I INVENTED a recipe!!!

I have probably “invented” recipes in the past. I suppose they have been more like tweaking other peoples’ recipes. But I believe this is the first recipe I have actually created on my own . It is really good!

Pasta and Broccoli (SO inventive, I know)

2 cups leftover pasta (or cook some up if there isn’t any in your fridge)

1-2 cups leftover broccoli (or cook some up)

half a stick of butter (yes, that much. Trust me, it is good for you, your body will thank you)

4 oz or less of chicken stock**

1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder (or as preferred)

parmesan cheese

 

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and let reduce a little bit. Add the chicken stock and garlic powder. Once it is all melted, add the pasta and broccoli. When pasta and broccoli are warmed, add a large dash of parmesan and mix well.

Serve with parmesan on top, and enjoy! You could even add chicken to make it a full meal. We had meatballs on the side .

 

**I am not sure how much canned chicken broth this would take. Perhaps a quarter cup? I boil chicken bones all day and freeze it in ice cubes: I used two ice cubes in this recipe. My chicken broth isn’t broth, it is stock because it is thicker and fuller. Only use enough broth to keep the dish moist…you don’t want it to be soupy .

 

 

 

Listen to this playlist: Sara Baker1′s Playlist

Blog Makeover!

For those of you that keep up with my blog, maybe you can tell I have set things up a little differently? Please give me some feedback if you can, on anything! Colors, pics, format. If you like or dislike the new setup. I’d really like to hear what you think!

What Do the Readers Want to Read??

I know, I know…gripping title! But I had a thought today. Some of the most popular blogs I see are about
…can you guess?

Food!
What is it about food blogs? Is it because everyone runs into it multiple times a day? Probably. Or maybe those pictures of fresh sliced bread right out of the oven are just irresistible to clickage (Yes, clickage.).

Anyway, my thought (and question) is, what do YOU want to read? I would really like to be serious about writing in my blog a couple times a week, if not more. And if I’m not writing for my readers, then who am I writing for? So drop me a couple comments if you can. Be specific. Be vague. Be whatever you want to be. But tell me what you wanna see!

In Him,
Sara

For Those of You Who Care…:P

I have implemented my routine and it has been working GREAT. Okay, so I don’t follow it perfectly. For example, I don’t sanitize every thing I said I had to daily. I do work hard to keep Elijah’s things sanitized (eating areas, crib, toys, coffee table) and anything to do with food clean. But I do slack in other areas. I figure some germs are healthy to have around too! We can’t be perfect, and being perfect would be unhealthy. I am still glad I have a basic guideline for sanitizing, though!

I am pretty good about doing my floors weekly, keeping up with the pantry and fridge/freezer, changing bedsheets, etc. The necessary things.

What the routine DOES do is not let me worry about everything all at once. And that is the most important thing of all. The daily chores are hard enough to get done, let alone tidy the whole house while I’m at it, and take care of a rowdy 10 month old. There is less guilt.

Routines don’t work for everyone, or so I hear. It works great for me! I am so glad I did it!!

GratitTuesday

A blog I read (heavenlyhomemakers.com) challenged me to write about something I am grateful for today. Perfect timing!

My son who is 10 (!) months old tomorrow got sick over the weekend. It has been a hard illness for him (and me), and probably his third cold of the season. He may have a slight fever too, and he is wheezing and coughing. It is hard for him to sleep.

Let’s backtrack. 2 months ago, my milk supply came to a screeching halt. Elijah was becoming too dependent on bottles of water and juice, and not nursing enough. I was tense, so milk wouldn’t let down and it was an incredible downward cycle. It took a week or more to get back on track, and even then wasn’t the same as before. He has always been a 2 minute nurser, so that didn’t help either. My LLL leader encouraged me and thankfully it all became okay again, but still just okay.

When he got sick this weekend, Elijah started nursing 1 or 2 times through the night and even more often during the day (more than the every 2 hours I nurse him already!). I have noticed a great abundance of milk supply despite his poor, sick suckling, and he is eating less and nursing more. Good for him!  There are such good antibody qualities in breastmilk, and it will help him get better quicker. It has been such a relief to know that my milk supply has really rose to the occasion, and I am thankful to God for it! Happy GratiTuesday!!

Schedule of Days

Last week  I made a schedule for household chores to do every day. The way I had been doing housework was stressing about all that needed done, and wanting it all done on the same time…which led to more stress, not spending much time with my son, and me not feeling like I was getting anything accomplished.

My new schedule focuses on one room of the house each day. I only include 5 days of the week, which leaves weekends to relax or to catch up on what I couldn’t do through the week. I have jobs for each day, things to sanitize daily, and things to do every evening.

Here is my schedule. Afterwards, I will tell you how I planned it all out!

Monday (Kitchen and Dining Room Day)

jobs: organize freezer, pantry, and refrigerator, and thoroughly dust both rooms.

sanitize: Elijah’s eating space, stove handles, fridge handles, freezer handle, water cooler and sink.

Tuesday (Laundry Room)

jobs:  wash, dry and fold any needed laundry, dust, clean the extra bathroom.

sanitize: table for clothes folding, laundry machines, clothes baskets, all chairs in the dining room and kitchen.

Wednesday (Living Room)

jobs: declutter and dust.

sanitize: 2 tables in the living room, tv remotes and game controllers

Thursday (Master bedroom)

jobs: declutter and dust, change bedsheets, organize the house recycling

sanitize: all house door handles and cupboard handles

Friday (Elijah’s room and Guest)

jobs: change bedsheets, dust, clean house bathroom thoroughly.

sanitize: crib and bookshelf, Elijah’s favorite toys.

For every evening I prepare anything I can for the next night’s dinner, make Eric’s lunch, and wash and cut up any vegetables I will make the next day for Elijah’s meals.

Making this schedule was easy…anybody can do it! First write down all the jobs that need done weekly in your house. Second, write down all the places and things you want sanitized weekly (ok so maybe I went a little crazy with this part, but it is easy to do with a lysol wipe or some good ol’ vinegar…it is the easiest part of my list). Choose a room or two to delegate to each day of the week, and break up the jobs and sanitizing chores to each day!  That’s it!!  If you have older kids, you can get even more done because you can write what you want them to do each day.

I love this schedule because I don’t worry about the whole house all day, every day. If there is a job I know needs done but it is scheduled for a day later in the week, it is off my mind. I have time to sit and play with Elijah, and my house is actually really clean.

I hope this helps those of you who read this! I love my schedule. It makes me feel really good about my house and jobs and the way I do it. Let me know how it works out for you!

SUCCESS!!

I am sighing a huge sigh of relief as I type. Okay, so, to everybody else, this topic and blog may seem silly and a bit over-dramatic. But to me, it is one of the highlights of my week.  No, probably my month.

We trained our son Elijah to sleep in his crib when he turned 5 months old. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. But after the first day or two, he took to it like a duck to water and slept great!! Then…blast it all, he learned to climb to stand up. It was mayhem all over again! He would stand in his crib and not sleep. I didn’t know what to do. I searched online, and found that most mothers would go in after a few minutes of crying, and lay the baby back down and walk out (expression-less, so as to not give the baby attention, which is what they would want). Eventually, the baby would sleep.

I did this with Elijah for about 2 months. In the beginning, I did it because he did not know how to get back down once he stood up. It was cruel to make him stand there and not be able to get back down. And then, I did it because I didn’t know what else to do. And THEN he started waking up every 2 or 3 hours at night just to get the attention of me laying him back down!!  Something had to be done.

Last night I finally sucked it up and did something about it. Eric would be home the next morning (Saturday) so I could sleep in a bit, and no one was sleeping over our house for Elijah to terrorize at midnight with his protests. It had to be done. So at midnight, I lay in bed, watching the video baby monitor of him crying to the door, waiting for me to walk through and lay him back down 5 times in a row.  I never came. He was mad. I was heartbroken. I turned on the tv just to distract myself. And after 20-30 minutes, he laid himself down (still protesting angrily, but my first success: it was POSSIBLE, he could in fact, lay himself down). He did get up once more, but in a few minutes, he got down, crawled over to his favorite blankie and plopped down. A few cute struggles to get comfortable later, he was sound asleep. And I was wide awake. But so happy! And to top it off, he only woke up for his 3 AM feeding (not the other couple times he usually wakes up).

I knew naptimes would be the biggest battle of mama vs determined son. Today, for two of his naps he was too tired to stand up. He laid right down to sleep. For his third and final nap, I thought he was out cold as well, but I saw in the monitor he had indeed stood up and was talking to himself. Eventually, he started crying, and I was doubting myself again. I busied myself with some chores and hoped and prayed.

5 short minutes later, he was laying down! I couldn’t believe it!  In only 5 minutes! To someone else, this may not sound like a big victory. But I know my son. It means he wanted me to come in, but he understands that I won’t be doing it anymore. It is a big victory for mama.

Thank you for reading along. It was an exciting time for me, and I was thrilled to share it. It was all God’s grace in listening to my prayer. He is good!

Near 2000 hits!

I am close to 2000 hits on my blog! Exciting! Thanks, everyone, for viewing. I have been reading a few other blogs lately, and they are so much more exciting than mine, and I barely post. Just so busy! My little guy is crawling now, eating carrot, zuchinni, avocado, pears, applesauce, banana, and pretty much anything I put in front of him. He is sleeping much better (still working on naps, though), and is much happier. He plays by himself well, and is such a joy.

Keep checking back! I will be here . Eventually…

Lately

It’s been a difficult few weeks. 3 weeks ago, we were getting ready for vacation. 2 weeks ago, we were on vacation and leaving forever a place we have visited in the summers (because extended family had to sell the cabin that has been in the family for 6 generations…a blog for another time), andduring vacation and this past week, Elijah has really given me a hard time. Especially with sleep. He wakes often, is up for an hour or so in the middle of the night, and is restless. It could be many different things, and I am doing my best to get him back on a normal schedule, but it is tough. I am exhausted.

I don’t mean this post to be overly negative. I have had a very rough day and it is late. I just don’t feel like going to bed yet, and so decided to update my blog. Perhaps this was the wrong place to vent . My apologies.

In other news, I can eat dairy! It doesn’t bother Elijah like I thought it did, and butter pecan ice cream is sooooo delicious. And parmesan cheese. Yum. It took me a long time to realize that gluten bothered the little guy, and also took a long time for me to get used to a gluten-free diet. But we are both doing better now, and finding more tasty things to eat!

Well, this was kind of a random post. Thanks for reading! Check back soon for my post about Lake Bloomington, Illinois. I should go to bed now . Good night!