Things to do with the little jar of apple pie spice you bought for Thanksgiving and won't use the rest of the year...

I have a tiny jar of apple pie spice in my cabinet.  I actually didn't buy it - the company I buy my spices from (http://www.penzeys.com/) sent it to me as a free sample with an order.  I tend to prefer to blend my own spices for that kind of thing so I had never used it when I came across a recipe for "apple pie play dough".  I wish I could remember where the recipe came from, but I'll share it below anyway and hope I don't get slammed for not crediting it.

That said, I have since been looking for other uses for this little jar of tastiness and have come up with a few uses that my toddler loves.  He even came up with a recipe on his own!
So here is my list of ways to use up apple pie spice.  Because you know it won't be fresh enough next year, right?  RIGHT?

Apple Pie Scented Playdough (recipe below)

Mix with a little bit of sugar instead of cinnamon to sprinkle on toast

Jack's recipe for Apple Spiced Granola and Peanut Butter sandwich (recipe below!)

Add to applesauce or pearsauce instead of cinnamon (basically, use instead of cinnamon anytime you want!)

Keep cooking that applesauce until it turns into apple butter

Dust over vanilla ice cream

Chop up an apple (peeled, if desired), and saute in a pan with a little butter, apple juice, and apple pie spice until soft

Add to oatmeal along with some chopped, cooked apples or apple sauce

Add to pancake or waffle batter (add diced pieces of apple as well for bonus points);  top with apple butter instead of maple syrup


I have found that frequently, Jack will happily try something if I let him add spices to it himself.  So when I am cooking, I will let him add pinches of whatever herbs and spices I am using to the dish.  The tiny amounts he adds don't make much difference and they let him feel like part of the process.  Since he was very young, he has loved to taste spices - even dry mustard or crushed red pepper MUST be tasted!  He is more interested in trying foods when he has tasted everything that goes into them (usually, he wants to try all the other ingredients, too).


Apple Spice Scented Playdough
1 c flour

1/2 c salt
2 t cream of tartar
2 t apple pie spice
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T vegetable oil
1 c water
red food coloring
In med. nonstick saucepan blend dry ingredients. Mix in wet ingredients until smooth. Add food coloring. Put pan on medium heat and stir until it makes a large ball. Remove from heat and place on parchment. Allow to cool. Knead until consistancy is right. Store in ziplock baggies up to 2 weeks.
 
Jack's Apple Pie Spiced Granola and Peanut Butter Sandwich

1 Nature Valley Granola bar, crushed into small pieces
2 slices whole wheat sandwich bread
2-3 T natural peanut butter
sprinkle of apple pie spice

Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread.  Sprinkle granola bar and apple pie spice over peanut butter and top with second slice of bread.  Cut into fun shapes and serve :)

“Every Little Bottom” is getting a little annoying.

So here's the math, according to the Huggies website:

1 in 3 American families struggle to provide enough diapers for their child.

Again, according to their own website, as many as 1 in 20 mothers have been forced to clean out soiled diapers and reuse them. I have heard of mothers letting wet diapers dry and reusing them, but this is the first I have heard of a parent removing feces from a disposable diaper, presumably wiping it out or maybe rinsing it (?) and reusing it.

Basically, we have people who are using disposable diapers the same way they could be using cloth diapers. Only, inexpensive prefolds can be washed thoroughly and reused safely.

So, what's the solution?

Apparently, YOU should buy more Huggies!

I noticed that on many, if not all, packs of Huggies have a banner on them for the Every Little Bottom program, stating that your purchase = a donation. But I searched the pack (we use Huggies at night, mostly because coupons are usually readily available so they are cheaper and work a lot better than the eco-friendly options we would ideally prefer) and couldn't find any details. So what kind of donation is made? According to their website…wait, I can't find it there, either.

If you can find it, please let me know. But I read a blog that is affiliated with the program and according to that blog (which I won't name because they are sponsored by this program), if you purchase a pack of the demin print diapers, Huggies will donate ONE diaper to the cause.

I have only ever see the Huggies denim print diapers in cases, never in jumbo packs, so that means that for something like 50-60 diapers purchased, ONE is donated. SO generous, Huggies. You are making such a difference for those 1 in 3 families.

They are also peddling donations on their website, and one way to add to their donations for FREE is to upload a picture of your child…in a Huggies denim diaper. Every facebook like also adds to the count. So far, they claim to have donated 7,670 diapers through this aspect of their program. Not too shabby, but when you see that they have a banner on their website that says they have donated 22.5 MILLION diapers so far, you have to wonder. Digging deeper, their website says they will donate 22.5 million diapers in 2010. Uhm. That was last year? We are more than halfway through 2011, so I can't help but wonder why they haven't updated that.

Another way to donate? Buy a pack and donate it to a local diaper bank. They'll even help you find one…if you register on the website.

I'm not fundamentally opposed to donating disposable diapers to those in need. Not even a little. I'm not naïve enough to believe that cloth diaper education can make enough of a difference for people who are struggling, although in an ideal world, it would be a lot easier for anyone to walk into a store and buy good quality cloth diapering supplies. I'd be happy to see Indian or Chinese prefolds and some decent covers are Babies R Us, but that's not likely to happen any time real soon. I get asked all the time whether I use the "gerber kind" of cloth diapers, so I know most people have no idea that there are so many better options out there. And, honestly, if I didn't own my own washer and dryer, I would likely not be able to use cloth diapers. So I have to assume that cloth isn't a viable option for at least some of those who are having trouble buying enough diapers.

I am fundamentally opposed to telling mothers a sob story in order to sell a product. This is exactly what Huggies is doing. They know that women who have children in diapers will instantly feel for an imaginary mom out there, scooping poo out of a diaper and reusing it. They know that most moms out there would be heartbroken to feel they are unable to change their child's wet diaper as often as they would like and will feel a great deal of compassion for the 1 in 3 women who have no choice.

I wonder if Huggies is also making donations of Pull-ups. That's probably a good way to keep children whose families can't afford enough diapers in diapers for as long as possible.

The saddest thing to me is that is was not Huggies' idea. They didn't come up with it. Diaper drives have been going on for several years and Huggies was donating a ton of diapers to many drives around the country. I liked that about Huggies. Then they decided to not only embrace this concept, but claim it as their own and in all likelihood they aren't donating any more than they were before. But I bet business is boomin'.

Cloth diapers do not make me a better person than you

I recently saw an episode of "19 Kids and Counting" where Anna (the oldest Duggar son's newish wife) waxes poetic about how it's okay that she is currently driving a Hummer H2 because her baby is wearing a cloth diaper in the backseat.

Uh, sorry. No.

I could care less what she is driving, but since when do the good Christian family the Duggars brag and boast that their parenting decisions are better than everyone else's? Frankly, the momma driving the Prius next to her in traffic is probably using cloth diapers, too and she is getting like 60 miles per gallon, not 3.

Jack is past diapers mostly, so I get fewer inquisitions in public than I used to. But I was always fond of telling people that I don't care about the environment. I'm just frugal.

Okay, cheap.

No, frugal. Let's go with frugal. I bought cloth diapers for our son before we knew he was a son because I have known for many years that for me, they are just the better choice. They are less expensive (unless you want to spend more, in which case there are still a lot of options for cloth that breaks the bank). End of story.

Okay, almost.

I also read some compelling research about how disposable diapers affect male fertility and that made a difference. But the decision was already made, and as an intellectual human I cannot believe there is enough evidence since disposables have only been the "norm" for most of my life, and many of my peers are not even attempting to procreate just yet. Are they also great for the environment? Well, sure, maybe. Depends on who you ask. But frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. I also happen to think they are cuter and in some ways easier.

Cloth is cheaper. For me. But maybe not for you, if you have the time and energy to chase the deals. A dear friend of mine just gave birth to a lovely little boy (he is a week old today!) and she has about 3 or 4 months' worth of diapers in her son's closet that she has been stockpiling throughout her pregnancy. Friends also gave her their leftover diapers when they switched sizes mid-pack and I found an amazing deal last fall on a case of Pampers that made them all but free and had them shipped her way. She has probably not come close to the cost of cloth diapering and she probably won't ever hit what I have spent, and will continue to spend, on cloth diapers.

The thing of it is, I bought an entire set of diapers before I knew all that much about them, and they turned out to not be what I thought they would be. We had to invest in more, and had to buy new covers along the way when Jack outgrew them because the ones we bought before he was born didn't fit him well. And many of those covers can be re-used with our new little bean when s/he arrives come November, but many are worn out and will have to be replaced. I intend to invest in nicer covers when I need to, but the cost is still up there. And since many of the diapers we used for my son are not re-usable anymore, we'll probably invest in more prefolds (which, shocklingly, I turned out to like better anyway) If I have a 3^rd, I'm pretty confident that I'll spend less in the long run. But I couldn't say we won't spend more than my friend will over her diapering years.

And, guess what? We also used disposables, and now that we are down to 2 diapers a day (nap and night), we use no cloth diapers. I cannot justify washing 2 or 3 diapers at a time. We have yeast rash issues if we use cloth at night, so we have been buying disposables since Jack was 6 months old. Thirty disposables a month isn't the end of the world, but it does add to the cost. Now we use about twice that many.

At the end of the day, we all do what we believe is best for our families. It is true that many parents have no idea that cloth is a viable option and therefor don't make a "decision" concerning diapering. But you will never catch me telling someone that I can waste other natural resources because my child wore cloth diapers. You will never hear me claim that not only is cloth better, but that I'm better for using it. I'm a stay at home mom, like Anna Duggar, and I have time to wash diapers. I'm sure there are many other moms out there who make other decisions that will turn out to be better in the long run, whether they diaper with Pampers or Thirsties.

Where oh where can my baby be??

Jack is 2.

Its hard to believe that two years ago today, I held him for the first time.  I nursed him for the first time.  My husband and his best friend danced around our hospital room with him, seranading him with Bohemian Rhapsody, and as exhausted as I was, I hadn't seen anything yet.

Jack is still the most amazing creature I have ever laid eyes on, just as he was that first day.

He blew through milestones that first year, crawling, standing, taking steps.  He now has all 20 of his baby teeth and can and does eat just about anything.  He no longer walks, but runs, and talks to us in full sentences.

Having a conversation with someone you literally created is fantastic, mind blowing, every time.

Every month it seems he is doing more.  Every day, his vocabulary gets bigger.  Each "age" is my favorite.  Right now, I want him to never change and yet I also can't wait for what's next.

I love that if you have to wake him from his nap, he is guaranteed to be extraordinarily cranky.  I love that he now says, "no," to almost everything, smiling becuase he knows its the wrong answer.  I love that he insists on standing up to pee, even though his aim is terrible at best.  I especially love that he asks for what he wants, including asking us to tickle him, specifying which foot or arm he would prefer.

In about 7 months, Jack will become a big brother, so when we went today for his 2nd birthday pictures, it struck me that this could be one of the last times he is the only one in those pictures, the sole focus of the camera.  It makes me sad, and while I know, intellectually, that I will love the new baby just as much as I love him, and maybe love them both even more (is that possible?), it is unfathomable that anything could compare to my little Jackaroni and cheese.

For the record, Jack says he wants a sister.  But he also insists alternately that the baby is in either HIS belly, or Daddy's.

Happy birthday, little man.  I hope this year will be just as full of discoveries and happiness as your first two have been.

Confession - my toddler only likes chicken nuggets, despite my best intentions

My son eats lots of veggies.  Sometimes, there are things I have to do when preparing them to make them "edible" (string beans need to be very soft or they get the boot), but mostly I just cook them and he eats them.  Every now and then the broccoli he loved two days ago is unaaceptable for some unknown reason but generally the next time I serve it, he is happy.

My son LOVES fruit.  There is nothing I can do to make him eat less fruit, short of not buying it.  He sees bananas, pears, apples, on the counter and asks for them.  Grapes or pineapple in the fridge = demands when he sees the door open.  The mrere existance of kiwi sents in himto a tailspin.

Dairy is also not a problem.  He loves cheese (so he is definitly mine), and ate yogurt daily for the first 6 months or so of his foray into solids.  Now he eats it often, usually in fruit smoothies.  We like greek yogurt for the protien content.  He is even now thankfully drinking milk, mostly without complaint.  I give him 2% because...well...it's what I always buy.  Whole milk grosses me out, is more expensive, and would end up getting throw away since he is unlikely to drink the entire bottle before it goes bad.

Meat, however, is another issue entirely.  I gave him beans and rice, tofu, eggs, but no meat until about 10 months.  I think in general we eat too much meat so I thought I was doing him a favor by not making it normal early on.  Then we could all enjoy meatless meals without complaint or feeling like something is missing.  I wanted him to like inexpensive protiens as well.

What meat does he like?  Chicken nuggets.  Yes, my son is one of those toddlers who only wants chicken nuggets.  This was the entire basis for my "make-all-the-baby-food-lots-of-veggies-nothing-processed" mentality.  I didn't want the kid that only eats food that is breaded/battered and fried.  Especially since high-quality chicken nuggets are not only hard to find (impossible, in our new town) but also rather pricey.  I have tried making my own with no sucess.

He also loves meatballs.  But meat as nature made it is hard for him to chew.  Why?  He has almost all this teeth (last time he let me look, only 4 were missing). 

So the answer simply must be my delayed introduction.

So I guess this post is mostly a confession that I didn't do everything right, like I thought I did.  At the time it made sense, but next baby will get a more well-rounded diet. For now, I'm going to get bean cakes back into our meal plans and keep on serving up those little cut up pieces of chicken off the grill and not the Tyson bag and hope for the best.

Meanwhile, I have decided that in reality, it isn't the end of the world if my son eats chicken nuggets every now and then.  It didn't kill me, and it won't kill him.

Quick Potty Training Update

Thought I would take a minute to give an update on Jack's potty training progress.  With the move, we expected regression but really never noticed any.  Some days are better than others and with my husband gone on business this week, I can attest that Jack does better with this when Daddy is around, even if he is at work for part of the day.  After he was gone for about two days, Jack started having more accidents.

I suspect this may be due to my lack of male parts.

This seems pretty normal, though.  He is, overall, doing pretty well.  It seems to be, of course, dependant on my memory.  Sometimes when we are running around doing things or even at home if I get involved in unpacking/organizing something and lose track of time a bit, I forget to prompt him frequently.  He does usually tell me he needs to go, but not always. 

I am pleased to report that his fear of public potties had passed, at least temporarily.  We have had no trouble using the fold up potty seat or even being held up over the toilet.  I have been employing the potty-in-the-car less frequently, but I think I will bring it with us today for a trip to the zoo, as the drive is a bit long and we may have to wait a bit before getting inside.

Speaking of today's outting, this is more or less the first recreational (for both of us - Lowe's doesn't count for him, even if I do enjoy a good trip to the hardware store) event I have planned for us.  We are meeting a new playgroup there - one that focuses on learning as its primary goal.  I hope we will find some new friends and have a good time!

Moved, bought a Twilight Turtle. Now you are all caught up.

We closed on our new house at the end of February, so we are still unpacking some. We blew through a large percentage of boxes as fast as we could and now everything for the kitchen, dining room, living room, and Jack's room is unpacked/assembled. Our room is lovely with its new bedroom furniture after a really big trip to Ikea. I'll work on some before and after posts as we get things finished up, or at least more progress. I'd like to get my sewing machine set up, but I've pledged to wait until everything else is done, to motivate myself.

But today I wanted to share a product review. It seems my son is quite fond of green animals, namely turtles and alligators. He has two rather long stuffed alligators that he sleeps with every night, and now he is the proud owner of a Cloud B Twilight Turtle. I have had my eye on this toy for a long time, but I wasn't sure if it would help him sleep, or keep him awake. Then a representative from CSNstores.com contacted me a couple of months ago, asking me if I would like to do a product review for their site. I had heard of CSN stores, but had never shopped there. When they offered me $25 off any item I would like to review, I knew I would pick something for Jack because, well, I'm a mom. It's what we do, right? So I took my time, browsing the site for a couple of weeks before realizing that time and time again, I went back to the Cloud B Twilight Turtle.

Some things I love about this toy:

1. It speaks to my toddler's need to make choices. He can pick the color of his starry sky every night and the buttons are easy to use, so it is very child-friendly. He knows which one turns it on (took about three seconds to figure that out once the batteries were in), and while most nights he wants green, sometimes he goes with blue.
2. There are 8 actual constellations hidden in the sky. While Jack is a bit young to "get" the concept, I look forward to teaching him some basic constellations by pointing them out at bedtime.
3. Auto shut-off! I love that after 45 minutes, the Turtle turns off. Jack is still in his crib (although he did climb out not long ago….) but when we take the side off for full-on toddler freedom, he can easily turn it back on if he needs to in the middle of the night. But unlike many nightlights, this one doesn't stay on all night. Battery-operated, it is also safe for him to play with, unlike a light that plugs in.
4. The light is subtle, as opposed to a blaring plug-in nightlight. The room is just light enough to see that there is nothing to be afraid of, while not suppressing melatonin.
5. It isn't ugly. So many nightlights for kids are appealing to kids, and not so much to their parents, who can't stand the light-up sesame street faces and the like. This turtle is soft and plush, with a soft plastic shell, and looks adorable and innocent sitting on Jack's new LACK bedside table. The zoo print material I made his duvet from has turtles and I plan to include turtles in his room décor, so it's the perfect addition.
6. Not into turtles? This little guy can be had in the form of a ladybug as well!

There is literally nothing I don't like about this toy. I love that it's safe for him to play with. I love that it arrived in time for his first night in his new home, and I believe that it helped distract him from being in a strange room. It has become a lovely addition to our bedtime routine. There's nothing like telling your 21 month old that its bedtime and have him run in his room to turn on his nightlight.

I would happily recommend the Cloud B Twilight Turtle to friends looking for a safe, fun, and even a little bit educational nightlight for their child. I this this toy would make an excellent addition to a new baby's nursery, helping to create a good sleep atmosphere and fun bedtime routine. The retail price of $30 is not too bad, either, when you consider that this nightlight will fit nicely into a child's bedtime routine for many, many years. You might find yourself switching from Bob the Builder sheets to Batman, but the nightlight can stay.

If you shop at CSNstores.com, you'll find a huge selection of quality products, in addition to Cloud B toys and gifts. While I was perusing the stores, I didn't see a single item I wouldn't buy or consider buying. Brands like Boon, OXO tot, Chicco, Plan Toys, and more. All the brands I know and trust, with competitive prices and many ship free! We are currently looking for a deal on a playhouse for Jack's birthday, and this site has an incredible selection.

CSNstores.com also carries products for your home, kitchen, bathroom, furniture, and more. Check them out next time you are comparison shopping!