Cake and a toddler meal hack!

Today I spent some time in my kitchen. Almost all day actually. My husband's birthday is coming up and we have a sick Camaro SS so I used it as inspiration for his cake. I'm not going to give a step by step for this or anything but I wanted to show it off. It's no masterpiece but it's also one of the few I've used fondant on.

Happy Birthday (a few days early) to my amazing husband!! 

Also, since I spent all day in the kitchen we had spaghetti for dinner because it's simple. Well, we had some leftovers so instead of letting them sit in the fridge for days I decided on a different use for the sauce and noodles. My baby loves noodles with any type of sauce on them and it's usually my go to meal for her. I put the leftovers in my mini food processor and did a rough chop so it would be ready to warm and serve and portioned it in baggies to freeze!

Don't forgt to label and date! 

We call them "saucy noodles"! :)

This could be done with almost any food you make for dinner that your baby/toddler eats. Just make sure the ingredients freeze well. 

Also, my preferred method for thawing is to place the baggie under running hot water until it's warm enough to serve! Safer than using the microwave! 

Do I have to eat this?!

Getting through breakfast is a breeze, throw a bowl of sugary cereal, pancakes, waffles or bacon in front of my bunch and they go to town. Lunch is usually pretty uneventful with hot dogs, mac'n'cheese or a corn dog waiting to fill them up... but then there is dinner, the meal I actually put time and effort in to. The last daunting task of the day before I can finally relax.

Don't get me wrong, I love to cook and from what I hear I am pretty darn good at it too. I try my hardest to be creative and to stay clear of cooking meals out of a box. I spend a good couple of hours a week making a meal plan and a grocery list and we aren't even going to talk about the shopping trip it requires. Ugh! Point being, I work my ass off to make dinner!

I try to plan well rounded meals, a meat or protein,  a veggie, maybe a dairy item or a grain and some sort of fruit to follow up. I don't make meals with crazy, unheard of ingredients and for the sake of all I avoid things like liver and onions all together. So it's not like I'm cooking disgusting meals. My kids would beg to differ though.

They are incredibly picky and I can usually count on at least one of them to complain about some or all of the contents of their plate. It ranges from "what are these red things?" all the way to "I'm not eating this, it's gross!!" It's frustrating and down right pisses me off. We try to stress to the kids that eating healthy will help them grow, etc... but it never works. We have resorted to making them a permanent fixture at the table until their plate is at least nearly clean. It's always "can I be full?" ("I don't know, ask your stomach" is my favorite response to that one, hehe) or "how many more bites?!"  Some nights I fear they might end up sleeping at the dinner table. It doesn't end there though, an hour later (whether they ate their food or not) they all want a snack. Nope! I've considered putting the repeat offenders on a strict ham sandwich diet for dinner regardless of what I cook for everyone else. Trust me. The first night I cook something they really want to eat, that sandwich won't be their saving grace anymore. Tough.

It's gotten to the point where I seriously question why I put the effort in to make a decent dinner. The only thing stopping me from being a Hamburger Helper type of gal is that I appreciate decent food containing ingredients that I can pronounce and I am fairly certain the whole "meal in a box" type of dinner probably isn't exactly packed full of the nutrients a growing child needs.

So unfortunately for my kiddos, it looks like they are going to have to take a few extra bites of their meat loaf and choke down their vegetables. Hopefully one day my persistence will pay off and I will have a group of kids with a diverse pallet. Until then they are going to eat their broccoli!
-N

If you can't get past Pj's and Coffee...

Last night I read a blog post that really hit home. A friend of mine shared the link to it on Facebook and curiosity got the best of me. As I was reading it I felt as if I related to it more so than not and in a way it upset me but also uplifted me that I certainly wasn't the only one who deals with this sort of thing. 

Here is the blog post I am referring to:

Scary Mommy: Being a Good Mom is Making me a Bad Wife.

I couldn't have read it on a better day.

Right now we are on week four of my husband's six week visitation with his three kids, I call them my steppies.

There are times when the day goes off without a hitch and my husband comes home to dinner almost done, the kids playing together nicely, a smiling baby and most importantly a happy me. Then... there are those days when he walks through the door and I unload on him. Yesterday, he didn't even make it home. I blew his phone up mid-afternoon with a few long text messages. I had a moment of weakness. The baby wouldn't go down for a nap partially due to the fact that I think I wanted it to happen more than anything, irony loves to get the best of me, but more so due to the fact that the moment I would catch her dosing one of my three steppies just had to walk in the room with some sort of question or complaint. They aren't exactly accustomed to being quiet, I don't know how things work at their Mom's house but this is Dad's house and we have our own rules that need followed. So, I lost my shit and started texting. It's not like they aren't aware of our rules. They know better.

I have to give my hubs credit. He kept his cool and asked how he could help. I didn't have much of an answer. He has tried to get them to behave for me but they still fight, tattle, disregard my need for them to tone down the volume. I was at a loss. I didn't have a solution.

After thinking about it, reading the blog post mentioned above and getting past my rough afternoon, it all seemed to me like an overreaction. I will admit that. Then the blog post touched on not being everything I should be for my husband. That's what really got to me. I recall part of my texts to him saying "I mean it's 2:30 in the afternoon ... I'm still in the clothes I woke up in and I haven't even brushed my teeth yet. ... I'm on the brink of tears at least 2 times a day." The part that gets me is that more often than not my husband comes home to me in a t-shirt and sweats with my hair thrown up in a messy bun, no makeup and coffee breath. He still loves me but I want to be the person for him that he first met. I sure weighed a lot less, I sure put more time and effort into myself and I know damn well I was a lot more pleasant to be around. Hell, if I miss me, then I'm sure he does too.

Not that I can't spare the 20 minutes it would take to clean myself up, it's the fact that I see no reason to. I mean why waste 20 minutes on myself when I have no intention to leave the house or I will end up changing because the baby spit up on me, I spilled my coffee on myself, I got a little messy while cooking, got stinky and smelly while cleaning or all of the above. I wish I could see it differently, but I don't.

Having a daughter makes me want to be a better person. I don't want her growing up with a frumpy mom because I don't want to set that example. I don't want her thinking it's acceptable to leave the house in sweats unless of course she is going to the gym or something, which if you look at me clearly I don't do that.

I'd love to be the mom that can cook, clean, do fun things with her kids all while looking flawless. How the hell do I do that!? Please, enlighten me.

I want to be the wife and mom my husband can be proud of, brag about and someone he most importantly looks forward to coming home to.

In two short weeks my Steppies will head back to their Mom's and we will resume the normal visitation schedule, school will be in full swing for my 4th grader, as he will start this coming Monday, and I will be left with a quiet house and my darling 10 month old. My anxiety will decrease, my stress will reduce and I will be back to someone who could juggle a lot more because I will be dealing with a lot less.

I don't feel alone in this struggle. I don't feel like I'm the only one failing at being supermom. 

I hope anyone who reads this can take comfort in knowing they aren't alone either. 

It's okay to let go sometimes. I've found when it's all said and done, your husband still loves you and so will your kids. If you don't get past pj's and coffee one day, don't sweat it. Tomorrow is another day and you can try again! :)

-N

Wait, What? Whole Wheat Waffles!

I am really behind on my blogging. It has been hectic, I have a teething, almost 9 month old and I can barely get to my computer long enough to type two sentences. Ha!

Anyway, at least one day every weekend I like to make something for breakfast. It breaks up the monotony of eating cereal all week long. I decided to experiment with some ingredients to make waffles one morning and they turned out amazing!!! Here is the recipe!

Wheat Waffles

serves 5-6

prep time 10 min

cooking time 10 min

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/2 tbsp pure, raw honey

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 eggs

1 3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup coconut oil (as liquid)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.

Add the wet ingredients and whisk together until the mixture is smooth.

Spray your hot waffle iron, lightly, with cooking spray.

Pour on to your waffle iron.

Follow the cooking times specified for your waffle iron.

Serve warm with your choice of toppings.

Some of our favorites are:

Nutella

Honey Butter

Berries

Maple Syrup and Butter

Hope you love them!

-N

Cleaning your self-cleaning oven by hand (without chemicals)

So. Who has a self-cleaning oven? Who actually uses the self-cleaner? ... I mean, it is such a hassle right? The smell alone drives me bat shit and I usually end up leaving the house praying it doesn't catch fire, the heat it puts off is unbearable (unless you're in the dead of winter), and then of course you have to vacuum out the ashes, right? It isn't exactly a fool proof method to say the least. My oven was disgusting and I looked at it daily and put it off for quite a long time. I really didn't want to take the self-cleaning route for obvious reasons and I know with a self-cleaning oven that once you use a chemical cleaner on it you can kiss the self-cleaning option goodbye. Well, in the future I may want to utilize that but for now I needed a way to clean the damn thing without chemicals. So, I did my research and found that more often than not baking soda did the trick! 

No chemicals! I played around and found what worked for me and now I want to share it with you!

Here is how you do this!

**I warn, it does take a little muscle but it was a good work out and better than smelling the burning of the self-clean and your oven won't look, by any means, "new" but it will get it about 90-95% cleaner than it was when you started. For me, that was all I needed it to do!**

What you need:

Baking Soda

( at least 1 box, 2 for good measure especially if you put your oven cleaning off for a while)

Dawn 

White Vinegar

Sponge with a scrubbing side

Paper Towels or Older dish cloths

Water 

Mop Bucket

Dish washing Gloves

Basically you make a paste.

I emptied the contents of one box of baking soda into a bowl.

I added a little bit of water at a time until I had a paste consistency.

Lastly, I mixed in about 1/2 tsp of Dawn for some grease busting power. Ha!

See how gross!

(Secretly, the oven was pretty bad when we bought our house a little over a year ago, I tried the self clean method and couldn't handle it and gave it up. Now, here we are!)

Wearing those handy, dandy, gloves smear the pasty mixture on the surfaces of your oven.

I had to use both boxes of baking soda to get full coverage of all sides and the oven door.

Once you have the paste covering all surfaces, let it sit for about 15-20 minutes. 

This is where it gets gross and messy and you have to put some muscle in to it.

I did it, though and if I did it, I know you can do it too!

Fill your mop bucket with water, as warm as you can stand, throw in the sponge and get to work. Using the abrasive side scrub your oven's innards. Once you feel you have gotten most of the stuck on grime to loosen up you want to scoop up the paste with your hands first and toss it in the bowl you used to mix it in. Then with the sponge and dish cloth wipe out the excess paste.

Once it is all cleaned up, I use a vinegar/water mixture out of an old spray bottle to shine it up. Spray it on and let it sit for just a few minutes and with a clean, dry dish cloth wipe down your oven.

I promise it won't be easy but it definitely makes a difference!

Now like I said, It will get it about 90-95% cleaner than it was. As you can see there are some dark spots around the edges and a few spots on the bottom of the oven from an unfortunate pie filling spillage, but I am happy with the results and next time, I can still use my self-clean option if I'd like!!

Happy Cleaning!!

Banana Bread made with Coconut Oil!

I buy bananas and rarely do I run out. In other words I usually buy bananas just to watch them ripen, and rot. I really need to start forcing my family to eat their fruit! Until then, my overly ripe bananas get put to good use making this amazing recipe and this time I used a little twist and substituted oil and butter with coconut oil!!!

Banana Bread

with coconut oil 

Preheat your oven to 325*

Makes 2 large loaves

Dry Ingredients

3 cups flour 

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon (I use a little extra)

1/2 tsp ground ginger powder

1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together and set aside!

Mash 3 to 4 ripe or previously frozen bananas. 

I prefer ripe bananas to frozen, brown, slimy ones. ;)

For a little more moisture since I am using just ripe bananas I like to add some form of 100% juice to my mashed bananas. In this case the pink tint to the bananas comes from Tropicana Farmstand Strawberry Banana juice. You can use this or skip it. It is a personal preference.

If you chose to use it, 1/4 cup is all you need!

Set the bananas aside and start working on your wet mixture.

Wet Ingredients

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter 

(Substitute Coconut Oil at 1:1 ratio, in other words use the same amount)

3 eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla

1/2 cup vegetable oil

(Substitute Coconut Oil at 1:1 ratio, in other words use the same amount)

First mix together your sugars and the 1/4 cup of coconut oil until it is well mixed

add 1 egg at a time

once all of your eggs are incorporated into the sugar mixture you can add your pure vanilla and the 1/2 cup of coconut oil.

Mix all together and you're ready for the next step!

**(you can either melt your coconut oil or leave it as a soft solid, I don't recommend using really firm coconut oil, it mixes better if it is soft or in a liquid state)**

add your bananas to the wet mixture and stir or use your electric mixer on slow speed

once you have mixed the wet ingredients together you can add the dry mixture

stir together with a spoon until it is well mixed. 

generously oil your pans with coconut oil or you can use cooking spray

I prefer to stick with coconut oil for this recipe

evenly distribute your batter into your oiled pans

bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 325*

insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf to check if it is done, if the toothpick comes out clean then the bread is done!

There you have it! Two perfectly delicious loaves of banana bread!

Enjoy!

-N

Nifty Baby Products 101

Last October, for the most part, I felt like I had became a new mom when I had my daughter. 

My parents helped raise my son who is now 9 and even though I have been in my youngest step-daughters life since she was 5 months old, I still felt like I was in a whole new world of parenting. 

Surprisingly enough, there are sooo many nifty things for babies on the market now that I don't remember finding before. I wanted to share all these nifty things I have came across and my experiences with them, what made life easier, harder and what to get and what not to waste your money on. Here we go....

I bottle fed my son formula. At 16, breastfeeding just seemed... weird. He is a happy, healthy 9 year old today and I fully support mothers who choose to formula feed as well as breastfeed. However, after some consideration and conversations regarding breastfeeding (as well as our limited finances) my husband and I agreed that we would first try breastfeeding before introducing our daughter to formula. It was new to both of us, as this would be the first breastfed baby either of us had.

Sore, so sore! First on my list if must haves, Lansinoh HPA Lanolin cream. Lifesaver, hands down. 

I was horribly sore and her latch wasn't the greatest so a nurse suggested a nipple shield, at first, WOW! What a life saver, 6 months into it, not so much...If you use one of these, attempt to wean as soon as you can. Fortunately for me, my daughter just decided one day to eat with out it and started nursing normally, perfect latch and all! 

Now that we have covered my two most useful items for breastfeeding, I need to list some things that wasted my money. Bottles. I do pump so I needed something to feed her out of. So of course trying to find a bottle that had a similar nipple so she wouldn't get nipple confusion lead me to buying like 5 different types of bottles. NOW, I have a cupboard full of useless bottles and I maybe use like 2 of them. Research bottles before you buy them to ensure you are going to get the right bottle the first go round OR find someone like me who has tried every kind and ask to borrow a few to experiment with. I find that the MAM bottles and NUK orthodontic bottles work the best for me. :)

I love these now that she is older, simple for her to hold, simple for me to wash! She seems to be OK with the orthodontic nipple on these even though she doesn't like the pacifiers with the orthodontic nipple... who knows!

Anti-Colic bottles by MAM, they are a 5 part assembly but they do work well if you have a baby that has colic.

I have used both of these bottles and they are great!

Binkis, as I like to call them or for some pacifiers. At first I thought I had wasted money in buying them because my daughter didn't have much interest in them, until of course my mom gave her one around 5 months, now we take one everywhere. I personally love the MAM brand when it comes to pacifiers. I tried the Gumdrop brand as well as some orthodontic type pacifiers and she seemed to take really well to the flat, rounded nipple that MAM offers. Win!

The MAM Original and MAM Air are two of my favorites. Super cute designs as well!! 

Also, these are the best thing ever, pacifier clips always save you the hassle of lost or dirty binkis!

Introducing solids. I wanted, first of all, organic. I wanted to be that mom. So I used my rewards from my credit card and obtained a nifty 3.5 cup KitchenAid mini food processor. It is wonderful!! If you were to buy it, you're looking at spending around $50, which isn't horrible if you enjoy cooking. Purchasing a mini food processor has a lot more uses when your child is older vs. trying to figure out what to do with your Baby Bullet later on down the road.

I started out buying organic veggies and fruits and taught myself the ins and outs of making your own baby food. I introduced her to Avocados, Apples, Bananas, Squash, Carrots, Green Beans and Mango, all organic. It got old quick though, and I figured now that she has been introduced to a good number of solids that I could venture off into the world of store bought baby food. Still organic.

I did my homework and decided to go with organic pouches. They are the greatest for traveling. They take up a lot less room too!

So far I have tried three different brands and I have no complaints and neither does my little one!

You can feed them directly out of the pouch or put it in a bowl and spoon feed. So nifty!!

Earth's Best has great flavors!

Love these, they offer some unique combinations and my little one eats them up like crazy!

Think about trying these after you have introduced basics though.

Lastly, these are great tasting too. And cute! 

**I always taste before hand just to ensure they aren't spoiled**

A few more items I have tried...

These spoons are great, the bright colors always get my lil one's attention. 

Also, Munchkin brand, these are great for teethers. I love to put ice in them and let my daughter go to town.

Lastly, this was a super awesome idea, but a waste of money for me. It has a small opening so only super smooth purees will work with it and it is a pain to clean. Also, with using food pouches it is really unnecessary. 

Bath Time!

I can't lie, when I saw the Blooming Bath for the first time, I wanted one so bad. SO, I got one. They are super cute, amazingly soft and as a four day old, my daughter took a bath in one like a champ. However, they are a pain to ring out and without proper care I assume they would start to smell sour and musty in no time. I do love it, but I wouldn't spend $40 on another one.

These however, are pretty awesome and easy to maintain.

They aren't outrageously priced either!

I could go on forever, over every little product I have bought and tried but I will end it with three products I swear by...

This got rid of diaper rash extremely fast for me. Unscented and doesn't make a mess. It is a clear ointment so it won't leave a big white mess on your babies bum!

This stuff is amazing (aside from using breast milk) to clear out a stuffy nose!

Lastly, the bubblegum flavor is the best, but the most appealing quality is the mess free bottle. You insert the syringe into the top of the medicine bottle, tip it and pull out the amount you desire! Best thing ever!!

I am sure over the next 5 months I will stumble across a few more nifty and not so nifty items for little ones, until then I hope what I have shared with you now saves you some time and money when it comes to baby products! 

Until then,

-N