Mish mosh of info from the last week

I wish I had a funny story to share with you (well I am sure I have tons) but this last week and a half have gone by in a blur. I have been traveling to Cincy almost every weekend for my BFF's wedding festivities. I love her dearly as if she was my own sister and am excited to be sharing her day with her. I don't care for the traveling though. It's a lot harder to do than when I was in college. Especially with a 2 year old.

Also this week I have been training a new hire. This is super exciting because a lot of days I felt like I was drowning! He is a great guy who is catching on fast so I am very excited about that!

Sophie- well she is doing good. We have been struggling at daycare with her behavior (typical toddler stuff like hitting and aggression to get her way). Her teacher has instituted a new behavioral chart to visually show the toddlers how they are doing that day. Green is good, Yellow is OK, Orange is not good, and Red is bad. If they are in the Green all day they get a treat at the end of the day. Sophie actually had 2 green days in a row so we are super proud of her!

So the wedding is this weekend and I am sure I will have a lot to update then but for now I am going to leave you with pictures of the 2 new additions to my family:

Jessica Seinfeld's Meatball Soup

I bought Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious" not realizing it relied heavily on adding puree's to your food's. Not that I am not all for adding in extra veggy's where you can, it's just that a) I believe in cooking veggies on there on that are delicious and teaching my daughter to appreciate and like veggies  b) I am too lazy to add in the extra step to puree the veggies to add to my meals and c) the amount of the puree's you add doesn't really amount to much once you serve up the meal.

So as you can imagine, I don't use this cookbook very often. One exception is her Meatball Soup.
For some reason, I just love this soup. It is easy to make, tastes amazing and re-heats wonderfully. Sophie asked for 3 helpings of it last night. THREE!! That's huge for her.

The best part of this soup is it really is full of veggies and it low on calories as well. So double bonus!

Jessica Seinfeld's Meatball Soup


Ingredients:


3 ounces pasta bows
1 small chopped onion
1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes w/ juice
1/4 cup carrot puree
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups chicken broth
3 slices whole-wheat bread, cubed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sweet potato puree
1/4 cup nonfat milk
2 Tbsp grated Parmesean cheese, plus more for serving
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 lb lean ground turkey


Directions 1. Cook pasta al dente, drain, set aside.
2. Coat pot w/ nonstick spray, cook onion till soft.
3. Puree tomatoes w/ carrot puree, add to pot w/ 1/2 tsp salt. Add broth, reduce heat to low, cover, simmer for 10-15 min.
4 Mix bread w/ egg, milk, sweet potato puree, Parmesean, 1 tsp salt, paprika, let soak till soft, add turkey. Form into mini meatballs 1/2 inch in diameter.
5. Add the meatballs into the pot. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Stir in pasta. Serve sprinkled w/ Parmeasean. Serves 10.


Number of Servings: 10

My Notes: I don't do carrot puree. I just add carrots right into the blender with the whole tomatoes and blend. I also leave out the sweet potato puree from the meatballs unless I have a left over sweet potato already cooked in the fridge. Additionally, you can really use any shaped pasta. I like Penne personally.

I am actually counting down until lunch so I can go warm it up and enjoy it all over again.

The Pitfalls of an Independent Toddler

I love having an independent (for the most part) toddler. She likes to do things for her self and I think that is fantastic!

One such thing is going potty by herself. She is always telling me "I do it!" She wants to potty, wipe, dump and flush then wash her hands. The system works.

This can backfire though. Take this Sunday for example. Sophie and I got home around 6 from my parents and we chillaxing in the house together. She had run off to play in her room and I was hanging out on the couch with my new book (see- definite benefits of independent toddlers). At some, without catching my eye, Sophie goes in to potty by her self. Does her business and goes back to playing.

Fast forward to Monday morning when Jeff finds her full potty (pee and poop, thanks Sophie) in the bathroom. Undumped. I didn't even know she went!!! And since we skipped her bath that night I didn't happen upon it.

And let me tell you what- that shit stunk. Bad. Really bad.

Lesson learned: When you have an independent toddler who doesn't always tell you when she needs to potty, you need to check the potty every night before bed or else you might be surprised.

Mother's Day

I guess I fail to see the big deal about Mother's Day most holidays. Yes, they are special days that symbolize something greater and should be recognized as much. I don't think this necessarily needs gifts associated with it.

Being part of an online community for mothers, I see several vents/post about being mad/disappointed in their significant others over what they perceive to be a "lack of caring" because Mother's Day wasn't done up they way they wanted it done. Funny thing is, the majority of these posts come from women who are pregnant, not women who have kids.

This mother's day, for me, was great. I got to spend it with my mom, sisters and my little girl. We went to the zoo, saw the animals, rode the train. My dad made us breakfast and my baby carried the plate out to me.  I got some made hand cards and a planted flower that Sophie planted herself at daycare. But by far the BEST things I got on Mother's Day was my little girl telling me "Happy Mother's Day" To hear her say that melted my heart and was all the gift I needed. The only way it wou'd have been better is if Jeff would have been able to join us.

I do have a fantastic husband who DOES recognize Mother's Day (as well as other holidays) with out me reminding him so maybe I shouldn't judge the women who complain about nothing getting what they wanted for the holiday. Jeff made sure to tell me Happy Mother's day and picked up the book he knew I had been wanting for me. Simple, not elaborate, but kind and shows that not only does he care but he listens to me as well.

But the things is- I was not expecting anything. If all I got was the "Happy Mother's Day" from Sophie I would have been just fine.Mother's Day isn't a day for me to wash my hands of being a mother. It sit around all day and expect someone else to wait on me hand and foot. I am not my husbands mother. I am my little girls mother. And on a day to celebrate Mothers, I want to celebrate her and what I get to be to her. Even if that means I still have to do the dishes.

I saw a facebook post from a friend of mine that I just loved. It said something to the effect of "On Mother's Day, I am spending time with my husband and child because with out them I wouldn't be a mother". True words have never been spoken.

The Price I Pay

Through a series of events over the last week and a half, I have been completely slacking in my wifely duties. Now before you get up in arms, my husband and I do share the household responsibilities pretty evenly. I, however, think I am better at cleaning, cooking and laundry so I usually take care of those. Of course, they haven't been done in about 2 weeks so the pile up was crazy.

My loving husband decided he would help me out yesterday with out me even asking him to because he knows how much pressure and stress I have been under the last few weeks. I love him for even taking the initiative. I know a lot of men wouldn't.

That being said, he just doesn't have the same laundry skill set I do. And I am not even picky. I don't care if he throws everything in together and uses the cold wash. It is the drying that gets me. I don't dry most of my clothes. I just don't. But he doesn't know this.

Yes, he did pick out the sweaters and dress pants and bras to line dry- so I do have to give him a lot of credit for even that. But some of my fitted shirts got tossed in the dryer. I hope they still fit the same way.

 And before you ask, no I didn't mention this to him. I am definitely not going to correct his laundry skills when 1-if I wanted it done a certain way I should have kept up with it on my own and 2-I would never correct him for helping me because what would that do? Make him less likely to help again later.

So I am holding my tongue and praying my shirts still fit and being thankful that I have a husband willing to help and willing to do so with out me nagging him!

It's HIDING!!

I gave Sophie an apple this morning because thats what she wanted for breakfast. About 30 minutes later, I realize she isn't eating it any more so I asked her where it was.

She told me it's hiding. I asked where it was hiding and she answered "I don't know. It's HIDING!"

Great.

I WANT JUNK FOOD

Is there anything better than hot wings and blue cheese?

I don't really eat a lot of junk food. I don't buy it. We don't keep it in the house. On any given day, if you were to come to my house you would find tortilla chips and salsa and that is it. No potato chips, no cookie, really no junk.

So it is rare that I crave junk food. Most of the time if I am hungry, carrots and hummus suits me just fine. Maybe for cottage cheese and tomato or a few sliced of creamy Havarti cheese.

But today, the rare day, I want/need/crave some junk food. Dorito's to be exact. Nacho cheese or cool ranch, either would do.

Mmmmmmm!