about making baby food

I wouldn't say I'm very "crafty" or into making too many homemade things. I like to cook, but usually my Betty Crocker cookbook is where I go for inspiration. Every once in awhile I go through a quick phase (Like when I made a mobile for Graeme's room...and no, I did not see the idea on Pinterest. I still do not have a Pinterest and refuse. It's just not for me.) But, I thought making homemade baby food would be something I could get behind.

1. It's cheaper.
2. It seemed pretty easy.
3. It's cheaper. 

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it can be healthier in some ways, but I also know there's plenty of perfectly fine pre-made baby food out there that we will definitely buy sometimes for convenience.

This is another "mom choice" that doesn't have a right answer. For now, making baby food works for us. If it doesn't later on, that's fine too.

I happened upon a "Baby Puree Recipe Book" at the used bookstore one day and picked it up for some inspiration. It has a lot of recipes, and I will probably use it more as Graeme gets a little older. It is also helpful for some basic tips. I'm also loosely following the idea in Babywise to introduce orange and yellow veggies first, followed by green veggies two weeks later, followed by fruit two weeks after that. I always wait at least four days before I give Graeme something new to try to make sure he doesn't have any issues with the new food. It's been two weeks since he started vegetables, and next week, we will move on to green things.

So far I've made:

1.  Carrots.

I guess I thought a one pound bag would make more than this. It did not. I steamed the carrots, put them in a blender (we aren't fancy enough for a food processor), and added water as needed until they were a good consistency. I let them freeze in the ice tray, then popped them out and put them in a freezer bag. Two cubes is usually a good serving for Graeme. He loves carrots so far.

2.  Butternut squash.

I read in the baby puree book that steaming vegetables is the best way to make sure they keep the majority of their nutrients. I'm not sure how true that is, but I took the book for its word. Baking the squash was an option, but I decided to peel the sucker, clean it out, cut it up, and steam it. 

Graeme also loves butternut squash. A whole squash filled up one whole ice cube tray and a little bit of a second one.

First bite of squash.

3.  Sweet potatoes.

I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but that's a lot of sweet potatoes. Two trays full. I'm still figuring this whole thing out, and three sweet potatoes made a lot more than I thought it would. Then I thought, "Oh well, Graeme will surely love these the most," because what crazy kid wouldn't like sweet potatoes?!

My crazy kid. I don't know if it's the texture or the taste, but after three different tries on different days, Graeme is not a big fan of sweet potatoes. He will take a few bites and then refuse them with a funny look on his face. I won't give up, but we will take a break from them for awhile. I told my friend that I have an overabundance of frozen sweet potatoes, so she is going to take some for her baby. 

4.  Yellow squash.

This is the last orange/yellow vegetable I will add for awhile probably. I love yellow squash, so I was hoping Graeme would too. I cut it up and steamed it like the others. Yellow squash didn't need any water added to it. Two of them filled up one ice tray.

Graeme tried this for the first time today. It was still so runny even without water added to it, so I added just a little bit of his cereal to thicken it up. He loved it. 

Hates sweet potatoes, but whatever. 

I'm not sure what green vegetable we will try first yet, but I'll let you know how it goes.

about the time I let Aaron cook dinner

Ever since we've been married, Aaron has often mentioned how he would like to make his grandmother's spaghetti recipe. I would always reply, "You need to find the recipe."

He claimed that one time she had showed him how to make it and he had written it down  in a random notebook. He also claimed that he remembered it, mostly.

This, of course, made me nervous. Aaron isn't necessarily known as the "rememberer" around here. And I am not necessarily known as one who will make anything without strictly following a recipe.

But, something last week made me decide to let him try his attempt at this elusive spaghetti recipe. Maybe it is my pregnancy brain. Maybe it is because I'm usually dead tired at the end of the day and don't feel like cooking. Who knows.

I told him that he needed to give me a list of what he needed me to buy for it. He said he had to call his mom first.

I listened to his side of the conversation and tried to butt out when I heard him say things like, "So I don't have to add that if I don't want to..."

When he got off the phone, I asked, "So, did you write it down?"

"It's not really something you can write down."

"What?"

"Well, it's never been written down exactly..."

"What?! Well then it's not a recipe! It's play kitchen!"

Then he laughed at me. I took a deep breath. "What do you need at the store?"

"Just tomato paste. We have everything else."

"That's it? Nothing else?"

"Well, I thought we would need more garlic, but my mom said you can just add however much you feel like."

"Dear Lord. What have I gotten myself into..."



That night, Aaron got home with his tomato paste and a smile on his face. "Oh boy! Let's make spaghetti!"

"Do you want my help?" I asked.

"Only if you want to help."

I wasn't sure what the best thing for me to do was. I tried to stay out of his way as much as possible, but I did help with a few things.

Making meatballs. No measuring. Just "what feels right." (a.k.a. my kitchen nightmare)

"I'm not sure how many cans we'll need. So I got four." Oi. Even Penny looks suspicious.

Mincing garlic. He's still super cute.

While I browned the meatballs in a pan, the pasta was boiling, and Aaron set to work on the most important part:  the sauce.

He added two cans of tomato paste to the garlic and onion, and then kept adding water until "it looked right." Then there was spices, salt and pepper, and sugar (which I find so strange to add to spaghetti sauce). 

Finally, we had a finished product.

I have to admit, it was tasty. We both agreed that it needed a little less sugar next time. Other than that, he said it tasted just like grandma's. And I thought it tasted really good.

I liked it. Baby liked it. Aaron liked it.

Therefore, it's on the menu again this week. Anything I don't have to cook is totally on the menu.

about our new grocery store

We have switched grocery stores. I'm not entirely sure why. We eat well in general, but there's always room for improvement, right? And all-natural and organic foods are better for you so they say. The other week I said, "Let's see if it costs a lot more to shop at Whole Foods Market."

I made the grocery list like normal and we took it to Whole Foods. It was a little overwhelming that first day, but successful. We've been twice since then. Today was the first time we went over our budget, and it was only two dollars over. That's because someone wanted to buy very expensive sea scallops. Ah well. Sometimes you just have to splurge a little bit. Anyway, I'd say we're hooked. We've even invested in grocery bags made out of recycled plastic bottles.

We laughed at ourselves today because our three stops this morning were to the Planet Fitness, the Panera Bread, and the Whole Foods. Maybe a little too healthy for one morning... ;)

about Penny's car freak out and a Mexican diner

Just a warning up front:  this week will mostly be updates from our trip. Sorry if that gets annoying, but this blog also serves as our "journal," so, I try to keep up with things like that. I'll try to keep it as entertaining as always, of course. :)


Anyway, we've made it to Asheville!

After loading our rental car with supplies for what appears to be a months' journey, we were off.

We quickly learned that Penny was not okay with long car rides. After about an hour, she quivered and panted for the rest of the trip. We stopped once and she loved that. And she was fine once we arrived. But, she was not a fan of the car for some reason.

Nonetheless, the mountains and sunset were a welcome sight.

After getting settled into our room, we started discussing what to do for dinner. We experienced a small setback when my hair became horribly stuck on the button on the pillow.

But, after Aaron finally untangled me, we searched Yelp! for a fun place to eat dinner. We like checking out local places when we're out of town, and after some debate, we decided on what looked to be a winner. It had great reviews on Yelp!, Trip Adviser, and Urbanspoon.

Now, this particular restaurant decision was first amusing to us because we never choose to eat Mexican food willingly. I make tacos at home. But I would say they are very American. A Mexican restaurant we chose, however.

And not just any Mexican restaurant. A Mexican restaurant in an old diner. We just knew we were in for a good time.

And, guys, "Nachos and Beer," (yes, that's the real name) did not disappoint. I'm not being sarcastic either. The food was really good.

And the icing on the cake was the amusing decor.

Oh boy! What a fun diner!

That's an odd name for a diner...

And then it starts to make sense.

Notice the Sombreros on the shelf? They were next to models of classic cars.

Hollywood meets Fiesta

El jukebox y Sombrero

Piñata anyone?

Our first day was definitely a success. Tomorrow we explore Asheville in the morning before heading onto Sevierville, TN for the next two nights. I can't wait to see my grandparents!

about planning meals

I mentioned yesterday that I have attempted to start planning meals.

Good grief...it was not easy.

I planned for a little over a week. From this past Sunday to next Monday. We leave on Tuesday for Orlando.

I originally got out a few cookbooks, but began to get overwhelmed. Gordon Ramsey's idea of "easy meals" is not the same as mine. I resorted solely to my trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook (thanks, Lisa). I didn't want to try too many new things in one week. I also didn't want to do anything very difficult.

I ended up with two crockpot meals, two salads, and a couple standard chicken things that we eat all the time.

Lunches are mainly leftovers from the night before or fancy grilled cheese (by fancy, I mean more than one cheese...so maybe fancy isn't the right word) and soup (from a can people...I'm no professional chef yet).

It took me over an hour just to plan it and make a grocery list.

I don't think it will take that long every week. At least, I hope not!

So far, it's been great.

Now, if I can only get a handle on couponing...

to Chick-fil-a

Dear Chick-fil-a,

First, I love you no matter what. You make delicious chicken. You have the best dipping sauces ever. You have waffle fries. You give free ice cream in return for your lame-ish toys. You are closed on Sundays. Your owners and founders love Jesus. We eat at you at LEAST once a week.

With all of that being said, why, why, WHY did you get rid of the Chick-n-Strip Salad?

It was my favorite salad. I loved it so. I may have picked off the broccoli sometimes. And the tomatoes. I'm sorry.

You didn't give me any warning.

I would have enjoyed the one I had a last week just a little bit more.

I am so very sad.

I don't suppose you'll bring it back. 

I suppose you force me to order a couple side salads, an order of Chick-n-Strips, and some ranch dressing.

Yeah. 

It won't be the same. But I guess we'll make do.

I still love you, Chick-fil-a. But really, why?

Why?

Love your faithful customer,
Whitney Lynne Bauer

about Tuesday lunch dates

Since before I came into the picture, Aaron has had lunch with his mom every Tuesday since he started working at Journey. Lisa, Aaron's mom, works at Journey too, which is pretty cool!

After we started dating, I got to tag along to a Tuesday lunch here and there when I didn't have school.

And after we got married, I came every week for awhile because I wasn't working.

Then, I got my job as Bensen's nanny. The first outing I took him on was to Tuesday lunch.

Almost two years later, we are all still having lunch together on Tuesdays! That's me, Bensen, Keyen, Aaron, and Lisa!

My mother-in-law is the best! She and Aaron are super understanding that having two very young children tagging along makes it a big challenge for me to eat at many places...you just never know what kind of day it's going to be! So, every Tuesday we end up at one of two places at Triangle Town Center:  Moe's Southwest Grill or the Food Court (which usually means Chick-fil-a). This is because I don't have to put the boys in the car again and you don't necessarily have to worry about them being "cooperative" during lunch. :)

The boys and I hang out at the mall for the morning, then around noon, we walk to one of our typical spots to meet Aaron and Lisa for lunch.

Lisa buys us lunch every. week. We definitely take it for granted! It's such a blessing! We sure are spoiled!

And, of course, at Moe's, kids eat free on Tuesdays! Win-win situation, people!

I'm so glad that we get to have a special time every week to hang out with Lisa. It's on the calendar and none of us schedule anything else unless it's an emergency!

I'm looking forward to years and years of Tuesday lunches!

about vegetables

When I started dating Aaron, he claimed to be anti-vegetable. Anti-salad. Anti-all that "rabbit food stuff."

Slowly but surely, you know, so he doesn't get too suspicious, I've converted him a little bit here and there.

Now, my husband is quite the vegetable consumer!

He started out with the simple stuff. Corn and green beans. He'd eat those at family gatherings and such.

Next, we worked on broccoli. My mom made broccoli for a dinner one night, and to be a good boyfriend, he tried it. And he actually liked it! Now it's his favorite vegetable! He requests it every week!

After that, I worked in asparagus one night to the meal plan. Again, he liked it! Although he complained about the smell of his pee...but we all do that, right?!

He will also eat yellow squash and zucchini, two of my favorites!

Now, all of those vegetables above are usually eaten warm. He still wasn't so keen on the whole salad thing.

At the beginning of this year, he completely surprised me and ordered a salad at the Mellow Mushroom. And he ate the whole thing! And enjoyed it! I was perplexed!

Since then, he says he had at least 10 salads this year! That's more than all the salads he had eaten for the previous 27 years of his life!

Last week, we had a salad at home that we learned how to make from our friends, Ryan and Aura.

It's baby spinach, grapes, pistachios, feta cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette.

I'm very proud of my Aaron for being brave and eating salads and vegetables! It might not be a big deal, but I think it's pretty cool! At least now, when our kids don't want to eat vegetables, he'll be on my side...well, for most vegetables. And he'll have to campaign tomatoes. And peppers. Because I HATE them. But I'll take onions. And mushrooms. If mushrooms count as a vegetable?

I digress......

on cooking and grocery shopping

When we first got married and I wasn't working, it was lots of fun to try out new recipes all the time and make special meals a couple times a week.

And then I started working. And our schedule became much more hectic.

If I don't make cooking meals a priority every week, we easily slip into Chickfila, frozen pizza, sandwiches, and chicken nuggets. Meh.

Thankfully, I've found a pretty good system that works well for us.

Every Saturday, I make a list of basic food items that we have run out of since the week before (milk, juice, cereal, etc.)

Then I pull out my phone to check the calendar for the week. On a normal week, we'll have Sunday lunch out or grab it on the way home from church. After a long Sunday morning, I'm in no mood to cook anything! We tend to skip Sunday dinner because we eat lunch so late. I cook meals on Monday and Tuesday night. Wednesday night I have to make something easy and quick (tacos, salad) so we can make it to Journey18:25 on time. On Thursdays, we typically have dinner prepared for us by my wonderful mother. Friday is date night and Saturday is usually a mix of leftovers from a couple different meals!

So, I get out my recipe books to pick meals for the few meals I cook during the week. Our go-to meals are usually some sort of chicken entree. We have steak every other week or so, but we are spoiled and like filet mignon...expensive taste, I know. Aaron surprisingly eats salads now if they are prepared to his specifications (spinach, cheese, sunflower seeds, bacon...). We like pasta, tacos, asian food, scallops, and other things too.

After the list is done, I usually head to Walmart on Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon to get the groceries for the week.

I know some people can plan out meals for up to a month at a time...that totally overwhelms me! Week to week is just right for our life right now...when we have kids, I'll let you know how that goes! 

amateur restaurant reviews

In my post about what I was looking forward to in September, I mentioned that we were going on dates with friends. Well, so far, we have successfully gone on two double dates and had so much fun!

Not that I have any sort of say in where you should eat (I'm no food critic!), but here's my amateur reviews of the restaurants we ate at...just for fun!

Last Saturday night, we met our friends Matt and Magan at Journey and rode together to downtown Raleigh. Matt and Magan have one of the cutest little girls and have a baby boy due any day now! We were glad to squeeze in a date before his arrival!

We decided to try a new place downtown that none of us had been to before. It's called Chuck's. Here's the scoop...

• Where?   237 S Wilmington St, Raleigh, NC 27601
• What do they have?   Burgers and fries, mainly
• What did I think?   It was good! We all got a burger. They have 2 sizes of burger...we all went big, but if you go, go small! They are definitely very filling! The french fries to share were good too...and you got to choose between lots of house-made sauces to go with them!
• Pricewise?   Pretty reasonable! Obviously more than a McDonalds burger, but you get what you pay for!
• Return visit?   Sure! But, burgers and fries are greasy wherever you get them...so maybe not for a few months! :)

Last Tuesday night, we got together with our friends Renee and Derrick. Renee has been my best friend since 4th grade! We go way back. She started dating her husband Derrick at Campbell shortly after Aaron and I got together. Now we are all friends. Unfortunately, Renee and Derrick live like an hour away, so we only get to see them about once a month. We always pick up right where we left off and have so much fun!

After wandering around near the Square downtown for awhile, we settled on Busy Bee Cafe.

• Where?  225-100 S Wilmington St, Raleigh, NC 27601
• What do they have?  A little bit of everything! Small menu, but that's usually a good thing because everything on it is done with excellence!
• What did I think?  I loved what I had! I got a salad and it was very good! Everyone else went with a burger, and I didn't hear any complaints from them. Aaron was brave and ordered couscous with his burger at the recommendation from the waitress (random). It wasn't his thing, but oh well!
• Pricewise?  The entrees were a little bit more expensive, but nothing too much past $20. The burgers and sandwiches were more in our Tuesday dinner price range.
• Return visit?  Definitely! I loved the atmosphere and the food!

So, there you have it...my non-expertise in restaurant reviews! I would recommend either place!