how to celebrate easter dapper-style

owls in season

we were going to do pace's room in noah's ark style, but then we couldn't find any crib sets we liked. david found a super cute owl bedding set from dwell studios at a great price, so we are now doing owls. i am finally getting to some artwork for the walls. going along with the owl theme, i'm painting winter/spring/summer/fall with a little owl hanging out in his tree. summer is done, and winter is almost finished.

little bear, little shrimp

pace had his 6 month appointment yesterday and the poor kid went from shrimp to shrimpier. he weighed in at a whopping 15lbs 10oz, which places him in the 15th percentile. he's finally made it to the 50th in one area: he's 26.5 inches long. the dr. isn't worried at all because he is bright, healthy, strong, developing just fine physically/mentally/etc., and he is putting on weight, just slowly.

in his defense, he does have a little buddha belly, cute little snuggle cheeks, and chubs on his little legs--they are all very well proportioned, is all--no outlandish muffin top, thunder thighs, or double chin for this kid. we were calling pace our little bear, but now we're thinking of calling him little shrimp...

and his personality is hilarious. he is so curious, social and timid at the same time, vocal, snuggly--all good baby things rolled into one.

we have started purees! pace loved the novelty of the spoon. the first few feedings were fun for about 4 or 5 spoonfuls of rice cereal, and then the novelty wore off and he wanted to eat the way he was used to eating.

pace was much more excited to wear the cereal then to eat it...

so then we tried butternut squash--instant hit. that's a happy face, trust me.

on sunday, i spent an hour and a half steaming, roasting, and pureeing zucchini, peas, sweet potato, butternut squash, apple, and pear. i had all the ingredients on hand, used one pot, one baking pan, one mini food processor, and about 5-6 oz of breastmilk. fast, nutritious, inexpensive, homemade, not full of preservatives, dyes, processed junk...remind me--why are the grocery stores stocked with purees for babies?...

this is where pace burns off the calories he consumes. try asking this kid to be still...not a chance. i'm in trouble when we starts crawling, toddling, walking, running...it's never going to stop!

phew--some down time--i love chillin with my little man. and finally some sun! i think i can count on one hand the number of warm, sunny days we've had this spring. the rest have been cloudy, cold, rainy, and or snowy. if we see sun outside, pace and i are on the front porch watching the cars go by.

warm enough for a picnic lunch with dada. pace loves being outside, touching the grass, leaves, flowers, etc.

when pace first discovered his voice, he gave tarzan calls all day long. tarzan quickly developed into full-out screeches/squeals. he sounds like a mix between a hungry pig and a barn owl. there are times he lets out blood-curdling screams that i am sure would make the neighbors call dcfs if the windows were open. here he is in his new toy letting out a squeal of delight at the top of his lungs.

pace loves: being outside, his dad, his mom, waking up in the morning, his ladybug toy, his hippo stuffed animal, jumping, singing "i'm a little teapot" with the motions, watching his "baby can read" videos (in particular, loves to see this one boy in the video named graham), playing peek-a-boo, swings at the park, kicking in the pool, reading night-night books with dada

pace dislikes: loud, sudden noises (hair dryer, kitchen appliances, etc), strangers, getting ready for bed (although he goes down really well!), dr. visits/shots, waking up from naps

25-31

i know you're all dying to hear how we finished out the meatless month of march, so here it is:

25: i remember that day was a cold, blustery, snowy day, so i thought soup would be great for david when he'd walk in from work. so i made vegetable soup and was about to throw some biscuits in the oven when david walked in carrying fancy bread and cheese, so we made gourmet grilled cheeses to accompany the soup. david also brought the sunshine with him!--the minute he walked in, the snow stopped, and the clouds parted just enough the let the sunshine in.

26-27, the usual leftovers...

28: you can never have too much chips + salsa. or enchiladas. or poblanos enrolados. or tamales. that night was cheese and chili tamales with salsa and cottage cheese, a steamed veg/bean packet, and citrus on the side. mexican food would definitely be my last meal request.

29: i know this looks like we cheated, but it isn't a real burger. a boca burger is basically a bunch of soy product pressed together, colored and flavored to look like a burger. that process makes it sound worse than it actually was--they weren't that bad.

30: potato parmesan gnocchi with a steamed veg pack, salad, and garlic bread. hello, dinner!

31: for our last meal i decided to re-make huevos rancheros. this time we had the right ingredients on top!

what did we have for dinner the next night? i think i made meatball subs, a pizza with chicken sausage, and then (forget leftovers!) my favorite sunday meal: roast chicken with roast potatoes/carrots, grilled asparagus, steamed broccoli/cauliflower with cheese sauce, and gravy...mmmmm.

24

ooey, gooey, cheesy goodness, anyone? welcome to dinner: i sauteed broccoli, cauliflower, and onion; made creamy bulgur wheat; threw everything together in the pot with a homemade cheddar cheese sauce, and sprinkled chopped pecans and bread crumbs on top, baked at 400 for about 20 minutes. cantaloupe on the side, and dinner is served!

23

i think anyone would love breakfast for dinner if they had the right plate in front of them. david said this one tasted like eggs benedict! here's the pile: whole wheat toast, one egg crepe, steamed asparagus, creamy cannellini beans (sauteed shredded carrot and onion, mashed cannellini beans, sour cream, lemon juice, parsley, s+p), and a steam veggie pack on the side.

22

oxymoron meal: whole wheat pasta with homemade tomato sauce and veggie meatballs. yes, veggie meatballs. we found them at costco, and thought we'd give them a try. they were very thanksgiving stuffing-like in texture, full of veggies and seeds, and overall not too bad. on the side: steamed snap peas and carrot-slaw (shredded carrot, apple, craisins, walnuts, and chopped asparagus)

21

another fabulously stuffed roasted squash. this time: butternut squash stuffed with bulgur wheat, sauteed apples, onions, celery, tri-color peppers, topped with parmigiano-reggiano. YUM. on the side: sicilian-style beans and greens--the recipe called for raisins, carrots, red onion, cannellini beans, and escarole, but i used swiss chard from the co-op.

19 & 20

last saturday we had a grilling dinner with the elders' quorum from church...and yes, we brought veggie burgers. it was david's first-ever veggie burger, and it was a success! i wish i had a photo.

sunday was leftover day: wild rice and lentils with sauteed veggies, cauliflower pasta, and a beautiful mango from the co-op.

18.

i asked david if he had any requests for a fun friday night dinner, and he said he wanted a big bowl of ground beef topped with cheez whiz. i told him he was off his rocker. if he wanted a meal with meat, i'm totally fine doing that, but i will never serve a bowl of ground-up fattiness topped with radiation-orange fake cheez product that can't even be spelled correctly because there isn't enough of the real food to qualify as cheese.

so we had the next best thing: broccoli pizza.

17.

i know a monochromatic meal is typically a sign of low nutrition, but this pasta dish does actually hold some substance:

sauteed cauliflower (super high in vitamin c and lots of the b vitamins, potassium)

onions (pretty high in vitamin c, known for quercetin, an anti-inflammatory flavonoid)

cannellini beans (magnesium, fiber, folate, protein, and twice as much iron as beef, believe it or not!!)

grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese throughout (calcium, protein)

16.

i usually equate soup with the fall or winter, but today was overcast and rainy. so we had chickpea, potato, and spinach soup with cheese and chive biscuits. very creamy and satisfying!

15.

if you want the flavor of a quiche without the fuss of a quiche, a spinach and cheese strata is the way to go! thanks, america's test kitchen cookbook, for the great recipe! on the side--baked sweet potatoes with sauteed peppers.

14.

stuffed acorn squash with spinach salad and ciabatta. in the squash: sauteed carrot, onion, celery, red pepper, chopped walnuts, wild rice, lentils, egg/bread crumbs as a binder, s+p/herbs, and freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese. SO GOOD. david and i love any squash roasted, and the filling here was so flavorful and satisfying. david said he felt like he was eating ground beef!

10; 11-13

spinach and potato galette with roasted tomatoes. after reading through the recipe, i decided to add a bit more flavor and turned it into a potato lasagna, of sorts.

i made so many different recipes last week, and didn't half any of them...so we ate leftovers all weekend long. literally. i am not a leftovers girl, so i have to say thanks to our friends chris and jenny and their kids for helping us eat the turnip gratin, risotto, potato lasagna, tzatziki, and any other leftover i am blocking from my memory!

9.

pumpkin and pistachio risotto and caprese salad. i think i was supposed to have been italian... the pumpkins came from our garden last year. they've been hanging out in the garage all winter, so it was nice to find a recipe that used whole pumpkin instead of pureed. although i may still use the last pumpkin to steam and make a fresh pumpkin pie!

8.

my menu has changed slightly this week due to the fresh veggies we got from the co-op that need to be used up. tonight was a full co-op meal: turnip gratin (good news: tastes just like potato gratin), sauteed green beans, yellow squash, and pecans, 9-grain bread with jam.

7.

huevos rancheros anyone? david and i agree next time it needs a salad component--chopped romaine and fresh tomatoes on top. i wanted something green, too, so i was getting an avacado ready, but it was rotten. that was the first time i'd seen any sort of fruit or veggie fuzzy on the inside!...ew.

6.

we always just heat up leftovers on sundays. especially now with church from 1-4, it's so much easier to come home and just heat something up and eat, instead of taking time to make a big meal. so leftovers on sunday...

reheated polenta and beans, and rosti pancakes. i took the leftover rosti we had (essentially a hashbrown pie with wild rice and onions), added the carrot puree, and mixed it all up with a pancake batter. they were...interesting...definitely a savory pancake NOT worth repeating! i also had leftover pie dough from apple pies i made last sunday, so i whipped up a couple of blueberry crumble pies. we had a lot of dessert after not enjoying dinner so much...

5.

veggie pizza!! we love having homemade pizza on the weekends. i was just going to make pizza margarita, but we had so many veggies still in the fridge, we decided to make veggie pizza with a spinach cesaer salad on the side.

4.

breakfast: oatmeal squares cereal, fruit

lunch: tomato sandwiches, leftover steamed veggies, baked chips, and we shared the last slice of homemade apple pie

dinner: there is nothing better than a big plate of pasta at the end of a long week! except maybe a big bowl of pasta (butternut squash and spinach ravioli) covered in my homemade 7-veggie tomato sauce and parmesan cheese!

3.

breakfast: homemade granola cereal, dried apricots

lunch: tzatziki with tomato slices and feta, pita, almonds, popcorn, v8 fusion

dinner: cheesy polenta with black beans/salsa/tomatoes/cottage cheese/guacamole (now that's a plate!)

2.

breakfast: cottage cheese and fruit, wheat toast

lunch: egg salad roll up with spinach, red/yellow/orange pepper slices, baked chips

dinner: wild rice and potato rosti with carrot puree, steamed veggies, mango and orange slices, wheat toast

1.

being the domestic goddess that i am, i derive great pleasure from catering to david's dinner requests. i love to cook, and love to eat what i cook even more, so it's a win-win. he mentioned last week he'd like to go meatless for a while. i always plan at least 2 meatless dinners a week, but we decided to try to go meatless for the whole month of march. we bid farewell to february with five guys, and began meatless today. i'm not saying vegetarian because we're still doing eggs and animal products. although i guess cutting those would be vegan, not vegetarian...anyway, time to put my nutrition skills to the test!

breakfast: oatmeal with banana, walnuts and maple syrup

lunch: tzatziki with pita and feta cheese crumbles, greek yogurt (pomegranate flavor!), fruit, almonds, v8 fusion juice

dinner: quinoa pilaf with apples and pecans, baked sweet potato with sauteed peppers, spinach salad

hello, monday

food co-op craze

i've joined the bountiful baskets food co-op craze here in the valley.

the basic basket: $15 (all those fruits and veggies)

5 loaves of 9-grain bread: $10

you decide...

when i posted the clone post, david said that's when he realized pace looks nothing like him. so we dug out my old baby photos and realized pace does actually have a little of me in him! i think he's a perfect mix of the two of us:

i'm 7 mos old in this photo:

(too bad i don't have the jumpsuit anymore...)

4 mos old in this photo:

david says the vacant stare says it all (...ha ha):

david as a baby:

(i don't know what age he was in these photos)

and you thought cloning wasn't legal...

4 months already

14 lbs 1/2 oz (30 %ile)

24 3/4" (42 %ile)

he's a little shrimp, but sticking to his growth curve just fine. i know the "percentiles" don't mean much. this kid is totally proportionate, nurses like a champ, and sleeps a good 9 hours at night. he has rolls on his thighs, a cute little belly, and rolls for wrists. and i L-O-V-E that gummy little mouth!

we love this little guy--melt downs and all! his pouty face was too cute--i made him keep crying so i could get some good shots. bad mom, right?!