So, I bet you’re never going to guess where I found the main part of this recipe. Pinterest, you say? Ok, you guessed right. If you’re on pinterest, feel free to check out my “Yum” board for this and other recipes I’ve found. Specifically, though, the pin led me to Better Home & Gardens’ website and a list of their 20 Helathy Dinner Recipes for Under $3. I honestly don’t know how they made this meal for under $3. It wasn’t too expensive, but it was not under $3. My pork loin alone was $6.92. But I buy meat that’s as natural and unprocessed as possible so maybe if you buy meat jacked up with preservatives and hormones you can save a couple bucks. Now, on that appetizing note, here’s what we ate:

The pork medallions and cranberry chutney were so simple. For the chutney, you dump the ingredients into a small saucepan (cranberries, apple juice, brown sugar, rosemary, salt, pepper…), bring to a boil and then let simmer for about 5 minutes.

I added homemade roasted sweet potatoes as a side for our meal, which I put into the oven just before starting the chutney. I only used 1 large sweet potato for Husband and myself. There was even a few left for Liam to try, but we constantly end up eating after he goes to bed. Tonight especially, as we were watching the end of the Patriots championship game! Anyhooo… Sweet, Sweet Potatoes:

1 (or more) sweet potato, cut up into cubes. I eyeball around 1- 1 1/2 inces pieces.

agave nectar

olive oil

salt/pepper

paprika

Put potato cubes into small bowl. Squirt agave nectar on until you feel they are sufficiently coated. I went slightly overboard tonight, but they just came out extra sweet, almost a little candied on some. I tossed the potato with a little olive oil too. Then I tossed in some salt, pepper and paprika. I always put paprika on my potatoes! And I always eyeball the seasonings. Sorry, see, this is why I don’t actually have a cooking blog.

Roast the potatoes on aluminum foil-covered sheet at 425 degrees. I start at 20 minutes, add another 5 if they’re not crispy enough, and if they’re still not crispy enough for me at 25 minutes I broil for a minute or 2. Tonight I took them out at 25 minutes.

While the sweet potatoes were roasting and the chutney finishing its quick simmer, I prepared the pork. I had my pork loin that I had justified as small enough for my family and followed the recipe, cutting it into 1 inch thick circles. I pounded them a couple of times to get similar consistency and then seasoned them with salt and pepper. The recipe called for pork seasoning and I hadn’t gone to the trouble to look for any, but I did have “poultry seasoning” on my spice rack, so I sparingly sprinkled that over as well. I also sent a little prayer up to the kitchen gods that I wasn’t completely ruining the pork with my naive cooking confidence.

You throw the pork medallions into a skillet. Let them cook a few minutes on each side. Voila!! You had taken the chutney off the burner and set aside, your potatoes are just about to come out of the oven, and your meat is done!

For our vegetable, I was going to make a roasted broccoli recipe that I will probably share later, but I had some spinach that needed to be used up. I am absolutely famous [in my house] for the Lazy Woman’s Salad. I take about 2-3 ingredients, throw them on top of each other, and call it a salad. Tonight I put a pile of raw spinach on the plate (because I prefer raw veggies, otherwise I would suggest throwing the leaves quickly in your still-hot pork pan to wilt them a little with all of the browned pork flavor), and put a dollop of the chutney on top. Simple, quick, easy…all words I like to cook by.

Here, my friends, is the finished product:

Pretty, n’est pas? And tasty. Husband’s favorite part was the Sweet, Sweet Potatoes.

The little boy getting his hair cut at that time was occupying a fire truck seat. One of the seats in Trimmings is a fire truck and another is a yellow taxi car. The kiddie-stylists (?) had the great idea to turn the vehicles toward each other so that the boys could distract each other while getting their hair cut, so we were waiting for the first patron to be finished.

Wyatt had a couple of cuts under his belt, and his mom was ready with a bag of tricks. Liam naively agreed to be put into the yellow cab seat. But as soon as the cape came around his shoulders he popped the wubba (more on wubba next post) out of his mouth, shrugged and wiggled his shoulders, crying out, “Noooooo! Noooo!”

The sweet gal with the scissors was quick and wiley. She danced around Liam’s head with the silver shears singing through the air as I pointed out the mirror, the game on my iphone, Wyatt (who was also wiggling and telling his stylist “All done! All done!”), anything to distract him and keep him from acquiring a bald spot from a sudden movement.

Liam (and wubba) are wary of what's going on

Liam wishing the cab would get the hell outta there

"Wy-ee" says, "Leave these curls alone!"

No, I didn’t cry. Inadvertently, while distracting Liam I distracted myself. I had requested a trim. Don’t lose the curls, cut the bangs enough so he can see, don’t leave him with a mullet. I think she did a great job, but as all ladies know, the true test comes after the stylists work is washed out. We shall see.

Look at the certificate and his little curls we get to put in his Special Box!

Meanwhile, I met a mama who has a 12 month old and was visibly surprised to hear that I hadn’t cut Liam’s hair as of Friday evening. I know if their hair doesn’t curl up or lay off to the side, like Liam’s did, it’s a necessary early occurance. Any other mamas out there held out on the first cut, or did you give in sooner than we did?

When I poked my head into the Toddler Room at ROOTS I couldn’t spot Liam for a minute. I scanned the small critters children, waved to the teachers…and then fell into the room, laughing.  Here’s what I spotted:

My shaggy-haired boy had his hair taped back like it was a barette. “Liam! I think maybe it’s time to get a haircut!” I told him as I scooped him up. I should clarify for a second that this was medical tape (not so sticky) and I was in no way upset that his hair was taped back. His hair is so adorable…if it falls just right. His bangs sweep old-school Beiber-style (you know, Beiber 2 years ago) and fall into reddish-blond curls along the back of his head. However, I recognize that the bangs have gotten a little longer and with the dry, winter air his hair has done less perfect sweeping and more frizzing over his eyes. And those precious curls stick out into more of a rat’s nest. I know, I know…he must get his first haircut. JUST A TRIM, THOUGH! And we will leave most of the curls until he sports a hockey player mullet.

Also, you’ll notice from the pictures above that the toddlers were playing with Play Doh at ROOTS when I stopped by. It reminded me of when I used to nanny and we’d make our own Play Dough. I refuse to spell it incorrectly when I make it myself. Why hadn’t I done that yet with Liam? Poor Liam, neglected by the working mommy. My guilt had to be squelched immediately, so after we got home and I whipped up a meatloaf, washed dishes, changed a pooey diaper, [washed my hands], Liam climbed up onto his “Learning Tower” to help mix the Play Dough.

My mom used to cook from a book called Feed Me I’m Yours by Vicki Lansky. The copyright date is 1974.

After I had Liam my mom passed it on to me. Besides some easy baking recipes and first food ideas, there are recipes for things like homemade clay, paints, and play dough. There are three play dough recipes, actually, and the one I remember making with my mom requires stove-top cooking. I did it this way with the girls I nannied for too, but this time I updated the recipe a little with the help of my good friend Google. I found the same ingredients but instead of heating it all in a pot you put it in your Kitchen-Aid Mixer with the bread hook attachment and add hot water instead of cold water. For real! Soooo much easier. And safer for Liam to help all the way through.

Liam adds the Cream of Tartar

I like that I don’t have to worry about little ones putting this dough in their mouths–all of the ingredients are natural and safe.

All of the ingredients were in my Kitchen-Aid mixer with the bread hook attachment. We-okay, I- decided on blue dough.

And then he gets to SQUISH!

 This is how I followed/tweaked the recipe:

In your Kitchen-Aid mixer bowl add

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup salt

2 Tbsp. cream of tartar

1 Tbsp. canola oil

If you are only making one color (or no dye) then add food coloring now with your

1 cup of hot water

Let bread hook attachment knead the dough for about 5-6 minutes.

(If you want more than one color you skip color, make dough, divide it up, stick it back in the mixer to mix and add color. I would also suggest multiplying the recipe by however many colors you are making as this amount is good for one batch.)

Go make some play dough with your critters!

I’m sharing this brownie recipe by request. I’ve been flaunting my agave baking all over Twitter and the masses (okay, like 2 people) have asked for this is a recipe. It comes from a book called Baking with Agave Nectar by Ania Catalano.

Ultimate Fudgy Brownies (Makes 24 2-inch bars)

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1 cup unsalted butter or nonhydrogenated butter substitute

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups light agave nectar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup sprouted spelt flour (I’ve decided this is not my favorite flavor so I’ve done 1/2 spelt and 1/2 unbleached all-purpose flour and also all of it with all-purpose flour.)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×13 inch baking pan with canola oil spray.

In a glass bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Microwave on high settings for 2 minutes. Immediately remove from the microwave and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a wire whisk. Add the agave nectar and vanilla extract. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt over the chocolate mixture. Gently fold the ingredients, just until the flour is incorporated. Gently fold in the pecans. Be sure not to overmix; the mixture will be lumpy.

Pour into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until just set. Do not overbake, or the brownies will lose their fudginess. Let cool in the pan before cutting into bars.

Fresh from the oven

Ready to serve

They came out delicious and so moist. I might have over-mixed them according to the recipe, but I’m not sure what the difference would be. As far as comparing them to your average brownie mix…I have to work on tweaking the recipe and baking time, I think. I like my brownies practically raw and really gooey. These ones were more fudgey/cakey (but not dry!).

Good luck with your agave baking! Share if you use or substitute agave and have liked the change.

Normalizing breast feeding isn’t defined as nursing in public but covering up. Normalizing means that when you see a nursing mum in public you don’t bat an eye and move on with your own damn business. Because it’s normal. To breastfeed. This includes (but is not limited to) the mum who is sitting in a corner and has most of her breast covered but her little rascal gets distracted by oh, everything, and pops off every two seconds. If breastfeeding has indeed become the norm then you will think “whoa, nipple.” for half a second, and then you’re over it because, hey you happen to see nipples every day in the shower, or in an anatomy book, or on your girlfriend or for Pete’s sake they’re the catalyst to squirt milk into a baby’s mouth…get over it already.

So, that’s the reason that this picture does not hurt the normalizing of breastfeeding, because if it were the norm we’d say heh, she’s being silly while nursing her precious baby (who is well within the 2 years minimum recommended by WHO to breastfeed your child). And then you move on with your own damn business. xoxo, peace.

I’d like to continue here by saying that normalizing breastfeeding means that every mother chooses what her comfort level is. It doesn’t mean that every mother should pull up her shirt and nurse the child while strolling the cart down an aisle. Just keep in mind that your choice of coverage may differ from another mother’s…and that’s okay. THAT’S when breastfeeding becomes normal. The most important (can I stress this more?? MOST IMPORTANT) thing is that a breastfeeding mother feels comfortable leaving the house because she knows that she will not be humiliated, confronted, judged, or shamed for feeding her child. And whatever way she chooses to do this is what that mama knows is best for her babe.

I had the hardest time nursing for the first 8 months of Liam’s existence. We had thrush, Liam was tongue-tied, my nipples were open wounds, and the whole experience was extremely painful causing me to to clench teeth, swear, and cry. (This is NOT the norm!!) Having to deal with modesty on top of the killer latch was just another straw on the back. I had serious envy of the moms who walked around the store blissfully nursing their wee one snuggled close in a wrap. I did nurse Liam in public, though. Because I would have slit my wrists if I were stuck in my house all day and the baby must be fed regardless of whether you have your perfectly positioned Boppy, footstool, and APNO. My choice of coverage was slightly more modest than some, but much less than those who choose a titty tent (as one of my besties refers to it). If that’s what it takes to make you feel comfortable breastfeeding your child then please, by all means, use the cover/shawl-thingy. My only issue is that it appears to shame the act of breastfeeding, whether the mother intends this or not. My personal choice was to wear a nursing tank top and then layer another shirt over it. I felt more comfortable because my stomach was covered (I had MUCH more issue baring my stomach than my breasts-go figure) and the top shirt gave me a bit more coverage around the dominatrix style peep-hole tank. Liam also liked to grasp onto the bunched-up fabric of the top layer. This worked for me as far as coverage went, but with all of the latching issues and Liam getting distracted and popping off, I was bound to flash someone at some point. This was never my intention and I’m happy to report that I, personally, was never confronted by anyone, but my pleading goes for every mom out there…do not make a nursing mother feel ashamed by breastfeeding. It has nothing to do with you and it one million percent has nothing to do with exhibitionism.

If you happen to see a nursing mom in public just keep on your way and as I said in my facebook comment, mind your own damn business! I always feel the urge to go up and thank nursing moms for helping to normalize breastfeeding. I have always stopped myself thus far because I worry that that mom may be in a similar situation that I was, and if I distract the babe who comes unlatched then I will have caused the mom anguish with having to start the latch process over…but those are my own bfing issues. Here’s a virtual kudos to you all!

My intention was not to disturb the spider. I am not a fan of the big, hairy ones, but the smaller ones I usually either let roam or collect gently and release outside. The logic being that large spiders=deadly and small spiders=friendly and harmless (duh). I wondered how Liam would react to the arachnid. I mean most people love kittens and hate spiders, but Liam hates kittens…

I believe his first reaction was “Whoa.” And then his ninja-like toddler reflexes attempted to grab the spider, which obviously would have promptly ended the fun. Luckily, spatial development saved the spider as Liam missed and just ended up holding onto the invisible string of web and the spider dangled from his hand. Even more enthralled he kept trying to grab the squirming spider with his free hand, eventually releasing the spider from the web. They both dropped to the floor, the spider pumping those six teeny legs as fast as it could to get…well, anywhere else, and Liam on his hands and knees peering at the little guy with absolute fascination.

His fascination became a bit more obsessive and I started fearing for the poor spider’s life.  Liam was using all of his best motor skills to pick that little sucker up. Think about how you might pick up a penny that’s flat on the ground. You press down with your thumb on one end and and lift up with your finger on the other end. Yeah, that’s one way Liam was trying.

Gentle…gentle! I reminded him apprehensively. He babbled back to me in excitement. Are you SEEING this, MOM??? SOO COOL!! Okay, he didn’t really say that, but if his words made any sense at all I’m pretty sure that’s what they’d say.

Eventually the odds turned in Liam’s favor and he stabbed a finger, injuring the spider’s back legs. At this point I felt like I was watching some kind of gladiator-like, slow-death murder in a primary-colored arena. I sneakily gave the hobbling spider a foam puzzle mat piece as if it were a life-raft and let Liam spin around in confusion a couple of times before I said, “Aw, I guess the spider’s all done. (Throwing in the sign for understanding.) Say bye bye!” Liam dejectedly opened and closed his fingers, still looking for his little friend to be peering around a stray block. Almost enough for me to just let him play with the creature and finish it off…but not quite.

Anyhoo… dinner tonight. Through pinterest, I found this Lemon, Olive, and Parsely Quinoa Cakes from Joy the Baker’s blog. I did make the quinoa last night, which worked out really well for me today. In fact, I recommend making the quinoa ahead of time for everyone. The recipe asks you wait for it to cool to room temperature anyway, so it doesn’t matter if you pack it away in the fridge.

You make small patties of a quinoa mixture also consisting of panko, parmesan, onion, garlic, lemon zest and parsley. The recipe calls for olives as well, which I’m sure is delicious, except I reeaallly don’t like olives, so I left them out.

Mix up the dry ingredients with egg and a little water.

After you mix together your ingredients you pack together some small patties. The mixture made so many small patties…I think around twenty or so, and I could only fit 4-5 in the frying pan at a time, so of everything the frying up of all the patties made the most time-consuming part.  I put some wax paper on a small cookie sheet (love the easy clean-up) and made up patties to fill the sheet, fried them up, re-filled sheet with raw patties while the others were frying, and repeat!  The finished patties were oily so I put them on a plate with a paper towel and stacked layers of paper towels and finished patties. I think it helped to keep them warm, too. **Note, I used olive oil for frying the quinoa patties, but I think I’ll try coconut oil next time, as an even healthier option.

Raw patties awaiting the pan.

Sizzle, sizzle, pop!

For the final product I put some mixed greens on a plate and added a couple of personal

Favorite dressing!

touches.  I have a favorite rosemary balsamic vinigarette that I drizzled onto the greens:

I also made a cilantro and lime sour cream from For the Love of Cooking’s blog. I had a hunch it might taste good with the quinoa cakes…and I was so right.

Plating the masterpiece...

Lemon & Parsley Quinoa Cakes

My husband, the meat-n-potatoes type, said between bites, “So, this is completely vegetarian??” Yes, I said, happy to admit this now that I knew it was going over well. “This is one of your best, keep this recipe out!” So, there you have it, folks. If that is not a resounding testimonial I’m not sure what is.

Liam was already in bed by the time I finished these little tasties, so he hasn’t had a chance to try them yet. There are plenty left over, though, so I know what to pack in his lunch tomorrow!

So I made these delectable Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie Cups via the Between 3 Sisters’ blog. (Also pinned on my “YUM” pinterest board.)  They were SO easy. And it helped that I had leftover chicken breast already cooked from the night before, because that would have been the only time-consumer. I used Trader Joe’s biscuits and the other ingredients were all organic or natural. The blog gives you ways to cut some calories and fat by using reduced-fat cheese and biscuits, etc., but I chose to use full-fat ingredients this time.  It’s more difficult to find organic/natural products that are “reduced-fat.” Whatever. I’m pregnant. Who cares??

Besides the biscuits you need a cup of diced, cooked chicken breast, a cup of frozen mixed veggies, a can of cream of chicken soup (I used an organic brand and couldn’t find a reduced-fat version), 2/3 cup cheddar cheese, dried parsely, onion powder, black pepper. Cooks for about 12 minutes and VOILA! your chicken pot pie morsels are bubbling and golden brown.

Oh, and I happened to have 2 cans of 8-count biscuits and the mixture that I made was enough to fill all 16 biscuits instead of the 10-count biscuits that the recipe calls for.  They might have made the biscuit part thinner though and I’m happy with the thick amount of biscuit that I had.

I have a thought for Liam and other young eaters. While he did eat some he mostly ate biscuit. I think he has a texture thing for chunky food items.  I think next time I will take some of the chicken mixture and blend it up.  Then I can also put it into miniature sized muffin tins as well (cutting the biscuits smaller to fit the mini cups) and sneakily get those blended veggies in there.

Tomorrow I am bringing leftovers for lunch and we will see if this recipe will go with the golden few that save well when re-heated!  I hope so because this was so easy and made so many.

Even though the weather has been pretty mild this week–in the 60s during the day– it’s cooled down to freezing temps at night. So, it’s time to break out those hearty recipes. Time to stick more to my ribs than a baby.

I am no chef. I am good at following directions though, so sticking to the recipe works for me. Sometimes I’ll veer from it if I’ve made it quite a few times and my confidence is strong. These two recipes were both new to me, though. Maiden voyages tonight.  And as with most of my recipes these days, I found it on pinterest and have it pinned on my “YUM” board (for those of you who follow me on pinterest). One of these recipes is from a cooking recipe website and the other is from a cooking blog, which my blog definitely is not.  Those food blog folks actually make magic with recipes and their pictures of the steps along the way always look so perfect!

The Roasted Garlic-Potato Soup was so delicious and the most perfect texture. It has bacon in it, diced potatoes AND mashed potato as well as carrot, onion and a LOT of garlic. I’d say the most tedious part, the part that almost made me not want to make it again, was that you roast 5 heads of garlic and then peel apart the roasted cloves and squeeze it into a pureed juice. Roasted garlic is the absolute stickiest substance I’ve ever touched. I think all sticky analogies (molasses, honey, peanut butter) should be substituted with roasted garlic from here out.  However, the soup was worth it. Every sticky second of garlicness. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Plus, garlic helps boost your immune system and I want all the garlic I can get because I’m going to visit a brand new baby (and his mama) this week and we can’t compromise our visit…or the baby’s health of course.

Then, in my usual OCD fashion, I spent too long obsessing over the details of the recipes and making sure that I dice not chop, and totally underestimated the time it would take for the bread dough I was making to rise. This was also my first time ever making bread from scratch, so I guess I wouldn’t know much about bread rising.  Now that it’s done, at 10:00 pm, it looks amaaazing! Luckily there is plenty of soup left over to have with the bread for lunch tomorrow. Here’s a link to the blog A Little Bit of Everything, and her recipe for Cheesy Herb Pull-Apart Bread.

How fancy am I?? I made bread that you can pull-apart and has pockets of oozing, gooey cheddar, dill, and parsley all through it! I think I’ll collapse into bed now, after feeling pretty damn good about my mad kitchen skills.

P.S. Why does that good food accomplishment feeling always get drowned by the sink full of dishes? Stupid dishes.

I understand that he’s…ohmagod, today is his 18 month birthday and I wasn’t paying attention to the date!!…anyway, he’s 18 months old and he doesn’t have a lot of vocabulary with which to express himself. I even understand his frustration when he wants to do something, or hold something and I’ve prevented him from doing so. Even though I explain why I move him or the object he doesn’t understand the reason and just thinks I’m a big meanie. In the past he’s flopped into jelly-bones on the floor, screamed and fake-cried; but this weekend is the first I’ve seen him deliberately hit (me or anyone) out of frustration and anger.

Let’s see…case in point could be today while he was sitting with me at the table.  He in his Stokke chair playing with a plastic jack-o-lantern, Mama making a grocery list and looking at recipes on the laptop. I happened to have a tablecloth on the table as we had company over last week and it hadn’t been removed yet. Liam discovered that he could pull on the tablecloth to make objects that were once out of his reach much closer. This discovery, as well as the consequences, all happened quite quickly and ended with my tea mug spilling contents far and wide and my iphone being covered in a bowl of rice.  (To absorb the liquid and prevent damage, for those who don’t know. This was the first I’d had to try this tip.) Luckily the laptop screen only had to be wiped off.

I took Liam off the chair where he collapsed into his infamous jelly-bone move, screaming, “Noooooooooooooooo!!!!” Oh boy do we all love that word these days. I explained (if that’s the correct word for my irritated speech) that he couldn’t pull on the tablecloth because it knocks things over and he needed to be off of his chair for right now [until further table baby-proofing could be done]. His response was to raise his hand to hit me in the face! He didn’t follow through because I put my hand on his arm and said, “Liam we DON’T HIT!” and he lowered his hand, caught. I straightened up and attended to wiping off my laptop with Liam screaming his toddler-version of obscenities at my ankles. I felt him grip my pant legs at the shins and pull himself up…at which point he chomped down on my leg!

I think I yelled, “HEEYYY!!” but I know I leaned down, put my hands under his armpits, picked him up to look closely into his eyes while saying, “Liam, we don’t hit and we don’t bite!!” My stern voice and quick movements made his face crumple and he cried true, big alligator tears; so of course, then I felt like the d-bag.

So, my question is; where does the act of hitting come from? Is this an innate way for a toddler to take out frustration? Neither Husband nor I have ever hit him or each other. I know there’s normal toddler pushing (hitting?) at his school while they’re figuring out territory, possession and frustration; but does one toddler learn it from another toddler who’s experienced it (maybe by a sibling) and the act of hitting gets passed around like the runny nose they continually share? Or could it truly be just an intrinsic reaction?