Food Review! Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter and Udi's Plain Bagels

When The Hubs and I first decided to go gluten free, one of my first sad goodbyes were to bagels. I've always been in love with bagels. My absolute favourite breakfast is a hot bagels smeared with slightly melty cream cheese. So, imagine my joy when I found gf bagels at Trader Joe's a couple of days ago!

The  pack of four bagels was 4$ at TJ's, and 6$ on Udi's site. The site claims their bagels are "soft, chewy, and yummy," and honestly, they aren't lying. I have heard absolute horror stories about gf baked goods. They taste nothing like bread, they're dry as saw dust, they're super hard, in a nutshell, nothing you would want to eat. These bagels gave me faith that gf eating will be anything but horrible. I normally toast my bagels, but seeing as our toaster disappeared in The Move, I had to try these in their natural state. I pulled one out of the bag, and gave it a good look over before taking my first nervous bite. My fear quickly melted into joy. They looked, felt, smelled, and tasted like a normal bagel. My only complaint is that they are a bit dryer than a regular bagel. This, however was fairly easily fixed by applying a healthy layer of TJ's pumpkin butter.

The pumpkin butter was a bit of an impulse buy. I'm mildly addicted to pumpkin, and will buy just about anything with pumpkin on the label. The Hubs was initially weary of the pumpkin butter due to his negative feelings about apple butter. Upon reading the ingredients, though, he quickly changed his tune. The ingredients are literally pumpkin, sugar, honey, lemon juice concentrate, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger! With the exception of the lemon, it's like pumpkin pie in a jar! I am not the biggest fan of lemon, and so I think the lemon could be toned down a bit. However, even with it being a little more lemony than I would like, it's still fantastic. It tastes like heaven and probably wouldn't be too hard to make. Although, at 2.29$ a jar, I don't feel too bad about buying it. I definitely see this becoming a staple in our home.

So, all in all, these two products thoroughly impressed me! The bagel's slight dryness is easily fixed with a spread and the pumpkin butter is fall in a jar. I don't think my first gf food adventure could have gone much better!

He's Here!

The weeks leading up to my labour were full of bad luck. Our AC had died (and thankfully been fixed) in part of the house, the master bath had mysteriously flooded, the cat managed to get life threateningly ill, and just two days before the big day, the septic had backed up into the house. I woke up at about 5:30 a.m. on August 25th to thunder and mild cramping. I tossed and turned for a bit before finally giving up and deciding to go to the bathroom. Being 41 weeks and 1 day, I did the frequent prayer for bloody show, and this morning my prayer had finally been answered. The poor cat had gotten himself locked in the bathroom with me and must have been quite confused by my little celebration. Afterwards I made my way back to bed, because I knew I was going to have a very long day ahead of me. After a few minutes of being extremely uncomfortable, I decided to make the best of it and just get up for the day. At about six the power flashed and being mildly afraid of the dark, I ran back to the bedroom to wake my hubby up and let him know that I thought things were starting. At this point the thunder was rather intense and he decided to just get up as well. As we worked on eating breakfast and cleaning up we decided to go ahead and time contractions so that we could give our midwives and Marie an idea as to where I was. By about 7:30 my contractions were around 30-40 seconds long and about four minutes apart, and this is where they stayed for most of the day. Around 9 we decided to go ahead and give Marie the okay too come over even though we didn't think we needed her yet. The rain was pretty bad and the streets were flooding, so we were all concerned that her car wouldn't make it if we waited much longer. As it turned out, it was already too late, and the Hubs had to go out and pick her up. Shortly after Marie arrived we discovered that the power was out in half our house. This, of course, was the half that controlled most of our major appliances, including the AC.  The entire time, I was having back labour and my contractions would get very intense any time I sat. We decided to distract ourselves by playing cards until the electric company could come out. Eventually Marie talked me into sitting and continuing to sit through a few contractions to let them continue doing what they needed to do. Without fail I would have a contraction at the start of each of my turns. After a few games and a glass of wine, Marie and I decided to try and get a nap since it was going to be such a late night. I laid down for a little bit, but my contractions were getting stronger and stronger, and laying down was anything but comfortable. I got back up, and Marie followed shortly after. At this point my contractions were definitely a fair deal more intense and my back was killing me! Marie, Laura, and Bettie all suggested I get on all fours to see if baby would reposition himself enough to help my back a bit. I got into position and stayed that way for about an hour, to no avail. My back continued to throb no matter what we did. By now my contractions were close to a minute long, but still around four minutes apart. I spoke with Bettie while we figured out what the plan would be in case the roads were still flooded and to let me know she would be in Virginia Beach for a bit. A little while after getting off the phone with Bettie, Laura texted to see how everything was going. She asked if I wanted Bettie to come by and check on me on her way through town, but I said no because even though things felt intense, I knew it would stay that way for quite a while, especially if baby was sunnyside up. I knew that all she would be able to tell me was what I was already doing. Within half an hour things intensified again, and the Hubs decided he wanted someone to come check on us anyways, even though I insisted that things were fine. Laura said we had missed Bettie, but that she would come over. The Hubs was amazing. He was always right where he needed to be, doing exactly what needed to be done. He would follow Marie's lead, trading off doing counter pressure and holding hot rags to my back. As soon as he would notice I was having a contraction, he would drop what he was doing and hold me while we swayed together, reminding me that I could do absolutely anything for a minute. After a particularly intense contraction I decided to try going to the bathroom even though I really, REALLY didn't want to. Sitting always made my contractions worse, and sitting on the toilet was excruciating. All day anytime I would sit to go to the bathroom, I would have to jump up halfway through to deal with the contraction. This time, the contraction began as I was sitting, and I finally decided, screw this, I'm peeing in the tub. As soon as I stepped in the tub, another extremely intense contraction hit and as it ended, I couldn't not push. With that, my water broke. Almost immediately, another contraction came. After a little bit, Marie came to check on me, and I can only imagine what she was thinking when she saw me standing in the tub! She came over and helped me take my shirt off so that she could spray water on my back. This is where things get a little hazy for me. Someone called Laura to say she really needed to hurry and at some point Marie called Bettie. Bettie began to walk Marie through what needed to be done, and the goal was to keep me from pushing until Laura arrived. She had me lay down on my side and blow through the contractions, which didn't work very well. I remember being really upset that the Hubs' mom and sister weren't there yet, and it seemed like they walked in right then. From that point it was game on, and he was coming whether we were ready or not. Bettie walked Marie through every step, and at 8:10 p.m., he came out, not sunnyside up, just huge and yelling. Marie got to be the one to hand me my baby for the first time, and I honestly couldn't imagine it any other way. Seconds later, Laura walked in and took over. Very shortly after that, we lost all power, so weighing him, measuring him, everything had to done by candlelight. It was really cool and I feel like that just really added to the experience. Everything was perfect, R scored two 9's, I only had a tiny tear that didn't even need stitches, and no one freaked out. It was amazing.

It's getting so real!

When the Hubs and I found out in December that we were expecting our first little one, we were absolutely shocked. Not because we are young, not because we weren't trying, but because we had been trying for so long with no result.

I will give you a quick run down so that you can better understand what I mean.

We were told very early that if we wanted biological children, that we would need to begin the process quickly. They had done what felt like hundreds of blood tests, an HSG, ultrasounds, everything, and they said it all came back normal. At the time, my doctors weren't exactly sure what the problem was, but they predicted that I was probably having anovulatory cycles, and that as time went by it would probably get worse. Since we both really wanted children, we immediately began trying, and month after month nothing changed. Since my cycles were so infrequent, every month I would be sure this was it, because Aunt Flo was nowhere to be seen. Each month we would anxiously test, and each month would end in heartbreak. After a while my doctor decided it was time to add Clomid and ovulation predictors to the routine. I took the Clomid for about four months, sometimes responding, sometimes not, before I was finally transferred to an actual infertility clinic about an hour away. From here, a Reproductive Endocrinologist quickly diagnosed me with PCOS and had us begin Clomid IUIs with HCG shots. After another four months of this with no success and my body not responding well, we discovered another roadblock. At one of the scans the RE noticed a strange cyst, and decided to have us get an ultrasound just to be sure that everything was okay. What we discovered was that while the cyst was of no concern, the fallopian tube it was on was. We learned that something wasn't quite right with the tube, and that I would need surgery to figure out what was going on and to hopefully fix it. During the surgery it was discovered that the tube was covered in cysts, blocked, twisted, and full of fluid from the previously mentioned cysts. There was nothing they could do other than remove it, and remove it they did. After a month or so to recover, we picked right up with the IUIs and a new medication, Femara. I responded beautifully to Femara, but still wasn't pregnant after another three months. Then, right before Thanksgiving, we were devastated to learn that I had not responded to the medication. I had a couple tiny follicles, but nothing that would be viable. After re-scan and no growth, the RE told me this particular cycle had failed. He said I would not ovulate this month and that I shouldn't come back until we were ready to proceed with IVF.  Over the next few days I kept stubbornly testing for ovulation, but kept coming up negative. Hubs' aunt then gave us a mother goddess doll, and I kid you not, I ovulated the next day! At this point I was so late in my cycle that I sincerely doubted it would work, but we decided to give it a go any ways. And two weeks later, there were two glorious lines. We later found out that I ovulated from the ovary without a fallopian tube, and so it was even more special.

I promise that was the quick version!

So, after all that, it's been very hard to believe at times that this is actually happening. I remember in the very beginning I was sure the test was faulty. Then I was skeptical that I wasn't just being shown a video of an ultrasound. Then I had to convince myself that my midwife wasn't just telling me she found a heartbeat to spare me. Then I was sure that those little flutters were all in my head. I was just so sure that after two years of disappointment that this was just going to end in disappointment as well. Anytime something good would happen, something worse was just around the corner. Now that I'm as far along as I am, there is no denying it! My belly has grown and those flutters are full on punches now.

I'm 78 days away from my guess date, and it still shocks me to know that this is actually happening. It actually worked. We're actually going to be parents. It's not a big elaborate scheme to crush me in the end, this is real! And I couldn't be happier.

And Here It Is...

Okay, so by now I'm sure everyone and their mother has seen the recent Time magazine cover, but in case you haven't, here it is:

mommyish.com

 

 

This cover, and I suppose for some the article, has caused major controversy as of late. I have heard everything from cheers of encouragement to sneers of disgust. I have read comments calling this woman and all mothers like her both saints and perverts. I have expressed my personal opinion to my husband and sister, but beyond that have refrained from saying much. I have researched and reposted several articles discussing different points of what is considered attachment parenting, but have refrained from expressing whether or not I actually agreed with those articles. This was all to prevent a possible backlash from those in my life, but in the end I only know one of you, and I'm sure that particular reader won't disintegrate into a pool of blind anger if we happen to disagree. So, with that, I'm going to discuss my personal feelings about this cover, the article, and AP in general.

The Cover:
The actual cover of this article ticks me off. It isn't even the picture that upsets me, I think the picture is great. Art is supposed to cause a stir, get people talking, and no one can say that it didn't do this. The look of a mother almost defiantly feeding her child in the way nature intended whether the world likes it or not is beautiful. What upsets me is the way this photograph was used, especially in conjunction with that title. "Are You Mom Enough?" THAT is what angers me. The picture and title were used to incite anger, to pit us against each other, to cause shame, and all to make profit. In my opinion, that is misuse of power, and that is why I dislike the cover.

Four other pictures considered for the Time cover. 

 

 The Article:
The enclosed article contained a quick rundown of attachment parenting and a profile of Dr. Sears. This also annoyed me. The actual article had very little to do with the cover art, which just confirmed my suspicion that their aim was to get people in an uproar in order to sell more issues. The title of the article was "The Man Who Remade Motherhood." I despised this title. It implies that the ideals of AP were invented by Dr. Sears, and anyone who follows them is simply following a fad like The Master Cleanse or Myspace. It overrides the fact that these techniques are things that we are biologically programmed to do. It ignores that these are things that women have been doing since the beginning time. It implies that women need a male physician to tell us that it's okay to do what our instincts tell us to do. I appreciate the message that Dr. Sears has worked to spread, I simply dislike the idea that he invented this.

Attachment Parenting:
I agree with many of the ideals of AP, and hope to apply them to the ways I raise my children. I know there are certain things that I won't use because I am not comfortable with them, such as bed sharing, and that's okay. I know I don't have to follow every single one of these ideals "perfectly" in order for my child and myself to reap the benefits. In the end, I keep referring to them as ideals for a reason. Ideally we'd all breastfeed for an extended period of time, practice elimination communication, baby wear, and never let our littles cry, however life doesn't always allow that. I feel there is a lot of science behind why these things work and why we instinctively want to follow through with aspects of it. If anyone wants to learn more about AP and the science behind it, I highly recommend Mayim Bialik's Beyond the Sling.

Beyond the science, the reason I like AP is because it feels right to me. I will do what feels right to me, to the best of my ability. That's all we can truly ask of any parent. In the end, I think that is all that matters. We as mothers, as people, need to support each other in the decisions that we make in our families for our families. We live in a society where no matter what you do, someone is going to disapprove. There will always be someone who is angry with us because of our decisions. So many like to act as if the negativity is all one sided, but it isn't. This heat and negativity is coming from all sides. Either you're an "extremist who needs to get some serious help" or are "lazy and obviously don't care about the well-being of your children." If you happen to be floating somewhere in the middle people want you to settle on a side and fully commit. Someone on my Facebook said she was tired of all this "mommy war shit," and honestly, so am I. Granted, she meant that she didn't believe it was going on, but either way, it works. We need to quit tearing each other down, because we get enough of it from the outside world, we don't need it from each other also. I may not agree with some of the decisions others make (that will be a whole different post) but I support their right to make those decisions. I haven't walked in their shoes, I don't know their experiences. What feels right to me might not necessarily feel right to them. You know what? That's okay. Those differences in opinion, in life style, are what make life beautiful.

In the end, I support parenting in all ways, shapes, and forms. That is my opinion.

Friday Already??

Alright! I'm off to a late start since I had to run some errands first thing, and refused to get up earlier. Here is day one of sharing my daily list with the world!
Daily Chores:
Make beds
Feed pets
Load/Run/Empty dishwasher
Sweep kitchen & entryway
Clean kitchen sink
Clear/Wipe kitchen counters
Plan / Cook dinner
Wipe out bathroom sinks
Empty trash
Do laundry
Exercise
Quiet time
Take vitamins/medication
Prepare tomorrow's clothing
Tasks for the Day:
Change dishcloth/towel
Change hand towels in bathrooms
Clean refrigerator drawers
Sweep porch
Do a quick tidy/put away in each room of the house
Spend time on a craft/hobby

Okay, it's 1:35, and I'm going to get to work.

~*~

The Hubs got home at about 2, and so I took a break to hang out and talk with him. I started again at 2:55 and completely finished by 3:52. All in all, that's an hour and 22 minutes. That's a bit longer than I said it normally takes me, but I have some special circumstances today. The dining room table tends to turn into a dump spot for us, and it still needed to be cleared off from yesterday's errand run. Also, our sink decided to fall apart yesterday, literally. So today I had to haul all of the dirty dishes to the bathtub in order to wash them. Between my belly and my knees it was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I've decided that we're using disposable food receptacles until the plumber comes on Monday. Additionally, there will be lots of sandwiches.

Either way, a little under an hour and a half to get the entire house looking very nice isn't bad.

I consider day one to have went very, very well.

Salsa Black Bean Soup

About a week ago I found a recipe for Salsa Black Bean Soup at Frugal Granola and knew I had to try it. Part of the decision was influenced by R and the fact that he had me craving anything even remotely resembling Mexican cuisine, but the other part was my need to find bean dishes that Hubs will eat. He is very adamant that he hate beans unless they are refried, and I am adamant that I can prove him wrong. For the most part, as long as they in no way resemble beans, I am correct. This was another dish I can add to the Beans Hubs Will Eat list.

Salsa Black Bean Soup

Serves 4

4 cups cooked black beans, drained (I used two cans, but you can also use 1 lb of dried beans soaked over night and cooked)

1 cup Chicken Stock 

1 cup Salsa* (The recipe came with an attached salsa recipe, but I used our favourite jarred salsa)

1 cup frozen corn (It will thaw in the soup.) 

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried mint

1 tsp. dried cilantro 

Sea Salt & Pepper, to taste

1 lb Stew Meat (This was not included in the recipe, but Hubs won't eat a meatless dish without large amounts of complaining!)

Toppings:

Yogurt or Cultured Cream

Thinly Sliced Green Onions

Grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese

Guacamole or Sliced Avocado (optional) 

Begin by browning your meat if you are using it. I seasoned our with a mix of cumin, salt, pepper, and chili powder. 

Combine beans, broth, salsa, and spices in a blender, and blend until fairly smooth. I just put all of these straight into a saucepan and used my immersion blender. In my opinion it works just as well and is easier to clean.

Pour into a medium saucepan (if you didn't use my nifty trick), and add corn and herbs. If you have any extra cooked beans, you can add them at this time, too. (You can also add the meat now)

Heat over medium heat until lightly bubbling and heated through, stirring often to prevent sticking. Add additional chicken stock, if you prefer the soup to be a bit thinner.

Ladle into bowls, and serve with a selection of toppings.

*Chipotle Salsa

2 cups diced Tomatoes

1/4 cup diced Onion

2 cloves minced Garlic

2 tsp. minced Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce (or just add a couple spoonfuls of the sauce, if you prefer a milder flavor) 

1/4 cup chopped fresh Cilantro

1 tsp. Taco Seasoning (or to taste)

1 Tbl. dried Basil

1 Tbl. Lime Juice

Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients.  Flavors will meld if left sitting for a few hours, but it can also be served immediately.

I hope you all enjoy, I know we did!