Shopping day

I received more surprises in the mail today from my sister and sister-in-law. My sister sent me a book about fruit and vegetable carving which looks really cool, but it's written in Thai-which I can not read. The only thing I know how to write in Thai is my first name and that's it. I can't read or write anything else. My sister-in-law sent Bella the cutest little Ugg boots, the Ugg for big people are so ugly to me, but the baby size is way too adorable for me to dislike.
I took the kids to Pottery Barn Kids to look at a few things because I got an e-mail about a sale, but the store was still charging full price for some of the items and the things they had on sale are more than what is on the internet. I found it unusual because the store's sale pricing is usually lower than the internet. Guess not for that store. I was on a mission to get Bella a thicker hooded towel. We received a Swanky Blanky brand towel from a friend in Houston when Kai was born, but no one carries it here in Chi-town. Which is too bad because it really is a wonderful hooded towel, probably nicer than the towels I use and it is a full size towel. The only con of the towel is the price, but it is worth it.
I then stopped in at our neighborhood Whole foods to pick up a few items for dinner. They were charging $2.49 for a carton of organic grape tomatoes-normal price for organic you might say, but at our neighborhood produce only store, the same product, is $.49 a carton. Makes you think doesn't it. Why can't the bigger store (Whole Foods) who has more buying power charge the same price as the mom and pop stand? Don't get me wrong, I love Whole Foods, I just don't buy produce there any more. They are also selling pink totes to support breast cancer, yes i bought one because $1 from the purchase goes to research and it's pink! I have a collection of reuseable bags that I take to the grocery store with me, not only do I get ten cents back per bag, it has cut down on the unneeded plastic and paper bags in the house. Plus I can use them for more than carring groceries. I love the insulated tote from Trader Joe's- it keeps foods cold for 8 hours and makes a great pick-nic bag. (yes, family we will be sending you the wonderful totes filled with goddies for christmas this year.) I really don't know why I didn't think of it before, much better than baskets that can only be used during the holidays, if you keep them.

A great day

It's a great day today, there are new shows tonight and I recieved so many things in the mail and in person. I got some housework done, washed the kids and even managed to squeeze in a shower myself. It's gross I know, but when you have a newborn and a toddler showers for mommy is something that if you're lucky happens everyday. If you're me occurs every other day. You see I can not leave baby alone with Kai, not even in her crib. He likes to hold her and will try to pick her up, which he can do and has done. The other day, he picked her off the floor and tried to put her on the sofa. So the only time I can shower is after dinner when Jimmy is home or really early in the morning like at 5. I choose sleep and after dinner is sometimes 11 pm or midnight in our house.

Our new blue Kitchen aid mixer arrived today. I am so excited and can't wait to use it. Holiday baking is going to be so much easier this season. So family and friends send in your requests now. I have a few staples, but still thinking about the new cookies that I will make.

I also got a bag of pastries from Jimmy last night. Kai and I snacked on it all day. He also brought home a new dark chocolate that we surprizingly like. I think it is 65%. If we have any left it will be made into chocolate chip cookies (if kai and I don't eat them all maybe we'll send you some Viv).

Last night's dinner of Greek inspired chicken and orzo was not a home run so therefore I'm not sharing that recipe until it has been fine tuned. Tonight I am making falafel wraps with hummus and baba ghannouj. An old favorite. The hummus is nothing special it consists of the basic ingredients of chick peas, lemons, garlic, tahini, olive oil, and salt and pepper. My baba ghannouj on the other hand is milder than most that is served at restaurants because I use roasted garlic instead of raw. In my opinion, it's easier to eat because it's not sharp and you won't have strong garlic breath afterwards. Tomorrow I will be making my favorite fall dish of pumpkin polenta with chorizo and black bean (this is a Rachael Ray dish and can be found on her website). It is awesome and I'm glad she came up with the dish. The rest of the week consists of more fall squash. I didn't even notice that until Jimmy pointed it out. I was like, 'what are you talking about', then I looked at this week's menu and notice I have planned pumpkin, butternut, and spaghetti squash for this week. I picked up a package of tofu at the store the other day and still haven't decided what to do with it yet because it was a spontaneous buy.

An explanation about the picture- Kai loves hats and wanted to share his passion with baby sister so he borrowed chef Snoopy's hat and that's how this picture came to be. See, it wasn't me. When you see a picture of her in a huge coffee cup- that would be my idea. Yes, I do have a coffee cup that big and I have a picture of Kai in it when he was her age.

I dream of Chocolate

I'm at home dreaming of the delicious treats at the gourmet market Jimmy (a.k.a. my hubby) is teaching a class at tonight. He's doing a Chocolate 101 class and I would be there but an hour and a half is too long for me and two kids. Kai gets too crazy around chocolate. He is only two and has tasted chocolates from chocolatiers like Vosges, Thomas Haas, Callebeaut, Valharona, Cocoa Berry, the Cocoa Room, Cocoa rouge, El Rey, Santander, and of course those that can be bought at the grocery store and department stores (hubby thinks they are too common to even list).
Fox and Obel also has the best baked goods in town (other than the ones Jimmy and I make at home ), so hopefully he will bring home a brioche tart for me. So while I sit here looking at a picture of one of his dessert tables dreaming of his freshly made grapa cream truffles Kai is dancing to the new Keisha Cole song. Too Cute!

Coffee doesn't work anymore.

I am exhausted today. Little Bella wanted to party all night and did not fall asleep until 6:30 a.m. The same time my husband's alarm sounded to wake him up for work. Which did not work because I still had to poke him and say, "Honey, it's 6:30." to which he just rolls over. Oh well, I think and put Bella in her crib then proceeded to pass out. Now I am on my second cup of java (don't tell the docs-I'm only allowed 1 cup a day) which is giving me a headache and making me sleepy. My two year old son, Kai, is making me play dough cookies and demanding that I eat them! "No, Kai do not put them in your mouth, just pretend to eat it." Oh how sad, my mug is now empty. what else can I drink?
Back to the baby Bella problem. Why is she so awake between the hours of 2a.m.-5 a.m.? When will she realize that it's the time when the rest of the family is suppose to be sleeping? Well, big brother can sleep with the occassional annoyed grunt and daddy saws logs with the occassional opening of the eyes to look at sleep deprived me and hungry Bella. That's another thing, she just can't get enough milk between those hours. Seriously, she wants to nurse every hour! Yep, I feel like a milk cow in those hours. During the day she wakes up every 2 1/2 to 3 hours to eat and get changed. I know it takes time for her to adjust to being outside the womb, but it has been almost five weeks. When will she adjust?!? And what's with all spitting up? Baby reflux? Over eating? And oh my goodness the poor thing is so gassy. I just remembered that the first month was the hardest, but I don't remember when it gets a little better.
Time to plan this weeks menu, off to get ideas from Martha, Rachael, and the folks at Food Network.

What's for dinner?

That's a question I ask myself everyday. Sometimes I take the time to plan a weeks menu in advanced and sometimes it's just too much work to do with a toddler tugging at my shirt and a newborn crying in her crib. But last night I was able to invent a new pasta dish that consisted of what I had on hand. Onions, garlic, bacon, mixed greens, grape tomatoes, sundried-tomato pesto, parmesean cheese and multi-grain pasta. A dish made in 10 minutes! I'm no Rachael Ray, but I have to cook lots of meals in less than 30 minutes so I have to be creative. The pasta turned out pretty good.

So this is what I did to prepare it. (just a note on how I cook: I don't measure things unless I am baking so it's usually an estimate when measurements are given. That way I have room for adjusting the flavor to my prefrence.)
Put water on to boil. Chop garlic, slice onions, cut bacon into 1 inch pieces and wash tomatoes. When water comes to a boil have the kid season water with salt and dump in pasta. While pasta is cooking heat up frying pan and add bacon. Cook until crispy and remove from fat and set aside. Drain bacon grease and let cool to discard later or save to use for frying eggs for breakfast. Into the pan goes a splash of olive oil along with the onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Cook until grape tomatoes start to pop turn down the heat. Save half a cup of pasta water for pasta then drain the pasta and add to frying pan along with 1/4 cup of sundried-tomato pesto, mixed greens and the pasta water. Toss to mix everything and serve with grated parmesean. This made enough for four.

Yes, my two year old sous chef gobbled up this pasta..so did the hubby. In my house watever my son helps prepare he eats. This kid is amazing. His palate goes beyond mac n' cheese. His favorite cheese at the moment is Gruyere. I'm not saying that he's the perfect toddler who eats everything, but he will eat what he cooks. At the moment he is going through that stage of toddlerhood where he eats well one day and not so much the next. He's testing his bounderies, so I had to teach him about compromise. Yesterday's comprmise was, "If you eat all your dinner you can have a cookie." I know it's a bribe but it's not a bad one. We both got what we wanted.
Now the baby is crying so rescue her I must.