Friday, June 21, 2013

7 Ways to Use Up Those Extra Baby Food Purees with Your Toddler

Like many of you ladies, I made and froze all of James' baby food when he was little.  I'm obviously not making purees anymore, but I still have some sitting in my freezer begging to be used up.  I also happen to LOVE couponing and even now when I am able to find organic baby food purees for less than 20 cents, you better believe I'm picking it up for traveling and all-day outings.  These came in SUPER handy for our 10 day trek earlier this Spring to visit family.  Since James is a "big boy" now, we've gotten creative with how we use these purees.  Here's a list of a few ways we use purees in his "big boy" diet:

1) Vegetable baby foods over whole grain pasta or brown rice with chicken or beef

-This is the first way I started using up my purees.  Cook your pasta or rice and meat as usual and the puree becomes the sauce!

2) Use vegetable purees on deli sandwiches instead of mayo and mustard.  (Sneaking goodness in there!)

3) Substitute fruit purees for jelly in your PB&J's.

-Or do just the fruit puree w/o any peanut butter.  That's a favorite in our highchair.

4) Mix purees with a scrambled egg to up the nutritional ante.  

-When I'm scrambling an egg for James I usually smash up a banana with it, but if I'm out of bananas I'll take a puree from the pantry and mix it in instead.  He loves it!

5) Make a wrap with fruit puree as your spread and any fresh fruit you have on hand.

-Throw in a whole banana for a quick and yummy snack or add some sliced strawberries.  A swipe of peanut/nut butter adds some protein to make it a filling lunch.

6) Let them use purees to practice feeding themselves with a spoon. 

-James loves yogurt and applesauce and those have been our primary spoon foods for him to feed himself.  He's doing a great job lately!  There are also some really yummy (yes, I tried them) organic fruit and granola purees that are a little thicker that he does well feeding himself.

7) Make a smoothie!
    
- Our frozen ice cubes of pureed fruits and veggies have come in handy for throwing into smoothies!  Spinach is a favorite in our smoothies because it's so jam-packed with goodness.  Throw in some frozen fruit or purees and you're golden!

I'd love to hear how you use (or plan to use) your purees in the future!  We need more ideas :)  Leave a comment below!


Thursday, June 20, 2013

Remembering His marvelous works

Psalm 105:1-6
1Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name;  Make known His deeds among the peoples!
2Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!
3Glory in His holy name;  Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
4Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!
5Remember His marvelous works which He has done,  His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
6O seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

This was one of those times when I just flipped open my Bible and read the first thing my eye was drawn to. I'm not sure if I should admit this, but I really love doing that.  God seems to always point out a verse or passage that I really need to see.  It's also great since being a stay-at-home mom of a toddler doesn't always afford a large block of time to sit and study.  God gives me these little nuggets that I can meditate on throughout the day and that's exactly what I need right now (that might have something to do with "mommy brain").  All I know is that it is so much easier for me to see how God wants me to apply His Word to my life when I read (and re-read) short passages and let them sink in throughout the day. I do get some time in the evenings to dig in and commune with my God before I go to bed and that time is SUCH a blessing.  Please don't think I am knocking a scheduled quiet time with the Lord.  I can't tell you how much God works in my heart through those special times.  Really.  I long for that time away with the Lord.  I must also admit that I have been guilty of being so determined to finish reading a passage or set number of chapters that I miss the application part altogether and it ends up being nothing more than a task to check off my to do list.  You don't get much more counter-productive than that.  God's still working on me :)

But anyway, these verses really reminded me that I need to be talking about what God has done in my life.  I need to be talking about the amazing salvation He gave me by sending His Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life and die on a cross because of my sin, about the blessing my husband and my son are, about the little blessings He gives me throughout the day just to remind me that He loves me extravagantly.

Going back to the subject of "Mommy Brain" (it's real!), I tend to forget things a lot more since I got pregnant with James.  Like things that happened earlier in the day, what I ate for breakfast or even remembering what day it is.  So it is so so important that I write things down or work hard to meditate on them so I can remember.  I wanted to take a moment here and "5Remember His marvelous works which He has done,  His wonders,".  A song that keeps running through my head today says "The only thing that's good in me is Jesus", and I want that to be my theme.  The Lord Jesus Christ alone deserves all the credit for anything good that has come from my life.

Things God has done for me:

Most importantly, He saved me from what I deserve, which is hell.  My sin separated me from God because He is perfect, holy.  To bridge the gap between us, He sent His perfect, holy Son to Earth to live life here and to do so without sinning, not even once.  He was a perfect and spotless Lamb.  He allowed Himself to be hung on a cross to take my punishment and my shame.  He took my place and allowed me to have His righteousness.  Because I believe He is who He says He is, that what He did completely took away my guilt, and I've decided to turn from my previous way of life where I lived only for myself, and to live my life to glorify Him, I can be with Him for all eternity.  I can glorify Him in heaven forever.

He gave me the opportunity to learn about Him from an early age.  My childhood wasn't picture perfect, but I can look back and see that God was pursuing me the entire time.

He has brought me back when I have strayed (which is a lot!).  My heart is fickle.  It is so easy for me to get off track.  When I get discouraged after I have strayed yet again, I think about the children of Israel and how many times they turned from the Lord.  I see how God corrected them and brought them back to Himself and I see that in my own life.  I am thankful that God is still pursuing me.

He brought a godly, loving, hardworking man into my life who is now my husband.  I could talk for days about how perfect God's timing was when I met Evan.  We were both at a point where we had given up on ever finding someone.  We were both broken.  Evan is the best gift God has ever given me besides my salvation.  He is kind and quick to forgive me when I have wronged him...again.  The Lord has used him to show me how much He (God) loves me and that His love is not based on my performance.





He has given me the sweetest, silliest baby boy.  Being a mom has taught me so much about God's love for me as well.  Being a parent puts the Gospel into a completely different context.  I am able to understand God's love so much better, because I understand the sacrifice God made in sending His only Son to Earth to die an excruciating death for people who don't "get it".  
My little man has given me the opportunity to show him the love that God has shown me.  I'm reminded daily that God loves me when I throw my temper tantrums, or when I want something that's not good for me and He gently guides me back to His arms. Every. Time.


He has given my husband a wonderful job that he loves.  He has given me friends here who have similar values and beliefs.  In a field where the norm seems to be work first and family and religion somewhere down the line, He has put Evan on a staff with other men who profess Christ and make it a point to treasure their families.

He has allowed us to live in an apartment that meets our financial needs while being super close to Evan during the day.  We are able to walk over to meet Evan for lunch or to just run around on the football field.  This has been key in helping work out with the logistics of having one car.  The Lord also packed our apartment full of little blessings.

This place was built in the 60's or 70's so my kitchen is made for someone who cooks.  It's U-shaped (all you FCS majors will appreciate that!) and has a big window over the sink where I can see birds and squirrels scampering about :)  The layout is perfect for us, with both bedrooms on the same side of the apartment.  I love being able to hear the little man without a monitor.  We have a laundry area and a huge closet for lines and cleaning supplies (This is a big deal since I make our laundry detergent in 10 gallon batches).  Our King bed fit in our bedroom!  There was a little 12 in. or so knock-out in one wall that it slid into perfectly.  The same thing happened in the little man's room.  There was an alcove between his 2 closets (yes, 2) :) and I almost cried when I slid his crib into that space with about 2 inches of clearance on each side.  That gave us plenty of room for his toys, furniture and most importantly, our guest bed which we didn't think we would be able to keep.  We also have a HUGE grassy area in front of our apartment which gives James so much room to just run!

I have been overwhelmed by all of these little things, but the most breathtaking blessing of our apartment is out our living room window. We have a gorgeous view of the mountains.  You can't seem them in this picture because it was snowing so hard over them.  I am convinced that our apartment must have the best view in the whole complex.  God's creation truly does sing His praises.  It is a constant reminder of His love and sufficiency.  I love our apartment!  Baseboard heaters, no AC and all!  It's been such a sweet reminder of God's love for us and that this is part of His plan for our family.

I also want to praise the Lord for the sweetness of my little boy each day.  Today he was sitting on my lap and out of the blue he said, "Ba-bath! Ah nee ba-bath!" and hopped down and ran to the bathroom door.  He was so upset when I told him we needed to wait until Daddy got home and we ate dinner.  Bath is typically Daddy-Jamesy time so I try to reserve that for them, but I was so impressed with his determination and ability to verbalize his desire.  He is growing up SO FAST!

He also got into my embroidery thread today and brought me a roll declaring that is was a "fooball! fooball!" :)  LOVE him!  Building towers with him just so he can knock them down (read: make them explode all over the living room) is a highlight of our days right now and I couldn't be more thankful to get to spend my days with him.


This was a bit lengthy, but I so appreciate you hanging in there and praising God with me for the blessings He has showered on us.  I am truly thankful that I am able to "Make known His deeds among the peoples!" and "Talk of all His wondrous works!".

I would love to hear how God has blessed you!  Leave a comment below sharing God's wondrous works in your life.  
  

Buffalo/BBQ Chicken Primavera

This was what I threw together for a quick dinner tonight.  I decided to put it on here because I am notorious for losing recipes or forgetting that I ever made them :)  If you have a question, feel free to leave a comment and I'll elaborate.  It was really simple though and so so yummy!

1 lb cooked pasta (mine was frozen then thawed by filling my ziplock with warm water)
1 lb or so cooked shredded chicken (mine was frozen when I put it in)
1 lb frozen broccoli
1 bell pepper or 1/2 of 2 peppers
Tabasco to taste
1/4 cup or so of ranch (I just drizzled it)
1/2 cup bbq sauce
1 block of cream cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  Put pasta, chicken and veggies in a casserole dish.  Slice cream cheese into 1/2 inch thick slices and lay it on top of pasta/chicken.  Drizzle sauces over everything and place into the oven for 15 minutes.  Stir.  Put in the oven for 10 minutes more.  Stir. Top with cheese. Put in the oven for 5 minutes more so cheese melts.