October Freezer Meals-Choosing the Recipes

This is my third month of freezer meals with a good friend. Our babies are 7 months apart and we both appreciate a healthy, ready-to-eat meal. After working (in or out of the home) all day, it's so wonderful to dig into a hot meal from the slow cooker or a casserole steaming from the oven. We met once a month with the ingredients for us each to make 6 recipes. Then, we go home with half of each recipe for a total of a dozen freezer meals!

Last month I had a lot of dump and go meals. These were mostly slow cooker meals, but I did have a casserole and a batch of white chili. This time I was drooling over some other more labor intensive recipes, so I decided to invest some additional prep time.

First, I went through my Pinterest board for freezer meals and analyzed my recipes for similarities. For instance, if I need shredded chicken for one recipe, I might as well shred a bunch of chicken and use it for multiple recipes. I chose to use shredded chicken in my recipes because my friend made this AWESOME hot chicken salad a couple of months ago. Little K and I especially savored it. It called for shredded chicken, so....I collected shredded chicken recipes.

Hot Chicken Salad from Add a Pinch

The second recipe I chose was Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole. One of my co-workers was raving about the dish...so I had to put it on the list.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole from Tasty Kitchen

Keeping with the cooked shredded chicken, I decided on Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole. The recipe starts with shredded chicken and cooked rice, so.....

Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole from Jo Cooks

...I thought I would do Cheesy Chicken Broccoli & Rice Casserole.

Cheesy Chicken Broccoli & Rice Casserole from Mom on Time Out

Now that I'm cooking broccoli, I decided to try this super simple recipe for Jumbo Pasta Shells.

Chicken and Broccoli Stuffed Shells with Alfredo Sauce by Eat at Home Cooks

Well, I ran out of shredded chicken recipes. About that time, I came across this delicious comfort food recipe for Oven-Baked Frito Pie. So, it finished my half dozen recipes.

Oven-Baked Frito Pie from My Family Meal Plan

I will post my shopping list and make-ahead prep after our cooking day! Until then, I'm drooling over the pictures.

Farm Life....

Tina from Catching Fireflies did a photoshoot for our family in the cornfield. She caught some priceless moments!

Baby toes!

Walking hand-in-hand through the field....

Playing in some corn!

Baby-Led Weaning: Why I Chose to Let My 5 month old Try Solids

First of all, if you are thinking of doing Baby Led Weaning (BLW), I highly encourage you to read the book. It made me feel much more confident in giving my baby solids when I knew the biology behind it.

My main concerns were - How does the baby chew food? How do you know the baby won't choke?

1. Your baby is just playing with food, not eating for primary nutrition, like an adult would. Food is a new 'toy' for your baby. She will discover that some substances have a taste and can be broken into smaller pieces. Little K started with a slice of fresh peach. She licked it and decided it had a yummy flavor!

In this case, since baby is getting the majority of calories and nutrients from breastmilk or formula, chewing is overrated. Baby can gum or gnaw on food, but she doesn't need to chew efficiently yet. Still, it's a good idea to stick with first foods that are melt-in-mouth baby friendly. Juicy foods (like a good steak) let baby explore a variety of flavors and textures.

2. Young babies have a gag reflux much further forward in their mouths than adults and older children. This helps teach your baby to take small bites and chew her food throughly before swallowing. She has to have the food in small pieces in order to swallow it. Baby will gag on food that is too big without danger of choking.

I knew Little K was ready to start Baby Led Weaning when she grabbed my bowl of cereal and dumped it, followed by grabbing my full spoon and attempting to put it in her mouth. Your baby will let you know when she is ready to try eating like Mama!

Daycare Decisions

Unfortunately, Day Two of daycare went no better than the first day. The good news was that the next day we sent Little K to stay with her aunt for the day. This worked much better. Little K was sleeping peacefully when I picked her up. She ate rice cereal and took a bottle. YAY!

The bottom line:

 1. Find a daycare location where your baby is comfortable. Little K had visited and spent several hours a time at her aunt's house while I was there, too. So, she had semi-familiar surroundings.

2. Provide opportunities for you and your baby to visit your provider. Let your baby know your provider is a friend.

3. Leave some baby clothes at your provider's house, then put them on your child when you are at home. This way your baby becomes familiar with the smell of your provider's home. Sometimes it helps to send something from home with a comforting scent (like a blanket).

Down in the Daycare Dumps

So, everyone said, "It's going to be so hard to leave her." Confession: It wasn't. I knew Little K would enjoy playing and watching the other kids. She had been taking a bottle of formula regularly for me during mid day. While she was shy around others, when I wasn't around, she didn't seem to care... So I left her, smiling and cooing, at daycare, confident she would enjoy herself.

WRONG! When I picked Little K up from her first day (only a half day) she was screaming. The daycare provider confided that Little K had bawled the whole time and refused to eat. My provider had rocked her, walked around with her, tried to distract her with toys, the pacifier, and a bottle to no avail. Little K quieted the instant I picked her up.

I spent hours crying, thinking, "She thought that she had to cry for FOUR HOURS until I came for her." To top off my anguish, the provider said she won't take Little K if she won't eat. (When we got home, Little K took 4 ounces from her bottle.)

What am I going to do? Well, we're trying it again, with pumped breastmilk instead of formula, and LOTS of prayer. Fingers crossed for a better half day this morning.

Almond Cranberry Granola Bites

Do any other breastfeeding mothers feel like they're always starving or is it just me? I have eaten so much food today, I don't even want to think about it.

One of my healthy snack foods has been granola bites. I got started with Funfetti Granola Bites, but, like my husband pointed out, they're too sweet. So, I tried to find healthier granola recipes. I tweaked this Almond Cranberry Granola recipe to fit my tastes. The original recipe called for peanut butter (why do that when almond butter is available?).


After assembling the ingredients, mix everything together and chill for about 30 minutes.






Use one of these nifty scoops to shape the bites. TA-DA!

Almond Cranberry Granola Bites

1 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup almonds, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup almond butter

1/3 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients together. Chill 30 minutes. Scoop into bites. Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Granola Bites a.k.a. Mom Snacks

I got addicted to granola bites when I made a Funfetti version. My hubby complained they were too sweet.....which would explain why they were sooooo good. So, I tried several different recipes. My favorite (after the Funfetti) were these.

Dark Chocolate Granola Bites

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup flax seed

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, chopped

Mix all ingredients together. Chill 30 minutes. Roll into balls.  

 This is a great recipe for a breastfeeding mother because it has lactation encouraging oatmeal! Plus, they're quick to make and easy to snack on while nursing.