roseisred's Profile

My son's favorite breakfast (and dessert) is cooked rhubarb compote (with our without strawberries, depending on whether we have any) over plain greek yogurt. I just cook the rhubarb with a little water and sugar (to taste) for about 15 minutes, and then let it cool. The tartness of the yogurt goes great with the sweet rhubarb sauce!

I've been thinking about this question a lot lately. My son just turned 4, and he's really into decorating (taping his artwork or other crafts up all over his walls). I find myself trying to talk him out of it at times because the visual clutter that he wants everywhere makes me really crazy. But, I've also been trying to tell myself that it's his room, and on a more rational level, I know it's important for him to have space to be able to do what he wants. (I certainly did as a kid! I loved moving furniture around, decorating, painting stuff, you name it.) It's just interesting and a bit surprising to me how much of an internal struggle it is for me, though perhaps it shouldn't be -- the conflict between my own controlling (design, and otherwise) side, and my recognition of him as an independent person, is a pretty basic parenting challenge. (It's also possible that my kid just has an unhealthy obsession with tape...)

And, as with most parenting decisions, I find asking myself "is this a big deal or a little deal?" before I answer, leads to far far better decisionmaking on my part, and fewer arbitrary "no"s!

But I'm curious about how other people respond when it's not a question of "permanent" decorations like purchasing big ticket furniture or painting, but the more transient stuff, that can still "ruin" a well designed room and destroy any sense of cohesion (from an adult's perspective).

I recently had an amazing spring salad of thinly shaved fennel, raw asparagus, and celery, and maybe some spring greens (but I can't remember), drizzled with white truffle oil - delicious!!

I'm with others here - I wouldn't try to eat them again raw, but I routinely freeze celery and onions (and carrots) in a big bag for making stock next time I roast a chicken. And I freeze rice, pasta and tomato-cbased sauces. I find pasta doesn't freeze so well plain, but mixed with a tomato or olive-oil-based sauce (including cheese), it works great.

And if I have left over yogurt, I freeze it in popsicle molds for frozen yogurt!

I do agree with the recommendation against freezing potatoes - even in soups, they come out mealy and awful. Not sure how commercial tater-tots and french fries manage to avoid this problem - anyone know?

I just wanted to chime in on the "making kids eat" thread here -- when I made this, I offered some to my 3 year old but also had something on the table I knew he'd like, since I knew this was going to be hard for him because he doesn't generally eat sauce. He ate a bite or 2 of sweet potato, none of the chickpeas (licked one and didn't like the sauce), and a hard boiled egg and fruit. I'd never "make" him eat anything, but I also don't view serving the same food I eat (plus something that's easier for him to handle, or in the case of pasta, plain rather than with sauce) as my "creating" a picky eater. When he doesn't like something that's for dinner, he just eats the stuff he does like and then declares he's done, and he doesn't demand special cooking. It's a balance that works for us, but I know every child (and family) is different!

I love it in apple/cinnamon pancakes -- just add some grated apple (squeeze out the juice before adding) and a little cottage cheese to the batter (and reduce some of the liquid). It can make the batter a little sticky in the pan, but gives a great flavor! I think I got this idea from one of the moosewood cookbooks years ago.

I keep most fruit in the fridge, along with onions and potatoes -- I read somewhere that keeping potatoes with apples will keep the potatoes fresh longer, so I throw the potatoes into my fruit crisper bin). Apples definitely last longer when kept cool, and I don't have a cold cellar/pantry. I also keep chocolate in my freezer, and after a moth issue (yuck!), have kept rice and flours/grains in the fridge as well with no noticeable problems. I do agree with the others that I wouldn't put good summer tomatoes in the fridge.

I just use my french press, though as lazy_lurker says, you end up using at least double the amount of coffee per cup. I fill it the night before using cold water, and then just let it "steep" all night and press in the morning - delicious in the summer!

I don't know if there's something else your daughter associates with nailbiting that might be more in your control to remove, but my mom got me to stop sucking my thumb around 5 by taking away my security blanket -- they went hand in hand (so to speak) for me... it was really hard, but not shaming.

I also know some parents have had success with promises of pretty nail polish and other immediate rewards.

And as for substituting comfort habits, my son went through a long phase of nail biting for soothing/comforting which has finally been supplanted (in part) with hair twirling (with both hands when he's really tired!). Both are annoying to me, but hair twirling is at least less germy than nail biting...

Good luck!

I'm a single mom and this post makes me laugh - after the first few impossible months, I started showering with my son in the bouncy seat right outside the bathroom door. I switched to pack-n-play in the living room (near the bathroom door) filled with toys, once he managed to squirm over in the bouncy seat! By the time he was about 2, I felt that he was capable of safely entertaining himself, and other than a few incidents (like: "I'm playing with your computer, mom, ok?" NO, PLEASE put down the laptop!!) it's been fine. It helps that we have a small apartment, with no internal stairs, and it's relatively well child-proofed. Now he's almost 4, and he usually does art projects at the kitchen table or puzzles while I'm showering. Sometimes he finishes his breakfast if we're running late. If I had more than one kid, more space, or if he weren't pretty mellow, I'm not sure what I'd be doing! (I can't shower before he wakes up, because that wakes him up and he gets upset if I'm not there to come get him out of bed.)