Category Archives: food

A little frozen

An ice cream maker is one of those purchases that can be hit or miss. So often people will get one only to let it sit in a cupboard barely getting any use, and I didn’t want to be one of those people. We’ve actually gotten some decent use out of our Cuisinart maker so far, too! I could have gotten the Kitchen Aid attachment for my mixer, but the cheaper Cuisinart had actually received better reviews. We haven’t done anything too adventurous yet, but now that I’ve got the basics down, I think I want to try some fancier versions. I can’t tell you how nice it is to be able to have homemade vanilla ice cream with homemade fruit crisp, though.

We’ve tried both a very basic vanilla ice cream, and a custard style ice cream (which uses egg yolks). I think I like the egg version better, even if it adds a few extra steps and some time.

Right now I just use the recipe that came with the ice cream maker, but like I said, I’m ready to branch out a bit and maybe start adding some fruit and maybe a boozy treat as well.

I think the biggest surprise of all is that while Enzo enjoys watching me make ice cream, and really likes to help (“I dump it!”) he never eats of any it. It’s rather disappointing.

I’m trying to think of when he stopped liking it because last summer he thoroughly enjoyed sharing the ice cream we got when out and about and would have eaten all of my Pumpkin flavored awesomeness had I let him. We think he may have bitten into some ice cream and that’s when he decided he no longer liked the stuff.

It’s a bummer, for sure, but it also means I can add whatever I want without worrying about whether it’s too sweet or too crunchy or too otherwise. 😉

Cooking with Toddlers

Sometimes I think the most difficult part of working full time with two small kiddos is the rushing around that happens in both the morning and the evening. Try as we might, there just seems to be no avoiding it due to our schedules and trying to ensure everyone gets enough rest. Dinners during the week are thrown together quickly and are usually easy standbys simply because we know we can get them made in half an hour without thinking twice about it. Even using the crockpot during the week can be difficult because so many recipes are done in 8 hours and I need something that is more like 10-12 hours.

Because of our time constraints, the weekend tends to be the time when we have the most fun with food or branch out and try new things. With that in mind, we decided to make pizza because we figured it would be a good meal that Enzo could help prepare and be involved in.

Using my tried and true Weelicious cookbook, I made a fantastic veggie pizza sauce and really great pizza dough. I may alter them a bit next time, so I’ll share the recipe once I do that. Catherine’s recipes have always been a hit in our house, though, and great for our entire family. It’s not always easy to convince a toddler to try something new… or sometimes even old favorites for that matter.

One area in my own life in which I need more patience, however, is when Enzo is assisting in the kitchen. So often it’s just easier to do it myself (as well as less messy and time consuming), but he gets so excited when I ask him if he wants to help me make something. He runs over to grab a chair from the kitchen table and pushes it over to the island so he can climb up and assist me in pouring and mixing ingredients. I try not to turn my back too long as Enzo is known to stick his fingers in everything and loves the way flour goes everywhere when you stir it really fast.

Anyway, I digress. The pizza was a hit in terms of constructing it, but Josh and I were the only ones who really ate it. Enzo had eyes only for pepperoni.

Week 23

Yeah, another week without an official belly shot. Saturday morning I had to run errands and when I returned we just got a little busy doing stuff around the house, and then Sunday morning we decided to go to the zoo, and would have taken a picture before leaving, except we were in a hurry to get the little man in the car as he (and I) were both cranky. Thankfully a day at the zoo was just what we needed, but I’ll do a separate post for that.

As for the wee girl, though – her kicks are becoming more and more noticeable as time progresses, and I forgot how wonderful it feels to be able to feel those movements so strongly, and with my hand. Sure, sometimes it’s uncomfortable – when she’s feet down and it’s late at night or as I sit at my desk, but it’s so much fun at the same time. Less than 4 months to go and then we’ll welcome our little lady into the world.

Meanwhile, I’ve been doing a lot of baking and cooking this past weekend. I decided to try out some veggie pancakes that included zucchini and carrots, and we all really enjoyed them – almost like zucchini bread in pancake form once I tweak the recipe I found online a bit.

Then Enzo and I made banana bread – I went with a healthier version than I usually do so that it was a tad more nutritious for Enzo to munch on as well.

I think his favorite part was helping to mash the bananas, which isn’t too surprising. He only flung a few forkfuls. 😉

I’ve definitely been on more of a baking/cooking kick lately, which probably isn’t a bad thing. I also made a big batch of chili this weekend, but alas, Enzo was only interested in the kidney beans. We have a hard time getting him to eat anything that has too much “sauce.” I guess it’s too messy for him since he still hasn’t mastered the fork, and hasn’t shown much interest in doing so lately. Ah well, all in good time.

On will power… and whether or not I have any

I’ve decide, on a whim really, to give up a few things for the month of March to see if it makes a difference or not in my physical/mental wellbeing. If I was smart, I would have done this during February when there are only 28 days. Oh hindsight.

So… the list isn’t quite complete yet, but the big cuts are sugar, especially in the form of candy. I don’t think a day goes by when I don’t have some sort of chocolate or super sugary treat, so this is going to be a hard one. Included in this is soda, which should be less hard since I haven’t been drinking it very often.

I should give up caffeine, but haven’t yet decided whether or not to do that, but since this is the last day of February should probably make that call. I suppose it would save me some extra cash since it’s sort of become a Monday routine to stop for local coffee. Ooh, this could be tricky. I didn’t even completely give up caffeine while I was pregnant. Maybe I’ll just switch to tea since that has a lot less caffeine.

I’m also going to go without booze for the month, which should be easy since I did that while I was pregnant.

It probably sounds really easy to give up things like sugar for a month, but I’m already dreading it, especially since Dove came out with these amazing Cocount Creme eggs.

I am hoping I’ll experience some good changes, though, as I’ve just been tired and blah lately, and while I’ve added some good things to my diet, it doesn’t mean they counteract all the sugar and crap I also put into my body on a daily basis. I’m really just curious to see if I actually notice anything different in my mood and energy by doing away with extra sugar and caffeine, so we’ll see what we see!

Munchkin Meals: 9 Months

The internet is so helpful in terms of finding food ideas that work for our entire family. I hadn’t realized just how often Josh and I used to eat processed foods or take out and a lot of that was not stuff I’d want Enzo to eat. Thankfully I’ve found blogs like A Healthy Slice of Life and I’m linking up with her for her Munchkin Series.

Enzo really isn’t a big eater, so we try not to give him too much solid food since he still gets most of his nutrients from formula.

Because Enzo is at day care 5 days a week, he usually eats Breakfast there. Generally I’ll pick something fast and easy and often combine it with something we made over the weekend or more often he’ll eat oatmeal combined with fruit – he’s gotten so good with feeding himself with a spoon, though he still needs someone to load it for him. 😉 His latest favorite is grapes for breakfast, and bluberries, and we often do a banana when I’m in a hurry. He’s also still a big fan of kiwi and mango. As far as other go-to breakfast foods right now, omelets are a good one as well as whole wheat blueberry pancakes and toast with a little cream cheese or pureed fruit spread.

Lunch is often harder for me to get creative with, so a lot of the time it’s some leftovers from the previous night’s dinner. He still enjoys broccoli, green beans, and sweet potato fries, and he’s been enjoying black beans and rice (we did burritos the other night). Pasta is also a great go-to tossed with olive oil and some parmesan cheese and a veggie. His favorite meat seemed to be chicken… that is until last night.

For dinner we try to do a balanced meal with a veggie or two and some protein. We’ve been doing a lot of chicken since that’s my favorite and was Enzo’s. Josh also made burgers the other night, and cooked up some mini patties for Enzo to eat. Last night, however, we made salmon and had some mixed veggies (corn, carrots, and green beans). We started him out with a small serving, not sure how it would go, but the kid scarfed down the salmon! He LOVED it. I waited to give him more until he had some veggies because as soon as we dropped more salmon on his tray, he’d drop whatever veggie was in his hand and immediately go for the fish. I’ve never seen the kid eat so much before in one sitting! It was awesome to see him enjoy it so much.

Time to step it up a notch since apparently we’ve been boring him!

Dino and Bunnies

Every day adventures