A progress report and more ...

So this week I brought up the Froggy Fun Pool from the basement and put it in the living room. Holding Emery, we walked past it and she wept. And clutched me. And had a bit of a hard time calming down even when it wasn't within eyeshot.

So I put it outside and later that afternoon we walked past it together ... and, no tears!

Yesterday we sat on a blanket outside right next to the pool ... and, no tears!

Though, I guess I was pressing my luck when I put her inside it after she impressed me with her bravery. She cried. 

Aside from getting familiar with the Froggy Fun Pool, Emery has also been enjoying some good Skype time with Henny and Papa, who now have an iPad and can carry her with them all over the house. 

And we're trying to enjoy the final few days of more moderate weather before the oppressive heat arrives. When we go to the park, Emery's adores playing with the stroller and chasing birds. The stroller can occupy her attention for so long that I think I'll make it an inside toy when it gets too hot to go outside.

In the land of food, this weekend we made "grilled chicken for people who hate grilled chicken," and it was a total winner. Because it's true - grilled chicken can be tough (literally) to like and lacking in flavor. Not with this marinade - the plain yogurt lends plenty of moisture and a little bit of tang.

Tempted in the grocery store line by a Cook's Country special edition of "Skillet Suppers," I picked up the magazine and proceeded to make Spicy Steak Soft Tacos. (in celebration that the flourless diet is over!!) Never did a tortilla and steak taste so good - and the homemade salsa verde was definitely worth the effort. 

Riddle me this

Emery is enthralled with the vacuum cleaner, lights up like nothing I've ever seen before whenever I use it, and would probably prefer that I clean all the floors, all day, everyday, to anything else in the world.

This, however, has elicited such fear in her that I hope I haven't scarred her for life:

This is the Froggy FUN pool. It's supposed to be FUN. When I put Emery in it yesterday she immediately dissolved into tears and our waterplay came to an abrupt halt.  Later, Matt put her in it fully clothed, with no water, and she became even more upset, clutched him for dear life, perhaps for fear Mr. Froggy was going to come to life and get her??

One of the reviewers on Amazon said her grandson was scared of the shade awning and I just thought that was ridiculous - how did she know he was scared of it? Maybe he just didn't feel like swimming that day.

Well, now I know she's right.  

So Mission #1 this summer - conquer Emery's fear of the Froggy FUN pool. Stay tuned for a (hopefully) positive progress report!

A culinary challenge

Matt has been on a nutritional "challenge" for the past month - hence I have been on a culinary challenge, cooking without any sugar or flour. Now at first this doesn't sound so hard, right? It just means I get all the ice cream, but when you start to think about not cooking with any flour (and that includes all of the alternatives to flour for those on gluten-free diets), things get a little more difficult.

No pasta. No pizza. No burritos. No quesadillas. No hamburgers. No sandwiches. No waffles. No pancakes. No french toast.

Need I go on?

The other part of the challenge is that he must eat five servings of vegetables (that's vegetables, not fruits and vegetables) a day. Well, that has proved trickier than I thought, too. If I want to keep pace with him on the challenge, that means 10 servings of vegetables a day that our family is eating, and that's not including Emery!

My refrigerator is only so big. And yes, I know I have confessed my penchant for the grocery store, but even I have my limits.

Plus, I'm not crazy about eating meat every day (nor is my wallet), and this challenge definitely requires more animal protein.

YET, it has been good for us all, I think, because it's forced me to get more creative in the kitchen, use more whole grains, get out of some ruts, eat more veggies, etc.

Here have been a few of our favorite recipes this month:


Bulgur Chili with Beans and Loads of Veggies - a meatless favorite of mine, this was so satisfying you'd never have missed the meat.

Chickpea Tagine with Chicken and Bulgur - a great example of how you can cook with a small amount of meat, to please the meat lovers in your family, but not so much that you break the bank or feel that you've eaten more than your fair share of animal protein for the week, and still get so much flavor and heartiness.

Mixed Greens with Chicken Sausage and Mozzarella - this one is easy, barely requires a recipe.  Just cut already cooked chicken sausage (we use Bilinskis) into small rounds, brown on the stovetop, let cool and add to mixed greens with sliced mozzarella and any salad vegetables you have on hand. Toss with salad dressing of your choice.

How has Emery fared with all of this culinary upheaval? Well, she continues to eat less and less of what I put in front of her, but I think that has less to do with the nutritional challenge and more to do with just being 13 months old.

I think she's surviving though, from the looks of these pictures!

He says four days, I say five

Our power was out for five days, or four according to Matt. Technically I guess he's right, though I count four days, starting from 9am Wednesday and ending around 6pm Sunday. That's five workdays if you will, of going without power!

(candlelit breakfast for Emery)

Our "hardship" was nothing compared to what others have suffered as a result of the tornado that whipped through the South last week. That being said, I'll confess I didn't have the greatest attitude most of the time over not being able to run the dishwasher, make some coffee, cook a normal meal, watch a DVD, or even vacuum!

I did have a turning point on Friday night, though, where I think I just settled in and accepted our situation and tried to see what we could learn from it all.  Here's what I discovered:

• Power isn't conducive to sleep. Without power, when the sun sets, the day is basically done. Sure I could try to read or piddle around the house, but with only a headlamp, that's kind of a pain and doesn't last for very long. Plus, with all the darkness, my eyes were getting pretty heavy! So I just accepted that the day was done, turned in super early, and got much better rest as a result.

• We don't see our neighbors nearly enough! When some of our friends/neighbors got power back before us, we quickly transferred food to their fridge and I would be over there three plus times a day to retrieve milk, cheese, etc. Had the power not been out, I might not have seen these friends at all!

• Not everything on the Internet needs to be read. I did have Internet access on my iPhone, but it was limited, so I limited my browsing to mainly just e-mail checking, and news searching (desperately looking for any tidbits of info on when we could expect power to return!) and realized I probably squander valuable time each day just reading things I don't even care that much about on the Internet, probably as a way of avoiding tasks that really need to be done. :)

• Power makes me a lot busier. As soon as we got power back, I began scurrying around the house, cleaning what I could now see, loading the dishwasher, the washing machine, cooking, etc. In contrast, when we were without power, I spent a good portion of my time in a hammock. Staring at the sky. 

(this picture was taken on Easter, before the power went out, but you get the idea.)

So, am I thrilled, elated and so grateful that the power is back, when there was a good chance it could have been another week before ours was restored? Absolutely. However, I'm trying to take heed from the lessons I learned and spend a little more time with friends and neighbors, wind down earlier at night and make sure to spend as much time as possible in a hammock.