An Open Letter to Dr. Sears

Dear Dr. Sears,
I would like to take issue with you about a suggestion you put in your book about babies-- appropriately, if laconically, titled The Baby Book.

Alternately titled: BUTTS!!!

I love your book and am thankful for all the times it saved my new-parent self from having full-blown panic attacks about completely normal occurrences. It's a valuable parenting resource, chock-full of wisdom!

Unfortunately, Dr. Sears, there is one piece of advice I don't consider to be very wise. In the 6-9 month chapter, you suggest in several places that a great way to stimulate baby's brain is to give them a bowl or tray of cooked spaghetti noodles and let them smoosh and poke and pinch and revel in the sensory stimulation to their heart's delight.

A food and a toy? Happy Meals will have one tough act to follow. 

Recently, I decided to give this a go. This was going to be fun! This would be new! And most of all, this would make my child a genius. I could just see him, crawling up to his baby friends. All the other babies would look at him and say, "Dude! Nice brain cells!" After which my son would adjust his monocle, harrumph, "Indubitably!" and impress the crowd with a dazzling display of pincer grasp maneuvers.

So what is my problem with this piece of advice? Well, Dr. Sears, it seems that you, and the editors, and I overlooked a little fact.

Eight-month-old babies love to put things in their mouth. And possibly eat these things.

I cooked up some noodles, placed them in a bowl before my kid, and waited for this sensory safari to begin. No sooner was the bowl on the ground, then he grabbed a giant handful and stuck it in his mouth. Okaaaaaaaay, I thought, maybe he's just mouthing it--  and then he shoveled in another handful with a giant slurp. This was no finger play! No poking and pinching and reveling in the sensory part! No, the only thing he was reveling in was the fact that his Italian genes kicked in at that moment and he couldn't shovel pasta into his little body fast enough.

We won't say which side he got that from.

I tried to get the noodles out of his mouth, but there was no way he was giving up his beloved pasta. He had already swallowed a handful of noodles, and the damage had been done. So I referenced your Baby Book to see when babies could safely start eating pasta.... 

Twelve to eighteen months?! 

So, Dr. Sears, I think you are awesome, but I'm trying to figure out how exactly it's a good idea to suggest letting grabby, chewing babies play with food- food!- that they're not even supposed to be eating for another half a year. That's like giving a ten-year-old a cigar to play with. Or a teenager a margarita. 

A sensory experience of an entirely different sort

Of course, it's ultimately my fault for blindly letting my baby play with food without bothering to check if it's actually safe for him to eat, but I'm a bit surprised that you, a seasoned health professional, would suggest an activity like this. Oh well, it turns out that Oscar didn't suffer any ill effects, and we all lived happily ever after. But I'm on to you, Dr. Sears, and your dealings with Big Noodle Companies. Now please excuse me, I have to go chase that child in the linguine bag.

Linked to Works for Me Wednesday.

Bean Dish

In preparation for Lent, Elizabeth at That Married Couple is having a week of blog posts dedicated to meatless meals, so I thought I'd join in with my favorite ever vegetarian meal!

This is a meal that my mom made for vegetarians that visited my parents' restaurant when I was in high school. I never saw the actual recipe, so I just kind of guessed all the ingredients and made it my own! I don't have a name for this entree; around here, we call it "Bean Dish". Real creative, I know. :-P But what it lacks in titles, it more than makes up in flavor!

Ingredients
-One can black beans (or equivalent in dried beans, cooked)
-One can diced tomatoes
-1 cup frozen corn
-1 small onion
-A few cloves of garlic
-Olive oil
-1/2 cup salsa
-1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or more, if you're not too attached to your taste buds)
-Salt and pepper to taste
-1 cup rice
-Shredded cheese, sour cream



1. Cook the rice. The box will tell you what to do. :-P

2. Chop the onion and garlic, reserving some of the onion for garnish. In separate saucepan, saute the rest of the onion and garlic in olive oil until cooked. (if you want to add meat, here's the place to do it! Toss in a chicken breast or 1/2 pound of ground beef) Add beans and tomatoes. Add corn, salsa and cayenne pepper (and other spices you wish); let simmer until bubbling.

The green flecks are cilantro that I added at the last minute.

3. Serve the bean sauce over rice. Top with sour cream, cheese, and the reserved onions.

Serves about 4.


Easy, huh? And you wouldn't believe how quickly it fills you up, and how tasty it is-- it's a little fiesta for your taste buds! So, if Friday rolls around, and you are strapped for a good vegetarian meal... you know what to eat.

A Solid Approach to Solids?

On the cusp of celebrating six months with Baby D, I am increasingly asked the million-dollar question:

"Has he started solids yet?"

Short answer: No.

Long answer: I am a very lazy mother. I'm really digging this period of perpetually carrying around Baby MRE's.

Perhaps Le Petit Monsieur would like to try the Milk this evening?
Prepared fresh from the finest ingredients, and served by the chef herself! Ooh la la!

Meal planning is not my strong suit, and I'm not looking forward to actually coming up with nutritious dishes for the little guy! Also, I have better things to do than sit there and shove stuff in his mouth. I saw enough of my baby being force-fed at the NICU, thankyouverymuch.

So ideally, I don't want to start him on solids until he's ready to feed himself.

This will require

-Sitting up independently 

-Having some teeth already!!!

-Using the finger-thumb pincer grasp

 There are few other factors to the delay, as well. The diaper sprayer fell apart last week, so I'm not adequately prepared to deal with the solid poop. (The great thing about breast-fed poop [not that there's ever anything great about poop, lol]  is that it's water-soluble, so you can just throw those cloth diapers straight into the washing machine-- talk about easy! Once you start solids, however, you have to use flushable liners or spray the diapers down before washing. Sad face!) We're also moving across the country sometime next month, so the less complicated feeding Baby D is, the better! He is still growing at a ridiculous rate on milk alone, so I'm not worried about nutrition. I will not buy commercial baby food, and I hate cleaning blenders, so Baby D will need a set of chompers to puree his own food!

But when I DO start feeding him solids, I don't want to wean him completely yet. The goal is to breastfeed Baby D until at least his first birthday. However much further beyond one year is something we'll play by ear! I used to be that person that was so grossed out by the idea of toddler breastfeeding, but the more I find out about the wonderful properties of breastmilk, the more I'm in favor of keeping it in his diet as long as possible.

So that is [hopefully] my plan. I'm curious to hear other experiences or plans on introducing solids! When did/do you plan to start? It is easier with teeth? For you CDing moms: did it instantly get harder to wash those diapers?

For Your Saturday Reading Pleasure

Here are some of the great reads I've seen this week!



How to speed-peel a potato. I love it because of the hilarious background music.


Why Having a Toddler is Like Being at a Frat Party. I don't have a toddler, and I've never been to a frat party, but this made me chuckle. Be sure to check out the comments, as well!


Make homemade air fresheners!


How do coffee-shop baristas make all those swirly designs in the coffee? Here are the secrets!


You can see more good reads at Simply Staci!

Seven Quick Takes Friday: All About Food

1-- I have done some deep rethinking of our meal schedule around here. Since Adam works late, we go to bed and wake up much, much later than the average person-- and this completely interferes with trying to eat on a normal person's schedule. We don't really have a lunch because we've usually just had breakfast. In the evenings, when Adam's gone, I don't like cooking dinner for just little ol' me, and Adam doesn't like spending his earnings on dinner. So, we do a lot of mindless whatever, whenever eating-- NOT GOOD!


2-- So, we're going to go all Spaniard around here and eat dinner, as a family, when Adam gets home- usually around 9- and adjust the rest of the mealtimes accordingly. We'll try it for a week and see how it works!


3-- My first month of Sugarless 2011 is coming to a close, and it's been a great success so far! It really feels like a lifestyle now. It was a little difficult in the beginning to remember, but Adam saved the day on several occasions by saying, "Um, what about your resolution?" when I'd mindlessly accept a sweet treat offered by friends.


4-- Something funny happened a couple weeks into this month, though. One night, I ate baked potatoes. Not a big deal to a person eating a normal diet with sugar, but I discovered about .4875 seconds after that particular meal that eating big, starchy potatoes is like eating crack. I had intense cravings for all sorts of sugary pastries for the rest of the day! Who woulda thunk.


5-- I am sometimes possessed of the irrational fear that the world's supply of cheesecake will be exhausted by January 1, 2012.


6-- Adam's been a champ. Besides helping me be more mindful, he actually does the no-sugar thing with me-- when he can. He does work in a bakery, after all, and therein lies temptation that no mortal could withstand.


7-- And, of course, the token Baby D take, which has nothing to do with food.

Already showing some musical aptitude?

Tonight is the second night since Tuesday that I laid him down fully awake for bed, turned off the lights, and found him sound asleep in a couple minutes! I am discovering that sleep is yet another thing that humans grow into-- I don't think it necessarily has to be an either/or situation (either let him cry it out or nurse him to sleep till the end of time). It's nice to have all this extra time in the evening, but just between you and me, I'm going to miss our snuggly bedtime.



And that's it for my seven quick takes! If you want to join in the fun, head on over to Conversion Diary!

Use it up, wear it out: January Edition

January is always a very interesting time in the Downright Domicile. I don't know how we do it, because we don't spend much on Christmas at all, but every January since we got married, we completely run out of money. I mean, COMPLETELY. That first year as a newlywed, when Adam broke the news, my reaction was akin to this:

Fortunately, I'm used to being broke by this time, so my reaction this year went more like this:

Bottom line, I have to delve into the back of my pantry and get creative until next Friday. Remember back in July, when I did a Use It Up, Wear It Out series? I'm thinking of doing one again. And I am wondering if anyone wants to do a little using up of their own and blogging about it, because I would totally put up a Linky if you do! Well, I'll catch you later-- there is some menu planning to do!

The Skinny on No Sugar

Well, I wasn't quite prepared for the reactions that the "Sugarless 2011" challenge evoked! So, I'm going to write a whole post outlining just what exactly next year is going to look like.

On a side note, I'm going to be super annoyed if I die next year. I'll be the one kicking and screaming at the Pearly Gates, crying, "...but I wanted one last chocolate sundaaaaaaaaaae!"

Of course, I'm not planning on going anywhere, so let's get on to business. I probably would have done better to call this "Sweetless 2011", because there's no way to avoid sugar in food entirely. It's EVERYWHERE, from your loaf of whole-wheat bread to the ketchup on your hot dog. What I'm doing this year is consciously avoiding sweet things. This means I will eat none of the following:

• Chocolate, candy, cookies
• Anything served as a dessert (ice cream, cake, pie, etc.)
• Muffins, scones, and other sweet breads (besides what I'll make for the Bread Challenge)
• Pancakes, waffles, crepes
• Sweet drinks (pop, juice, hot chocolate, and yes, caramel frappuccinos. This is going to be a long, looong year)
• Non-plain yogurt (Yoplait may as well be a dessert, there's so much sugar in one of those!)
• Jello (not that I eat much, it just kind of popped in my head)

I feel like I'm forgetting something, so I'll probably have to come back and add things as I think of them. I usually don't put sugar in anything I'm cooking unless it's already a sweet food, so that shouldn't be an issue. Oh, and I hate the taste of fake sugar (Equate, Sweet n' Low), so I won't be using those, either. And I've never tried stevia, but I've always thought that was kind of a cheating thing anyways, so that's off the approved list, as well.

Of course, I have a couple sweet exceptions: fruit and honey. Fruit is kind of a duh exception, but why honey? Because I eat oatmeal for breakfast nearly every day, and I need something on top. I'm not out to make myself suffer this year or anything. Besides, I have a pantry stocked with local raw, organic honey that has some nice health benefits, and I'd hate to let it go to waste!

A big reason I'm doing this is because the doctors are 99% certain I had gestational diabetes with Baby D. After all was said and done, I found out that not only did my mom have GD problems with her pregnancies, but her mom did as well, so I'm dealing with some powerful hereditary factors at work here. In fact, when I later read the story of my birth, it was scary how exactly it matched Baby D's! So anyways, I think the Sugarless 2011 will help me get on track for the next pregnancy. Not to mention, help out with the dental side of things!

Are you making any dietary changes this new year? I've always thought going organic was pretty cool, but I'm pretty sure my heart wouldn't be able to handle the checkout counter. I have some friends that are going vegan, and then my husband is cutting out junk food. I'd love to hear about yours!

Quick Homemade Pizza

Hello, I'm back! I hope you all thoroughly enjoyed your turkey! By now, you have probably used up all the Thanksgiving leftovers (if not, you might want to think about, um, opening that tupperware), so today I will tell you how I made a really quick homemade pizza this past weekend!

The words "quick" and "homemade pizza" usually don't go well together because of two time-consuming tasks: making the crust, and simmering the pizza sauce. So here's what I used: for the crust, the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes recipe; and for the sauce, ingredients (with TONS of spices) that I threw together about thirty seconds before slathering it on the pizza.

Here's what you do: turn the oven to a very high temperature. I turned mine to around 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray, and then sprinkle liberally with cornmeal.

Cut a chunk from the Artisan bread dough and shape it however you want on the cookie sheet- round, square, rhomboid- whatever your fancy! Just make sure that it's thin.

Now, for a super-delicious touch! Mix a few tablespoons of olive oil with a couple teaspoons of basil. With a pastry brush, brush the mixture all around the edge of the crust. Voila, you now have a delicious breadstick-like crust! I keep meaning to try this with Parmesan cheese, but I'm pretty sure the pizza would explode from sheer awesomeness.

Now, for the sauce! Here is approximately what I used:

6 oz tomato paste
6 oz tomato sauce
1 T olive oil
1 T Italian spice mix
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1/2 t. black pepper (I'm a pepper lover, so you may want to use less or skip it altogether)
Dash of salt (depending on your toppings, you may want to add more)
Water, to your desired consistency (don't make it too thin!)

Mix it all together, and put your desired amount on the pizza. Top with mozzarella.

For toppings, I used pepperoni, sliced Roma tomatoes, and sliced garlic. I wasn't entirely sure how the garlic would work, but it ended up being a most delicious addition!

Now, stick that puppy in the oven until the cheese is nicely browned. It took mine about 10-15 minutes.

I wish I had some pictures, but we inhaled it before I even thought of blogging about this. This pizza was even approved by a four-year-old-- the normally picky little guy ate two whole slices! Pretty good, considering that I stuck a cup or so of whole wheat flour into the bread dough. ;-) We ended up with a bunch of extra sauce, so I'm thinking of assembling and freezing some more. Eat your heart out, Red Baron!

And as you can see, cooking is definitely an art to me! How about you? Is cooking more of an art or a science to you?

Pregnancy Update

Yes, I'm still pregnant.

But things are looking up! I am not quite as swollen or puffy-feeling. In fact, I lost four pounds in one week-- all of it water retention! So that's good. My overall sense of well-being is quite fine.

Unfortunately, my blood pressure is still high. But my midwives assure me that everything else looks just peachy, and they have a really good gut feeling about how my pregnancy is going, so we're just going to keep a close eye on the blood pressure and proceed as normally as possible.

Except-- they put me on a diet that I HAAAAAAAAAATE. No sugar, no refined carbs, and there are even a few complex carbs I can't have, like corn and potatoes. I can't even have fruit. I have to eat 70-90 grams of protein every day (!!!) and take a bunch of supplements. For this carb-lovin', sweet-toothed gal, this has turned out to be my greatest pregnancy challenge of all. I know it's a really dumb thing to complain about- of all the interventions I could be going through, this is a breeze- but GOSH! I can only eat so many eggs and cheese sticks!!!

An artistic rendition of my past week.

I've been a little down about it for the past couple days (and certainly that much more eager to get that baby out!), but I'm determined to get out of this funk and try to figure out a way to creatively eat my protein. Do you have any good egg or meat recipes?

Use It Up, Wear It Out: Coffee Beans (Day 6)

I had a seven-month-old bag of coffee in the pantry. Baby D. thought that it'd be fun to wait to slam me with morning sickness until the day after I bought this bag. I didn't touch coffee for two months, and by that time, the coffee was too old for this picky Washingtonian to drink.

There were some significant obstacles to finding a good recipe to use this stuff up. First, the majority of coffee recipes are for drinks, but the last thing this pregger needs is more coffee to drink. Second, most recipes called for chocolate chips or squares. Spare chocolate just lying around? In THIS house? I had baking cocoa, and that was it. Third, a lot of coffee recipes call for instant coffee-- you know, the kind that will dissolve and not leave scary chunks in your food.

Well, if you can't eat it... why not wear it?

Enter Coffee Body Scrub!

I found the recipe here, but to save you some time, I'll just list the ingredients on this page:

• 3/4 cup ground Coffee Beans
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Ground Cloves

Let me tell you right off the bat, that is not enough liquid for this recipe. When all was said and done, I used 1 T. olive oil, 2 T. vanilla, and 2 T. canola oil-- and I'm still not satisfied, but I need the rest of my oil to actually cook with.


The verdict: this stuff smells soooo good! It was a pleasant wake-up call! Everything was great in the shower, except for one unforeseen problem: the finer coffee grains stuck to my skin with the oils, giving me a lovely just-stepped-out-of-the-coal-mine look. I had to wash it all off with my regular soap, which I hated to do-- why did I have to wash myself twice?

But, according to several sites, this coffee scrub is supposed to help with cellulite. Great! Now, if I could just find a scrub that helps with stretch marks...

**************************

Okay, if you insist on an edible recipe, I did make one of those, too. You know that cooking is a real love when you cook just because!

The recipe is Espresso Biscotti from the cookbook Extraordinary Meals from Ordinary Ingredients by Reader's Digest.

First, you mix all the ingredients (including three tablespoons of ground coffee), and shape it into a log.

Ummm... I hope it tastes better than it looks...



You bake it once,

...And then slice it up. Here's where I had trouble, because this bread was CRUMBLY! I tried four different knives before I finally gave up and just blew through it. You can see one of the slices that got destroyed on the near end of the cookie sheet.

It still tasted good, though! ;-) After a second baking, it seemed to hold together better.

The girls at the office obligingly tasted it for me today, and declared it to be delicious! My advice: don't make this stuff right before bed, unless you want to be awake half the night. This is the voice of experience speaking.


And that is Day 6 of the Use It Up, Wear It Out Challenge! One more day to go-- I wonder what I'll make?

Use It Up, Wear It Out: TOO... MUCH... FOOD!!!

We are drowning in food here! On the Fourth of July, I cleaned out the refrigerator, nearly emptying it in the process. One week later, it is busting at the seams, in spite of me hardly buying anything at all this week! We're still working on the 15 Bean Soup and the pupusas, as well as other bulk items like homemade yogurt and 5-minute Artisan bread, so I am loathe to make more stuff until there's more room in the fridge.

That being said, I'm still going to do seven days of Use It Up, Wear It Out; it just might be stretched over nine days or so. Since the whole point of this was to save money, I can't justify making all this stuff just for the sake of cooking, and then letting it go bad in the fridge!

On a very nice related note, I was able to stick to my budget of $15 for all work-related food expenses- including snacks and lunches!- for the week. Any of you coworkers who read this and know how much I pack away every day will think I'm joking, but it's true! I am amazed at how leftovers can REALLY save you money in the lunch department.

Well, it's about time to stop writing and start thinking about other stuff that needs to get done around here. Hope you had a great weekend!

Use It Up, Wear It Out: Jello (Day 5)

Last night's cooking endeavor was less than stellar. It was the first Friday night that Adam and I have both been off work in a long time, so we made it Date Night. Through three years of college, Friday night was always date night, but for the past couple years, work schedules have kind of blown that out of the water. So it was fun to revive the tradition for an evening!

Since we're still working on eating the 15 Bean Soup and the Pupusas, I wanted to make a more dessert-y item. After some digging in the pantry and a consultation with Recipezaar, I found this:

I was going to make this jello-applesauce recipe. It requires that the jello set in the refrigerator for an hour before mixing in the applesauce. However, when the hour came up, we were in the middle of a movie, and I didn't feel like holding up the show just to stir in a quarter cup of applesauce. Wouldn't want to interrupt all that romance generated by watching Lion King 1 1/2, right? ;-)


So I just ended up with a plain old bucket of grape-flavored Jello. Since I don't like artificial grape flavor (reminds me too much of the children's Tylenol my mom fed to me by the truckload when I was a kid), Adam gets to enjoy it all for himself!

Use It Up, Wear It Out: 15 Bean Soup (Day 4)

In case you haven't guessed by now, I love beans (and I probably shouldn't be advertising this). I love the variety, the colors, and, of course, the protein they pack! So it was a bit surprising that a bag of 15 Bean Soup has been lingering around the pantry for months on end.

This is a marketable version of stone soup. All you need is the bag of beans! ... and a pound of ham... and a can of tomatoes... and onion, and spices... and so forth. It came with a little spice packet that was chock-full of must-have ingredients like hydrolyzed soy protein and artificial smoke flavor. And those were just the ones I can pronounce! So I tossed it.

I suppose there are two reasons why this was sitting around forever: 1) the 8-plus-hour soaking time for the beans, and 2) the price of ham. So yesterday morning, I threw the beans in a pot of water on my way out the door for work, and when I came home later, they were good to go! Gee, that was hard. :-P Then, since I'm a cheapskate, I used about half a pound of bacon instead of the pound of ham. I wasn't about to go hog-wild about this, after all! Fortunately, it did the job.

The verdict: when all was said and done, it is overpriced for a mere bag of beans with a little packet of chemicals. But the soup is soooooo tasty. I will definitely keep the recipe on hand somewhere and just use my own beans next time!

My overall reaction: I could totally pig out on this any day!

Adam's reaction: He doesn't like bacon, so he didn't try it. More for me, mwuahaha!

Use It Up, Wear It Out: Masa Harina (Day 3)

Masa harina, to all you gringas, is corn flour (not to be confused with corn meal), as well as the next thing I needed to use up in the pantry. Last year, I went on a quest to make my own homemade tortillas. How domestic, right? Unfortunately, I found out about two cups into the masa bag that corn flour dough is extremely crumbly, and that corn tortillas are all but impossible to make without a tortilla press. Que triste.

Isn't that the cutest little corn man?

I also threw in a can of refried beans that had been a member of this household a little too long. What could I make that would use up a generous portion of masa without using too many exotic ingredients?

I found Pupusas.

Although they sounded more like something out of a biology textbook than a meal, I was willing to give them a try.


First, you take a ball of dough and flatten it into a circle. Spoon the filling (in this case, beans and cheese) in the middle, and work the edges up and over the top.

That stuff is IMPOSSIBLE to keep together. I suddenly remembered why I hate working with corn flour.


Fry it in oil for several minutes...






And enjoy with the toppings of your choice!

The verdict: I love that this uses up so much masa. Unfortunately, it didn't use up too much of the beans, because each pupusa required a mere tablespoon or so. I found the pupusas to be a bit bland, but I think that has a lot to do with me forgetting to add salt to the dough and cutting the cumin in half (one whole Tablespoon kind of scared me). It was pretty good with salsa, and even better with sour cream! And I bet it would be delicious with a spicy meat filling. I am definitely NOT a fan of fried foods, so that was a major drawback for me. The South hasn't won me over yet! ;-)


My overall reaction: Meh. But it uses up the masa well enough.

Adam's overall reaction: Delicious! Can I have some more?



Thus ends day 3 of the Use It Up, Wear It Out Challenge!

Use It Up, Wear It Out: Soup, Soup, Soup! (Day 2)

Something came up yesterday that took me out of the house for the entire day, so I didn't do any creative cooking. So, I'm going to talk about the dish I made on Saturday that is my favorite way to use up those pesky pantry ghouls:

SOUP.

What I love about soup is that you can throw just about anything in the pot, and with the right seasonings, it'll all taste good! What a great way to clean out the pantry!

Now, there are a few things that my soup always needs to have. First is some form of meat. Now, I'm all for going meatless, but DH tends to feel a bit deprived if there's not some meat in the dish. So what I will do is take a small quantity of meat (I used one chicken breast on Saturday), and cut it up into teeny tiny pieces. Psychologically, it does the job.

Second, my new favorite seasoning: red wine vinegar. For two years,my soups have always been really bland, until about a month ago, when I tossed in some vinegar out of desperation. It really does the trick without adding extra salt!

Third is chicken or beef stock. It adds that je ne sais quoi.

Fourth thing I always add is beans, for the protein. This was actually the whole reason for Saturday's soup, because I've had a can of kidney beans forever that needed to be used.

What else was in my soup, you ask? Here's the run-down:

• 1 Chicken breast
• Onion
• Garlic
• Canned tomatoes
• Kidney beans
• Corn (frozen)
• Broccoli (frozen)
• Potatoes
• Carrots (found languishing in the crisper drawer)
• Alphabet noodles (another long-term pantry resident)

A couple things I've learned about making soup: I always saute the onions, garlic, and meat in oil first. This is also where I add the herbs and spices, so that it really infuses into the oil and the meat and packs the biggest flavor punch.

If I add pasta, I boil it separately until it's very well cooked, and add it at the very end. Otherwise, it will soak up all the liquid in the soup. Be prepared for this to happen with refrigerated leftovers!

Well, that's about I can think of for now. If you are blogging about your own pantry adventures, you can link your post here! Bon appetit!

The Use It Up, Wear It Out Saga:

The Challenge

Grape-Nuts

Use It Up, Wear It Out: Grapenuts (Day 1)

My Use It Up, Wear It Out Challenge began tonight, when I was absolutely starving. There is a definite lack of snack foods around this house, which is pretty devastating for a pregnant lady. I rummaged around the pantry and found this:

Also known as Grape Nuts, for the more brand-conscious. This has been sitting around for at least six months. Six months ago, I remembered absolutely loving Grape-Nuts- I mean, "Nutty Nuggets"- in high school, so I bought a box. Unfortunately, I grew a couple wisdom teeth between high school and now, and thus I came to the literally painful realization that Grape-Nuts now wedge perfectly in my gums. Not fun!

Believe it or not, you can use Grape-Nuts to make these:

Also known as delicious muffins!

The recipe I used is found here. What I liked about this recipe:

• It calls for applesauce (another thing that's been in the fridge forever! Score!)
• Whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup sugar-- brown sugar. And that's it.
• A good amount of cinnamon (my ingredient of choice!)

This was a definite win.

If you are also using up things in your pantry, feel free to link a post about it here!

The Use It Up Saga:

Day 2: Soup

Use It Up, Wear It Out: The Challenge

My pantry is full of weird culinary odds and ends. I started to get bugged by it about the same time that I realized that the Downright Domicile needed to drastically cut spending this month. Since my day job pays me somewhere between volunteerism and Chinese minimum wage, we've been behind on the midwife bills (among other things. We just won't mention those). Now that Adam is done with school for the summer and can work now, the pressure's off a little bit, but we will be daaaangerously close to missing the 100% payment deadline at the end of July.

Now, I definitely lean towards the crunchy side, but I'm gonna have to say no thanks to an unassisted childbirth in the bathtub.

Enter the week of Use It Up, Wear It Out.

It's common knowledge that one of the easiest expenses to control is food. And I refuse to spend any more money on food right now, when I have a whole bunch of random ingredients in the pantry that just require a little ingenuity to become dishes. So, for each day this week, I will choose one pantry ingredient that needs to be used up and figure out some way to incorporate it into the day's menu.

I'm so looking forward to the challenge, that I am opening it up to you, as well! I would love to hear the creative ways that any of you might be using up food hiding in the back of your pantry. Feel free to write a post about it and share it on the Linky! Happy cooking!

The Use It Up Saga:

Day 1: Grapenuts

Day 2: Soup

How NOT to make Cherries Jubilee

My old college roommate was in town this past weekend. When we met up, I told her about all the taboo foods I wanted to ingest as soon as the baby is born: sushi, wine, lunch meat...

"And don't forget Cherries Jubilee!" my roommate said with a mischievous glint in her eye.


And then I was brought back to last summer...........


My roommate (who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent), had just returned to the U.S. from a missions trip. She was staying at our apartment for a few days while her missions team debriefed and did whatever it is missions teams do. One afternoon, all three of us were free of obligations, so we went out to see the new Pixar movie Up.

This was all innocent enough, UNTIL...


The bad guy mentioned a dish called "Cherries Jubilee." My husband was intrigued (and probably hungry), because all the way home, he talked about how he wanted to try Cherries Jubilee! So, being a good wife, I went straight to Google and found a recipe.

Basically, Cherries Jubilee is a dessert comprised of ice cream and cherry pie filling. You spoon the cherries over the ice cream, and then douse everything in liquor and set it on fire. After the flames go out, you are supposedly left with a delicious, carmelized cherry dessert!


We should have known that three tee-totaling Christian university students plus a liquor recipe would equal trouble.


My roommate and I set off to the local grocery store to buy the ingredients. Unfortunately, the smallest can of cherry pie filling I could find was 20 ounces. The recipe called for twelve. "No matter," I said, "I'll just increase all the other ingredients by a third!"


You can see where this is going.


The next stop was the liquor store, where I marched up to the front and said, "I need some good cooking brandy." Wouldn't want the clerk to think we would actually, you know, drink the stuff. So I bought the smallest bottle they had and zoomed home to try out this new, exciting dessert!


I dished out the ice cream and divided the can of cherries evenly among the three bowls. It was time for the liquor! "Let me see...." I said. "The recipe calls for a half cup, so I guess we now need three-quarters cup of brandy." I divided it accordingly.


Yes, you read that right. I had just put a quarter cup of brandy in every dessert bowl.


Now, it was time for the exciting part! How often do you get to light your food on fire, after all? Adam lit the match, set each bowl aflame...

And watched each bowl go pffffft after about two seconds.

"Well, that's weird," we all said. "That didn't even burn any of the alcohol!" So we tried lighting it on fire a couple more times, but it just wouldn't flame. I'm guessing the sheer amount of alcohol floating in the dishes just overwhelmed that poor flame.


We should have stopped right there. But we couldn't let all that good ice cream go to waste! So we ate it.


Have you ever wondered what cherry Robitussin would taste like if it was a dessert? Unfortunately, I now no longer need to wonder. We bravely choked down our Cherries Jubilee, and after several minutes, it even started to taste... gooooooood.

And that is when my very petite, 5'2" roommate said, "Whew! Is it getting hot in here? *giggle* I think I need to sit down!"


I had just succeeded in intoxicating my roommate.


So we guided her to the couch, and sat with her and listened to her giggle at everything for about twenty minutes, until she said,


"Well, I guess it's about time for me to go my missions team meeting!"


Not only had I gotten her tipsy, but I had gotten her tipsy right before a church meeting! She insisted that she would be okay driving, and since it was right across the street anyways, we reluctantly let her go, giggling all the way.


I guess that's why they call it "Cherries Jubilee"!


After she left, I went back to the internet recipe to see where I had gone wrong. Way down at the bottom of the page, there was this sentence:


Serves 6-8.


Whoops.


We still have that half-used bottle of brandy in the pantry, just waiting for us to gather the courage to once again try... Cherries Jubilee.

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Looking for more embarrassing stories? Head on over to For Love or Funny to read about other calamities!

Works For Me Wednesday: Baked Goods Topper

I am sucker for cinnamon. I put it on everything! So when I came up with this idea, my life changed. :-D

What you need is an empty shaker (I reused an empty spice container). Add equal amounts cinnamon and sugar, shake to combine, and viola! A very convenient cinnamon-sugar dispenser! This makes for a very easy, mess-free garnish for all your baked goods: muffins, sweet breads, and of course, cinnamon toast. Sprinkle a generous amount on your banana bread before baking, and you will have a delicious, carmelized crust that is to die for!

This is much easier than the method I grew up with, which involved a large container and a spoon. A sprinkle container definitely Works for Me!

Want more helpful hints? Stop by the Works for Me Wednesday Carnival, hosted by We Are THAT Family!

Works for Me Wednesday: Simplify Those Lunches!

This is geared more towards the working folk, but I’m sure it could apply to those who are also working very hard at home. :-)

One of the problems I encounter with lunch at work is not only shopping for food to bring for lunch, but also preparing and bringing something every. single. day. After doing that a few times, fast food starts looking mighty good!

So what I do is buy something in bulk that I can put together in the office break room. Lately, I’ve been having my own salad bar for lunch: a big bag of salad, cottage cheese, bacon bits, baby corn—you name it. It usually lasts me through an entire week, I don’t have to get up extra early to fix lunch, and I save a ton of money that would otherwise go to a fancy salad bar! Plus, after the salad is gone, I still have a whole bunch of toppings that only require another bag of salad in order to feed me for another week!

Next week, I plan on having Baked Potato Week. Simplifying work lunches Works for Me!



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This WFMW post is part of the carnival graciously hosted by We Are THAT Family.