101 Dalmatians Baby Shower

I can't believe that my sister's baby shower was FIVE months ago or that it's taken me this long to share her party with you. Honestly, I started thinking about what type of shower I wanted to throw before she was even pregnant. As she's a teacher, my initial inclination was to plan a Dr. Seuss themed party and I even started pinning all sorts of food and decorating ideas.

Then, she found out she was having a boy. I knew a small part of her was secretly hoping she would have a girl because all of her nursery ideas were girly and she seemed really upset about the "boy" options. I started looking around and stumbled across this set.

My sister was extremely attached to a Pongo stuffed animal her whole childhood so I knew she would fall in love with it. Of course, I was totally right. I decided to embrace the dalmatian vibe and carry the theme over into the shower.

At first, I was a bit frustrated because it was much harder to find inspiration for a dalmatian party. There are tons of Dr. Seuss baby showers splattered across the internet, but very few featuring dalmatians. Many of the ideas you'll see below were completely my own after hours of brainstorming. In the end, I was SO GLAD that I made the change. I loved the decorations and food choices that my mom and I came up with and thought the party was a super sweet way to celebrate my sister and my soon-to-arrive nephew.

Be Our Guest
I found the idea for my invitations on Etsy and really wanted to just order them and let someone else do the work. Unfortunately the creator closed her shop and was not taking orders. This resulted in me spending HOURS re-creating the idea in paint and powerpoint programs. Once I was satisfied with my work, I ordered the invites from Vistapint. I was ecstatic with the outcome, they looked great! I used the same fonts and colors to create stickers for the favors.

Front

Back

Sticker for favors

Food
101 Dalmatians takes place in England, so my idea was for the main course of the meal to be like an afternoon tea with small sandwiches, salads, chips in fancy paper cones, and a pitcher of citrus brewed tea. For appetizers I went with multiple "puppy chow" mixes and a "dalmatian" cheese ball with crackers and veggie sticks. Finally, I created a dessert table with a 6 layer dalmatian cake, dipped oreos decorated to match the theme, and sugar cookies shaped like bones that were individually wrapped as favors.

Cookies and Cream Puppy Chow

Red Velvet Puppy Chow

Chex Mix

Snacks served in dog food bowls from the Dollar Tree

Lunch Buffet

Finger sandwiches featuring turkey and bacon, ham and cheese, tuna salad, chicken salad, and vegetarian hummus pitas with mayo, mustard, and pickles on the side 

Chips in paper cones (I LOVE paper cones...)

More chips

Baby greens salad, fruit salad, and pasta salad

Missing from photos was one of the foods I was most "proud of" as it was my own original idea - a white cheese ball (mixture of cream cheese, white cheddar, and ranch dressing mix) with sliced olives pressed into it to look like dalmatian spots!

Homemade 6 layer cake - frosted in butter cream with black fondant spots

Slice of cake

Top: treat bags with red candy balls and kisses with custom stickers reading "Katrina's baby shower"
Middle: Cups of cookies and cream ("dalmatian") ice cream were served with the cake
Bottom: Bone shaped cookie favors

Close-up of the favors

Chocolate dipped oreos

Decor
As you can see, this party was all about the dalmatian doggies. I used dog bowls from the Dollar Tree for food, made centerpieces out of empty cans to look like "Kanine Krunchies" (the dog food advertised in the 101 Dalmatians movie), and put a copy of the 101 dalmatians book on each table. My mom went a little ebay crazy and purchased about 50 little dalmatian happy meal toys that we also used for table decorations and for a game.

Table decor

Another shot of the centerpiece and decorations on each table

We used one copy of the book as a guest book, the others were given as favors to any kids attending the party

I love dessert tables. I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to different set-ups and ideas because I love them so much. For my sister's shower I had the idea to create a banner over my dessert table out of actual baby onesies instead of paper cut outs. I purchased 3-6 and 6-9 month size onesies in colors to match the party and used my Cricut to cut out the letters and circles.

Onesie banner with dalmatian print fabric backdrop and tissue paper border

Dessert Table Setup

Close-up of one of the onesies

My sister really seemed to enjoy the shower and I was so pleased with how all the planning turned out. Happily for us all her pregnancy ended with a planned c-section (due to my sister's pre-existing heart condition that needed monitoring) and I now have a beautiful, perfect nephew to celebrate the upcoming holidays with.

My sister and I
(baby bear was hanging out on my back while I bustled around setting up)

The Christmas Season is Here!

Last year I read some very funny, cheeky blog articles bashing Elf on the Shelf mommies for over-achieving. I laughed and admitted the absurdity of it all. I wouldn't be caught dead making flour footprints all over the floor or drawing mustaches on family photos and blaming it on our elf (Sugar). I did create a lot of work for myself with a 12 days to Christmas Countdown (examples here), but I tried to tell myself that was different...

Fast-forward to Sugar's arrival this year. She made her grand appearance on Thanksgiving day when she turned up in our car while we were having dinner with my family. The next morning she was slyly observing us from the wreath hanging on our coat closet...

November 29th - Hiding in the wreath

I was looking for something fun to do with the girls when I picked them up from daycare/K-prep on Friday and remembered that last year I never took the extra step to buy our girl elf one of the sweet little skirts they sell for them. I suggested going to look for one when my extremely bright little bug suggested that we could MAKE her a skirt instead. We headed off to Hobby Lobby and purchased a piece of felt that I quickly and easily turned into an Elf skirt. The bug was so excited last night to leave the skirt out with a note she dictated to me and then signed. 

This morning Sugar was proudly wearing her new skirt and the bug was thrilled. I'm hoping I can stick to simply moving her around for a few weeks without any major hi-jinx or projects to undertake...

November 30th - Hanging out in her new skirt on top of the light in the dining room

Giving Thanks...

No long dramatic explanations of my absence - I've been busy, that's it. Plain and simple. What matters is that I'm baaaaack. I figured I would kick off my return with a list of things I'm thankful for. I wanted to participate in the "one a day" on Facebook, but with throwing baby bear's 1st birthday party (pictures to come) and a 10 day vacation in Disney (so many tips, reviews, and recommendations to be shared), I never got started. Better late than never, right? So here are 28 things - some are sillier than others - I am thankful for (in no particular order):

1. Healthy kids. OK, so my oldest has strep right now, but in the grand scheme my kids are super, duper healthy and I am so thankful.
2. A great career. I love going to work. I love helping kids and families. I am always learning new things. It's amazing.
3. My husband. We have been together forever and are still so perfectly on the same page. We compliment each other in all the right ways.
4. JK Rowling. I don't care if this is ridiculous to some. Harry Potter makes me feel like magic and love and goodness are alive and real. I will continue to read these books over and over and I will love every second of it. 
5. My older daughter. This little girl amazes me every single day. She is smart, insightful, compassionate, beautiful and a bit insane. She makes me laugh and she turns my hair gray.
6. My baby. She is so full of energy and curiosity. Her smile and snuggles melt my heart.
7. My parents. I had my complaints about my parents growing up (who didn't??). Especially Dad; he had no clue how to relate to a teenage girl. As an adult I can really appreciate the struggles they went through raising two kids on a really tight budget and am so thankful to have had them. Even more, I am thankful to still have them here to love and support me, my husband, and my girls.
8. My cats. Having a pet is such a great way to enrich your life and I am thankful to have such mild mannered and lovable cats.
9. My in-laws. First, I am thankful to them for raising my husband and setting such a good example of a successful marriage and supportive parenting. Second, I am thankful for how they have accepted me as part of their family and are always there for all of us.
10. My sister. She drives me CRAZY often, but I love her so much. My life wouldn't be the same without her.
11. My patients. I am so thankful to have families in my practice that trust my judgement. They inspire me to keep learning and to be a better doctor every day.
12. High school friends. Some have gracefully exited my everyday life, but I would happily welcome them back at any time. Some have become even closer friends since graduation day as our lives have taken on more parallel paths in adulthood. Some I am glad to have in my past (and would like for them to stay there). All of them played a role in creating the person I became and I am therefore grateful to them regardless of which category they fit into.
13. My co-workers. As much as I love what I do, "work" wouldn't be nearly as fun without the fabulous nurses, staff, and other providers I get to spend my days with. They make me laugh and help me provide the best care possible for my patients - a winning combo!
14. My education. I worked super hard to get into the schools that I went to (Boston College and Albany Medical College), but I am still grateful to all of the great professors and doctors that helped me become who I am today. A good higher education isn't a right, it's a privilege. 
15. Libraries. I love the smell of libraries and the feeling of being surrounded by books. I wish I had more time to read my way through the library.
16. My best friend. She knows who she is. I want to talk to her about good things, bad things, funny things, crazy oh-my-god-can-you-believe-it things, and totally mundane everyday things. I am so grateful for her.
17. My Cricut machine. I can make SO MANY awesome party decorations with this thing. 
18. Coffee. Coffee has been there with me through overnight calls, to reconnect with old friends, to get me through a rough day of motherhood, and to share with my husband in the morning as we get ready for another crazy day.
19. My cousins (including my husband's cousins). Some of them played a huge role in my childhood and some have become more prominent players in recent years, but I am thankful to all of them for love, laughs, support, and fun.
20. Grandparents. All of my grandparents have passed away and only my husband's paternal grandmother is still alive and well. Sometimes I feel it's important to remember how important they all have been in creating the family and traditions that are easily taken for granted.
21. Pediatric Oncologists. The small amount of time I spent caring for pediatric cancer patients during my residency was heart-breaking and life changing for me. I would not have the strength to do what these oncologists do for patients and families day after day and am so thankful for the men and women who can.
22. Local businesses. From small shop owners to farmers I am grateful to these men and women who are trying to offer higher-quality. locally sourced goods that are good for the community and good for my family.
23. To live where I live. I am not often overly "patriotic", but I am thankful to live in a place where we have many liberties and are safe on a daily basis. More specifically, I am thankful to live in the Northeast where we have 4 distinct seasons and easy access to mountain escapes and sandy beaches.
24. Home. This has special meaning for me this year as we just sold our house and are in a very small apartment. Home isn't the place, it's the love and the people in it. I am so thankful that although I don't have a house this year, I certainly have a home.
25. Disney World. I don't care that it's commercial and overpriced. It's also magical and I can't wait to go back.
26. Aunts and Uncles. Just like cousins some of them were more prominent players when I was younger and helped shape who I am, and some are bigger influences now in my adult world.
27. Good food. I love to cook and love, even more, to eat. I am thankful to live in a place with access to so many wonderful, delicious, and healthful things to eat.
28. Healthy family. Working in medicine I am constantly confronted with the ways our health can be threatened - infection, trauma, mutation, and dysfunction. Although many people in the family have (or have had) different conditions that affect their lives, everyone is well enough to get around and do the things they want to do. This is the biggest blessing and the thing I am most grateful for each and every day.

Sleep Deprived

I really should be on a treadmill right now preparing for the 5K (my first ever) I am running tomorrow. Clearly, that is not the case. Instead, I'm using the three hours I've been up (thanks baby bear, thanks a lot) to place orders on Vistaprint, browse Pinterest and pin a few dozen more pumpkin recipes I won't have time to actually bake, make strange obsessive party lists for baby bear's upcoming first birthday party, and (duh) post here. Unless I leave the house (and then I would have to go to the gym, and I'm obviously trying to avoid that), this is really all I can do.

As all of my "work space" (living room and kitchen) is so close to the bedrooms I will wake the monsters if I do much else I've been contemplating whether I can get away with brewing a cup of coffee for the last 60 minutes and have, thus far, decided against it. I am enjoying this little tiny bit of peace and responsibility free time too much to risk disrupting it.

I've annoyingly and repeatedly pointed out recently mentioned a few times that things are busy around here. Guess what? It got SO MUCH busier in the past week. Here's the breakdown:

• The situation with the monster children is no different - the bug is still sweet 50% of the time and an irrational, maddeningly defiant creature the other 50% of the time and the bear is a wonderful baby with the exceptions that she rarely sleeps through the night and tries to aspirate small objects at least a dozen times a day.
• Also on the family front, my little sister had her baby (I'm in love!) and I'm trying to make time to see him as often as I can because he is growing so fast already! 
• Work continues to get busier by the day as we enter cold and flu season. As soon as the kids go back to school the office visits for congestion, sore throat, pink eye, etc pick up.
• And the ongoing house selling process! The good news about the house is that I can finally stop cleaning 24/7 because we have a buyer, but the bad news is that they want a fast closing and (pending the official closing date from the bank) we need to be out by the end of the month.
• As I eluded to above, baby bear's first birthday is fast approaching and I am also planning her party. I had already agreed to scale back my usual party planning/crafting/cooking, but it's getting even more scaled back now. This makes me sad.
• Finally, our Disney vacation is fast approaching and all I can hope for is that the warm weather clothing makes it with us through the move and we can find it when I need to pack.

So while much of this increased business is due to GOOD things, it's still insane. Even though I am SO tired, I can barely fall asleep at night because my head is so packed with plans, ideas, and concerns. Last night my husband and I drank a bottle of champagne to celebrate the house selling process and it was the first time in weeks I've fallen asleep effortlessly. Of course, I've been up since 4 am because the baby bear wouldn't want to let me get in a full 8 hours...

Real Food Update and Drink Recipes

My sweet baby bear helping me unpack our goodies from the Farmer's Market last weekend

You've heard me talk a lot about real food lately, but I have to admit that my commitment to the cause waxes and wanes depending on how crazy life is. In general, I'd like to think we've made a lot of progress. We haven't purchased milk or eggs that weren't local in a long time and have far fewer processed junk foods in the house. My husband and kid are still consumers of processed beverages, but I've cut down my Diet Pepsi consumption from 2 (or more!) cans per day to a can or two per week and replaced it with home brewed iced teas and carbonated water that I make with my SodaStream. Our dinners have been well rounded and include lots of fresh local fruits and veggies.

BUT, we still aren't there yet. We tend to fall short during all the in-between times. When the girls and I are out running errands and it's close to meal time...when I miss lunch and am starving as I drive home...when we're all stressed and craving comfort food. It's SO easy to give in and stop at a drive-thru. I pretended I'm still doing a good job by avoiding McDonald's/Taco Bell/Wendy's and only giving in to Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks. Today I'm publicly calling myself out; it's not good enough! 

For the next month (until my Mud Run on October 5th!) I am pledging myself to avoid all fast food. No more iced coffee. No more wake-up wraps. No more cake pops. None of it. I'll let you know how it goes...

If anyone else wants to join me on the real food journey, here are a few simple real food drink recipes you should definitely try out!

Watermelon Mint infused Water

Add 6 oz cubed watermelon and one sprig of mint to a pitcher and fill with water.
Allow to infuse in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Brewed Peach Iced Tea

Slice 4 very ripe peaches. 

Boil 6 cups of water in a saucepan. 

Remove from the heat and add 6 black tea bags. Infuse covered for 5 minutes.

Take out the tea bags and add the sliced peaches. Allow to infuse for 10-15 minutes.

Using a potato masher, squash the the peaches into pulp.

Rest the mixture for 5 minutes.

Strain the tea through a fine mesh sieve into a pitcher and chill.

*If it is too strong for you, add a little bit more water to the pitcher*

Brown Butter and Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies filled with Nutella

Brown butter is, in a single word, amazing. It's my new obsession. I am in love with everything from the mild, nutty scent that wafts from the saucepan as it cooks to the rich, almost caramel flavor it lends to a cookie baked with it. I am featuring the recipe for nutella stuffed cookies in this post, but these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with brown butter that I made for dessert last week got rave reviews as well.

If you've never had a cookie made with brown butter you can't possibly understand what you are missing. Please, do yourself a favor and make a batch (or two) of these cookies...

I'm not going to over-complicate this post and distract you from the task at hand (baking these cookies ASAP). Go visit Ambitious Kitchen for the full recipe and a great photo pictorial on how to add the nutella.

Disclaimer: My cookies spread a lot more than her's did. I definitely did the full two hours (a little longer) chill time in the fridge and even froze the stuffed dough disks for an extra 10 minutes after the first batch spread and it didn't make a difference. They might have spread because I used white whole wheat flour (I no longer purchase refined white flour) or replaced the white sugar with raw turbinado sugar. Honestly, this whole discussion can be ignored because it did not matter one teeny, tiny bit that they spread. They still were so delicious I wish I was eating one right now...but I can't...because my husband ate the last three hours ago...

If you give a mom a blog...

...she's going to write about her kids and her crazy life.

It's now 9 am. I've been up for over three hours. That's the downside when the baby bear decides to sleep through the night; she wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30 am and is UP for the day. This morning was particularly fabulous because the bug heard me come in to get the baby and was up as well.

The first chore of the day is always nursing and changing the baby. Today I had to do everything with the bug thisclosetome because she was still tired. They were both in a good enough mood though, so I won't complain. I dumped out a bunch of blocks and they built towers while I made their beds and attempted to make myself a cup of coffee (I say attempted because it was at least an hour later before I drank any of it...). This only lasted for about 15 minutes until the bear started roaring for breakfast.

Around this time Daddy decided to make an appearance (I'm pretty sure he was awake listening to us and deciding how long he could use his i-phone and pretend to be asleep...). The next 40 minutes was spent trying to cook breakfast while simultaneously keeping something on the bear's highchair tray so she didn't LOSE HER MIND waiting for the scrambled eggs I was attempting to make. We went through at least a half dozen clementines, a handful of puffed rice cereal, two slices of baked ham, and a few small slices of organic multi-grain bread before the "real" breakfast made it to the table.

By the time I fixed my coffee (now on ice) and a poached egg for myself, the baby bear was LOSING HER MIND because she was bored with eating a little bit of everything in the kitchen and wanted OUT of the highchair. Daddy and the bug were sitting among the breakfast wreckage looking at pictures of ridiculous animals on the computer and the bug was laughing maniacally and declaring, "Show it to Mommy!" every ten seconds or so.

My breakfast view. Not pictured: bear throwing scrambled eggs into the air by the fistful to my left

Then we cleaned the kitchen (Daddy helped!) and I dressed the bear while the bug went upstairs to play. The bug is still in her jammies, but I'm not ready for that fight yet. Then, a miracle occurred. Both kids went into the playroom and are having fun WITHOUT crying or asking for anything! The bear is in her jumper and squealing delightedly at her sister while the bug is setting up all sorts of crazy make-believe scenarios. I know I am going to have a massive mess to clean later, but I do not care in the slightest. It's quiet and I am enjoying it!

And now I get to the point of this post and where the title came from. I'm planning to throw the bear an "If you give a mouse a cookie..." first birthday party. When I was browsing the internet looking for inspiration I found this silly and appropriate poem another blogger wrote called "If You Give A Mom A Muffin." I told my husband I was going to write "If You Give A Dad A Donut." And this is what we came up with...

If you give a dad a donut,

he'll sit down at the computer and eat it.

He won't notice the baby's stinky diaper,

or the four year old emptying mommy's purse,

or mommy trying to cook breakfast and do laundry and make the beds.

Instead, he'll find a thread about donuts on Reddit.

And chances are,

if he sees a thread about donuts,

he's going to eat another donut.

Mommy and Me Day

Between the ages of 4 months and 2 1/2 years my bug attended daycare five days a week because my husband and I were both working full time. It was something we had to do and it was fine. When I graduated residency in 2011 there was nearly a three month delay before I could start my new job and my bug stayed home with me - we had many ups and downs, but overall it was a welcome change from the hectic days of my training. From December 2011 until this past week my bug has been going to daycare/preschool three days per week and spending one full day and one half day with me. We've done lazy things (watched movies and took naps), creative things (painting and baking), adventurous things (day trips and nature walks), academic things (reading and writing), and boring things (appointments and errands), but we did them together.

This coming week my husband and I made the decision to put her back in a full time program to prepare for kindergarten next year. Part (most?) of me knows this is the right thing to do. She will definitely benefit academically by being in the classroom every day and I am looking forward to having some alone time to be with the baby bear - I took a very short maternity leave and have had very little time with the baby alone. The other part of me is grieving for my bug's rapidly progressing childhood. She's steadily growing up...and away. It is just as it should be, but it still is a little gut wrenching.

I don't regret the way things have been. I actually think we've done a decent job making memories and doing special things together no matter what our schedules were. And, I feel confident we will keep working hard to appreciate our time together. As a celebration of our past and future "mommy and me" time, I took the day off on Friday and took the bug out for the afternoon.

We declared it "her day!" and she got to call the shots. I picked her up from summer camp and told her I would take her out to lunch for anything she wanted, even if it was "junk food." As you can see, she took full advantage of my offer...

Cheese Pizza and Pink Lemonade!

When the NYS museum was open on Mondays (our full day together) we went at least once a month. Then they changed their hours and we really haven't been able to go much. She has been asking me to take her, so that was next on our agenda. As it was gorgeous out, we decided to take a walk around the Plaza before heading into the museum.

Post-pizza, pre-duck chasing pose

Our museum protocol: Carousel, exhibits, carousel

After a few hours at the museum it was nearly time to head home (the baby is still nursing and I was nearing 5 hours without feeding or pumping...), but I promised her one last treat before we came back to reality. After reviewing the options, she asked for soft serve ice cream...

It's definitely not "real food" when you order it by color instead of flavor, but it made her happy...

I'm still a little sad that she won't be with me on my days off, but I think we had a very joyful and special afternoon together to cap off the past two years.

Crazy Times

A year ago at this time I was nearing the end of my second pregnancy and worrying how I was going to adjust to having a 3 1/2 year old and a newborn. I thought it was going to be really hard. The baby came and...it was easy! The transition was nearly flawless. I took on weight loss, complex meal planning, big baking projects, and an increased work load in the office. I patted myself on the back thinking I had this whole working mother thing mastered. 9 months later things are hard.

My four year old is tackling some delayed jealousy issues leading to unpleasant acting out against the baby and regression of her own maturity. Just the other day she unpacked her sister's bathing suit and hid it so the baby couldn't go swimming at my parent's house when they were baby-sitting. She refers to her sister as "the monster" and asks if someone else can watch her all the time. Many nights at dinner she asks to wear a bib and tries to get me to spoon feed her instead of the baby. She's also back to fighting bedtime every single night and gets up in the middle of the night and comes in our room. So that's fun. And the baby? She still wakes up overnight at least 5 out of 7 nights looking to nurse, puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, and will not sit still and play with a toy for more than 30 seconds.

On a personal front my weight loss plateaued with diet changes alone and I signed up for a 5K Mud Run to get myself back to the gym. With all the above going on, the only way I can get there is to get up in the wee hours of the morning (which shortens my already hit and miss slumber) or rush from work to squeeze in a workout. The latter inevitably means dinner will be late and the kids will be whiny and snacking the whole time I cook leading to less consumption of the actual dinner. Which brings me to food. I'm still making a valiant effort to shop local and cook real food. That endeavor is sucking up the majority of any "excess" time I have in the hour after the kids go to bed and the hour before I collapse. 

As if that wasn't enough, did I mention that my patient load at work exploded at the same time our medical record system was updated leading to my inability to finish my charting as quickly and at least an hour of screen time at night to finish my patient notes? Or that our house is still on the market (which is a "surprise" according to the real estate agent that convinced us we were going to sell in a matter of days...) which means I am constantly cleaning to keep things in order for showings. And the icing on the cake? The lot we want to build on becomes available in about two weeks and we will have to start working with them on the designs for our new home. 

Where does my husband fit into all of this? He's here doing his very best to be helpful. He keeps up with the yard work for the house showings and can follow simple instructions for dinner, but the vast majority of his time is spent baby wrangling and stressing out about selling the house/building a new house/moving.

In summary, there's a lot going on. I want to blog because I have many great recipes, party ideas, and parenting tips to share, but I am worn quite thin these days. I'm waiting for the next great shift in family/work/home responsibilities to give me some breathing room...

Gone Phishin'

This weekend is Phish weekend in our neck of the woods. My husband preps for the shows by listening to Phish 24/7 (which is pretty much the normal anyway...) and spending a ridiculous amount of time at the beverage center picking out what beers he wants to bring with him. I, on the other hand, prepare as I prepare for most life events...by baking! In years past I have made sugar cookies or cakes iced with the Phish logo. Last year, I made cookie bars topped with milk chocolate that I piped into the Phish logo. This year I decided to get really creative...

My idea was to create a dessert for each night that was a take on a Phish song. I challenged my husband to come up with the song choices for me. He came up with Bathtub Gin (which will be the inspiration for Sunday night's dessert) and Reba (tomorrow). Tonight was my idea.

As our 4 year old is coming with us tonight, I decided to make a very kid friendly treat - cake pops! Although as adorable as a traditional pop, these are a whole new level of cake pop.The inside is a maple cake crushed together with maple buttercream frosting and chopped up bacon. They are coated with a darker chocolate and topped with caramelized bacon sprinkles. 

What song could these possible be a take on you ask?! Why, Meatstick of course! Because it's meat, it's on a stick, and how could these crazy pops not "shock your brain"?!

5 Great Blog Topics (Or, Reasons I Haven't Been Blogging)

Sometimes I realize that the busier I get, the more great ideas I have for blog posts and the less time I have to post them. Here I'll share the cliff notes version of the roles I've been playing in my recent insanity that I may or may not ever get to extrapolate on...

1. Mommy  - For awhile this blog was meant to be a place to share all of my trials and tribulations as a working mom, but somewhere along the line it became more about recipes, food, and crafts because those are more tangible topics that I can post about in less time with a tired brain. I will say that when the baby bear was first born I made a post about how much easier having two was than I expected. I wouldn't necessarily say my opinion has changed, but each and every month brings new challenges to the parenting and working dynamic that I aspire to share...someday...somehow...
2. Doc -  As I encounter more and more patients, parents, and family with basic pediatric questions (breast-feeding, summer safety tips, nutrition and weight issues, how to handle viral infections, etc) I wish I could feature some here, but my patient panel keeps getting larger and my home time keeps getting slimmer. 
3. Chef - Many of my recent posts have been on "real food", but I have so many more things I've learned that I wish I could share (reading labels, what different chemicals and additives are, etc). I've also been cooking up some really great seasonal recipes that I would love to share if I could add an extra few hours to my day.
4. Party Planner Extraordinaire - If you've been reading my blog, you know I love throwing parties. Most of my big parties thus far have been bug's birthday parties (Elmo, Owls, Bugs, Mickey and Minnie, and Brave), but I did get the chance to throw my sister's Red Sox Bridal Shower last summer.  Now I am working on my sister's baby shower which is fun, exciting, and time consuming. 
5. Phish Fan - Being a fan doesn't sound like it should be a job, but the way I do it is. My husband's planning begins and ends at what beer to bring, but I spend time working on making a kid friendly experience for our older daughter and planning food/snacks to bring for us and any friends we expect to meet. This year I also have to make a "mommy plan" to take care of pumping while I'm away from the baby bear.

So there you have it, five topics that could each make great posts (or series of posts!) that I have no time to share...if only someone could invent a way for me to need less sleep...

Strawberries for every meal

Although I did visit the Farmer's Market and stocked up on basic supplies (milk, eggs, and salad greens) last weekend, this week has been a disaster for meal planning. Between travel, meetings, and family celebrations I didn't get to make many real dinners this week. As I don't have too many meals to share, I decided to focus on one ingredient we used a lot this week instead...

...Strawberries!!

I fondly remember picking strawberries with my mom and sister every summer. Unfortunately, I feel as if the berries weren't treated properly. We would pick a whole bunch of them (because it was fun!), have strawberry shortcake that night, eat a few over the next few days, freeze some, and everything else ended up rotting because we get bored of them.

I was dedicated to not letting that happen this time! We took the kids on Father's Day morning to a small, very reasonably priced local farm and picked 4 pounds of berries. By Wednesday morning every last berry had been eaten and I took the girls back to pick more! Here are some of the delicious ways we enjoyed our fresh berries...

Breakfast - Delicious whole wheat based banana bread incorporating fresh whole berries

Adapted heavily from this recipe

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas

10 small strawberries

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup natural sugar

1/3 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray a loaf pan with butter/oil. Mash bananas in a bowl and set aside.
2. In bowl of stand mixer, cream together butter, coconut oil, and natural sugar. Add milk, eggs, and bananas and mix until well blended.
3. Mix together dry (flour, baking soda, salt, brown sugar) ingredients in a separate bowl with a whisk. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until incorporated.
4. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Insert the whole strawberries into the batter - push them in just until they disappear, but not far enough that they are touching the bottom of the pan.
5. Bake for 60-70 minutes.

Lunch - Refreshing yogurt and granola parfaits perfect for lunch on a warm summer day

Homemade whole milk yogurt and homemade granola make this a great "real food" for breakfast, lunch, or snacking!

Dinner - Fresh crisp lettuces, sweet berries, creamy feta, and crunchy homemade croutons topped with tangy honey mustard vinaigrette make this a great pairing with the grilled protein of your choice

Strawberries pair beautifully with the feta and honey mustard dressing in this flavorful side

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette (from Real Food Has Curves)

Mix together all ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk until well blended:

• 6 TBSP olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 mashed clove of garlic
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt

Dessert - Rich, creamy strawberry ice cream churned at home with nothing artificial added!

Scaled down and modified based on what I had in my fridge from this recipe

Ingredients

1 cup reduced fat or whole milk

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup half & half

1/2 cup natural sugar

8oz pureed fresh strawberries

Splash of lemon extract

Dash of sea salt

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a whisk
2. Freeze according to ice cream maker directions
3. Remove to a freezer safe container and continue freezing

Cake Pop Secrets

Before I share these tips, I need to put it out there that I recognize the possible hypocrisy of this post. I've been focusing a lot on real food and cake pops are definitely not real food. Nearly everything I've read about real food acknowledges that sometimes we are going to have foods that are more industrial and less than perfect. With a kid in the house and my own love of baking and decorating, I am willing to admit that cake pops are going to happen. Not as often as I would have in the past, but every now and then I'm willing to let a pop slide by.

After lamenting the loss of many a cake pop in the past, I have finally devised an (almost) fool proof method for excellent cake pops. Here are my tips...

1. Plan ahead! Ideally cake pop making should be spread over 2-3 days. First, the cake should be baked and cooled. Next, the frosting/ganache can be made and combined with the cake crumbs to create the cake balls. Lastly, the dipping and decorating can be done.
2. If using boxed cake mix, replace most of the oil with water to make the cake firmer.
3. Make ganache instead of frosting - the ganache works better as a glue to hold the pops together and majorly elevates the flavor of the pop.
4. After you make them, the cake balls should be refrigerated until firm - at least 4 hours, best if left overnight.
5. Take out your whole container of balls and dip the sticks in chocolate before inserting them into the pops. Once all sticks are inserted, place all the pops back in the fridge until you are ready to start dipping.
6. Keep the chocolate you are dipping in thin by adding a few drops at a time of canola oil.
7. Dip in small batches. Only take 1-2 pops out of the fridge at a time. This will keep the cake ball cold so that the chocolate hardens quickly and smoothly. 
8. If you are drawing anything on (see the lacing on the baseballs) or attaching decorations do it as soon as the outer coat of chocolate is hardened and before the pop "warms up" too much. 
9. After dipping, keep the pops at room temperature out of the fridge. Putting them back in and out creates condensation and stickiness of the pop which makes them hard to wrap up and less appetizing overall.
10. Once wrapped try to keep in a cool, dry, dark place to prevent melting!

Farmer's Market Menu 6/10

I'm going to try and make this a regular feature to help inspire others to really get into shopping/cooking local. To allow myself the time to actually do this, I'm going to keep the commentary to a minimum. Basically, I'll share what I bought and how I used it with photos and links to recipes with modifications.

Pint of Battenkill Creamery half and half
Pint of Battenkill Creamery chocolate milk
Dozen Cornell Farms eggs
Head of Chinese cabbage
Large bunch of cilantro
2 quarts of white mushrooms
1 pound of cube steak
3/4 pound of lamb steak
1.5 pounds hot sausage
Garlic scapes
Bag of spinach

Sunday - Slow Cooker Lamb Curry. I modified by swapping a can of organic garbanzo beans for the potatoes. Next time, I would add more spices to punch it up a bit and decrease the amount of broth to make the sauce thicker. Overall, a tasty recipe.

Monday - Stir-fried Cabbage, Mushrooms, and Broccoli in Garlic Sauce with Brown Basmati Fried Rice. I cooked the fried rice in the pan first, removed it to a covered dish, and then made the stir-fry in the same pot to save dishes. I made the garlic sauce ahead of time and added it to the pan after cooking the vegetables. I just cooked it long enough to thicken the sauce. 

For dessert, bug and I attempted to make some ice cream. This turned into somewhat of a disaster because my ice cream canister wasn't frozen enough and the mixture didn't churn properly. As I had already invested so much time and valuable raw ingredients (milk, natural sugar, half and half, vanilla beans, and eggs) into the project, I froze it anyway. The consistency was off, but the flavor was there. It was essentially a rich, creamy frozen vanilla custard. I served it drizzled with clover honey and toasted almonds.

Tuesday - Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna. I ran into a sale on all natural/grass fed ground beef, so I decided to make this a meat lasagna for my husband. I used Trader Joe's no boil lasagna noodles. I cooked the beef first and added the onions/mushrooms to it. I didn't bother to cook the spinach, I just chopped it and mixed it into the ricotta. I didn't use Romano cheese, I had Parmesan so that's what I used. I didn't add egg to the ricotta mixture. I decreased the total amount of mozzarella to 2 cups. Everyone, including the bug and baby bear, loved this dinner.

Wednesday - I am home with the girls on Wednesday mornings, so we usually have a full cooked breakfast. This week I heated up some frozen pancakes that I originally made on Monday and made us omelettes. I used the egg whites that were leftover from the ice cream experiment mixed with fresh dill, fresh chopped spinach, ham, mushrooms, and feta for my breakfast. 

My husband liked the cube steak we made last week so much, I used the same exact recipe this week. For sides, I sauteed some leftover radishes with a bit of olive oil and then finished them with butter, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. I also made a simple side salad of chopped organic romaine, organic grape tomatoes, and mozzarella pearls tossed with homemade Italian dressing. 

Thursday - I attended a CME (Continuing Medical Education) training session on Adolescent Reproductive Health (one of my special areas of interest at work) this evening so the family just had leftover lasagna with some simple buttered carrots and baby zucchini.

Friday - I was really burnt out by the end of the week and couldn't bear the thought of cooking another meal, so we opted for some (not so healthy) take-out.

Other special things I cooked up this week were a big batch of plain whole milk yogurt and a dozen whole wheat tortilla shells.