Apple Squash Tofu Puree

Simple ingredients: Soft Tofu and a pre-prepared puree

Tofu is a great source of not only protein, but also iron and calcium. My daughter is being raised vegetarian (like her daddy) so it is important for us to find alternative iron and protein sources for her. American guidelines recommend waiting until 8 months or older to introduce tofu or meats, whereas Canadian guidelines say you can start tofu and meats at 6 months. If you are unsure, check with your doctor. My daughter is 6 months old, and our doctor recommended starting tofu.

Dried Prune / Dried Plum Puree Recipe

Prunes are often cited as the go to food when little ones are experiencing constipation. In addition to being high in fibre (which helps keep bowel movements regular), prunes/plums are also high in Vitamins A & C.

It is a little late in the season for fresh plums here, so I made this recipe using organic dried plums.

Also, it should be mentioned that there has been a push lately to rebrand prunes as "dried plums". So, if you are looking for prunes, but can only find dried plums, don't worry, they are one in the same.

Meal of the Day

Bottom: Apple Squash Top: Yam Puree

Two of my homemade purees, Apple Squash Puree and Yam Puree.

Green Bean Puree Baby Food Recipe

Organic Frozen Green Beans

Green beans are often recommended as one of baby's firsts foods. Green beans are high in Vitamins A, C & K, as well as Calcium, making them a good choice for your baby's diet.

Apple, Squash & Yam Medley Baby Food Recipe

Diced organic Gala Apples, Yams & Acorn Squash

After making some other baby foods I had 3 things left over: gala apples, acorn squash & yams, so I decided to put them all together! You can use acorn or butternut squash for this recipe and yam or sweet potato. If you are buying a squash for this recipe, keep in mind that acorn squash is (in my opinion) very difficult to peel! If you do use acorn squash I recommend cutting it into strips along the furrows then cut off the peel.

This recipe can be pureed for a smoother consistency, mashed for a thicker/lumpier consistency, or served as is as a finger food.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Squash (approx 1 lb)
• 2-3 Apples 
• 1 medium Yam (approx 1 lb)
• Water as needed to achieve desired consistency

Recommended for:

• 4-6+ months

Yeild: 

• Approximately 24 oz 

Cost Comparison:

• $0.12 per oz (I used all organic) vs. $0.27 per oz for the commercially prepared organic baby food (based on $1.20 per 4.5 oz glass jar).

Directions:

• Peel apples, yams and squash and chop into cubes.
• Put diced apples, yams and squash into a baking dish. You may want to add a splash of water in with it. I also lined my dish with foil, because I didn't use any oil or anything the veggies have a tendency of sticking to the pan.
• Cover and bake at 400° for 45 min, or until the yams are tender. You should be able to easily mash them with a fork.
• Allow the mixture to cool a bit before transferring into the blender/food processor/baby bullet.
• Add water as desired and blend. I added about 8 oz of water to reach a consistency suitable for my not-quite-6-month-old. Because yams are more starchy than most veggies it may be a bit harder to blend than other veggies. You can stop and kind of shake the blender a bit to help it along.

Before roasting

After roasting

In the Baby Bullet and ready to blend!

 Storage:

You can use whatever type of containers to have on hand to refrigerate or freeze your baby food, but there are a couple things that you should keep in mind:

• Any baby food you put in the fridge should be consumed within 3 days.
• Frozen baby food is optimal if consumed within 30 days, but can be used for up to 60 days.
• Keep baby food in small portions, as you will have to discard any left over from each feeding. This is because babies (and adults!) mouths are full of bacteria, once this bacteria touches the spoon and gets into the food it starts to grow. If you put this food back in the fridge the bacteria will continue to grow, and feeding this to your baby later may make them ill. 
• Do not freeze puree that has been made with previously frozen breastmilk. If you want to use breastmilk in your puree, it is best to use fresh breastmilk.

Canadian Baby Deals of the Week: November 2 - 8

Sorry, I am a little late on posting this week!

Every week Smart Canucks posts a list of the Canadian baby deals available. This list is an awesome tool for Canadian mamas looking to save a few bucks without having to shop around. I definitely recommend checking it out!

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/325669-baby-deals-week-nov-2-8-a-canada/

Baby on a Budget: My Coupon Stacking Steals!

Anyone who has ever watched Extreme Couponing will know the amazing deals that Americans can get by stacking coupons. Unfortunately for Canadians, there are not many Canadian retailers that allow coupon stacking. London Drugs is one of the few retailers that I am aware of that allows coupon stacking. Their policy is that the coupons are allowed as long as the coupons have different UPC/barcode numbers. You can stack coupons up to the value of your product, but you cannot go over the value and receive "overages" or cash back, as is often seen in Extreme Couponing.

So today I went to London Drugs and stacked my 3 Playtex coupons for a Lil Gripper cup and 2 cans of Good Start formula. I was able to get the cup for $1.99 after coupons (retail price $5.99) and the for $6.99 & $8.99 (sale price $27.99). If I had a couple more Good Start coupons I could have gotten the formula a tad bit cheaper, but I was quite impressed with myself! $17.97 total for $61.97 worth of product. That's a 71% savings! I know that's not quite "Extreme Couponing" savings, but it's definitely a good feeling when you see this at the bottom of your receipt!

Baby on a Budget: Planning ahead for non-planners

So, let's face it. There are those of us that plan and budget and there are those of us who don't. Some people scrimp and save, while others live paycheque to paycheque. I'm not judging, it's just the way it is. I know just how hard it is to "save." Seeing that money in an account untouched when there are plenty of reasonable things you could use it for? Not easy.

So, this one is for those of you who live paycheque to paycheque. If you're one of these people, you might be concerned what might happen if you are waiting for that next pay cheque and baby needs formula, diapers or worse, medicine. How can you protect yourself from running into these issues without worrying about budgeting or saving?

Baby on a Budget: Starting a Budget

Let's face it. Babies are expensive. Sure, you think, what can it cost to feed a baby? Breastfeeding is basically free. What else do you need?

Lots.

But, before we get into what a baby costs, you need to figure out just how much money you are spending each month (and how much money you are bringing in). In doing this you will see just how much you are wasting each month on your Starbucks addiction or impulsive internet shopping. A couple bucks here and there never seems like much, but over a month, it can really add up. Once you know what you are spending in a month and how much "extra" cash you have each month (let's be honest, who has extra cash at the end of the month?). From there you can figure out what you can cut out of your budget, or what you have available for baby spending.

Now, the question is how do you keep track of your spending? Well, there is the old fashioned way: collecting receipts and tallying it up with pen & paper. Or, if you have the patience for it, you can set up an Excel spread sheet and enter each and every purchase. But if you want something easy you can do from just about anywhere there is The Birdy.

The Birdy (www.thebirdy.com) is a free online personal finance software. It is incredibly simply to use and keeps track of your purchases by date and by category. Best of all, it doesn't take a lot of time...trust me I wouldn't be using it if it did.

Purchases can be entered in a variety of ways (and in a variety of currencies!). First of all, you can log into the site and enter your daily purchases is a very simple format.

But if logging in seems like too much work for you there are other ways. You can set The Birdy up to send you a daily email. All you have to do is reply to that email and tell The Birdy what you purchased that day, using the same hashtag formula shown above. Your purchases are almost immediately added to your account.

Now if even that seems like too much work there is an even simpler option. Text message. You can set The Birdy up to accept texts. Just enter your purchases and voila, updated to your account.


The Birdy will now show you your purchases in several ways: on a calendar with dollar amounts per day, in a pie chart with categories and the percentage of overall money spent and in a graph.

 

At the end of the month you can review your purchases compared to how much money you earned in the month and determine where you can curb your spending if needed.

Of course, the very best feature of The Birdy is their cute little mascot, Basil. I'll be honest, if it weren't for Basil, I probably wouldn't have given The Birdy more than a passing glance. Okay, that's a joke, but he's still cute.

I started on using The Birdy on September 1st and have entered every single purchase I have made this month (including mortgage, vehicle expenses etc). I am hoping over the next few months I will be able to save a few dollars, allowing me to purchase baby things (and the much dreaded maternity gear!) when the time comes.

The one draw back is that at this time you cannot enter your income, so you will have to compare your purchases to your income on your own. But, The Birdy claims it is working on this feature, as well as many others such as Android & iPhone apps, recurring payments and a feature that will allow you to budget an amount for a certain category each month and notify you when you have exceeded your monthly budget.

I highly recommend that anyone that is pregnant start a budget of some sort as it is the first step in preparing for a baby financially. Better yet, I would recommend that anyone who is trying to conceive start a budget for baby, this will save you a wee bit of panic when you do become pregnant.

So, happy budgeting!

Ford more Baby on a Budget Tips:
Baby on a Budget: Planning ahead for non-planners