Tis the season for baking(no, it's not Christmas)

So....I baked about 5 dozen cupcakes the other night. Two types, red velvet with a cream cheese frosting and snickerdoodle with a fluffy vanilla frosting.

I did NOT use a box(not that there is anything wrong with that).  Boxed cakes are great too, really easy to make, less time consuming and usually very moist.  That's the kicker.  I'm not a fan of dry cake!

I also made the icing from scratch- usually if I do end up using a box then I will make the icing from scratch. But....being the overachiever on Monday, I did it all up! Gotta celebrate special co-workers :-)

My Martha Stewart Cupcake Cookbook and I are besties!
Snickerdoodle:

 I've learned that cracking the eggs into a bowl and then adding them one at a time(as directed) is easier than cracking them on the side(makes more dishes, but prevents any eggshells from getting in the mix).

 The Snickerdoodle mixture

Finished product! 

Red Velvet with a cream cheese frosting:  You can't have red velvet cupcakes without the cream cheese frosting. Mmm....

Cream Cheese frosting Recipe:
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese at room temp.
4 cups confectioners sugar sifted
3/4 tsp of vanilla extract
1) Beat Butter and cream cheese together until smooth
2) Add 1/2 cup of sifted confectioners

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe:
3 sticks of unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 lb (4 cups) of confectioners sugar sifted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1) Using an electric mixture beat the butter until creamy and pale
2) Add confectioners sugar about 1/2 cup at a time
3) Add vanilla- beat until smooth and fluffy

What I ate Wednesday

Have I mentioned that I love my crockpot?! Well, I do! I mean add all the ingredients, push the button, leave, come back and presto! 

So I made a pot roast. Put it together the other night and then Gary started it in the morning.  I added carrots, onions and potatoes. Will you believe that those were actually little white new potatoes? They are now saturated with the goodness of the gravy.  

I am not a fan of dry meat, I am hoping that most of you would agree with me.  So....enter the gravy.  I added 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, one packet of french onion soup mix and 1 1/2 cups of beef broth.  This bad boy cooked on low for 10 hours! Let me tell you, the house smelled delish! If I could bottle of the essence for you I would, or if I could have a scratch n' sniff blog page I totally would! 

I'm usually not a fan of cooked carrots, but these carrots ended up so soft and flavorful that I didn't mind eating them.  The meat was fall apart delish! There was plenty of gravy, I almost thought there was too much, but then I poured some on the potatoes too.

I did not cook the brussel sprouts in the crockpot, I roasted them in the oven, but first tossed them with, EVOO, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and freshly chopped garlic. I love when the outer leaves fall off and get super crispy. 

What did you eat today?

Starting Solids

Big Girl Food!

Solids vs. Purees?

Eeek.....according to books, parents, doctors, it is time for PC to start solids.  The doctor gave her specifics about what PC should be eating at breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Here's the thing, I always thought I would do pureed baby food, you know, maybe try and steam my own fruits/veggies and then feed them to PC.  Of course I have learned that something I may think I will do, may change. Gotta be flexible.  I tend to be very thorough with my research whether I am buying something for myself, or PC, or ever hubs. I like to read the reviews and watch videos to give me a better idea. Obviously there is nothing like experiencing it first hand because you never know how your little one will respond, or even how you will feel about it when you do it.  

A few weeks ago I got together with a bunch of mommy friends. Our kiddos are very close in age so it's fun to see how they've grown/developed.  It's also great to talk about what stresses we are having or challenges, as well as what we are doing that seems to work.  Someone mentioned Baby Led Weaning. That phrase was unfamiliar to me.  Actually it seems that a lot of friends, not in the group, also are unfamiliar with that phrase, our families aren't familiar either.  I don't think that it is all that new, but more people are starting to choose to do it.

With Purees babies learn to swallow first and then learn to chew, with baby led weaning babies learn to chew(gum) and then swallow.  PC has begun to show interest in what her dad and I eat, watching us and occasionally reaching out for what we are eating.  She has also become a little better about sitting up independently, although she sure isn't a pro. 

I think both purees and baby led weaning have a tendency to be messy. With purees babies are spitting food out a lot, unsure if they like what they are eating and with baby led weaning babies explore the food and may mush it and gnaw on it. Either way, the beginning stages of feeding are not the cleanest of events. 

I'm not against purees and baby cereal. I think that we will try both. Try the cereal and also try solids. They say to start with bananas and avocados and to leave a little of the peel on the banana so that baby has something to hold onto, as bananas can be slippery, so can avocados for that matter.

The problem that we found with the banana is that it is too thick for PC to hold on to with her tiny little panda paws. So the next time we tried I sliced the banana into longer slices, easier for her to grasp.

We also mashed up the banana a little and fed it to her- I know that this kind of defeats the whole baby led weaning thing. We are kind of forging our own way right now.  Oh, and yes, that is a spatula.  We do have baby spoons, but this worked. Improvising at the spur of a moment. haha

I also noticed, that with the softer foods, avocado, banana, pear, PC picks them up with now problem, but then she also squeezes them and smush, it breaks and then it's harder for her to grab. She also likes to rub her hair after smushing said items, much to my dismay! 

There's my little green monster....mmmmm....

With purees, you have to spend the time making them or buying the little jars. With baby led weaning, baby eats what you are eating, which does make it a little easier and cheaper. 

What worries me is the choking, but PC doesn't really have the teeth to bite off pieces and you aren't supposed to give the babies teeny tiny pieces, more like finger size pieces, easy to grab and easy to put in their mouths. Oddly enough baby gag reflex is much further up on their tongue than back in their throat. Who knew that the gag reflex changed over time? 

She enjoys the apple, I've also started putting it in her paci feeder.  That way she can kind of self feed, teeth, while getting yummy tastes. The feeders don't hold much, but I don't have a problem carrying around a little container and filling it up as she finishes.

I love all the many faces PC makes when she tastes something either for the first time, or just any time. Priceless! 

So, thanks to a great Public Library, I checked out this book to help me understand Baby-Led Weaning: 

At this point it is trial and error for us. We've given her some of the organic baby pouches, we've given her solid food that she feeds herself and we've also given her the feeder pacifier.  She isn't opposed to any of them at this point. Who doesn't like a well rounded child?  I definitely understand the whole pouch thing, especially once PC gets more independent. They would be great for car trips or quick snacks, easy to carry in the purse and with very little mess.

Do any of you do baby-led weaning?

Anyone make their own food pouches? If you buy, what brand do you buy?

Adventures in Pittsburgh

This past weekend we were finally able to get up to Pittsburgh to see my best friend and her beautiful addition to her family, her daughter, Piper(Sweet P), as well as their new house!

 My title says "Adventures" I use that term loosely, since we didn't really go anywhere, I guess the adventures were traveling with a 5 month old to visit a 3 week old and figuring out feeding and sleeping away from home.  PC is a trooper!

We actually go hit with a Snow Storm Wednesday night, which meant no school Thursday. We already didn't have school Friday and Monday was a holiday, so enter 5 day weekend! Wahoo!! (Of course it only makes going back to work that much harder.)

Not as excited as her mother

She was distracted by her father's shoveling

However, before we left DC I had to(of course) take some pictures of my lil PC in the snow.  It was actually too hard for her to sink in so I had to punch in a "nook" for her to sit in, otherwise she just slid all over the place.


On our way there, we saw......a car completely plowed in...I would NOT have been pleased! I also captured the snow that had been "blasted" on the wall by the giant snow blower.

This is a definitely a new chapter in our lives.  Teresa and I have known each other since freshman year of college(13 years of friendship I believe), we've known each other since we were single, we were in each others weddings and now, we both have beautiful daughters. Her Sweet P and my Panda Cub! Looking forward to our next set of adventures as parents. Laughter, tears, fears.....

 Life, as we know it, will never be the same again! 

Pittsburgh still has lots of snow. Actually it snowed again while we were there Saturday. And...for those of you who know me, know that I love snow!!!! **** I had planned to place PC in the middle of their beautifully untouched snow. They have no dogs to trample it all down and pee/poo in it, but I never got around to it.  I got distracted with making snow cream. What's that you say? Some of you may know because you've made it before, but I had never heard of it until I saw a friend mention it on FB, sooooo of course I had to try it too.  The first attempt, according to T's husband, tasted "dirty." That's because we used granulated white sugar, the second time we used confectioners sugar. We added creamer, because we didn't have milk and vanilla....what are the measurements? Ehhhh I just added until it tasted good. haha....

We had meant to make jello-snow, which T made when she was little. You add jello packets to the snow so it's like a snow cone. Next time, or rather, next snow!

Here are some adorable pictures of Piper and Charlotte(Sweet P and Panda Cub). They are 5 months apart. Charlotte looks like she could eat tiny Piper....

Charlotte apparently decided she would take down the play mat. Rahhhh

Comforting her sad friend

Super bowl Treats

What kind of goodies are you making for the Super bowl? 

We are having a low key night, having some friends over, because of course, we have a baby.  I actually don't mind taking her out......but she's just getting over a cold, so, probably better to stay in.  I also think that it would be great to have the Super Bowl on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, because honestly, who wants to go into work after eating, drinking and staying up later than normal(ok maybe I'm the only one staying up past her bedtime.) What time do I go to bed you ask? Well 9:00, no, I am not 12 years old, but I know I am one of those people who need their 8 hours of sleep. Plus I still wake up at least once a night to feed so it isn't a pure 8 hours.  Don't judge....if I could get by with 6 hours of sleep it would make my days much longer and maybe more productive. Ha! Who am I kidding? I'd probably be less productive....

Anywho....we cheered for the Broncos. I am a big fan of Peyton Manning, I dunno why, lie, I do know why.  He's a great quarter back. He also just seems so real, so approachable.  I could be completely off, but he is just so likable.  He's not a pretty boy, he isn't showy. He's likable!

 I guess no one told the Broncos that they were playing in the Super Bowl. Whoops!!! I do admire how Peyton responded after the Super Bowl. True class!

Someone wanted to help mommy bake!

Today also happens to be the hubs' birthday. I allowed him to choose the cupcakes he would like from my wonderful Martha Stewart Cupcake book. Being the beer LOVER that he is, he choose the Stout Cupcake with the Stout Icing, he of course supplied the Stout. Based on the recipe, they are definitely more a spiced cupcake with molasses, cinnamon and orange zest.  The icing only called for 1/4 cup stout and 2 cups sifted confectioners sugar. I also added some vanilla extract to give it a little more depth.

We are also trying Beer-Candied Bacon. I found the recipe here. I mean, Bacon, Beer, right up every guys alley and seems perfect to go with our super bowl treats. Hopefully it turns out right. We purchased the thick cut skin off bacon from our local market. We chose to use an Octoberfest because it is maltier.

 This was delicious! This will be happening again.

 This little girl was no impressed with the football game.

We also served our barbacoa, cilantro rice and corn salsa tacos..... you can find the recipe here.

Our friends brought some other goodies:

A cheese and charcuterie plate

7-Layer Taco Dip

and.....venison dip in a bread bowl (forgot to take a picture)

This was definitely not(at least in my mind) your typical Super Bowl food.  I mean at least not college days of pizza, and frozen treats heated in the oven. I thought we classed it up a bit more. Too bad we had waaaayyyy too much food, but that's ok because now we have leftovers! Holla!

Barbacoa

I love Tacos! Fresh ones, especially from food trucks! YUMMMMM!!!

I got my recipe from here, but I didn't have a pressure cooker so I used our slow cooker. I love our slow cooker add all the ingredients, push the button and go about your day. Then several hours later mmm....deliciousness....well hopefully.

Fresh Ingredients! Yummy!

I pureed the "sauce" mixture in my food processor. *Side note, I wish that when I had done my wedding registry I had done better research on a blender/food processor.  My Cuisinart blender is SO loud! It seriously hurt my ears.  Crazily enough PC slept through the whole screeching process.

I purchased 3 lbs of bottom round roast which I cut up into 5 chunks. I then browned the meat on all sides in oil. I then added the meat to the crock pot and poured my "sauce" on top of the meat. I then set the crock pot for 6 hours.

Cilantro Rice:

 I cooked jasmine rice in our rice cooker, normal style, 2-1(two cups of water to one cup of rice) I also added a tablespoon of EVOO and some salt.  Once the rice was done I added lime juice and fresh chopped cilantro.

Corn Salsa:

1/2 of a red onion, diced
chopped cilantro
4 cups of cooked corn
2 tomatoes diced
Chipotle Chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 jalapeño peppers seeds removed (I added a few for extra spice)
**Note: I've never chopped a hot pepper before. Next time I will wear gloves. I didn't realize how potent the oils from the pepper were. I thought I was being careful. washed my hands and HA! I then rubbed my nose and OWWWWW! Yeah, nose burning, sucked!! I was so worried I was going to touch my eye and of course I wear contacts.  And to top it all PC has been chewing/sucking on my fingers lately. I was so scared that I was going to get the oil on her or in her mouth. Thankfully I don't think she got any. Although I could SWEAR that there was still spice under my nails like a day later! WEAR GLOVES people!

We of course had leftovers.  We've been trying to be a lot more savvy with our dinners. Trying to use up leftovers. We are trying to save money.

So, with our leftovers the other night we had

Barbacoa Tacos!

We used flour tortillas.

Nutty Quinoa Salad

I made this the other night, as part of our, "Eat Healthier New Year."

Quinoa can be used in many different ways. Pinterest has tons of different recipes and I can't wait to try a bunch of them.

I used red quinoa, it doesn't really matter if you use white, red or black.

I cooked my quinoa in chicken broth to give it extra flavor.
It is recommended that you rinse the quinoa before adding it to the pot as it will remove the bitter coating on the seed.

The recipe calls for 2 cups chopped, or finely ripped spinach,  1/2 cup cranberries, 1/2 cup almonds and 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, I added more.  I may also toss in some feta cheese. Love feta and that extra saltiness is great. I toasted my almonds first too.

I actually ended up tossing in 1/2 the spinach to the warm quinoa and then will mix in the rest of the spinach after it has cooled in the fridge for about an hour.

There is also a dressing to add 4 tablespoons apple vinegar, 4 tablespoons EVOO and 1 tsp. honey. Add to the quinoa and let it cool and soak up.

Then mix in all the goodies.

I got the recipe from here.