Plum Puree How-To

I made PLUM PUREE yesterday for the babies. Here's how:

These are my tools; A bag of black plums from WIC, a paring knife, a cutting board, and a blender. I few items are not pictured, I realized I needed them later: a potato peeler, paper towels, and a medium pot. 

1. Wash, peel, pit and chop as many plums as you'd like. I had 7 plums. 
2. Put slices into the pot and add a small amount of water. I added about 1/2 cup of water. 
3. Steam the plums for 8-10 minutes (I forgot to time it, I was also making dinner, I just picked out a slice, let it cool, then tested the mushiness).

 4.  Let cool, then poor into the blender.
 5.  I used the pulse setting for about a minute. I'm sure you could use whatever setting, especially if your more experienced with a blender than I am.
 6.  Let cool a bit more, then measure into the containers you choose, label then freeze.

A baby's serving size is 2 tablespoons. I put 4 tbs (2 servings) into a container, because I'm pretty sure I'll feed my twins out of the same container. Measuring into the containers will prepare for sanitary, healthy (disables overeating), and easy feeding times. 

These are applesauce containers my neighbor gave me. At least I think she said they were applesauce, i have never seen them with lids but ta-da! They were perfect. The labels are Evenflo's Smartsteps Magic Labels (disolving labels). They were on clearance at Wal-Mart in the baby section for $2.50 for 50 labels. 

Seven small plums and 1/2 cup of water filled 7 containers with 4 tbs. 

I thought you would like to see what the labels look like. On the left I used regular sharpie, on the right is a ball point pen. Personally, I would like how a medium felt tip pen would look, but I have none. I put the measured amount, what it is, and the date. I added at the bottom - 2 serv - so I remember that one container is for both of them a month from now, ha ha ha!

So, I tasted it, well, I licked the spoon, and it was delicious! It was very similar to applesauce. 

Plums are not a high allergy risk and good for ages 6+ months. They are high in fiber, low in cholesterol, sodium free and contain vitamins A&C. 

Well that's all I got. 

I'm Back!!!!

DEAR FOLLOWERS!!!!
      I AM BACK!!! My twin boys are 5 months old. I am very sorry for not keeping up with this. I was using this to make money with the advertisements, but they decided I was cheating on it. It was very discouraging since I was trying to contribute to our finances while expecting twins. I also did not have very much time or energy to keep up with my Informative Blog. But I do now!!! Let me see if I can catch you up -via pictures!-, then today's blog is about making space for baby(ies) in a TINY space. 

This is how big I got, taken 3 days before I went into labor.

^ Ryan and Elliot ^

Still in the NICU @ 1 week old

^ Ryan Scott and ^ Elliot Shae 

20 days old

^ Elliot and Ryan ^

On their blessing day 

3 months old

Our family

4 months old

^ Ryan and Elliot ^ 

5 months old

Well now your caught up!! So we are a family of four living in a 2 bedroom apartment, approximately 700 sq ft. It's umm... Not as squished as it was in the 1 bedroom but still not as much space as we would hope for. Here is how we make it work:

This is in our living room. To the right is our "adult" area - a rug, couch, and entertainment center. The swings we borrowed from a fellow mom of twins. The toy basket and what I call "The Clean Area" which is a blanket nobody walks on, we change diapers here, lay them there after a bath and just to change their clothes. You can see in the bottom, right corner their car seats. We tuck them under the couch arm. I vacuum this room every night before bed. The boys have their own room, we have two cribs, a laundry basket, another toy basket and two Seed Sprout closet organizers from walmart.com for about $20. Under their cribs we store their bathtub and a collapsible walker. I hope this helps with ideas for your Little Ones space! 

Here's a bonus:

1/5 red bell pepper, chopped                   4 tilapia fillets

1/5 orange bell pepper, chopped              1 cup wild rice

1/5 green bell pepper, chopped

3-4 portabella mushrooms, sliced

Throw 1/3 tablespoon margarine or butter into a medium skillet till melted. Add all peppers and mushrooms, moving till mushrooms are browned, or however you like your veggies sauted. Prepare the rice according to package. Put oven to BROIL. TIP- cover broil bin with foil for fast easy clean-up. Broil fish about 10 minutes on each side (each oven is different). Scoop 1/2 cup of rice on each plate, off to one side. Place two fillets on each plate, next to the rice. Using a spoon, scoop a line of the pepper mix in between the fish and rice. Serve. 

Well, that's all for today!

Productive Day!

PSST! [this weeks secret indulgence - Chester's flaming hot fries]


Very productive day for me! I woke up about 10 minutes before Andrew left for work, unfortunately, so I haven't had anytime with him besides texting today. But I stayed up, instead of going back to bed like I really wanted to. I got online and started my research on protein. This is what I discovered - 

1. The soybean contains all essential amino acids and surpasses all other plant foods in the amount of protein. [tempe, soy dogs, and soy burgers, soy ice cream, and of course soy milk]
2. Other rich sources of non-animal protein include - nuts, seeds, yeast 

                 Legumes - especially Garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lentils [my personal favorite], navy beans, lima beans, and split peas.

                 Vegetables - especially artichokes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplant, green peas, green peppers, kale, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, onion, potato, spinach, tomato, turnip greens, water cress, yams, and zucchini. 

                  Fruits - especially apples, bananas, cantelope, grapes, grapefruit, honeydew, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, pineapple, strawberries, tangerine and watermelon.

      3. Vegetable protein is easier to digest then animal protein. 

      4. Most nutritionists, dietitians, and official sources agree that we need only 2.5%-10% of our calories from protein and ALL vegetables offer us more than that. 

So I decided to make the bag of black beans I had in my pantry so I could freeze some for quicker use and actually start using them in meals. I separated them from the rocks and nasty ones, rinsed them out, and put them on low in the 4 quart crock-pot my mom bought me. I covered them with water and have had to add two more cups while they are going. I can make black bean and cheese burritos, have them mashed or whole with some eggs in the morning, or put them in a soup, stew, or as a side for anything else.

They are still cooking but should be ready to put in bags and freeze by 9 - 9:30. It's only 7:45

Now, I also have been given the knowledge from reliable human sources that it would be smart to freeze dinners and other meals. So today I also decided to try out a new recipe. This recipe is my late grandmothers, on my moms side. It's called Chicken Spaghetti. I have told my husband about it and he thinks it sounds good, but I haven't actually come around to making it. Until today! Here is the recipe the way I did it - [I hope my mom doesn't get mad about me sharing it]

1 16-oz box of spaghetti noodles 

4 large chicken breasts

1 14.5-oz can diced or crushed tomato

1 10.5-oz can cream of mushroom soup

about 2 cups shredded cheese

Boil the chicken in enough water to cover it well [about 20-30 min] Take chicken out of the water and place on a cutting board to cool off. You want to shred the chicken as soon as you can handle it. Cook the noodles in the chicken broth [the water you just boiled chicken in] After they are done, drain, leaving some of the water. Add the shredded chicken, cream of mushroom soup, tomatoes, and cheese to the noodles and stir until the noodles are evenly coated with the soup and tomato color. After this, I let it sit for about 30 minutes and then separated it into two quart size freezer bags, filled 4/5 of the way full and put them in the freezer flat and label side up. The rest is for dinner tonight. This amount will serve 8-10 people proper portions. However, my husband usually has seconds and really does not like proper portions so it will feed two people 3 time... 6 servings. Once we eat it I will edit in a photo here. I forgot to take one of it in the pot. Variations- I love to use linguine rather than spaghetti. I used a salt free can of tomato, of course you can put fresh into a blender or under a knife, just make sure its juicy. My mom has always used shredded mexican cheese, but I wasn't able to get any so I used a shredded mild cheddar block. [1/4 of the block actually] 

I was also going to make whole wheat waffles but I will probably do that tomorrow. I got tired. I'm going to use a recipe my mom gave me for pancakes. She said she got it from a lady on ivillage.com back when it was a chat or forum. [I don't actually remember what she said] Then I will try a recipe I got off food.com and see which I like better. I'll post both of them tomorrow.

I also had some fun editing photos on lunapic.com

This is a photo from yesterdays post. Cropped and turned to black and white. 

This is my sister and I this past December. We were at my cousins baptism. I turned it to sepiatone.

After I finished cooking I did the dishes. Then I discovered my cat like this - 

She dumped our shoes off not only the shelf she wanted to curl onto, but the one on top of that as well. Apparently she was also playing with the bag I have underneath for goodwill items because thats not how it usually looks, ha ha ha! I do love her so and I 'm 100% sure Andrew will get a kick out of seeing this picture. I'm going to go pick up whatever mess my cat made in our room, clean some of the bathroom and living room, then curl up on my love seat and read my new Parents magazine. I love when I get this magazine. I have never had a paid subscription before and this is no excuse! Yay, free magazines! Another post tomorrow.