She loves oatmeal!

I introduced H to solids today. First she nursed, both sides, and then I gave her one tablespoon of oatmeal mixed with two tablespoons of breastmilk. I couldn't keep up with her and she barely got messy. She was definitely ready for this. It took less than five minutes for her to finish it all. Here are before and after pics of her mouth. =)

Chicken Salad

I am always looking for meals to cook in the summer. Because of the heat it's almost unbearable to use the oven. Everytime I ask someone they always suggest grilling. The only thing is we don't have a grill... I guess we should invest in one. One of my favorite summer meals is chicken salad. I love it! Here are the ingredients for the one I usually make: Chicken (duh), green grapes, granny smith apples, mayo, sour cream, tarragon (LOVE tarragon) and lettuce. I usually serve it in whole wheat pita bread. The other day I found a different recipe. The ingredients are chicken, pear, craisins, toasted almonds, mayo, plain yogurt, curry and sprouts. This one is also served in whole wheat pita bred.

Now I have 2 questions for you...

1. What's in your chicken salad?
2. What non oven, non grill meals do you make?
   

holidays and birthdays

What did you do with your leftovers from Thanksgiving? We got three dinners out of it, which all had leftovers:

• Mashed potato soup with rolls and salad (see pic)
• Stuffed pork chops with sweet potato casserole
• Turkey pot pie (using the turkey, of course, and the gravy)
  

I also found a recipe for butternut squash muffins.

Well, that holiday came and went and now we're preparing for Christmas. But first we're getting ready for E's birthday. She has her party for her little friends this weekend. She is really looking forward to it, asking about it several times a day. She keeps saying "party on 5". She is counting down the days using her advent calendar.

Family Fun food, I'm not laughing

I've never made chicken and dumplings. I've never eaten chicken and dumplings. But I've heard of it so I decided to give it a shot. I found a recipe online at the Family Fun site, a site I've found a lot of recipes on before. Lately, I've had a problem though. The ingredient list and the instructions don't line up. It has happen to me twice in 2 days now! I start cooking and all of a sudden it asks me to add an ingredient that isn't on the list. And it doesn't say how much of it. So I've had to improvise. The food turned out ok though and chicken and dumplings will probably go on the menu again sometime. From a different recipe though.

food and family

Isn't it great when dinner is cheap, healthy and yummy all at the same time? Today's dinner was. We had butternut squash soup and pesto grilled cheese.
Soup: Sauté onions and garlic (I used half of a big onion and 2 small cloves of garlic) in EVOO. Add a chopped up butternut squash (3 cups according to the recipe), 3 cups of water and 2 cups of apple cider, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 30 min. Use an immersion blender to make the soup smooth. Serve with some croutons (be careful of how many if you want to keep it healthy).
Sandwich: Well, it's like a regular grilled cheese, but you put pesto on the inside of the slices and tomato slices in between the cheese. I made my own pesto with parsley and almonds (b/c of tree nut allergies), parmesan cheese and EVOO. I skipped the garlic. And I used Arnold's whole wheat bread (no enriched flour). Again, the amount of cheese and butter can make or break the health factor.

E is playing in the background with her Little People. It's fun to listen to her make conversation between the dolls.
C is down in the basement prepping cabinet doors to paint.
H is sleeping I think, b/c she's not moving right now. That's right, H. I am pretty sure I'm letting C name the baby. Now we just need a middle name.

Well, I got to go. E didn't take a nap today so we're starting the night time routine a bit early tonight. But first I'm going to let her share something too. She is climbing all over me saying "letters, letters".

je7aabcdefghijklmnopqrstuuuuvwxyzabqrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
b++++++++++++++++++++++++1111111111111111111111111111§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§bbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

hey, did you see that she squeezed in the alphabet there all by herself!

Autumn Harvest Chili

So I made Rachael Ray's Autumn Harvest Chili last night. E helped. She always wants to help cook nowadays. It's fun! She washed veggies, peeled the onion (I sent her to wash her hands afterward and as I was drying my face off this morning I noticed that my towel smelled like onions), mixed spices, stirred, poured stuff etc. I probably wouldn't eat the veggie chili by itself. I prefer the meat kind. But served on top of the roasted butternut squash it was actually really good. I didn't put as much of the ancho chili stock in as the recipe calls for b/c of E and also b/c I get a wicked heartburn very easily right now. I also made sure to boil the chili at the end and not just simmer it for a little bit. I wanted to make sure the alcohol was completely gone. Well, if you clicked the link you probably saw a picture of what it was supposed to look like. Here is my picture - overflowing a little bit... =)

What do you write for a title when your post is just a bunch of random info?

So I was going to write a new post but then E came up to me with a book and I got distracted. Can't really remember what I wanted to write. We read The Alphabet Book. She's doing so good. I think there was one or maybe two letters she didn't know the sound of. She even knows when they have more than one sound.

Potty training is also going well. She rarely has an accident anymore. She's in underwear all day long except for naps/bedtime and when we go out. Half the time the diaper is dry after naptime or when we come back inside so I should probably start skipping the diaper at those times too.

I really hope we found new tenants yesterday. They seemed nice and very interested and we could really use the rent money.

I am 28 weeks pregnant now and have my next doctor's appointment Thursday. The biweekly appointments start after that and they told me that around week 30/32 they will start the weekly ones since E was a preemie. I am hoping to make it past all of the holidays this time. E was 5 weeks early and if that happens again this baby will be here mid December.

I don't know where I stand when it comes to the flu vaccines. I know it's really hard to get hold of the swine flu vaccine here so I don't have to make up my mind about that one just yet. But what about the regular flu vaccine... they said that the people who got it last year are more likely to get the swine flu than the people who didn't get it. What?! And all of a sudden you start hearing about all these people around you who are starting to feel sick or knows someone with the flu (one or the other). It makes me want to hibernate!

Last night I made Pasta Fagioli but I read the recipe wrong and added twice the amount of pasta, lol. It was more of a stoup than a soup. Still ok though. Tonight I think I'm making a harvest chili. It's vegetarian and it's served on oven roasted butternut squash. I hope it's as delicious as it sounds. I'll let you know.

We are slowly getting the kitchen cabinet doors painted and put up and everytime E sees a new door she goes: "Look, doors! It's beautiful!" I must agree. C is doing a wonderful job and I am really enjoying my new, brighter kitchen.

A few things from our trip

It's hard to take time to blog. I'd rather just hang out with my family and friends than sit here by the laptop, but I have a few minutes to myself right now before my brother shows up so I thought I'd update you all.

The flight wet well. E was a bit cranky around bedtime b/c she couldn't get comfortable, but eventually she crashed. I was just about to fall asleep when the lghts went on and it was time for breakfast. Oh, well.

We spent a week and a half hanging out with my dad and his family. We went to playgrounds, to the zoo, to a playland, we went out on a boat trip, E went horseback riding, we went to a fair, we went to an old castle to have "fika". America needs fika! I got to see my grandmother. She got old!

E and I went to my old church where she decided in the middle of service to get up and play the piano. Fun stuff! It was nice to see my old churchpeeps again though. Even if I think the church has gone backwards in a few areas. Or maybe I have taken a few steps forward. I don't know.

We are at my mom's now. We are going on a moose safari tomorrow and to an indoor swimplace Wednesday. Believe me I'm glad it's indoors. Fall is definitely here! We're also planning a train trip, a children's museum and more playgrounds.

We are having a great time, but here are a few not so great things... E's legs are covered in bruises and she has a scrape on her forehead from running down a steep ramp (ramps should be longer than the stairs, my opinion) and her legs couldn't keep up so she fell hands and face forward into the concrete. She had calmed down before I got the neo to go out of my purse and wanted to go back to playing again. She's a tough kid. (She went down the reallllllllllllllly long slide at the play land all by herself over and over again.) Another thing that happened was after we were done boating was that she summersaulted of the dock. I don't know who was more scared, me or her. But she came up right next to the dock and I was able to just reach in and pull her out. We were able to tell the fire department that we borrowed the lifevest from that it worked really well.

Well, my brother just showed up so I'm gonna chat with him now. Just one more thing to say... dinner for tonight is kebabpizza! YUM!!!

Menu

I'm off to do some grocery shopping soon. Here is my menu this time...

Kebab plate (My mom sent me the kebab spice mix. Can't wait to make it. Well, can't wait to eat it!)
Tortellini, spaghetti sauce and salad (I'm preggo tired. Don't have much energy for cooking.)
Crock pot pork with veggie rice
Chicken salad in pita bread
Tuna sauce over rice, peas
Kassler with pineapple and cheese, mac and cheese (Swedish meal again, so happy when I found the meat here since it's prepared in a special way.)
Pouch steamed fish with tomatoes and parsley, pressed potatoes
Kielbasa pot
Frozen pizza =), no mayo cole slaw
Thickened chicken noodle (no soup, a RR recipe)

my last 5 status updates

I enjoy reading other peoples blogs. I have a list (my "check it out-list" to the right) that I check every day, sometimes several times a day to see if someone updated their blog. Some people don't update their blogs very often. Not nice, when people like me are eagerly waiting to read what's going on. =) So I figured I should try to avoid becoming one of the bloggers who rarely blog. But I haven't had something I really felt like blogging about in a few days. So I decided to blog about my last 5 status updates from FB.

PB & B for lunch today

One of the few things I actually enjoy about pregnancy is that I can eat PB without breaking out as much as I do when I'm not pregnant. This day we made Peanut butter banana sandwiches, yum!

pool day turned into fort day

I had planned to go in the pool with E, but the rain made me change those plans. We made a fort instead, which E played in for about 10 minutes. I just took it down b/c she hasn't shown any interest in it since.

is eating crushed ice

Drinking water makes me nauseous. Not good since you have to drink a lot of water when pregnant. So I am eating a lot of ice.

E just started skipping. So cute!

It is very cute to watch her skip. It is not so cute to hear "mamma try stip". Skipping is not for pregnant people. She disagrees.

heading out to by some pool toys

Well, not much to say about this one. We bought some pool toys.

(no title)

I couldn't stop nibbling on the leftovers tonight. I really like oven roasted veggies. Yum! I can't wait for lunch tomorrow...

We visited dad yesterday. E smelled all the flowers. We had pizza (can't wait for kebabpizza in three months) and we went for a walk. E rode her tricycle, but her tires got dirty from the dirt on the ground and she flipped out. And today she flipped out b/c her pantlegs wern't down all the way and she was stuck in her carseat so she couldn't correct them. And when she was throwing a ball with dad yesterday she stopped everytime she got the ball to clean it off. When she puts away her pacifier after naptime she always puts it on top of a small jar in a basket and the basket has to go back in the right spot. Can you say OCD? Where did she get that from?

Well, it's time for milk and bath and bedtime.

I am smarter... ;-)

This is an update to my previous post...

Yes, I was pretty upset when I wrote it, as you probably can tell from the title. But it did feel good to write it (and I didn't say it to her). I didn't want to waste the apple, so I washed off any PB she missed, cut it up into chunks and made apple sauce. When she woke up I served it as her pm snack. Did she eat it? No! So I gave her some crackers and told her that the apple sauce was dip. Did she eat it? Of course. My kid eats anything as long as you say dip!

Eat your freakin' apple!!!!!!!!!

I meant to sit down and write about a couple of cute things E did yesterday, but I'm pretty frustrated with her right now so I will vent first and then I might write about yesterday.

A few minutes ago E tried to open the fridge, saying "apple, apple". I took out an apple and asked if she wanted it. She said yes. I asked if she wanted me to peel it. She said yes. I asked if she wanted me to cut it into wedges. She said yes. When I handed her the wedges she said NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Sigh! I asked if she wanted dip. She said yes. I gave her some PB and she licked it all up, ate no apples and is now sitting in her chair saying "all done". So frustrating!

I still don't feel like writing about the cute stuff from yesterday. But I'm going to anyways (b/c that way she can sit in her chair until I'm done. Very mature of me, right? ;) )

Every time we go outside E always brings me my shoes. She normally grabs the ones I use the most, or had on last time we went out, asks me if I want them or another pair and hands me what I want. So nice of her. Yesterday I had on a pair of gray pants. She grabs my brown flip flops (that I wear a lot) looks over at me as if to check out what I'm wearing, puts them back and reaches for a black pair (that I rarely use) and comes over with them. Did she know they would match?

When we got back she asked for milk. As I was preparing it (she will only drink it warm with a hint of chocolate) I heard her saying "städa" over and over again. (It means 'cleaning up'.) I walked into the playroom and she was picking up every toy, putting it back where it belongs. I didn't even ask her to do it. So sweet!

Ok, I guess I have to wipe of the PB she smeared all over and let her down. Even though she still didn't touch her apples. Hrmph!

Yummmmmmmmm!

I planned meals for a week this time. It usually lasts longer, with leftovers that can be used in different ways. Here it is...

1. Lemon Angel Hair w/ Balsamic Chicken
2. Fish Finger, Tartar Sauce, Potato Wedges, Veggies 'n dip
3. Tex-Mex Marinated Chicken with Tex-Mex Salad, Corn Bread
4. Chilequiles
5. Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad
6. Sesame Chicken Nuggets, Fried Rice (with plenty of veggies in it)
7. Key West Ribs, Corn on the Cob, Asparagus

I found a lot of recipes HERE this time. It's a fun page that changes every month. I always tweak recipes, and sometimes (like in #3) I just use part of it, like the marinade.

Shopping & eating

Today:
I went to the mall and bought three tops, one zippered hoodie and a pair of shorts. If you have or used to have a two year old you know it's not fun to stroll around in stores, looking for something you want to buy for yourself and then spend time in the fitting room trying to decide if you like it. But today I was alone. ALONE! Say it with me... alooooooone! C has every other Friday off so he took her to Home Depot while I went on my little shopping spree. Shopping hasn't been this fun in a long time. Later we met up at a cozy coffee shop where I had an apple danish and an Italian soda. Yum! (I realized when I got back home that that was my breakfast. I must have been so exited about my alone time this morning that I forgot to eat. And I NEVER miss my breakfast.) I remember thinking, while we were at the coffee shop, that it was so nice and relaxing to sit there with my little family that I wished someone would take a picture of us so I could put that moment in a scrapbook. When we got home E and I spent some time drawing with sidewalk chalk in the carport. I had a perfect morning!


Yesterday:
I just have to mention something about dinner last night. I wanted to make something quick and easy and decided to make hot dogs and mac & cheese from a box. C looked at the mac & cheese and asked me what it was. I told him, and had to add, "It's whole wheat". "What's wrong with processed food", he asked with a smile? I must admit I normally enjoy whole wheat pasta and so does he but this wasn't very good. Or as C said: "It's not Kraft". Then he took a bite of the hot dog and asked what kind it was. I told him it was organic. (I figured I could at least try to make this meal healthy.) He said it was chewy. At least he didn't mind the whole wheat rolls. They were pretty good. I told him that the broccoli was just regular broccoli, not organic or anything special. He could have some of that. His reply... "At my age you don't have to eat broccoli". Guess what we're having for dinner tonight... leftovers! =) Hey, there's plenty left and I'm not throwing it out. I'm Swedish - just add ketchup!

oink oink

I just sat down and dipped crackers in cream cheese. Lots of crackers and at least 3 oz of cream cheese later I sure do feel like a pig!

Mixed Feelings

It's a great feeling, looking down in your shopping cart after you're done in the produce isle and realize that you just filled up half your cart with healthy groceries. And then you realize that you have to pay for it too...

What's for dinner II

I have been searching for food online a lot lately, bookmarking everything I wanted to try. As I was making my menu the other day I decided to throw some of those recipes in the mix. Here's my menu and links to come of the recipes. I do tweak most recipes to fit our family, just to let you know.

• Honey Mustard Pork
• Tortilla Soup w/ Shredded Chicken
• Buffalo Chicken Chili w/ Mug Toppers
• Falsk Kebab (Sorry, my American friends. This recipe is in Swedish.)
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Minestrone Soup w/ Pasta, Beans and Veggies
• Paprika Chicken Stew w/ Potato Pierogies
• Fish, Mashed Potatoes and Peas (making lots of mash so I can make...)
• Mashed Potato Soup
• Mediterranean Succotash (I got this recipe of a friend's blog. It sounded so good that I have to try it.)
  
• Meatloaf w/ Mashed Potatoes (We are not big meatloaf fans, but this recipe isn't too bad. It is however from a cook book and not online so I can't link to it.)

Some of these recipes should make enough leftovers for another night. Which means "my night off" =)

What's for dinner?

After "talking" to a few of my friends on FB I realized that we all pretty much are always looking for something new to throw into the mix when we plan our menus. So here's my menu for the next few days (not in order):

• Kielbasa Pot (I add carrots too. Leftovers are great to fry up for another meal)
• Shepherd's Pie
  
• Paste E Fagioli (I lost my really great recipe for this, I have an ok one, so if you have a good one please let me know)
  
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Tuna Noodle Casserole
• Buffalo Chicken Strips w/ Pirogies
• Hamburgers and roasted potato wedges
• Pizza
• Chili Chicken & Veggie Soup (add your favorite beans to the leftovers and serve with rice for a new meal)
• Mini Cannelloni Bake (still debating if I should use ground beef or turkey)
• Chicken Tortilla Stew (makes a lot so I freeze and eat again another night)
• Tomato Soup with grilled cheese
• Pasta with homemade almond/parsley pesto (since the other 2 people in my family are allergic to tree nuts)

If veggies aren't a big part of the meal already I serve it with a salad or some other veggies.
I added some links so you can check out the recipes if you want to. I do tweak them a bit, though, to suit our family.

a lot of random...

• I tried pouring hot water over my rolled oats to make oatmeal after a friend told me that's how she does it. I thought it sounded like a good idea, but it takes forever so I went back to my old way - rolled oats and water in a pot on the stove, much quicker. I need quick since E climbs up into her chair, expecting food as soon as I start cooking.
• C stayed home with E last night while I went shopping with a friend. I needed a kid free night. It was so nice. I have to do it more often. Tonight I'm home and C is at the movies with some friends.
• We went to Chuck E Cheese's tonight. Very busy place on a Saturday night. E loved it though and we got to hang out with some good friends we don't see very often since we kind of switched continents with them. Well, I did anyways.
  
• I'm watching CSI NY right now. (Told ya it's random facts tonight.)
• I'm trying to get through Ezekiel but I actually find it kind of boring. Come to think of it I never really liked this book. But I'll keep reading it. Some day it might speak to me.
  
• I bought a notebook today. And I'm talking about the old fashion kind with lots of paper in it. Like I've said before... writing helps me sort through thoughts (which is why I like to blog) but I need a place to write down thoughts I don't want on the world wide web. E picked it out so it's bright with lots of flowers.
  
• Our sump pump kicked on by itself today - yay!
• E and I went for a pretty long walk today, even though it rained. Like they say at home... There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. (It rhymes in Swedish so it sounds better.)
  
• I got a job offer today, something I can do from home while E is napping. I think I will give it a try even though I'm a little bit nervous. I definitely need to pray about it.