Recipe of the Day: Cheesy Hash Browns

These are DELICIOUS for brunch or dinner!

When making them for dinner (which is when we generally have them) they are great with pork!

Ingredients:

• 1 package of potatoes o'brien (Ore Ida has the prefect ones - frozen)
• 1 16 oz. container of sour cream
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups of grated cheese (i generally use a little more since i like to cover the top once it's all mixed)
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 cups of corn flakes crushed (definitely NOT necessary-but more appropriate for brunch if you want to use them)

Cook:

Mix all ingredients together in a casserole dish, top off with a thin layer of (more!) cheese and bake covered in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. After 45 minutes remove foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.

If adding the corn flakes they can be added along with the thin layer of cheese on top, before baking.

Note: you may have to hit the bag of frozen potatoes against the counter a couple of times to separate all of them before mixing with the other ingredients.

Did i already mention that these are delicious?!?!

Yum.

Enjoy!

Blessed

Well it's official - Reese and I will not be making the trip to CA for Thanksgiving. And to that i say "EF YOU SWINE FLU!"

I'm so completely bummed out. I LOVE going to CA for Thanksgiving (or any other time of the year for that matter) and just relaxing at my Dad and Lisa's house - just kickin' it. But, i guess it's not to be this year. This also means that Nathan won't be with Reese and I for our first Thanksgiving as a family. Super sucks.

When i arrived to pick up Reese from Kathi's house today i met her niece, Jackie. Apparently she's a pediatric nurse so of course i seized the opportunity to pick her brain on the whole thing. She made it perfectly clear that bringing Reese on an airplane right now was NOT a good idea.

I also asked her for an opinion on getting her vaccinated and she expressed what Nate and I were thinking - not enough research done for someone her age. SO...looks like we won't be making the 1.5 hour trip to the only county in NJ offering a clinic for her age group (FYI - children who are between the ages of 6 months and 2 years old can only get the injectible vaccine - not the nasal).

Apparently her co-workers who have children are acting just like me. Not bringing their kids to malls anymore - or even the grocery stores. They also aren't getting them the vaccine. She told me not to think twice, that i wasn't the only mom being this cautious. Although i didn't give a rats ass what anyone thought of me for being so careful, it is nice to hear that you're not the only Mom who is taking precautions that, to some, may sound a bit overboard.

I have to say though, just when you think you have it so bad as a parent you hear something that makes you so completely grateful for every moment - good or bad. We found out today that a girl we went to high school with just lost her third and youngest son (17 months) when he was mauled by the babysitter's dog. Why these things happen i will never know. All i do know is the thought of what they are going through right now is enough to make me physically ill. How helpless and lost they must feel is unfathomable. Not only have they lost a son, but their sons have lost a brother. God bless them.

So tonight i am reminded to count my blessings - every single one of them. Sometimes life throws you some pretty crappy situations and decisions to be made, but never can anything come close to losing a child.

You Can't Prepare for This

When i was pregnant with Reese i would receive endless, unsolicited advice. Most of it consisted of the same stuff, "Oh god. Just be prepared to get no sleep for a few months." "That's it! Once that baby arrives you can't just pick up and go when you want, where you want!"


Ok. So, it is true that you don't get sleep for quite some time. And it will get to you, and some days you'll think you can run on 3 hours of sleep - and other days you're pretty sure they're gonna have to cart you away to the looney bin because the exhaustion has taken on a life of it's own. But honestly, there is no way to prepare for sleep deprivation. Not when you're being deprived of sleep because you're a new parent. Not only are you not sleeping, but the first few weeks are spent learning how to do all this crazy stuff, while not sleeping.


Sure, we can take classes to "prepare" and read books, but the emotional decisions that we make as parents are something you just can't prepare for.

Now something as, what used to be simple, as traveling home for the holidays has proven to be a difficult decision. Our tickets are booked and we've been planning on going for quite some time now. Enter the swine flu. Yup. It may sound totally ridiculous to some, but the swine flu may just be keeping me and Reese from going to California for Thanksgiving.

I know this would probably sound so totally asinine to me before i had Reese, if i knew of someone who was considering cancelling a 3,000 mile trip with their baby because of the swine flu. But you know what? Now that I'm a Mom and have this tiny little person to protect, it doesn't sound so asinine anymore.

Right now I'm doing my due diligence to ask doctors and others in the medical field for their opinion. I've also gone to several websites to find out about the vaccination and side effects. At this point our pediatrician does not expect to get it at his office. So the first question is can we get it. The second is, do we want her to have it. I don't know about either of these.

Then there's a question of if we should bring her on a plane. Expose her to thousands of other people who may or may not be sick, possibly with this flu, and have her sit with 100+ other people on a plane for 6 hours where the same air is circulated the entire time.

I'm thinking...NO. But the thing is...never did i ever think that making this type of choice would be such a big deal. THIS is the kind of decision that you don't think about when you're preparing to be a parent. And even if this type of situation has crossed your mind...there is no way you would know what you would do until you're in the situation.

So, as of now, i really don't know what we'll do. From the medical professionals I've spoken to, most of them are saying they don't recommend she travel. That, to me, is huge. Basically, my gut is telling me she shouldn't go on that plane. Because, as a parent, i would never forgive myself if anything happened to her because i decided to take a chance.

Whether we go or not remains to be seen. I'll be making the decision as the best parent i can be. I'll be prepared to upset people and receive plenty of comments and insight - but i don't care. When it comes to being a parent, nobody can (or should) ever judge you for protecting your child.

Period.

P.S. ALL of the sleep deprivation and emotional decisions...totally worth it. Hands down.

Steady as she goes...

Sorry, no recipes tonight...but i will leave you with something else that is delicious...to look at.

In chronological order, here is a visual for attempting to snap the perfect picture of a squirmy and fearless 6 1/2 month old sitting on the couch:

She had some new clothes from The Gap to model...including a new super awesome hat.

P.S.

If you do read my blog and think others would enjoy...please pass it along! It would be fun to see how many recipes we can exchange.

Recipe of the Day: Salsa Chicken

I certainly won't be posting recipes every day...but the mood struck so here goes:


This is another crock pot recipe - my apologies for not switching it up tonight.



Ingredients:
3 - 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (defrosted)
1 can corn
1 jar of salsa
1 can of black beans (I drain the juice prior - but that's up to you)
1 packet of taco seasoning
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Tortillas

Cook:
Put all ingredients in crock pot
Add 1/2 cup of water
Cook on low all day
30-60 minutes before serving shred each chicken breast with a fork

Side dish: Goya Spanish rice is yum with this!

Serve a couple of (big!) spoon fulls of the salsa chicken in a tortilla with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Enjoy!

Credit: Jessie

Recipe of the day: Crockpot Chicken

Well that's what i call it anyway.

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1 packet of Lipton onion soup mix (the kind you make onion dip with)
A splash of cooking sherry wine (not necessary if you don't have it)

Now...all hail the mighty crock pot! I want to meet the person who invented these suckers. I'm pretty sure it was probably a woman...a mother to boot. What a fricken genius idea! Check this one out - it's going on my Christmas list...it has a timer!!!

Anyway...

Cook:

Put all pieces of chicken in the crock pot
Mix both cans of soup and packet of onion soup mix in crock pot over chicken
Mix all together so that all breasts are coated

• If you're going to be home while it's cooking: Turn to "high" setting for a couple of hours, then turn to "Low" and leave until you're ready to eat
• If you're going to leave the house for the day while it's cooking: Turn to "low" and allow it to cook for at least a few hours.

Side dish:
Cook some white rice on the side - instant, stove top or in a rice cooker

Once all is cooked - place white rice in the center of your plate, put a piece of chicken on it and smother it in the delicious gravy that cooked all day...and ENJOY!

It's also really, really good with some Pillsbury flaky biscuits!

Credits: Lisa Innis

Who's Hungry?

Ok. Here's the deal. I've been wanting to do this for quite some time on my blog and just haven't pulled the trigger.

Although this is probably a complete waste of time since I'm pretty sure only one person reads my blog (no offense, Kerri! Thanks for reading!) what the hell. I'm going for it anyway.

Over time, I've had so many conversations with different people on how it's always such a challenge, for some reason, to think of new meals to make for dinner. Based on those conversations it seems pretty safe to say that we all fall into the same old dinner routine, a slump if you will, and it can be really hard to come out of that meal slump over time. But with work, family and other things who has the time to sit down and actively look for new recipes? Especially recipes that are easy and non-time consuming?!?!

SO, with that, I've decided to start posting recipes as a way of sharing my usual dinners, desserts and party foods for others to try. My hope is that other people will come across these recipes from time to time, and will share some of their favorites, too, for other readers to try as well.

Now...this is still going to be a blog about my dysfunctional attempt at being a mom, but i will do my very best to post a "Meal of the Day" as often as i think of, or come across, one to share.

Disclaimer: i will ALWAYS give credit where credit is due.I will never claim to be the one who came up with every recipe i post, nor can i promise that the recipes i do create myself and post will be tasty.

For those who come across this and don't want to leave a recipe as a comment, are more then welcome to email me with their recipe at which point i will be happy to share it here, and give credits at the bottom of the post.

Mmmmkay....let's cook!

Creepy toy alert

Although i consider myself very new in the whole toy stage of being a parent, we certainly have begun the great collection of fun, educational, use-it-once and she's over it and apparently creepy-ass toys.

And while your child may LOVE every part of this creepy-ass toy (Reese hugs this thing continuously throughout the day), you may find yourself thinking of ways to make it disappear.

Toys that suddenly talk on their own from the toy basket, while you're home alone with a sleeping child and it's 10 p.m. should NOT be allowed. Period.

I don't care if you're teaching my daughter her ABC's, how to hug, or her color wheel. You creep me out. You wait until I'm all alone and then decide to start talking - out of nowhere. What's with that?

In case you're wondering...here's a link to the culprit:

http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2341&e=detail&pid=30407&pcat=bulnl


To ensure we don't inherit any other stalker-ish toys i'll be checking Reese's Christmas list at least twice before it's sent off to Santa.

It was bound to happen

Well, for the first time in her 6 1/2 months of life Reese is sick. The poor thing has had a runny nose for about 10 days now. Why the hell didn't i bring her to the doctor sooner, you might ask? The answer - I don't know!

Every day she woke up with it running like the dickens, but by mid day it would stop and just form that delicious crust around her nose. Aside from that she didn't seem too bothered by anything. The one thing that definitely changed was her nap routine - or her lack there of. She was barely sleeping during the day but i chalked it up to that infamous "6 month phase" that the doctor, and everyone else I've talked to, has mentioned.

BUT, in my defense, each day that the runny nose continued to rear its ugly head and her napping continued to disappear more and more, i kept saying "something just isn't right." Finally, this morning, i called Kathi while Nate was on his way to drop her off and told her that i wanted to take her to the doctor today since whatever she seemed to be fighting wouldn't leave her alone. When i went to pick her up Kathi told me that she had no interest in even eating which just reinforced my decision to take her in.

We arrived about 10 minutes late (anyone who knows me is aware that i HATE to be late) - and they called us right in. Of course the one time we weren't surrounded by sick, sneezing, coughing little varmints there wasn't a wait. Anyway...i striped her down to her diaper and in came the doctor. She listened to her chest, back and then looked into her ears and bingo! An ear infection.

SO...i guess that cute little move she's been doing lately where she shrugs her right shoulder against her ear isn't a new skill. It was more of a message: "Hey you dumb biatch! My ear hurts!"

Oh well. Now i know the signs.

Now she's on antibiotics for 10 days, is getting nose drops so she can breath and eat at the same time, and I'm running the humidifier at night. Hopefully after 24 hours or so she'll feel much better and start to fall into some kind of nap schedule again.

I guess this Mom gig takes continuous practice.

Oh BOY!

So funny...

I had just decided to take a work break to blog about my waiting as patiently as possible to find out if Tim and Kerri are having a boy or girl...

Wouldn't you know as soon as i was starting to type i heard *beep, beep, beep* and it was THE text message I've been waiting for!!!

IT'S A BOY!!!

I'm so happy for them. Nate and I had a feeling it was going to be a mini-Timmy in there.

We love him already...and so does Reese, which will make the arranged marriage much easier 25 years from now :)

They said it would get easier...

Before i went back to work i did whatever i could to "prep" for how i was going to feel, act and behave as a result of this big change. Quite frankly, i was a complete mess leading up to going back to work. I reached out to close friends...and those who weren't necessarily "good" friends, but fellow mommies nonetheless, who were more then willing to email me back, or reach out, just to talk about their experience and lend advice and insight.

The general theme of all of these conversations and/or email exchanges: It will get easier.

Not. Really.

A strange thing seems to be happening for me. Although my first day back was very hard - seeing Nate drive off with Reese, knowing i wasn't going to hear her playing in the house, or napping upstairs - i did what i thought was pretty damn good. And the day after that, and the day after that. In fact, i kept saying to myself, "Shit...look at me go! I'm not crying or anything." Sure i would think about her ALL day long, and i would feel sad, but i feel good about who's taking care of her and when i go to pick her she's so happy that i makes me feel even more confident about my decision.

Now, almost three weeks later, it's getting harder. I feel sad more often throughout the day when i think about her. I constantly wonder what she's doing, if she's making new noises, getting closer to crawling while playing on the floor, and hardest yet, if she's thinking to herself "Where's my Mommy?" Uh. Talk about driving a knife through my heart.

I was just sitting on the floor with her this evening just watching her play and i couldn't help but realize how much she's changing - and how fast it's happening. While it's all so exciting to see, i can't help but think that I'm really not seeing all of it as it's happening. Nope. That's what my babysitter gets to do now.

So, while i am really proud of myself for being back at work, and being able to say that i too provide for my daughter, i can't help but feel like "they" lied.

It doesn't get easier.

Gold Diggers

I might give off the wrong impression with this one, but the following is a glance of what any one work day at the office can look like for me. It's also a little something i like to think of as a damn good reason why some women either become - or are just born to be - gold diggers:

5:30 a.m. - Wake up/Shower/Makeup
6:00 a.m. - Feed Reese/Check crackberry
6:15 a.m. - Find something to keep Reese busy so i can blow dry my hair
6:30 a.m. - Wake Nathan up (usually for the 3rd time); Savor every drop of Foldgers in my cup
7:00 a.m. - Get dressed/Check crackberry
7:05 a.m. - Get Reese dressed
7:10 a.m. - Make Reese's bottles; Pack Reese's bottle;
7:25 a.m. - Log in to answer emails before i get in the car to drive to the office
7:45 a.m. - Put Reese down for her morning nap
7:50-8:45 a.m. - Back on computer to answer more emails while Reese naps
8:45 a.m. - Get Reese up; Change diaper; load her in car seat; head out the door
8:55 a.m. - Stop for gas
9:00 a.m. - Drop Reese at Kathi's
9:05 - 10:15 - Drive 45 miles/over 1 hour to work; Run through parking lot to get into office for a conference call
10:30 - 11:30 a.m. - 1st conference call
11:30 a.m. - Meeting with co-worker about 2010 planning
12 noon - Break record for consuming chicken salad sandwhich in shortest amount of time
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. - Another conference call - survey planning
2:15 p.m. - Sweet - enough time to pee
2:30- 3:15 p.m. - Another conference call - 2010 planning/training design
3:30 - 4:00 p.m. - Finance "meet and greet"
4:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Conduct interview for open position on team
5:05 p.m. - run upstairs to get my shit
5:10 p.m. - run through parking lot to car
5:15 - 6:30 p.m. - Drive...and drive...and drive home
6:30 pm. - Arrive home to Reese in highchair and Nate cooking
6:35 - 7:00 p.m. Play with Reese
7:00 p.m. - Eat breakfast for dinner (no time for grocery shopping)
7:10 p.m. - Give Reese a bath
7:25 p.m. - Feed Reese
7:45 p.m. - Read Reese her favorite book: I Got Two Dogs
7:50 p.m. - Put Reese to bed
8:00 p.m. - Check emails
9:00 - 10:30 p.m. - Watched "18 Kids and Counting: First Grandduggar" (i know, i know)
10:30 p.m. - BED!


With that, I say:

Rock on Gold diggers, Rock on.

Say Hello to My Little Friend...

Well...i should say Reese's new friend. Yup, that's right. The little Peanut was chalked full o' poop for about a week. Finally, during her 6 month check up I asked the doctor how i can ensure my 6 month old does end up with a hemorrhoid. Enter prune juice!

So i filled her sippy cup with 1 ounce of prune juice and 1 ounce of water...the next day the kid shit 3 times! Who knew that an ounce of prune juice could be so potent? Anyway - she's back in business so to speak. I've still been laying off the rice cereal and bananas which seem to be the culprits.

This weekend was SO busy. We threw a surprise 50th birthday for my mom at our house last night. We converted the garage into a martini bar...it turned out great (pictures to come when I'm not so lazy) and she was 100% surprised. Mission accomplished.

Tonight we went to my Aunt's house because my Uncle Tim is in town from California. It was so nice to see him since it's been so long...so long that i don't even remember the last time we saw him. Perhaps our wedding....or the Christmas right after we got married??? Err....not sure. But you get the point - it's been a while.

OH. Rewind a couple of days. Friday night i found myself at Shoprite at 10:30 p.m. stocking up on all the goods to make food for my Mom's party (i made EVERYTHING). While i was there i decided to paroose the baby food aisle. Like i mentioned in a previous post there are just some things i can't keep up with anymore - and making baby food is one of them. Although I've continued to make some things, I've come to realize that purchasing baby food is SO much easier. Anyway, once i started gazing the shelves for all the delectable choices (slight sarcasm in the word "delectable") i was like a friggen mad woman. Just picture me sweeping my entire arm over each shelf as jars of baby food fly into my cart. I was overwhelmed with the thought of being able to feed my baby without doing any of the work to actually produce the food. I bought so many combinations of flavors, both fruits and vegetables, and found such satisfaction in coming home and stocking my shelves with it all.

There was something so satisfying last night about just opening the lid to the jar and simply feeding Reese. And the best part of it all: I'm totally fine with it. I mean, I'm not going to let this cause me to lose sleep like the whole breastfeeding/formula debacle did. I know it may seem strange that feeding my child Gerber baby food is a relief, but i guess i just had visions of homemade baby food fairies dancing in my head for so long. I was sure that i was going to feel like a failure if i couldn't keep up with making all her food. Well...turns out...i was wrong. And, for once, I'm so happy i was. Her favorite so far seems to be the banana and mango mixed together. She can't get enough!

Tomorrow is Columbus Day - i don't have off but Nathan does, so he and Reese are going to play together all day while i work. It is a Bank of America holiday but not a Merrill Lynch holiday (since our calendar coincides with the Stock Market). Next year we will get it off...but that doesn't do me any good tomorrow, now does it?!?!

Ahhh. Time for Desperate Housewives. My guilty pleasure for the night.

My Little Pumpkin Pie

We went pumpkin picking this weekend! I LOVE the fall...and all the fun things that go along with it. I can definitely say that it's even more fun when you have a little one. The place we went to had a tractor that actually drove us out to the fields where you pick your own pumpkin. SO FUN!

Now it's Monday...and i started off the week by going into the office for the first time. It was a crazy day. I'm exhausted, i can't lie. It's just a long ass drive - and once i arrived i was in meetings back to back for 5 hours and then got back in the car, picked up Reese and came home for more chores and work.

Poor Reese cried all evening. She's constipated so who can blame her? She has her 6 month appointment tomorrow so I'm hoping to get some insight on some methods of relief for her - before her little belly bursts or she pops a blood vessel in her noggin.

To top off what wasn't the best day ever, i sliced the top of my thumb open pretty good while cutting an onion. Ouch.

Off to relax before it all begins again tomorrow.

Goodnight.

Promises, Promises

Here are some pictures I promised!
At her Grammy's 50th birthday dinner!

With Uncle Moe

On her way to Kathi's while Mommy works

Boo!

Ready for Bailey's 1st Birthday (did i post this one already? Mmmm....)

To make or not to make

Baby food that is.

I've been making all of Reese's food so far, but i won't deny that it's time consuming, messy and it looses it's lustre after a while.

Either way I've just chosen to make it so i have "bulk" cubes (i freeze it in ice cube trays) and because i actually kinda enjoy it.

Key word: kinda

Now that I'm back to work, and had to make sweet potatoes for her last night, I'm realizing why some people think I'm nuts for spending the time to do it (this includes my pediatrician). Kathi had mentioned that she thinks maybe Reese would like a veggie with her fruits at lunch. So there i was at 10 p.m. last night making sweet potatoes for her. It actually wasn't that bad - just not what i wanted to do on the night of my first day back to work.

The other reason why making baby food isn't always the "best" idea - not all veggies freeze and reheat that well. Example: yellow squash. I went to heat it up last weekend, pulled it out of the microwave and just thought "i could never give this to my child." It looked like hair gel had been squirted into the baby food bowl. Gross.

So today at Target i bought some of the Gerber Organic baby food - Yellow Squash. I figured if i can't make it and have it be as delicious as squash can taste to a 6 month old i might as well buy it so i can broaden her horizons in the food department. She ate it tonight and loved it!

My point is - if your kid is hungry you have to feed them whether it's homemade or store bought. No matter what you choose they will presumably grow and become stronger from it. Now this really makes me want to get on the formula v. breastfeeding topic but i definitely don't have the energy for that tonight. I will, however, devote an entire post to that sometime soon. Let's just say that my attitude toward that is the same as i stated above with solids...and that's coming from someone who worked her ass off to breastfeed....and still do. I'll stop there for now since I'm already gritting my teeth while resisting the urge to get "into it."

In other news: Reese is 6 months old today! My oh my, how time flies. I took some pictures of her today but haven't loaded them so I'll catch up with pictures over the weekend.

Mmmm...i think that's it for now.

Time to do some laundry and stay awake long enough to catch a new episode of The Office!

That's what she said.