How to make Gangsta rap child friendly

Our little bundle requires lots of entertaining input to maintain an appropriate happiness output, so I find myself singing to her a lot (and wishing I had taken those singing lessons when I had the time.) And while I can Doo-wop and I can Disney, I absolutely draw the line at Barney, which is what I almost caught myself singing to her the other day...you know the one "I love you, you love me"...ugh. I think our young one would benefit more from Mommy's old school Gangsta rap favorites than Barney! But making Tupac and Ice Cube child friendly can be a challenge. Here's my take on the chorus to Snoop Dogg's Gin and Juice:

"Rollin' down the street in my stroller

Sippin' on booby juice

Laid back, with my mind on my mommy and my mommy on mind"

What do you think? Would Barney rap that?

And on the seventh day...

We rested! Finally!

Today's is Aliza's seventh day and since she so thoughtfully gave us the gift of sleep we shall return the favor and give her the gift of recording random ramblings that will embarrass her one day in the all-too-near future.

As told from Aliza's perspective (we have almost a Betazoid-like telepathy with our child and can therefore interpret her thoughts and desires)

Day One (Friday, February 19th, 2010)

Birth! Pretty exciting stuff. Mommy seemed upset that the doctors were cutting me out of her so I decided to poop on them as a form of revenge. When that didn't seem to do much to cheer her spirits I peed on the floor (all while my head hadn't been born yet) and that really did the trick, Mommy found that hilarious! Afterwards I went to the yucky nursery with Daddy, the mean mean nurses didn't let me see Mommy for three whole hours, I rewarded them by being the loudest baby there! The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and I got to eat some booby and chill with my new parents, they seem ok so far, only a tad neurotic.

Day Two (Saturday, February 20th, 2010)

I'm kicking butt and taking names...so far the names are Mommy and Daddy...you two didn't think I was going to let you sleep did you?

Day Three (Sunday, February, 21st, 2010)

I was pretty ready to get the heck out of this place and go home! We made it safe and sound despite the "blizzard" outside and I was greeted by all of my grandparents and my furry big sister Rory.

Day Five (Tuesday, February, 23rd, 2010)

Our first outing as a family- Mommy, Daddy, Rory and me! It was pretty great, even if it only lasted ten minutes.

Day Six (Wednesday, February 24th, 2010)

Back out into the world and off to my first doctor's appointment. It didn't seem too bad, especially since Mommy fed me booby the whole time, that Mommy she is pretty awesome.

It's not easy being green

aka more witticism from tired parents

As you all know we decided to cloth diaper. We figured since neither one of us has ever changed a diaper before we would have no bad habits to break. I would love to tell everyone that it's going great, but really I wouldn't know because I am absolutely terrified of changing her diaper, I have bargained with hubs that I will start changing her diaper as soon as her cord falls off and until then I will sit in the corner eating my elbows.

This is the conversation I overheard between hubs and Aliza yesterday as he was changing her diaper...

(We put her in a disposable diaper for our first visit to the pediatrician, we figured it would be a little easier and it was, so when we got home we changed back into cloth)

Hubs: Isn't this better than those nasty disposable diapers?

Aliza: WAAAAAAAAAAAA

Hubs: (dismayed at her unenthusiastic response) Don't you feel green?

Aliza: (louder now) WAAAAAAAA

Hubs: No? You feel pissed off?

Aliza: (in agreement) WAAAAAAAA

Hubs: It's not easy being green!

And so maybe it isn't easy being green, but so far the diapers have had one blowout (our fault not diapers) the disposable which we have used a fraction of the time (mostly during the hospital daze) had two! They seem more absorbent and once we know what the heck we are doing just as easy to use as sposies. We may very well consider adding some all in ones to the mix once that dreaded cord falls off.

our brand new life

Aliza Marie, just minutes old...

how sleep deprivation leads to mis-understandings/ some notes on our first days as parents

hubs: (in response to baby fussing) check her arms

me: they seem fine

hubs: no, her lower arms

me: um, you mean her legs?

hubs: oh yeah I forgot there's a name for those

hubs: what do you want for breakfast?

me: english muffin

hubs: butter? honey? (meaning the condiment)

me: butter, honey (meaning just butter, honey-term of endearment)

breakfast outcome questionable

me: I'm so glad you get to stay home with me, it's like a vacation, like a honeymoon!

hubs: yeah you are preoccupied with something the whole time and you don't get any sleep

me: (dreamy, doped up on baby love hormones) yeah...

hubs: (sarcastic, bleary eyed monster) yeah...

many more witty discussions to come

Blueberry Yogurt Cake

Another tried and true recipe from Smitten Kitchen....that I managed to somehow destroy!

The original recipe can be found here and I'm sure would have been just delicious if I left well enough alone...

Recipe & Revisions

what you need:

• 1 1/2 cups & 1 tblsp all purpose flour, I have been using unbleached
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, but I'm sure regular salt is ok too!
• 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
• 1 cup & 1 tblsp sugar
• 3 extra large eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons worth)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil, I know what you're thinking a Smitten Kitchen recipe without butter is almost an oxymoron
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed, our local Cosctco now has organic frozen blueberries! Scoop these up for the half the price of Trader Joes or Whole Paycheck!
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice. And here is where I think I made THE big mistake, I think I told the hubs to just squeeze all the juice out of the two lemons we used for zest because I figured I love lemon flavor so more juice can only add to that lemony goodness...umm no, this made the cake way too tart! So be warned don't go overboard no matter how much you think you like lemons.

what you do:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2 inch loaf pan, line the bottom with parchment paper and grease and flour the pan.
• Sift 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl and in another whisk the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet.
• In another bowl mix blueberries with the reserved tablespoon of flour and gently fold into the batter...I still don't quite know what "gently fold" means so I pour the blueberries and say "gently gently" as I mix the two together.
• Pour the batter into your prepped pan and bake for fifty or more minutes until a toothpick placed in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
• And while that's a bakin'...threw the lemon juice and 1 tblsp sugar into a small pan and cook until sugar dissolves and mixture is clear...I think we really should have increased the amount of sugar we used, we tried to make it proportional to the extra lemon juice we used but clearly we failed.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for about ten minutes, then let cool on a cooling rack. While the cake is still warm, either poke holes in it with a toothpick or use a pastry brush to add the lemon sugar mixture to the cake, make sure there is something underneath the cake to catch the drippings! Cool and slice up to enjoy. Take outside, put it on a table and take pictures of it before the snow melts. Eat.

How to make a major decision (like which diapers to use)

I'm someone who needs to absorb as much information as I can get my hands on before I can make a decision. I also need to delay making the actual decision for as long humanly possible...commitment? yikes!

For example, as someone who didn't start college knowing exactly what I wanted to do (you pre-med crazies that practiced surgery on your dolls at the tender age of four know who you are) and I'm not they type to just dive in and take classes willy nilly (and yes, I still regret not taking tractor driving) I had to develop a systematic way of making this monumental decision(sarcasm implied). I looked through the entire college catalog and made a list of anything that sounded remotely interesting and still in the realm of possibility given my academic abilities (anything involving math? I think not.) Then I noted all the prerequisites my choices had in common and started in on those classes first. That way I could still change my mind before any major commitment had been made.

But I digress...now that I have a college edumacation (and even a masters) all of my knowledge and my finely honed decision making skills can be put to the test and I can make all kinds of important decisions...like what kind of diapers to use for little jellybean (who will be making her debut shortly.) Sarcasm about becoming a stay at home mom aside, choosing what kind of diapers to use is actually an important decision, both for economic reasons and environmental ones. Hubby and I knew we wanted to cloth diaper but I knew nothing about this mystical world when I started my research. Weeks of diligent research later I came across several websites that organized all of the information out there. Like this one, and groups like this one. Did you know there was several different cloth diapering systems? I didn't when I started.

A fabulous website that has helped me make sense of it all is Babyworks. They explain the plethora of choices as two basic systems- diapers that are used inside of a cover and diapers with a waterproof layer built in.

These can be subdivided further. There are three kinds of diapers that are used inside of a cover- prefold, fitted, and contour. These types of diapers are all different types of an absorbent layer that is then used inside of a waterproof cover. There are also different options for what to use as the waterproof cover. These vary by what kind of material the cover is made out of (synthetic, wool, etc) and how the cover is closed- velcro, snaps, or pull on.

Then there are two kinds of diapers with a waterproof layer built in- a pocket diaper and an "all in one." Pocket diapers are two piece units- with a waterproof outer layer that has a pocket in which the absorbent inner layer insert is placed. Finally, "all in ones" are diapers in which the absorbent inner layer and the waterproof outer layer are attached, so when you change the diaper you change the whole thing, just like a disposable!

Okay now how do you choose from all of these options? Some are more expensive than others, some are more labor intensive, some offer "cuter" design choices (like we care at 3am) and so on. This is what I am going to do. I am fortunate enough to have received a sample pack from a friend (that ultimately chose to go the disposable route, score for me) so now I have a sample of each type of diaper- prefold, fitted, contour, pocket, and all in one so I can play a little and see which baby likes best. And even though I just mocked the whole concept of design when it comes to diapers, I admit I'm a little bummed that this sample pack is all boyish colors. Please feel free to call me a hypocrite and throw things.

But in the meantime I still need a system (because the system of diapers then dictates the pail you get and the laundering system you use, no seriously there's so many choices!) and I am going to choose....prefolds (these kinds) with covers (this kind.)

Think that's all there is to it? Then you haven't been paying attention. I still need to figure out how I'm going to store all of the dirty diapers, how I'm going to keep these puppies so fresh and so clean clean, and whether I am going to use disposable wipes or cloth ones. There are even choices within choices- make your own wipe solution? Use a wipe warmer? Use natural detergent for laundering? Dry them on a clothes line? The list goes on and on.

As I embark on this adventure I plan to share my trials and tribulations with you readers (aka mom) and hopefully help to simplify the process for someone out there considering cloth diapering.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

So something I've never been very good at is pancakes...maybe because pancakes didn't exist when I was growing up in the Ukraine. There were crepes and then there were pancake like things called "oladie" that are a whole lot like a pancake but smaller and less doughy. So now this recipe, while a traditional pancake recipe is made like a cross between "oladie" and pancakes...

Recipe

(adapted from Joy of Cooking, All About Breakfast & Brunch)

preheat oven to 200-250 degrees (to warm completed cakes) and preheat your griddle

whisk together in a large bowl:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone ground... now here is where I deviate, last time I made these, the cornmeal left little lumpy bits in the batter...yucky, so this time I just used 1 1/2 cups of flour and had to adjust the buttermilk accordingly, but we'll get to that

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

whisk together in another bowl:

1 1/4 cups buttermilk...okay so probably due to the extra flour my recipe needed more buttermilk, I guesstimated but I would say probably about 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups alltogether

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 large egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest...and again

I deviate, I was saving my lemon zest for the Cranberry Scones (coming soon) so I instead used orange zest and probably a bit more than the recipe called for

pour the wet ingredients over the dry and whisk together gently, mixing until just combined

whisk in yet another bowl

2 large egg whites, beat until peaks are stiff but not dry...this is crucial to the fluffiness of the pancakes, whip it, whip it good! and then gently fold into the batter

last but not least fold in 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

spoon 1/3 cup batter (again I like to use less, like maybe a 1/4 cup) onto a griddle or a good ole fashioned pan, cook until top of each pancake has some popping bubbles, then flip and cook until underside is lightly browned

keep warm in a 200/250 degree oven while you finish whipping up the rest

ENJOY!

baby bump week by week

Leftover Pumpkin

And if you've made some black bean pumpkin soup you might be wondering what to do with your leftover pumpkin...so back to Smitten Kitchen you will go to find another pumpkin recipe!

Here is my revision of this recipe:

Recipe

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon-

1 teaspoon ground ginger- I'm pretty sure I doubled this by accident, and it was still tasty!

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves- I had to omit this because I don't care for the taste of cloves

4 large eggs seperated

2 cups shaken buttermilk- well sadly I only had blackberry kefir at home (purple kefir + orange pumpkin= slightly greenish tint waffles, but still tasty!)

1 cup canned solid packed pumpkin- I used my leftover fresh puree

6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 (to warm the ready waffles while you wait) and turn on waffle iron.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.

In a separate large(r) bowl whisk together egg yolks, buttermilk, pumpkin and butter until it ain't lumpy no more, then whisk in dry ingredients until just combined.

In another mixing bowl, whisk together egg whites until they hold soft peaks. If you are truly crazy you can do this by hand, I have learned my lesson and will use a mixer next time.

Fold these in gently into the batter.

Pour batter onto your waffle iron, I find that the amount you use really depends on your personal waffle iron. Cook and then transfer ready waffle to the oven to keep toasty!

Make more oe save the rest of the batter for the next morning or lunch that day.

Topping- blackberry sauce I whipped up (blackberries, sugar and water melted together)

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

My new favorite food blog is Smitten Kitchen...these days I just go there, drool, fantasize about making the dishes and sometimes actually make them! This is her black bean pumpkin soup, which I didn't alter one little bit. Because it is yummy just the way it is! Try it, you'll like it.