Disney World

We woke up Thursday morning expecting it to be a normal day- until John left for work, got a mile down the road to the intersection and totaled his car (time: 0730) He seemed to be fine except for a few sore muscles but I dragged him to the Emergency room as a precautionary measure. Turned out he actually was fine, but when I wasn't looking the doctor slipped him a few muscle relaxers just in case (time: 1000). On the way home my normally chaos adverse husband made a strange suggestion "Hey, want to go to Disney World?"... and I, 38 weeks pregnant, thinking he was clean and sober, agreed. (time: 1030). At 12:45 the car was loaded, the hotel booked and the tickets purchased and we departed just in time for an afternoon car-nap. 

This was a "hasty" Disney trip to say the least and a little bit of a learning experience as far as how to do a major theme park with a toddler, but here's what went right, and why I would absolutely do it again: 

Lodging 

This was my fifth trip to Disney and my third as an adult. We stayed off property the two times I stayed as a kid and, while it was still a wonderful trip, getting in a car to drive into the park every morning when you've already travelled to get there just kind of kills the magic for me. The parking lots are huge, the parking isn't cheap and who wants to buckle kids into a car seat, fold up strollers for parking lot trams and move the car every time you switch parks? Not I. 

The three resorts I've stayed in are the Saratoga Springs Resort, Beach Club Resort and Animal Kingdom Lodge. They're all in different Disney price brackets, but I would honestly say that the quality of the rooms doesn't vary much. They're all meticulously clean, you still get towels shaped like animals and all of them have restaurants on site as well as enough pools and activities to keep a kid or an adult relaxed and entertained even on a day you didn't plan to go into the park. I love Disney hotels. You will get the same quality of service and same magical "Welcome Home" experience no matter which one you choose. (Tell them its your first time or that you're celebrating a special event when you check in and you get special badges... which almost every single park employee will remark on and congratulate you)... but there are a few differences worth noting: 

The Animal Kingdom Lodge was incredible. Built inside of a game preserve you can wake up and look out your window in the morning to watch giraffes having breakfast (and zebras, bush pigs, huge African cattle, exotic birds, etc- just make sure you book a room viewing the animal side and not the pool side). Actually, you can look out your window any time of day and see creatures. Major bonus for traveling with a toddler. The hotel is located right next to the Animal Kingdom theme park and you can get to any of the parks via bus.... which, for us, was one of the drawbacks. Disney buses run frequently, quickly and efficiently- but it still takes 20 minutes to get from the Animal Kingdom lodge to the  Magic Kingdom, after you've waited on the bus for 15 minutes. (Magic Kingdom, I argue, is the best park for toddlers by FAR). It was worth it for how incredibly taken with the animals James was, but on a next trip, especially with more than one small child I would try something with access to either the Monorail or a boat that takes you directly into the Magic Kingdom. 

We stayed at the Beach Club resort before we had kids, but I do remember that they had their own character breakfast right in the hotel, which is fantastic for kids, but more on character meals later. The Beach Club resort, like most (maybe all?) of the other Epcot resorts is within walking distance to Epcot.  Major perk as far as I'm concerned. As long as you have a park hopper ticket you can start your day in Epcot, then just walk through to Monorail to the Magic Kingdom. You can still take a bus if you want to get directly to one of the other parks, but again, I love the convenience and frequency of that Monorail if you're going someplace it can take you. Also, the bus from the Epcot resorts only takes about 10 minutes to get to all of the other parks (except Animal Kingdom). 

The next time we do this I plan on staying in a possibly "less fun" hotel like the Contemporary in order to spend less time commuting. We'll see if the trade off is worth it. 

Park Tickets 

For Military there is no better way to go then to go to the Leisure rep on base and get the 3 day park hopper passes. You can get up to six of them with one military ID and you save almost 50% off of the ticket price (thats $150 a person.) You will have to pay extra if you want to add the Water Park option, but its still an incredible deal. Toddler perk- kids under 3 don't need a ticket. Get to the park early the first day because you have to "activate" them at guest services by presenting your military ID along with the tickets. After that you're ready to go! 

Food

Meal plans, meal plans, meal plans. you have to purchase them at least three days before you leave on the trip, so we weren't able to do it this time, but they will save you very serious money. You can choose from several different combinations of quick meals, snacks and full sit down meals- its all explained on the Disney World website. (Again, no meal plans for toddlers who are free at the buffet-style meals like Character breakfasts anyway). I brought a lot of snacks and a lot of water in my backpack- because who wants to pay $3 for a bottle of Dasani or $5 for a pretzel? Plus, this way we could snack on the move without waiting in any lines. There are already enough lines for rides, park entry and everything else you're going to want to do. Snacking on the go is key for a small person who eats every two hours. 

Character meals are my favorite. They're more expensive than regular meals, but they are the best way to guarantee you'll see the specific character your kid loves without waiting in line. They just come right up to your table! In our case it was Donald Duck. I'd recommend booking as far in advance as you can. We got lucky that it was a slow week and a lot of reservations were open. We did three different character meals- but if you can only do one I'd suggest saving it until the end. Its a nice last memory and kind of tops off the experience. The three we did this time were Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary hotel (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto), Donald's Safari in the Animal Kindgom (Donald, Daisy, Minnie, Mickey and Goofy) and Mickey's Backyard BBQ (Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale and Goofy). Chef Mickey's was the most like the character meals I've done before (Beach Club and Crystal Palace). You get your table, food is buffet style and the characters are making their way around the restaurant table by table. They make sure to get to every table so you don't miss any of them. Its a great time and James loved watching them walk around even if they weren't talking to us. Actually, he liked Goofy better from afar. Fair warning, Goofy is HUGE compared to the other ones and was a little frightening up close for James. Actually, they were all a little frightening up close at first because they're usually three inches tall on the TV- but he got used to everyone except Goofy after that first meal. At Donald's Safari you got to meet Donald first and pose for a picture with him- which was fantastic for us since Donald was really who he wanted to see anyway. Mickey's Backyard BBQ was by far our favorite of the experiences, though. Dinner is set up outside under a big pavilion with picnic tables. Food is still buffet style but instead of going table by table the characters all come out and dance in the middle of the dance floor and the kids get to dance with them! So much fun, and very entertaining. There are still opportunities for pictures in between dances and at the very end of the night. If you have a toddler do this dinner, it was amazing. James danced and danced with the other kids and Mickey, who makes sure he is turning around and equally paying attention to all of the kids surrounding him. He clapped to the music, he covered himself in ice cream and it wasn't a restaurant setting so he didn't have to sit still the whole time. It was a success. (My only note is that if your kid doesn't like a lot of noise or is overstimulated by a lot going on you might want to let the hosts know and sit far out on the edge because it can get very loud in the center). 

Rides and Attractions (for toddlers) 

The Magic Kingdom is chock full of things for little kids. We went there first, then we went a second and third time. Just walking through the gates onto the Main Street fascinated James because we told him it was where Mickey Mouse lived. He loved the castle, he loved the balloon salesmen, he loved the candy shops and the hat shops. It was amazing. We didn't even try to do all of the rides because we only had 2.5 days in the parks- but we did make a map, and we stuck to it. Disney has a fantastic app that will tell you ride wait times and map the shortest distance between attractions for you. I can't wrap my head around technology and I hate looking like I'm stuck in my cell phone, especially at Disney World- so I didn't use it- but John did and he kept piping up with useful information, so give it a try. Our method of choice was to get into the park as soon as it opened and beeline for the two rides we wanted with the most notoriously long lines. John and James would get in line for one ride and I would beeline to the second to get fast passes. I didn't do much riding so I'd wait for them and get pictures as they rode. Worked out splendidly. Then we mapped our path so we'd pass a ride with a long line on the way to another ride with a shorter line, or even a show. We got a lot of bang for our walking and had a ton of fun. 

We also did: 

*Magic  Kingdom*

Country Bear Jamboree (short show with big animatronic bears singing songs, lots of fun and short enough to hold small attention spans)

Dumbo the Flying Elephant (the whole thing has been redone and now has a play structure inside to keep kids busy while you wait! Avoid this if your little one doesn't like heights) 

Its a Small World (calm enough  not to scare any kids and all of the animatronics were mesmerizing to James)

Jungle Cruise (short boat ride around the 'jungle' with a tour guide whose jokes are going to go over kids heads but were funny for us. James loved the elephants, hippos and other 'animals' he got to see)

Mad Tea Party (spin in circles on a tea cup.... and you control the speed so you don't even really have to spin if you don't want to. If you get motion sick avoid this entirely)

Peter Pan's Flight (this one is kind of dark. James liked it but would have liked it more if he had seen Peter Pan instead of Jake and the Neverland Pirates- he still knew who hook and tick-tock crock were, which made him happy, but the rest of the ride went over his head and he didn't like that there wasn't any light) 

Carrousel (its a carrousel, its wonderful) 

Swiss Family Tree House (this is just too much climbing for a toddler. Steps steps steps=mom and dad carrying them. Avoid) 

Tom Sawyer Island (A nice break for John and I since James could get down and run around while we followed him instead of having to worry about crowds tripping over him. There were some neat bridges and little caves that he liked exploring, plus you got to take a boat to get there and James loves boats) 

Tomorrow land Speedway (I believe the minimum height is 36 inches, which James is, and he loved speeding around the track in an open car with John. He couldn't drive because he was too short, but sitting in an open car without a car seat was plenty of thrill for him) 

Rail Road (This is just a little old fashioned train that works its way in a circle around the Magic Kingdom but it was a big hit. More fun than riding on it was watching them pull in and out of the station. And the most fun for me being pregnant was not having to walk from the back to the front of the park at the end of the day ;) 

Parades!! (We caught one in the middle of the afternoon- and if you're deliberately trying to plan for one I recommend getting a spot a bit early, but we had a perfect view from a few yards away and James loved the music and the dancing) 

*Epcot* 

The Seas with Nemo and Friends (not a long ride, and you get to ride in a clamshell and see fish. Just the right speed for a toddler) 

Bushes! ( Its not a ride, they're just bushes- but they're all clipped and shaped to look like characters and they're all over the park. We made it our mission to find as many as we could and James loved identifying them) 

Koi Pond, Japan (Again, not a ride, but there is a Koi pond in Japan that occupied James for a few minutes while John got us a funnel cake ;) 

Fire Works (Epcot has a fantastic fire works display every night. They're not until nine... but if staying up late won't kill your kid's mood go for it) 

Playground! (There is an awesome little climbing playground to the right of the gardens as you enter the World Showcase. Its just a playground, honestly, but it was a place for James to get down and run around which was a much needed break from the stroller for him. There are also splash pads along the walkways on your way into the World Showcase) 

Singing Fountains (The fountains spurt to music every so often. We happened to walk by as it was happening) 

We also walked around the World Showcase for quite a while. We tried snacks from half of the snack stands and wandered into a lot of the shops. Not particularly kid-oriented but there was so much to look at that James really enjoyed pointing and telling us about all of the things he saw. 

*Animal Kingdom* 

You would think this place would have more things for little kids to do, but it wasn't our favorite for a two year old. Here is what we did like: 

Affection Section (Its a petting zoo with sheep, pigs and goats, but the CALMEST sheep, pigs and goats you've ever seen. They just lay there and let you pet them... I wondered if they weren't drugged. The keepers swore up and down that they weren't. Ultimately I don't really care because James hugged and pet the animals for almost an hour and never got butt or run over) 

The Boneyard (Another cute parent resting place for James to run around, except there were a lot of climbing structures with slides that he had to be supervised on. Still, it got out some energy which was what we were looking for) 

Kilimanjaro Safari (A Safari ride around the Animal Kingdom zoo. It was great because it was a ride, not a walk, you were guaranteed to see animals and the tour guide told you where to look and a little bit about them. James loved it, my aching feet loved it.) 

Finding Nemo the Musical (We stumbled upon this and it was so much fun. Its a life-size puppet show/musical and was really, in my opinion, Broadway quality. I loved it, it kept James' attention for 30 full minutes in an air conditioned theater and at the end bubbles fell from the ceiling!!! Yay!) 

The End

I'm no Disney expert, but this trip was a lot of fun and a great first toddler experience. Since we didn't have any other kids to worry about we went back to the hotel mid afternoon for a much needed nap every day (and a mommy-labor-prevention break). The bottom line is that two is not too young for Disney! 

If You Give a Pregnant Woman Preserves...

She's going to want homemade popovers and butter to go with them.

It is springtime in Paris. I know this not because its springtime everywhere in the northern hemisphere but because several of my less considerate Facebook friends are gallivanting there right now. The Eiffel Tower is nice, the Champs Elysees is very pretty, but the bakeries gave new meaning to my life. Flaky croissants, bite sized pies filled with tart custards, warm bread with fresh jam and butter. Suddenly, in the middle of my reminiscing, I had a realization. "Wait... I have fresh jam. (this is how the it always starts) I have fresh jam!" All I'd have to do is make scones, or popovers, or some French Bread! *Sift, whisk, stir stir stir*. The trouble is popovers take 25 minutes to bake.... and store bought butter really just won't do when everything else is so fresh. *begins churning*. So here I sit, gloating. They may be in Paris, but I'm here in sunny Southern Alabama with a napping toddler and my feet up on an overstuffed micro suede couch, smothering my ugly (but otherwise perfect) popovers in butter and strawberry apple jam. Bon vivant.

And if you'd like to make some of these tasties: Jam, Popovers

Twigs, Nuts, Berries and Granola Bars

I've embarked on a quest to make as many of my toddler's snacks as possible. It makes me feel good about what I'm feeding him, plus they're fun projects to do together. And, as you might be noticing if you've been following my little blog, I've got a lot of energy to burn. Projects make day go round. So, here's a roundup of this week's productivity:

"Playgroup Granola Bars" from Allrecipes.com

They turned out well, especially since I'm not quite yogi enough yet to like sunflower seeds or nuts in my granola bars. They're just a little too sweet for my tastes, well, a lot too sweet, especially considering the intent was to make a "healthy" snack. Next time I'd cut out the brown sugar entirely and go with just the honey. I'll execute the plan and report back after I've made them.

Dehydrated Fruits

I started out with apples and pineapples, I moved on to strawberries and bananas. I originally had this Nesco FD-37 Food dehydrator:





Its a good dehydrator for the price ($45), however, I am impatient and forgetful. It was taking over twelve hours to dehydrate apple slices. I'm not staying up past my bed time to check on the drying status of my snack food.  It also doesn't have a temperature setting and I would like to experiment with Jerky, which seems to be more safely dehydrated at a higher temperature. So for $20 I upgraded to the Nesco FD-61 Snackmaster (picture below). Snackmaster, now there is an appliance I can get behind. It is the master of the snacks, not the other way around. Perfect. It has 100 watts more drying power, which makes it speedier, and also that adjustable temperature sensor I wanted. Admittedly its not MUCH faster, it seems to cut the drying time of my fruits by about two hours- those 12 hour apple slices are now 10 hour apple slices. Small victories.









Even better the Snackmaster came with a fruit roll tray! As an experiment I dumped some apple sauce in it- four hours later I had a fruit roll up! Tomorrow's task is strawberry roll ups from our freshly picked strawberries- if that goes well I'll move on to the Jerky tray. 

What does one do with dehydrated fruits? First of all, they're fantastic munchies- but they're even better in cereal or oatmeal. Especially the apples and strawberries. I have a friend who is an expert dehydrator and says you can just dump a bag of frozen peaches or mangoes into the tray, turn it on and have mango and peach snacks. Since peach picking season coincides with my due date I'm going to try to induce labor by collecting peaches at mid-day with James on my back. Wish me luck.

Peanut Butter

This has to be the easiest substance on the planet to create- and lucky me, we live in the self proclaimed "Peanut Capitol" of the world. Every few blocks in Dothan, Alabama there is a four foot tall peanut painted to look like a Sheriff or a Hooters Girl or a Sam's Club employee.  When my mother was visiting we got a map and scouted out all of the peanuts known to the Dothan tourism center. There were 28 of them and we spent the better part of three days with James in the back seat defying traffic laws trying to take pictures as we spotted them.

So, back to the peanut butter. I purchased a 1lb back of roasted, shelled, unsalted peanuts. Throw them in a food processor and add vegetable oil in 1/2 teaspoon increments until you have a substance slightly looser than you'd like (it will firm up in the refrigerator). Mine took three minutes to get smooth enough- and it will never be as smooth as Jiff. It is better for you, though, and in my opinion has a richer and more delightfully peanuty taste. After reading quite a few canning guides I've determined that the long term canning of peanut butter is not a great idea- apparently its density and the added oil makes it difficult to heat to the point where all of the bacteria is dead. So its one jar at a time for the Chamberlins.

Spare Ribs

Swiped this one directly from Epicurious.com. Check it out on the website or read below:

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 pounds baby back pork ribs (8 racks) or St. Louis-style spareribs (4 racks)
• Low-salt chicken broth (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups store-bought or homemade barbecue sauce plus more

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Place each rack of ribs on a double layer of foil; sprinkle rub all over ribs. Wrap racks individually and divide between 2 baking sheets.

Bake ribs until very tender but not falling apart, about 2 hours for baby backs and 3 hours for spareribs. Carefully unwrap ribs; pour any juices from foil into a 4-cup heatproof measuring cup; reserve juices. Let ribs cool completely. DO AHEAD: Ribs can be baked up to 3 days ahead (the flavor will be more developed, and the cold ribs will hold together better on the grill as they heat through). Cover and chill juices. Rewrap ribs in foil and chill.

Build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill, or heat a gas grill to high. Add broth or water to rib juices, if needed, to measure 1 1/2 cups. Whisk in barbecue sauce to blend.

Grill ribs, basting with barbecue sauce mixture and turning frequently, until lacquered and charred in places and heated through, 7-10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board; cut between ribs to separate. Transfer to a platter and serve with additional barbecue sauce.

Perfect Pot Roast

In all honesty this pot roast was an accident. I started out following a recipe by Paula Deen and realized I didn't have half the ingredients. Minor oversight. I just started throwing things I had in my fridge into the pot. John showed up an hour before it was finished with a bottle of red wine... so I dumped some of that in there, too. Turns out adding the wine towards the end changed the quality and the flavor of the sauce in a most delightful way. And now we invite you to relax, let us pull up a
chair as the dining room proudly presents - your dinner:

Ingredients

1 (3 to 4-pound) slab of beef (vague, I know. I used a bottom round)

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed

4 oz tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 bay leaves
1 cup red wine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon beef bouillon granules
3/4 cup water

4 large carrots

4 large potatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the salt, pepper, thyme and garlic powder in a small bowl. Rub seasoning into the roast on both sides. Heat oil in a large skillet and brown the roast, searing it on both sides. Place the meat in a roaster pan. Add and garlic to skillet for 1 to 2 minutes to absorb leftover roast juice. Place into roaster pan with meat and bay leaves.

Combine the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and beef bouillon into a bowl. Pour over the roast. Add water. Peel and slice the carrots and potatoes, arrange around the roast.

Cover pan with foil and bake for 2 hours, basting occasionally- after 2 hours add the wine. Cook an additional 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until tender.

Remove and discard the bay leaves.

If the gravy is not thick enough, remove the meat from the pan and pour the gravy into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and thicken it by adding 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water, stirring constantly.

If you're wondering what the original recipe looks like, here ya go: Paula Deen Pot Roast.

Continent Week: The Eating Extravaganza

Back when I was in high school I cooked almost every night, tortuously making everything from scratch. Mousse filled cake rolls, cranberry and orange sauce glazed pork loin, petit fours, loaves of French, Italian and challah bread. I fried doughnuts once and lit the kitchen on fire, boiled maple candy and cooled it over fresh snow I'd collected and packed in the freezer. I baked, broiled, braised and brined until I'd sliced all of my fingers at least once and left a dozen still persisting burn scars on my hands and arms. Most things turned out edible and, as my mother can attest, there was almost always some sort of food stuck to the ceiling when I was done. Teenage vigor knows no bounds.

At seventeen my cooking came to an abrupt halt. West Point barracks don't come with kitchenettes- except for that one time I brought a griddle into John's room, tried to make him steak and potatoes and set the fire alarm off. By the time I finally had a functional kitchen again I was pregnant with James. After a short lived stint of  the stuffing my face with crepes, french toast and homemade bagels (damned cooking channel) I became a "working mom" and John was kind enough to prevent us from starving by ushering in The Year of the Hamburger Helper.

I'll be 27 this year its an underestimate to say my cooking skills have suffered over the last decade. The question "whats for dinner" had begun to stir fear in my heart. I needed a plan- so I invented my own little Tough Mudder of cooking, I planned out a month of themed challenges. This week is "Continent Week". Simple enough. Each day cook one dish from a different continent.

So far, here's the roundup:

Sunday: European Night 

 

Norman Porkchops

 (2.5/5 stars, recipe not worth posting).

Vichyssoise 

(recipe in "Collaborator Soup" post. One of my favorites)

Monday: Asian Night 

 

Spinach Salad with Ginger Dressing (courtesy of Allrecipes.com) 

Famous Japanese Restaurant-Style Salad Dressing:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup minced onion 1/2 cup peanut oil 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar 2 tablespoons water 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root 2 tablespoons minced celery 2 tablespoons ketchup

4 teaspoons soy sauce 2 teaspoons white sugar 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1.	In a blender, combine the minced onion, peanut oil, rice vinegar, water, ginger, celery, ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper . Blend on high speed for about 30 seconds or until all of the ingredients are well-pureed.

 Coriander Teriyaki Flank Steak (epicurious.com) 

• 1 lb flank steak
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, coarsely ground in an electric coffee/spice grinder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Press coriander onto both sides of steak and put steak on a large plate. Stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and oil and pour over steak, turning steak to coat. Marinate, turning occasionally, 10 minutes.

Preheat broiler.

Heat an oiled broiler pan about 3 inches from broiler until hot. Put steak on hot pan and broil 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steak to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Tuesday: African Night 

 

Moroccan Chicken with Green Olives and Lemon. 

This sounded really good and had two dozen ingredients that made me raise my eyebrows thinking it was going to have a very powerful flavor. It did not. Not impressed. You can find the recipe here if you want to give it a try, though.

Moroccan Carrot Soup

Tasty! And kid friendly if you cut back on the cumin sprinkling on top. This soup turned out a little sweet and very thick and filling. Recipe is from Epicurious.com

• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 1 cup chopped white onion
• 1 pound large carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 2 2/3 cups)
• 2 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirred to loosen

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes. Mix in carrots. Add broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir cumin seeds in small skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes; cool. Finely grind in spice mill.

Remove soup from heat. Puree in batches in blender until smooth. Return to same pan. Whisk in honey, lemon juice, and allspice. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle yogurt over; sprinkle generously with cumin.

The Cloth Diaper Conclusion

If you're interested in cloth diapering, read this. I've had a lot of questions from inquiring minds since I started my little crusade. If not, I'm post about french toast, granola bars and homemade fruit roll ups later, save yourself.

When I was pregnant with James the idea of cloth diapering briefly occurred to me.  Very briefly. I didn't know anyone who cloth diapered, and the things I read about the people who did left me feeling like cloth diapering was another step on the road to being green, organic, sustainable and morally superior to people who used disposable diapers and fed their children the occasional chicken nugget. Not exactly my thing, I like chicken nuggets. It also overwhelmed me. There are a thousand choices, hundreds of brands- prefolds, all in ones, pocket diapers, covers, doublers, snapis, soakers. Plus, they all have overly cutsie  names that refer to butts like "rumparooz", "fuzzibuns" and "bumgenius". I envisioned myself being too tired to wash them, too fumbly to get them on in the middle of the night and constantly cleaning up leaks. Yuck and no thank you. Another major consideration was our loving and wonderful sitter- Ms. Kara. Game for anything and already willing to go through the hassle of defrosting thousands of tiny bottles of frozen breast milk I wasn't eager to suggest she rinse and recycle my dozens of drippy diapers (though she probably would have). I digress.


One fine day I started doing math. We were spending almost $100 a month in diapers on James alone. With baby #2 on the way and my salary close to disappearing I was determined to cut our spending- so I started researching. I discovered they come in bright jewel colors and pretty patterns. Sold! Just kidding (kind of). Then I realized I could save $2000 per child by cloth diapering them from birth to age two, and about $500 cloth diapering James until he potty trained. We want five kids. Thats $8500 in the long run- but more importantly with two in diapers its over $170 in monthly expenses.  Every single size 5 Huggies slip-on diaper, even when purchased in bulk on Amazon, was costing me $.41. Newborn diapers cost closer to $.20 per diaper but you use twice as many. My entire stash of cloth diapers, 32 of them and accessories, thanks to the generosity of some friends and some bargain shopping, cost me $445. We've been using them exclusively for four months and I love them. Bed time, outings, everything.

On James (30lbs, 36 inches tall) the only one-size diapers I have found that are big enough are BumGenius. I tried Rumaprooz and Fuzzybunz but they both have too short a rise- the Fuzzybuz are also too tight even on the loosest setting. My entire aim in this process was simplicity- one diaper for all sizes, quick drying, easy to use and durable. Our diaper of choice thus far are the BumGenius 4.0 with snaps. Even John loves them. They have a microfiber absorbent insert that you can pull out to wash and throw in the dryer separately while the covers air dry- which takes less than half a day. Solid waste gets dropped in the toilet and flushed- everything else gets thrown straight in the washing machine. Simple. With exclusively breastfed babies you don't even have to worry about solids, or semi-solids as they usually are- their waste is all totally water soluble. I have 22 diapers that I use on my rotation with James. We use about seven per day. When you change a diaper you throw it in a wet bag or diaper pail (mine is in my laundry room) Each night I dump the day's load in the washing machine, do one short cold wash with a little soap to get out stains followed by a hot wash with a normal amount of soap (Original Tide, the soap you pick is important) and a final hot rinse. The covers are then hung on my little laundry room hangers to air dry and the inserts get thrown in the dryer. The next morning it takes me less than five minutes to re-stuff the inserts. Viola. Ready for another round. Once a month the whole set gets a quarter cup of bleach in the hot cycle. They've stayed delightful smelling and have zero stains, even though I don't sun-dry them.

For the baby I have eight Rumparooz (pocket diapers, snaps, one size) to try and two Fuzzybunz (again- pocket, snaps, one size). It has been suggested to me not to cloth diaper until he weighs 8-10lbs-James weighed 10lbs before he was two weeks old. Other concerns are the initial awful tar poops, umbilical cord and circumcisions since you can't put Vaseline on the diapers and they have a bad tendency to rub and irritate the cord area. We'll see how it goes. I'm not willing to try newborn diapers or prefolds for two weeks or less so I have a small stash of disposables until we can move on to the cloth.

Other great things I've discovered about cloth diapers- they don't stink when they're wet like disposables do- and my garbage never smells anymore! Especially being pregnant with a sensitive nose this is a huge plus. Second- they just FEEL nicer. They're softer, they're more substantial and far nicer to look at than disposables. I get a sense of satisfaction every time I stack up my newly washed stash. Thirdly, James hasn't gotten a single diaper rash since we've used cloth. There are special creams to use if a baby does since Desitin can cause the inside of the diaper to repel moisture.

In short, there is no going back, and I'm sure the good folks who fret about landfills are happy with me as well.  I'm no expert but questions are welcome from anyone who would like to give it a try!

Collaborator Soup

I love southern springs. Warm, blooming and delightful. Since we're in an apartment for the next few months I make every effort to take James to the park as much as possible. We live five minutes from a fantastic one- Westgate Park in Dothan, Alabama.  The park has three miles of bike and running trails through the woods, a swimming complex, baseball fields, soccer fields, tennis courts. You get the idea. If you ever end up stationed at Fort Rucker I highly encourage you to live in Dothan, about 20 minutes east of base, and commute.

So, this morning we took James out on his mini glider bike. (Five starts for this product, its taught my less-than-two year old how to totally balance on a two wheeled bike. You can buy them here-  Mini Glider). We wandered onto the baseball complex and he scooted around the bases on it, we found a ladybug, we splashed some puddles.... then we tried to leave. Tried. Someone had locked the gate behind us, leaving one very pregnant woman, one toddler on glide bike and, thank god, one husband, stranded in a complex surrounded by nine foot chain link fence. If you know me and you're reading this there really should be no surprise at what happened next. I  and my massive belly climbed up it, threw a leg across and climbed down the other side. Then I got the minivan, carefully drove it over a large curb and across a really nicely manicured lawn up to the fence, climbed out the sunroof and stood up on top of the minivan as John handed me James and the bike. Victory! Rescue operation complete. 

It was 80degrees by that point. I'm 35 weeks pregnant. I was hot.... and of course hungry. The air smelled like summer, and summer means cold soup. Clearly the best cold soup in the entire world is Vichyssoise. If you've never had it the simplest way to describe it is cold potato soup, but really its so much more than that. Its creamy, mild and rich. It must be served freezing cold with fresh chives on top.   This recipe was discovered by my mother over two decades ago in the Craig Claiborne NY Times Cookbook: 

4 leeks, sliced white part only

1 medium onion, sliced

4 tablespoons butter

5 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

4 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups milk

2 cups cream

chopped chives

In a deep kettle, brown the leeks and onions and leeks lightly in the butter. Add the potatoes, stock and salt and boil 35 minutes. 

Add the milk and one cup of the cream, stir and return to a boil (carefully, its easy scorch at this point) 

Place the soup in a bowl in the refrigerator until chilled. When you're ready to serve it add the last cup of cream and sprinkle with chives. 

Tonight I'm serving it with these Pork Chops with Norman Cream Sauce. I've never tried them and I certainly don't have fancy french cider, so we're trying Strongbow cider. I'll let you know how it goes. 

Why Collaborator Soup? Because John thinks its funny: Vichy, France. Just don't expect to laugh ;) 

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter

I wouldn't describe myself as a "crunchy" person, I just like food that tastes good and anything that saves me money. Fresh food tastes better than processed food, cloth diapers are cheaper and better quality than disposables. It turns out baking bread will save you nearly three dollars a loaf, makes your house smell fantastic and tastes delicious. Therefore, I'm in. Last week I purchased a book called Make the Bread, Buy the Butter and I highly recommend it. The author spent years home making common foods and figuring out if it was cheaper to do it that way than to purchase it processed and if it was worth it based upon time and hassle commitment. Basically, she did all of my leg work for me. Brilliant. There are also 120 recipes in it, and out of the few I've tested I approve! So here's my first experiment- her sandwich bread (no kneading, one rise, super easy) Recipe below. Yum:

Natural vegetable oil, for greasing
1 teaspoon instant yeast
3 1/2 cups whey (from making yogurt) or water at room temperature
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup flaxseeds (optional)
4 teaspoons kosher salt

1. Oil the inside of two 9x5 metal loaf pans (apparently the bread sticks to glass)
2. In a large bowl mix yeast, liquid, flour, seeds and salt
3. Scrape the dough into the pans, cover with a clean damp dish towel and let it rise until it is level with the tops of the pans (2-5 hours)
4. Preheat the oven to 450degrees F.
5. Bake the loaves for 30 minutes in the pan, remove from the pans and bake directly on the rack for another 15. (My oven must cook hot because my bread was done in 25 minutes and only required 5 on the rack)

She says "The bread is done when it is richly colored and sounds hallow when tapped."

Brilliantly easy, quite delicious, especially hot....

The End of the Beginning

At seventeen my parents had to sign a "permission slip" for me to go to West Point. At twenty-one I was commissioned as an officer in the Army and moved to Alaska. Year twenty-two was spent in Afghanistan. In the first year of week twenty-three we got married, the last week of year twenty-three I got pregnant with lovely little James.  Then a solo-and-pregnant move to Fort Hood, Texas. James was born, my husband returned from a tour in Afghanistan and we promptly moved to El Paso, Texas. Last fall he moved to Alabama, and last week so did James and I!  We're celebrating year twenty-six by having baby boy #2 (and moving to Arizona)... and I, at long awaited last am done (after nine years) with the Army. Whoopie!

So here I sit, 34 weeks pregnant and brimming with excitement. Turns out excitement for a pregnant woman translates to food preparation. Maybe I'll get back to crafting when I have a toddler-free-zone again, but for now, bring on the eating...