There are various 2 camps when it comes to feeding a toddler:

1. My kid eats what I eat.

2. I make my kid his or her own meal.

Lucy eats what we eat with very few exceptions.  If I make something with peanuts or with shell fish she gets a different meal but otherwise she eats just like us.  Back when she was eating purees she was actually eating better than us.  At that point I was working crazy hours and eating “convenience” totally processed food.  She was eating organic fruits and veggies prepared by me.  I always used to joke that she ate better than me!

Here she is this morning, eating Ryvita toast, eggs, and milk.  Mommy had the same thing-only I had 2 egg whites and 1 egg.  She had 2 whole eggs. She needs the fat-I don’t 😉

I also don’t like to give her refined sugar or white flours and try to stay away from that as much as possible.  I do give her those things sometimes but usually she eats really well.  There is one exception.  Daycare.  Lucy goes to a great daycare where they make all the food for the kiddos.  By and large it’s not processed and it’s pretty good for her.  She does get more sugar than I would like there but I decided that I’m paying for it and it’s relatively healthy. I’m not going to stress.  I do cringe when I see that she got chicken nuggets that day but that only happens every once and awhile and I just remind myself that it’s not going to kill her.

Last night I made Chicken Sausage and Veggie Pasta.

It was good!  In fact Shaun gave it 3.5 stars-that’s big praise! (He gave the meatloaf 5 stars-do you see why I cook comfort food-even if it’s ugly looking?)

I found those mini sausages at Costco the other day and bought them on a whim.  All their big chicken sausages had dairy in them and so I ended up with these.  I REALLY liked them.  They seemed to carry more of a flavor punch! To make this, I just sautéed the sausages in a little bit of olive oil.  I deglazed the pan with some chicken broth and then added cauliflower and brussel sprouts.  Once those were on their way to cooking I added green beans, mushrooms, and some coarsely chopped garlic with some additional chicken broth to help steam.  I added some leftover canned corn from the other night right at the end.  I served it over whole wheat penne and put a sprinkling of parmesan on top.

Lucy ate her entire bowl!  Look at how much I gave her!  That kid can eat.

I feel like she’s saying in this picture “What Mom? Can’t you see I’m eating?”

I did cut up the sausage and green beans for her but everything else she ate-oh and I added some carrots and peas since those are her favorite.  She was enthusiastically chowing down her bowl when she made a horrible face!  She had gotten a chunk of garlic and it wasn’t quite what she was expecting-I wish I had gotten a picture of that!

It’s so nice to be able to give her what we eat.  Like a good friend says, I’m not a short order cook nor do I intend to be!

I was craving dark chocolate after lunch today and I didn’t have any.  I ate a fun sized Twix bar and almost immediately I felt a sugar rush and I started shaking.  It was scary!  It wasn’t a good feeling at all.  I think I need to make sure I have some good dark chocolate at work so that I don’t make that mistake again.

I’ve been working on a project for behind our couch.  It’s bare right now and I’ve wanted to put pictures of Lu up there since she was born.  I’m determined to do it this weekend.  I want to do a bunch of different sized black and white pictures in black frames, kinda like a collage but with picture frames.  I have some professional photos that I’m going to put up there but I also have some that we took.  It’s been a real trip down memory lane.

That was one of our first nights home from the hospital.  This picture always makes me tear up.  Shaun wasn’t read to as a child and he proactively went and got a book to read to her.  I love my husband 🙂

Look at this one:

That’s after her first bath.  She looks like a little old man.

Here’s another bath photo:

Sigh.  I try not to get too sad about how fast she’s growing up because every stage is so fun and great.  I don’t want to be one of those people who is continually sad that the past is past and always looking to the future.  I want to be happy in the moment!  Sometimes it’s hard but I think I’ve gotten much better since having Lucy.

Last night we were home and I was doing something on my phone and not really paying attention to her and I thought “what am I doing?” I put the phone away and we played and danced and sang until it was time for bed.  It was so fun and it made us both giggle. She really makes me so happy.

Another thing that I’ve been trying not to do is obsess about my weight. I’m not doing such a great job of that.  My friend said “we’re doing this to feel better about ourselves, now to make ourselves feel bad.” I need to remind myself of that EVERYDAY.  It’s been 5 weeks now of me REALLY trying and I’m doing GREAT.  I’m eating whole foods, I’m not over-indulging, I’m working out, I’m cooking more.  Like most, I berate myself for small little hiccups (like a fun sized Twix) but in the grand scheme of things, I’m doing a really great job!  I’m healthy and I’m teaching Lucy great eating habits.  I’m not eating crap all day.  In fact, I’m not eating crap hardly AT ALL.  I’ve lost 5 pounds and that’s nothing to turn my nose up at.  I just wish I was at my goal NOW.  I doubt I’ll wake up tomorrow 26 pounds lighter 😉

I don’t have any pictures and I was going to let that stop me from blogging today but then I decided to just write.

I’m feeling 90% better.  I think I may sleep in one more day before getting back on the exercise wagon.  Maybe I’ll do some core exercises tonight?  Who knows.

I ate some sugar today and ick it made me feel so ill 🙁 I had two little slivers of pastries from Starbucks and about 15 minutes later I realized that it was a bad idea.

Food today:

B: Protein Shake

S: Those damn pastries, persimmon, nuts

L: Whole Paycheck salad

S: Larabar

D: ?? We were supposed to do lefovers tonight but Shaun ate it ALL last night and the night before was a miserable failure so I have to figure it out.

I always read how protein shakes aren’t good because you don’t realize you’re taking in calories since your drinking them and all that jazz.  I have to say that I completely disagree.  Protein shakes are always a good choice for me for breakfast and I always feel satiated.  Take that weight loss experts! 😛

Wow, I had such a great plan for tonight and it did not work out AT ALL.  Shaun had to work late (in fact, he’s STILL at work-2 hours later than expected) and that left all the Lucy responsibilities to me.  I had to pick her up, entertain her, cook, feed her, get her ready for bed, and put her to bed all by myself.  This isn’t a big deal when I know it’s coming but when it’s unexpected and I have a dinner that requires some fussing with, it becomes hard.

The meatloaf and potatoes needed to cook for 45 minutes rather than 30 because they were cold from being in the fridge.  I didn’t get home until a little after 6 and it just threw everything off.  Thankfully I got Lucy fed, I got me fed and I even managed to take some pictures 🙂

The finished product-it may be ugly but dang was it good!

Lucy thought so too!

GIVE ME MORE MOMMY!

I was supposed to go to knitting tonight but since Shaun is still at work, I can’t go.  Oh well, it’s probably better that I not overdo after being so sick.

Have a great night all!  I think I hear some stove popped pop corn calling my name!

Shaun and I have developed a rating system for dinner.  5 is a favorite, special occasion meal, 3 is make again, and anything below a 3 is either relegated to lunches (if I like it) or never made again.  I made Peanut Butter Pork tonight (recipe found here) and he gave it the first ever 0. *sigh*  It was pretty disappointing.  It got rave reviews on Crock Pot 365 but it was a big disappointment in this house.  It was TOO peanut buttery and just heavy.  Oh well.

Tomorrow night is tried and true winner in this house!  Meatloaf, mashed “potatoes”, and corn.  Isn’t she on a diet? You ask.  Why yes I am and my meatloaf is on a diet too (and my husband doesn’t even know).  I put it together tonight, that way I can just throw it in the oven when I get home tomorrow.  On normal nights I have 30 minutes from the time I get home until dinner needs to be on the table so that Lucy can be in bed by 7 (to avoid monster child).  I’ll be able to just throw the meatloaf in the oven tomorrow and have dinner on the table by 6:30.

Doesn’t that ^ look appetizing?  Believe me, it’ll be great tomorrow 🙂

Here’s the recipe:

Crush 3 Ryvita Crackers and place into a bowl

Add to that:

1 egg

1 pound leanest ground meat (I used grass fed 9% from Whole Paycheck)

~1/4 cup grated onion (it has to be grated or else it’ll be too over-powering)

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Powder

Mustard Powder

White Pepper

Some glugs of Worcestershire Sauce

Mix it all up with your hands and place it in a pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray (you can also do mounds on a cookie sheet but I think that makes too much of a mess). Score the top with a knife. Cover the top in ketchup and cover with foil and then bake at 350* for about 30 minutes.

Pictures of it done in tomorrow’s blog 🙂

I also peeled 2 potatoes and cut up 1/2 a head of cauliflower to put on the stove when I pot the meat loaf in. I’ll mash those with chicken broth, some vegan spread (I’m lactose intolerant) and some seasoning salt and pepper.

I put it all in the fridge and I’ll be able to just pop the meatloaf in the oven, put the cauliflower and potatoes on the stove and then just heat up some corn and we’ll have a dinner!

I’ll get to play with Lucy while it cooks-which is the BEST way to spend 6-6:30 in this house.

Obviously, I’m feeling MUCH better 😉  Thank goodness for some mindless tv and knitting.

That’s Sick At Home for those who aren’t surrounded by acronyms everyday!  I thought I was going to be able to WFH (Work From Home) but my body thought otherwise.  So I’m sitting on my couch watching Top Chef Masters-where’s Padma? 🙁 I don’t like this host.

I thought I’d post some pictures of Lu and then I’m going to take a nap.

At Mommy’s Work Parade:

At Daddy’s Work:

With her friend Aiden on Halloween:

I love the look on her face in this one 🙂

Off to nap!

I’m feeling a bit better.  I’d say 70%.  I’ll be working from home tomorrow and I hope back to 100% by Wednesday.  I wasn’t able to keep the soup down at lunch but I was able to have a protein shake at 5 and then I had dinner-Teriyaki Chicken and “Fried” rice.  Lucy ate like a madwoman today (making up for Mommy).  She had 3/4 of a large avocado, 1 chicken thigh, a LARGE helping of “fried” rice, and 3 Healthy Times cookies.  I swear I don’t know where that kid puts it.  This is after she had crackers and milk at 3, yogurt at 4, and crackers and cheese at 5 at daycare.

Anyway.  I felt good enough to put together my menu for this month.  It features a lot of crock pot recipes.  I LOVE my new crock pot. Here’s the plan:

I’ve been sick since Saturday.  Yesterday was the worst but today isn’t much better.  I’m extremely tired, nauseous, dizzy, and achy.  No fever higher than 99 though and only a hint of a stuffy nose and cough.  I tried a piece of toast earlier and it wasn’t such a good idea but I think the lack of calories is affecting me so I’m going to try some chicken noodle soup.  Just typing that made my tummy grumble 🙁

This really sucks.

I just ate some oats and they tasted so good that I didn’t really stop when I should have and I ate the whole bowl.  Now I feel like I may explode.  It wasn’t really a large portion but I really should have just listened to my body. Live and learn, right?

I was going to take a picture of them but then decided that they didn’t look that impressive so why?  I did, however, take some pictures of the beautiful flowers that my husband got me.  Thanks to Kath I now know that I can use AV Mode until I get all my M Mode stuff figured out.  I did find some online photography tutorials that I’m going to try as well.  I let you know if they’re any good.

The flowers are amazing and smell so good.  It’s also fun to have something to photograph.

Tomorrow, I get to take pictures of my first finished knitting project since January!  I finally finished Lucy’s sweater and I can’t wait to show you.  I love it!

Last night, I was supposed to have stuffed peppers but I ended up not having any help after picking Lucy up from daycare since Shaun had to work late.  I figured spaghetti was easier and so I made a big pot of that.

Lu loved it!

Really liked it.

Okay, really, REALLY, liked it.

And, now she’s all done.

(that’s the sign for “All Done”)

Today’s food plan:

B: Larabar

S: Oats

L: Either a date with my hubby (salad or sushi out) or leftover spaghetti

S: Apple and nuts

D: If we go out for lunch, we’ll have spaghetti for dinner and vice versa 🙂

Legs and Shoulder workout tonight!

I haven’t used an SLR (on manual mode) in almost 10 years and boy do I have alot to relearn.  I took some pictures this morning of my green smoothie and they’re all black-oops.  I think it’s an issue with my aperture-right? I wish I was one of those people that saved all their notes from classes (um, actually, I take that back).  I can see the notes and hand outs that I used to use in my mind and it’s so frustrating to me that I can’t remember what they said.

I took some pictures of my lunch and while they are dark they are kind of cool looking:

I’m working on it :)  Like how messy my desk is?  Argh.

Here’s today’s food plan:

B: Protein Shake (rice milk, protein powder, banana, spinach, ice)

S: Nuts and granola

L: Leftovers-chicken and orzo salad

S: Apple and Nuts

D: Stuffed Peppers

My workout didn’t happen this morning because I was TIRED but thankfully I have time to do it tonight :).