Home Made vs Store Bland

I decided long before the baby was born that along with breastfeeding, I would make her first foods myself. It was partly because of the nutrition but mostly because of the cost. It wasn’t difficult; we mashed up bananas and avocados and even blended our own oatmeal. Baby was eating everything under the sun having a ball. I only ran into trouble when we traveled and needed to keep the food fresh. So, on a recent trip to Jamaica that was going to last about a week I decided to buy jars of Gerber Organics and Earth's Best baby food.
Everything tasted the same. The pasta primavera, chicken and stars, and spring vegetables – no matter what she was eating it all tasted like salt and mush. No garlic, no thyme, no ginger or cinnamon – no flavor! I feel sorry for the poor babies that have to face jars of store bought baby food everyday. No one should go so far through life without any thing interesting to eat.



My favorite baby food websites are:

http://wholesomebabyfood.com/

http://weelicious.com/

Enjoy Tasty the Tasty Food :)

Cornmeal Porridge

It’s getting colder outside and around this time I look forward to eating hot cereal in the morning instead of my usual milk and granola. Here in the US the popular choices are Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat. In Jamaica the favorite hot cereal is corn meal porridge and my husband makes it every weekend. Now that our little girl is eating table food she also enjoys a bowl of porridge on the days that Daddy makes breakfast. Banana is also good to mash up in the porridge for an extra boost of fruit. Here is a good recipe:

Jamaican Cornmeal Porridge

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Mix the cornmeal with 1/2 cup of the water

2. Bring the remaining 1 cup of water to the boil

3. Stir in the cornmeal mixture and salt

4. Continue cooking for 10 minutes

5. Add condensed milk and vanilla essence

6. Top with grated cinnamon and nutmeg

Makes 3-4 servings

Pampers Vs Huggies Vs Everyone Else

Let me start by saying that I lean towards the frugal side when it comes to spending money. While I was still pregnant I decided that I wouldn’t fall into the pricy diaper trap and bought a box of size 1 Luvs.

The hospital sent us home with a bag of Pampers Swaddlers and I was hooked. They were so soft and fit so well. I figured we would buy Pampers in the NB size and use the Luvs when she got bigger. When that happened every day she wore the Luvs there was a mess to clean up – and I’m not talking pee.

 

After that box of disasters I clipped coupons and went between Huggies and Pampers for the next 6 months, then on my last trip to Jamaica I ran out of diapers and had to bum a couple off another mom whose baby was the same age as mine. These no name, developing country diapers worked just as good as the Pampers Cruisers I was so completely devoted to. So now I have the confidence to jump straight to generic diapers without looking back.

Yay! No more spending a small fortune on something to catch poop :)

Diaper Bag Essentials

What to pack before you leave the house?  Of course (3) diapers and (10) wipes, but what else? (1)Receiving blanket, (2) burp clothes, hand sanitizer, diaper cream, (1) hat, and a (2) change of clothes for the baby just in case (when) she messes herself.  I had to learn the hard way that there is something else that is essential to a diaper bag.

In the Montego Bay airport my husband and I were picking up some duty free items (no pun intended).  I was wearing the baby and felt an explosion in her diaper, actually it was a few explosions.  I went to the bath room to assess the damage and change her diaper right away. Sure enough there was poop every where - up her back up her stomach and all over me!  After ten minutes she was fresh and clean.  I on the other hand was a different story.  Horrified by the thought of setting in a poopy shirt for the next 5 hours I promply went to a gift shop and bought another shirt.

The last essential for your diaper bag... a (1) change of clothes for you!

Write What You Know

I am Ann, a mom (a new mom) of a beautiful little girl who is 10 months old. My family is an international one with Black-American and Jamaican influences. I have discovered a few things in my short time as a parent that I think would be helpful for others, so that is what this blog is about. Family. Women. Food. Babies. Travel. Hair. Beauty.

We are just starting our journey and look forward to sharing the lessons learned with you. If these topics interest you, please check back for more posts.

Thanks :)