Today was a good day. (Together, onesie, pool.)

It felt like fall today. It wasn't too warm or too cool (of course). The morning felt crisper than normal, not weighed down with the muggy feeling of late. I wore Adelaide on my back and swept the porches, watered the tomatoes, tidied up. It was so wonderful and nice. I hope tomorrow is the same. I want to hang clothes on the line and have lots more playtime on the porch, without the sweat.

We had a really good day. Not fussy at all. Good naps. I was productive, and yet we were still together. She likes being held, worn. It doesn't matter to her if I'm vacuuming or dusting or sweeping. She likes being close, is so content. She's started to flex her legs in the carrier so that she bounces. It's really awfully cute.

I like having the side door open (glass door closed, though) to let the light into the kitchen. Tan One, our indoor cat, likes to sit at the door and stare longingly outside. She can't spend too much time out there or she'll start itching like crazy and scratch her ears till they bleed, poor thing. Adelaide likes to sit there and watch the trees moving in the wind, playing with her magnets, looking awfully cute.



I made this onesie for her. I used puff paint. I was inspired by Alisa Burke. Mine isn't quite as elaborate, but I'm hooked. I'm going to get some onesies in the next size up, along with some other colors of puff paint and see what I can come up with. I like this one all the same. It looked really good with her brown pants and dark teething necklace.

We also spent time in the pool. Well, she did. But she also spent a lot of time climbing in and out of the pool. I think the water may have been a little too chilly for her liking. But oh, her swim diaper is just too cute! So much better than the disposable swim diapers.





I hope you had a really great day! Tomorrow we go to the day care for another visit (went yesterday as well). She's really doing great. I, on the other hand, can't help but count down the days in a sort of weird limbo. 5 1/2 weeks until I leave my baby (boo!) but also 5 1/2 weeks until I can teach art again (yay!). It's strange to be on both sides of the spectrum with this going back to work thing.

Anyway, I hope you get more sleep than I inevitably will...

Computer-less, sort of. (And loving it.)

My computer doesn't work. A few days ago, I unplugged it, and forgot to plug it back in. My battery is a piece of crap, so of course it shut down. When I plugged it back in, all the blue lights near the cord part turned on, letting me know my computer was indeed getting power. But when I pressed the power button... nothing. No matter how many times I pressed it, and no matter how long I pressed it... nothing.

I was bummed for a little while. Really. Not too long ago I had to take the darn thing in twice to get serviced because the screen died. Twice. And my battery sucks, like I said. And of course my warranty expired not even two months ago, and I don't have the money to pay to get it fixed.

(Of course I can use my husband's computer, like I'm doing now, but still.)

But I'm not so bummed anymore. Being laptop free, frees me. Really! I no longer feel the pull to check facebook, blogger, hotmail. Well, I do, but it's not as easy to come to the back room with the baby, entertain her, keep her out of things, and do all of the above on hubby's computer. Whereas before, she could play in the living room, on the porch, at the fridge with her magnets, and I just had to move laptop from point A to point B to point C, etc.

source

I actually starting reading a book last night, people. It's been MONTHS since I've opened up a book besides my baby food cookbook or my breastfeeding book. This was an honest-to-goodness half-hour of leisure read that wasn't tied to someone's real life. I am a habitual blog reader. I waste so much precious time reading about OTHER people's lives that I squander my nighttime me-time. It was so nice to curl up on the couch and read one of the many, many, many books on my shelf waiting for me.

I could get used to the no-computer thing. Sorry if I've been neglecting your blog, but, well, I'm READING. (And cleaning, and cooking, and playing with the baby.) You'll understand, right?

Adelaide {8 Months Old}

Dear Adelaide,

Wow! What a month! You're 8 months old now! You have grown in so many ways, little one. You are spending each day working towards mastering new skills and my, how you have figured things out!



You're finally crawling! You did this push-up, push-off, repeat thing for a while, but you're officially crawling. You're traveling from room to room, going down the hallway, and even coming to me and your dad when you see us (which melts our hearts!!!). Nothing stops you now.

You're climbing over things, pulling yourself up (on everything!), cruising along the furniture, reaching, sitting yourself back down, bending down, etc. The way you're moving around says "I'm not a baby anymore!" It's so exciting to see you go for the things you want, even if it's the dvd player or mommy's shiny laptop. You're getting better and better every day, and I love seeing your independence shine!



But with that independence comes a little bit of tantrum, occasionally. If you really, really, really want something, but we tell you no and take it away, you will SCREAM. And, oh, you really know how to scream. It's amazing, but you have a powerful set of lungs. You leave our ears ringing sometimes. But you don't just scream from frustration. You also scream when you're happy, and that's quite often.

You really are such a happy baby! Here are some things you love right now:
-Spending time with momma and daddy
-Moving around in all the ways I mentioned before, especially standing
-Hanging out on the porch with momma in the warm summer weather
-Being carried in the Boba carrier on Momma
-Anything shiny or glowing, like electronic lights or neon signs (you're like our little moth)
-Climbing all over daddy, pulling his earrings, sitting on his shoulder way up high
-Drinking from your sippy cup (something else new!), and chewing on the spout
-Playing with the magnets on the side of the fridge
-Dancing to the "Mahna Mahna" song
-Watching the cats, even if they're just sitting there
-Eating your organic rice cakes (made especially for babies; they dissolve really easily)
-Your fluffy green monkey in the car
-Going out and seeing lots of people and places
-Drumming with daddy - you will tap the drum when placed in front of it
-Your 10 Little Ladybugs book



Two weeks ago, we started visiting your day care that you will go to when Momma goes back to work. We're going twice a week now for an hour each time so that you will get used to being there. You smile at everyone, and have started to interact with the other babies there. One baby keeps playing with your hair, and you don't know what to think about that! You're crawling around the infant room, checking out all the new toys. I think you'll be just fine. I'm just worried about naptimes. Other than that, I think you'll love it!

As far as sleep goes, it's horrible! You have started to fight naps because all you want to do is play, stand, and crawl around! And you've taken to waking up in the middle of the night (2 or 3 a.m.) and staying up for an hour or so. You'll pull yourself up to standing in your crib (which is connected to momma and daddy's bed now, without one of the sides so it's like we have a really big bed), and then I'll lay you right back down. Repeat, repeat, repeat. You get so frustrated and start crying and screaming, but I'm just trying to teach you that when it's dark, it's time to sleep! Hopefully we'll figure it out soon!



We have had so much fun with you baby girl! This new, more independent you, who likes to laugh, giggle, and move around is so wonderful! I can't wait to see what the next month holds. I feel like you're growing up so very quickly, but it's so exciting. We love you so very much.

Love,
Momma and Daddy

Yummy Monday: Chocolate Lover's Brownies (vegan)

Here's a really special treat: Delicious chocolate brownies with walnuts and chocolate chips. These are really yummy, and not too long to whip up. And yes! They are vegan too, but you wouldn't be able to tell unless someone told you! :) You must try them! From Party Vegan.



Chocolate Lover's Brownies



1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup plain soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1/4 cup neutral veggie oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 vegan semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, maple syrup, soy milk, oil, and vanilla.

Whisk to combine.





In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.



Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture with a rubber spatula. Don't overmix. fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts, if using (why wouldn't you be?!).



Scrape the batter into the pan and spread it evenly. It will be really thick; don't worry.



Bake for 35 minutes. While it's baking, take a minute to lick the spatula and bowl - not optional. And there's no egg, so no worry about that raw egg stuff. Oh, and I tried to take a picture of me licking the spatula, but there is no way to take a good picture of yourself licking a spatula. Trust me. So this is what you get instead:



Cool for 30 minutes in the pan on a wire rack before cutting. If not serving right away, cover tightly and store at room temperature. These brownies taste best if eaten within a day or two (umm... I think I can handle that!).



Enjoy!

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Interested in sharing a vegetarian/vegan recipe? Shoot me an email - I'd love to feature you!

Friday Crafternoon v.7 (and happy weekend!)

Hey there everyone! A special hello to a few new friends; I hope you enjoy what you find here at Our Little Lentil and please leave any comments to let me know what you think :)

There is SO much inspiration out there on the internet. It's hard to organize all that wonderful, colorful, creative, unique stuff that I find. Usually ideas just sit in my bookmarks folders for... um... years? So having this space to highlight some of the projects I find is so good for me. I get to remember what I thought was so cool to begin with!

I hope you enjoy your weekend. We're in the midst of a sleep-strike it seems. Adelaide has conquered some new skills that she wants to practice for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. It's a back-and-forth struggle of sitting up and me laying her back down, among other things. STRESSFUL! I feel bad for poor Kevin, who has to get up to work and isn't able to take naps... then I feel bad for me when I think of how this may not get any better and then I'LL have to be getting up to run after hundreds of kids all day without a nap either!

Anyhow. Hopefully I'll find time to spend at my sewing machine, or with some paper for some crafts that I've got in mind. I've also been contemplating going to a non-instruction figure drawing class on Saturday morning. I know I'll be awake :) so I thought I might go try something that I used to love doing! I'll let you know!



I love this paper-embroidered magnetic bookmark! Fun gifts, and I can see adapting the idea for my classroom too!

This drawstring bag would be perfect for wooden blocks, flash cards, or small figurines!

And this would be a perfect market bag! And it's reversible!

One more bag: it's titled an Apple-Picking Bag, but I see it as a perfect bag for library books with it's boxy shape... just add a sturdy piece of cardboard at the bottom for support!

Fall will be here before you know it! Make a felt hat for your little one... super cute!

Easy peasy hair band.

I made a few of these pom pom flowers about a year ago. They are no more, due to a crazed baby.

These owl printables are cute, if not a little scary-looking. Add some googly eyes to liven them up!

Want to make your own soap? Another way to control what ingredients you bring into your house and onto your body!

So. Freakin'. Cute. An elephant push toy easy to customize, perfect for that little kid in your life.

And finally... do you use those disposable swiffer pads? Think of all the waste. Make some reusable swiffer pads that can be tossed in your washer and used again and again! Use old towels, or splurge on terrycloth that matches your kitchen!

Make one of these felt crayon/notebook holders to keep in your purse or diaper bag for occupying your kids. Long car trips, restaurants, grocery store, you name it!


Create & Enjoy!

Update: switching day cares.

In my last post I mentioned that the day care that we're beginning our visits to, isn't the same day care that I had previously talked about.

In April, Kevin and I found a day care that we liked. It was in our price range (although at the top of what we could afford), small, cozy, and very friendly. They would support us in our cloth diapering and raising Adelaide vegetarian. They made me feel comfortable. We turned in our application and made plans to begin visits as we got closer to our start date.



(Just for fun, here are some pictures from last week)
Then, around June or so, I was driving to the post office and passed a different day care, one that I hadn't found on previous internet searches. I called the number on the sign, said I was at the post office, and could I take a tour when I was done buying stamps. She said sure, and I was there in five minutes. This new day care is bigger than the previous one, but since they are a non-profit, they have cut their fees by 20% to accomodate the economy. Which brought the cost down to $12/week cheaper than day care #1. That's almost $50 a month we'd be saving over the other day care. They also will support our cloth diapering and vegetarian decisions, among other things.



She has gotten so big! Remember this?
And, this day care seems like it follows a curriculum more so, whereas the previous one seemed more babysitterly. Each child has their own goals for the week and month. In the infant room where Adelaide will be starting, the goals are developmental based, and the teachers help them out with their specific skills. Tummy time, crawling, walking, etc. And when she moves up to the next room(s), the teachers will start things like colors, shapes, numbers, manners, etc. It's actually kind of exciting to know that my daughter will be in a classroom setting, learning and interacting with lots of different kinds of people and children.




Mrs. Renee is a sweet older lady who has made me feel nothing but super comfortable about our choice to switch to this day care. Obviously Adelaide will only be in her room for a few months before she moves to the 1-year room, but I've met the other teachers as well and there are no red flags, thankfully. I feel like I could pop in at any time to say hello, see what's going on, and there'd be no worries. This center, in fact, encourages parents to volunteer 10 hours a year, which to me says that they are invested in fostering a parent/child/teacher relationship. As a teacher myself, that says a lot.




So, there you have it. Ideally, I'd be staying home and giving Adelaide all the experience she needs, whether through teaching her at home or going to playdates, museums, parks, etc. And I will definitely still do that even though I will transition to being a working mother. Education starts at home, and should continue there despite where the child spends his or her day. And even though I can't be the stay-at-home mom I always envisioned myself to be, I do feel good about the day care we have chosen. Doing these weekly visits will only make me feel that much better about our choice. I will definitely keep you filled in as we progress towards our start date, letting you know how we're adjusting and what we're doing to make this a smooth transition (for all involved). Stay tuned!



Isn't this awesome? She's so much fun!

Crazy fast. (Day care visits have started.)

Time flies so fast. And my girl grows so fast. And I want things to just slow down so I can have time to just savor, and enjoy, and soak it all up. I do the best I can. Unfortunately, I find myself worrying about how fast things are going and forget to sit and savor in the few moments I have.

Tuesday was our first visit to our daycare. (A different day care than I previously posted about. More on that later.) First official, scheduled, let's-hang-out-and-get-to-know-the-place visit. It seemed so long ago that I made plans with the infant room teacher about coming in to visit. But now it's here. And that means going back to work is inevitable. Yes, I still have 8 weeks, and I need to do what I can to savorenjoysoak, but right now I'm in a tizzy thinking about work, daycare, pumping, shots, money, time.

The visit went great though. There were one-year-olds and four-month-olds and babies in between, including Adelaide. She took 10-15 minutes to warm up, sitting quietly in the middle of the crawling, walking, babbling, drooling, block-throwing, crying, sleeping babies. Then she smiled at Mrs. Renee, who will be her teacher. Eventually she grabbed up a block and started gnawing on it. Then a different block. Then a ball. She smiled and batted at one of the other babies. She tried to use his shoulder to pull herself up, but as you can guess, it didn't really work. She got a little frustrated. She got over it. She found herself with a big bumblebee pull-along toy that she just wanted to eat, and one of the other girls wanted it and took it. She looked at that girl like, what are you doing? Her first lesson in sharing.

The hour went fast. We're going back tomorrow (Thursday). We will be visiting twice a week, one hour each visit, for the next 6 weeks. Then I will start leaving her there, starting at an hour, then two, up to a couple full days before I truly start working. Two weeks of slowly building up my time away from her. Two weeks to adjust. Then I'll have no choice but to leave her there all day every day. I start work October 10th. (I was able to get an extra 8 weeks of leave.)

I think these day care visits are as much for me as for her. Adelaide will get to know her teachers, her fellow "classmates", her new environment. She will explore and play. I know she will love it, if yesterday was any indication. But I will be able to see her adapting to the new, and it will help me to know that she is a big girl, able to handle different people, loving all the social interactions and new toys.

Days will fly by, time will disappear until 3 o'clock when I walk through the door to savorenjoysoak her all up.


My girl. Beautiful.

Check me out at Kelly Wels!

Hey everyone... take a minute and hop over to the Kelly Wels blog. She featured me as part of her Mommy Blogger Profile series! My first time stepping out into someone else's blog! I was a bit nervous about how to wrap up my little family in just a few paragraphs, but rereading it there calms the nerves. I think I did a pretty good job :)

So go visit, and poke around her site... there's lots of useful information for cloth diapering, natural living mamas, reviews, and lots of giveaways (like this diaper/wet bag combo)!

The 8-Week Get-in-Shape-to-Knock-My-Coworkers-Socks-Off Workout Plan

I've been lucky to lose all of my pregnancy weight (plus some) in the past almost-eight months. I attribute it to breastfeeding, a handful of workouts, eating healthy, and cutting out dairy for almost half of that time. I actually think cutting out dairy was a HUGE help, because without dairy, I was without my milk chocolate, Doritos (throw some Doritos on a baking sheet, top with pepperjack cheese, melt in the oven and DEVOUR), and pizza (three things I love).

But, even though I have lost the weight, my body is still definitely different than it was pre-baby. I have loose skin and my butt pretty much disappeared (what's up with that?!). My chest is significantly bigger than it used to be, which wasn't that hard to do since I was pretty tiny to begin with. All this means that my clothes fit differently than they used to.

So, I'm on a mission. I have 8 weeks until I start working again. I want to be able to walk into school and my classroom feeling great about myself, confident and collected. So for the next 8 weeks I'm going to really put forth an effort to tone up my body. I know I can't do much about the loose skin. For that I will just have to wait and hope that it tightens back up. But I can strengthen my core and my arms and my legs, and hopefully bring some of my butt back :)

The 8-Week Get-in-Shape-to-Knock-My-Coworkers-Socks-Off Workout Plan

Week One
Cardio: 20 minutes; 5 times weekly (starting small, hoping to build on that time. Tonight it was a walk in the neighborhood after dinner with Adelaide and Kevin.)
Crunches: 10x
Leg Lift Crunch Thingies with a Twist a la The Situation: 10x
Push ups: 10x
Triceps Dips: 10x
Squats: 10x
Add in a lot of goofing off and laughing with your husband (not optional).

So I figure I'll be able to do this for at least 8 weeks, right? I mean, if even I stop after I return to work, at least I have this small, more manageable goal that I can work towards (and accomplish!). I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck that I can actually keep up with this workout plan!

Oh, and just because, a photo of my cutie pie. She rarely lounges on me like that anymore. I soak it up when I can. Can you believe how big she is???

How we dealt with our first real diaper rash.

In Adelaide's nearly 8 months, we've only had to deal with diaper rash a couple of times. It's always been really mild, and one application of Beaudreaux's Butt Paste does the trick at clearing it up. (We use a disposable liner when we use diaper cream so that it doesn't affect the absorbancy of our cloth diapers... otherwise we'd have to strip them and that's a long process that's even longer with a forgetful, busy mama.)

Well, Tuesday night we experienced a very hurting baby with a very red, inflammed diaper rash. I saw the rash, which still looked pretty mild, before I put her night diaper on, so I put some Butt Paste on her and assumed it'd clear up like usual. We put her down for bed around 7:30, and I attempted to cut her nails as she slept. I've done this every couple of weeks forever and she's never woken up, but of course this time she did. And she was AWAKE From that moment on, she was extremely fussy.

She'd been pooping a little with every diaper change... I guess just still trying to figure out her system. But she started screaming every time she peed or pooped. Like I'm-in-pain-and-I-HURT kind of screaming. I changed her diaper and noticed the rash was bright red and warm. And by the time I went to wipe her, she was red in the face, shaking because her bottom hurt so bad.

I felt terrible. I had no idea what to do to make her feel better. She couldn't go back to sleep. Didn't really want to nurse. I ended up wearing her in the Boba and taking a walk to try and lull her to sleep. Kevin came with me and I couldn't help but remember all those walks with Adelaide in the Moby so many months ago, trying to get her newborn-self to take naps. It didn't work this time, but she was at least content in the Boba.

She finally went to sleep around midnight. But woke up again around 2 and was up until almost 4. Then we were able to sleep in until 10, thankfully, and her rash was a lot better in the morning, but still definitely red, inflammed, and sore.

I did some research and although I don't know for sure what caused it, it's either a) my eating dairy for the first time in over two months, or b) a Carrot-Tomato blend of Earth's Best Organic jarred food. I knew that tomatoes were acidic, but I thought since the jar said 6+ months and tomatoes were low on the ingredient list that it would be fine. Maybe it was a combination of the two. Her rash wasn't what was described for an allergy reaction, with the "allergy ring" around the anus, but instead red from front to back.

And as the days passed and it started to clear, I saw little blisters. They're almost completely gone now, but geez. I felt so bad for my little girl.

Here's what we did to clear up the rash:

1. LOTS and LOTS of naked, diaper-free time. Heat and moisture are a diaper rash's enemies, so by letting her "air it out" we were preventing the atmosphere to worsen the rash.

2. During a diaper change, we didn't use wipes. Instead, we used a bottle filled with warm water to wash her off, then we patted her bottom dry with a clean cloth. I can only imagine how sore her bottom was. I just know that after childbirth when my bottom was so sore, I didn't wipe either. Just spray and pat dry.

3. Every time I put a new diaper on her, I made sure to reapply the diaper rash cream, to protect her rash from any pee or poo. I went through a bunch of cream, but it did help.

4. Lots of love and cuddles. Of course, when your kid isn't feeling good, you instinctly give them more attention... and that's what I did. I don't know that it made the rash any better, but I do know that it made Adelaide happy to have extra attention from mama.

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Here's a good resource for diaper rash information: Dr. Sears website.

Have any of you battled a tough diaper rash? Any tips in case this happens again?

Asheville Trip (family, first hotel night, splashing in the creek!)

Last weekend we took a trip to Asheville. Kevin had a drum workshop with a master drummer on Sunday so we decided to make a little vacation of it. I love going to the mountains. I swear I just feel different when I'm there. I little lighter, a little more at home. The drive isn't too bad from here in Charlotte, and before we knew it we were there. Thankfully Adelaide slept for a good bit of it, and didn't cry too much in the carseat that she is unfortunately beginning to hate.

We stopped at the big farmer's market first, since we got into town so early and couldn't check in yet. I tried to nurse Adelaide first, but there were too many people nearby and a guy playing the fiddle. I think she took two sips and was done. I couldn't resist getting a couple shots of my little cutie on the benches though!







We spent a good chunk of Saturday with Kevin's sister and husband. She's pregnant with her first (yay!) and due in January. It's so exciting to think that Adelaide and her cousin will only be 13 months apart in age! I can just imagine all the fun adventures and secrets they will share.



Adelaide and Uncle Paul


Adelaide and Aunt Meaghann
Saturday was also Adelaide's first time at a hotel! She did wonderfully, though she was a bit tired as soon as we ended up checking in. We had a king-sized bed, which was so awesome. Having all that room to spread out! It sure makes our queen-sized bed seem really small.



We didn't get much sleep, but Sunday was great anyhow. We first visited some friends, and then headed to downtown Asheville so that Kevin could go to his workshop. Adelaide fell asleep on the way into town from the hotel, so I just dropped Kevin off and drove in circles for a little while, finally parking and waiting for her to wake up (I'm sure some of you parents can relate!). When she did wake up, I popped her in the Boba and took off walking. Had some lunch at our wedding cake bakery (first cheese in 2.5 months!), and then explored downtown shops. It was HOT and I was carrying a heatbox right on me... we were both sweating by the time Kevin got out of his workshop.

We met up with Meaghann and Paul again and drove over to Bent Creek for some fun in the water. Have I mentioned Adelaide LOVES the water? She had a blast splashing in the creek... and you can't deny that her chubby body isn't the cutest!









Hmm... let me taste this reed...


Not so tasty after all... blech!




Fish in the water.


I'm surprised she was able to nurse at all! There were people playing in the water, dogs splashing in and out chasing balls... she did keep unlatching and looking around, but she got her fill! This may be my favorite nursing shot so far :)

Yummy Monday: Spinach and Chickpeas (+ baby food!)

This is a quick and delicious mash up of two super-healthy foods: spinach and chickpeas. (I know I've already done a chickpea recipe, but I did warn you that I love, love, love them!) I found the recipe in a vegan cookbook (totally don't remember the name) and made it a while ago and loved it. Then last week I wanted to make it again, but didn't have the recipe on me. I did what I could from memory, and it turned out a little differently but was still very tasty. Give it a try!

Oh, and at the end, I'll tell you what I did to let Adelaide have a little taste of the family meal too!

Spinach and Chickpeas

9ish ounces of spinach (I used regular spinach here, but baby spinach is better)
1-2 cans of chickpeas, depending on how much you like them!
1/2 cup of veggie broth
3-4 cloves (or more) garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil



Heat the olive oil and saute the crushed garlic for about a minute.



Add your chickpeas.



Add broth.



Let simmer for a couple of minutes. Use a potato masher or the back of a spoon to mash about half of the chickpeas.



Add spinach and wilt.



Look at the simple, healthy, messy goodness!



Plate it up! I cooked some brown rice topped with sauteed baby bella mushrooms to serve with it, plus a couple of yeast rolls. Not including waiting for the rice to cook all on its own in the rice cooker, I spent maybe 15 minutes from start to finish on this meal. Super quick and very delicious!




Baby Food Version

I saw this idea while blog hopping and loved it! Use a mason jar screwed in to the top of your blender instead of the big ole honkin' glass blender part for smaller servings of things! I am anticipating using this trick A LOT when I go back to work as morning smoothies are a definite breakfast option I turn to when I don't have time to sit down and eat (which I very well see as a part of my working mommy future)! Whip up a smoothie in a jar and boom! Take it to go! No dirtying up more dishes than you have to!



Anyhow, I just spooned a little bit of the Spinach and Chickpea mixture into the mason jar (just to try the idea out), pulsed the heck out of it, and this is what it turned into:



Then I actually did dirty up another dish because getting that little baby spoon down in the mason jar would've been a little difficult. But here it is, Adelaide-ready form:



Looks tasty, huh? I did try a bit and of course it tasted just like the grown up version. Adelaide wasn't a huge fan. I could see it in her face: Wha? Mama? What's this weird stuff? So I just spooned it into yet another, smaller, washed and reused baby food jar and stuck it in the freezer. I'll try again another day. And another and another if I have to!

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Interested in sharing a recipe? Shoot me an email - I'd love to feature you!