New Pictures

Baby Food Monday

Hi All --

(by the way, new videos to the right)

Here's another scoop for Monday...you can freeze sandwiches! Cut sandwiches into quarters, wrap individually, and voila.

Spread of the week on her sandwich is...squash ricotta. Basically, we had a great squash soup this weekend, and all I did was scoop the leftovers into a free ice cube tray, then placed in a bag. 20 seconds in the microwave of two cubes + two scoops of ricotta = tasty bread spread.

On the family food front, we had KFC Curry last night -- that's Kitchen Food Cleanout Curry. Buy any curry jar from the grocery store, and chop up just about any vegetables you have hanging out in your kitchen. Fruit can be used to, and gives the curry a sweet flavor.

Have a good week!

Baby Food Monday

Since I have to make food for K every day for daycare, I thought I'd try to do a baby food monday theme.  This makes sure I can actually write down what we're doing with Miss K for food and perhaps share some nice tips for toddler/baby food with the internets. 

The menu for daycare this week is...

Ham, Cheese and Avocado spread sandwich with steamed carrots

Snack/breakfast:  Blueberry multigrain pancakes with cranberry apple sauce

1) Raw Apple sauce -- 

Prep -- cut up as many apples as you have around and douse them in lemon juice (bottled works fine).  Put about half of the apples and a half cup of juice (I used cranberry) and blend.  Add apple pieces until you get your favorite applesauce consistency.  Taste.  Add cinnamon if you'd like.  

Storage -- You can set it in the fridge for about a week.  You can also freeze it in little ice cube trays for about two months.

Uses -- Use it in muffins, cereal, yogurt, as a spread, in a dessert, or in a lunch spread (below).

2) Steamed carrots -- 

Prep -- cut your carrots into baby-sized morsels (depends on baby).  Put into a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water (alternatively, use a steamer (some rice steamers come with veggie steamer attachments like mine).  Go ahead and throw in a few sprigs of herbs if you have some. Cover.  Cook for 12 mins or so for al dente carrots; 15 for mushy carrots for little eaters.  

Storage -- Cool, then spread over baking tray in your freezer shelf.  Move into zip top bags once they are frozen through.

Uses -- Use them like frozen veggies in stews and soups.  Thaw them and puree into tomato sauce to up the nutritional content.  Serve them tossed with a salad dressing, olive oil, or maybe some soy sauce.

3) No Brainer Sandwich Spread -- I'm always looking for ways to sneak more veggies into baby.  Here's something to try to use on your sandwiches.

Prep -- You need one mashed vegetable, one spready or shredded cheese, and one sweet saucy thing.  I used this time avocado, ricotta, and apple butter.  I know, sounds gross, but it's actually tasty.  Mix the veggie, cheese and sweet all together until you get a spread consistency.  Use only a little bit of sweet at first and then adjust to your taste.  

Uses -- Use it as a dip or as a sandwich spread -- HINT:  You can make a bunch of mini sandwiches in advance, then freeze.  I used ham, american cheese and this spread to make a tasty sandwich for myself, then another one that I froze into tiny 1 inch cubes of sandwich for baby.  Now, in the morning, I just have to throw the sandwich cubes in her lunchbox!

Anyways, I'll let you know what miss K thinks about the food next Monday, and I'll post the menu for next week.  Later! Lori

A ten minute treatise on time with a ten minute update

Yesterday, Frank asked me late at night how my day had been. It suprised him and I when I really didn't have a good answer, in fact, I was pretty happy just to be at the end of the day, not at the beginning.

Don't get me wrong, I like my job and my family. But my days are a blur and many days there is no room for contemplation. Every weekday, I get up at 4:50 to get to work at 5. At 6:30, I get K up for the day, and Frank shortly afterward. K has breakfast, lunchbox, vitamins, teeth brushing, diaper/clothes change, and binky before I hand her off to Frank to take to daycare at 7:30. Then, I go back downstairs and work until at least 2. Then comes the cleaning (yes I do do it), the dishwashing, the shopping list, the bottle washing, dinner-ing on M/W or anything else best done without baby in hand. Anything not done off of that list, it has to go onto the "post-K bedtime list".

(I've got 4 mins left)
Today I got out at 2:45, meaning all I could muster was a quick dishwashing/tidy up. If I want to exercise for at least 20 mins (how sad is that, to go to the gym for 20 mins of stairclimbing?), I have to get out the door in 3 mins. So I can pick up K at 4. So I can get to the grocery store by 4:30, then feed baby by 5:30. Dinner for me must fit between 5:30 and bathtime at 7. Baby in bed by 7:30, and I from then to my bedtime to relax and/or eat and/or finish everything else on my list. Bedtime for this bonzo is 9 sharp.

This isn't a pity party, it's just the way it is. So the next time I am asked what my day has been like, I may just reference this blog note. It would save time. I'm already late by 2 mins for my gym time. Whew!

UPDATE: So I reread this today and thought I'd clarify a bit. Of course we've got it good -- certainly there are a lot of parents juggling a lot more than I am. I have a wonderful husband who likes to cook and helps out where he can. This schedule above is just the result of the combination of our schedules and the choice that we all have to make to manage our time against what needs to get done everyday. For example, I could do more while K is in the house during weekdays, but I choose to spend as much of that time as I can with our family as the priority. So while I do sometimes wish for some personal time, this schedule above obviously is busy but it at least works.

The MVP is...

YAY STEELERS!