Cooking again....

My Little Peanut is now 7.5 months old, and I feel like I am finally emerging from the new mom fog a little bit. I am measuring this by the fact that I am experimenting with some new recipes. I now feel confident enough as a mom that I can prepare something that actually requires a few minutes and some brain power (which has started to return with more regular sleep).  This time around I made panko chicken tenders with a roasted tomatoes and mozzarella accompanied by a bacon quinoa salad.

I will admit, I have never eaten quinoa in my life but have been hearing about the health benefits for a while. My Hubs is a good sport, so he said he was open to trying something new. The chicken was super simple, just dip chicken tenders in flour, egg, and panko and fry to a golden crisp. The grape tomatoes were halved (the hubs is my sous chef, and does an awesome job) then tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and broiled for 10 minutes on high.  They are then tossed while still a bit warm with mozzerella balls and spooned onto the chicken. 

I will admit, I had a bit of a snafu with the quinoa. I got the recipe from Huffpost Taste, and was supposed to add toasted slivered almonds.  Well, I toasted the almonds and didn't think they were toasted enough so I toasted them again, which resulted in blackened smoky garbage, so I omitted the almonds. I got the rainbow quinoa at Target, and I will admit that I really liked this recipe.  I also feel so good about trying something new and expanding my usual culinary routine. Here is the recipe for the quinoa:

Bacon Quinoa with Almonds and Herbs

Kitchen DailyOct 27, 2011

 40 mins |  0 mins |  Serves 4

Ingredients

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

2 thick slices of applewood-smoked bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 small shallot, minced

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 cups chicken stock

1 sage sprig

1 tablespoon(s) minced chives

1 tablespoon(s) chopped parsley

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the almonds in a pie plate and toast in the oven until golden brown, 4 minutes; let cool.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil. Add the bacon and cook over moderately high heat until the fat has rendered, about 2 minutes. Add the shallot and cook, stirring a few times, until softened but not browned, about 1 minute. Add the quinoa, stock and sage and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the stock has been absorbed, about 17 minutes. Remove the quinoa from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Discard the sage and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Stir in the chives, parsley and toasted almonds. Season the quinoa with salt and pepper and serve.

Stay Saucy, 

   Emily

Moving sucks.....

Tomorrow is one year of living in our house in the Buffalo suburbs. As this anniversary is upon us, it makes me think about all of our moves.  Growing up, I lived in the same house my whole life until I went to college. After college, my hubs landed a job with the railroad and they love to move your ass all over the place. I will say the railroad takes care of you when you move.  It's pretty insane to watch a professional mover perfectly pack your entire life into boxes in a matter of hours.  This was not the case when my husband and I moved from our apartment in Cleveland to our house also in Cleveland. Cleveland was our first location and we started out in an apartment on the west side of the city.  Once the Hubs got a few promotions and we found that we were here for the long haul, we bought a house on the east side of Cleveland. That didn't last too long as we soon shipped out for the Hudson Valley. We went from the suburbs of a major city to the very rural of central New York State. We must have looked at 30 houses all while living in a slummy dump I found on Craigslist (bless our realtor.... He was so patient). We found a great house (it was one of the first houses we looked at..... Typical) and really settled in and felt at home there, so of course it was time to move again.  This move was extra exciting because we had just discovered that we were expecting our Little Peanut, so this move also meant finding a new ob/gyn ASAP in Buffalo.  Awesome.  This was by far our easiest move so far, I think just because we are getting the hang of it and the Buffalo housing market was a breeze for us to find a great house. 3 cities in 7 years..... Just leaves me wondering where we are going to end up next?

Cooking baby food..... Part 1

When I had my Little Peanut, I decided to make her baby food myself. My husband gave me the Beaba Babycook which is an awesome, idiot proof invention for cooking, purveying and reheating baby food. Chop the food, add water, and let it steam until you need to purée which is done in the same bowl.  Super easy, right?  I love it!  I have tried to be creative and mix up some interesting combinations.  Avocado, banana, butternut squash, peaches (My favorite!) and zucchini have all been a hit.  Carrots, parsnips, and summer squash have not really been So popular.  I have been building quite a stockpile since its summer and the best stuff is in season right now.

 My current stockpile of what's in the freezer. 

The thing we are struggling with is anything slightly chunky. The Little Peanut will gag whenever she eats anything with chunks in it, often resulting in a reversal of fortune (throw up). I will try again soon, I'm sure she will come around when the time is right......she is stubborn and wants to do everything on her own schedule....kinda like her mom.... She's stubborn just like me and I couldn't be more proud!!

The Family Truckster

It pains me, but we broke down and bought our family Truckster. Stuff for kids just consumes such a ridiculous amount of space. Trying to origami the stroller into the trunk of my sedan was just such a pain, and my daughter is getting too long and we have bumped her head far too many times loading her in the car seat. I will say I am thrilled with the new car, it's a Nissan Pathfinder and having this cavernous space behind me while driving is weird. My little peanut is still getting used to it because the tinted windows are confusing her, plus she's not used to having another row of seating behind her. My hubs is sad because we traded in his 7.5 year old pick up truck (known as the F*ck Truck because he didn't give a f*ck while driving it and banged it up like crazy) but I know he was satisfied with the new ride when he had to do the first diaper change. Not bending over to change the diaper in the trunk is such a back saver and you will be amazed how much you will do to save your back when you have a kid. 

 

Here she is! Not the best photo, but I post while the Little Peanut is sleeping so I don't want to open the garage and waked her!

So, I started a blog.......

Ok, so after much badgering and pestering, I have finally started a blog.  My name is Emily, and I am married and a new-ish mom to an awesome baby girl. I am from Philadelphia ( an outstanding home town) but have lived many places thanks to my husband's career on the railroad (ugh). I love cooking, fashion magazines, attempting to live a healthy life (most of the time), and figuring out this whole mom thing!  Stay tuned for some regular awesomeness.