Baby food: Green beans

We're almost 2 weeks into solid foods with our baby. I have gone ahead and made my own babyfood. It is very simple. The other day I made green beans.

First step: I went to the farmer's market and bought some organic, pesticide and chemical free green beans.

I got home and washed them:



Then I cut off the stems:



And put the green beans in the steamer:



After they were very well done I put them in the blender:



Then made the sure the baby was napping (he's scared of the blender):



I added the right amount of water (leftover from the steaming) to get the consistency right. I pureed them, then poured them into icecube trays:



Froze them overnight:



Popped them out of the icecube tray and into a marked freezer bag:





And done!

So far my son has had avocado, sweet potato, peas, plums, and oatmeal cereal in that order. Next up will be the green beans!

Healthy "ice cream"

It's been hot and humid here lately. And although I looove ice cream, I am trying to eat healthier. So yesterday I made ice cream after being inspired by Jolene over at Everyday Foodie.

Ingredients:
A frozen banana (the one I used was mildly ripe, not brown)
A handful of frozen strawberries
A bit of milk
A touch of vanilla extract

I ran the banana under cool water so the peel was easy to remove. I blended it all together in the blender for a few minutes. This was the result:





It was healthy and delicious! It probably would have been better with cream instead of milk, and a bit of sugar to offset the sour strawberries. But then it wouldn't be healthy ;)

Our (nearly) free swing

...Quickly while the baby is still napping...

Last month we hung a swing in a tree in our front yard. The swing itself was free. Last year my Step-MIL found it in a free pile in someone's driveway. She gave it to us, knowing I want to start an inhome day care(this was before we knew we were expecting!). It's been sitting in the garage ever since. Now that our son is big enough to sit in it, we hung it up!

First, I tried to clean the swing. But it was quite stained and even after some tough scrubbing, the stains persisted! Ah well. I know it is clean.


Then, we bought some hooks from the local hardware store. They were around $1 each.


My husband used the drill to drill holes into the tree branch:


While the baby watched on:


My husband got the hooks into the tree.


And tested it out to make sure it would hold.


I think it is a hit :)


And all for under $3!

He has been in it nearly every day since it was hung up. He loves it!

I'm joining Frugal Fridays.

I love baby laundry day

Creating a photo wall

I've always wanted a photo wall. I have tons of pictures to display and I think photo walls are homey and cozy! So last month I was on the hunt for picture frames. Originally I wanted a funky photo wall, sort of hodge podge and random. But most of the photo frames I found around the house and at second hand stores were black! I ended up sticking with a black theme.

I took pictures as I created the photo wall:

First I gathered all the frames and laid them out on the floor:


Next, I took some old wrapping paper, traced each picture frame and cut them out:


Then I transfered them to the wall:


And started hammering!


And the final product:


I have yet to fill all the frames. I need to find the perfect pictures!

Child's bench redo

It has been a busy busy busy past few days for us. To start, my parents were visiting us for four days. We love having them! We also had a garage sale on Saturday which was a great success!

I have lots of new projects on the go. I now officially have to stop myself from going bargain shopping! It's better to stay close to home for now, as it is just so hot out these days. Much too warm for the baby to be going from house to car to store to car to home again.

Some of our projects include: painting the kitchen, laying new floors in our bedroom, planning the design of our new bedroom, painting three dressers, painting the dining room, etc. Those are the big things, plus there are lots of little things in the works too!

So anyway, the other day a house down the street was piling things on the side of the road in a Free Pile. I stopped and chatted with the folks (their father had sadly passed away and they were preparing his home to be sold), and picked up a few great little things, including a child's bench.

I'm a bad blogger because I forgot to take a picture of the bench before I started painting it. But it was covered in an orangey coloured stain. Not really my style.

So here is a picture of the first coat of paint:



And after, set up in DS's room with some 123 baskets purchased from Ikea:



I love it, because it really adds something to his little room with white furniture :)

I am joining:

Southern Hospitality

Garage Salen