Foodmomiac

Still here, Still cranky

First, a side note. Has anyone else noticed that as you get older, PMS lasts longer and longer? Seriously, I feel like I have maybe 2 days of the month where I'm peppy. ugh.

ANYWAY....

Michael left on Sunday at 4pm. His sister left at 7. Both kids were in bed by 8:30, but instead of sacking out on the couch, I found myself in the kitchen, making all of our meals for the week. I roasted a chicken, made my mom's vegetable soup, and made pumpkin soup as well (more on that later in the week - it tastes like bacon but is vegetarian!).

Last night, we had the vegetable soup with some olive bread and Ossau Iraty cheese. Max loved it, but only topped with generous amounts of Parmigiano Reggiano. He kept getting up, walking around the table, grabbing a little handful of cheese, walking back to his seat, climbing up, and adding the cheese. He'd then eat that bite, rinse and repeat. Cute. (and expensive, but that's ok  it was cute. and at least it was real parm)

Tonight I'm thinking we'll have the chicken. I also have a giant cauliflower and some fingerling potatoes, so since the chicken is already roasted (half of it became chicken salad for Dylie's lunchbox - that's all she'll eat now), it will be an easy dinner. And comforting. I kind of wish we had some gravy on hand, but oh well.

Fresh Picks, Insane Life

I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed lately. Michael is leaving for London on Sunday (for 3 months, but coming home for the weekend every other week). I didn't think it would be a big deal, but I'm just feeling stressed about it. Aside from the fact that he won't be around (which is stressful in an of itself), it also makes logistics difficult. One of us needs to be home every day by 5:30 to relieve Paty, our au pair, and it's hard for that to always be me. If I need to travel on business, that becomes a colossal pain in the ass. It's just tough.

So, there's that. And a bunch of other stuff. I'm just feeling crabby this week, so that's why I haven't been posting. I figured no one wanted to read a daily post of my bitching and moaning. If you do though, feel free to let me know. Because I have PLENTY of that available.

Anyway, on to the food. Back in April, I placed an order with Fresh Picks, and it went pretty well. But, then, the farmer's market opened for the season, and we moved, and life just moved on, and we didn't order again. Last week I got an email from them touting the great fall produce, so on Thursday, another box arrived. I LOVED it this time, and will do it again next week (I forgot this week. See first paragraph on losing my mind.) We got raspberries, canteloupe, Bartlett pears (sooooo good), an heirloom Australian pumpkin, red cabbage, onions, broccoli, eggplant, collard greens, rosemary and basil. I made eggplant casserole, southern-style collards, roasted broccoli and we have been munching on the fruit all week. Fresh produce is awesome.

Why I'm Glad Michael isn't a SAHD

He is home today trying to finally recover from his cold.

The first email came at 3:24 pm:
Subject Line: Friday*
Email Text: Peed on the floor again. I tried to clean it but now we have two big yellow spots. I can't take it.

Second email came at 3:52 pm:
Subject Line: Dylan
Email Text: Just dumped a whole bottle of bubbles on max's head. He was in a great mood before that.

Anyone want to invite me over to dinner tonight? For some STRANGE reason, the thought of going home doesn't appeal to me. Weird...

* Friday is the name of our dog, by the way. Michael didn't pee on the floor. She did.

School Lunches (or, How Danielle Put Her Foot in Her Daughter's Mouth)

  Dylan's Lunch, September 14, 2007 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

This was Dylan's lunch today, which I managed to leave sitting on the counter after the photo shoot. It never made it into the backpack.

I proceeded to get two concerned phone calls from her teacher (one on my cell, and one at work). The message was, "Dylan didn't have a lunch today, and she is very upset. I told her she could have a school lunch, but she said that you don't want her to eat that food."

Ohhhh man.

Dylan's school doesn't have a kitchen. They have a couple of steam tables. So, they get lunches wrapped in plastic and heat them up for the kids. They are gross and they aren't healthy, and Dylan is right. I don't want her to eat that food. BUT, some kids get subsidized, and this is the only lunch they can afford. There are some moms who want to change the lunch situation, and once they get mobilized this year, I will do everything in my power to help with that. I don't think that anyone should have to eat those lunches, but I can't make a personal lunch for everyone. Just for Dylie. Dylie and her big mouth.

Any tips on discussing this with her? I don't want her upsetting the other children by deriding their lunches, but she is constantly asking me why she isn't allowed to have the school lunch. Ugh, what a hard conversation.

P.S. Max was chipper as can be at dinner last night (I heard - I was out with a client ) AND slept through the night. My little buddy is back!

Chili and Beans for Breakfast - Why Not?

Chili and Beans for Breakfast - Why Not?
Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

Max is having a rough time lately. It started about a month ago with an ear infection (that was accompanied by pink eye). And then he had a little spell of throwing up randomly (on me, of course). Last week, we moved into croup which morphed into a bad cold, and his demeanor has gone steadily downhill.

It doesn't help that he won't talk. When he wakes up at 2am (which he has been doing EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT), it is frustrating to all involved that he can't explain what his wrong. He signs "more" a lot. But, more of what? Do you want milk? juice? water? back rubs? Do you want mommy to rock you in the glider? Do you want your fan on? your fan off? your closet light on? Do you want to lay down with mommy?

We get a lot of head shakes, but occasionally he'll indicate that I've hit on his need. We are both frustrated. And he just screams. This is not my Max. My Max is mischievous but jolly. He is a happy boy. He is not the kid who screams and screams during dinner (which he's been doing every night). He is not the kid who won't go to bed without a tantrum (again, every night).

Today, he hurt his foot, and Michael rushed home from work to possibly bring him to the hospital. We think it's just a bruise, possibly from his crib railings, but we have now another thing that's bugging the little guy.

I met with the intake counselor yesterday for the early intervention program for speech delays. She told me that most kids need just a little nudge. And that parents often call her six months later asking her to get their kid to just shut up already. I hope this is what happens for us.

The picture above is from yesterday morning. He woke up crabby and walked in circles around the kitchen just crying. Finally, he pushed Michael over to the refrigerator. When Michael opened it, Max pointed to a half-empty jar of chili. Max finished the jar. And then he pushed Michael to the cabinet and pointed at a jar of baked beans. That was followed by some pointing at the hot dogs in the fridge. Yep, the kid wanted frickin' BEANIES & WEANIES for breakfast. After his appetizer of chili. We really need some talking, people. Quirks like these are VERY hard to decipher with charades.

Inspired by Others (a post about school lunches)

  Dylie's Lunch - 9/10/2007 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

It is hard to quantify just how much my life has been affected by blogging. I love having a reason to write every day. I love the feedback. I love the great people I've met (both online and off).

Those are the big things. But, I've also been affected in my day-to-day life. Take my beauty routine. I use Philosophy cleanser because of Amalah's Smackdown. I use Boi-ing concealer because of Linda. I get fashion tips from Susan and parenting advice from Moxie.

My latest thing is school lunches. I've written about these before, but no matter how much advice I dole out, I still find myself suffering through them on my end. I am NOT a fan of making school lunches. BUT, Stefania is. And she is inspiring me to be a better school lunch mother. The above picture is what I sent with Dylie today! (The container is a Lock & Lock from Target). Devilled eggs, sliced English cucumber and a cut up peach from Seedling Farms in Michigan. She was VERY excited. We'll see how it goes.

It's all about appearances...

  September 4, 2007 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

How do you like the new look of the blog?? Mike, who is one of my favorite people in the world (and who should have his own blog, by the way) made it for me. He claimed to be tired of looking at the asparagus. And he didn't like my font. Picky, picky.

So, it's all radishes, all the time now. And lots of hot pink. Whee!

Speaking of appearances, visitors to my Flickr account have probably noticed an inordinate number of pictures of me. Usually, there are NO pictures of me on Flickr (I'm the photographer). Susan Wagner has changed all of that with her Working Closet Pool. For the month of September, we are all invited to post pictures of what we where every day to work (even if we are working at home - it's all work, right?). I'm having fun with this. It's fun getting feedback on my outfit every day, and I love seeing what others are wearing.

Finally, Dylie is definitely adjusting to school. Day two was "a little better." Day three was "absolutely perfect." We'll see how day four goes. I have high hopes. After all, how bad can school be when you get to dress as stylish as this?

Caipirinhas (or, as I refer to them, Cultural Exchange Cocktails)

  Cachaca and Caipirinha Mortar/Pestle 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

How cute is that wooden mortar and pestle? It was one of the gifts that Paty brought us (it was technically one of the gifts she brought for MICHAEL, but I christened it, so...)

Tonight, we had Caipirinhas with our dinner. Have you had one of these? They are delicious drinks. The recipe on the back of the mortar says that you can make them with vodka if you can't find a local source for Cachaca. But, do try to find the Cachaca. It's tasty.

Caipirinha

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges (cut in half, then cut each half into quarters)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2.5 ounces Cachaca (pronounced cah-sha-sah)

Mash the lime and sugar together in a mortar and pestle (or directly in an old fashioned glass). Pour the mixture, including the mashed up wedges, into a glass of crushed ice (if making directly in the glass, just add the ice to the glass). Add the Cachaca. Stir well. Enjoy.

P.S. Dylan said school was horrible. Her teacher was "mean," lunch was too short, and she wasn't allowed to write in cursive (how they wrote in Montessori). Tomorrow morning should be interesting.

Today is a Big Day.

So nervous!
Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

Dylan is officially a kindergartner. She was so nervous!! School ends at 1:40 (it starts at 8). I can't wait to hear about her day. She was given strict instructions to call me as soon as she gets home.