Our Little Turkey

Ella’s 1st Birthday fell on the day before Thanksgiving this year. To make the day extra special I decided to make her a turkey costume. My inspiration came from a peacock costume I found on Pinterest. Here’s the deets!

 

1. Legs: I wanted orange tights for the legs, since it was around Halloween I thought they would be easy to find. Not true this year. There are some you can find on ebay and other sites but with shipping I didn’t feel like paying $15 for tights! So I bought some white ones at target for $4 (walmart has them for $3 I think) and then I dyed them with Rid. I first tried to use Tumeric to dye. But they turned out more yellow than I wanted so I caved and bought some Rid. I paid around $1.50 for the box and only used a little.

2. Body: I was looking for a brown long sleeved onsie. Also not as easy to find as you think. I guess you could also do the dye method again if you are having a hard time. I ended up find thing this one that said Gobble Gobble Gobble on it at TJ Maxx, I think it was last years style. It came with pants as well and I paid $7.

3. Feathers: For this I got a brown knitted headband. I found this on ebay for $1, including shipping. Then I went over to JoAnne Fabrics and got the tulle. I bought a few kinds to add to the texture. I got regular tool, glitter tool and a net kind. I got 1/8 of each color in glitter and net and 1/4 of the regular. My total was maybe $5. I cut into strips and knotted randomly onto the back half of the headband. It turned out way better than I imagined.

4. Bow: We love bows in this house, and Ella has a nice amount of hair to put them in! I have been wanting a really big one. I found this one on etsy for a few dollars.

I would love to see your little turkeys! I would also love to hear about any other costumes you have made for your babies.

Let me know if you have any questions!

UPDATE: Tiny Turkey was also able to wear the next year!

We’re Pregnant! Again….

We are back with another pregnancy announcement! Little Ella woke up to a Eviction Notice on her crib the other day. Poor thing 🙂 We originally saw this on Pinterest and loved it. We ended up mostly showing family/friends/facebook this photo. My parents came to visit however and we just let them walk in the room and read it. Some were a bit confused most got it right away. Here is what it says if you can not read it 🙂

“Please note that you are required to vacate the premises within 40 weeks as a new tenant is expected to move in in April. -Sincerely  The Department of Family Planning”

It doesn’t seem as if Ella is quite ready but she’s got a few months!

Chicken Stock

Today I’m making Chicken Stock or Broth.
I’m not exactly sure the difference. I read that stock uses bone but broth uses meat but then there is bone broth so that throws me for a loop. Another thing I read that is stock is cooked much longer opposed to broth that is done quicker. I like to stick to calling it stock since I’m cooking it for a long time!

There are a few reasons why I’m excited about this.

1. I feel like I make several recipes that call for broth. I used to buy the powder because it was cheap and I always had it one hand. Now that we are trying to eat better I figured I would make my own.
2. It’s free! Since I bought some organic whole chickens and we planned on eating them, I consider whatever is left (the bones) to be free since I would otherwise throw them away.
3. It’s super good for you. I’ve read some great blogs about the health benefits and let me tell you they are WAY better than whatever that powder was doing for us (or to us…).

Here’s what I did.

Cooked my chicken in the crock pot.

Deboned

Took everything left, that I didn’t want to eat – skin fat bones etc. and put back in crock pot

Added water (4-6 cups depending on how big your chicken was)

Added veggies (optional) – I have heard some say they don’t add anything. I throw in a little of whatever I have. Ideas are onion, garlic, carrots, & parsley.

Some cut or saw the bones to get more from the marrow. Others swear that apple cider vinegar helps pull out nutrients.

Turn crock pot on low. (you don’t want to boil it) some do 5 hours some say 10 I have heard up to 40! I try to shoot for 6-8ish.

Once your ready strain and pour into containers. I save glass jars from things like pickles & jelly and use those to avoid plastic. I like to have a bunch of 1 cup servings because thats usually what my recipes call for, but obviously you can do whatever.

Let cool so that the glass doesn’t break and then stick in freezer!

To get even more bang for your buck. After you collect your first batch, you can put the bones and such back in there again, put more water in and do it all over. I think I have only done it twice.

It’s pretty easy and doesn’t take a ton of work.

Here a great blog with more info: http://www.modernalternativemama.com/blog/2011/2/15/how-to-make-chicken-stock.html#.UXbwkL_I5uo

What do you like to use stock/broth for? Any ideas on how to feed it to my toddler?

Chicken Fried Quinoa (not rice)

Baby Girl has been very interested in what we are eating lately and less interested in the veggies I put on her tray. Thing is, I don’t always want her to eat what we eat. I’m trying to come up with more meals that we can all enjoy, and win win since it’s healthy for us too!

I’ve read bad things about rice and the arsenic levels (if you don’t know just google it) and decided that we would limit our rice consumption. I bought some quinoa to try and replace it so this was my first try. Chicken Fried Rice, er, Quinoa! Turned out great and tasted pretty much the same as rice! Here’s what’s in it.

Organic Quinoa

Organic Chicken

Organic Carrots

Organic Peas (frozen)

Farm Fresh Egg

Salt, Pepper, Soy Sauce

Follow any Chicken Fried Rice recipe but switch for Quinoa.

Got any good recipes with Quinoa?
Any super healthy meal ideas for baby girl?

DIY Cloth Wipes

Since we use cloth diapers I thought I would try out cloth wipes. I search online for several recipes for making your own but ended up not really following them after the first or second time. I found that cloth wipes worked better for us anyways because I could just wrap them up in the dirty cloth diaper and throw in the wet bag and wash with diapers. With disposable wipes I would have to find a trash can.

I ended up cutting a flannel blanket into pieces. I didn’t sew the edges, they worked great when she was younger, now they are fraying a bit. I also used thin bath rags. I made sure the thin ones were for wipes and thick ones were for baths. 🙂

BUT want to know a even sneakier & cheaper way!? We use 7th Generation wipes for when we are out of the house and I got lazy and would wrap them in the cloth diaper and then they would go in the washer. I would normally pick them out of the washer and then throw away. A few got put into the dryer and back into the mix with my cloth wipes. Guess what! THEY WORK REALLY WELL! I have also washed them more than once. They are my new favorite cloth wipe, and they are free to reuse and soft and hold moisture well. Amazing. I have not tried any other brands. I usually toss them in the trash when they seem like they are getting old and new ones are always being added to the mix since we use them when we are out of the house. I also like to use them for poops since I can throw them away.

As far as wipes solution goes I have a little bucket I put water from the tap in and squirt some baby wash (we use California Baby) in and just pour over the wipes. We keep the wipes in an old plastic wipe container. I then got lazy and just use plain water.

We have saved so much money only buying wipes for going out.

What do you use for wipes? Any great ideas? Have you tried doing this with other brands? Let me know!

We’re Pregnant!

Okay, so we are NOT actually pregnant. But I’m catching this blog up on old news. On our 6 month anniversary we took a trip to Florida to visit some of Justin’s family. (Nothing to do with 6 months) Justin ended up driving the whole way there. 26 hours I think. We did stop at a hotel. I slept in the back seat of the car. I would wake up and say “you okay? Want me to drive baby?” he would say “no I’m fine” and with that I would be asleep again. Turns out a few days later the pregnancy test said yes! No wonder I was so tired! I was about 5 weeks. On our way home we stopped at each of our parents houses to tell them the news. On Justin’s side of the family one of his sisters had several kids already but on my side this is the first baby. We sat them down and showed them a few photos of the trip. We saved this photo for last….

Justin looks like a weirdo in this photo but didn’t have much to choose from – and we are standing outside Taco Bell, keepin’ it classy

The reactions were great. It took them all a second to get it. My mom’s reaction was the best. She jumped and screamed for about 10 minutes I think while we just sat there with weird grins on our faces. Justin’s step-dad took a closer look for a minute to try to find the 3rd person before he got it. 🙂 We were all so so so excited and so so happy.

Here’s our 20 week ultrasound photo. IT’S A GIRL! We couldn’t be more happy. I always thought I wanted a boy first since that’s how it worked in my family and big brothers are good for protecting little sisters and making them tough, but the moment I got pregnant all I could imagine was a girl. I must have known. I didn’t tell anyone until the day before the ultrasound. I told Justin “I think I want a girl.” Best. thing. ever. 🙂 

Is this not the most adorable ultrasound photo you have ever seen? Look at her little nose! Cutest fetus in the world! 🙂