Munchkin had a big weekend, full of wonderful milestones! As you may or may not know, Miss Munchkin has a condition called tuberous sclerosis (TSC) and as a result suffers from Infantile Spasms which have hammered her ability to develop. We work with a physical therapist twice a week (gross motor skills) and an occupational therapist twice a week (fine motor skills and eating things other than Mommy’s milk). It’s been a busy 7-8 months with all of these sessions, but it’s been paying off. She is still not crawling, but she is working on it and is much more “with it” than she was before she started.

Anyway, since I am expecting a new little one, my milk supply has really taken a hit and Munchkin was NOT happy with the situation. It’s been a tough few months as we’ve pushed eating solids and drinking out of a cup, but we’ve made it. We’ve seen some improvement, but this weekend we hit the payload!

Munchkin let Daddy feed her!

We had a rough night on Friday night (can you say cutting one year old molars?!) so on Saturday morning, Hubby said to get dressed ’cause we were going out. We had breakfast at Mimi’s Cafe and then went over to the mall (but it was too hot to stay) and then we went to get my nails done. Munchkin was finishing up her nap when it was time for my appointment to done, so I told Dan to buy a muffin at Starbucks when he got his coffee and feed some to Chompers to hold her over. It went really well!

When we got home, Munchkin and I both went to take a nap. She woke up first so Daddy fed her some bagel which she thoroughly enjoyed.

I think Daddy and Munchkin were very proud of themselves for accomplishing this feat! I loved that I was able to get away for a bit and relax and not have to deal with a screaming (hungry) child when I came back!

Munchkin has her first “real meal” in a resturant

On Sunday morning, we went to have breakfast at this cute little place near church. I love getting their gyro breakfast (eggs, gyro, potatoes and sourdough toast) especially when I’m pregnant. Munchkin woke up when we go there and so I shared mine with her. She kept eating and eating and eating and then she drank some water. I was sooooo proud of her! We have avoided feeding her “in public” because it used to be such a drama and most people wouldn’t understand why she was crying while we were feeding her. Not this time! She sat quietly and enjoyed her food and played with my napkin. It was wonderful!

Mommy finds a new way to keep Munchkin quiet during evening church

Nap time is during morning church so I usually talk her into sleeping most of the service. The evening is a bit more challenging so last night I decided to try feeding her her supper during the sermon. (We sit in the cry room ’cause she talks too much.) It worked! Not only could she not talk with her mouth full (allowing me to hear the sermon) but she also was fed when we got home so she could go straight to bed! It was great! Hopefully it works again next week.

Ahhh… the sweet taste of victory. (No pun intended.)

BIG-BATCH BEEF SAUCE
4 Lbs. Ground beef
4 medium onions, chopped
5 celery ribs, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cans (28 oz. Each) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (6 oz. each) tomato paste
2 jars (4.5 oz each) mushrooms, drained, optional
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1Tbsp. Salt
2 tsp. Dried oregano
2 tsp. Dried basil
1 tsp. Pepper

Cook beef, onions, celery and garlic over med. heat until meet is no longer pink and vegetables are tender ; drain. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 1-1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Cool. Transfer to freezer bags or containers, about 2 cups in each. May be frozen for up to 3 months. Makes about 15 cups. Use in the following recipes:

SPEEDY SPAGHETTI
2 cups Big-Batch Beef Sauce
1 can (8 oz.) Tomato sauce
1 jar (4.5 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained (opt.)
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
Hot cooked spaghetti

Combine the beef sauce, tomato sauce, mushrooms and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Serve over spaghetti.

TIME-SAVING TACOS
2 cups Big-Batch Beef Sauce
1 envelope taco seasoning
1/4 cup water
6 to 8 taco shells or flour tortillas
Toppings: shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced ripe olives, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped onions, sour cream, salsa.

Combine beef sauce, taco seasoning and water and bring to boil in saucepan. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, until heated through. Spoon about 1/4 cup meat mixture into each taco shell or tortilla and serve with above toppings.

OVEN-READY LASAGNA
2 cups Big-Batch Beef Sauce
1 can (6 oz.) Tomato paste
2 tsp. Dried basil
2 cups (16 oz) small-curd cottage cheese
1 egg
6 no-cook lasagna noodles
4 cups (16 oz.) Shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Combine beef sauce, tomato paste and basil in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 5 minutes. Mix cottage cheese and egg. Spoon a third of the meat sauce into a greased 13-inch x 9-inch x 2-inch baking dish. Layer with three noodles, half of the cottage cheese mixture and a third of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining meat sauce and mozzarella. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly and the cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

WEEKDAY CHILI
2 cups Big-Batch Beef Sauce
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1-2 tsp. Chili powder
1/4 tsp. Crushed red pepper flakes
Shredded cheddar cheese

Combine the beef sauce, beans, tomato sauce, chili powder and red pepper flakes in saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until heated through. Garnish servings with cheese.

I participated in HK’s Bulk Cooking Challenge last week and I’m finishing up today. I made:

Chicken Curry
I made two batches, and each batch makes 10 servings, so I ended up with 20 servings, or about 4 meals plus dinner the night I made it.

8 c. cooked brown rice
1/2 c. olive oil
2 c. chopped onions
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
6 c. cooked chicken, chopped
2 T. flour
2 T. curry powder
1½ t. salt
1 c. water
1/2 c. lemon juice
2 c. tomato sauce
4 cloves garlic, crushed
Cook onion and green pepper in oil until tender. Add chicken . Sauté briefly. In separate bowl mix flour, curry powder and salt. Slowly stir in water and lemon juice to make paste. Add tomato sauce and garlic and pour mixture over chicken mixture. Mix. To freeze, freeze in ziploc plastic bag. Freeze rice in separate ziploc bag. To serve, thaw. Place rice in casserole dish. Place chicken mixture over top of rice. Heat through on 350°, about 30 min.

Chicken Tetrazzini
I made two batches, which made about four meals plus dinner the night I made it…

8 oz pkg spagetti (I double the spaghetti in each batch so it’s not as rich… it was 32 ounces for two batches)
1-1/4 cups chopped onion (make sure you use fresh onions!)
1 cup chopped green pepper
3 Tbsp butter
5-1/2 cups cooked, deboned, diced chicken (1 chikcen)
4 cups cheese (half monterey and half cheddar)
2 x 10oz cans cream of mushroom soup (Dan is not wild about mushrooms so I do cream of chicken soup, although for a doubled recipe, I did three cans of chicken and one of mushroom… shhh, don’t tell hubby!)
1 soup can full of milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Saute the onion and green pepper in the butter. Mix all ingrediants together throroughly in large bowl. FREEZE.

To serve: thaw and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until bubbly. Makes 12 servings.

Chili – one batch, I haven’t finished packaging it, but it looks like I’ll end up with 3-4 meals plus dinner the night I made it.

2 pounds hamburger
2 cups chopped onion
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
2 large cans kidney beans
1 medium can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp sugar

Cook hamburg and onion until partially done. Drain beans, but don’t discard the juice! Add juice to all of the above and simmer 30 minutes. Add kidney beans and heat. FREEZE Serve with cornbread

Hawaiian Pork (I didn’t make it yet because of freezer space, but I’ll make it in the next few weeks… It’s a great recipe!)

1 ½ pounds ground pork
2/3 cup cracker crumbs
½ cup chopped onion
1 beaten egg
½ tsp salt
½ tsp powdered ginger
¼ cup milk
2 Tbsp cornstarch
½ cup brown sugar
1 15 ounce can pineapple chunks
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/3 cup vinegar

Combine pork, crackers, onion, egg, salt, ginger and milk in bowl. Mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls. Cook in skillet. Combine cornstarch and sugar in pan. Add juice from pineapple, soy sauce, pepper and vinegar to cornstarch mixture. Mix well. Cook over medium heat until thickened and green pepper is tender-crisp. Add pineapple, heat through. FREEZE Spoon onto a bed of cooked rice.

Today I’m finishing up with these two recipes and then I’ll do breakast burritos later this week and then I’ll be DONE! Phew!

Natalie’s meatballs:

(These can be mixed and frozen uncooked, or baked and frozen without sauce, or baked in the sauce and frozen.  They are not tiny spaghetti meatballs, but more substantial!) Serves approx 8

2lb ground beef
handful of chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper
2 crumbled beefstock cubes
1 cup of rolled oats or 3/4c quick cooking oats
4T milk or water
3T or LARGE squirt of runny honey or brown sugar
2 t minced garlic
1 finely chopped onion.

About 30 minutes before you start, add the milk/water to the oats and let them soak to soften a little. Sautee the onion until glossy, then put on a baking tray in the freezer to cool quickly.  Then put all of the ingredients in a large bowl and get a helper to mix it with their hands by tightly squishing it through their fingers!  Then, since their hands are already dirty, get them to form golfball sized meatballs and place in a baking tray/dish.  Cover with lid or foil, and bake in a moderate oven for approx 30-45 minutes - you want them light brown but NOT overdone.  I usually then cool and freeze at this point, because then I can remove the exact number that I require and leave the rest frozen.  To serve just defrost, pour any tomato type sauce over and heat until bubbling. Serve with pasta or rice.

BIG-BATCH BEEF SAUCE — I’ll post this in the next post…

Costco is selling cloth diapers: Bumkins AIO 6 pack. It’s not the kind I use, but they do have them!

Another recipe from Pioneer Woman: Summer Recipe! I have the stuff in my fridge as we speak!

Easy Peach Cobbler: I made this over the weekend with apricots, peaches and plums (translation all the fruit left over from the farmer’s market on Wednesday) and used chocolate cake instead of white and it was good!

Here’s a cool story: Sick Orphan Baby Finds Family in the Hospital

Here’s a funny spoof blog: Noah’s Ark Blog

No more Mexican food for me this summer: Tomatoes are clear, but Jalapeno and Serrano peppers are suspect I will say that further research clarified that it’s only the peppers grown and processed in Mexico. The ones from the US are find, also, as long as you COOK them to kill potential samonella (like chicken or eggs) you’ll be fine… or so they say. Bummer. I love salsa and who wants to have it cooked? BLECH.

Right before we went on vacation (more about that in a bit) I took the plunge on a fairly new baby carrier: The Beco Butterfly. It’s sort of like the regular beco baby carriers, but it has a nice insert where Munchkin sits so that it makes it a LOT easier to get her up and down safely! I have tried a variety of other carriers, but I lack the dexterity in my upper body to do back carriers with other soft structure carriers (ergo, traditional becos, etc.), mei tais, and wraps. I tried so hard to make them work, but to no avail. So I decided to take the plunge and buy a Butterfly. Munchkin and I have not been disappointed. Following is an edited review I wrote for the babywearing forum on Diaper Swappers.

Where I bought: I went to a local B&M (brick and mortar which is cyber speak for a real life store front instead of online) because I wanted to touch and feel. (There are now quite a few on the FSOT board at Diaper Swappers for a very good price, but you do not have the warranty you have if you spend $20 more and buy from a retailer.)

The Print I chose and why: The store I went to had six prints to choose from. (You can see them on the beco site.)
Isabella — I almost bought this one because it was feminine enough for my little girl, but not so feminine that I couldn’t see myself wearing it if the little Bean is a boy. I decided against it because it was basically an all-black carrier which seemed like it would get dirty/faded more quickly. I have nothing to base this on as I have not actually used it, but this was my impression standing in the store looking at it.
Carnival — This is the print I bought. It was definitely on the edge of girly, but I see a lot of Mamas who have boys wearing it so I figured it would be okay. It has brown straps which seemed like it would hide dirt at least a little better.
Chloe: Definitely a girly carrier but a bit boring compared to the other choices.
Ethan: Good GN color, but I thought the print was boring. Maybe that particular carrier was the exception, but there was only one bug!
Morgan: Cute colors and would hide more dirt than Isabella but we don’t do skulls and cross-bones here.
Sophia: Another girly carrier. I think I like it better than chloe becauase it has a bit more interesting of a print.

Safety and Ease of Use

Learning:I totally recommend watching these youtube videos that one of the Mamas on DS did. They are sooo much better than the DVD and “instruction manual” that came with the carrier! They are what sold me on this carrier! You can search Beco Butterfly on youtube and you’ll find them. They were so helpful to me in choosing and learning the butterfly. I was able to get Munchkin up on my back with no trouble on the first try which is quite the contrary to the other carriers I’ve tried. It has only gotten easier the more I use it and I do use it all the time!
Buckles:I frankly love the retrofitted buckles (was never wild about the safety loop idea) and it’s easy to use. It is also set up so Munchkin can’t undo them without my consent.

Fit and Comfort
I am 5′ 1″ and almost 4 months pregnant. Munchkin is 17 months, about 21-22 pounds and 33ish inches long. We are both comfortable. This is totally a petite mama’s carrier. (I have never seen it on regular or fluffy size mamas’ so I can only speak for petite.) Like I said, i’ve tried an ergo NG (straps were huge and body was waay too short for DD) and a DIY MT. The MT was one I’d made myself so it fit well, but the straps were a pain to deal with.

Speaking of straps that reminds me, one of the biggest reasons I went with the butterfly is I have a fused spine and a rod on it to correct scoliosis. I don’t have the flexibility to load on my back without help and active spotting with the conventional carriers (wraps, SSCs, etc.). I never used them in public because I could not be guarenteed of my flexibility and ability to safely handle my DD. (I am one of those people that gives “helpers” reason to always try to help.) The Butterfly allows me to safely load DD on my back without worrying about dropping her or hurting my back.

I have worn this carrier in a variety of situations for as long as an hour at a time. I can feel that there is weight on my back and given my history it’s a bit uncomfortable, but nothing like the other things i’ve tried. Munchkin loves to be up there and she peeks at the world from her little cocoonish throne. When she’s up there, she looks around, puts her hands in and out, sucks her thumb, etc. etc.

Price: This carrier is definitely on the pricier side ($150ish new or about $100-120 used) but it’s been totally worth it for Munchkin and me. It will also work well for the new baby because it fits infants well too! If you’re not sure it’s the carrier for you, I’d recommend trying to see it in real life first because most mail order places charge a re-stocking fee if you return it, hence the barely used ones on Diaper Swappers.

Even though this blog has the same address and name as my former Soapbox, we did make some changes in the database and re-registration is required to post a comment. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Crockpots and pregnant me don’t get along. (Yes that is an announcement for those who didn’t already know!)

Back story regarding versions 1.0 and 2.0 of this saga: I got two crockpots for our wedding and I used to leave my crockpots on the stove for storage. The first one bit the dust while I was pregnant with Bun because I turned the wrong burner on and it burned to a melt crisp. Same thing happened to the other one during Bamberina’s pregnancy.

So needless to say, I’ve been very, very careful with my now-third crockpot this pregnancy. Fast forward to this morning…

I was fixing breakfast. All week I’ve noticed this spot of liquid on the bottom of my oven that I’ve been meaning to get to, but it’s been kind of nuts. This morning I had the oven on 450 to oven fry our bacon and it got really smoky in here. We turned on the fans and all that and I was thinking that I really should have made time to deal with the oven.

It got smokier and smokier. It had a pretty heavy burning smell. I checked the bacon and it wasn’t burning.

So then I go to slice the bread and I can’t find my bread knife. Of course I can’t find the cinnamon bread that I bought for french toast either so what else is new. In fact half the stuff in this house is “missing” right now. I complain to DH about how I can’t find anything when I suddenly have this flash back…

Early in the week we had Bamberina’s physical therapist coming. I had spent the morning dealing with the fridge and got tired before I could finish washing dishes so I took a nap. I woke up just before the therapist was due and decided to shove everything in the oven. I took everything out the next morning and washed everything up… or so I thought.

“Um, Man o’ the House… I think I know where my bread knife is. It’s IN THE OVEN!”  Sure enough, my beloved bread knife is now a melted mass of plastic and the blade. Doggone it.

So yeah, that’s my stupid pregnancy story for this time. More confirmation that this may be a boy. A knife got ruined instead of a crockpot.

I decided to laugh instead of cry.

The moral of the story: If you’re going to hide dirty dishes in the oven, make sure you get them ALL out before using the oven! ROTFLOL.

My husband sent this to me this morning… I haven’t checked the validity of it, but it was certainly amusing and appropriate given what day it is today! Enjoy!

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.’ He then asked, ‘Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French? ‘Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied ‘Maybe it’s because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t have to speak German.’ You could have heard a pin drop.

We were out from noon until 5:30ish on Saturday. When we got home, we saw the refrigerator and freezer doors open and a not very pleasant smell coming out. Darn it! I had made a small snack before we left and shut the door, but sometimes it bounces back open. This seems to be what happened on Saturday. GRRRRR!

As I was cleaning out the fridge, I began to realize that I had much to be thankful for:

1. I have not done a serious shopping trip in almost three weeks so we didn’t lose much.

2. The milks I had to throw out were expiring today (Monday) and they only had a cup left in them.

3. This happened on Saturday… a non-therapy day.

The amazing thing is the freezer was FINE!!!!!!! Everything in the fridge was warm to the touch, but the freezer was still frozen solid. The ice cubes were still in the correct form and the ice cream looked fine. I served Dan and I each some ice cream and we celebrated God’s graciousness to us.

Note to self: double check the doors before heading out the door.