Poly-Vi-Sol

Before I'd even had my son, my Pediatrician had mentioned vitamin supplements. Once he had arrived, she mentioned them several more times thereafter. 

If you're the parent of an infant/toddler, these are a must! I was surprised by how many of my other parent friends hadn't been informed of an infant/toddler vitamin by their doctors.

Poly-Vi-Sol is what we use:

I usually find it easily at most Target stores I visit, but like most things, have taken to purchasing it from Amazon (here). 

Homemade Cream Soda

Drinking soda is a rare treat for me, so I've really gotta make it count when it happens. I've tried a few homemade cream soda recipes before, but the one I'm about to share is by far superior to all others I have tried. 

1 cup of club soda
1/4 - 1/3 cup of vanilla syrup (like coffee aisle syrup or make one similar to this recipe)
2 tbsp of half and half
Put a nice mound of whip cream on top (yum!)

Tada! Cream soda. Enjoy :)

Menu Planner

I'm all about menu planning. I like not having to guess what's for dinner on any given night of the week. I like knowing exactly what groceries I need to purchase at the store, to limit excessive and unnecessary purchases.

There are lots of different ways to go about this, and a wealth of apps and websites to help. But, I made a very simple template that I just print and fill out each week. 

So, I thought I'd share it: download template here

I use a full page, utilizing the top half for my and the hubby's menu and the bottom half for the little one's menu. Soon enough, they'll be completely merged, but until they are, it's helpful having the two separate menus on the same page. 

Here's an example of what it looks like (mind you, this week's menu is pretty sloppy, but you get the picture):

1-Year-Old Menu

I've been asked a few times lately about what I'm feeding my little one these days. I decided to share a few of the menu options I have in place at this time.

With breakfast, snacks, and dinner I give 4 ounces of milk. For lunch, I offer water - as well as sips of water throughout the day as wanted. 

Breakfast options:

• Oatmeal
• No sugar, banana/blueberry muffin
• Scrambled egg
• Toast (with a bit of butter)
• 1/4 Cup of cereal
• Chopped fruit (strawberries, bananas, oranges, peaches, cantaloupe, etc)
• Bagel (with cream cheese)

Snack options:

• Organic animal crackers
• Organic fruit/veggie squeeze pouch
• Mango and sweet potato chunks (1/4 cup of each)
• Steamed carrots with a bit of ranch
• 1/2 Cinnamon toast
• 1/2 Banana
• Grapes
• String cheese
• Puffs/yogurt melts (on occasion)
• 1/8 Cup yogurt

Lunch options:

• 1/2 Sandwich (variety: turkey/cheese, strawberry/cream cheese, sloppy joe, PB&J)
• 1/4 Cup vegetable (green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potato, etc.)
• 1/8 Cup organic applesauce
• 1/8 Cup tomato soup
• 1/2 grilled cheese
• Zucchini bread
• Cheese

Dinner options:

• Pasta (with tomato sauce)
• Cheese ravioli 
• 1/4 cup chicken/fish
• 1/8 cup vegetable
• 1/8 cup fruit
• Black/pinto/white beans (cooked and cut in half)

My 1-year-old's eating schedule is:

8:15am - Milk, Breakfast
11:15am - Milk, Snack
1:15pm - Water, Lunch
3:45pm - Milk, Snack
6:30pm - Milk, Dinner

Anyway, just a few ideas of things to feed your little ones :)

Hair Care

It's been forever, Friends. Too long. I don't want to lie and say, "I'm back," but I am trying to be more dedicated to blogging. Mainly, because I really like it. The other part of it is that I like to document things.

Today's post is about hair care. See, though I deny any degree of OCD, I do like for all my things to match. Ya know like the shampoo, conditioner, heat set, hair spray, etc. Yes, I know that sounds crazy. But, I've looked into so many brands that have the whole set of hair care to styling. I've yet to find one that fits. Guess my brain's going to have to learn to live with that one.

Since my search for one brand that meets all my needs has failed, today's focus is really on hair care and not styling. A year or so ago I got pretty involved in actually taking care of my hair and not just grabbing whatever shampoo looked appealing at the time. 

I've tried Tresemme, Dove, Pantene, Sauve, and to save you a bunch of blah-blah, probably everything on the shelf at a Target store. 

Then, the YouTube girl that I follow did a video on her hair care routine. That's when I tried an expensive new shampoo/conditioner and fell in love! The Natural Macadamia Oil brand. 

After trying it I was pretty sure I was a dedicated user, but I decided to stray to try a few other brands before settling. 

I tried some John Frieda shampoo/conditioner that I'd definitely place at the top of my list, but still didn't give me the silky, shiny, feel-good results from the macadamia oil brand.

Next, I tried the Organix brand of Macadamia oil stuff, hoping macadamia oil was really the key. I liked it better than John Frieda, but it still just didn't perform like the competition (however, I would put this as my second choice). 

I actually read in a magazine that Herbal Essences were among the top picks for hair care products. So, I decided to give them go. And let me just say... yuck. My hair felt dry and stiff after a few days of these shampoos - comparatively.

So, I'm returning to my first macadamia oil hair care product. I know they're expensive (20-30 bucks a pop at Target), and of course I'd recommend Amazon over in-store purchases because they're cheaper, but this is the best stuff I've ever used:

I've used the shampoo ($13 on Amazon - caught it for $10 once), moisturizing rinse ($13), and deep repair masque ($17). I'm singing their praises, so if you're interested in giving them a try check 'em out here: shampoo,  moisturizing rinse,  repair masque

BH Cosmetics

Surely it's not a secret that I love makeup. I don't go all out on my makeup on a regular basis, but for special occasions, date nights, and the like I do it up a bit more. 

I've tried several different kinds of makeup. Personally, I think most of the cheap stuff works out just the same. I really like the e.l.f. brand that's super cheap and durable that you can find at Target or the e.l.f. website. 

Today, I'd like to spread the knowledge of BH Cosmetics though! My fabulous little hair/makeup junkie that I follow on YouTube led me to it:

BH Cosmetics

I haven't tried all of their products, but the ones that I have tried I extra love! I think their brushes are amazing! So soft and durable. I purchased their 10 piece deluxe set, caught it on sale for like $21.99, and it's lasted two years now and the brushes are still like new. 

There are so many other brushes and brush sets to choose from as well. I want them all!

Their eye makeup is awesome. They have these large 88 or 120 color palettes that are just amazing deals. I purchased their 120 color palette (3rd Edition) and there were lots of neutral colors that went well with my skin tone, with lots of additional bright colors for highlights. 

They have many of these to choose from, so you can definitely find a color scheme for your complexion. They have different palette sizes for you to specifically choose your own colors for too, if you'd rather.

I always use my $1.00 e.l.f. eyelid primer with these eye shadows and they last all day with no run or crease. 

Those are my favorite two. I've tried their lip gloss palette, which is nice except for it's a big palette. Not easy to carry around and we all know lip gloss doesn't stay on long term. 

The liquid eyeliner pen is so perfect for me, I use liquid eyeliner to line my top lid and those liner pens can get pricey! 

They're only $3.95 here though. 

Long story short, I like their products and they're quite affordable. Especially if you sign up for the emails. They send them too frequently in my opinion, but on a regular basis, the deals you get with them are worth it :)

Homemade Baby Food Basics

I knew for a long time before ever getting pregnant that I'd most likely have the opportunity and chose to be a stay-at-home mom and wife. 

When I had my son, that's exactly what happened. I decided I didn't really have excuses to not breast feed or make baby foods, etc. (p.s. Formula and baby food are expensive, yo?).

I think it's easy to be intimidated by making your own baby food. I know I was anyway. But after making a few batches, I realized it's not difficult at all. 

I even recently did all the math to see if it was really worth it. On average, for the same amount of baby food in store purchased jars (that cost $1 or more - but sometimes less if you catch them on sale), I'm spending $0.20. Now that's a give or take 10 cents kind of thing, but that was the average. 

That's with organic foods as well. You get the peace of mind of knowing your baby isn't getting any processed foods or preservatives. I also like the idea of making that transition to non-pureed foods too. My son won't have to accommodate for a whole new flavor of food again, just a new texture.

I found this pretty helpful resource online: Puree Recipes. 

They have quite a few helpful recipes. But, I wanted to break it down even more simply than that for you. 

Almost any fruit I'm making, I steam it for 20-30 minutes in my dual purpose rice cooker that has a handy steaming basket (here for $24.53). Except for bananas, and they don't have to get cooked. 

Then, I pour it into my food processor (here for $39.99) for about 30 seconds on "chop" then 30 more seconds on "puree" (with 1/4 cup of liquid from steamer). 

Then, tada! Baby food. 

It. Is. That. Easy. 

For vegetables, I sometimes bake or boil depending. I get bags of frozen vegetables that I'll boil for 20 minutes then puree. For potatoes I peel, and slice long ways, wrap in foil then bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes then puree.

All of my puree batches get 1/4 cup of liquid. 

I scrape that mush into ice cube trays, freeze, then pop out into labeled baggies.

I usually spend about half of a day every 2 weeks making food. Of course, you could just make small batches whenever you're cooking your own foods as well. 

A trick I learned for when baby is getting a little older and ready for a little more texture is to mix the food with a mixer instead of pureeing it in the food processor. Just adjust the time you mix for more or less texture.

I also found that there is a brand called Organics that has some peeled and cubed frozen fruit bags. Time saver! I always get the mango this way, because I find it such a pain to peel and slice mango for some reason. 

This is the best picture I found of the brand:

Sometimes I get lucky and find organic squash this way as well.

So... to say it simply:

• Steam/Bake/boil (20-60 minutes)
• Puree (60 seconds)
• Serve fresh or freeze in ice cube trays and store in baggies