Catching up

I haven't posted in a while, but there isn't much to report. My eye is feeling much better. I am done with the antibiotics and Michael is finally done with the antibiotics for his ear infection. I got most of the Krismas presents put away, which means getting rid of a lot of old toys. I am still looking for a good place to donate them. I want to take them somewhere where they will be given away for free. I thought about keeping them for when my cousin has a baby but she will be in the same boat as me, getting rid of old toys to make room for the new toys. She won't need hand-me-downs.

Tomorrow we will be going to my Grandparents' house for New Years Eve. I am making the Santa Fe Dip but of course I have not been able to find the rice bowls, so I got more expensive Lean Cuisine rice meals that hopefully will be as good.

Last night my phone broke in half. So today I ordered a new one. It looks interesting. I will post about it when it comes....if its worth a post. I also got a Kindle for Krismas but haven't really used it since I just bought 3 books a few weeks ago. 

2 trips to urgent care in 2 weeks.

This time it was for me. I was cooking chicken and hot oil splashed into my face. I tried to close my eyes but some got into my right eye. I could see ok but it was really really hurting. Fortunately nothing is seriously wrong, just a burnt cornea(just a burnt cornea) so I have to put antibiotic drops in it every 2 hours for 3 days. I have a little bit of an eye phobia so this isn't fun. I can taste the drops in the back of my throat which seems extremely weird. Last night was not fun but I am just thankful Michael was not holding onto my legs like he usually does.

Merry Krismas!

Michael's Krismas picture.

Our toddler-proof  Krismas tree.

A few holiday recipes.

I've been busy over the last few days so I haven't had time to blog. Here are a few recipes I made for a little get together with my cousin and her fiance and some last minute cookies for John.

Santa Fe Dip:
I package Delimex Santa Fe Style Chicken bowls
half a block of velveeta
half a cup of milk

Heat all three bowls according to directions. Mix them in an 8x8inch baking dish with the cubed velveeta and milk. Bake at 375 for about 15 mins., stir and bake 15 mins. more. Serve with tortilla chips.

Chai Spiced Smores:

Chai Spiced Smores.

8oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream
 mini marshmallows
graham crackers
 1 chai tea bag

adapted from 5 Ingredient Fix.

Heat cream in the microwave for 1 min. Let the tea bag steep in the cream for 10 mins. Remove the tea bag and heat the milk for another minute. Put the chocolate chips in a bowl and pour the heated cream over it. Let sit for 5 mins. and then stir. Break 8 to 10 graham crackers in half. Put chocolate on all the pieces of cracker. Place mini marshmallows on on side. Put the marshmallow side of graham crackers under a broiler for 30 seconds. Place chocolate side of remaining grahams on top.



Russian Tea Cakes with cranberries:
1 cup butter, softened
 1/2 cup powdered sugar
 1 tsp. vanilla
 2 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries
 1/4 tsp. salt
 powdered sugar for dusting

 Heat oven to 400. Mix butter, vanilla and powdered sugar together. Stir in all other ingredients until dough holds together. Form into 1 inch balls and bake for 10-12 mins. until set but not brown. Move to a cooling rack immediately. Dust with powdered sugar. 

I made these at 9:30 last night after mentioning to John that I should use the cranberries.

Russian Tea Cakes with cranberries.

My new favorite breakfast.

1 cup of Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt, 1 cup of frozen mixed berries, and half a cup of Special K Granola. Only 380 calories in this huge bowl! It tastes really good and is super simple to make. 1 breakfast sausage patty has 200 calories and an egg has 70. So I can eat all this and be fuller longer without having a bunch of fat and calories.

We should save our money...

and return Michael's Krismas presents. His favorite toys are pots, boxes, spoons, and old clothes. I would never go without buying him Krismas presents or toys for any reason but sometimes I think we should just give him the garbage. Here are some pictures I've taken over the last few days:

Spinning around on a tray and chewing on a bag clip.

In the pots and pans cupboard.

   

Michael's new favorite tv watching spot.

Semi-productive day.

I finished baking the mini cakes I am giving my family for Krismas. Only half of them turned out right but that's ok because we all need to lose weight. John and I put up some Krismas decorations. I wanted to do it myself but he wanted to help me. Well, that turned into him doing it all while I stood in the cold watching him. I already have Michael and John's presents wrapped and the other family members' presents aren't getting wrapped. I need to print out pictures of Michael to put in the frames and I will be done. John needs to clean all his junk off the table and the counter before we have friends over but (hopefully) that will be easy.

I decided to stop the soup diet. It is making me feel horrible and I am not losing weight. Twice since Michael was born I have counted calories and kept a food journal. It works for 2 weeks and then I decide to stop tracking it. Once I stop keeping track I start eating poorly again, so this time I decided to use an online food and exercise diary. I would have preferred to lose 10lbs in a week but if I only lose 2lbs a week I will still be happy.

Michael is taking a nap, which he needs woken up from soon, although  hate doing that and John is sleeping, finally, so I am just relaxing for the moment.

After 2 days on the soup diet...

I gained 1 lb. back. I don't think that's possible since I didn't cheat. Ok, I did have a spoonful of peanut butter last night, but seriously that couldn't have given me a pound. I was so upset when I got on the scale that I just burst into tears. John says it has to be working because he's already lost 5lbs(GRRRRR!). So I am just going to stay away from the scale until the end of the week.

Sleeping through the night.

I am constantly told that Michael should be sleeping through the night. I should let him cry in his crib. he should lie down at 9pm and not wake up until 9am, he shouldn't have a bottle before bed or be rocked to sleep, if he is sleeping in my bed now he'll still be there when he's 10, etc., etc., etc....

 Where did this idea of babies sleeping through the night come from? Do you sleep a full 8 hours without waking up every night? Ever? I have never had a night where I didn't wake up at least once. I am an adult and know nothing is going to happen. Michael is across the hall and John is at work, the doors are locked and the dog is on the sofa. Michael doesn't know all of that. So when he wakes up alone in his room he thinks he is truly alone. Of course he will cry until I pick him up, then he goes right back to sleep. Now that he is older and doesn't sleep much during the day and never stops moving I am more tired so I have just been letting him sleep in my bed. If he wakes up at night he just rolls over to find me and goes back to sleep. Now he doesn't have to get scared and cry and I don't have to get out of bed and get a stiff neck because I fell asleep in the rocking chair.


There are times I get frustrated that he doesn't sleep more and yes I am tired, because no one really has the time to "nap when the baby naps". If I did that the house would be a disaster and we'd never have dinner. But he is only little once and this will pass. Soon enough he'll be outside working on cars with his dad and playing with his friends. He'll only want Mommy when he's hungry.


Here is a great article about kids and sleeping patterns: Everything You Know About Sleeping Through the Night is Wrong

After one day of the soup diet...

I've lost 2lbs!!! I think my scale must be broken because that seems crazy. The diet does say if you don't cheat you should lose 5-7lbs by the 4th day so I guess this makes sense. I was pretty hungry just eating fruit and soup yesterday. The problem is there isn't mush you can do with fruit except eat it raw and that was getting old. The soup is good but I definitely wouldn't ask for it again. Today is vegetable day so it should go better. There are a lot more vegatables I can eat since you can get those frozen. Right now I'm eating stir-fry veggies with a little salt and pepper. For dinner I plan to make roasted acorn squash, carrots, onions, and peppers.

Night light crisis!

Michael's night light blew out last night and I couldn't take another night of it being dark in his room. If he wakes up and it is dark he gets scared and if I need to go in there I can't see anything. We bought a new night light that doesn't make any light. So this is my solution:

I put Krismas lights on the curtain.

Soup Diet

John and I are going to try the soup diet starting tomorrow. I know it is right before the holidays so we are going to have to be careful and not eat like crazy at Krismas. Hopefully we both lose at least 10lbs and don't gain it all back, but unfortunately, Grammy Marie's stuffing is hard to resist(and full of butter).

 

 Sacred Heart Medical Diet

This 7-day eating plan can be used as often as you like. If correctly followed, it will clean out your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well-being. After only 7 days of this process, you will begin to feel lighter by at least 10 pounds and possibly 17 pounds, and experience an abundance of energy.

SOUP:

• 1 or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
• 3 plus large green onions
• 1 large can of beef broth (no fat)
• 1 pkg. Lipton Soup mix (chicken noodle)
• 1 bunch of celery
• 2 cans green beans
• 2 lbs. Carrots
• 2 Green Peppers

Season with salt, pepper curry, parsley, if desired, or bouillon, hot or Worcestershire sauce. Cut veggies in small to medium pieces. Cover with water. Boil fast for 10 minutes. Reduce to simmer and continue to cook until veggies are tender.

This soup can be eaten anytime you are hungry during the week. Eat as much as you want, whenever you want. This soup will not add calories. The more you eat, the more you will lose. You may want to fill a thermos in the morning if you will be away during the day.

DRINKS:

• Unsweetened juices
• Tea (also herbal)
• Coffee
• Cranberry juice
• Skim milk
• Water, water, water

DAY ONE

Any fruit (except bananas). Cantaloupes and watermelon are lower in calories than most other fruits. Eat only soup and fruit today.

DAY TWO

All vegetables. Eat until you are stuffed with fresh raw, cooked or canned veggies. Try to eat green leafy veggies and stay away from dry beans, peas or corn. Eat veggies along with the soup. At dinnertime tonight reward yourself with a big baked potato and butter. Don't eat any fruits through today.

DAY THREE

Eat all the soup, fruit and veggies you want. Do not have a baked potato. If you have eaten as above for three days and not cheated, you should find that you have lost 5-7 pounds.

DAY FOUR

Bananas and skim milk: Eat at least 3 bananas and drink as much milk as you can today, along with the soup. Bananas are high in calories and carbohydrates, as is the milk but on this particular day, your body will need the potassium and carbs. Proteins and calcium to lessen the cravings for sweets.

DAY FIVE

Beef and tomatoes: you may have 10 to 20 ounces of beef and a can of tomatoes, or as many as 6 tomatoes on this day. Eat the soup at least once today.

DAY SIX

Beef and veggies, eat to your heart's content of the beef and veggies today. You can even have 2-3 steaks if you like with green leafy veggies but no baked potato. Be sure to eat the soup at least once today.

DAY SEVEN

Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice and veggies, again, be sure to stuff yourself and eat the soup. You can add cooked veggies to your rice if you wish.

By the end of the 7th day, if you have not cheated on this diet, you should have lost 10 to 17 pounds. If you have lost more than 17 pounds, stay off the diet for two days before resuming the diet again.

This diet is fast. The secret lies within the principle that you will burn more calories than you take in. It will flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well-being. This diet does not lend itself to drinking any alcoholic beverages at any time. Because of the fat build-up in your system. Go off the diet at least 14 hours before any intake of alcohol.

Due to the variety of digestive systems in individuals, this diet will affect everyone differently. After day three, you will have more energy than when you began, if you do not cheat. After being on the diet for several days, you will find that your bowel movements have changed. Eat a cup of bran or fiber. Although you can have black coffee with this diet, you may find that you don't need caffeine after the third day.

The basic fat burning soup can be eaten anytime you feel hungry during the seven days. Eat as much as you wish. Remember the more you eat, the more you will lose. You can eat broiled, boiled or baked chicken instead of the beef. Absolutely no skin on the chicken. If you prefer, you can substitute broiled fish for the beef on only one of the beef days. You need the high protein in the beef for the other days.

Continue on the diet as long as you wish and feel the difference both mentally and physically.

DO NOT - DO NOT

No bread, alcohol, carbonated drinks (including diet drinks). Remember, absolutely no fried foods.

DO - DO - DO - DO

Drink plenty - at least 6 to 8 glasses - of water a day, as well as any combination of the following beverages: black coffee, unsweetened fruit drinks, cranberry juice and skim milk.

This diet comes from the Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital that is used for overweight heart patients in order to lose weight rapidly, usually prior to surgery.

My twin is in a coma.

I mentioned my sister, Ashley, and how she is in a nursing home so I figured I should probably explain.

On November 11, 2009 around 11pm Ashley was driving home from work and wrecked. She was over a hill and no one could see her. Our father and Uncle searched for her and found her using the spotlight they search for deer with. It had been about 4 hours since she wrecked. They went to the car, assuming she was dead. She was barely hanging on. The Shannock Valley Volunteer Fire Department were the first to respond. My dad and uncle have said that they were the most wonderful bunch of guys ever. She was life flighted to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. She had suffered a traumatic brain injury. Her jaw was also broken and she had some cuts and bruises. As badly as the car was smashed it should have been even worse. She spent about a month in the Neurological Intensive Care Unit(NICU). She spent another month in a step-down unit there until she was moved to a specialty care center in Latrobe. She was there for a month and then was moved to a nursing home in Greensburg. She has been at the nursing home since.

She is not able to talk, sit up, walk, eat, or really do anything. Some days she is very alert. She will try to talk and has said "HI". Sometimes, mainly for our dad, she will move her arms and point at things. No one knows why she wrecked. She had just graduated from IUP's Culinary School and was doing and internship at the Butler Country club. She had to drive an hour and 15 minutes to and from work. She is also engaged.

Ashley in January, getting a visit from Michael and I.

Although she is sometimes alert, she is still technically in a coma. If you would like to know more about her story visit her website at www.caringbridge.org/visit/ashleystadtmiller.

Ash with her fiance, Drew.

Ash and her first deer.

Chocolate pancakes with peanut butter sauce.

I have been wanting to make chocolate pancakes for a while so today I tried them. They were delicious but a lot more like dessert than breakfast. I couldn't get  apicture because they were gone too fast.


Chocolate Pancakes:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
 2 tbsp. oil

Mix all ingredients together. There will be some lumps. Pour into hot, buttered skillet and cook until bubbles form around edges, flip and cook for 2 minutes more. I usually make mini pancakes because they are easier to flip.

Peanut butter sauce:
Heat 1 cup of milk on the stove. Do not boil! Take off the heat and stir in 1 cup of peanut butter until smooth. Add more peanut butter, little by little, until the sauce is as thick as you like it. If it gets too thick just add more milk.

Ear infection!

Michael has an ear infection. Luckily he is a very happy baby and it really isn't bothering him. Today was pretty rough though. He woke up at 6:30am and didn't stop whining until 8am. I have been up since 4am because he came to bed with me and was very restless. At 12:30pm he started crying and didn't stop for 45 mins. We took him to the Dr. and they checked everything. They ever did some x-rays to see if he might have swallowed something. They had to put him into a harness which was basically a plastic tube. John went in with him and said it was horrible. I could hear Michael screaming in the hall.  So after all that they say it was just gas.

He fell asleep on the way home and slept for a while. When he woke up he was still grumpy but seemed ok. Then around 7pm I noticed something wet in his ear. I figured it was something I missed when I cleaned him up from dinner. Nope, it was stinky puss. We took him to the urgent care 5 mins before it closed and they were nice enough to see him. Then we went on a search for a pharmacy that was open and had the antibiotic we needed.

We got home, got him medicated, gave him a bath and he is doing much better. He finally decided he was hungry and stole half of my bologna sandwich from my hand. So I gave him some bologna and American cheese and he scarfed it up. Now hopefully he goes to bed early, which means before midnight.

My biggest complaint about our house.

It has white carpets!!! They look beige now because they are so stained. The living room is the worst because the front door opens right into it. Another horrible design. All winter long the first 3 feet of our living room is wet and muddy. Kids, dogs, husbands who work on cars, and white carpets don't mix. I just needed to rant about that a little. Thanks!

Am I obsessed?

Today I was helping my mom with a bake sale for my sister. As usual John and I got into a fight as I was trying to leave. Michael is a wonderful baby, but I do need a break once in a while. For some reason I complain that I haven't had a day without him in so long and then when he leaves I miss him almost immediately. I was leaving him with his dad today, which makes me more nervous than when he goes to one of his aunt's.

John doesn't so things like I do and he doesn't know exactly what Michael needs like I do, but they will survive and I know it will be fine. I worry about him so much though. I never sleep through the night, even if Michael does, because I have to wake up and check on him several times. I am always worried if he's cold, or hot, or hungry, or tired, or uncomfortable, or.... All I do is worry. People say it is because he is my first(and only)but I think I would be like this if he was my fifth. He is the most precious thing to me and that can cause problems. I will be honest and tell you that I care about him a hundred times more than I care about John or anyone else. I think this is probably a normal motherly feeling, but it can be exhausting. I want to have more of "me" but everything in my life centers around him and its my fault things are that way.

He is only little once and since we are not having anymore children I want to take full advantage of this time. I just wish I could figure out how to balance it all. I have never let Michael cry, I hold him all the time, I stop what I'm doing immediately if he needs something,. Everyone says I'm spoiling him but aren't I just showing him that he can count on me? No one ever tells you about these things when you are pregnant. And it seems like no one remembers what it was like to have a little one. They all say "You can't let him do __." But they don't tell me how to get him to sleep, eat, etc.

As Olivia the piglet's mother says "You wear me out, but I love you anyway."

Whole Chicken in the crock pot

Tonight I am making one of my family's favorite meals for dinner. Chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. I will admit that I am using a box of stuffing mix and gravy mix. I always use instant mashed potatoes because really, who has time for real ones. Once a month we buy food from Angel Food Ministries so this is why I have the packaged stuff. Usually I will make crock pot stuffing. Since this is an easy dinner I just wanted to let you in on one of my favorite meal planning tricks.

A 7-8lb chicken is only around $8 and will feed my family for 4 meals. Tonight we will slice the breast for dinner and then i will shred the rest and put in ziplock bags to freeze. In the next couple weeks I plan to use it for chicken alfredo, chicken noodle soup, chicken pot pie, and chicken salad. This is also great in the summer time so you don't heat up the house with your oven

This is all you need to do:
Thaw the chicken if frozen. Rinse and dry it well.
Season it how you like. I just use salt and pepper.
Put the chicken in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. I usually flip it halfway through but its not necessary.


And Ta-da! You have a fully cooked chicken without a lot of work.

My chicken after 5 hours of cooking.

Hello Everyone!

This is my first-ever blog. I just wanted to do a little introduction for everyone out there. My name is Amanda. I am 24, married, and have a 16 month old son, and a dog. We live in Pa in a crappy little house(you will probably hear a lot of bad things about our house from me). My family lives about 30 mins away from us and my mother-in-law(MIL) lives about 20 mins away, but we don't see her much. We actually don't see much of my parents either because my sister is in a nursing home(I'll explain later). My family is very close though. We have family dinners at my grandparents house often and we talk to each other almost everyday. If anyone has a problem we work together to help them.

John and Michael in Pittsburgh this summer.

Michael(3 months old) and Rocky.

So about my little family... My husband, John, works the night shift at the county jail. so that makes things hard. He doesn't get weekends or holidays off. He works for 7 days and then has 3 or 4 days off so its not all bad. My son, Michael is 16 months old and I think he is already going through the terrible twos. As I type this he is throwing everything off the kitchen table. I practice attachment parenting, and my husband is more old school. I don't yell(often) and I don't spank. Michael is allowed to do whatever he wants, within reason, as long as it doesn't hurt him or anything else. If he doesn't start out in my bed, most nights he ends up there around 3 am. Our dog is a red heeler and can be a pain. He loves Michael and is fairly well behaved though.

I try to cook dinner every night, not always from scratch. Even though John isn't always awake for dinner its nice to have something good for Michael and leftovers in the fridge for John. I also bake something every couple weeks. I don't do it all the time because John and I both are trying to lose weight.

Well that's the gist of life around here. I hope that I can provide all the moms(and dads) out there with encouragement, maybe some inspiration, and undoubtedly a few laughs.