DIY Reusable Nursing Pads

With our little boy on the way and all of my friends having babies and getting pregnant, it's hard not to think about babies and everything that comes with them. That being said, my husband and I were discussing the other night about all the things that we'll have to get for little Ryan since our first child was a girl.
Naturally, I began to pull out of all the gender-neutral things from her closet and room and began transitioning them to his room. That's when I discovered my secret stash of receiving blankets.

Any Mom knows that receiving blankets are probably the best thing in the world. They're so versatile! They come in an array of patterns, sizes, textures, and cloth. From using them for their intended purpose to burp raps, nursing covers, snot rags, and everything in between - you can never have enough. Or at least, close to enough. Most parents find themselves with more receiving blankets than they'll ever know what to do with.

Which is where I began to think - how can I repurpose these?
We have a ton of adorable flannel receiving blankets as well as a few fleece style blankets that I absolutely loved.
So I continued to sort through my stash and think over the things that I didn't have enough of.
That night while putting away laundry, I came across my supply of nursing pads and remembered how I had to constantly wash the few pairs that I had or buy the disposables.

Light bulb.

As a breastfeeding mom, I loved the reusable nursing pads. I breastfed our daughter until right before her 18th month, so I constantly used the things. I liked the disposables, but in the first few months you go through them so fast and I hated spending money on something that I would just throw away.

So with that in mind, I browsed Pinterest and sure enough, there were a bunch of tutorials for DIY nursing pads using the things I already had. This little tutorial should take you about 30 minutes or less than an hour (with bathroom breaks and entertaining little ones) and can be finished within the time frame of your little one's favorite TV show!

Here's how I did it.

First I got my receiving blankets and fleece blanket, folded them over a few times and then traced an old nursing pad onto them.

 I made 3 circles in the flannel for 1 circle in the fleece.

Then I pinned my 3 circles of flannel to 1 circle of fleece, trying my best to line up the edges. It's okay if it's not perfect- you'll make them pretty later.

Here's my exquisite hand. Sew around the edges, leaving a slight seam allowance to trim off the excess and make them even. 

Time to trim those edges and make them pretty!

Pretty!

DIY Reusable Nursing Pads

Materials:

• Flannel Receiving blanket
• Fleece (I just used a fleece blanket that I had on hand)
• Old nursing pad or cd (anything that is 4-5" in diameter)
• Contrasting thread
• Scissors
• Pen or marker
• Straight pins

Directions:

Fold the receiving blanket in half and then again. Trace the nursing pad or whatever you have on hand onto the blanket (My patterned blanket made six pairs while my plain blanket made four). Cut out the circles and set them aside in stacks of 3 or 4. You'll want at least 3 circles to each pad depending on how thick the material is. For the nursing pad with the pattern, I used 3 circles and for the plain one, I used 4. 

Using the same nursing pad, trace the circles in the fleece. You will only need one fleece circle per pad, so the ratio would be 3:1 (flannel:fleece). Cut out these circles and pin them to the stacks of flannel.

Using a sewing machine fitting with contrasting thread, sew around the edges of your pads in either a straight stitch or the smallest zigzag stitch on your machine.

Trim the excess edge off of your nursing pad to make it look neat and pretty.

That's it! You're done! You've made a nursing pad! Congratulations!

On the note of the strings and material left over from the trimming and cutting. With spring approaching, I collect all of the strings, small scraps of material and yarn I use over the winter and keep it in little bag. Then as Spring arrives, I put them outside in a small bird-friendly box for the birds to use in building their nests. Reuse, reuse, reuse! Plus it makes for a pretty birds nest outside of my kitchen window!

What do you do with your scraps?

Let me know how your nursing pads turned out!

Photos taken with iPhone 4 and edited with iPhoto.

All photos belong to Butcher, Baker, and the Homemaker.

Use with permission.

A little bit of Southern charm: Beignets

Cinnamon rolls on Sunday mornings has become tradition in our house. And usually, I cop out by just buying mine pre-made from the grocery store and all I have to do is pop them in the oven, then BAM! Instant happiness for my family.

Unfortunately, when I went to the grocery store this week - I forgot to buy the beloved cinnamon rolls (I blame pregnancy brain), and thus, I'm given horrified stares the night before.

It's not that I have a problem with making cinnamon rolls from scratch - I actually prefer them that way.

It's the fact that i refuse to wake up at 5am to have them ready for breakfast.

Maybe later in the pregnancy when my insomnia kicks in, but not at this point - no siree.

So while contemplating a good substitute (and believe me, I have a plethora of cinnamon roll substitutes), I decided to browse Pinterest this morning while watching cartoons with my daughter. And low and behold, I came across a Southern classic that I have yet to grace my family with.

Beignets.

Deep-fried, sugar-covered, French donuts.

They're better than donuts in my opinion, especially when I saturate them with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce. Oh. My. Gosh.

Now don't get me wrong here, I am not a fan of any kind of deep-fried food. 

I know, I know. You gasp and wail in the shame of the Southerner that I am - believe me, my husband does. But I have never been one for the greasy, deep-fried stuff that my American counterparts seem to love.

I blame it on my mom who raised me as a health-nut.

I was even a vegetarian when I worked at a summer camp on a ranch. Don't even ask how I managed that.

But. I love these.

Back to the beignets.

I found these babies on Pinterest (I actually have a Lousisana/French cuisine cookbook with the same recipe, but I was too lazy to dig it out), so props go to Chocolate, Chocolate and More.

Let me tell you, beignets sound scary, but they're super easy to make.

Yes, they have to rise like every other yeast-based dough, but it's a one-hour rise time and then it's straight to cooking and they cook up crazy fast.

Also, you can tweak the recipe as needed and they stay pretty much the same.

So without further ado,

Buttermilk Beignets

(Adapted from Chocolate, Chocolate and More's recipe for Buttermilk Beignets)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 packages active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 4-5 cups bread flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• Oil for frying
• Powdered sugar

Directions

1. Heat milk in a small saucepan until just warm. Remove from heat. In a large mixing bowl, combine buttermilk, yeast, sugar, and milk. Stir to combine. Let the mixture rest for about five minutes or until the yeast mixture begins to foam. 
2. Add in 4 cups of bread flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. With a dough hook, mix on low until all the ingredients are combined (about 3-5 minutes). Switch speed to medium and knead the mixture until the dough begins to pull away from the sides. Add bread flour by 1/4 cup as needed. The dough should still be sticky.
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for an hour.
4. In a fryer or large pan, pour in about 3 inches of oil and preheat oil to 375 degrees over medium heat. Line a draining rack or plate with paper towels and set to the side.
5. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and roll out dough into a square and then fold it over itself a few times. Roll it out again to about 1/2 inch thickness. Folding the dough will help create air pockets and make the beignets fluffy.
6. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch squares (I never measure my squares, but I like them about the size of my palm). Gentle stretch your squares and then drop them into the hot oil.
7. Let fry for about a minute on each side until golden brown, then remove them to a plate and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.
8. Repeat with remaining squares and enjoy!

If you like this recipe, feel free to check out some more of my recipes!

Photos taken with iPhone4 and edited with iPhoto.
All images owned by Butcher, Baker, and the Homemaker.

Oh Snap! Gingersnaps!

Crinkly, cracked, sugary perfection.

All wrapped up in a pretty brown bursting-with-fall-flavor package.

This is the recipe for Gingersnaps that i've been using for years, and it's my most requested cookie during Fall.

Every year, friends and family know that Fall is here when I start doling out the Gingersnaps. I bring them to family functions, holidays, parties, you name it; they're always devoured.

What makes these little flavor-packed cookies so scrumptious? Some say the smell or the amount of flavor packed into each little cookie. Others say it's the soft and chewy inside with a crispy, sugar-coated outside. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter.

Another wonderful thing about these little treats are that they leave your whole kitchen smelling fantastic. Also, these are super kid-friendly! My daughter loves to help me in the kitchen and she loves making these cookies because she gets to roll them and shape them to her heart's content.

Personally, I think that what makes these cookies is that you completely coat them in sugar and then bake them. My daughter likes to flatten them on the baking sheet, but I leave them completely rounded and let them flatten naturally as they bake.




Not to mention, I'm probably the worst blogger ever. Seriously? It's been almost two months since I've last posted something?
It's not that I don't cook. I do. All the time.
But, I find it so hard to edit photos and then post the recipes and stuff while chasing an (almost) two-year-old.

Forgive me, world.

Gingersnap Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• sugar

Directions:

Mix thoroughly your shortening, brown sugar, egg, and molasses until creamy. Blend in the remaining ingredients, except for the sugar. Cover and chill for up to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls. Roll dough in a bowl of sugar until completely coated (I've also done the plastic bag method, where you fill a plastic baggy with sugar and shake the dough around until it's coated. This works too, but you'll have to reshape your dough after you're done).

Place balls of dough onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, up to 3 inches apart. Bake for about 10-12 minutes depending on how crispy you like them.

Remove immediately from baking sheet onto a cooling rake.*

*With these cookies that they may feel like they're undercooked when you take them out of the oven, but they will firm up as they sit. I bake mine for 10 minutes. If I leave them in for the additional 2 minutes, I find that they become more crispy on the inside and I'm not a fan of crispy cookies.

Photos taken with iPhone4 and edited with iPhoto.

Easy Strawberry Smoothie

I love breakfast.

It's one of my favorite meal times in the day. 

You can have something sweet or savory, or both.
It can be quick like a smoothie or time-consuming like cinnamon rolls.

Plus, when you have a great breakfast - it just seems to start your day off right.

Lately, breakfast has been the hardest thing for me to get going.

I don't feel like eating and when I do eat, I feel even worse.

Not only that, but I'm slowly running out of breakfast ideas that I haven't already made.

So what is there left to save the day?

Smoothies.

Personally, I think this version tastes a bit like Smoothie King's. It's creamy, thick, and flavorful.

Not to mention my daughter loves them.

They're easy enough for me to gulp down and be full without feeling the after effects.
And the nice thing about smoothies is that you can enjoy them any time of the day.

A lot of substitutions can't be made with this recipe.

I generally like to use coconut milk, but seeing as I was out - I opted for regular milk.

My strawberries and blueberries were already frozen which makes for a creamier and colder treat (thanks to an over abundance of summer bounty and sales).

I definitely recommend using frozen fruit.
Also, you can really use any variety of fruit for this recipe. It's incredible versatile.
Plain Greek yogurt will transform any smoothie.

Easy Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk (can be any kind from almond to whole)
• 1-2 cups frozen strawberries
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup strawberry Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp honey

Directions

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend away! If your berries are fresh, feel free to add a few ice cubes to make it colder.

Seriously. Was that not easy?

Sorry for the lack of decent pictures, I was on a time crunch.

Photos were taken with an iPhone 4 and edited with iPhoto.

All photos belong to Butcher, Baker, and the Homemaker.