Bacon-Wrapped Chicken: A Hit and a Miss

Martha Stewart has let me down for the last time. "It's so easy," her website boasts, and "dinner will be ready in a flash!" she promises. Well, that broad lied.

I had wanted to welcome John home from his business trip with something I knew he'd love, and since bacon is one of the more direct routes to his heart, bacon-wrapped chicken sounded perfect. So the evening he was due home, I got dinner going, changed into a clean shirt, and brushed the baby's hair.

Recipe: Split Pea Soup

Warning: This made Julia gassy and feisty as all hell. But it sure was delicious.

John was away last week on another business trip. So Julia and I made a soup with the ham bone leftover from Easter Sunday's roast. It was fantastic - until she started feisting up a storm. That part was very sad...such a lovely soup and no one to eat it.

No Almond Joy, Just Almond Screaming

John's away on business again. Things around here are pretty dull. But I'm grateful for things like Skype, Baby Advil, and Mommy Tylenol.

I ate almonds in a test late last week. I was so excited and they were absolutely delicious. If successful, almonds could mean things like almond milk, almond butter, almond yogurt, almond flour... and actual almonds! So many lovelies.

After 24 hours, Julia seemed ok. So I ate almond butter in the afternoon and then almonds in the evening. And then, it began...

Feisty-Free Banana French Toast

I was making some eggs for John last weekend when I had the sudden and insatiable need for French Toast. He wasn't interested (weirdo), so I decided to make it for one.

Recipe: Quinoa Raisin Muffins

When I got up this morning and opened the curtains to let some sunshine in, I saw snow on the ground. Not at all what I was expecting, especially given that yesterday I went out without a jacket. It's a day for muffins.

Mango Kefir Smoothie

Oh yeah, this was good. Definitely going to be making this one again.

Hello, sunshine!

I've been experimenting in kefir making (there is a post underway, just want to be sure I've got the hang of things first!) and decided to try throwing it in the blender as a smoothie base. And the result was fabulous.

A Pesto of Errors

Sometimes I fail. This was one of those times.

I tried to do a Giada recipe, but change enough of it to be Julia friendly. It was safe and all, but really not great. Even worse, I tried to make this pesto in a blender, which I learned doesn't work. My food processor is a mini one, and I thought it'd be too small to handle all the ingredients (it wasn't). The blender whirred and the blades spun, but they couldn't get any traction to process the spinach and basil leaves. I shoved a spatula in to try and pack everything down, but it got stuck on the blades. I tried to pull it out, but the handle popped off. So I reached in to dislodge the spatula head, but the blades cut my fingers. As I pulled my hand out of the blender, lemon juice got on my cut. This was the precise moment Julia woke up screaming bloody murder.

Doesn't it look like it should taste good?

Recipe: Lentil Stew

John's been away on a business trip, which means two things - I clean incessantly because I don't know what else to do with myself, and lentils. Both have turned out to be good things.

Natural Deodorant That Actually Works - It'll Keep You Feisty Fresh!

Guys, this is it. I have been looking for a natural deodorant for years. I've tried several brands (Tom's of Maine, Kiss My Face, Whatever That One From Whole Foods Was Called) and none - absolutely none - has ever done squat to help. I know that natural deodorants don't stop the sweat, just the stink, so I thought I might do an every other day natural/conventional/natural thing, or just wear the conventional stuff on stressful days kind of thing.

But I stank anytime I tried anything without aluminum in it. After an hour or two, I'd feel and smell nasty, and have to accept my stinky defeat as I reached for the "real" stuff. Not wanting to waste my money, I just gave up on such a thing as natural deodorant and went on my merry, powder fresh way.

Homemade Pedialyte

When Julia was throwing up half the night a few weeks ago (the oat incident), our pediatrician told us to give her Pedialyte to help her regain her fluids and feel better. Being new parents who'd never bought it before, we didn't have any on hand so I bolted out to the store that night to pick some up. I saw the strawberry one and turned it around to see what was inside: food coloring, preservatives, artificial sweeteners and artificial fruit flavor. Great. How could our pediatrician's office actually recommend this garbage?

Photo from: 100 Days of Real Food

But if there's one thing a new, puke-stained parent of a sick infant is, it is not level headed. I chose the least of all evils, unflavored Pedialyte. No colors, artificial sweeteners or flavors, at least. And the stuff worked - Julia REALLY perked up after a few ounces.

New Milestones and Butternut Squash Risotto

John and I reached a new milestone over the weekend: we watched a movie. The first movie since Julia was born. We were only interrupted once or twice - it was fantastic. We'd had The Help towards the top of our queue pretty much since it came out (which wasn't last year, as we had thought). Never having heard of it, John asked what it was about and all I could offer was that I heard it was good and had won some awards, maybe those Oscars (yep, living under a big ol' rock). I picked up the DVD and read the summary on the sleeve: "somebody writes a book about race relations in Mississippi in the 60s." John was not enthused and asked if this was "another one of [my] dork-umentaries."

We loved it, the both of us. And while that DVD summary is accurate, let's just say there's a bit more to to movie than that. I had also tried out a new idea for dinner - butternut squash risotto.

Yum