December 26, 2010

Two More Recipes for Nursing Moms

Shiphrah still has a hard time with flatulence, particularly when I eat dairy. Yesterday my Mom made this wonderful strawberry trifle (Paula Dean Christmas recipe) with cream cheese, whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk. Afterwards, Shiphrah screamed for at least an hour. :-( Bad, Mommy, bad!

Garlic and onions are unavoidable in almost every prepared food, except meat and plain white bread. However her reaction is much less severe, she only spits up (a lot) when I eat these foods. So I'm still finding ways to prepare foods without those gas causing ingredients. Here are two more recipes:

Maple-Glazed Spiced Carrots

3 medium carrots (8 oz. total), peeled, diagonally cut into 1/4" slices
1/4 cup water
2 tbs unsalted butter
2 tsp maple syrup
3/4 tsp fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper

Combine the carrots, water, butter, syrup, lemon juice and spices in a small nonstick saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook until the liquid has reduced to a glaze and the carrots are tender, about 8 minutes. Just before serving, taste and adjust the seasonings by adding more lemon juice and salt, if necessary. Makes 2 servings.

Notes: To save time, you may use 8 oz. packaged peeled baby carrots. After reducing the heat to low, cook for about 10 minutes.

To make it non-dairy, eliminate the butter and use 1 tbs olive oil and 1 tbs sifted flour for the fat and thickener. I tripled the recipe for 2 lbs. of carrots for our Christmas meal and it was great. When cooked using the time guidelines, the carrots will have a more al dente texture, not completely soft in the center. Adjust the cooking time until you reach the texture you desire.

...............

Campbell's Tomato Vegetable Soup

1 can Campbell's condensed tomato soup
2 stalks of celery, diced very thin
2 carrots, diced very thin
2/3 can Leseuer peas
1 and 1/2 to 2 cans of water
1/4 tsp oregano
salt & pepper to taste

In a non-stick pot combine soup, celery, carrots and water on high heat. Allow to boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the carrots and celery are the desired texture. Once your texture is reached, add the peas and spices and cook for another 1 or 2 minutes. Allow to cool before serving. Makes a little more than two 8 oz. servings.

This was really good, easy and off-the-cuff.

Notes: If you don't have a non-stick pot, first boil the celery and carrots in about 3 cups of water until you get the texture you want, then add the rest of the ingredients. We still had the maple carrots left over, so I just rinsed them in water and added them to the pot. Super easy.


December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas!

Joy to the world: the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room
and heaven and nature sing!

December 23, 2010

Horizontal Mobility

Two nights ago, around 2 a.m. I heard Shiphrah making noises and I awoke. As I laid there a few minutes listening to her I realized that she sounded more like she was playing rather than her normal waking up to eat. She was happy. I sat up and looked into the bassinet where she lay and lo, and behold, she had rolled over!! She normally sleeps on her stomach, but here she was on her back! She did it again two hours later.

The bassinet is getting small for her and I figured that she had pushed up against the sides and rolled with some structural assistance. I didn't want to get up in the middle of the night for this reason - because she isn't accustomed to sleeping on her back. So I set up the pack 'n play for her night time sleeping. During the day I've been putting her to sleep in a crib. Well, she knows how to roll over in those too!

She has also discovered her hair. :-) While she's nursing, sometimes she'll use her free hand to rub the side of her head, exploring that textured stuff just beyond the borders of her face. If I gave her a little soap, she could wash her own hair. :-) (Just kidding.) Also, occasionally when I get frustrated with her nursing habits, coming on and off, on and off again, she'll look up and laugh at me. My frustration is funny to her. Well, her laughing does help to disarm most of my frustration and refresh my attitude. It is funny, isn't it?!


December 18, 2010

Long Time, No See

I am so sorry that I have been very much absent lately. Those three little girls in the left sidebar and that handsome man above them have been keeping me pretty busy around here.

Moriah had her third birthday the day after Thanksgiving. We celebrated it after the Thanksgiving meal on Thursday while all the Anderson and MacDonald families were in attendance. Moriah had a great time dressing up in a new dress, getting her hair and nails done and wearing new shoes and tiara. She is a princess diva. :-D

Lily is about the same as she was a few months ago. She's not made any significant strides to or away from anything. It's great that amidst all that is changing with other stuff that we have someone who is staying the same. :-)

Shiphrah turned four months old yesterday! It's hard to believe that it's been that long. She's the one I don't want to see get any bigger (because I know that toddler-hood is coming down the pike). Her hand-eye coordination has developed wonderfully and she is reaching out for things she sees. She has been able to belly laugh for some time and it is wonderful. :-) She is sweeter than a 10 lb. bag of sugar: almost always able to smile.

All of us just returned from traveling to Louisville, KY. We had a great time with some friends, Bryant and Hannah, that we missed the last time we visited and were able to relax far more by scheduling a lot fewer activities. We returned the violins I borrowed for trial and spent the majority of the time hanging out. On the way back we stopped in Whitwell, TN to hang out with another one of our dear friends, Channing, and made a very easy drive back down to L'ville. I'm very pleased with how the girls did on the long drive - very little screaming and much less fighting. I guess they're getting accustomed to long rides in the car. I can't complain.


December 9, 2010

Thanksgiving in the 'Boro

G'Wanda, Moriah, Lily, Shiphrah and I drove down to spend Thanksgiving with the Andersons and MacDonalds. There were a lot of people there and it was great to see everyone again. Unfortunately Jeramy had to work on Thanksgiving Day and missed out on seeing everyone. But hopefully these pictures will give some small bit of consolation.

We had Thanksgiving dinner just after lunchtime. When that was over we celebrated Moriah's 3rd Birthday PRINCESS style. :-D She's such a diva. Enjoy the pix. There are all the November pix in the right sidebar too.



December 3, 2010

Shiphrah Is Three Months

Here are some cute pictures of Shiphrah as she turned three months.

The week before Thanksgiving she started laughing! It was great - full belly laughs and squeals. :-D I really love the baby stage.



Funny Friday: Sleep Sayings

After I've changed diapers and tucked my older girls into their beds, then I remind them of their sleep duties.

"Be quiet.
Stay in the bed.
Leave the curtains alone.
Keep your clothes on.
Go to sleep.
I love you, goodnight."