After 3 time changes, my c-section is (hopefully) officially tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1:30pm. I have to be there at 11am and can't have anything to eat after midnight tonight. I can have sips of clear liquid until 6am. I'm really mad about this because when my c-section was scheduled for 7:30am (getting there at 5am), I couldn't have any food or drink after midnight tonight. So instead of going 7.5 hours without food, I am now going 13.5 hours without food. I don't get it but I'm going to starve! I'm sure the baby will be worth it and everything but still. I'm not sure why that didn't get changed. Plus, sips of clear liquid (examples given were water, apple juice, and 7 up) isn't really going to do squat because I can't have enough to equal anything worth having but I suppose anything could be better than nothing.
Anyway, rant over. Since I will be in the hospital a minimum of 3 days and unable to stairs, bending over, etc plus I'll have a new baby (and my mom here to help out, although David is also taking off of work), I will not get to blogging (or doing anything worth blogging about) for a while. I'm not sure when I will make a come back but I am fairly confident that this isn't good bye forever.
I have been nesting a lot lately. I've been making more burp cloths, nursing pads, and a crib sheet. I never did get around to making enough cloth reusable pads (for bleeding, not nursing) but everyone always says that there will always be things you wanted to get done but didn't, even when you know exactly when your baby is coming (of course, there is still a chance I could go into labor before then but I really highly doubt it. Teeny has shown no signs of coming anytime soon--which makes me wonder if I wasn't having a c-section when Teeny would come.)
So for those of you who have wished me luck, thank you and I will try to keep everyone updated as soon as I can but please bear with me and understand it may be a while, even months.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Pork Chops and Donuts
Yesterday, David worked from home because I had a doctor appointment (they told me that they counted the weeks wrong and my c-section makes more sense at 41 one weeks so now it is the 22nd--less than a week!). On these days, I find it easiest to make slow cooker recipes because then I can guarantee he is home (not stuck in traffic or at work) when it's ready. I know they can stay on warm for a while but I don't like to do that, plus that means eating alone. Plus, we usually have time for a nap when he's work from home because we don't have his hour+ commute. Then when we wake up, dinner's ready. It's really quite convenient.
So I decided on pork chops and something with mushrooms. I found this recipe but I modified it a smidge and I cut it in half (since I was only making two pork chops). If you use fresh mushrooms, be sure to cut the water (or wine) in half since they will let out moisture too. I wanted to keep the sauce as a gravy so I was trying to be very careful about how thick or thin it got. I only used a half of an onion instead of a whole onion (if you were cutting the recipe in half) because that seemed like plenty of onion to me. I also added carrots and red potatoes (but next time I'll add these halfway through because they caused issues with the amount of liquid in the pot and especially the carrots, cooked really fast).
It was really good though! The pork fell apart and you didn't even need to use the side of your fork to cut it. I would definitely eat it again. Since we added so many vegetables, we have some of those leftover that tonight we will serve over quinoa (for the protein--otherwise we'd use rice).
Also last night, David had such a hankering for donuts since we had talked about picking some up after my appointment but ended up not doing so. The weather wasn't the greatest so we didn't really want to go out and buy some (plus buying donuts at night is always risky because they've been out all day. Mornings are really the best time to go). I found a recipe online that uses cake mix, since I didn't want to wait for the yeast to rise in the traditional recipes. Plus, we have box cake mix on hand for some reason (we don't usually). I'm not sure where the recipe people got their cake mix because they ask for 18.25oz of mix but our boxes were only 15.25. However, we decided to make it anyway and adjust from there if it was too liquidy. I'm so glad we waited because they ended up pretty thick as it was. I don't know what that extra 3 oz of mix would've done to it but I don't want to find out!
We don't have a thermometer that went high enough for the oil temp so we had to guess. At first, the oil was definitely too hot and they cooked way too quick. So we turned down the heat (more than we would've guessed was right but they started coming out better) to basically low. We didn't add the sugar at the end (mostly out of laziness I think). Of course they're deep fried so they're going to taste good but they remind me of the ones you get at Chinese buffets. They're good but not quite what I would call a donut. It seemed to get rid of the craving though so mission accomplished!
So I decided on pork chops and something with mushrooms. I found this recipe but I modified it a smidge and I cut it in half (since I was only making two pork chops). If you use fresh mushrooms, be sure to cut the water (or wine) in half since they will let out moisture too. I wanted to keep the sauce as a gravy so I was trying to be very careful about how thick or thin it got. I only used a half of an onion instead of a whole onion (if you were cutting the recipe in half) because that seemed like plenty of onion to me. I also added carrots and red potatoes (but next time I'll add these halfway through because they caused issues with the amount of liquid in the pot and especially the carrots, cooked really fast).
It was really good though! The pork fell apart and you didn't even need to use the side of your fork to cut it. I would definitely eat it again. Since we added so many vegetables, we have some of those leftover that tonight we will serve over quinoa (for the protein--otherwise we'd use rice).
Also last night, David had such a hankering for donuts since we had talked about picking some up after my appointment but ended up not doing so. The weather wasn't the greatest so we didn't really want to go out and buy some (plus buying donuts at night is always risky because they've been out all day. Mornings are really the best time to go). I found a recipe online that uses cake mix, since I didn't want to wait for the yeast to rise in the traditional recipes. Plus, we have box cake mix on hand for some reason (we don't usually). I'm not sure where the recipe people got their cake mix because they ask for 18.25oz of mix but our boxes were only 15.25. However, we decided to make it anyway and adjust from there if it was too liquidy. I'm so glad we waited because they ended up pretty thick as it was. I don't know what that extra 3 oz of mix would've done to it but I don't want to find out!
We don't have a thermometer that went high enough for the oil temp so we had to guess. At first, the oil was definitely too hot and they cooked way too quick. So we turned down the heat (more than we would've guessed was right but they started coming out better) to basically low. We didn't add the sugar at the end (mostly out of laziness I think). Of course they're deep fried so they're going to taste good but they remind me of the ones you get at Chinese buffets. They're good but not quite what I would call a donut. It seemed to get rid of the craving though so mission accomplished!
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Water Resistant Fabric
I am getting frustrated at my fabric. There were some specific ones that I bought as the top layer of my reusable pads. Some are cotton, some are flannel. Currently, if you pour water on them or lay them in a puddle of water, the water beads up and pools or runs off instead of being absorbed into the material. This is true of new things, especially towels. So I washed them. I tried hot water. I tried cold water. I tried using (homemade) detergent. I tried using no detergent. I tried a vinegar rinse. I tried no extra rinse. I tried using dryer balls. I tried air drying them. These things got washed a LOT. If washing them was going to help, it would've by now. We never use fabric softener (which is what most people online seem to think the problem is). I also tried beating them up (twisting them, rubbing them, crumpling them). I am seriously out of ideas.
I am very disappointed because for once, I had a specific use for my fabric and it just isn't working out. Plus, I'm now not sure what to use to top my pads because this isn't working out. They're all different brands. They're from different stores. They weren't all bought at the same time. I truly don't get it. Some of the flannel topping I used for the burp cloths are from this bunch and after my excessive washing, they got absorbent. I'm not sure what makes those ones different from these ones. They were even washed together!
If anyone has ANY advice, I would really, greatly appreciate it because I am at my wit's end. I'm going to end up having to use this fabric for something else and I really don't want to.
The one thing I haven't tried is sun drying them (but that's because it's winter and we don't really get sun here in winter. I'll have to wait til spring).
I am very disappointed because for once, I had a specific use for my fabric and it just isn't working out. Plus, I'm now not sure what to use to top my pads because this isn't working out. They're all different brands. They're from different stores. They weren't all bought at the same time. I truly don't get it. Some of the flannel topping I used for the burp cloths are from this bunch and after my excessive washing, they got absorbent. I'm not sure what makes those ones different from these ones. They were even washed together!
If anyone has ANY advice, I would really, greatly appreciate it because I am at my wit's end. I'm going to end up having to use this fabric for something else and I really don't want to.
The one thing I haven't tried is sun drying them (but that's because it's winter and we don't really get sun here in winter. I'll have to wait til spring).
Monday, January 13, 2014
Leftover Mashed Potatoes
Also this weekend (yep, two blog posts this Monday!), we had to eat up some leftover dirty mashed potatoes. Neither David nor myself is really a fan of leftover potatoes because they always get weird when reheated. Plus, there was really only enough for one person. I decided to look up what other people do because surely we can't be the only people who hate leftover potatoes. That was when I found this recipe.
We cut it in half because we only had one cup of mashed potatoes and made a few variations. This is what we did.
1 cup cold mashed potatoes
1 egg
1/2 tsp flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil (we used a big skillet since it needed a lid and there was no way 1 tablespoon was going to be enough. We still had some sticking issues with this amount too)
1/4 cup Colby Jack cheese
We mixed it all in a bowl (minus the oil) until smooth (I thought our potatoes were lumpy enough that this wasn't going to be possible but David got it down to a really nice consistency). Heat your oil over medium-high heat. Then you squish the mixture into a pancake shape in your pan. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. You will have to scrape the pancake off a little bit since you don't turn down your heat or flip the pancake but that's okay. It makes a really nice, crispy bottom. I will warn you that the moisture created by leaving the lid on the pan will make your oil sizzle and jump (but with your cover on, it's not a problem).
This tasted MUCH better than leftover potatoes but I still felt it was missing something. The garlic and cheese definitely helped and I wouldn't call it bland. It was also buttery because our potatoes were (one person had commented that if your potatoes are bland, your pancake will come out bland). David thought it was great and we both agreed we'd eat it again as is so it's a keeper!
We cut it in half because we only had one cup of mashed potatoes and made a few variations. This is what we did.
1 cup cold mashed potatoes
1 egg
1/2 tsp flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil (we used a big skillet since it needed a lid and there was no way 1 tablespoon was going to be enough. We still had some sticking issues with this amount too)
1/4 cup Colby Jack cheese
We mixed it all in a bowl (minus the oil) until smooth (I thought our potatoes were lumpy enough that this wasn't going to be possible but David got it down to a really nice consistency). Heat your oil over medium-high heat. Then you squish the mixture into a pancake shape in your pan. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. You will have to scrape the pancake off a little bit since you don't turn down your heat or flip the pancake but that's okay. It makes a really nice, crispy bottom. I will warn you that the moisture created by leaving the lid on the pan will make your oil sizzle and jump (but with your cover on, it's not a problem).
This tasted MUCH better than leftover potatoes but I still felt it was missing something. The garlic and cheese definitely helped and I wouldn't call it bland. It was also buttery because our potatoes were (one person had commented that if your potatoes are bland, your pancake will come out bland). David thought it was great and we both agreed we'd eat it again as is so it's a keeper!
DIY Burp Cloths
I have a variety of flannels and cottons with baby/nursery prints that I had planned to use to make things for Teeny. Most of these are fat quarters so I knew it had to be a small project. I decided to make burp cloths because they sounded really easy and I could get 3 burp cloths out of one fat quarter. We also need more burp cloths because we only bought a 4 pack and I hear you need more like 12-20 (depending on your baby and how often you do laundry).
Online, it appears most people use those pre-fold diapers and either use them plain or add a decorative strip. My mom used these and swears by them too but I didn't want to buy something in order to make mine so I used what I had on hand: microfiber towels (like the automative cleaning ones--you can get 2 for a 1 dollar at the dollar store).
I prewashed all my fabric (I usually skip this step but since it was going to be for a baby and their skin is so sensitive I thought it was necessary. It also added absorbency to the flannel). Then I cut each microfiber towel in half so it was approximately 7x12 inches (these sound small to me but if you put it on your shoulder, it actually covers a lot of space so I'm not worried about it. Plus, the store bought ones aren't much bigger either). Then I cut a fat quarter of flannel and a fat quarter of cotton in thirds the long way (in other words, cut the 22 inch side into 3 pieces, about 7 inches wide). I found this wasted the least amount of fabric and towel. You could technically do it in half and have 11 inches wide but then you waste 2 inches of your towel.
Then pin your three pieces together: cotton right side up, flannel right side down, and the towel on top (if you put the flannel on the bottom like I did, it gets stuck in your machine and you miss stitches. I'm not sure why but it's VERY frustrating so leave the cotton on the bottom. My machine didn't have a problem with the towel). Sew around the whole thing (I used about a quarter inch seam allowance) but leave a gap to turn. Turn it, iron it, and hand sew the gap closed. Then I top stitched about a half inch around the whole thing. Some people also say to top stitch it twice across the middle (cutting it in thirds) but I didn't find this necessary. Then you're done!
I made two last night because I ran out of time to finish my third one. The feet are my flannel side and the animals are my cotton side. I'm also not entirely sure why they ended up two different sizes (this was true before I even sewed them) but that's okay. I am very pleased with them. I did a water test on them (since I don't have a baby to do it for me yet) and the flannel and microfiber both absorb really well (and dry quick!) but the cotton for some reason is repelling the water, which is why I thought it would make a good back. It takes a good half ounce (in the same spot) before the cotton starts to feel wet.
Online, it appears most people use those pre-fold diapers and either use them plain or add a decorative strip. My mom used these and swears by them too but I didn't want to buy something in order to make mine so I used what I had on hand: microfiber towels (like the automative cleaning ones--you can get 2 for a 1 dollar at the dollar store).
I prewashed all my fabric (I usually skip this step but since it was going to be for a baby and their skin is so sensitive I thought it was necessary. It also added absorbency to the flannel). Then I cut each microfiber towel in half so it was approximately 7x12 inches (these sound small to me but if you put it on your shoulder, it actually covers a lot of space so I'm not worried about it. Plus, the store bought ones aren't much bigger either). Then I cut a fat quarter of flannel and a fat quarter of cotton in thirds the long way (in other words, cut the 22 inch side into 3 pieces, about 7 inches wide). I found this wasted the least amount of fabric and towel. You could technically do it in half and have 11 inches wide but then you waste 2 inches of your towel.
Then pin your three pieces together: cotton right side up, flannel right side down, and the towel on top (if you put the flannel on the bottom like I did, it gets stuck in your machine and you miss stitches. I'm not sure why but it's VERY frustrating so leave the cotton on the bottom. My machine didn't have a problem with the towel). Sew around the whole thing (I used about a quarter inch seam allowance) but leave a gap to turn. Turn it, iron it, and hand sew the gap closed. Then I top stitched about a half inch around the whole thing. Some people also say to top stitch it twice across the middle (cutting it in thirds) but I didn't find this necessary. Then you're done!
Friday, January 10, 2014
Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole and Cleaning the Chest Freezer
Last night, I was in the mood for tater tot casserole. I knew this would use up some things in our freezer (veggies, meat, tots,...) and we had planned on reorganizing our freezers so the less we had to deal with, the better.
I have made tater tot casserole before, similar to my mom's, with cream of mushroom soup but I was unable to find that recipe so I googled around for it. Instead, I found this recipe and boy am I glad I did! This recipe was so unbelievably good!! As with most recipes, we did modify it just a touch. We used frozen vegetables (we freeze peppers and onions when they're on sale, the corn was half a bag of frozen corn, and we added half a bag of frozen peas and carrots) and left out the chives but everything else was the same (that's probably the least we've modified a recipe lately).
We happened to have both the bold sauce and the cream cheese, even though neither is a staple in this house. I am pretty sure you could get away with using regular sauce if you wanted and leaving out the cream cheese if you don't have it. Since we added more vegetables (the peas and carrots) than called for, we just added these when we added the corn.
I'm not sure I agree with the 6 servings. Those must be real servings, not what people eat servings. We only got 3 servings out of it but we probably could've done 4 if we had to. 6 would've been a little skimpy (but probably healthier). Since we had the starch, meat, and protein all in the casserole, we didn't serve it with anything. That's the great thing about a casserole. However, if you were trying to stretch the servings, you could serve with a side salad or something like that.
As I mentioned, we also cleaned out our freezers last night. We have a chest freezer and the freezer attached to our fridge. Both were getting messy and hard to find things and our chest freezer needed to be defrosted. We put everything from the chest freezer into a big box and put it in the garage (our garage isn't heated and with the temps being in the negatives, we weren't worried about anything thawing). Then we left the freezer open and unplugged for a few days to let everything melt (we did an initial scraping but since we weren't in a hurry to get the food back in the freezer, we thought this was easiest). Then last night, we put it all back. We have two baskets and a shelf in our freezer, with the rest being open space. We made one basket meat (minus fish since it didn't fit), one basket fruits and veggies, and the shelf is what I call "quick food" (i.e. pot pies and TV dinners). We don't have a good way to organize the rest of it because it's just a big open space so we took a box without flaps and put our pizzas in there (you can tell we eat really healthy in this house...) on their sides and then put our fish and other miscellaneous items next to the box.
We have a lot of empty space in our freezer so we also have frozen 2 liters (of water. We drank the soda, then refilled) to take up more room (to make the freezer more energy efficient) plus we give these to Cocoa on hot days during the summer to lick and lean against.
Our other freezer was much easier to organize, simply because there was less stuff. Our chest freezer has a seal on it that after you open it once, you can't open it again for like 5 minutes (sometimes it's annoying, most of the time it's great). This means everything open that would go back in the freezer (for instance, a pail of ice cream), goes in the fridge freezer since this one doesn't have that seal. We also decided to keep all our after Teeny meals in there. This freezer is also rather empty looking but there's not much we can do about it. We looked into combining that freezer into the chest freezer but that doesn't help because we can't turn the fridge freezer off and it doesn't work the other way, to have the chest freezer go into the fridge freezer because it wouldn't all fit. Guess we need to go shopping!
I have made tater tot casserole before, similar to my mom's, with cream of mushroom soup but I was unable to find that recipe so I googled around for it. Instead, I found this recipe and boy am I glad I did! This recipe was so unbelievably good!! As with most recipes, we did modify it just a touch. We used frozen vegetables (we freeze peppers and onions when they're on sale, the corn was half a bag of frozen corn, and we added half a bag of frozen peas and carrots) and left out the chives but everything else was the same (that's probably the least we've modified a recipe lately).
We happened to have both the bold sauce and the cream cheese, even though neither is a staple in this house. I am pretty sure you could get away with using regular sauce if you wanted and leaving out the cream cheese if you don't have it. Since we added more vegetables (the peas and carrots) than called for, we just added these when we added the corn.
I'm not sure I agree with the 6 servings. Those must be real servings, not what people eat servings. We only got 3 servings out of it but we probably could've done 4 if we had to. 6 would've been a little skimpy (but probably healthier). Since we had the starch, meat, and protein all in the casserole, we didn't serve it with anything. That's the great thing about a casserole. However, if you were trying to stretch the servings, you could serve with a side salad or something like that.
As I mentioned, we also cleaned out our freezers last night. We have a chest freezer and the freezer attached to our fridge. Both were getting messy and hard to find things and our chest freezer needed to be defrosted. We put everything from the chest freezer into a big box and put it in the garage (our garage isn't heated and with the temps being in the negatives, we weren't worried about anything thawing). Then we left the freezer open and unplugged for a few days to let everything melt (we did an initial scraping but since we weren't in a hurry to get the food back in the freezer, we thought this was easiest). Then last night, we put it all back. We have two baskets and a shelf in our freezer, with the rest being open space. We made one basket meat (minus fish since it didn't fit), one basket fruits and veggies, and the shelf is what I call "quick food" (i.e. pot pies and TV dinners). We don't have a good way to organize the rest of it because it's just a big open space so we took a box without flaps and put our pizzas in there (you can tell we eat really healthy in this house...) on their sides and then put our fish and other miscellaneous items next to the box.
We have a lot of empty space in our freezer so we also have frozen 2 liters (of water. We drank the soda, then refilled) to take up more room (to make the freezer more energy efficient) plus we give these to Cocoa on hot days during the summer to lick and lean against.
Our other freezer was much easier to organize, simply because there was less stuff. Our chest freezer has a seal on it that after you open it once, you can't open it again for like 5 minutes (sometimes it's annoying, most of the time it's great). This means everything open that would go back in the freezer (for instance, a pail of ice cream), goes in the fridge freezer since this one doesn't have that seal. We also decided to keep all our after Teeny meals in there. This freezer is also rather empty looking but there's not much we can do about it. We looked into combining that freezer into the chest freezer but that doesn't help because we can't turn the fridge freezer off and it doesn't work the other way, to have the chest freezer go into the fridge freezer because it wouldn't all fit. Guess we need to go shopping!
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Breech Baby
As of yesterday, I am 39 weeks pregnant. At my 38 week appointment, I was told that Teeny is a complete breech. This means that they are butt first (instead of head first) and their feet are crossed and not over their head. This is the worst breech there is and there is no hope of a vaginal delivery if Teeny stays like this. I also had to start seeing a doctor and lose my midwife because my midwife doesn't do breech babies or C-sections.
There is still hope that Teeny will turn on their own. At one time or another, lots of babies are breech. However, after 37 weeks, only 3-4% of babies are breech. So I have a scheduled C-section for January 29th, which is 42 weeks gestation (the latest they'll let you go). If Teeny turns before then and my cervix is favorable, then I will be able to be induced to avoid the C-section. If Teeny turns before then but my cervix isn't ready yet, we have to hope that Teeny stays turned the right way until my body is ready for labor. If Teeny does not turn before then but I go into labor, I will still need the C-section. I think those are all the possibilities...
I know that 20% of people have C-sections (not always for a breech baby. There are other reasons too) but that is not the birth plan I want. That may make me sound a little selfish but after carrying this baby for 39 weeks (and more until delivery), I feel like I should have the option to choose. A C-section carries more risks, is more expensive, you're in the hospital longer, the healing process is harder, it isn't the natural way you're supposed to have a baby, can more likely lead to postpartum depression and many other negative things. I'm sure you could scrounge up some negative aspects of a vaginal birth as well (I hear it's not exactly a walk in the park either...) but between those two options, I will always choose vaginal birth.
I am lucky that at my hospital, they don't have the policy of "once a C-section, always a C-section" and because my baby is breech and the C-section isn't for a different reason, I have a high chance of being able to have a succcessful VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean).
I'm also not sure if it's because Teeny is now breech or because I am reaching the end of my pregnancy but lately, people ask me how I am but they really mean how is Teeny. It drives me crazy! I'm starting to feel like I'm not a person anymore but just a baby carrier. I know everyone is excited but I am too. I am more ready to be done with the pregnancy and meet my child than anyone one else on the planet (not the other pregnant moms. I mean the grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc of Teeny). I am SO uncomfortable, I don't fit in any clothes anymore (my baby belly is exposed out the bottom of even my largest shirts---which gets cold!), I am barely sleeping (both from stress and from being so uncomfortable), I have a head in my rib cage just about constantly (and when it's not a head, it's feet), and I can't seem to go anywhere without people staring at me. I am ready to be done!
There is still hope that Teeny will turn on their own. At one time or another, lots of babies are breech. However, after 37 weeks, only 3-4% of babies are breech. So I have a scheduled C-section for January 29th, which is 42 weeks gestation (the latest they'll let you go). If Teeny turns before then and my cervix is favorable, then I will be able to be induced to avoid the C-section. If Teeny turns before then but my cervix isn't ready yet, we have to hope that Teeny stays turned the right way until my body is ready for labor. If Teeny does not turn before then but I go into labor, I will still need the C-section. I think those are all the possibilities...
I know that 20% of people have C-sections (not always for a breech baby. There are other reasons too) but that is not the birth plan I want. That may make me sound a little selfish but after carrying this baby for 39 weeks (and more until delivery), I feel like I should have the option to choose. A C-section carries more risks, is more expensive, you're in the hospital longer, the healing process is harder, it isn't the natural way you're supposed to have a baby, can more likely lead to postpartum depression and many other negative things. I'm sure you could scrounge up some negative aspects of a vaginal birth as well (I hear it's not exactly a walk in the park either...) but between those two options, I will always choose vaginal birth.
I am lucky that at my hospital, they don't have the policy of "once a C-section, always a C-section" and because my baby is breech and the C-section isn't for a different reason, I have a high chance of being able to have a succcessful VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean).
I'm also not sure if it's because Teeny is now breech or because I am reaching the end of my pregnancy but lately, people ask me how I am but they really mean how is Teeny. It drives me crazy! I'm starting to feel like I'm not a person anymore but just a baby carrier. I know everyone is excited but I am too. I am more ready to be done with the pregnancy and meet my child than anyone one else on the planet (not the other pregnant moms. I mean the grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc of Teeny). I am SO uncomfortable, I don't fit in any clothes anymore (my baby belly is exposed out the bottom of even my largest shirts---which gets cold!), I am barely sleeping (both from stress and from being so uncomfortable), I have a head in my rib cage just about constantly (and when it's not a head, it's feet), and I can't seem to go anywhere without people staring at me. I am ready to be done!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Pulled Pork
I apologize for not posting the last couple days. We were having internet issues (and unrelatedly, extreme cold temperatures).
At the grocery store, they had pork shoulder ribs on sale and we decided to get some. No recipe in mind, I decided to try them in the slow cooker. I didn't want them barbecued since we already have a lot of barbecued meat stocked up. I decided to make what's called Korean Ribs. To me, this means putting my 4.5 pounds of ribs in the slow cooker with 1 cup water, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1 cup soy sauce (basically the whole bottle). Because my ribs were frozen, I had them on high for an hour and then turned it down to low for another 8 hours (I timed this horribly and we ended up eating dinner around 8pm instead of our usual 5pm ish), turning over partway through.
It was so worth the wait! The ribs basically shredded themselves when you tried to turn them over. They had enough flavor on their own but since we were only eating a portion's worth before freezing the rest, we didn't want to season them too much. That night, we had them with a side of asparagus and mashed potatoes (both leftover from when we made lobster tails over the weekend. This was something we also found on sale and they are SO easy to cook!) Then we froze about half of the rest in individual containers for when Teeny is here and we want quick sandwiches and the rest went in a leftover container in the fridge.
As usual, we had no recipe in mind for the leftovers but figured we should put them in something, rather than eat them all plain. I found a recipe for Brunswick Stew (which I had actually never heard of before) and very very loosely based the soup I made on that. We used our pork (probably around 2 pounds worth, maybe a little more), a big jar of tomatoes (with their juice, fresh from David's Grandma's garden), 4 red potatoes (chopped), half an onion (chopped), 3 cups water (we wanted a broth and only have bouillon cubes. I only used two cubes instead of 3), corn (half a bag, frozen), paprika (a LOT, probably around 2 tablespoons), garlic (also probably around 2 tablespoons), and....I think that's everything. I was worried it was going to taste too much like chili, especially because we have already frozen some chili and I knew we'd be freezing this but it definitely turned out with a different flavor. It was really good! We basically just threw everything in the pot and let it simmer for an hour. This would've been another good recipe for the slow cooker but we used the stove top since it was already dinner time when we started (lately we've been having dinner later and later...)
So there you have it! Two amazing recipes to use both frozen pork ribs and leftover pork. Both gave us enough leftovers that now I am feeling more confident in the amount of meals we have frozen for when Teeny comes.
At the grocery store, they had pork shoulder ribs on sale and we decided to get some. No recipe in mind, I decided to try them in the slow cooker. I didn't want them barbecued since we already have a lot of barbecued meat stocked up. I decided to make what's called Korean Ribs. To me, this means putting my 4.5 pounds of ribs in the slow cooker with 1 cup water, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1 cup soy sauce (basically the whole bottle). Because my ribs were frozen, I had them on high for an hour and then turned it down to low for another 8 hours (I timed this horribly and we ended up eating dinner around 8pm instead of our usual 5pm ish), turning over partway through.
It was so worth the wait! The ribs basically shredded themselves when you tried to turn them over. They had enough flavor on their own but since we were only eating a portion's worth before freezing the rest, we didn't want to season them too much. That night, we had them with a side of asparagus and mashed potatoes (both leftover from when we made lobster tails over the weekend. This was something we also found on sale and they are SO easy to cook!) Then we froze about half of the rest in individual containers for when Teeny is here and we want quick sandwiches and the rest went in a leftover container in the fridge.
As usual, we had no recipe in mind for the leftovers but figured we should put them in something, rather than eat them all plain. I found a recipe for Brunswick Stew (which I had actually never heard of before) and very very loosely based the soup I made on that. We used our pork (probably around 2 pounds worth, maybe a little more), a big jar of tomatoes (with their juice, fresh from David's Grandma's garden), 4 red potatoes (chopped), half an onion (chopped), 3 cups water (we wanted a broth and only have bouillon cubes. I only used two cubes instead of 3), corn (half a bag, frozen), paprika (a LOT, probably around 2 tablespoons), garlic (also probably around 2 tablespoons), and....I think that's everything. I was worried it was going to taste too much like chili, especially because we have already frozen some chili and I knew we'd be freezing this but it definitely turned out with a different flavor. It was really good! We basically just threw everything in the pot and let it simmer for an hour. This would've been another good recipe for the slow cooker but we used the stove top since it was already dinner time when we started (lately we've been having dinner later and later...)
So there you have it! Two amazing recipes to use both frozen pork ribs and leftover pork. Both gave us enough leftovers that now I am feeling more confident in the amount of meals we have frozen for when Teeny comes.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Reorganizing My Fabric
Due to other projects, it is going to be a while before my sewing table/area in the library gets done. This currently puts me in the dining room (which is fine since we don't use really use it anyway). However, my fabric organization was starting to become non-existent and I was going crazy. I would know I bought something and then have an impossible time finding it on my shelf. Or, more commonly, my piles would tip over as I tried to look for things on the bottom.
I solved this by going to the dollar store and picking up some plastic storage containers (the ones about the size of a shoe box) and I sorted all my fabric into color categories (red/pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black/gray, white, brown, and miscellaneous for the ones that are too many colors to decide). The only container that is packed to the brim is blue, so this actually works out quite nicely. Now, I just know not to buy anymore blue fabric until I use up some more.
Some of my littler pieces (I call them my big scraps because they're smaller than a fat quarter but too big to be in my scrap bin) do have the potential to get lost in these but at least I know if I have it, where to find it. This also takes up a lot less space on my shelf so I have more room for my bigger fabrics (I only put my fat quarters or less in the bins) since the bins can stack.
I still have more organizing to do but by going through my fabrics like this, I can really see what I have. I decided to sort by color because my mother in law used to sort hers by category (holiday, seasons, polka dots, Asian, etc) but then she'd forget she'd have certain things when she was looking for something general because others were still by color. I thought about doing it this way but I want the potential to use all my fabrics (some day, it would be nice to get few enough that I'll feel like I need more. I'm not there yet and I probably have less fabric than a lot of people).
I also decided to reorganize my patterns, both the envelope ones and ones I already have cut out from previous things I've made. I had started keeping them in an accordion file folder thing (you know, those plastic things with like 7 folders in it?) but that was getting full really fast. I'm currently in the middle of fabric covering some binders so I can put all my patterns in sheet protectors and organize them that way. The fabric covering looks really cool but I'm running into some snags. I'll share later when they're done.
I solved this by going to the dollar store and picking up some plastic storage containers (the ones about the size of a shoe box) and I sorted all my fabric into color categories (red/pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black/gray, white, brown, and miscellaneous for the ones that are too many colors to decide). The only container that is packed to the brim is blue, so this actually works out quite nicely. Now, I just know not to buy anymore blue fabric until I use up some more.
Some of my littler pieces (I call them my big scraps because they're smaller than a fat quarter but too big to be in my scrap bin) do have the potential to get lost in these but at least I know if I have it, where to find it. This also takes up a lot less space on my shelf so I have more room for my bigger fabrics (I only put my fat quarters or less in the bins) since the bins can stack.
I still have more organizing to do but by going through my fabrics like this, I can really see what I have. I decided to sort by color because my mother in law used to sort hers by category (holiday, seasons, polka dots, Asian, etc) but then she'd forget she'd have certain things when she was looking for something general because others were still by color. I thought about doing it this way but I want the potential to use all my fabrics (some day, it would be nice to get few enough that I'll feel like I need more. I'm not there yet and I probably have less fabric than a lot of people).
I also decided to reorganize my patterns, both the envelope ones and ones I already have cut out from previous things I've made. I had started keeping them in an accordion file folder thing (you know, those plastic things with like 7 folders in it?) but that was getting full really fast. I'm currently in the middle of fabric covering some binders so I can put all my patterns in sheet protectors and organize them that way. The fabric covering looks really cool but I'm running into some snags. I'll share later when they're done.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
End of the Year Updates
I am back! David went back to work today. I find it really hard to get anything done when he's home just because we don't have a schedule anymore so my blogging kind of fell to the wayside. I apologize.
As always, the end of the year is a busy time but I managed to get a lot done! The main thing I am most proud of is reading 85 books in one year! Around the beginning of December, I had gotten sick and wasn't reading as adamantly as I was before and I got really behind. I managed to catch up and I finished two days early! My goal for this year is only 30 because with a baby, you never know what your day is going to be like. I doubt I'll be able to spend entire afternoons devouring books after Teeny is born.
I also sewed our curtain tie backs for the living room. I'm sorry I don't have a picture but maybe I will add one later. Since our curtains are gray and turquoise, I used turquoise fabric for the tie backs. You need almost a whole fat quarter, at least if you make them as wide as I did. I didn't taper them or curve them. They are just rectangles. I designed them after a headband I had made the previous night (that I'm also excited about!). I wanted them to be 2 inches wide with a quarter inch seam allowance so I cut three strips of 4.5 inches (I had three spots that needed a tie back). Then I folded them in half, sewed along the long, open side and flipped them. Then I ironed them with the seam down the middle of the back. The edges got folded in (to hide the raw edges) about a half inch (but you can do however much you like) and pressed. Instead of using interfacing, I top stitched a quarter inch around the entire thing (which will catch your folded in edges). Then I hand sewed on little plastic rings we had (you could also do d rings or anything similar) so they can hang on a hook by the window when you want them to hold the curtain. I think they look great and I regret not having a picture. They were really simple and a lot easier than what I found some other people doing online. Hopefully, the directions are clear enough.
We had the chance to freeze more meals before Teeny comes. We now have the quinoa with vegetables, chili, cream of potato soup with brats, and empanada filling. I'm hoping for more but this is a great start. For those of you interested, this is the empanada recipe I used (http://www.turntablekitchen.com/2012/02/argentinian-beef-empanadas-a-return-to-calm/) We did make a few changes and I would by no means call them authentic. Our dough wasn't working out (we only got 7 circles out of it anyway) so we decided to stack them (i.e., make a circle, fill it, put another circle on top and seal the edges) and that worked out better. We still ended up with a lot of extra filling and not enough dough (but that's fine because we just froze it). We didn't put an egg wash on top and we also left out the capers and the hard boiled eggs. It was still really good and we were really impressed with how they turned out.
I think that's enough updates for today. You can hopefully expect another blog post tomorrow and then returning to my regular schedule.
As always, the end of the year is a busy time but I managed to get a lot done! The main thing I am most proud of is reading 85 books in one year! Around the beginning of December, I had gotten sick and wasn't reading as adamantly as I was before and I got really behind. I managed to catch up and I finished two days early! My goal for this year is only 30 because with a baby, you never know what your day is going to be like. I doubt I'll be able to spend entire afternoons devouring books after Teeny is born.
I also sewed our curtain tie backs for the living room. I'm sorry I don't have a picture but maybe I will add one later. Since our curtains are gray and turquoise, I used turquoise fabric for the tie backs. You need almost a whole fat quarter, at least if you make them as wide as I did. I didn't taper them or curve them. They are just rectangles. I designed them after a headband I had made the previous night (that I'm also excited about!). I wanted them to be 2 inches wide with a quarter inch seam allowance so I cut three strips of 4.5 inches (I had three spots that needed a tie back). Then I folded them in half, sewed along the long, open side and flipped them. Then I ironed them with the seam down the middle of the back. The edges got folded in (to hide the raw edges) about a half inch (but you can do however much you like) and pressed. Instead of using interfacing, I top stitched a quarter inch around the entire thing (which will catch your folded in edges). Then I hand sewed on little plastic rings we had (you could also do d rings or anything similar) so they can hang on a hook by the window when you want them to hold the curtain. I think they look great and I regret not having a picture. They were really simple and a lot easier than what I found some other people doing online. Hopefully, the directions are clear enough.
We had the chance to freeze more meals before Teeny comes. We now have the quinoa with vegetables, chili, cream of potato soup with brats, and empanada filling. I'm hoping for more but this is a great start. For those of you interested, this is the empanada recipe I used (http://www.turntablekitchen.com/2012/02/argentinian-beef-empanadas-a-return-to-calm/) We did make a few changes and I would by no means call them authentic. Our dough wasn't working out (we only got 7 circles out of it anyway) so we decided to stack them (i.e., make a circle, fill it, put another circle on top and seal the edges) and that worked out better. We still ended up with a lot of extra filling and not enough dough (but that's fine because we just froze it). We didn't put an egg wash on top and we also left out the capers and the hard boiled eggs. It was still really good and we were really impressed with how they turned out.
I think that's enough updates for today. You can hopefully expect another blog post tomorrow and then returning to my regular schedule.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)