Website pinnning

I grew up hearing about the rule of 3.  Is anyone else familiar?  Things happen in 3's is the basic idea.  So, 3 surprises could happen to you today or 3 times you could totally forget what you wanted to say.........What was I saying.....hmmm, might be more than 3 times of that for this mommy brain. 

The 3 rule happened to me recently, but in a fun way. First my cutting edge SIL told me about pinterest, then a good friend, and then my very own mom.  The last/third one was the clincher. So, I joined, which ended a certain stalemate I had with another web phenomenon (let's not go there with this post).  Actually, let me backtrack.  I made a promise to myself first to finish a major project in my house before allowing myself to join. I make these little contracts with myself all the time.  This time it involved home decor sewing that I will share a bit more about soon. 

Enough of tangentialness for today and back to my excitement to tell you about following little old me on pinterest.  I have started only one board, which of course is food.  Anyone who knows me well knows that cooking and eating are always on my mood and to-do list, which reminds me I need to get up and mix up a sourdough loaf, maybe rye today.  I have pinned only a few websites thus far, but will be adding more.  To be honest, I need someone to organize the web version of me.  I do not want to count, but I have over 200 bookmarks on my browser and I will not admit how many emails clog my inbox, but it is in the 4 digits at the present time.The pin you will want to look at and consider when you get a moment is an easy recipe for Vegetable Bouillon.  I have made it and used it in at least 8 soups, cooking beans, and making sauces with great success.  This recipe is amazing as it saves me money and saves my family preservatives (except for good old fashioned salt....but don't be afraid of it in moderate doses...it's all about compromise remember) and MSG.  Check it out.

The Compromise:  I may have started a new addiction to Pinterest...does anyone know of a 12 step just in case.

The Sweet Reward:  You can follow me on Pinterest and see what strikes my fancy and we can all share new ideas.

Follow me on Pinterest 

First Birthday Crystal Ball

I am lucky to have enjoyed several first birthdays in the past year and I decided to bring the curious side of me along.  There are at least 4 approaches to the eating of the first birthday cake and I wanted to share my observations.

Option 1:  Dislike the cake and notify all around your desire to get out of highchair by standing up. When no one seems to understand your one year old communication attempt, turn around while getting more upset.  Forget that there is a cake now located behind you and sit down in frustration.  Oh, there's something squishy on my butt.  Mom, help me.

Option 2:  Parents give you a practice cake on your actual first birthday due to stories similar to option 1.  Try cake for first time in life, mmmm yummm.  I think, I need more.  Continue eating until it is taken away.  When big party arrives, get another cake.  Really mom. Remember prior cakey yumminess and dig in and in thanks to mom for a second cake, offer some to the dog even if he is not present.  Keep eating cake until unceremoniously pulled away.

Option 3:  Parents give you a cake at party number one.  What is this?  Complain.....then cry while eating some of cake.  At party number 2, wait while people take pictures of you with your cute cake and get sick of waiting so grab at the icing.  When finally getting your own piece of cake, a little person steals your ducky decoration.  Left to no other devices in this world that does not understand, yell at said little person.  No luck, he steals your cake repeatedly.  Give him hairy eye ball and furrowed brow until a bigger person finally whisks him away. This is a tough world.

Option 4:  Parents give you a cake at party number one.  Mmmmm, really mom.  This is yummy, enjoy thoroughly.  Parents give you a cake at another party.  Hmmmm, I don't understand.  Didn't I do this already?  I think, some of you have dementia.  Don't you remember.  You were over there standing with that goofy look and a camera in hand and I was here in the high chair.  Ring a bell? ........Can I get a little help here?

Just for fun, please make posts guessing which one was my child and what you think this means about Mr. B's future...aka the crystal ball part of the post title. I am curious to hear your thoughts, so feel free to give me lots of comments to this post.

Pandora for your Kiddo

aka...A day late and a dollar short...the runner up title for this post.

We have only rabbit ears for our television, for an obvious reason. If you don't have it, you can't overuse it. That's how we manage ourselves.  Same reason we limit bad food purchases and I limit trips to the store.

Mr. B is at the age where he loves music.  If he is happy, trying to put off bedtime, or you simply ask, he will sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Start.  Very cute, I know.

I want to encourage his love of music, so I periodically play Pandora for him so that I have more control over what plays. I started with my favorite music...Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles (I'm an old soul!).  But, little to no response. This really shocked me since the sound of the coffee grinder or daddy's saw is enough to get him dancing with legs a pumpin'.  Then, I had an aha moment.  Although it took so long, it was less aha and more duh (see runner up post title for further details).  I typed in Sesame Street.  And off he went, dancing his little heart out and if he didn't then I could give the song a thumbs down to train Pandora to know what he likes.

The Compromise: A little freaky for me when the computer thinks for us and an open laptop is an invitation for a toddler to have fun.

The Sweet Reward:  Happiness Toddler Style.

Rocking away,
Tracy and Mr. B

PS...Sesame Street does a tribute to the Beatles...I know, I'm a day short and a dollar late...hmmmm.......

The power of sign language

I decided when Mr. B was a tiny infant that I would introduce sign language to him and see how it went.  This is one o f my favorite parenting methods with anything I feel is healthy.  In short, the idea is start as early as you can and focus on simply introducing it.  No pressure, just introduce and see if he likes it.  So, basically this means do not push it, do not get get frustrated, and do not make a yucky face even if you don't like it (this was a true challenge when letting him taste pumpkin pie....yuck....seriously people eat that).

Okay tangent is over and back to sign language.  Of course, I know that it is is in vogue, but I dislike being cool (I was not cool and never will be and if I ever by weird fate end up cool then you should worry, really worry).  Research demonstrates that boys are slower with language and Einstein Syndrome has occurred in our family, which is late talkers who say very little until they can speak full sentences and followed by rhyming homemade songs (true story...cute I know).  So, I put on my scientist hat (It is really cool weird and dorky) and decided sign language would help us communicate with each other early on. My enthusiasm was high and I started strong at 6 months old and Mr. B's response was...less enthusiastic.  If I was lucky, he stared at me when I signed and then looked away. In a less than fine parenting moment, I got bored and stopped for awhile. I picked it back up a few months later and seemed to be interested around his first birthday.  Since then I have gradually added signs based on his interest, which means my milky baby first learned the sign for milk followed by yes (his version of this) and then "more" and a brief stint with "no."  The real turning point came with the sign for "dog" that he learned quickly after saying "doggie" for his most frequent playmate.  At this point, the whole experiment took off and I enjoyed signing dog when reading about dogs and signing dog without speaking and letting Mr. B find our dog, Tony.

Given his interest in animals, we have entered a new phase and he learned "pig" in a matter of minutes following a one dollar toy that oinks (well kind of oinks if you use your imagination).  The sign for turtle is part of his responsive language and he will go find a turtle when I make the sign, but it is still too difficult for him to produce so he says "turtle" instead.  After that this past week, he experienced an explosion of language where he learned fish, duck, and finally monkey all in one day.  So amazing to literally watch his light bulb moments.  I am fortunate to have a small background in sign language, but not extensive enough.  So, the internet comes in with a superhero cape. I found a great website with a dictionary where you click on a written word which brings up a short video demonstrating the sign...this is so much more useful than the book I purchased with diagrams and descriptions only.  Today, I looked up hippopotamus, giraffe, lion, bear, frog, elephant, mouse.  I have to give Mr. B the credit here. He wants to learn, he loves to learn.  If he doesn't know a sign he uses his favorite, "dog"...yep he loves the dog that much.  Just this week, he looks up at me waiting for me to show him a new sign.  This is where the fun begins as it encourages me to look up and learn new things...

The Compromise:  Communication takes a little longer and at times requires "research" on the internet.

The Sweet Reward:  Mr. B already loves to learn and his curiosity about the world makes me curious and happy...He already points out things to me I am too busy to slow down and notice, like the recent big, bold, brilliant moon.  

I wonder if Mr. B is actually raising me

Curiously me,
Tracy   ...would love to hear your plans/goals for signing with your kiddo or your experiences, positive and negative, and of course your cute stories.

Easy Homemade Hand Soap Foam

Sickness still prevails in my household...I heard the ominous croup cough this morning (Help me!!!...makes me think of an Italian movie I watched in class where a little boy sets the local movie theatre on fire accidentally and runs home shouting Aiuto Mama...Help mom!...bittersweet moments interest me...yep I am a little weird).  So, handwashing is a primary concern right now.  I have tried so many soap ideas in my green and clean quest.  Long, long ago I succombed to the anti-bacterial craze. I now am enlightened (note sarcasm here, enlightened does not describe this tired mama).  I tried bar soap for awhile as it is greener taking less energy to make and package since no plastic bottle is needed.  Bar soap is apparently finicky, so I became frustrated...you see, my family either seems to wash our hands too much some days resulting in a wet and slimy bar or too little and it dries out and is not thorough in the handwashing job.  Then, I remembered a blogger talking about making her own foaming hand soap using castille soap.  Of course, I did not remember which blog.  Castille is not made from pretoleum...yipee...and I own it already to make cleaning products.  So, it fits many of my aspirations found on my home page including green, homemade, healthy, frugal, and my favorite easy to do. 

Recipes on the internet focus on using liquid soap...which has ingredients I want to minimize in my family's life.  So, I began experimenting...and the little scientist in me smiled (and screamed to get out ;).  I have a leftover foaming pump that once held baby soap...even more frugal and green. It is not made in America so the size is smaller. It is a 5 fluid ounce container and it appears with some internet research that 7.5 ounces is normal.  For my container I found that 1 Tablespoon works but is less soapy. My preference is 1.5 Tablespoons as 1 pump is enough unless your hands are really dirty.  This means that the castille soap should be 10-15% of the total volume of the dispenser.  This means that I recommend for a 7.5 ounce container 1.5 - 2 Tablespoons of Castille soap and then fill almost to the top with tap water.  The leftover space allows you to shake to mix. 

If you have a dispenser of another size, take its size in fluid ounces and double that number.  Then multiply by .10 and .15 which gives you the range of castille soap in Tablespoons that tends to work...for me and my pump at least.

Castille soap comes in scents so this last time I purchased Lavendar, which is a relaxing and mild smell perfect for cleaning products and hand soap. 

Next goal is to figure out dishwashing liquid using castille soap. For now we use Seventh Generation which is a decent and easy to find option.

The compromise:  30 seconds to make hand soap and missed opportunity to kill all the bacteria that threatens to enter my home.....ooooooo

The Sweet Reward:   It's cheap, easy, foamy soap is fun, green, smells good, and you aren't contributing to the Superbugs, who may just become our next Overlord.  

How do you bow down to a bacteria?
T

A Special Thanks Goes Out to Global Warming

Yes, I, The Compromising Mother, would like to nominate Global Warming for the Oscar for a beautiful performance today.

Silly.  Sarcastic.  Trite.  Snarky.  Name it what you will, but yep global warming is a real thing.  Look out your window.

Today, we spent the beautiful Spring Winter day in January by going for a run in the park, followed by playing on the playground and in the leaves...and by we I include Mr. B, the mighty 10 pound (I have taken liberty with a bit of rounding here) dog Tony.  This was followed by lunch (ok no different than any other day) and hanging diapers on the line (I am thankful for this one as they need sun bleaching after the recent illness....I will speak no more of this). And I picked large handfuls of parsley and little bits of other herbs including lavender, sage, thyme, and mint to make really hot hot sauce and herby ranch dressing (I have some good friends who will be very happy) Did I mention that all attire is early Spring-ish?  Oh and BTW, it IS January 6th in case you were confused and thought you were reading an old post here.

The Compromise:  Humans are not nice to our planet.  Please take note.

The Sweet Reward:  I did enjoy my day and I feel that we all should because regardless you never know what tomorrow holds....and at least my day was a fairly "green" day, although I could be greener, note my list of aspirations which are aptly named as I will never be 100% what I want...call me a WIP aka work in progress.

And a special mention goes out to the sunshine...always love it no matter the temperature.

Tracy 

True Confessions

In my defense, sickness in our house made me weak again.  And, I will say over and over in the motherhood journey, there are so many things I do and you will do that you never imagined. 

Backstory:  I love sourdough and hate the price of yeast and I am a little scientist at heart. So, a little over a year ago, I made my own sourdough starter with only flour and water.  I was curious...yep my sis always said Curiosity Got the Cat when we were kids...to see if it would work. Well it did (although first loaf was a hockey puck with good flavor)! So almost all my baking has been of the sourdough variety, with the exception of Mr. B's one year bday banana cupcakes decorated as monkeys...cute I know. :) 

One week ago:  Mr. B got sick with intestinal distress and btw we celebrated the New Year the same way last year. This could be yet another new holiday tradition for my family.  Well when the upper joined the lower end in dispelling all things from his little belly, I threw in the towel and did the white diet.  I had to search the house low and high, but found a bit of risotto and some frozen mashed potatoes from his baby food days.  He LOVES bread, so I gave in and made pure white bread, but I needed it quickly to ward of dehydration.  This meant a regular/commercial yeasted quick bread. 

I am really ashamed about this......and honestly a bit curious. Honestly, I could not stop eating.  My cravings to figure it out continued. How could bread be so void of flavor?  Not yeasty.  Not wheaty.  Add a little frosting and you would happily eat it with a fork for dessert.  So, I asked my husband "Is this what the dreaded Bunny Bread tastes like?"  And the love of my life said, "Yep, except less flavor."  He is funny and cute that way.

The Compromise: I  made, baked, and ate quick yeasted white bread...help my nutritious soul!

The Sweet Reward: I am even more motivated to continue making our family's bread with my sourdough starter...and pancakes and English muffins and pizza and waffles and biscuits and cornbread and cinnamon rolls.........Ok I am getting hungry and I already brushed my teeth....mmmmmm

Uses for Leftover Milk

Warning: This post does not contain recipes that most households will add to their weekly routine.

Mr. B has been sick again...poor guy.  This time it was of the intestinal variety.  Just like croup, I have learned things I never imagine pre-mother Tracy.  After several days of a certain symptom, that brings back childhood taunts of Diarrea Cha Cha Cha...thanks to my better half, vomiting began.  It seemed to follow milk and my logic said, "No milk."  But what do you give a kiddo on an already sickness induced limited diet.  Then, I remembered the surplus breastmilk in the deep freeze.  I probably have not yet mentioned just how much I love my deep freeze, currently full of extra homemade loaves of bread, various leftover homemade soups, dim sum yummies from local Asian store, and oh yeah breastmilk.  We finished weaning a little over a month ago, so I figured Mr. B would be game.  I think, it worked.  Symptoms are ongoing, but I feel good that he had nutrient dense, easy to digest milk while it lasted.

A few more ideas that I have tried with surplus supply:

Freeze in 1/2 ounce cubes to be used to thin homemade baby food
Use same cubes in a "safety feeder" (pacifier with netting) for teething
Make yogurt with an old 70s model yogurt maker....this only produced a thin top layer of yogurt and alot of whey
Dab a little on baby's ouchies, such as the self inflicted fingernail scratches, to heal quicker
Make cheese...I never did try this...but apparently you can make a soft cheese when mixed half and half with cow's milk
Keep an extra supply in deep freeze as your insurance policy...this gave me peace of mind when I had to pump three times a day at work
Mix with mashed bananas or squash, egg yolks, and cinnamon for a healthy pre 12 months old protein....the texture is perfect for little ones

The Compromise: Surplus Milk...I won't complain since I think I am in the minority.


The Sweet Reward: A chance to use my creative milk, I mean creative juices :)


Nurse T, again