pixirae's Profile

Our favorites are currently the All Things G&D blueberry protein pancakes, fruits of all sorts, sweet potatoes (roasted with olive oil and cinnamon), yogurts, cottage cheese, cheese of any kind, anything in a mini muffin pan (quiches with carrots, zucchini, and broccoli, the Skinny Taste zucchini tots, BLW morning glory muffins, etc.), and anything that is in little tiny pieces (not sure why, but he loves peas and pea-sized things). We tend to feed what we eat in a deconstructed way.

If I want him to try something new, I put it on his plate while I'm fixing dinner - he always comes to me and asks to be "up!" while I'm cooking, so he sees something on his plate and wants to try it. We can get him to try new things then that he won't touch on his dinner plate twenty minutes later. After trying them 5-10 times, he usually starts to eat them the rest of the time, too.

Also, one last thing - with regards to freezing your other go-to items - some of them don't freeze well, or when they thaw they should be cooked to taste best. So, I would look into a produce delivery service in your area - we use Door to Door (www.doortodoororganics.com). They have a standard box that you get (customizable) every week, and then you can add on other grocery items. The pricing for the box is a great deal, and the add on products are similar (for us) as they are at some place like Whole Foods. That way you can get fresh veggies every week and have access to anything you don't want to run to the store for.

If the new mom is planning on nursing, the Making Milk Cookies (lots of different recipes out there, this one is my favorite: http://www.drmomma.org/2010/08/major-milk-makin-lactation-cookies.html) would be super helpful. They're very dense, not too sweet, and great for supply.

As a new mom, the things I loved that I received and would have loved to have more of: snacks (granola bars, muffins, work sent me a gift basket with antipasta and that was AWESOME), one-handed meals (if you're far, maybe you could find a few healthy delivery options nearby and get them a gift certificate?), and fruits and vegetables from our organic delivery service.

I really love these upcycled garden markers:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/DonnaDiddit?section_id=7327332

They're made from flatware that is laser-etched.

Love the greyhounds! Ours is white with little black spots.

Our family usually does a baked french toast - there are tons of recipes out there. We mix it up the night before and throw it in the oven the morning of.

One of the key things I love about this play kitchen is that it uses a piece of furniture that has little hope of another life - as we move away from televisions built for these entertainment centers, this is a great way to re-purpose them and give them a great life as something else. I'd love to see other ideas about re-purposing this type of furniture as well.

I would love to suggest you rent an RV and do some visits to some of the big parks, especially Mesa Verde and the Great Sand Dunes - we actually did this this August as our family vacation. In Mesa Verde, I'd suggest the KOA in Cortez - if you aren't RVing it, you can get a cabin there, and either cook your own food over the fire or eat at restaurants in Cortez. You can do Mesa Verde with two full days in the park - spend one on each Mesa. Head into the park early the first day and pick up tickets to the guided tours (3$ a pop) and do the guided tours for each mesa as well as the self-guided - it's an inexpensive great way to see history. At the Sand Dunes, you can park your RV in the park or at the Lodge just outside the Sand Dunes, and spend a couple of days playing on the Dunes. In August it does get quite hot on the Dunes by the end of the day, but there are some great programs throughout the day and Zapata Falls is a must.

As an individual landlord, we go through a service to do the background checks, other than calling references. I think (the last time we had to do this) that we collected some information, but then the potential renter had to complete it and sign off on it on their end. We felt that it was the best way. I also would say it was pretty irresponsible for him to be carrying the forms around and leave them in a gym locker...

Ratatouille has always intrigued me, except, I HATE eggplant. With a fervor. Any suggestions on how you'd alter it? Just omit it? Use more Zucchini? Sub in something else?