On the Table

So, I put together our Thanksgiving menu, trying to keep it healthy yet tasty. Here's what I came up with:

Roasted Carrots with a Pomegranate glaze
Baked Brussel Sprouts with a pistaccio-cranberry pesto
Steamed Green Beans sauteed with some onions and bacon crumbles
Mashed Garlic/Parmesan Potatoes/Cauliflower (I'm planning on mixing cauliflower into the mashed potatoes)
Sweet Potato casserole with lemon and pecan topping

Stuffing...I could use some help here. I really love stuffing, but last year the healthy stuffing I tried to make was disgusting. I'd love a great, easy, healthy, flavorful recipe for stuffing if you have one. Ideally it'd include cranberries, sage, celery - maybe even nuts.

Turkey...I'm still debating whether I should attempt making one. I've never made a turkey or chicken in my life, and I'm scared to death to try. But, it'd be nice to learn. Does anyone have any simple turkey recipes or ideas?

For dessert Henry will make his pretzel/strawberry/creamcheese thing, and we'll either buy a Cheese Cake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake or I'll make my baked apples (super easy, cheap and healthy! Just core your apples, fill the middle with either jam, or some raisins, nuts, cinnamon and cardamon and then wrap them in aluminum foil and bake them for, dunno 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees).

So, I think we'll have a delicious meal. Except no one to share it with yet. Anyone want to come over for dinner?

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu!

So, our good friends have been packing up their things this weekend to abandon the Golf Pointe Community for good, and to move on to bigger and better things (aka Medical School is over and the fun of residency will now commence). I'm pretty bummed. They are virtually Sophia's second family, and our best friends out here. Therefore, it's rather unfortunate to have them leave. :( Anyway, on Saturday, I threw a little Good-bye party for my friend Kari as well as my friend Darcie, who isn't gone yet, but is basically a ticking time-bomb, and leaving as soon as their little baby comes. Arghhh...I hate being left behind (childhood traumas flashing before my eyes of being 'forgotten' at Church and the like).

Back to the party. I didn't take pictures. By the time everyone came I was tired and wanted to sit, and there wasn't anything spectacular except for a lot of food. Here's what we had:

• Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup

• Tabouleh Salad (I used rice instead of cracked wheat, and added lots of pepper to the dressing)

• Middle Eastern Meatballs with Yogurt Mint Sauce

• Home-made Rolls - sorry, I hate baking. Someone else made them, so no recipe...
• Crepes with Nutella - not the recipe I used, but it looks really good
  

We also had a fancy cheese platter with a: White Stilton with Lemon Peel (British), Vintage Irish Cheddar, Butterkaese (German), Mimolette (French), Ubriaco (Italian), Mahon (Spanish) and a Cheddar Cheese Ball (American, of course!)

As you can see, we ate like Queens, and had a good time, sitting around lazily, laughing, talking, eating, and enjoying the company of great people one more time. It's too bad that some things can't just stay the way they are.

Recipes Revisted

Ok, so there was some demand for me to let everyone know how the recipes turned out that I tried from foodgawker.

Well, here is the info:

I never made the lemon grilled beans. Instead I made lemon fusilli with arugula, which was a pretty easy dish and very tasty. I think the fresh lemony taste would make this a great summer meal. But then, summer in the winter is also nice. Also, this recipes makes A LOT of food.

Then I made a West African Peanut Stew. The okra was weird, and made me queasy, so I didn't add it. It tasted great without it.

My favorite was the Tomato-Balsamic Soup. Quick and very tasty. I can definitely recommend it. I thought it was pretty sweet, which may have been my high quality vinegar, but you could probably omit the sugar or at least use less. Also, I used cream instead of evaporated milk. So, you can probably also experiment with that part of the recipe. Also, if you're a soup-a-holic like me, you may wanna double the recipe. The way it is, it only lasted us for one meal.

I never made the Spinach/Sweet Potato Gratin with Gruyere. The thought of sweet potatoes was making me queasy. It still does, which at this point makes me angry. :( Not like the queasiness is serving a purpose. Another cruel joke of this whole ordeal. Anyway, if someone else wants to try and let me know how it was, I'd like to know.

On the Menu this Week

I've started planning my meals for the week, using my favorite food website - Foodgawker.com

I love that I can search different categories, or type in a combo I'm interested in (eg. rice, spinach) and it will pull up endless amounts of recipes - all with pictures. It's great. And I love that I can find recipes that are healthy, simple and cheap because I have so much to choose from. If you haven't checked out that website yet, you really should.

Anyway, here's what we'll have for dinner this week:

Monday: Today, for the first time, I made German style kale with potatoes. Supertasty!
Tuesday: Lemon grilled Green Beans over Brown Rice
Wednesday: West African Peanut Stew (it has tomatoes, cabbage, okra, sweet potatoes and peanut butter in it - yummy combo, I think)
Thursday: Chicken/Veggie Kebabs over Brown Rice, served with arugula salad
Friday: Tomato-Balsamic Soup with fresh bread
Sunday: Spinach/Sweet Potato gratin with gruyere

I'm trying all these recipes for the first time, except for the kebabs, and I'm really excited to see how it all tastes.

Pumpkin Overdose

Today I ate

• Pumpkin Soup
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies
• Pumpkin Ice Cream
• Pumpkin Fudge
• Pumpkin Waffles
• Pumpkin Pancakes
• Pumpkin Pizza
• Pumpkin Roll
• Pumpkin Buckeyes
• Pumpkin Burger
• Pumpkin Butter

and I had Pumpkin Cheesecake last week. Most of this I ate today as we sampled pumpkin foods at Circleville's famous Pumpkin show. It was fun. But now I can tell that I o.d-ed on all things pumpkin. I think I'm set for at least a year.

Parenting Woes

Yeah, aren't you so excited??? Here's another post on the 'woes' of parenting. Not that we don't love it, it's just that I want to pull my hair out - again. The other day I thought 'wow, we're really lucky because Sophia is so easy'. And I think, all in all, our challenges with her are rather small and insignificant. And yet...

I can't get her to eat in any semi-regular way. I guess this is just my first personal challenge to learn to let go and realize that, while I'm Sophia's mother, all I can do is try, and I can't actually make her do anything or be anything other than what she chooses to do/be. Urghhh...no fun. Her eating habits are so extremely random and various that I just cannot figure out a pattern or anything that works, and it's driving the organized-routine-loving part of me crazy. She'll eat one thing one day, and not the other, or only at a certain time, or only at a certain place, or only in a certain consistency - but whatever it is one day, it may be completely different the next. And that's not even speaking about quantities (lots one day, nothing the next...). I posted something about this on facebook, and a friend suggested to have two bowls of food - one with her favorite foods, one with the not-so-favorites, and then switch back and forth what she's getting. Great idea...except, it doesn't work, and she doesn't have a favorite. There is no one single food I can count on her eating. And I hate it. I really hate her eating behavior being so random, and eating so little and (right now) pretty much refusing all fruit and vegetable. And then getting constipated and refusing more liquids. And screaming like a mad-woman when she has to take a nap, or when she gets a diaper change, or when I get her dressed.

So young,...and already so opinionated. So young, and already causing me grey hair and fear of the future. If anyone has a great idea on how to deal with these kind of things, I may be willing to read it. :) But for now, I feel better just venting my frustration on my blog.

Healthy???

Since we're already, sort of, on the topic of health, I thought I'd add a few more thoughts, or questions rather. Recently I've been wondering/thinking more about healthy eating. I really want to eat healthy (despite all the ice cream fall outs I have). I've been making efforts and changes in my eating habits for years and years now, trying to improve how I eat, and trying to learn more about what is nutritious and what's not etc. But, it's gotten a bit complicated. I start finding it's not so easy to know what's healthy as some information seems so contradictory.

For example, I've been a good 'low-fat dairy' user (like low-fat or no-fat sour cream, yogurt, etc.). Well, now I read that's actually not that healthy. Then, for a while I was doing rice milk and the like, just to read that all that soy milk and rice milk isn't necessarily that good. Often times sugars seem to be the culprit, but I've also read some stuff about soy and how it can actually be really harmful if you have to much of some kind of soy stuff. Or how about organic foods? They are not more nutritious than other foods, and I wonder how much damage the pesticides really do? Then again, who wants to take their chances with that kind of stuff? Or, how about whole wheat? I figured, whole wheat is always best, but no. If I buy muffins for example, some high-fiber white versions 'apparently' are better. Huh...Anyway, it goes on and on, and I realize I find myself more confused than getting knowledgable.

Right now, my attitude is that if I keep eating lots of fresh vegetables, along with a fair amount of fruits, whole wheat products and then some lean meat, some dairy, some good oils and nuts, mixed with lots and lots of H2O drinking and exercise, I'm probably living healthy. But, I'd still wish it was more clear how I can improve the eating habits I have so far. I'm pleased with of the habits we already have, like basically never drinking soda and mostly drinking water, rarely having sugary treats at home (I usually never buy or make anything sweet, beyond occasional ice cream), making most food from scratch, eating lots of veggies, usually not having snack foods around (like chips, crackers, etc.), and we only do whole wheat/whole grain (like brown rice, whole wheat pasta, bread etc.). But, there is probably a lot more I could do. But what oh what is TRULY healthy???

So, what do you think is healthy eating? Do you have some credible research to go along with some of your convictions (something I can read?)? What are some healthy eating habits you have? What have been some effective fixes for some of your not-so-healthy eating choices?

Why eat out?

Yesterday evening, Henry and I had plans to go out for dinner. When I came back from wedding I was helping at, we tried to figure out where to go. After deliberating for a while and trying to find a place with great salads, I ended up making my own. Here's my garlic-parmesan rubbed chicken breast over an arugula salad with avocado, grape tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese and pine nuts.


Why go out, when you can have an awesome salad for cheap in just 15 minutes.

7 Years

• It has taken me 7 years in this country to discover that there IS 'normal' tuna. I've never been a fan of the mushy, funky canned tuna, but thought that's all there is. It wasn't until the other day that I gave those funny 'solid and white Albacore' cans a closer look, to realize they were ALSO tuna - the 'normal' kind, for twice the price. Nice! Who knows what I'll discover next. Maybe Velveeta turns out to be 'real' cheese...
• Sophia seems to be getting better now. She ended up having an ear infection, and since she's been on the antibiotic a few days, she's started to sleep better again, and last night she finally ate some solids again as well - which is good since I think the antibiotic is giving her a bit of a diarrhea. Maybe I'll start sleeping better again soon too. Last night (and tonight) I was just wide awake in the middle of the night. Great...
  
• I got two pairs of cool, new glasses and a 6-months supply of contact lenses - all for only $300 because Henry is an Optometry student. Ahhhh, I love bargains - and my new glasses.
• The other day, or week or something, when the swine flu(ke) broke out, I had a little conversation with a friend (Thanks Reni) about vaccines. Since then I've had a new interest in the whole 'vaccine' topic and got myself a few books on the issue. I think I now see far more eye to eye with my friend now. So, be ready for a vaccine discussion soon! :) You gotta love all those controversial topics.
• There are 4 things I love about Germany : healthier foods being more easily available and affordable, alternative medicine not being as despised, more of an attempt to be green and conserve, and an overall more global mind-set. I was getting all sad the other day because I'd really like to be able to go for nice walks with Sophia in the stroller, maybe to the store or something, or to go on nice bike rides with her in a trailer. But alas, there's nowhere to walk here, and I'd not dare for a second to ride a bike here with Sophia in the back. I thought Utah was bad for biking and walking, but I have to say in comparison to Ohio, Utah is a biking/walking heaven. But really the best would be continuous sidewalks and bike paths - or at least a decent shoulder like in Utah. This article didn't help me not miss home a little (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/earth/12suburb.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Vauban&st=cse )
  
• I've been losing some weight. Yeah!
  

The Magical Fruit - Morning Mystery - Life at the Patterson's etc.

I know you're all sexed out, so I figured we'd better get a new, kosher post up here. First of all, let me report about the magical fruit. I'm sure you all thought it's beans, but you are very wrong. The magical fruit is actually the pear. Yes! I've never been a big fan of pears, but for some odd reason (and I really don't know why), this was one of the first fruits (after bananas) that I tried to feed Sophia. So far, this is also the only thing she will eat. I've had a wee bit of luck getting her to eat some other things if I mixed it in with plenty of pears. Now, the really magical thing is that pears actually taste really good when you turn them into babyfood. I'm making my own baby food, and so when I make Sophia's pears, I boil them with some cardamon and cinnamon, and I have to say they are pretty darn tasty. But not only are they tasty by themselves, I've now found that they give sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, rice and oat cereal and even beans a whole new, and actually pretty good flavor. I'm particularly keen on the sweet potato/pear mix, and will try it once I'm done dieting. All I can say is if you haven't tried home made pear mush, it's about time!

What is behind that door?


Sophia really is a happy little girl and quite chipper (when she's not popping out two teeth). Today I took her to the doctor to make sure she doesn't have an ear infection (and she didn't...wow, 7 months old and no sicknesses yet other than colds, not bad...). Instead she was laughing and playing and just having fun. We frequently hear her wake up in the morning just screaming with joy. I love it. I don't know of many things that make me as happy as seeing Sophia laugh and talk and enjoy herself.

Anyway, what else is going on? Today I got all our pots ready for planting our veggies. We'll do tomatoes again, and then lettuce, zuccini, cucumbers maybe, and whatever else we can accommodate on our little balcony. I love growing my own veggies.
What I don't like is dieting away so hopelessly. Yesterday I really hit a very low low. I just wanted to cry all day (and I think I did for the most part). I felt overwhelmed with trying so hard to lose weight, and not losing any, and trying so hard to somehow get my baby to eat and she won't and trying so hard to be a nicer, better Fran, and just being the same old Fran...I think my body was screaming "GIVE ME SUGAR", and then fell apart because no sugar came. I'm sure the day would have been better with some 'Dove Unconditional Chocolate Ice Cream'. Oh well. It passed, and today was a good day. I even managed to find the high chair I've considered buying new for $90 on craigslist for $20. (It really pays off when your baby wakes up every 2 hours in the night, and you have time to look for unexpected deals on the computer).
So, life is good. I'm determined to be more chill now. Especially since it's getting warmer.
Henry continues to be my sugar replacement - sweet and delicious but not fattening. I don't know why I just wrote that. He's great though, and I'm so glad to have him keep me sane(ish).

Well, it is time to feed the sleeping babe. Let's hope that she'll sleep well for the rest of the night after this. But if not,...I'll just be so happy to spend more time with her. I love my little family.

So Cheap!

Ok, now that I actually made some babyfood myself, I don't know why anyone goes and buys food (other than complete convenience or something). It was so easy, quick, and can I say soooo much cheaper. I made some sweet potatoes. The actual making (steaming time of approx. 15 min. not included) took only 10 minutes max. The amount I got out of one sweet potato was about 10 jars of food. And the cost? $0.40 cents. I think that's what you pay for about one jar. So, I got healthier food, cheaper food, and it didn't even take long. I think I will proceed this way. Today I bought some organic pears and yams. I'm already excited to think about how much healthy, tasty food I'll get out of this that otherwise would have cost me about $20.00 or so (since the good organic jar food usually goes for about $0.80)...I only paid a few dollars. Exciting.

Weird Things We Eat...

Have you ever thought how many weird things we actually eat? I thought about it the other day as I was making some eggs for breakfast. I just suddenly realized how weird it is to eat eggs without thinking twice. I mean, look at them - all slimey and funky and unfertilized. Also, in Germany we eat "Mett", which in essence is raw ground meat (kind of like hamburger meat ) and you eat it on a roll with some spices etc. It's tasty, but geeze, thinking about it, I realize that's probably super weird to eat.

Then there is all the sea food - that's just weird period. Cheese is kind of strange, too if you stop to think about it, and so is yoghurt. Isn't it all just aged dairy stuff, sometimes even rotten, and full of bacteria. Why do we eat that, and why is it so tasty? Even milk I think is kind of bizarre. Why do we drink cow milk, but if it's from a horse, I'd be grossed out? I don't even dare trying my own human milk -yuck! So weird.

Any other weird foods you can think of? Feel free to tell me about them.

P.S. Video clips of Sophia forthcoming...

It's time...

for a new blog. I blogged so much in November, I think it may have sucked the blogger live out of me. But, here we go, just to get started.

WHAT'S NEW WITH SOPHIA

• Well, she had her 2-months check-up on Wednesday, and also got her first round of vaccinations. For her check-up she measured in at 23.5 inches, and weighed 12lbs 6 oz. That puts her in the 75th percentile - a solid C. I guess, we have to feed her more to get her to the 95th percentile - an A, as we like it in this family. No pressure though. Ok, just kidding on that one. I'm glad she's doing so well, especially when I always worry that she doesn't eat enough. What didn't go well were her vaccinations. Henry stayed home under the guise of school work, so he wouldn't have to see her getting the shots and cry. Instead I had to face her look of "how could you betray me like this". Nice. The nurse started with an oral vaccine, which already made Sophia cry and cough enough that the nurse had to comment that she'd never seen a baby react that strongly to the oral vaccine. Well, she didn't take the shots any better. She was screaming so much and so long that I gave up on consoling her in the office and just went to the waiting area with her. Eventually she calmed down, but the screaming continued later on at home, for hours...when she finally fell asleep, she was still sobbing in her sleep. Poor baby! And now she hasn't pooped since. Thanks Sophia for always keeping your parents on their toes. Other than that though, she's been sweet as always, and continues to be a breeze at night. I'll post more pictures etc. of Sophia tomorrow.

PUMPKIN LOVE AFFAIR

I'm not a big fan of pumpkin. Actually, I thought I hated it, but there are 3 pumpkin favorites I now have - foods that are so tasty that I just want to eat them all day every day. Here they are:

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies. I've always liked those, but never knew how to make them. Now I found out they are the world's easiest cookies. Just mix one pack of spice cake mix with a 15oz can of pumpkin and half a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Mix it, spoon it onto a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes at 400 F. Done. Perfect with a glass of milk. I've been eating wayyyy to many of these cookies these days.
• Pumpkin Soup. I won't post this recipe right now unless you want it, but let me tell you that this is the tastiest soup ever. If you enjoy creamy soups during the winter that are sweet, yet savory with a bit of a tang, ask me for the recipe. This soup is divine, and I'll go and have another bowl as soon as I'm done with this blog.
  
• Pumpkin Cheese cake. My sis-in-law made this for Thanksgiving. I wasn't going to try it since it has pumpkin in it, but had a bite of Henry's piece. Bad idea. I was hooked, so much so that I'm seriously contemplating to make this cheese cake, even though I hate baking and it requires more than 3-4 ingredients. I think I had about 2 pieces a day while we were out in Missouri. If I'm fatter than I've ever been it's definitely my sis-in-laws fault for making that cheese cake.

TWILIGHT

• I thought about writing a review, like all my other cool twilighter friends did, but alas, I have no desire these days to do that. Let's just say I liked the movie. I wasn't so sure when I left the theater, but decided that overall I liked it. I felt the character development was a little weak, the plot could have been improved on, and sometimes the music threw me off a bit, but all in all, I think it was pretty well done and I liked the cast. I'd see it again.
  
• P.S. I really liked Rob Pattinson as Edward. He was almost as handsome and stunning as my husband.
  

CHRISTMAS

• I love Christmas. I'm so happy it's this time of the year again. It's definitely my favorite time of the year. My only regret these days is that I don't have tons of money so that I can buy presents for everyone I love and care about. Henry and I are pretty darn broke this quarter, and so decided we won't buy each other anything at all. However, we do have a stack of gift cards we will use to find each others some cool stuff for Christmas. It'll also be fun to spend Christmas in Arizona with Henry's sister. It'll be the first time we're flying with Sophia. Hopefully all goes well. We'll be back for New Year's Eve, or so we hope, since we're flying over Chicago. Ehm, what else on Christmas? Oh yeah, we'll do our advents singing again with our friend, along with a white elephant gift exchange. I'll try and take some pictures this year, so I can post them.

DECEMBER 11

• Yikes - I'm turning 31. I thought 30 was freaky, but now I realize it wasnt. Freaky is 31 because it means I'm undeniably headed for 40, and that's just too crazy to stomach. I'm glad I managed to have a baby before 31. Of course, we planned it like that. Ha!

POETRY CORNER

I just flipped through the pages of my poetry book the other day, that's poetry I wrote myself. Henry wanted me to read some of it out loud, and I just cringed...that's just too weird to read your funky poetic attempts out loud. But, I thought I'd post some of them for your personal amusement.

My favorite poem is this:

This is a poem of nothing and naught, so I'll never be famous as surely I ought. by anonymous

This poem Henry and I want to illustrate and turn into a children's book. Maybe one day you'll hold it in your hand as one of our Christmas presents. At least, that's the plan...:

Reversed World

What if the sky
was green,
and instead the trees
were blue?
What if birds would fly
not up above
but under the seas?
And the fish
would walk among the trees?
What if the mountains
all rolled downhill
and up high
we had valleys?
And what if sunshine would chill,
and snow was warm,
and rushing winds
would move no leaf,
while stagnation bends -
ravaging wildy like a storm?
And what if the stars at night
would not sparkle and shine
but instead darkness was bright?
What if people would not walk
on their feet, but hands?
And they would have no skin
but fur instead,
except for the head
which would be bald.
And they would wink
with their ears
as they listen with their eyes.
And you could taste a grin
and smell tears.
And with their thoughts
they would talk,
while silence
were words and sighs.
In this reversed world,
where up was down
and right was left,
would they think
with their hearts
and feel with their minds?
And would they be startled
if the sky was blue
and birds would fly?

Silence
It's been so quiet
that my ears hurt
from the steady buzz
of my thoughts
and the constant echo
of solitude and peace.
The silence is so loud
it muffles all anxiety
and deafens me
with its strength.

Home Made Apple Cider

Pour some apple juice in a pot. Add some ground cinnamon, some cardamom, and a table spoon or so of orange peel (dried in a spice jar). Bring to boil and then let it simmer for a few minutes. Very tasty.

Spice up your Pasta!

Ok, I like to think I'm an awesome cook. I may not be, but since I tend to think I such at everything I do, let me indulge. I just made us dinner, cheese ravioli with tomato sauce, and it tasted AWESOME. Tomato sauce is getting pretty old and boring on me and so now and then I try to spice it up somehow. Here is my favorite easy and cheap addition to make an old, boring flavor come alive again. Add the following:

2-3 ounces of Cream Cheese, some lime juice, garlic/parsley salt, and a good dose of Ms. Dash's Tomato/Basil/Garlic stuff

The cream cheese and lime give the tomato sauce a really nice creamy, fresh, and sweet flavor. Hard to describe. You just have to try it. Yummy is all I have to say.

Tasty Quesadillas Recipe

Despite my mom suggesting at some point that I may never get married due to my cooking abilities (or rather, back then, my cooking refusals - why bother, when your mother puts awesome food on the table) I have turned out loving to cook, and Henry claims it's tasty, too. Here is a recent quesadilla variation I got from dear Gusti Darling.

You need:

flour tortillas
1 can of refried beans
fried chicken pieces or canned chicken
salsa
1 can of corn
1 lime
cilantro
cheese
enchilada sauce

All you do is mix the corn, chopped cilantro and lime juice in with your salsa, then put a tortilla in your frying pan, smear refried beans on one half, then some chicken, then some of the salsa mix, then some cheese, flip the other half of the tortilla over the stacked side, fry both sides till cheese is melted, put it on a plate, pour some Green enchilada sauce over it, and don't forget to pray before you eat it. You really would want to thank God for this delicious meal. It's supertasty, and only takes a few minutes to prepare. Try it and tell me what you thought.