Post Holiday Aplogy

Blogging went lower on my list than usual, but let me explain before I get a slew of rotten tomatoes coming my way.  Although given my newbie status in blogging world, I think it would only be a handful. So, have at it and throw your tomatoes of wrath...I will make lemonade tomato soup (yep, still on my soup kick. The family is well, but cold has set in here in the Midwest and the only cure I have is hot soup...I am working on a few new and yummy soup recipes...they are even new to my usual repertoire...ooh fancy words)...All right incoming apology in math language...I have an unhealthy love of math...I actually like word problems and computing in my head.  Now, I have really skewed your image of me...Here goes with the math

1 Thanksgiving + 1000 square foot house + 1 bathroom + good weather but pocket sized back yard + 2 infants + basement play room for the 4 kids but scary basement steps + a vegetarian roasting a turkey (more on that compromise later) + 4 tables + borrowing chairs from two family members + fitting many pans into my oven (thank goodness for a three rack one) + Oven door/attached rack breaks in the open position while still in use + curious Mr. B wanting to see/play in fire pit in back yard = no blogging for almost a week and a needed break for The Compromising Mother

The Compromise : If you are still uncertain please re-read above section


The Sweet Reward:  Mr. B did get a 2 hour afternoon nap (although bedtime was late) and lots of family enjoyed lots of food...including savory bread pudding made with my homemade sourdough...see link below...not my recipe but yummy :) I used a mixture of sharp cheddar, asiago, and romano...it smelled so good baking.


http://www.sourdoughhome.com/cheesybreadpudding.html

Sorry no pic, but the picture on this link is what mine looked like...and I saved time by cutting up bread one week ahead and freezing in the baking dish I planned to use and pre-shredding the cheese.

A late night list

I think, I have a serious addiction to list making, but more specifically to the moment of satisfaction when I get to cross something off the list.  Given an opportunity to make any type of list, I am all in.  My thoughts during meals with my 17 month old have been revolving around his interesting eating habits.  By this I do not mean the way he eats yogurt with his fingers and a slurping movement.  He eats almost everything, except meat, and so many things I think that most toddlers do not like.  By the way, I do try to be a realist and this time my sil K helped by reminding me that this too could change.  But, I am throwing caution to the wind to make a list off the top of my head of the unusual or interesting things that Mr. B eats.

1. prunes, stewed, whole, etc
2. pomegrante seeds..this is a new food and the unchewed ones are interesting later.
3. tofu...straight out of the package...well he does like it cut in cubes before he hoovers it up
4. all beans
5. spinach
6. shrimp
7. avocado
8. buckwheat
9. kamut...the only non gmo wheat...awesome
10. quiona
11. strong flavored cheeses...I don't even know if he likes American cheese
12. mango
13. papaya
14. mushrooms
15. edamame
16. kale
17. collard greens
18. sorrel greens
19. swiss chard
20. cranberries
21. homemade sourdough bread
22. broccoli
23. onions
24. plain homemade yogurt
25. ground flax
26. lemons
27. raw tomatoes
28. goat cheese
29. scallops...I regret this one...expensive...and I hate to share these...just ask my husband D
30. blueberries...yes I know every little one loves these, but maybe you have never seen them snatched from the grocery cart and almost spilled all over the floor.

The Compromise:  The grocery bill
The Sweet Reward:  A healthy kid and an opportunity to blog a list.  :)

Co-Sleeping...It's Okay

Warning:  I am currently upset and thus my grammar, spelling, and likely my usual wit will suffer (I do hope I am witty, but can't utilize brain cells for that discussion right now).

First off, here is a link to the article that sparked my explosion of emotion (although I am calming as my head is working to return to its typical logical state) http://news.yahoo.com/milwaukee-runs-provocative-ads-wake-parents-dangers-co-213117311.html

Milwaukee has a high infant mortality rate, purported to be worse than third world countries in some portions of their population. While this is definitely alarming, I am concerned that their new ad campaign will simply serve to create a bad and ill conceived impression  that co-sleeping is inherently dangerous. I am here to bring this act out of the closet and tell you it is not dangerous.  Both, my child, husband, and I have all lived to tell the tale.  And we are all happy, well rested, and well fed, especially my son Mr. B, who enjoyed the cozy co-sleeping that allowed ease of breast feeding.  He has never had a drop of formula and I do believe that co-sleeping was helpful in achieving this aspiration that initially I was not sure we would complete (a year long goal is lofty for new parents, so often I would focus on one day or one hour at a time, when I was tired).  I have a good friend and mother to 4 wonderful and healthy and well adjusted children and guess what K co-slept with all her kids.  Amazing I know.  She is the inspiration and possible originator (I am a little foggy here) of the saying that as long as everyone in the family is fed, rested, and recently bathed then everything is okay.

By the way, my co-slept son who is soon to be 17 months old is currently sleeping in his crib alone for a long afternoon nap...and yes he is well fed and growing appropriately.  I do hope that Milwaukee does not next show a bottle of poison as an anti-vegetarian ad.  I can not predict my emotional response or the explosion that I will have on this blog.

If you are one of those people who likes to do research and not just let media spoon feed you, here are some interesting links.

U.S. infant mortality rate compared to the rest of the world  This is not a pretty thing...and co-sleeping of course when done correctly is not the reason. How about lack of quality pre-natal care or coverage for this care?

Dr. Sears, yes a real doctor, discusses co-sleeping, how to do it safely and the benefits


The Compromise: Co-Sleeping with your infant for the best interest of everyone in your family and other people not understanding.  Thus, feeling like you have to hide this.

The Sweet Reward:  The Milwaukee ad could get people to start talking about SAFE ways to do this (fingers crossed here).  My family is happy, well rested, fed, and yes my son sleeps well and on his own now.

I have never typed so fast and so emotionally....
Tracy  

PS my post title is not witty...I mentioned that though...

Refried Beans without the frying

Yes, It's possible and you wouldn't even know the difference. We love refried beans, but I dislike the full process and I will not compromise and buy canned beans.  Yet, still love them and you know how I love anything easy that meets one of my aspirations.  Well, beans are a healthy protein and my toddler loves them.  As it turns out, I have to give my husband D, who also loves anything easy, the credit for this one. Due to a really long afternoon nap (thanks to ongoing Mr. B illness and daylight savings time being undone or is it done or is it just now started....moving on), grocery shopping had to happen during the last part of dinner prep.  D finished up Mexican night with quesadillas, homemade yogurt and hot sauce for dipping, salad, and beans. The pinto beans were ready in the crock pot, but needed mashing.  D didn't want to mash the 2 pounds of beans (I made a lot because my deep freezer stock was gone), so he got a bright idea, you know a light bulb moment. He got out the hand mixer and went to town on those beans directly in the crock pot.  Since you can soak and then cook (on low for about 8 hours) in the crock pot, this became a truly one pot dish (only one dirtied), low use of energy, more nutrient, cheaper, and easier side dish...  Oh and you wouldn't believe how they looked, just like the authentic from the restaurant style...mostly mashed with a few partial bits of bean to let you know they are homemade and give it the hearty texture....Yummm....better than canned.

The Compromise:   Can't think of one here. This is a total winner.  Even if you work, just soak beans overnight, change water and turn on in morning.  Come home from work, let your electric hand mixer do the work and a few minutes later, ready to go.  Oh and while making the rest of dinner, put the lid back on and they will stay warm.

The Sweet Reward: Fat free, no weird additives or chemicals, could be sodium free if you want, easy, green, healthy, yummy.......and with a cheese quesadilla and avacado, it could be your dinner tonight...or tomorrow if your beans aren't soaking yet ;)
 

What we eat...

Often people wonder what we eat and whether or not we get enough iron or protein. Those questions are now specifically tied to Mr. B, who yes is a vegetarian, whether by choice or not does not matter, it just is. 

So we recently enjoyed a meal that was yummy, healthy, and yes fulfilled all the nutrients that people worry I do not get.  In fact, I wonder if it had more iron and protein than what most people eat for dinner.  And it was so good, that after the third time having it for a meal, my husband emailed me from work to thank me for the delicious lunch.  So are you ready for this delicious meal....Black-Eyed Peas with a little butter and salt (cooked in the crock pot), homemade baked macaroni and cheese made with of course butter, milk, and cheese but also Barilla higher protein pasta, and Sauteed Mixed Greens from our garden (including Swiss Chard, Kale, Sorrel, and Collards) ...lightly sauteed with onion and garlic then topped with a drizzle of Sorghum (full of iron) and a splash of red wine vinegar. It was so yummy and so good altogether and yes reheated leftovers of it put a smile on everyone's faces. Oh and to answer any lingering doubt, my 16 month old son ate it all happily.  In fact, he loved the black eye peas so much he would pick them up one by one with his fingers and rapidly bring to his mouth over and over.  He even ate them cold one day for lunch while we out doing errands.

The Compromise:  A little planning ahead and getting the hairy eye ball or look of concern from people when they find out you don't eat meat, which is doubled when a poor innocent little human is involved, poor Mr. B


The Sweet Reward:  Healthy, nutritious food, and a kiddo who eats just about anything, he loves tofu straight from the package and plain, homemade yogurt nothing sweet needed.

I am hoping to tantilize you all by discussing things to come, like the yogurt and mac n cheese discussed above. Also, my quest to make my family well with soup has continued, so I plan a few posts of my recent soup concepts...not full recipes as they are works in progress...much like myself :)

Healthily yours,
Tracy 

Homemade, easy granola

Usually I like to make a ginger granola or a cinnamon one depending on what strikes my fancy.  I make huge batches, which means I can make one of each and it lasts two adults most of the winter.  We tend to eat granola probably once but maybe twice a week.  I also like to make in the Spring before it gets too hot, so that I have it to last during the summer.  Simply store in freezer or fridge to keep fresh, which maintains nutrients and prevents anything going rancid...you know that yuck taste you get when you try a bag of nuts that got pushed to the back of your pantry for too long

Here are the ingredients

9 cups of old fashioned oats (I ran out of sunflower seeds, so typically I do 8 cups of oats and one cup of sunflower seeds)
1 1/2 cups of wheat germ
1 1/2 cups of oat bran
1 cup of sesame seeds
1 1/2 cups of sliced almond (or any preferred nut chopped up)
1 cup of ground flax seeds (I was low so I omitted this with no problem...make sure to grind otherwise there is no point in eating flax since your stomach can not digest unless ground...although they go rancid in this state, so do not leave in your cupboard for more than a couple of weeks)

1 cup of packed brown sugar (buy C&H brand and you know it is real cane sugar...no I get no revenue from saying that, still just a working for free blogger :) and happily)
1 Tablespoon of fresh ginger grated
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup of crystallized ginger chopped

Mix all dry ingredients together in the first grouping.

This close up shows off all the texture

Separately mix seasonings in a small bowl with brown sugar, pour boiling water over this.

Stir this mixture into oat mixture.

Spread onto to rimmed baking sheets that are either greased or lined with Silpats (the latter means it is free of extra fats), mixture will be 3/4 inch thick. If you like clusters then squeeze the mixture as you go.  Sounds weird but works.

This close up is to show the clumps you can get with squeezing the granola

Bake at 350.  I bake it for 45-60 minutes, but check at 30 and stir for even browning and bake until a nice golden granola color is achieved.

Let cool in pans. Stir in crystallized ginger and any preferred dried fruit (or add the fruit to your bowl as you eat it...dried apricots is great with the ginger version.)

Options::
Feel free to tailor to your preferences by replacing an equal amount of dry ingredient with what you like in seeds nuts or grains.

The cinnamon version...leave out all forms of ginger and add 1-2 Tablespoons to the seasonings...so yummy and goes great with golden raisins (I dislike black ones...one of probably two foods I can not stand...weird...oh except  most meats...yuck) or dried cranberries.