Since having my second daughter I have had two big goals in mind:

1. Breast feed for at least 6 months and,

2. Make my own baby food.

I am proud to say that Little V will be 6 months next week and breast feeding is still going strong! I only made it 6 weeks with my oldest daughter, so I feel so proud and accomplished that we’ve come this far.

I wanted to make my own baby food for many reasons. One huge reason- and I am not going to lie- was to save $$$. Having children can be very expensive and I knew if I could save money by making her food, that would be a huge help.

Today, I made baby food from carrots and it was soooo easy! And- here’s the kicker- it only cost me $1.50 to make 9 servings! It would be almost that much at the store buying only 2 servings of the Gerber Brand.

Major savings. I like it!

So, how did I do it? Super simple— I took a bag and a half of  fresh carrots that I purchased from Aldi for 99 cents a bag and boiled them!

That’s right… I just took a pan, filled it half way with water, dumped the carrots in, and boiled them for about 45 minutes until they were really soft and tender.

I didn’t realize it took so long for carrots to get super soft, so just keep that in mind when you’ve got them on the stove.

Once they’re done boiling, just scoop them out of the pan and into a blender to puree them. If they are a little dry when blending them, try to add some of the water that’s left in the pan. That way you’re putting back some of the nutrients that were lost in the boiling process.

I asked a friend to save her leftover Gerber containers for me so I could store my food. I also found a few glass containers at a garage sale for a buck that seal really nicely.

I’ve also heard you can pour the puree into ice cube trays and freeze them and stick them into Ziploc baggies when they’re completely frozen. Our freezer has an ice maker so I don’t have any ice cube trays right now, but I will definitely be getting those in the near future so I can cook and freeze the veggies ahead of time.

So, this is what I ended up with after boiling the 1.5 bags of carrots. A LOT OF FOOD! Not pictured is one of the containers because I had to let my little taste-tester give them a try to see what she thought.

Don’t let the lack of a smile fool ya… she ate the entire container. Yum yum!

I’ve also made pea puree from frozen peas, which were also super simple to whip up.

I tried baking Zucchini and Squash in the oven and those did not turn out the way I wanted, so I think I’ll hold off on making those for a while.

When I bough the carrots, I also bought a few avocados and bananas and pureed those in a blender and served them right away. I don’t recommend freezing or pureeing and then storing those since they turn brown really quickly. It’s best if you serve them fresh!

I hope you  enjoyed this little glimpse into my attempt at making baby food. What foods do you enjoy making and giving to your little one?

Congrats to Ginger, the winner of the Copy Kids DVD giveaway!  Be expecting an email from me soon. Woohoo!

I know sometimes it can be super hard to get kids to eat their fruits and veggies.

I feel like I am constantly drilling into my oldest daughter that there’s more to life than chicken nuggets and french fries.

Life is full of delicious and colorful fruits and veggies, and I want my daughter to experience that life, but sometimes it’s hard to get her motivated to eat healthier foods…..

Until now!

When I came across this product and was given the opportunity to review it, I jumped for joy because I knew that could quite possibly be the answer to get my daughter to fall in love with eating healthy foods and realize that eating healthy can be fun!

The product I was so excited to review and share with you all is called the Copy-Kids Eat Fruits & Vegetables DVD!

It is seriously a simple DVD chock full of cute little children eating (and enjoying!) fruits and veggies.

But what makes kids want to eat fruits and veggies when they watch this, you say?

Mimicry. They watch the children eating the fruits and vegetables in a fun way and they want to do it too!

So yesterday, I sat Big V and Little V in front of the TV and excitedly popped in the DVD for them to watch for the very first time. Big V was very excited to see what this DVD was all about. There’s nothing like getting a new present to try out!

Before I started the DVD, I grabbed 2 fruits and a veggie from the fridge that were also found on the DVD menu. I chose carrots, an apple and strawberries.

I really think having the food in front of your child at the time they watch the DVD is key to fruit-and-veggie-eating success. Make sure you have a bowl of whatever fruit or veggie you are going to show them on the DVD. This is very important.

We started our healthy food adventure with carrots! As I sat the bowl of carrots in front of Big V, she immediately asked me where the ranch was so she could dip her carrots in them. This is the normal way that she eats her carrots, so I was not optimistic that she was going to eat the carrots without her beloved ranch dressing.

I told her that I was not going to give her ranch this time and started the carrots segment of the DVD. I chose carrots from the cute and easy-to-read DVD menu (shown above on my OLD TV screen- pardon the poor video quality).

Here’s a photo glimpse of what she did next:

She started munching on them right away and had a blast consuming her carrots WITHOUT the ranch. She even found a fun way of eating them- right on her thumb!

Once we had success with the carrots, I knew the apples and strawberries would go by with a breeze. Here are some pics of her enjoying her yummy fruits:

She devoured her apple and strawberries in no time, and there was no coercing from momma to get her to finish them! I was so happy.

Here’s what was left when she finished her video segments. She ate half the carrots without ranch, all of her apple and the entire bowl of strawberries. She even asked for more strawberries!! Just the night before at dinner, I had to beg her to finish the handful of strawberries I put on her plate.

The Copy-Kids video made it so much fun for her to enjoy eating healthy and that makes a momma proud! I cannot wait to get more fruits and veggies for her to try out. I am especially interested in seeing if she will try green peppers and blueberries. She will not even go near those and hopefully watching the video will change her mind!

I thoroughly enjoyed testing this product out on my oldest daughter (5 years old) and cannot wait until my youngest (5 months) is old enough to participate in this video.

In the meantime, I want to give you the opportunity to win your very own copy of the Copy-Kids Eat Fruit & Vegetables DVD!

Check out the Rafflecopter widget below and enter to win. You have several chances to get extra entries, so get to enterin’!

After you’re done with that, be sure to check out Copy-Kids on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and visit their website at Copy-Kids.com. There’s a video teaser on their website that shows you what the DVD is all about.

Entries for the giveaway end Wednesday, June 21st at 11:59 pm. I’ll draw one winner by random. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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**This review and giveaway s sponsored by Copy-Kids. I was compensated with a copy of the reviewed DVD and a copy to give away. All opinions are my own.**

Tonight was family night with my girls and wonderful husband, so I wanted to whip up something easy, fun and delicious for all of us. I had the privilege  of trying this recipe last week with the in-laws and loved it!

Since the hubby wasn’t present when I first had these, I thought I would treat him to this salty-sweet and creamy bite-sized recipe.

I guess you could call this more of an appetizer, but these were perfect as a side as well.

So, here’s the recipe and a nice big picture to drool over. Yum.