18 Days of Celebrating 18 Months -- Food

Tyler has always been a great eater -- from birth, really!  Much to my dismay, he was constantly hungry when I was nursing.  I was eager for him to switch over to solid food, and so was he!  Our first attempt at solid food (that cereal/oatmeal mush stuff) was a huge success.

Most new foods are met with a moment of hesitation, then are quickly devoured!  Here, an iPhone pic of him eating shrimp and grits and fried okra

Finger-eating good!

He likes to know what he's eating, so I point out the different foods when I give them to him.  He's learned in the past few months that he's more likely to get what he wants if he says "more crackers" rather than vaguely saying "more."  Smart boy.

A few weeks ago, Jason asked Tyler what he had eaten for lunch at school.  Tyler emphatically said "Pizza!"  Jason told me about this, and I checked the menu.  He had not had pizza.  Jason asked him the next day, and Tyler replied "pizza!"  I think he's trying to tell us something.  Yesterday when I was writing this, Jason and Tyler were in the living room yelling "pizza!" back and forth to each other.  Apparently it's hilarious.

Not pizza, but he sure did enjoy spaghetti:

I just bought him his first forks.  He's actually done pretty well with them, only trying to stab himself in the head once so far.  He's also WAY into dipping.  His favorite is ketchup, though he also likes mustard, bbq sauce, garlic butter, and hummus.  If he gets to dip, he's happy.

trying out the fork (that's scrambled eggs and grape jelly "dip" for a biscuit, in case you were wondering)

already a pro

...though sometimes the fork takes too much effort

We're pretty hardcore snackers around here.  A long time ago, I implemented the snack blanket, a blanket solely devoted to snack time (and keeping some of the crumbs from getting ground into our rug).  It works pretty well, especially when combined with Dora or Paw Patrol.  This picture was from back in December.

Yes, I occasionally snack with him

The other day, Tyler was walking around chewing on his hand.  I asked him if he was hungry.  He yelled "snack!" and ran for his snack blanket.  It's so great to have a kid that is learning to communicate!

mesmerized while watching tv

Pumpkin Cream Pie

Everything  I made at Thanksgiving was a known recipe except for dessert (and the turkey, but I've already talked about that).  Thanksgiving is a time for either pecan pie or pumpkin pie.  Your family may have other traditions, but those are the ones I equate with T-day.  I'm a pecan pie girl.  Jason's not a fan, and I wasn't going to make a whole corn syrup pie (let's face it, it's mostly corn syrup, not pecans) just for me.  I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but I do like pumpkin-flavored stuff.  So I looked for a recipe for no-bake pumpkin cheesecake.  This is what I made:

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese or Neufchatel

1/4 cup each sugar and brown sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp each vanilla, cinnamon, ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

8 oz thawed Cool Whip

9" graham cracker pie crust

pretty basic ingredients (cream cheese and pie crust not pictured)

Steps:
Cream together the cream cheese and the sugars.  Stir in the pumpkin puree and the spices/vanilla.  Fold in the Cool Whip.  Spread into the crust and chill for two hours before serving.

It was super easy to put together.  The best part?  Licking the spatula!

The final product was tasty and light, the perfect 4:00 snack with coffee after eating a big heavy meal for lunch.

I may tweak the recipe in the future, but it was actually quite tasty.  The only problem I had with it was the name -- pumpkin cheesecake.  The texture wasn't cheesecakey at all!  The Cool Whip makes it light and fluffy, not dense and cheesy.  Once I got past the name, I could actually enjoy the pie, so I'm now calling it Pumpkin Cream Pie.  Problem solved!

God Bless Shrimp Tempura

There's certain things even a novice knows about pregnancy.  You're supposed to be sick your first couple of months.  Your last few months are going to be hot and uncomfortable.  Oh, and there's this whole long list of things you can't do or eat while pregnant.

There are some things on this list that haven't been a problem, like alcohol (easy to give up something you didn't eat or drink in the first place).  My beloved bleu cheese?  Eh, I'll just order ranch instead.

I worried about caffeine.  Prior to last summer, I was an avid coffee drinker.  I loved the taste of it and drank it every day.  That said, I usually only drank one cup a day, so I thought it would be easy to kick  the habit.  Over the summer, I switched over to decaf.  That was a little rough, but after two weeks of half-caf (thank you person who invented this), I was all decaf and didn't look back.  Once I got pregnant, I actually lost the desire for coffee.  Now, I drink a cup of decaf once every two weeks or so.

Didn't want the baby to come out a caffeine addict

During operation "decaf," I switched over to Diet Sierra Mist, which was the only tolerable caffeine-free diet soda I could find.  I would have the occasional Diet Coke or something, since doctors agree that a little caffeine isn't a big deal.  Then I got the bad news on my first trip to the doctor -- diet drinks are a no-go.  Whaaaaaat? *pouty face*  They told me to temporarily switch over to regular sodas.  Regular Coke after years of diet = blech.  Caffeine-free friends = cherry 7up and ginger ale.  Both are pretty tolerable when you're eating soda-must-have meals like burgers or pizza.

Ok, so I'm getting through pretty well.  But there was one thing I had dreaded giving up -- sushi.  Jason and I adore sushi.  We don't go often, so when we do, we're like two ravenous roll-eating fiends.  The culprit with sushi is the raw fish (though honestly, the chance of anything bad eating that small quantity of quality fish is teeny tiny).  Solution?  Shrimp tempura rolls and deep-fried rolls.  

Yum!  The shrimp are cooked, and the deep frying cooks whatever fish was inside the roll.  Is it quite the same?  No.  Does it get me my sushi/ginger/wasabi fix?  You betcha.  So God, thanks for shrimp tempura rolls.  You know how to make this pregnant lady happy.

A Thing of Beauty

I'm so far behind with blogging, I haven't talked about Thanksgiving.  This year was more laid back with less "let me take a picture of everything that's happening!" than years before.  I did take time to take a picture of my meal before devouring.  Believe it or not, this was about half of the options on the table!!!

If you'd like to know more about my family's Thanksgiving traditions and festivities, you can read this post from last year.

IKEA-fest!

The middle of October, Jason looked at me and said he was at the point where he just really wanted to spend some money decorating and furnishing the house.  A few trips to stores around Raleigh, and we got discouraged.  $1000 for a chair?!?  Dining room chairs (don't even get me started on the dining tables!) for $150 a piece?!?  Then, a four-letter words came out of Jason's mouth that made me start cheering... IKEA.

If you've never been to IKEA, go.  I don't care if you don't need furniture, go.  I don't care if Charlotte's a long way for you to drive, go.  It's awesome.  Cool stuff (way different than anything here), cheap stuff, showrooms set up for you to see what it would look like in a room, and Swedish meatballs.

Oh IKEA, the smartest part of your business plan is having delicious, cheap food for people to eat at your store.  It keeps people there for more hours than they would otherwise, and at least for the Selfs, serves as extra motivation to visit you.  I think if I lived in Charlotte, I'd go to IKEA solely for the food.

I've heard a rumor that there's other food at IKEA, but why anyone would buy that food when there's meatballs is beyond me.  For $4 (yes, four dollars!), you get Swedish meatballs, gravy, mashed potatoes , and ligonberry sauce.  It is so delicious!

Oh yeah, we also bought some furniture while we were there (but don't let this downplay the highlight of the day -- the meatballs).  We bought a TON of furniture while we were there.  We're talking one full cart and TWO flatbed carts (I have no idea what to call them other than that, but it's so you can load up all the boxes of put-together furniture).  We're talking get-stuff-delivered-to-our-house-and-we're-still-not-done amount of stuff.

Bless Jason, he's been hard at work putting together furniture.  It got delivered to our house on Halloween, and he's built four large pieces of furniture and two chairs so far.  His back will probably never be the same, poor thing.  I'll post some pictures once everything gets built and once I get books arranged on the bookcase and stuff.

Also, a special shout-out to Jill who joined us halfway through the shopping trip (just in time to eat meatballs with us), talked us into/out of certain items, and helped us lug stuff around the store and load things into our car.  She also went a bit crazy in the kids section, and we already knocked out Addison's Christmas (she's getting an easel and art supplies, shh, don't tell her!) while we were there.  Double score!

Juicy Deliciousness

There are few things in the world as disappointing as a grocery-store tomato.  Mealy, pink on the inside, flavorless, juiceless.  Blech.  It's not worth your time or money.

That said, there are few things in the world as delicious as a home-grown tomato.  Last week in Jamesville, Mama and Daddy loaded me up with several tomatoes from their garden.  While I'm reserving one for a couple of meals with Jason, the rest have been eaten as my all-time favorite summer meal -- tomato sandwich.

The Ingredients:
There are only 5 ingredients, so you can't scrimp on any of them.  You MUST have a "real" tomato.  Don't try with a grocery store tomato.  You will be sorely disappointed.  You will need mayonnaise.  This is a rare treat, so don't try to "healthy" it up by skipping this step.  You will need bread (I've always been a fan of whole wheat), salt, and pepper.

The Procedure:
Keep the paper plates for your ham and cheese sandwiches.  You will need the stability of a real plate for this sandwich.  Mayo the bread and slice the tomato.  Stack as many slices as physics will allow you (this often takes some maneuvering) and eat the rest.  Yes, I love tomatoes that much.  I gnaw on the unsliced tomato like I'm eating a peach.  Nothing gets wasted.

Liberally salt and pepper.  If you have multiple tiers of tomato, you may want to lift up on the top tier and salt below.  Again, don't skip this step.  The salt is needed to really draw out the delicious tomato-y juices.

The last step is most important.  Put the bread on top, and just walk away.  It's tempting to eat it right away, but the salt needs a few minutes to do its work.  I time this by getting a drink and chips, finding something on tv to watch while eating, and grabbing a paper towel.  Do not try to eat this sandwich without a paper towel within reach.

Eating:
Eater beware.  This is a messy meal.  If juices aren't flowing down your forearms halfway through, you didn't make it correctly.  You will probably not be able to put the sandwich down once you pick it up.   But honestly, once you taste it, you won't want to put it down!

Happy eating!

A Veggie-Lover's Fave

I love food.  Salty, sweet, healthy, guilty pleasure, doesn't matter.  You serve it to me, I'll eat it.  Much to Jason's chagrin, this also means I'm a veggie lover.  Seriously.  With the exception of brussel sprouts (which I still can't get into), I love all vegetables.

A favorite Sesame Street character from my childhood, Captain Vegetable

I hate to pick favorites, especially when it comes to food, but one of my favorite vegetables to cook with is zucchini squash.

Zucchini is awesome!  It's relatively inexpensive (especially in-season), cooks up very quickly, has a mild flavor (which makes it one of the few veggies Jason is ok eating), and lends itself to a variety of meals.

Some of my favorites:
~Added to spaghetti sauce for a pasta night pick-me-up
~Combined with eggplant and tomatoes for ratatouille (and yes, I did have to google how to spell that)
~Stir fried with onions and chicken and served over rice
~Grilled to go along with chicken or steak
~Hidden in zucchini bread

Zucchini is delicious and nutritious.  According to Wikipedia, zucchini is low in calories (15cal for every 100g) and contains folate, potassium, Vitamin A, and manganese.  So next time you're looking for something green to add to a meal, turn to zucchini -- this veggie-lover's fave.

Being an Adult is Awesome!

Being a kid was great.  Summers were spent playing at the pool and going to baseball and softball games.  School was school, but at least you got to hang out with your friends for seven hours a day.  Weekends were slumber parties and Saturday morning cartoons.  You didn't have to worry about finding a job, paying your mortgage, or staying within budget.

That said, adulthood has its benefits.  You're free to drive your car without permission.  You have an income and can go shopping whenever you want.  You can stay up late, sleep in, ... and eat ice cream for dinner.

You read correctly.  Ice cream for dinner.  Though we don't do it often, there are times that Jason and I skip traditional "dinner" and go directly to dessert.  There are several reasons for this.  Earlier this summer, our A/C was broken and the idea of eating anything room temperature or warmer sounded disgusting.  Other times, Jason wins me over with his ice-cream-craving logic.  He points out that if we know we're going to have ice cream, it's actually less calories (and thus "healthier") to skip eating a meal just for eating's sake and go straight to the ice cream we were going to have either way.  How can you compete with logic like that?

The answer: you can't.  So when you can't beat 'em, join 'em (not that I needed my arm twisted to be talked into eating ice cream!).

Beating the 105-degree heat with a tasty treat!

  Being a kid was cool.  Being an adult is awesome!

Adventures in Cooking

Many of my blogger friends have something they call Tasty Tuesday (or Domestic Goddess Monday) where they share awesome time-tested recipes with their faithful readers.  Well, I am no gourmet chef or domestic goddess, but I do enjoy cooking.  I try to keep it simple, since most of my "adventures" in cooking turn out to be unsuccessful.  We eat a lot of Mexican (taco night, quesadilla night, bean soup and tortilla chips night) around Casa de Self because it's really hard to mess that up.

The other day, when thumbing through my Woman's Day magazine (which I love, by the way), I saw this meal idea and thought I'd try it.

One of the reasons my adventures don't always turn out so well is that from the get-go, I make modifications.  So I put my own Megan spin on this recipe.  Now, before I go farther, this is not one of those "This is awesome, here's the recipe, including measurements to the 1/8 tsp" blogs.  This is more of a story of how I made dinner.

The Meat:
The recipe called for skirt steak.  The grocery store had a sale on top sirloin.  Take a guess as to which cut of meat I chose.  The sirloin needed a lot of butchering, so I went ahead and cut it into thin slices before cooking it (instead of cooking it whole and slicing later).

I seasoned it with anything in my house that said "Mexican" to me -- salt, garlic powder, tons of cumin, sriracha (not Mexican, but spicy), cayenne pepper, and a splash of Worcestershire (which doesn't say "Mexican" at all, but got added nevertheless).  With all that, the meat was still a little flat, so I may go a different route next time.

The Veg:
The recipe called for fresh corn cut off the cob, so I obliged.  I've seen my mom do this a million times (along with countless Food Network people), but it was still quite an ordeal!  This is what it ended up looking like:

The recipe also called for one chopped onion and pickled jalapenos.  Jason's coworker Marian had given us some fresh jalapenos, so I used those instead.

You saute the onions, add the corn and chopped jalapenos, then fold in sour cream at the end.  I originally thought this was going to be like a corn salsa, but the recipe actually calls this "Southwest-Style Creamed Corn."  It needed some extra flavor (specifically salt and cumin), but ended up being pretty tasty.  I think it will be better as leftovers when the flavors have had more time to marry.

The Newbie:
I don't buy many new ingredients at the grocery store.  Sure, I may make new recipes, but they usually involve ingredients I know and love.  After a recent taco episode of "Good Eats," I decided to splurge on some queso fresco, a fresh crumbling Mexican cheese.

It was lightly salty and the texture of feta cheese (minus the feta funk).  It was $4, more than I usually spend on cheese, but we used maybe 1/8 of it for dinner, so we'll eventually get our money's worth out of it.

The Final Product:
I ate mine as a taco, while Jason chose to fold his up like a burrito.  Steak, corn concoction, queso...

Things I Liked:
~Having a new spin on our weekly Mexican meal
~Finding another way to utilize fresh corn in the summer
~Having something other than pepper-jack or cheddar on a taco

Things I Would Change:
~More seasoning in the meat
~Adding acid to the corn.  It was crying out for some lime juice (which I didn't have), or maybe I'd even make more of a salsa/relish with some diced tomatoes next time.

So that's today's adventure in cooking.  Tonight's meal is not as exciting but just as tasty -- breakfast for dinner!

Day 24 -- No Letter Here

Today I'm supposed to write a letter to my parents.  Well, I have a couple of problems with that.  One, I talk to my parents all the time, and I think they know how much I love and appreciate them, so why write an intimate letter to them for all the public to see?  Two, I've already talked a lot about my parents on Day 7, and I don't want to be redundant.  So sorry Mama and Daddy, no letter today.

What I am going to do is readdress a lame blog from last weekend where I was supposed to talk about someone I'd like to trade places with for a day.  At the time, I couldn't think of anyone, but now I have, so consider this Day 17 revisited.

The Chairman from "Iron Chef America"

If you're unfamiliar with Iron Chef America, here's a brief summary.  Iron Chef America is an American version of the popular Japanese cooking show.  A challenger chef chooses one of the Iron Chefs to go up against in a one-hour cooking battle.  The chairman introduces the challenger and asks him or her to select an Iron Chef.  Then, my favorite part, the chairman reveals the secret ingredient to the chefs, the ingredient that all of their dishes must be based on.  After the battle, the chefs' dishes are tasted by three judges and the chairman, who is not part of the judging.  Then, after the scores are tallied, the chairman reveals the winner of the battle.

Why I want to be the Chairman for a day:
1. Because revealing the secret ingredient is like revealing a Christmas present.
2. Because how good would I be at revealing the secret ingredient? (Please watch this video to see what I mean).  "PIZZA DOUGH!!!!!!"

C'mon, couldn't you picture me with the arm gestures and the bug eyes?

3. Because after sitting around for an hour, I'd get to eat ten delicious courses.  (Hello, dream job!)
4. Because I would not have to judge the dishes.  We all know that I love food too much to be picky about what I'm eating.  Everyone would get a perfect score from me because everything was "delicious."
5. Because I would get to deliver happy news to one of the chefs.  Sure, I'd have to deal with the losing chef, but I think the good outweighs the bad.

Announcing the winner

So there you go.  I'd love to trade places with the Chairman for the day.  Shoot, if Food Network would offer me the job permanently, I'd be all over it!  As for my mom and dad, no letter today, but if I could trade places with the Chairman, I'd bring you home the leftovers.  Deal?

Day 23 -- I Scream, You Scream...

Yesterday's blog was about what made me unique, different than everyone else.  Something that does NOT make me unique is that I love ice cream!  When I read today's prompt (something I crave), ice cream was the first and only thing that popped into my head.

WARNING: If you are like me and crave ice cream, this post may make you crave some.  Continue reading at your own discretion.

Flavors:
My favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip.  One stipulation: it has to be that artificial green color.  Call me crazy, but white MCC ice cream tastes less minty.  I do like mint Oreo, but I always worry about tiny, black Oreo bits being stuck in my teeth.  My second favorite flavor is probably coffee ice cream with Heath bar chunks in it.  *drool*

If I had my way, I'd eat ice cream daily.  The bad thing is that Jason feels the same way, so we often go long spurts of time HAVING ice cream each night!  His favorite (by far) is Harris Teeter brand Bear Claw ice cream, made by Denali.  We don't even buy groceries at Harris Teeter, just "bear kind" as he likes to call it.  It's dark chocolate ice cream with caramel swirls and chocolate-covered cashews.  Yum!  Plus, at $2.50 a carton, it's a steal!

Ice Cream Shops:
I was first introduced to Cook Out milkshakes when I was in college.  It was 10pm (a perfectly acceptable time for ice cream back in college), and I ordered a pineapple shake because I was intimidated by the selection.  Since then, I've tried countless shakes, especially once I learned that you can order flavor combinations (like peanut butter fudge and Heath bar) for the same price as one flavor.

Probably two of my favorite flavors there are the blueberry cheesecake or the banana pudding.  They have tons of good flavors, but Cook Out is the only place you can get ones like these.

Recently, I've been passing on the milkshakes and going for the more economical (and just as tasty!) Cheerwine floats at Cook Out.  At just over a dollar, they're hard to resist.

Keep up the good work, Cheerwine!

Sadly, there's no Cook Out close to me, so Jason and I tend to go to Goodberry's Frozen Custard.  It's good and all, but really I just go there because Jason likes it.  I think it's too mild in flavor and overpriced.  If you are appalled by that statement, I make no apologies.  You may just want to stop reading my blog!

Lastly, a word to places like Maggie Moo's and Coldstone Creamery -- you panic me.  No self-respecting place should have that many toppings.  How am I supposed to decide?!?  Sure, I would like fifteen toppings, but the frugal girl in me sticks with only one or two.  No matter what I order, I leave the store in regret.  Why didn't I get fudge on top?  Did I really need three kinds of nuts?  I just can't win there...

Preferences aside, let's face it, I've never turned down a scoop of ice cream.  So let's all raise our spoons and sing together, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"

Day 9 -- Something I'm Proud Of

I'm obsessed with food.  I watch countless hours of Food Network, am I'm constantly snacking, especially when I'm home all day.  I love planning meals, grocery shopping, and cooking.  That said, I'm not a stellar cook.  It seems like the more labor or time-intensive a meal is, the less success I have with it.  Whip up some quesadillas or tacos, delicious.  My fifteen-minute baked potato soup is a winner.  Spend hours cooking chicken chili... Jason eats one bowl and I'm left to begrudgingly eat the leftovers.

This lack of success with new, elaborate meals is that, much to Jason's chagrin, I change often recipes before ever trying them in order to suit my needs.  It usually has to do with an ingredient being too expensive or unhealthy, or that I already have an ingredient that "will be fine" to use instead.  Other times, it's because I don't plan ahead.  I learned the hard way that recipes that call for room temperature butter NEED butter that is room temperature.

That said, I got in my mind that I was going to make a homemade lasagna.  Yes, prior to the other day, I was a Stouffer's-buying wife.  Well that all changed on Wednesday.  Ladies and gentlemen, behold my lasagna, something I am very proud of making.

It may not be perfect.  I may tweak some of the ingredients and steps next time.  The important things are that a) it's quite tasty and b) there WILL be a next time.