Oops-a-Mommy

Avocado love

2013-02-04T15:34:00.001-05:00

I have decided that working and blog maintaining aren't mutually exclusive. However, to maintain this blogs existence it's going to be down and dirty with less punctuation and capitalization. deal with it 3 readers of mine.

First up: the beautiful avocado mango salad that I made last night and ate again for lunch. So. So. Good.

I took a few ideas from recipes online but basically used what I had:
2 ripe avocados
1 mango
1/2 sliced onion
1 roma tomato
1/4 orange juice
1 lime juiced
salt
pepper
EVOO

toss together. eat. brag about your awesome avocado mango salad. don't share.

So, last weekend we took a vacation

2012-07-03T15:15:00.002-04:00

This is what happens when you're slathered in sunscreen and playing with your iphone.

We had RSVP'd yes to the wedding in late winter.

When I thought for sure I'd have a job by now.

When I didn't think it was possible that a significant portion of our savings for this unemployment could be lost on a technical snafu.

Before I realized that our new health insurance deductible would be quite so high and Lola would be visiting the ER so soon.

Not only had we RSVP'd, but I'd paid for the room and sent the wedding gift over a month ago.

We were going to the wedding even if we had to eat peanut butter sandwiches and hard boiled eggs that I brought along (and we did.)

However, the problems began almost immediately. Upon arrival, we found our room would not have air conditioning during a major heat wave and with an asthmatic child who was already showing signs of a cold.

After some tense negotiation we were able to get into a room for that night, but would have to move the next night into an un-air-conditioned room. I was able to get out of the reservation for the 2nd night, which significantly helped the money situation, we celebrated by eating at the restaurant. Conservatively, we each ordered an appetizer and Lola got a kids meal. Afterwards, we finished the couscous tuna salad I'd made for lunch on the trip but which Lola wouldn't touch.

The night was lovely, our room was on the precipice of a cliff with a beautiful view. As twilight fell, the fireflies started up. They were much smaller than the ones in dc and everywhere. Lola and Jonathan tried catching them, but they kept slipping through their fingers. I was able to grab one but he wouldn't light up in my hands. I let him go and he fell into the deep grass, lighting up as he went.

That night we cuddled into bed when suddenly the thunder started. Then the wind. The room shook, the lights flickered several times. The lightning flashed and there was a large boom. The patio furniture blew against the side of the building. The lights went out.

And stayed out.

That morning they were still out. Our plan for a cheap morning breakfast was negated because the entire mountain had lost electricity. The dining room had made a makeshift breakfast buffet on propane and they charged everyone the buffet price. Awesome.

The planned purchase of $3 oatmeals had been upped to $11 per adult and $8 per child. After a slight fit I got the manager to charge me the child's price as I can only eat 1/2 cup of food. But it was still not in the budget. However, since it'd take at least an hour to drive anywhere else, and we weren't sure if they would have power, as the word was the entire surrounding area had been it, we bit the bullet and ate. It would surely be cheaper than lunch.

After breakfast, we cleaned up, put the wedding clothes in the car to change into later, and hung out in the shade climbing on rocks. At lunch we made peanut butter sandwiches and hard boiled eggs.

We put together a puzzle in the main office, which was pretty nice until Lola poured all of my hard work back in the box. I get pretty serious about puzzles.

Then it was time to change. So off to the car we went. I pulled my dress on over the one I was wearing and shimmied out of the other in the parking lot covered by the open car door. Jonathan somehow managed to get into a suit while inside the car. Lola was relatively easy. Then with the air conditioning on full blast I fixed our hair and makeup.

The wedding itself was lovely, though the venue still had no power, they'd secured a generator for the space so they still provided dinner and music, but it didn't have enough power to turn on the AC. Lola had started to get lethargic and we realized she was burning up with fever. We'd been coaxing her to drink well all day with not much success.

The bribing began. We offered chocolate milk and orange juice but she just fell asleep. As soon as the cake was cut we dashed out. To drive through downed trees for a few hours all the way back to DC with a stop once we reached civilization for tylenol (the first she's had since the hospital visit.)

We've spent the past few days holed up in our bedroom with the AC on plying Lola with any drink she desires and trying to keep her fever down.

And I need a vacation.

Road Trip Couscous Tuna Salad
adapted from my brain and thousands of standard tuna salads at potlucks

1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1 can tuna
1 cup frozen peas

Cook couscous according to package directions. Mix garlic powder, salt, pepper, mayo, yogurt and tuna. Toss with couscous and peas. Pack up with a bunch of ice. Enjoy.

If you like tuna macaroni salad you'll love this. My stomach no longer tolerates pasta. Which I love. But the longer I go without it, I don't necessarily miss the pasta so much as I miss the vehicle for all of the wonderful things that pasta conveys. Luckily, whole wheat couscous is kind to my stomach and provides an extra protein punch.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

2012-06-24T14:24:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I made a pie crust.

It was meant for a peach pie, but I got a little overwhelmed with the rolling and waiting, so once it was in the freezer to chill I decided to leave it there and ended up making a cobbler.

I was inspired to try it with organic lard (been using it in my breads too!) I used a recipe from Mike Ahmadi's blog and modified it just a bit for my purposes.

On Friday, while doing our shopping, I spotted some ruby red, beautiful rhubarb at the co-op and decided the strawberry rhubarb pie that I keep on buying strawberries for but never making had to finally get put on the front burner.

This pie is summer to me. It reminds me of my grandma, I suppose most baked goods do, but nothing brings it home as much as strawberry rhubarb pie. (Except for maybe the scent of her perfume. I inherited a bottle and keep it close. Ten years later it still evokes the same comfort as it did when I was a girl.)

The flavor of rhubarb is the flavor of my grandma's kitchen: the yellow formica counters with bread boards that pulled out from under the lip, ridiculous rooster themed wall paper, and the lazy susan that teamed with baking ingredients housed in teal canisters with a floral design and a white lid.

Lola was super excited to help. So I had her hull the strawberries for me and then hand them to me to slice. Then she helped the Daddy wash up the rhubarb and I chopped that up.

Lola was put in charge of the stirring. So we mixed up the fruit and added the white and brown sugars, tapioca, flour, lemon juice and zest, vanilla and cinnamon. She got a little overzealous with the stirring and we lost a few good pieces of rhubarb when they flew out of the bowl, but we made sure they got a proper burial and persevered.

Once the filling was finished Lola was distracted by the Daddy with some markers and I went to work on the crust. It was extremely crumbly and prone to falling apart, but I could see big chunks of fat which was exactly what I wanted. I rolled out the first round of dough just enough to fit in the pie pan and stuck it back in the freezer. I rolled out the top crust a bit but it was getting soft so quickly I put it back in the freezer for a bit to firm back up and pulled out the bottom crust to pour the filling in...and realized I had at least a cup and a half that just wouldn't fit.

So being resourceful, I decided to make a cobbler as well! But I couldn't be bothered to find a recipe so I poured the extra into a bread pan and mixed up a little batter with some flour, lard, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and milk. Once it was the right consistency I poured it right over the rhubarb strawberry filling in the bread pan and stuffed it in the oven.

By this time the top crust had gotten cold enough again, so I finished rolling it out and clumsily spread it over the pie tin, sliced a few lines through the center to allow steam to escape and put it in the oven on a cookie sheet covered in parchment. (My smoking oven has taught me a thing or two.)

The cobbler came out when the dough was a dark shiny brown (about 40 minutes) and the pie came out an additional 20 minutes later. The crust was amazing, crumbly, flaky, flavorful, but not particularly pretty. The filling had that lovely tang of rhubarb with the super sweetness of the strawberries.

The cobbler was the unexpected star. It had the same sweet filling as the pie but the crust came out with a good texture and flavor as well, very similar to a banana bread. I wish I'd written down the recipe! But instead you'll just get a picture of the cobbler that almost wasn't and probably won't be again.

Verdict? While the pie crust was amazing. It was hard enough to work with that next time I will use a 3 to 1 ratio of butter to lard.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Filling
Adapted from Grandma's Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie, Valarie Enters, Foodnetwork.com

2 cups sliced strawberries
3 cups chopped rhurbarb
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons minute tapioca
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 425. Mix the rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, lemon juice and zest, cinnamon and vanilla and let sit for 5 minutes. Once the juices have started to develop add the minute tapioca and the flour a little bit at a time. Depending upon the juiciness of the fruit you may add or reduce the flour. You want the dry ingredients to soak up the juice in the bowl so that as it develops more juices during the cooking process it stays together. Pour the filling into the chilled crust. Place the top crust over, slice through in several areas for venting. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes and then turn down the heat to 376 and back for an additional 50 minutes or until the filling bubbles through.

2 Crust Lard/Butter Pie Crust
Adapted from Pie Crust, Mike Ahmadi, http://tinyurl.com/FoodMuse

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup lard, cubed
1/3 cup ice water

It is important to freeze the butter and lard, cube, then refreeze. You want it as cold as possible before adding to the flour. In the food processor combine the flour, salt and sugar. Pulse a few times. Add the chilled butter and lard. Pulse until the mixture looks like tiny peas. It is okay if there are still some larger chunks, but the majority of them should be pea sized.

Start adding the ice water a tablespoon at a time with a quick pulse or two after each addition. You can test if the dough is ready by grabbing a handful and squeezing. If it starts to stick together it is ready. (Don't do this unless you're almost sure it is ready as it will raise the temperature!)

Pour it out onto parchment paper and divide into two piles. Form each pile into a round flat disk and wrap with parchment paper. If you wish to freeze it at this point wrap it well and forget it! Otherwise chill at least 1 hour.

Remove from parchment, flour, and roll out!

On watching Lady and the Tramp 100 times

2012-06-19T23:10:00.002-04:00

There's finally been a respite from Caillou in our house. Thank god. Caillou is fine for the most part, but there are two versions of the show.

There's the version that Lola loves, which generally has three short episodes fit into a half hour segment, and a short 'learning' sequence at the end where they review something learned in the episode.

Then there is the other version. It has several episodes as well but they are punctuated with live action puppet sequences and the voice actor for Caillou is different and much more grating.

I can't tell the difference in the opening sequence or the descriptions for these but Lola can as soon as the music starts.

And if its the puppet version god help us.

SHRIEK!
"NO MAMA, IT'S THE SCARY CAILLOU! NO NO NO TURN IT OFF NO NO NO NO NO"

Her bedtime routine includes a little wind down time watching tv and the shrieking totally put a damper on it.

Luckily, she has taken a shine to Lady and the Tramp and that is the new preferred bedtime viewing.

It may be my favorite Disney movie, hard to say, but it definitely has held up over the past month in which I've watched it everyday. Sometimes twice.

However, all of this viewing has led to a lot of research to keep me interested:

I've paused the dvd and tried to read the articles in the newspaper that Lady brings to Jim Dear with a hole ripped through the middle.
I've taken note of the fact that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is advertised as playing at the local opera house in the scene outside the italian restaurant.
I've researched the story development and production. (There was a big break while the studio put out war propaganda during WWII)
I've read about Peggy Lee and her involvement, including downloading a biography to my kindle. (She was the voice of Darling and wrote all of the songs save one!)
I found a site with Lady and the Tramp fan fiction, however I was too afraid to read. I don't think I could handle Lady and the Tramp slash.
I've done all sorts of internet research trying to figure out if the crazy beaker like baby bottles they feature are historically accurate, but surprisingly no one else seems to be as concerned with this as I am. I was able to ascertain that bottles like this did exist but I wasn't able to pinpoint the dates so I don't know if they were closer to what they used in the 40's and 50's when the film was animated or if they were true to the story's 1909 time period.

So, this is what my life has come to.

I actually don't mind it. The soundtrack of Lady and the Tramp is pretty great.
I hum "He's a Tramp" pretty frequently. The song holds up.

chicken chicken chicken dinner

2012-06-17T16:37:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, I took my good friend Dena shopping. We live in DC where it makes no sense to have a car. But I do. (Sense and I are rarely in sync)

Anyhow, me and the fam have been in a particularly tight budget situation lately and I had already done my meal planning on a strict budget based upon what we had in our pantry and freezer. So I had brought no bags, and planned to watch a movie with Dena after taking her grocery shopping. However, when I saw they had whole chickens at .79 a pound I had to recalibrate. So, I bought four. Four whole chickens. I spent $12.

I lugged these four whole chickens to Dena's, rearranged her freezer so they would fit, and 2 hours later lugged them home.

But the fun was just beginning. At home, I tossed 3 of them in the deep freezer and got to work on the fourth.

All trussed up with no where to go...but my oven!

I pulled the giblets and neck out of the cavity and set aside for stock. I washed and patted dry the entire bird and then salt and peppered the cavity and stuffed it with a quartered lemon, half of an onion, and a sliced garlic head. Then I gave it a nice olive oil massage and salt and peppered the outside, tucked the wings under, tied up the legs and put it in my trusty le creuset, (which I can't live without).

For the vegetable contingent of the meal, I chopped up big chunks of fennel, onion, carrots, celery, and potato and tossed them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and poured around the bird and tucked it all away in a 425 degree oven.

About an hour and a half later the bird came out with a lovely brown and crispy skin. We ate the chicken and roasted vegetables with a large salad and there was entirely too much bird- -which was exactly what I was hoping for.

After dinner, I shredded the bird and divided the chicken into two portions, 2/3 of the leftovers for enchilada lasagna and 1/3 for chicken soup (the roommates and the Daddy were feeling under the weather).

The next day I prepped the enchilada lasagna and I made chicken stock.

simma down now.

For the stock, I threw the odds and ends of all the veggies I've tucked in the freezer over the past few weeks (onion ends, squeezed lemons, carrot tops and peels, etc.) and the chicken carcass, giblets, and neck into a pot. I turned on the water and went out to the garden to pick some herbs, rinsed them and put them in.

Eight hours later, I had a fantastic deeply colored stock. I let it cool, and put it in the fridge for the next day.

Meanwhile, the family enjoyed the enchilada lasagna. I use Alton Brown's recipe. It's killer- with layers of corn tortillas, shredded chicken, queso fresco, and enchilada sauce.

Unfortunately, it tends to be a little spicy for the kids, so it takes no time at all to make an extra dish for them where I layer everything without the enchilada sauce and pour chicken stock over the dish to keep it from becoming too dry. Then I cut theirs into triangles because it's a little more pliable and more like a quesadilla then the lasagna version.

Herbs from my garden!

With two meals down, the next day it was time for Round 3.

I took the stock out of the fridge, and strained and skimmed off the fat (not much really) and put it on the stove. I tossed in some chopped carrots, potatoes, onions, leftover chicken, and fresh herbs and let it go for about 40 minutes at which point I dumped in the leftover roasted vegetables from day one. Gave it another 20 minutes tasted, adjusted the seasonings (it only needed a little pepper because the stock, roasted vegetables, and chicken had already been well seasoned) and served with homemade bread and a fresh salad from the garden.

The family was super happy and it really helped the colds. I was super happy that I'd fed 4 adults and 2 children for 3 days for under 30 dollars.

Approximate prices:

Chicken $4
Tortillas $2
Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, Celery $8
Enchilada Sauce- Tomato Sauce, Chipotle, Chicken stock, seasonings, $4
Queso Fresco $5

P.S. For round two we had a dinner party, so there was substantially less chicken leftover, but it still stretched into two meals - roasted chicken and the old standby -chicken salad. Still pretty sweet. Can't wait to cook the last 2!

Processed food is scary

2012-06-15T00:20:00.000-04:00

Forgive me, but I watched Food, Inc this weekend and it's got me all up in arms.

First- let me say this: I still cook with processed food. I still feed my family sugar. In fact, several nights a week I find myself bribing my two year old with a dessert to get her to eat her vegetables.

But ya'll, the food industry has some really shady practices. First they make us fat, and then they sell us things that are supposed to make us thin.

This was a really interesting article I read in The Guardian this week - Why our food is making us fat.

Processed food is scary.

I'm terrified that my daughter is going to end up addicted to sugar and another victim of the obesity epidemic.

I'm afraid she'll end up with cancer from some sort of additive the food industry uses to keep costs down.

I worry that she'll get e coli from some tainted greens.

I stay awake at night worrying about the world she is going to inherit, with land ruined by industrial farming, and resources scarce.

Most of all I want to teach her to have a healthy attitude towards food and to live in a sustainable way.

So I am working on cutting processed food out of our diet. They may seem like baby steps but it's been a real eye opener for me to incorporate this into our lifestyle.

1. by drastically reducing the pasta intake and only eating whole grain pasta.

2. by starting to have at least 2 meatless dinners per week. Generally breakfasts in our house are vegetarian and lunch is leftovers from dinner. Great protein alternatives: TVP, Tofu, Beans, Quinoa, Whole Wheat Couscous, Lentils, Greek Yogurt, Cottage Cheese

3. by starting to only buy sustainable meat products- though this is very difficult especially with seafood, I suggest buying into a local meat csa. They are more expensive, but you're paying the real unsubsidized costs.

4. by slowly finding alternatives to sugar. I'm experimenting with stevia, honey, and maple syrup in baked goods. Any processed food that does make it past me (mostly from Trader Joe's) has it's nutritional information scrutinized for added sugar.

5. experimenting with alternative flours. I've been switching out a cup here or a cup there to wheat or rye flour in my breads to see how they react to the changes. So far nothing has been a disaster. A simple french country loaf with a difference of 1 cup of white to wheat was lovely this evening and I plan on trying it again next week with 2 cups switched out. I've been perusing bread recipes to try to find the most common and useful alternative flours before I invest in 5 different kinds. I'm on a tight budget after all.

6. (most) produce that runs the risk of going bad gets frozen for stock. Ends of onions, carrot peels, squeezed lemons, greens I'm not interested in eating, chicken carcasses, the giblets and necks left in the bird- all of this ends up in my freezer. On a lazy day I put it all in a stock pot with a lot of water and some herbs on low and 8 hours later I have a fantastic stock. On a slightly busier day I just toss it in the crockpot and let it go. Sometimes overnight. I freeze it in 2 and 4 cup portions. It lasts indefinitely.

7. by meal planning on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. This varies our diet throughout the week, allows me to save money by using some of the same special ingredients in more than one recipe (fresh herbs, lemons, limes, etc things I don't always have, and tend not to use all of when purchased)

There may be more, but I've run out of steam.

____

In other news - I've been cooking a lot lately and have a lot of recipes in draft form. Most just need an additional test and some photos. I think I've convinced The Daddy to be my official photographer. He has a big camera. It looks fancy. I can hardly wait!

The Remains of the Day

2012-06-11T16:19:00.000-04:00

Here lie the remains of the squash

Today Lola and I gardened.

I've been meaning to prune my wild squash for the last few days. Last week, I staked and tied them but over the last few days it has become apparent that I really needed to clean out some of the leaves so they would stop smothering their neighbors.

But...I kept putting it off. It was always too hot when I had time and evenings are generally a hot mess of dinner, bath, and 2 hour long bedtime stories.

So this afternoon, when I got a weather update that informed me that it was going to rain this afternoon and would continue raining for the next few days, I rushed out into the garden with Lola in tow. I tasked Lola with picking basil leaves for a garlic scape pesto for dinner and got out my trusty shears. 10 minutes later I was left with this sad pile for the compost heap.

Then Lola started whining and I realized she was covered in mosquito bites. I had forgotten to douse her with repellant. She must have had 10 red welts all over her legs and arms. So we took a breather to put on some repellant. I have been reading a lot trying to figure out a solution for killing these guys that won't kill our bees (we have a hive) or hurt our plants, but nothing has been figured out yet, though I've heard a tantalizing rumor about garlic oil that needs some research.

After we came back, the sky had darkened and the wind had picked up, so we called it a day, but not before I snapped some pictures of my baby plants! Can you guess what they are?

On putting your child on a leash

2012-06-09T19:56:00.001-04:00

When I was a kid, on the rare occasion my mom took all 5 of us anywhere she would pull out "The Leash"

It was a long telephone cord-ish rope that had little handcuffs spaced every few feet. We had to walk in tandem and try not to run into other people or each other. For 5 unruly kids this was never easy. Or possible. There were many instances of us getting hopelessly tangled up together and a few successful escape attempts by my little brother. I don't know how he weaseled out of those handcuffs but he certainly was good at it. This is the same brother that managed to drive the car on two separate occasions while sneaking away from our parents all before the age of 5. Both occasions resulted in accidents- once a streetlight and once another car in a parking lot. If any kid ever needed a good leash, that one did.

Well, they have certainly come a long way since the mid-80's, and as Lola hasn't exhibited any tendencies towards running away or operating motor vehicles as of yet, we're happy to go with the fuzzier, friendlier version of the child leash these days.

She absolutely LOVES her stuffed giraffe harness backpack. She insists on buckling it herself and packing the little pouch, with important things like sidewalk chalk and megablocks.

The tail has a little loop at the end so I can just keep it around my wrist as we walk along. There are a myriad of them on the market with all sorts of different animals, but the giraffe is the most cost effective and since we share a house with another family, with another 2 year old, I had to buy two. What makes the giraffe the cheap one? Poor lonely giraffes.

So there you go. I put my kid on a leash. I highly recommend it.

*unpaid product review- however if you buy one from my link I get a cut!

Peach Cobbler

2012-06-07T15:16:00.003-04:00

The good peaches have begun to show up at the stores. I've bought them two or three times this season thus far and have been very lucky. I always look for one with just a little bit of give and I haven't been disappointed. No mealiness has been encountered- only lush, sweet, juicy loveliness.

Lola and I have been enjoying them for breakfast with a little greek yogurt, honey, and sometimes, granola. Nothing reminds me of summers spent in South Carolina as a child like the first bite of a perfectly ripened peach. When we first moved to South Carolina I was only 5. The week we moved in, the little old lady across the street brought us a welcome gift of a peach pie. It was a double crust and in a 9 x 13 rectangular tin. The filling must have been 3 inches high. I wish I had been old enough to get her recipe, but the memory of that pie is indelibly marked on my brain. I also remember asking her when we could have another one and being scolded and taught the impropriety of asking for gifts.

Later, when my grandparents moved to South Carolina as well, my grandfather, always one to buy in bulk, would get crates and crates of fresh peaches from roadside stands. Then my grandmother would start a frenzy of peach cobblers, peach pies, and canning peaches. Still there were always whole ones around to eat on the porch steps in the shade.

As I have recently found a source for quality lard (I used it for my spinach bread) from a local meat csa I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to make a peach pie and test out a lard/butter crust combination. Unfortunately, half way through the crust process I realized after it chilled I'd have to roll it out again and that would be a total drag. So I left it in the freezer for next time. I think I'll save it for a strawberry rhubarb pie- if it works I'll make sure to post the recipe.

Crust, I've decided, is worth making at home, but for me it's only worth making when you don't expect to eat the pie that day. It requires so many dishes used and measuring cups needed, and attention to temperature and time to control temperature- all to just complete the shell of the dish. It stresses me out. So, henceforth, I will make crust every so often and freeze it for when I get a hankering for pie.

Why not just buy the stuff at the store you ask? Well, if I'm spending so much time caring about the ingredients I put into the pie, why would I want to feed my family a crust filled with hydrogenated vegetable oil and who knows what other kinds of stabilizers and chemicals? It just seemed completely counter to the entire idea of eating whole foods (though maybe the 2 cups of sugar in the pie is also counter to that. Ahem.) I see nothing wrong with people who want to take this shortcut, I was a store bought crust pie maker until recently. However, with a fairly recent bariatric surgery behind me, I can eat very little. I want every bite to be full of flavor and nutrition - or in the case of dessert - as little processing as possible.

Anyhow, though the plan for pie was shelved, the peaches were still calling my name. My crust was safely wrapped in the freezer and the food processor was cleaned. So I decided on a cobbler.

I haven't had a peach cobbler in years, but I remember my grandmother's very well. One summer, I was visiting and grandma had made the most lovely cobbler. It was in a high sided casserole dish with a glass top. She set it on the stove to cool for supper and I walked past it probably 20 times on my way in and out of the kitchen- eyeing the syrup oozing out from between cracks in the fluffy crust just barely exposing slices of peaches here and there, my mouth watering. Then, about an hour before dinner, while in the living room, I heard an explosion and glass breaking. The cobbler had exploded. Grandma had left the burner on and set the casserole dish right on top of it. Thankfully, no one had been in the kitchen, it was highly trafficked with the side door as our main entrance in and out of the house (in the south almost everyone uses their side entrance- the front door is for special occasions) but Oh! that beautiful cobbler was in pieces everywhere. I wanted to save hunks of it, but apparently shards of glass were enough of a deterrent that the idea was vetoed. So all these years later, I decided it was high time I had that damn cobbler that I'd been so excited for all those years ago.

After a little bit of research I found this recipe for Easy Peach Cobbler from Southern Living. I wanted something simple that reminded me of grandma. I realized I didn't have quite enough peaches or a lemon as the original recipe requires, so I improvised. I had some frozen pineapple to bulk it up and give it citrus flavor and some ginger root to add a little something sharp and unexpected. The result was a huge pan of that magical combination of fluffy cakey, oozing, syrupy heaven unique to cobbler. So sweet, you have to cut it with a bit of whipped or ice cream. The next morning the entire pan was gone.

Peach Cobbler - adapted from Southern Living June 1997
-feeds a crowd, or 4 adults and 2 children who have no qualms eating it for dessert and then breakfast the next morning.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar, divided
1 tbsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
1 cup milk
3 cups fresh sliced peaches
1 cup chopped pineapple, frozen or fresh
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger root
optional whipped cream
optional ice cream

Preheat the oven to 375. Melt the butter in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish- mine fits in the microwave- one less dish to wash! In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt with a fork. Add the milk stirring just until the flour mixture is moistened. Pour the batter over the butter in the baking dish.

Do not stir.

In a small pot, bring 1 cup sugar, peach and pineapple slices, and ginger root to a boil while stirring constantly. Pour the mixture evenly over the batter, but do not mix.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the top begins to brown. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Top with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

Spinach bread - or how much I love my bread machine

2012-06-05T22:14:00.001-04:00

I love bread, but unfortunately my stomach can't handle too many carbs at the moment and bread tends to upset it. However, if it's a particularly hearty bread I can have a few nibbles.

Although, I can't eat much of the bread myself, I still love baking it. Occasionally, I'll hand make baguettes, but mostly I experiment with my bread machine. I love the anticipation as the smell of bread fills the house, grabbing a nibble here and there, and watching my family enjoy the fresh baked bread.

Yesterday, I was researching bread recipes with quinoa (there is a quinoa banana bread experiment brewing) and stumbled upon this recipe for spinach bread- though it was made with white flour I decided it was interesting enough to tinker with, I put in some rye flour, added cheese, and switched out the vegetable oil for lard, however butter would also work. For today at least, I'll save you the rant about how healthy a fat lard actually is when taken from a grassfed animal. Instead, I'll just link you. Read!

The healing power of lard

Health Hazards of Lettuce - We need fat in our diet!

The result was beautiful. A loaf that was dense without being hard or gritty. Full of flavor and color. It was a huge hit with the entire family.

Spinach Bread - adapted from Spinach Bread by Ginny M. allrecipes.com

- makes a 2 lb loaf

1 cup water
1 tbsp lard (can substitute butter)
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup dark rye flour
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp maple syrup (or honey or white sugar)
1 tsp thyme
1 tbsp gluten
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Put the ingredients in your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Use the basic or white bread cycle. Sit back, relax and enjoy your bread.

*note - never leave your bread sit in the bread machine after it is finished! It will steam and get soggy.

The neverending couscous salad

2012-06-04T22:45:00.000-04:00

This is the story of a rained out BBQ and the couscous salad that survived.

We had planned a cookout last Friday evening and I spent the afternoon making this lovely couscous salad.

I've recently fallen in love with whole wheat couscous. The nutritional profile is pretty fantastic with 1/3 of a cup packing a whopping 7 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein. Most importantly it's delicious, with a fluffy texture and slight nutty taste.

The salad was fantastic, I mixed chicken stock flavored couscous with black beans, corn, fresh cilantro and parsley and some grape tomatoes. I made a quick vinaigrette with lime juice and cumin. The result was divine. However, it was meant to be consumed by 10 people and instead was a side dish for 4. The flash floods had won this round.

Three days and many meals later I still had the pictured amount left, and though tasty, I needed some more variety in my diet so I came up with a plan!

Over the weekend a friend had been telling me about his plan to grow quinoa and mentioned that you could even make it into a very satisfying veggie burger. So when looking at this leftover couscous, with the texture being so similar to quinoa, I thought it could be the beginning of a great veggie burger.

I had already thawed some spinach to make spinach bread (~~I'll post this recipe tomorrow~~ posted) so I threw some of the spinach in and then inspiration struck- tuna. A can of tuna can make anything into a meal. I had some white albacore that I didn't particularly like in tuna salad but thought would make a fantastic addition to this no longer veggie, veggie burger.

The result was flavorful, filling, and had a great texture. Very similar to a crab cake.

We ate these tuna 'croquettes'' with a large salad, the leftover couscous salad - because yes there were STILL leftovers- and the spinach bread that I had made earlier that day. What a great meal!

Liz's Cumin-Lime Couscous Salad
- This recipe will serve 15-20 people as a side.

2 cups uncooked couscous
2 1/2 cups of chicken broth (or veg broth or bouillon)
1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1/8 cup of chopped fresh parsley
1 cup of frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 (15 oz) cans of black beans, drained
1 cup of sliced grape tomatoes

Juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Bring the chicken broth to a boil and stir in the couscous. Immediately remove from heat and cover the pot. Let stand for 5 minutes. In the serving dish whisk together the lime juice, vinegar, cumin, salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking. Once the mixture looks well mixed pour in the fluffed couscous and add the black beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro and parsley. Mix well. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.

Liz's Tuna Croquettes
- Makes 6 patties of veggie burger size

2 6oz cans of white albacore tuna, drained well, flaked
1 cup of cumin-lime couscous salad (no tomatoes)
1/3 cup of frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
1 lime, juiced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 eggs
1/4 panko bread crumbs

Mix the tuna and the couscous salad well with a fork. Mix in the spinach well and then add the lime juice, cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, eggs, and bread crumbs. Mix with your hands. The mixture should hold together when formed into a small patty. Heat a grill or saute pan over medium high heat with a little olive oil. Once the pan is hot place the patties in the pan and do not move! They will break apart if moved before they form a crust. Cook on one side for about 5 minutes, cook on the 2nd side for about 3 minutes. Remove and serve warm.

Everything is better with garlic

2012-06-03T22:33:00.000-04:00

If you've been spending much time around the farmers markets these days, chances are you've seen a pile of these on a table somewhere. Garlic scapes are just about my favorite thing of late spring. I was introduced to them a few years ago by my CSA.

So what are garlic scapes? They're the part of the garlic that shoots out of the bulb. Generally, they are cut off so that they don't divert energy away from creating a plump garlic bulb. Most gardeners or commercial growers toss them in the compost heap, what a waste! If you're ever growing garlic at home or are lucky enough to spot them at the market take the opportunity to get to know them!

Since garlic is pretty much my favorite thing year round, it makes sense that I'd be partial to these versatile curly green stalks. They are great cooked or raw. You can add them to just about any dish that requires garlic for a little bit of crunch and mild garlic flavor without the bitterness sometimes associated with raw garlic. It also is much easier to saute these without burning as opposed to minced garlic.

They make a fantastic pesto just on their own or as a supplement to a regular basil pasta in place of the garlic you'd normally put in. If using a food processor requires too much effort, just saute them with any veggies you're already planning for dinner. Or you can do what I did today and toss some in guacamole in place of the garlic. My master guac recipe is based on Alton's and is always a huge hit.

I also added a bunch to our salad of fresh greens from our garden. It made the salad super exciting. To top it off I added the leftover red onion from the guacamole, dill from the garden, and some chevre picked up from the farmers market. A Very Exciting Salad Indeed. I highly suggest adding fresh dill to your salad any time you have the chance. The herb salad mixes from Trader Joe's turned me on to the idea, and now I don't make a salad without some addition of herbs. It makes every bite exciting, and when you're eating salads as frequently as you should, it helps to keep them interesting.

Do not use dried dill! It won't be the same. If you don't have easy access to fresh dill just pick up the mix. It is pretty much the only lettuce mix I buy that doesn't consistently end its life as a slimy mess in the bottom of the bag in my crisper drawers.

Appetizing, I know. I think I have a real talent for food blogging. The other day I regaled you with stories of a toddler drinking activated charcoal and the resultant poop and now I'm on to rotting food.

Bon Appetit!

It's a jungle out there

2012-06-02T01:02:00.001-04:00

Late April and still manageable

I have never gardened before.

When I was 12 I watered my mother's garden one summer when she was feeling ambitious and we were living on 11 acres of woods. The garden was a 15 minute walk away from the house uphill through the woods and required thousands of yards of hose and large barrels. It was the most terrible job ever. Almost as bad as being assigned to pick up sticks in the woods which was another favorite of hers. At least that job was in the shade. (She recently told me she only made me do this ridiculous job because I read too much, I think I'll just sign Lola up for soccer.)

I learned nothing from this experience with gardening other than how to use aloe vera after being sunburned.

Yet, I've always fancied myself a gardener. Since my very first rental, fresh out of the dorms, I have asked if I could put in a garden and though I've always been answered in the affirmative I've never actually put in the effort.

The squash jungle

When I bought a condo with my ex-husband I decided I was going to container garden. After a lot of reading I had a very successful herb garden but none of the other plants ever made it. The next season all of the herbs died too. It could have been because I forgot to water them.

A divorce, remarriage, and multiple rentals later I have finally put in the work. I decided to try square foot gardening because it's all about cramming in as much as possible in a small space. I decided on raised beds because I was scared of the soil and it seemed like a pain in the ass to have it tested and amend it properly. Basically, I'm just plunging into it head first because I never was going to be completely prepared by just reading the books. So now I have one box with a few mystery plants because I wasn't careful enough when planting and they got a bit mixed up. So my painstakingly drawn grid on graph paper doesn't seem to actually match. I can't tell what plants they are, but they are definitely not the same ones next to each other and the spinach, which I can identify, is where I supposedly planted the eggplant.

My little helper

My squash plants have basically taken over everything. After a quick google search told me I should have given them much more than 1 square foot -woops- I found someone who swears that zucchini, at least, can be pruned and staked to only take up 1 square foot.

Well, that was good enough for me! I marched out and got some sturdy new stakes and set to work staking my zucchini, straight neck squash, pattypan, and winter squashes. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that squash has little prickly stickers all over the stems and I am not fond of gardening in gloves. After many ouches and a long whiny session of tweezing them out of my fingers I have re-evaluated my position. It may be difficult to maneuver and tie a stem to a stake with gloves on, but it is much more pleasing than to have to deal with tiny slivers of killer squash embedded in my fingertips.

So happy to be trusted with the sprayer!

Regardless of the looming failure of the squash, and one box that seems to be killing all of the transplants that I lovingly transferred from my green house- it's worth it. I have fresh salad greens every few days, plenty of kale for kale chips, 6 pea pods, and what looks like it'll eventually be a bumper crop of tomatoes. Also, I think its important for Lola to know where food comes from and to appreciate being able to eat something that she's grown.

She may not eat lettuce when it's on her plate, but she'll haphazardly rip pieces of it out of the garden and chew on it with a zeal usually only reserved for ice cream or frosting. I can only hope the broccoli survives so she eventually starts eating that too.

Naughty children get (char)coal.

2012-05-31T23:10:00.001-04:00

So today I was going to discuss wrestling with squash in a square foot garden (don't worry the wrestling match did occur and you'll hear all about it tomorrow) but I'd rather talk about yesterday when Lola said her tummy hurt and she needed medicine.

I thought she was referring to her eczema and that she wanted the all natural ointment we've been using. We keep it next to the bed, so I told her to go get it. She came back with the children's Tylenol (she just got over a virus that included a fever last week so it must have been on my dresser) and I said no and put it back on (what i thought was) a fairly high desk and asked her if she wanted milk in a big girl cup instead.

She said yes and I went to fill a sippy cup with milk. Cup in hand I called out her name and she came running. She was holding the bottle of Tylenol in one hand (how did she get it off the desk?!) with no cap and a telltale cherry colored mustache.

UTTER PANIC.

I looked in the bottle and there seemed to be about 1/4 of it left. We had just bought the bottle as she was ill last week. We had given her at the most 4 doses at a teaspoon each. The bottle had been basically full.

I called the pediatrician. The pediatrician said to go to the ER. She was in a diaper and I was pj's so I had to decide if taking her naked but sightly faster was better parenting than taking her with clothes on. I decided on the clothes.

Once there I was told I should have called poison control and brought the bottle. Hopefully this will never have to be recalled but it has been seared into my brain.

So instead my wonderful patient roommate read everything on the bottle painstakingly over the phone trying to find the concentration of the medication. While I repeated the information to a nurse who repeated into the phone to poison control.

Long story short: she had to drink what seemed like a gallon of inky black liquid - activated charcoal - and 4 hours later when they took her blood her liver levels seemed fine so we didn't have to do the 24 hour IV treatment that prevents liver damage when overdosing on acetaminophen.

BREATHE.

We've had several very serious talks about how important it is to not take too much medicine and that only Mommy or Daddy can give her medicine. She's repeated it back to us unbidden a few times in the day since the incident.

Lessons learned: I need to recalibrate my brain to childproof another foot higher. Children's medicine isn't always in childproof caps.

One last thing - activated charcoal looks the same coming out as it does going in. Not pretty.

Here's a photo of my poor Lola about halfway through the process.

The black lips remind me of high-school. Oh I can hardly wait for what she has in store for me then.

We will now return to our regularly scheduled program

2012-05-30T22:09:00.000-04:00

Welp. Shortly before my last post I returned to full-time work. It was a nonstop few years of late nights and daycare for Lola.

Then this spring, I found myself in the position to stay at home again while figuring out what exactly to do next. So, Lola and I spend a lot of time in the garden, cooking, penny pinching and doing various crafts in between my job search and the occasional consulting gig.

So - I'm back! Posts coming up in the next few weeks will include: Pasta-less pasta, paper making, the best macaroni and cheese ever, making 3 meals out of one whole chicken, tiramisu cupcakes, and trying to tame my wild squash plants in my square foot garden.

To tide you over, here is a photo of Lola eating mulberries from our backyard tree and the first peas from our garden!

She's also wearing a shirt that I chopped the sleeves off of that morning because I couldn't find a short sleeved shirt. I'm all about solutions.

Happy Wednesday!

You're not doomed to the Wiggles!

2010-04-24T22:08:00.000-04:00

At least I think that's what they're called. You need to start your kid off right, and if after listening to awesomeness they still wander over to crap music, you can love them anyway.

I've been working on giving Lola a musical education. It started with many in utero dance parties to old school gangsta rap. My craving for gangsta rap was almost as potent as my craving for Claussens pickles and olives. Recently, we've danced around the office to The Passenger by Iggy Pop which has had a nice little revival due to its use in the 'Up in the Air' trailer. I highly encourage an office dance party with or without a child. It is much more fun than those boring office stretches that you should be doing!

A lucky gift that made it to me was a compilation of various alternative rockers doing children's music called "Mary had a little Amp" It supports a good cause, won't make you want to gouge out your eardrums, and it even has Lou Reed! It has a few great dance-y tunes, but I've found it really helps in the car. Lola and I do a lot of commuting and when she's wide awake and not ready to sleep she needs to have a toy and music on and this is one of our favorites.

May's Angelfood is ready to order!

2010-04-22T18:00:00.001-04:00

(EDITED: Angel Food Ministries is no longer in operation, if I find another service like this I will update!)
Don't forget your Angelfood this month! May's menu is open for orders now and my location has a deadline of May 13 for online ordering with a pick-up date of May 22nd. Not all locations have the same dates, but they are generally only a week apart so go to the website and find your location. The full menu is at the link above, but the signature box is below and is pretty exciting. The frozen lasagna is actually incredibly tasty and The Daddy's favorite, country fried steak, is on the list! As usual, I'll be posting a couple recipes a month based on the menu so check back frequently.

**Wondering how Angelfood works? Click here to read my explanation and please remember if you order Angelfood to list me in the referral box as oopsamommy@gmail.com. Working on a free box, which will really help the negative bank balance!

Apple and Onion Pork Tenderloins

2010-04-20T22:34:00.001-04:00

(EDITED: Angel Food Ministries is no longer in operation, if I find another service like this I will update!)

Last month’s Angelfood came with a plethora of apples and boneless pork chops. Well, I thought, apples and pork go together like peas and carrots! In anticipation I put the frozen pork in the fridge and spent all day browsing recipes online and rejecting them. I decided to make up my own based on a few different recipes and an optimistic attitude but while at work on the big day I realized that I had started by forgetting the marinade!

Luckily, The Daddy gets home much earlier than I do on nights he isn’t working his 2^nd job so I called home to give him explicit instructions:

“Umm… can I get you to start the pork chop marinade?”

“I don’t know how.”

“Well, I can tell you how! That’s why I’m calling.”

Sigh “I guess so. What do you need me to do?”

“Grab the pork chops in the plastic bag in the fridge.”

“Ok.”

“Now I want you to mix up a marinade with a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and some water.”

“Wait, where is the brown sugar?”

“Behind the macaroni and cheese” He lives on mac and cheese when I don’t cook.

“and the balsamic vinegar?”

“In the bottom cabinet on the right of the stove, now mix all that up and put it all in the bag with the pork and put it back in the fridge!”

“Hold on, I need to write this down. Now what do I need to do?”

…

An hour and a half later, after a delayed train ride and a late bus, which resulted in me asking The Daddy to pick me up at the train station I arrived home, ravenous and ready to cook. I handed off Lola to the care of The Daddy and good friend Heather who came along for the food.

I preheated the oven to 350 while Lola screeched. So Heather and The Daddy alternated bouncing her in the doorway of the kitchen so she could see me work. I chopped up some onions and got them ready for a long caramelization in the skillet with some olive oil and a tiny sliver of butter.

While the onions were working I got the apples ready. I washed them, sliced them, cut out the cores and tossed them in with the onions, the rest of the marinade and a little bit of chicken broth. I let the apples simmer for a minute or two and tossed them on top of the pork chops in a casserole dish and let it bake for 50 minutes. When the pork chops were done, I let them rest and poured out some of the juice from the dish back into the skillet. I warmed it to simmering and added a big pinch of corn starch and stirred till it was well blended and thickened up a bit. I poured most of the sauce into a serving cup and the rest back onto the chops and it was ready to serve. I set out a bowl of mixed greens, with some croutons and a quickly made dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The result: Mouth watering, yummy yummyness. The apples still had some of their shape with just a touch of firmness left, the onions were sweet and savory and the pork was perfectly done. Can’t wait to make it again!

Apple and Pork Tenderloins
serves 4

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup water
4 pork tenderloins
1 large onion, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp butter
4 crisp apples, cored, sliced
1/2 cup stock
big pinch of cornstarch

Prepare the marinade in advance! Must soak at least 1 hour to overnight. Pour the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, salt, pepper and water in a gallon freezer bag. Close and shake till mixed. Open and place the pork in the bag. Carefully squeeze the air out of the bag and close. Put in the fridge on a plate to marinate.

Preheat the oven to 350. Put a pan on med heat. Pour in the olive oil and butter. Toss in the onions. You want them to caramelize so make sure the heat is not too high and leave them sit stirring every couple minutes. Once the onions have begun to brown toss in the apples, the remaining marinade and 1/2 cup of stock. Let the apples simmer for 2-3 minutes while you salt and pepper the pork and place in a casserole dish. Pour the apples and sauce over the pork and place in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes.

When pork chops are done strain the sauce back into the saucepan. Warm to a simmer and add cornstarch. Stir till thickened. Pour the sauce over the chops and apples and reserve some in a serving dish.

Snot-nosed Disease Carriers

2010-04-18T23:16:00.000-04:00

Beware: those cute little cousins may have made my 6 month old giggle and smile, but they have brought a pox upon my house! Lola, The Daddy, and I have all come down with a burning throat, low grade fever, crusty eyes, and stuffy nose. I think I have managed to not completely fail at motherhood in the past week but I definitely failed at laundry and general order and cleanliness (not to mention bloggerness.) Luckily for us, I picked up this sweet little gadget at the store a couple weeks ago. Turns out it was a wise impulse buy! This thermometer is a pacifier! It only cost about $10, and prevents me from having to stick something up my darlings bum when I'm just being paranoid. I'll keep the rectal thermometer around to confirm but really glad I don't have to deal with snaps and diapers as frequently.

Your Easter Moment of Adorableness

2010-04-04T22:36:00.000-04:00

Turkey Filet Mignon?

2010-04-04T22:28:00.004-04:00

(EDITED: Angel Food Ministries is no longer in operation, if I find another service like this I will update!)
This month Angelfood featured Turkey Filet Mignon...what? So for all you steak purists, lets put the name aside and we'll call them bacon wrapped turkey medallions. I pulled them out to thaw last night- they seemed fancy enough for a small, Easter dinner (I couldn't bring myself to spend the money to get a ham at the grocery store when my freezer was stuffed to the brim.)

So, I pulled out the trusty grill pan (love this pan!) and put some hand cut fries in the oven (sprinkled with Old Bay of course.) I rubbed a little olive oil on the grill pan while it heated and salt, peppered, and garlic powdered the turkey medallions, always remember the garlic! Gave them a nice sear on both sides (about 8 minutes) and then poured in a little water and a bouillon cube, a little red wine vinegar, mustard and red pepper flake. Transfered the pan to the oven (I use a meat thermometer because I'm anal like that.) and brought it to an internal temperature of 170. The oven was on 400 for the fries so it only took about another 8 minutes.

I pulled the pan out of the oven and transferred the turkey medallions to a plate. Tasted the sauce, adjusted seasoning and added a little cornstarch to thicken it up. Then I brought it to a boil while stirring. I drizzled the sauce over the turkey medallions, put the rest aside in a gravy dish, and made a mixed green salad to round out the meal. Topped with a quick dressing made of oil and red wine vinegar it complemented the tang in the sauce.

Hard to calculate the cost of this meal as the turkey medallions came in the angelfood box, but I'd estimate the four of them at most might account for about $5.00, add another $5.00 for both the greens which I got on sale at the local grocery and the hand cut fries, also compliments of Angelfood, and we had a lovely, low-key Easter dinner.

Hope you enjoy!

Bacon-Wrapped Turkey Medallions

4 bacon wrapped turkey medallions.
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup water & bouillon cube (or stock)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 of water

1 tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 400. Heat an oven safe pan with the olive oil. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides of turkey. When hot place the turkey in the pan and do not move for at least 4 minutes while searing. Flip to the other side about an additional 4 minutes. Whisk the the water and bouillon, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard and red pepper flake and pour over the turkey medallions. Insert a meat thermometer into one of the medallions. Put it in the oven for another 8 minutes or until the meat thermometer reads 170.

Remove turkey to serving platter. Taste sauce, adjust seasoning, add remaining 1/3 cup of water and cornstarch. Bring to boil while whisking. Pour half of the sauce over the turkey before serving and the other half in a gravy boat. (Do people still have gravy boats?)

March Angelfood

2010-04-04T22:01:00.001-04:00

(EDITED: Angel Food Ministries is no longer in operation, if I find another service like this I will update!)

Yum! Stay tuned for recipes featuring March's standard box.

Misadventures with Broccoli

2010-03-28T23:32:00.006-04:00

So, as previously posted Lola has begun eating food. I have/had big plans for making all of her baby food from scratch. Unfortunately, I have not had the time/equipment to make it quite successfully.

We started with rice cereal which is not easily replicated at home, so I bought that and procured a fancy (affordable) food mill in anticipation of starting her on vegetables. I chose a non-electric one because 1- it's cheap and 2 - I have a food processor, a blender, and a hand blender so I figured I was covered in the electric arena and didn't need to spend money to get one labeled "Baby."

Anyhow, when it came time to try a new food I decided on green beans because I had them in the freezer! Thanks angelfood! I quickly discovered that you need a formidable amount of beans in the grinder to make it work as the sheer mass of food being pushed by the metal disc is what helps push it through the sieve. So I had to make a lot more than I bargained for and the skins were too tough and just collected in the bottom while i pushed them around. After about 20 minutes I collected about 2 tablespoons of baby green beans that had made it through the sieve (and a cup of mushed and mangled ones in the mill) and fed them to Lola. It was very anticlimactic she took it all in stride and didn't seem to notice the difference from rice cereal.

So, I decided I would buy pre-baby-fied green beans and move on to other vegetables with the food mill. I rummaged through the freezer and faced with lima beans or broccoli I decided broccoli had to be easy to grind! Maybe it was, don't really remember...what I do remember is Lola turning red and choking and me panicking and wishing I had taken that course on baby Heimlich and CPR.

After the trauma I realized that I have never seen broccoli in the baby food aisle, and the fibrousness of the broccoli keeps it gritty no matter how small you grind it so the grit was most likely the problem.

Back to baby cereal and liquified green beans for the time being. I'm not giving up but I will be getting the blender out because for now at least I think I need some motorized, electric, pulverizing help. I wonder if I could get one of these...

Politics Schmolitics

2010-03-22T20:56:00.001-04:00

On having an extra thirteen pounds strapped to your chest

2010-03-20T21:17:00.009-04:00

I had a c-section of the unscheduled, emergency type because labor started but Lola took her sweet, sweet time getting out. So, I had received this lovely sling custom-made for me that collected dust for 6 weeks while I recovered. But when I could walk up stairs and sit up without pain I finally pulled it out and discovered how liberating it is. Well, as liberating as you can get with an infant tied to your chest.

This amazing contraption is the only way I can handle commuting during rush hour on the metro. Trying to squeeze a stroller onto a sardine packed train is a lesson in futility. It's also the thing that allows me to get work done while I've got Lola in tow at the office. I can sit her on my lap with the sling just wrapped around her so she can't fall while she plays with her toys on my desk and occasionally deletes a file when she finds the keyboard! I can sit her up over my shoulder so she can see what's going on behind me. I can lay her down for a nap or feed her a bottle with one hand while I point and click with the mouse. I can even manage to go out with just one bag if I pack correctly.

There are several options out there, but since I am a well rounded woman with rather sizable assets I opted to go with something custom made. Rather, a lovely person gifted me with something custom made. I can't recommend this sling enough, it's very simply made, but has several versatile positions for baby, as well as an array of options for fabric. And if you don't like any of the options they have you can send in any fabric you like. You can even have one made for daddy out of a manly fabric!

Now must publish post before baby grabs keyboard!