Thursday, October 3, 2013

a picture perfect pause

To err... human. Yeah, that is me, to be sure. So - gonna have to pause this 21 day experiment. I just found our that the photo books I ordered online actually have an expiration date.

It is in less than 2 weeks. I have to go through thousands of photos and pull out the ones I want to use to make some baby books for the girls. I also have photos all around my computer as I tried different software until finally settling on Aperature.

Any and each spare moment I have will be used exporting pictures to this photobook website and then I have to, ahem, "get to" rearrange them and attempt to write some meaningful stuff too.

And in addition, the plan is for me to go out of town this weekend through Monday. We shall see.

Okay, til then (the last day to put my order in is the 13th...) so, don't be surprised if you don't see an entry til then, but didn't want to not post why I am not posting.

Yes, I work well under pressure. Sabine is almost 4. I have been saying I want to get her a photobook since she was born. How do I get motivated to do it? Pre-purchase the book with a deadline - it's the only way.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Kid Friendly Quinoa Veggie Balls (baked) recipe


Leo will start her 3x a week mornings at Creche or daycare. We do the acclimation tomorrow, so we will go together for one hour and then the next day together and then the next day she will stay one hour alone and then 2 hours alone. We shall see. I may not have mentioned that Leo is not, nor has she ever been a particularly easy baby. She resists sleeping, has never accepted a bottle or a pacifier (which I would have liked when she had the colic for the first 3 months), only now can deal with her car seat (things improved when she was no longer rear facing), doesn't care for the wrap or the stroller much, hates having her diaper changed, doesn't like wearing a sun hat even when the sun is glaring in her eyes and generally is just a persnickity little bugger.

Food is similar, but improving. Sabine was easy peasy, would and still does eat anything you give her. Now, she may decide she doesn't like it (I think that has happened maybe twice) and not want to eat more. Leo is well, Leo. She has never tolerated bananas, avocados or any baby puree. She likes cucumbers, fresh figs, salmon and steamed broccoli the best. In my quest to help her eat more and thus (fingers crossed) to someday sleep through the night, I am always trying new finger foods for her because gods forbid should you try to feed her!

Since this blog is called Transition Kitchen and it promises to occasionally include recipes, I have decided to throw a couple in for you:) This recipe was a winner and Leo enjoyed it quite a lot and I will be making it again. The cool thing about it, is that you can change up the ingredients to keep it interesting but maintain the moist texture and finger-foodness about it. Enjoy!

Toddler Quinoa Veggie Rounds

2 cups shredded pumpkin
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 cup steamed peas
2 cups cooked quinoa (well strained)
3 eggs
1/2 cup-3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or whatever flour you like)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used chedder)

Sautee the pumpkin in the coconut oil til it becomes very mushy
mix everything up together
use your ice cream scooper to make perfectly sized/shaped balls on parchment paper
bake for about 20 minutes at 180 Celsius.

 These are a bit bland, but good for your toddler. You can add salt/pepper/curry/etc, pumpkin seeds, flax, shredded carrots, zucchini, peppers, garlic, spinach, etc.

We dipped ours into plain, full fat yogurt.