Coke Roast

So the easiest recipe we tried is the one I messed up. We didn't actually use a can of Coke. We had a 2 liter, and I put WAY too much Coke in. It was more like Coke Roast Soup. But the roast itself actually tasted really good! Next time we'll add regular roast veggies--potatoes, carrots and celery. And maybe substitute Dr. Pepper if we're really adventurous. Anyone that that?


1 roast
1 can coke
1 pkg. dry onion soup

Put roast in pan. Sprinkle with dry soup mix. Pour coke over roast. Bake at 350 degrees for 2-3 hours. Potatoes, carrots, etc. may be added. Juice makes extra good gravy!

Lactation Cookies

So this one's for the girls. One of my daily web stops is FertilityFriend.com. I've been with the same group of ladies since we first found out we were expecting, almost a year ago! It's been really fun to compare notes as we experienced pregancy and now parenthood together. 

Just before my milk supply tanked with mastitis, I found this recipe for yummy cookies. The brewer's yeast and oatmeal are thought to increase supply. It worked for me! And yes, guys can enjoy them too!

Housepoet's Famous Lactation Boosting Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip & Flaxseed cookies

Ingredients :
* 1 cup butter or marg
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 4 tablespoons water
* 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal*
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3 cups oats, thick cut if you can get them
* 1 cup or more chocolate chips
* 2 tablespoons of brewers yeast* (be generous)

Directions:

Preheat oven at 375 degrees F. Mix together 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal and water, set aside for 3-5 minutes. Cream (beat well) margarine and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mix well. Stir flaxseed mixture and add with vanilla to the margarine mix. Beat until blended. Sift together dry ingredients, except oats and chips. Add to margarine mixture. Stir in oats then chips. Scoop or drop onto baking sheet, preferably lined with parchment or silpat. The dough is a little crumbly, so it helps to use a scoop.

Bake 8-12 minutes, depending on size of cookies.

Serves: 6 dozen cookies

Preparation time: 15 minutes

*can be found at any local health food store.

*NOTE* IT MUST BE BREWERS YEAST, NO SUBSTITUTIONS.

Skirt Steak with Lemon and Chili-Roasted Potatoes

Another recipe from Real Simple. This was was really good, but we changed it up quite a bit. We used red potatoes, because Mom taught me that you can never go wrong with those. Plus, you don't have to peel them! We didn't use sprigs of thyme, we used the chopped thyme spice from the spice rack. And we skipped the lemon garnish. Next time, instead of the skirt steak, we might try ribe eye or strip steak.

Ingredients

 

• 1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold or new potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• kosher salt and pepper
• 8 sprigs thyme
• 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
• 1 lemon, quartered

Directions

 

• 1Heat oven to 425° F. Mix the potatoes, oil, chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and thyme in a medium bowl. Transfer to a roasting pan and cook, stirring once, until crisp and golden brown, about 40 minutes. Remove the potatoes from oven, transfer to individual plates, and wipe the pan clean.
• 2Heat broiler. Season the steak with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place on the clean roasting pan. Broil the steak to the desired doneness, 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
• 3Serve with the potatoes and lemon quarters.

The Paci Boom Game: Danny v. Daddy

A few weeks ago, we achieved a happy milestone: Daniel sleeps through the night! We put him down around 10:30-11pm and he sleeps til about 5 or 6am. Then Daddy gives him his first bottle and Daniel sleeps until 8. And there is much rejoicing...and sleeping.

Now that he's been sleeping through the night for about a month, we're ready to accept that he's really doing it. But this week we achieved another milestone, the end of the Paci Boom game!

There are a lot of opinions about pacifiers, but we have decided that since babies have a sucking reflex and it's a first step toward self-soothing, we are all about the paci. Which is usually fine. Except at bedtime. 

Daniel started sleeping well at night when Daddy started putting him down instead of Mommy. With Mommy comes the delicious smell of his favorite breastaurant, so sleep was not so much on his mind. With Daddy, he got down to business. With the help, of course, of his paci. 

Some friends of ours have an almost-two year old, James. When James was younger, he started a game our friend called, "Boom." He was learning to pick things up, which he loved to do. But what he loved even more was throwing whatever object he picked up down to the ground and saying, "Boom!" Daniel hasn't mastered the art of grasping things yet, but he is a master at spitting out his pacificer. Really, it's quite impressive the distance he can get!

So the only glitch in our nighttime routine was the game of Paci Boom. It goes like this. 

1. Get Daniel ready for bed (PJs, lotions, bottle, lullabye, prayer, paci). 
   
2. Put Daniel in crib.
3. Put Daddy in bed...in our room across the hall. 
4. Daniel spits out paci.
5. Daniel cries.
6. Daddy gets out of warm, comfortable bed and goes to nursery
7. Daddy puts paci back in Daniel's mouth.
8. Put Daddy in bed...in our room across the hall.
9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 about ten times.

Needless to say, Daddy does not enjoy this game quite as much as Daniel. BUT, over the last few weeks, the game has been repeated fewer and fewer times. Last night we noticed that we've gone two nights without playing Paci-Boom.

Now if only we could get him to drop the game at nap time. I've been playing it as I write this post. It took six rounds, but our sweet little boy is now sleeping in his swing.

We survived Daniel's first cold!

Last week we noticed that Daniel was sneezing a lot, and his eyes were watery, and then he sounded a little congested. It's so hard to see your little guy doesn't feel well, especially when there isn't much you can do for an 11 week old. We mentioned this to some friends us ours and they told us about Vicks Waterless Vaporizor. It's a little plug in thing that emits a menthol-y scent. We put that on for three nights in a row, along with his humidifer and by the first morning he was feeling better. It's about $10 for the starter kit, which includes the vaporizer and five of the pads. Money well spent to have a healthy baby boy!

Bath Time for the Boys

Daniel really outdid himself filling his diaper tonight, so that meant bath time for the boys. Since Daniel and I will be starting Mommy & Me Aqua Aerobics (I do the work, he looks cute) next week we got him his first bathing suit. It's really cute and the extra 'bath time' gave us the perfect oppertunity to test it out...

Tortellini with Bacon, Greens and Brown Butter

Another successful new recipe night! This one was really good, and a little cheaper because it doesn't involve beef or chicken! We used real bacon bits (the kind you buy). Next time, we'll use a lot less bacon--like maybe only an ounce or so. Also, we used some fancy two-colored lettuce, not the arugula. I learned a new trick with this recipe--browning butter. 

Ingredients

 

• 1 pound cheese or meat tortellini
• 4 ounces sliced bacon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cups arugula (about 1 bunch)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

 

• 1Cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, 7 to 8 minutes. Reserve the bacon and discard the drippings. 
• 2Wipe out skillet and return to medium heat and brown the butter: Melt the butter in a skillet or small saucepan over medium heat. Swirl or stir the butter with a wooden spoon as it starts to foam and sputter. Remove the butter from the heat as soon as it begins to turn golden brown and smells nutty, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
• 3Break the bacon into small pieces and add to skillet with the arugula, salt, pepper, and cooked tortellini. Toss well and divide among individual bowls.