Homemade Teething Biscuits: 4/5

Baby girl has been teething. We waited and waited for a tooth to show itself. We blinked. Then four teeth appeared almost all at once! Naturally, I decided to buy some teething biscuits. We checked several stores but couldn't find any in the baby food aisle.* What?? I know my little one isn't the only teether out there. But then I remembered this pin. I could MAKE my own biscuits.

The recipe was simple to whip up during naptime. I swapped squash for the bananas since we didn't have bananas (what child doesn't like bananas? and prefers veggies to fruits??). I would recommend using something a little sweeter like sweet potatoes though. They taste awful to me! Ha! But the important thing is that this little one loves them. See?

Sorry, the picture is from my old fashioned, not-smart phone. But I think you'll agree the subject is still pretty darn cute.

Two last suggestions: 1.) Be prepared for a mess. Because the biscuit gets soggy, hands get sticky, then everything she touches (which is everything) also becomes sticky. And orange! 2.) I had to bake the biscuits about 20-30 minutes longer than the recipe suggested. I may have left the dough too sticky, but just keep baking until they are dry and crisp. Oh, and remember they will firm slightly as they cool.

*Note: I have since seen some barley biscuits in the organic aisle. When my own run out, maybe I'll give them a whirl.

Best Way to Ripen Peaches: 5/5

You know the old paper bag method of ripening a peach? Well, I never have a paper bag on hand. Almost never. I admit, with shame, that I've tried to ripen peaches inside a greasy fast food bag. Don't be like me. Try my new favorite. It's the Best Way to Ripen Peaches.

This guy knows what he's talking about. I have converted to ripening using a tea towel (or other linen), and I am so happy! It works much better than using a paper bag anyway, and I always have a clean towel to use. Trust me, this is the way to go.

By the way, I'm sorry for the long absence! I having been working on a few projects, recipes, and crafts. I just haven't been blogging about them. I am catching up though, so you should be seeing regular Tuesday posts again. I'm sure you've been devastated without them. Ha, I'm sure you didn't even notice.

72 Hour Kits for Babies - Special Post!

I came across a pin about 72 Hour Kits for Babies. Of course! We would need one for the baby too. I have used the Food Storage Made Easy for reference before and was pleased to see they had a section on infant 72 hours kits.

I didn't follow the list exactly but used it as an excellent jumping off point. Here is what I have:

Of course, the kit has changed a little as Angela has grown, and will continue to change. But here are my basics:

• Infant acetaminophen (Tylenol)
• Travel-sized shampoo
• Travel-sized lotion
• Travel-sized baby powder
• Travel-sized baby soap
• Desitin
• Two onesies and one pair of little pants
• Socks
• Infant-sized towel (is soft and can double as blanket, if needed)
• Little washcloth
• Bib
• Jersey-knit blankets (2)
• Muslin blanket
• Diapers
• Wipes
• (6) 8 oz. ready-feed formula bottles 
• Empty Playtex drop-ins bottle
• Drop-ins for the bottle (I figured this would allow us to get by without washing the bottle over and over)
• Extra nipples for the bottle
• (5) 2nd-stage prepared baby foods

Now. Here's the important part. I do NOT leave home without a well-stocked diaper bag. In a disaster, the diaper bag is coming too! Here is the list of my diaper bag contents:

• Diapers
• Wipes
• Bib
• Blanket (usually muslin)
• Pacifier
• Few toys/books
• Change of clothes (onesie and bottoms)
• Container with powdered food (pumpkin in our case), powdered formula, and rice cereal
• Four little spoons
• Card with pediatrician's info
• Cold storage compartment for already-made bottles
• Extra bottles (already-made)
• Wet storage bag for damp clothes or dirty diapers or whatever you need to seal and store

Keep in mind, this is a list adapted for our family, our baby's needs, and our environment. We live where it is HOT. We are not likely to need more blankets, even in the colder months. Keeping hydrated is going to be much more critical than food, so we need more bottle room than baby food space. Lastly, fitting all of this was a little tricky, so I had to be clever. For example, I rolled up the bib, socks, etc., and stuffed them inside the empty bottle:

Also, rolling blankets and clothes takes up less space than folding. I'd love to hear your tips and ideas for baby 72-hour kits! Please share in the comments!

Play Group Granola Bars: 4/5

I am always searching for the perfect granola recipe. It seems like something simple enough to make at home, but it's not. Which is probably why the grocery store has half an aisle dedicated to nothing but granola bars. That doesn't even include the granola in the cereal aisle! Anyway, the recipe play group granola bars from Allrecipes.com is among the better ones I've tried. They had great flavor, especially the vanilla. The texture wasn't perfect--just slightly cakier than I like--but I will be making these again.

Dark Chocolate Blueberry Muffins: 4/5

Can you tell that I love muffins? I do. So very much. They are easy to whip up, and they are even easier to grab in the morning for breakfast. Or later in the day for a snack. This is another muffin recipe I've had in my to-do stack for awhile. Oh my heavens. These were so good! I'm afraid to say it, but I would leave out the blueberries next time. They made me feel like I was eating something healthier, but they didn't add much taste-wise for me. This recipe does call for dark cocoa powder. This is not your usual cocoa powder! I first learned about it through Joy the Baker's Midnight Black Chocolate Pudding (another winning recipe!). If you are looking for something with extreme chocolate, I highly recommend you find some. Lastly, I am incapable of following a recipe exactly, so I did not use pastry flour. I used a 50/50 mix of all purpose white and wheat flours, as suggested in the comments.

Holepunched Cards as Keepsake: 5/5

Do you keep all of the cards you receive from people? I do. When my dad passed away, I realized he kept 100's of cards he'd gotten over the years. I went through them all and kept the ones that were sentimental or especially funny. Even though I bemoaned my dad's slight hoarding instinct while going through the rest of his things, I was glad to have those memories.

The problem is that these cards take up space! And they're a pain to organize. My dad had a box. And it worked. But it wasn't great. I, on the other hand, had a folder or two in our filing cabinet. It didn't work much better except that it gave me reasonable space constraints (so I couldn't save too many, which I saw as a good thing). SimpleMom.net has some wonderful ideas here! I have used the scrapbooking idea for Baby Girl's cards in her keepsake book, and I loved it! Sadly, it took about a billion years (or at least several hours) to cut apart all of her cards and attempt to collage them artistically. I liked the journal idea but don't have a journal that can be taken apart, so the hole punching thing would be out of the question.

Some pinner along the way had an idea to hole-punch the cards and make them into their own "book." No extra writing required! I gathered all of my folders and sorted the cards. I made categories such as, from Mom, condolence cards, from husband, etc. Then I borrowed a friend's fancy hole-puncher and got to it! I am terribly ashamed of my photography, but I was super excited about the book results!

P.S. The card with the orange and yellow birds was made by my talented friend Meredith. You can check out her other lovely work on her website Lily Jane Stationery. I wish she lived closer so she could take my pictures for me!

Honey Lemon Olive Oil Muffins: 5/5

Weird, right? Who puts olive oil in a muffin? This recipe intrigued me enough to bookmark even before my days of Pinterest. However, it baffled me enough that I put off making them for two years. I'm so glad that I finally caved and tried them. Delicious! The olive oil was just a faint background note, but that little hint was great paired with the lemon and honey. I admit I was too lazy to make a glaze; I'm sure they would taste even more amazing with it. Also, we had some fading blueberries in the fridge, so some of the muffins were technically Honey Lemon Blueberry Olive Oil Muffins. Both ways were yummy! But I would recommend adding the blueberries into the batter instead of remembering them after all of the muffin batter has been scooped into the pan. Otherwise your muffins will look like alien muffins. Like mine.