sara without an h

dinner.

today is cold. the kind of cold that makes one want to hibernate. we're talking negative lows and single-digit highs. i had planned to venture out to the store this afternoon to collect some ingredients for dinner. the frigid winter air quickly dashed those plans. we had very little food in our cupboard, but i managed to come up with something pretty delicious. i called it cheater's chili. i started with a jar of newman's own marinara, 2 cans of black beans (rinsed well), some white quinoa, and a cabinet full of freshly organized spices. i simmered the sauce and beans together for a few minutes while the quinoa cooked on a neighboring burner. to turn italian marinara into a chili base, i threw in a dash of anything usually at home in a chili. this included ancho chili powder, mexican oregano, cumin, dried cilantro, pre-made fajita seasoning, hot sauce, red wine vinegar (to cut the sweetness of the sauce), and a small pinch of cinnamon. the results were surprisingly delicious, especially topped with sour cream. i think this last ditch effort to avoid the cold air may just become a warming winter staple. sylvie had a leftover puree of pot roast vegetables (carrots, turnips, and potatoes.) this combination is her clear favorite so far. curried peas are a close second. as you can see, my sweet girl eats her meals in the buff. i'm a big fan of letting her get messy during meals, but was not digging the sudden increase in laundry. this way she gets to explore her food and build the coordination skills to feed herself, and we simply plop her in a bath afterward. messy meals make for the cutest pictures.

first foods.

tonight sylvie had her first vegetable puree--peas with garlic and sweet curry. she has been eating brown rice cereal once a day for the past two weeks. we added sweet curry powder to the brown rice cereal about a week ago. she LOVED it. we decided it was time to give something green a try. of course, we documented the occasion. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T2S-QHFqLw] once she got over the surprise of a new taste and texture she hungrily dove toward the spoon, mouth wide open. her positive reaction makes me so happy. we are attempting to raise an adventurous eater. i think the keys to this will be introducing bold flavors early and serving her what we eat. my plan from here on out is to feed her a pureed version of whatever we're having for dinner. we know she has slight allergy issues with dairy, but other than that nothing is off limits. everyone's having pot roast tomorrow! if there are other moms (or dads) out there attempting the same, i highly recommend you read hungry monkey: a food-loving father's quest to raise an adventurous eater by matthew amster-burton. i'm only 35 pages in and this book has already blown my mind in the best possible way. not only is the writing witty and insightful, it is also practical and includes dozen of recipes. i'm waiting on another book called my two-year-old eats octopus: developing children's palates so they'll love to eat everything by nancy tringali piho. i'll revue it once it gets here. hurry up amazon! they way i figure it babies grow up all over the world on the foods of their culture from the get go. babies in japan, zimbabwe, and argentina probably don't eat strained sweet potato for six straight months. they happily eat what is available. i hope the same for my child.

yum!

the first night of sharing our food with sylvie was a success! as i said in the last post, we had pot roast for dinner tonight. i took some of the carrots, red potatoes, and turnips out of the cooking liquid and pureed them with some vegetable broth and water. she LOVED it. oh my goodness, i could barely get the spoon away from her! after she ate all of it, she lifted her bib to her mouth and licked the rest up. hilarious! the first thing i learned from feeding sylvie solids is that she does NOT like bland food. when we started plain brown rice cereal she would barely finish a teaspoon of the stuff. so i tried a little experiment. i added a pinch of sweet curry powder to the mixture. she gobbled up almost 2 tablespoons of it right away. it was amazing to the see the difference a little flavor could make. from then on i was sold. the vegetables she had tonight were simmered for 3 hours in wine and broth with various herbs and spices. i'm hoping to work up to the point where i can just puree her food using the cooking liquid. i'm sticking with organic, sodium-free vegetable broth until she gets little older. so far my sweet girl has been a great little eater. i hope it stays that way through toddlerhood and beyond!

gluttons.

travis and i, like the rest of america, ate a disgusting amount of heavy food this past week. we are using this week to detox. today is day one of a nine day detox diet of our own devising. the diet plan is as follows: DAY ONE: no meat or eggs DAY TWO: no meat, eggs or dairy DAY THREE: no meat, eggs, dairy or grains DAYS FOUR-SIX: raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, etcetera ONLY DAY SEVEN: add grains DAY EIGHT: add dairy DAY NINE: add meat and eggs in addition to the restrictions above, we are also cutting out refined flours, sugars, caffeine, and alcohol for the duration of the diet. we are doing our best to eat all organic, as well. we ate vegetarian today, which isn't all that unusual for us. we both love meat, but i think we may like vegetables more. for lunch we ate at one of our favorite veg places in town. we both enjoyed different versions of tofu curry. for dinner we ate tuscan white bean and roasted garlic soup. i shredded some parmesan on top because i can't have cheese for a week starting tomorrow. i can't even recall a day when i've gone without cheese EVER. <3CHEESE<3 as a way of holding us accountable during this diet, i will post each day with our menus. i may even include a recipe or two! cooking is one of my very favorite activities. no matter how bad a day i've had, i know i am competent in the kitchen and can put a nice dinner on the table. would you like the recipe for the tuscan white bean and roasted garlic soup? i thought so. it's a mash-up of a few different recipes i stumbled across. TUSCAN WHITE BEAN AND GARLIC SOUP 4 cups of low sodium vegetable broth 4 cups of water 1 teaspoon each of dried rosemary, thyme and fennel seed 1-2 bay leaves 2 cans of organic great northern beans, drained and rinsed well 1 large baking potato, peeled and cubed 1 bunch of kale, ripped into bite-sized pieces 10-15 cloves of garlic, separated but not peeled sea salt and pepper to taste 1. Pour all of the water and vegetable broth into a 6 quart or larger dutch oven. Stir in the rosemary, thyme, fennel seed, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add in the beans, potato, and kale. Let simmer for an hour with the lid cracked. 2. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the garlic cloves into some aluminum foil, sprinkle with a little water, and seal the foil into a pouch. Roast for 35-40 minutes, until the garlic is soft and slightly browned. 3. Once the soup is done simmering remove half of it from the pot. Squeeze all of the garlic cloves into one of the soup portions then puree using a traditional or stick blender. Stir both halves of the soup back together. Season to taste and top with some shredded parmesan cheese. this soup was delicious! it is naturally fat free and very filling. we had enough left over to freeze a few portions, as well. soup is just so comforting at this time of year. tomorrow we say goodbye to milk and cheese for a week. stay tuned to see if we make it! oh, and since this is a baby blog, here are some pictures of my girl. check out that head control!

day two.

today is day two of our post-thanksgiving cleanse. no meat, eggs or dairy. the next 6 days are essentially a vegan diet. today we had red and white quinoa with grilled vegetables for lunch and spaghetti squash with homemade tomato sauce for dinner. they were both so good that i may enter them into our usual meal rotation! i think it's recipe time. DECONSTRUCTED STIR-FRY (QUINOA WITH GRILLED VEGETABLES AND SAUCE) 1 large zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1 large red pepper, julienned 1 tablespoon of olive oil salt and pepper a small piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced 1 cup of white or red quinoa (we used both) FOR THE SAUCE: 3 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce the juice from 1/4 of a lemon 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, grated 1/2 teaspoon of chili garlic sauce, such as sriracha 1. Fire up your grill or place a grill pan over medium-high heat. Toss the vegetables with the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Grill the vegetables on both sides until soft and covered with nice, dark grill marks, about 4-5 minutes per side. 2. Meanwhile, put the quinoa in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and cover with 2 cups of water. Place some slices (4 or 5) of the fresh ginger in with the quinoa. Simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water is gone, about 10 minutes. 3. Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. 4. Remove the ginger slices from the quinoa and spoon a generous amount on each plate. Top each pile with some grilled vegetables, and spoon a few tablespoons of sauce over the top. Eat it! i wasn't expecting much from this dish. i like quinoa, but i wouldn't say i LOVE it. that said, i LOVED this dish. It was so healthy and flavorful! I will definitely be making this again. today was a pretty relaxed day. sylvie and i hung out this morning while travis taught his class. we read books, watched yo gabba gabba and sesame street videos on youtube, and took a bath. she was in such a good mood this morning! travis went into the studio for a few hours this afternoon, and i worked on illustration commissions while sylvie napped. i got a lot of work done, and that always feels good. i think it's time for a shower followed by some hot herbal tea. have a great night!

what i did this evening.

after a long afternoon at work i came home and made homemade pickles. i also made an apple pie with a super special star top crust! so NOT gallbladder friendly. sigh. there's always next year. now i'm ready to relax with an ice pack on my ribs for the rest of the night. i think i'm still learning how to s l o w d o w n. i hope all you americans have a very happy 4th. i'll be chilling out at a friend's backyard cookout. what are your plans?

gallstone gourmet #4.

it's been a while since the last gallstone gourmet installment. my apologies for this. we've both been very busy and relying on a rotation of the same simple staples night after night.  this evening we put away the pasta in favor of something a bit fresher and more colorful.  we made an egg white frittata with charred red peppers, zucchini ribbons, scallions, and part-skim mozzarella.  to accompany the frittata we made crostini with low-fat ricotta and sea salt. the secret to a healthy, yet still hearty frittata is to use a few whole eggs in addition to all of the whites.  for this one i used a dozen eggs--3 whole eggs and 9 whites.  the yokes add body, flavor, and a lot of nutrients in exchange for a little bit of fat.  we had zucchini, scallions, red pepper and mozzarella on hand, but you can substitute any vegetables and cheese you like! CHARRED RED PEPPER, ZUCCHINI, SCALLION, and MOZZARELLA EGG WHITE FRITTATA 3 whole eggs+9 whites 1 red pepper, julienned 1 medium-sized zucchini, shaved in ribbons with a vegetable peeler 4-6 scallions (both the whites and the greens), chopped 1/3 cup of shredded part-skim mozzarella 1 Tablespoon of olive oil sea salt and black pepper 1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees. place an oven-safe skillet (such as cast iron) over medium heat and heat the olive oil. 2. put the red pepper strips in the pan and season with salt and pepper. cook, stirring occasionally, until the edges are slightly charred black. while the peppers cook, lightly whisk all of the eggs together with some salt and pepper. 3. spread the peppers into an even layer and top with the zucchini ribbons. lightly season again. let the layers cook for moment until the zucchini softens. if you slice them thinly it shouldn't take longer than 1-2 minutes. sprinkle the green onions on top. 4. pour the eggs over the top of the vegetables. quickly top with the mozzarella. lightly stir in the cheese, without disturbing the vegetable layers. cook on the stove until the bottom and sides of the eggs have set. transfer to the oven and cook until the eggs puff, pull away from the sides of the skillet, and brown lightly on top. this should take about 13-15 minutes. you can run the skillet under the broiler for a minute if you like the top even more brown. 5. cut into pieces and serve immediately. SEA SALT and RICOTTA CROSTINI 1/2 of a baguette, sliced at an angle olive oil part-skim ricotta coarse sea salt 1. preheat your grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. 2. brush both sides of the baguette slices with a small amount of olive oil. i used about a teaspoon total for 6 slices. 3. grill the bread on both sides until browned and crunchy, about 3-4 minutes per side. 4. top with a smear of ricotta and sprinkle with sea salt. (you can rub the bread with a garlic clove, before topping with the cheese, for a little added flavor.) serve immediately. frittata and crostini volcano!!! ok. enough with the tasty treats. can we please talk about how amazing this toy is? it's the first years 3-in-1 kickin' coaster. we bought it in blue, but i couldn't find a decent picture of it. it is both a vibrating infant seat and a baby exerciser of sorts. when she's brand spankin' new, pink, and wrinkly, we can set the seat to stationary and just let her chill and vibrate. as she gets older, we can unlock the seat and let her go to town! here's how it works: when she kicks the platform at the bottom the seat glides up and down and lights and/or music play. it will help teach her cause and effect and build up her leg muscles. how cool is that? once travis and i saw this bad boy in the store, we put our original choice back on the shelf and scooped one up! i can't wait to see sylvie's reaction the first time she makes her seat move and the lights come on. i can just imagine her wide eyes and gummy grin now. i don't want to wait 10 more weeks to meet her! why must this final trimester crawl by so slowly?
thank you so much for the votes! please keep 'em comin'! i've met so many other wonderful preggo and mommy bloggers. i would love to end up back on the first page so i can find more people and they can find me! thanks!

29 weeks.

i quickly snapped these 29 week bump pictures on my way out the door to meet travis for a dinner date.**** i feel like i'm finally starting to look pregnant.  i've gotten many more comments from strangers over the last few weeks.  i'm still measuring a little on the small side (27 weeks), but my midwife said it's completely normal. i took the glucose tolerance test this morning.  the glucola was not as horrible as everyone made it out to be.  i drank it in about a minute flat to get it over with.  it made me a little bit nauseous, but that quickly subsided after the one hour mark.  other than that, the appointment went well.  i was THRILLED to find out that sylvie is already head down and likely to stay that way.  good job, baby girl!  her heart rate was very good at 140 beats per minute.  seriously, i can not wait to meet this kid of mine! there is much to be done today!  our dear friend, joe, is coming into town this weekend.  we're a small stop-over on his drive from philadelphia to iowa.  neither of us have seen him since last summer, and i'm so excited to spend some time with him!  i need to get this place looking more like our hip apartment and less like babies r us exploded.  wish me luck! ****by "dinner date" i mean that i went to the restaurant where he works (and was tending bar last night), and sat at the bar for an hour of his shift.  i ate some amazing gazpacho and a delicious shaved vegetable salad.  i even had a small glass (probably an ounce or so) of wine courtesy of my husband.  ssshhhhhh!  don't tell the preggo police! p.s. sylvie totally has the hiccups right now!  since she is head down (i repeat, GOOD JOB, BABY GIRL), i can sort of feel them in my butt.  does this happen to anyone else??

(chocolate) milk does a (pregnant) body good.

i'm still lovin' the chocolate milk.

chocolate milk is the best thing ever.

that glass of chocolate milk (organic, low-fat and fortified with DHA omega-3!) i just drank was the best thing i have ever tasted. EVER. seriously. i never knew anything could taste that good. am i pregnant or what?! work was very long and tiring today. i have two more equally long and tiring shifts tomorrow and tuesday before i finally get a day off (my first in almost a week)! i just have to get through this week and part of the next before my trip to pennsylvania. i can't tell you how excited i am to see my family and friends! we're all getting together to celebrate our baby shower and my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. it should be a wonderful week and just the kind of trip i need! ******** on a completely unrelated note, can we talk about groin pain here for a second? the last two days it has felt like i'm wearing underwear made of PAIN. have i been doing the splits? moonlighting as an olympic gymnast? doing the hustle with a little too much gusto? NO. i am growing a human, and i'm pretty sure that's more tiring than all of those things combined. still, with only 10-13 more weeks left to go in this pregnancy, i find myself wanting to savor every kick, nudge, and flutter. searing groin pain or not, this has been the most magical 6+ months of my life. you stay in there, baby girl, and keep on cooking! we'll finally meet when the time is right. and now for your viewing pleasure, i present THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING BELLYBUTTON! i give it 4 weeks max before it's a full-fledged outie.  also note my sweet (if very faint) linea nigra! well, it's about time for me to take a bath, drink another glass of chocolate milk and watch some lost.  i hope everyone has a safe and happy memorial day!