First Foods

I held off as long as I could. Now that Clara is six months, I figured it was about time she started sampling solids. Well, I don't think she's consumed more than one spoonful of baby cereal in a 'mealtime' yet. She just doesn't love it. But she is still waking twice in the night to nurse, so she must be hungry!

How she feels about the texture and taste of....well, let's face it, rice cereal is basically paste.

And just for fun, a few pictures of James at the same age...starting rice cereal. He really went for it and loved it from the beginning. But at the time he was also more accepting of baby formula, which Clara is not. I think it helped that he had been exposed to something other than mommy's milk prior to starting cereal. Just my theory.

Everybody that sees Clara says she looks JUST LIKE James. They DO look a LOT alike. But I think there a lot of differences, too. James had bluish eyes for a long time (they're hazel/brown now) and his cheeks weren't as full. But they have some similar expressions!

Baby Shower Food Details

It's been a long while since I've posted any recipes! During my first trimester I wasn't too adventurous with new foods and since my second trimester began, I've had Andrea's baby shower on my mind! Her shower was last weekend, hosted at my mom's house. For a few more non-food pictures, check out Andrea's blog.

My primary 'obsession' with the food and this shower was the dessert table. My friend Kristen has gotten me hooked on Amy Atlas' blog. Check out her site and click on 'eye candy' to see spread after spread of beautiful tables! She's a gal who specializes in gorgeous dessert tables (most likely for the rich and famous...I really wonder how much she charges...). So Ms. Atlas' dessert tables were my inspiration behind the photo above!

But first I'll mention lunch. Because that's what we ate first...and it's the order of my photos. We used my mom's chicken salad sandwich recipe on croissants and Jenny's strawberry-walnut salad. I had a few requests for the salad recipe...so here it is (Jenny, I hope you don't mind!):

Strawberry Walnut Salad

Dressing (blended in blender):

1 c. vegetable oil

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. paprika

1/4 t. gr. white pepper

Salad:

1 head romaine

1 head boston (we used a pre-mixed spring mix)

1 pt. strawberries, sliced

1/2 c. walnuts (used sugared walnuts)

1 c. shredded monteray jack cheese

Along with the salad and sandwiches, we served my most recent shower standard: Bacon Leek Quiches! I love them almost more than dessert. I actually ate more of these rather than a cupcake. But it may just be what I'm craving....I love making them for showers/events because you prep and freeze them days or weeks ahead of time and then pop them straight from the freezer to the oven when it's hosting time! I'd be glad to share the recipe, but this blog post will be getting so long! Let me know in a comment below and I can email it your way!

And now for dessert. Sugar cookies...another one of Jenny's recipes. I enjoy her icing recipe because it's thin enough that you dip them (brilliant!) and thus end up with a really smooth cookie surface! I thought the tiny monogrammed ones were adorable! (Andrea's soon to be born daughter will be names Lauren).

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries. Need I say more? These were possibly the biggest hit--such a favorite--and took the least amount of time to prepare. AND strawberries were on sale. Win-win-win! Ladies just ooh and ahh over chocolate covered strawberries!

Another one of my new favorite pretty treats. Brownie pops. These are little balls of brownie on a stick, dipped in and drizzled with different colored melting chips (purchased at craft store). Cute and yummy!

Continuing with the pink and green theme (because Andrea's baby room/bedding is pink and green), we made Jenny's Spritz cookies. Well, Jenny made Jenny's Spritz cookies. I watched.

And the cupcakes. I did a lot of research on strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting prior to the shower. This is what I decided upon and had pretty good feedback! I used Paula Deen's cupcake recipe found here (but didn't use her cream cheese frosting). I wanted a cream cheese frosting that would pipe well and hold it's shape. I ended up using:
2 sticks butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
3 heaping teaspoons of strawberry puree concentrate (cooked down)
It made a really delicious frosting!

That's all for now! If there are any recipes you're interested in that I didn't include here, let me know. Most of them are already typed up, I just didn't want this to be so lengthy!

Birthday Barnyard Cake

Over the weekend our camera conked out, so I wasn't able to get a single picture of James during his first birthday party! Don't worry, though, my mom and dad took many pictures that I'll share once I get them on my computer! Until then...you'll just get the cake pics. I'd call this a cake ensemble; sheet cake and cupcakes together to make a scene! You just should have seen the mess this created, but it sure was fun. I estimate that I invested about six hours in this and was up til 12:30 the night before working on it. The sheet cake was a chocolate cake (super moist) and the cupcakes were an easy banana cake recipe that I modified slightly (3 bananas and added cinnamon). I stole every single idea from the internet, recipes, decorating and all! If you have specific questions about anything, let me know!

Desserts, Meals, and More!

This first one is actually something Mark was in charge of. I had a girls weekend away at the beginning of August. During one of my calls home to check on the boys, I asked Mark what he was up to, to which he responded that he was "looking at recipes online"! I was just sure he was teasing me. It turns out, he bought the ingredients and made these Buffalo Wings on his own! In fact this is the second batch he made a few nights later for me to try. They were really good! He grilled the wings, made the sauce (Frank*s hot sauce and melted butter mixed with black pepper) and then tossed them in it. I was so impressed with his recipe scouting skills! :)

There is a good chance that these sausages might not look too appetizing to you. Especially if you don't care for bell peppers. Let me tell you, they were GOOD! I was wanting to replicate an appetizer we had in Chicago and this was pretty close. Mmmm. Italian Sausage, Peppers, and Onions.

We have more basil than I know what to do with. It is literally as high as my shoulders. And we have three plants!! So several times this summer we've had pesto! I sauteed some raw shrimp (even the frozen kind is a splurge for us) in garlic and olive oil and then tossed that in pesto and served it on pasta! We also like to have pesto-grilled chicken with pasta. I use and tweak a pesto recipe Andrea's mom gave me: 2 cups basil leaves, a couple cloves garlic, 1/3 cup pecans or walnuts (because they're cheaper than pinenuts), 1/2 cup parmesean cheese, and olive oil added til the desired consistency. I think that's everything. Hey, if you're interested in 2 cups of basil, let me know! You can come and pick a bucket!

This one is here for Mark. I really only make his favorite meal about twice a year. He usually really likes everything I make, but this is home cookin' to him! Salisbury Steak. I had never heard of it before I met him. Yes, it's pretty much meatballs covered in gravy with mashed potatoes. It's yummy but not at the top of the low-fat foods list. :) I surprised him with it last week and he said, "Take a picture of THIS for your blog!" So I did.

fThis was Mark's birthday dessert. It was a good compromise. He loves light, fruit-filled desserts, and I prefer rich desserts. This is a Berry Cheese Torte. I found it in my Taste of H*ome magazine. You can find it online, but I can't link to it, because you have to have a 'subscription' to view this particular recipe. I'd be glad to email it to you, though! Crust: N*illa Wafers and gingerbread cookies. Filling: thin cheesecake layer. Topping: Strawberries and Blueberries with gelatin to told it together. It was really good and looked beautiful!! Probably a recipe to tuck away til next summer when you can get fresh blueberries cheaper! Let me know if you want this recipe!

After we went to see J*ulie and J*ulia, I felt totally inspired to rush home and bake or cook something. This chocolate banana bread was the product of that inspiration! I pulled out a cookbook I got for Christmas, Dorie Green*span's Baking, From My Ho*me to Yours. It's a great cookbook. (the author actually used to write cookbooks for/with Julia Chi*ld) This bread was more like a dessert for me, although I did eat it for breakfast. It's more of an 'eat with a fork' type bread. Almost pound-cake-like kind of density. I thought it was delicious. Slight banana flavor, dark chocolate chunks....good stuff with a glass of milk or cup of coffee. It's called Cocoa Nana Bread, and here's the recipe found someplace else online.

And finally; a layered cake! I was really excited to have friends over Tuesday night. Hosting is always a good excuse to make dessert, in my opinion. I got a fun dessert decorator contraption for Christmas that I still hadn't used. So that's why there are silly little uneven flower things on it. This cake is a coffee flavored cake, with coffee flavored butter cream icing. I found it on Pio*neer Woman's blog. It was really good. Very very moist. You'd think a non-coffee lover wouldn't care for this, but a non-coffee drinker friend of ours actually loved it! We still have half a cake left if anybody wants a slice! Oh, the title of the post I found it in was "Coffee Cake. Literally."

Blueberry Pancakes

I'm not including the recipe here (although I do love our pancake recipe), but rather sharing James' first pancake experience through photos. It was a huge hit! You don't see pancakes on his tray because he ate his little bits faster than we could produce them! I felt inspired after visiting a friend over the weekend who has been feeding her own daughter blueberry pancakes. Not sure I was prepared for the mess, though! Maybe next time we'll try banana pancakes. (cue the Jack John*son song....)

"what's this purple stuff stuck to my fingers?"

This was the very first time --EVER--that James turned down the majority of his bedtime bottle. He was so jam-packed-full with pancakes he couldn't squeeze in another drop! We'll have to work on pancake moderation...

I feel a recipe post coming on. I've been taking photos of food for the last couple of months and I'm armed and ready with a lot of new yummy dishes, breads, and desserts!

James and the *Giant* Peach: The Sequel

I jumped the gun with my first post on this topic. My mom sent these to me more recently. Yes, more pictures of James slurping on a peach. I really like that you can see his little elbow resting in the juice. What a peach! Not only does he not usually get to eat an entire peach for lunch, but I rarely give him the opportunity to get down and dirty like this. I need to do that more often!

James and the *Giant* Peach

I must give credit to my mom for the idea. She was peeling and freezing peaches and peach pies this afternoon when we visited her. I diced up a peach to mix with his plain yogurt. She called him 'J*mes and the Giant Peach', and I thought it would be cute to get a photo. And then take it away from him. James had something different in mind. Before we finished taking photos, we noticed dents in the very ripe peach and juice running down his arms and all over the tray. He proceeded to munch on the peach, peel and all. It may not have been very 'giant', but it was delicious, indeed!

I feel inspired to check out the book and read it. I somehow made it through elementary school without reading J*mes and the Giant Peach! Any personal book reviews?

Random This & That

It's been a while since I posted any pictures...so I scrounged up these photos from the past few weeks. James is in constant motion. I've noticed that I have less time to spruce him up for photo shoots, and most of the pictures I have of him are a blur. Literally. My kitchen is in a constant state of disarray; "his cupboard" is always emptied all over the floor, and toys are sprinkled from the living room throughout the house. I figure it's pretty normal, though.

James is 10 months now! And he officially took his first step and regained his balance over the weekend. He's able to stand on his own for several seconds at a time, too. It won't be long til he's walking on his own! With still only two teeth (bottom and center), he's usually gnawing on something and drooling everywhere!

my little laundry helper...it's too risky to leave him alone upstairs while I gather the laundry when it's done, and this was the best way to carry him along with the clothes back upstairs!

we had a pop-in visit from Grandma

we've had quite the tomato crop! we chose the 'better boy' variety and boy, oh boy are they great! we've been picking six or seven at a time and some of them are huge! my favorite thing to do with the extras is peel, dice, and freeze them for soups and chili this winter.

Recipes, recipes...

Well, there seem to be two major themes in my blog postings. James and food. Well, mostly James, but I really love reading food blogs and think it would be fun to have a weekly recipe post, but I have to be realistic. It's just not going to happen. After my last food post a few months ago, a few people actually mentioned to me in person that they had tried the recipes! I was so surprised that somebody was actually paying attention! So the pattern seems to be that over the course of a few months I take photos of food that turns out great and then compile them all after I have a handful. So that's that. Here's my fourth or fifth 'food post'.

Bagels. I had seen a few recipes recently for homemade bagels and decided to give them a shot. The next day I told my friend Andrea I'd done so, and she responded with a skeptical facial expression, "Oh? How did that go for you?" Honestly, it had quite a few steps, including boiling the pre-baked dough, and they were delicious fresh out of the oven but were pretty chewy the days following. (But not bad toasted). I did try to make mine with whatever whole wheat I had on hand, instead of the fancy stuff it called for. I'll try them again. It was fun to put different toppings on them; cinnamon sugar, minced dried onion, poppyseeds, and kosher salt.

Granola Bars! I have been wanting to make granola bars for months now and finally got around to it. My goal was to find a recipe that was brimming with corn syrup. These are so good that I actually made them three times in two weeks. One of those times I postponed eating breakfast 'til I could whip up a batch. I cut them into huge squares and eat them warm with a glass of milk. There's something really wholesome-ish about them. Oatmeal, whole wheat flour....I add the 1/2 cup applesauce someone recommended to make them softer (it works) and omit any mix-ins, although I tried chocolate chips and craisins another time. I actually prefer them plain!

This is a stuffed pepper, sliced in half, to show the really yummy filling!! I got this recipe for Orzo Stuffed Peppers while working out at the Y. Yes, I watch the Food Net.work channel while working out. Seems counter-productive, right? It's usually torture. Well, Giada was making this and Andrea (who happened to be visiting our Y that day with us) and I looked at each other when we saw these and practically drooled on the eliptical machines. Bell peppers are expensive, but happened to be on sale, so I stuffed a few peppers and baked the rest of the pasta filling (peppers are usually stuffed with a rice mixture) in a baking dish and ate it for days to come. I will probably continue to make the filling because it's just that good! It has shredded zucchini, diced tomatoes, garlic, parmesean cheese, italian seasonings, and mint, of all things! Yum, yum, yum....

There just has to be Mexican food. I love Mexican food. For example, today for lunch Mark and I ate mostly fresh salsa and guacamole, in addition to a small salad. These are Creamy Baked Taquitos and they were awesome! The recipe comes from my new favorite food blog. I bookmark nearly every recipe these ladies post. I'm not kidding. The only complaint about these was that we gobbled almost all of them for dinner in one sitting! But they'd make great appetizers, too. And it's another great recipe to make with shredded chicken from one of those really cheap whole chickens that are always on sale! Oh, and when you roll these, definitely microwave each corn tortilla 20-30 seconds. They'll be piping hot, but if you don't, they'll crack before you get them into the oven! Can't wait to make 'em again!

Finally, this was dinner tonight. Jambalaya. You may notice, if you've actually read this far, that it's from the same site as the taquitos. This tastes like Cajun Fried Rice. Well, that's what it is, really. Green peppers, onions, garlic, minced smoked sausage and ham (really breakin' out of the chicken/ground beef routine for us) and tomato sauce, fried with some cooked rice and seasoned with Creole Seasoning. It was really good. Mark totally approved, too. If you live close and want to try some, let me know, because we'll be eating off of it for days!

And finally, a couple of bonus recipes I don't have photos for: Pizzookies. These are dangerously delicious. I mean dangerous. And too easy, especially if you buy the refrigerated cookie dough, which I recommend. Here's the recipe.

This is a Beef Enchilada Casserole-type-meal. It's called Beef Taco Bake. I made it for Andrea and Brian when they moved a few weeks back and she asked for the recipe. So there it is!

Avocados...What do you think?

It's week two in feeding James solids. Over the weekend, I read my friend's post about freezing avocado slices and got pretty excited about it. I picked up two avocados at the grocery store and mashed up a slice for James' lunch, freezing the rest of the slices, after 'bathing' them in limewater. I'm just not sure what to do. James had tasted avocado before and seemed to love it. Today he liked the first bite, but then acted grossed out for the rest of the meal (his slices today had not been in the limewater). Watch the video below and let me know what you think in the 'comment' section. Should I stick with it? Would it help if I mixed it with another pureed food? I had thinned it out with some watery rice cereal, which he does like. I guess it's probably a good thing to try it a few days in a row. Maybe he was just too used to the cereal?

Food!!

On Sunday afternoon James had his first taste of baby rice cereal. You'll hear my mom in the background, as she and my brother Jeff were over. He had quite the audience. Since then I've fed him cereal every afternoon...and he LOVES it! I think there's hardly anything cuter than the bits of mush all over his tiny face. Next week I think we may try avocado or sweet potatoes.

Little Cowboy James

Yee-Haw! 4 and a half months old--19 weeks, that is. Here he is wearing the bib my mom made him long before he was born. We haven't officially started him on solids...I think we'll wait til he acts a little hungrier. But we kind of can't wait--it'll be so fun to feed him in his high chair! (I know--new-parent-syndrome--everything sounds fun!) Today we gave him a few bites of mashed avocado (I read it's a great first food) and he slurped it down without even spitting it out! He loved it! I've forgotten to mention that James has been rolling over from back to tummy for the past week. This morning successfully rolled (and then pulled his arms up to support himself) three times!

Our week of eating vegitarian is coming to a close. Mark is just dying for some meat, and since we're going to his work's Winter Event tonight, we're calling it off so we can both consume yummy appetizers and desserts! Pancakes, Fried Eggs, and Breakfast Potatoes made a great dinner one night and last night we had leftover French Onion soup and Turkish-style baked potatoes. Kumpir is a popular fastfood in Turkey. They open the fresh baked potato up, mash the insides with white cheese and butter and then top it with a bunch of different toppings (including diced pickles, sliced olives, and sweet corn). Last night we used sour cream, jalapeno slices from a jar, salsa, and cheese...they were really yummy! Through the whole experience, I think we've decided we definitely want to try to eat a meat-free meal at least once a week. That may not sound like much, but before this week we NEVER ate meat-free meals. It should be healthier and better on the budget, too!

18 weeks is fun!

Just a quickie update...James has officially entered the phase where he's pulling everthing into his mouth. His hair a little spikey because we've started putting lotion in it to help with the dry cradle cap/eczema/crustiness that has persisted over the past two months. I thought it would be terribly greasy, but after an hour or so, the lotion 'disappears' so he just has a soft spikey hair-do remaining. I'm still getting used to it.

This past week James had a mild fever one day and has had a slight stuffy nose on and off. We've also entered a night-waking phase. It's somewhat sporatic, though, and was worse when we were out of town and he wasn't in his own room. He just randomly wakes up, not really to eat, just to cry in the middle of the night. It's hard to deal with, but we're learning as we go.
Over the weekend we visited Mark's parents and got to have a nice date at Freddy's Pizza Palace...it was such fun! Then we went to see the movie Valkyrie at one of the tiniest theaters I've ever been in. The movie was good, but intense. I'll leave it at that.

This week I'm not eating dessert. (I felt inspired by a fellow-blogger mentioning it a few weeks ago) It's only been 48 hours so far. I was just craving them a little too much. Mark said he'd do it along with me. I proceeded to point out that it wouldn't be too much of a sacrifice for him, since he doesn't really care for desserts anyway. So he decided to give up meat for the week. Which means I'm cooking 'vegetarian' for dinner this week. I found an awesome Thai Peanut Noodles recipe on a fun new blog...it was a great way to kick off the week and really does taste like something you'd pay $8 a plate for. Then last night we ate French Onion Soup, cheesy broiled topping and all. My friend Andrea had passed the recipe along to me. Tonight it's a crockpot potato soup recipe. Later this week we'll have baked potatoes and another night tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. I'm excited about having more meatless options.

If you know of a great meat-free meal, let me know. Preferably a meal that isn't bean-based. Thanks!

A Week of Mystery Meals....

A few weeks ago I decided to attempt a week of meals without a trip to the grocery store. It was interesting to say the least. I'd heard a friend from church mention she'd tried it and thought it would be a fun challenge. It was pretty rewarding to make meals from all the 'stuff' we had on hand. I will say that we didn't suffer too much. I had meat in the freezer, plenty of staples, and several cans of veggies. The most exciting part of the week of meals was the stockpile of mystery cans I finally dug into. A year ago (yes, a year) I was 'gifted' a huge bag of label-less cans at a white elephant gift exchange. Thanks, Andrea. Well, until now I've avoided the cans. I decided I couldn't stand to see that bag take up space in our pantry, so I started opening a few cans every day. Some mixed veggies made a nice 'side' for a meal and two cans were tomato sauce, which I used for a really great spaghetti and meatballs dinner. Here are a few other recipes I discovered and tried out that week:

Spaghetti and Meatballs - I tweaked this one because I didn't have any onions by the end of the week, but it was really delicious anyway.

Refried Beans - I found a bag of pinto beans that had been on my (or my mom's) pantry shelf for years. I decided to try making homemade refried beans. They were awesome! The recipe is actually called 'refried beans without the refry'. They cooked in the crockpot all day long! Our tacos ended up being a little more like tostadas, with fresh tortillas made from corn flour (we were out of tortillas and chips).

Breakfast Pies - These aren't really pies...and they were for dinner for us. Basically, little biscuits with sausage and eggs baked in ramekins (or a muffin tins). They were yummy and warmed up great for breakfasts the next couple of days!

One of the cans I opened was of potatoes....canned potatoes. What in the world do I use them for? I'd love any ideas you might have, as they're still in a tupperware in our fridge.

This coming week we will be going without desserts OR meat! I'll explain why in another post, as well as the recipes I find to eat 'vegitarian'. The one we ate tonight was OUTSTANDING!

Happy New Year!

This past week was another fun one, filled with more time with family, friends, and 'firsts' for James!

I had my own 'first' on Monday night. My parents took us to eat sushi! I honestly wasn't crazy about everything I tried, but really liked anything that had shrimp or tempura shrimp in the middle. Some of the textures weren't my favorite, but others I liked. My sister-in-law Elizabeth is 'sushi savvy' and gave me a few pointers on eating it. I actually really liked the pickled ginger they give you to 'cleanse' your palate.

At the end of it all, I was still a little hungry, so we picked up Oklahoma Joe's french fries on the way home...aaah, comfort food. And I'm sure a major no-no following sushi!

Sushi is really beautiful. Look at the colors and presentation! They aren't messin' around...I think we tried six different things...maybe eight, in addition to some outstanding shrimp and ahi tuna appetizers.

It was fun catching up with friends on New Year's Eve, as well as New Year's day. Here are a few high school friends of mine that were over on the first. Ooh, I tried a cheese fondue recipe that was really yummy. If you have a fondue pot and want the recipe, let me know!

James' first time in his exer-saucer. It's hard to believe he's already ready for this thing! We tried it no a whim and he loves it! He'll love it more when he can hold himself up a little better. He hold his head steady, but leans on the edges of the seat. He spend a good twenty minutes in it before he got tired of it! You wouldn't believe how thrilling it is to see him discover new things...we are just having a blast with him!

Tummy time is getting easier...and this past week he rolled over for the first time. He was on his tummy, I turned away for a minute, and when I looked at him next, *poof*, he was on his back! He had a look of confusion on his face, How did I do that? He hasn't done again since then! :)

His 15 Week picture! A friend of ours decorated this t-shirt, and I just love it.

We also tried out the hand-me-down Johnny Jump-Up in a doorway between the entry hall and living room. We tried this one before the excer-saucer, actually. Hilarious. He looked SO proud to be standing up on his own. He's not really jumping yet...just standing there.

I just love how he's staring at Mark's mouth in this picture...trying to figure out how talking works! James loves his daddy.