Thursday, June 24, 2010

Oops, Forgot these!


(You wouldn't know it, but she is hand dancing in the hallway. hahaha)

For those that may or may not be keeping track of our fun produce box every week, this is what we got on Tuesday:
Gold Raspberries
Cherry tomatoes
salad mix
cucumbers
basil
garlic (not pictured, I forgot to put it on the towel since I don't wash it)
zucchini
Romano beans
purple viking potatoes




She had to try out her old swing that we brought out for our friend's baby


Ellie's favorite past time with her new favorite book, Hello, Cupcake!

Life

I learned yesterday that I like pesto. A lot.
I also learned that you don't have to put pine nuts IN pesto and it still tastes good. (I made one batch with, and one without.)
I also found out that I have a slight allergic reaction to pine nuts. Oh well.
I learned that I'm more OK with a messy house now than I was at this point a year ago.-this honestly shocks me...I thought I'd be worse.
I've learned that after 4 years of leg pain, I can run without hurting.- my muscles have weakened and I'm slow, but I can do it, and that's all that matters.
I'm grateful for double insurance that gave me the opportunity to go to physical therapy for 2.5 months without having to pay anything out of pocket.
I'm grateful for a baby who sleeps through the night, and takes her naps during the day.
I'm grateful to have a nice, safe house to live in, where I can leave my windows and doors open at night and still fall asleep.
Even though my house looks like a tornado swept through it, I'm still happy for the mess because it was made by such a cute little girl.
I think my PPD is waning. I feel more in control of my emotions for the first time in almost 2 years.

Life is good



We went and had Ellie's 1 year pictures taken yesterday. My scanner is doing some artistic cropping so they aren't all regularly sized, but they'll do!


being all flirty with the camera lady


Love, love, love this one!- those cheeks!!!


She was showing off her great standing skills


yay cupcakes! She poked the frosting with her finger, and then scooped a little the next time, put it in her mouth and went-'mmmm, num, num, num!'

I'm such a proud mommy!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Father's Day and Birthdays


My friend Suz made this adorable shirt for Elisabeth for her bday. She is incredible!!! I highly recommend her wears ;)


I feel a slight bit of guilt for combining posts, but not enough to do anything about it. So here it goes! Sunday was Father's Day. I asked Drew what he would like to do for the day and he said nothing. So that's exactly what we did. (It helped that E was sick and had what looked like the beginnings of conjunctivitis). We lounged around the house all day and did nothing. It was a nice day. I didn't get a picture of it, but E bought Drew a very nice diploma frame for his Willamette degree. I cautioned her to wait on the UofU degrees since there's a couple of those and it'd be a bit more expensive! ....maybe next year ;)



Then on Monday, we had a joint birthday party for Elisabeth and Drew. Elisabeth's birthday was ON Monday, and Drew's will be the following Monday. I figured this way Drew's friends would come and we didn't have to do silly little games and what not. Not everyone I expected showed up, but we had people waltzing in and out all night. Even Drew's uncle showed up which was a great surprise!



For Drew's real birthday, I'm not sure what we'll do. I made him some cupcakes to go along with Elisabeth's, but we'll probably do something fun for him while we're on our trip.







She was being so delicate and just pushing on it for a few minutes. It's like she didn't realize what it was...or that mom would actually let her touch it, since the whole day was spent saying not yet!


She had more fun putting her feet in it than actually eating it- it was pretty funny

oh my little ham, I love you!!!


(and for the Grandma's - 26.5lbs-97%, 30" tall-75%, 18" head circumference-97%)- she's doing great developmentally and right on target with everything- except her fine motor, and manipulation skills are off the charts! hahahaha

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Ellie the Pooh

Drew is out of town at an attorney conference thing, so I'm on my own for a few days. I went to take the trash out after dinner. Elisabeth was playing with the pens, markers and keys on the table next to the front door. I didn't realize she was as smart as she is. We have a bag full of glass we need to take to recycle. A jam jar happened to be in there. She had seen it a few days ago and I moved the bag and told her no. So when I came back in the house, this is what I found:



She was going to town on it! I laughed, grabbed her and threw her in the tub cause she was a giant ooey, gooey sticky mess. Please someone punch me if I ever get mad at a situation like this :)



I found that spider in the hose faucet cover. I literally almost got nauseous because it was so big.


Ellie has enjoyed playing in the rocks lately. She had been really good at keeping them out of her mouth and just hitting them against the ground and rain pipe. This day, however, she decided to figure out which ones, and how many rocks she could get in her mouth. I've learned a pretty good way of getting small objects and large objects out of her mouth. The naughty little girl! ....we won't be playing in the rocks for a while.... ;)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Goodies!

I felt like Charlie Bucket as I opened up our produce box this week. A head of cabbage. The last 2 weeks, the family that sends out the newsletter with the produce has been really great at giving recipes. They suggested cabbage salad since that's what her boys love (crunchy veggies). I'm not too sure about that, and I am not a huge fan of coleslaw. I have another friend offering up a recipe for some yummy treats she told me about that I'm anxious to try. I don't know if it'll use up all the cabbage though. So with that being said...anyone have some cool recipes they do using cabbage? Too bad I never got that engorgement issue- I'd know where to use those there! haha!

We also got beets - little guys- I was surprised! I was expecting onion sized beets...I need to find a recipe for that too, although roasting them was suggested. They also suggested sauteing the tops and folding them into omelets! We got potatoes, a sweet red onion, garlic tops (we were told to cook them like asparagus and then dip them in hummus), cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, cherries and raspberries.




Mommy washed my blankies and I had to have them RIGHT out of the dryer!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Summer Vacation and Fava Beans

Apart from Thursday and Friday being reserved for math training, my summer vacation has started! I took most of the day off on Friday and realized how difficult it is for me to get back into the "being at home" Maddy. I took a nap and just hung out at the house all day. I'm sure I'll clean the house eventually, but I'm soaking up the not having to do anything-ness while I still can.

I'm excited to cook good, healthy food, and I'm excited to spend lots of time with Elisabeth. This should be a pretty good summer (despite having a difficult time with allergies)

So on to pictures:

Remember those 2.5lbs of fava beans we got in our CSA box on Tuesday? Well, I finally got around to making something with them today. I had 3 recipe suggestions to use with them. 1. was to eat them like edamame...we decided we could do that any time, so we went for a Mediterranean dish, and a favas with lemon and yogurt.



Here's when I was shelling them. The pod was unlike anything I've experienced before...it was fuzzy inside. These beans were giant! It reminded me of the giant level on Super Mario Bros. The farm suggested scoring the surface of the pod so that popping them out of their skin would be easier.

I had to blanch them for 3 minutes then put them in ice water.


This is what they looked like with their shell off. They tasted similar to peas/lima beans
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This was the fava beans with lemon and yogurt. It has sauteed garlic, onions and fava beans. Then the "dressing" was lemon juice, oil, salt and yogurt. Drew really enjoyed it and he thought it was similar to having a baked potato. I felt it was missing something and wasn't overly impressed.


This was the "Mediterranean" dish - it was fava beans, garlic, onions fresh parsley and tomato sauce...I just added rice so we'd have something else to eat. The recipe said to use diced tomatoes, but I didn't have any, so I used some pasta sauce. If we were to do this again, I would probably wait and use tomatoes because like all pasta sauce, everything tastes like the sauce.

If I were to do that one again, besides the tomatoes rather than pasta sauce, I might cut up the beans, or even toss it with some spaghetti. Elisabeth liked it though!

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She's getting pretty good with a spoon! I found out that the delicious champagne mangoes stick well to those spoons- she can flail her arms and it still says stuck until it gets in her mouth! Impressive!

STRAWBERRIES!!! She ate both of those strawberries! I was impressed!


Daddy showing baby how it's done...


We've been working on just having binkies at nap times. I had left the room to do whatever I was doing and it got quiet. I went in her room to check to see why it had gotten quiet. She had gone to her crib, taken TWO pacifiers out + her blankie and somehow managed to get to the other side of the room. Doesn't she look guilty!? hahahahaha Love her!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Cutie Patootie!


Smile!


What are those big ugly green things? Well my friends, those are cucumbers!..wait, you mean down in front? OHHhhh, those are fava beans. I've never eaten a fava bean before, but when we cook them up, I'll let you know how it goes! We got Italian parsley, basil (which does best like a bouquet of flowers apparently!), lettuce mix, cucumbers, some fancy garlic I can't remember the name of, fava beans, zucchini, raspberries and strawberries! Yum, yum, yum! If this has done anything, it has definitely increased our vegetable intake, in which I'm grateful for!



This is how our nights go the past few nights. I put E to bed, she sits in her pile of blankets for a while, gets up, walks over to her fishy music, plays with her dollies and screams. I put her down, she sits up, hangs in her blankets, etc., for a good hour. Oh my.... please someone tell me the novelty of sitting up gets old???


If you look closely, you can see the water stream about to hit her face. She can drink out of a cup, just not well sometimes :D


Here, here's your stinkin' mail!
(I ate it a bit first though mama)


You like that pose with the pinecone? She thought it up all on her own. What a goof! I love it!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

My Loves

I have been jonesin' for one of these for quite a while now. LL Bean was having a sale, and I just couldn't say no.


My beautiful BOB out of it's box, screaming to be put together!


HIIIIIIIII


I would like to go for another ride maaaamm!

We've been out a couple of times, and by golly, I don't know how I ever lived without it. I *HIGHLY* recommend a jogging stroller. Why didn't anyone INSIST on me getting one of these before I had a baby and wasted money on a regular stroller. This thing is fantabulous!



chocolate coooookies! Yum, yum, yum!!!


Guess what guys? I learned how to sit up AND stand up in my crib all in the same day. Therefore, I do not sleep. (the last 2 days, there has been maybe a 45 min nap each day) *sigh* (this picture was taken at about 9:30 at night........this child normally goes to bed at 7pm!)


mmmm chocolate! (we had to try the chocolate strawberries!)


So, this doesn't look particularly appetizing, BUT it was delicious. We cut up spring onions and radishes- cooked them (~12 mins) (next time I won't slice them so thinly- darn that mandolin doing such an amazing job)- then caramelized them with balsamic vinegar (1 tbsp), then tossed it with some spaghetti, salt and pepper. It was really good. I highly suggest trying to cook your radishes next time you have some- a whole new dimension to them! And! having a pasta dish that wasn't with red or white sauce was kind of a fun change as well.

(these are the instructions I used)
Slice spring onions and radish roots thinly. Sauté in olive oil (with a little salt) over medium-high heat until they are soft and start to brown-I used two spring onions and a whole bunch of radishes, and it took about 12 minutes. Stir enough to keep from sticking, or add a bit more oil. Once the roots are soft and starting to caramelize, add about 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar to the pan, watch closely and keep stirring for about 3 more minutes as the balsamic vinegar glazes the roots. Add to a bowl of hot pasta. Season to taste with salt, pepper, or more balsamic vinegar. You won't recognize that you're eating radishes!
This would serve 3-4 people. More if you have other side dishes.


I also told a couple people that I would post our fennel potato salad recipe - I'm sorry I forgot to take pictures- but really, it just looked like potato salad.
1 fennel bulb
~1.5 lbs potatoes (we used french fingerling potatoes)
your favorite potato salad dressing (I used mayo, mustard, paprika, celery seed, parsley)

These are the instructions I used:

HARVEST BOX POTATO SALAD: Slice, then dice one fennel bulb. Combine with some sliced sweet onions and boiled potatoes from your Harvest Box, and dress with either a mayonnaise-based dressing, or your favorite oil & vinegar dressing. Add a little hard-boiled egg or cooked beans for a complete dinner.

We put kidney beans and 4 hard boiled eggs in it and put it on top of some lettuce- it was delicious. I was weary of the fennel, but it was a really nice addition to the flavoring. I would definitely use it again! - it would serve 4 for dinner or ~8-10 for a side dish


Next up: Roasted Fennel!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Long Weekends and CSA's

On Memorial Day, we took a little walk over in the Baskett Slough just about 5 minutes from our house. We had never even BEEN over there until last fall to check it out. Monday was our first walk through though. There are a few longer hikes, but we were trying out a new hiking backpack, and adding 25lbs on your back takes a lot more out of you than I realized! So anyway, we got about 5 feet from a deer just munchin on some greens, we saw a bi-plane up in the sky and saw some really neat birds. One of them was mostly black/brown? but when it opened up it's wings, it was BRIGHT yellow underneath- so neat!

So other than that, our weekend was pretty low key, which was nice.

We bought E a bunch of toys for her birthday. One of them was this sit and stand push along toy. Since we have hardwood floors, it was hard for her to gain control of it. We ended up putting some weights inside of it just to give her some stability. Now she's been practically running through the house (until she hits a wall and needs to be turned around- hahahaha!)


E with her walker



For family that is too lame to come visit us, our house is about 5 minutes past a couple of those mounds.


It was blowy at the top with a child that was trying to grab the camera!



Our deer friend--we walked by quickly so my head shots aren't great.



The plane in the sky - it was really low



all done! (I also found a hat that she can't figure out how to get off yet!! maybe her head won't fry in the Caribbean!)



ooh! I almost forgot about this- good thing I uploaded pictures before I started typing! We signed up for the Denison Farms CSA this year to try it out and see if it was a good deal. I wish I had taken a picture before I pruned and washed everything, it was GORGEOUS! They left the carrot and radish tops on- which would have made for some really fun pictures. We also had already eaten half the strawberries and raspberries by the time I was able to get to them to take a picture. So anyway, we got lettuce, fennel, carrots, new potatoes, radishes (which are amazingly spicy when they're freshly picked!), cucumber, green onions, raspberries and strawberries. We definitely got a deal on what this would have cost at the grocery store (stupid LifeSource is ridiculously expensive) and I'm happy we did it. They gave us some fun recipes to use with our fennel and even our radishes that I'm excited to try out. I'll hopefully remember to take a picture next week before cutting off all the green to show how pretty it was!