Aimee

Clean as you go: managing the meal-prep mess

Day One of cooking school introduced me to “clean as you go“: the practice of combining cooking and cleaning to help free up valuable work space, eliminate visual mess, and make for manageable post-cooking clean-up.

Since then, I have rigorously embraced the clean as you go motto for all cooking and baking, ensuring that I clean up after every task, no matter how minuscule, before moving on — thus eliminating the bomb-struck kitchen after dinner. This was a valuable lesson to learn, and one every home manager should embrace.

Although the extra effort of cleaning as you go may first seem like a drag, over time it becomes habit. And isn’t any habit that creates a more peaceful and tidy environment a good one?

My husband and I are in the process of selling our home, which means the place needs to be spic and span at all times. Apparently, 7 p.m. is prime time for scoping out real estate, and the heart of my home needs to sparkle. You can imagine the challenge this presents, as I have two little boys who need dinner regardless of visitors’ schedules; however by cleaning as I go, I can keep the kitchen in check and make sure everyone gets fed.

The motto is somewhat self-explanatory, but here are tips you to immerse yourself in the exercise of clean as you go while you prepare family meals.

Start With a Clean Kitchen

It’s hard to be motivated to cook when the work place is already chaotic; you will always feel like you are playing catch up. Whether you need to empty the dishwasher, sweep the floor, or put away the groceries, take the time to tidy your kitchen before you begin cooking.

Photo by scalespeeder

Be Ready for Waste

A place for everything, and everything in its place: yes, this even applies to kitchen trash. Do loose papers and fliers tend to build up at the end of the counter? Are there cans and bottles under the sink?

By allotting a proper space for various kitchen waste categories—compost, recycling, and garbage—you facilitate a quick and easy clean-up. If your kitchen set-up allows, keep these bins close to your main work area to encourage immediate sorting and disposal..

Set up your Workspace for C.A.Y.G.

• Place a “garbage bowl” or container for food scraps and peelings on your main workspace.

• If you have a double sink, run one side half full of hot soapy water for hand washing and dish rinsing, leaving the other free for washing vegetables or draining pastas.

• Keep a broom and dustpan handy for flour or sugar spills on the floor.

• Have a few clean dry towels on hand for countertop spills and drying dishes.

Restaurant tip: Place a jar of warm water on the counter and stash several soup spoons inside. Use them for sampling sauce sand various foods during the cooking time. This eliminates sticky spots on the counter where a spoon has been set down and also cuts back on dirty dishes created as spoons can be reused.

Execute C.A.Y.G.

• Wash your workspace. Frequently wipe counters during food preparation and tackle spills, leaks, and other messy issues as soon as they occur.

• Eliminate waste. Work on a tray when peeling or preparing vegetables and fruit. This keeps counters clean and makes for quick disposal into the compost or garbage. Don’t peel directly into the garbage, as you’re liable to drop the fruit in and waste valuable time searching for it. Rinse cans and jars after emptying, and place in the assigned recycling bin right away.

• Attack the dishes. Once you’ve finished with a dish, rinse it and place it in the dishwasher. Hand-wash bulky items that are to large for the dishwasher and place them back in their allotted spots. If you really don’t have time for hand washing, at least soak food-caked items in warm, soapy water.

• Keep order. Close packaging and return ingredients immediately to their storage space as soon as you’ve finished them. I keep my baking ingredients directly above my Kitchen-Aid and main workspace. This way, no time is wasted crossing the kitchen to retrieve or replace items, and items don’t linger long on the counter. Retire appliances back to their hideaways directly after using them — and don’t forget to give them a wipe-down first.

Remember, leave the kitchen the way you would like to find it, and you’ll always know it’s ready when you are.

I often hear people say “I love to cook, but I hate the clean-up,” and I understand completely. A huge drawback to cooking is the mess created during the process. Remember, the holidays are coming up. It is important to use C.A.Y.G. for those family holiday dinners, as the kitchen mess can quickly become overwhelming during an an elaborate menu’s execution.

Use these tips to keep cooking a relaxing and enjoyable experience.

Would you cook more often or more elaborately if clean-up wasn’t an issue? What are your quick tips for taking the fallout from “kitchen bombs”?

An introduction to making jam

My first attempt at making jam was memorable, for all the right reasons. I was a newlywed, eager to wear the old-fashioned housewife hat, and making my own jam seemed like something I would enjoy, more so than, say sewing curtains or darning socks. I had my flat of strawberries and set to work in my tiny apartment kitchen.

To my surprise, a little over an hour later I was looking at eight red jars of glistening strawberry jam. As I lay in bed that night, feeling mighty pleased with myself, I heard the blissful sound of the jars ‘popping’ as they sealed and I realized that I was no longer a jam novice—and I was hooked.

Although home food preserving is one of many dying arts, I’m confident that anyone can make jam. I would love to see preserving make a comeback. If I could do it, you can, too.

As with most new tasks, the first time always takes longer than anticipated, but jam-making is surprisingly easy. Worried about sterilizing? Simply run the jars through a cycle on your dishwasher and keep it on the hot drying setting until you’re ready to use them. Wondering about the wax with which your grandmother used to top her jam? Forget about it. This is no longer recommended, as mould can grow underneath the wax.

What about the processing-in-hot-water-business after the jars are filled? Yep, skip that too. As long as you are filling hot jars with hot jam and topping with a hot lid, and everything has been sterilized, there is no need for further processing (Note: this only applies to jam. Preserving other produce, such as vegetables or sauces, is a VERY different story).

First, let’s have a look at what goes into jam, then we’ll list tools needed, and finally finish with a quick look at the basic jam-making method.

Ingredients

Every jam consists of three main ingredients, with the amounts and ratios varying for different fruit, depending on their natural sweetness and juice content.

Fruit

Oh, the possibilities! Jam isn’t limited to just blushing berries or juicy stone fruit, although the classics are hard to beat. Try fig jam with a cheese tray, onion jam alongside roast pork, or a tart cranberry confiture. I’ve even heard of bacon jam.

Pectin

Available in liquid or powder, this natural thickener is often made from the rinds of citrus. Some well-known brands are Certo, Bernardin, and Ball. Liquid and powdered pectins can’t be used interchangeably, as each have their unique recipes; however, jams made with powdered pectin have triple the shelf life than those made with the liquid, and I usually choose to work with powder for this reason.

White Sugar

Sugar is a preservative as well as a sweetener. It should always be measured with a dry measuring cup and the amount never reduced, as it helps the jam to set properly.

lots of homemade jam

Tools & Equipment

Fortunately, the start-up costs for making jam aren’t much — just the cost of your jars and a few tools. There’s no need to purchase a large canning pot—those are more for processing vegetables and sauces—and most jam recipes can be made in a large sauce pot. Here’s a starter list of what you’ll need; you probably own most of the items.

Jars, lids and screw rings
Lifter, for handling hot jars
Funnel, for guiding hot jam into the hot jars.
Glass measuring cup, for measuring crushed fruit and for pouring hot jam into hot jars.
Wooden spoon, for stirring
Timer—accurate cooking time is of the utmost importance.
Sauce pot- this should be the largest one you own, as jam can froth up to three times its size when it is boiling. Also, a heavy-bottomed pot is helpful to prevent scorching or burning.
Labels
Several clean dish towels
Also helpful, but not completely necessary, is what I call a magic canning wand. It’s a plastic wand with a magnet on the end, useful for fetching the bot lids out of their water. Tongs also work well.

Basic Method for Making Jam

Prepare Equipment:

1. Assemble tools and equipment listed above.

2. Wash everything in hot, soapy water.

3. Sterilize. While I prefer to toss my jars in the dishwasher and run a cycle, others choose to wash them by hand and sterilize in the oven. This works well, too, and is an option if you don’t have a dishwasher. Simply wash the lids and jars in lovely hot soapy water, rinse, and place in a 9×13 pan. Put in a preheated, 225F oven for a minimum of ten minutes, until you are ready to fill them.

Prepare Fruit:

Whether you are stemming, pitting, peeling or seeding, this is the most time-consuming part of making jam. It can also be a fun job to involve the whole family, provided the toddler doesn’t consume all the produce.

1-2-3, CAN

In a large saucepan, cook prepared fruit with pectin according to the recipe directions.
Add sugar and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and skim off the foam.
Ladle into hot jars.
Cover with lids and screw the screw rings on tightly.
Leave at room temperature for 24 hours without touching the jars, even if they “pop.”

Here is a tried and true recipe of mine for Golden Plum Jam to get you started, and you’ll find plenty more recipes in the links below:

So there you have it. You CAN can! Just wait, you’ll get bit by the canning bug too — soon, you’ll be designing your own labels, sewing frilly tops to decorate your jars with and swapping jam with friends.

There is nothing better than extending the taste of summer during those winter months, when fresh berries are a distant memory, to pop off a lid of home preserves. A word of warning, though — once you taste homemade jam, it’s difficult to go back to Smuckers.

One piece of advice — start small. Don’t be overly ambitious, or you could be discouraged by the results. Pick a simple recipe with just a few pints of fruit, and complete it from start to finish before purchasing a pallet of peaches.

What is stopping you from making your own home jams and jellies? Or if you’re an experienced jam maker, share your tips!

Back to the basics: 10 recommended kitchen items for the home cook

All photos are by Aimée.

“In the childhood memories of every good cook, there’s a large kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot and a mom.”

-Barbara Costikyan

Ever wonder how your mother or grandmother functioned without all the modern day conveniences and kitchen gadgets that are now available? You know what? I’ll bet she did just fine. In fact, she was probably just as efficient in the kitchen as the average home cook today.

Everywhere you turn, companies hawk every gadget imaginable, trying to convince us that this tool or this utensil will transform us into Martha Stewart on Christmas Day. While I fully believe that having the right tool for the job can make cooking more enjoyable and productive, I also think that the typical kitchen is cluttered with useless gadgets.

Some of these gizmos, such as an apple peeler/corer actually take more time to assemble, use, disassemble,wash, dry and put away than if you were doing the job by hand with a paring knife!

I already had an idea for this article when Tsh announced her Back to Basics series, and in doing so, she confirmed that a roll call of useful kitchen items was, indeed, an important step in equipping our kitchens for back to basic meal planing and preparation.

It’s time to clear the clutter and trinkets that you seldom use, and invest in a few high-quality (but not necessarily high cost) items for daily use that will last you a lifetime.

My Top Ten Kitchen Items

Here is a peek into my kitchen and the items I rely on every day for my cooking and baking. There is nothing overly extravagant, like a Pacojet ice-cream maker (please, Santa), but these items are all as dear to me as a close friend, and make daily cooking a pleasure.

You’ll notice I’ve left out some obvious essentials on the list such as measuring spoons and cups, a can opener, a wooden spoon, and the like, because to me these are staples–like your kitchen table and chairs–and I think I can safely assume that every kitchen has them. They haven’t evolved much over the years, probably because they continue to serve their purpose in the best possible way without getting over-complicated.

Also, I’ve assigned a ball-park value to each item to give you an idea of what you should expect to spend on these items. Remember prices may vary from country to country, and bargains certainly can be found on all items. Don’t rule out second-hand shopping; good quality items such as All-Clad or Le Crueset cookware can have more than one life.

under $20 $
$20-$50 $$
$50-$100 $$$
$100-$150 $$$$

1. A Good Knife – $$$

I can’t stress enough the importance of a good quality knife. A sharp knife will save you so much time and is the best investment you can make in your kitchen. I recommend starting with a 6-1/2″ chef’s knife and a small paring knife, as about 90% of all knife work can be completed with this pair.

2. Melamine Mixing Bowls – $$

These nesting mixing bowls are durable, lightweight and heat resistant. I love color, and these bowls are a fun and cheery way to mix up anything! Rubber base rings grip the counter, making these my choice over stainless steel mixing bowls.

3. Tongs – $

Perhaps one of the most useful kitchen tools ever, I refer to my tongs as my third hand because I reach for them so often during the day. If you think tongs are just for turning meat on the BBQ, then you need to play around with them a little more.

Try using them to loosen boiling spaghetti (eliminating those unfriendly octopi), toss a salad, turn cubes of browning stew meat or chicken, fish out deep-fried nuggets, and do virtually anything that is too hot or icky to do with your bare hands.

Tip: Don’t leave the tongs in the kitchen once dinner is ready! Bring them to the table and use them to dish up your meal in an efficient and tidy way.

4. Stainless Fry Pans – $$$

If the house was on fire, I would probably grab the kids and my All-Clad pans from the kitchen before leaving. Heavy enough to sear a steak or dissolve sugar, these versatile stovetop-to-oven fry pans just might actually make my food taste better. I’ve disturbed them nearly every day from where they sleep on my pot rack, yet then show almost no sign of wear and tear.

5. Large Cutting Board – $$

Essential for any kitchen, an all-purpose cutting board can never be too big. My hefty wooden board has many different uses, ranging from basic everyday food prep to cheese board at a party.

Tip: Bigger is better! As long as you have storage space for it, your cutting board can’t be too big. Often I’ll have at least three different items in various stages of preparation in three corners of my large board.

6. Silicone Spatula – $

The perfect balance between firm and flexible and available in every pretty color imaginable: it’s the spatula all grown up. Heat resistant to 800F, these spatulas were probably invented by someone who often absentmindedly set the spatula down on the hot stove next to the pot. Guilty!

The silicone head won’t scratch non-stick cookware, and is easily removed and tossed in the dishwasher for proper disinfecting.

7. Fine Mesh Sieves – $

Perfect for straining sauces, sifting flours or passing delicate purees, these durable sieves are irreplaceable in my kitchen and are always within my reach. I use them for countless other purposes such as rinsing rice and beans, washing berries, and straining pulp and seeds out of citrus.

It’s convenient to have this first-class tool in a few different sizes, but a standard five-inch size will accommodate most cooking uses.

Tip: Just washed your sieve, but now you need it to sift some dry ingredients? If the oven is on, pop it in for a minute or two and it will dry in a jiffy.

8. Immersion Blender – $$$

Where would I be without this hand blender to puree soups, whip up batches of creamy salad dressing, emulsify sauces, blend together smoothies, and puree baby food? There is no question that this tool simplifies my life in the kitchen. Best feature: the removable head allows for a quick clean-up. After a knife, this just may be a kitchen’s second-most versatile tool.

Note: Most hand-blenders (or stick blenders, as they are also known) also come with several handy attachments, like a whisk and a chopper/mini food processor.

9. Dutch Oven – $$$$

I *heart* my Red Le Creuset 7 ¼ quart Round French Oven. Pasta sauces, bold curries, meaty stews, delicate custards – you name it. This pot is never empty in my kitchen and never wears out. It functions as slow cooker, rice pudding pot, lazy paella pan, and just about every one-pot wonder you can imagine. A beloved wedding present, I know this high quality pot will outlast me in the kitchen.

10. Baking Sheet – $

Yes we’re cookie fiends around here, but our baking sheets get much more action then just gingersnaps and shortbread. On any given day they could be occupied by stale bread, drying in the oven for breadcrumbs, catching vegetable peelings, or holding a mountain of shish kebabs headed for the BBQ.

Tip: Visit a restaurant supply store to find the really big cookie sheets (15″x 20″); otherwise don’t invest tons of money on expensive sheets. I find the older and more warped they are, the better cookies they make!

Bonus!

11. Braun Aromatic Coffee Grinder – $$

A worthwhile investment for the serious home cook, my little coffee grinder works perfectly for grinding spices and hasn’t been used for coffee in some time. Without it, making those batches of homemade garam masala would be a lot more work. If you buy your spices whole and prefer to grind them yourself, this is a time saving tool for you.

Tip:Switching from a curry to cinnamon? Simply pulse some coarse salt through it to remove odours and wipe clean with a dry cloth.

Baker’s Dozen! One last item for the serious baker…

12. Stand Mixer – $$$$$

If tongs are my third hand, this beauty is my third arm. This cherished wedding present does it all — from the softest pizza dough to the fluffiest butter cream, with countless batches of cookies in between.
Some of its features include:
325-watt mixer with 10 speeds;
5-quart stainless steel bowl
Tilt-back head for easy access to mixture
two-piece pouring shield with large chute for adding ingredients
Includes flat beater, dough hook, and wire whip

Depending on your style of cooking, upbringing, or ethnicity there might be a few items missing from this list that you can’t function without.

Take a slow cooker, for example; although I seldom use mine (I received as a gift), it has been called the working woman’s best friend, and has probably saved the day for many a busy woman balancing work and home.

How about a wok? For some, the wok could star in the preparation of several meals a week, yet for those who seldom cook Asian-inspired dishes, it may collect dust for a year.

Each household has their own beloved ‘top ten’ kitchen items, and today I am sharing mine with you. I hope you don’t come away from this post thinking, “Aimée says I need to have a spice grinder”, and then go purchase something that you’ll never use. Instead, let my list free you to embrace the ‘less is more’ motto, and stock your kitchen with a few key items that are invaluable for cooking.

Make sure that any additions to your tools are indeed saving time, and not overly gadgety. Remember, it’s about getting back to basics — I’m sure your grandmother would approve.

What do kitchen item do you reach for every day? What is your most prized tool? Feel free to share your ‘Top Ten.’

Crisp or crumble? Baked summer desserts defined

Photo by Jen Yu

It’s not yet July and my dessert track record for the past month has been something like this: cobbler, crisp, crisp, fresh fruit cake, cobbler, and crumble.

There’s no question that as soon as the seasonal fresh fruit of summer arrives at the market, I’m waiting to pounce on it and turn it into a casual yet utterly delicious dessert. Begone, heavy winter baking featuring caramel, chocolate, nuts, and more nuts; I’m ready for something tart that makes my taste buds sing!

Simple summer desserts tug on our heartstrings. They’re old-fashioned, such as a peach cobbler or a strawberry-rhubarb crisp, and they conjure up memories of ‘down-home’ baking with Grandma.

Far from spiffy modern desserts, these baked treats aren’t much to look at, but make up for their rustic appearance with their heartwarming flavours. Simple to prepare, they are outstanding desserts that anyone can make, and they require only a handful of basic baking ingredients and no fancy kitchen tools.

Summer desserts are ideal for the novice baker or the mom with many ‘helpers.’ They come together quickly with minimal fuss, making them ideal for summer entertaining. After all, who wants to spend hours in the kitchen perfecting a layer cake when the beach is calling?

Confused between a cobbler and a crisp? How about a crumble? I’ll define what sets these desserts apart, and provide links to a few tantalizing recipes of each.

Cobblers

Photo by Aimee

The deep-dish cobbler is my favorite of all baked summer desserts. Thick slices of stone fruits or berries stew gently under a blanket of puffy biscuit-like topping that has been sprinkled with raw brown sugar. Serve it warm with a dollop of whipped cream and you may find yourself turning down marriage proposals! Fruit and berry fillings are interchangeable–peaches probably being the most popular–while the topping ranges from traditional baking powder biscuits to a fluffy cake batter that is poured over the top. Spices and other flavourings such as lemon zest can be added to the topping for extra flavour.

Crisps/Crumbles

Photo by Jen Yu

As far as I can tell, the only thing that separates these two desserts is on which side of the pond they are served! Britain is credited for bringing us the delightful crumble, stewed fresh fruit topped with a streusel-like combination of flour, butter and sugar, while the American version is essentially the same but is referred to as a ‘crisp.’ A crisp often has oats added to the topping and has made a name for itself, thanks to the well-known, much-loved apple crisp.

A crisp (or crumble, whichever you prefer) is handy because the topping can be made in advance. As long at it is refrigerated, it can keep for a few days while you wait for those pears to ripen or to get berry picking. There’s nothing better than mounding fruit, still warm from the sun in a baking dish, scattered with a buttery topping and baked to bubbling, juicy perfection.

Fresh Fruit Cakes

Photo by Aimee

These are purely no-fuss cakes, but by no means are they plain Jane. Assembled in a matter of minutes, they consist merely of a simple cake batter and a few handfuls of fruit. As easy as they are to put together, don’t underestimate the sophistication of a fresh fruit cake. A sprinkling of icing sugar or a few fresh berries added to a serving can transform it into quite an elegant dessert.

The batter is usually a classic white or fluffy buttermilk cake, and the fruit can be sprinkled on top, layered between the batters, or placed in the pan first for an ‘upside-down’ cake. In this case, the pan is lined with parchment paper and as soon as the cake is removed from the oven, it is inverted onto a serving platter and the parchment peeled off. Voilà.

You may notice that the quintessential comfort food, pie, is not included in this post. Wait! Hold those over-ripe plums that you are getting ready to throw at me. I wanted to compile a selection of desserts any amateur cook could put together. Mastering the perfect pie crust is a technique that takes time and is not a skill that comes naturally to most people.

Also, I find that truly ripe fruit contains so much water, pie just isn’t the best idea; the crust will get soggy and you’ll miss out on the best part of a piece of pie: the contrast of a crisp crust and soft cooked filling. Try a cobbler for those ripe fruits–the juicier, the better.

Now that summer is in full swing, it’s hard to ignore the bounty of summer fruits that crowd the stands at local farmers markets and produce stores. Whether you are tempted by a brilliant berry or a soft-skinned plum, these old-fashioned desserts are the best way to showcase your favourite fruit.

Try your own combinations, using the fruit that is freshest in your area. Swap out stone fruits and use berries interchangeably–you may like your own interpretation best of all.

Got a simple summer dessert you just can’t live with out? Share it in the comments; I’d love to hear about it.

7 cloth diapering questions, answered mom-to-mom

We’re switching up my usual food talk today to chat about another subject I am passionate about: cloth diapers!

When Tsh asked me to expand my repertoire to write about cloth diapers (CDs), I eagerly jumped at the chance to share my personal experience with you. There are so many debates going on about CDs versus disposables, and so many opinions about which is better, so I don’t want to just spit out more random facts and biased feelings on the subject.

Instead, I want to share with you what I have personally discovered about cloth diapers over the past three years. If, by sharing my perspective of CDs, I can encourage you or answer a question you may have had, then I have succeeded. The best thing I can do is share my experiences, and you can take them or leave them.

That said, after daily interactions with two little bums, here are a few cloth diapering questions that I encounter often, and my responses to them.

1. I consider myself to be pretty green, but I’ve heard that neither cloth nor disposable diapers can claim environmental superiority. Why bother with cloth?

This is a hot debate right now and it is difficult to find unbiased data on it; however I feel my choice is the most environmentally friendly for my location. Here’s what I am doing: first off, all waste goes directly into the toilet to be flushed into the sewer (did you know it is illegal to dispose of human waste in your garbage?), then I wash my second-hand cotton flats in cold water with biodegradable soap; finally, three seasons out of four, I air dry them on the clothes line.

People can grumble about the precious water I use to wash the diapers, but I am fortunate that water is plentiful where I live. Someone living in Arizona, however, may want to choose differently than I have.

With this process in place in my home, I’ve managed to eliminate the number one category of household waste, and that feels great.

Obviously potty training your children early is the greenest way to go–eliminate diapers altogether!

2. Isn’t it a lot of work?

Okay, if you’re concerned about a lot of work, maybe having kids isn’t the best idea for you! Heh!

Although it may seem like there are a lot of steps involved with CDs, they seem to simplify with practice, and practice is what you get! Remember when you gave your baby its first bath? It was a long, terrifying process! There were all these steps to remember, many items to assemble ahead of time, and the slippery baby seemed too awkward to hold.

Compare that experience to bath time now– it’s a cinch, right? In a similar way, cloth diapering soon becomes as easy as tying a shoe, and just one more load of laundry.

3. Don’t cloth diapers cost a lot of money up front?

There are already so many purchases to be made that come with the arrival of a newborn that the cost of outfitting your baby’s bum can seem like a big hurdle. When our firstborn arrived, my husband and I considered our options and decided to purchase a new cloth diapering kit, and go with second-hand for many of the other baby items that were needed. One of the advantages to cloth diapering was fully realized when our second son came along–no start-up fee! We were already in business.

Remember, prices may vary, but my initial start-up cost was not nearly as pricey as most people think. At Bummis, our local CD Mecca, we spent a total of $300 to outfit our little one in styling CDs from birth to potty. If all goes as planned and I use the same kit for a third child, we will have spent $100 per child on diapers. Yes, yes, one must factor in the detergent and other costs, but still, you have to admit it is a fraction of the cost of disposable diapers!

4. I’m afraid of the smell; how do you combat odours?

With the exception of that one staggeringly smelly moment when I transfer my diapers from their pail to the washing machine, they don’t pollute my bathroom at all. In fact, my kitchen compost is ten times worse! I’m fortunate to have a few windows in my laundry room that I can fling open during the washing process and that helps quickly to clear the air.

At this point, I’ve already eliminated the waste and partially rinsed the diaper in the toilet (if needed), so there is no decaying pooh sitting around. Between washings, my diapers sit in their airtight pail in a vinegar-water soak which starts the cleaning process immediately. Also, my diaper pail is washed and disinfected with each load; my garbage bin would probably smell a lot nicer if it got washed between each change and stayed as fresh as the diaper pail!

5. Aren’t you afraid of poking your baby with a pin?

I still get this question! Folks, I don’t think you can even buy diaper pins anymore. Nope, no more storing them in a bar of soap to keep them sharp, no more cute pink and blue heads, no more diaper pins, period. There are several methods for diaper fastening nowadays, but my preferred method is the Snappi Cloth Diaper Fastener. It is an affordable $2.29!

To give you an example of their durability, I used the same one the whole time my firstborn was in CDs. I tossed it when my second baby came along and splurged on a new one, though. Here are some photos that demonstrate how the Snappi is used.

6. Isn’t it terribly messy?

If cleaning cloth diapers conjures up images of kneeling in front of a galvanized washtub, scrubbing poopy diapers on a washboard, then you are in for a pleasant surprise. I would like to introduce you to….the flushie. This disposable, biodegradable liner sits inside the diaper and makes it possible to pick up solid waste and deposit it directly into the toilet. Voila. I use the Bummis Bio-Soft Flushable Liners.

For sanitary reasons I have my change table in my bathroom and I find this set-up works really well. I love having the sink right there for washing baby, as I tend to use a warm wash cloth rather than a disposable wipe.

The bottom line? Baby’s diapers are messy no matter whether they are cloth or disposable–it’s the pooh that is messy!

7. Um, I hate to bring it up, but what about liquid poo?

Oh, yes, it happens. I’ve heard some mothers say that they change (and wash) their child’s clothes with every pooh because the disposable diaper doesn’t contain it. That’s a lot of extra laundry I’ve thankfully never had to do. My experience was that the diaper covers made such a reliable seal around baby’s legs and tummy that messy leaks were always prevented.

Since we’re on the subject, you should know that the aforementioned flushie is rather helpless to combat liquid pooh; however, I have a trick for a quick clean. I drop the entire diaper in the toilet water, then, holding one corner (usually the only clean one), I flush the toilet and essentially give the diaper it’s own ‘swirly’ to rinse it before depositing it into the diaper pail.

Don’t worry, this too shall pass; things tend to solidify down there with the introduction of solid food.

Okay, enough talk about pooh! Well, almost.

Here are a few small things I wish I have been told before I started cloth diapering:

• CDs can sometimes add extra bulk to the baby, so for example, if your child is 12 months old, keep those 18-month outfits around! You’re might need them.

• Extra bulk around the midsection sometimes means slightly restricted mobility. Your baby might sit, crawl and walk a few months behind “schedule.” I was always fine with that. Less running for me!

• A cute diaper cover works perfectly for a bathing suit. With its elastic seal around the waits and legs, it traps any ‘floaties’! No need to spend money on those expensive Little Swimmers.

• Putting a line-dried cloth diaper on baby is like trying to diaper them with a sheet of plywood. Those things dry stiff! It’s not a bother, though, in the end. Ha! Get it?

Do I think that CDs are for everyone? No. Has it suited my lifestyle and integrated well into my mothering? Absolutely. In the end, each mother (or father) has to do what best suits their lifestyle, and then be at peace with their decision.

Parenting is challenging enough with out stressing over the minor details. Hopefully this post and this Cloth Diapering 101 series will help you with your decision.

What are your thoughts on the environmental pros and cons of cloth diapering? Is it debatable?