Cloth Diapering Decision

If you follow my blog, you may be shocked to hear that cloth diapering required a decision, given my aspiration to be as green as possible.  My husband, D, lovingly was devil's advocate for this one.  Thanks D!  To maintain absorbency and clean smell (both essential in our world), you do two full cycle washes (first cold, second hot) and an extra rinse.  Then, either hang to dry or machine dry.  D wondered about the total cost to the environment, something I try to consider with all my decisions.  With the amount of water we would be using, washing diapers every other day, we wondered what is the total hit the environment would take.  This math requires something akin to quantum physics as you must consider environmental impact of manufacturing cloth versus plastic diapers, landfill intake of both (our covers may have to end up there at some point), water usage to clean one and manufacture the other, fuel usage to deliver either option to store and then to my home, electrical usage of modern washing for the cloth option, water usage to spray off the diapers (just use your imagination here), and even energy used to create, design, and advertise both products.  The list is endless, so we hired an out of work mathematician...oh that's what math majors do after college. They help out confused bloggers.  Instead we focused on our biggest concern of cloth diapers, which is and was the water usage.  Given we live in the Midwest where water is more plentiful and we are not overall wasters of water, the environmental impact seemed acceptable.  Add to that our good fortune that we live in a city without water meters and instead a "system" for charging residents for predicted water usage (I am thinking of digging my own personal lake...;) This means that our water cost is consistent every month no matter what we do.  (really this is our city's attempt to get people to bathe more often)

so, cloth it is after debating the water issue.

The Compromise:  Using much more water and a bit of time

 The Sweet Reward: so much more money in my pocket book, no weird chemicals on Mr. B's patootie, getting a little sunshine when hanging them to dry, no last minute diaper runs where you come home with 20 100 dollars worth of "must haves"

My fav cloth diaper source: Cotton Babies

BTW, Since diapering seems to take over my world at times, I am sure I will have more for you on this topic late.  I am sure the fact that Mr. B is again diaperless (to "take care" of a sore bum following consumption of grapes again) has nothing to do with why my thoughts are floating to diaper matters. 

PS Mr. B just couldn't resist the grapes offered up in the hand of his best bud :)  Yep, that's how we roll.

The Real Gooey Butter Cake

The title alone tells of my first compromise.

Compromise:  Making possibly the least healthy cake.

The Sweet Reward:  Do I really need to tell you?

This happens to be so quintessentially St. Louis that it is an absolute must on a visit or celebration of the Gateway City.

I do not like cake mixes...they are overly processed and likely contain the cheapest ingredients (ironic given the real ingredients are not expensive).  Yet, I needed to make this for a St. Louis themed night, so the best option was to at least make it homemade and maintain enough self-control to not eat most of the pan. I did lovingly lick the beaters.  Don't give me that hairy eye ball, you would too.

This is not my own recipe, but here is the link I used 

Homemade Gooey Butter Cake 
on a side note, this is a fun site.

It was rich, buttery, sweet, evenly moist texture, a nice but not too thick crumbly crust, appropriate amount of goo, thin top layer of crisp, and a beautiful golden color.

Eat me!!! Eat me!!!

If you don't mind ignoring what you know about nutrition, please do try this.  

By the way, this one lacks cream cheese which seems to allow the buttery flavor to fully shine.

Oh and without a cake mix it still only took about 15 minutes to mix up.

It met with rave reviews from man, woman, and child (aka Mr. B...at least he shared with his best bud the dog)

Kidney Bean Kale Soup

This may sound redundant, but I am getting sick of all the sickness in our house, so I am trying to cure it with food, specifically soup.  I have been making soups (including Provencial White Bean Soup already posted and a simple white bean, spinach, onion ones and defrosting previous ones, such as last winter's chili from my deep freeze.  Last year I realized how limited my time was with an infant, so I made two stock pots of chili at the same time.  Voila chili for an entire winter with one afternoon's worth of work!!!

I have been creating new soups to add to our normal reptoire and documenting my method and recipes as best I can to share with others.  Since I had already decided my bean for this week would be kidney beans, it made sense to center a soup around this.  I also noticed that my kale was ready to harvest again, so in it went in my imagination (that's where I concoct new recipes before actually cooking).  This soup is warming thanks to the bit of paprika and so comforting with a silky broth thanks to the fire roasted tomatoes (you should try them).

1 lb dried Red Kidney Beans
4 Bay leaves borken in half
1 1/2 teaspoons whole fennel seeds
1 teaspoon dried whole thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 large onions chopped
4 cloves of garlic thinnly sliced

2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper (I used a pepper medley mix)
1 teaspoon dried whole thyme
1-2 teaspoons paprika (I used Hungarian.  Some have a bit of a kick to them so add to your taste preference)

6 oz. can tomato paste
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes

8 cups of liquid (drain beans and reserve cooking liquid and add enough water to get total amount)
1/2 of cooked beans (reserve in either refrigerator or freezer for later use or add them all for a more hearty soup)
large bunch of kale chopped (I stack leaves on cutting board and due a few slices every 3 inches goign same direction as stem, then slice 1/4 inch thick)

If you don't like kale, spinach would be yummy

Soak beans overnight, rinse and add fresh water covering by 2 inches. Add the next four ingredients.  Bring to a boil (Note: you must boil any red beans for a few minutes and then either finish on the stove about 2 hours on simmer or in the crock pot for 8-10 hours).

When beans are almost done, heat enough oil to cover bottom of stock pot and when it looks shimmery add onions and saute until translucent.  Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds longer.

Add next 4 ingredients and saute for one minute.  Add tomato paste, stirring well, and cook for 2 minutes.

Add Fire roasted tomatoes with their liquid and add the 8 cups of liquid.

Bring to a low boil and add beans and kale.  It will look like more kale than you can imagine, but it really cooks down. It amazes me every time.

 Cook until the Kale is tender but still a vibrant green as the picture below shows.  It took about 5 minutes for mine to get tender.

 I love this picture...Mmmm...come to mama!!!

We enjoyed a big bowl of this soup topped with grated parmesean along with homemade sourdough cornbread on the side (still tweaking that recipe, so you have to be patient for that one).  It would be fabulous with pasta in it as well, just make sure that you add the pasta each time you eat it, otherwise the pasta swells and gets soggy as it soaks up all the liquid.  Everyone loved it including Mr. B although he prefers broth and chunky stuff seperate when eating soup.  Yep, he's already forming strong opinions.

A lighter side today

After my recent deep post...it should have come with a caution to wear golashes...I felt a lighter one with a bit of fun would level out my world. I am not certain how to accomplish this in your world, but I would recommend standing in front of a mirror and smiling at yourself...try not to laugh and have a good time.

This is a fun BBC website called Spot the Fake Smile.  There are 20 short video clips and your task is simply to select fake or genuine.

Here is the link: Spot the Fake Smile

Please try it out and post your results in the comment section and for an extra bit of fun you could first make a prediction on how you will do and then post your predicted and actual results.

The Compromise: 5 minutes of your time

The Sweet Reward:  Supporting the BBC :) you gotta love 'em.

My 2 cents worth...please pay the lady at the door

My new favorite phrase to utter is "the Economy"...yeah yeah yeah I know, do you live in a cave, this has been going on for awhile now.  Let me clarify something here.  Yes, I live in a cave.  It is called raising a 15 month old and trying to be less plugged in for the sake of his brain development (to avoid a lengthy tangent, I will have to post more later on how a blogger mama is unplugged, tricky I know).
 
Where was I, The Economy.  Actually, I am posting about this hot new topic (ooops sarcasm got out of the cage again) because of a link my bil R sent me (Thanks R).  Here is the link http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6405

Try not to read it just yet, I have a few thoughts.  The part that intrigued me was the concept that getting a few tidbits of info about how to protect ourselves from the evil in the world (i.e. HFCS...high fructose corn syrup, one of my favorite soap box topics) will keep us from acknowledging, supporting, and working for the greater societal issues such as the environment or our overall declining physical health as a nation.  At first, of course I freaked out...natural reaction to alarming information.  I worried that my blog was feeding this frenzy.  I am not certain if my blog is a problem or a solution at this point [given most of my readership is either people who know me well {thanks guys} or people I pay ;) I am not too concerned].  After mental stewing (always a good idea with important things) I have decided to use this link as encouragement to make sure that I explore big and small issues in my blog, which is neat because I can do more than give tips.  It means you get to hear me expound about things like HFCS (see above) and I have no worries about running out of tips.

After even more stewing, a little more serious thinking this time, I had a lightbulb moment.  "The Economy" is the answer.  Wow, amazing.  Usually, you us I you I (help my thinking is getting circular) think of the topic of our Economy and mumble and groan, but what if it is the answer.  Excuse my upcoming theoretical pandering, but here is how it works.  When an underdog gets together and begins to fight a common "Them" then they begin to feel like a team and become an "Us."  This creates mental strength and psychological power and then the weaker group (aka the underdog) is literally able to become stronger and win.  So, how does this work for us.  If we use the "The Economy" as our enemy and join forces rather than nit pick each other and fight, we will win and figure this all out. The trick is not to get stuck in the little details that we think are the answer and to make global compromises.  No one thing you see is the answer for your or my family and our or your community and our world.  Really I mean it.  Staying home with my son, organic food, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, even being unplugged alone is not the answer.  So, RELAX (an usual word to choose to yell, I know), slow down, stop trying to be perfect at everything you do and begin to think on the big scale by joining forces with other humans. We can't do it alone, but we can do it together and fight the big fight against the common enemy.

Okay now back to the above web link http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6405.  She describes that when we get stuck focusing on the small stuff, like which type of cleaning products are dangerous and cause cancer or a certain pesticide to worry about, it gives us a sense of security so that we stop worrying and working on the bigger issues.  Wow... we are sometimes our own worst enemy.

Read the link and see what you think (please post your thoughts in the comment section, I look forward to readers joining me on my soapbox or even being devil's advocate on your own soapbox) and thanks R.

Thanks for letting me soapbox for today.  Might as well use my brain cells for something on a day where my sick kiddo just wants to sleep one me...cute I know
Tracy

Incoming Announcement

In true spirit of my name, I, Tracy, am making a compromise today.  I described in an old post my desire to provide hints, ideas, and even a few musings, but not to write a bragger blog.  The world has enough of those and only grandparents probably want to her minute details of the happenings in Mr. B's little world.  Today though I am compromising my blogger values because we had a huge event.  Given that thinking about it at this moment is making me smile, I feel good about my compromise.  Mr. B is now 15 months old and has been a mobile guy for a long time with crawling being his forte.  He has many styles including

1. superfast can't hardly see individual limb movements in the blur to rush to the dog's food and water dishes
2. up on feet and hands only to avoid knees on rough pavement
3. slow loping I've got all the time in the world
4. giggling, butt wiggling, birthday suit crawl
5. even paced rhythmic following along with mama
6. head down, total focus and concentration got work to do crawl
7. head up, laughing, total excitement, looking for his next adventure trotting crawl

He is so fast and so skilled that his motivation to learn a new skill has been compromised.  Well, today with a pacifier in each hand (ironic because he hates pacifiers other than as an item of interest...they were just around because I have been trying to improve his sleep by forcing a lovey upon him...Yep, I'm that brilliant...wait until my parenting book comes out), he took 3 staccato short steps toward me in the kitchen.  I responded with glee, excitement, high pitched vocal tone and Mr. B responded with blank facial expression and sitting down.  The party ended.  He did  this three more times and each time he seemed more and more aware and would give a big goofy grin.  So this is the point I think.

The Compromise:  My baby is becoming a little boy.

The Sweet Reward:  His contagious smile and giggle now that he understands his accomplishment and getting the opportunity to force all of you to hear me talk incessantly about my wonderful, perfect little boy...well mostly perfect

5 Minute Homemade Almond Ice Cream

This idea came from a carton of almond milk...I know not that exciting.  After finding out it was simply okay in coffee and nothing spectacular, I was left with a carton of almond milk...repetitive I know.  So, one thing I try desperately to do is not waste anything as it typically is bad for the planet (which I happen to like) and my pocket book. Although please do not ask about the corn that died a sad death in my vege drawer because I worked too much and forgot about it.  So, back to the almond milk.  We I we love ice cream.  In my dream world, it is just me loving ice cream so that it is all mine.  I love easy ice cream, you know the kind that other people make, but the ones without weird ingredients cost as much as dinner did when I was in college.  So, I like making it, but don't like taking time from other activities.  This thought process led me to quick ice creams and they are yummy (you can even put flavored soy milk in an ice cream maker for a delicious one ingredient treat) on the first day....a few days later inevitably temptaition drives me to open the freezer and with disappointment find a glacier of hard ice cream, no longer that soft velvety treat that makes me smile.  I heard a new trick though that I wanted to try and had Along Milk, a healthy ingredient, that needed to be consumed.  So, I came up with a recipe with an interesting twist or two.  Here goes in pictures and snipets of text...I hear pictures bring the fans in and since in blogger terms I am a mere infant, I am game.......

First get a storage bowl of at least 6 cup capacity, but for ease of stirring 8 is really the goal.

Empty a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk into bowl.

Now carefully lick the lid of can avoiding any and all tongue lacerations...I know it is a risk, but oh so worth it.  Of course, I should say "Do not try this at home," but I did, but you shouldn't....yummmmm.....

Next add 3 cups of almond milk, unflavored variety, make sure to shake the jug first....

 Now be impressed by this picture. I am not left handed, but did need my right hand to work the camera....
A little confession, I am focussing you on my great pouring picture so you don't notice that my bowl is getting messy.   Your mama told me that you should try to be neater than me.

Now for the secret ingredient.  Add 1/2 cup of sour cream and please go for full fat, don't want anything weird to mess up your opportunity to savor this one.  This is the ingredient that is touted to keep your homemade ice cream from becoming hard as a rock....It works although not perfectly.

On a side note, for ease of stirring, I should have added the sour cream before the milk to avoid any clumping.

We are almost there.  Finally add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.

You will now be able to enjoy the smell of yummy almonds permeating your kitchen...oh wait that's Mr. B getting into the bottle.  Hey, who showed him how to unscrew caps.  Note to self: add almond extract to the shopping list...okay moving on

And one more finally. If you like a little tang in your ice cream...it is total yum...add 1/2 cup of yogurt.  My preference is the full or partial fat homemade variety...I will do a post on the easy homemade yogurt method soon. I have been making all of ours for awhile now.

And the final finally is here.
Give it a good stir...made easier with a friendly whisk.

Refrigerate for a few hours and freeze according to the directions on your ice cream maker (a purchase well worth it...ours has a freezable sleeve so we keep it in the freezer at all times for ice cream emergencies and ice is not needed :)

I wish I had pictures of the final result to show you, but we ate it in the dark next to a fire pit in the backyard with good friends after a glass of wine, so forgetfulness was an obvious contender. 

We enjoyed it with toasted almonds and amaretti cookies from the Italian market.  It is so rich, and smooth....and no one can taste just how easy it was. 

Enjoy

The Compromise:  A love of ice cream along with a distaste for ingredients I can not pronounce...I once got on my soapbox about High Fructose Corn Syrup in my grocery store.  D is worried that I will get a reputation, but trust me people really did listen......

The Sweet Reward: Homemade, but easy Almond Ice Cream...need I say more

Enjoy this treat as Summer winds down...I am working on developing a dislike of ice cream in winter as it makes you more cold, but my motivation is to maintain a respectable waistline.

Savoringly yours,

Tracy

Guilt and Giggles: aka The Biting Compromise

Mr. B would like to make an official announcement. 
Hello!  My name is Mr. B and I am a biter.  I would like to admit that I have become powerless over my urge to bite and when I feel the need to communicate quickly with my mama, I bite.  Typically, I find her shoulder to be the best target.  

Yep, didn't really think I would have a biter given lack of older kiddo teaching situations, but with parenting you never really  know.  At times he has even sought out biting by grabbing fingers and pulling toward his mouth.  At one time, I would pull in opposite direction only to find Mr. B chasing my finger down with open mouth.  Persistence is supposed to be a positive trait right.  

Well, last night he again tried to bite me, but this time I felt something new with the tip of my index finger.....a tooth...a big tooth...huh....hmmmm....well my curiosity got me to hush my fears of his jaw and examine further.  Apparently he has a tooth in each quandrant.  And to imagine I told his doctor just yesterday he had 8 teeth and instead he has 12.  I began laughing with surprise, so of course so did Mr. B.  His laugh included a mischievious glimmer in his eyes.  I think, he knows and  I think he enjoyed his surprise for mommy.  More of those to come I am sure.  Meanwhile I am washing his car seat cover because he discovered how to spill milk on himself in the car.  Believe me he really is sick right now, but still quite clever.

the Dilemma:  Kiddo with predilection to bite his mama (not usually other people)

The Compromise:  Keep your fingers away from the wild animal and miss out on an eruption of teeth (although he has been chewing on his index finger constantly.

The Sweet Reward:  The cutest smile and giggle when you do discover the new teeth 

The Amazing Bean Rescue

Once upon a time, I made a resolution to cook a bean per week now that I knew the secret to easy crockpot bean cooking.  During my jolly walk through the fairy woods adventure, I came upon an ogre lupini beans who demanded I solve a riddle to continue on my journey that sat quietly and demurely on the shelf of the Italian grocery singing a siren song.  Long story short, I now know why my Italian grandmother never mentioned this bean. 
I was really excited to find a new bean for Mr. B and the entire family to try.  Surrounded by all the illness of late, soup has been primarily on my mind starting with Provencial White Bean Soup and continuing to thawing last night the last bit of last winter's chili making orgy...a moment of silence please for my loss here.  After looking at what I had on hand, I excitedly decided to make Lupini bean, spinach, onion soup in a brothy medium.  Getting excited?  The vitamin C in onion helps you absorb the iron in spinach.  A squeeze of fresh lemon when serving the soup would work great too, but instead I added chiffoned (aka finely sliced) sorrel from my garden which is yummy and lemony and so healthy and pairs so well with spinach and white beans.  oh you are wondering why I switched bean variety.  Let me explain my sad story.

For the sake of family illness, I sacrificed a green ideal and did a quick soak with the Lupini by bringing to a boil for a few minutes on my stovetop and leaving to sit.  After they appeared to swell to about double the size, I took a taste so that I could begin to imagine my seasoning choices....ahhhh yuck, ooooo gross....bitter, bitter, bitter.  In my half slept state, I began to worry they were somehow inedible in the way that makes inner organs explode (I have an amazing imagination....did I ever mention my fantasies of my infant as a superhero....moving on).  I decided to literally put them on the back burner and do some research.  Turns out you have to cook these in normal bean fashion and then soak again for 10-14 days, yep no typo there.  You cover them in water, leave in refrigerator and change water daily until they no longer taste bitter. Then, you salt water and leave in refrigerator until ready to eat.  So, no lupini tonight, Einstein silly compromising mother.  I love to freeze already cooked beans in my deep freeze and luckily some ordinary white beans came to my rescue.  In the end our soup was approximately the following.

5 sliced small onions sauteed in olive oil with 5 cloves of garlic minced and 5 shallots chopped
add large amount of baby spinach and one bunch of sorrel finely sliced and enough vege broth to cover by 2/3 as greens will cook down and more broth can always be added.  Throw in defrosted white beans.  Season to taste with pepper medley freshly ground, salt, freshly ground fennel (I keep it on the counter...another love of my life), and garlic powder. Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, squeeze of lemon, crusty sourdough bread, and a bit of fontina or provolone.  A complete meal and not difficult at all, especially compared to the lupini still sitting on my stove.  I may blog about those.

The Problem: Enticing beans that take 14 days longer than you have to prepare dinner, a sick kiddo, and a hungry family. 

The Compromise:  Using a bit of my precious store of deep freezer beans and wasting stove top gas to quick soak beans that need 2 weeks prep....the Irony just can't be missed here.

The Sweet Reward: A new soup "recipe" (I like to think of cooking style as more method than recipe, but I do try to create recipes for the benefit of others when possible) that everyone loved including 15 month old Mr. B

The Blog Compromise

Yep, I just realized it's been almost a week and you are probably wondering what happened, or since I am a new blogger without trendy advertisement or cool product give aways, no one noticed except maybe my mom (Hi mom!!!).  Good thing we can all count on moms for blogging support.  So, I won't make silly excuses, but I will describe the blog compromise.  Instead of in vivo blogging, I am now using telepathy to write blog posts while I rock walk my sick child to sleep and back to sleep and back to sleep and back to sleepppppppppppppppppppp (oops just fell asleep there).  You see we had a busy week (which led to some new blog topics for me, which was then followed by a visit from croup...helpful info from one of my favorite medical websites
No worries, this is just one of those bumps in the road of parenting.  Not likely to lead to severe complications, unless you include sleepless nights.  Much of it is quite hazy as this tends to wake you in the deepest of sleep since croup cough is a nighttime visitor.  I would awake to find Mr. B not breathing, which at the time felt like an eternity, but was really a split second.  I then quickly got him upright and he would gasp for a breath and start coughing barking like a seal.  It was gut wrenching scary mom stuff, the kind that no website, friend, parenting class, or other life experience can prepare you to cope.  The problem immediately is the need to stay calm as either of us getting upset makes it worse.  So, I maintain my close vigil, my under slept state, and comforting.

In case you are ever in this situation, here are some quick tips

Lots of steam (i.e. sit in bathroom with shower running for 20 minutes), followed by cool night air
Remain calm, an upset kiddo will cough longer
If the attack continues, you may need to take your child to the ER for breathing treatment.

gotta go...he is crying

Baby Food Lesson #1: Freeze it

I know my kiddo is not really at the baby food age anymore, but I know that there is a lack of helpful information out there (this was part of my muse and encouragement to begin blogging...yep, all good arises from frustration, especially of the internet persuasion.)  Today I share with you a tip that I still use, which is how to freeze baby food. I know you have used your freezer since you were two years old and could ask for a Popsicles or to used it to do "science experiments," but you need a few specific tips to improve the quality of your frozen baby food. 

1. Freeze as quickly as possible (either quickly after cooking the meal or right when fruit is perfectly ripe) to retain nutrients
2. Freeze fresh, organic when possible (note: Mr. B began baby food in winter time and even in modern times some foods are not available fresh even non-organic such as plums, so I wish I had frozen ahead of time...although it gave me opportunity to find out he likes prunes...weirdo in the making, I know)
3. Freeze in a new state of being to retain nutrients.  For example, do not thaw already frozen foods and freeze unless you cook them first.
4. IQF foods make easy baby food. 
   I used to take cherries, blueberries, mangoes, spinach, peas, etc that I bought frozen and thaw only one portion and since they are loose in the bag thanks to IQF, this was easy and yet still homemade and preservative free
5. Freeze all purees thick.  I never thinned prior to freezing because I preferred to thin as needed with breastmilk to increase nutrients and as he got older i still had previously frozen cubes that I did not have to waste because the thicker purees were preferred.
6. Freeze in ice cube trays and then transfer to gallon size bags. I did the research and all major makers of these that I looked up report to be BPA free (yea, a small victory for moms)
7. Freeze in 1/2 ounce portions, which is contrary to available advice, but my kid only ate small amounts. So even when he got older the smaller portions allowed me to offer him a variety of foods to increase nutritional value
8. Most things can be frozen. I had no trouble feeding even frozen cooked grains once thinned.  He did not mind a small texture change.  Even avocados will freeze if first pureed with fresh, ripe mango, which is highly nutritious and the combo seemed to keep the mango from browning.  And I try all his food and this was so yummy and creamy. They are great as baby Popsicles for teething or fever
9. Frozen baby food does not mean single ingredient items.  For example, I freeze cooked grains with the fruit in it, lentils cooked with onions and herbs, custards, soups, mixed fruit purees, bean dip, even yogurt and breast milk with no trouble.
10. Here is a link to the freezer tray I recommend because it is BPA free, comes with a cover, and has 1/2 ounce portions. 

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/kitchen/refrigeratorFreezer?productId=10014871&green=27014279494

I still use this to store food for Mr. B because he does not always like what he eat and at times needs a meal when family watches him.

Here is a picture of it filled with coconut brown rice that I froze recently.  At his age he needs the nutritious fat, so this is a great add -on to any meal. And if he tires of it during a meal, it makes the best all natural shrapnel a 15 month old can find.

 with the lid on

 with the lid off

In case you want to make this, here is the link for the recipe. By the way, I used olive oil (that's what we use most of the time) and I served with a squeeze of fresh lime.  Compliments any Asian dish and is so yummy.  the nuttiness of the brown rice with the creamy, richness of coconut to add mouth feel...well you just gotta try it. Got rave reviews from all my girls for girls night out in.

Coconut Brown Rice

Keeping it cold,
Tracy

It's on my mind

I can't even take a guess at how many bloggers are writing about 9/11 today.  I am not usually a follower and certainly not a follower just for the sake of following, but today I am joining the ranks.  In all honesty and seriousness, this year it hit me differently. Although nothing compares to the actual event, I have been more contemplative this year.  You see, it hit me that my Mr. B will never know a world pre 9/11 or likely never fully grasp the importance.  This brings up a few concerns.  I remember history class (well I remember it in a general sense, like you remember your fifth birthday) and we always seemed to run out of time; only getting to WWII or the Korean War before class ended a major portion of the text left unexplored.  For Mr. B, this could mean never learning about this modern event that is now history and since most of us avoid unpleasant topics, he may lack impromptu learning opportunities too.  I assume that we will talk to him about "Where we were when..." as a previous generation talked about "Where we were when JFK was shot."  Although I do not recall hearing or even overhearing these conversations. What does this mean?  It means as a mother I have to make extra efforts to teach my son and that I am growing older and hopefully wiser...I know my recent posts may indicate otherwise. :)  In talking with husband D, it hit me tonight that our niece was 4 months old on 9/11.  I didn't have the joy to know her then and I am now even more contemplative about her mom's experiences holding a baby and watching each tower. Puts my own story of "Where I was when" into perspective.  I really love that just when I need it most or don't expect it the world comes right in to humble me and put me in my place.

Thoughtfully,
T

A Case of the Giggles

When I started in this blogger world, I vowed to myself not to let this become a bragger blog.  I do not want to tell you all the details of how awesome Mr. B is, but I do want to share with you a compromise that I made today yesterday (I was supposed to write this last night but I saved the  planet went to bed at midnight after a great evening with friends...which will result in some great future posts...instead a funny, humbling mommy moment that truly depicts a typical compromise in my world). 
Mr. B is on the road to recovery as evidenced by his pre-sleep behavior yesterday. While trying to get him to take an afternoon nap and go to sleep for the night, Mr. B had a new trick (warning tangent ahead watch your step...I plan to blog about sleep training. It is a big topic so I am still writtng a rough draft working on it in my head, along with organizing my family and work life and trying to find my sanity shoes).  Mr. B has another nickname, which is Happiness. Notice I did not say Content, although he was never a crier, he is not content to just accept life or his environment. He is a curious explorer and well versed in expressing emotions.  Some might say, he has a bit of his mother in him even if he doesn't look much like me yet.  On with the story...After 6 stories had elapsed (that's our limit) and sleepy time milk and rocking and at points a little quiet down time (more on that later), he would look up at me in "my office"/rocking chair (that's where I am writing now) and laugh and giggle. Not at me, mind you, as the giggles seemed to be those great belly laughs that reverberate through his body.  You know the thing that fades as we age and becomes our quest as we journey through getting wrinkles and grays.  It was infectious.  Yep, I have read the official book of parenting that says don't join in the laughter when it is counterproductive to the parenting goal of the moment whether it is trying to ignore a funny tantrum or throwing food off his highchair for the doggie. Well, you try not to laugh after 45 minutes of trying to get him to sleep and 2 weeks of fussiness induced by his first cold, which is difficult for Happiness to handle.  So, I am here to make a confession, I, The Compromising Mother, gave into temptation, jumped off the wagon, and joined my kiddo in laughter....It was deliciously fun to giggle with him and see his big toothy grin with squinty eyes and hair all a jumble from mama cuddling.

The Compromise:  Giggling with my son and making the transition to sleepy time take a little longer.

The Sweet Reward:  Seeing that genuine kiddo happy smile again without using tickles to induce it.

Worth the price of the compromise,
Mother of "Happiness"  

PS: In the meantime, if you are frustrated with sleepy time battles, I have a link I will send you. I am not adding it to this blog as it is definitely NOT kiddo friendly, but oh my does it help you cope and laugh.

This week's bean and an actual recipe

My husband D likes to call my food one-offers since I do not use recipes unless cooking very unusual food. Some would say I can do this because I am a good cook, but the truth is that recipes make me terribly anxious. I go back and forth between the recipe and my bowl or pan, double and triple checking.  Makes me nervous just to think about it. So, coming up with recipes for what I do is a big stretch, but probably good for me.  You know doing things in a new way develops neurons and staves off Alzheimer's Disease. So here we go.  Drum roll please......the bean of the week is Great Northern Beans.........a bean with "great" in the title deserves a drum roll don't you think.  I have enjoyed this bean since I was a kid. This is the bean of beans. Cook it a little longer and gets just a bit softer releasing some starchiness to the dish, yet still holding its integrity.  It is truly Grace Under Fire.  In continuing my bean resolution, I got out the crock and 2 pounds of this glorious bean without a plan for what I wanted to make with it.  Then, the weather cooled down and we are in week 2 of the family illness with ongoing lack of sleep.  The answer of course to all the questions and problems is soothing soup.  I made a re-do of a soup that I made for a family gathering/game night last winter, but this time wrote down how I did it....yes, I can be a bit of procrastinator. So, I soaked the beans in crock for 8 hours (actually in a bowl because I was making yogurt in my large crock; more on that later) and then cooked the beans in crock over night.  Then, I began my soup about 1.5 hours before I wanted to eat it.

4 Tablespoons butter
4 medium or 5 large carrots diced
4 ribs of celery diced
1 1/2 large onions diced
all celery leaves from the bunch chopped (trust me these are good)
6 cloves of garlic minced
3 shallots diced
4 Tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 Tablespoons Herbs De Provence
2 teaspoons garlic powder (not a typo, two types of garlic early adds depth of overall flavor and adds more garlic yumm without overpowering which would happen if using only one type)
salt and pepper to taste
2 pounds of Great Northern Beans cooked with cooking liquid

Melt butter in large soup pot over medium heat.  Once you see the white foamy stuff called butter solids it is ready to cook.  Add carrots, celery, and onion and do whats called sweating, which means cooking until they get tender, but not soft and onion begins to get translucent.  Add celery leaves, garlic, and shallot.  Saute for one minute more and then add the flour and all herbs, cooking until the flour becomes golden. At this point you could deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of white wine you like.  With Mr. B, I'd rather not cook with wine at this point, so I omitted it.  Now add beans and all cooking liquid. If you want it less beany, add 3/4 of beans which would be 1 1/2 pounds and all cooking liquid.  The remainder is about 4 cups and perfect amount to freeze for incorporation in a later meal (I freeze food staples like beans, rice, pilaf, risotto ahead to make easy meals, but never freeze pasta). You have a choice to make now regarding soup thickness.  Left alone it is a thick stew type soup.  If you want it more soupy simply add ready to go vegetarian stock until you reach consistency that you like.  Cook on a low simmer for 45 minutes to one hour. Enjoy!!!  We had it with homemade sourdough bread and butter (of course butter, my mama taught me well), and a salad.  Mr. B LOVED it first and second time he had it.

Sorry no pictures of this one, the camera batteries were completely dead...but trust me a creamy tan bean soup with flecks of light green and orange is very appealing...Soups on!!!

Comfortingly yours,
Tracy

DIY Disinfectant, Oh How I Love Thee!!! Let Me Count the Ways.

I love this for everything. It is my all purpose cleaner and in this house it is needed.  It cleans up pet stains, baby stains, baby changing pad, kitchen counters, bathroom sink, toilet surround, shower walls, refrigerator door, and even floors.  I use it on so many surfaces, that this is the cleaner I make the most often.  Because it is in a sprayer, you do not need to worry about cross contamination.  A little note about floors:  do check to make sure it works on your floor type. We have linoleum (new Farbo click product...it is assume...and sealed wood floors). For both, I do not want water to just sit and soak, so with this spray I just spray ahead of my microfiber mop with one hand and mop with the other.  With stuck on items (like projectile cottage cheese, thanks Mr. B), either use a piece of hard plastic to scrape up first (like the kind that comes with pizza stones) or spray the spot and return to mop it after doing other parts of the floor.  Yep, its that easy. 
Please post in the comments ways you would or have used this cleaner.  I would love to use it in more ways. 

Also, do you have any other preferred disinfectant diy cleaners or all purpose cleaners? 

I plan to keep posting on how I make all my cleaners and how I use each, so stay tuned for more ideas.

Okay not much of a cliff hanger unless diy cleaners really get you excited, but its the best
I've got on a busy day that happens to fall on the second week of everyone in my household being ill........Calgon DARK CHOCOLATE Take Me Away!!!!!....Yes, I know that all caps means shouting.  Trust me in my world I shout about Dark Chocolate from my rooftop...Well just once, but the cops were called...Ok not really, but I wish I had the guts to do it.

Chocolately Love,
Tracy

Homemade Disinfectant in 60 seconds

I took you through the process of making laundry detergent already and so far that is the hardest thing I make.  Disinfectant spray is so so so easy and works so well.  And if you are already on board with making your own cleaners, then you either have all these ingredients or will need to have them. I plan to slowly show you how I make almost all my own cleaners as I need to make new batches.  I encourage all my readers to comment on what you use if you have a different recipe and how well it works and please also let me know how well my recipes work for you.  Feedback helps me to improve and gives me new ideas and that's what I am all about.

So here we go.  First collect all your ingredients.  You may find it helpful to keep all your cleaning supplies in one cabinet, preferrably up high because although these are greener diy safer cleaners they are not entirely non-toxic.  In other words, you do not want your kiddos ingesting these.  Keep in mind that even the shelf floor can be unsafe if any residue is left behind from cleaners.  So, kiddos can touch the floor and then insert hand in mouth, often their favorite activity; Mr. B. is a finger chewer, so I have to be careful.

2 teaspoons Borax (can be purchased in the cleaning aisle of most general grocery stores)
4 Tablespoons vinegar (use the cheap white vinegar that comes in a plastic jug at grocery store)
1/4 teaspoon Castille soap (I have found this in Trader Joe's and Target..I am sure other stores carry)
3-4 cups of hot water

Here's what it looks like all assembled and ready to fight battle...All right soldiers line up...

Simply measure ingredients as indicated above and dump in a 3-4 cup spray bottle (mine is repurposed...Remember what we all learned...Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...in order of  priority)..If you are going to repurpose please use a bottle that previously had a safer, greener cleaner in it and wash it well with soapy water many times.  To be honest I do not know the safety or scientific basis of this suggestion, so if you are concerned do not take my amateur advice and just buy a new bottle...the planet will still be greener.

Then add the water and shake to mix

The End, that easy...Soldiers Dismissed!!!

The Compromise:  About 60 seconds of your time at most every 2-3 weeks

The Sweet Reward:  Less trips to the store, avoiding impulse buys when you shop, and being able to read all ingredients without taking a foreign language...yipee since those foreign languages are fading............

Cleanly yours,
Tracy

Labor Day Lesson

Initially I was planning a go live date of yesterday, but well life changed a bit.  Everyone in our family has been sick and the house has grown tired...I'm not kidding I think even the stone foundation may start to droop.  In the midst of it all, a very wise person asked me this weekend what I did for just me this Summer.  I was stunned into silence and I am a talker so that says something.  I had no answer...none.  Still having trouble, unless you count a badly overdue and needed haircut.  As I sit here and stew, I can come up with one thing.  I read two books....two WHOLE books mind you.  In mom world, of trying to be almost everything I deem important, this is huge.  Oh and I enjoyed them and did not read them for work.  So, apparently there is something important to one's psyche of doing things just for yourself.  Yes, I could have written a blog entry last night as originally intended and gone live on the internet...doing away with this silly practice-blogging-pretending-to-have-an-audience style of writing (Secretly I  picture all of my pretend audience in your underwear to dispel my stage freight...some of you should consider having a little more fun with your underwear apparel).  Instead, I enjoyed the recent break in our 100 + degree weather to sit on our sun porch, drink a glass of wine, eat previously prepared lentil soup and homemade bread, while being a human again with D.  By that I mean, the two of us just talking without interruption (this was after Mr. B was asleep).  Yes, there was silliness and joking and laughter and smiles.  In short, it felt great and not just because I was skipping school or the equivalent of this in blogger world. 

The Compromise: Disappointing blog audience self by not fulfilling deadline.

The Sweet Reward: Reconnecting with spouse on a beautiful night and learning an important lesson to do things just for me without worrying about everything else.

I celebrate my go live day with this important lesson that we all need to remember that we are 
Human Beings and not Human Doings!!!!

A hard lesson for me so if you struggle with it too, you have my support and sympathies.

Now go focus on the Being and do a good deed for you.

Love,
Tracy

Perfect Family Restaurant

Honestly, never thought that a restaurant review would be fitting for my blog, but I was compelled to tell you about this place.  To say the service was amazing would be too generalized and minimizing.  Just imagine a larger table that was half children.  Various staff were helpful and responsive to our particular needs in a manner that was quick, without prompting from us, and smooth.  Thus, I am left with the impression that the staff were well trained in the finer aspects of the vocation whether it was cleaning up water spilt on the table by my kiddo faster than even I could respond or returning a toy dropped on the floor before we realized it was missing.  I was impressed with the care given to the parent's needs including keeping my coffee cup filled with amazing strong but not bitter brew (reminiscent of good restaurant coffee from a past era).  Oh and the food was so good.  It was well prepared, well seasoned.  The menu included breakfast, lunch, sandwiches, meatloaf, plenty of vegetarian options.  Even the side salad looked good (and at a diner).  We did not have a special drink, but I will add that they have milkshakes as well as alcohol.  And on a side note, the diaper changer had a working safety belt and was well stocked with disposable liners for sanitation.  And the kids were entertained by the juke box; funny since they have probably never heard of Patsy Cline.  So, if you are ever in the St. Louis area and need a restaurant to please anyone and has an attentive staff finely tuned to handle kiddos (by the way, patrons were of all ages and situations), then you should head to City Diner on South Grand.  I know many others have reviewed this place, but I went this time with the new perspective as a parent. Here is a website to find out more.

http://www.saucemagazine.com/citydiner/

The Compromise:  Finding a place where parents can actually relax and enjoy their dinners while having kiddos in tow.  Or simply said, adjusting to eating out with children.

 The Sweet Reward: Someone else did the dishes and I have another new trick...Fill a snack trap with cubed tofu (next time though I will use firm style for less mess) and cubed fruit or vegetable (Mr. B enjoyed nectarine) to keep him busy, contain the food even without a tray on the highchair, and give him nutritious food on the go.

I chose this snack trap link not to promote the website, but because it shows the lid to give you an idea how it works.  This product is well worth the purchase although some clever kids may figure out how to remove the lid and spill the contents, nothing in kiddo world is full proof :)
http://www.amazon.com/Pack-Snack-Trap-colors-vary/dp/B0009FIMPG

Tempeh, aka Crunchewy

I know crunchewy is a buzz word right now, but it really does describe a protein we love and it is so good for you and so easy.  First, buy Tempeh.  No worries most grocery stores have it now.  Check the vegetarian section in the produce isle.  If not, healthy food stores will have it for sure.  The best part is that you cut the slab into desired pieces with any somewhat sharp knife and its ready to go.  I love to bake it to get that crunchewy texture that satisfies your hunger and mouth feel that tells you it is a protein.  I like it too because it is not a wolf in sheep's clothing, in that it is not pretending to be a carnivores meat, which means there is no fakeness about it. The health value is astonishing. Check this out http://vegetarian.about.com/od/glossary/g/Tempeh.htm and http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4381/2

So, the other night I wanted a satisfying but easy to prep portein to pare with The Armored Turnips D had prepared earlier in the week. 

First open the tempeh and cut into planks with a semi sharp knife. This time I marinated the tempeh in the juice of half a lemon (the lemon juice will help your body absorb the iron more readily) and 1 1/2 teaspoons of soy sauce.  I would have doubled the soy sauce and maybe added ginger and garlic if this had been an Asian dish, but not that night.  Let it set while cutting 2 medium onions into strips.

 Spread on a cookie sheet, drizzle with favorite oil, and bake until done about 35 minutes in 350 degree oven.  (See my pretty heirloom tomato.  Had to savor that one since the yield was so low this year.

When nice and brown and onions are somewhat carmelized and still partly white to maintain a good texture, take out and enjoy. 

This time we dipped them in homemade BBQ sauce.  Mr. B learned how to dip his food with this dinner.  Now, he wants to dip everything.  I'm not sure if I will regret this lesson, but he is so cute and I love that little things like dipping his food make him so happy.

Oh, at last minute I spread some more onion and bell peppers on a cookie sheet to add to our vege intake and overall yum.  The cheesy discs you see in the front are the Armored Turnips with carrots thrown in from our garden.

Try tempeh!!!

The compromise:  May need to buy this ingredient in specialty store and does cost more than regular tofu.

The Sweet Reward:  Amazing nutrition, great texture, easy, could be cut with a butter knife, and fun for all ages to dip this un-fake vege protein.

Uncompromising protein satisfaction,
Tracy

Tofu: The Perfect Baby Finger Food

Because Mr. B is sick and we have been busy, a short post tonight.  When I first began making homemade baby food, I found a helpful website.  Since Mr. B is mostly vegetarian (he liked my sardines the other day for lunch...yep, it's official he is weird too), I was happy to see how early I could give him tofu.  I was very surprised to find out how much he likes it.  He eats it plain as a finger food and will finish it off before almost anything else (except fruit) on his plate.  And tofu is the easiest homemade baby food protein. 

Step 1 Buy tofu...any consistency will dos
Step 2 Open container
Step 3 Cut off about 1 (2 when over 1 year old) inch cube and dice with a butter knife
Step 4 Put extra in a container and pour in fresh water to cover, refrigerate.
Step 5 Serve
Step 6 Every 1-2 days pour off water and add fresh water
Step 7 Act like you worked hard

The Compromise: people think you and your baby are strange, but remember they serve ground up chicken from a jar...YUCK!!!
The Sweet Reward:  Cheap, Easy, Healthy, One tool needed, Helps to Develop Fine Motor skills, Encourages Independence, Organic is available, and a Protein a baby actually eats

The Truth is that Mr. B actually likes all versions of tofu.  He gobbles up smoked tofu.

Tofu was easy for lunch on cleaning/laundry day with sick kid who didn't want to sleep alone in crib.

Here's the babyfood website, I couldn't live without
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/solids2.htm

In future posts, I will share a few tricks I had to figure out on my own to make homemade babyfood

Tracy

Homemade and so Easy Laundry Detergent

In some ways laundry detergent represents the dawning of The Compromising Mother.  Picture me "nesting" in third trimester and finding a recipe for laundry detergent. "What?!?! You can make this yourself!!!" said the side of me that loved the PBS shows as a child where they went to a factory showing something being made....really anything...I didn't care as long as they showed me the process as I watched in slack-jawed-curiosity.  The compromising part is that it combines frugalness with environmentalism with being better for my family since I control the ingredients.  And remember how I choose new compromises in my life is that when it fulfills a few of my aspirations, is fun, and fairly easy; it is a sure win.  This is exactly that.  Let me show you since today is a detergent making day...and it doesn't happen often as it lasts us several months.  When there were just two of us, it lasted about 4-5 months.

Here are the ingredients (by the way, I use all of these for other diy cleaning...stay tuned)

 

all can be purchased easily. The washing soda and borax and Ivory soap all came from my grocery store

The small bottle contains castille soap and can be purchased at many stores, including Trader Joe's or Target

The Ingredients

4 cups of water

1 bar of any soap grated (I like Ivory)

one cup of Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

1 1/2 Tablespoons Castille Soap

3 gallons of water

5 gallon bucket leftover from cat who couldn't compromise

heat 4 cups of water to boiling and lower to a simmer
meanwhile grate 1 bar of soap

 I like to grate half of two different bars so I am left with two small bars perfect for handwashing.  The energy expenditure for liquid soap is not environmentally friendly so we switched a while back.

There is something very beautiful about pure white soap curls...Give me a minute

 I like to add the curls slowly and mix with a whisk, keep stirring until it dissolves, about 2 minutes.

Now add soap soup, Borax, washing soda, castille soap, and three gallons of water to your bucket

 Here's what it looks like all mixed up.

ooo tiny bubbles...I love up close and personal shots

Now let the whole thing set in its bucket for 24 hours

To be honest, I only let it sit 8 hours this time because I had too many piles of laundry waiting.  So, I sped it up by asking my in house muscles to mix it using the drill and a spade attachment...diy girls like me should always find a diy guy...thanks D!

After using the drill it looked like this.

Use one measuring cup of detergent per load.  If it separates with gelled solid on top and liquid on bottom (mine does), just make sure to get some of each part in the measuring cup.  I simply keep a spare measuring cup on top of bucket in laundry area of basement.

I did a little experiment this time.  The castille soap is new.  It is used as a stain fighter in my other cleaning products so I am hoping it will get the job done with all the stains my messy boy gets on his clothes.  The goal is to use less store bought stain fighters.

The Compromise: Every few months take about 5-10 minutes to make laundry detergent

The Sweet Reward:  Huge savings, no unpronounceable ingredients, having a large supply of detergent on hand, oh and I get to grate soap (seriously when was the last time you made soap curls)

Cleanfully Yours,

Tracy 

My Protein Resolution

My Protein Resolution...Did I mention I am weird?
 SSSsssshhhhhhhhhhhh....don't tell anyone it might end up on the Internet.

Yep, I did it I made a protein resolution and I have a little guy, Mr. B, to thank as my muse.  You see protein was always an after thought for me, making the mostly vegetarian part of our lives an easier thing.  I know the benefits of eating healthy food and not just expecting a miracle to occur in a vitamin pill (please begin conjuring images of soy lent green...yep, I'm that nerdy too). So, two weeks ago I began a resolution to cook a bag 'o beans weekly...well almost weekly (I am the compromising mother after all and realism is my game).  Oddly enough, I think, I cheated at my own game because the first week was black eyed peas...missing the essential "bean" in their title.  Cooked 'em up at the beginning of the week.  Used them in a Dijon shallot vinaigrette based salad, cooked with kale bell peppers and onions another night, fed to Mr. B for a few days, and frozen in small portions for later easy meals for Mr. B.  This week black beans (I want variety in our diets so I went totally opposite this time).  Same strategy but instead this time, but spiced with oregano, black pepper, thyme (thanks D for opening my eyes to this one), Bay leaf, and a little fennel.  Great side dish to chayote soup (a new thing) and stuffed jalapenos (whew baby watch out!).  Of course Mr. B food again. I'm thinking cannelini beans next week. How do I accomplish this rigorous schedule?  Remember, my love of easy and in walks the crock pot .  You can cook beans in the crock pot (Warning: red beans need a good boiling first to be safe!!!)

step 1soak overnight

Step 3 Play with close up shots using the mf setting on camera

Pretty!!!

Step 4 drain and add water to 1-2 inches over beans and cook for 8-10 hours on low.

Here's a link if you are a detail oriented person...not met...It's a struggle to follow recipes for me...I add a little this a little that until you have Oneoffer... naming rites belong to husband D here.

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/cooking-dried-beans-in-crockpot.html

The compromise:  must plan ahead the night before for preparing beans for dinner.

The Sweet Reward: The crock pot is green and frugal because it uses less energy.