Bulimic Baby

Here is a mommy moment I could have lived without: a baby who gags himself and throws up repeatedly and for no reason. If you try to take his hand away from his mouth, he will either laugh or cry, and return his fingers to his throat the moment you release his hand. In fact, if you gave him the chance he would be more than happy to stick his hand down YOUR throat. Yes, he has tried. And bonus! He just started walking, which has become his favorite thing to do, so I had no idea he was even doing it till he walked up to me covered in puke, shoving his putrid orange hand in his mouth again. I don't know when I will be able to eat goldfish again...or smell them for that matter.

Why did no one tell me how gross babies are? They told me children were gross, and I heard the stories about poop smeared on walls by trickster toddlers, but I thought I had more time till my little precious baby became a puke monster! Oh the joys of mommy hood, having to walk through the house looking for where poor Fin was laid to his final rest.

The Spice of my Life: Adobo

For the first two years of my marriage, I thought I was going to lose my mind. Why you ask? My husband Tim and I would spend time with his family every weekend and occasionally go on short trips together. Whats your problem you say? His family loves to eat at Mexican restaurants. They have been eating there once a week for years. So whether it was after church, or after shopping, we would go through the process of picking a place to eat, and every time, someone would say "how about Mexican?" and someone else would say "oh yeah that sounds good." Then someone would turn to me and ask if that was ok with me and while I my body was screaming NO my mouth said "sure that's fine." I hate Mexican. Everything ends up a mushy brown slop. The only Mexican dish I like are the steak fajitas at Chili's, and yes I've tried fajitas at Mexican restaurants and quite frankly they simply aren't as good. I finally learned to speak up when I became pregnant and had severe morning sickness to the point that I was on medication until the day I delivered. Now everyone knows when I'm around, Mexican just isn't an option.

I am so glad that Tim knew about Adobo because I probably would never have found it since I never go down the Hispanic isle. Its perfect for those nights when you need to saute up a quick dinner and all you have are meat and vegetables. My son Adam wont eat zucchini without it and I especially like a light sprinkle on my eggs and potatoes. One taste of Tim's potato squash hash and my mom had to get some too!

Sweet of the Week: Sheila G's Brownie Brittle

I'll be honest, there have been a few times since the birth of our son that my husband has received a text before leaving work with a plead for him to bring home "anything chocolate". I try to avoid grocery shopping alone because I have a moment of weakness almost as soon as I step foot inside, thinking just the fact I got myself and the baby here at 10 am deserves some Oreos. I know. Its ridiculous. So on the days when I truly need some chocolate, I enlist my husband to brave the grocery store's temptations. recently he brought me brownie brittle, and I looked at him like he was crazy. What the heck is that I don't want a crispy brownie! Thank goodness he found it because it is my new favorite treat! It was even featured on the Wendy Williams show being a healthy dessert. And bonus! The serving size is actually reasonable! Really who can eat just 2 Oreos. The serving size for the brittle is 6 pieces and the pieces are big. The toffee crunch is my favorite and Adam loves it too!

Glue at your own risk

I honestly can't remember a time when my mother did any kind of crafting, but to this day I have apprehension whenever I have to use a hot glue gun. I feel like a little girl again and that any moment my mom will pop around the corner yelling "stop that's hot don't touch it!" My hands start shaking and I'm not squeezing enough then I'm squeezing way too much and its already cooling but I haven't applied it yet then it touches my fingers and I freak out and well you get the idea. Of course having a curious one year old around also makes you re-evaluate your glue preferences. So I go get my modge podge and all is right in the world. I'm a big fan of stuff that is almost impossible to mess up because somehow something always gets away from me. Even though I have messed up with modge podge too but lets just forget about that one.

One of the most fun crafts that I've done was from ashleyannphotography.com and it was so easy! Cut shapes out of paper and apply to canvas. Done. My only problem was that I wanted to do it that day and I only had the modge podge gloss and newbie crafter me thought oh does it really matter? Yes it does. So mine is shiny but I love it anyway. Live and learn.

Sweet of the Week: Nutella French Toast

We recently went to Texas to visit our best friends and us wives were so excited to cook together and try out some ideas from pinterest. Alas, our breakfast suffered from the same ailment that afflicts other well intentioned french toast recipes. It was mushy in the middle. Yuk. No amount of nutella and cinnamon can save soggy bread, so you find yourself only eating the edges. The problem was the recipe had you soak the nutella sandwich for 30 seconds each side so the bread was saturated and it would be impossible to cook it all the way through without burning the outside or it taking half an hour on low heat. Patience is a virtue, but not in the morning. So if you want nutella french toast, make the french toast first then spread nutella on top or in between or whatever floats your boat. Here is my favorite french toast, the non soggy way.

For about 4 pieces of regular sandwich bread:
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Mix ingredients together and coat bread in mixture, then cook in oiled skillet, about 5 minutes per side on medium heat until browned. Top with strawberries and powdered sugar. Yum!