Pantry Staples for Quick Toddler Meals on the Cheap

Before my husband and I had our son, we would often resort to quick dinners consisting of dollar menu foods or take out pizza.  When we lived in a bigger city, we had several choices of fast food and casual dining restaurants and could get by without having to cook every night.  Not only was this lifestyle hard on our budget, it has taken a toll on our health over the years.

We moved back to our small home town last May and have very few dining options. My husband was not keen on the idea of moving back to our home town, even if it was only an hour north of where we were living last May.  His parents had an empty house as a result of moving to a new home in the country so it was a win win for the both of us financially.  We pay them rent and they don’t have the burden of two mortgages.  Not to mention all the perks of living in  house as opposed to townhouse with neighbors who play their music too loud.  Anyway….. where was I?  Oh yeah, food.

So when my son began eating solid foods, around 6-7 months, I started to be more conscious of the food I brought into our house.  Not only because I couldn’t just run around the corner to grab a few dollar menu items, but because I didn’t feel want to subject my son to our unhealthy eating habits.  Around about 9 months, my son started to eat more finger foods so I would purchase more fruits, cereal (generic Cheerios and such), and yogurt.  Oh how my son loves his yogurt.

When my son turned 1 year old, we started to feed our son what we were having so I had to start cooking healthier meals at home. That is not to say that we don’t still order take out occasionally or grab a quick meal at a fast food joint.  I am human and sometimes, after a long day of work, I really don’t feel like cooking.  However, when I do get in the mood to cook a healthy meal for my husband and son, it is nice to be able to go to my pantry and find some versatile pantry staples that can be thrown together quickly.

Some of my favorite go-to inexpensive pantry staples are

• Canned Beans  Oh the possibilities of beans.  I prefer to buy the vegetarian refried beans because I can just open a can, put it in a pan, and heat it up as a simple high protein side for Mexican dishes like fajitas.  You can always make your own refried beans for even less money but I prefer the convenience of canned beans.

• Whole Wheat Tortillas Store brand of course because we’re talking cheap here.  I use whole wheat tortillas for a quick cheese quesadilla for baby or, my favorite, bean burritos with aforementioned canned refried beans.  I make bean and cheese roll ups for my son all the time as a quick meal.

• Eggs Ok this goes without saying.  Everyone has eggs in their refrigerator but before we had a child, we had a hard time using a full carton before they went bad.  You can buy eggs for so cheap and make and freeze breakfast burritos, egg muffins, and french toast for a quick go-to meal.

• Peanut Butter  When my son refuses to eat, our go to food is peanut butter and it’s rich in protein.  A simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread is quick and easy to throw together.

• Bananas My son rarely refuses a banana especially with peanut butter!  I make homemade banana bread with overripe bananas and add flax meal to make it extra healthy.  I usually start with a basic banana bread recipe and add whatever mix ins I have on hand like blueberries, chocolate chips, or peanut butter.  Quick and simple banana muffins are a must have to satisfy your picky toddler.

• Dried Pasta Everyone has dried pasta in their pantry.  My favorite are the Barilla Veggie because I can sneak in veggies without my son our husband complaining.  I have at least 5 boxes of various different pastas on hand at any given time from rotini, linguine, rotini, bow tie, and penne.  Any time pasta goes on sale, I stock up so I have it on hand for a quick weeknight meal of chicken broccoli alfredo or spaghetti and meatballs.  I boil a whole box and store the extra cooked pasta in a quart size bag in the refrigerator for a quick go to baby meal.  Toss some cooked pasta with some cheese and mixed veggies and microwave for a quick baby dish!

Living in Ohio during the cold winter months, it is essential that I have a sufficiently stocked pantry because who knows when I’ll be able to make another trip to the store?  I do a LOT of shopping in bulk online through Amazon pantry so I don’t have to freeze to death in the cold.  Plus, as a mom, it’s hard to take a baby to the store who keeps fighting to get out of the cart.  If I could all my shopping online through Amazon, I would.

What are some of your go to pantry staples?

Why I Ditched the Baby Crib

It may sound crazy, but one of my biggest regrets I made when deciding what to buy for my newborn was purchasing a crib.  I actually didn’t intend to purchase a crib at all at first.   My idea was that I would just purchase a pack n play and set it up next to my bed to save money on baby furniture.  When I told my family this, they insisted on purchasing me a crib as a baby shower gift.  I couldn’t turn down a gift from my family so I graciously accepted their gift and helped my husband build it and set it up next to our bed.

A crib seemed like such an essential item to have for a baby that I never considered that it might end up in my storage locker a few months after my son was born. I researched hundreds of cribs and read horror stories about how the wrong crib mattress could spontaneously combust or suffocate my baby with trapped gasses. Ok those are exaggerations, but my anxiety was only enhanced through research on safe sleep studies.  Some of the things you read online about cribs will keep you up at night.

I obsessed over purchasing bedding and spent a lot of money on not one, but TWO different mobiles to attach to my baby’s crib.  My baby was ultimately unimpressed by my fancy projector style mobile that played several different sounds to soothe him to sleep.  It even had a remote to  turn it on from my bed without having to get up.  All my efforts to create a desirable sleeping environment for my baby were useless in the end.

I felt like I was handling a little time bomb every time I tried to lull my son to sleep and place him in his crib, he would immediately wake up.  He would only sleep well if he was on someone’s chest or being cradled in a baby carrier.  In the rare chance that I finally got him to lay in his crib, I would wake up in the middle of the night worrying whether he was breathing, if I had fallen asleep with him in the bed with me, if he was too cold or hot, if he was getting indigestion as a result of sleeping horizontally.

Baby Drew sleeping on his Nana’s chest (my mother-in-law)

My son slept next to my bed in his crib for maybe a month before I found a better sleep solution.  After my c-section, I found myself on the couch so as to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of walking upstairs with stitches.  It was during a visit to my in-laws that my mother-in-law gave us a giftcard and told us to get something for baby.  I had wanted a rock n play sleeper before my son arrived but had little luck finding one at the consignment store.  I did my research and found one within our giftcard price range on Amazon.  It was a Newborn Rock n Play Sleeper that had a detachable teething toy and vibration feature that we always forgot to turn off and burned out the batteries.

I don’t think I would have survived without my Newborn Rock n Play Sleeper those first few months.  As you can see, we used it all the time until he started to sit up on his own.  I think he liked his Rock n Play Sleeper because it kept him enclosed and gave him a sense of security that he got when we held him close.  I tried swaddling to create the same effect but he would always break free and I worried I was swaddling too tight.  I just propped his Rock N Play Sleeper next to my bed and it kept him at an slight upright position to help with digestion.

As a sleep deprived mother, it was nice to have something right next to my bed that I could rock him to sleep in without having to transfer him to his crib and risk waking him up again.  I felt at ease having him in arms reach and always recommend Rock N Play sleepers to my pregnant friends as a must have.

After about three months, we transitioned from co-sleeping into bed-sharing. I guess the Rock N Play was a gateway to bed-sharing  but that’s a whole other story I will explain later 😉

Drew with sleeping on the bed next to me with the crib in the background.

Frugal Cloth Diapering for Newbies

I don’t claim to be an expert on cloth diapering, however, I have picked up a few great tips over the year for cloth diapering on the cheap.  My husband is a stay-at-home dad and watches our 18 month old.  We are both college graduates and I recently earned my MBA and have been working from home until I can get my career on track.

Being the head of household and supporting my family on a single income, I try to save money everywhere we can and cloth diapers are a great way to keep our diaper budget on the low.  I had always wanted to do cloth diapering but thought it would be too messy or complicated.  While I was pregnant, I stocked up on disposable diapers when I could find them on sale.  After about of 6 months, my well-established diaper stash was starting to dwindle and I started to reconsider cloth diapering.

If you search Pinterest, you will find a plethora of cloth diapering tips.  All that knowledge is a little overwhelming to a first time cloth diaper newbie like myself and none of my three sisters with children had ever cloth diapered nor had my one friend with a child.

After searching Amazon for cloth diapers, I knew I didn’t want to pay $12-15 for just a diaper cover when, at that price, I could buy a few packages of disposable diapers.  After doing more research on cheaper options for cloth diapers, I found an Econobum trial pack for less than $12 that included 1 snap up adjustable diaper cover and 3 bamboo inserts.  Unfortunately, the price for an Econobum trial pack is now $17 but when you consider that you get 3 inserts, I still consider these a good buy for anyone wanting to try cloth diapering without spending a lot of money.

So my logic is that it’s like paying $11 for a diaper cover and getting 3 inserts for $2/piece

If you’re looking to invest a little more into your cloth diaper stash, Econobum also has a “Full Kit” which includes 3 covers, 12 bamboo inserts and 1 small wet bag for around $58

So it’s pretty much the same as if you were buying a trial pack if you think of it like this

$11 x 3 diaper covers =$33

$2 x 12 inserts = $24

$1 for a travel wet bag

I have never had any issues with these diapers and I’ve been using them for a little over a year.  They are basic white and I bleach them even though it says not to because I worry about how clean they’re getting in my wash.  I have purchased probably 6 trial packs and was gifted 1 Full kit for Christmas last year so I have quite a few inserts.

I can usually go a few days before I run out of diapers but I padded my stash with more covers from Kawaii Baby.

I stumbled upon these Kawaii Baby covers while I was deal searching and absolutely love them.

At only $4.90 per cover, I purchased 2 green, 2 light blue, and 2 yellow last year.  I like the velcro ones because they go on quick and my son refuses to let me change him laying down anymore…. He will scream every time I try to change his diaper these days so the quicker I can change him, the better.  I have used these covers for a year with my Econobum bamboo inserts and they work out really well.  No leak issues.  Only problem is I’m starting to see some wear on the stitching and have had to mend a few diapers by hand (because I’m sewing machine challenged)

At less than $5, if I had known about these covers sooner, I would have probably started my stash with several Kawaii Baby covers and just purchased some bamboo inserts separately online  but live and learn.  The Econobum bamboo inserts are really nice though and, when fold three ways, are super absorbent but a bit bulky.   I have trouble getting pants to fit over my son’s giant cloth diaper booty!

I also cut costs by using a trash pail and an old pillow case to store my soiled diapers.  I just throw the pillow case in with the wash and it makes for a great laundry bag to carry all those diapers up from the basement after it’s dry.

So these are my tips for getting started on cloth diapering.  It’s a a good investment and you’ll thank me if you buy just one trial pack when you run out of diapers on a freezing cold day and can’t make it out to the store for a package of disposables 🙂

The Adventures of Motherhood Begin

I was admitted to the hospital on Sunday night with pancreatits, gave birth to my son by c-section after about 8 hours of induced labor on a Tuesday evening, and finally left the hospital in the afternoon of Friday that week.  After a long, anxiety ridden week of anguish and excitement, my husband and I were finally going home with our new bundle of joy en tow.  We had attended several parenting classes: Childcare basics, Labor and Delivery, Infant CPR, and Breastfeeding.  We felt at ease that, having taken every class the hospital had to offer, we were prepared to be parents.  So it comes as no surprise, like most new parents, we were terrified and worried about every little thing possible when we brought our son home.  Ok, maybe me more so than my husband.  At least he was pretty good at pretending to know what he was doing.

When you find our you’re pregnant and announce it to the world, people are always quick to give their advice on parenthood.  The truth is, everyone’s journey is different and comes with different challenges and obstacles.  People always joke, “Sleep now, you wont be able to when you have that baby!”  Which is a bit of a joke when you’re pregnant and have to pee every hour of the night.  As an avid lover of sleep, I was overly obsessed with the amount of sleep I would get when we brought my son home from the hospital.  After waking up every few hours to breastfeed my son for a month or so, I was sleep deprived and stressed out.  I worried I would never get another 8 hours straight of sleep again for the next 18 years.  I regret to say I even considered giving up on breastfeeding a few times just so my husband could bottle feed and trade me places at night.  I’m so glad I didn’t because I eventually learned to love late night breastfeeding and bonding with my son in those early months but that’s a whole story in itself that I will discuss at a later time.

So a little unsolicited advice to new parents, hang in there.  It will get better, you will sleep again.  Maybe not at first, maybe not even the first year.  I know, terrifying right? If you are fortunate enough to have a partner in your journey of parenthood, work together as a team and don’t fight over who gets more sleep.  I can’t tell you how many arguments over sleep my husband and I had those first few months (and some still to this day 18 months later) but when we work as a team, we function so much better.  As in all relationships, nothing is going to be 50/50 but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try every day to make your partner’s life easier so you can both be the best parents possible for your child.  Those of you going it alone, don’t be afraid to ask for help from your family and friends.  It doesn’t mean you have failed as a parent if you have to ask your mom to watch the baby while you take a nap.  If your mother-in-law is like mine, she will gladly snuggle your baby for you while you snooze.  The old cliche that it takes a village to raise a child is so very true.

Above all, trust your instincts.  What works for your sister-in-law might not work for you, and that’s ok.  Especially when it comes to baby sleep habits.  But I promise to divulge on that issue later!  Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself and own your parenting style.  Be open minded but cautious.  I can’t tell you how many hours of research I’ve performed on parenting tips but that’s what’s so great about being a parent in the 21st century.  You can research anything these days and decide for yourself what is right for you and your baby.  Knowledge is your best friend but never underestimate your natural instincts as a parent.