Slacking

It's been WEEKS since I've blogged so I'm going to take advantage of some insomnia for a quick update. There are a few reasons you haven't heard much from us lately (refreshing break?) The best reason is the weather! We've been enjoying some simple running around lately. Lots of parks, grass, swings, walks--all that good stuff. Makes for good days but not good blogging. Also, our house is up for sale. Those of you who have tried to sell a house with two tots can feel my pain. Every spare minute is spent cleaning. It's so ridiculous. Constant floor-sweeping going on over here.

Anyway, we had the chance to get out for our first 2010 trip (of many) to the Wildlife Sanctuary. Grandpa joined us and a good time was had.

Too pretty to eat. Ok, not really.

Cupcakes.

The treat of the moment, yes? Well, we've bought in. Laney and I are fans. So much so that I posted on FB my craving for cupcakes. In fact, my posting about hitting the park and making cupcakes worked out very well for us as my friend Steph offered me both her (and her sons') company at the park and a fun new cupcake idea. Talk about a good day.

Laney and I pre-burned our cupcake calories running around the park with our friends Steph and Jake (and the babes) and then headed home for some creative cupcaking. Steph let me in on her Martha Stewart-esque cupcake recipe--RAINBOW cupcakes.

Food coloring. Both a good idea and a bad idea. Makes a pretty cupcake but a messy countertop. Strip the kid or ready your Tide Pen. Also, if you have cupcake pajamas for your baby, it helps with the mood.

Ok, so we made boxed cupcake mix and then separated it into several bowls. In each bowl I put something like 10 (12, 15, 20) drops and stirred. I then, with a tablespoon, layered each colored batter into the paper cups. Baked as usual. Frosted and sprinkled.

These are gorgeous and springy! Worked perfectly. Keep in mind that my standards are pretty low (for presentation, not taste.) I've seen Steph make things that could go in magazines. Neither Laney or I have that steady hand (patience). But we do have fun! Try this at home, and then give them away to keep from eating them all. Or better yet, bring to a playdate that we're attending;-)

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.