WFMW: Teething Remedy

Our son started teething at 5 months and is still going strong at 12 months with his eye-teeth making their grand debut.

Needless to say, this teething phase has caused much drooling, discomfort and crankiness (for all parties involved). We tried the standard remedies (frozen rings, frozen cloths, teething rings, gels, ...) with limited success.

Alas, we found the Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder. We put frozen fruit, ice chips and even Popsicle's into the mesh feeder and let him suck on it. He loves it and based on his sudden mood change, it diminishes his discomfort.

You can also put any type of food into this feeder for an infant to feed on to reduce the risk of choking. It's great to take along to restaurants for this purpose.

We purchased ours at Target. There are 2 feeders in a package costing roughly $5.
It Works For Me!

Click here to subscribe to the What Works For Us feed.

I'm Nacho Mama

My garden is still bearing tons of produce from tomatoes to peppers and more. So after making all my other favorite tomato recipes, alas, we turned to nachos. Because I am - Nacho Mama.

After Bear went to bed (seriously, who could actually taste let alone enjoy this with a toddler around) I put tortilla chips on a plate, covered with seasoned taco beef and then smothered it with a mixture of homemade salsa and cheese and all the garden leftovers. How's that for a quick and easy nacho recipe.

I highly recommend this to anyone in need of a good ole fashioned pig-out.

Click here to subscribe to the What Works For Us feed.

Garden Fresh Salsa Recipe

My garden is overflowing with tomatoes, peppers and jalapenos. We canned over 24 pints of fresh salsa this weekend. That's A LOT of salsa! My Mom and I have tweaked this recipe for years. It tastes awesome; it's thick with a tint of a kick and a little sweetness on the side.

Garden Fresh Salsa Recipe

(1 batch = 4 pints)
5 cups peeled and chopped tomatoes

2 large onions chopped

6 oz. tomato paste

2 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp sugar

2 jalapenos cut up very fine

1 green or red pepper chopped
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Mix all ingredients well. Put in a large kettle and bring to a slow boil. Turn heat down to lowest setting and simmer uncovered for 2 hours until desired consistency. Can it or freeze it from there.

And if you still have tomatoes left over, here are some other excellent tomato recipes.

It works for us.

Doubt Means Don't

Looking at my list of postings, I notice I have a significant amount of posts still in draft mode. Posts that haven't seen the light of day, or the index of Google.

These posts contain content; some better than others. They've consumed my time to write. Yet I can't get myself to actually hit the Publish button. Some of the content contains more than just crumbs for the world to see and is intensely personal. I want to share, but I don't want to share. And others - well let's just say they're stupid for lack of a better word. Does that even make sense? Why draft them then?

I remember hearing someone once say (not sure who - so let's go ahead and give Oprah the shout-out again) that doubt means don't. And I've tried to apply this thought to everyday life.

Before telling a potential harmful joke, before sending an e-mail, before purchasing an item, before making an important decision.

Doubt means don't.

So for now, these posts will stay in draft mode until either my doubt subsides or I hit the delete button already and permanently erase them from my tiny, over-worked brain.

If you found this post amusing or helpful, please subscribe to the What Works For Us feed.

photo © David Martín :: Suki_ :: for openphoto.net CC:Attribution-ShareAlike

EASY Tomato Recipes

Help! My garden is overflowing with tomatoes! What are some of your favorite super simple tomato recipes? Did I mention SIMPLE?

Here are some of my favorites that I've found, but I'd appreciate any of yours!
(1) Tomato and Feta Salad
(2) Garlic Basil Tomatoes with Mozzarella
(3) Tomato Pasta Salad
(4) Fresh Salsa
(5) Simple Tomato Salad
(6) Extreme Nachos


What works for you?