3rd Anniversary and 5 months old!

Happy 3 year anniversary to my wonderful husband!

And happy 5 month birthday to my little guy!

And happy birthday to my late grandaddy <3 I love and miss you.
What a big day today is for us!

Top 5 Selfish Reasons to Breastfeed

I am very committed to breastfeeding my son for a lot of different reasons. The American Pediatric Association can give you a million scientific and health related reasons to breastfeed which are of course the key reasons I choose to do so, but there are also plenty of selfish reasons to just for mamas! Here are my top 5 reasons breastfeeding is awesome for me:

5. I find it much easier. No bottles to clean (and I hate cleaning bottles!), no mixing, no actually getting out of bed to feed him at night, and no worries about packing a bottle or what if I didn't pack enough to last him, etc. Hell, I don't even have to be awake to feed him, half the time I just wake up enough to get him situated and fall back asleep. And I never have to worry about temperature, how long it will stay good, different brands, or recalls. It's always healthy and always ready to go. 

4. It gives moms extra protection from certain cancers; breast, ovarian and endometrial. Anything I can do to fight cancer is cool with me!

3. It helped me lose my baby weight faster then I would have otherwise. For the first 6 weeks after having him, I wasn't allowed to work out and could just to light walking but I could burn so many extra calories breastfeeding and the first 10 pounds practically fell off. In fact, I can say that breastfeeding (with a side of light exercise) got me below my pre-pregnancy weight!

2. I love the bonding it provides. I am not trying to say that people who formula feed don't bond with their babies because obviously there are so many great and valuable ways to bond with your baby, but Boston isn't a big cuddler so feeding time is my extra bit of bonding each day. Having him curled up in my arms to eat is so wonderful, and half the time he falls asleep right there while being cradled. Otherwise, I only get big baby hugs and snuggles when he's sick or tired and I need to get all the hugs I can before he gets older and too cool for mom!

1. It's one of the very few things I can provide for him that no one else can. Some people have asked why I don't pump more or why I don't use formula occasionally so I can get a break or leave for longer then a couple hours at a time. And the reason for that is that I love that he needs me. Selfish, I know, but my son is very outgoing and social and I joke that the only time he prefers me over others is when he's hungry. And I really kind of love those moments where I can say, "Oh, he wants his mama" :)

And I have to include one bonus reason, and one of my biggest motivators when I do find breastfeeding to be difficult or time consuming: IT'S FREE

*However you feed your baby is okay with me as long as they are fed, and I know a lot of people that want to breastfeed are unable to for a variety of reasons, so I hope this doesn't come off as anything against formula feeders because it is not my intention at all. Just wanted to share some of my favorite selfish perks of breastfeeding!

Sweet Chili Salmon

Today I thought I'd share one of my favorite meals in the world. I'm so close to saying it is my absolute favorite but that's a huge commitment, but it is a solid top 3 contender. I'm really lucky to have family in Alaska who fish all summer and supply me with salmon all year. My dad and grandparents fish and dip-net and then spend a week or so smoking, canning, and freezing salmon so they have some to last the winter and also to give to family and friends. I could eat salmon several times a week but eventually you start to run out of ways to prepare it, especially when you're dealing with canned salmon. This recipe works with either fresh or canned and if you're using canned then it is incredibly quick and simple. 

Sweet Chili Salmon Tacos

Ingredients

1 large salmon fillet, skin removed (or substitute canned if you'd like, the ones I use are about 16oz)

2 cups cooked rice

1 cup cooked black beans

Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce (or other brand if you prefer)

Tortillas

Cook your rice and prepare beans (canned or dry). Cook salmon in a skillet over medium heat until it flakes easily. Break the salmon into small bite size chunks. Add sweet chili sauce and coat salmon (use as much as you'd like, I usually use about 1/3 cup) then simmer for a couple of minutes. Then layer tacos: a couple tablespoons of rice, a tablespoon or so of beans, and a couple tablespoons of salmon mixture. And you're done! 

If you choose to use canned salmon then this is even easier because the cooking is done. Simply drain and rinse the salmon, then simmer it in a skillet with the sweet chili sauce for 2-3 minutes. This meal is also great without the tortilla and just served mixed up in a bowl. If you substitute brown rice and forfeit the tortilla, you're looking at a really great, healthy and low-cal meal. I really encourage you to try this because it's amazing!  

Wordless Wednesday

Cake Batter Pancakes

In case you didn't know, today is national pancake day. Okay, so maybe not in America (much to my dismay) but in the UK, Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday is also observed as Pancake Day. In America, IHop recognizes it as February 28th (and who better to trust about pancake day then IHop right?). However, since we spent the previous 2 years in England, my facebook was blowing up with friends talking about pancake day and I got way too excited. Let me paint the scene for you; upon reading that my friend Sarah would celebrate pancake day by making cake batter pancakes, I immediately got out of my comfortable chair, raced to the bathroom to fix my hair only to discover I couldn't find a hair tie anywhere. This is enraging because I just have to get to the store to buy flour before Steven has to leave for school that evening. So I stomp around the house, slamming things, swearing and demanding a hair tie so I can go. Husband asks what is so important...
"IT'S NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY!!!!"
So I continue to scurry around the house in a frenzy, give up on fixing my hair, and run to the store with the baby, looking a hot mess. And if you know me at all, you know that I have a severe history of big hair. I assure you today was no different; it was large and not so in charge which is why I was trying to restrain it with no such luck. Normally I would take that as a sign that I don't need to leave the house but not today. Oh no, not on pancake day.

Cake Batter Pancakes with Cream Cheese Glaze
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup yellow cake mix
1 tbs sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 cups milk *start with 1 cup and gradually add more if needed*
Sprinkles
Combine cake mix, flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla and milk, stirring til smooth. You want this to be like regular pancake batter so add more milk if needed so it isn't too thick. Preheat a skillet or griddle to medium heat. Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet at a time. Cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes, then flip. Cook for another  minute or two. Serve topped with glaze.
Cream Cheese Glaze
3 oz cream cheese, room temp
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
3-4 tbs milk
Beat first 4 ingredients til smooth. Gradually add milk til thinned to your desired consistency
Pancake recipe from howsweeteats and glaze recipe from my head :)

If you're wondering, yes that is a super cool Coca-Cola plastic plate

So I'm sitting here with hair the size of Texas, eating a pile of the sweetest pancakes and reminiscing about my time in England. Thank you for pancake day! Oh, and next time, I'll add sprinkles on top of the glaze just because.
PS if you're wondering if it was worth the frenzy and fury, the answer is yes it was.

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Boston is feeling a little better today but last night I had the (not so) brilliant idea of letting him sleep in bed with us all night. He's been napping really well as long as I'm holding him or next to him so I thought maybe he'd do better if we co-slept. Wrong. He woke up every 2 hours or so and it wasn't just to eat but he was upset and fussy and blah. Poor pumpkin. So husband and I didn't get very much sleep at all and just as I was about to make Steven go to Dunkin Donuts and get me 2 chocolate frosted doughnuts (comfort food), our grammy called and invited us out for breakfast. So we went to Friendly's and I got strawberry topped french toast, which did the trick also. Grammy was also gracious enough to watch the kiddo while I took a 2 hour nap, bless her heart.

Tonight I tried a recipe I've seen on multiple sites for creamy chicken taquitos. I chose to base mine mostly off of Annie's Eats, who has a wonderful site with amazing looking food. I've made a few things from her site and really enjoyed them. They turned out great! Steven enjoyed it too so I think we'll add them to our menu. The recipe made 8 for me, and we each had 2 and found them to be very filling. These were really easy to put together and I had some shredded chicken ready to go so it was super simple today. I've been trying to make a habit of reserving a couple chicken breasts from the big packs we buy and cooking them in the slow cooker for a few hours, shredding it, and either refrigerating for a day or two or freezing til I need it and it's made a lot of meals much easier on a busy day. I served these taquitos with a side of salsa and refried beans. Also, one change I made was that I used wheat tortillas. I really like Chi-Chis Low Carb tortillas and since we're technically supposed to be starting our "diet" today, I thought that would be a good idea. Speaking of said diet, I'm going to put it off til Monday because I was pretty shocked that my husband wanted to join in on the diet with me, and I have to do some brainstorming on Steven-friendly meals and snacks to prepare.

Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Ingredients
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup salsa
2 tbl lime juice
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1 cup Mexican blend cheese
8 tortillas
Cooking Spray
Kosher Salt
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, salsa, spices, lime juice, cheese, chicken and onion until blended well. Heat tortillas in microwave til easy to handle, about 15 seconds. Spoon 2-3 spoonfuls of chicken mixture into center of the tortilla and roll up tightly. Place seam side down on a baking sheet. Lightly spray the top of the taquitos with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden.
Adapted from Annie's Eats
You may notice my lack of photos when it comes to food. That is because I fail miserably at photography, especially food photography. It always ends up looking not so appetizing and I don't want to deter anyone from trying these recipes because of poor presentation. But if you follow the link to the original recipe, you will see some wonderful photos!

Baby milestones

We hit a couple small milestones today but I can't for the life of me remember where baby's book is so I'll mention and date them here so I don't forget. First, Boston was able to stand up (while holding something) on his own today! He couldn't pull himself up but this was the first time he was able to bear all of the weight on his legs on his own and he even held if for a couple minutes before getting wobbly. Steven had him in his lap while we were parked in the car and he decided he wanted the steering wheel so Steven stood him up and Boston grabbed the wheel and just held up, standing on his own little adorable legs!

And then he also had solid foods for the first time. We had tried rice cereal which he loves and I decided to try some purees to see what he thought. We tried sweet potatoes and he did not like them. So I think we're going to just wait a few more weeks and try again. Maybe he just isn't ready yet.
But there you have it, 2 major milestones, both on Feb 17th, 2012!