Baby Food Jar Cozy

I crocheted this brown cozy around a clean baby food jar.  It's pretty simple if you know how to crochet in the round.  I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with the jar, but finally decided to use it as a gift jar for my uncle who has a birthday coming up and is a big coffee lover.  I added the ribbon for a little flair and thought it turned out really cute!

Muffin Tin Fill and Sort

L loves to fill, empty, and refill containers with objects.  He especially loves doing this with these colorful plastic building shapes and their plastic container.  I thought he might enjoy a new type of container, so I set out the muffin tin.  It was a hit...if only for a few minutes.  This little guy is ready to move on to the next fun activity pretty quickly!

Chicken, carrots, and stars

Most of L's food is homemade.  It's been a lot of extra work for me, but I've actually enjoyed doing it, plus homemade food tastes so much better than food from a jar.  However, he doesn't mind food from a jar at all and is very happy to eat pretty much anything.  But homemade food is cheaper and fresher, so I'm willing to go the extra mile.  Since he was about 8 months, we started moving from purees to more chunkier foods.  Chicken, carrots, and stars is one of his favorites.  Here's what I do:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cutlets, or tenders

Baby carrots, thinly sliced (or other vegetable)

Pasta stars (Stelline pasta)

Brush boneless skinless chicken breasts (I use organic chicken) with olive oil and bake at 400 for about 30-45 minutes, turning half way through.  I always use an instant read thermometer to make sure its at least 165 degrees.  I chop the chicken into tiny dice or use a food processor and then use ice trays to freeze individual portions.  I store the frozen cubes in a plastic container or freezer bag in the freezer. 

Now that I have a week or so worth of chicken in the freezer, I just pop out a frozen chicken cube and defrost in my BabyCook (but a microwave would work too) then add a steamed vegetable like carrots, broccoli, or zucchini and then toss in cooked tiny pasta stars.  Sometimes I make a large batch of an entire dish and freeze meal size portions which saves time in the end, but doesn't allow for as much variety during the week.

Baby Shower Card Book

I wish I could take credit for this genius idea, but I saw it on Pinterest.  Luckily, I've saved all our wedding cards and miscellaneous cards from the last four years...they're all going to be books like this one soon!