Baby Food!

I've started a new adventure. I'm making baby food for my six-month-old. I didn't do this with my first son, but kind of wish I would have. It's easy, it's healthy, and it saves money. It also allows me to buy my own organic produce to puree.


I found my inspiration from a network news anchor, Norah O'Donnell. She's the cheif Washington correspondent for MSNBC, her husband's a chef. She has a fairly new book out called Baby Love with healthy baby food recipes. You can watch her demonstration by clicking here. Here are a couple shots of me whipping up some organic peas. (Thanks Mom for the new blender!) Did you know there's a certain way to prepare them so they maintain their bright green color and all their nutrients?




So far I've made peas and apples. My baby loves both of them. It's so much fun! I'm going to try and enjoy it as much as I can because before I know it, he'll be eating 'big boy' food.


Any of you have any baby food recipes you'd like to share? Send them my way, akrenz@myabc5.com.



Thanks for reading!


Amanda

Christmas Get Together

(The babies with their dads: Mercer and Brian and Lydia and Matthew)

(Mercer, happy baby!)

(Lydia)

Since Amanda has this week off and I have next week off, we decided to have a little Christmas breakfast this morning at my house with our families. I made my famous southwest eggs and we had some cinnamon rolls and fruit too. Then we exchanged presents and just enjoyed watching the kiddos play.

Getting a picture of the three of them was a little tough.

There we go! We got it...kind of.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Rachel Pierce

rpierce@myabc5.com

A Christmas Weekend

We started out our weekend with a visit to see Santa at Yost Chiropractic. Lydia didn't give Santa the warmest hello, maybe she'll have better manners next year.

On Sunday it was ABC 5's annual Christmas Party at Spash Seafood in downtown Des Moines. We had great food and coversations, it was a fabulous party! Below are pictures of our ABC 5 staff and significant others.

Valley Junction Holiday Open House

Valley Junction in West Des Moines had three holiday open house nights this year. The last one was last night and I decided to make a last-minute trip over my dinner break. I had my three-year-old with me. I wanted him to see Santa and take him on a horse carriage ride. Both were huge successes. We topped the hour off with treats from Nan's Nummies, love that place.

Valley Junction is such a neat collection of unique, locally owned shops. I plan on going this weekend to do some Christmas shopping. It's such a nice break from the malls and big box stores. Each year I find myself less and less interested in heading out into the holiday frenzy and Valley Junction is a great way to avoid the chaos but still enjoy the holiday shopping season.

Oh, have you seen the our new Holiday promos airing? Every time I turn around somebody comments how cute Maddox was with his "Happy Holiday" fist pump in the air. He adds a little spice to our family promo.

Hope our holiday preps are going well... and thanks for reading.

Amanda

akrenz@myabc5.com

Southern Thanksgiving

This year we spent our Thanksgiving in Mississippi at my in-laws. They sure know how to put on a feast, the picture above doesn't even include the dozen desserts in the other room.

We had so much fun catching up, laughing and of course eating way too much. Lydia didn't get in on any of the great food, she had to stick with her organic sweet potatoes...at least she doesn't know what she's missing.

We did venture out on black Friday and snagged some great deals. Although we weren't die hard shoppers, we didn't get to the stores until ten.

Like always, it was hard to leave family, but Christmas is just around the corner.

Rachel Pierce
rpierce@myabc5.com

(Lydia getting fed by her Nana, Paula Pierce)

(Its too bad Lydia never gets any attention;))

(Lydia with her Pops, Thomas Pierce)

(All tuckered out on Daddy after a long day.)