Baby Food Resources

Found a few links that I thought might intrigue a few readers. First one is a study done on unnecessary fillers and additives of manufactured baby food and the benefits of making your own. You can read it here.

Second is a baby food making website that I am so excited about. My friend Christi recommended it and I can't wait to utilize some of the recipes. I think I am most excited about making my own baby food cereals (oats, rice, barley, etc) and also making "meals" where you have things like chicken apples and oats all in a combo. For as hard as it is to see Abbie getting older I am excited about watching her grow and experience things for the first time as well. Select baby food below to be taken to the homemade baby food website.

Baby Food

Also thought you may get some use out of this website on Food Labels as well. I discovered it by researching if I could give Abbie regular applesauce or not and discovered that you can it just needs to be unsweetened applesauce. Musselman's makes a kind that is unsweetened and I am sure other manufacturers do as well. Anyway, when I went to Musselman's website to see what the nutrition label said the ingredients were it didn't list them. It just gave me the nutrition info and not the ingredients. I found this labeling website which gives you the option to type in whatever food you may want and see its ingredients. Lo and behold, Musselman's unsweetened applesauce is ok to give Abbie :)

Delicious Home Made So Easy Bread

A few months ago my hubby encouraged me to get over my fear of baking bread. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but the hard part was that it felt like a never ending all day task. You mix the ingredients together, and I own a kitchen aid so really this involves dumping the ingredients in and letting the dough hook do its thing, however its the rising that gets me. You mix it, let it rise, punch it down, shape it, let it rise, bake it, cool it, eat it...blah blah blah etc. Part of it is because I am not patient. The other part is because I am so type A. So type A I don't even know if I have an ounce of type B in me. I have a to do list dangit and I am going to select something on it, get it done in 5 minutes or less, multi task something else on my to do list while I am doing the first thing and be done with my to do list by 9AM. Bread...well bread doesn't work this way. It really does take several hours. So I started doing my research. Or well google research. Not sure that you can call online searching actual research cause it doesn't necessarily come from credible sources but you get what I mean.

Anyway, so a few days ago I found the wonderful world of no knead breads. This opens up a whole new world of options to people like me. My hubby, the chef, was skeptical. He of course knows the science behind bread making, and in his eyes he knows the kneading, and the second rise are important parts of the gluten in the bread developing enough to get an end result that is a fluffy loaf of bread. Not too dense. Which can result from not letting it rise long enough, etc. I asked him to give it a chance and he obliged. Why is this so called no knead bread so wonderful? I seriously worked on it for like 8 minutes tops. Maybe not even! This type of bread allows you to mix the ingredients together and let it sit covered for 12-18 hours, then you can come back to it, shape it and let it rise in your loaf pan and then put it in the oven. I know it sounds similar to regular bread but to me it was so much less time because my bread was making itself while I was sleeping (a multi tasking, type A persons dream!).

Here is the recipe I used and a picture of the loaf this person made...mine ended up just as pretty if not prettier :)

http://noknead.com/recipes/loaf-breads/light-oat-bread-no-knead-loaf-recipe.php

The end result:
Very pretty to look at. A little more dense than my chef judge husband said it should be but he said overall it tasted really good. Regardless I was very pleased with it, and for those who don't have a chef as a husband whose favorite thing to make is bread....no one else would be able to tell the difference. I am going to try something though to help get a loaf of bread that Dave really enjoys. So my next goal is to see if I can lessen the density. I tried to find some tips online for this issue but couldn't find much help. One thing I did read that intrigued me was some people will use high gluten flour to correct this and had good results (because of the no kneading, using a flour with higher gluten content would correct this issue and still give you the ease of letting the dough sit overnight etc). The other thing I want to try is making it into mini loaves and freezing it cause lets face it, a family of three, with one who doesn't even eat solids yet can't use up a homemade loaf of bread very quickly and this trying to lose baby weight mama doesn't need lots of carbs...I just wanted soup, salad, and bread for dinner tonight :)(Dave is also skeptical of this but I think its worth a shot....I read somewhere that you can pop it in the oven after freezing for a few minutes to revive it)
Give it a try...it's so easy and will make you feel like you did something awesome cause you made homemade bread!
Bon appetit!

Test results..

So I had my yearly visit with my OB gyn office on Wednesday this week. I kinda wanted to kill two birds with one stone at my 6 week check up in May cause technically I think my yearly was due in June but they wouldn't let me....said I needed to come back for my yearly in August? Not sure why, but anyway who cares I guess. So Abbie and I headed off to the office that morning (I try to schedule appts around naps so she is in a good mood), however no can do this morning....she is in an ok mood, but not ok enough to want to sit in a stroller while her mommy gets her below the belt exam. Crying baby + someone in your crotch...not so cool, but I must say my new found momness didn't bother me really at all. She was in the stroller next to me and I held her hand and talked to her while my nurse practitioner got my pap smear etc....Abbie just had to wait for a few minutes and then I could hold her. Ooo and major bonus...I didn't have to get a breast exam cause I am nursing. I suppose that is good and bad cause I am horrible about remember to do my own, but on this particular day I had worn a sundress...so I had like no undressing to do at all. Awesome!
Anyway, I had some questions about weight loss cause for the past month I had just plateaued. Now believe me...I have had my fair share of cake, pie, allthebestsugarygoodnessknowntoman for the last month at cookouts etc, but I still felt like I should have had some weightloss. Especially since after I started counting calories I lost like 10-12 lbs in 8 weeks. At that time I wondered a bit about if my thyroid was working correctly. I felt like that was a fast weightloss, but I had talked to a lactation consultant somewhere in there and she said 1-2#s a week is pretty normal. I guess I feel like the higher side of that is probably more normal if you were fairly overweight though and I was at a good weight before pregnancy so to lose it that quickly kind of worried me but at the same time I was excited I lost that much so quickly! I talked with the NP about my new found frustrating plateau and she suggested we check my thyroid just to be sure. I had been checked right before I got pregnant, and after I found out I was pregnant and it was normal. My dad does have hypothyroidism though so my chances are higher. I went ahead and got the bloodwork done and much to my surprise received a phone call the next day telling me I was pretty much very hypothyroid. What? Seriously? I have like no symptoms except my weightloss plateau and from what I understand your hormones are so crazy after pregnancy that your body can have postpartum thyroid issues...that in my mind meant temporary. I asked a lot of questions and kind of had a hard time with the answers....the nurse said most likely I would always be hypothyroid. I thought maybe I would have to take pills for a few months until my post partum body started to become more normal or at least after breastfeeding since there are still extra hormones from that but she said most women who get it don't just grow out of it, they have it for life.
I think what bothers me most is the lack of control I had over the outcome of it. Of course you can get things like diabetes at a young age because of genetics but in my head I can control it....watch my diet, don't eat a lot of sweets, exercise etc. Or to prevent high cholesterol- don't eat fatty steak for all meals everyday, but this....there wasn't anything I could do. I watch my diet. I exercise 5 days a week, and still I am hypothyroid. My thyroid decided to just not work as well as it should....and I couldn't have done a thing to prevent. I asked the nurse if I could take supplements, or modify with diet. Nope. Nothing. I am what I am. I'm 27...really? On the bright side I am hoping this helps with my weightloss. We can get my thyroid working properly (or I guess at least replacing what the thyroid would be doing with meds) and then with diet and exercise hopefully these last 10-11#s will come off now.
For those of you who don't know what thyroid disease is, there are two different disease states. One is hypothyroid meaning your thyroid is releasing low amounts of hormone. The thyroid regulates your metabolism. In my case my thyroid wasn't releasing enough of this hormone which of course causes things within my body to not metabolize properly or as quickly as they should normally. Therefore these people could see weight gain or in my case I had a # or 2 weight gain but despite all of my efforts to eat less calories and workout was actually losing nothing. The other disease state is the opposite...hyperthyroid meaning your thyroid is overworking itself. So it metabolizes things quickly. These people typically end up losing weight even though they are eating constantly and feel like they are starving all the time.
I'm praying that it is just the post partum issues that caused it and that it will indeed resolve itself and maybe I won't have to be on meds for the rest of my life. Even though I am hopeful, I must say I have my doubts. From what I've read even if you do go back to normal post partum, becoming hypothyroid in the first place is a precursor to the fact that you probably at some point in your life will get it again and it will at that point be there to stay. There are things that are so much worse. Long term...there are really no side effects. Although annoying I consider myself so blessed that it is something so easily treated. I have friends/relatives who have had or have cancer and to know what they go through makes me feel so blessed that all I have to do is take one pill. I can handle that. Having a baby has challenged me in so many ways...most of it has been about my own body. I knew it would happen but I had no idea that it could be so hard. Praying that I trust God with his magnificent plan for my life....a few extra pounds and all, because there is so much more to this life than obsessing over something that brought me a gift that is so incredibly beautiful....my Abigail :)

What I'm loving right now...

Things I am loving right now:

This kids space featured on Freshome.com...

I just love it! I love color coordinated things like this. I am trying to figure out how to do my own cheap version in our home with is not that big. In order to even have a kids space it has to be in a common area of our home. My current thoughts are to purchase deeper bookshelves of whatever height I choose...I'm leaning towards two 50inch bookshelves side by side in our sitting room. Then I got this great idea off of my friend Lydia's blog: http://walkingwithdancers.blogspot.com/2011/03/will-work-for-cute-storage.html
Which shows how you can make storage so cheap by wrapping up cardboard boxes with whatever color wrapping paper you want. This gives me the chance to do things super cheap on a tight budget. I have been looking on craigslist for months for bookshelves and they always get snatched up. Plus its harder to find deeper ones for sale at garage sales etc that will hold some larger toys. Anyway, I am pretty pumped at the idea. I am a firm believer that you can't expect a child to learn how and where to put things away if there isn't clear direction of where to put it, because of this I must provide a space. I do think that kids need to learn house rules and respect for property etc, however I know these things won't be learned without something getting broken first. I must say being a mom has changed my heart so much. I still struggle with caring way too much what others think, but now I am so proud to be a mom. I am excited to have a designated space for Abbie and our future children...I want them to be able to explore their world and always have a place within our home no matter how small it maybe to feel free to be creative and play to their hearts content.

Next up is this...



I originally had registered for a more expensive diaper bag and decided I needed to get something cheaper. Well I am regretting that decision now. Not cause it has to be expensive but mostly because I can't find a cheap one with the features I want to be in a diaper bag. I like multi purpose things. I need it to be boy or girl in case we have a boy in the future. I love some of the other prints on JJ Cole website, but kind of feel bad making Dave carry it. I felt like this one was mild enough that it was ok for my hubby to carry it while with me sometimes. Anyway, my sister has one of these in a different color and I loved it! Right now our diaper bag drives me crazy! I throw everything in it and there is one large compartment to hold diapers, wipes, burp rags etc. Drives me nuts and I feel bad sending it to daycare because of its lack of organization. These little bags though have all kinds of cute compartments. I feel like its especially needed with using cloth diapers. They take up a lot of space and I just want it to be easier to use. So we'll see if the hubby lets me get this....I kinda want it a lot :)

Next up is the most adorable 4 month old you'll ever meet...



I can't believe she is 4 months old already! People weren't kidding when they said time flies!

Ok and finally, I am not loving this, but wanted some accountability...I am having trouble with have confidence and motivation that I can lose the rest of this baby weight. More than anything I just want to feel comfortable in my own skin. To be confident even if that means I am a different size. Summer cookouts have made it really hard to refuse cake/every other dessert known to man! Working out is getting boring and counting calories harder than when I did it last year before I got pregnant. I need help ladies! What can I do to motivate myself and hold myself accountable?