


**Carrots, as well as spinach, beets, and other foods can contain high levels of nitrates. Some people believe you should not make these foods yourself for your baby. If you like, you can skip making them and buy them jarred or frozen, but I find that fresh carrots are one of the least expensive baby foods and my son will not eat the jarred kind and neither would I. So I recommend waiting until at least 8 months to introduce them and dumping the cooking water and using fresh filtered or purified water for pureeing them to avoid adding nitrates back into the baby food.

Hello, Coconut Oil? I LOVE YOU. That's all.

Seriously, I do. I purchased a bottle of coconut oil yesterday, which is surprisingly easy to find (at Whole Foods) and I was even a little taken aback by how many brands there were. I went with the Whole Foods 365 Organic Virgin Coconut Oil because the price was right and it was precisely what I was looking for so why pay twice as much? Sometimes I wonder if I am frugal or just cheap.... I have been wanting to try it for a while, every time I hear or read about difference uses for it. I wonder if bloggers realize they come off sounding like the stuff is a miracle cure all. I bought it less than 24 hours ago and I am already hooked. It really IS amazing stuff!

My original intentions were to make a bug spray for my son that is safe for him, at 10 months, and works for me and my husband as well. I also figured I would make a spray for the dog for fleas and ticks, as well as mosquitoes, so I can avoid chemical exposure (he has liver disease, so its probably not good for him to have spot on treatment anyway, even if we didn't have the kiddo around) for all of us. I bought eucalyptus oil, sweet orange oil, and citronella oil, and already had some good tea tree oil on hand for the dipes. 

I figured it was a good time to check out coconut oil as a carrier oil, and for some reason was somewhat surprised that it is solid at room temp. Won't work for the dog, but it sounds like a fairly easy way to use it on the kid! Came home, melted 1/4 cup and added my oils (I'll give up the exact proportions when I know whether they are effective and have finished with my tinkering). I poured it into a leftover tea tin and left it to set. Meanwhile, I dabbed a bit of it on Boogie's back, up and down his spine, so I would be able to recognize any reactions easily. 

Wow. That stuff leaves baby oils and lotions in the dust! It rubbed in smooth, left him nice and soft, and the best part is...I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IS IN IT. 

I then proceeded to run into the kitchen where I left the jar of coconut oil sitting innocently on the counter and start rubbing it all over my arms. Oh, the smell is heavenly. If you like real coconut scent, you will love this stuff. It isn't overpowering and it doesn't linger so I imagine I can use it for years without getting coconut overload. 

I tasted it as well, of course, since it can be used for cooking. I like that it is food-grade so if my kid finds it and decides to eat it, I only have to worry about his saturated fat consumption. If he drinks lotion, I have a whole host of other worries. It seems to be fairly tasteless, which is kind of a disappointment. I will have to compare the nutritional info to butter before I give that a shot, but I have heard it is fantastic in brownies. 

Oh, and I also rubbed the plain stuff on some dry patches on Boogie's skin that he has had all winter. Nothing has made much difference to them until last night. They are no longer visible, though you can feel the dry spots. No reactions to his skin so I suspect after 1 or 2 more applications he will be rid of them finally! I also plan to rub a bit on his scalp tonigh durring tubs as he has a dry scalp, possibly caused by the use of baby shampoos. But I'm working on that. My own skin is also nice and coconut-glowy. Interested in a recipe for Homemade Deodorant that uses Coconut Oil? Check out Jessica's post on How About Orange, one of my favorite crafty blogs :)