Question of the week!

How do you keep the spark alive in your marriage once kids come into the picture?

Food For Thought

(submitted by Jodi)

http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/articlerbmatch.aspx?cp-documentid=9497959&page=1

August Meeting- Making Baby Food/Purees

Thank to everyone who came to the August meeting.


Here is a breakdown of the evening's events:

*Drinks and Appetizers

*Presentation: Making Baby Food & Supplementing with Healthy Purees: Cook all veggies and fruit until 8 months of age. Be sure to select organic fruits and veggies that are ripe. Once the item is cooked, puree and freeze in ice cube trays. Pop the frozen purees out the next day and place in zip-lock freezer bags. Label each puree with a name and date. Generally, purees are good for 2-3 months in the freezer. You can use the purees for baby food or for supplementing your diet. For example, you can add a sweet potato puree to pancake batter.


*A few members made some wonderfully sneaky dishes for out meeting. Thank you to Kelly for making rice crispie treats with white beans, Amy for making brownies with spinach, Maria for making Mac & Cheese with cauliflower and Christina for making spice cake with pumpkin. Ohhh and how could we forget Crystal!!!! Crystal made pudding shots with baileys and vodka! :)

*Amisha and Kelly were so nice to volunteer for the taste testing. Kelly and Amisha were blind folded and asked to taste three different types of baby food. 1) Organic jarred baby food, 2) Jarred baby food, and 3) Homemade organic baby food. Both taste testers agreed that the homemade baby food was by far the most flavorful!

*Member Suggestions/Recommendations:

-Amisha recommend straining green bean purees to get a smoother consistency


-Kelly suggested reading the book "The Sneaky Chef"


-Jen recommended filling the purees the the top of the tray to avoid bacteria growth


-Sunita recommended the book "The Toddler Cafe"


-Jodi and Rachel recommended freezing organic yogurt for summertime popsicles


-Shilpa recommended supplementing with flaxseed oil


-Olivia highly recommend NOT freezing bananas

*A big thank-you to Nicole for sharing her knowledge and baby-food making skills with the group!

*Also, our very own Maria published her first children's book!
WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU MARIA!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out www.mariadismondy.com for more information.



*Books presented at the meeting:

*Recommended websites: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ & http://www.freshbabyfood.com/

The favorite recipe of the evening: Stephanie's trifle dish!

(Steph, please submit your recipe so we can post it on the blog!)

**********************************************************************

Crystal's Pudding Shots:

1 small pkg. INSTANT choc. pudding
3/4 C. milk
1/4 C. Vodka
1/2 C. Irish Cream
8 oz. Extra Creamy Cool Whip

Mix pudding and milk for a couple of minutes with an electric mixer, then add alcohol, mix well. Mix in Cool Whip.

Money Saving Tips

My Favorite Frugal Money Saving Ideas
http://www.allthingsfrugal.com/saving.htm
Gift Giving
If you're like I am, you are constantly giving presents to people, either for birthdays, weddings, etc. The cost of wrapping paper is outrageous. Try using wallpaper. It lasts forever, and comes in beautiful moire designs, good for weddings; kid's patterns, and other generic designs. Comic strips from the newspaper also work great for kid's gifts. Another idea is just brown wrapping paper (from grocery bags), decorated and tied with raffia or starched fabric strips. Also, when you buy your Christmas wrapping paper, be sure to buy paper that can be used on other occasions, like pretty silver, gold, or blue patterns, or solid colors. Keep an eye out at thrift stores for inexpensive wallpaper leftovers.

Clothes
Try and buy most of your clothes in separates. Mixing and matching blouses, sweaters, skirts, pants, vests and blazers makes for many outfits on a small budget. Buy all your basics (skirts, pants, blazers) in neutral colors and traditional styles. Then, for fun, you can put trendy color and designs in the more temporary blouses, sweaters, scarves, etc., that you wear near your face- and they will go with all your neutral pieces.
Cars
Never buy a completely new car. You can save thousands of dollars buying a rental car that hat has only been used one year. Buy one with 5,000 or less miles on it. These cars usually have been well maintained and serviced. You can also buy them from Dealerships. Also, plan your buying for the end of the year, when the new models are in. Your car will be considered a year older, and priced less.

Home Decorating
As an Interior Design Graduate, it pains me to say this, but when you decorate, try to use all neutrals for your walls, carpets, drapes, and major fufurniture pieces. Color becomes dated so easily. Remember the latest trends- country blues, then pastels, mauve, jewel tones, and the extremely popular Hunter Green? (And look what happens to appliances. How many olive green or gold appliances make a house look dated?) If your walls, carpets, and major furniture pieces are neutral, you can change the look of your room to keep it up to date by just changing the colors in the accessories, such as pillows, flower arrangements, paintings, bedspreads, tablecloths, accent rugs, etc. Also, when you go to sell your home, you won't be faced with painting all your rooms white so they will appeal to the most people (per your Realtor). Also, be careful when adding wallpaper. If the design is strong, you will soon be sick of it, and stripping it off the wall.
Food
A great way to avoid stress is to avoid walking down the meat aisle at the store. Believe it or not, once you cut down, or quit eating red meat, you lose your taste for it. We still eat it in moderation, but it is not healthy or good for your budget to eat too much of it. There is one purchase I have to recommend to everyone. Buy a bread machine. We grind up our own wheat, and then combine the wheat flour with white (half and half) to make bread. There is nothing more nutritious and delicious than a fresh baked loaf of bread with a bowl of soup. It only takes 5 minutes to make the bread, and the machine is worth every penny it takes to buy it! The economy of the meals you make around the bread will make up for the purchase price in no time.

A challenge for you!

When drinking good wine is a no-headache decision!

"Too many people today complain about unpleasant reactions after drinking an innocent looking glass of wine. Not so with wines selected by The Organic Wine Company! We are sad of hearing so many wine lovers turning away from their favorite drink because of adverse effects that have no justification. Everybody should know by now that AUTHENTIC wines made with UNSPOILED grapes do not produce such ill effects. It's not their stomach that is in question but the PRODUCT! But rejoice! We have the solution!

If you still have doubts here is our CHALLENGE FOR YOU: We dare you to try any of our wines and see for yourself how they taste and how they feel to your body. If you have anything negative to report, WE'LL REFUND YOU, period! That's how confident we are that you will love a product made with your well-being and our collective health in mind."

http://www.theorganicwinecompany.com/

Question of the week!

What is your favorite milestone?

When your baby smiles? Laughs? Rolls over? Sits-up? Walks? Talks? Etc.

Did anyone see this?

(submitted by Kim)

"She was tough on The King of Queens, but is Leah Remini a pushover mom in real life? She gives our cameras unprecedented access inside her home all day and night as she tries to wean her 3 ½-year-old daughter off the bottle once and for all! "

-Rachel Ray

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/view/539/

Is it ok to have a three year old on a bottle still?
What are your thoughts???