Food for the Week of Archer's 6 Month Birthday!!

Oh yeah, we're totally partying this week. Between starting solids, maybe trying a sippy cup (if there's another name for that cup, please let me know), going to the doctors, it is a big week for my not-so-little guy. 

So let's keep it simple and tasty.

Btw, if you are looking for birthday presents for Archer, as far as I can tell right now he has a strong preference for balloons and socks with faces on them. He's a man of simple tastes, who knows what he wants.

Monday - Slow Cooker Soy-Ginger Chicken (lots of left-overs with this!) - Put 1/3 cup soy sauce, 2 tbls brown sugar, 5 cloves garlic, 2/3 cup fresh cilantro, 1 2-inch long piece ginger, peeled and thinly chopped, 1/2 cup green onions cut on the diagonal, 1 tbls balsamic vinegar, 1tsp ground coriander, stir together. Add 4 pieces chicken legs and 4 pieces thighs along with 2 carrots chopped. Stir. Cook on high for 6 hours. At end add 1 tbls cornstarch that has been stirred in 2 tbls water to thicken. Serve over rice.

Tuesday - Chicken Casserole - Remove leftover chicken from Monday and chop into bite-sized pieces. Toss in casserole dish alongside 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 cup plain lf yogurt, 2 tbls white wine, chopped green onions and cooked farfalle noodles. Serve with salad.

Wednesday - Tacos - Pick your favourite taco package. 

Thursday - order-in/take out

Friday - Baked Ravioli - Sautee 1 chopped medium onion, 3 cloves garlic in evoo, add 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano, add 2 cans diced tomatoes, bring sauce to a boil, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon, add s and p, boil until sauce is reduced - about 20-25 mins. Prepare 2 lbg of store bought ravioli, toss with sauce and turn in casserole dish. Top with 1 1/2 cups mozza and parm. Bake at 425 for 20 mins.

Saturday - Chicken Stroganoff - Blend 1 tbls no fat s. cream and 1/2 cup buttermilk, brown mushrooms in marg and then add 2 bls chicken breasts thinkly sliced and brown. Low heat, add 1 cup onion soup, 1/3 cup white wine, 3/4 water, dill and pepper. Simmer for 45 mins. Shake cream mix with 1 tbls flour and add. Blend with other stuff. Don't boil! Serve over egg noodles.

Sunday - Butter Yaki- Butter or low fat marg 1 tenderloin beef sliced thin ( easy to slice if partially frozen) 2 bs chicken breasts sliced thin 1 onion sliced thin Chinese cabbage, sliced bean sprouts spinach Heat butter & stir fry meats quickly. Remove & keep warm. Add more fat & stir fry veggies Place beside meet & serve with dipping sauce Sauce-- 1 c. soy sauce ½ c. splenda 1/3 tsp minced garlic ¼ c. lime juice. Combine & heat pour sauce into individual bowls.

Grocery List

Soy Sauce

Balsamic Vinegar

Brown Sugar

Garlic

Ginger

Carrots

Lettuce 

Tomatoes

Lime

2 Cans diced tomatoes

Chicken Legs

Chicken Thighs

2 packs Bls skls chicken breasts

lean ground beef

cilantro

Green onions

Ground coriander

Farfelle noodles

2 packs ravioli

mozzza

cheddar

parm

Plain lf yogurt

buttermilk

lf sour cream

can of chopped mushrooms

Can Cream of Chicken soup

Greens

Taco Package  

Sunday - Butter Yaki:

Slim Jim

Inspiration is a weird and wonderful thing. Stephanie Meyer was inspired by a dream to write Twilight and I get inspired to blog after seeing random weird posters on Bloor St. Go figure.



I can't explain why this picture prompted me to post after somewhat of a hiatus but it has.



I wonder what the secret is?

Food for Week of November 22nd

So, as you've probably noticed, I've not been posting as much lately. We've just been so busy! And whether it's been from a growth spurt or teething, Archer's been nursing like crazy. It's hard to find any time... but there's lots on my mind: the upcoming holidays, an upcoming trip to Hawaii, Archer moving around more, going back to work soon... sigh.... Hang in there with me a while longer if you can and we'll get it going again on a more regular basis.

But in the meantime, we eat.

Monday - Steak Sandwiches - Fry 2 onions sliced in veg oil until onions are browned, season with s and p and remove; add a little more oil and 4 small bls steaks (no more than 3 oz each) and sear on each side for 30s-1 minute, remove and add 2 tbls worchestire sauce and 2 tbls water, scrape brown bits from pan and return onions to pan for a couple minutes. Serve on toasted crusty bread that has been brushed with evoo... serve with dark greens.

Tuesday - Easy Noodles and Ricotta Marinara - Prepare 1 package of Parpardelle noodles, serve with 4 cups of good store bought marinara sauce, fresh basil, 1/2 cup ricotta cheese and s and p

Wednesday - Crispy Breaded Pork Cutlets ( Martha Stewart): 1 ½ c. panko or plain bread crumbs 2 T veg oil 4 boneless pork loin chops 3 T Dijon mustard Salt pepper or Mrs. Dash Preheat oven to 425. On a rimmed baking sheet toss crumbs with oil. Bake tossing once til brown. 7-10 min.Transfer to a bowl. Reduce oven temp to 400. Pound chops flat with a mallet. Coat pork with mustard, season, then dip in crumbs coating both sides. Place a rack on the baking sheet.Place pork on rack & bake without turning, 10-15 min. Serve with store bought rice pilaf &sautéed multi coloured peppers in veg oil & seasoning- sliced thin -10-15 min T

Thursday - Eat Out/Order In

Friday - Goat Cheese Burgers - prepare your fave storebought burgers (or make your own if you like!) and serve on buns with goat cheese and roasted red peppers. Serve with a side of sweet potato fries.

Saturday - Chicken with hot peanut sauce over Soba Noodles - 2 T. sherry & cornstarch, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, Boneless skinless chicken breast cut into cubes, 4 T canola oil, Red pepper flakes ( opt), ½ c. peanuts, 1 tsp each minced garlic & grated fresh ginger, 2 green onion cut into slanted pieces; Cooking sauce: 3 T soy sauce, 2 T rice vinegar, 2 T sherry, 4 T chicken broth or h2o, 3 T each spenda & cornstarch; Combine sherry & cornstarch in bowl-add chicken & marinate 15 min; Prepare cooking sauce; Saute garlic & ginger in oil-add chicken then add nuts, seasonings & onions

Sunday - pot roast - boneless season & brown, with chopped onion & garlic- pour over1 c mushroom soup, 1/2 c. red wine, 1 c. beef broth, 2 bay leaves. Roast @ 350 3 hr. Mashed potatoes, froz mixed veggies

Grocery List

4 small steaks

4 bls pork chops

burgers

chicken breast

boneless pot roast

goat cheese

ricotta cheese

can of much soup

marinara sauce

rice pilaf

parpadelle noodles

soba noodles

onions

greens

roasted red peppers

carrots

parsnips

potatos

frozen sweet potato fries

fresh basil

ginger

garlic

peanuts

soy sauce

rice vinegar

crusty loaf

hamburger buns

bread crumbs

worch sauce

Food for Week of November 16th

This past week Archer and I took a cooking class - a baby cooking class. Ok, to be more precise it was a baby food cooking class (baby's don't cook, silly!)- because, believe it or not, Archer starts solids in less than 2 weeks and apparently I'm not confident enough to figure out how to make my own pureed butternut squash (made in the first class). Ack. Actually it was a very helpful class but more on that later...

In anticipation of this big change, we've started to have Archer sit at the table with us at dinner in his brand new high chair (high chair search also to be part of a future post). He seems a little confused by it all and perhaps a little more interested in the light over the table than the actual food we're eating which is fine but makes me think that for the next couple weeks, I need to step it up a little and have some dinners that fill the air with tasty goodness to whet his appetite. So, I'll bring out the slow cooker a little this week and make some foods that I know smell and taste great.... Hopefully Archer agrees (ermm, on the smells great part - no food for you yet)!

Monday - Chicken and Rice Casserole - Combine 1 cup whole grain rice, 3 cups water, 2 tsp of chicken bouillon, 1 can fat-free cream of chicken soup, 2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast, 1 cup grated cheddar and cook on high 3 to 4 hours. In last hour stir in 1 bag thawed frozen broccoli with 2 chopped garlic cloves and 1 tsp onion salt.

Tuesday - Sausage, Mozza and Rabe with Shells - Preheat oven to 400. In large skillet, heat 2 tbls evoo and add 1 large chopped onion and 3 sprigs fresh thyme along with s and p. Cook until onion is golden brown. Add 2 chopped garlic cubes and 3 links spicy italian sausage (the turkey sausage is a good lower fat alternative). Cook breaking up sausage until browned - about 5 minutes. Add 1 tbls flour and stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add 1 can 28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes and break up with spoon. Cook until slightly thickened. Discard thyme. Meanwhile in a large pot, prepare shells pasta (use the medium size) to al dente and in last 15 seconds add 1 bunch trimmed and coarsely chopped broccoli rabe. Drain and add this to sausage mix. Transfer to baking dish and top with coarsely chopped 6 oz of mozza. Bake for 15 minutes.

Wednesday - Easy Chicken Tikka Masala - Saute 3 bls skinless chicken breast chopped into 1 inch pieces until browned. Before totally browned add 1 coarsely chopped large onion and saute until softened. Add one can of Patak's tikka masala sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes and in last 5 minutes add 1 cup plain lf yogurt. Serve over basmati rice with store bought naan (or whole wheat pita) and greens of your choice.

Thursday - Order in/Eat Out

Friday - Easy Peasy Tuna Melts - Prepare your favourite tuna salad and spread over whole wheat pita. Top with tomatoes and combo of mozza and sharp cheddar and put under broiler on high for 4 minutes. Serve with salad.

Saturday - Kicken Chicken Pot Pie - Skinless boneless chicken breast , cut into bite-sized pieces 2 c. frozen mixed veggies 1 can low fat cream of celery soup 3 servings Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls refrigerated dough Oven-350Cook chicken several min. using non-stick spray. Set aside. Heat veggies in microwave. Mix chicken, veggies & soup& place in a 9 inch round baking dish sprayed with nfs.Bake 30 min, stirring halfway through.Unroll 3 rolls. Combine to make one large piece of dough. Add dough to top of pan & cook for another 15-20 until top is brown. Cal- 235 (1/4 pan) Fat-6 g. Eat with greens & balsamic vinegar/oil

Sunday - Beef Stew - You can use stewing beef or buy something like chuck roast & cut it into cubes. You ideally want beef with a bit of fat on it . Cut into cubes & shake in a bag with 1/4 c flour until cubes are coated. Brown in a large pot with some canola oil. Don't crowd the meat or it will steam. Do in batches. Add 1 onion cut into chunks. When lightly browned add enough beef stock to cover & simmer, covered, about an hr. Add 1 bay leaf to this mix at the same time as the onion. After an hr, add carrots & parsnips cut into rough chunks rustic style.You can also add potatoes at this time or do them separately depending on how you want them. If you have some leftover tomato paste you could add 1 T but this is not necessary. When veggies are tender, mix approx 2 T flour in a cup with some cold h20 & add it to the stew to thicken it. Season well. Chopped parsley can go in just before serving.

Grocery List
3 packs bls skls chicken breast
1 pack italian sausage (turkey opt)
stewing beef
2 cans tuna
cream of chicken soup
cream of celery soup
1 pack frozen broccoli
1 pack frozen veggies
celery
carrots
parsnips
potatoes
tomatoes
bag of salad (or other salad fixings as youlike)
1 large can tomatoes
plain yogurt
patak's tikka masala sauce
onions
garlic
fresh thyme
bay leaves
broccoli rabe
cheddar cheese
mozza cheese
1 pack medium shells
naan bread
whole wheat pita
pilsbury lf crescent rolls

Strong Canadian Dollar + 40% off at Neiman Marcus = Practically Free

Ok you only have like 7 1/2 hours left! I just got an email from Neiman Marcus (yeah, they totally email me personally... I have spent *that much over the years) that they are having a surprise one-day sale online for most of their online items and most items are either 30 or 40% off.

So lemme clarify, this still doesn't mean I can afford this on my E.I. budget. Like, at all. But there are some of you out there DMs or more likely the working friends of DM who'd totally wanna know about this sale so hence the posting.

And, dear hubby, who reads this from time to time, it's really not too early to think about Christmas.

:)

In case you didn't know already, Neiman Marcus ships to Canada. I've done it before and my item was here in a couple of days and really, the taxes/duty are not too bad.

Ok, I'm over-justifying. It's all still too expensive (like 40% off the above featured Marc by Marc Jacobs coat at regular $658 is still waaaay too expensive but 40% (Joe Fresh, you've ruined me for designer duds!) off the cute little $78 tee under the jacket, totally doable) but it's still a good sale y'all! If you are in the market, or just wanna dream, http://www.neimanmarcus.com/common/store/catalog/templates/EventDesignerIndexE.jhtml?eId=e300001&ncx=n&uEm=christina.litz@telus.com&ecid=NMEC111109FirstDay

Special posting for my new Downtown Mamas...

What a difference 5 months makes.

This past couple weeks, 2 close friends each had their first baby - each, a beautiful little girl (look out ladies, Archer is almost on the move...). And in a way, I can't believe I was where they are now only 5 short months ago. In a way it seems like a lifetime ago and in another way, it seems like just yesterday.

Let me explain.

First of all, new babies are totally tiny, dude. Like really really small. Even though both new babies are about the size Archer was at some point, I can't even believe they are the same species. I remember when I first got home and a friend visited with her then 3 month old and I couldn't believe how ginormous he was compared to Archer. I mean, the head alone was like..."whoa". And now Archer is that baby and then some (particularly in the cheeks area... so cute).

And talking to these new moms, I remember feeling just like they are now - exhausted to the extreme, scared, totally helpless... what the heck had I gotten myself into? I don't know anything about how to do this!

But at some point... I'm not sure exactly when it happened (it's all a blur) - maybe around month 2 (?) things started to change... I was an expert by then at things like nursing, changing diapers, changing clothes, packing diaper bags, putting him in a car seat, doing stuff on the go avec baby - all things that in your first week or two, you literally feel like you're never going to be able to do. But then you do. And then all of this mom stuff starts to get really fun.

So all of this led me to think that I should put together a short list of what I think is perfectly normal for the new mom in the first couple weeks you're home with baby - things we all go through as new moms and survive and things you will too:

1. Crying all the time - like all the time. Like I'm not kidding. People are, I think, too quick to jump to conclude that a new mom's wildly emotional state is due to post-partum depression. And while we should definitely take a post-partum diagnosis as a serious thing, let's put some things in perspective. When you first have a baby, your hormonal levels completely and immediately change. You go from having all of these happy calm-inducing hormones (I think it's from the estrogen) in pregnancy to like nothing within like days. Put this factor on top of the lack of sleep, proper nutrition and the stress of figuring out how to do everything baby-wise and heck-ya, you're going to cry. You don't need no stinkin' post-partum depression diagnosis to justify that. I challenge anyone not to cry in such circumstances.

2. You constantly think you're going to break your baby. Further to the babies are tiny comment above, from the moment they hand you your baby for the first time in the hospital, you are worried about everything to do with your fragile little one. You think you might drop the baby, he might stop breathing while sleeping (actually this is something Archer's dad still constantly worries about and is literally in his bedroom every half hour checking...), he might get sick...and you think you're totally ill-prepared to deal with all of this this and so you're constantly stressed out. Also, normal. It just goes with the new mom thing, I think. It might in fact be evolutionary and helps keep you on the ball when you're so tired you could fall asleep anywhere at any time if only you were able to.

3. You'll never be able to nurse. This is not a judge-y thing because if you decide nursing isn't for you, that's your call. God knows, there is enough judging when it comes to mothering! But it can be very disheartening when you've decided that you really want to nurse and it just isn't working out. You probably saw that same video we did in birthing prep class where the woman, as soon as she gives birth, within seconds, has her baby in her arms and her baby starts rooting and whiz, bang, booom, next you see, the baby is nursing with the perfect latch and it is the picture of perfect loveliness. Well, did your birthing instructor happen to share with you that the mother in the video was a lactation consultant who was also a mother of 3?? I bet she didn't. There's nothing particularly natural about breastfeeding in my mind. It is a learned thing for both you and your baby and it takes practice and time. And all through your learning and practising, it hurts like hell. But then all of a sudden, it doesn't. And this usually comes around the end of week 2 or 3 right when you and your baby have finally figured it all out... so if you want to do this, hang in there a little bit longer. It gets so much better, I promise.

4. You'll never be you again. Have I shared with you that right before I went into the hospital, I got my hair done? I also went and picked out the perfect going home from the hospital outfit (as inspired by the perfect going home from the hospital outfit my mom wore), brought a little makeup to the hospital with me and determined to wear my contact lenses throughout the birth knowing that pictures were going to be taken all over the place? Well, let me tell you, you'll be hard pressed to find any actual pictures of me in the hospital. That's because within hours into my labour, my perfectly blown-out hair was a frizz only James Brown could be proud of. And since my labour was 36 hours long and I had a C-section, out came the contact lenses, and on the broken glasses. And guess what? You're pretty much just as pregnant looking when you leave the hospital as when you went in. So going home outfit? Maternity sweat pants and a tee shirt. Awwwesome.

And it applies to life at home to. All your dreams of becoming the cool domestic diva you think you can be are immediately dashed.

So what about all of my rules and tips about cooking and fashion that make it look so easy? They're not meant for you in the first few weeks. Your main job is just to get through these weeks. It's like a marathon. It's exhausting and can break your spirit. You have to rely on others even if you've never done this before and for some people this can be really hard.

But you *can do it. You will do it. Lesser people than you have done it before. And before you know it, you too will be the Downtown Mama you always thought you were - and that I know you are too.

Food for Week of November 9

Today, for the first time, we all went to Costco. We ended up there when we accidentally received a Costco catalogue that was supposed to go to someone else. From the catalogue, we were lured with promises of modern bathtubs, Wiis, and surround sound speakers all for a fraction of their normal costs. And then, if that weren't enough, coincidentally we get a call from my Mom yesterday who was at Costco and she told me that they were selling like a baby grand piano for next to nothing... and, oh, btw, she also told me that Costco has like the best meat in town.

Who knew?

So off we go... and we get there and like all of us - Archer included - are completely overwhelmed. Everything is so... BIG... at Costco. I know you all know this and in theory I knew this before I went but I really had no idea...

Where do people put all of their Costco purchases? Does Costco also sell like really big houses with really big closets for such big items?

Anyway, the meat did look really good - and if I were having a big, like, meat party (that sounded dirtier than I meant it to) - and if I also buy like a really big freezer in which to store such big packages of meat, I'm totally going back. But we walked out (and Archer totally overwhelmed fell asleep in my carrier) empty-handed, deciding that we wouldn't go back until we really really needed something, well, big.

Until then, just some little items of food for your week...

Monday - Crispy Breaded Pork Cutlets ( Martha Stewart): 
1 ½ c. panko or plain bread crumbs 
2 T veg oil 
4 boneless pork loin chops 
3 T Dijon mustard 
Salt pepper or Mrs. Dash 

Preheat oven to 425. On a rimmed baking sheet toss crumbs with oil. Bake tossing once til brown. 7-10 min.Transfer to a bowl. Reduce oven temp to 400. Pound chops flat with a mallet. Coat pork with mustard, season, then dip in crumbs coating both sides. Place a rack on the baking sheet.Place pork on rack & bake without turning, 10-15 min. Serve with corn/cob &sautéed multi coloured peppers in veg oil & seasoning- sliced thin -10-15 min T 

Tuesday - Pasta /arugula/white beans/walnuts: ;
Bow tie pasta (farafelle)
Seasoning; 
4 Cloves garlic, thinly sliced 
4 T butter or calorie reduced margarine 
1 can ( 15 oz.) cannellini beans, rinsed & drained 
1/3 c. walnuts toasted if desired 
Cook pasta, drain & set aside. Reserve ½ c pasta h20 Saute garlic & 1 T butter about 1 min Add arugula to pot. Toss til wilted. Add beans, pasta, & remaining 3 T butter., season. Toss adding enough pasta water to coat pasta. Add walnuts.

Wednesday - Meatloaf mashed potatoes & a green veg 
Meatloaf recipe: 
1 lb. g. beef or g turkey 
1 c bread crumbs ¼ c milk 
1 beaten egg 
Dash worchestireshire sauce 
Seasoning: 
¼ c. finely chopped onion 
½ tsp mustard 
Mix well together . Form into loaf . Drizzle ketchup over top & bake in oiled loaf pan 1 hr @ 375. Let sit 10 min before slicing.

Thursday- order in/eat out

Friday- Throw together pasta 
Penne , chunks of leftover meatloaf , fresh tomatoes cut up, garlic, evoo, -Toss & top with parm cheese- French bread Perhaps?

Saturday - Fat free ham baked with any topping eg peach jam, chutney marmalade or oj or pineapple j, scalloped potatoes (from a mix) bean, spinach, & pepper stirfry

Sunday Buy a ready made BBQ chicken Serve with spinach salad &Vikram Vij’s Turmeric New Potatoes (which you will become addicted to) 
Spinach salad: Assemble spinach, red onion, bacon bits, & walnuts in a bowl & pour hot oil & vinegar mix into which has been dissolved 1 tspsplenda. The oil mix will wilt the spinach TNP: Slice new potatoes into thin rounds- Do not peel. Heat ¼ c canola oil in pan on med heat. Add 1 c/ chopped onions-Saute 5 min-Add 1 tsp turmeric,1 tsp salt & ¼ tsp cayenne. Cook 1 min. Add potatoes & ¼ c. h20 bring to a boil, stir & reduce heat to low. Cover & cook 10 min. Stir & cook 5 more min. Stir in ½ c chopped spinach, cook 1 more min & serve

Grocery list

Boneless pork chops
1 lb gr. Beef or turkey
Fat free ham1 BBQ chicken ( don’t buy this til Sun)
Panko or bread crumbs
Evoo
Veg oil
Butter or marg
Dijon mustard
Farafelle Penne or similar
Walnuts
1 c. cannellini beans ( white)
Turmeric
Garlic
Spinach (lots)
Onion
Arugula
Tomatoes
New potatoes
Red potatoes
Scalloped potato mix
Corn/cob
Red/yellow peppers
Green veg
Red onion
Bacon or bacon bits
Vinegar
Eggs
Wor…sauce
Mustard
Milk

Walking down Queen Street, Parkdale Style

Everyone who knows me is now officially sick of me obsessing about H1N1... I get that. So this is my last installment on the subject and really, I'm not even going to talk about it and the fact that after 4 hour line-up #2, we finally got our shots yesterday (woo hoo! and ouch) but I am going to talk about how I killed time waiting to get our shots because it was actually kinda fun.

I ended up strolling around Parkdale around Queen and Cowan yesterday for around an hour while we waited to go line up (imagine, an actual ticketing system to get your shots - it's like rocket science or something) and if you can, and if you haven't done it recently, it's worth checking out.

The area around Queen around Cowan is still a bit dicey. I got that right away when during my walk, my only one hour walk, I counted 3 ambulances attending to various people on the street - which I guess is a good thing in a way - clearly they're being attentive to people in need - but it kinda made me think for a second we were experiencing a Flash Forward moment (anyone besides me watching this show right now? it's the new Lost) and that maybe the world was coming to an end.

This ain't Yorkville, folks.

But that's a good thing, I think.

I started off my walk with a quick lunch at Cadillac Lounge which has like the friendliest staff ever and lunch specials for under $10. And fyi, if you didn't know this already on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month Cadillac Lounge hosts a mom-baby friendly lunch which is pretty awesome. I haven't been but I'm looking forward to checking it out.

For almost the rest of my hour I wandered around an awesome store called ShopGirls. Check out their online store at http://www.shopgirls.ca/. It's a boutique devoted to Canadian designers - whether jewelry, clothing, art or home accessories.

They carry a line called Yoga Jeans. A weird name, really, but the concept is that these are stretchy jeans that are so comfortable, you could, well, practice yoga in them... don't do that though. If you were in my class, I would be so distracted by the fact that you were wearing jeans to yoga class that I would not be able to do my shavasanah (btw, I have no idea how to spell that word).

In any event, one of the owners of the store - a DM to be who was very cool - was telling me that in addition to being a good option for newly pregnant women, this is a great post-natal skinny jean. She recommended the high-wasted skinny jean featured in the pick above because as she explained, you can...ermm... stuff (for lack of a better term) all your extra belly flab (a lovely picture I'm drawing here, right?) into the jeans and you will pretty much look like Kate Moss.

Pretty much.

The jeans retail for around $110 and as soon as I can afford to (I just spent like $500 buying new car seat, high chair and umbrella stroller), I'm picking me up a pair - unless of course I can fit into real skinny jeans by then...

That could happen, right?

Anyone?

Sigh. Anyway, there are some other great stops to make if you have more time - Made You Look (a beautiful jewlery store), Blondies (a new uber hipster coffee joint), Cafe Taste (wine & cheese) even Designer Fabric Outlets is fun (for me, I'm weird like that).

And with all of this, remember that you always have the extra added bonus that should you run into trouble (say, a sudden surge of H1n1 - I said I would stop after this post), an ambulance is surely only within seconds away from helping you.

:)

Food for Week of November 2

Are my recipes getting too complicated? After another week of colds, and mastitis and generally crappiness, I found it hard to keep up with my own food plan which means that for new moms, it must be even more difficult.

So back to basics. Keep it simple, stupid.

Monday - Store-bought roast chicken package (I'll be lining up again for our shots so need to keep it really easy!).

Tuesday - Vegetarian spaghetti & Salad - St. Ives ground round mixed with your own tomato sauce or a bottle of Prego, whole wheat spaghetti noodles

Wednesday - Marc Anglelo Chicken Skewers w/ Veggie Skewers

Thursday - Order-In/Eat Out

Friday - Tuna Casserole & Salad - chop 1/2 onion and saute in margerine, add this to a casserole dish with 1 can of tuna, 1 lf mush soup, prepared bow-tie noodles, 1 cup lf plain yogurt, 1 tblsp mustard, 1 cup mozza. Top with mozza and parm. Cook at 350 for 30 mins.

Saturday - Veggie Taco Pie - Prepare veggie ground round with favourite taco seasoning as per package. Layer 1 can lf refried beans, ground round, 2 cups cheddar/jack cheese combo. Cook at 350 for 20 mins. Top with lettuce and tomatos and eat with baked taco chips.

Sunday - Oven Fried Chicken and Orzo SaladBrown chicken pieces for a few minutes on each side and then season with salt, pepper, turmeric and paprika, put it in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes.Prepare Orzo as per package and toss together with tomato, green onion, a little olive oil and Parmesan.

Grocery List
Roast chicken package (get on day you get groceries in deli section)
2 pack original St. Ives Veggie Ground Round
Marc Angelo Chicken skewers
1 chicken cut up
1 jar prego
orzo
whole wheat spaghetti
bow tie noodles
green onions
onions
tomatoes
lettuce
bag o salad
red onion
green/red/yellow peppers
mozza
cheddar
jack cheese
baked taco chips
taco seasoning
plain yogurt