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2012 in review

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I received an end of year report about 1 veggie and it made me smile.  What a year it has been.

From the WordPress helper monkeys: “600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 7,400 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 12 years to get that many views.”  There are 13,000 views total.

Not too shabby for someone who hasn’t had a whole lot of time to blog.  I am honored that I have written things worthy of a click and a moment of your time.

The top posts were: 
building a cucumber trellis
leaning string bean trellis
best and worst from June 2012
sun dried tomato pasta salad, thanks to Finding Vegan
amazing bruschetta (no cheese needed), again thanks to Finding Vegan

The top referrers were:
Finding Vegan
Facebook
Pinterest (you can follow me on Pinterest here)

Where are the readers from?
91 countries visited my blog, the most frequent being the U.S.  But, 91 countries!  Wow!
My most devoted commenter is Carolee.  Thank you, Carolee.  You have always been an amazing person in my life.

My own personal favorite posts of 2012 were of course about people I love. 
Blackberries, Cancer, and Love in honor of my mother, who has had one hell of a year.
happiness and one sweet baby moon after the birth of my child, who I refer to as “The Cutest Baby in the World”
my two favorite dads, in honor of my dad and my husband

Click here to see the complete report.

I am ringing in the new year today with a yoga class (with my new, very cool yoga mat that I received for Christmas!), a good book (The Happiness Project), a bottle of champagne, and the two cutest boys on the planet.

champagnedadandymom andy 2

so much to be thankful for and a veggie Thanksgiving

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The list of ALL the things I have to be thankful for is simply too long to write.  So, let me just tell you where I was at in life one year ago today.

I was in the midst of a high risk pregnancy and wondering every day if it would really work out.
I was taking my mom to chemo and watching her suffer.
I was trying to cover the work of about three people at my job while worrying about the above two things.

Life will always have challenges.  It is easy to forget what to be thankful for and instead, focus on new stresses or troubles.

This year, things are very different.

I was given the honor of being the mother of a little boy that is so incredible that it sometimes seams surreal that he is mine.
My mother is now strong and healthy.  She was also recently introduced to a doctor that, in one day, gave her hope and a plan.
My work situation has dramatically changed for the positive since last year.

Most importantly, I’m thankful for every day I have with my family, both immediate and extended.  They are everything to me.

We started the day with a baby that let us sleep in a bit.  Then we headed up to the farm to spend time with family.

Great Grammy Alice time

dude time (Uncle Ian, Daddy, Uncle Jim, Uncle Mike, and Grandpa Steve)


Then we headed over to my mom and dad’s house for the very first almost vegan dinner.

Quorn “turkey” roast and veggie stuffing

veggie gravy – a must!

You can see my veggie gravy recipe here.

butternut squash

potatoes (from a friend’s garden) and string beans (from my mom and dad’s garden)

cranberry sauce

lovely table (no turkey!) with a cutie eyeing the sweet potatoes

We are ending our day with a piece of pumpkin or vegan chocolate pudding pie and a little extra lovin’.

Grammy and Grandpa

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  There is so much in this life to be thankful for.

happy Halloween and…a new sister blog!

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Happy Halloween everyone!  I will make this short and sweet.  Before I was a parent, excessive baby chatter really made me glaze over.  I get it.  Just for fun and to spare my non-parent readers, I’ve created a new blog, just for parents. It is called 1 Veggie Mom, of course, and you can view it here.

**Update, 1 Veggie Mom has been disabled.


Of course, I can’t let Halloween go by without sharing a picture of my little pumpkin.  Here is a teaser.  You can see more on my new blog.  I hope you will become a subscriber of 1 Veggie Mom!  If not, don’t worry.  I’ll still be posting here as well.

make your very own organic baby food

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I don’t know about you, but I think feeding babies is way more complex than one would think before actually becoming a parent.  Breastfeed or not?  Which formula?  How often?  Breastfeed AND formula?  Is he/she getting enough?  Is he/she getting too much?  Milk allergy.  Soy allergy.  Reflux. Organic?  When do I start solids?  Veggies first?  Fruit first?

Seriously.  If I’ve learned anything, it is that you just go with your instincts.  Family will tell you one thing. Books will tell you another.  Online articles and posts will make you want to give your child a bottle until he/she is twelve when you read about what can happen if there is an allergy issue.  Doctors will give you the facts, but they aren’t with your child all day long.  The one who knows best is you.  So, just go with it.

In my case, I was able to breastfeed part-time.  Anderson had a milk protein allergy, so I had to completely give up dairy and change his formula.  I am a working mom, so when I went back to work, my milk supply just went down and down and down until I finally gave it up entirely when he was about 5 months old.  He also has “happy” reflux and was a little underweight on that chart the pediatricians always refer to, so we had to delay starting solid food until he was six months old.  I was chomping at the bit to feed him solid food!  I had been planning this since before he was born.  I am not a huge squash fan, but I bought a bunch of squash seeds because I wanted to make my own baby food.  I planted extra carrots, too.  Ironically, my squash got some sort of disease and died and my carrots got attacked by ants, but no matter.  I was still determined to make my baby’s food.

I bought a food mill, bowls, and a spoon when he was only a few months old because I was twitchy even then.  Here is a tip for you environmentalists.  There are alternatives to plastic.  I found these fantastic bowls made out of corn.  I’m not kidding you. They look like plastic, but they are made of corn and will eventually break down.

My friends all know me well because I received these three books as gifts:
The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Plant: Know What Goes Into Every Bite with more Than 200 of the Most Deliciously Nutritious Homemade Baby Food Recipes (quite a title eh?)

Organic Baby and Toddler Cookbook

201 Organic Baby Purees: The Freshest, Most Wholesome Food Your Baby Can Eat!

So, I read through these books, bought a freezer for my basement, and got to work.  My doctor gave me this plan and it worked beautifully.

First 3 days: just cereal.  The recommendation is to start with rice, but we were already putting that in his bottles to counteract reflux, so we started with oatmeal.
Next 3 days: your favorite orange or yellow veggie.  Why veggies first?  If your baby starts with fruit, he/she will know “sweet” first and then may be turned off by vegetables.  Some great firsts are butternut squash or sweet potato.
Wait three days before starting a new veggie.  This way, if your child is sensitive/allergic to the food (a good way to gauge this would be a diaper rash), you know which food to stop.
After a few weeks: green veggies.  Some easy green veggies to make are peas, string beans, and avocado.
Then…fruit!  This is really fun because most babies really love fruit.
Thereafter, you can mix it up.  Cereal for breakfast perhaps with a carrot/green bean mixture for lunch, and then nectarines for dinner.

It has been so fun making food and feeding my little boy.  I look forward to meal times and he gets all excited as soon as we put him in his high chair.

the first meal: cereal

the first bite

you are too slow, mom, just give me the bowl

Something else you’ll need before getting started.  You’ll need something to freeze the food in.  Some use the ice cube tray method.  I bought little freezer storage containers.


I should also tell you something very key.  Once made, the food must be frozen right away.  I made the food and then there was a delay with the freezer.  So, I ended up throwing away the majority of my first batch of baby food.  It was pretty depressing throwing all of that precious food into the compost bin.

Also, sharpie takes a while to wash off.  So, rather than write right on the containers, use masking tape to mark what it is and when you made it (as well as your child’s name if you plan to take some of the food to daycare).

Enjoy!  Have fun.  I’ll share some baby food recipes too.  I have been thinking of starting a separate blog for parenting/mom-related posts because I’m guessing not all of you love the baby chatter.  What do you think?  Would you read a 1veggiemom blog?

September joy

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Is it really September?  Can it be true?  The crisp air and pretty mums on my porch tell me that summer has come to an end.  The summer came and went so fast, like it always does.

This weekend was full of joy and peace.

I indulged in a book.  A new book.  Nothing lofty, just the latest installment in the Rizzoli and Isles series by Tess Gerritsen.  The TV show is lacking, but the book series is addicting.

I made potato leak soup.  Have I shared my recipe?  I don’t think I have.  I will soon.  It is most definitely a comfort food that feels naughty, but is actually really healthy.  I also made salad and used tomatoes, a cucumber, a pepper, and herbs from our garden.  I can’t describe the pride I feel when I feed my family with food Chris and I grew together.

I bought the latest Vegetarian Times.  The October 2012 issue has a recipe for Dried Fruit Compote in Spiced Zinfandel Syrup.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  I have to try this.  In fact, there is a whole section on reductions.  I use balsamic reduction in basically everything, so learning to make my own reductions is definitely on the bucket list for this fall.

I gave Anderson his first green veggie: peas!  It may not sound like a big deal, but to me it is.  I have hated peas for my whole life and I was hoping my child didn’t take after me.  I will post later this week about making baby food.

We went apple picking today!  I just pulled two apple crisp pies out of the oven.

I finally organized the “stuff” that has been piling up in our dining room over the last few months, ever since we decided to redo our living room and had nowhere to put some of the stuff displaced during the transition.  In fact, I’m sitting at that table right now and the only items, aside from my computer, that take space here would be a glass of wine and a gorgeous bouquet of zinnias, cosmos, snapdragons (must grow these in the future!), and black-eyed Susans.  The colorful flowers are yet another reason why I love September.  This is how bad my dining room had gotten.  I’m hanging my head in shame.

There was finally time to download and loosely organize all of my great pictures from the last few months.

Anderson’s baby book got some attention. I LOVED spending time on that while he napped nearby.  I still need to tell his birth story.

My mother-in-law and brother-in-law are battling over whether to watch CSI or the Patriot’s game.  Anderson is sleeping.  The house smells like apples and I keep going outside to feel the chilly air. It’s the little things, you know?  A hot bath with yummy lavender bath suds…a candle…a hot cup of tea…a book…some snuggling with someone you love (human or pet).  These little things are what make life happy, even if there are things about life you’d like to change.  Happy autumn, everyone!  I hope you take some time to stop and enjoy this precious time of year.

when the going gets tough, bake blueberry banana muffins

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I needed some comfort food today.  It has been a really stressful few weeks and tomorrow is a big milestone in our household: first day of daycare.  I do love the daycare we found because it is very much like school, even for little guys like mine.  They have curriculum that includes music, reading, outdoor time, and of course basic motor skills taught by trained person rather than just mom and dad.  No matter how much I like the daycare, he isn’t with me and he isn’t with Chris, so it is hard now and I think it will take some getting used to.  Even with Chris home, I drive away in the morning feeling like I’m missing a limb.  With Chris back to work, we are leaving precious cargo behind in our hometown.  I know, I know – this is good for him and will reduce overall separation anxiety and will ensure he has solid social skills and all of that, but it is hard for the parents!

But…I am also really lucky because I was able to drop down to part time (four days a week) until he is a toddler because my new company is awesome. So, I’ll work four days, but I’ll be with him for three whole days while still being able to pay our bills.  I am grateful.

So, right – I needed some comfort today and what could be better than the smell of muffins baking in the oven while my little man is sleeping sweetly?  Only a cup of tea with the freshly baked muffin afterwards.  I’ve been meaning to post this guest recipe for some time.  Back when my mom was in the hospital, my friend Carlin did what you do when you see a friend in need–she brought food.  These wonderful and sustaining muffins to be exact.  They are not just regular old muffins void of nutrition and loaded with calories.  These guys actually have some substance (as you can see in my pictures below) while tasting so good.

Blueberry Banana Muffins
adapted from Everyday Food
by Carlin Reagan

makes 12

Ingredients:
1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 cup ground flax seed meal or wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas
1/3 cup reduced-fat (2 percent) milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries or cranberries

***Two substitutes to eliminate dairy: Earth Balance in place of butter and coconut or almond milk in place of real milk.  The muffins in the pictures below are dairy-free.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.  In a bowl, whisk together flours, flax seed meal, baking soda, and salt.  In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have 3/4 cup); stir in milk and vanilla.

With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined.


Fold in blueberries.

Divide batter among muffin cups.


Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through.  Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.


By the way, a word about flax seed meal.  I plan to use it more often in my cooking and baking.  It is nearly a perfect food: low carb, high fiber, and full of great things like B vitamins and 3 fatty acids (fatty acids reduce inflammation in the body), as well as antioxidants.  Keep in mind that the flax seed has to be ground in order to release the nutrients.

One quick update to this post about our recent kitty drama, Winston is healing and doing well.  He thankfully does not have cancer.

Have a great week everyone.  I have to get back to labeling little baby items for the big day tomorrow.


sun-dried tomato hummus

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Whenever I have people over or when I need to bring a snack to a gathering, I always bring my good ol’ fashioned standby: hummus.  It is so easy, and yet people are always amazed that it is homemade. It is inexpensive to make and without a doubt, it tastes so much better than the stuff we can buy in the store.  As I mentioned in this post, I’ve been loving sun-dried tomato lately and therefore this recipe incorporates these delicious, meaty veggies that are packed with vitamin C.

Ingredients
1 can of garbanzo beans (organic preferred), drained
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves (depending on size)
3 tbsp tahini
juice from 1 large lemon
1/2 tsp cumin
1 roasted red pepper (drained if you are using one from a jar)
1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes including 1 tbsp of the oil they are packed in
salt and pepper to taste
Hungarian paprika

Put all ingredients into your food processor except the paprika and garbanzo beans.  Pulse until everything is chopped.

Then add the garbanzo beans.  This helps everything mix a little easier.  Perhaps you have a super high-powered processor.  Mine is fairly small and simple and therefore if I add the beans in right away, it sometimes doesn’t mix as easily.

Sprinkle a little paprika on top for an extra pop of flavor (and it looks pretty).

why I love Saturday mornings (in Instagram)

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Every saturday, I wake up to a smiling little boy that I get to spend ALL day with.  Our tradition, weather permitting, is to go out and water and weed the garden together.  I tell him what all of the plants are (while pretending he understands me).  Just in the past week or two, he started to reach out to grab the flowers, which is completely adorable.

This morning, I had my cell phone with me and decided to take some pictures of the garden via Instagram. I hope you enjoy seeing how our garden grows.

dahlia bloom

Martha Washington tomato

Fortex string bean

large, gorgeous sunflowers growing in a pot on the deck

and a happy little friend enjoying a snack

these Metro butternut squash plants growing in our potato pots from last year are out of control!

sweet pepper

carrots

romaine lettuce

blackberries

corn

cucumber blossom

thanks to sunshine, water, and my little helper, I have…

a lovely garden haul of carrots, onions, lettuce, string beans, dill, and a pretty bouquet (though I have to find out why my onions are so small)

which also became dinner! baby carrots, onions, dill, and string beans sauteed with sherry, garlic powder, and Earth Balance

and when I need to see my sweet baby’s face, I just have to look down

kitty drama

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Today has just been full of drama and chaos.

First, because we are redoing our living room, it is virtually empty and the living room stuff is in piles in other locations. We also have no sofa to sit on.  It is being delivered tonight.

even little Stevie cat in the corner is hot…and wanting a place to lay down

Second, it is smoldering hot. I mean really hot.  Chris had to go stand in the baby pool to cool off.  I may just do the same.

The day started with the power going out at my office, which resulted in trying to track down my colleagues to tell them to work at home and notifying the appropriate parties at our parent company.  Then, of course, the networks were down.  I finally just had to let a bunch of items from my to-do list go today.  Insert scene from the movie Office Space where they beat the crap out of some equipment.

Then, we had to bring Anderson for his four month checkup…with shots of course. I was so prepared to hear that cry that breaks my heart.  Instead, he didn’t even make a face.  I can’t believe it.  We did, however, learn that he is only at the 12th percentile in weight, so we are on a mission to get this little boy to gain!  First step: brown rice cereal to reduce spitting up.  He is in the 85th percentile for height, so perhaps we have a little basketball player on our hands? Regardless of being tall and skinny (unlike his parents), he is very healthy and I made a decision not to worry about his weight and how it stacks up to other 4 month old baby boys.  He is currently passed out in his car seat and I don’t have the heart to move him.


So, onto the bad news. We are a three cat household and sometimes, that means fights can break out.  Cats are notoriously territorial and mischievous. This is especially true with our one little devil, Spooky.  He can be a very loving cat and we adore him, but he also has major aggression at times.  This aggression has now resulted in 3 trips to Angel Memorial between two cats over the last 3 years or so.  One of these episodes brought our not-so-little Winston to the kitty ER last night when Chris noticed he wasn’t moving his tail. 

beautiful Winston

It turns out that he had a wound on his back (from a fight) that was infected and he had to have surgery and stay overnight last night.  We just got the call that he is OK and we can pick him up in a few hours to bring him home.  During that call, I also approved extra tests on little (big) Winston because they found he has elevated calcium levels.  I was told that it could be nothing or it could be an indication of cancer.  We will know more when we have the tests again in 5 days.  He is part of our family, so this brings Chris and I both anxiety.  It is funny how the universe works.  If the fight hadn’t broken out, we wouldn’t have known Winston may not have been feeling up to par.

We also talked with the Dr. about how to handle this and we came up with a plan.  Provided Spooky has a healthy liver and kidneys, he will be going on kitty anxiety medication this week as well.  I don’t love the idea of medicating an animal, but we just can’t have this happening over and over again. 

I must say, I’m proud of how Chris and I have handled today.  We have been cool as cucumbers.  Go team.

Regardless of whether you are a kitty parent or a human parent (or any other kind of parent), the worry never seems to end.  Worry=love. 

If you have any fighting cat stories or wisdom to share, please do.  I’ll update you on Winston’s status when I know more.  Think happy kitty thoughts for him.

sun dried tomato pasta salad

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I can’t get enough of sun dried tomatoes lately.  That is, when I find time to go beyond a pb&j or a veggie burger!  I tend to forgo dinner in order to spend time with the little bambino.

I had forgotten about them for ages until, for some reason, I grabbed a jar at the grocery store because they looked all red and yummy (and what isn’t delish after it has been soaking in oil of course).  Now I have a few great sun dried tomato recipes to share this week.

First up, sun dried tomato pasta salad.  We always make the same old boring and non-vegan pasta salad with mayo and onions and celery.  I set out to create a yummy pasta salad without mayo, that also felt satisfying (and still had crunchy celery of course).

Luckily, I was able to use what I always seem to have on hand (especially balsamic vinegar).  The key ingredients are pasta, sun dried tomatoes, and Good Seasons Italian Dressing packets.  The rotini pasta is kindof key because the little rings tend to soak up all the good stuff.

Ingredients
1 box of rotini pasta, cooked al dente
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar plus 4 tbsp of apple cider or white vinegar
1/2 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix (I used italian all natural)
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large sweet onion
handful of fresh parsley
handful of fresh basil
at least 1/2 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste (I prefer white pepper)

In a large bowl, combine vinegar, italian dressing mix, and olive oil.  Whisk and set aside.

In a food processor, combine onion, basil, parsley and sun dried tomatoes (include some of the oil from the jar of tomatoes).  Pulse a few times, just enough to chop everything without turning it to mush.  You could obviously chop by hand as well.

Add the onion/basil/tomato mixture to the vinegar.  Mix in the pasta and celery.  Add salt and pepper while mixing.

It is very easy, very flavorful, and very vegan.