Healthy Recipe Round-up

Ever since J has been out of school {hallelujah!!} I have been back to cooking dinner for us around five times a week. I love to cook, and love knowing exactly what is going in to our bodies. It is definitely easy to make casserole after casserole, especially since I could make them during nap times- but that is not what we are shooting for. Im sure most people have heard of the Paleo diet, the hunter-gatherer concept. While we by no means are trying to go straight Paleo, I definitely have been trying to incorporate more of that in to our dinners, while keeping the rest of them still healthy regardless.  In order to keep J happy and actually excited to eat the meals, I have him help me pick out our meals every week. We sit down one night and I look up a bunch of options and he says yay or nay. I love that he helps me pick them out because that way he can never complain;)  These are some of our most favorite dishes and sides we have made lately, and I will keep updating with future ones! 5-spice slow cooker pork ribs from The Clothes Make the Girl

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These were so easy and so delicious. I didn't do what she said to do with the sauce, I simply spooned out a little at the end and put it over the meat. The chinese 5-spice used on these ribs was something I have never cooked with, and it added an incredible flavor. Another delicious recipe from The Clothes Make the Girl: Moroccan Grilled Salmon
We were loving salmon a lot this past week, especially because Sprouts had fresh wild salmon on sale for only $6.99/lb { I totally stocked up!!} so another recipe was more delicious salmon. This was SkinnyTastes Smoky Spice Rubbed Grilled Salmon.
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Health-Bent Paleo Orange Chicken. We love PF Changs and Pei Wei so much. When we go and were feeling smart we order our meat Velvet style {basically steamed instead of breaded and fried}. It tastes really great still, and now im so glad we found something to make at home that tastes just as good and is super healthy. I've got to admit though, I am a total breast girl- so when she said to use thighs, I ignored it;) via The final salmon we had was a Grilled Bluberry BBQ Salmon from How Sweet Eats. This salmon was to die for, so much so that I made it again the very next week. via
Some of the incredible sides we tried to the first time we so simple and so yummy. 
Black beans and corn went along with our smoky spice rubbed salmon. This side is the easiest thing ever and totally fits in well with a lot of dishes we make. We will for sure be adding this in to a regular rotation.   Cumin roasted carrot-coins. For a husband who doesn't really enjoy carrots, he loved these. So simple yet delicious. We also made a super simple sweet potato mash one night that was great. 

So tell me- what are you favorite recipes you have been making? Anything yummy-healthy-easy? Those are my requirements:):)

PS- With breastfeeding its very interesting for me. I am starving all the time, and honestly eat all the time- yet keep losing weight. I think my body is so not used to burning 500 calories a day. So while we are trying to eat very healthy, I am also not eating small portions. And believe me, I indulge in dessert..all.the.time. whoops! {Don't hate me for saying anything about the weight loss, I just didn't want people concerned that I wasn't eating enough calories in a day to keep up my supply}.

My Guide to Cloth Diapering

I have had a million and one people ask me questions about how we cloth diaper (CD), but have had my hands too full of poop to write out a post about it...kidding- i'm kidding people. Really though, I am so glad I am finally get this out there for people as a reference point. As of right now, we have three brands of cloth diapers, and they are all pocket diapers. We use Charlie Banana, Fuzzi Bunz, and Maci Grace. We also use cloth wipes, and surprisingly love them!  Well I love them J is still a little skiddish about them ;) For those who are just considering doing cloth, I highly encourage it. Here is a basic run-down of all the options for you out there:

• The most basic and cheapest option is Prefolds. A prefold is a large piece of fabric {can be any type ranging from cotton to hemp} that you use snaps and a cover with. Prefolds are nice if you have the time and patience, and really want to CD but don't have much money to spend. You can have a ton of prefolds and only a few covers since you only have to wash the cover if it gets messy {you can usually get 2-3 wears out of it}.

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• The next cheapest option is using Fitted diapers. These diapers are basically a prefold that is already in the shape you need, and has snaps or velcro built in. They still require covers, but again you only need a few covers for your stash. These are really great for babies that are really heavy wetters. The other nice thing about Fitteds is that you can get the diaper to be whatever absorbent material you like, and same for the cover.

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• What we use, Pocket diapers. These diapers have a waterproof outer layer, and then a pocket inside that you insert absorbent layers in to. The nice thing with pockets is that you can use whatever type of inserts you want, and however many you want. In reality I cannot imagine using three inserts, but i've heard some do. Pockets go on as easily as a disposable {especially if you get ones with velcro instead of snaps}.

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• The final type is an All in One{AIO}, or All in Two{AI2}. These are the easiest to use of cloth diapers. AIO are truly like a disposable, because they are one piece. No stuffing inserts needed, no cover needed, its all together. AI2s are super simple as well, except you can put in a liner that allows you to reuse the cover, and some AI2s even come with disposable liners that make CDing while traveling a whole lot easier. The down side to AIO and AI2s is that they take a lot longer to dry, and tend to show wear faster.

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Now that i've shown all the options out there, i'll show y'all what we do over here. 

This is our set-up. I have our cloth wipes to the left, the diapers in the main top drawer, and the wet bag off to the right:

Our wetbag is by Planet Wise, and it rocks. Baby poop doesn't exactly smell lovely, and between his diapers and wipes you smell nothing. Seriously. I generally have dirty diapers in there for about two days before doing wash and you smell not one trace of it in the room. We simply attached a hook to the wall and hang the bag from there. If you are wanting one that you can simply hang from the door, you can use something like this, or if you are wanting a diaper pail with a liner, then this is great. Our large bag holds about two days worth of diapers and wipes {approx. 15 diapers plus wipes} which for me is perfect because it makes me do laundry then. I could've gotten a bigger bag and more diapers, but I don't like letting them sit for too long. Now, if you used prefolds or fitteds you could fit a whole lot more in that bag, but with pockets {or AIO/AI2} they take up much more room.

Our drawer set up isn't that fancy, just functional. I always have all the diapers stuffed prior, and laying the same direction. Braylen is an insane heavy wetter so each of his diapers is always double stuffed. I think he could get away with using one insert if I was changing his diaper every 1-2 hours, but usually its more like 3 hours {unless theres poop obviously}, since he naps for about 2 hours always. By doing the double stuffing he never has leaks or blowouts, which I love. The thing that makes me nervous though is if he needs double stuffing during the day for a 3 hour period, how on earth could he go all night?! Well- since he just started sleeping through the night, I am not willing to risk him waking up because his diaper is leaking...so we use size 3 Huggies Overnights on him at night. They work fantastic! And I figure, one diaper a day of disposable is a whole lot better than 7+!

Our wipes are so easy to do/use. I have two types of wipes I use- one thinner and smaller for pee, one more heavy duty for poop. I keep them warm in our Munchkin wipe warmer.

For the wipe solution I keep it as simple as possible. It takes about 1 1/2 glasses of water, and I put a few glug's {so technical I know} of the baby castile soap in before pouring the solution over the wipes. I could pull out the wipes from the opening on top, but I find it easier to simple open it up and grab whatever one I need.

Here are the little tips and steps I follow to get the diapers on, and fast:

• For the Charlie Banana and Fuzzi Bunz diapers, they both come with a small and large insert. The MG diapers simply come with two of the same size. Here is the comparison in size for the CB's:

Since Braylen is a tummy sleeper, I need to always make sure that he has the most coverage in the front. I simply make sure that I have the two inserts stacked so that the overlap is fully in front, and the spot missing the extra length is towards his back. I also always make sure to have the tags right at the opening. This makes getting the inserts out a piece of cake.

Since these diapers are all a little sticky on the inside I have learned that it helps to put the inserts in with my hand almost in a fist. It helps shove the insert in, but not get caught up on the sticky side:

Bray wanted in on this photo apparently;)

The FB and CB diapers have adjustable elastic. The CB elastic adjusts only in the legs, and uses something similar to a bra strap adjuster, with labels of S,M,L, etc. It is super easy to adjust, and in the two months that Bray has been in cloth I have never had to re-adjust them. Here is CB elastic:

The FB has adjustable elastic at the legs and waist. You simply put the button through the hole and tuck the remainder in the slot above:

Here is FB suggested sizing chart. I started off using the numbers off of the chart, but have found that Bray needed something different. Always just adjust to what fits your baby best.

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• For getting them on, I always snap the hip snaps first, and then the waist snaps:

Pretty sure hes saying "Dont you dare judge my 'inny' nips;)"

 With the MG and the Charlie Bananas they have a ton of flexibility in the waist area for snaps since you dont have any elastic you can adjust there. Both diapers have the ability to snap over each other:

• And then once the baby gets a little bigger, you can do the normal snaps, and keep on adjusting

For FB diapers I still put both inserts in, with the overlapping part up front. The main thing you want to be careful with on these diapers is making sure that everything stays inside. I make sure that the inserts are tucked in:

Then I make sure that the fleece is tucked in. If this part is sticking out past the outer layer, then when the baby pees the wetness totally seeps out and on to clothes. Not that I have learned this the hard way are anything;)

The FB have a great fit on Braylen. Thats another thing to keep in mind, every diaper fits every baby differently. The only worry I have with FB is that he won't be able to wear them all the way through potty training because they will end up too small.

The MG baby diapers are the only ones I have that don't have any adjustable elastic. Instead of adjusting the elastic on the legs or waist, they have it there already set. Instead, you adjust it all by snaps. Currently I snap up the front because otherwise the diaper is way too long for Braylen. To be honest, these are my least favorite of my diapers. I feel as though, even with using double inserts, these always have a tendency to leak with him. By no means everytime, but more often than I would like. Luckily every diaper I own I have gotten on some sort of 'steal' site Babysteals, Zulily, Baby Half Off}, so I have always paid 1/2 price.

Now lets talk about how I get these things clean! It is actually so easy it's kind of ridiculous. Before I ever throw any diaper in to my wet bag I always take the inserts out. This helps not only prevent the diapers from ever getting mold but also makes washing them a breeze. For my FB I can almost always get the inserts out simply by shaking the diaper in to the bag, the CB diapers I usually just pull the tags, and the MG babys I have to pull it out just a little and then shake the rest.

To wash them I simply turn the bag inside out inside the washer, never having to touch any of the dirty diapers and wipes in there! We have a front loader Samsung VRT Steam washer and dryer. I add in all the extra settings like Prewash and Extra rince, make sure that its sets to hot/cold, and Heavy soil, and then save it to My Cycle, so that every time I do diapers I just have to hit the My Cycle button. You want to make sure that you have a cold rinse with no detergent first, then a hot wash, finished by a cold rinse. {Also side note, cloth diapering was how I manipulated J into letting me get new front loaders, so if you want to be a sneaky wife and get a new set just say you really want to CD ;)  That and I thought we would no longer need dry cleaning, but I ended up shrinking his shirts.}

I recently switched over to using Rockin Green's Hard Rock, Rage Against the Raspberries. We for sure have hard water here, so their Hard Rock is a must. You could totally get the Bare Naked Babies and end up with the same result as the Raspberry one, since they all come out with zero fragrance, but I love the way the raspberry once smells out of the carton;) Since I have a front loader I only use two tablespoons each time I do wash. It comes in a resealable bag, but I like to keep mine in a tupperware. Easier access and less mess for me:

For drying, I have two different methods. If I am in a time crunch, or its cold, or not sunny out- I will use the dryer. I make sure that it is on whatever your dryers version of tumble dry with low heat is, mine is Delicates.

If the weather is permitting for them to be outside, I definitely prefer that. J hasn't built us a clothes line yet, since we can't seem to find an appropriate spot for one in the back. So for now, its the front porch swing...I know- we like to keep things classy around here:) The sun is incredible at not only drying them fast, but also works as a natural bleach, taking out any possible stain. I don't usually dry my wipes out here though because they come back a little too crunchy for his booty.

So friends, this is how we do it. It might not be your preferred method, but it works the best for us. For those who are just considering doing cloth, totally do it! Don't, I repeat, don't get a huge bunch of one brand. That specific brand might not fit well on your kid, or randomly might make them have a reaction of some sort {Bray has never even had as much as a diaper rash since being in his CDs...while he did when in disposable}. Luckily, the diapers have a pretty good re-sale rate, but still just don't buy your whole stash in one type. Hope this helps y'all...now I gotta go change a diaper...just kidding- hes in bed and im enjoying a nice glass of wine:):)

Design Inspiration Monday

Some images that I am loving this week..hope you find inspiration like I have in them

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Quite possibly my most favorite bathroom I have seen in a long time via
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I love the floors here via
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DIY Tissue Paper Pom-poms

This past weekend me and a girlfriend threw my incredible sister her baby shower. It was so fun, but it was also crazy preparing for a shower that had 80 people invited! Thankfully only 50 were able to make it:) We attempted to do as many DIY things as we could, in order to make the shower beautiful but also not a million bucks. I had been in love with the look of tissue paper pom-poms for awhile now, and finally had the excuse to make them! Here were the simple steps I used to get big pom-poms.
Supplies:

• Tissue paper {preferably 20x30, but I used 20x20 and it was great}. Each pom-pom takes about 10 sheets
• Floral wire
• Scissors
• Clear string {or something to hold the pom-poms up}

Steps:

• Start by making yourself a latte, because these bad boys take some time to open up nicely:)

•  Ok, really you need to start by folding your tissue paper like an accordion, with each fold being about 1 1/2in. wide:

• Once the whole sheet is folded, then you are going to wrap the floral wire around the center of the bunch. I wrapped mine around about three times, and left extra to create a loop. You want the wire to be tight around the center, but not so tight that it tears the paper. You are going to want this loop so that you can easily attach the clear string to hang them from.

•  Next, cut the edges to a curve. Once the paper is opened this makes it look like a flower rather than a crazy folded mess.

•  Now heres the fun time consuming part. Start by separating the top paper from the rest. You have to be very slow and patient with this, otherwise you will end up tearing the paper. Try and open it as close to the center as possible {this will help the pom-pom to look more full}. Continue opening all the paper on one side, then do the next:

•  Attach clear string {I used thin fishing wire} to the middle loop, and hang. We used push pins to hang the pom-poms up. At first we attempted it with duct tape, but because they were so big, it wouldn't hold them past 15 minutes!

Sidenote- the white ones were borrowed from another friend, I didn't make those. Another side note, I had opened one of these, then started working on the cakepops from He!! and started freaking out over my time management and being able to get these done. Thankfully I have an incredible best friend who not only brought me over a doughnut to cheer me up, but she also opened up the rest of the pom-poms for me. How incredible is that?! Thanks Kylie!

If you are ever hosting a shower, party, whatever- I highly recommend making these. They are super easy, cheap, and beautiful. Just make sure you have a drink, good movie, or something fun to entertain you while opening them- patience is key:)

So tell me, what other DIY party tips or projects do you guys have? What works best for you?