With a Grain of Salt

Hi guys - sorry for not posting for so long. I haven't really been in the mood to write lately for some reason, so I decided to take a little blogging break. But I'm back!


A few days ago I had the idea to make sea-salted caramels. So that's just what I did! They were pretty delicious, however, making candy is slightly harder than I realized, only because timing is everything.  The caramelized sugar can easily burn. I'd like to think that these caramels were my practice run, and next time they'll be perfect.

Here's what I did wrong, so you can learn from my rookie mistakes:

- Um, first mistake? I used salted butter instead of unsalted, so the caramels turned out a tad bit too salty. What a dummy.  Cooking 101: Make sure you *read* the ingredient list carefully. :/  

- Second mistake? I was so worried about not burning the sugar that I don't think I cooked it long enough...which isn't so bad, but the caramels turned out a little more gooey than they were supposed to be.  I didn't have a candy thermometer, so I was just eyeballing it.  Again, this didn't affect the taste, but still - you want a firm caramel!

I followed this recipe by Ina Garten, even though generally I can't stand watching her show on the Food Network because she is so damn boring and has no personality. Sorry, but it's kinda true, right?

An attempted close-up shot.....the macro setting failed me.

Ta-Da! The finished product.

P.S. I know that in my last recipe post I said that I would take pictures of the whole cooking process on my next recipe post, but I was too stressed to worry about snapping pictures. I apologize!


Because they were overly salty, I ended up dipping the caramels in milk chocolate to counteract the saltiness, which rendered them perfecto!! Actually, I would venture to say that if you intend to dip them in chocolate or mix them in with cookie dough or whatever, you could even get away with just making them like I did with salted butter. It was the perfect salty/sweet combo!

Big Apple, big plans.

Remember how I said we were planning to move to New York right before we discovered Mr. Levi was on his way? Well, although I wouldn't admit it, I kind of gave of hope of ever fulfilling that little dream. I was secretly majorly bummed.

Buuuut, now there is a beacon of hope! My friend Raquel from New York told me about a job opportunity through the organization she works for, and I have been giving it some serious thought. I won't get into details just yet, but I figured I'd go ahead and apply and take it from there. Since I know Raquel, I have a huge advantage already, but who knows? Job openings are competitive these days. Obviously it would be a *big* move, and I've been weighing the pro's and con's like crazy. The position requires a two year commitment, so I feel like if I'm going to do anything like this, it's kind of a now-or-never type thing. I would probably never consider moving across country on a whim if Levi was in school, unless it meant a huge step up in terms of a career move or quality of life. Even then, I'm not sure I'd do it. So I feel like I have this very short window of time to do something like this while he is still young enough.


I'll give you the details if and when I hear back, but until then, all I'm asking is that you keep me in your prayers, 'cause I'm a little torn. This is something I want so much, but on the other hand it's not just about me anymore. I have a family now, and they come first.


I figure I'd give it a shot and apply, and when (or if ) I hear back, I'll take it from there! Ahhh New York City, I'd love to take a bite outta you!


Here are some pics from our trip to NYC last January...

A subway cat nap

Brooklyn bound! 

Bedford Cheese Shop in Brookyln, whhhhaaaat! So much cheese, so little time.

One of our most memorable nights...discovering a great, obscure little bar on the Lower East Side
and walking home in the snow at 4 a.m. 

Me and Raqs enjoying some happy hour margaritas down the street from her apartment. 

Body Issues

Ooooh dear, here we go. You know, one thing I've learned is that we truly are our harshest critics. Ask any woman what she doesn't like about her body, and you'll likely get a laundry list of "problems" that you, or anyone else for that matter, would have never even noticed.

And I gotta be honest, I've never been really at peace with my body. I've always been too skinny, too tall, my arms and legs are weirdly long and disproportionate to my torso, my head is small, my nose is pointy, my teeth are big. I could go on and on. The point is, there are some things about myself that I really do like, but why do focus so much on what I don't like? Is it just because you just naturally notice more when you have to look at yourself in the mirror everyday of your life? Or it it society and the media's fault with their
'perfect" airbrushed models and actresses plastered everywhere, constantly reminding us of what we are not?

I wish it were easy enough to be reminded that the people in magazines are airbrushed, photoshopped, and that usually it's their job to look good. They have trainers and experts and stylists making sure they look perfect, not to mention the funds to do so.

It's funny how often you get compliments on things that you don't like about yourself. And I also thinks it's interesting how a person's personality can really affect how attractive they seem.

My point of this post is that ever since having Levi, I've been pretty hard on this ol' bod. During my pregnancy I loved the fact that I didn't worry so much about how my actual body looked. I was more concerned with what was happening inside, and how I could take the best care of myself. My body was a vessel and a temple.  Yeah, I hated finding clothes to wear, but that was just more of an annoyance. Nowadays I complain about how I still have a post-baby pooch, my belly button is still popped out (!), and I got visible stretch marks after giving birth (so much for celebrating my no-stretch marks while I was prego). As summer approaches, I've been getting nervous. I guess I look pretty good for having a baby 6 months ago. But the fact is that I feel like now there's even more pressure, that people are looking and judging even more. How many times have you heard people say "wow, she looks good for just having a baby!" or "I can't believe you've had 3 kids!" or "I couldn't tell if she was pregnant again or if she never lost the baby weight from her last one...".  People have expectations, good or bad. Or at least they seem to notice more. Ugh, I don't know. I'm rambling now.

So I'm just going to start trying my best to get over my issues and try to celebrate my body for what it is. It's a good body, really. It housed a growing BABY for 9 months. It labored and changed and did amazing things to give birth. It has nourished and sustained and comforted my baby boy for the past 6 months.



So here's my postbaby tummy, popped out belly button and stretch marks and pooch and all....

The other day I was flipping through a People magazine or something and I saw a picture of Gisele on vacation in a bikini, and guess what I noticed? Her belly button is still popped out too. ♥

Smile! You're on mama's camera...

(Yes, that's my lame attempt at a play on the Candid Camera theme song)


Levi has always been fascinated with cameras. Video cameras, cell phone cameras, web-cams, regular cameras...you name it.  Usually he is so fixated that he stops whatever cute thing he was just doing to stare and try to grab the photo-taking device, making it nearly impossible to capture him at his cutest. About 80% of the pictures on our camera are him half blinking from the flash, a blurry arm reaching toward the lens, or him just staring. But lately he has been hamming it up whenever a camera is pulled out! Yesterday he was sitting on the couch next to Clay and he looked like such a little man, so I went to take a picture and he was just smiling away whenever I held the camera up. Oh, I might also mention that he has to look at the picture in the display screen afterward to see how he looks. He will pull the screen up to his face and stare at his picture.

We decided to test him and talked to him like normal before holding up the camera. Then, we held up the camera and sure enough, SMILE! We have about 10 smiley pics, but I won't bore you with them all. ;)
My kid's a future supastah!

his hair is getting so funny...it's finally growing, but only right on top!

oh yeah, someone is getting ANOTHER tooth in! you can kinda see the two bottom ones :)

reverting back to his usual ways...

A Cure for the Rainy Day Blues

So I'm kind of late posting this, but last weekend was really dark and rainy and all three of us were feeling a bit under the weather. The solution? Make some homemade chicken noodle soup and hunker down indoors!

We made a super delicious soup and Clay's famous grilled cheese sandwiches ( I don't know what it is about them, but somehow he makes the BEST grilled cheeses!!), and I thought I'd share my recipe with you guys. I didn't really follow a "recipe", I just kind of did my own thing and luckily it turned out pretty darn good! Chicken noodle soup is actually surprisingly very easy to make. It would take a concerted effort to mess it up. Perfect for someone like me, who is not always gifted in the kitchen...

 Sooo here we go! I only took a picture of the finished product, but next time I do a recipe I'll take pictures of the process as well :)
Now, the great thing about this (especially for moms like myself who are lazy or short on time) is that you can make this a super fast way, or take a little more time and effort to make it the real way. Even the "slower" way is really simple.  I'll go ahead and show you the fast way and interject with alternative ways you can make it even more homemade.




Ingredients:

- 1 Rotisserie chicken
- 1 package egg noodles (16 oz?)
- 4 cans of chicken broth
- 2 cans of vegetable broth
- 2 or 3 celery stalks
- 2 or 3 large carrots
- 1/2 a red onion
- 1/3 stick of butter
- basil, sage, rosemary, and oregano (or herbs of your choice)
- salt and pepper to taste

This will yield a good amount of soup! We ended up having leftovers for about 5 days. Make sure you have a large pot, otherwise it's going to overflow. I just used a standard large stock pot. You can easily alter the amount of ingredients if you don't want to make as much, or want to make more, or want to add additional veggies... but this is just the recipe as I made it.


Alternative: Instead of buying canned broth and a pre-cooked chicken, you can make your own! Chicken stock is realllly easy to make, it just takes more time. The cool thing is that you just need the same ingredients for the stock as you do for the soup, so no need to buy any extra ingredients! Just buy raw, bone-in chicken (drumsticks would be a great choice) and boil them in water until the meat is cooked through. Take the chicken out and separate the meat from the bone. Put the chicken meat in the fridge. Break the bones in half and put them and any leftover chicken (fat, skin, etc.) back into the pot of water, add celery, onion, carrots, and seasoning, cover, and let them all simmer together for 3 hours. That's it! Now, I've never made vegetable broth before, but here's a recipe that I've found for that, it seems pretty easy.


For the herbs, I just plucked fresh ones from my mini herb garden, but you could also use dried herbs as well.
Also, I am a huge lover of red onions, but if you prefer a different type, use that instead. Personally, I love the spiciness of red onion. 


Directions:

1. Chop up the celery, carrots, and onions.
2. Put the celery, onions, and butter into a large stock pot and let them cook together on low heat for about 3-4 minutes.
3. Next, add all the broth into the pot.
4. Add carrots, noodles, and break up the chicken a bit as you add it to the pot.
5. Stir so that the ingredients are evenly distributed in the pot.
6. Add seasoning, and bring everything to a boil.
7. Once it boils, turn down the heat, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
8. Eat and be merry!

the finished product!

Yucky weather, yummy soup!

Ta-daaaaa! That's all folks! Surprisingly simple, and super delish. Enjoy! If you end up trying this, let me know how yours turned out! :)

The Nap Strike/Half-Birthday/Future Asthmatic

Last week Levi came down with what I thought was his first cold. I know there are a lot of new parents who are  a little paranoid when it comes to their babies, calling the doctor the second their child has a sneeze or a explosive diaper (sorry), but personally, I am not one of them.  Now, obviously if I think something is truly wrong, I will call the doctor. But otherwise my past experiences have showed me that unless it seems vaguely serious, it is usually not worth the hassle of hauling my baby to the doctor without an appointment, waiting in the waiting room with twelve other sick, coughing, loud, germy kids for an hour, and finally being taken to the exam room only to be seen for 2.5 minutes by the doctor and told that "he just needs rest, and continue breastfeeding." Really? Thanks. If my kid wasn't sick before, he probably is now after waiting in that germ infested office forever.

I guess it gives me some peace of mind to know that a doctor has seen him, but still.  I'm such a bad mom. I usually research symptoms myself online and if any of them seem out of the ordinary or he has the slightest fever, then I'll call the doc.

Anyway, Levi came down with the sniffles and a little dry cough last week, so true to form, I researched symptoms online like crazy. It seemed he had a common cold, and since he's been going to daycare for the past couple of months, I was bummed but wasn't surprised.  About 3 days later he was starting to get a little better, and I was happy he was back to normal. Then, all of a sudden, the next day he got worse. A wheezy, phlegmy cough, more snot, irritability, the whole enchilada. So to the doctor we went.


It turns out that my poor bambino has bronchiolitis, the infant version of bronchitis! :(  He has to be on antibiotics and a baby inhaler for the next week. Luckily the doctor didn't seem worried and it was a pretty mild case, but this means that Levi is at risk for having asthma as he gets older. Poor guy. The doctor said that oftentimes a common cold can morph into bronchiolitis and that boys around 6 months old are most susceptible.


Speaking of 6 months old, today is Levi's half birthday (sound the trumpets)!! I can't believe how fast he is growing up. In another 6 months he will be celebrating his 1st birthday. Wooowwwzers! I'm not sure if it's because he is sick, or because he is now half a year old and thinks he is too big for his britches, but this kid suddenly refuses to take a morning nap. Usually he wakes up around 6:30 (ugh) and goes down for a nap around 9:30, but the past few days he flat out will NOT take a nap. He screams bloody murder when I put him down, even though I can tell he is exhausted. I have always put him down for his nap as soon as I can tell he is sleepy so that he doesn't get a chance to become overly tired, but now he just wants to play and hang out with me alllll morning and it's driving me crazy! Sigh, the woes of motherhood.

Happy 6 Month B-day!

Speaking without words

Ok, remember how I said Levi was trying to talk? I have proof! I had to be sneaky with the camera, so sorry if it's not the greatest - of course he ended up spotting it anyway and proceeded to try to grab it, but at least I got a little snippet of the proof I was looking for. We think he is saying 'hi dada"....but even if he's not it's pretty obvious that he is trying to say something! :)

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