Sunday, March 28, 2010

Charlee Jean, the stink-bug queen :)

Charlee has been sick the past two weeks.  Just when I thought it was getting better, it's come back again.  I feel so bad for her...and the poor princess is back down to 18.6 pounds :(  Her check-up is in two weeks, and I'm sure they're going to freak out if she's still down this small.

I did find some Pediasure and she's drinking it and holding it down okay.  And she can eat baby food.  I feel weird feeding my 17.5 month old baby food, but hey, if it stays down....I don't care WHAT it is!

About a month ago, we had to convert her crib over to a toddler bed because the front panel broke.  Well, then she decided to start chewing on the final back piece, so we decided to buy her a plastic one.  One of my friends had one in a yard sale so we bought it and she LOVES it :) She's going to bed so easy now!!!  She goes to the bottom and points at the sticker and says "Pooh Bay-er" 


Now I'm just working on the family cookbook.  I'll probably go ahead and post most of the recipes on here, so I can keep track of them!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Are We So Advanced We're Going Backwards?

I was cruising around on my facebook page this morning, when I noticed a link that one of my friends posted.  It's titled  "Why Are So Many Moms Dying?" and it just really broke my heart to read.  They had an example of how one VERY healthy woman died soon after giving birth to a child.  It went on about how, even though we've come so far with all our medical advances, more women are dying now during and after child-birth than in MANY years before.  With all of the advances available now, many doctors and even mothers rush through childbirth.  They will induce and/or do C-Sections when unnecessary just to make the birth quicker or more "convenient". 
Many of my friends were induced and/or had a C-Section, and I understand it if it's medically necessary, but you hear of people just wanting a C-Section.  WHY?!?!?! This is a major surgery, and it's no wonder that there are so many complications from it!!!  yeah, vaginal childbirth is painful and not exactly the way you'd plan to spend hours of your time, but recovery is a few days or a week, a CSection is cutting you open and sometimes WEEKS of recover, not to mention the scars you're left with, and the higher chance that you will have to have a repeat C-section with subsequent births.  I just can't imagine VOLUNTEERING for something like that!!! 
Now that I've had my moment on the soapbox, I'll go on to a question I have.....

Is it true that children with pre-existing conditions will not be able to get coverage on this new government health care stuff? John's company is supposedly laying off again..and if it's true, he will probably be on the list, so we will OBVIOUSLY have to find some kind of insurance for Charlee and Cobra is too much.

She has a heart murmur and asthma and other stuff...what would we do if we can't get her covered on those things?!?!? Her medications are high enough WITH insurance! So, if you have read into this a little more, and are a little smarter on the subject, HELP!?!? I want to know, but it seems every webpage is opinions and not the real thing..and I'm just more confused by reading them





Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Another Newbie

I've been prowling the Internet for some new recipes to try. Yes, it's true, a SAHM's life does have boring days. Not often, mind you, especially now that Charlee is hell-bent to get into EVERY thing in our condo....but some days she's lazy and Mommy has some "me" time to cruise recipe blogs or new cookbooks I pick up at the library. John laughs at me every time I come home with my "book" bag full. And somehow it always ends up that I have 1-2 actual READING books and the rest (usually at least 4-5) are all cookbooks. But hey, we've got some GREAT new recipes from my hunting expeditions through the vast and dusty cookbook aisle at our little tiny library!!!

I was flipping through channels last week while Charlee was taking a nice long nap, and came across the last 5 minutes of Rachel Ray, just as she was pulling the most delicious looking thing I've ever seen out of a Crock Pot. So, I, of course, hopped on my handy-dandy laptop and pulled up her website and the recipe. You can find her version here (http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/slow-cooker-recipe-asian-pepper-steak/) but I changed a few things AND only made a 1/2 batch, so we could make sure we liked it first, so here is MY version:

Rachael Ray Crock-Pot Pepper Steak (My Version)

1.5 lb minute steak
1.5 Tbsp cornstarch
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tsp ginger (the seasoning powder stuff)
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 red pepper, seeded and sliced
1 green pepper, seeded and sliced
4 oz tomato sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
dried cilantro
lime juice

*I cut my minute steaks into bite-sized pieces and browned until almost done.

*Place the meat in the Crock Pot and sprinkle with the cornstarch. Stir the steak around until you can no longer see the powder on the meat.

*Add garlic, ginger, onion, peppers, tomato sauce, brown sugar and soy sauce to the Crock Pot and stir well.

*Cover and cook on desired temperature. Because I used the minute steaks and cooked them almost completely in the skillet, it only took mine about an hour on low....and I stirred it often...I know this is a Crock Pot sin, but well, I was doing it my way!

*Spoon meat, peppers and any remaining sauce over rice. Sprinkle with dried cilantro and do a little squirt of lime juice, then mix together.


This is a REALLY great meal, and so simple to make. I'm sure you could just cut out the Crock Pot and make it all in a single skillet, and I'll probably try that the next time I make it and let you guys know how it turns out!!! Good luck and happy cooking!


Monday, March 22, 2010

Holy Cow! I Ate Broccoli!

So, as I've mentioned before, I am NOT a vegetable lover. Now that Charlee is eating with us though, I'm trying to at least eat healthier, even though that doesn't always include more greens on MY plate! We ONLY buy whole grain pasta now, and I've actually come to the point that I don't like the flavor of white pasta anymore. **Try Velveeta's Whole Grain macaroni, and you'll never go back, I promise! We buy whole grain bread white bread (I can't do the complete change to wheat, so this is my compromise!) and I've started eating more fruit.

John and Charlee both have some kind of really unpleasant stomach flu thing going on this weekend, so I wanted to make a soup that would hopefully set well on their stomach. John likes chicken noodle, but Charlee won't touch the stuff, so I decided to try some Broccoli Cheese soup...Charlee loves both things...so I figured it was a safe bet!

One of my WTE mommies shared the link with me when SHE made it a few months ago, and you can find it here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broccoli-Cheese-Soup/Detail.aspx
I followed a few of the suggestions in the reviews at the bottom of the page, so here is how I made it for my little family.

Broccoli-Cheese Soup

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

16oz package frozen broccoli florets

4 (14.5oz) cans chicken broth

1lb loaf Velveeta cheese, cubed VERY small

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups milk


1Tbsp garlic powder

2/3 cup cornstarch

______________________________
*In a large pot, melt butter. Cook onion in butter until tender.

*Remove 1 cup of broth from 1 can and set aside

*Dump in broccoli and pour in 3 cans and remainder of 4th can of the chicken broth. Boil for 5-10 minutes until broccoli is tender.

*Once broccoli was tender, I poured everything (broth, onions and broccoli) into the blender and pureed (it took me two batches so it didn't splatter everywhere) and then poured back into pot.

*Stir in the all cheeses until melted. Pour in milk and garlic powder and stir til combined. Raise heat back up to just below boiling.

*In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and reserved 1 cup broth, and add to the soup. Cook 3-5 minutes, or until soup is thickened.



This made a 4 quart pressure cooker FULL....so it's plenty for a family of 4 or 5 people. There's just the three of us, so I'm going to have a good stock in the freezer for later :)





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SAHM to a beautiful, wonderful, miracle princess named Charlee Jean. Married to my high school sweetheart for over 6 years now, and expecting another miracle baby in October 2011