To buy or to make

So someone I follow on Twitter mentioned making baby food tonight and it got me thinking on the subject.

I used to make our dog food and dog treats along with meals for ourselves to put in the freezer for the week, every Sunday.  A few hours’ worth of work to ease the work week was so worth it to me.  We had a friend who’d come over on Mondays and ask what kind of “Pates” I’d made for the week and could she have some (She loved the beef or liver with vegetable ones).  I usually gave her some for the week and she’d eat it with bread or crackers more than her dog would.  You may be thinking ewwww! But it was human food ground up so it was a Pate.  She even asked how to make it when we moved away.

I rarely make the dog’s food or treats anymore with so many organic 100% USA sourced grain free products available but do enjoy making the whole families pet’s goodies for Christmas.

Since I no longer work outside the home I don’t need to do our food  anymore but I already know I’ll be tackling the baby food around here so I know exactly what our baby is eating. I’ve seen these elaborate baby centric food makers in the stores and online and I think, WHY? A good Cuisinart or blender does the same job and I already have them.  I also have strainers to ensure it gets the right texture and without chunks for stage one and two foods.  I understand that maybe you’d like to be able to pouch up your food for trips with a toddler but that won’t be me.  I’d prefer to keep the aluminum away from their food as much as possible.

I have canning jars in a 4oz size and those will work great for baby food. They even make plastic lids now for the jars.  I also have tiny glass Pyrex containers I can freeze the food in.  With the cost and/or additives even in organic baby foods, I just prefer to have them eat what we are eating since I’m cooking it anyway.

I realize I am writing this without a baby and the sleepless days and nights aren’t upon us yet but coming to us eventually. So I may be reverting to the once or twice a week cook and freeze method of a few years ago but at least I know it’s that important to me to make it myself. 

Baking, Cooking, Cooking, Baking I'm in Love!

 

I have always loved cooking, started making scrambled eggs at age 2 and moving up to grilled cheese and many other things by age 4. I began making cookies and candy with my mom and aunts for holidays around then as well, a tradition I hope to pass on to our little one.  Outside baking I never really used cookbooks to cook.  I'd just see what was on hand and throw something together.  Some of our favorite meals came about that way.

 I bought my first cookbook when Don and I started dating and boy was it a horrible one.  We still laugh about one meal I made exactly as the book said and it was hideous! That book went bye-bye but thankfully I didn't stop there and have many books now from vegetarian meals and ethnic cuisines to basic all encompassing books to baking.  I even gathered yummy recipes from the internet, long before Pinterest was around but they've made it easier to find way too many things to try.

My favorite time of year has arrived and the baking and making of good comfort food has begun.  I enjoy cooking anyway but I rarely bake unless the holidays are upon us or we can get fresh pumpkins.  I steamed some pumpkins and made a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting yesterday and in the oven now is pumpkin bread.  I’m keeping a loaf and taking the other plus the cake to my grandparents.

I also made lasagna yesterday to take to my grandparent's tomorrow. Grandma was super-excited to hear all the goodies I would be bringing down for them.  Her response is why I love to cook.  It makes my heart smile when people enjoy my food or shared recipes.  I can't wait to share my Love of cooking and baking with our son or daughter. I can only hope they'll love it half as much as I do.

Don's experiment and the dog who ate a shoe!

Today was a good day of running errands, stopping in to see my favorite waitress I haven't seen all summer and cleaning.  Then Don calls and wants to make Sriracha from scratch.  Well OK I get everything we have at home out for him while he grabs the peppers and sugar from the store before heading home from work. Everything looks good and as it ferments over the next 7 days it's like a little experiment.

 Our mix   

Like I've said before Don likes Hot, spicy food, sauces, etc.  He puts rooster sauce on darn near everything.  I'm sure it'll be good but we will find out in 7 days once he cooks it, strains it and tries it.

The more interesting thing is the dog who ate a shoe.  *SIGH* So back in July for some totally strange reason Tucker ate the side of my shoe.  Now my dogs aren't usually like that.  They tend to stick to their toys or bones.  Every now and again they get into something they shouldn't but this was beyond me.  I had just taken it off.  Well I bought a new pair of shoes. Fast forward to tonight and BAM! I hear a clink, clink of a dog tag and Parker isn't on his spot (he has a pillow on the couch) so I go find him in the bedroom eating the inner sole of my new shoe. GRRRR! Thankfully I caught him before he ate the shoe but good grief.  Why are my 8 year old dogs suddenly into eating my shoes? Of course I'll never know but it isn't how I wanted to end what was otherwise a pleasant day. So looks like I'm shopping at the outlet mall for shoes tomorrow because I don't know if inserts will work in half eaten Toms. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!