Are you sleeping?

My in-laws are visiting from Portland this week. My father-in-law is always very interested in how well the baby is sleeping, how well she's eating and other such things. Last night I was bragging to him about how we started sleep training pretty early and that she sleeps for ten to eleven hours in a row. Fast forward to three-thirty this morning, I was awoken by Amelia playfully kicking the side of her bed. I figured she would go back to sleep in a few minutes so I left her alone. She continued to kick for another ten minutes and then she got bored and started crying. I gave that a few minutes then I put her binkie back in her mouth and laid down. Not a minute later, she started crying again so I put her binkie back in again. We did this song and dance routine for an HOUR. I had the same thing happen when Fern was a baby (but more extreme). When Fern was two months old she inexplicably started sleeping twelve hours in a row. After a month of that I told a few people (read- all of my friends on facebook). It seemed like the moment I talked about it the spell was broken and she promptly went back to waking up EVERY.THREE.HOURS. So I guess you could say I didn't learn my lesson then but I have certainly learned it now! We'll see how Amelia does tonight. This time around, though, I am armed with more information on outsmarting babies.

I feel healthier just looking at it

This picture does not accurately depict the bounty and color of this wonderfully fresh food.

We have a lovely organic produce store in my town. They even deliver! I am looking forward to my first delivery next week. I have purchased from them before and I have never been disappointed. I don't know if it is the store or the fact that the produce is organic, but it seems like it stays fresher longer. I also get the added satisfaction of helping to support a locally owned business.
Thanks to my two-year-old, the fruit is almost gone and I am looking forward to roasting the beets and sweet potatoes and sauteing the green beans for my in-laws this week.

Breakfast, anyone?

I tried this recipe. It was as easy, if not easier than the author says it's going to be. I did not have cinnamon chips so I used chocolate chips, the only problem was that they did not spread out like the cinnamon chips would have. I also substituted whole wheat pastry flour for the all purpose flour because that's how I roll. My only issue was that the frosting recipe made too much frosting and I ate most of the leftover with a spoon:-/ I am certainly going to try it again but next time I am going to use turkey and cheese and omit the frosting. I will also try to remember to take pictures.

Daily Craving

I am pregnant (again). My cravings are not as strong this time and they are generally more healthy. This is a good thing because I am determined that I am going to gain a lot less weight than I did the first time around. I also have more tools to help me loose weight after the baby. One of these tools is "The O2 Diet" by Keri Glassman. I bought this book after I read about it in a magazine (Women's Health, I think). One of my favorite recipes in the book was a salad recipe and I recent started having a craving for it, so here it is:

Quick Cobb Salad
ORAC Value: 3,200
Makes 1 serving
Ingredients
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon grapeseed oil
1⁄4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh dill
2 cups chopped red leaf or romaine lettuce
1⁄2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1⁄4 cup thinly sliced cucumber, quartered
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped avocado
1 tablespoon shelled raw or roasted sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
2 slices (2 ounces) roasted prepackaged or deli-sliced turkey
2 slices (2 ounces) uncured prepackaged or deli-sliced ham
Directions
Combine the lemon juice, oil, and dill in a small bowl. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Set aside.
Toss the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, avocado, sunflower seeds, and cheese with the reserved dressing in a medium bowl.
Lay 1 slice of the turkey flat on the work surface. Layer the ham slice flat on top, then the remaining turkey and ham slices, and tightly roll up. Slice the meat roll crosswise into thin pinwheels and scatter them on top of the salad.

I mixed the onion with the olive oil and lemon juice so it would become part of the dressing. I also could not find my sunflower seeds so I used some pine nuts I found in the freezer. I am not a fan of dill and I dislike raw onions but for some reason I really, really like them in this salad. http://www.nutritiouslife.com/recipes/?cat=4&paged=2

I saw Martha Stewart do this on her show before Easter and I had to try it.
These are my candy terrariums. I had so much fun picking the candy I wanted to use and assembling them.

That little white guy is made of marzipan, so yummy!

P.S. I actually did this project before Easter but I am just now getting around to posting it. Also, I tried to take better pictures but it is hard to take a picture of curved glass:-(

Glitter, anyone?

Some time ago I saw a post on a blog(sorry, I can't remember which one) about glittering animal shaped children's toys. It looked really fun and fancy and I vowed to try it one day. I haven't found a toy that I think deserves glitter. However, when I was organizing my craft stuff I found the plastic Easter eggs that we used last year. It occurred to me that it would be equally fun and fancy to glitter said eggs. Here are the results.

Here is the bulk of the supplies.

I also used: a foam brush to apply the glue, tooth picks to hold the eggs as I applied the glue and glitter and to hold them while they dried, and I used a block of green florist's foam to keep them upright as they dried.

I tried a couple of different techniques before realizing that the simplest one worked the best. At first I added water to the glue so it would spread better. The water made the glue not adhere to the plastic:-( I tried spray adhesive. The glitter didn't stick very well to it, also I had a hard time spraying the egg without spraying my fingers.:-(:-( Finally, I used the glue at regular strength. Oh well. I think I was just looking for an excuse to use spray adhesive.

I had some really chunky glitter and I thought it would be fun if I tried it on one egg. I ended up with...

a tranny egg.

Family Dinner

I really enjoy cooking. Fortunately, I married a man who also enjoys cooking. I am lucky enough to live near my mother and sisters so we like to get together frequently for dinner. On Sunday my husband and I made shrimp and grits, steak with chimichurri sauce, and pureed cauliflower. My mom made incredible green chili, chicken enchiladas.

The weather has been beautiful the past couple of weeks and it has brought the spring flowers into bloom. My sister made this wonderful arrangement out of the flowers in my backyard.

That evening, it was warm enough for us to eat our dinner outside.

I like food.

Chimichurri Sauce

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons chopped mint

2 teaspoons chopped cilantro

2 teaspoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

salt and pepper to taste

The instructions say to chop everything finely and mix well, but I am lazy,( or industrious, however you want to look at it) so I put everything in the food processor.

I found the recipe in The O2 Diet

I will post the recipe for the shrimp and grits some other time.