no fuss lunch

Eek! Joaquin is almost one! It's funny, when they are two months old and everyone tells you "it goes by quick!" you think, yeah right.
It sure does.
Now that I've practically got a toddler in the house, offering three solid food meals a day is a must. I've talked before about my boy not liking the pureed mush that we assume babies will magically devour at 6 months. He likes "big boy food." He wants whatever it is that I'm eating. The challenge is that I love spicy hot food. A meal that doesn't burn all the way down just isn't satisfying to me. What's a mom to do?
Rice cooker to the rescue!
This is a Yan can cook rice cooker that I bought at Target years ago. I can't remember why I bought it, but that doesn't matter. It has a vegetable steamer and I only recently realized what an amazing mom saver that is. I have been making different versions of the same thing for days now. Joaquin loves it, I love it, and Dad loves the leftovers. Win, win, win.
The vegetables steam as the "rice" cooks. I say "rice" because you would have to use white rice (though you can easily make perfect brown rice in this cooker) if you don't want to turn your steaming veggies into total mush. Instead of rice, I use quick cooking whole grains like millet, quinoa, and buckwheat. One day I even made a combo of all three. This is millet.

Since these grains are going to be eaten by an 11 month old, it's okay to err on the side of a little too much water and make the grains a touch mushy. They are still delicious, just kind of porridgy. I don't ever measure my grains and water. I simply put the grains in the pot and pour water over them til the water is one inch above the settled grains. By one inch I mean my first knuckle. Place your finger on the grain and add water until it touches your first knuckle. Add a little more if you are cooking for baby. My sister in law, Alice, taught me this trick. (Thanks Alice!)
Joaquin loves asparagus, green beans, carrots, broccoli and tofu. You can put one or ALL of these in the steamer basket.



While your grains cook, the veggies steam. Brilliant! To make it all the more wonderful they are cooked sans oil, salt or any baby unfriendly spices.
When the vegetables are cooked soft enough for a baby to easily chew, I toss the veggies into a bowl and add different toppings. Some that we like are:
Avocado
hemp oil
braggs liquid aminos (just a touch)
ground walnuts
olives
bubbies pickles
goddess dressing
We always add the hemp oil and the Braggs, and leave the rest up to our mood.
We toss our mixture of the day together and then we eat together out of the same bowl.A little hand that can't wait to get some num-nums.

With the first bowl we take turns having bites, I praise him when he puts it in his mouth rather that throw it across the table, and he gets to practice with the fork. For the second serving, Joaquin gets to feed himself in the high chair and I get to put sirracha all over my veggies.

a coupla dinners

Sometimes I feel like I could have more hobbies if I didn't cook so much. Then I think, nah. The more we cook the more we create our own family cuisine. I love that.
Dinner #1
We had lentil stew earlier in the day, so dinner became a feast of sides if you will.
Long potatoes.
This is a family favorite. The first time I had long potatoes they were cold and on baking sheets in the back of a station wagon. I was probably five. A girl named Melanie was grabbing them out of the car and eating them in the driveway.
"whatcha eatin?'" I asked.
Melanie pointed to the trays, "Long potatoes."
"What are long potatoes?"
"You don't know what long potatoes are? You eat them with mayonnaise."
I insisted to my mom that we have long potatoes, and after a short conversation with Melanie's mom, we started having them for dinner regularly. These days I eat them with chili garlic sauce or veganaise.
Cut about 7 potatoes into 6 wedges each. Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Put on baking trays. Bake for 55 minutes at 425.
Beets.
Pressure cooked for 12 minutes. Let cool a little. Slide those skins off. Slice and serve with salt, pepper and olive oil. Clean and steam the beet greens.
Guacamole.
Take about 7 avocados. mash with chopped garlic, lime juice, salt, pepper, hot sauce all to taste. Stand back and say "whoa, I just made a TON of guac."
Celery.
For dipping.

Tonight I made papusas, refried beans and cabbage salad with oregano.
Papusas are stuffed tortillas and are awesome. I made my own cashew cheddar cheese.
Cheese.
from Simply Heavenly.
Make masa dough.
Put two cups of masa in a mixing bowl. Slowly add one and a half cups of hot tap water while mixing with you hands. Make playdough consistency.
Divide dough into ten balls. Break each ball in half. Press half of the dough into your hand.

Top with a bit of your shredded homeade cheeze or some store bought stuff.
Put the other half of your dough ball on top and press together.

Place on a tortilla press and press it out.
Put on a hot griddle and cook on each side for about a minute.
Serve with refried beans and cabbage salad. Tapatio is the best hot sauce in the world. Look at the steam on those beans. Hot!

baby stuff

One of my all time best buds, Heather, is about to have her first baby. It kills me that we don't live closer. She has asked me for a list of what she really needs before the baby arrives. I believe she is going to have a shower, which means she's about to end up with a whole lot of baby goodness. I keep encouraging her to register for gifts, so she can get what she wants.

I didn't have a baby shower. When I was pregnant I worked a ton and when I thought of something I needed, I just bought it. Most of the purchases turned out to be good ones, but some I really could have done without. Every baby is different, so this post is just essentials and you can fill in the blanks according to your babies personality.

Cloth diapers.
I use a combination of Bum Genius one size pocket diapers and prefolds with a whisper wrap. Have twenty diapers on hand to start. The one size pocket diapers are nice because they fit from 8-35 pounds! Diapers have come a long way since I watched my mom diaper my siblings. These days diapers are no pins required, which is awesome. Most are in the same shape and style of disposables and are cute to boot! I wash mine with Charlie's soap and air dry.

Sling.
I have tried out 5 different baby wearing apparatuses. The ones that worked for me are a sling from gorgeous baby and an ergo carrier. Both work from infant to toddler. You just change the way you wear them. These days, my baby weighs 25 pounds and I can still carry him for 5 miles in the ergo.

Foam pad for baths.
I originally thought I would buy a baby bath tub. My mother in law brought over this inexpensive blue foam frog shaped cushion that you put in the tub for the baby to lay on. You squeeze warm water into it first to make sure the baby has a nice warm spot to enjoy his tub. These are awesome and can be washed in the washing machine.

Carseat and Stroller Combo.
We have the Chicco Key Fit car seat/stroller and it is awesome! My big boy outgrew the car seat by six months, but while he was still a little guy the seat clicks into a base in the car and clicks into the stroller, facing mom, for long strolls. Now, I'm primarily a baby wearer, but this stroller allowed me to take Joaquin on 8 to 10 mile walks on the trail. He would look up at the trees and take long naps. It was a peaceful time and walking is AMAZING exercise for new mommies.

Clothes.
Resist the urge to buy a ton of baby clothes, you have no idea how big your baby will be and how fast he will grow. For example, Joaquin was wearing size 12mo. when he was four months old. All of the 0-3 month stuff I bought fit him for about a week. Seriously. Also, keep in mind that most baby clothes are made for babies in disposable diapers. The cloth ones will add quite a bit of girth to the caboose, so you will most likely be in bigger sizes than age anyhow. You might want to buy a couple of new outfits, and that's cool. People are going to buy clothes for your baby, too. Like I said, I didn't have a shower, but ended up with TONS of new baby clothes from co-workers, friends and family.
Nowadays, I buy all of my babies clothes from the thrift store. The thrift stores are FULL of baby stuff. Trust me. Some of it is brand new. For example, just last week I bought Joaquin 9 brand new beanie babies for .99 cents each. He also got 2 sweaters (one brand new, with tags) two pairs of stride rite boots, two pairs of pants, three t-shirts, and two sweatshirts. For all of this, including the toys and a book, I spent less than 30 dollars.

Socks.
I bought lots of warm socks, new. Joaquin is almost 11 months and he just started wearing shoes, sometimes. Socks will do you for a long while. Don't waste your money on adorable (expensive) little moccasins with guitars on them. Trust me.

Hats.
Babies are bald and need hats. I make my own and love doing it. If you can't make hats, learn, or buy one from me (tee hee). You should have a few thin hats, a couple beanies, a sun hat for good weather, and something with a nice brim to keep the sun out of those sensitive eyes.


Bassinet.
Our baby sleeps with us and has since he was four months old. Prior to that we had him in a small bassinet, next to the bed, that a friend gave us. It had plastic wheels, but my husband replaced those with some big rubber ones so I could wheel him into the kitchen while I made dinner. With our next baby, we will probably skip the bassinet altogether and just go full on family bed style. Now that I am comfortable with it, it seems like a no-brainer, the easiest thing in the world. I've seen and heard people talk about a co-sleeper that connects to the edge of the bed keeping you within arms reach of the baby. My question is...what's the point? The best part about sleeping with a baby is that you can nurse without having to move or readjust. Why would you want to have to get up and pick the baby out of a co-sleeper. No thanks.

Floor blankie.
We sit on the floor everyday and have since he was born. A nice blanket is great for tummy time, toys, hanging out while folding laundry.... If you can't vacuum every five seconds you will probably want a nice blanket for the floor. I was lucky enough to have someone make one for me. Awesome!

So, this completes my list and advice for what you should have on hand, pre-baby. Notice I did not include a crib, a changing table, or a diaper bag. We bought a crib, and stressed to get his room ready and pretty much have never been in there since. Oh well.
I realize that some of my essentials are expensive. Check ebay and craigslist. We bought our Chicco KeyFit carseat/ stroller system, brand new on ebay for 150 dollars.
Keep an open mind, you are about to get blown away! Be ready to love, love, love that new little person.

what's for breakfast?

We have a pretty regular morning routine around here. Dad gets up first and showers and gets ready for work. Joaquin wakes not long after and starts poking at me and hooting and cooing until I agree to open my eyes. We sit up and spend a few minutes saying our "good mornings", singing to the cats and thinking about breakfast. We get up, make the bed and head out to the living room to great the day. The living room blinds go up and the room fills with sunlight.

"Hello World," I yell. "I'm Joaquin!!!" My baby shake his hands in his excited baby way as we sit on the floor and take out toys. While Joaquin clanks his Duplos, I make breakfast.

Most days we have a green smoothie, but sometimes I just feel smoothied out. Today we opted for cut fruit and muesli. I bought a cute little section plate at target for 2.99 and it's exactly the right size for my guy. He has never really been into the smooth puree baby foods we all envision our little ones eating. He likes smooth pears and bananas and sometimes butternut squash, but mostly he loves finger foods.

Here you see a tasty assortment of thinly sliced apple, cut up banana, freeze dried blueberries, and cubed brown rice bread drizzled with flax oil.

Feeding Joaquin an assortment of fresh fruits leaves me with many leftovers. It's perfect because I loooove me a little Green Tea Muesli

Green Tea Muesli
Some uncooked oats
A little oat bran
Sliced Banana
cubes of apple
flax meal
a little maple syrup
pour some hot Jasmine green tea over your mixture

This is an addictive breakfast and is oh so satisfying. The combos are limitless and you can use whatever tea you want, even an herbal blend if you are avoiding caffeine.

Having breakfast together is fun and sets us up for a full day in the almost spring sun. We still wear wool hats and have added some stylish shades.

Taking our number five plastics to Whole Foods for recycling!

tv and pizza

A co-worker, visiting our home for the first time remarked that she loved that we didn't have a television. "Oh," I said. "We do, you just haven't noticed it yet." She looked around the room until I pointed at a thin metal cover over our front window. "That's the screen" I said. Then I pointed to the ceiling at the back of the room and said, "that's the projector." So, not only do we have cable television, we watch it on a fourteen foot screen.

Now, I love the idea of a no TV house. I don't care at all about sit coms, and I get totally sucked in to reality TV and that's just embarrassing. My husband loves football and golf and is proud to mention that our set up allows for the best seat in the house, all the time.

My husband put the whole thing together with buys on ebay and he built the wall mount and we ran the wires through the house ourselves. We did this for less than 600 dollars. The picture is superior to LCD and Plasma, it's absolutely the way to go. The downside is that you can't really watch during the daylight hours without blacking out the house. But this is also a perk. I don't want to black out the house, so we don't watch TV in the daylight. The cable is, however, hooked up to the stereo so I can listen to TV if we want and we make good use of those cable music channels. I have found a kids show that I like and for 25 minutes a day, Joaquin watches Yo Gabba Gabba while I get the house ready for night time nursing.

Is this wrong?
While he sits, contentedly, I get to eat. We make a veggie pizza superior to anything we can order.

We made this with;
I blob of whole wheat pizza dough from trader joe's
TJ's fresh pizza sauce
I bag of frozen artichokes, sauteed with chopped onion and garlic (below)
1 pound of asparagus, tough ends snapped off and steam whats left (the good part)
1 can of whole black olives, sliced
1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
We use a pizza stone when we make pizza. I think I bought this at TJMaxx. It was probably ten dollars. Heat your stone in the oven while you preheat to 425. Make sure to take the dough out of the refrigerator at least two hours before you want to roll it. This makes it much easier. After you steam the asparagus, carefully cut the pieces in half lengthwise. When the oven is ready, prebake your dough for 10 minutes on the hot stone. I sprinkle flax seeds on the stone so the dough doesn't stick. This works beautifully! After your dough is prebaked, take it out of the oven (on the stone) and spread sauce and top with veggies, put the whole thing back in and bake for ten more minutes.

We make pizza often and in many different forms. Sometimes we make some sort of cheezy sauce, but not this time because I'm lazy.

So, even though we are strict vegetarians living a pretty hippie lifestyle, we still watch some tube and eat "junk food."

I think we're doin' okay.