I found a great brussel sprouts recipe so I thought I'd share! Sorry I didn't take a picture, but trust me it's yummy looking (and tasting).
Ingredients:
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup boiling water
2 T honey
1 T olive oil
1 T Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb fresh brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved (or quartered)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional, really)
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375. Soak the cranberries in 1 cup boiling water for 5 mins to plump them up; drain.
2) In a large bowl, combine the honey, oil, mustard, salt, and pepper. Add the soaked cranberries, brussel sprouts, and walnuts (if using). Toss to coat.
3) Spread the dressed brussel sprouts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 30 mins or until sprouts are tender and leaves just begin to brown.
I threw this baby in the oven at the same time as a lovely garlic-roasted whole chicken and a pan of baby red potatoes and carrots tossed with olive oil and herbes de provence. We spread our roasted garlic on Italian bread and had ourselves a feast! Mmmm...
Friday, January 11, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
Why I Cloth Diaper
I first got interested in cloth diapering way before I had my first baby because I had a friend who did it and loved it. The money-saving aspect of it was intriguing for sure. Then when I became pregnant with Noah I came across an article similar to this one about the environmental impact of disposable diapers. 500-1000 years to biodegrade? That is equivalent to NEVER, pretty much. And those "eco-friendly" and "biodegradable" disposable diapers may contain fewer chemicals like chlorine and dioxins...but they still don't biodegrade if thrown away inside a plastic garbage bag. Suddenly cloth seemed like the only responsible option for our family. Note that I said OUR family and not EVERY family, don't hate me. :)
After much research I decided that I was going to buy a small stash of pocket diapers. These were cheaper than all-in-one diapers (AIOs), and faster drying, but still had the convenience factor of disposables. I did find a few AIOs on clearance (discontinued color) so I bought a few of those too. I also had a large collection of fitted diapers loaned to me by the above-mentioned friend. I was ready to go. The diapers I had were all one-size, meaning that they were supposed to fit from birth to potty training. I'll describe why one-size diapers are a BIG FAT LIE in another post, so stay tuned.
When Noah was born things did not exactly go as planned. My agonizing breast-feeding struggle is fodder for it's own post, but needless to say I had no time to think about laundry. Noah wore disposables. When I started cloth diapering at about 2 weeks old, I quickly realized some of the diapers weren't going to work for Noah (rookie mistake #1: buying too many of one diaper before realizing my needs). Noah still wore some disposables, because otherwise I'd be doing diaper laundry every single day (rookie mistake #2: not buying enough diapers). Eventually we settled into a nice routine of cloth during the day and disposables at night and when out and about (rookie mistake #3: not cloth diapering full-time). Since I wasn't "fully committed" to cloth, I found it a little cumbersome to be doing diaper laundry when I had perfectly good disposables sitting around. I considered quitting often, but I really wanted to recoup my diaper investment by at least buying fewer disposables.
Everything changed when I became pregnant with Lydia. I had a difficult pregnancy with several complications and relied heavily on help from various family members. I had no time or energy to teach them how to use (and wash and stuff) my cloth diapers, and frankly I was worried about them getting ruined, so we took a cloth break for a few months. And suddenly I realized exactly how much money I was throwing in the trash by not using cloth, and that amount was going to double with the birth of our second little one. We began to prepare for two in cloth diapers.
We cloth diapered Lydia starting from the day she came home and Noah went back into cloth as well. We immediately realized, again, that we didn't have enough diapers. I bought some inexpensive prefold diapers to fill the gap. I had avoided this type of diaper previously because they seemed hard to use and old-fashioned, but I soon came to love them. Lydia was plagued by rashes no matter what kind of diaper we used and we soon figured out that she was allergic to the commercial baby wipes we were using. Enter cloth wipes! I can't BELIEVE we didn't use them from the start (rookie mistake #4: thinking cloth wipes would be inferior to disposable). Not only did her rashes disappear, but the cloth wipes cleaned so much better. We also started using our cloth when leaving the house too...and discovered it wasn't as scary as we thought it would be. At this point we stumbled upon yet another article talking about all the chemicals in disposable diapers and we decided that we aren't buying any more unless absolutely necessary. Period. We're all-in now, and we're doing great. We have some disposables "left over" that we've used when traveling, but that's it.
Cloth diapering two isn't any more work than cloth diapering one, and it sure saves a lot of money (or at least it will, now that we finally have enough diapers!). I really love the fact that the poo gets flushed down the toilet too and we have no more stinky diaper trash. And finally, I love cloth diapers because they are SO CUTE!!
After much research I decided that I was going to buy a small stash of pocket diapers. These were cheaper than all-in-one diapers (AIOs), and faster drying, but still had the convenience factor of disposables. I did find a few AIOs on clearance (discontinued color) so I bought a few of those too. I also had a large collection of fitted diapers loaned to me by the above-mentioned friend. I was ready to go. The diapers I had were all one-size, meaning that they were supposed to fit from birth to potty training. I'll describe why one-size diapers are a BIG FAT LIE in another post, so stay tuned.
When Noah was born things did not exactly go as planned. My agonizing breast-feeding struggle is fodder for it's own post, but needless to say I had no time to think about laundry. Noah wore disposables. When I started cloth diapering at about 2 weeks old, I quickly realized some of the diapers weren't going to work for Noah (rookie mistake #1: buying too many of one diaper before realizing my needs). Noah still wore some disposables, because otherwise I'd be doing diaper laundry every single day (rookie mistake #2: not buying enough diapers). Eventually we settled into a nice routine of cloth during the day and disposables at night and when out and about (rookie mistake #3: not cloth diapering full-time). Since I wasn't "fully committed" to cloth, I found it a little cumbersome to be doing diaper laundry when I had perfectly good disposables sitting around. I considered quitting often, but I really wanted to recoup my diaper investment by at least buying fewer disposables.
Everything changed when I became pregnant with Lydia. I had a difficult pregnancy with several complications and relied heavily on help from various family members. I had no time or energy to teach them how to use (and wash and stuff) my cloth diapers, and frankly I was worried about them getting ruined, so we took a cloth break for a few months. And suddenly I realized exactly how much money I was throwing in the trash by not using cloth, and that amount was going to double with the birth of our second little one. We began to prepare for two in cloth diapers.
We cloth diapered Lydia starting from the day she came home and Noah went back into cloth as well. We immediately realized, again, that we didn't have enough diapers. I bought some inexpensive prefold diapers to fill the gap. I had avoided this type of diaper previously because they seemed hard to use and old-fashioned, but I soon came to love them. Lydia was plagued by rashes no matter what kind of diaper we used and we soon figured out that she was allergic to the commercial baby wipes we were using. Enter cloth wipes! I can't BELIEVE we didn't use them from the start (rookie mistake #4: thinking cloth wipes would be inferior to disposable). Not only did her rashes disappear, but the cloth wipes cleaned so much better. We also started using our cloth when leaving the house too...and discovered it wasn't as scary as we thought it would be. At this point we stumbled upon yet another article talking about all the chemicals in disposable diapers and we decided that we aren't buying any more unless absolutely necessary. Period. We're all-in now, and we're doing great. We have some disposables "left over" that we've used when traveling, but that's it.
Cloth diapering two isn't any more work than cloth diapering one, and it sure saves a lot of money (or at least it will, now that we finally have enough diapers!). I really love the fact that the poo gets flushed down the toilet too and we have no more stinky diaper trash. And finally, I love cloth diapers because they are SO CUTE!!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Happy New Year!
We were blessed to spend New Year's Eve with some of my oldest friends and their families. We started this new "tradition" last year of an early dinner potluck and it was so much fun! This year at the gathering our little Noah took his very first steps! Two little steps toward my friend's 6-year-old son. How Noah loves that boy. I wish I could somehow produce a big brother for Noah, but since biology doesn't work that way, we'll have to make do with days like these. :)
Two days later, Noah just took off walking! Four steps, then more steps, then a whole afternoon wandering the house to the great applause of his grandparents and me. He also now says "ah-bah" for "grandpa" and "ba-ba" for daddy. Mama he gets right. His lack of words don't mean a lack of communication though, since he points enthusiastically at what he wants and signs "more." He also uses the potty a few times a day. His grandma thinks he can be potty trained and I say she's more than welcome to try. ;)
All and all, 2012 was a year full of great trials and greater blessings, and I look forward to what the new year brings!
Two days later, Noah just took off walking! Four steps, then more steps, then a whole afternoon wandering the house to the great applause of his grandparents and me. He also now says "ah-bah" for "grandpa" and "ba-ba" for daddy. Mama he gets right. His lack of words don't mean a lack of communication though, since he points enthusiastically at what he wants and signs "more." He also uses the potty a few times a day. His grandma thinks he can be potty trained and I say she's more than welcome to try. ;)
All and all, 2012 was a year full of great trials and greater blessings, and I look forward to what the new year brings!
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