Mom Monday- Evie's First Birthday Celebration

This weekend we celebrated my baby's first birthday.  All my family and some friends came down to the house to enjoy some barbecue and baby time.

First the birthday girl had to get up from her nap.  She rolled out of bed to find a party going on, I think she was happy.

She loved hanging out with her family.

We had some yummy food.

Including a flower cupcakes and "healthier" cake made by mommy.

She seems to like the chocolate, even if it has wholewheat flower and unprocessed sugar. ;)

Evie is very loved, she got so many wonderful gifts and almost got lost in some.

Mommy and Daddy got her a wagon and kitchen set.  She loves wagon rides, which will be good this summer as both girls will be helping me with the garden.  Both girls love that kitchen sings.

She played hard...

But before you know it, needed a pacy and nap.

A great day to celebrate with so many wonderful people!

On the way to granola town- Tomato Sauce!!

A while ago, Mark and I embarked on a new adventure- Tomato Sauce. 

Neither of us had ever made tomato sauce, but we didn't let that stop us.  After reading 20 or more posts we came up with our own system.  Hope you enjoy!

The first thing we did was buy our tomatoes.  I know, buy...but the truth is we didn't plant tomatoes in the garden this year.  BIG OVERSIGHT. 

However, we were able to get tomatoes at a very reasonable price at the farmer's market.  What we bought were the ripest tomatoes that needed to be used ASAP.  Perfect for canning.

From there we washed our new tomatoes, cut any bad spots off, and cored them.  No, we didn't remove the skin or pulp.  I figure that there are probably some good things in both that we might lose by getting rid of them at this step, plus I saw a bunch of variance in this step.

 

We pureed our tomatoes and placed into our stock pot.

Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and let it cook. The foam will die down...but keep cooking.

In all it took around 2 hours, but I like my sauce a little more watery than others. I did reduce my liquid by half though. Once we were close to my desired consistency, I used my immersion blender to puree the sauce even more.  I LOVE IT.  Get one if you don't have one.  It's fantastic.  Though side note, if you don't have one you can use a blender.

Finally, I strained my final product.  This removed any seeds or leftover skin that didn't cook and puree.

You're left with a super healthy and fresh product!!  We simply froze ours in freezer bags, as we will use these within the year.

The final tally- .44 cents a "can" of sauce.  This is a good 30 cents cheaper per can from my local knock off brand tomato sauce from the grocery store. 

So not only are we cheaper than the grocery store, but we are using local products that are pesticide free, picked and used at freshness, and is HEALTHIER!!  No sodium, as my family has to watch that in particular.  If you don't have to, I would recommend adding some salt if you like during the cooking process, but even then you are likely to add less than the canned goods.

Now it is a little late to help many now, but that said, bookmark and get ready for next summer.  Watch out, Tomatoes!!

Next up on my road to granola- sourdough bread.

On the Road to Granola Town- Teething Biscuits

Evie has been teething since she turned six months old.  So you can imagine how much she gnaws on everything!

Finally I decided that I needed to help her out, so I went looking for teething biscuit recipes.

Lots of them have whole eggs or lots of sugar in the recipe...which for an older baby (over a year) is fine, but not for my little one (just turned 8 months).

But after lots of searching I found a recipe here.  I liked it for several reasons:

1) Simple and not a lot of fuss.

2) No egg whites- she's not old enough for egg whites yet.

3) No granulated sugar- instead an all natural sugar that actually has nutrients in it! 
 (That is if you use REAL maple syrup.  Don't buy the other stuff, it's just corn syrup with maple flavoring.  So just sugar and no nutrients...)

4)It used applesauce rather than bananas.
Bananas tend to constipate children, and Evie isn't a big fan.  Plus we make our own applesauce, so easy on us.

After finding the recipe, I decided it was time to try.

First I got all my ingredients together.

Then just mix it up.

Roll it out and cut into circles.

Poke holes in the center and widen with your finger.  If you want a wide hole for your baby, make it really wide.  The dough will shrink up when baking.  Evie is still little, so I left them small.  Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees until brown.

Let them dry out on your counter over night.  That way they are nice and tough.  Yes, tough!  These are to gnaw on, so you want them to be like a bone or rock. 

Store and enjoy whenever baby wants or up to two weeks.

Oh, and after your baby has slobbered awhile on these, it will get a little messy...but as my mom told me, a messy baby is a happy baby!

Freeloading

SUCCESS!!

Mom's homemade goodness.

My begging really worked (see Utter despair post), not only did I get my yummy strawberry jam, but she gave me mango jelly, apple butter, and cherry preserves.  Later that week, she brought me some pork chops and barbecue to fix for dinner.  


All this delicious goodness has inspired me to continue my freeloading ways.  I'm thinking about asking mom for more yummy goodies.  I think if I beg enough she'll give in, she may even be reading right now, learning of her daughter's shameful plan.  But hopefully, I can just flash some sad eyes and score some loot. Then I'll rack up on all the jams and jellies I want.


As long as the girls don't see me, and learn how to beg, it's ok...right?? ;)

Utter despair

I'm in utter despair...my soul is crushed. I'm mourning a loss this morning...

EMPTY!!

I'm officially out of my mom's homemade strawberry jam.  It's my favorite.  The only thing that comes close is her apple butter.  Which I am also almost out of, and that makes losing my strawberry jam all the more devastating.

So I hope she is reading this and takes pity on me.  I'd especially like some freezer jam, it's even more delicious.

I also think we'll plant some strawberries this year because I require lots of strawberry jam.  Though the horrible part is they don't produce fruit the first year.  I don't think I can wait that long for jam though.  Looks like it time to get out my begging clothes. ;)