Heather Bakes

That’s What She Said…

Story Time February 9, 2010

Filed under: February 2010 — heatherwlu @ 4:21 am
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The theme of the day was LEFTOVERS. For those of you who come to our Superbowl party next year: No matter what I tell you at the time, you are only allowed to bring raw veggies, fruit trays and multigrain crackers. Oh, and pigs in a blanket because I don’t like those. My postpartum ass (literally) can’t handle another year of this deliciousness.

(I did end up sending the cupcakes, 7-layer bars and brownie bites to work with Brian today, so I guess that’s progress…)

Anyway, Jack was a good little boy and slept until almost 10:30 this morning. He probably didn’t end up really falling asleep until almost 11 last night, and then was up again at 5 and then at 8 to eat. We were both pretty partied out, I think.

THIS is evidence of why I can’t be trusted. I give you breakfast:

That’s right. Leftover cobbler. Eaten out of the tupperware. *Shame*

We have at least half a pig’s worth of pulled pork in our fridge right now, so lunch was a nice little sandwich with that and some Stubb’s BBQ sauce on an Oroweat thin, along with crudite and leftover crack dip.

So I’ve told you how Jack likes to watch TV, right? Well this is how Brian and I were able to enjoy a quiet dinner tonight:

What’s he watching? One Tree Hill. I kid you not. As Brian put it, “Jack loves his ’stories’.”

I’m glad to see that he got his mother’s stellar taste in television programming.

Dinner was yet MORE pork. I swear, it’s like the loaves and fishes. Every time I look in the fridge, the tupperware is full again. This time I changed it up a bit (watch out!) but having it on a baked potato with sour cream, cheddar and scallions.

And yeah. Buffalo chicken dip again. It’s just THAT good.

Ever since Jack was born, I’ve been wanting a new initial necklace. Because that’s why you have kids, right? To get more bling? Anyway, I finally ordered one (from my favorite jewelry site):

Isn’t it sweet? A tiny “J” and his birthstone- blue topaz. Blue like his sweet little eyes. I’m never taking it off.

Alright, time for more cobbler. Peace.

 

Super Bowl February 8, 2010

Filed under: February 2010 — heatherwlu @ 5:04 am
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Big, busy weekend!

First off, the pediatrician recommended that we start trying to transition Jack to the crib. We decided to wait until the weekend so that we could sleep “late” if it took a while to get him down. Well… Friday night we put him down around 9:30 and then kept having to go in and sit next to the crib every few minutes until he finally fell asleep around midnight. Same story Saturday night. Tonight he’s been asleep for the past 3o minutes so let’s keep our fingers crossed!! Anyway, Chloe couldn’t be happier because now that Jack’s out of our room, she’s back in bed with us.

He’s getting TOO BIG. My baby is 2 months already! Compare:

He’s definitely sitting up better. Such a sweet little man.

On Friday night I decided to try recipe #3 from the Rachael Ray Big Orange Cookbook: Popeye Risotto with Beefy Balsamic Mushrooms (Why does she have to pick the dumbest names???? Just call it spinach risotto with sauteed mushrooms. I mean, really?). It’s basically a standard risotto mixed with a “pesto” made from spinach, pine nuts, olive oil and parmesan. Then you saute sliced portabella mushrooms with garlic and deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar.  The risotto is topped with the mushrooms and more parm.

Look at how GREEN it turned out:

Risotto is probably my favorite dish to make. All of the stirring is kind of meditative and relaxing… but you’re pretty much tied to the stove for a good 30 minutes, so make sure someone is there to entertain your 2 month old :) My only problem with this recipe is that it uses too damn many dishes. Food processor for the pesto (and we all know what a pain THAT is to clean), saucepan for the warmed broth, skillet for the risotto, another skillet for the mushrooms. Not the easiest clean up.

But it tasted great and we have lots of leftovers. I think Mrs. Ray sadly underestimates the amount of time it takes to cook the risotto- probably to keep it within the 30 minute time frame. The whole process took me an hour. I like the incorporation of spinach. It kind of reminded me of a fancy version of that classic broccoli-rice-cheese casserole.

Saturday’s meals were a turkey sandwich from Great Outdoors and the Gringo Enchiladas from Mariano’s.

Tonight we had our annual Superbowl party. I really couldn’t give a flip about football, but I love having everyone over to our tiny house!! Seriously, we had 24 people crammed in our little living room at one point. Luckily our friends are awesome and don’t mind snuggling.

FOOOOOOOOOD.

It was ridiculous. Pulled pork sliders, Little Smokies, pigs in a blanket, Society Bakery cupcakes (Colts only- apparently they were out of Saints), lots of cheese, buffalo chicken dip, bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, ravioli, queso, sausage, veggies, cinnamon pastries, crab dip… I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff. Everyone reading this is officially invited over for leftovers. Our fridge is stuffed.

The kiddos were perfect. Well, Jack was a little fussy- Julie gave me a break and wore him around for a while.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I’m going to let Brian clean the kitchen now… kidding, kidding. Maybe.

 

Well Okay Then February 5, 2010

Filed under: February 2010 — heatherwlu @ 4:40 am
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It’s funny how sometimes when you’re feeling sorry for yourself, life gives you a swift kick in the ass to remind you that you’ve got it pretty good. Yesterday was ROUGH. Jack and I were both in tears. I called Brian to vent to him about how nothing was calming Jack down (remember? eating lunch while pacing around the house with him in the Bjorn?) and how frustrated I was, blah blah blah. Whine whine whine.

Well. Today was much better. I heard Jack stirring in his swing this morning (yes, he still sleeps in the swing) and peeked over the foot of the bed to see if he was up… only to be greeted with the biggest, sweetest grin you’ve ever seen. Suddenly getting out of bed was MUCH easier.

Then this afternoon we headed to the mall with my mom. I didn’t need anything at all, but it’s been so gross out and getting out of the house was a good thing. While Gina went in one of her “mom” stores, Jack and I hung out on a bench. Right after sitting down, an older couple (maybe in their 80’s) walks up. The wife headed into the store and the man sat down beside me.

He and I started talking about Jack and his 4 kids and dozen grandkids. He told me that when his first child was born in 1953, he wasn’t allowed in the delivery room OR in the hospital room when the baby was present. So I asked him when he was finally able to hold his daughter. He said, “When we brought her home. I remember the first time I held her. It was magical; my fingers were tingling!“

Oh man. I thought I was going to start bawling in the middle of the mall.

And THEN this evening I was browsing through some blogs and came across this one.

Brian used to say that I had two emotions: HAPPY or ANGRY. Well, let’s just say that having Jack has changed that. I’m a big, sappy dork now. And today made me acknowledge the fact that my precious baby Jack won’t be tiny for long (he’s already growing out of his 0-3 month clothes!) so I just need to live in the moment and enjoy every minute of it. Even- especially?- the 4am feedings.

Okay, now that’s out of my system…

Breakfast was a sad little sandwich: Crunchy PB and blueberry jam on an Oroweat Sandwich Thin.

For lunch we met my mom at Souper Salad. My usual giant salad, along with tomato-basil soup.

Lauren and I didn’t realize that Robert and Brian were having lunch today and made plans to meet for dinner at Matt’s. So Brian and Bobby Dubbs got lots of bonding time today! How special. For dinner I had the Tacos al Carbon with one chicken taco and one beef… couldn’t make up my mind.

Mmmmm, guacamole…

Okay, I need your help:

SURVEY TIME!!!

What would you make/are you making for the Superbowl??

I need ideas!

 

Tummy Time February 4, 2010

Filed under: February 2010 — heatherwlu @ 5:16 am
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Poor Jack. First he wakes up not feeling great because of yesterday’s immunizations, then Gia comes over and forces him into tummy time:

(Don’t let this photo fool you…He HATES tummy time. Meltdown imminent in t-5 seconds.)

Breakfast was plain yogurt topped with Kashi, blueberries and honey.

Sorry for the repetitive breakfasts (bad, food blogger, BAD) but I’m trying to use up the blueberries before they spoil.

Lunch was the last of the Sweet and Sauer Soup. Very sad that it’s gone. It definitely got better after the first day.

Oh, and a Morningstar Farms Chick Patty on an Oroweat Sandwich Thin with spinach, mayo and mustard.

As soon as I finished making lunch, Jack woke up from his nap and started wailing. I tried to put him down on his play mat but he was having none of it. SO lunch was eaten walking around the house with Jack strapped into the Baby Bjorn. The Bjorn is my last resort whenever he won’t settle down, but unfortunately I have to stay in constant motion while he’s in it or he freaks.

It’s Jack’s world; I just live here.

Tonight was my monthly book club meeting. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy these- not only is it a great group of girls, but it forces me to actually read something besides Us Weekly. This month’s book was The Help. SUCH a great read! Probably the best one I’ve read since The Time Traveler’s Wife. It’s a little long but I couldn’t put it down.

Dinner was a combination BBQ/Valentine’s theme:

The May family’s newest addition (the dog, not Lauren):

Rosie George. Doesn’t she look like she belongs in a Cottonelle commercial?

So Jack and Brian had a boys’ night at home, and it looks like it was a pretty wild evening:

Watch out.

 

Cookbooks Galore February 3, 2010

Filed under: February 2010 — heatherwlu @ 3:40 am
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Today was Jack’s 2 month doctor’s appointment… which means 2 month SHOTS… which means both Jack and mama were freaking out. Poor kid. He seems to be doing okay, though. We gave him some infant Tylenol and he was all smiles again during his bath. Too bad we have another round of the immunizations at 4 months :(

Yesterday Newflower had Chobani on sale for $0.99, and they even had my new favorite flavor- pineapple!! So breakfast this morning was pineapple Greek yogurt topped with blueberries and Kashi Toasted Berry Crumble.

It was an interesting flavor combo.

Jack and I headed to the mall after his morning nap. He was a great little shopped and smiled at me while I ate lunch in the food court… Which Wich with hummus and veggies:

My little lunch buddy.

And I ended up buying some new shoes that I’ve been eyeing for a while. They’re soooo comfy and will hopefully replace the 8-year old Wallabies that I’ve been wearing since college.

Okay, so as for the special project I mentioned yesterday:

I have tons and tons of cookbooks that I NEVER use. See?

Out of laziness, I usually end up just looking at recipes online, even though I have all of these great resources sitting on the shelf. So, my goal is to pick a cookbook every week/two weeks/month (depending on the book) and choose recipes exclusively from that book.

First up? Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book.

On Sunday I cooked my first recipe from this: Sweet and Sauer Soup (read about it here). Tonight I made the Cold Chicken Satay Noodles.

This recipe is super simple to make. The sauce is a mixture of peanut butter, sriracha, garlic, honey, soy sauce, lime juice and oil (I used mostly vegetable with a little sesame). Then you just toss in whole wheat noodles, rotisserie chicken, spinach and peanuts. I also added shredded carrots.

In order to give this time to chill, I prepared it last night and then stuck it in the fridge. It seemed pretty dry tonight, so we went ahead and heated it up in the microwave. I also topped it with more lime juice, sriracha and Italian parsley.

Not bad, but I’m not sure that I’ll make it again.  It’s a little bland.

I have several more recipes lined up from this cookbook, and since I usually only cook 3 times per week or so (bad bad bad) and we have a lot going on this week in particular- I’ll probably stick with this book for at least a couple of weeks.

Hope everyone had a great day!

 

Words With Friends February 2, 2010

Filed under: January 2010 — heatherwlu @ 4:24 am
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Guess what? Jack slept 8 HOURS in a row last night. EIGHT. That’s like a full night’s sleep… too bad I was a dumbass and stayed up until 11:30. I need to learn to go to sleep when he does. But it’s all good. He woke up to eat around 5:45 and then went right back to sleep for a bit. The days of waking up every two hours seem so far away (not really).

He was up at 9 and hung out on his playmat for a while, so I took advantage of his being distracted for 5 minutes and made myself breakfast:

Blackberry yogurt topped with fresh blueberries and Kashi Go Lean Toasted Berry Crumble.  I had a Kashi coupon and managed to score this cereal for like $1.50 or so at Target. It’s actually pretty good. I used to eat Go Lean Crunch EVERY DAY in college and got pretty burned out on it. Maybe I should give it another shot?

After breakfast Jack and I headed to Newflower for a few groceries. I’m working on a blog “project” that I’ll tell you about tomorrow night *sneaky sneaky* and had to grab some supplies. I still have an undying love for Newflower, but it’s annoying that their carts are too small for Jack’s carseat (see also, Buy Buy Baby- WTF?). So anyway, Jack happily hung out in the Baby Bjorn. It worked out fine until I had to unload the cart… you can’t exactly bend forward when you have a baby hanging off of you. Luckily a nice Newflower employee gave me a hand.

For lunch I heated up some of last night’s leftover soup while The Senator took his afternoon snooze. On the side are some Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Chips.

This afternoon my mom came over and hung out with Jack so I could go for a run. It was COLD… but still great to actually get out there and sweat for a while. I can’t wait until Jack’s old enough to ride in a jog stroller.

My brother and his fiance are looking at houses right now, so tonight we went with them to look at a couple of their favorites and then headed to Picasso’s for dinner. I had the pear and gorgonzola salad:

And then shared a pizza with spinach, artichokes and mushrooms. I had three pieces. But they were small pieces. So it’s okay.

Jack was a perfect little gentleman… for the first 30 minutes. Then he screamed like a banshee until we left.

Night!

(So Brian just started giggling like a little girl next to me on the couch. When I asked him what was so funny, he held up his iPhone to show me what was just played on Words With Friends:

TAINT.

Awesome.)

 

Who Done It February 1, 2010

Filed under: January 2010 — heatherwlu @ 4:05 am
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I may or may not have just finished watching the Duggar special… good god, that was emotional. Baaaaad idea.

Anyway…

Great weekend! It was pretty low-key, for the most part. I’ll give you the highlights.

Friday night we grabbed dinner at Peggy Sue BBQ in Highland Park. One of my favorite things to do before eating at a restaurant for the first (or second, in this case) time is to read the Yelp! reviews for recommendations on what to order. Two items consistently came up in the reviews: Jalapeno-Cheese Griddled Bread and Fried Pies.

So. We started with the bread:

Doesn’t look like anything special, right? It’s from Empire Baking Company and SO GOOD. Very crunchy-cheesy.

I had a salad and the Hoppin’ John (black eyed peas, rice and shredded pulled pork topped with caramelized onions).

Their salad bar is pretty old school, but I love that they have real spinach (not baby), fresh bacon and homemade dressings. And the Hoppin’ John is awesome… and less than $6!!!! I would order it for the onions alone.

So for dessert we split a cherry fried pie. I pictured one of those glazed gas station fried pies in the paper wrapper. Not so much. The outside of this almost tasted like a funnel cake- very soft and light. Very tasty. Next time I want to try the apricot.

(And by the way, sorry for the iPhone pics… I forgot my camera.)

Saturday was Mama’s (and Daddy’s) big night out. Lauren hosted a 1920’s themed murder mystery party at her house to celebrate her birthday. Brian was “Mayor Biggs” and I was his wife, Mabel. Do I look like a Mabel?

Other party pics. Don’t worry- the cigs are all props :)

So much fun! Thanks to my parents for babysitting. Jack said that he had a wonderful time and wants to do it again soon.

Finally, I tried quite an interesting recipe tonight. For some reason I pulled out Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book and realized that there are a LOT of recipes in there that I want to try. On the menu tonight was the “Sweet N Saur Cabbage Soup.” Okay, the ingredient list sounds… interesting: ham steak, cabbage, sauerkraut, honey, hash browns, dill, apple cider, white beans. Weird, right? But it works.

It definitely has a little tang to it, but the sauerkraut mellows out a lot during cooking. If you like German food, you’ll enjoy this soup. Next time I want to toss in some fennel seeds. Oh- and it makes a TON. It’s actually a pretty healthy- and inexpensive- dish.

So there’s our exciting weekend! Off to bathe Little Man and then catch up on laundry. Oh, the excitement never ends…

 

Take Cover January 29, 2010

Filed under: January 2010 — heatherwlu @ 3:55 am
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It is nasty outside. My mom watched Jack while I ran to Target today, and I seriously thought the roof was going to blow off the store. You know it’s a bad storm when you can hear the thunder inside Target. I hear we may be getting some ice, too.

Jack must be going through a growth spurt or something. Last night he slept for a 6-hour stretch, followed by a 4-hour stretch, then 2 more hours. I got him up at 9, fed him, then he immediately fell back asleep for an hour. I’m NOT complaining.

Breakfast was a whole wheat english muffin topped with crunchy PB and blueberry jam. Oh, and a ginormous apple.

For lunch Jack and I met my mom at El Fenix. I had the Combo Numero Dos, which is basically a chicken taco salad and tortilla soup.

I’m honestly not a huge El Fenix fan but their tortilla soup is really good. And I like the little rolls of mints that they sell next to the cash register. They taste like Pepto Bismol tablets (I secretly love Pepto Bismol tablets).

Jack fell asleep in the car and continued to nap for another hour and a half once we got home. I took advantage of the quiet by finishing our latest book club selection, The Help. I’m so sad to be finished with this book!! Now I need something else to read. Any suggestions?

Target had those Jennie-O preformed turkey burgers on sale, so that’s what we ended up having for dinner. I sprinkled them with seasoned salt and then cooked them on the stove in our grill pan. Honestly, they were pretty darn good for only 170 cals. They’re a little small but worked perfectly on an english muffin “bun.” Alongside I had some leftover tomato couscous and baby carrots.

Not the most exciting dinner, but at least it was pretty healthy.

A lot of people ask me how Chloe is doing with Jack. Sometimes I feel bad for her- like when he’s screaming his little head off and poor Chloe just lies on the couch and stares up at me with her sad pug eyes. But generally I think she really likes him. Whenever I’m holding him, she’ll come and snuggle up next to us on the couch and sniff at his ears. And Jack LOVES her. Her barking doesn’t phase him one bit, and whenever she sniffs at his face he breaks out in this huge grin. He’ll reach out and bat at her face from time to time. She takes it like a champ.

Jack’s finally started to enjoy his play mat, and he and Chloe have some good bonding time on there:

It’s amazing because she’ll (quite literally) walk all over Brian and me, but she’s SO careful around the baby- knock on wood. I think they’re going to be great friends.

So I was pretty sad to hear the news about J.D. Salinger today. He’s one of my favorite authors; Brian actually gave me a first edition of Franny and Zooey as a wedding gift. Actually, maybe I should re-read that for my next book selection.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

Keep On Keepin’ On January 28, 2010

Filed under: January 2010 — heatherwlu @ 4:05 am
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Howdy.

Today was really not very exciting. In fact, I think I only left the house one time. We’re really just trying to get Jack on some semblance of a schedule, so most of the day was dedicated to playing with him and then trying to get him to go down for a nap. We’ve got the morning nap down pretty well (an hour today- woohoo!) but he still refuses to sleep in the afternoons, when he actually NEEDS it. I tried to explain to him that in a few decades he’ll be begging for a nap so he should probably go ahead and take advantage of it now. Apparently he disagrees.

Breakfast this morning was blackberry yogurt (Yoplait) topped with granola and golden raisins.

Last week I ran across this soup at Whole Foods:

So I decided to give it a shot today. It’s technically 2 servings (100 cals each), but I went ahead and ate the whole carton.  Topped with cheddar and dried chives:

It definitely needed salt, but other than that the soup was delicious! I wish I’d had some bacon to crumble on top. Mmmmm, bacon…

My mom came over this afternoon and watched Jack while I went for a quick run. It was around 3 miles, and I can definitely tell a difference from my first run last week. Much easier, though I still get a few side stitches and random hip pains. Just need to keep it up.

Dinner was all about the sides: Tomato Couscous with Capers from Veganomicon and kale chips. I looooove this couscous. It’s kind of a pain to squeeze the tomato juice out of the diced tomatoes, but other than that it’s a really simple recipe. We were out of ground cloves so I substituted garam masala.

Also on the menu: Morningstar Farms Chick Patty on an english muffin with baby spinach, mustard and light mayo. Brian poo-poo’d the vegetarian dinner and fried him up a ham samich instead.

For some reason Jack always looks really funny when he’s being burped.

Nothing yet…

BRAAAAAAAAAAP

Much better.

Ahhhh, aren’t you glad I just shared that with you? He’s going to hate me for this when he’s older.

 

Dinner with Friends January 27, 2010

Filed under: January 2010 — heatherwlu @ 4:18 am
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The little red light on the DirectTV box is on, meaning that it’s recording the season finale of Teen Mom. I SO want to watch it right now, but Brian’s putting Jack to bed and I know he’ll make fun of me if he comes in and I’m watching it. That’s Jack and my Wednesday ritual. Get up, have a little visit, eat breakfast and watch Tivo’d Teen Mom. I’m raising that boy right.

Today wasn’t quite as sunshine and rainbows as yesterday. Jack was fusssss-y. The good news is that he took his longest nap yet- 45 minutes! The bad news is that when he wasn’t sleeping, he was crying.

Breakfast was an english muffin topped with SUPER CRUNCHY peanut butter and Central Market brand blueberry preserves, and a sliced honeycrisp.

After breakfast was nap time for Jack/email time for me. Then I strapped him into his carseat and we headed to Northpark. To be fair, he napped the entire time we were at the mall. In Jack’s world, movement = sleep. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone either held you or pushed you around in a stroller all day?

I didn’t get home until 3 and was starving for lunch. We have all kinds of random leftovers in the fridge. I ended up putting together a salad of mixed baby greens, julienned cucumbers, artichoke hearts, leftover skirt steak and Annie’s Woodstock.

Tonight Brian had a work thing. Jack and I met Joy and Chip for dinner at La Calle Doce. Yes, I do eat there all. the. time. I ordered the tacos de camaron. I love how they chop the shrimp and mix it with tomatoes and peppers, and the salad on the side (carrots, jicama and cucumbers) is delicious.

Yum yum yum.

Jack had fun visiting with Joy and Chip:

Off to bed. Hey, I haven’t done a survey question in a while:

What TV show are you embarrassed to admit that you watch??