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Who me? I’m never not a good listener, good napper, good eater, and good older brother! Don’t listen to the complaints of my parents. Yes, SuperBoy is a total sweetheart, a great older brother, and a complete love. But he’s also human, meaning that from time to time we have outbursts of a two year, seven month old little boy. Whew, he is normal. I’ve got a whole section on toddler behavior chronicling our journey with him, figuring out how to help him help himself to cope with emotions, hormones, and the unpleasantness of not getting his way. Now that he’s a little beyond basic toddler behavior, we’ve had to approach discipline differently. There’s actually some verbal negotiations, some concessions on both sides, and a really strong sense of action —> consequence built into his brain. Because we tried to be firm and consistent with things that were and were not allowed (i.e., can’t respond to us with a “no!”; can’t throw food or other things that aren’t balls; angry fits will be treated calmly and with the threat of isolation if continued; and other general guiding principles), his outbursts of long long LOOOOOOONG tantrums have been mitigated to a degree. Here are our preschooler behavioral guidelines (to keep me sane, and him sane, and SweetPea alive): 1) Politeness. He is expected to respond “yes, please” or “no, thank you” when offered something. He always has to try one bite of a new food. He cannot shout NO at us. He…
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I’m working on a longer post about depression and motherhood, the darkness of parenting days, etc. Heavy stuff. Perfect for Lent. But as I’m not ready to slam you with that, I thought I’d share my light recipe for the winter blues. It’s very cold in Minnesota and I only get outside when I race between the house and the car to go places I absolutely must go (or my children must go–like the train store or BFF play dates). By the time February hits, I’m swimming in the blues of winter. In resolution to not wallow in self pity just because of the climate, here’s what I’m doing. 1) Cooking & baking with greater enthusiasm. I’m cooking with a new vigor, thanks to my purchase of the meal plan from Wellness Mama. Consider taking a look at it yourself. She gives you a fabulous array of recipes, gluten-free (can be anything free as substitutes are listed), your grocery list, and the impulsion to just learn new healthy recipes already. My baking has been taken to new heights thanks to my happy kitchen assistant, Mr. SuperBoy (aka le chef). He got his oil cloth apron from my girlfriend’s Etsy shop {Baby Back Bibs} and has a new lust for whisking flour and water together. Everywhere. Pouring. Whisking. Baking. So I’m finding new healthy recipes for baked goods–no sweet during Lent for this Catholic–and will do a post with them soon! My advice: find good healthy comfort food. 2) Purging…
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This pantry cake is naturally dairy & egg-free. It’s a World War II recipe to grab what’s already in your pantry and bake up a storm. My paternal grandmother was pretty amazing. And so is her cake. My mom’s creamy chocolate frosting makes a double-deckered delight! It’s Ash Wednesday today, so most Catholics are beginning to gird their loins and offer something up for Lent. We always give up treats. I ate a ton of this cake on Fat Tuesday. And now those of you who aren’t into Lent or didn’t give up sweets can eat a ton of it too! Ingredients & Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix: 2 cups sugar 3 cups flour 1/3 cup cocoa 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt Add & beat: 3/4 cup canola oil 2 cups warm water 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 teaspoons vinegar Pour into oiled 2 round cake pans or one large rectangular one. Bake for 25-30 minutes or til toothpick is dry. If you’re my mom, you insist on not using parchment paper. And then every time you try to jimmy the cake out of the pan, but leave a little delicious bit for me. Bad for the cake, great for me. Let the two cakes cool before frosting. But it’s best to freeze the whole shebang if it’s going to be a day or two before serving. Never refrigerate (just dries it out). Bring to room temp before serving. My mom’s chocolate chocolate frosting! Melt on stovetop:…
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So I’ve been writing an awful lot about parenting lately, neglecting my foodie followers (okay, so there are maybe three of you who love the food posts and not the tantrum ones–shout out to the people in the back!). As promised, a week of recipes complete with photos. Today I’ll begin with one of my easiest and favorites: beef tacos. Prepare yourself for IPhone photos. They’re not the best. Sorry, not a real food blogger who cooks during daylight. Let’s preface this with my big I-Hate-Mexican-Food disclaimer. I know, you’re going to chide me by saying, but Nell, you haven’t tried real Mexican food. My retort: yes, I have. That’s the kind I hate. I lived in Las Vegas for one year. My boss loved Mexican. We went to Donna Maria’s regularly. It was awful. I mean, it was high quality and authentic. It was made by and for native eaters. I hated it. Chipotle? Sure, I’ll eat it. I order the blandest thing ever. It’s not real Mexican. My brother in law, a great cook, loves and cooks Mexican. I can barely stomach it. I’m a gringa, what can I say? That behind us. Whew. This is Mexican I can stomach. The chihuahua sauce is optional, thus I can handle the rest of it. This feeds 5-6 adults, with a little leftover for AA’s lunch. Ingredients things to cook 2 pounds raw ground beef from our local cattle farmer 3-5 big cloves of garlic, chopped 2 medium-large yellow onions, chopped…
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This is our 21st guest post in the Birth & Parenting Series. The other 20 guest writers’ stories may be found here. Contact me (wholeparenting@gmail.com) anytime if you’d like to share your story of your child’s arrival, or a parenting perspective. Today’s writer shares her birth story of her son. Jenni bravely faced a long labor and when she finally met her son it was a real gift and celebration! — I woke up at 2:00 am on Friday, March 2, 2012 with contractions. I had been having contractions all week around this time. Except, this time, they were different. These contractions were uncomfortable. With my husband sleeping next to me, I started timing the contractions using an app on my phone. The doctor wanted us to call when the contractions were 1 minute long, occurring every 5 minutes. I timed them. They lasted at least one minute long and were anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes apart. I calmly woke my husband and told him I thought I was in labor. So we called the doctor. The doctor told us to head to the hospital; at worst, they would send us home. He would call ahead to let them know we were coming. This was at 4:00 am. Part of me was still in denial that I was in labor. We took our time to pack the hospital bag. Yes, we were a little behind in doing this. After all, the baby wasn’t due for another 5 days. I…
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