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Hello Everyone!
If you’re subscribed to my YouTube Channel (which you totally should be!) you know that I did a baby swap box with one of my YouTube Friends!
Basically what we did was buy items for each other’s children and send them to each other!
It was so much fun – I wanted to share the videos with all of you here as well!
Be sure to subscribe to my channel so you never miss a video!
My Video of what Gina sent baby girl:
What I sent Gina’s kids:
This post contains affiliate Links
Hello Everyone!
So with the birth of my nephew coming *any*day*now* (hopefully) I feel like I am all about babies! I started baby girl with solid foods at around 6 and a half months old. Up until (aside from a two week stint on formula because of her hospital stay and needing to find out what was wrong) she was exclusively on breast milk. This is something I am incredibly proud of. Much more so than I ever expected to be once I entered into motherhood.
But like all babies eventually solid foods needed to be introduced. I knew before baby girl was ever born that I wanted to make her own baby food. So once my husband and I decided to start solids I went to work!
I researched everything from what food to start with all the way to ‘the proper way to use the spoon’ when trying to feed your baby for the first time. Basically the stereotypical over prepared first time mom stuff. (although I am shameless about it because I would much rather be over prepared than under prepared).
After posting the ‘first time with solids’ photos on facebook I mentioned I made the food myself. I actually had a couple friends message me asking me how I did it. Then a few weeks later I posted a photo of baby girl mowing down on some homemade avocado baby food (her all time favorite so far) and I received even more messages asking me how I make it, what I use, how I find the time to do it.
I figured if so many of my friends had asked me how I did it, there would be many other Mama’s (Dad’s too!) who were wondering the same thing. I know I read almost every article I could find from google!
Without further ado…
1. The first thing I do is choose the food I want to make – I usually end up making two different types of food at once. For instance I made butternut squash and apples one day – or carrots and pears a different day. I stuck to a veggie and a fruit a day (because I had a plan of introducing certain foods at particular times) but it really doesn’t matter. Just choose the foods you want to use.
2. Prep the food. This typically means peeling it (at least for most of the items) and then cutting it into small manageable pieces. (I’m not talking about dicing it – just don’t peal a sweet potato and then work with the whole potato intact – cut it into smaller pieces).
3. Cook the food. So far for me I’ve only steamed it. I am going to be making my way into peaches and nectarines in the near future – and I don’t believe you can steam them – so I’ll have to let you know how that goes.
4. Blend the food. I have a VitaMix – they are kind of pricey but they are so very worth it! I’ve had mine for a couple years now and I just love it. Basically you take the food from the steamer and blend it – but don’t throw out the water from the steamer! I also recently started using the Baby Brezza maker. It literally steams and processes the food for you – it’s great!
5. Fix the consistency. From everything I have read on the topic there ends up being a lot of nutrients from the fruit or veggie you are steaming in the water left over. I always take some of the water and add it back into the puree I just made. This helps with thick consistencies you typically get with carrots, potatoes and squash. Don’t add too much though! Just a little bit – I even add breast milk to the food *day*of* eating it.
6. Freeze. So I switched to the Mumi & Bubi freezing trays. They are super easy to get the food out of because it is just icecube like – you push on one side and it literally pops out. The cubes themselves are around 2 tablespoons each so it makes measuring out the amount of food easy. I found them on Prime Day for amazon and hopped on the deal right away.
7. Store. I store the food in freezer bags and make them about as air tight as I possible can. I label and date the bags and put them in the freezer.
That’s it. When I make two foods (pears and carrots) this is how it typically goes.
I peel the pears, cut them, and throw them in the steamer.
While they are in the steamer I get the blender out, the trays ready and I peel the carrots.
Once the pears are done I take them from the steamer and put them in a bowl. I then take the left over water and put that in a separate bowl.
I clean the steamer, throw the carrots in and get them steaming.
While the carrots are steaming I put the pears in the blender, blend, and add the water until I get the consistency I want.
I then take the puree and put it in the trays.
By this time the carrots are usually done and I clean the blender, throw the carrots in, puree them, add water as needed, and put them in the trays.
Voila, homemade baby food and it *might* take me an hour and a half to do it all (depending on how much food I’m making). The most time consuming part is the actual steaming of the food.
I’ve made sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, pears, carrots, avocados, mangos, and bananas so far. I made all of these on 4 seperate days and I’ve probably spent a total of 5 hours making all of this food. It has lasted a month and a half so far – and I still have enough for another 2 weeks at least! Hopefully that helps everyone gauge how *time*consuming* it is… because I really don’t think it is too bad.
It’s been really busy over in my neck of the woods. There have been a few business opportunities that popped up and I had to take advantage of – which caused for an accidental hiatus from blogging. Hopefully I’ll be able to explain more in the near future once things get a little more set in stone.
But – I’ve been posting videos to my YouTube Channel about part of a baby shower gift my mom and I did for my sister. It’s the “Welcome Wagon”. This post isn’t about the gift though. If your super interested in the Welcome Wagon just watch the videos on my channel here and here. I do have a third video detailing everything that went into the wagon scheduled to go up soon. Don’t for get to subscribe here so you don’t miss it!
This post is just some photos I snapped of the Baby Shower my mom and I threw for my sister.
Hi Everyone!
Today I wanted to talk about Groupon (again). I know you’ve heard me talk about Groupon before but I was reached out to about doing a sponsored post for them. As always all opinions are my own and I would never accept payment in exchange for a good review.
As I said earlier I know I’ve mentioned Groupon more than a few times before on my blog. I did an entire post ranting and raving all about Groupons Coupons once I realized Groupon had coupons! I have been an avid Grouponer well before I ever started my blog, and to be honest since my little girl arrived I’m always checking it for new toys to get her (it’s almost starting to become a problem). An entirely new Groupon world was opened up to me once baby girl arrived. The Groupon world of baby items. It seemed to be all I would look at for most of the past few months.
However I’ve recently started to get back into what drew me into Groupon prior to baby girls arrival, all the local deals. I absolutely love how you can find deals and offers from businesses just down the street – I generally am a fan of supporting local businesses to begin with, but I am an even bigger fan if I can get a discount doing it (after all I am a couponer at heart).
They now have so many options for Health, Beauty, and Wellness Groupons and it can be completely tailored to your location, it’s actually quite cool. They have everything from manicures to massages to restaurants. (I must admit I’ve personally tried all three from local Groupons on more than one occasion and was thrilled each and every time). I actually am constantly checking for a particular restaurant’s Groupons and the second (I literally mean the second!) I see one I will purchase it (it’s a very good restaurant)!
Since many of my posts have been about beauty lately it certainly is worth mentioning all the Savings that Groupon does have to offer in the Beauty sector!
Hello Everyone!
I have more Apps to share with you.
If you are not already saving money with apps – You really need to hop on this bandwagon! I use a ton of apps whenever I go shopping. Granted I have a few favorites (post on that to come) but there are some store specific apps that – if you shop at this store – you really should be using.
The Meijer MPerks app is one of these store specific apps. I’m in the Great Lakes region and I shop here all the time. There are so many great ways to save with this app.
First off there is pharmacy rewards – sign up for these and every time you fill a prescription you plug in your number at checkout and it gets added to your account. Once you pick up/fill 5 prescriptions at a Meijer Pharmacy you will get a point. You can trade in that point for your choice of 5% off your entire purchase, $0.50 off per gallon for up to 30 gallons at a Meijer gas station, or $10 off your purchase bucket coupon. (You can save that point and once you hit 2 points everything is doubled).
Then there are also personalized rewards. These you have to activate every month (or whenever they expire – sometimes it not on a monthly schedule). These rewards are simply you purchase a predetermined amount in a particular ‘category’ and then you get a bucket coupon off of your next purchase.
An example of this is “Spend $50 in produce and get $3 off” so until this expires (date stated at bottom of reward) every time you shop there the amount you spend on produce will continue to be tallied towards this $50. Once you hit it – you will be able to clip the coupon in the app.
Finally you can also just clip coupons in the app – both Meijer coupons as well as manufacturer coupons. These will come off once you plug in your MPerks number at checkout.
Sometimes Meijer will even have ‘codes’ that are released on their facebook page for free products. You go to the app, type in the code, and clip your coupon.
If you missed any of the other Apps that Pay You Series catch up:
Apps That Pay You – Checkout51
Apps That Pay You – SavingStar
Apps That Pay You – Swag Bucks
Apps That Pay You – Receipt Hog
Apps That Pay You – Receipt Pal
Apps That Pay You – Survey Mini
Apps That Pay You – Find & Save
Apps That Pay You – Punch Card
Apps That Pay You – RecycleBank
Just think of all the savings you could have if an offer overlaps between all of these apps!
Hello Everyone!
I have a fun and exciting new (at least new to me) Subscription Box for you guys today! This is the Treatsie Box. Treatsie reached out to me and wanted to know if I would review a box – the exciting part is after I posted a photo to my instagram they wanted to also host a giveaway for one of you to also receive your own box PLUS your choice of an add to box item!! As always all opinions are my own and I would never accept payment in exchange for a positive review.
Treatsie is a high end Artisian treat Subscription box. Each month you receive 4 to 6 items with the total box being around $25. Each box is a surprise that has a combination of full-size, sample-size, and delux-sample-size Artisian treats. They offer a variety of desserts, from brownies, cookies and creative bars to chocolate bars, toffees, caramels and chewy fruit candies
In the box that I received I had 4 items. My favorite item was by far the Acid Drop candies (I’m a sucker for hard candies). These were so tasty. They had a sweet and sour mix to them that was seriously on point!
I also received two gourmet cookies (Chocolate Espresso and Cinnamon Pecan). These I let my Husband have because he had been hovering around the entire time I made the unboxing video to see if he could have them (it was kind of funny). He thought they were great. The Chocolate Espresso was his favorite and he told me that they tasted exactly like you would expect them to given their names.
Last but not least – the Caramels – if you ever watched any of my deal videos on YouTube you know how I’m always getting caramels because I love them so so much! Plus these Artisian Caramels had the most adorable packaging that just made them look fancy!
Overall I was VERY impressed with this artisian style treat and desert subscription box. The treats were high quality items that both look and tasted like a gourmet dessert. This box is hand-selected by the Treatsie team; each box is a variety of sweets that were sourced from artisan candy makers from all over the country. They also have a 24 hour shop where you can purchase artisian candy from as well. There are discounts for signing up for quarterly and annually billed subscriptions and paying in advance. Monthly is $19.95, Quarterly is $18.95 per box Annually is$16.92 per box.
You can watch my Unboxing video here:
Now for the fun part – the Giveaway! One of you guys can win a Treatsie box and YOU get to choose an add to box item from the photo below!
The hard part will be deciding what item you want to add! Enter the Giveaway Below!
Treatsie Subscription Box Giveaway + Add to Box Item – Come Save Away
Hello Everyone!
So I have something that I’m very excited to share with you today. This is the Ultimate Guide to an Affordable Disney World Vacation. This book was provided to me for my consideration and review. I would never accept payment for a positive review and All opinions are my own.
As many of you know I have a daughter – and she just loves Mickey Mouse (I have the clubhouse show DVR’d so we can ‘Hot Diggty Dog Dance’ whenever we want to.) So when I was asked to review this book I was super excited. It combined two of my favorite things – saving money and Disney World (Disney World is new on my all time favorite things list I must admit).
It may be the Magic of Disney or the fact that we permanently have Disney Junior on our TV over here – but I am SO very excited to take baby girl to Disney World when she is old enough. I know that everything Disney comes with quite a price tag – so this book was something I wanted to share with all of you because I found it Beyond Helpful when it comes to tips and tricks to save at Disney. The Author, Kevin, does an amazing job at explaining in detailand with examples how to literally save thousands of dollars on your Disney Vacation.
Thousands!
The really cool part is that a lot of the tips in the book can really be applied to travel in general when it comes to the flights, hotel, and rental car chapters!
The single thing I found most helpful was using credit cards to your advantage. I know I’ve talked about using credit card point systems before but that was just basic surface level stuff. This book has a chapter that delves into it much deeper and basically explains (pretty well I might add) great ways to use (what I call) Travel Hacking to pay for a good chunk of items on your Disney Vacation Checklist. When you do this you end up paying a fraction of the cost on your flights and if you do it right you may get them for free all together!
Of course there were many other helpful tips in the book (some I had zero idea about) for example the priceline name your price tool – I’ve heard of it but didn’t actually realize it was a legitimate thing (I know – where was I living – under a rock?!) but how to use it is explained step by step. Even the best way to approach how to actually come up with a bid for the car – and also how to negotiate the price a bit if need be. This (along with flight and hotels) could be applicable to travel in general.
I didn’t realize that Hotel Rooms could truley be discounted A TON with Hotel Reward points. I knew they helped a bit but I didn’t realize the extent you could get discounted if you do it right! This book explains how to gain and use points to your advantage and get them working for you.
Those three things alone (Flights, Rental Car, and Hotel savings) should be a reason for EVERYONE to want this book – not just people who want to go on a Disney Vacation. Then there is the added bonus of how to actually save on all the Disney items.
What the book covers that is Disney Specific:
There are so many great tips in this book for your Disney Vacation it would be difficult for you not to save money after you read it.
Now comes the exciting news! We are giving away 10 (Yes TEN!) e-book versions of this book! Simply enter below! The Giveaway ends on July 7th!
Hello Everyone!
If this is your first time here – welcome and I hope you stick around! Don’t forget to subscribe on the right hand side of this site. You will be sent an e-mail only when I post.
As many of you know I’m a long time subscriber of Julep and I just LOVE their polish and make up! I know I’m posting this in May (oops) but this was one of my favorite boxes that I’ve ever received from Julep.
First off if you want to try Julep for yourself head on over here (use code FIRSTBOX with a 3 month subscription to get your first box free).
This month when you added select polishes to your box you were able to receive the white polish for free.
*Yes please*
I am a sucker for deals like that!
The white color is called Brigitte and it is your classic white.
The red/maroon color is called Marissa. I’m not going to lie I thought this was more of a purply color when I added it to my box. It’s a lot darker than I thought it would be. I originally was expecting a spring-type color but to me this looks more like a fall color. I still really like it – it just wasn’t exactly what I had expected.
I’m sure adding a lip product to my box comes as a huge shocker! I just love lip products – especially this particular line of gloss that Julep has! This one is a sheer nude color called Timeless and I just love it! It’s perfect for everyday wear.
The last item I had in my Maven box this month was the don’t leave your brows at home – taupe brow powder. I’m not going to lie to you – I’ve been out of the ‘brow’ makeup game since day 1 so this is one of the first dives into the world of brow makeup for me. On one end of this is a brush and the other end is the powder. So far I’m incredibly happy with this brow powder – I don’t use it every day – but some days I’m honestly in full blown stereotypical mom look mode because the day just gets away from me. But so far I’m quite thrilled with this and I really love how I look when I use it.
You can watch my Unboxing of this box on my YouTube Channel here. Don’t Forget to Subscribe to my channel – I have a lot of fun on there and I love connecting with new people! Plus I am super excited about each and every new subscriber I have!
Hello Everyone!
I wanted to share a very fun subscription with you all today! It is Scentbird. I was sent this for my consideration but as always all opinions are my own and I will never accept payment in exchange for a positive review. If this is your first time here – welcome and I hope you stick around! Don’t forget to subscribe on the right hand side of this site. You will be sent an e-mail only when I post.
Without further ado
Scent bird is a subscription for perfume and it can be complacently customized. It is only $14.95 a month (use code “NEW15” for 15% off your first month) – not to shabby in my opinion.
First things first there is a TruScent match that Scentbird has and I have to say it worked pretty well with me. You basically take a short quiz and it filters out some scents that you may like based on your answers. I will say that it pulled up a lot of perfume I already knew I loved. I wanted to get the full effect though – so I went with a scent I had never tried before.
You will receive this black case and this is what you will keep/use your scents from each month. On your profile you can have scents you want to try all lined up and ready for the next few months. You simply twist it and spray. I
The next month you will receive a new tube of perfume to try (as you can see I pulled my perfume out of the black case itself – this is how your perfume will look when you receive a new one to put into your black case).
Pros:
you can customize the entire subscription
you get a decent amount of perfume
love the sleek look
Cons:
If you don’t like the perfume you ended up with – you do have a decent amount of perfume you may never use.
You can watch my Video on ScentBird here:
Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel!
This is a sponsored post but as always all opinions are my own.
Hello Everyone,
Apparently I’ve been living in my baby/prep new-mama bubble for too long because Groupon has Coupons! How did I miss this?
As many of you know I’m a BIG fan of using coupons and saving money (kind of what started me blogging in the first place). So I wanted to share with you something that I had no idea even existed until about a week ago. The Groupon Coupons feature. This works in conjunction with the Snap App so you can search for deals or coupons within the app while you are out (which you should definitely do).
There are over 70,000 coupons for over 9,000 stores which can be overwhelming if you are just browsing. However Groupon makes it’s easy – if you are looking for a specific store you can simply search for the store within the coupons tab. If you want to browse for makeup deals, or baby deals, you can simply search through the category. I love this feature. That way if I’m specifically looking for makeup coupons – I don’t have to sift through travel or toy coupons to find them – I can simply go to that category and look from there.
Just this morning I was looking at the Target coupons and there were 78 coupons available! These obviously change as they expire and new ones are added so the number of coupons available at any given time may change but as an avid extreme couponer this is impressive! The great part is that this feature works great for everyone plus the variety of coupons out there cover so many types of categories.
Here are just *some* of the stores you can find – and as you can see there is something for everyone!
That’s just to name a few! This is a great way to save some extra money and it certainly doesn’t hurt to look at this feature before you go shopping at a store! Plus a great way to always stay up on deals is to follow Groupon on twitter and facebook. That’s how I have found some random (but awesome) deals.