Homemade Soup = Pure Luxury

For the past year I've been making various soups from New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Nation's Best Purveyor of Fine Soup

and have decided that a bowl of homemade soup, with some slices of homemade bread, with homemade ice cream for dessert is the epitome of luxury.

I've probably made at least 20 different soups from this cookbook and almost all of them have turned out good. Generally I don't make homemade stock and just use Swanson free range chicken broth, but lately I've been making homemade stock more often. My favorite recipes are the Cauliflower, Potato, and Cheese Soup and the Sausage Minestrone (couldn't find an online recipe). The soups usually take about an hour and half to make (only about 30 minutes of that is active though)but I think they are worth it. I try to make at least one soup a week and then I put the leftovers in mason jars. Some go in the fridge and some go in the freezer. 

Great Pregnancy Information

Sorting through my bookmarks I came across this link.  This article does a great job explaining many of the problems with maternal care in our country.  Very informative.


http://www.alternet.org/story/65608/?page=entire

Mothering Magazine - Digital Version

I really enjoy reading Mothering magazine.  Some (but not all) articles are on what most would consider the very extreme side of "natural" living/parenting.  I really like the alternative perspective it gives compared to more mainstream parenting magazines and how it points out aspects of our society and challenges you to think about why we do things the way we do.  I also like the fact that it is privately owned and not a product of the massive American media machine ;).

For the past couple years I have been checking out this magazine at the library when each new issue comes out.  I've thought about subscribing, but I can get it at the library for free and doing so saves paper and waste so I haven't.  But the last few issues have had some really good articles that I've wanted to keep.  I decided to look into their digital version, but I kind of assumed that you couldn't print out the articles so I didn't know how much good it would do me.  Well you can print out the articles and the technology they use to deliver the magazine is very impressive (to me as a computer programmer).  You can also buy digital reprints of popular articles and soon they will have the ability to purchase digital versions of back issues.  And it is ridiculously cheap at $6 for a year's subscription. 


They have a sample issue here:

http://www.mothering-digital.com/mothering/sample/

The current sample is the July/August 2009 issue and the article on Breastfeeding in the land of Genghis Khan is so interesting.  The vaccine articles are also extremely informative. 

*Mothering magazine did not sponsor this blog in any way.  This is wholly my own personal opinion.

Great Blog Article About Learning Domestic Arts

I read this blog post last summer and I have thought about it a few times since because it so very accurately described some of my very own thoughts.   So I decided to track it down, which wasn't easy, and share it/save it. 

http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2009/08/breaking-needles-while-breaking-ground.html

First Steps?!

One week before Allie was 8 months old she took her first step.  She decided it was time for her to be able to bridge the gap between her toy and the couch without having to put her hands on the ground.  She's a crazy baby!  She's very wobbly but occasionally she is able to have a successful step between things.  I'm predicting that she'll be walking in about 3 weeks.  Oh my.

I think she's also working on mixing up her naps.  She's pretty much down to only two naps a day.  The last few days she even has taken some longer one hour naps (yay), but yesterday she took a 2+ hr nap!  That's the longest nap she's taken since she was a month old.  But now she seems to be going to bed earlier too, which is ok, except when she decides she should get up early too.  I don't like getting up before 8, so 6:30 is much, much too early.  Oh well. 

She really wants to do everything her sister does.  She gets very upset when Selena is painting and she actually has a tantrum because I won't let her.  I would let her if she didn't insist on sticking everything she finds in her mouth.  She loves her daddy too.  She's constantly chasing him around the house and she gets very sad when he doesn't pick her up immediately.   She gets very excited when he comes home from work, and she got super worried when he went out on the roof to trim a tree.  I think she remembered me getting stuck out there.  She calmed down as soon as she saw him safe and sound. 

She is eating real food well now.  Most of the stuff she gets in her mouth she ends up swallowing.  She doesn't seem to have a huge preference for anything specific yet.  She pretty much just wants what everyone else is eating. 

Potty Trained!!

Woohoo!  Selena is officially potty trained and I am so happy.  She still wants a diaper at night, but wakes up dry 75% of the time, and thus I've gone back to putting her in cloth so I don't have to buy diapers for her (we had been using disposables at night).  About a month ago she just stopped having the one or two accidents she would have during the day, and she started waking up in the middle of the night to go.  It took about 7 months but it finally clicked.  So my lesson learned, and what many experienced mom's tried to tell me, was to wait.  Treats and candy did entice her sometimes to go, but I regret using them.  I think with Allie we will wait till she is able to dress herself.  Then we will show her the potty, offer some undies, and let her take the lead.  But even though on one hand we did start too early with Selena, on the other hand she was ready to poop in the potty and for that I am thankful we haven't been changing poopy diapers the last 6 months.

Christmas was fun.  It was exciting this year because Selena was actually anticipated Christmas this year (except she still talked about her birthday more often).  She got some neat blocks, a scooter, and a doll house but, unfortunately she hasn't played with them too much.  She just really isn't into toys and never has been.  Whenever she plays independently she either just talks to herself, runs around the house, or plays in the sink.  The exceptions are her baby doll and her little stuffed dogs Howlidays and Douglas.  She does enjoy the toys when I play with her though.  

The last couple months Selena has been doing a lot of cooking.  She helps me with most meals.  She really likes stirring and rolling out dough.  She has learned a few hard lessons about not tasting the food before I say and has got mouthfuls of raw ginger and unsweetened cocoa or chocolate.  She also likes to mix up her own concoctions.  But when she mixed up flour, brown sugar and ketchup and insisted that I eat the "cereal" she made it was a little too much for me.  She used such persuasive arguments like telling me "its just food", and she is top chef so I should eat it, and even trying to trick me by telling me there was no ketchup in it.  Luckily I distracted her with Curious George and got out of eating it.  But despite her love of cooking she will hardly eat anything.  She went from a baby who ate everything to a toddler who eats nothing.  Starting around 18 months she slowly started eliminating things she would eat.  Now she pretty much lives on peanut butter and jelly, pasta, and rice.  I am exaggerating, but not by much.  I even got the book The Sneaky Chef which had a recipe for putting some carrot/yam puree in her cheese casadia. Selena spotted a difference in the color quickly and said she didn't like it anymore.  She even refuses to try dessert type foods that she would definitely like if she would just put it in her mouth.  My only consolation is that I was super picky as a child and I eventually grew out of it.

Other cute Selena stories:

• She has turned from a human child into a kitty cat.  Even when she is pretending to be a dog she will say that the "kitty cat is pretending to be a dog".  
• One day we were talking about how when she turns three she can go to sleep on her own and a few days later while I was putting her to bed she started getting teary and was telling me that she didn't want to grow up, and she didn't want to be a big girl and was asking me how she could stop getting older.  Of course that made me feel so bad and I assured her I will snuggle her to sleep as long as she wants.  
• Sometimes while she is going to bed I'll rub her back to relax her and lately if I go to rub it she stops me and says, "Mom.  You have to ask me if you can rub my back."  So I ask her and she says, "Yes.  Thank you for asking."  :)  
• Another day she was doing something that I didn't like and I asked her why she was being mean to me and she said it was because I was mean to her.  So I asked her what I ever did that was mean and she said "You take things away from me like scissors and stuff."  Which is true. 
• We took her roller skating which she absolutely loved. 
  

2009 In Review and 2010 Goals

2009 was a pretty good year.  I quit my job and had a baby.  I have made huge improvements in my ability to cook.  I learned how to bake bread and make ice cream.  I have made significant progress in eliminating processed foods from my diet.  I wasn't able to sew as much as I would have liked the last half of the year but I did make some great soft structured baby carriers and some nice maternity shirts.  I read 52 books this year, which I find amazing, because I honestly didn't feel like I had much time to read.  I read a lot about gardening and attempted a small container garden that was a little bit successful.  I didn't run much, but enough that I'm not so that I can still run a few miles without it being too difficult. 

For 2010 my main goal is to make an attitude adjustment.  I have been feeling grumpy, frustrated and stressed often.  It is mostly small things that get to me--taking an hour to get out the door, not having any time to myself, the house always being a mess despite feeling like I am constantly cleaning, being pulled in different directions all at once, not getting enough sleep.  So for 2010 I am going to try and put things in perspective and simplify. I want to enjoy the time I spend with my family.  If I get sometime to myself great, but I want to stop dwelling on what I would rather be doing and enjoy what I am doing.  It doesn't matter how long it takes us to get out of the house, and it doesn't matter if the house is not clean.  I'll do my best to get as much as I can done, but my best won't every be perfect, and that is ok.  This is going to be a hard goal.  Not getting decent sleep makes it hard to be in a good mood, but I am going to try. 

There are some things I'd like to do in 2010, but if I don't get to them it is fine.  I'd like to keep working on eliminating processed foods.  I'm going to work on reducing my sugar intake and contemplate eliminating sugar (except right now I can't possibly imagine life without ice cream).  I'm going to work on getting Selena to eat more variety.  I'd love to sew a pair of pants that look good and fit.  I want to do a vegetable and fruit garden.  I'd like to read at least 50 books again.  I want to run some more, and possibly do a half marathon (very slight possibility). 

Happy New Year!

Another Rave for 5 Minute Artisan Bread

I wrote about this bread the other day, but since then I actually got the book from the library (and have now ordered it for myself, plus the new 5 minute healthy bread) and made some other recipes with the dough and it is fantastic.  I apologize in advance for sharing this, but I made sticky buns from the dough and they are really, really delicious, and pretty easy.

I also made some Naan flat bread and have been making more pizza as well.  Usually when I make pizza I cook at a high temperature (500 degrees), I pre-bake the crust before putting on the toppings, and I let the dough rest before rolling/stretching it out.  But I've found that I can make a pretty decent pizza in 15 minutes by cooking at 450 (less time preheating the oven and reduces the chance of the fire detectors going off), not letting the dough rest, and not pre-baking the crust.  So for just a slight bit more inconvenience I can get a way better pizza than a frozen one in almost the same time.

Allie is 7 months

Our little cutie is doing good.  She is working on her cruising.  She's still a little wobbly and slow, but I'm sure in a few short weeks she'll be speedy.  She is also getting into the pulling all the books off the shelf stage.  I just can't wait till she actually wants to sit down and read a book.  Selena loves reading books, but it is hard to read to her and keep Allie happy at the same time.  It will be great when I can snuggle up with both of them and read. 

She got strep throat earlier this month.  It was very sad.  Babies should not get sick.  Fortunately she wasn't too upset as long as I held her so she spent most of the day in the backpack and slept all night in my arms.  She thought it was very luxurious to sleep in my arms and nurse all night long so she's been trying to continue doing that since.  She liked taking the medicine and she got all better.  But now she has a super runny nose and she uses every trick she knows to not let me wipe her nose, so she has spent the last couple days with a permanent booger encrusted on her nose. Yuck.

She's also been eating lots of new foods.  I'm being real lazy about it but she seems happy with what I'm giving her.  I just cut up whatever we're having into tiny pieces and let her have at it.  She manages to put lots in her lap, some in her mouth, but usually ends up gumming it and then spitting it out.  Which is fine with me.  She does manage to eat a bit, and I'm sure when she is ready she'll eat more. 

Christmas was fun.  I think she enjoyed all the wrapping paper.  She mostly got jammies and cloth diaper covers, but she has more toys than she needs, plus her sister got a ton and she can share with her.  It is funny though because Allie really likes toys.  Selena never really played with toys when she was little and still isn't too into them.  But Allie really enjoys crawling into the toy closet and finding all sorts of stuff.  I think she plays independently about the same amount as Selena does now, maybe even more.  She did get Sophie the Giraffe from her grandpa since I saw it blogged everywhere and she does like it but not excessively so.

She is still really grabby and abusive.  When you hold her she is constantly lunging for everything in sight and if she isn't doing that then she's giving you fish hooks, pinching your nose, pulling your hair, or just whapping you.  Sometimes when she is in the backpack she just sits there and pinches the back of my arms, which really hurts.  We definitely need to work on being gentle.  She's lucky she is so dang cute and you know she doesn't mean to hurt you.

She is getting more and more adamant about doing everything her sister is doing.  The other day Selena was painting and Allie was crying because I wouldn't let her paint too.  What baby cries because they aren't allowed to paint?  She likes brushing her teeth too.  She gets very mad if I don't bring her into the bathroom let her brush her teeth with her sister.  The other day she had a toothbrush she was playing with and she kept trying to brush my teeth with it, so I took it and pretended to brush my teeth, and she got so happy and gave me the biggest smile.  It was really cute. 

Picture Book Recommendations

Here are a couple books Selena has enjoyed:

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity - Mo Willems is a funny author. His Elephant and Piggy series are good too. But these two books are really cute. We had to look through Selena's stuffed animals to find her and Allie their own Knuffle Bunnies.
Good Night, Good Knight - I've been surprised at how good some of the easy readers are. This is a cute story about some dragons who need the Good Knight's help to get to bed. The dragons are cute and it has some fun repetition in the story.