Baby Steps. An earnest attempt at homemade baby food. 

Baby Steps. An earnest attempt at homemade baby food. 

by Rebecca Grace || Earnest Mom ♥ 1 Comment

Wash. Peel. Steam. Purée. That easy right?? Sure – it was that easy, four exhausting hours of easy; but for two weeks worth of what 7 month old earnest baby will eat – it’s worth it’s weight in gold…err time.  How did I find the time? I mean, I AM a stay at home mom and all but time is not a luxury of the stay at home mom. To be earnest, earnest dad and earnest boy were stuck at the dealership getting something fixed on the van (yes for four hours) and I thought ” how glorious, I have all the time in the world, what shall I do with it?!” I chose to make baby food.

  I used two ripe bananas, two sweet potatoes, five medium gala apples and a half bag of baby red, yellow and orange carrots (all organic of course for earnest baby, but if organic is a bit out of the price range stick to EWG’s dirty dozen and clean fifteen lists found here Dirty Dozen/Clean 15 ). Washed, peeled and chopped the apples and sweet potatoes, then steamed all but the bananas. Using Sage Spoonfuls immersion blender, puréed the carrots and the apples, then with a fork simply mashed the bananas and the sweet potatoes.


All of this yielded quite a bit of food, I ended up with two 4oz jars of each – apples, sweet potatoes, bananas, carrots and banana-carrot blend and two 8oz jars of sweet potato-apple blend.


Of course, earnest baby had her helping hands in there too…

Now that I have made the earnest effort, I will plan it a bit better next time so hopefully the time can get pared down, but all in all I enjoyed the experience. Even more, I earnestly love that I have baby food ready to eat in the freezer – all organic and no question of what’s inside the label. It’s all 100% food for earnest baby!!  The recipes were simple, the Sage Spoonfuls system is awesome (comes with freezer safe glass jars and a cook book with information on cooking and storing all kinds of first foods) but can be substituted with a food mill, immersion blender or a bullet type blender as well.

Have fun feeding your baby foodies you earnest followers and please post recipes or even pics of your handy works in the comments below!

x

earnest mom

Sage spoonfuls can be found here: Sage Spoonfuls Baby Food Making System check it out if your in the market for a great system to make and store your own baby food.

Making Memories.  Earnest thoughts on family traditions. 

Making Memories.  Earnest thoughts on family traditions. 

by Rebecca Grace || Earnest Mom ♥ 1 Comment

In the earnest household there are somethings that earnest dad and I do every year, that in turn will make memories with our earnest littles. After reading an article recently, I never realized the importance of these annual traditions. They are the very things that when our children are older, they will sit back and remember (warm and fuzzies included), and perhaps decide to carry on with their little ones. 

Every year on the first snowfall, the earnest household gets a warm batch of “First Snow Brownies.”  Six years ago, our first year as Mister and Misses, on the first day it snowed I surprised mister earnest with “First Snow Brownies.”  It was the first time I had ever made them – they are simple chocolate brownies, with a dusting of snow (powdered sugar), but the intent was just to have fun with something different. Well I made them on the first snow the next year, and the year after that…and now if you were to ask earnest boy what his favourtie kind of brownies are, he will say first snow brownies (most of the time at least – at 5 there’s one thing earnest boy is not, and that is predictable). 

At Christmas, earnest dad’s mom made a tradition of having a popular biscuit-in-a-can brand’s orange rolls for breakfast (well for snacking during the present opening). So every year now, when the whole earnest family wakes to a tree lit up bright, a cookie plate and milk glass emptied, and prezzies waiting to be opened – we all sit while the coffee percolates and the orange rolls rise in the oven and not one present is touched until everyone has their orange roll in hand. This tradition is one of my earnest favorites, I love that earnest dad has memories of it from his childhood and now our children will too. It’s as though there is a tangible memory out there that will forever link them through time – oh still my beating earnest heart, I got a bit weepy there.  I earnestly do admire that this tradition created so much joy in earnest dad’s life, that his hope is to share it with his earnest loves. 

There are so many ideas out there, customs or traditions or rituals (whatever you may call them) that you can start today (or this year if you have to wait for the first snow fall) and to that I say why not create some memories with your littles, they will be the ones they don’t forget!  If you need some inspiration or ideas, I’ve provided a link below to Parent Magazine’s article “14 Fun Family Traditions to Start Today.”   

Have fun earnest followers, enjoy making those memories and please comment below to share some traditions that your households enjoy  – even some you may be planning on starting. I’d love to hear them!

x

earnest mom

14 Fun Family Traditions to Start Today

Think globally. Act locally. An earnest review of Urban Oreganics all natural organic products. 

Think globally. Act locally. An earnest review of Urban Oreganics all natural organic products. 

by Rebecca Grace || Earnest Mom ♥ 2 Comments

As an earnest mom – I try to be mindful of my household and it’s health – I do my best to do things as naturally as possible. For instance, in celebration of Earth Day today, the earnest household will not be turning on the television nor the lights. In general however, we try to eat only organic, use natural based cleaners, we make our own laundry detergents and I’m even one of them earnest cloth diapering moms – but I also take my skin care very seriously. It’s the only skin I’ve got!  I try to steer clear of toxins in make ups and face creams/cleansers and even use simple vinegar/baking soda for hair care. Did you know that everything we put on our skin gets absorbed and actually goes into our bloodstream?! Think of all those chemicals listed on that cold cream sitting in the cupboard – needles to say, I was in need of a good facial cleanser and cream.  

While poking about online looking for an earnest skin company for my dilemma, I found Urban Oreganics (https://www.etsy.com/shop/UrbanOreganics?ref=s2-header-shopname) and decided to try it out. Then, I earnestly feel in love. I’ve been using cleansing grains and facial cream (with SPF 20), I can be earnest and say both are wonderful! Best thing is – I know AND can pronounce every item listed in the ingredients. I’ve gotten complements on how “glowy” my skin looks, and I was even told I looked fresh faced. 

The cleansing grains smell like yummy oatmeal (gluten free of course) and my skins feels clean and soft afterward. The facial cream (I got unscented but you can choose from their selection of natural scents), goes on with no greasy or sticky feel – the best part is it feels refreshing on my face. I feel like I’m getting salon quality cleanings in my very own earnest home – with zero toxins!  



I must insist you try them out!  https://www.etsy.com/shop/UrbanOreganics?ref=s2-header-shopname  you will find face creams, masks, cleansers, toner, full body/hair care and mama-baby sections as well. PLUS, they are all hand made in Oregon and packaged with love. Not only will you feel good with natural products for yourself, but you will actually be supporting this Oregon mama making the skin care world less toxic one Urban Oreganic at a time. 

This Earth Day – I earnestly say, let’s act locally, starting with the care of our skin! Use this special earnest mom blog code to receive 20% off your entire order today! 

EM200 (This code is redeemable until 4-30-15) 

x

earnest mom

About Urban Oreganics:

Urban Oreganics handcrafts the highest quality bath & beauty products from natural, sustainable, organic, and vegan ingredients in Portland, OR. Their handmade creations are lovingly fashioned in small batches and tested on friends and family, never on animals. https://www.etsy.com/shop/UrbanOreganics/policy