First trip to the Farmer's Market

I was so unbelievably excited about the Farmer's Market opening this year. But wouldn't you know the first day it was cold and rainy and just all around crappy. Fortunately the Farmer's Market, while outside, is under a pavilion so The Good Baby and I were nice and dry, although cold.

It was too dark to take any photos and TGB started to get fussy and I had to hurry to get her back in the warm car. But it was good for the first one of the year. TGB got to pet a baby goat and she laughed the entire time it was licking her.

I came home with organic goatmilk bar soap, organic beef jerky, a pint of strawberries, organic blue cheese, asparagus, mesclun mix and purple spring onions.

I had a fabulous dinner of roasted asparagus with a poached egg but instead of making the balsamic reduction, I dressed the asparagus with fresh lemon juice and a generous pat of butter. Once you break the yolk, it makes something of a deconstructed hollandaise sauce.

I also had a small salad of blue cheese, strawberries, purple spring onion and walnuts.

TGB enjoyed a scrambled egg with organic cheddar cheese (bought last week at the store), asparagus and fresh strawberries.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

For my first Mother's Day, The Good Husband and The Good Baby bought me the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Did I ever tell you my first job was dishing up ice cream at the local Dairy Queen? It reveals how deep my love of ice cream is. But having the ability to make homemade ice cream was important for another reason. I could not find organic ice cream to save my life. I want TGB to enjoy some on occasion - like her upcoming birthday - but I want to make sure it is quality stuff.
So after I got the attachment, I decided I needed to find a good ice cream base recipe. Google tells me there are two kinds of ice cream, American and Custard style.

American ice cream is the most straight forward since it is usually just milk, cream, sugar and flavors.

Custard contains eggs and has a deeper, richer flavor.

I decided for the first batch I would make a simple American style vanilla ice cream. Most of the recipes I have found call for seemingly large amount of sugar. This is because the taste buds are numbed slightly from the ice cream, therefor the sugar content needs to be strong enough to register on you tongue. However, I made this recipe twice and found it too sweet both times. I followed the recipe to the tee the first time and then reduced the sugar by 1/2 cup the second time. I think I will reduce the sugar by half the next time I make this and see where it stands.

Both TGH and TGB enjoyed it and didn't think it was too sweet at all.

Ingredients:
3 cups whole organic milk
3 cups organic heavy cream
3 cups organic white sugar (I reduced this to 2 1/2 cups and it was still sweet)
3 tablespoons organic vanilla extract

Directions:
~Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Cover and chill over night. Once the mixture is chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

So now that I have vanilla out of the way, I plan to make vanilla bean and birthday cake ice cream. I also want to attempt to make mint chocolate chip.

But, tell me, what is your favorite ice cream flavor?

recipe by: The Good Wife

Summer of Change

I cannot wait for this summer. There are so many things I am looking forward to, so many things I want to accomplish that I really do hope this summer will be one of a permanent change.

The Farmer's Markets will soon be opening, allowing us to eat fresher and seasonally.

The Good Baby will turn one

I will have finished my first semester in graduate school, hopefully with a 4.0 GPA

I will have completed my mind/body stress reduction class

I will be able to stop pumping breast milk for TGB

And finally, but most importantly, I will be able to exercise again.

Everything I have read about breastfeeding (and I read a ton and attended several classes and still not all my questions were answered - but that is a separate post) says to not exercise because an acid can build up in your milk and your baby won't eat it. That seems a little strange to me but hey, any excuse I have to not move my ass is good with me.

Did you also know that while you are nursing you HAVE to eat an additional 500 calories a day? Hot damn! Pass me the cookies.

You see where this is going?

I was able to keep my pregnancy weight gain to 15 pounds and the day I left the hospital I weighed less then my first OB appointment. Now before you want to glass me, keep in mind that I was a member of the fatties before I got pregnant so I was advised to gain NO MORE than 15 pounds. But I know how easy it is to say "I am growing a freaking human here people, pass me that bacon double cheeseburger."

But I was lucky like a case of herpes to get gestational diabetes. I had to test my blood sugar seven times a day and I was placed on insulin. My blood sugar levels were so high when I failed my glucose test it set an office record and even after 2 months on insulin I had to be placed on a second dose of insulin my blood sugar levels were so bad.

So that is the only way I didn't gain 55 pounds during pregnancy. I couldn't drink milk, I couldn't touch a carb and fruit was out of the question. I didn't even have a piece of my baby shower cake.

Both my OB and my endocrinologist speculated I might have been borderline type 2 diabetic before I was pregnant. But there was no way to prove it.

With gestational diabetes you have a 2 out of 3 chance of getting it again with each pregnancy. So most likely I will have this again. But with diet and exercise I should be in a better place in two years when we try to conceive again.

So why didn't my fat ass get out and walk after I had The Good Baby? Postpartum depression and anxiety.

Yeah.

Like a case of herpes with hemorrhoids.

Any new mother will tell you that the first few months are about survival only. I was lucky to get sleep or a shower or brush my teeth, so eating the diabetes diet every 2 1/2 to 3 hours was not happening. By Christmas TGB was six months old and sleeping through the night. But it was the middle of winter and I was packing on my winter weight.

I told myself that my feelings of depression and anxiety were normal and everything would be better once TGB was sleeping in her own room, once she got over teething, once I am able to stop pumping breast milk. I stupidly enrolled in graduate school thinking I needed a distraction.

So the weight slowly crept up. Depression over my new life, my new role and coping with my new body did nothing to ease the pain that the life I knew before TGB was no more. So I ate that cookie and the bacon double cheeseburger and I now weight 15 pounds more then I did at my first OB appointment.

But I feel for the first time in almost a year like I have a grasp on my life, that I am able to control it in a way I couldn't before when every moment seemed to be slipping though my fingers as gently as razorblades.

I feel confident that I can change my body. I can be a great role model for TGB. I can teach her to love food but to not be a slave to fat or calories. I know there will be roadblocks along the way. I know there will be setbacks. I know there will be days when I want to give up and wish everything would just go away. But I know I can do this. I can face this challenge.

And I hope I will kick it's ass.

Spring Cleaning Checklist - Dining Room

~Dust the ceiling and corners

~Dust the vents and fans

~Wipe down walls

~Remove and clean all art and photographs from wall

~Take down draperies, curtains, blinds, etc, to wash or have cleaned

~Wash all windows

~Dust and clean all lamps and knickknacks

~Dust down all furniture

~Remove and clean all china and serving pieces, looking for chips and cracks that need repair

~Clean any mirrors

~Clean the switchplates

~Clean the outlet covers

~Dust and wash the baseboards

~Clean flooring

Peas, pasta and tuna

The Good Baby has moved beyond the world of pureed food. At first we would give her a little bite of our food here and there of easy things to eat, like rice and still give her some pureed food. Now she has hit the stage where she wants to feed herself and wants nothing to do with purees. So I am making a lot of frozen veggies for her and rice and pastas.

I try to make dinners as simple as possible, cooking for TGB whatever I would cook for us so I don't have to make two separate meals each night. This is a simple dish I made for lunch today.


Ingredients:
1 box of organic white cheddar cheese and noodles
1/2 bag organic frozen peas
2 pouches of light white tuna in water, drained

Directions:
~Cook noodles and cheese according to package directions. When finished add peas and the drained tuna. Heat on low until the peas are warmed through. Serve warm.

Spring Cleaning Checklist - Living Room

~Dust the ceiling and corners

~Dust the vents and fans

~Wipe down walls

~Remove and clean all art and photographs from wall

~Take down draperies, curtains, blinds, etc, to wash or have cleaned

~Wash all windows

~Dust and clean all lamps and knickknacks

~Dust down all furniture

~Remove and dust all books from bookshelves

~Remove and dust all movies and cds

~Clean any mirrors

~Clean the switchplates

~Clean the outlet covers

~Dust and wash the baseboards

~Clean flooring

Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes

Since I had made homemade butter a while back, I had some buttermilk left over. After making buttermilk pancakes for The Good Baby, I decided I had to come up with another use of buttermilk.

It was then I realized that Martha Stewart can read my mind. Ok, maybe not Martha herself, but the folks that control her email do. Just as I was thinking what to do with all the buttermilk I had (Fired chicken? No. Biscuits? No. ) I get an email from MS & Co. about the "best cupcakes".

And lo, there was a use for my buttermilk.


Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
6 tablespoons buttermilk
1 large egg
1 large egg white
Light Cream-Cheese Icing

Directions:
~Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard 12-cup muffin tin (or two 6-cup muffin tins) with paper liners. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

~With an electric mixer, combine cocoa and 3 tablespoons hot water until a thick paste forms (this process intensifies the chocolate flavor). Add butter, buttermilk, egg, and egg white; beat until combined. Whisk in flour mixture until smooth.

~Scoop (or spoon) batter into prepared tin(s). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

~Use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread icing over tops. Decorate as desired.

recipe by: Martha Stewart

Spring Cleaning Checklist - Bedroom

~Dust the ceiling and corners

~Dust the vents and fans

~Wipe down walls

~Remove and clean all art and photographs from wall

~Take down draperies, curtains, blinds, etc, to wash or have cleaned

~Wash all windows

~Wash all bedding, comforters, mattress pads, pillows, etc.

~Vacuum and flip your mattress

~Clean under your bed

~Dust and clean all lamps and knickknacks

~Dust down all furniture

~Clean any mirrors

~Clean the switchplates

~Clean the outlet covers

~Dust and wash the baseboards

~Clean flooring

~Sort through your closet using the Keep, Toss, Donate or Store method

Homemade Butter

Did you know that organic butter costs $7/lb? I thought it would be cheaper to make butter than to buy butter, at least the organic kind. After searching several stores, I finally found the one in town that sold organic heavy whipping cream. I bought two pints for $6.98.

I had read several different blog post about how to make butter and it seemed fairly easy. You just put the cream in your mixer, blender or food processor and turn it on.

Little did I know just how long it would actually take.

This is when the cream started to thicken. See how it clings to the beater?

This is when you would call it quits if you wanted whipped cream.
The butter has just started to form. This was about ten minutes into the process. I was beginning to worry that I had messed something up since the fat wasn't coming together like I knew it should. But I finally made it to this stage. From here, I put the butter curds in a strainer over a bowl and gently rinsed with cold water.

I added the butter back to the mixer and added a little more water to completely rinse all of the buttermilk away. I processed in the mixer for a few second and gave it a final drain.
This is the finished product. Sweet, beautiful organic butter.
Now here are the details. From two pints of cream I was able to make 2 cups or about a pound of butter. So I saved about two cents making my own butter. But I also got almost 3 cups of buttermilk out of the process. Now I don't know how much I saved there because I don't buy buttermilk all that much and if I do, I certainly don't buy the organic kind since I can't find it.

So I don't know if I will make butter on a regular basis or just buy it already made. All I know for sure is I am super thankful I didn't have to churn this by hand the way my grandma did.