We have had visitors in town for the last three days. It was wonderful. The baby had a playmate, and I got to have an adult conversation during the day.
But we're back to a normal, slow day of lots of books, peek-a-boo and simple meals.
Excessively simple meals. Because we're trying to figure out if we have food allergies on our hands now.
The baby has had break-outs around her mouth off and on for the last month or so. Two doctors have already said that it doesn't look like a food allergy to them, but we're taking her to a specialist on Monday. She has no other symptoms. BUT we figured it couldn't hurt to try to limit certain things - gluten, eggs, dairy - and use goat milk instead, etc.
So the Month of The Chicken is postponed. At least for now. It's not the time for us to be trying all sorts of new dishes, introducing new ingredients. And I don't make completely separate dishes for the baby; we basically eat this same foods. It's too complicated to do otherwise for a sustained period of time.
I'm sad. It was going to be fun. I had a ton of recipes planned out.
But it's for the best - we really should get to the bottom of this. And whether or not it's food related, having a simple diet will at least help when the doctors start to ask us a bunch of questions.
We'll just have A Month of The Super Simple Crockpot meals. :-) It will be August, after all. Best to not turn the oven on.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Well, it was not just teething...
This time it actually was something else: strep throat.
Thankfully, Will and I have dodged it so far. And she's doing better on an antibiotic.
But WHEW! Thank goodness for simple chickpea curries in the crockpot. This mother has been quite tired; even when she sleeps, I find myself not being able to relax because I worry.
Thankfully, Will and I have dodged it so far. And she's doing better on an antibiotic.
But WHEW! Thank goodness for simple chickpea curries in the crockpot. This mother has been quite tired; even when she sleeps, I find myself not being able to relax because I worry.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Poor little lady...
The baby just doesn't do so well with teething. She gets these awful fevers (103 at times!!) and we've taken her in to the doctor (and the ER) before only to be told that it's nothing but the teething, and if she doesn't have other symptoms and we can manage the fever at home, keep her at home.
It doesn't help that today is well over a hundred degrees outside. Thank goodness for central A/C!
But we had another tough night. She woke up very early this morning and was crying, so we immediately gave her medicine to help with the fever... and then she proceeded to shake in my arms until the medicine finally kicked in and the chills went away as the fever went down. It's just awful watching her like that, but once the fever goes down, she's happy, giggling, playing, etc.
I hear of some babies that hardly have any problems with teething, but that's certainly not our baby. It really is tough on her.
And again, I'm thankful today that we didn't have the song and dance of "who stays home, can we send her to daycare, oh crap I have a meeting, can you postpone that, no I can't, shoot I need to work late and I have a deadline, can I have the car, no I need it, what if she needs to come home from daycare, i can't pick her up, well but you're closer, but i always have to do it and my boss is getting upset even though he's not saying anything, maybe I can take the conference call from the car on the drive home if she's not crying?"
I don't know how people do it. Especially people like us - who have no extended family in the area that they can just call up and have watch a sick kid on a last minute's notice. We have several people that we can call in an emergency that would take the baby for as long as needed, but nobody who we could call to take her on just a day when she's a little under the weather.
What do you do when the baby is sick? And then what do you do to get caught up on work (especially difficult as a breastfeeding mom who has to figure out when/where to pump and constantly make sure the babies has enough bottled milk where ever she is!) And how do you BOTH not fall behind at work and subsequently get cranky with one another because BOTH of you feel as if you are compromising your job performance... which is ultimately NOT good for the family. (someone needs to be gainfully employed, after all!)
I don't know what you do, which is why I quit my job. I never did figure it out, even though we tried SO GOSH DARN HARD.
But I know what we do now: we focus on getting the baby better and there's no discussion anymore - I have the car because Will walks to work, and I drop whatever else I had planned for the day (that wasn't really important anyways) and take care of the baby.
Poor thing. These molars will eventually be done coming in, right?
It doesn't help that today is well over a hundred degrees outside. Thank goodness for central A/C!
But we had another tough night. She woke up very early this morning and was crying, so we immediately gave her medicine to help with the fever... and then she proceeded to shake in my arms until the medicine finally kicked in and the chills went away as the fever went down. It's just awful watching her like that, but once the fever goes down, she's happy, giggling, playing, etc.
I hear of some babies that hardly have any problems with teething, but that's certainly not our baby. It really is tough on her.
And again, I'm thankful today that we didn't have the song and dance of "who stays home, can we send her to daycare, oh crap I have a meeting, can you postpone that, no I can't, shoot I need to work late and I have a deadline, can I have the car, no I need it, what if she needs to come home from daycare, i can't pick her up, well but you're closer, but i always have to do it and my boss is getting upset even though he's not saying anything, maybe I can take the conference call from the car on the drive home if she's not crying?"
I don't know how people do it. Especially people like us - who have no extended family in the area that they can just call up and have watch a sick kid on a last minute's notice. We have several people that we can call in an emergency that would take the baby for as long as needed, but nobody who we could call to take her on just a day when she's a little under the weather.
What do you do when the baby is sick? And then what do you do to get caught up on work (especially difficult as a breastfeeding mom who has to figure out when/where to pump and constantly make sure the babies has enough bottled milk where ever she is!) And how do you BOTH not fall behind at work and subsequently get cranky with one another because BOTH of you feel as if you are compromising your job performance... which is ultimately NOT good for the family. (someone needs to be gainfully employed, after all!)
I don't know what you do, which is why I quit my job. I never did figure it out, even though we tried SO GOSH DARN HARD.
But I know what we do now: we focus on getting the baby better and there's no discussion anymore - I have the car because Will walks to work, and I drop whatever else I had planned for the day (that wasn't really important anyways) and take care of the baby.
Poor thing. These molars will eventually be done coming in, right?
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Heatwave + Crabby Baby = leftover night
Nothing cooking tonight. And that's probably for the best, since all of my Pyrex is currently housing leftovers from the many meals of the past week.
The Thai Curry last night was tasty! Very, very tasty! I doubled the amount of chili paste in the recipe, because I live dangerously like that. It was spicy and that was probably good, because it made us drink a lot of water. The baby had none of it - it was just too spicy for her.
Overall, we probably liked the Indian Curry better, though we still very much enjoyed the Thai Curry. I think the Indian Curry will end up being a staple in my meal rotations, and I think it would also be good if you left the chicken out and plopped an extra sweet potato in there - so I have a another gluten and soy free vegan standby for when our vegan friends come over for dinner that Will and I can also enjoy.
And it is HOT here. Like dangerously so. The news keeps telling us about it. So we are inside for the rest of the afternoon (when we're not picking up our new - hopefully not wilted - CSA veggies) because I am A HUGE WUSS when it comes to the heat.
or the cold. or too much sun. or too much rain.
i know. i am difficult.
ANYWAYS, the baby is cutting yet another molar. Or maybe it's the same one. In any case, we're fussy and crabby and FINALLY down for our nap. Beyond searching for a few more chicken recipes for my upcoming challenge or contemplating the meal plan for next week, I'm just milling about the house and trying hard not to snack out of boredom.
...which is actually easier to do at home because my darn overly-thoughtful co-workers were oh-so-good at bringing in doughnuts or cookies or ice cream or all sorts of snacks and leaving them dangerously close to my desk...
Happy Thursday to you all!
The Thai Curry last night was tasty! Very, very tasty! I doubled the amount of chili paste in the recipe, because I live dangerously like that. It was spicy and that was probably good, because it made us drink a lot of water. The baby had none of it - it was just too spicy for her.
Overall, we probably liked the Indian Curry better, though we still very much enjoyed the Thai Curry. I think the Indian Curry will end up being a staple in my meal rotations, and I think it would also be good if you left the chicken out and plopped an extra sweet potato in there - so I have a another gluten and soy free vegan standby for when our vegan friends come over for dinner that Will and I can also enjoy.
And it is HOT here. Like dangerously so. The news keeps telling us about it. So we are inside for the rest of the afternoon (when we're not picking up our new - hopefully not wilted - CSA veggies) because I am A HUGE WUSS when it comes to the heat.
or the cold. or too much sun. or too much rain.
i know. i am difficult.
ANYWAYS, the baby is cutting yet another molar. Or maybe it's the same one. In any case, we're fussy and crabby and FINALLY down for our nap. Beyond searching for a few more chicken recipes for my upcoming challenge or contemplating the meal plan for next week, I'm just milling about the house and trying hard not to snack out of boredom.
...which is actually easier to do at home because my darn overly-thoughtful co-workers were oh-so-good at bringing in doughnuts or cookies or ice cream or all sorts of snacks and leaving them dangerously close to my desk...
Happy Thursday to you all!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Recipe round-up!
I tried a bunch of new things this week. And another new thing is in the crockpot right now.
So here's the recap:
Monday:
I made this recipe from the crockpot blog that I really like.
And here's the verdict: it's decent.
And I hate beans. Like, really really really hate beans. There aren't many foods I hate as much as beans.
But I can't get over how cheap they are (even organic beans are cheap!) and how much fiber they have and how much nutrition they pack. And Will needs a lot of food to feel full every day, and he's always bugging me to make stuff like this for him so he doesn't feel badly for eating so much expensive meat and fruits/veggies/etc.
So I made it. And I even willingly ate it. (The baby also had about a dozen bites. She doesn't appear to love beans, but she will eat them.)
It's best with some hot sauce, as the actual recipe isn't too spicy, but I think I shall make this again. Will loved it.
I also made chicken legs with yogurt and vindaloo curry sauce that night, which was, of course, beyond delicious. And another apple-sort-of-dessert-but-not-really (mostly just spiced apples).
And Tuesday (yesterday):
Chicken curry in the crockpot! It's a Rachael Ray recipe that she gave to the crockpot Mom.
This was DELICIOUS. The baby even ate it - mostly the sweet potato, but also a decent amount of "organzo garbonic" (my exhausted, two glasses of wine-induced pronunciation of organic garbanzo beans that will never, ever be forgotten by my husband) and she even ate some green bell pepper!
Tonight we're having company, and I made the Thai crockpot curry recipe that Rachael Ray gave to the crockpot Mom. It smells delicious. (And I've always been interested in learning how to make more Thai foods - I even bought the fish sauce so I'm prepared to try more now!)
And anyways, beyond that, we're just settling into a nice routine here. I am making yogurt in my yogurt maker right now (actually, I dumped the ingredients in the yogurt maker. The yogurt maker is now making yogurt, not me.) and the baby and I will probably play outside in the shade when she wakes up from her nap.
Will continues to work way too many hours (went to bed at midnight and got up at 4 AM - who DOES that, anyways?!?) but our daily life is much less hectic, so it's allowing him the opportunity to really focus on work, which he needs to do right now. I try to just pack his bag full of good food every morning, which is fairly easy because I keep cramming my crockpots full of yummy goodness.
.... dinner smells AMAZING.
So here's the recap:
Monday:
I made this recipe from the crockpot blog that I really like.
And here's the verdict: it's decent.
And I hate beans. Like, really really really hate beans. There aren't many foods I hate as much as beans.
But I can't get over how cheap they are (even organic beans are cheap!) and how much fiber they have and how much nutrition they pack. And Will needs a lot of food to feel full every day, and he's always bugging me to make stuff like this for him so he doesn't feel badly for eating so much expensive meat and fruits/veggies/etc.
So I made it. And I even willingly ate it. (The baby also had about a dozen bites. She doesn't appear to love beans, but she will eat them.)
It's best with some hot sauce, as the actual recipe isn't too spicy, but I think I shall make this again. Will loved it.
I also made chicken legs with yogurt and vindaloo curry sauce that night, which was, of course, beyond delicious. And another apple-sort-of-dessert-but-not-really (mostly just spiced apples).
And Tuesday (yesterday):
Chicken curry in the crockpot! It's a Rachael Ray recipe that she gave to the crockpot Mom.
This was DELICIOUS. The baby even ate it - mostly the sweet potato, but also a decent amount of "organzo garbonic" (my exhausted, two glasses of wine-induced pronunciation of organic garbanzo beans that will never, ever be forgotten by my husband) and she even ate some green bell pepper!
Tonight we're having company, and I made the Thai crockpot curry recipe that Rachael Ray gave to the crockpot Mom. It smells delicious. (And I've always been interested in learning how to make more Thai foods - I even bought the fish sauce so I'm prepared to try more now!)
And anyways, beyond that, we're just settling into a nice routine here. I am making yogurt in my yogurt maker right now (actually, I dumped the ingredients in the yogurt maker. The yogurt maker is now making yogurt, not me.) and the baby and I will probably play outside in the shade when she wakes up from her nap.
Will continues to work way too many hours (went to bed at midnight and got up at 4 AM - who DOES that, anyways?!?) but our daily life is much less hectic, so it's allowing him the opportunity to really focus on work, which he needs to do right now. I try to just pack his bag full of good food every morning, which is fairly easy because I keep cramming my crockpots full of yummy goodness.
.... dinner smells AMAZING.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Month of the Chicken!
Well, we have less than two weeks left in July. Which means I'm hard at work (well, not really. but I am talking about it a lot) on my August 2011 challenge: make a chicken dish every day.
A year seemed like a bit much. (We like chicken, but not that much. And I can't expect to take over my sister-in-law's kitchen come the holidays. So a month seemed just right.)
Now, I'm not just going to do standard crockpot recipes or take the easy way out.
I really want to learn how to cook chicken. Like, really cook it. (Spoiler alert: there may or may not be some Julia Child recipes in the mix already.) And we'll be using all different parts of the chicken.
This should be fun. I'm excited about this. Will is excited, too, even though I told him I probably won't be cooking any other time of the day, and he might have to eat cold cereal or chicken leftovers for breakfast. He was okay with that.
I fully expect some flops or some mistakes in the kitchen. That's okay. I'll be brutally honest about the recipes and the mistakes that I made that sent us to the phone to call for delivery. I promise to take pictures and post them daily, but only if you promise not to mock my photography skills.
(please. no mocking.)
August 1, here we come!
A year seemed like a bit much. (We like chicken, but not that much. And I can't expect to take over my sister-in-law's kitchen come the holidays. So a month seemed just right.)
Now, I'm not just going to do standard crockpot recipes or take the easy way out.
I really want to learn how to cook chicken. Like, really cook it. (Spoiler alert: there may or may not be some Julia Child recipes in the mix already.) And we'll be using all different parts of the chicken.
This should be fun. I'm excited about this. Will is excited, too, even though I told him I probably won't be cooking any other time of the day, and he might have to eat cold cereal or chicken leftovers for breakfast. He was okay with that.
I fully expect some flops or some mistakes in the kitchen. That's okay. I'll be brutally honest about the recipes and the mistakes that I made that sent us to the phone to call for delivery. I promise to take pictures and post them daily, but only if you promise not to mock my photography skills.
(please. no mocking.)
August 1, here we come!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Shhhhhhh......
All three crackpots are full, bubbling away with dinner. Will post tomorrow with the results.
The baby is napping.
Shhhh...... instead of cleaning and paying bills, I'm napping today, too.
The baby is napping.
Shhhh...... instead of cleaning and paying bills, I'm napping today, too.
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