And 24 hours later...

I'm not sure if it's the mochi ice cream or the shots in her legs, but Abby's lookin' good!

Temporarily Out of Order

Day 3 of illness (after a chest x-ray yesterday, we found the culprit for Abby's sickness to be pneumonia), I have learned the following things:

• I should have a thermometer in case a temperature needs to be taken (pretty amazing that I have two 2 1/2 year olds and I don't even know where a thermometer is - hooray for healthy babies)
• Abby is the best sick little one ever - she wants lots of Momma-holding and snuggling, but even 3 hours at doc's office didn't bring on the slightest of a melt-down
• Elise is a fabulous sister - I didn't actually just learn this over the course of the week, it was simply reinforced: kisses, "I love my sister", bringing favorite books or blankets when in need, and entertaining. As Gran coined, our little "energizer bunny" has been going... and going... and going

This pic pretty much sums up our days: Abby looking quite unlike herself in a sad-sort-of-way with her sister smiling, right by her side.

We'll be back up and running in no time!

100 Days of Real Food

While jumping from one blog to another, I came across 100 Days of Real Food. This blog journals a family's shift away from processed foods, transforming their diet to include "real food". I can't stop clicking and reading and clicking and reading. I'm going through our grocery list from yesterday, wondering what we may have purchased with more than 5 ingredients. And it feels good that all I can come up with is Barbara's Honey Rice Puffins (cereal). We spent $137 at the Merc, which included ALL food items (meaning no paper towels, toilet paper, etc...) and all but ONE item fell outside of this blogger's criteria for "real, whole food". 

I think a lot about the food we eat. Yes, I feed the girls PB&J sandwiches - but it's in the form of local, whole wheat bread, 100% pure fruit spread, and organic peanut butter that contains nothing but peanuts. Yes, we eat sweets - but I try my best to use whole wheat flour or honey in place of sugar (when I can). We also define "dessert" as anything extra after dinner, so it might be a nice little bowl of organic yogurt, flaxseeds, and some fresh organic blueberries. And yes, we indulge in foods that in no way, shape, or form meet the criteria of "healthy" (see here).

"Healthy" is a lifestyle for me, not a destination. I am not trying to reach some end-point at which I say "okay, now what?". Check out the website above. It's definitely given me some thinking-points this afternoon.

Stovetop Mac-n-Cheese

Used a pic from the web!

Pasta is not a regular at our table, much to John's dismay. I've never been a big pasta eater (despite several years of a spaghetti-loving roommate... sorry, Big Z!) and the girls aren't crazy about it either. Despite such mixed pasta-palates, we do fix it now and again because it's: a) easy; b) fast; c) super versatile; d) daddy likey.

Today for lunch, I used a Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese recipe that I found here. This little meal met requirements a, b, c, and d above, but I'll toss in an "e": tasty! Seriously, for a homemade mac-n-cheese, this is the best one I've had. Here's what I did (just slightly different from the original recipe):


Stovetop Mac-n-Cheese

• 6 oz or so of pasta - I bought some organic bulk mini vegetable shells
• 2 T organic unsalted butter
• 10 oz evaporated milk (2%)
• 2 organic eggs
• 8 oz (or so) shredded colby jack cheese
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• Cook pasta
• Whisk together evaporated milk, egg, salt, mustard powder
• Drain pasta; return pot to stove; add butter and hot pasta
• Stir in milk/egg mixture; add cheese
• Cook all over low or medium-low until creamy (I stress about raw stuff, so I kept the heat a bit higher just to make sure the egg wasn't an issue)

All-in-all, I thought this was quite a nice little Sunday lunch. The girls enjoyed it with some organic carrot and red pepper slices (with dip, of course!), organic cherry tomatoes, and a few organic strawberries for dessert! 

The obligatory Valentine's day post...

Yesterday was Valentine's day. Personally, I love it, for the following reasons:

• #1 I have a sweet tooth. 
• #2 I love making cards. 
• #3 I love getting mail. 
• #4 Flowers are beautiful. 
• #5 Random little presents in February make me happy (both giving and receiving).
• #6 I have a dear hubby who gave me flowers that satisfied both #'s 1 and 4 above.

So, my Valentine's baking consisted of cream-cheese frosting filled strawberries and mocha cupcakes with espresso buttercream frosting. Oh. my. sweet. sweet. tooth. Here's the rundown:

Filled Strawberries

• Cream cheese frosting of your choice (mine was simply cream cheese, powdered sugar, a little vanilla)
• Strawberries - washed, stems sliced off, and "X"s cut through from the pointy-end almost to the flat side, but not slicing through
• Sprinkles
• Melted chocolate for drizzling
• Holiday-colored M & Ms for garnish

Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting, as seen on My Baking Addiction. I'm not going to re-post the recipe, I'm just going to reiterate: Oh. my. sweet. sweet. tooth. I found the batter to be unusually runny for cupcakes, so as I waited impatiently for the timer to beep, I worried that my dessert masterpiece was already a flop. Wrong. Moist cupcakes with a hint of coffee, smothered in the richest espresso frosting you can imagine. Topped with dark chocolate-covered espresso beans - yes, please! I went running shortly after finishing these. And again the next day. Yet I feel like there is still buttercream frosting running through my veins.

Last, but far from least, you can see some tiny heart candies pictured above. These would be Petit Sour Hearts by Jelly Belly. My mom stumbled across them several years ago and gave them to me for this fine holiday of sugar. My mouth waters just thinking about them. They are, hands down, my favorite candy. Never, I tell you, never pass them up if you are lucky enough to stumble across them. (Thank you, Mom, for BOTH bags that you gave me this year.)

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all. Happy Valentine's Day to my life-loving baby girls. And Happy Valentine's Day to my wife-loving husband. I could definitely feel the love this year!

We got engaged on Valentine's Day 2006, married in Maui that July.

An anatomically correct Frosty... and a frog-bra

I stayed home sick yesterday. I was sick, Abby's been sick, we all have cabin fever, yada...yada...yada. I had an epic dinner fail amidst the illness (my attempt at a sweet potato and kale soup intended to boost all of our immune systems simply provided a mushy boost to the garbage disposal), so the girls' veggie consumption has been consisting primarily of juiced carrots and fresh kale smoothies. What I find so incredible, is that in the middle of the nose-blowing and 3 am coughing spells, while I feel like the synapses in my brain are in neutral, Abby and Elise's little minds are just going and going and going. Here's what I learned on my sick day:

• On a toddler, a bra makes a perfect Ergo, or as Elise coined it: "the frog-bra". Too bad she doesn't look pleased with her discovery.

• Frosty the Snowman has a vagina. Here is Abby's narrative while drawing a snowman using the cardboard circle stencils we just found: "Momma, I make a snowman. Circle, circle, circle, two eyes, carrot nose, mouth, arms, buttons, vagina."

Thank you, A & E, for making my sick day one that I'd absolutely do over again! And, as we approach the holiday of sweets, here's a super simple treat that I made for Super Bowl Sunday. 

Chocolate Pretzels

• Small pretzel twists ("O" shaped pretzels would be best, but I couldn't find any)
• Dark chocolate kisses (I read some places online that Rollos are an excellent substitution)
• Dark chocolate M & Ms
• Preheat oven to 275°
• Line baking sheet with parchment paper
• Cover with pretzels; place 1 chocolate kiss on top of each pretzel
• Bake for 2-3 minutes until chocolate softens
• Press 1 M & M down on each kiss, pushing the chocolate down into the pretzel
• Refrigerate for 5 minutes until set

The girls were enjoying 2 M & Ms each for dessert last night, when Elise asked "Abby, what you have?" (referring to the letter on her candy), to which Abby replied "M". Elise responded with "Oh, I got 'E'." I suppose a sideways M could be construed as an E, so yes, Elise, you got 'E' and yes, Abby, Frosty can have a vagina.

Peanut butter and Picasso

It is no secret that I'm proud of my girls. It is, however, rather amazing to me what they are capable of accomplishing. Their stories, their independence, their care and concern for one another (with an occasional push here or hair-pull there), and lately their drawings. Oh, their drawings! Yes, I am totally and 100% bragging. But I cannot hide my sheer astonishment with how quickly we have reached milestones like these:

Abby's "queen", with a crown on top 

Elise's person, with "cheeks" and a "chin"

Clearly that covers the "Picasso" portion of this post. Now onto the "peanut butter'. While trying to figure out something to do with leftover powdered milk from my holiday homemade hot chocolate, I stumbled across this recipe on Allrecipes for "Moonbeams". What a nice little toddler snack - easy for little hands to measure, pour, mix, and eat:

No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls:

• Not quite 1/2 C organic peanut butter
• 1/4 C Wheat germ
• 1/4 C unsweetened organic coconut
• 1/4 C powdered dry milk
• 1/4 C total local honey and organic agave combined (it may have been about 1/8 C of each)
• Mix all together
• Roll into balls
• Roll in wheat germ or coconut
• Next time: I think I'll do less honey/agave as they are plenty sweet AND I'm thinking these would be a delish adult snack covered in chocolate???

Roasted 'Tators and Beets

Side dishes are my weakness. I can put together a well-rounded, hearty, palate-pleasing main dish but then I look around thinking "what can I serve with this?". And, since I often put most of my effort into the bulk of the meal, the most appealing side dishes are the simplest.

Enter beets. I like beets, especially the pickled ones on a Wheatfield's salad. I've never bought, prepared, or served a beet... until this week. I found the color to be awesome, the taste was of high enough quality that I look forward to making beets again, and the simplicity was a bonus.

Oven-roasted Potatoes and Beets:

• 1 large organic sweet potato
• 2-3 medium sized organic purple potatoes
• 1 medium sized organic beet
• Wash, peel, and chop everything
• Coat with olive oil; sprinkle with kosher salt, pepper
• Roast at 400° until done (I completely spaced out watching the clock... maybe 25-30 minutes?)

Today was snow day #5 (total this winter, not in a row) and it was a good day to be home. The girlies are feeling a little under-the-weather, hence no grand sledding pics from the blizzard. They requested "porgie" ("porridge") for dinner, with blueberries, and got to see the big plow go up and down our street. Surely the porgie and plow-excitement will provide for a perked-up Thursday.