B Holistic

B your baby's personal chef. They're worth it!

Nothing compares to preparing your baby's first foods.  This is the best way to introduce new foods and flavors to your baby. All you need is your basic sauce pan, saute pan, and a good quality blender or food processor.  

Believe me, I don't blame moms for getting the jar food for convenience sake.  It's definitly great in a pinch.  However, boiling and blending does not take much time AND you get a lot more food for the money.  When I was feeding my little ones mashed foods, my convenient grab-and-go meal was often a banana mixed with avocado or other fruit.  With a little planning, you can introduce all your baby's first foods and easily transition them to solids.

This was my book...In fact, I should revisit for some toddler meal ideas.  

It's all about the puree... 

I liked to use ice cube trays and the colorful First years storage containers to store batches of food.  The advantage of containers is you could have a meal ready to go in the fridge for tomorrow's lunch and dinner. I liked the First years colorful containers offered an aesthetic value for my efforts.  But, if I had to do it again, I'd probably just use my glass pyrex containers for the fridge and cube trays for the freezer.  The trays are good for freezing (obviously), but this also allows you to mix and match foods when baby's ready for a little variety.

If you can splurge, go for the VIta-Mix.  This is one heck of a blender that'll work well beyond your kids first foods.  Otherwise, a regular blender or even food processor will do the job.  

I'm proud to say that making baby food was one of my greatest parenting achievements.  Charlie would tell me that Victor was such a good eater BECAUSE I made all of his baby food.  It wasn't long before Harriet destroyed that theory. 

Making your baby's food is rewarding, cost-effective, and very healthy for your little one.  Here are a few websites people have shared that offer some great food suggestions.

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/

and  

http://weelicious.com/ 

Feel free to share your favorite recipes.

 

 

 

B on a $0 Budget and Still Achieve Spring Style

With every new season comes a new perspective.  This is true for me this week. I've been on a Spring cleaning/re-arranging/decorating frenzie...doing as much as I can with $0.  For me, this is the best way to start any new project.  So many of us have everything we need.  Simply by moving things around- our old items can give any room a fresh look.  

Spring cleaning often requires Spring clearing.  Clearing out furniture can open a room and create a lighter feeling.  This room felt especially heavy with a sleigh bed and needed a change.  

Pictures, mirrors, and rugs are changing walls and rooms.  It's nice to take things down and wipe the walls to freshen up space.  Changing the location often makes more sense and you wonder why you didn't put that there in the first place.  Don't go there.  

Changing this mirror from over my fireplace to a wall opposite windows brings in new light and more trees.  Changing the curtains changes the feel just because they filter the light differently.  Over the years I've been making the mistake of not having the right number of panels.  What a difference.

This mirror was stuck in the basement and works perfectly in the kitchen.  This is a Feng Shui adjustment and fixes the missing wealth corner.  Adding this may change my whole budget! It's creeping me out that this picture isn't rotated properly.  But, not enough to fix it.  You get the idea.

 

Because my living room rug is so large and takes over the room, I decided to layer it with this sea grass rug initially in my bedroom.  Layering with this rug helps to break up the room, adds some black accents, and with these curtains (sewn by my Mom from a vintage panel intended for the guest room) helps to create a Summer home feel. 

If you happen to have the material but it's not the right color?  Change it.  Again and again... with RIT dye.  I just happened to have the right colors on hand to create an orange.  They didn't work in my dining room like I thought.  But, there's probably another place or another use that hasn't sprung to me yet.

 

This weekend I'll be painting a book shelf that's been an irritating shade of wood for too long.  I'll continue to tidy up some drawers and continue with Spring cleaning.  I might even treat myself to a few home decor accent pieces now that I'm assured I've used everything I already have.  

Have a wonderful and inspired weekend!

 

 

B a Visionary

Look for the potential in all things and unleash your creative vision.  Click on the pictures (recently spotted at the Brown Elephant thrift shop in Oak Park) for inspiring ways to bring color and style into your home.   

 

B Thrifty: Retail therapy we can truly feel good about

Retail therapy at it's finest!  We can actually simplify our lives and consume at the same time.   Many thrift shops support a greater cause.  At my favorite, The Brown Elephant  a percentage of the proceeds goes towards health care costs for the uninsured.  They accept donations of all kinds offering a tax deduction while helping us clear clutter.

The Brown Elephant Thrift shop has come through for me on many occasions.  This is a great place to check for furniture, household accessories, books, art, clothes and more. Here are some of my purchases. Art work I bought ages ago...
An impromptu cabinet purchase for $150.  I even had a little buyers remorse for this one, until it became my medicine cabinet!
  A BCBG dress for $10.  This was an exciting purchase since all of the summer sales are over and I've been desiring a summer dress.  I'll admit, lately I've been addicted to hunting the clothing racks.  For size purposes, I've had to pass up some Michael KORS pants, Lucky Brand Jeans, and even Fendi jeans. 
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