Frustration

I've prepared about six "wedding recipe posts" that are just waiting for pictures of the delicious dishes to be added and blogger is giving me issues. All the photos I insert are sideways and I can't seem to flip them. I'll continue to play with it during nap time, but for now I just wanted to express my annoyance with my inability to control technology...

20 months

I can't believe that my bug is ANOTHER month older and how much she's changed again in such a short time. Here's the breakdown...

• My girl has definitely had a growth spurt and is getting taller and taller. I can tell because all of the 18 month pants that I used to have to roll up, are fitting perfect and even getting a bit short!
  
• Bug is having a much easier time going to sleep on her own these days. We bring her into her room, turn down the lights, sing a few songs, and then turn on her Fisher Price music and light projector and she goes right to sleep.
• It's hard to know where bug's appetite is at these days as she's had a rotten cold for over a week now and every meal is hit or miss.
• Her favorite characters are Elmo (she calls him "mo mo") and Pooh and she gets so excited when she finds toys, pictures, movies, etc that involve them.
• Bug HATES when I do anything with her hair. Bows, pigtails, and ponytails don't last for more than seconds.
• She loves to play "mommy" and carries her dolls around wrapped in blankets singing to them, gives them rides in the stroller, feeds them, and puts lotion on them.
• Bath time is a riot as bug likes to splash, "swim", dance, and generally do anything except get her hair washed.
• We're getting ready for Christmas and bug really seems to enjoy the decorations. Her favorite is the small blow-up Santa next to our front steps that she says "Hi" and "Ho ho ho" to whenever we come or go.
  

The good, the bad, and the just plain ugly

Due to my dear husband's constant requests, I've decided to post my review of the newest Harry Potter film. Beware there are SPOILERS GALORE if you have not yet seen the film or read the book.

The GOOD
I found the opening scenes of the movie which pictured Harry, Ron, and Hermione preparing for their departure from their respective homes a very fitting and moving way to set the tone for the rest of the movie. And, I won't lie, watching Hermione wipe her parent's memories had me in tears before the movie had even really started...

Although it was a departure from the book, I liked that Hedwig wasn't a "sitting duck" in her cage during the battle above Privet Drive and she was killed trying to protect Harry instead - it made her death more heroic than tragic.

Everything from Harry following the doe into the woods to Ron destroying the Horcrux was very true to the book and I thought it was depicted well.

The little "cartoon" to represent the Tale of the Three Brothers was a creative way to depict the story while Hermione was reading it and I really liked it.

The end of the movie was done very well and it felt like an appropriate breaking point. Dobby's demise was as heart-wrenching as it was in the book and Voldemort's triumph at retrieving Dumbledore's wand was chilling. It all set the stage well for the final movie.

The BAD
I found it unfortunate that the filmmakers chose to eliminate the "good-bye" sequence between Harry and the Dursleys. Having Harry and Dudley shake hands really brings closure to their relationship and I missed it in the movie.

I thought the film rushed through the stay at the Burrow. Cutting out the "ghoul in pajamas" underplays the lengths that Ron also went through to protect his family.

They rushed through the stay at Grimmauld Place far too quickly as well. I think this creates a "fatal flaw" in the plot as Hermione never takes the portrait of Phineas Nigellus with her. Without his picture in her bag there is no way for Snape to know that they are in the Forest of Dean later on in the story so that he can place the sword in the pond for Harry to find.

The Ministry of Magic scene was a disaster. Harry didn't rescue Moody's eye, it was awkward how Harry and Ron's characters charged into the questioning of Mrs. Cattermole, and it was ridiculous that the polyjuice potion wore off and Harry was able to just walk out of the ministry without any one of the hundreds of wizards present stopping him.

Another unfortunate omission from the movie was the Potterwatch radio show. Although not necessary for the plot, the show helped place everything that was going on with Harry in the woods into the larger prospective of the wizarding world and I missed it.

The UGLY
The first awkward moment of the movie to me was when all of the Order members arrived at Privet Drive. Bill Weasley introduces himself to Harry as if they have never met before. Although the filmmakers may have adjusted their scripts to eliminate interactions between their characters, in the books Harry has known Bill since The Goblet of Fire.

The incredibly awkward "dancing" scene with Harry and Hermione in the tent after Ron leaves should be lying on an editing room floor somewhere. This scene is not from the book because it is entirely inappropriate based on the sequence of events preceding it and does not fit the personalities of the characters at all.

The capture scene after they escape from the Lovegood's house makes absolutely no sense. Unlike in the book where Harry saying Voldemort (breaking the taboo) allows the snatchers to invade their camp, in the movie the snatchers just appear out of nowhere. It just doesn't fit that they would be caught then when they were never caught before.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but those were the issues that were most obvious to me. If you've made it through, congrats! Please make sure to remind me what a huge dork I am the next time you see me in person:-)

Thankful

I've enjoyed reading bits and pieces of the "thankful game" that's been going around Facebook this month, but haven't had the time to play along. I know I have A LOT to be thankful for, so I've decided to do my own version on here! In no particular order, I am thankful for...

1. My healthy little bug
2. My husband
3. My sister
4. My parents
5. My husband's parents
6. Our huge crazy extended family

7. 24/7 Dunkin' Donuts in the hospital

8. Great nurses

9. Stormy and moe.

10. The best best friend

11. Supportive co-residents

12. My education

13. Summer trips to the mountains

14. JK Rowling and the entire HP series

15. Sleep

16. Live music

17. Digital photography

18. Fresh local produce
19. Comfortable shoes

20. Takeout from Karavali

21. My health

22. Hot showers

23. Attendings that want to teach

24. My home

25. Vacations in Disney World

I may have said the above list is in no particular order, but how can this little bug not be the #1 thing I am thankful for this year?

19 months

I took a break from this feature for a few months (to say I've been busy would be the understatement of the year), but I'm back with a bug update at 19 months.

• At her last doctor's appointment bug was situated right about the 45th% for both height and weight and 30th% for head circumference
• Also at her doctor's appointment she got her flu vaccine. Anyone with a baby over 6 months should call their doctor's office and schedule their little one for the vaccine as well - infants and the elderly are the populations most at risk for serious complications from the flu!!
• Bug still loves her fruits and veggies. She's finally expanded her veggie "likes" to include broccoli, but her favorites are still carrots and peas.
• Soup is the next big thing in our house. Bug has decided she loves soup - everything from won ton to chicken noodle to minestrone to potato and leek!
• After a slow start with her speech, bug's vocabulary is expanding on a daily basis and she often suprises us with new words.
• Bug still loves to dance, but her moves now include out of control twirling until she's so dizzy she falls over and mini bopping (not quite jumping) movements that she punctuates by yelling, "hop! hop!"
• Bug continues to love music. In addition to dancing, she also tries to sing ala "Boo" from Monster's Inc.
• "Cooking" is bug's new favorite game. She likes to fill her toy pots and pans with leaves (outdoors) or cereal (indoors) and pretend to cook. I think I've got a future top chef on my hands...

I have to say that although being a mommy to a 19 month old is exhausting, it's also just about the most fun I could imagine. There is just something about that little smile and voice that make life so much more meaningful. Her smiles and giggles make my day and her little cries break my heart. She's amazing and I'm so glad that her daddy and I get to go on this journey of growing up with her.

Mommy Power Hour

Anyone who went to college knows what a real "power hour" is, but I've found myself using this term to refer to the frenzied hour I spend trying to "catch up" on the rare occasions when I get home before my husband and baby bug.

For example, this past week I got out of work at 3:45pm. I have a 30 minute commute home, made a quick stop at Roma's for lunch supplies, and was in the door at 4:30pm - exactly 1 hour before daddy and bug were due to arrive home. That's right - it was mommy power hour time!

In a flash, I was out of my gross hospital scrubs and into my Disney "Kitchen Princess" apron. Within minutes, there was a salted pot of water on the stove heating up and a load of bug's laundry was sudsing up in the washer. As the water slowly reached boiling point, I attacked the veggie crisper digging out two bunchs of broccoli, a half dozen mushrooms, and a lone red pepper. Minutes later the pasta was happily bubbling away and, with the addition of a medium white onion and many cloves of minced garlic, my veggies were roughly chopped and ready to be doused in olive oil, salt, and pepper before making their way into the oven to roast.

With thirty minutes already gone, I forged ahead with the roux for my "grown up" mac and cheese (nutmeg and a dash of cayenne pepper added to the flour) by melting the butter while I furiously grated two blocks of cheddar cheese. As if I had planned it (trust me, it was sheer coincidence, I'm not that good), the timer on the oven and the washer went off simultaneously giving me a pan of beautifully roasted veggies and a load of perfectly laundered onesies and socks in a moment of domesticated bliss. Out came the veggies - in went the mac and cheese.

The poise of the situation was lost as I then loudly barreled down the basement steps to move bug's clothes to the dryer and scattered cat food across the floor as I attempted to fill the dish far too quickly. Alas, I had no time to cry over split milk (or bits of cat food) - my hour was drawing to a close! In a last ditch effort to finish on a high point, I scrambled from room to room picking up toys, straightening books, depositing dirty clothes in the proper bins, and wiping down sticky surfaces.

And then, it was 5:30. I heard the sounds of crunching gravel as daddy and bug pulled into the driveway. Hurriedly, I ran a brush through my hair and gulped a glass of water just as the front door opened and my husband's voice rang out, "Guess who's home?"

Now that's what I call a power hour!

Tips

I know a few posts ago I was quite down on myself after a really hard month at work. I wouldn't say I've fully rebounded from it yet, but now that I have a little bit of perspective I'd like to share a few things that I did keep up with that helped me stay (somewhat) afloat. Hopefully this will help some other working mommies/busy ladies out there...

Food
*Plan at least two meals that you can make on your day off and re-heat later in the week when time is short (my favs are Annie's Grandma's Mac and Cheese, Mom-in-law's Ham and Scalloped potatoes, Veggie chili, and/or any type of soup)
*Make packing breakfast easy by baking a loaf of banana/pumpkin/zucchini bread on your day off. Once it cools, slice and wrap pieces so it's ready to toss into your lunch bag
*Another easy breakfast option - fill little ziploc containers with granola or muesli and pair with a cup of yogurt (I chose Stoneyfield organics)
*Keep the freezer full of frozen vegetables (bug's favorite are Organic Mixed Veggies with carrots, corn, peas, and green beans)

Chores
*Pick one room every few days to "spot clean" (ie wipe down all the surfaces in the kitchen with a clorox wipe, run a sponge around the sink and bathtub, run the vaccuum through the living room) and plan a real hardcore clean-up when your schedule allows
*Do one load of laundry every few days so that it doesn't pile up and take all day on your day off (take advantage of your washer's delay timer if you are lucky enough to have one so you can have your clothes ready to move to the dryer when you get home)

Family time
*First tactic is to take advantage of "known" free time and plan something fun to do in advance (ie apple picking, pumpkin patch, out to dinner, picnic, local festivals, arts and crafts)
*Appreciate the smaller moments (read a book, run around in the backyard, finger paint, play some music and dance together)

You
*This is probably the area I fail most miserably, but the one thing I usually do to keep myself sane when life is getting out of hand is to treat myself a cup of coffee. In other words, find a small indulgence that helps and (this is the key) let yourself have it without guilt.

Pumpkin Bread

I love the fall. Like, really, really love the fall. And when it really gets down to it my favorite thing about fall is probably PUMPKIN. Pumpkin lattes, pumpkin beer, the pumpkin patch, pumpkin scones, pumpkin spice coffee, roasted pumpkin seeds, carving pumpkins, etc!

In tribute to my favorite flavor of the fall, here is my recipe for pumpkin bread that I've twisted and tweaked into perfection:-)

Ingredients

• 15 oz of canned pumpkin
• 3 eggs (I use cage free, vegetarian fed, omega-3 eggs)
• 2/3 cup of oil (I use Smart Balance cooking oil)
• 1 cup of apple cider
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 3 1/2 cups flour (I use whole wheat white flour)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp+ ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp+ ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp+ ground nutmeg

*I put a "+" next to the spices because I tend to have a generous hand with them*

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two loaf pans or one loaf pan and 6 muffins.
• Mix first five ingredients together (I use my stand mixer).
• In a separate bowl, whisk all of your dry ingredients and spices together.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three allotments. Each time, blend just until incorporated.
• Divide your batter between the two loaf pans. If making muffins, add a heaping 1/2 cup of batter to each of 6 muffins and pour the rest of the batter into the loaf pan.
• Bake loaves for approximately 45-60 minutes. I usually set a timer for 45 minutes and see if a knife inserted in the center of the loaf comes back clean. If not, I set a timer for 5 minutes and follow the same routine until it's done.

*You can make this recipe more exciting if you add mini-chocolate chips, raisins, dried cranberries, and/or chopped walnuts*

Hard Times

I know, I posted something almost three weeks ago revealing all of these wonderful plans I had to "manage my time" and make glamorous posts about how awesome I am at just about everything there is to be awesome at in life. Well, guess what? Those posts never came. Not because I didn't do my best every single day to meet those lofty goals and objectives I set for myself, but because I have a serious problem. Despite trying really, really hard for the past month, I've done nothing but disappoint myself. Everything I've done feels sub-par and glossed over.

I'm upset about every piece of produce that spoiled in the veggie crisper because I simply forgot it was there. I'm annoyed about each time I forgot to update the NICU census with the newest feed schedule and was forced to admit, "It's really 25ml every 3 hours, not 20ml", and watch everyone scribble in the correction. I'm mocked by the misaligned pattern on the hat I knitted for my daughter that I just "let slide" because I was too tired to rip out the seam and start over. I'm sick over the nights that I fell asleep 15 minutes after the baby and lost the only alone time I had with my husband. And finally, I'm embarrassed that the one family function I had the time to attend was punctuated by my arrival with the simplest dessert known to man that I presented in Gladware.

To a normal person, none of those things would matter much. But to me, they all stand out in my mind the way my daugther stands out in a crowd when her Daddy dresses her (my attempt at humor in an otherwise depressing post).

No, this isn't a bid for people to reassure me that I "did a good job." Deep down I know I did everything I could to be the best mom, best wife, and best resident I could be, but it's just part of me to always be a little underwhelmed by myself. That's just how I am and I needed a place to vent my frustrations. Honestly, I think I feel a little bit better now.

Time Crunch

Being a mom isn't easy.
Being a good mom is even harder.
But being a good working mom sometimes feels impossible.

Right now, I'm working long hours in the neonatal intensive care unit. I'm learning new things every day and trying to make a difference in some very tiny babies' lives, but this means a lot of time away from home. I work 6am-8pm most weekdays, plus Friday 24-hour calls every other weekend alternating with Sunday 7am-8pm shifts. I do get the "gift" of an early night once a week and get home around 5pm. Here is the insane breakdown of how my days look:

5am-6am - shower, get dressed, make lunches, leave home
6:30am-7:45pm - NICU
8:15pm-9:00pm - bug playtime
9:00pm-9:30pm - bug bedtime routine
9:30pm-10:30pm - relax time with hubby
10:30 pm- pass out in exhaustion

That's right. I have roughly ONE HOUR each night with my bug. I also have what amounts to ZERO time to prepare meals or clean during the week. It would be so easy (and, I think, understandable) if I were to just admit that this schedule has me beat. Then I could let the laundry pile up, stock the fridge with frozen meals, and lay comatose on the floor while the bug pulls my hair and piles blocks on my stomach. But that's not good enough for me. And it's certainly not good enough for my hubby and my bug who deserves so much more. To try and avoid the pitfalls of a schedule like this, I've set some goals for myself.

We're going to plan a silly fun activity to do together as a family on my one free night each week, fill our Saturdays with quality time, and I'm going to plan, organize, and prep all of our meals each weekend during naptime so that we can eat fresh, local, healthy food as often as possible.

I've had these goals in mind since the NICU started, but haven't had a chance to post them. I'll chime in each week with what we did and how the meal planning went...

A Day in the Life

If you've ever wondered what a pediatric resident really does, here's the recap of my day today:

• 1:30am: Bug wakes up thirsty and doesn't want to go back to sleep without cuddles. I fall asleep with her on the couch.
• 4:50am: My husband wakes me up to let me know my alarm just went off in the bedroom.
• 4:55am: Bug is back in her crib. Time to shower and get dressed.
• 5:30am: Time to pour and label the bug's milk for daycare and make lunch for my husband.
• 5:45am: Last minute scramble through the house (in the dark) to find my keys, bag, and sunglasses.
• 5:50am: Friday morning indulgence - Dunkin Donuts for an iced apple cider and egg and cheese muffin sandwich.
• 6:20am: Arrival to the NICU to start pre-rounding on my babies (checking their vitals, calculating urine outputs, figuring out fluid status).
• 7:00am: Night team signs out the major overnight events.
• 7:35am: Finish recording the vitals, check in with the nurses, and quickly examine my babies.
• 8:15am: Arrive late to Case Management conference to hear a case from the previous fall about a patient with an interesting H1N1 complication (this is when I actually ate that egg and cheese sandwich I purchased two hours previously...).
• 9am: Back to the NICU for rounds with the Neonatology fellow and my two interns. Rounds were complicated as the interns were discharging three patients with complicated prescriptions and one of the fellow's babies was found to have a very bad complication and needed emergent interventions.
• 12:30pm: I escape from rounds to write some last minute orders, update my patients on the sign out list, scribble my notes, and dash to the cafeteria for a sandwich.
• 12:50pm: Arrive at the outpatient clinic to see I have 9 patients crammed into my schedule between 1-4pm and there are no free computers in the resident room (we have electronic records). I devour my sandwich while standing at a computer station in the room we use for pelvic exams (you eat when you can in medicine).
  
• 4:45pm: I breath a sigh of relief. Somehow I managed to see two sick visits, one surgical clearance visit, two well child visits, and one teen visit in less than four hours (two of my patients didn't show up and a helpful second year resident took my last newborn weight check as he had a lighter schedule).
• 5:15pm: I finish dictating and get my bum out of the office as fast as I can. My husband and I have a quick conversation and decide to treat ourselves to take-out so I don't have to cook when I get home. I grab a bottle of bubbly (just because) while the take-out cooks.
  
• 6:15pm: Home! Once my in-laws leave, we eat our disgustingly unhealthy takeout and heat up some leftover homemade lasagna and frozen veggies for the bug.
• 6:45pm: Damage control - time to wash dishes, clean up the big mess under the bug's high chair, and clean up the bug.
• 7:20pm: Impromptu trip to the Fresh Market (my husband's first time there!)
• 8pm: The hardest part of the night - undressing the bug, changing her inevitably messy diaper, washing her up, and getting her redressed in pajamas while she fights like a mad woman
  
• 8:15pm: Silly time with the bug and husband - dancing, singing, wiggling, and lots of time spent trying to take things away from the bug that she isn't supposed to have (knitting needles, scissors, my reflex hammer, the cat's tail, etc)
• 9pm: Buggy bedtime! Bug and I lay in bed while I read her a book. I sing a few songs and settle her into her crib just as she's about to drift off to dreamland.
• 9:30pm: Quick assessment of the bug damage - winter hat, 1st birthday cards, baby powder, nasal saline, and protective ear muffs for loud noises are strewn about the living room. I decide to deal with it in the morning and crack open the bottle of bubbly...
• 10:45pm: Bottle of bubbly is gone and I barely remember the stress of the morning NICU rounds. Time to cuddle with the husband and enjoy the rest of the weekend...
  

Dork with a Capital D

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a big dork. No, not the movie version of a "dork" who takes off her glasses, pulls out her ponytail, and automatically transforms into head cheerleader. I'm the kind of dork who runs out of time playing Scattergories trying to come up with the most obscure Harry Potter references possible and has seriously considered throwing a birthday party for her cat. That in mind, I think one of the dorkiest things about me has to be how inappropriately giddy I feel this time of year.

I don't care that I've been out of school for over two years and will (likely) never be a full time student again. The end of the summer will always mean one thing to me - BACK TO SCHOOL. As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler, I have an insane desire to purchase new sneakers and fill my good old LL Bean backpack with freshly sharpened pencils, 5 subject notebooks, multi-colored index cards, and brand new highlighters. And most of all, I yearn to walk across the picturesque campus of Boston College again with a stack of newly purchased textbooks and the chance to daydream about all the new things I have the opportunity to learn. I know, it's crazy, but so very, very true.

And that's why I'm a dork with a capital D.

Healthier Zucchini Bread

I love this time of year for fresh local produce. One of the most abundant items available right now at the farm markets and stands seems to be zucchini. As my little bug loves banana bread, I thought I'd give zucchini bread a try instead. Per my usual routine, I scoured my favorite cookbooks as well as Allrecipes.com for a good recipe to try. This is the top rated recipe from Allrecipes. Below you will find my modifications to make it healthier.

Modified Recipe (changes in italics)

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour
• no salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3+ tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup splenda
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated zucchini
  no nuts

Bake in two loaf pans (greased or sprayed with cooking spray) at 325 for 40-60 minutes. Enjoy!

Sunday Dinner

Well, not really. We had this for dinner on Friday, but it very well could make a simple and delicious Sunday dinner.

The story behind this meal is that I've been trying really hard to purchase only antibiotic free, vegetarian or grass fed meat. Now that Fresh Market has opened, this should hopefully be a little easier, but one of the only meats available at Hannaford when I went shopping last week was an all natural country style pork rib. After a quick google search for "country style pork rib recipes" I found this recipe. I can never stick with a recipe, so this is how I adapted it:

• I washed the ribs (just 1lb) and placed them in a pan coated with foil
• Instead of cooking spray, I drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with pepper

• For the rub, I mixed together 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1tsp of cajun seasoning

• Then, I rubbed the mixture into all sides of the ribs

• Finally, I folded up the corners of the foil to create a pouch and baked for 60 minutes at 325 (I think it could have been cut back to 45 minutes if you have less time to let it brew)

• For the BBQ sauce, I made it exactly as posted on the original recipe, except I omitted the onion powder because I didn't have any.
• I opened up the foil packet after the 60 minutes and brushed about 1/4 cup of the BBQ sauce over the ribs and baked for 15 more minutes with the pouch open.
  
• I saved the rest for of the BBQ sauce for dipping with the meal.
  

And that was the end result!
I served the pork with frozen baby peas from Trader Joe's,
leftover sweet potato hash,
and some rice.

How to be a good patient

After spending the last three weeks working only in our outpatient clinic, I've decided that the general public needs a little education on what pediatrician's schedules really look like and how not to make our lives miserable

• On average, your physician probably has 30 minutes to see your child for a "routine" well child visit
• The sick visit that you request for your child is likely slotted for 15 minutes (or less)
• There is no wiggle room in your doctor's schedule - in other words, appointments are booked at 9am, 9:15, 9:30, etc.
• Just because you booked your kids for back-to-back appointments does not mean you can arrive at the second allotted time and still be "on time"
  
• If you arrive at 9:15 for your 9am appointment, you've now made it so that your doctor is going to be late seeing every single other patient on his/her schedule
  
• On the flip side, if your doctor arrives to see you at 3pm for your 2:15pm appointment, it's not because he/she was sitting around eating fine chocolate and chatting about the latest episode of True Blood. It's most likely because some bozo arrived late for their visit
• It's poor etiquette to book a late visit (that your doctor is sitting around waiting for) and then NO SHOW
  

While I'm on the subject of ways to make your pediatrician less miserable, please don't call the after hours EMERGENCY phone service for any of the following reasons (unless you want your pediatrician to reconsider the merits of a job at Starbucks over administering any further medical care to such a thankless populace):

• Routine medication refills - if your kid is sleeping comfortably and not having any symptoms, you probably don't need me to call in a script at 10pm for an inhaler that you aren't going to pick up until the next day anyway
  
• To complain that the office was too busy to see your child when you called at 1pm wanting an appointment that afternoon during peak flu season.
  
• To inform me that you think your child may have broken a bone, but aren't going to go to the ER because your other kids are sleeping
• To ask my advice on what to do because your child pooped a lot after eating a bunch of junk food
• To ask me to have your child's medical records copied to send to a new office because you are moving in a few months

Lest I sound like a jerk poking fun at some of the more ridiculous situations I've encountered, I have to say that it takes very little to actually make me glad I chose medicine as a profession. Whenever a patient takes my advice to heart or sincerely says "thank you", it makes my day.

Gettin' Crafty

That's right, the sewing machine queen that managed to fund many aspects of her wedding by slaving over piles of fabric and producing dozens of totes is ready to jump back into the saddle with a new and exciting project after a pregnancy/residency/new mommyhood forced hiatus.

This year I am planning to make my daughter's Halloween costume. Yes, I know that Halloween is over two months away, BUT my work schedule will explode from a 40 to an 80 hour work week as of September 2nd and I want to get a head start. I took advantage of a morning away from clinic to start browsing and get the creative juices flowing.

After a quick visit to my fav fabric mega-store, Joann's, I emerged with a plan to create the perfect costume for my blue-eyed, blonde-haired bug beauty - Tinkerbell! Simplicity sells an official Disney Fairies pattern, but I decided to get more creative (and practical). I purchased a really cute pattern based on the popular "pillowcase dress" silhouette and am planning to make the dress out of green fleece fabric (for warmth!) with some sparkle embellishments. I'll post my progress when I get started.

Here's looking back to last Halloween at the cutest bug you'll ever meet...

16 months

I've gathered that this is a common feature on a lot of mommy blogs, but I'll give credit to my friend Kelly of Life with Monster who I got the idea from - Thanks Kelly!

My Baby Bug at 16 months

• Bug weighs just about 22lbs which puts her around the 25 percentile where she seems to have settled out over the past 6 months.
• When Bug wakes up in the morning she can usually be heard "chatting" with her Build-A-Bear cat, Abby.
• Her favorite foods these days are watermelon, cheddar cheese, peas, carrots, corn on the cob, sliced ham, pasta with red sauce, chocolate, Trader Joe's cat cookies, and ice pops (check out Popsicle Mighty Minis, they are the perfect size for toddlers).
• Bug loves our cat moe. SO MUCH that I feel really bad for the poor thing. Whenever she can, Bug corners moe. and literally collapses onto her to give her a "hug." Miraculously, moe. doesn't scratch her and just rides it out.
  
• She is walking/running really well these days. One of her favorite things to do is to run around the house yelling like a maniac.
• Bug LOVES music and will dance to everything from the loud Phish music Daddy likes to blare all weekend to the silly lottery commercial with the teeny bunny rabbits.
• She recognizes The Children's Place and starts wailing the second I walk in. I guess that's her way of telling me I spend too much time there.
• I think it's finally over, but we've had a not so nice run of biting. Bug would snuggle up like she was cuddling, and then CHOMP into my shoulder/arm/chest leaving welts - ouch!
  
• Bug is not a tidy girl when it comes to eating. She throws her sippy cup splashing milk all over the floor and walls, hides food down the front of her shirt, and rubs spaghetti sauce/ketchup/yogurt through her hair.
  
• When Bug is getting sleepy at night she likes to pull and twist her eyelashes. It seems to soothe her and helps her fall asleep.
  

Breaking the silence...

I love to blog - share recipes, get my frustrations from daily life out, and talk about health topics that interest me, BUT I tend to get lazy. I think about a blog post that I want to make all day, and then the craziness of being a resident all day and mommy to a 16 month old crazy bug all night just exhausts me. Usually it's to the point that once the dinner dishes are washed, the toys are picked up, tomorrow's dinner is prepped in the fridge, and I've fold laundry/wiped down counters/tackled dust bunnies I am unwilling to even peel myself off the couch to take the five step journey to the sofa table that houses our laptop. For what it's worth, I'm going to try to post more often. And, after continuing to read many of my favorite blogs despite my own cyber-silence, I'll be trying to add some of my own regular features.

So, if you can handle the possible disappointment if I fail to tend to my blog (yet again), hang on as I start up again...

Working Mama drama

Please don't let this post offend you, it's really meant to be an attempt at creative writing with a bit of truth at the expense of all new moms out there (myself included).

Everyone I talk to seems like they can't stop complaning about balancing being a "mom" versus making the transition to being a "working mom". So here are my thoughts on some of the complaints I've heard the most:

1. But I MISS him/her.
Really?! You miss the baby that you spent months (maybe years) planning for, 9 months growing, and another 1-3 months nurturing during your maternity leave?! Did you think you wouldn't miss them?! For real?! We all miss our babies when we go back to work! We cry and are sad and feel like the worst mommy in the world. And we can whine all we want and try to explain why our misery is the most miserablest misery out there, but what does that do for us? Take all that pent up mommy anguish and channel it into a photo album to bring to work with you (you know you have THE CUTEST baby in the world, why not show him/her off?), look up the words to some lullabies (I know I started humming after the second verse of Hush Little Baby til I looked up the words), or plan a family trip to utilize the time you DO have together .

2. Breast-feeding is going to be impossible!
If you started breast-feeding in the first place it's because you knew that providing your baby with the best nutrition out there was a priority for you. Don't let the thought of someone seeing you carrying a freezer bag of your breastmilk or hearing your pump going in the bathroom and awkwardly avoiding eye contact with you dissuade you. Ponder these "made-up" situations and tell me that a determined mom can't go back to work on ANY schedule, deal with any number of weird situations, and still breast-feed through the first year of life:
- Coming home at the end of your day exhausted and pumping before bed to make the morning bottles
- Having a VERY fixed (ie could end at any moment) lunch break to pump, eat, complete paperwork, and answer pages
- Pumping in a busy emergency room bathroom with someone pounding on the door that their kid needs to pee NOW
- Taking half of the only hour you might have to sleep during a 27 hour period to pump
- Having your pump break during a 26 hour period away from your baby and manually pumping until someone fixes it
- Continuing to get up every 4 hours even when the baby is sleeping all night because you need to pump to keep up because of the long stretches it is literally impossible to get away at work to pump
- Begging family to visit your place of work during long shifts to pick up bottles you've pumped so there is no chance the baby will run out

So, stop thinking about how hard it will be and make a plan! I don't care if it means spending half your time attached to a cord, pump often and pump early while you are still home to avoid running low. Have a back-up battery/plug in your nursing supply kit in case you have the distinct misfortune to drop your plug at precisely the right angle that the prongs pop out rendering said plug completely and utterly useless. Scope out your workplace and find an area that is visited less frequently to avoid explaining why you make a motor sound when you pee. And, when you feel stressed, look at your little one and remember why you are doing it in the first place (refer back to my previous posts on the benefits of breast milk....) Convinced yet? You can do!

3. I wish I could just stay home with him/her!
Once again, I can't imagine there is a mom out there who hasn't had this thought - especially in the beginning. The picture of a perfectly groomed 1950s housewife holding a basket of fresh baked goods in one arm and bouncing a giggling baby on her hip with the other arm can be an intoxicating image to an overtired, emotional wreck of a post-partum woman. But, really?! Is telling every single person you meet (including the bagger at the supermarket with Down's syndrome) that you just went back to work, but would MUCH rather be home being a mom accomplish anything for you emotionally, physically, or literally? No!

The truth of the matter is that not everyone is meant to be a working mom (or a stay at home mom for that matter). If the thought of staying home is something that you just can't get out of your head, you need to do some serious exploration into your goals, motivation, and lifestyle to do what's best for your family. This is gonna get you a lot farther than telling the homeless man that asked you for a dollar how stressed you are that daycare forgot to record the 3pm diaper change - was it pee or a BM?!

And, if you do decide to make the flip (which might be the most wonderful amazing thing in the world for you), remember not to get all holier-than-thou on those of us staying in the "working mom and wouldn't give it up for the world" camp. No matter how we spend our days, we can still get together and playgroup the heck out of any Saturday.

Wedding Recipe #4: Cajun Chicken Pasta

I'm back with another recipe! I have been making at least one recipe each week per my original plan, but my busy schedule (a whole other topic) has kept me from posting more regularly. Anyway, here we go!

This recipe came from Sarah, one of the bridesmaids in my wedding. Sarah and I met on the very first day of college as we were "tripled" together with our third roomate, Annie (her recipe will be coming soon!) at BC. Although at first glance Sarah and I appear to be polar opposites (I'm the nerdy brunette and she's the beautiful blonde supporting me by wearing the "way too big for her" patchwork outfit I made), we soon found that we had a lot more in common than we ever would have imagined and became good friends. She's the type of person that I know I could call and have a great conversation with even if we haven't been in touch for a long time.

The recipe I have to share from Sarah actually reminds me of her- it's colorful, creative, and has quite a bit of spice;-)! My husband loved this recipe and said that it "tastes like something you'd get out at a good restaurant" which is a pretty big compliment from him.

If you prepare this recipe completely as written be prepared that it will be HOT. I left out the extra teaspoon of cayenne in hopes of keeping the dish more "kid-friendly", but it still was way too spicy to let my little one try it.

Overall, it was a great dish that I will be making again when I have some time to prep all the ingredients.

Working Mom

Hearing many of my friends' stories about going back to work after maternity leave got me thinking and remembering my own experience. As much as I missed working and feeling academically challenged, I felt like a big chunk of my heart was gone when I stepped out the front door on July 1st knowing it would be at least 9 hours before I got to see my little bug again. All new moms go through it - and it stinks for all of us. Here was my experience:

The first of July is an infamous day in medicine - it is the day that every field of medicine is flooded with brand new MDs. As I only finished the first 9 months of my residency prior to bug's birth, I would be an "experienced" intern in a sea of confusion when I returned. I knew this was the plan as the days of my maternity leave slipped away and it didn't make me feel any better about my impending return. The learning curve would inevitably lengthen my hours even more. And then, in the blink of an eye, the day was upon me. This is what my very first day back looked like:

4:45: I woke up, suppressed my tears, took a shower, and got dressed
5:30: I prepared bag lunches for myself and my husband. Each time I opened the fridge I mournfully checked the row of painstakingly pumped bottles of breast milk lined up. This would be the first time my bug would go longer than two feeds without nursing since she was born. The tears began to fall.
5:45: I woke my bug, changed her diaper, dressed her, and fed her. Longing to keep her close, I let her nurse for as long as I could before I had to leave the house.
6:15: I placed my precious little sleeping bug into her bassinet, gathered my belongings, and did one of the hardest things I've ever had to do - got in the car and drove away from her.
7:00 - 5:00pm: Torture. Relief. Happiness? I couldn't think of her without tearing up. What was she doing? Was she eating? Was she missing me? I refused to let myself call home as I feared I would leave the hospital and get fired if I heard her crying. As the day wore on, I was suddenly struck with a new feeling, relief. I was doing it! Each hour I was closer to seeing her little face again, but for now, I was engaging the part of myself that I had put to sleep for 3 months. I was treating patients, being part of a team, and learning. Was part of myself happy while the other part wept? I was confused.

And then, she was in my arms again. Just like that, one of the longest days of my life was over. I would be repeating the ritual daily for the rest of the month (more on that later), but no other day would be that monumental. As silly as it sounds, that was the day I went from being a mom to becoming a working mom. And, on reflection almost a year later, I can truly say that I love that title and worked just as hard to earn it as I did to earn my MD.

Wedding Recipe #3: Eclair Cake

Unfortunately, I haven't tracked down the photo my husband took of this dessert. Its appearance isn't its main appeal anyway - the taste is what makes this recipe a keeper. This isn't something fancy and intricate or healthy and natural, but everyone at the picnic I made it for enjoyed it.

Here is the recipe:

The only notes I have to make on this recipe are:
1. the regular Cool Whip container is 8oz (not 9oz) and that's what I used
2. I used a can of chocolate fudge frosting that I melted in the microwave and poured over the top of the final layer of graham crackers
3. definitely make it and let it rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours before serving. This allows the graham crackers to get a little softer so that they taste more like cake than cracker.

I didn't forget

Between our two cameras I can't seen to track down the photos of this week's wedding recipes. I'm going to post them in the next 24 hours whether I find the photos or not!

To keep your interest, the recipes to shortly be unveiled are: Cajun Chicken Pasta and Eclair Cake!

Wedding Recipe #2: Filled Cookies

This was a recipe given to me by a member of my husband's family. She is very sweet and very talented in the kitchen if this recipe is any indication.

I've been anxious to make this recipe since I first received it, but wanted to give it the time and attention it deserved. As anyone on my mother's side of the family will profess, my Nanny made THE BEST filled sugar cookies. Since she passed away almost 6 years ago I've longed for the comfort of her homemade cookies. In my mind, tasting one her sugar cookies would be almost like having her arms around me again telling me she loved me.

So there, I revealed my hidden agenda. Making these cookies was a whole new experience for me, but at the same time it felt comfortable and right. It was almost as if my hands were guided by my grandmother as I stirred the filling, rolled the dough, and pulled the cookies out of the oven at the precise moment that they went from uncooked to barely browned.

In the end, the cookies were not quite as sweet as Nanny's used to be, but they were by far the closest I've tasted since she's been gone. So, thank you Kathi for the recipe and thank you Nanny for teaching me a love of baking that continues to grow each day.

The recipe. The only thing I changed was that I left out the lemon and used vanilla extract instead. Nanny's cookies didn't have lemon in them and I was trying to replicate her flavor.


My fingers are just covered where it says that the recipe makes two dozen.
I doubled it. I made half with the raisin and date filling and half filled with cherry preserves.

And here they are! Delicious!
*Any members of the Parker family that happen to be reading, I'll make these for the next family get together and you can all see what you think!*

Old

That's right, I feel really, really, REALLY old right now. I was home visiting with a friend/cousin and her adorable baby girl when I realized I needed some fresh Parmesan cheese for the recipe I was intending to make for dinner. I decided to head down the road to Roma's and get the cheese, as well as some ground beef for meatballs I need to make tomorrow. As I was unloading my purchases at the checkout counter, I had the following exchange with the cashier:

Him: "That's not your blue Mazda out there is it?"
Me: "Yes" (with a note of panic in my voice as visions of my failure to engage the emergency break resulting in the car rolling into the street and being smashed to bits by a large truck)
Him: "You like Phish?"
Me: "Yes" (trying to figure out what my music preferences have to do with the fact that my car is in pieces all over the road)
Him: "Cool. Are you going to the shows next month?"
Me: "What? Is there something wrong with my car?" (NOW I realize that I am driving Matt's old car with the "phishead" license plate) "Oh...I mean...yeah, I'm going..."
Him: "Cool. I saw them back in November at the Times Union Center. I can't wait to see them again. I just saw my first show last summer"

I did some quick math and realized this kid saw his first show TEN YEARS after I saw my first show. Wow.

Redemption

Or at least I'm telling myself that. My delicious, healthy lunch after cookies for breakfast.

Whole wheat sandwich thins
Fresh slivered basil
Baby spinach
Thinly sliced tomato
Thinly sliced cucumber
Fresh mozzarella
Low sodium, low fat deli ham
Yum!

Confession

I can not be trusted home alone making a power point presentation with a bin full of cookies. Yes, I know it's only 9am. If they weren't meant to be breakfast, they shouldn't taste so good with a cup of coffee. Welcome to the party in my tummy cookie #2, let's hope it stops there...

These are the tempting culprits.
Recipe coming soon as Wedding Recipe #2: Filled Cookies...

Wedding Recipe #1: Penne with Roasted Marsala Mushrooms

Although this recipe did not have a name on it, I am quite confident it came from a good friend of mine from high school and medical school. We have both been married for less than five years, have one year old babies at home, and are halfway through residency programs. It is nice to have someone like her in my life to understand exactly what the struggles are that I'm going through balancing a busy career and a family. In addition to being a very good friend, she's apparently a great cook as I LOVE this recipe.

I made a few teeny changes to the recipe:
First, I added an extra splash of the Marsala wine to make more sauce.
Second, I added a little bit less butter because it was all I had left!
Finally, I forgot to buy fresh parsley so I just added a sprinkling of dried parsley.

Even my picky one-year-old gobbled it up! We all loved it so much I'm planning to make it again this weekend for a family gathering.

Here is the recipe:

Blog Project #1: Wedding Recipes

As tradition holds, prior to getting married my wonderful bridesmaids, mom, and mother-in- law threw a bridal shower for me. One of the special requests they made of the attendees was that they bring a favorite recipe with them to share with me. In many instances, this is done for a bride who doesn't know how to cook, but for me it was more about trying to gather some family favorites. After an initial burst of excitement when I made a handful of the recipes, the small, unassuming photo album my mom used to contain the recipe cards got pushed behind my favorite cookbooks, How to Cook Everything and Baking From My Home to Yours.

When cleaning this weekend I rediscovered it and decided to make it a project (ala Julie and Julia) to make all 39 recipes. My plan is make at least 2 recipes a week and post them on here. The book contains everything from classic comfort food (peanut butter fudge and mac and cheese), some fancier fare (crab and cheddar soup and oreo truffles), and even some lighter entrees (whole wheat pasta with broccolini and feta and vegetarian jambalaya).

The recipes will begin later tonight or tomorrow with: Penne with Roasted Marsala Mushrooms

Parenting Advice

As a budding pediatrician, I spend every Monday in my clinic and many weeknights on the phone talking to parents. Usually, they ask me medical questions: "How much tylenol can I give my one year old for a fever of 102?", "What should I do if my five year old has been vomiting all day and can't drink anything?", "What should I do about my son's constipation?". These are the easy questions because I can use tried and true evidence based medicine, facts, and formulas to come up with a plan.

But then come the questions that have a million answers: "How do I wean my baby from her pacifier?", "How do I deal with temper tantrums?", "Why won't my baby sleep through the night?", and so on. These questions have so many different possible answers for different kids that it's completely reasonable that if I give a family only one answer, it's going to fail. This is why I usually offer at least two tactics to any given question. Still, this may not be enough. And many parents, myself included, might find themselves searching the internet for another answer.

And this is why I am advocating today for parents looking for easy advice at their fingertips to make sure the sources they are reading are GOOD QUALITY and written by people with real credentials. Some sites look professional, but actually have some bogus advice hidden within some good articles. My favorite sites for parent advice are put out there by true medical professionals. Without further ado, here they are:

Healthy Children by the American Academy of Pediatrics
Family Doctor by the American Academy of Family Physicians

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms among my readers.

Hope everyone out there got to spend some time doing something they love with the special women in their life today. My bug and I enjoyed some time together in the kitchen - something I hope we will always be able to share and cherish.

Saying thanks

Last year the super sweet nursing team from my outpatient clinic put together a special "Doctor's Day" celebration for all of the residents and attending doctors. Beyond that, they are just great people who have supported me and helped me learn since the day I started my residency. I was on maternity leave last May and never got to pay them back on Nurse's Day/Nurse's Week. I didn't want to let another year go by without formally saying "thanks," so I made a big batch of cookies to bring to clinic with me tomorrow.

I used my favorite cookbook as usual (Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan). I followed the recipe for "My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" (check out the recipe here). I used the variation to make Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies suggested in the "Playing Around" column. I also decided to use 6oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 6oz of butterscotch chips instead of all chocolate.

I love reading blogs with photo captures of each step of the process, but I usually don't have the dedication to stick it out. Today I did. Enjoy!

Start with some butter...

Then add some sugar...

Mix until well blended.

Mix in a few eggs and some vanilla

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda

Just about done...

Lastly, stir in the chips!

Finally, the dough is all ready to bake.

Ignore the old cookie pan, I need new ones


Done! Dark chocolately, crispy on the edges, and soft in the middle. Delicious!

She's Bananas!

My daughter has an issue. A food issue. Her favorite food changes on a constant basis. One day she smashes handfuls of the "flavor of the day" into her toothy little mouth and grins ear-to-ear. The next day, the very same food will be expelled the moment it touches her tongue and she will wail until something else is offered. As an avid food lover, this bothers me more than anything else I've yet encountered in motherhood. How can she get so much joy out of a food one day and absolutely despise it the next?!

Then, one glorious day, I thought I had broken the cycle. Not for two days, or three days, but for a whole WEEK she gobbled up bananas. She ate them on a mat, she ate them with a cat. She ate them here, she ate them there. She ate them EVERYWHERE. Thrilled, I went straight to Sam's Club and purchased a large stem of bananas. She might have eaten one of them before deciding she was wrong and she actually hates bananas too. She hates them so much she waves her hands wildly if they even touch the tray of her highchair until every last piece is out of her sight. Day after day I tried reintroducing them, but was met with the same manic squeal and flurry of hands and arms scattering banana bits across the kitchen each time.

Tired of scrubbing the floor, I decided the remainder of the bananas would meet a different fate. I had so many left still, I dedicated half to a loaf of banana bread and the other half to Banana Bundt cake from Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Oddly enough, the baby LOVES the banana bread.

Follow-up: Lemon Mint Chicken

I made my lemon chicken again this evening for dinner. I served it for myself the same way I originally posted (over salad), but I adapted it and turned it into a pasta dish for my husband. Here is a picture of my salad:


For my husband, I made some thin spaghetti. Then, I added the drippings from the baked chicken dish to a large saute pan and tossed it with the spaghetti. I added half of the broiled tomatoes, a handful of sliced black olives, and some feta cheese before topping it with slices of the baked chicken.

Lemon Mint Baked Chicken with Grape Tomatoes

Disclaimer: I rarely follow exact recipes - I add an extra pinch of this and a dash of that while leaving out something else. All of my measurements are gross approximations.

This recipe is the brainchild of my desire for fresher foods that I can throw together FAST.

First, I whipped up a really simple marinade - olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, mint, garlic, and pepper. After whisking the ingredients into a fresh Spring-y olfactory delight, I added boneless, skinless chicken breast and some grape tomatoes to the party. The oven preheated to 400 and I prepared the baby's dinner while the chicken and tomatoes marinated for ~20 minutes (maybe less, I was in a hurry to get it on the table!). Then, I baked the chicken and tomatoes. For the last 2 minutes of baking I pumped the oven up to broil to get a little blister to the skin on the tomatoes.

I let the chicken and tomatoes cool a smidge while I prepped myself a big plate of organic spring mix. I diced up one chicken breast and scattered it over the bed of greens. Following the chicken was a scoop of the roasted tomatoes topped with a generous sprinkling of feta cheese.

My husband ate his portion with store-brought Balsamic Vinegarette, but I felt the chicken and tomatoes had so much flavor this salad was perfect naked.

I plan to make this again, soon. I'll add a picture then.

Ingredients
1tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic minced
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp fresh mint chopped

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, halved
2 handfuls of grape tomatoes (a few dozen)

1/3 cup feta cheese, divided
organic spring mix (you choose how much you want!)

Directions
Whisk the marinade and add the chicken and tomatoes as described above. Marinade for 20 minutes (or more, if you have the time).

Bake for 25 minutes at 400. Broil for the last 2 minutes.

Serve chicken and tomatoes over greens topped with feta.

Enjoy!

This recipe will make 4 side portions or 2 big main course portions

Eat Your Veggies!

My month of working nights in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has led precipitously into an absolutely atrocious diet. With the obligations of residency keeping me up from 7pm-8am watching over the tiniest of babies, the emotional pull of motherhood preventing me from sleeping more than 3-4 hours before rushing to daycare to cuddle my baby girl for as long as possible, and my burning desire to be a good wife (read: not wanting to be a worse wife that I already am for seeing my husband for 1 hour a day) hustling me to tidy the house and prepare a homemade dinner during the baby's naps, there was no time left to worry about what I should be eating.

My daytime (8am-8pm) food intake looked something like this: a big old coffee accompanying an egg and cheese muffin sandwich with ham or - I shield my eyes in shame as I admit it - bacon before leaving the hospital, handfuls of whatever I could find in the fridge/pantry (dry cereal, crackers, graham crackers, carrot sticks, or cheese wedges) and an iced coffee on my way to daycare, and then as much as I could stuff in my face for dinner (usually at least a well prepared meal) before having to rush out the door - sometimes this was not enough, others it was WAY too much. I'd usually bring another coffee with me or grab one on my way up to the NICU.

So, by that point, I'd already eaten 2 1/2 meals and was starting my 13 hour shift. I'd bring healthy things like carrot sticks and yogurts with me to eat, but - let's be honest - they usually made their way into the trash after being transported back and forth from home to hospital three or four times. It would be an understatement to say I've made a few trips to the all-night Dunkin Donuts in the hospital with a longing nothing but more caffeine and lots of disgusting processed carbs could abate.

Finally, last weekend I hit a breaking point. Not only was I intellectually stressed by the vast expanse of medical knowledge I needed to acquire to be a good resident in the NICU and emotionally stressed to the point of tears each night when I left my baby and husband, but my body was stressed and angry. Too much caffeine, not enough water. Too many complex carbs, not enough produce. Too many processed meals, not enough fresh ingredients. All of my goals for healthy, clean, organic eating had dissipated and I was merely in survival mode scurrying about the corriders of the hospital by night nibbling on highly processed egg and cheese wraps and raiding the pantry without conscious by day.

Enough is (was) enough. I've been on an extremely low-carb and high vegetable diet (a modified South Beach diet of my own creation) for the past 5 days and I feel like a whole new person. So there it is people, take the time and EAT YOUR VEGGIES to feel your best.

Yummy recipes I've stumbled upon or created soon to follow.

Breast Feeding News

As part of my membership to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) I get daily e-mails with links to pediatric health issues in the news. I thought it might be worthwhile to repost some of them for any of the interested moms reading my blog. Here's a throwback to some of my early posts on breast feeding...

New Study: Breast Feeding Saves Lives

Tomato Mint Bites

When I came home I was excited to come up with something as a light lunch using the fresh tomatoes and mint I picked up at the Farmer's Market. I looked around on the Bon Appetit website for some inspiration and found this recipe. I didn't have all the right ingredients, so this was what I came up with after playing around:

Homemade bread with Feta spread, Tomatoes, and Mint

Ingredients

Homemade Bread (recipe I used can be found here)

1/4 cup feta

1/4-1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

1/2 of a fresh squeezed lemon

Black Pepper, to taste

1 small thinly sliced tomato

3 chopped mint leaves

To make my own "spreadable cheese", I mixed the feta, sour cream, lemon juice, and black pepper in my mini food processor.

I only let it blend for about ten seconds because I wanted the texture to still be a bit chunky.

My homemade bread, cheese spread, mint, and tomatoes

I cut slices of bread into quarters, spread with cheese, and sprinkled with pepper. Then I topped with sliced tomato and chopped mint.









Yum!

Farmer's Market

Last night I discovered that the Troy Farmer's Market I've visited during the summer runs an indoor winter market as well. Apparently my husband has been aware of this, but kept it from me because he was afraid it would "cost us too much money."

To digress for a minute - I haven't gone into this aspect of my new food concerns yet, but I might just as well put it out there because it's going to play a large part in how I shop and cook. As a young family just starting out we need to live "conservatively." This means each week I try to budget myself $50-75 dollars at the grocery store - I am rarely successful at sticking to the lower end of the budget. So, the struggle to replace all of our old processed foods with better, more sustainable products is complicated by the fact that I have to be as thrifty as I can.

In the end, I convinced my husband that we should at least check out the market this morning when I got home from work. We slowly lapped the atrium trying an occasional sample of organic cheese or produce while I carefully calculated which products I'd like to try for $15 or less. In the end, I ended up with a jar of homemade Strawberry Pear jam ($4), three hydroponic tomatoes ($2), a few organic mint springs ($2), and a quarter pound of mild mesculin mix ($3.50).

When I got home I couldn't wait to come up with something yummy to make for lunch with the tomatoes and mint. The simple recipe I came up with will follow shortly

My Food Revolution

I love food. If I were to estimate, I'd say greater than 50% of my day is spent thinking about, preparing, and eating food. In all the hours that I spend thinking about what my family will be eating, I spend mere minutes a week thinking about where our food is coming from. I fear I've been going about this all wrong.

Maybe this will make me sound like an idiot. Or a yuppie. Or a yuppie idiot. I don't know, but here's the truth - I watched the movie Food, Inc. I'm smart enough to know that the filmmakers had an agenda in producing the film and that there is clearly a bias; but still. I feel like this movie forced me to acknowledge the things I already knew in the back of my head. The big food companies are out there producing mass quantities of sub-standard food under less than ideal conditions because the consumer is too tired, too busy, too poor, and too lazy to think enough about it to raise their voices in protest.

Especially now, with a beautiful little girl dependent on my choices to fuel her little body and brain, I need to think about food in a whole new way. I want our food to be the best it can be, produced in an honest way, and supportive of a greater cause.

And so, this begins my journey away from Little Debbie Snack Cakes and the drive-thru at Taco Bell towards the greener pastures of organic farmers and the warmth of my own oven.

Birthday Party!

This is the first in a series of posts on my planning process for my daughter's first birthday party. I am so excited to finally have a little one to plan things for. As my friends and family know, I LOVE to plan parties. The theme for my little bug's party is Sesame Street and Elmo. I've spent a lot of time prowling Target, Walmart, AC Moore, Michael's, Joann's and assorted party supply stores trying to find as many personalized details as I can at a reasonable price.

My first project was making the perfect invites to set the stage for the party. As I made all the invitations for my wedding and various other events, I did have many of the supplies already which made making these very inexpensive. I also watched the ads and waited until the cards and paper were all on sale for 40% off. I think it cost roughly $10 for the paper and card supplies and $15 to add the circle cutter and template to my collection of supplies.

Here are the photos:

All of the supplies:

packs of flat cards and envelopes
8x11 paper in primary colors
12x12 paper (only black used)
scissors
Fiskars shape cutter
two sizes of circle punches
BIG glue stick














The red and orange paper with the shape cutter and template for Elmo's head and nose














The white and black paper with the punches and circle cutter that I used to make the eyeballs and Elmo's mouth (I cut out an oval and then used a slice from either end to make Elmo's smile)














All of the pieces ready to be assembled!














Elmo comes together!

(Not pictured here, but seen in the final product are the small circles I thought of as an additional decoration which were punched using the smaller circle punch from the scraps of the paper used to make the colorful invitation wording.)
















The front of the invitation

(The colors are muted because my husband used a scanner to put this image into the computer and it washed them out a bit)
















The back of the invitation with (personal information blurred.)

I was really excited with how these came out. I knew the Elmo was a good representation when I saw the huge smile on my little girl's face the first time she saw them.

More party planning to come in the next few weeks...