Monthly Archives: December 2013

Freezer Cooking: My highs and lows

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So, hubby and I start searching around for a good deal on a freezer and end up getting a bigger one than we thought for cheaper than the smaller one!  Score!  OK, so let’s plug that bad boy in and get cooking!

My sister came and we spent 2 days cooking.  It sounds pretty great, doesn’t it?  But, if you want the food to last as long as possible after the baby comes, you need to cook it as close to the arrival of said baby as possible.  That means that yes, I was on my feet for two full days in a hot kitchen mid-August.  Without the ability to drink.  Yea, it may have sounded like a good idea… But those were the longest two days of my pregnancy… and that’s including the first two days past my due date (but certainly not including my 30 hrs of labor).

We made a lot of great things, but I certainly learned a lot.  Here are just SOME of the things I learned… the hard way (is there any other way, really?):

1.    – Space it out!  We did two full days like that because my sister is not local.  Had I been doing this on my own, I would have done it very differently.

2.    – SING IT LOUD.  Once people know you are stocking up, they will bring you stuff.  It’s very helpful.  Now is NOT the time to turn away this kind of help. You like your mother-in-law’s casserole?  Chances are, she’ll bring one or two for the freezer if she knows what you are doing!

3.    – Now is not the time to try new recipes.  Most times, when you are freezing, you make stuff in bulk.  So, imagine hating the chicken… and you’re either going to hate it the next 3-5 times you have it or you’re going to leave it in there to get freezer burned and throw it out when it’s time to thaw out the freezer.  For us it was the pasta sauce.  It was a new recipe and turned out way more like marinara sauce.  We used it for meatball subs, but there’s still a bunch out there… and we are less than enthused to defrost it!

4.    – Now is also not the time to pick recipes that are a pain to make!  I made awesome parmesan-zucchini stuffed chicken breasts.  But yea, trim the chicken, fillet the chicken, make the filling, stuff it, bread it, flash freeze it, etc.  The other killer was the very delicious bacon leek swiss quiche.  Have you ever worked with leeks?  If not, ALWAYS buy the pre-slices and pre-cleaned.  TRUST ME.

5.   –  Really plan ahead for what you are planning to use the meals.  I made some things to use together, but did not remember to pull both parts out at the same time… so now I have a bunch of cornbread muffins, but I already ate all the soup!  Good thing it’s prime time for chili…

6.   –  When in doubt, add shredded zucchini.  Seriously!  I added shredded zucchini to my meatloaf, baked ziti, meatballs and I also made a batch of carrot-zucchini muffins which were not on the original list of things to make.  Now, this was because I had an abundance of zucchini thanks to a friend’s garden, but it works very well for keeping things moist.  The meatloaf was really good.  I was disappointed when we ran out because I don’t really use a recipe and I’m not sure I’ll get it that good again.

Here’s the list of stuff we made!

8 apricot pork chop in crock pot (2 packs of 4) 2 london broil marinades 12 chicken marinades (3 packs of 2 breasts in each: zesty, bbq, teriyaki and honey mustard) 4 packs of 2 mini-meatloaves 3 packs of meatballs 3 packs of 2 parmesan zucchini-stuffed chicken breasts 6 trays of ziti 2lbs taco meat 19 black bean and corn quesadillas 10 twice baked potatoes (20 half potato servings) with scallions, bacon and cheddar 2 dozen cornbread muffins – to go with the soup… whoops! 2 dozen lemon poppy muffins 3 dozen carrot zucchini muffins 3 dozen pear walnut muffins  4 dozen cinnamon apple muffins 1 bacon-leek and swiss quiche (8 servings, wrapped individually) 1 pear crisp 6.5 dozen choc chip cookies (frozen in dough balls) 4 tubs cheesy chili soup (2 servings each, add cheese to serve) 9c instant oatmeal w/ nuts and dried berries *Not in the freezer, in the pantry.  Add milk and microwave! 6 berry smoothie packs 8 containers of pasta sauce (each has enough for 1/2 box pasta)

My REAL Christmas list

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This year, just like every other, I gave my Christmas requests to those who asked.  Those items that I requested are things that can be bought in stores.  They are just things, they aren’t my real Christmas wishes – you know those elusive things that don’t really exist, but you wish they did or those dreams in your head that will always just remain dreams.  This year I decided to actually write out that list, so here it is Rebecca’s Christmas wish (in no particular order):

1.  I want my 5 month old to sleep all night, and go down for naps without a fight (and for one of those naps to overlap with my 4 year old’s nap).  I would love to have received an owner’s manual with each of my children, but I’ll settle for the instructions out of the “sleep” chapter.

2. I want my 4 year old to let me cuddle him.  For him to just sit in my lap and let me wrap my arms around him.  To lay in his bed with him sometimes and just hold him.  For him to come and give me hugs, just because.

3. I really want an invisible house elf.  My house elf would dust and sweep the floors nightly, because it truly needs to be done daily in order not to find dust bunnies hanging from my 5 month old’s mouth or wads of my shedding hair wrapped in his hands.  My invisible house elf would also be on constant camera duty in order to catch all of those perfect moments, and ‘firsts’.  That way I would never be fiddling with a camera when I could just be enjoying the moment (only to miss the shot any way) and I would actually be in some of our family’s photos too!

4. I want to be able to clone myself selectively.  I do realize a second me would be useful most of the time, but in an effort to be reasonable, I just want a second me while I am breast feeding my 5 month old.  I cherish that time alone with him (and it does have to be ALONE with him if I expect to keep my nipple attached to my body), but that time would also be the perfect time to be spending quality alone time playing with my 4 year old.

5. I want 30 min per week to drive around in our neon green jeep Wrangler with the top down and music blasting, singing at the top of my lungs.  If my 4 year old would be willing to sing and dance along with me (instead of screaming at me to stop) then he would be allowed in this wish.  This really is great therapy!

6. I want a day every so often that is perfect: everybody is in a good mood, no fights over naps or food, and everyone (including my husband) behaves and no discipline needs to be dished out.  Just pure happiness together as a family.

7. I would love magical clothes that grow with the child.  It’s horrible when you have to declare a favorite shirt is ‘too small’ and the hunt for new favorite shirts is so frustrating. Clothes need to grow with them physically until they grow out of the emotionally.

8. I want to be able to take away all my 4 year old’s fears and anxieties so he can just enjoy life.  There are so many things to worry about later.  He should just be able to be a carefree child now.  No 4 year old should have panic attacks and be controlled by fear.

9. My 4 year old is old enough to start to enjoy the outdoor activities I do for exercise with me (kayak, hike, SUP, etc).  I want him to WANT to join me an be excited to get out into nature with me.

10. More than anything, I want to be around to watch them grow up and to cherish every moment I have with them.  Life is too short, and childhood is an even shorter stretch of time.  They will both be grown and gone before I know it and I don’t want to look back and wish I had held them or played with them more.  I want to look back and be happy about the time I got to be with them.

The Houghton family

The Houghton family

Tis the season

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Tis the season folks-holiday party season!This year my husband decided it would be fun to host a Christmas/end of the semester party for his department colleagues and their significant others.  I’m not one to turn down a Pinterest opportunity (can you tell I have a slight obsession yet? Not sorry.), so I quickly made a new board and got to planning.  Food, drinks, décor-I was a pinning madwoman! As a stay at home mom, my adult interactions are few and far between and I was very much looking forward to a night full of it. Then it happened. The morning of the party. I had a to-do list a mile long: my toddler-nado joyfully destroys my house daily, so toys needed to be rounded up, floors cleaned, bathrooms scrubbed.  Last minute grocery shopping needed to be done. I woke up ready to take on the day-and then my husband said he didn’t feel good. No!! Not the man flu! Not today! My mom is taking my 2 year old for a “slumber party,” my baby is going to cooperate and sleep through the party, and I am going to speak in full non-baby sentences while sipping an adult beverage. Not today!! He truly looked miserable throughout the morning, but I was feeling more sorry for myself.  I think I came within inches of melting down.  I love love love my boys-they are my world and my everything-but every momma needs a break once in a while, and I had not had one in ages.  As my husband moped around and tried to nap off his evil illness, I saw my little break (not to mention my Pinterest projects) fading away, and I was sincerely sad about it.  I tried to stay positive (although my husband may remember otherwise…), but the morning ticked away, nothing got done, and I resigned myself that it wasn’t going to happen. Alas, the party went on!! After a few naps, some food, and-most importantly I’m sure-encouraging words from his wife, my husband decided he felt well enough to soldier on. Excellent!! Except now a whole day’s worth of to-do’s needed to be done in a few hours. No worries, that’s what spare rooms are for.  Toys (and many other things…) were stuffed away out of sight, Yankee candles were lit, and food prep began! My mom was a huge help in wrangling my 2 year old while I scurried around cleaning and rolling meatballs (so gross, but so tasty). We had a great time, and my 4 month old mostly cooperated.  I got my much-needed adult time, ate too much, enjoyed some libations, and went to bed happy.  Happy holidays, friends! *In case anyone is wondering, I served turkey/Italian sausage meatballs and spinach and artichoke bites.  My aunt runs a chocolate business and provided us with an AMAZING and highly recommended Chocolate Pretzel Pizza (also, it comes with a wooden hammer you get to smash the pizza with-uh, awesome).  Guests brought additional sides and desserts. I *attempted* to make “Grinch Punch” ala Pinterest, but my husband could only find multi-colored sherbet, so it ended up looking more like dirty water. It was still delicious though! We also had beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages. I set everything up buffet-style on our long kitchen countertop.  It was very informal and easy-going! We had a few guests arrive fashionably early, so I didn’t get to snap as many pics as I would have liked, but I’ve attached a few! (Lucky for you all I got an excellent snap of my dirty water punch :-p)

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Meatballs: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/turkey-meatballs-10000001875604/ (I substituted the turkey sausage with Italian sausage and loved the outcome.  I also browned the meatballs before adding to the crockpot)

Spinach and artichoke bites: http://parkhouselove.com/2012/04/09/spinach-artichoke-bites/ (These were AWESOME and super easy)

Chocolate Pretzel Pizza: http://sweetsecretschocolate.com/product/party-on-chocolate-pretzel-pizza/

Two under two

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I always wanted a boy and a girl, preferably in that order. I have older brothers and I loved that I always had them looking out for me growing up (as well as tormenting me, but it’s funny how we so easily forget the bad stuff as we grow older). Hubby and I were married five years before Douglas was born. Doesn’t seem like an eternity, but boy it must have felt that way to eager friends and family. I can’t tell you how many people asked us in those 5 years, “Soooo. Are you going to have any kids??” We would kindly reply that although yes we DID want kids, we wanted to selfishly be husband and wife for a little bit. We allowed ourselves five years to be only just that.

After Douglas was born (and our titles changed to Mom and Dad), we couldn’t remember our lives without him. He was perfect and our family felt complete. Except, it wasn’t. We knew we wanted just one more. A lifelong friend for Douglas. Another child to spoil with kisses and adore. Our little girl. Douglas was around 8 months and although we didn’t really TRY to conceive, we certainly didn’t try NOT to… so after feeling those familiar symptoms that I felt just under a year before, I took a spare pregnancy test I had from my TTC days and there were the words as bright as day: Pregnant. I woke up my husband and quietly said, “uhh, babe? Guess what?” His sleepy reply (and I’ll never forget it) was, “let me guess…” 😉

We knew it wouldn’t be easy, having two under 2. Douglas was exactly a year and a half when his baby sister was born. He wasn’t old enough to understand that mommy needed to divvy up her time between two babies, with more of the time spent on Violet for obvious reasons. He would try to pull her off of me when I breastfed and tell me “ouch!” (as if he was helping me realize I had a milk-sucking leech feeding off of me). He began accepting our new family dynamic more and more as time passed. It was hard to give each child exactly 50%, which is what I intended to do. I’d make up for lost time with Douglas with some quality mommy-son reading sessions… and then Violet would wake up crying from a nap. I’d look down at Douglas and although he may not have understood why, he eventually figured out that reading time had to stop when Violet said so. His big, sad brown eyes broke my heart, but he would watch me walk out of the room and he didn’t fuss once.

Although it didn’t seem like it’d be fun for him, I made sure to include him in everything… and THAT really helped him break the ice with Violet. He proudly helped me get clean diapers, a pacifier, a burp cloth, or just to make Violet smile. He would hold up his Lightening McQueen car and say, “Violet, RED car! RED!” I couldn’t have asked for a better sibling dynamic. Once he found and accepted his role as big brother, he couldn’t have possibly shown her any more affection. His favorite phrase is “baby cuuuute!!!” and he clenches his teeth and his eyes widen when he says it… so you know he really means it. 🙂

Violet is now 3.5 months and Douglas is 21 months. It’s gotten MUCH easier. I am conscious about not leaving Douglas out of activities, even if it is just making dinner or feeding the cat. I also make sure to still hold and rock and sway him to music, like we used to do pre-Violet. I often have to remind myself that he’s not even 2. He needs his mommy as much as she does. She may be fussy and getting her first tooth, but he’s getting his molars and that deserves a big mommy hug too. I have learned to combine activities. For instance now when we read I Love You Through and Through, all three of us lay down in bed and I kiss each of them as the pages call out. One nose kiss for Douglas, one nose kiss for Violet. One ear tug for Douglas. One ear tug for Violet. He giggles throughout and is truly happy that we have another to share in our play and our immense love for one another.

Now we can’t remember our lives before Douglas AND Violet. Sure, we have two in diapers, two drinking from bottles, two needing (ahem. wanting) to be carried all the time, two waking up in the middle of the night, and two vying for mom and dad’s constant attention… but I truly wouldn’t want it any other way.

By Denise

Traveling with kids: Getting started

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My husband and I (this is Rebecca) always enjoyed traveling, mostly within the United States. We lived at least a 5 hour plane ride from our families for most of our 13 years of marriage. I enjoy planning our trips and finding those fantastic deals. Then, we had our first child…
With family so far away, not traveling wasn’t an option. But really, how do you travel with kids? I am here to say, “Fear not! It is possible!(And maybe even, still enjoyable)” Is it the same? Nope, far from it! You remember sitting, bored, on an airplane flipping through Skymall? Well, that’s not in your future any more. Like the rest of life, having kids changes how you will travel, maybe even where you travel, but don’t let your fear hold you back – get out there!
When Parker was 2yrs and 6 months we packed up our entire household and shipped it to the West Coast. Then we loaded up our 5th wheel trailer and our truck with ourselves, our 2 dogs, and only what we needed to live for the next 3 months and headed West. We spent 1 month traveling from Michigan to California. By the time we did this Parker had taken many trips with us: 8 trips by plane, 6 road trips, 3 RV trips (camping), and even one sailing trip. He was a seasoned traveler.
At this point you might be thinking, “Wow, they must have an easy child.” You would be wrong. We have a normal child, just like everyone else. Trust me, we had our fair share of travel disasters such as the road trip where my MIL, myself, and Parker were all in tears by the time we reached our destination, or the lost pacifier at Disney World (why couldn’t my child have liked the brand you could buy at just any store?), there was the ER trip for the split forehead, Oh I could go on, but I think you get the point.
So, there will be future posts about specific types of travel with kids, but this one is just to getting you thinking about it and to encourage you to just do it! Hear are a few basics to get you started:
1. Think about your daily schedule at home. Does your kid sleep well in the car? Do they NEED their naps (aka are they a monster when they are missed)? Can they sleep in the same room as you? Are they mobile yet? Do they follow directions yet?
2. Work their needs into your itinerary. For example: Parker naps in his car seat, so we plan driving times during nap time, or flights during nap time (and we take his car seat on the plane). His car seat naps aren’t as good as in-bed naps, so we make sure to plan ‘down days’ (aka days that don’t have much planned) so he can get some quality naps in as well.
3. Plan around your family’s living style. If you co-sleep, make sure you get a room with a big enough bed. If you are like us and your child needs quiet seclusion to go to sleep, then get a 2 room suite, or rent a condo (often much cheaper than a hotel and you get a kitchen).
4. Plan ahead!!!! For example: If you have never taken your baby to a sit down restaurant, don’t get a hotel and plan on doing that for every meal. Try a few long car rides, or restaurants, or travel bassinet, or whatever it is first – before you go.
5. Pack wisely. Ok, I am the Queen of forgetting 1 crucial item per trip. Seriously, there was a string of trips I forgot our hairbrush. I think we own 10 now! You WILL forget things! It’s almost always ok. Most trips aren’t to some exotic or remote local where a replacement can not be had. The last trip we did required a trip to Target the first full day – I managed to forget PJ’s for our youngest – oops! Yet, you do not need to bring the kitchen sink! I pack one outfit per person, per day, plus a spare – if there is a disaster and we need more then we will find a laundry mat (it’s happened).
I was talking to a friend about her first trip with her little girl – she laughed as she recalled watching her husband make 4 trips from the car to the hotel room with all their stuff (including the bouncy seat, swing, and all) for a one night trip. Not necessary! Her daughter slept only in the swing during that time. Great! Then pack the swing, but not the pack n’ play, for example. Check what can be borrowed, rented, or acquired at your destination. For our sailing trip the charter company didn’t have toddler life vests so we brought ours. On the other hand, when we went to Orlando we learned about a company that delivers items to your door on rent (crib, toys, you name it). Sometimes when my parents drive to meet us at a destination that we have to fly to, I have my Mom borrow items from her friends and bring them (high chair,, or walker for example).
Ok, I think that’s enough food for thought. I’ll end with this: just like with life, kids makes traveling more challenging, but it also makes it more spectacular. I’ve seen the ecards that have made their rounds that say things about how a vacation is not a vacation for Mom. That is true, usually vacations are more work and stress for me than a normal day at home, but I wouldn’t trade it anyway. The wonder of new things through their eyes is amazing. The chance to get out of your daily routine and make lasting memories together is totally worth it! Some of my fondest memories are from ‘vacation’.