Baby food...

Some background first...even though I have two children, with my first, I just went on my merry way.  I utilized only disposible diapers, didn't breastfeed and bought baby food (not even organic baby food, oh the horror!) from the grocery store.  Yes, that was a little bit of sarcasm re: the organic stuff.  I'm all for organic, but I also have my inner scrooge where sometimes, I am just too damn cheap to pay for certain things that are organic.  Apples, yes...bananas, no.

Since we've had our son, we've purchased a house with a 1/3 of an acre and now both my husband and I have been trying our hands at urban homesteading.  We have ten laying hens, had a rabbit, have barrels for collecting rainwater, have a compost pile, and usually have an organic garden going.  This philosophy has kind of turned me a little hippyish...not like dirty hippy-style, but rather a let's save-the-earth and start-in-our-own-backyard style.

Now that we've had our daughter, I did breastfeed for the first three months while I was on maternity leave; I did (and do) use cloth diapers and now I've had my first experiment with making baby food.  I did some research, and found this website Wholesome Baby Food. After comparing several sites, this one definitely won out in the easy to use factor as far as recipes and great suggestions by age.  Right now Lily is a little over 6 months, so I am using the 6 - 8 months of age as a reference.  I decided to start with cereal about 3 weeks ago, and I purchased the Gerber organic oatmeal to start her off with.  I know some people out there only grind their own brown rice, but really?  I choose not to make the time for that...besides, I use coupons and got two boxes for only .50 apiece.  Beat that!

Anyway, I decided to make sweet potatoes as my first try for baby food.  I remember that Cash LOVED this stuff.  I used a mini food processor my mom gave me a few years ago, a spoon, three baked sweet potatoes and a small scraper.






The last photo is an ice cube tray that I got at Target for $1.99. I know I could've gone to a dollar store, but jeez, it was only 2 bucks!

Also, I'm in the process of making yogurt in our crockpot. although this is the first time I've ever tried it.  I followed a recipe at Homemade Yogurt in a crockpot.

Here is the first step...


This was the photo from yesterday.  I got the yogurt out of the oven (oven wasn't on, but the crock was just sitting in there) and it actually looked like yogurt!  I poured it into two jars via funnel that I had washed & santized in our dishwasher a few months ago and it looks good so far.  Haven't tried it yet, but am looking forward to it!

Hope everyone has a lovely evening!

Fritz the rabbit....RIP

Well, this past weekend, I'm running errands (Post Office, groceries, etc.) with baby Lily.  Cash has stayed the night at my parents house.  Well, I called my husband to check in on him and to be really honest, make sure he was up for the day. :)  The hubs works a really odd schedule.  I asked him to make sure the chickens were fed, and we hung up.  Well...about five minutes later, I received a phone call from him, telling me that Fritz had died.  Actually, that he was murdered, if one can apply that adjective to a pet.

Apparently, something was hunting, and it got into the chicken coop area where we keep our chickens.  Fritz had his own little hutch in there as well.  Hubs is speculating that it was a raccoon.  A raccoon?!?!  A raccoon could butcher a mostly-defenseless little rabbit?  I had no idea, but I felt bad for Fritz, cause from what I was told, he was not a pretty sight.  All of poor Fritz was promptly buried by my husband, next to our previous rabbit, Stu.  Thank God for my husband, who in all his glory takes care of his family, with both the good parts and the bad parts. 

So Fritz, may you rest in peace and be forever hopping around in bunny heaven.

Cloth diapers

These are some pics of my baby girl wearing her cute lil' Happy Heiny cloth diapers.  So many mom's just use disposable diapers because it's easier.  Right now, I still buy disposable's to take to my kids daycare, but honestly, these are easy-peasy to use.  The Happy Heiny Lily is wearing in the following pics are from a local store near me called Baby Frenzy.  I like these personally, because I love the Hawaiian-style of these with the hibiscus and considering Hawaii is where I grew up.  Plus, she just looks so damn cute!





This one is the mini-size, specifically for little babies - although, at 14 pounds, I don't think she's a little baby anymore!  Once they start trying to eat their feet through their socks, it's all over.

Our backyard...

Okay, so we live on 1/3 of an acre, right smack in the middle of El Cajon.  We are several blocks from Main Street, the library and even within walking distance of two 7-11's for those slurpee runs.

Right now, we're growing asparagus, onions, spinach, edamame, red & green cabbage and garlic.  Most of these have been growing wonderfully, with the exception of when one of our chickens sneaks out of the coop and decides to descend on the garden in search of worms.  Unfortunately, they get sidetracked by the greens and start chomping at 'em.  Regardless, here's some pics of our organic garden (it's small this winter), our chickens and Fritz, our lovely rabbit.

Asparagus...

Onions, garlic & cabbage

Black Star & Buff chickens

Fritz, our son's rabbit


Enjoy your day!
Dee

No pics this time...

No pictures today...in fact, I wasn't even going to post.  But yesterday was my husband's and my fourth wedding anniversary.  Other than the fact that I hurt my back a little bit yesterday by bending and twisting wrong, it was a good day.  I picked up the kids from daycare and we went to Sprouts, which is a natural health-food store near our house.  We picked up all kinds of fresh goodies like asparagus (which is really inexpensive right now, as it's in-season), organic apples, shrimp, potatoes, etc.  I even let Cash pick out the yogurts that he wanted.  So now he has no one else to blame if he doesn't like a particular flavor!

We went home and I put Lily in her swing chair and made meatballs for Cash's dinner.  Fed him and put him in the shower, then laid Lily down for a nap...that turned into the rest of the evening.  Gave Cash his night time story, gave him his flashlight (to protect him from the kitty's that are outside...no, I have no idea, but that kid has a HUGE imagination), we said our prayers and then I tucked him in for the night.

Since last night my husband didn't get off until 7:30, I then went into the kitchen and started peeling potatoes.  I ended up making homemade scalloped potatoes (the kind with heavy cream and lotsa BUTTER!), oven-roasted asparagus and shrimp (with garlic, chili flakes & lemon) in a pan, with again, you guessed it, lotsa BUTTER!  I also had a loaf of bread that we were going to use to sop up the extra shrimp butter, but we're saving the leftover shrimp & the loaf of bread for today instead.  I gotta tell ya, it was like gourmet cooking up in my kitchen yesterday. :)

Anyway, I'm wishing everyone a wonderful today!  Dee

Library trip

Since the El Cajon library is so close to our house, usually I just walk over with the kids.  Or rather, the kids ride in the stroller, and Mama huffs and puffs while pushing two kids and a stroller.  But I digress...

Yesterday was different in the fact that I picked the kids up by car from their daycare, and my precocious little son, says "Mama, can we go to the library?"  And I respond, "Duh."  Which makes him laugh, and I say what all parents say "What do you say?"  And he responds "Mease?  Mease!"  This is Cash-speak for please.  He also does the sign language part of it that he was taught when was a baby, which is holding your hands in front of your chest, fingers touching thumb, and touching each hand to each other.  It sounds weird, I know, but in actuality, it's kinda cute.  Here are some pics from our little trip (but none in the library itself - cause ya gotta respect the library).

This is in the car before going in the El Cajon library (don'tcha just love how Cash has his hands behind his head - that kid think he is all kinds of cool):



Cash, checking out the treasure box:



By now the kids are getting pissed at me:



But one last picture!



Note, if you will, Cash's styling outfit...Yo Gabba Gabba sweatshirt, Chuck Taylors and cute black scallycap, courtesy of my good friend Shonna Renee Guinn.  Lily's outfit is trying, but really it's the jacket that makes it, but unfortunately, in my pics, you can't really tell.

First post

Most people call me Dee, although in my work life I'm known as Danielle and this is my first blog ever.  There are a lot of things I am into around the house, including organic gardening, canning, cooking from scratch, sewing and oh yeah, raising my two babies with my sweetheart of a husband.  I'm married to a great guy named Aaron who (sometimes) enjoys my sarcastic side.  We have a son Cash who is 3 1/2 and a daughter named Lily who is 5 months old.

This past weekend I finally finished a dress for my daughter.  I'm crossing my fingers that she hasn't grown out of it, before it's even finished!  Here it is in the process of sewing...
   



And here it is finally finished...

Lily in the dress (that's about 6 months too big!)

Side view of the bonnet.

Back view of the bonnet.

Overall, I think this turned out pretty well for my first year of sewing. *patting myself on the back*