I'm an Addict

I have always known that I have a major sweet tooth. Brownie for breakfast? Sure. Ice cream for dinner. You bet. But this past weekend while Ben was away, I realized that I'm kind of addicted to sugar. Granted, I was very tired and that makes it worse. But, I was still having a hard time convincing myself to read more of my book instead of finishing off the carrot cake. It was then that I realized that I might have a problem. I hate to call it an addiction, because for the most part, it isn't. Not really. I can go without goodies for days and not really think about it. And I know that there are plenty out there that truly are addicted to something. And I know that they struggle. So, maybe I shouldn't call myself an addict. But anyway.

I decided to go on a sugar fast. Absolutely no sugar. Which does mean no bread or peanut butter. Or strangely, a lot of our crackers. But I can eat fruit. And veggies. And other stuff that is actually good for me. I had decided to try this for a week. But then Ben's birthday came. I made it 33 hours before I had a giant cookie and ice cream with him and the kids. But now I'm back on track. Here's what I've had today so far:

Eggs
Bacon
Orange Juice
Carrots
Green Beans
Fritos
Mean Green Juice
Saltines

I'm eyeing up the peaches, but we're about ready to go to the farmer's market, so maybe that will be dessert tonight.

CSA Week 4

We went out of town last weekend, so we had a friend pick up our CSA. This time we lettuce, eggs and strawberries! The berries were good, but since they had been sitting in our fridge the whole weekend, I ended up freezing most of them so they wouldn't go bad.

I did forget to mention that Week 3 we got beets too. Haven't done anything with them yet. I'm looking forward to trying out a recipe that I found. Just have to figure out when!

Recipe Reviews and CSA Week 3

It occurred to me after my last post about CSA goodies, that I probably should have let you know what I thought of the recipes I tried. So here goes.

Rhubarb Pickles
This recipe I got from a magazine. It was ok. A little heavy on the cloves for my taste. But it was a nice change of pace from the usual rhubarb goodies. If you want the recipe let me know and I will get it for you.

Rhubarb Crisp
I LOVED this recipe. A lot of sugar, so of course it's good. :) I liked that there was the crumb topping on the top and bottom. I made this recipe again this week with our newest batch of rhubarb. This time I used coconut oil instead of butter and added 3 T of ground flax seed. I know that doesn't make this a health food, but it doesn't hurt to sneak in some good stuff.

Lettuce Wraps
This was ok. I didn't have mushrooms or water chestnuts,  but I doubt that made a huge difference. It tasted basically like teriyaki. Not exactly what I was going for. But it was fine.

This week we got lettuce, rhubarb and eggs for our CSA. I miss the asparagus already. As I mentioned, I used the rhubarb in another crisp. The lettuce... well, I've been meaning to eat it, but it's just been pretty busy around here since we got it. But I will be eating it soon. I'm sure just as salad. But if you have a tasty recipe that you would like me to try out, I would be more than happy too.

Chicago, Maverick Style

This past May we went to Chicago for a Maverick event. It was awesome that it was in Chicago because I got to spend some time with my sister while Ben attended the work sessions. I joined in on the fun stuff though.

Wednesday night was so much fun! And we almost missed it. Ben met my mom, the kids and I at the airport and went with us to my sister's. We left on the train to head back into the city. Well, there were signal issues on the tracks. The engineers had to manually change the switches, which took a long time. It started to get frustrating. We were literally 200m from the station, but we couldn't get off. And by the time we got to the station we had to RUN to the hotel to make the event. Luckily it was one where we were supposed to wear comfortable clothes. So glad we made it! It was a roller derby event. And since it was Mavericks, it was us doing the derby. We spent some time doing drills and learning how to safely fall and stop. Then we split into teams and had a few rounds. So much fun! I would almost think about joining a team. Almost.

Thursday morning I headed back on the train to my sister's to spend the day with her and Asher and my kids. I had a fun time with them. After dinner, Krys brought me to the station so I could head back into the city for some more Maverick fun. As we were approaching the station, I saw that the arms were down. Uh-oh. So I raced from the car, ran around the arms, raced towards the station, tore open the doors to the train and launched myself inside just as the train started to leave the station. Talk about excitement! But I made it.

Thursday night we were instructed to show up in costume. Usually there is a theme. Not this time. It seemed like you could dress up like anything. When we were dressed up (me in a school girl costume and Ben as a coach) we headed down to the lobby. And there the theme was revealed - zombies! They had hired make-up artists to come and make us all into zombies. Then we hit the town. It was so much fun! A little freaky, but fun.

Friday we had a lake tour and then went and played whirly ball. Another fun day. I love Maverick trips.

CSA Fun Weeks 1 & 2

For years we have been saying it. Now we're actually doing it. This year we have joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). We picked one that had a pickup at our local Farmer's Market. Not only is that close to us, it will also help us to visit the market weekly.

This year has been a slow start for farmers here in MN. Therefore, our CSA boxes have been pretty light so far. But it has been yummy! Both weeks we have gotten asparagus, eggs, rhubarb, and lettuces.

Here's what I've made with our goodies:
Rhubarb pickles
Rhubarb Crisp
Lettuce Wraps

Asparagus and eggs we have just eaten as usual.

Happy 2013!

I realized the other day that I really should blog more. Not for the handful of people that might still be checking in on me, but for myself. I have journals for both kids, but I haven't been recording anywhere what I'm up to. So here I am.

New Year's Eve found us without any plans, as usual. We are so bad at NYE plans. Every year we wait until the last minute to start thinking about what we're doing. This year was no exception. So, I got things for lil smokies in BBQ sauce and chili cheese dip. Figured I'd call that good enough. Well, Ben didn't think that was good enough. So, he went to the store. He came home with shrimp and cocktail sauce, gourmet carrots, French bread, lobster tails, chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne. Not just any champagne, but the good stuff. I am so spoiled by him.

We ended up making the chili cheese dip as an appetizer. As I was getting the kids to bed (after watching Toy Story 2), Ben went to work in the kitchen. He even set the table with candles. When I came downstairs, everything was ready (again, I'm spoiled). After a delicious meal, we headed down for a movie (Coming to America). I lasted about 1/2 hour. I woke up when Odin started to cry. Poor guy has a cold so he's on a bit of a weird schedule. Anyway, he ended up being up with us for a while. Once he was down again, we only had 15 minutes to go before the new year. We turned on the TV and watched the ball drop. Then we went to bed.

It was a very nice evening. Sure, it would have been fun to go out or something, but with all of our travels, it was nice to just enjoy our family together.

Whoa! Where'd You Hide That Baby??

Odin Benjamin joined our family on April 16, 2012 at 11:15 pm. 

My official due date was April 15. That came and went. No surprise. But having Adelyn born on her due date, I was kind of hoping this little guy would be the same. 

On April 16, we went in for my 40 week appointment. Dr. Hawes talked to us about scheduling an induction. She was going to check the hospital's schedule and call back later that day. She called around 4 saying they could get us in the next morning. We joked about how since she was on call that night, that maybe we should just have the baby that night.

My mom was over watching Adelyn. I went over the plan for the next day. It was after 5 when we sent her home. Around 6 I was thinking that perhaps I shouldn't have let her go home. Ben suggested I lay down and start timing the contractions. I think I only managed to time two when my water broke.  I quickly sent my mom a text telling her to come back. Ben and I threw things together for the hospital (yes, we'd been lazy and hadn't packed for the hospital yet). We decided to take Adelyn with us and have my mom just meet us at the hospital (I think Ben was a little concerned that if we waited he would be delivering his son). 

We made it to the hospital. We got in and shortly after getting a room, my mom was there to take Adelyn home. It was a bittersweet goodbye to my little girl. At least for me. Adelyn didn't really know what to think. But she was excited to see Grandma again.

The contractions were really picking up in the pace and pain departments. They started an IV of fluids. I had to finish the one bag before they would give me an epidural. At my appointment in the morning, I was dilated to 3 cm. They checked again and I was at 4 cm. I thought, "Are you kidding?? This much pain already and I'm only a 4??" I should mention that prior to around 5 pm, I hadn't had any painful contractions, so I was surprised that I was at 3 cm. 

Finally, I was able to get my epidural. With Adelyn, as soon as the epidural was in place, I had instant relief. Not so lucky this time. Perhaps partly due to it going in a vein first. They weren't sure if it was in a good spot. But as time went on, the pain did die down, except for in one area. So, we called it good. My nurse, Sharon, was busy in the room filing out the ton of paperwork. My pain started to go up again. She gave me another dose of whatever magic juice is in the epidural. The machine only allows this every 10 minutes. And every 10 minutes she was giving me more. She finally called the anesthetist back in to give me more. Before she came back, Dr. Hawes stopped in to see how things were going. We joked that my son had a crush on her and that's why he decided to come, so she could be the one to deliver him. Before she allowed any more drugs, she checked things out. She said I was about a 7, but let's try some practice pushes. With Adelyn, I could feel the urge to push. This time, I felt nothing. But figured I could give it a whirl. Guess my body knew what it was doing. The doctor declared no more drugs, let's have a baby. The room came to life with getting the bed ready, other nurses coming in and the doctor getting suited up.

I'll have to ask Ben for sure, but I'm pretty sure I only had two rounds of pushing. Then with a gush of liquid, Odin was born. Dr. Hawes said, "Whoa! Where did you hide this baby??" She was marveling at how big he was. The nurses looked impressed too. When he got weighed, she was right, he was a bog boy! Ten pounds, 5 ounces and 21.5 inches. A few weeks prior, my doctor said that she thought he would be around the same size as Adelyn (7 lbs 7 ounces). Only three pounds off her estimate. And despite his size, I only had one minor tear (compared to 3 not-so-fun tears with Adelyn). 

I have been recovering quickly this time around. Within days I was able to get back to normal activities, like sitting on the floor with Adelyn. Aside from being tired from feedings and what not, I feel back to normal.

Welcome Odin!