Glorious Peaches

Peaches are in season here.  I love peaches. They are one of my favourite fruits. I generally only eat them when they are in season - tinned just isn't the same.  My partner doesn't like them, which means that I can buy & devour a whole basket of them without having to share.

That is, I didn't have to share until recently.  It turns out, the kiddo, who is just shy of 6 months as of this writing, really likes peaches.  The other day, I bit into a peach, and she grabbed my arm, yanked it down to her face level and faceplanted onto the fruit.  She then preceded to suck out the juice from where I had just bitten.  She insisted that I share the rest of the peach with her via baby-death-grip on my wrist.

I think she's ready to start solids.

In an attempt to preserve some of the delicious peachiness for myself, I made some peach-blueberry freezer jam.  Freezer jam is the best!  All you need is mashed fruit, sugar and freezer jam pectin.  No stove required - which is fantastic on hot days.  The downside is that you can't store the jars on a shelf - as the name implies, it is best stored in the freezer.  It also tends to be a little bit runnier than other jams, but depending on how you are planning on using the jam, I find that's generally not an issue.

I've already eaten half a jar, stirred into my morning oatmeal.  I wouldn't be surprised if I turn into a peach before the summer is out!

Bread Heels & Baby Feeding

I've never understood why small children & babies dislike having their faces wiped so much. 
I can understand why they don't want you messing with their nose - after all, how would you feel if someone tried to pick your nose?
But on the faces front, I don't get it.  I would feel better after having sticky crud removed from my chin.
I've been ruminating on this topic lately as we will soon be faced with introducing solids to the munchkin.  This, of course, will necessitate much face wiping.
We've purchased a high chair, and have been sitting her in it with a spoon & some toys at meal times.  So far, she seems to like it.

As for the idea of actually getting food into her face, well, frankly, I'm a bit frightened.  I also don't want to have to spend ages every week making purees. 
This has brought me to research baby-led weaning (ie. minimizing the purees and just giving your kid actual food).  You can see how this approach is appealing from a time saving standpoint.  Just make sure there's some veggies/meat/etc appropriately cooked through, and in a form easy for the kid to grasp, and let them have at it (with supervision of course).
Anecdotally, babies fed this way seem to be less likely to become picky eaters.  Since my partner & I enjoy trying different cuisines, this also seems awesome to us.  I like the idea of being able to cook whatever & have her eat at least part of it.

Speaking of cooking whatever, last night I made a Greek-inspired strata.  I don't like eating the heels of bread loaves, but I also dislike wasting food.  So, I usually put them in the freezer until I have a bunch, and then I make a strata.  It is a convenient way to use up stale or leftover bread.
You will need:
a 2 quart casserole dish (greased)
5-6 cups diced, stale or toasted bread (about 10 pieces of a standard store-bought loaf)
2 cups milk
4 eggs
veggies, cheese, spices, etc to throw in.  The version I did last night had:
1/2 one large cooking onion, diced
8 quartered cherry tomatoes
1/2 packet of frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed to get rid of the extra liquid
lots of feta cheese
some sliced mushrooms because they needed to be used up
oregano, thyme & pepper

Toss the onion, tomatoes, mushrooms & spices in your casserole (Hey! I remembered to take pictures!).

Add your spinach and cheese

Then add your bread cubes.  Beat your eggs & the milk together, and pour over top.

Then, stir everything up in the dish so it is well mixed.  Put it in the oven, uncovered, at about 325-350F and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

The bread will soak up the egg & milk mixture, and everything will get all puffy & chewy & wonderful.  If you like, before you put it into the oven, you can sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs or Parmesan.  Then the top will come out all crunchy & delicious.

The best thing about strata is that you can adapt it to any flavour profile you like.  Having people over for brunch?  Fill it with cheddar, diced bell pepper, onion and diced potatoes (and if you like meatiness, you could also add bacon or breakfast sausages).  Fancy dinner?  Fill it with Gruyere & asparagus & mushrooms.

Hopefully, baby will be able & willing to enjoy strata when I make it next.

Take One Banana . . .

Human beings love to give advice.  It seems to be an innate trait in our species.  It really comes out when people see you with a new baby.  In this situation it is also 95% unsolicited, often from complete strangers.

Here's the thing, the science & knowledge behind child development is constantly evolving.  What was recommended when I was a baby is vastly different from what is now often recommended. 

It used to be commonly recommended that babies be put to sleep on their tummies.  We now know that this increases the risk of SIDS, so babies should be put to sleep on their backs.

There are also about a million ways to raise children.  This is important because babies/children are individuals.  They have their own quirks and needs, that may be different from another babies quirks and needs.  In other words, what works for one family, may not work for another family.

I admit that I've gone a little granola in my parenting choices so far.  I'm exclusively breastfeeding on demand.  We co-sleep.  I wear my baby in a wrap or sling when we go out most of the time.  We're using cloth diapers (and holy shamoly are modern cloth diapers freaking adorable! Look at this! ). I'm researching baby-led weaning.

You may think I'm turning into a cuckoo-hippy-crazy-lady.  However, my child is happy, growing well, and meeting her developmental milestones.  In other words, this is clearly working for our family (for now at least - babies are tricky creatures and will change it up on you without a moment's notice!).

When I'm out & about with my kid, and she's smiling and enjoying the world, don't tell me what a 'good baby' she is, and then proceed to tell me everything I'm doing wrong.  Same when she's tired & cranky.  Maybe she's been cranky all day due to teething, and I'm taking us both for a walk in order to maintain my sanity.

In any event, after unsolicited advice has hit me in my confidence as a parent, here's a little treat that I make for myself.  It has fruit and protein and chocolate, so I can also pretend there's some healthiness in there.

Take one banana. 
Peel the banana, and break it in half (or thirds, or quarters) and put the pieces in a bowl.
Spread the top of the banana pieces with peanut butter (or whatever nut butter you have in the house - I've also used almond butter to great success).
Cover with chocolate sauce (I usually use the kind you use to make chocolate milk).
Eat.

It's like taking a homemade peanut butter cup and making it even better.  An added bonus for the summer months is that it requires zero use of any heat generating appliances.
I hope it makes you feel better too.

Vegetable Stroganoff

How are enjoying your summer so far?  Despite the heat, ours is going pretty well.  Turns out the kiddo loves water!  Thank goodness my mom bought us a kiddie pool! 

Last night, the baby was being cooperative, so I made dinner before my partner came home (she's usually hungry/needy around the time I would normally need to start dinner in order to have it ready for my partner's usual arrival time).

We had Vegetable Stroganoff.  I don't think I make this often enough.  Here's how you can make it for yourself (sans pictures, sorry).

Ingredients:
Noodles (egg noodles are traditional, but I find any noodle will do.  Last night I used bowtie pasta)
1 cube of vegetable or mushroom bouillion
1 heaping tbsp flour
sour cream
water
butter or margarine
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
an assortment of veggies, that in my opinion must include mushrooms.  Last night, I used about 7 button mushrooms, a carrot, broccoli and frozen green beans.

Put a pot of water on for the noodles.  At the same time, melt the butter in a frying pan and toss in the onions. 
When the onion has softened, add the garlic to the pan.  When the onion & garlic has started to caramelize, you can begin adding your other veggies, starting with those that will take longest to cook.
In the meantime, mix together your bouillion cube, the flour and at least a half cup of sour cream.  Add pepper to taste, and then thin it out with a quarter to a half cup of water and make sure it is well mixed.
If your veggies are mostly cooked, add the sauce to the frying pan, stirring well and being sure to scrape the delicious caramelized goodness from the bottom of the pan.  The sauce will thicken and reduce fairly quickly.  Add water if you want it runnier. 
Add the noodles and toss everything together and then enjoy! 

I hope you like it!

Figs and Goat Cheese and Goat Cheese and Figs

Since I am on maternity leave, I'm finding that while every day is a new adventure in baby-town, there's also a fair amount of sameness to it.

• Diapers (the adventure the last little while is the switch from disposables to cloth.  I think we've finally found a style/brand that we like!)
• baby bodily fluids (seriously, how are babies able to expel this much liquid in various forms in a day?? Where do they keep it all?)
• multiple outfit changes due to the above (sometimes for both of us)
• the daily walk (ie. let's get out of the house for a bit before mommy loses her sanity)

Babies are lucky they are so gosh darned adorable sometimes.  Other times, they're so cute and sweet and ideal babies you just want to kiss their feet until they fall off.  Or maybe that's just me.

In any event, I'm really loving staying home with our little one.  Look! Here's a photo of how cute she is in her summer gear for you!

Baby sunglasses may be the greatest thing ever, both for their practicality (yay UV protection!), and for how freaking adorable they are.  I'm also trying out our new ring sling - so far, she seems to like it, but I think I need a little more practice.

Now that I'm done mommy-jacking my own blog (I hope you didn't mind!), on to today's lunch.
I've been eating a lot of peanut butter & jam sandwiches and cheese sandwiches lately.  They're quick, easy and I can usually eat them with one hand while juggling baby things with the other.

Today, I felt like trying something a little different, and I remembered a visit to Montréal I took for work once, where I had a fig, caramelized onion and goat cheese panini that was so good, I ordered a second one before I finished the first. Note: one of my coworkers also ordered a second sandwich.  They were that amaze-balls.

With a small child on hand, and an innate laziness, I wasn't about to caramelize onions for my lunch.  I did, however, have goat cheese & homemade fig jam in the fridge.

So, I took some whole wheat wraps, spread them with a generous blob of fig jam, goat cheese, sliced radish, sliced baby cucumber and romaine lettuce.

Pre-lettuce wrap.  Look at the fig jam oozing out!

Amazing!  I wish I had remembered about the fig jam sooner.  As it is, I know I have a second jar, and now I'm torn as to whether or not to use it to make some more homemade fig newton cookies, or delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.

In conclusion: sweet, delicious figs + soft, salty goat cheese = delicious combination!

Tag!

So Skwishee over at Just a Mum? has gotten involved in a game of tag and she's told me I can play along too!

She's posed 11 random questions that I have to answer:

1. Name a book that somehow changed you. How?
This is a hard question since I read a LOT of books.  Seriously, our house is practically a library.
I'm going to name 2 books from my earlier years.  Anna to the Infinite Power and Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls were both among the first science fiction/fantasy books that I read that had female protagonists who weren't simpering princesses awaiting rescue.  It showed me that the sci-fi/fantasy genres could be more than 'boy smash', and that female characters could be represented in a more rounded manner.

2. If someone were to cook you the perfect meal, what would it be?
Spaghetti, with homemade tomato sauce, vegetarian 'meatballs', a nice salad with a variety of greens and boccini, garlic fried mushrooms, beer, tea, water and a super-chocolately cake (with the inner layers having chocolate mousse instead of icing between them) for dessert.  At least, that's what it would be at the moment.  I'm notoriously fickle when it comes to food, aside from the 'no things that had faces' rule.

3. Who do you want to be when you grow up?
Me, or possibly a muppet version of me.

4. You find a wallet containing $20,000 on the ground, containing no identification. What do you do?
Hem & haw for a good 15 minutes.  Then I'd probably take it to the nearest police station and hope they say that I can have it if no one claims it. Boring and staid, right?

5. Name one completely irrational fear that you've got.
That zombies will break into my house when I'm sleeping and attack.  When I was younger, it used to be 'generic bad guys', but pop culture has morphed it into something more specific.

6. Give me three songs that you're embarrassed to admit you like.
Arms Wide Open by Creed
Barbie Girl by Aqua (what can I say? It's catchy!)
I Wish by Skee-Lo

7. What is one thing you absolutely love about yourself?
It's cliche, but I really do love being a mom (most days anyway).

8. If you could be doing ANYTHING right now, what would it be?
Finishing "A Dance with Dragons" while simultaneously having a good, solid nap AND enjoying both.

9. What's the best thing that happened to you this week?
Well, it's only Tuesday, so there hasn't been much of a week yet, but I would say tiramisu gelato was one of the highlights so far.

10. If you could perfect one skill overnight, what would it be?
My knife skills - it would lead to so much more baking and cooking!

11. Tea or coffee?
Definitely tea.  Coffee hurts my insides.

Okay, on to part two!  Eleven random facts about myself.

1. I love salt & vinegar chips. 
2. I hate toe socks and flip flops.  It really skeeves me out to have things between my toes.
3. I probably watch waaaayyyy too much of the Food network.
4. The Food Network & Discovery Channel are the main reasons I do not want to give up cable.
5. I really am not looking forward to leaving my little girl when I go back to work next winter.  I will miss her so.
6. Sometimes, I eat cream cheese with a spoon.
7. I prefer Miracle Whip to plain mayo.  That being said, I've never had homemade mayo, which may change my opinion.
8. I strongly dislike small, round, explody foods.  Ie. I hate peas, tapioca, olives and rice pudding.  For everything except the olives, it is mostly a textural thing.  With olives, it is also flavour.
9. I start a lot of knitting projects, but I often get bored, disinterested or distracted partway through, and it takes me forever to finish them.  Example: I've been working on the same sweater, for me, for 3 years now.  I'm nowhere close to finished.
10. My favourite beverage is water.
11. I'm a huge nerd and I am okay with that.  If anyone wants to give me lightsaber chopsticks for my next birthday, I won't complain. Really, anything from ThinkGeek would probably work out fine :)

Now, in theory I should be tagging some others, but I don't follow too many blogs, and most of the ones I do follow have already been tagged.

Hrm.

I know, you should go and read
Swiskee's blog over at Just a Mum? because she is lovely and smart and funny
Jen's blog at My Adorable Smalltown Life because she really is adorable, and Gary the girl cat is a fluffy love-bug
Julie's blog at Feeding the Cat because she's funny and naughty and always interesting

If anyone would like to be tagged (Marilyn at Shumpgullion maybe?), let me know and I'll make up 11 questions for you :)

Babies and Bread Machines

I'm a few days away from my daughter hitting the three month mark and I still can't shake the "I have a baby! Holy crap!" feeling.

(Photo care of the lovely Danielle)

It is all those stereotypical crazy/awesome/wonderful things and also, occasionally, really, really gross.  Really. 

You learn all sorts of new skills when you have a baby, and one of the top ones is redefining time management.  Babies have no sense of urgency.  They don't care that you have an appointment in an hour - they want what they want right now.

This means that I've come to appreciate my 'new to me' bread machine on a whole new level.  I can just throw in the ingredients, hit the start button, and 3-4 hours later, I have delicious bread!  If I can't get to the machine, it has an automatic keep warm feature, which shuts itself off after an hour.  It is freaking amazing.

So far, I've made one loaf of each of the following kinds of bread:
whole wheat
oatmeal
cinnamon
4 cheese

Totally worth it.  The cinnamon bread was fantastic toasted with butter, although if we had maple spread in the house, I'm sure it would have been great with that too.

The four cheese bread (ricotta, swiss, old cheddar and parmesan mixed right into the bread dough) is also lovely.  So far I've mostly eaten it plain with butter, but I've also turned it into fantastic garlic toast.  I'm thinking it'll make interesting sandwiches as well since it is so flavourful.

Do you enjoy making bread?  Do you use a bread machine?  Got any good bread recipes?