Daily Tip - Pool noodle to the rescue

Owen has very rapidly become a mobile baby.  Gone are the days when I could leave him on his activity mat and go shower with the peace of mind that he'd be in the same place as I left him once I got out.  Of course, mobile baby means baby proofing everything.  We already switched our beloved coffee and side tables for a cheapish ottoman that he can bounce off/barf on without incident.  The second he started crawling though, I knew something had to be done with the bed frame of the spare bed that's in his room.  It has a nice exposed metal edge...right at eye level for an infant.

We discussed various options - bubble wrap, packing foam, etc.  Then, one day on Pinterest, I came across a picture of somebody who used a pool noodle as a bumper.  It was just crazy enough to work.  So, a trip to my favorite place (the dollar store) and $1 pool noodle later, and we have one fully babyproofed bed frame.  No more sharp pointy edges! 

 

As you can see, it's also baby-approved, non-toxic, and matches his room.  A win for sure.  Short of putting  him in a bubble, we know there will be bumps and bruises, but we figure it's best to minimize the possibility of scarring and/or losing an eye.

Daily Dish - Pork chop with mango salsa & couscous

I'm really trying to be more creative in the kitchen.  While we have our staples that are quick, simple, and Deuce kitty could probably cook from watching us make them enough times, I have always loved variety in my food.  I'm not a big meal planner though, so it can be hit or miss whether I can put together something new and fun with the ingredients in the house.  Last night, I hit the jackpot though.

It all started with a pork chop.  We like to get the center cut pork chops from Costco.  They're thick and I don't think we've spotted a lot of other chops that come close in comparison.  That led me to the mango salsa, which was easy because we keep frozen mango in the freezer for the baby these days.  It is easy to dice from frozen and defrosts quickly too.  Don't get me wrong - I love a fresh mango, but it can be easy to miss that perfect ripeness.  As a nice compliment to the protein, I whipped up a little Israeli aka "pearl" couscous (which I generally prefer to the standard American couscous as it has a more hearty texture) with some sauteed veggies.  This was super easy to make, and has a pretty short prep/cook time too!  I will say that I loved pretty much everything about this dish, so here's a recipe for you.

Serves 2    

Make the mango salsa first, then set aside while the other components are cooking.

MANGO SALSA
1/2 cup diced mango
1/4 cup red onion (I actually substituted green onion because we didn't have any red onion)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 medium japaleno (If you feel like the jalapeno is too much, it's not as spicy once eaten with the pork chop)
1/2 lime
Salt

Place first four ingredients together in a bowl.  Add the lime juice and salt, stirring until well mixed.

PORK CHOP & COUSCOUS
2 center cut pork chops (approx 1" thick)
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup Israeli "pearl" couscous
1 small onion
1 cup baby bella mushroom
1 cup spinach
2 tsp Lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt, pepper, garlic

Season pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic.  Place oil in pan and heat until medium-hot.  Add pork chops and cook until there is a nice brown sear (approx 4-5 minutes on each side).  Lower heat, add the chicken stock to the pan, cover, and cook until pork chops have reached an internal temperature of 145°F.

While the pork chops are cooking, start to cook the couscous per instructions on the packet.   The instructions on the package I had were to add couscous to 1 1/4 cups boiling water, salt, and cover.  Cook for 8-10 minutes stirring frequently.

In a separate pan, heat olive oil, then sautee onion, mushroom, spinach and garlic over medium heat.  Once couscous is finished cooking, remove pan from heat.  Add in sauteed vegetables, toss well with the lemon juice and a little extra olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Once both the pork and couscous are done cooking, serve it up, adding the mango salsa on top of the pork chop.  Enjoy!

Daily Baby - My strange addiction?

My name is Natalie and I have an addiction to board books.  It's rare that I can pass a stack of board books, all brightly colored, without diving in.  My favorite place to peruse would be at the dollar store.  Sometimes, they have nothing.  Other times, it's a score!  I can justify those purchases though because, at a dollar per book, I'm spreading the love of reading without breaking the bank.  Husband knows that if I pop out to get Ziploc bags, there's a likely-hood I will return with a box of Ziplocs and 4 books.  He says I have an itch that needs to be scratched!  I think part of the problem is that I always have to see if the book is part of a series and, if it is, I'll be damned if I'm only buying that book alone.  Next thing you know I've found all variations (shapes, colors, numbers....day at the park, day at the zoo, day at the movies...bath-time, bedtime, tea-time) and they will all be coming home with us!

This weekend's haul included a bunch of Richard Scarry "Busy Town" books, Garfield, a collection of Nursery Rhyme books (in part to help me remember them), a Pirate treasure hunt counting book, plus a couple of Disney classics (Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmations).  Other favorites that I've been collecting are published by Ollie Bollie books, which I love for the illustrations.

Owen gets to enjoy a couple of books every night while he gnaws on his baby toothbrush.  Sometimes he tries to grab and turn the pages...but mostly he just wants to chew on them.  I think that's still encouraging a love of books!

What are your favorite books for babies/children?  I'm open to more suggestions on books to buy!

Daily Review - Knitting Cast-on E-book

A while back, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to review an e-book on Brioche Knitting.  The author of that e-book, Liat of KNITFreedom has a new video course - this time a guide to knitting cast-ons. 

When it comes to knitting cast-ons, I've always defaulted to the trusty long-tail cast-on.  It's the first cast-on I learned and works for most things.  There are definitely those times though when the long-tail cast-on just isn't as pretty and fitting as the piece calls for.  I do know that there are lots of other cast-ons out there, but I didn't know how many until taking a look at this e-book!   [Did you know multi-colored braided cast-ons even existed?  Mind blown!]

The course covers some basic info on cast-ons, even including some tips about the long-tail cast on that I didn't know.  No more pulling 100 stitches off the needle when the tail gets too short!  Turns out there's a pretty easy fix for that.  As with Liat's other video courses, the videos themselves are clear and very easy to follow along.  It's a lot easier than scouring YouTube for something when you're not entirely sure what it's called.  There is a very handy table of contents at the top of the guide which takes you to the exact spot you need - whether you're looking for a cast-on by name or category.    I really like the short description included with each cast-on video, explaining how it is best used, along with tips, and a clear swatch photo to show what the finished product is supposed to look like. The only thing I would have liked would be a video covering how to get a nice clean join when casting-on in the round (i.e. for a hat or top-down sock). 

In the end, I think this video course is a fantastic reference tool for knitters looking to take their craft to the next level.  For all the hours of care and love put into a project, starting with the perfect cast-on makes sense, making this a great resource to have at your fingertips.  I know it's going to make me think twice next time I pick up the needles to start a project and I'm excited to try some new techniques.

This cast-on video e-book is available for $24.99 through the KNITFreedom site.  Check out the other classes on offer too!

DISCLAIMER:  I received no money for this review, but received a preview copy of the e-book prior to release.

Daily Craft - My design needs your vote!

You may remember a few weeks back that I won a set of beads through Artbeads' "Tuscon Ten" contest.  So, part two of the contest was to create a design using those beads, with the beads making up at least 50% of the design.  Usually, I just let inspiration come to me when thinking about jewelry pieces, so it was different to have the parameters of my design set by the beads in hand.  The biggest challenge I faced was figuring out how to combine the different sets of beads, which I may not think to put together under other circumstances. 

In the end, I designed two necklaces.  The intent was that they could be worn separately, or together.  The first necklace used the giraffe beads combined with the tiny peacock pearls, and wire wrapped together with antiqued brass wire.  The second necklace tied in the antiqued brass with chain, and I decided to go with a lariat style so that I could feature a couple of the larger beads at each end.  I think the end result ended up being pretty cool!

Now onto the second part of the contest though.  I could win a giftcard from Artbeads for my design and could use your help!  If you could take a minute to vote for my design, please scoot on over to this Facebook page.  Voting is open through May 20th.  You can also check out the designs on the Tuscon Ten Pinterest Board.  Thanks all! 

Daily Ramblings - Birthdays and un-birthdays

Our household was recently hit by the dreaded lurgy (which is one of those British phrases I'd very much like to get people using here in the US).  A couple of weeks ago, Owen brought home a daycare cold, which resulted in getting me sick.  He recovered pretty quickly but, having given the munchkin all my antibodies, I didn't fare so well.  After the cold symptoms dissipated, the following week of sinus headaches led me to the ENT doctor.  He congratulated me on the general disturbing state of my sinuses and tonsils, then sent me home with a 10 day dose of antibiotics.  The drugs had just taken hold on my infection when Owen started coughing and wheezing, leading to a weekend trip to urgent care where he was diagnosed with bronchitis.  Now we have to give him breathing treatments with albuterol twice a day, which essentially means we wave a wand that is spewing vapor into his mouth and try to get him to stay still for 10 minutes while it works it's magic and opens up his airways.  There is nothing fun about this.  Trying to get a six month old to stay in one spot for 10 minutes is hard enough as is, let alone with something that he doesn't understand shoved in his face.  If he doesn't start crying straight away, I will potentially spend those 10 minutes trying to wrestle the wand out of his hands because he's trying to eat it.  This morning he thought it was a gigantic straw and was trying to suck liquid out of it, then got frustrated because it wasn't working.  The kid is too smart for his own good.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, we did have cause for celebration.  Owen turned 6 months on Monday. That's half a year since he burst into our lives and changed us forever.  I can hardly believe it.  In that he was sick, I didn't get to do the photoshoot that I was hoping to, but snapped some pics on my cell phone to commemorate.  I'll do a proper photoshoot with him in the next couple of weeks.  I'd say his "blue steel" is pretty good already though.

Yesterday, it was my birthday.  I'd say 34 is a relative non-event, and the universe did feel the need to remind me of that as I struggled with car trouble and a wheezing baby, which meant my celebratory dinner ended up being Indian takeout, obtained and hand-delivered by my loving husband.  It certainly wasn't the ideal birthday but, in the end, I was surrounded by my boys (the big one, the small one, and the furry one) and I can't complain about that too much.

Daily Craft - I'm a winner!

My favorite beading supply store, Artbeads, holds contests over on their blog.  Recently, I entered to win a selection of beads from the Tuscon Gem and Mineral show.  As usual, I promptly forgot about it until the e-mail came saying that I'm a winner!  Even better, this happens to be a two-fer.  I have a month to create a design using the beads and then I'm pitted against the other 9 winners for a $50 gift card.

The beads arrived today and they're really pretty in person.  I've already been sketching some concepts.  I'm thinking bohemian...earthy...rock carving inspired.  It's somewhat outside of my comfort zone as I tend to think in terms of symmetry but, for this, I need to think more in terms of balance.  I'm excited for the challenge and will let you know when part 2 of the contest is up so you can vote for me (I hope!)