Go Fly a Kite.

I'm not a crafty girl but I'm willing to indulge my kid when she requests most art projects. The other day she was chatting up about kites and I'm sure it's because kites are one of the pictures on her precious Zingo game.

*Sidenote: if you have a toddler, rush out and buy Zingo. It's a Bingo-like board game that keeps a tot happy for hours and can be used as a bargaining tool for naps, bed and picking up toys. Not that I would ever bribe my kid.

So I wondered if we could fashion a kite without any sort of shopping trip. Turns out, it's easy. I grabbed a piece of posterboard and cut the shape and then handed it over to Laney for decorating. She's into stickers right now, so that kept her busy for at least an hour, no exaggeration. Pretty helpful since she sprained her foot--kept her sitting/lounging/sprawled on the floor for an impressive amount of time.

After she was satisfied with her kite, she very sweetly requested a canvas to decorate a kite for Mia. So I cut a minikite with the scraps from the big kite.

After the decorating was complete, I needed to reinforce the back of the diamond. It occurred to me that chopsticks would be perfect. I have a strong dislike (fear, ongoing battle...) with chopsticks so I didn't have any in the house. I started thinking about ordering some sushi but Koko's isn't open for lunch anymore. After being irritated about that for a while, I moved on. Something I DO have in the house--diapers. I cut the cardboard diaper box to make the reinforcing cross for the back of the diamond. I used wood glue to attach the cardboard and put the kite out of reach and let it dry during naptime.

In the afternoon, I dug out Christmas wrapping ribbons and let Laney choose colors for the streamers and the "string". I cut a hole to tie the string and reinforced with a roll and a half of Scotch tape.

It was a very windy day yesterday so we headed outside to fly the kites. It actually worked (I had no expectations.) Laney couldn't run because of her limpy foot but the wind picked it up anyway. It was super-functional when I ran with it.

Extra bonus--early evening when I started making dinner she went back to her kite and spent another hour improving its sticker count by oh, 150 stickers.

So there you go. It's not the prettiest kite in the world but Laney was excited about it and spent the day customizing it with her stickers and crayons. And I didn't have to buy single thing to make it! Happy I didn't buy the kite-making kit for $20:)

Someone. Is. Eating. This. Baby. Food.

(The first pic is cauliflower puree on a cracker, the second is pumpkin/chicken tossed with whole wheat noodles)

So once again I went a little nuts making baby food. Steam, roast, puree, freeze in ice cube trays, repeat. I ended up with a freezer full of cubes in Zip Loc bags and a baby who doesn't like baby food. In theory, I don't mind this. We started solids past six months which is a little old for purees, I understand. Finger foods are more fun for everyone. However, I am not wasting this bounty of fruits and vegetables.

Mia's going to eat it. One way or another. The rest of us are helping too.

I have come up with a few successful ways to use these purees. Some ways I developed when Laney gave up purees, other recipes I have developed lately.

Pasta with vegetable puree-

This works great with every savory puree. So far we've had luck mixing whole wheat (petite) noodles with chicken/pumpkin, cauliflower and broccoli. Sometimes I add a bit of butter and cheese and usually some defrosted peas.

Cracker or toast topper

Always a hit with Laney, I spread any sort of puree (green bean, squash, pear) over crackers or toast like spread cheese. Laney will still eat this. Mike, not so much.

Cream of what-have-you soup

We all enjoy this. I used asparagus last week.

Diced onion

Garlic cloves

diced celery

Saute this stuff in butter or olive oil.

Add in ingredient of choice. I had a bunch of fresh asparagus and probably a dozen cubes of asparagus puree. I imagine broc, cauliflower, squash would all work.

Add in a cup or so of vegetable broth. Simmer for a few minutes. Blend with an immersion blender.

Lower heat, add in a cup of half-and-half or heavy cream (or whole milk, I guess) and pepper it like crazy.

That's a really good soup.

Smoothies, of course

Frozen fruit cubes with fresh fruit and yogurt, blended

I did this with mango/broc cubes and you couldn't taste the broccoli. It wasn't that attractive though.

If anyone else has any ideas, please post in comments. My freezer is still full.

More Mia!

It's been called to my attention that Mia is definitely second fiddle in this blog. As a second daughter myself, I will try to rectify that. Laney, being a big girl of two years is more able to participate in fun activities. However, Mia is definitely ready to star in a photo montage. Here it is!

Basic Stir Fry

Here's one of those healthy recipes I promised. Stir fry is my go-to when Mike and I feel like we've eaten out too much and it's especially light with shrimp. Also works with chicken, pork and beef.

I use a wok but you could probably use a deep skillet. My mom used a wok all the time when I was a kid so I feel familiar with it, but I understand they look scary. I highly suggest getting one if you don't already have one. My mom would make stir fry, egg rolls, and even donuts in her wok. Hmmm. Maybe she should teach me how to make those donuts.

Ok, so take whatever veg you have and cut it up before you start. Actually, do everything before you start because you have to move fast with stir fry. Or open a bag of frozen veg. Defrost it first. I like broc, carrots, onion, sugar snap peas, red pepper and water chestnuts. But I use whatever I have.

Here's a good sauce:
2 cloves minced garlic
2 inches grated ginger
3 tbps soy sauce
1/2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp hoisin
2 tsp honey

a squirt of a red curry or hot sauce is good if you don't have tots. I love sriracha sauce but it is very bad news if you're breastfeeding, fyi.

First, start the rice. I like long grain brown rice--it takes 45 minutes. Stick an inch of ginger in the pot to fancy it up. Then throw some oil in the wok and put it at med-low heat. Grapeseed, peanut of vegetable oil. Throw in the carrots, onion and meat (chicken, pork or beef.) Then the rest of the veg. Shrimp towards the end. Sauce it up as you go. Toss some almonds or peanuts on top to serve! This is a very easy dish and super-quick if you use Minute Rice.

**Mia is too young for seafood so I reserved some vegetables and steamed them separately, without the sauce.

Spring baking!

I know, I know, I'm supposed to be spring cleaning. I'm kind of doing that. But spring baking and crafting sound more fun to me, so I'll be posting a bunch of new ideas we're working on soon. I will also be posting recipes for very light and healthy dinners to counteract the spring baking thing. Hey. Balance.
Last week Laney and I decided to do a little brownie baking (or as she calls it--Chocolate Lake!!) To celebrate the springy 40 degree weather I grabbed my new flower-silicon-shape-thingy! This was so fun and it occupied Laney for more than an hour. First, we mixed the brownie mix (yep, mix.) Then baked the brownies in the silicon pad (we had a ton of batter left so also made a traditional half-pan of brownies.) After kind of letting them cool (it would have worked better had I completely let them cool) I turned the chocolate flowers out onto parchment. Then I set up Laney's workstation: a flat sheet of foil, cookie frosting in a glue bottle, and various pastel sprinkles. Mia got her own workstation with a sheet of foil and various Mia-safe foods to smoosh, nibble and toss on the floor. Laney is particularly artsy-crafty but I can't imagine a tot who wouldn't be in heaven with this project. It was a fantastic afternoon and a great memory. And Mike enjoyed the brownies (ok. so did I.)

*A note on brownie mixes- Target brand was meh. The best I've had is Costco brand but I'm not sure if that's due to the mix or to the baker (my mother-in-law is a master baker. She even has cookie recipes memorized.) No matter the mix--I underbake them.

Spaghetti with Sole

I have to post my dinner last night because it was a huge event at our house. Laney has been boycotting meat since her stomach flu a few weeks back and I have tried everything to get it back on her palate. Well, last night when we arrived home from the Dells Mike and I really wanted something light after all the chicken finger action at the Wilderness. I dug some sole filets out of the freezer and set under running water. In the meantime, I made some whole wheat spaghetti. I sauteed the fish, onions and garlic in olive oil and heavily dusted with Italian seasoning. The fish cooked in a minute and I removed it to a plate. I added a big handful of sundried tomatoes to the pan along with the cooked pasta. I squeezed a lemon and tossed in chopped basil.
Served the pasta with the fish and microwaved green beans.
I served Laney's plate with the components separate and the back-up cheese for protein because I expected sole rejection. She ate the whole filet (and seconds of the green beans!) I am so happy! We usually have fish 1-2 times a week but I may be stepping it up now!

Wild at the Wilderness!

We managed a quick escape to the Wilderness Resort in the Dells this past weekend. I was a bit apprehensive as family travel has been less than stellar since Mia's arrival. No need to worry, it was fabulous! We stayed two nights at the Wyndham at Glacier Canyon at the Wilderness in a 2 bedroom presidential suite. Ok, so the fact that we stayed in a suite about the same size as our house only with a BETTER layout probably helped. We had a kitchen to prepare some healthy meals. We also timed drives to perfectly coincide with naptime and ran the girls ragged with activity so we actually stayed on sleep schedule! The key I think was everyone having their own sleeping space. Laney had a giant bedroom and Mia stayed in the second bathroom. Yes, it was that big. The girls had so much fun in the waterpark and play areas. Mike ate a ridiculous amount of ice cream. I slept in until 7 each day as my generous husband got up with the girls. I was not at all ready to leave. We may be ready to extend our vacations to THREE nights away soon!

Daddy goes bananas!

So I've mentioned Mike, Laney and Mia's shared affinity for bananas. Well, last weekend we had some past-prime bananas and he and Laney set off to make banana bread. I had some whole milk vanilla yogurt that the girls weren't going through fast enough, so we tried to incorporate that instead of oil. Here's what we came up with...

1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. applesauce
2 ripe bananas
1 cup whole milk vanilla yogurt (we used Stonyfield Farm)
1 c. white flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. soda
1 c whole wheat flour
2 shakes cinnamon

350 for about 40 minutes (toothpick comes out clean.)

This worked out. The bread was quite tasty but also extremely moist/dense. Probably because it had a cup of yogurt in it. Mia even ate it. Good stuff.

Pasta with NotTryingToSneakVeggiesIn Meat Sauce

Let me be clear. I am not a fan of *sneaking* or *hiding* vegetables in food. Vegetables are yummy and the natural way to add flavor to a dish without adding fats and gross stuff. When I make a dish full of veg I am almost show-offy about it as opposed to playing it down. I've heard about these books that encourage camouflaging healthy stuff for your kids/husband/self and that's not really a good plan for me. If my kid thinks something is tasty, I want her to think vegetable=yummy instead of brownie=yummy. So enough about that. Moving on.

Sometimes, you DO have to be creative about vegging up a dish. Take spaghetti with meat sauce. Mike's favorite, asks for it twice a week. I like it too, and Laney will sometimes eat it, but I think it needs more good stuff. And by good stuff, I mean nutrition AND flavor. Luckily, veggies accomplish both things. Unluckily, too many vegetables make a pasta sauce a watery mush. Here's how I get around it. I'm detailing my recipe for meat sauce but I am sure the system would work for whatever favorite recipe.

an onion
4 cloves of garlic
a lb of ground turkey/sirloin/Italian sausage whatever

a few cups of various veg--last night I used 3 cups of spinach, a handful of asparagus tips, 3 giant carrots

red wine or balsamic vinegar
3 cans of diced, whole or stewed tomatoes (a variety is great)
a few palmfuls of Italian seasoning
2-3 cubes of tomato paste

add-ins--roasted red peppers, colored pepper strips, mushrooms

Here we go. Let's make our various veg first. I'll call it "veg paste." I have a Cuisinart Mini-Prep. Maybe you have a full size one. Or a blender. Whatever. Cut the veg in large chunks and pulse it to a paste (this may take a few batches). If you use spinach this looks like pesto.

Ok, so put some olive oil in the medium-heated giant pan/pot/cooking vessel and sautee the onion, add the meat, get browning. Half way through, add the minced garlic and the veg paste. Now, give this time. What we're doing here is browning the veg and getting the water out. Really let it cook until it's got color. Now is the chance for evaporation. If you go too fast now everything is going to be watery.

After 10 minutes or so and a bit of shoving stuff around in the pan, add a cup of wine. Last night, I had a bottle of a red blend open (Coppola Rosso.) Thing is, I had a rough Tuesday and possibly drank a good part of the bottle. AND, I wanted to nurse a glass while cooking the sauce! What's a girl to do? I used a splash of the wine and supplemented with a few turns of balsamic. So, either open a new bottle, buy some minibottles for cooking, or use balsamic. Ok, now let that cook. Then add the tomatoes and the seasoning. Now's a good time for red pepper flakes if you so wish.

At this point I took a good look at the sauce and thought it looked too green for a red sauce. I did use almost a bag of spinach. So I went to the freezer and took out a few cubes of tomato paste. Yes, cubes. You know when you need a tbsp of tomato paste for a recipe? What do you do with the rest? Well, I freeze it in an ice cube tray and then turn it out into a freezer bag. I do the same with chipotle peppers in adobo because that stuff is too spicy to use a whole can in anything. Anyway, the tomato paste straightened out the color issue and it's good flavor. I also have something called "tomato paste powder" moistens into tomato paste. It's ok.

Add in extras and make the pasta. The sauce is done when the pasta is ready. Whole wheat rotini is good at our house because it's much easier for a toddler to eat than spaghetti.

Oh, and the sauce freezes well.

Fashion Forward

Laney has been quite a diva lately, in both behavior and style. Very, very particular and quite independent. She will struggle for 10 minutes to zip her own coat and insist on spreading her own peanut butter on her bread. I think this is normal toddler behavior. What is not so normal is what occurs when I allow Laney to pick out her own clothes. I've struck a kind of compromise with the little lady--I choose her clothes for the morning (she chooses the color, however) and she can choose her post-nap attire. We generally don't go anywhere late afternoon so it doesn't really matter what she ends up wearing. Which is lucky, because the outfits vary from pajamas, to my tees and scarves, to diaper with tons of hair accessories and jewelry, to my personal favorite--naked with tap shoes. I do get a little worried when she dresses normally but delights in walking around in my pointiest highest heels--I can barely walk in some of my shoes. Poor Mia has a tough role--the "hat wearer." Laney doesn't mess with her outfit too much--but she is very focused on sticking a hat on the babe at all times. And yeah, it's not really hat weather in our living room. Mia's interest in fashion only extends to chewing on shoes at this time. I am happy to still have some control there. Of course, the pics really explain Laney's creativity...