Baby Wearing

This is my hubby and my son, wearing a mama made (not by me) ring sling.

I love love love baby wearing. Even though my little guy is getting bigger, it is still so nice to be able to strap him on and be able to just go, hands free and cozy close. We are just starting to get into woven wraps and they can be a bit more complicated, and a little pricey they are so worth it. We took our son to the zoo, and we were able to unwrap him and use the wrap as a picnic blanket, then after we were done eating it also worked as a changing table. I love how versatile they are! I have two now! Anyway, we wrapped with a moby when my little guy was smaller, and it was so nice to have him close all the time, with the ability to do skin to skin after he came home. Now we have the linens and can wrap again! We also have some SSC’s (Soft Structured Carriers)We have a Pognae and a Boba. We love them both as well, they are a bit easier to use and have buckles, very daddy friendly since he doesn’t care much for wrapping. Then there is our ring sling, which is also very nice and convenient. Easy to just pop him in and out but it’s only one shoulder and better for quick trips into  the store. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to go into baby wearing a bit more and hopefully help some mamas find something that might be good for them, and help them know what isn’t so great to use, and why! Please know that I am not a certified baby wearing instructor, however I have done a ton of research and I want to help other mamas have this amazing closeness with their babies!

 

Cheese Danish Recipe- Yum!

So I have been craving cheese danish, however I haven't really been able to find any that are hitting the spot. There are some downfalls to living in a small town. So I set out to find a recipe that I could live with. I found some amazing looking recipes for danish that made the dough from scratch, and I might try them sometime, but I wanted something quick and easy to make and I found it. This is my lightly edited version of a recipe by Ina Mae

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Neufchâtel cheese, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons no fat ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, (this is the egg wash, I just used the leftover whites)
• Nutmeg (optional)

Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and gently cream them together until smooth. Add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. (You can use a mixer set on low, I did it by hand.)

Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife.
Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares.
Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together, then do the other two corners. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash.
 Sprinkle tops with nutmeg.
Place the pastries on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.
Preheat over to 400

Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

These turned out really well. I enjoyed them a lot, I think with a little practice they may be a little prettier. Luckily looks do not affect the taste. :) If you wanted to you could add a little less cheese and top with your favorite jam or jelly to get different flavors such as strawberry or blackberry. Yum!

I'm a huge dork!

So I set up a months worth of posts to auto post. Notice how I haven't had any posts in the last month? I came to check on it today, and none of them had come up. I am a huge dork, I somehow managed to change the year on them to next year instead of this year. Well this will tech me not to check in on my blog more often...

Mysterious Booms…

I love a good mystery, I love to figure out the whodunnit before anyone else. We get to the end and I triumphantly cry; I KNEW IT! I have had to stop telling my husband in the middle of shows because he likes the surprise ending, I like being right. (As usual.)

So, in Clintonville Wisconsin, near where I live, there are these mysterious noises going on late at night. This has been happening for the last few nights, and people are calling the police to report these noises that sound like anything from thunder to explosions. These noises have been so loud as to wake people up at night. Authorities have been checking into it, they went into the sewers, checked out the water lines, they even called in some seismologists to see if they could figure it out. No luck so far.

The latest theory is that our unseasonably warm weather is breaking up underground ice chunks and making the noises. Other people think it is something biblical (who thought the coming of the apocalypse would start in Wisconsin?), maybe it’s alien in nature. My husband is voting for an underground volcano, I am sure my brother thinks it is the zombies trying to rise from their graves. I am not sure what it is, but I am tempted to drive over to Clintonville and get in on the mystery.

UPDATE:

I was just reading a little more about it here and this is kind of creepy, they were trying to record the noises, but nothing showed up on their tapes even though there was at least one loud boom.

Technorati Tags: Clintonville,Wisconsin,mysterious noises,mysterious,unsolved,booms,loud noises,mystery,zombies

Feeling Down

 

I turned 30 on Monday, and the worst part about it? Feeling unappreciated and unloved. It felt like no one wanted to celebrate with me. None of my friends asked if I wanted to go out and do anything, even my own mother made other plans.

I spent the day with the baby, and on the phone arguing with the DMV, my first “Happy Birthday” call was after 11AM and I usually get called earlier. No one was waiting thinking that I was sleeping in as the baby always wakes up early and everyone knows it.

We did have dinner at my moms house, but we had to rush it because she had a different party to go to. No one really asked me what I wanted to do, expect my mother saying “If you don’t want to come for dinner, it is okay if James takes you out instead.” I wasn’t sure if I should have taken that as a hint that she didn’t want me to come over.

Don’t get me wrong. I do not expect a big to do about my birthday, it’s just this one was so “blah” it left me feeling like no one really cared. I have been going through a lot of stress, with being a mom and a student, and trying to get sponsors for blog giveaways, and cleaning the house, and fixing the basement, and working on my longie business, and Avon, and stressing over all of the yard work that needs to be done, plus feeling like I am too fat and trying to diet and get in some exercise, plus I do as much as I can to help other people, I always run with my mom whenever she asks. I just wish I felt more like people wanted to celebrate me, I mean 30 used to be a big number, I threw a surprise party for James when he turned 30.

Don’t get me wrong, my husband bought me a book (in large print) and my mom and brother went in together to get me a baby wrap that I really wanted, it should be here sometime next week hopefully, and I know that should be enough. But really it’s not about the presents, it is just the way that I was made to feel, with everyone being too busy, and almost like they didn’t want to celebrate with me- it really hurt. I do my best to remember important dates of my friends, and I know that my “friends” on facebook wouldn’t have remembered if it weren’t for the reminder, plus some of the people that I really thought were my friends didn’t even bother to say it.

I just wish, I felt like people appreciated me and the things that I do for them. I don’t ask for much really. I do my best not to, and I always help when I am asked, even if it is hard for me to do. I just wish the same consideration was given to me.

On the bright side, Connor was really free with the smooches that day, so I got tons. I guess if I look at it that way, nothing else really matters.

A little something delicious...

I love cooking! Let me say it again, I LOVE COOKING! Seriously. There is something about being in the kitchen, and making food for the people that I love that just lifts my spirits, I think about how wonderful I want it to be and how much I love my family and that I want them to enjoy the food that I put my time and energy into. My food always turns out well, which I think is why my husband prefers to eat in instead of going out to eat. This year I am currently brining my own corned beef. It is in the fridge as we speak, it has to set for 5 days in some salty seasoned water. I hope it turns out well. I will have to let you guys know. In the meantime... I made some amazing Indian food.

So today I am going to share with you Green Beans and Tofu Jalfrezi.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooke time: 20 minutes
Makes 4 servings as a main dish

Now don't be put off by the tofu, this is something that really freaks some people out. A lot of people have a bad experience with tofu and find it bland with a strange texture. Here are a couple of tips to help out your tofu. First freeze it. It really helps with the texture and makes it feel more "meaty" now don't do this for baking but for cooking it is great. Second squeeze the extra mositure out of your tofu. Grab soem papertowels, a cheese cloth or an extra rag and gently squish the extra moisture out of your tofu after it thaws. this makes it less watery and it helps it absorb flavor as your cooking as opposed to watering down your dish ans making the whole thing tasteless.


Ingredients:
1/2 pound fresh Green Beans ends snapped off
9 ounces firm tofu
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 Jar Jalfrezi Curry Simmer Sauce (I use Patak's)
2 Tablespoons half and half (or soy milk if you are vegan)
1Tablespoon fresh cilantro

The ingredents

Squish out the water

Heat oil in the skillet, then add tofu cook two minutes

Cube the tofu

Add simmer sauce, and green beans simmer 20 minutes.

Add the half and half and cilantro. 

Serve over rice.

                                                                                   

The weather outside..

I think that Spring has Sprung! However in Wisconsin it probably doesn't get rid of the chance of snow until around June. :) However the weather on Sunday was so beautiful, I took my son for a walk in our new (to us) Boba it was so nice! I love babywearing, I have to tell you. I love that I didn't have to keep track of the stroller at the park, he was nice and close to me, and it gave me the chance to talk to him while we were walking, I could point out the birds and the trees and was able to answer his "what's that?" question about 179 times. :) The weather today is beautiful once again, and I think we will be taking another walk. I love getting outside and experiencing nature with my son. Maybe this year I can actually work on the nest of weeds that used to be a garden. :)

So what's the weather like where you are?