New food ideas/products

4/27/11

So the other month I posted some stuff I found at the store and some of you seemed to enjoy seeing new things...so here are some more that will hopefully help your cupboards without hurting your grocery budget! Since I try to live out what I preach with FFL, continuing to take little steps is what I am doing. Those steps include getting my house as Organic as possible and eating mainly fresh, whole foods.

I found a couple items at Super Target and one at an Organic store in town. Since I have a child, I need to find things that are convenient and not toxic. This can be a challenge with all those processed snacks and crackers out there. My goal is to feed these minimally to her. Here's a juice drink I found that is similar to something like Capri Sun but all Organic. It's called Honest Kids. It was with Capri Sun. It was $2.99 for a box of them.

The next is similar to Goldfish. It is 70% Organic. I got it on sale at Target for about $2.50 a box...not bad!

The ZBar is made from Clif. They have several bars and I found this one at the Garden Patch Organic store in Mishawaka. I got the blueberry kind, yum! It's soft/chewy bar. Loved it. It was about $2.50 or $3.00 a box.

I also decided that buying bread is silly. It's either processed, that sits for a while on a shelf, or it's expensive healthier bread that doesn't taste good. So why not make your own bread?! My mother is an awesome baker, I mean awesome, and she has been gracious enough to make me homemade Organic bread each week. She loves baking. I love cooking more than baking. Someday I will make my own for my family but right now I don't mind her being so gracious :) I also bought Coconut flour and will attempt my own bread soon with that (which is gluten free and is loaded with fiber).

Last but not least, I have also decided to make my own salad dressings. They can be pretty pricey anyways, so this is good for the budget. I already make an Italian dressing, thanks to my mother-in-law, I have a poppyseed dressing to make, and I would love additional recipes some of you make! I have some research to do to find more.

So these are some of the things I'm doing in my house, hope this gives you ideas. I would love some ideas from you and what you're doing for your family!

Joy

4/15/11

Happy half-birthday (6 months) to my girl, officially! Even though it's her half-birthday, her grandma and I got some stuff for her 1st birthday party last weekend. haha. So excited to pull it out. She also got a whole tea set so she can have tea parties with us and mainly her grandpa (Stauffer)...because he loves tea and England :) It's pretty darn cute!

I can't believe how much she continues to change each day. You can tell her personality is really coming out these days. I love it because her personality and attitude is all fun. She just gets excited about everything...she squeals and laughs a lot. And it's SO cute :)

I love this picture. She really likes stuffed animals now, especially this giraffe she got from her Aunt Jen at birth. She also loves to snuggle with a blanket when she's tired. I wish I could freeze time!!!

I went to Shipshewana today and got some amazing deals at the scrap-booking store. Everything but 2 items were $1 each. Oh yeah! I am so excited to get started on her big scrapbook...I finally know EXACTLY what I want to do! I just have to take back the scrapbook I got and exchange it for a bigger one of the same kind. WOO! It's going to be awesome. I could have spent several hours in that store today...something about scrap-booking! I can't wait to post pics of her scrapbook. It will be a while though!

6 months

4/12/11

My little girl will be 6 months in 3 days...really? Wow! Right now she is playing on her play-gym picking toys up and rolling all around. She is moving so much. Everytime she sees herself in the mirror she giggles. So cute. She also is grabbing things a lot more. Interests have developed in pretty much everything she sees. I think she's going to be ready for finger foods very soon. She has grabbed her vegetables 2 times and spilled them all over. Just crazy! She still doesn't like being on her tummy but I let her fuss and she rolls across the room so I maker her "suffer".

We went to Atlanta for a long weekend and got back Sunday night. It was a lot of driving but so worth it. It was warm and we saw 2 sets of close friends. We saw our good friends, Richard, Ashley, and their little guy Elliott. Staying at their house was fun! Elliott is one of the cutest little guys ever! We also went to a wedding of close friend since I was a baby. My family lived in GA for a few years when I was young. We became friends with the Simons and they are closer than most of our relatives. The dad, David Simons, died a few years ago and that was the first time I saw someone close die. I still get teary every time I think of him....

I didn't want to leave Atlanta. I cried a little because of how much fun we were having and how I wanted to stay (and possibly never leave). But I was happy to see that the weather wasn't much colder at home when we came back!

While we were there, we decided to take Abigail's 6 months pictures. She is just so precious (that's what all the southern ladies kept saying). Her smiles light up my day. Wanting to cuddle with mommy all the time makes me happy too. Here's a couple pictures...

At the Bridal Tea Party! So fun!