Pinterest Challenge Day 14: Eggs in Peppers

Happy Valentine's Day! My husband woke me up this morning and said to me, "I made you breakfast, and I did one of your pins for you!"

I came downstairs and saw this:

Beautiful! He completed this pin:

http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066203318/

The eggs were very flavorful. They'd picked up a hint of the pepper flavor, and he'd topped them with salt, cracked pepper, and a touch of Swiss cheese.

I told him I was going to take a picture of them for the pin, and he told me he already had! He'd also taken pictures of the cooking process. He told me that it's important to cut the peppers as straight as possible, otherwise the eggs leak out the bottom.

He chose to do two as fried eggs and two as scrambled eggs.

To the scrambled eggs, he'd added a splash of milk. Apparently, that caused the eggs to really leak under the peppers. He used a spatula to hold the peppers down to limit the runaway eggs. Once the eggs started to cook and form a seal, he scooped all the eggs that had run out and put them back in the peppers:

I enjoyed this morning in every way. Breakfast with my family, delicious eggs, and no pin to worry about today! OK, so I already had a pin completed, but I'll post that one tomorrow and take a day off pinning for today and tomorrow.

Pinterest Challenge Day 13: Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili Shepherd's Pie

There is a serious lack of quality vegetarian slow-cooker recipes. I've even bought a book of slow-cooker vegetarian recipes, and all if the ones I tried were just awful.

A few weeks ago, I pinned this slow-cooker vegetarian shepherd's pie:
http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066092398/

I finally decided to make it today. The process was easy. I put all of the ingredients into bowls and let Oliver dump them in and mix them. He sprinkled the cheese on top, and then I smeared mashed potatoes over the whole thing. Easy as, well, pie!

The house smelled fantastic all afternoon. Dinner time arrived, and I was not disappointed. Delicious! Andrew gobbled it up, too, but Oliver wouldn't touch the stuff. I thought I could even skip the cheese next time. It added some flavor, but not that much. I think I'd rather skip those extra calories. Andrew insisted that the cheese needs to stay, so I guess that's that. Well, maybe I'll just try decreasing it next time. And, yes, there definitely will be a next time!

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 67: Magnetic Pipe Cleaners (Pinterest Challenge Day 12)

Today's toddler activity came from Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066030217/

The idea is simple. Cut up some pipe cleaners and put them in a clean plastic bottle. Glue the lid in place, and allow your toddler to move the pipe cleaners around with a magnet because the pipe cleaners are magnetic.

I couldn't find many nearly-empty plastic containers in our house. We'd purchased a half gallon of milk from the convenience store one night for cooking, and it's just sat in the fridge since then (Oliver drinks organic milk to avoid growth hormones). I dumped out the remainder of the milk we weren't using and rinsed it out well.

My husband came by and was interested in what I was doing, so I let him finish the project. He even glued a strong magnet to the end of a popsicle stick. He handed it all to Oliver and showed him how it worked:

Unfortunately, the milk jug ended up being too opaque. The plastic was also very thick and didn't allow the magnet to work well. Oliver ended up just walking around with his magnet stick, testing it on all the surfaces in the kitchen.

We tried to get him interested in the bottle, but to no avail. In fact, the bottle just ended up pissing him off because the lid was glued on.

We had a $10 voucher to the grocery store that expired today, so we decided to go pick up a few items we needed. We purchased a bottle of Naked juice, too, because the bottle was very clear. We took it home, drank all the juice, and remade the project. Andrew twisted the pipe cleaner pieces into rings this time to give them more surface area.

The changes worked! Oliver enjoyed the toy for all of one minute and then announced he was "all done."

I hate to just get rid of the toy, since Andrew worked so hard on it. I decided to stow it away. Maybe when Oliver is older, he'll enjoy it more. I'm grading these activities based on younger toddlers. So, this activity gets a D. While the magnet was OK, he just wasn't interested in playing with the bottle of pipe cleaners.

Pinterest Challenge Day 11: Portobello, Broccoli, and Red Pepper Melts

Today's pin was a meal from the Meatless Monday site. I'd saved it and planned on making it, but never got around to it until today. OMG. I'm so glad I did. I'm going to go ahead and say that you have to make this.

Here is the pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066189785/

Remember: to get the recipe, just click that link, and then click the picture in the link. That's how Pinterest works!

When I read the ingredient list, I was a little confused about what "country bread" was. I'd never heard of it, but I thought I might find it at the store. Nope. So I picked out a loaf of pugliese bread. The next thing that confused me about the ingredient list was the quantity of vegetables. Four portobello mushroom caps for four slices of bread? Two red bell peppers for four slices of bread? How would all of this fit? I told myself that maybe the vegetables shrink a lot from roasting, so I went ahead and chopped all of those mushrooms and peppers in addition to the broccoli and garlic. Don't forget to always double the garlic in a recipe. I'm a garlic fiend, so that's my rule of thumb for the kitchen.

Anyway, yes, I chopped lots of veggies. I made the mayo smear, substituting Miracle Whip for the mayonnaise and doubling the garlic (OK, I quadrupled it). I smeared on the mayo mixture and topped it with the roasted veggies and...

...I had way too many vegetables. Who knows, maybe country bread is huge or something. I don't know. But I had so many vegetables and couldn't fit them on the bread. So, I made more of the mayo smear and sliced more bread. At seven, I decided to just stop because, really, there are only two-and-a-half eaters in this house.

Here's what I ended up with before adding the cheese:

And here are all of the leftover vegetables that didn't fit on top of the seven slices of bread:

So, yes, there were way, way too many vegetables for just four slices of bread. That's OK. Next, I sliced up some Gouda cheese and stuck it on top, like so:

I popped those suckers in the oven and ended up with these beauties:

They were garlic-y and perfect. I ate two, and they're quite filling. As I'm writing this, my mouth is watering thinking about how good these were, so I'm trying to resist the urge to go eat a third.

This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you, Pinterest.

Oliver Brews Pretend Coffee

Pinterest Challenge Day 10: Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas

I pinned an interesting looking enchilada recipe from my "cousin-in-law" (really, that should be a thing): http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066126956/. It's built like a lasagna.

As you'd expect, this recipe took a lot of time, what with all the chopping and all. On easy days at home, I don't mind working hard on dinner, just as long as it's good.

So, I chopped all the veggies. I roasted the veggies (they did not take 30-40 minutes). I stacked everything like a lasagna. Halfway through the procedure, I realized it wouldn't fit in the 9" x 9" pan. I had to decide whether to waste some or rebuild it in a 9 x 13" pan. I rebuilt it. Here's mine before sticking it in the oven:

And here are the photos of the final product:

It tasted pretty good. Well, it tasted OK. It was fine. My husband liked it a lot and asked me to make it again, but he recommended I chop the veggies even smaller next time. For me, the roasted vegetable flavor was too strong. I know, why complain about roasted vegetable flavor in a roasted vegetable dish? I'm a goober like that. Here's the thing: I love veggies, and the stronger the flavor, the better. Give me broccoli and kale any day of the week. But I guess I'm not as big of a fan of the whole roasted bit. When veggies start to blacken on the grill and such... well, I guess that is for some people.

To me, the recipe wasn't great, and because it took a lot of work, I wouldn't be inclined to make it again. My husband's enjoyment of it ensures I probably will make it again, though, but probably with a few changes. I'll dice the veggies even smaller, as he'd requested, and I wouldn't roast them nearly as long. I'd probably add some beans in the mix, too, because I like beans, and I think this recipe could have used some.

In all, this recipe is a lot of work for what it is. It's probably worth it if you like roasted veggies or are trying to add more vegetables into your diet. Otherwise, if you want to go for a much easier, admittedly less-healthy Mexican casserole that is still vegetarian friendly, I recommend this one: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/mexican-vegetarian-casserole-10000000521062/. We had a friend bring us that after Jo was born, and it was delicious!

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 66: Ziploc Painting (Pinterest Challenge Day 9)

Today's post is day 9 of my Pinterest Challenge, and it's also attempt 66 in ways to entertain my toddler.

The activity is an easy one (pin here: http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066036854/). You know me, I love easy activities. The simpler, the better. All I had to do was take a ziploc bag, which I had, and squeeze some paint into it, which I also had. Then, I taped it to the window. That's it!

I wish Oliver liked the activity, and I wish I could give it a good activity grade because of its simplicity. Alas, I cannot. Oliver walked up to it, ran his fingers through it for about thirty seconds, and then left.

If you have the supplies at home, it might be worth checking out this activity to see if your child is more interested in it at mine. Based on my experience, though, I do not recommend running out and buying bags and tape to try it.

I give the activity props for being easy to set up and so easy to clean, but because my son was absolutely uninterested in doing anything with the baggy full of paint, I give this activity a D-.

Three Months?!

Oliver wanted his picture on the Bumbo, too:

So, somehow, three months have already passed since my little Jo was born. Unbelievable.

Before righting this post, I took the time to read back on Oliver's three month update. I have to say, the thing that stood out the most to me was how deliberate Oliver was with his hand movements. Before he was three months old, he'd reach over in the bouncy chair (the same one I have pictured above), and he'd grab the lion ring and pull on it, making it sing all by himself. I'll never forget telling our family doctor that because the doctor told me it wasn't possible. My little Ollie Bear reached over and grabbed the doctor's stethoscope. Take that!

Well, Joanna isn't quite that dexterous. She's very good at getting her hands to her mouth, and she sucks and gnaws on the side of her hands. Her hands stay closed for the most part still, but she has just started to open them up occasionally and will accidentally grasp things near her, like my hair or her blankets. That said, she's getting very interested in objects now. She likes to watch me eat. She loves Oliver's stuffed animals, and she kicks her feet excitedly when they're near her. She really loves sitting in her bouncy chair when I (or Oliver) pull on the rings to make the songs start. You can tell she's starting to think more about things like that.

Her sleep habits have gotten a bit worse over the last couple weeks. While she still goes to bed around 8pm and sleeps until about 8am, she's waking up much more frequently. She's constantly busting out of her swaddle, and sometimes she's waking up every two hours for us to reswaddle her. I've started the bad habit of nursing her after each of these wake-ups to get her to quickly fall back asleep. In another couple of weeks, we're going to do some sleep training to teach her to sleep without the swaddle. I don't look forward to that, but I do look forward to not having to swaddle her anymore.

As for nap time, that's actually going well. I remember how desperate I used to be for Oliver to nap. Jo naps regularly, and she'll often take a really big nap from about 12:30pm to 3pm in addition to a couple cat naps.

I think she's going through a growth spurt, too, because she's started wanting to nurse a lot more frequently over the past week or so. Instead of going up to three hours between feedings, I'm finding myself pushing her to make it to two hours.

Joanna is very strong, though. One of the photos at the top of this post shows how she can sit up with me just holding one of her hands to balance her. I think she'll be sitting on her own by five months old (although I've been wrong plenty of times in my predictions with Oliver, so who knows?). She holds her head up very well, and it only starts bobbing around slightly after she's been holding her head up for multiple minutes.

I must say, we really lucked out with how easy-going Jo is. I keep saying how it makes all the difference in the world. Oliver was so high needs and was always crying and screaming. I'm really glad we went through that with our first and not our second, or else I wouldn't know what to do! Joanna really only cries when she has a wet diaper or is hungry or wants to sleep. When she wakes up or wants our attention, she usually just calls out to us. It's adorable. In a given day, I'd say she's fussy for a total of about an hour, two at the max.

She smiles all the time. It's very difficult to get her smile on film, though, because she's gotten super interested in the camera. Yesterday, I got her to laugh for the first time while playing peek-a-boo. Today, I got a small giggle out of her as I tossed balls of socks at her belly. I can't wait for the laughter to become more common place!

This month, Joanna went on an airplane for the first time (we flew to Chicago to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday). She also experienced her first blizzard. We've taken the butt padding out of her car seat now, and the straps were raised to the second shortest notch a few weeks ago.

At 3 months old, here is Joanna's list of likes and dislikes:

Likes:
Nursing
Watching Oliver
The bouncy chair
The ceiling fan
The sound of the microwave vent
Putting her hands in her mouth
Smiling
Diaper changes (and being naked)

Dislikes:
Being put in the car seat

Red lights
Wet diapers

Pinterest Challenge Day 8: Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Mousse

I have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to healthier versions of desserts. I love to bake and create with my son, but our house just doesn't need decadent treats around 24/7.

Today, I decided to try another one of the pins (I did one for the first day of this challenge). I chose "Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Mousse." My pin for it is here:
http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066167007/

I doubled the recipe to use my whole package of silken tofu (yes, using silken is a must!). I tossed the whole package of silken tofu in the food processor and combined it with a splash of soy milk, a teaspoon of vanilla, a teaspoon of cocoa powder, a pinch of salt, and a small scoop of sugar (Oliver did the scoop, and it was a little less than a tablespoon).

We melted a cup and a half of dark chocolate chips on the stove top and blended it in the food processor with the rest of the ingredients. It turned out beautifully, and it had the texture of pudding:

Then came the taste test! I'd be lying if I said there was no soy taste to it, but it was surprisingly mild. For example, power bars have a strong metallic taste to them, right? This just had a minor, background flavor of soy that I actually stopped tasting after a few bites (I guess my taste buds adjusted). Overwhelmingly, what I tasted was chocolate, and it was good. Oliver agreed:

I am definitely making this again, no doubt in my mind. My favorite part was how filling it was. You know how you eat a cookie, and then you eat another and another, and you discover you could literally eat the whole package? Yeah, this mousse doesn't do that. I poured 5 servings, and I was full by the end of it. This dessert made me feel satiated, which is a huge plus in my book!

Pinterest Challenge Day 7: Heart-Shaped Box

My husband and I don't really get each other gifts for Valentine's Day. We never have. Most years, we just exchange cards. I don't want to change that because, really, neither my husband nor I like "stuff."

Last year, I made some chocolate covered strawberries because strawberries were on sale at the grocery store. I bought and made dozens of them, and Andrew loved it. It probably cost about $7 to make three dozen. Once, I was at the mall with a friend, I was pregnant, and I wanted a chocolate-covered strawberry. We stopped into the Godiva store, and I ordered a single berry. The cost? $4. That's disgusting.

I've decided I'm going to make chocolate-covered strawberries again this year. I thought I could get even more creative and make a heart-shaped candy box to put them in. So, I looked up a how-to guide, and I pinned it here:
http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066132005/

If you want to make your own box, just click the picture in that link, and it will take you to the guide that I used.

I used a leftover cardboard box (free!) and some red, sparkling wrapping paper that cost a dollar from The Dollar Tree. So, my gift box cost a buck!

Check out the guide for more detail, but here's a quick briefing of what I did. I printed a picture of a heart from Google Images. I used it as a template to cut out two hearts from the cardboard. I used yarn to measure half of the perimeter of the heart (from the center of the top point of the heart to the center of the bottom point) because I'm just so technical like that.

I cut out four pieces of cardboard that was the length of my yarn (fool-proof!).

I made two of those pieces 1 inch wide for the lid (giving my box lid an approximate height of 1 inch), and I made two of those pieces 2.5 inches wide for the box itself (giving my box an approximate height of 2.5 inches).

As per the tutorial, I pre-bent the side walls so they would have an easier time following the curve of the heart. I just curled those side pieces using the edge of my kitchen table.

I have to say that cutting the cardboard was the most difficult part of the whole project. I used a combo of scissors and a razor blade, but it took a lot of strength to cut through everything. I ended up with a few blisters, and I wondered why the link advertised this project for kids. But I digress.

I wanted the lid to be slightly larger than the box so that it could go on it. That makes sense, right? So, I used my hot glue gun and glued the side walls on the outer edges of one of the hearts for the lid, and I glued the side walls directly onto the other heart for the box itself. This made the lid fit perfectly snug on the box. As I applied the glue, I added tape (temporarily) to hold everything in place until the glue dried.

Once it was dry, I removed the tape and had a box! It was easy, and it felt good making something so cute out of a cardboard box.

The tutorial I pinned says to sand the edges to make them smooth and flush with each other. I love my husband, and I just made him this neat box by hand, but I wasn't going to bust out the sand paper to make it a flawless cardboard box. So he's getting the un-sanded, flawed kind.

Next came the wrapping paper. Mine was a plastic-like, slippery, shiny wrapping paper. It would not have folded over as nicely as it did in the tutorial I used. So, what to do? I decided to mimic the cuts I used to make the box and just put the wrapping paper over each individual piece. I knew the edges would be visible with that method, so I thought, "Why don't I first glue the wrapping paper over all of the edges? Then, I can attach the pieces, and there won't be any cardboard showing." Easier said than done. The wrapping paper wouldn't bend on itself at all. To do the curves, I ended up cutting out a million little strips of paper.

It took forever. When I finally finished the lid, I decided there was no way I was going to do that with the base of the box. I decided seeing a little cardboard would be just fine (sorry, Andrew!), so I only put the wrapping paper on the sides of the heart box.

Here are the final pictures. I took one of it open so that you could see that I didn't do anything to finish the inside of the box. I'll use cute tissue paper nestled in the bottom to hold the strawberries, and that will be that!

In total, it took about an hour to build the box, and it took about an hour to do a half-assed decorating job. The box I had originally been so proud of because it was just a dollar, I was now a little put-off with because it took hours of my time. Like I've said, I love my husband. If he really wanted me to, I'd make him a dozen of these boxes. But I know he doesn't care about a box, and so spending two hours making one just seems stupid (now that I've done it, of course).

I guess I get to feel a little proud when I give him the box because I can tell him I made it, but I'll be damned if I ever do this project again. OK, that's not entirely true. If this is something my kids are ever interested in, I guess I'd do it again. But I'd either skip the decorating all together, or I'd just use tissue paper instead of wrapping paper because it would be easier to bend and manipulate. Better yet, I'd just use a piece of white cardboard, and I'd let the kids decorate it with markers and crayons.