Product review: Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker

Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker: So far, so good!

the Babycook with steamed sweet potatoes in process

Pros

• This cute little kitchen appliance makes making purees for baby food quick and easy. I even steamed and pureed a batch of green beans (fresh from BP’s garden) for my Little Bundle of Joy during my lunch hour – and I took care of laundry and let the dog outside (and back in) and washed up the dishes.
• It takes up very little space, which is important in my little galley kitchen. Because it’s small, it’s easy to whip up a batch of food while you’re multi-tasking at home. You don’t have to devote an entire evening or day to making baby food.
• It’s green, and very cute. I love green. This has nothing to do with the functionality of the Babycook, but it’s worth mentioning anyways.
• It’s very, very easy to use.

Cons

• The printed instructions were not very clear. I watched a couple of YouTube videos to make sure I was using the Babycook correctly.
• The Babycook is pricey. If you’re only planning on making baby food once or twice, stick with traditional steaming methods and a food processor. But, if you want to make most of your baby’s food, this may be worth your dollars. I received mine as a gift.
• The plastic steamer basket seems like it will become stained very quickly. I just started using it, and there seems to be discoloration on the basket already.
• Steamed foods cook down considerably, and so one full basket doesn’t quite fill up the multiportion freezer tray that goes with the Babycook. In product photos, the tray is shown clear full of food. I haven’t ended up with enough puree to do that.

Accessories

In addition to the Babycook, I was gifted several accessories to go with it.

• The travel bag is adorable and provides a nice, neat way to store the Babycook. It’s especially helpful in my house, where cupboard space is at a minimum, and the Babycook is stored on open shelving.
• The multiportion baby food freezer tray is cute, and the portion sizes are good. The frozen food portions are easy to pop out. I put them in a freezer bag so I can re-use the silicon thing the next time I make food, rather than having tons of individual-sized freezer containers.

multiportion freezer tray, filled with pureed sweet potatoes ready for the freezer

• I also have the rice/pasta cooker but have not yet used it.

All in all, I would recommend the Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker. It’s easy to use, and it’s fun to make your baby’s food!

A Home-Cooked Meal Every Day? Yes, Please!

Before my Little Bundle of Joy arrived on Christmas morning, I spent a considerable amount of time on food preparation: selecting recipes, creating a weekly menu, developing a grocery list, shopping for groceries and preparing the food.

Well, after my sweet little baby arrived and much-appreciated meals from family and friends stopped showing up on our doorstep, BP and I were once again responsible for feeding ourselves. And that, my friends, resulted in way too much take-out than I care to admit. That wasn’t going to work for me on a long-term basis. It’s not only bad for the budget, but it also is bad for the waistline. In addition, I want the Little Bundle of Joy to learn how to cook for himself, and I believe that sitting down to a well-balanced meal, as a family, is very important. Calling out for pizza isn’t going to teach him any of that.

Several months ago while browsing the Dave Ramsey website, I happened upon an endorsement for E-Mealz, a meal planning subscription service.

At first, I gave it no more than a passing thought. And then, as I ate yet another slice of take-out pizza, it occurred to me that I could really use just such a service.

It is awesome. Seriously and for real.

The entire week’s meal plan fits on one 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, complete with really, really simple instructions. The grocery list is already done. The meals taste good. There’s variety. We even get side dishes with our main courses. BP doesn’t have to eat chicken every single day of the week, which makes him very happy. (Chicken was my go-to “quick meal” staple, but only if we were all out of spaghetti.)

You can choose from a variety of meal plans, including plans based on specific stores’ ads that week (how is that not budget friendly?), or plans for a family or just two. BP and I follow the low-fat meal plan for two, since the Little Bundle of Joy is still eating food of the pureed variety.

E-Mealz is worth every single penny of the $5/month that I pay for it. We have saved well over that simply by not resorting to yet another take-out meal due to lack of planning.

If time and money are things you’re short on, E-Mealz may be a solution for you, too. Check it out!

(And in case you are wondering, no, E-Mealz is not paying me for writing this post.)

Money In = Money Out

Yeah, we’re going to get political for a moment because I have had about enough of our national debt, and this redhead is getting mad. (And you know what they say about redheads …)

Yesterday, I read an article in The New York Times, “In Deficit Plan, Taxes Must Rise, President Warns.” The very first line of that article says this:

President Obama pressured Republicans on Wednesday to accept higher taxes as part of any plan to pare down the federal deficit, bluntly telling lawmakers that they “need to do their job” and strike a deal before the United States risks defaulting on its debt.

The answer is not higher taxes. The answer is less government spending.

I don’t know about you, but in my house, when income decreases, we look for ways to cut our spending. It’s a pretty simple equation, really: money in = money out. There is no other option.

If our country continues placing higher tax burdens on the wealthy and on corporations, our country is adding to its own unemployment rate. When the wealthy and corporations have more cash, they employ more people and have more cash for things like benefits and raises, which creates more wealth, which creates more jobs. (Do you see where this is headed?)

Giving the government more control over more tax dollars makes zero sense. Stimulate the economy by allowing taxpayers to stimulate the economy.

Yes, some tough decisions will need to be made. We all know a government job is a “good job,” but unfortunately, many of those jobs offer benefits and retirement packages that are simply not financially sustainable by American taxpayers. I think many of those jobs can be saved, but there needs to be a serious overhaul of pay scales and benefits packages.

Entitlement programs and government grants open up a bigger can of worms, but some serious cuts need to be made there, as well. None of these are sustainable at their current levels of funding.

Will it be difficult? Yes. Would I like to have my income and benefits jeopardized? No. Do I want to see programs cut for people who need them? No. However, jobs and programs that are funded with taxpayer dollars need to be budgeted just like jobs and programs that are funded through the private sector.

Money in = money out.

A Family Camping Adventure

Traveling with my Little Bundle of Joy for the first time last weekend was something I had anticipated, both for the excitement of a new adventure and for the challenges of packing for two adults and a nearly-six-month-old.

Me and the Little Bundle of Joy getting ready to leave for Hocking Hills

It went swimmingly, mostly. Though, we did not swim.

BP’s family rented a “cabin” in the Hocking Hills State Park region of Ohio, and we “camped” for the weekend. I am 100 percent sure that BP will roll his eyes when he reads this because he has informed me, multiple times, that our trip did not involve a cabin, nor camping. Okay, so maybe the five-bedroom, three-bath cabin with a theater room, game room, full kitchen and hot tub was nicer than any of our homes. And maybe sitting around a campfire in the yard each evening doesn’t necessarily qualify as camping.

Yeah, that's our cabin.

However, we were in the woods. And we did have two campfires. And we hiked. And zipped down the SuperZip, which was super fun. For the record, my sweet Mother-in-Law did take care of the Little Bundle of Joy while BP and I zipped with Brother-in-Law and two nephews.

Brother-in-Law, BP, Nephew #1 and Nephew #2 getting ready for the SuperZip

The Little Bundle of Joy was a real trooper for the whole weekend. It helped having two grandparents, an aunt and uncle, two cousins over the age of 13 (I think) and a nine-month-old cousin to help entertain him. We really only ran into two problems: a major case of constipation on Saturday (I felt terrible for the little guy!) and crying for nearly the entire way home on Sunday. BP drove. I slept through the crying. Camping is exhausting.

Nephew #4 and Little Bundle of Joy entertaining themselves in the cabin

All in all, our first overnight trip with the Little Bundle of Joy was a bundle of fun. We were in the same area last year and camped (ha! BP is rolling his eyes again – I know it!) with two of our dearest friends, LK and BK, and had an equally fun time. You can read about that trip here.

We hope to go back again next year, for more zipping and more hiking … and, you know it, more camping!

Cloth Diapers: A Real, Affordable Solution

Recently, I’ve been reading about families who are reusing disposable diapers because they cannot afford to buy diapers every week. This makes me sad for a number of reasons:

1. Babies are being put at risk for diaper rash and other health issues, and it makes them just plain uncomfortable.

2. These families feel like they have no other options.

3. These families don’t even know the options that are available to them.

What makes me angry is that nowhere, in any of the articles I’ve read from mainstream media, is it suggested that these families switch to cloth diapers, a very accessible, very affordable alternative to disposables. As with any industry, you can spend as much or as little as you want on a product. But a family could, realistically, diaper their children from birth to potty training for a few hundred dollars using flats (and you don’t even need a washing machine, though it does make things much easier and faster).

Check out the flats and handwashing challenge, posted by the Dirty Diaper Laundry blog if you don’t believe me. And this article from Louisville.com does a much better job than I of summing up the flats challenge.

This post on Cloth Diapers … by Cotton Babies, is a great resource for tips on how to diaper a baby for next to nothing.

Back to the subject of families reusing disposable diapers … In one article, it was stated: “The Diaper Bank, a Connecticut-based group that provides free diapers to families in need, is working on a national level to build a coalition of concerned groups to push for diaper assistance through existing welfare programs or other means.”

Many organizations, even in my own home town, solicit donations of diapers to give to those who need them.

In my opinion, my donation would be better spent helping families help themselves. Give each family a supply of cloth diapers, show them how to use and care for them, and that’s it. Problem solved. It makes no sense to me why we would support an ongoing problem when there is an obvious solution. Budgets are tight everywhere. This is one area where there is a realistic solution.

Giving Diapers, Giving Hope is working to solve the problem, and others are catching on, as well. This post from All About Cloth Diapers addresses the issue further. Women who already are using cloth to trim their household budgets are working to help other families do the same thing without sacrificing their family’s needs.

Many, many women even sew their own cloth diapers, either because of a financial need or because they like to be crafty, or both! Many blogs, including All About Cloth Diapers, have instructions and tips for making cloth diapers, washing cloth diapers and everything in between. The Thrift Store Cloth Diaper Project post tells the story of how one woman made 24 diapers with approximately 10 covers for less than $30.

Cloth diapering is not for everyone, but it is an option available to everyone.

And in case you were wondering, BP and I do use cloth diapers on our Little Bundle of Joy.

The Gardener is Back

BP’s ready to get his garden growing again this year, but this time, he has a head start!

the start of a beautiful garden

My handsome gardener (BP, in case you were confused) set up a growing station in the basement. It’s basic but functional: a six-foot folding table, lights hung low over top, some foil-looking stuff around the edges to hold in heat, and plants. BP’s starts include several varieties of tomatoes and some cabbage. There is even a little section of tomatoes for our friend, SH, who just moved into a new house and wants to plant a garden this year!

SH's tomatoes

All of these starts, except for SH’s, will be planted in BP’s raised garden beds that were built last year. Stay tuned for updates.

BP's starts are doing really well. He's excited. Can you tell?

We Use Cloth Diapers, and We’re Not Crazy

The Little Bundle of Joy in his Sustainablebabyish cloth diaper - so cute!

We use cloth diapers. (Pause while you recover from this statement.)

Almost as soon as I discovered I was pregnant, I started researching cloth diapers, and the decision to use cloth diapers, more than any other baby-related decision BP and I have made, has resulted in raised eyebrows and smirks and looks of shock.

For years, even before I was thinking about having my own children, I’ve really struggled with the waste created by disposable diapers and often thought about how women, for years and years and years, have used cloth diapers that worked just fine. When I found out I was expecting my first little baby blessing, I started researching my options.

If you still think of white cloths, pins and plastic pants when you think of cloth diapers, let’s take a moment to clear things up a bit. Things have come a long way, making cloth diapering much more convenient for working parents. And those white cloths? Perfect for burp cloths!

Check out these sites (there are many, many more than this, but I can’t list them all) for the latest (and cutest) in cloth diapering:

DiaperJunction.com

KellysCloset.com

CottonBabies.com

GreenMountainDiapers.com

If you’re an Etsy shopper, search for “cloth diaper,” and you may be surprised at the number of results that appear.

Cloth diapers have become surprisingly user-friendly. (And so I’m not so sure what to do with those unnecessary diaper pins I received in a couple of baby gifts …)

Here are reasons why I decided, and BP happily agreed, that cloth diapering is the right decision for our child:

• Cloth diapers reduce the amount of waste headed to a landfill. Disposable diapers can take hundreds of years to decompose – hundreds. If you’ve ever driven by the county landfill, you know what I’m talking about when I say the landfills already are full enough. (And did you know, that even with disposables, you are supposed to shake off the “solids” into the toilet?)
• Cloth diapers are economical. Use, wash, re-use, and then repeat with next child. No need to work diapers into your weekly budget for your child’s first few years of life. I have several one-size diapers in my stash, which will fit my baby during most of his diapering days, thanks to adjustable snaps.
• Cloth diapers result in less diaper rash. This isn’t to say that diaper rashes won’t happen. But most women who have used cloth diapers versus disposables experience less diaper rash problems because the materials next to your baby’s skin are much nicer.
• Cloth diapers are manufactured using far less materials/chemicals/substances-I-don’t-want-on-my-baby’s-skin-all-day than disposable diapers. Cloth diapers put natural fabrics next to your baby’s skin, and they aren’t manufactured using petroleum-based products. Wouldn’t you rather have nice, soft cotton on your bum all day?
• Cloth diapered children are more likely to toilet-train more quickly than those in disposable diapers. Because disposable diapers are designed to immediately pull moisture away from the skin, children can’t tell as easily if their diaper is wet. In general, women with experience using both disposables and cloth find that their cloth-diapered children have a desire to toilet train earlier than disposable-diapered children. Obviously, every child is different, but I’m willing to go with anything that might make this process quicker!
• Cloth diapers are adorable. Seriously. I know they do a dirty job, but they are so darn cute.

You may be surprised at the increasing number of families (some of whom may even be your own friends or family) who choose to use cloth diapers, for many of the same reasons listed above. If you’re a parent, or planning to be one, research your options before you rule anything out.

Curious? Here are some links to blogs with all kinds of information about cloth diapering:

Real Diaper Association

Simple Mom

All About Cloth Diapers

Cloth Diaper Blog

Cloth Diapers by Cotton Babies

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer

And even if you just want to try cloth diapering part time, it’s worth it. Since I am still building my diaper stash, I do not yet have enough to go cloth full time, and so The Little Bundle of Joy does wear disposable diapers when he is away from home with babysitters. That will soon change, though. The more I use cloth, the more I am sure it is the right decision for our family.

Life as “The Pregnant Lady”

“Let me get that for you.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t be doing that. Relax.”

“You can choose the restaurant. You’re pregnant.”

“What do you want for dessert? You are eating for two, you know.”

“Look at how cute your belly is!”

A woman hears these kinds of phrases for very, very brief phases of her life – when she is pregnant. And only then.

Although I’m nearly 30 weeks into my pregnancy, sometimes these kinds of comments still catch me off guard.

me, The Pregnant Lady, at 26/27ish weeks pregnant

For example, I took Greta (our adorable little miniature schnauzer) to the vet earlier this week. I bent down to scoop her up and put her on the exam table when the vet assistant swooped in with a concerned look at my round belly. “Oh, let me pick her up for you.” Um, okay, thanks. Then the vet finishes Greta’s exam. “Let me put her back down on the floor for you.” Okay, that’s cool.

But I was left wondering, “What do they think I do with the dog when we’re at home?” I don’t just look at her and will her to be moved where I want her to go. She weighs less than 20 pounds. I even bend down and pick her up and carry her around. (Yes, I am one of those dog owners. She is sitting at my feet even as I type. *sigh* So cute.)

I’m sure I’ll get used to this kind of treatment just as soon as it’s over. But for now, I’ll just enjoy it. Who doesn’t like to pick out the restaurant and eat dessert with no one reminding you to ‘watch your figure’? And, really, who are we kidding? Any time I can get out of manual labor, I will.

Let’s Talk About Sex, or the Lack Thereof

When it comes to educating our teens and pre-teens about sex, the debate between those who believe abstinence education is best and those who do not share that belief continues, as I was reminded today through a conversation I witnessed.

I do believe in abstinence education. I believe it’s important to educate teens about the risks — both physical and emotional — of having sex before marriage. Armed with that knowledge, teens will make their own decisions.

We would be doing our youth an incredible injustice to downplay the benefits of abstinence until marriage. But we do have to actually educate teens, not turn our heads — sex is a normal part of life and is not a subject to be avoided or “swept under the rug.” Parents who simply project the message that sex is bad are not doing any educating, abstinence or otherwise. On the contrary, youth need to know the importance and consequences of their sexual decisions and the role that sex plays in a healthy marriage. Those messages need to be communicated at home by parents who care about the futures of their children.

The knowledge that neither me nor my husband had known another person in such an intimate way is the best gift either of us could give each other starting out our marriage. Encouraging teens to strive toward that same kind of commitment will only strengthen their marriages when they get to that point in their lives. BP and I will communicate that message to our children as they grow up.

Unfortunately, not all parents take responsibility for educating their children (or for anything involving their children), which means the burden falls to greater society. The responsibility of educating youth need not be taken away from parents who are doing just that, because they will continue to instill values in their children. The parents, however, who have opted out of educating their children have, whether they realize it or not, given — or shoved — that responsibility to others.

And that has caused the debate about sex education in public schools to bubble over. Because of the lack of education happening at so many homes across the country, there is a need for sex education, but it’s the method and extent of that education in the schools that causes the great debate.

I believe that abstinence should be positively taught in any sex education curriculum. To deny any child the information he or she needs to make the choice to be abstinent until marriage is a far greater tragedy than if that child isn’t taught the proper way to use a condom, or the proper channels to follow to obtain a morning-after pill.

Additional reading:

The Heritage Foundation: Evidence on the Effectiveness of Abstinence Education

Abstinence Works

Miss the Mess

News Busters

The Thing About Windows

Windows are great. They let in fresh air on a breezy day. They let you see out into the world. They let the sunshine in. They enable you to see the woman who lets her dogs leave you presents in the front yard.

But there are times when you would rather not have your five-year-old neighbor girl peeking in to see what movie you are watching. Or when you would rather your new college-age neighbors not be able to see your husband walk around in his skivvies.

And here is the thing with windows. At some point, you have to put window coverings over them. Whether you choose a bed sheet, shades, blinds, drapes or curtains, you have to make a decision, and this was not easy for me.

BP will tell you I have spent way too much time (okay, maybe years) deciding on window coverings for our two family room windows. But if you’ve ever attempted to make this decision, you may know what I’m talking about.

my large, naked window

Do you get drapes? Not if you put furniture in front of the windows. What about blinds? Too much effort to dust all the little slats. Valance or scarf? That looks pretty, but you still need something to prevent neighbors from peeking in. And what about cost? Yikes! If I’m going to purchase window coverings, I better like them because they are staying for years and years and years … probably until we move out of the house.

Then, you get to decide if you should make them yourself, custom order or buy off-the-shelf and hope they fit right.

And after all that research, you may still change your mind when others try to talk you into something else.

For example, after several years of naked windows, I decided I wanted Roman shades. I tried talking myself out of it a couple of times in favor of a less expensive option or something I could easily sew myself, but I kept going back to the Roman shades. That’s what I really wanted. So I call up Budget Blinds, a local franchise with reasonable prices, and friendly Ron arrives at my house. When I set up the appointment, I told Ron I wanted Roman shades. But what do you think he brought? Everything. That’s right, everything. And he proceeded to talk to me about fabric blinds, pleated blinds and any other kind of blinds he had in his arsenal. I was so confused, I told him I’d call him in a month.

A month goes by, and I still want Roman shades. If only Ron had believed me when I called the first time. He could have saved himself some time.

Today, I got them. They are installed and working, and they are exactly what I wanted. BP and I can say goodbye to neighbor kids peeking into our windows. We can say goodbye to the neighbors seeing BP in his skivvies.

two new Roman shades, just what I wanted - ignore the ugly blue furniture (it was free)

another look at the Roman shade, raised