Song of the Week

No One's Gonna Love You - Band of Horses

I think this song is, again, pretty self-explanatory. So, instead, a brief anecdote: when Eek was very little and when we'd just moved into the nursery after the six weeks I had to stay away from steps and not pick her up by myself, I'd play this song while she laid in her crib. She would make little baby noises while I hummed under my breath. I'd lean over the rail and touch my fingers to her cheek, her hair, her little hands, and she'd gurgle up gas smiles and making her own humming noises. 

I guess it's pretty safe to say that this is another important song to us. 

Smoothie Apologies

Ahh, I know! I've missed two scheduled posts. I haven't had a lot of time to put a few posts on queue, so when I suddenly got sick on Wednesday, the blog was down for the count too. Happily, I am feeling better, and in order to win your hearts back, I'm sharing with you my smoothie recipe. You've probably heard it before, but there's really no way you can go wrong with a smoothie.

When I make smoothies for my daughter, I usually put in a banana for sweetness. However, I have a mild allergy to bananas, so I can't do that for myself. This is why I have two go-to recipes for smoothies. I use frozen fruit for these too, because I like that you don't get all that extra water from ice in there. I prefer a full flavored smoothie myself.

I am not making the smoothies tonight. What I am doing, however, is making what we call "Smoothie Bags." Smoothie Bags are basically what the name suggests. I put the frozen fruit and apple juice that I'll be using for the smoothies in the morning, put them in a small snack bag, and put them in the freezer until we need them in the morning. Then in the morning, we pop the frozen fruit and juice out of the bag, put it in the blender, and add whatever extras - bananas, Greek yogurt, spinach (sometimes we use oats, too, if the smoothie is the only thing we'll be having for breakfast) - and proceed to make smoothies.

I know what you're thinking! Why is this lady thinking about making smoothies at midnight? Because I can, really. I also have a paper that's due tomorrow so that's the other half of the reason I am up this late doing bizarre things. I'm calling it efficiency!

So what does a Smoothie Bag look like? Well, you're in luck, because I just made some! As you can see below, it is literally just a bag of fruit and juice. There are no surprises to be found here. However, the cool thing about Smoothie Bags is that you can make a bunch in advance and then just pop them out whenever you need them. This is a partially frozen bag, and it's smaller because it's for Eek:

It is very possible that you can making Smoothie Bags in other containers - Popsicle molds, perhaps? Tupperware containers? - but I have never had good luck with getting frozen things out of either of those other containers. At least with plastic bags, if push comes to shove, I can always peel the bag off the frozen bits. There is nothing worse that going into something with good smoothie intentions only to be foiled because you can't get the frozen contents out of the plastic mold. Or does that sort of thing only happen to me?

What's For Lunch? - Flatbread Chips and a "Stir Fry"

Hello! It's Tuesday, so that means a new What's For Lunch? post! I just finished making this cumin flat bread chips recipe. I've had some flat bread tucked away after the fillings were used up and I've been looking for a recipe to use them for, and this was the perfect one. I think next time I'll try to use plain flat bread - the kind I had was Italian-flavored, I think? - but overall they've turned out very well! If you have an oven that runs hotter like mine does, I would suggest baking the first batch for twelve minutes and the second batch for ten. I baked my first batch for the full fifteen and they turned out a little browner than I would have liked. Also, be liberal with your spices!

Lunch today is really just going to be a creative endeavor, because once again I find myself in need of going to the grocery. I'm calling it a stir fry, but I have no idea if that's technically correct. Here's the plan: I've got some brown rice that I've tucked away, and I'm going to cook about a cup or cup and a half of that. Since it takes about forty-five minutes, I'm going to go ahead and start that. Closer to time, though, I'm also going to steam some broccoli (see a reoccurring theme here?). Then, in a pan, I'm going to saute some garlic with a bit of soy sauce and spinach. Add the rice, add the veggies, season appropriately and - voilà!

Of course, now that I'm actually looking at how much rice a cup and a half makes, I think I overdid it a bit. Whoops! I probably only used about three-fourths of a cup. I also put a bay leaf in the rice when I was making it, because I'd like the leftovers to have a bit of flavor later. Just make sure you don't add more than one leaf if you make it like I do, because it will have a strong flavor.

Brown Rice  
1 and 1/2 cups of brown rice
2 and 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf

Combine in pot, bring to a heavy boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and let cook for 45 minutes or until all liquid is adsorbed.

 If we'd had chicken broth, I think I might have replaced the water with that.

For the "stir fry," I steamed about a third of a cup of broccoli (all we had left). Then, in a saute pan, I put four cloves of garlic and a small pat of butter. I added the broccoli and cooked it for a bit - just enough for all the flavors to mingle. Then I added three-fourths of a cup of brown rice and a couple splashes of soy sauce - enough to satisfy your palate. After I mixed everything well, I formed an even layer in the pan and let the bottom get crispy.

I know, I know, it doesn't look so appetizing in this photo. But trust me, I don't eat anything that isn't good, and this is:

And there you have it! That's what's for lunch!

Song of the Week

Nineteen, Tegan and Sara

When Eek was born, I was nineteen, so this song holds a special place in my heart, but probably not for the reasons you think. Obviously, this song isn't particularly a happy song, but the lyrics above reference for me the feelings I held about my daughter. She wasn't someone I was expecting to have this early in life, but at the same time she was someone I'd been expecting my entire life.

I didn't get to hold my daughter much later after she was born. It's something that I regret terribly, but there wasn't really anything I could do to remedy that situation. Her birth was unbelievably easy, but I had a postpartum hemorrhage right after she was born. Basically, what this means is that after you give birth, your blood vessels are supposed to contract back down to their normal size, but mine didn't. I had to have several blood transfusions and I don't remember a lot of those first few days in the hospital. I was very lucky to have a great doctor and a great set of nurses, because I'm not sure if I could have pulled through without them.

What this meant for my daughter is that I didn't get to hold her until about seven hours after she was born. Like I said, while I don't remember a lot from those first few days, I do remember in startling clarity the first time I held her. I was crying and I had so many IVs and tubes sticking out of my body that I felt like the Bride of Frankenstein or something. She was so small, and her eyes were scrunched up and she was so red. She had a head full of dark hair underneath her cap. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. She opened her eyes and stared at me and I ran my finger from her forehead to her jaw bone and cooed, "Oh baby, baby, baby" to her. I knew, deep in my bones, that she was what I'd been waiting for all these years.

I felt you in my legs before I even met you
and when I laid beside you for the first time
I told you, "I feel you in my heart and I don't even know you."

 Basically, that little bit of lyric ensconces all of my feelings toward this little baby I was looking at for the first time. I don't know you yet, but I'd like to.

A Busy Week & A Pet Peeve

This week has been spectacularly busy. I had my first week on campus. While I am only there three days of the week, there's a bunch of construction and a lot of parking lots are sectioned off, so I have to start on one side of campus, navigate all the construction and get to my class on the other side of campus. It's been about a thirty minute walk with construction - I'm sure it would only be about fifteen without all of it - and it's tough. I guess the silver lining here is that I will be getting into awesome shape? Or blowing out a knee, take your pick!

What this means for Eek is that in order for me to find a parking spot, we've had to wake up progressively earlier and earlier. Instead of waking up at 7:30, we've been getting up at 6:30 and she is not happy about it at all. She definitely got the night owl gene from me and she hasn't taken to early mornings at all.

This is not really what I want this post to be about. I was just hoping to lure you in so it'd be too late when I actually bust out with my topic, but I guess I've warned you now. Oops.

I'm always very hesitant to identify myself as a single mom. Her dad is sort of in the picture, if the picture is me and Eek and he's the back of someone's head in the background. He pays child support... sometimes and he sees her... when it's convenient for him. Again, not much. For all intents and purposes, I've raised my daughter by myself and I make the big decisions in her life. On the off chance he does see her, he defers to me on decisions. It's not as easy as it sounds and it mostly provides a lot of headache on my side.

But it also means that she has family on his side who want to see Eek slightly more than he does. Which is totally fine, don't get me wrong, but I would like a little more heads up than the day of when they want to see her. I wonder sometimes if there are any other single moms who feel this way.

I'm one of those people who needs a couple of days of heads up before plans are made. A week, preferably, but I can make do with two days. I have to make sure we have a free day and generally our free days are surrounded by a solid two day buffer of nonstop action. I also need a little more than fifteen minutes head notice because I will probably have to give Eek a bath and I can't actually pull out the car seat out of my car, put a diaper bag together, give Eek a bath and get her into clothes with an almost decent hairstyle in fifteen minutes. It won't happen. There is no possible way to get a squirmy toddler ready to go in under fifteen minutes.

What do you say when people drop in at the last minute with hardly a call? I've gotten to the point where I just say no if I don't have at least a couple days notice. It sounds harsh, but I've asked them several times not to do it to no avail. How do you handle this sort of situation?

What's for Lunch? - Broccoli Pancakes

I don't remember how I came across the idea of broccoli pancakes, but I have an idea it was on the Internet. The only days I really have to worry about what to give Eek for lunch are Tuesdays and Thursdays and it's always such a struggle to find healthy and delicious options. I think every parent knows the struggle that comes with trying to get their toddlers to eat vegetables, but I've pretty much lucked out with Eek. There is very little she won't eat, but plain broccoli is one of those foods.

I've hidden broccoli under cheese, slipped it into sauces, covered it with pasta - you name it, I've done it. We buy a lot of frozen vegetables because they're cheap (about a buck per bag, sometimes less) and keep our freezer stocked with them so I always have the option of having veggies to go along with her lunch.

Today is one of those days where we don't have a lot of food in the house, but we do have broccoli. I googled a recipe for broccoli pancakes and just took stock of what ingredients I have in the house and which ones I don't. I have broccoli (frozen, but I can make it work). I have onion, already chopped. I even have - surprisingly - chili paste. There are a few sundries I don't have, but I am nearly one hundred-percent sure that I can cobble together a passable recipe. Here goes nothing!

I steamed the broccoli according to package directions - 3 cups of broccoli, 1/2 cup of water, a bit of salt to taste for eight minutes.We already have chopped onion, so that cuts out another step. I also plan on adding a few other vegetables that we have on hand.

Though the recipe doesn't call for it, I'm going to saute my other vegetables. We only have red onion, so I'm hoping this will level out the flavor of the onion a bit. In a pan, I put a pat of butter and the sliced garlic, a rest of the mushrooms we have, 1/4 cup of chopped red onions, and two handfuls of spinach. I let everything wilt together a bit and when it looks ready, I put the entire mixture into the blender. I also add to the blender - and you may choose not to, it's a personal preference - a small bunch of alfalfa sprouts. I have a bunch on hand and am looking for ways to use them up. Pulse that mixture a bit and then add your broccoli in small batches.

I didn't quite puree my veggies, but I'm sure it would be fine to leave the mixture a bit roughly chopped. Transfer entire mixture into a large bowl and add vegetable oil, flour, dried dill, and salt. Stir well. Add an egg and milk and mix well.

My batter is a bit wet - I'm going to test a tablespoon in the pan and if it's too wet, add a bit of flour. It also looks a bit like guacamole!

Butter a large pan and drop tablespoons of batter onto medium hot pan. Cook for one minute on each side and then transfer to a plate. It should make about 20 pancakes, but I made about 24.

These are delicious - they've got a very earthy flavor that I love and an almost creamy texture punctuated with small bites of broccoli and mushroom. I will definitely be making these again!

Broccoli Pancakes

3 cups of fresh or frozen broccoli
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1 tsp red pepper chili paste
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
2/3 cup of flour
1/8 tsp dried dill
a pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
paprika

How To Be An Adult: The Grocery Store

I originally started this post for my tumblr, but it started to get exponentially long, so I've decided to make it a series on The Mothership. In the interests of full disclosure, I am twenty-two. I am a college student. I have a two year-old. I don't have a lot of extra money to bandy about. I know a lot of people have done posts where they talk about their process when grocery shopping, but I hope to provide my unique perspective as a college student with a full course load and a toddler. Hopefully some of my college friends will get something out of this and hopefully you will too. Maybe I'll even make How To Be An Adult into a regular thing beyond the grocery store.

Even though I'm still working out how to be an adult myself, what I do know well is the grocery store and how things work, so that's what I'm going to write about. This series will highlight upon a number of things, including how to plan your method of attack on the grocery store and the little extras I do because I dislike spending a lot of time there.

You can find a lot of blogs that talk about the grocery/couponing and while these are good places to start out (I highly encourage it, in fact, they probably know the intricacies a bit better than I do), a lot of them assume that you are not actually a struggling college student who possibly doesn't have the time to do in depth couponing what with your school and work and what have you. Luckily for you, I am a lot like you and I have the added bonus of having a toddler. Food is one of the most important things in life and if it isn't cheap, it's not happening.

I have the firm belief that with a little bit of planning, you don't have to do a lot of in depth couponing to save money. So over the next few days, I'm going to talk about making lists and taking stock of what you already have, kitchen short cuts that will save money, meal planning as a college student, how to attack the grocery store, grocery store etiquette, and the little extras that I do to make my time there more enjoyable. I hope you will find this series entertaining!