Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts

Wandom Wednesday: Recovery

This Sunday, my little snugaboo will be one month old. WHOA Nelly Furtado! I am torn between wishing time would stand still so I can have this little newborn forever, and wishing time would fast forward to the point where he can wipe his own butt. I'm sure one day I'll miss wiping his butt... one day.
GAH! Just the other day his little belly button cord fell off. I was both excited and disgusted, then I cried because he's growing up so fast. This was a big moment for the whole family.

I have to be honest and say that these past few weeks, although filled with magical moments, has been an emotional roller coaster for me. Baby blues hit me like a freggin' hurricane and I sobbed uncontrollably EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I heard crying sounds coming from my own mouth that I've never heard before. Even Baby Joaquin was like "What the hell, Mom! Why are YOU crying?" When I am in these deep holes of emotion, I often wonder if I'm cut out for this "mom gig." Hubby really had to dig me out of some really dark moments and there were even times I pulled him right down there with me. I felt so alone even though I was surrounded by everything a woman could ever want out of life. Dammit Hormones! I really had a difficult time with breastfeeding, getting up every 2 hours, going out in public, and even interacting with friends and family. I just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep for a redonkulous amount of days.


Then I remembered I AM a mom now and this little guy is counting on me. I remembered that newborns can pick up on mommy's stress and I couldn't deal with the thought of ruining my kid's life already. There will be times for that...like showing the video of his first bath at his 18th birthday party in front of all his friends and his stupid girlfriend, who I'm sure I'll hate. So in true obsessive compulsive and teacher lady form, I started a plan of action.....an IEP (for all you teacher friends out there)for myself to fight the blues.

1. Organize....in a cute organizer.

Ummm, I'm TOTALLY obsessed with my new planner. If you're into the good ol' paper organizers, check out ErinCondren.com. Her planners are so cute and functional. I am in organize heaven! I made it a point to plan out family walks, visits from friends, and simple trips to the market so I can feel productive. Those were the things that made me feel "normal."

I also love my Baby Daze tracker. Totally unnecessary but helps the OCD monster in me to keep track of every poop and pee that lil' man makes. That info will make for beautiful keepsake moments, no?


 2. Don't be a Vampire Slug

People say to sleep when baby sleeps but when I did that, I felt like a vampire slug living in a dark house with the curtains always drawn shut. I needed to get some fresh air everyday. My little family and I went on our first walk around the block days after Joaquin's birth. We all loved it, especially Sonic. This helped with my sanity and my c-section recovery.



3. Take a damn shower

Since my c-section, my incision site open once. Lovely. I had to take a trip to the ER, they drained it, and told me to sponge bath myself for a few days. Sponge baths are hard if you don't have a nurse on hand to wipe you down the correct way. Sure I have a husband, but it is too early in my life for him to wipe my butt. When I got the green light to take a full shower, I danced...carefully, with joy. Showers are your friend and you should take one...even if it lasts a whole 2 minutes.

.via.






 4. Do what's right for YOU

-cracked and bleeding nipples
-nipple shields
-Lanolin cream
-Thrush
-Plugged Ducts

If you plan on breastfeeding, make sure you do your research on these things. I really thought that breastfeeding would be as easy as slapping the baby on your teet and letting him go at it, create a magical bond, blah blah blah..... no. Nobody told me that breastfeeding can be so hard!

I am a firm believer in "Happy Wife, Happy Life." Same goes for being a mom, too. If mommy isn't happy, then all hell will break loose in the house and everyone will be miserable. One struggle I had, and continue to have on occasion is breastfeeding. I want to write a full post about my battle with this, but in short, I had to do what was right for me. It seems like right now, the push is for breastfeeding and anything else is poison apparently. I felt the pressure hardcore and had to find ways to come to terms with what works for me and what wont drive me up the wall. In a nutshell, I hate breastfeeding...yes I said it...I hate it. I decided that the best thing for me right now is to exclusively pump and supplement if I need to.



 5. Cookies

Remember when I said I'd post the recipe for the pumpkin white chocolate chip cookies...yeah well, I had a baby and I totally forgot. Mommy brain? Better late than never.
FYI- I subbed the pumpkin spice and puree for a lazy can of pumpkin pie puree and I nixed the frosting and dusted it with powdered sugar.
Yummy recipe here!

I also did a my first TIM TAM SLAM! Oh, it's a thing. Google it. It's going to be big like Gangnam style. Mark my chocolate faced words.


For all you new mommies out there.... hang in there. It does get better. Atleast that's what everyone keeps telling me.
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Wandom Wednesday: Cookies EVERYWHERE

Cookies, cookies, EVERYWHERE! Nothing like some cookies to get you into the holiday eating mode. Thinking about trying to control yourself over this holiday season? Fogettah 'bout it. I'm totally talking to myself when I say that. My original goal was to keep my calorie count down to a normal person's level but then I participated in this Virtual Cookie Swap and all that went out the window. I just HAD to share these delectable morsels with you because... well, if I'm going to get fat, I'm dragging you all down with me!

I'm going to try my best to make these before Christmas. Don't worry though, today I went running because I knew that to achieve my goal of making batches upon batches of unnecessary cookies, I'm going to have to haul ass....or go up a pant size or my ass. I'm thinking that going up a size isn't the end of the world.

Ready?

Soft Frosted Eggnog Sugar Cookies from The Avid Appetite




















Now, this cookie swap was a little bittersweet because I have all these amazing recipes but now I have to do so much work and wear stretchy pants to be able to keep up with my butter intake. No fair! I wish I could've met these girls in real life and would've been able to take home a plate of cookies, but I guess this'll do.

If you need me I will be in the kitchen making cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. 

And don't forget to check out my French Macarons!
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Virtual Cookie Swap: Nutella Cream French Macarons

When one of my all time favorite bloggers, Rachel from The Avid Appetite asked me to participate in her Virtual Cookie Swap, I nearly peed myself.  I was so excited that a big time blogger would ask me anything via email! I immediately began to think about what cookie I wanted to make. Then, as if the stars began to align, my mom bought me a book as a gift.

by Hoisako Ogita

I'd like to say that she bought me this out of the goodness of her heart, but that'd be a lie. She bought this for me because she is french macaron obsessed and wanted me to learn to make them for her. Tricky, tricky, Mother. Lucky for her and my dad, they are the loves of my life.... so I will oblige them.

Project Wifey Wife presents:
Nutella Cream French Macarons

Ingredients:
2/3 cup ground almond meal or flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 Tbs granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

**The ground almond flour I bought had the skins of the almond in it. It doesn't affect the taste but you can see it in the final product. You can buy this other brand but it is quite expensive.
Equipment:

Before I begin, I must warn you that this is quite the fussy cookie. Certain techniques that the book mentions are pretty particular, but with a lot of patience, you'll be just fine. This a "whole afternoon" type cookie, so take heed. The end product is MORE than worth it. Trust me...I'm not a professional.
 May the macaron force be with you.

Let's begin.

This will help make the macaroons be the same size. Apologies for the crinkled paper. Lord knows those jagged teeth thingies on the box don't do their job right! I recommend that yours be more straight as it will effect your cookies. 
The book recommends that you grind the almonds and powdered sugar together. I just stirred them together and it came out great. Take that, book.

Gradually add the granulated sugar to the egg whites. Be sure to stop and scrap the bowl periodically. Add the vanilla and stir lightly.


Add the rest of the flour and mix it lightly in a circular motion.

Macaroonage Step: This is the fussy step I was talking about. Macaroonage is the term used for mixing flour and meringue. You MUST do this step no less than 15 times, but no more than 20 or you will ruin your macarons.
In a nutshell, you are spreading it against the bowl and scraping it back up 15 times.

When the batter becomes firm and drips slowly as you scoop it with a spatula, the mixture is ready.

Fill your pastry bag and begin to make your circles onto your pre-drawn parchment paper.

Hit the baking sheet firmly against the counter. This helps the macarons hold their shape and helps the "little foot" to form. Apparently a macaron is not a macaron without this little foot.


Before baking, dry the batter at room temperature, uncovered for 15- 30 minutes. A slight crust should form on the top and it should not be sticky to the touch.

Bake one batch of macaroons on the stacked cookie sheets. You must double the trays because it prevents the bottom from getting over baked.


Now, there are many types of fillings you can choose from but by the time I was done with this fussy little things, I wanted something FAST! So I made a lazy filling.

1 part butter to 1 part Nutella. You're welcome.

I used 1 stick of butter to about 1 cup of Nutella. I mixed the butter so that the consistency wouldn't be too runny for the cookie. It worked and it was AMAZING!


This would be a wonderful Christmas gift, don't you think?


I'm excited to share the recipes from the other cookie swappers! YAY Virtual Cookie Swap! Stay tuned.....

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Part II: Stuffing My Face in Solvang

Contrary to popular belief, I did not go to Europe for the weekend. Unfortunately, I do not live the life of a rich person. It's ok... I am rich in love, life, and food. ::cue the strings:: I traveled 3 1/2 hours North to Solvang, California and I STUFFED my mouth hole with sweets of all kinds, meats of all kinds, and I threw in some vegetables  for good measure. Here are just a few things we did up in this little Danish town.
We arrived at our Hotel on Friday night. It was very simple and IKEA-ish, with a dash of a Hostel sort of feel. Sure, I wanted to slap myself for not booking a hotel, say, with amenities and a room a bit bigger so that doo-doo smells wouldn't attack the WHOLE hotel room when someone is in the toilet room, or a place that offers more than two pillows. But hey, it was decent enough for showering, sleeping, and other bed activities.
The best part of the hotel was that it came with complementary bikes...
We rode them with pride around the town, showing off our Danish filled guts.
And the other great thing about our Hotel was that it was a matter of steps to the best eatery in Solvang. That's not just my opinion, that's a FACT! Look it up on Wikipedia in about an hour.
Their Danish pancakes were LEGENDARY!! The service was impeccable, the line was out the door, the place was clean, and the bacon was thick as fruit leather. If those aren't true stamps to a good place, I don't know what to tell you.

After we ate the best meals of our lives, we moseyed on over to spend about a good hour in this odd spot.
This store reminded me of my childhood in Germany. I had a wonderful nostalgic feeling and I didn't want to leave. Good thing Hubby kept himself busy by finding the only pair of Boobie Stein glasses in the store.
And, the lady at the counter thought we were billionaires and kept trying to sell us one of these $500 clocks. She should've looked at our Hamlet Inn bikes.

The rest of the trip consisted of food... because that was my main goal after all...to gain a ridiculous amount of weight in my buttocks area.
    
 
I ate real food, too.
 Day two, we rode our bikes again. Do you think a few hours pedaling cancels out all this food?
Don't worry, I was in fact wearing shorts under my dress. I don't know how the Danes feel about Hello Kitty Chonies and I wasn't about to find out.

Back to the eats...
Chipmunk Cheeks courtesy of all the sweets....glorious glorious sweets. 

And lastly, I searched for my childhood fav, Weinershnizel. It was sadly a disappointment. Not as good as I remembered it. The little fat girl inside me wept. 
While in my food depression, Hubby enjoyed his AMAZING Chicken Fried Steak.
I gave him puppy dog eyes the WHOLE meal and all he gave me was a measly 4 bites! Can you believe that? And he vowed to be with me through good times and bad.... pshhh.... lies. (Love you, Hubs!)

It was the best birthday I've had all year. wait... yeah... best one.

  • How was your weekend?
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