Karma

Karma

noun

(in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.

Over time people has restated this as "what goes around comes around". How ever you want to think of it or call it, it's real. This past week I have felt like a little good cosmic karma has come my way.

About three years ago I made an awesome Minecraft Theme BINGO game. You can find it here.  It is a very nice set with 20 cards, a master card, and covers. As of today it has been re-pinned 2500 times, viewed on the blog 37,673 times, used in no less than 6 different countries, and with 203 comments made. Most of the comments state how much they enjoy a free finished printable. We all know that can be hard to find. Well this week I found a free printable I needed.

I found Star Wars printables for movie night. On a wonderful little site called Sandy Toes and Popsicle.

Okay let me back up just a second. The reason I wanted Star Wars stuff was for our movie night. With Squeaker's issues it can be really hard to take her to a movie theater. Lots of people close by makes a momma nervous. Also because she is so small she has a hard time sitting in the seat comfortable. Meaning she won't sit well for long, and often can be disruptive to others around her. Combine that with the fact the Star Wars came out in the middle of winter and everyone was sharing germs, well Squeaker didn't get to see Star Wars in the theater. The rest of us took turns and did, she felt pretty left out. We started watching the other movies at home and then she pleaded for us to take her see the new one. It just wasn't happening.

Well here it is a few months later and the video is out. I got it in my head a few weeks ago we should do a viewing party for Rayne. Make it a big deal with snacks, and special stuff. So she can feel the excitement we did. I was trying to find Star Wars themed snack ideas and that's when I found the printables.

This lady is a genius! Instead of making whole new snack she just renamed them. Then she made the labels to share with everyone. That's my karma. I sent awesome into the world and it came back to me when I needed.

The only changes I made was the chip cans. In the original pattern you have to cut the cans down to size. Well the short stack Pringles cans are just about the right size. Not the super small ones, the ones that from a distance look like full size, but when you get close you realize they are smaller. Those ones are perfect, no resizing needed. I also bought a giant bag of Gummy bears and put them in sandwich bags instead of buying the pre-sized bags from the store. The other major change I made was I used Ginger-ale in bottles not the traditional cans. The labels didn't fit as well but they worked.

I hope everyone enjoys these as much as I do. Please leave her thank you notes too. These things are hard work and pats on the back are greatly appreciated by their creators.

May The Force Be With You!!!

The Pumping Diet

Recently the one of the best people in the world, Jenna, had her first baby. Jenna is one of the best people in the world because she introduced me to Trey, and helped set us up on our first date. Jenna's little boy was born 8 weeks early I believe and she has been pumping breastmilk for him. Which is a noble and very difficult pursuit. I know I did it for 14 months. It takes a certain kind of crazy to pump breastmilk hence why most people don't do it when nursing fails them. I'm so proud of Jenna for being as crazy as me and to help I'm posting the diet I used to help keep my milk going.

Water! 2 quarts (8 cups) is what is recommended for the regular person, for nursing and pumping moms we are talking closer to a gallon. Yes that is a lot. I suggest investing in a nice water bottle that is easy to use one handed so you can just hold it all the time until you get used to drinking that much. Once you are used to your new intake level you will seek it out a little bit. The downside is you will have to go to the bathroom more. Especially as you are trying to build up your breastmilk levels water is crucial.





Meet your new favorite food- Oatmeal. Oatmeal is a fantastic source of whey which builds milk supply. Now oatmeal as a cereal
is best. Rolled oats, steel cut, and flavored packets all worked the same for me. Oatmeal cookies and oatmeal cream pies were a great desert too.
 

Yummy, green, and great for milk supply it's Avocados.
Fresh, sliced, creamed, or even as guacamole, eat up and enjoy. Some woman it takes 12 hours to see improvement others its a day or so. Either way all those healthy fats should help your system make some wonderful food for baby.

Are you ready to go nuts? Well try some almonds on for size. That's right almonds can help with production too. Grab a handful as a snack or have a smoothie made with almond milk. Yes you can even get the chocolate almond milk, it will still work. Oooo how about some sliced almonds on a salad, I'm starting to get hungry. :)

Now that you are sick of water how about something new to drink, Ovaltine. Now it has to be the name brand on this stuff. I have yet to find another brand that uses whey in the their ingredients. And since whey is what we need to increase supply well the other brands don't do any good. You can use the original malt, malted chocolate or milk chocolate. They all have it. It's winter time so make your hot chocolate out of Ovaltine. A yummy treat with a purpose.

Not a fan of Ovaltine pick up any brand of Whey Protein Powder. Add it too your milk shakes, mac and cheese, smoothies, or just mix and drink in milk. Whey Protein Powder maybe easier and cheaper to find depending on where you are. Or maybe your significant other once was a body builder and there is still a jar sitting on top of your fridge. Open it up start using it.

Still want/need more? Try these supplements, Fenugreek, or Malanga. Fenugreek is cheaper and a little easier to find. It will be at most heath food stores. It can make some people smell like maple syrup. But there are worse things in the world. Malanga is a little harder to find and tends to be more expensive, it does tend to have a greater results. The choice is up to you based or your needs and what you can do.

 When you are pumping make sure you over pump. Milk is based a lot on supply and demand and since pumping is not nearly as effective as nursing you have to trick your body into making more. So once it looks like you are empty and nothing else is coming out leave the pump on for a couple minutes more for the extra stimulation. Trust me you'd rather have too much hanging out in the freezer for a growth spurt than not enough.




Lastly snuggle. Carry, hold and snuggle your baby a lot. Even if
you aren't nursing having baby close can help keep your body in tune with baby's needs. Not to mention it just fun to hold those squish little ones.



Okay now to put it all together this is what a normal day looked like for me.
Breakfast: A giant bowl of Oatmeal. usually about 1 cup or oats. Cooled down with a little Almond milk
Snack: Smoothie with Whey Powder
Lunch: Whatever we had planed
Nap-time: Snuggling with Squeaker
Dinner: Quesadilla with Guacamole
Snack: Oatmeal Cream Pies, Almond milk with Ovaltine

That was what I did at the worst of times. During the good times I wasn't nearly as strict. I got to a point where I only pump 2-4 times a day. I just made sure the fore milk (the thin watery stuff) was mixed with the hind milk (the thick creamy stuff). That way Squeaker was getting good balanced milk all the time. Which when a child is nursing happens normally.

As a side note I used the 8,8,8 rule for milk storage
8 hours out of the body
8 days in the fridge
8 months in the deep freeze
I pumped directly into the bottles Squeaker drank out of. Only if we were traveling did they not make it into the fridge right away. Then if they had been there for 6-7 days I would put about 15 oz into a glass canning jar and put it in the bottom of our deep freeze. There it would stay until needed, or time for rotation. Once frozen and then thawed milk cannot be re-frozen. Also NEVER EVER EVER harshly shake breast milk. It will speed the break down of all that is good which means less for baby.

Hope it helps!

Kool Aid Play Dough

Here's the recipe:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 package Kool-Aid (unsweetened)
3 tbsp oil
1 cup boiling water

Put dry ingredients in a bowl. Add oil, then boiling water. Mix with a wooden spoon as much as you can, and then use your hands to knead it all together. Have some extra flour handy so you can add it if the dough is too sticky. Warning -- the dough will be hot (duh, boiling water) so you might want to have some cold water running nearby to cool your hands.

I used two packages of Kool-Aid for more vibrant color. It makes it smell yummy, instead of doughy.

This came from Nell my sweet sister in law. I LOVE IT! Pretty easy, smells great and when stored in ziplocs bags or containers it lasts a long time. Squeaker has been playing with the first set I made for about 3 months now. :)

I feel like crying

One of the most challenging things about having Squeaker be so sick is I can't be the mom I wanted to be. Yes, this is true of almost every mother because kids come with their own challenges and you have to adapt. It's also true that I am still the mother I wanted to be in many ways. I am kind, loving, fairly patient, interactive, and I truly enjoy my child. Which in the grand scheme of things are more important than being that mom who lets their 3 year old use a bottle, has to ignore the screaming to get something done, or who uses the TV to keep her sanity. But today one thing hit a little closer to home, food. Mostly the need for kids to have healthy food.

I saw 4 posts today on Facebook about healthy food for kids. Three of them just made me sigh and go, "If only I could."  Then one comment almost put me in tears. It was not made maliciously nor was it even made toward me, and I love the person dearly who wrote it. Today was just an pretty rough day this hit me hard. It didn't help that I was feeding Squeaker her second burger patty of the day. 


"...Nutrition can fix almost anything. Food sensitivity or parasites are a great starting place."

 

This is the mentality I was raised with. Raising a family of athletes my mom worked hard to make sure we were getting the right amount of carbs, protein, fruits, and veggies in our diet. She taught us about carb loading the day of a race. That during winter and off seasons our portions needed to be less so we could stay healthy. Mom would have loved for use to have fresh oranges everyday during the cold Maine winters but it just wasn't possible so she made sure we took our vitamins. Of course we still got sick and from time to time would need antibiotics, a daily yogurt was added to our diet to help keep good bacteria in our system. Good food can do great things, I know that and I wanted to be a healthy food mom.

We started out that way too. I pumped milk when nursing wasn't an option, I made baby food from scratch, and Squeaker didn't have sweets until about 18 months old. The reason we started introducing sweets was because they tend to be high calories in little spaces. And we needed those calories for weight gain. We still do.

So yes I am here whining about the fact that Squeaker is under doctors orders to eat junk food. She

has free reign over chips, crackers, cheese, ice cream, cake, frosting, hot dogs all those things most kids have to keep out or to a minimum. Before you start to freak out we do feed Squeaker healthy food. She actually loves it. Fruits are her favorite, follow by pasta with sauce. She will eat mostly anything we eat. All in all she has a healthy relationship with food, and enjoys lots of flavors and textures. But we still struggle with weight. All that junk food makes a difference, and every ounce counts.

Now you maybe thinking that if we dumped the junk food and gave Squeaker immune boosting foods it would make her healthier. Boy oh boy do I wish it was that easy. Since Squeaker's immune system doesn't know what to do you can give it good or bad stuff and it will do the same thing. Her immune system will just go along not doing much. Yes it is frustrating.

Here I am once again admitting I'm not the mom I desired to be. It's hard and yes it makes me want to cry. Then I look at my sweet sleeping Squeaker (it took 2 hours for her to pass out tonight) and remember I AM the mom I need to be.

Tex Mex Casserole

I've been meaning to post this for a while because it is really good, and reheats REALLY well. The original the original recipe was called Skinny Tex Mex. I'm not sure I agree with that statement since noodles aren't exactly low calories. Most of my adjustments to the recipe came out of what I had in my pantry. That way if I have a whole in my menu plan I can whip this out :)

Ingredients:
1 can 10.75 ounce Campbell's Healthy Request Tomato Soup
1 Cup Water
1 cup chopped onion
1/2lb to 1 lb lean ground beef (90% lean) (or any other ground meat)
1 10 ounce can Rotel Mild tomatoes
1 15 ounce can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 ounce can Sweet Corn, drained
1 12-16oz box whole wheat penne pasta
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic, minced
Optional: 1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese

Instructions

1) Preheat Oven 305 degrees F. 

2) Spray Casserole dish or 9x13 pan with non stick spray and set aside. 

3) Cook Pene Pasta

---- While the pasta is cooking you can make the rest of the meal.

3) In a skillet (or pot) brown meat adding in garlic and onion. 

---- You can use pre-cooked meat just warm up in skillet with garlic and onion)

4) Drain any liquid out of the meat and return the pan to low heat

5) Add the Rotel Tomatoes, water, salt, pepper, tomato soup and stir well. 

6) Make sure your pasta is drained and then mix the meat/sauce mixture with the pasta. 

7) Let sit on low heat 

8) Rinse the black beans, then add corn. 

9) Pour Noodles into the casserole dish

10) Spread Black Bean/Corn over top the noddles. 

11) Sprkinle with cheese if desired. 

---- If you are going to freeze it stop right here. 

12) Bake 15 Minutes

Food Storage Again

This week is a food storage week. We keep a decent sized, and variety of food storage so it's not that big of a deal. There are still lots of food options but of course it's 4th of July and we already made plans for company to come over. We keep burgers in stock, but we did just run out of hot dogs. All the condiments and toppings where in storage too, except for tomatoes. Then of course I needed hot dog and hamburger buns, something for desert, milk, eggs, and chips for a side. 

My Need List:
Hot Dogs, Hot Dog Buns, Hamburger Buns, Regular Bread, Milk, Tomatoes, Chips, Eggs


What I Bought:
Hot Dogs, Tomatoes, Chips

What I Made:
Hot Dog Buns, Hamburger Buns, Regular Bread, Milk

I'm sure you saw I made milk and started to wonder a little. Well you take some instant dry milk and make it according to the directions. If you drink skim milk you are probably done. If you have taste
buds and don't want skim milk dump the dry milk mixture in your existing milk. It will mix really well. For us I keep some half and half on hand for when we make ice cream and for making milk. For one quart of dry milk mixture I put in 1.5 cups of half and half. Gives it a good whole milk flavor and thickness.

The Original Recipe

Since I was going to be making so much bread I ground up some whole wheat to put with some store bought flour to make it healthier and make the flour go further. Once the wheat was ground to flour I made some sourdough bread for toast and sandwiches.

The buns, well I had to find a recipe. I found this one. As I was reading the comments I decided to
change it a little for what seemed to yield better results. It came out great!!! I may never buy buns again!

Here you go, a great and easy hamburger and hotdog bun recipe.



Perfect Hamburger/Hot Dog Buns
Oven Temp 425 F
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons Dry Active Yeast (Or Two Packets)
1 Cup and 2 Tablespoons Warm Water
1/3 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Sugar
3- 3.5 Cups Flour

Hint- if you have a Kitchen Aide Stand Mixer you can do the whole mixing and kneading process in it with the kneading hook attachment. 

1) In a large bowl dissolve Yeast in Warm Water.
2) Add Oil and Sugar. Let sit 5 mintues
3) Add enough flour to make soft dough and knead for about 3-5 minutes.
Hint- for heartier rolls use 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour and 2 Cups White Flour. You can use more wheat flour but this is what I used. 
4) Let rise for 30 minutes.
5) Roll dough into 8 evenly sized balls.
6) Place on greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten the balls slightly.
Hint- The size the dough ball is will be the size of your finished roll. If you are making giant burgers make giant roll. Of make mini rolls for sliders.
7) Cover and let rolls rest for 10 minutes
8) Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown
9) Remove from oven let cool for a few minutes. Then serve

For Hot Dog Buns just form your dough into long rolls. The bake the same amount of time and everything the shape is the only difference.

Next time we want to do hoagie sandwiches I might use this recipe too. It was just really yummy and soft :)

Food Storage to the Rescue

So the last couple days have proved the importance of food storage to me. As a Mormon I was raised with food storage and taught the benefits of always having a little extra on hand. Even in AmeriCorps where all my meals were provided my roommate and I kept a few snacks, microwave meals, and drinks in our room. So of course the older and more space I've had the more food storage I've tried to keep.

A few months back while trying to buy the high calorie snacks for Squeaker I started really getting into couponing. Squeaker really preferred the name brand items and would eat more of them. So with coupons and sales I was able to keep the foods she liked in the house. Once I got a handle on it I started saving 30%-50% on our grocery bill. So I started putting money into our food storage building.  We acquired a couple of shelving units from Lowes. Then we spray painted them some wonderfully bright colors since I don't have a closet or basement to hid them in. Once they were painted, and built I filled them with food.

This picture is actually a few months old but it gives you an idea of how much you can store on these shelves. Recently I've even put more food on there. I would take a new picture but today one shelf and it's contents were moved to the new house. I also have a small freezer as part of our food storage system. It's a major part of what I can store. I can store meat, pizza, frozen juice. All sorts of fun things.

Now how it has saved us recently. Firstly was yesterday our water was unexpectedly shut off. Our complex didn't realize our building was on the water line that was being fixed so they we didn't get a notice. Because we had food storage and water storage we did just fine. Plenty of food that didn't need water and what we did need water for we had a about 4 gallons on hand. So no water from 9-4 was not a big deal.

Then today hit. ACK!!!! There was a mess up in payroll and our gross pay was a little less than half. So once you took out taxes, insurance, FSA, and other things we ended up with one tenth of our normal take home deposited into our account. Someone made a big boo boo, but even by notifying them today it will be next week at the earliest before we get the rest of our check. But guess what I don't have to buy food. :) YAY!!!

What about milk you ask? Well we had 1/2 a gallon of whole milk (that what we drink). And no that won't last a week. So I took my Dry Nonfat Milk and reconstituted half a gallon and mixed it with my whole milk. Now it's like 2% milk WAHOO! Much better than skim in my opinion. Then when that runs out I'll make more Nonfat Milk and add the Half and Half I keep on hand for ice cream making. So I have enough to make nearly two gallons on milk.

I have pizza already in the freezer for pizza night, everything I need for my fabulous tuna casserole, and Lasagna. Plus I have salmon, chicken, ground beef, hamburger helpers, other skillet meals. Lots of pasta, soup, mac and cheese and hot dogs. Oh and lets not forget frozen/canned veggies and fruits. I will need eggs and bread soon but there is a store in town where I can get each of those items for about $1 each. I have a few dollars in change just for situations like this.

So with a little planning and keeping things on hand that we eat I don't have to worry about food. Bills maybe late but my family wont starve and in the grand scheme of things that's far more important.

Dinner Tonight

Burger Sandwiches and Homemade French Fries

Burger Sandwich

--Sandwich Bread

--Burger Patti

--Tomatoes

--Letucce

--Mayonaise

--Cheese

Honestly it's just a burger how ever you want it on regular sandwich bread. Here are my reasons for choosing sandwich bread. 1) I had it on hand. 2) They are not as tall so it's easier for little hands to hold 3) Cheaper.

Homemade French Fries

--Potatoes

--Aluminum Foil

--Cooking Spray

--Baking Sheet

--Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F

Wash your potatoes, peal if desired (I don't). Then cut the potatoes in the desired shape. I use the Pampered Chef Fry Cutter. In my opinion if you use it more than once it is well worth the price. 

On your baking sheet lay down the aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. You don't have to use the foil it just makes for a much easier clean up. Once your baking sheet is ready to go place your potato slices on in a single layer. Lightly salt and pepper. Put baking sheet in preheated oven. Set timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes increase heat to 450, turn fries, and bake another 10 minutes. 

The same process works for sweet potatoes to make sweet potato fries, which are yummy with cinnamon instead of salt and pepper.

Extra Calories Part I

A friend of a cousin was looking for ideas to increase their "petite" child's calories. I was going to write and e-mail with everything I could think of then I remembered I have an awesome blog I can put the information on :) For this post I'm sticking mostly to high calorie foods. There is a little too much information for my brain to write in one post.

Of course a good place to start by getting extra calories is buying high calorie snacks. I'm listing name brands so everyone knows what I'm talking about. Most store brands tend to be very close in calorie count. 
Here are some decently healthy options. Most of calories come from carbs or protein not all fat.
Cheez-It Crackers- 27 Crackers (~1/2 cup) 150 calories
Keebler Club Crackers- 4 Crackers (~1/3 cup) 70 calories
Triscuit Crackers- 13 Crackers (~1/2 cup) 120 calories
Wheat Thins- 15 Crackers (~1/4 cup) 140 calories
Cheddar Cheese- 2 Tbsp (1/4 cup) 80 calories
Plain Hummus- 2 Tbsp (1/4 cup) 80 calories
         -Homemade hummus is about the same calories 

This make some great snacks and the crackers of course toss into a bag for outings. I prefer to put out snacks in container instead of a bag. That way the crackers don't get smashed or I end up with crumbs everywhere.

You can also take several of the these items and make a mini meal. Ya know a little bigger than a snack but not quite a meal. And you can make a couple of slightly different mini meals so with the same items. Based on what your child likes, or simply to use the same items but not the same meal.


Triscuts Crackers
Option One

Triscuit Nachos
6 Triscuit Crackers
2 Tablespoons Hummus
4 Tablespoons Cheddar Cheese

Place the Triscuits on a cookie sheet put the cheese on top of the crackers. Heat in oven (or toaster oven) at 400F (204C), just long enough to melt the cheese. Use the Hummus instead of sour cream as a dip.
Eat it all and you have a 300 calorie mini meal. 50 Calories per cracker with a little hummus.

Option Two
Triscuit Pizza
6 Truicuit Crackers (Plain works but Tomoato or Garlic ones are best)
4 Tablespoons Mozzerella Cheese
6 Slices of Pepperoni

Place the Triscuits on a cookie sheet put the cheese on top of the crackers. Place pepperoni on top of each cracker. Heat in oven (or toaster oven) at 400F (204C), just long enough to melt the cheese.

Eat it all and you have a 280 calorie mini meal. 47 Calories per cracker.

Club Crackers
Option One
Club Sandwich
8 Club Crackers
1/4 Cup Ham
4 Tablespoons Cheese
1 Tablespoon Hummus

Take a Club Cracker spread a little hummus on it then place cheese and ham. Top with another cracker. Makes 4 Sandwiches.

Eat it all and you have a 385 calorie mini meal. 96 Calories per sandwich.

Option Two
Club Straight Up
4 Club Crackers
2 Tablespoon Hummus

Dip Crackers in Hummus. This is a great time to try new flavor of hummus.

Eat it all and you have a 150 calorie mini meal. 38 Calories per cracker.




All of the books and people of the world will tell you that you have to push fruits, veggies, and a balanced diet on your children from very young. When you have a "low calorie" child like Squeaker you have to think about three things calories, variety, nutrition. And yes in that order.

Calories are the most important thing, if there aren't enough calories going into your child they can't grow, or fight off illness. Variety is the spice of life. Sure it maybe burgers, hotdogs, enchiladas, ice cream, mac and cheese, chili, eggs, plain pasta most of the time that is still a pretty good range. Keep trying new foods so that as calories become less important you won't have a child that is extremely fussy about what they eat. Lastly nutrition. You do have to make sure your child is getting enough electrolytes, fat, protein, and iron but you don't need to be forcing your child to eat fruits and veggies everyday. If they enjoy them great use them, just pair them with another high calorie food. Squeaker used to love strawberries and chicken nuggets together. As for iron and other vitamins we use juice, I know it can be filled with sugar and hard on the teeth but I'd rather risk some tooth decay than have a vitamin deficiency. Squeaker drinks diluted cranberry cocktail juice (half water half juice) almost exclusively. Mostly it's Cran-Raspeberry, but she will do Cran-Apple, Cran-Grape, and Cran-Pomagranate. She will take some milk and occasionally water but mostly it's juice. It's more calories than water and great for iron and vitamins.

Well if I don't get to bed I'm going to have a very hard time driving to Birmingham and back tomorrow. It's the big appointment that lets us know what the long term immunology plan is.