Day Trip Mama

Hooray for Nursing Room! Then I realized it was a bathroom too.

My coworkers think it's hilarious, but I'm known for my day trips for work travel. I get up very early and head to a city to meet with clients and then head home that night. The longest I've flown for the day is Phoenix and it was about 21 hours away from home! I had to transfer in Memphis on the way out, but I got home on a direct flight.

I love day trips because it's easier on my family being a mother to a young kiddo. My work requires me to travel and when I do, I try for a day trip. I just had my first overnight trip away from Ava since she was born, only a few weeks ago for a work event in Toronto. I'm really glad that I waited until Ava was old enough to understand that I was leaving. When you're a mother it's so darn hard on the kids when you're away. Aaron told me that Ava missed me so much. My day trips have forced Aaron to to creatively figure a different bedtime routine without nursing. They've developed their own routine for when I'm gone. And some nights, he'll take her to dinner out at a restaurant and send me a picture of their special bonding time. It's really sweet!

I believe that a mother and baby should be together as much as possible in these early formative years. Research also shows that a baby needs their mother present as much as possible. In fact, the trusted bond with a mother and baby, results in a more independent child and adult. Our nursing relationship has always reinforced this belief.

When I travel for long day trips or my overnight, I have to bring my breast pump and creatively find places to pump in airports, hotels, client's offices and search for places to freeze my cooler bags and store my milk. The TSA requires cooler packs to be frozen so I'm always looking for places to store my packs in a freezer. When I've been at my client's offices or hotels, people have been really accommodating to me. Airports are the worst for a nursing mother who needs a place to pump. Apart from the Indy airport, no other airports that I've been in have a dedicated lactation room that isn't in a bathroom. The Indy airport is new and they took the time to put in two mother's room (inside and outside of security) for mothers to nurse or pump. But since it's my home airport, I've only used it once.

With day trips, I spend my time on the ground in a city looking from a window of a cab or building. But I enjoy it!

The Toronto and Dallas airports call their family bathrooms "nursing rooms." I took the picture above of a sign that was outside of the room. It shows the international breastfeeding symbol on the front. I waited for over 10 minutes for the room, then a guy struts out after "doing his business." I was really disappointed to learn it was also a bathroom. I told him that I had to pump milk in there and showed him the sign. He was clueless!

A few TSA agents have tried to bully me into putting my expressed milk through the x-ray machines. Most of the times, that's a rare occasion and the agents are really nice. If you ask for alternative screening, they will open the bottle of milk and wave a paper over the opening, then place the paper in a machine or just use a paper on the outside of the bottles and bag. I've tried to find information if it's safe to put breastmilk in the x-ray machine and found very little about it. So, I go on the safer side.

I travel with a heavy pump and gear all over airports and cabs while hauling my work computer. I'm happy to do it because it protects my nursing relationship.

A month ago, I got an email to our La Leche League group from a mother traveling to Indy for work who decided it was easier to donate her milk locally, than to carry it home to her baby. I met her just before she went to the airport and picked up her milk in a cooler. That night, I met up with two families who gratefully received the donation. I was happy to see that loving act from one family to others for babies in need.

In my breastfeeding support group, we have lots of moms that ask how they can travel while maintaining their breastfeeding relationship. My suggestion is try to see if you can (1) travel with your nursling or (2) minimize your travel away. For my first trip, I traveled with my mother-in-law and she was the "Granny Nanny" while I was working. It was awesome. Then, I traveled with Ava and found childcare by asking a client or using a personal connection when we arrived. That worked  for trip home to the Bay Area, Portland, and even Chicago just last week. Here's my blog post on toddler travel tips when we went to San Francisco last summer. If you travel without your nursling, minimizing your time away is key. That means a day trip or prioritizing the days that you must attend the events. The truth is that it's really hard to be away from your baby and kids. Aaron has to leave work earlier to do daycare pick-up and then we have to prep for when I'm gone. I make sure the cloth diapers are clean and Ava's bag is packed for daycare.

Pumping on the road can be a challenge, but you can do it! I can't tell you how many times, I've had to pump in a public restroom out in the open. I use a Simple Wishes pumping bra and a Bravado nursing tank so I have very little skin exposed. The bustier covers my breasts and my tank covers my midsection. It's really uncomfortable when you're hand expressing when there are small children and people gawking at you. I know other moms have pumped using a nursing cover even on a plane or at a gate. I'm not that brave, I guess. 

Finding places to pump at hotels and offices isn't bad. You can usually ask for an empty office or if you have a colleague who has a hotel room, you can pump in there. I have pumped in server rooms at offices. That works! Hotels usually give you a refrigerator when you ask for them and they are usually free of charge for storing milk. When I was in Toronto, I had to give up my hotel room at noon. I asked my coworker if I could pump in her room since she was busy at the conference. She got a second key for me to access her room and I asked the hotel staff to bring the refrigerator from my room to hers. I really needed the freezer for my cooler packs for the TSA rules.

Bring your pump and cooler bag on your carry-on bag. I store my flanges in a Ziploc bag in the cooler. If you're gone multiple days and coming home with a lot of milk, try to store them in a larger cooler bag with large bottles to store it something sturdy. When I traveled overnight, I brought a bottle brush and dish wash liquid to clean the pump parts and bottles at the hotel.

The bottom line is that you have to be creative, use your resources, and be upfront with people to set expectations while you're traveling that you'll need to pump since you're away from your baby. It may take more planning ahead, but you can make it work! I'd love to hear other tips and advice from moms that have done it before!

Grilled Pizza

Homemade Pizza and Caesar Salad our Friday night tradition!

We started a family tradition just before Ava was born to make homemade pizza on Friday night. I have perfected our favorite pizza using a whole wheat crust recipe that I make in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I usually make the pizza crust on Thursday night before bed and let the dough rise overnight. Then in the morning, I'll split the dough and wrap them in plastic wrap and store the dough balls in the refrigerator. We use a Pampered Chef pizza stone in the oven for the nights that we bake the pizza in the oven. We love it!

This summer has been unbelievably hot! It's been regularly 90 and even 100 degrees and we just can't justify using the oven for much these days. We are doing lots of cooking on our new grill and crockpot with these hot temperatures. Last summer, we went to the Pierce's house for dinner and they made a delcious grilled pizza. They were inspired by our pizza making tradition too! They made a BBQ chicken pizza on the grill and it was so tasty and didn't require heating an oven.

So last weekend, we tried grilled pizza after consulting with Shawn and his technique. Well, it got pretty charred because we tried to put the toppings on the crust after it flipped, while on the grill. Maybe we should have asked him for an in-person cooking class! I made two smaller pizzas and they both got pretty burned on the bottom. But this inspired Aaron to think of another way to grill it. Last night, I'm happy to report that we've perfected our method for cooking the pizza on the grill! It was delicious and not burned. The way we cooked it was similar to the oven, in fact, with the par-baking of the crust before you put the toppings on it.

Shape your pizza into a large rectangle so it fits easily on the grill or cookie sheet or serving platter to transfer easily.

Grilled Pizza:
Make ahead Whole wheat pizza crust - recipe makes 2 large pizzas or six 8-inch pizzas.
Non-stick cooking spray
Pizza sauce, toppings, and cheese

Method:
Thanks to Aaron for figuring this out!

• Preheat grill.
• Shape pizza crust into smaller rounds or one large rectangle with half the dough from the recipe above.
• Get toppings ready. 
• Par-baking: Spray crust with non-stick cooking spray and place on the grill. Close the lid and then grill for about 3 minutes.
• Turn off the grill. Take the crust off the grill and bring inside or off the heat. On the opposite side that you grilled, add sauce, toppings and cheese. TIP: If you use a rectangular shape, you can place the pizza crust on a cookie sheet to transfer.
• After the toppings are on the pizza, place it on the grill with indirect heat (other burner) for about 7 minutes. Then put the direct flame on low to cook for another 5 minutes or so. 
• When the pizza is done, cut and serve immediately. 

We enjoy our homemade pizza with tomato sauce and fresh spinach, pepperoni (sparingly), and olives. 

I'm so excited to have grilled pizza this summer!

Mother's Day Garden Planting

 What better way to spend Mother's Day than starting a new garden! Aaron surprised me on Mother's Day with a trip to a nursery to pick out shrubs and an herb and veggie garden. Back in our condo in Chicago, Aaron and I lived across the street from a garden center. We were inspired by the urban gardening and had a potted garden for herbs. After several years, we tried lettuce and bell peppers. Now with a yard, I'm excited for our first in-ground garden! We have a deer population and living on their trail presents challenges with our bulb plants. They feast on our lilies and tulips. Aaron fortified our garden with a tall wire fence to keep the deer away.

While at the nursery that Sunday morning, Ava had so much fun when she discovered their stock of outdoor toys. We got her a garden toy set, which she loves! She had so much fun using her tools and especially shoveling dirt right into her garden tool bag! Kids are supposed to get dirty from playing in the yard so I thought it was fun to see her dig in, literally!

We planted a small garden with tomatoes (sugar baby yellow and full size red), bell peppers, jalapenos, cucumbers, cilantro, basil, parsley, and mint.





Aaron also planted some bushes that attract butterflies for under our pine trees near our bird feeder. Last summer he built the retaining wall and we put pine mulch to accent the fallen pine needles. It looks really good! He also picked out a lilac bush that will bloom again later in the season. I've been wanting a lilac in our yard since we moved in. They're so fragrant.


Ava enjoyed helping us plant with her garden set. She liked to dig the dirt with her shovel and started to put it in her bag. She loves the outdoors! It was a very special day!

Freezer Meals: Vietmanese Bahn Mi and Pho with Lemon "Donut" Dessert

Bahn Mi with Five-spice chicken thighs and pickled radish and carrot and vegetarian pho

Here's my latest freezer meal for our exchange tonight! I found all the recipes on Pinterest and they turned out great! I grew in East San Jose in a densely populated Vietnamese area. I love pho, Vietnamese noodle soup, and recently became a fan of Banh Mi sandwiches. The other families in my freezer meals groups are fairly adventurous so I thought it would be fun to bring in some Asian flavors. And it was a funny coincidence that another mom decided to make an Asian dinner.

For our freezer meals group, we make enough for ourselves and then trade about 4-5 entire meals with the other families. If we get more families involved we'll still max out at trading 5 meals, but we'll have more variety and can pick and choose which meals we want to bring home. It averages that we have 1 freezer meal per week for the month. I really like the deadline of the exchange to keep me on track with cooking for the next month. Here's my menu and how I made it freezer-friendly!

May's Menu:
Banh Mi Sandwich (on baguette) with Five Spice Chicken Thighs and pickled carrot and radish. 

• Serve the sandwich with mayo, lime wedges, strips of jalapeno, chicken and fresh cilantro. I marinated the chicken, then froze it. The families will grill or broil the chicken. The pickled carrots and radish are very sweet, but smell terrible. Don't let the scent throw you. 

Vegetarian Pho soup

•  Broth is frozen in ice cubes. Defrost directly in a saucepan on low, then turn up heat to bring to a boil. Add dry rice noodles. Warm thawed tofu and veggie packet and add to bowl with noodles. If you need more broth add vegetable or chicken broth and season with soy sauce or our favorite Bragg Liquid Aminos (a lower salt alternative).

Mini Lemon Muffin Donuts:

• Thaw and serve

 

Freezer meal all packed up and ready to go!

Freezing instructions:

This month, I wasn't sure how to freeze this meal because of the broth. Liquid is so hard to freeze and defrost in ziploc bags without a big mess, so I had the brainstorm to freeze the broth in ice cube trays. I used the ice cube trays with tops that I bought for when I was making Ava's baby food. Then, I popped the broth cubes in a quart size freezer bag.


Freeze the tofu and veggies in one bag and the marinated chicken thighs in another.


Don't freeze the pickled veggies. Store them in a mason jar with the brine, which will keep in the fridge for up to 4-weeks. The limes and jalapenos are sturdy enough to keep in the fridge for a few weeks or you can buy more. I didn't supply the cilantro, but you need that to be fresh.


I didn't freeze the rice noodles for the pho, but those can be stored in the pantry.

I'd love to hear your ideas on freezer meals you're thinking of making!

Family Vacation in the Mountains

Last weekend, we took our first family vacation to the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We had a great time! We took a long weekend from Thursday to Sunday evening.

From Indy, the drive is around 7 hours, but we had to stop several times for Ava to stretch her legs. I've shared before about our challenges on long car rides with Ava because she doesn't sleep much in the car. Both directions, she slept about an hour of the 7! I'm thankful that I was prepared with toys, activities, snacks, books, and DVDs for our car ride. A couple weeks ago, I pinned this blog post about activities while traveling with young kids in the car. There are some great ideas. We have a book with felt pieces that you can create your own scene, which really entertained Ava. I brought her portable chalkboard with magnetic alphabet and numbers, which did wonders. But it was Dora that saved us most of the time. Just to tell you how much Dora the Explorer we watched, Aaron and I had the songs stuck in our heads when we got back. I packed lots of her favorite snacks. Ava is starting to love peanut butter sandwiches now, which is a good for car rides.

Ava wanted to swim in the fountain.

A break during our stroll.

When we first arrived, we settled in to our rental cabin in the mountains. We had to drive about 15-20 minutes outside of downtown Gatlinburg. It was secluded and very peaceful. We picked that cabin because it was dog friendly. The only downside is that since it wasn't easy to head back to town, we decided to go out once a day instead of back and forth. We decided to grab dinner out at the Smoky Mountain Brewery where Ava devoured spaghetti with meat sauce. We were pleased since she's so picky these days. She had fun watching the other kids who dined with their families near us. On the way back to the cabin, we stopped by the grocery store to stock up on food for the weekend.

The next day, we decided to relax at the cabin to decompress for most of the day. Since we had a full kitchen we were able to make our breakfast and lunches there. After Ava's afternoon nap, we made our way downtown and walked through the shops. We stopped for donuts and sat on a bench by the water fountain in a shopping area. The three of us had fun walking together. Then when Ava got tired, we decided to call it a day and head back. On the way back we scoped out a local barbecue joint on the part of town by where the locals shop.  She stalked birds and wanted to hug them. Ava was sad when the birds flew away when she got too close.

From our driving tour

We went back to the cabin and Ava crashed out very early after dinner. She enjoyed our vacation so much that she barely took naps during the day. Instead of her usual 2+ hour nap, she slept less than an hour because she didn't want to miss anything. Then she crashed out very early at night. Having a house with a kitchen was nice traveling with a toddler so didn't have to leave the house much.

The next day, we took a driving tour of the Smoky Mountain Park in a path that is well known for the amazing water falls along the way. The water runs briskly and the sound is so calming. In fact, Ava fell asleep in the car and napped most of the time. She finally woke up towards the end so she got to see the last bit.

Relaxed by the soothing waterfalls. 

Aaron found a hiking trail for us that led to a beautiful waterfall. He told me that the Ramsey Cascade Trail is 4-miles, then we realized when we arrived at the park that it's 4 miles each way! I tried very hard not to be a nay-sayer when I saw on the park's website that the trail is estimated to take 5-7 hours to hike. I was worried since I only packed enough food/diapers for a 2-3 hour hike. Aaron told me that he was going to carry Ava and I would carry the back pack with our gear. Since we started out after 2pm, I thought it would be after dark before we got back if we went on the entire hike. We have a Boba soft structured carrier that goes on the front or back and has foot holds for Ava. It's such a great carrier to share between moms and dads because it adjusts easily. She loved riding on Daddy's back. She asked to get down a bit and we helped her walk, but the tree roots were a bit tricky. Ava started to get fussy and Aaron realized that we should head back. We ended up walking about 5 of the 8-miles. The trail was challenging and steep, but at least it wasn't too hot.

Taking a break with Mommy out of the Boba.

At the trail head.

Bena loved the woods.

On our last night in Gatlinburg after the hike, we stopped to pick up a pizza for dinner to take back to the cabin. It was relaxing. We enjoyed the hot tub a couple nights. The moon was full and bright both nights! I got a little freaked the last night because Aaron thought he saw something in the woods below us. A bear left a paw print on our garbage container the first night so I was worried it was a bear. We enjoyed dessert and good beer together, relaxing. It was amazing to be there last weekend. The only sad part was that we felt it was one day too short with the long drive. 

On Sunday morning, Aaron let me sleep in and he took Ava downstairs and started cooking breakfast. I got downstairs and it was such a treat to be served breakfast! We left the cabin after packing up. The drive home wasn't too bad. We're not the sure where we'll go on our next vacation, but this Summer we have a couple family reunion weekends so it probably won't be until next year sometime.

The moss-covered rocks were gorgeous!

What Ava is Up to These Days

Life with a 2-year old is exhausting but so much fun! Parents everywhere understand what I mean. Let's just use the example of changing her clothes. I take off a shirt and Ava will run away. Then I grab her and we try to put her clean clothes on, then repeat. She runs away squealing say "Going to get you." She wants to be chased!

Before I became a mother, I heard parents say that they stay fit by "chasing after their kids." Woh! Now, I get it. Not only are you chasing them, but you're carrying them sometimes kicking and screaming. I swear it's a workout! Ava is now up to 26 pounds. Her seemingly insatiable appetite is now evident by how much she's growing. At her birth she was 21 inches and she maintains her taller stature, but she's been pretty lean since her 1st birthday. We try to maximize her calorie intake by offering her nut butters and hummus. She loves both! I offered her some hummus and pita chips this afternoon when she woke up from a nap. After 3 servings later, I put the container away and she said "bye bye, hummus. Love you." It was hysterical. I think it's so funny when she says bye bye to inanimate objects like her baby stroller or some other fun toy.

We're spending lots of time outside these days. Aaron got a ton of top soil and mulch for the yard a few weeks ago. We (mostly Aaron) have been slowly putting it around the yard. Aaron is brilliant with home projects! He amazes me! We have a rocky area from a pool that a previous homeowner covered up. We're trying to fill the bare spots in with soil to grow grass. Ava loves to be outside! She watches us and likes to help. Today Aaron was digging to make a spot for the base of a new play set we inherited from a friend! She picked up another shovel to help Daddy. I wish I got a picture of that!

When I pick her up from daycare, she tells me about her day. I ask her if she has fun and she usually responds "Yes" with enthusiasm. She tell us about her friends and about her activities. Her care givers leave us little stories about her day, which is so nice! Here's a previous post from some daycare stories. Ava is in the midst of transitioning to the 2-year classroom at daycare. She will have big changes in her day with language arts and she will walk to the cafe for lunch with her class.

Ava got a play kitchen from "ma-ga" and "pa-ga" (her name for her Berkey grandparents). If you ask her what she's making she usually says she's cooking pizza. She likes to pretend to pour water and will offer you some apple juice in the cup. We pretend to drink it.

I recently got her a Baby Stella doll. She loves it! Last weekend, it was new so she wouldn't do anything without her baby. She likes to take the clothes and diaper on and off. Ava especially likes to put the baby's paci in her mouth. It has a magnet underneath the material so you can put the paci in front of the mouth and it holds. Ava likes to nurse her baby doll, pat her to sleep and take her for stroller rides. When we move around the house to different levels, she asks "baby comin?" She loves to take her toys up and down the stairs with her. Even the key ring or rock. It's really funny how she brings the toys around with her.

The last few months when I pick Ava up from daycare, she takes off running. Then on Friday, it took us forever to get out of there because she found an open door to this giant playroom where there are a ton of fun toys like this play kitchen and shopping cart. There are ride on cars. She was glued. I thought if I put her sunglasses on her she would be interested in going back to the car. 

Ava is really interested in the ABC's and "writing." She asks for paper and pen to write and asks me to write her name. She likes the paper with the lines. She makes marks both tiny and large. She loves to count! When she counts to 10 she often forgets 6. Her favorite number is 2. When she sees 2 of anything she exclaims "2!"

Our bedtime routine is pretty smooth. Usually Ava falls asleep from exhaustion because she's so busy. We get her in her pajamas, brush her teeth and she drinks some water. Then we read a book and she nurses to sleep. Here's a picture in a rare moment of my hair up. Ava gets really upset when my hair is up, especially when she's nursing. She says "Mommy hair down." So funny. She likes to play with my hair. It's really sweet. Our favorite PJs are a long sleeve onesie and some Baby Legs (leg warmers). She is so warm in that and it looks cozy. She likes her feet bare when she sleeps. Ava is like her Daddy and runs warm.

I wish I could write all the fun things that she's saying right now. Ava is such a great communicator. We talk about the size of things (big, little), temperature (hot, warm, cold), bye bye and home, transportation (cars, trucks, airplanes), relationships (mama, daddy, grandparents, siblings). We talk about everything. She understands the difference between "eat" and "eating." It's fun to see her conjugate her verbs now. At mealtimes she'll say "no like it" or "I like it" and won't touch what she doesn't like. Her favorite foods are spinach-ricotta lasagna, homemade pizza, fish, hummus, steel cut oats (mixed with dates), scrambled eggs, peanut butter toast, fruit and yogurt smoothies, homemade muffins, yogurt, granola and soy milk, naan bread, homemade healthy cookies, and quesadillas. I made her some quick, homemade chicken nuggets out of the chicken breast we were eating last night for dinner. She sang a song about chicken and couldn't get enough. We're having so much fun!

Homemade, All-Natural Deodorant

It was very easy to mix with a spoon in this small bowl.

We recently had an interesting thread discussion in my La Leche League Facebook group about using deodorant without aluminum, which can be especially harmful for women since it's linked to cancer. When I was pregnant, I was diligent about using all natural deodorant, but then I got lazy. Most of the ones that I tried had to be reapplied very often. If you use a traditional commercial deodorant, it's also combined with an antiperspirant to reduce sweating. I had best success when I applied a crystal stick (antiperspirant) first, and then the natural deodorant. One of the moms shared a "recipe" to make your own deodorant. In fact, she's been making it for several years for herself, husband and even her family members. So, I decided to give it a try!

I mixed this batch of deodorant this afternoon. It has three major ingredients: equal parts baking soda, arrowroot starch, and coconut oil. I've started to use coconut oil for more than just cooking. Because of it's in a solid state and contains antibacterial and healing properties, you can use it on a baby's bum to fight diaper rash or on a cut or scrape.

Store the deodorant in a wide, small glass jar that will be easy to put your hand into to apply. The blog post that I found has a tutorial for putting your homemade deodorant in your commercial container.

Baking soda can irritate your skin if you use a lot of it so it's recommended to use a thin layer. I'm going to experiment with using the crystal stick first and then applying a very thin layer of the deodorant to see how it works for me.

Since Aaron is going to try it as well, I decided to add a neutral scent using Tea Tree Oil. We have that oil on hand because we use it on our dog as a natural mosquito repellant. It smells fantastic!

After my shower tonight, I applied the deodorant mix and it rubs into your skin very easily. I'll let you know how we like it!

Here's the link to the original post with the recipe and tutorial. I also posted it to my Pinterest "For the Home" board. Have you tried your own deodorant?

UPDATE: May 6, 2012
I don't think I can ever go back to commercial deodorant! I LOVE this stuff. It rubs into your skin so well without the annoying white flakes from commercial deodorant. It works for both me and Aaron and no funky body odor to report! Aaron was skeptical, but he was really impressed. We went on a hike and I sweat like crazy, but I wasn't smelly at all! That never would have happened with my old Secret. The one thing to watch in the warmer weather is the coconut oil will melt to liquid at 76 degrees. So you can put in the refrigerator and then bring it to room temperature before you apply it. Coming out of the fridge it's rock hard. You should try it!

Freezer Meal: Sweet Potato-Chickpea Curry & Naan Bread

Last Sunday, Ava and I went to our third freezer meals exchange group. We take turns hosting the big swap. We trade family meals that we'll use for the next month. We trade 4 complete meals, but we plan to have more people in the group so we can have 5 meals to trade and people can have their pick for variety. One of the moms couldn't make it this month, but three of us met up tonight to swap meals. I'm really happy to have these meals in the freezer because we average one freezer meal per week. It's so convenient! The advantage that I found with the group is that we keep ourselves on track with the bulk cooking and then trade for a variety of different meals. We started the group in January and held our first meet-up in February an original four La Leche League moms. Since we're like-minded moms (eco-friendly, health-conscious) we started out with the guidelines to use as much local, organic ingredients as possible. Our meat choices must be local and natural too. We cook a family meal and provide an entree, side dish, and dessert. If your dish requires items from a pantry, then you need to provide it. We include the instructions for reheating and finishing the meal. When we started I bought some cheap casserole dishes to use for freezing. Anna told us how to package with freezing our meals into standard dishes and bags in the freezer to minimize space and eliminate the need for passing around dishes. I stocked up on plastic freezer bags, wraps, and foils and away we went.

We've discovered that it's helpful to spread out the cooking in multiple days. Yes, it requires some planning! I select my meal for the next month on the day we meet so I can spend the entire month planning. I consider the month ahead and plan the weekends when we're home to cook. It's working really well! I usually make an extra family portion for our dinner either cooking it fresh or adding to the freezer stash.

This month, I made a Chickpea-Sweet Potato, Cauliflower Curry with homemade curry paste with homemade Naan Bread, from my Simply in Season cookbook.I always cook dried chickpeas for the curry in the slow cooker. I provided a cup of Jasmine rice for every meal and a set of cookies for dessert (either Thumbprints or Sesame Sunflower Seed Refrigerator cookies).

I normally make the chickpea curry using a pre-made sauce from Trader Joe's. Since I was making such a large batch of curry I wanted to spread it out over 2 cooking days and make the curry paste from my favorite cookbook, Feeding the Whole Family. I spread it out in multiple steps: shopping for ingredients, cooking dried chickpeas in the slow cooker, cooking curry and naan bread batches in 2 different weekends, and baking cookies over 2 different weeks. It worked out very well! I used the time to make enough for our meal and then freeze the rest. This made it really easy to do the bulk cooking.

This version of the curry was made with: crushed tomatoes, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, coconut milk, cooked in coconut oil and seasoned with a generous portion of curry paste and sea salt. It was delicious served over the Jasmine rice. I finally nailed the Naan bread recipe, too! Aaron and Ava love it. You can reheat the naan in an iron skillet.

Next month, I'm going to make a Vietmanese meal with chicken Bahn Mi sandwiches and vegetarian pho. I'm going to pickle some veggies for sandwich. I'll reuse the small 4oz jars that I got from the pimentos that I bought for my March meal, Chicken Spaghetti casserole.

Make-Ahead: Homemade Curry Paste

I'm meeting this afternoon with the other moms in my freezer meals exchange. We're going to trade our freezer meals. This month, I made a Chickpea-Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Curry and used a homemade curry paste. Usually, I buy the sauce from Trader Joe's as a base (check out my recipe here). But since I was cooking at giant batch for 6 meals. I decided to make to try a recipe in my favorite Feeding the Whole Family cookbook. The paste is fantastic and not too spicy for the kids. If you want to add some kick, I suggest doing so in the dish that you're cooking directly or when you serve the meal offer hot sauce on the table.


I had fun making the paste. I used my coffee grinder that I converted to spice mill. Ava had fun helping me pour the whole spices in the grinder. The house was very fragrant when it was cooking. I used a generous amount of curry paste (about 1/4 cup) to make a double batch of curry. I didn't use any additional seasoning except salt and it had a really flavor.

Storage: Put the paste in mason jars and they will keep in the refrigerator for many months.

Homemade Curry Paste
A flavoring in soups, beans, curry stews, and vegetable dishes.
Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound onions finely chopped
• 1/4 cup whole cumin seeds
• 1/4 cup whole coriander seeds
• 1 tsp whole fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 2 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 tbs whole mustard seeds (about 1 oz)
• 2 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp cardamom 
• 4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup turmeric
• 2 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 cup peeled, finely chopped ginger

Preparation:

•  Heat oil in a 2-quart pot. Add onions and sauce until very soft. 
• While onions are cooking, grind the following whole spices to a fine powder in a coffee or spice grinder: cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cloves, peppercorns, and mustard. Add to onions. Add the remaining spices and fresh ginger to the onion mixture; let cook about 5 minutes while stirring. Store in a sealed jar(s) in a refrigerator, where it will keep for several months.

If I make this again, I think I'll puree the entire paste since the onions are still fairly large. 

Easter Fun!

Ava was excited to see the duck on the top of the box.

She was shaking with excitement when she saw her presents.

 Easter weekend was so fun! On Friday afternoon, Ava got a package from my mom with Easter goodies. She was so excited when she saw her hot pink box in the kitchen when we got home from daycare that afternoon! Grandma Anna sent her a bunny and an adorable bunny themed plate and cup. She immediately put the plate and cup on the table and said "comin" because she wanted to bring that to "Pa-ga's house."

This is what happens in Daddy's car when we're waiting for him to get our dinner.

Ava knows where to put the key in the ignition to start the car. She said "Pa-Ga's house" as if she was driving there herself!

We drove up to Lake Oliver to visit my in-laws as soon as Aaron got home from work on Friday night. The drive to Northern Indiana is usually stressful, especially on Friday nights the closer we get towards Ava's bedtime so we were thankful to leave earlier. She rarely sleeps in the car. We have a DVD player and I pack her snacks and toys to play with, but it doesn't always work. If she sees me or or hears my voice, she can get antsy to get out of her car seat. It's a 2 1/2 drive and sometimes we have to stop so Aaron will get gas and then Ava can nurse. We stopped to grab a quick dinner and gas up. Aaron went inside the restaurant to order our dinner while Ava and I stayed in the car because of course she wanted to nurse! She nursed for a bit then then I sat her in the drivers seat next to me. She grabbed the car key and started to put it in the ignition. I watched her closely and was surprised that she knew what to do. When we leave I always start the car with her in my arms and then put her in her car seat. This girl watches everything!

Watching a boat go by on the Lake. "Where go?"

We arrived at the Lake around bedtime, but she was too excited to go to bed. She finally was at Pa-Ga's house! In fact, Ava was so excited to be there that she had trouble falling asleep that night.

Saturday morning, we relaxed late into the morning in our PJs. We had breakfast burritos and Aaron got ready to play golf with his best friend, Zac. Ava had so much fun playing with Zac's 4-year old son, Colt! Michele and I ran into town to a Mexican grocery store to pick up my favorite childhood treat, pan dulce (sweet bread). I also found some hibiscus tea. We left Ava with Pa-Ga who walked with her to the channel and she helped him clean the outside of the house. According to Grandpa, Ava asked every couple minutes "Mama home?" He was a good sport!

Ava's Easter basket - lavender nail polish, sheep book, stamps, stickers, a toy chick, bunny, Dora Band-Aids, and purple matchbox cars.

 When Daddy got home after golfing, we started the Egg Hunt! Grandpa hid the eggs while Grandma took her on a walk to distract her so she wouldn't see what was happening.  It was a bit brisk, but beautiful. As soon as I called them over, Ava spotted her first egg! She opened it and was so excited. I filled the eggs with her favorite snacks, stickers, a couple matchbox cars because she loves her cousin's so much. She shoved the snacks in her mouth so fast so she could go onto the next egg. She had a blast! Then Ava got to see her Easter basket. I had so much fun picking it out and she enjoyed it!

Great Grandma Berkey and our family friends, Sue and her mom, Grandma Mary Jane, came over for Easter dinner. Great Grandma had an Easter bunny for Ava and some yellow Peeps. We sat inside and Aaron's mom pulled out her dulcimer. She watched Grandma play it and then grabbed the pick and started playing it! I realized that it was Ava after a few moments. She was great! Ava is really interested in music.

We took a pontoon boat ride on the Lake before dinner. It was relaxing! Ava got a little scared when we started to speed up and some water got in front where she was standing so she quickly hopped in my lap. Then she nursed and it was so peaceful that we almost fell asleep. Everyone enjoyed it, including Bena who sat by Grandpa as he drove the boat.

Ava didn't sleep much yesterday in the afternoon and she went to bed around 9pm. She was having too much fun playing with Colt who came back over with his parents. We had a lazy morning together at the house while Aaron's parents were at church. I washed Bena because she rolled in deer poop and smelled so foul. Ava watched in amazement as Bena got a shower! We had a quick lunch and then got on the road.

When we got home, we relaxed together outside in the yard, enjoying the sunshine. I made a snack to share: celery with peanut butter, raisins, and pretzels made into "butterflies." I planned ahead to use a freezer meal (Chicken Spaghetti, garlic bread, and maple-ginger carrots) so with the extra time, I prepped a split pea soup that I'll make in the slow cooker tomorrow while we're at work.

I had a nice late chat with my mother-in-law last night who reminded me that I should live in the moment to enjoy it all! With my crazy schedule, instead of doing something productive I thought I should just relax sometimes and go with the flow. I took her advice this afternoon when I sat outside relaxing with Ava and Aaron instead of doing something else inside. It was awesome! The weekend was so busy and fun, Ava crashed out after her bath quickly to catch up on all her lost sleep. And now it's my turn to head to bed!

We had beautiful weather for an Egg Hunt!

Excited to look for more eggs.

This big egg had 2 matchbox cars.

So excited to find the eggs!

She literally watched Ma-Ga for a couple minutes, grabbed the pick and started playing. Amazing!