14 Months

To My Sweet Genevieve,

It's hard to believe that you are 14 months old now.  I think that this year of your life might be passing us by even faster than your first year!  You have held up your tradition of reaching milestones on holidays this month--on February 2nd, Groundhog's Day, you really started walking (your first steps were Christmas morning) and on Valentine's Day you joined Daddy and me and toasted your glass (okay, plastic straw cup) for the first time at our "fancy" home-cooked dinner (it's one of your favorite things to do now and is so cute).

Your favorite activities are opening and closing the doors, walking in the hallway of our building, playing in the pantry, and reading books.  You also love to go to the park and are dying to go down the tunnel slide by yourself (headfirst!).  The swings are still fun for a little while, but you are much more interested in the rivets on the playground equipment and holding court in the tunnel so the bigger kids have to ask if they can go through, and you usually let them squeeze by.

You love being with other kids and we are a part of a playgroup that meets once-a-week and attend Baby Time at the library weekly. Sharing is something that's difficult to understand, but if someone's playing with a toy you want you usually try to trade them for something else.  You also like to play independently and you've started to play in your room by yourself (with Daddy or me around the corner).  The first time you played in your room alone I heard you chattering and peeked in on you to find you reading a book to yourself.  One of the other things you like to do in your room is to look out the window onto the cars below.

You have become an expert at opening and closing containers, which keeps us on our toes.  You can unzip zippers, take chip clips and binder clips of off pantry items, unscrew and screw on the tops of many containers and put on and take off tupperware container lids.  You've even managed to open a factory sealed package.  I know it won't be long until you figure out how ziplock bags work too!

You still love music, and I think all of our rounds of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" are sinking in because you will (sometimes) show us where your nose, toes and mouth are.

Some of your favorite foods are blueberries, bananas, yogurt, eggs, bread, hummus, ham, chicken sausages, tortillas and cheese.  To our surprise (well, sort of), you also like the flavor of curry and are starting to like milk more.  You've tried a few new foods this month too, including: kiwi, clementines (quickly becoming a favorite), peanut butter and shrimp.

You are saying more and more words everyday.  Daw-g, Da-dee, mamamamama and hi are the most popular words these days.  You said "mine" for the first time recently and shake your head when you don't want or don't like something.  You're communicating with sign language too more often now and will sign more, all done, eat and milk.

"You are a happy, active toddler, but there are a few things that you really don't like.  You don't mind getting out of the bathtub, but you don't like getting dressed for bed.  You don't like when the refrigerator or dishwasher are closed because they are so interesting.  And sometimes you really don't want to get in your car seat or stroller.

Vivie, your Daddy and I love you very much, and we can't wait to see what you'll learn next!

Love,
Mommy

Invent-A-Meal

I'm not a meal planner (at all) so I find myself "playing" invent-a-meal with some regularity, and tonight was one of those nights.  I play this game often enough that I've come up with two "rules" that help ensure we aren't clearing our plates when we should be reading bedtime stories.

Before assessing what I have on hand I:

1.  Put on a pot of water to boil.  
2. Preheat the oven.

It turns out that tonight I used both the water and the oven.

I haven't been to the grocery store in a week, but I have tons of produce from the vegetable and fruit share I bought from a local co-op on Saturday (more to come on that).  I scanned the fridge and realized I had chicken sausage I bought when I was at the grocery store (don't worry, it was well within the "sell by" date) and about half of a large log of goat cheese I found on the cheap at Whole Foods (of all places).  Throw in some pasta and produce share veggies and you've got a full fledged dinner. 

Here's what I came up with...


Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta with Chicken Sausage (sounds fancy, right ;)):
1/2 Box Bow Tie Pasta (I boiled the whole box to have the leftovers on hand)
1 pt Grape Tomatoes
1 Bunch Swiss Chard, chopped (spinach or kale would have probably been even better)
1 lb Chicken Sausage
4-5 oz Goat Cheese
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400°.  Place tomatoes in a shallow baking dish, toss in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 20 minutes, until the tomatoes are slightly wrinkled (toss tomatoes half way through cooking time).

Cook pasta according to package directions (or your preferred "doneness" - I think the package directions usually make it a bit mushy for my taste).

Heat high sided pan over medium-high heat, add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, sear sausage (mine were fully cooked, if the sausage is raw, after you sear the sausage, reduce heat to low, add enough water or broth to cover the bottom of the pan, cover and cook for 10 minutes).  Remove sausage, add a splash of water or chicken broth and Swiss chard, cover and cook until wilted.  Add roasted tomatoes (with liquid) and break up the goat cheese as you add it in.  Stir until cheese is fully incorporated.  Using a slotted spoon add the pasta to the sauce (if you need a little more sauce add some of the cooking water from the pasta).

Serve the sausage on the side (that's what we did), or slice and add into the pasta and sauce.

This was a huge hit with my party of three, including our almost 14 month old who ate about the same amount I did.  I think the only down side was that there was a dish, a pot and a pan to clean after dinner.

Served two adults and one (hungry) toddler with enough leftovers for one lunch tomorrow.  If you had some crusty bread and a salad you could probably stretch it to serve four.

This will definitely make an appearance on our table again. 

What's a favorite meal you've come up with on the fly?

The Lighter Side of Super Bowl Snacks

With the Texans out of the playoffs weeks ago, and our other favorites out of the mix too, the Super Bowl was a bit of a non-event for our household this year.  Of course we watched it, but it was just the three of us--no big party to host or go to, but we still had to have munchies for the big game.

Since it was just us, I thought it was more important than usual to make sure the food was on the healthier side--I mean we were going to be eating everything that made up our spread, and as much as I love sour cream and melted cheese laden dips that always make an appearance on game days I just couldn't do that to us.

I came up with this menu for our party of three:
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings (I know, it's not really possible to make a healthy chicken wing, but mine are slightly better for you than standard bar fare)
Baby Back Ribs (I can't resist buying them when they are less than $2/pound!)
Cucumber Salad
Seven Layer Dip

This was the first time I had attempted a Seven Layer Dip (light or traditional), so I turned to Pinterest for a little inspiration.  I found this recipe and it was exactly what I was looking for. 

Here's my 5 1/2 Lighter Layer Dip:
Not-Refried Beans*
Pico de Gallo
Guacamole
Fat Free Greek Yogurt
Low Fat Colby Jack Cheese, Shredded
Green Onions, Chopped
Cilantro, Chopped

Prepare the beans the day before, or overnight in the crock pot.

Prepare Pico de Gallo: Combine one chopped medium onion, two chopped medium tomatoes, half a diced jalapeno, juice of one lime, salt and pepper to taste. (Alternatively, you could use prepared salsa or pico, but it's so good fresh-made.)

Guacamole: I'm in love with HEB's fresh-made guacamole, so that's what I used, but by all means, feel free to make your own from scratch, just make sure your avocados are ripe.

Determine the quantity for each layer based on the container you're serving the dip in.  My bowl was 1.75 qts and I used about 2 cups of beans, and  1-1 1/2 cups of pico, guacamole and yogurt.  Whatever the size of your container make sure you can see all of the layers :)

Layer the beans, pico de gallo, guacamole and yogurt.  Sprinkle with cheese and top with cilantro and green onions.

Enjoy with tortilla chips, or we really liked it with sweet potato chips.

*The only adjustment I made to the recipe is I used half a jalepeno which made the beans very mild (I would guess with a whole jalepeno it would be mild/medium).

This dip didn't taste like a light version of Seven Layer Dip it tasted like a really good homemade layered dip.  Even if you're not in the mood for the dip, I highly recommend the bean recipe, I plan on making another batch soon for enchilada night (and perfect for a Friday Lenten dinner too).

What dish do you enjoy "lightened" up?  Do you have a favorite meat-free meal?

Got Milk?

A common school of thought these days is to introduce cow's milk to babies when they reach the magic age of one-year-old and they are supposed to just as magically love it and drink cups and cups of it all day long.

I have bought into the importance of milk--I mean it is a pretty nutritious food source and I personally have always enjoyed drinking it.  Well, a certain 2 1/2 feet tall red head didn't get the "milk does a body good" memo (shocking, I know).

I have been asking moms for months, "How did your baby take to milk?"  And really the only negative was for some it impacted the child's digestion, so they diluted the milk or introduced it very slowly.  Many people I know swapped bottles of formula or breast milk out and offered the cow's milk in it's place without issue.  I don't know why, but I just knew it wasn't going to be that easy for us.

I wasn't going to replace nursing with cups of cow's milk (Vivie was slowly cutting out feedings and was a great solid foods eater) I was just going to give her a cup with her meals.  Since her birthday was six days before Christmas I had decided to wait until after the holidays when we were back on our normal schedule before offering her cow's milk.  This also gave me a chance to drill her pediatrician before starting too--her recomendation, Vivie should get 12-16 ounces of dairy (milk, yogurt and cheese) every day. 

A few days before New Year's I bought a half gallon of organic whole milk, filled one of her favorite straw cups, warmed the milk to room temperature (as many seasoned moms had suggested) and gave it to her.  I wasn't sure what would happen, but I was a little excited that she was trying something new.

One sip and the cup went flying across the room.

I gave it to her cold the next time and she sipped and spat it all out...sigh.

She eventually stopped spitting it out (most of the time), instead she'd look at me like I was crazy when I offered her a cup and she'd pucker her face with every little bitty taste.  Seriously, have you tasted organic whole milk lately, it's basically melted ice cream, how can this kid not like it?

Over the next several weeks I offered her milk 2-3 times a day with little improvement, then the other night I handed her cup to her while I was cooking dinner and she downed six ounces in under a minute!  Eureka, there is hope! Or, maybe the kid is playing me because she figured out that if she empties the cup I open the fridge--her FAVORITE place to play.  Hum...

Have you ever been outsmarted by a baby?

Simply Delicious

My recipe collection is let's say, barely under control.  A few years ago, it was out. of. control. and I stopped buying cookbooks, stopped asking for cookbooks, and thought really, really hard before I tore a recipe out of a magazine for one of my recipe binders (I think the number of binders was over a dozen at the time).  I purged pages and pages of recipes, gave away cookbooks and shaped up my recipe hoarding ways.

This Christmas I fell off the wagon and asked for a cookbook, and received it (thanks, Mom!).  See, Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen fame published her first cookbook this fall, and I thought long and hard, and had to have it.  If you have never heard of Smitten Kitchen, definitely check it out, she has an entertaining writing style and her recipes are no-fail and I just love that everything in the smitten kitchen cookbook  was created in her small New York City kitchen (which from the pictures looks an awful lot like my kitchen in our Upper West Side apartment).

Before hosting our playgroup a couple weeks ago I was looking for a little inspiration.  The cover of the smitten kitchen cookbook pictures Tomato Scallion Shortcakes with Whipped Goat Cheese (recreated and pictured quite nicely here).  I wanted something that was a little simpler to prepare, but would still look and taste delicious, so this is what I came up with:

Tomato and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

1 Loaf Ciabatta or Italian Bread
11 oz Goat Cheese
2-3 T Milk
Half a Bunch of Scallions, finely chopped
2 Pints Grape Tomatoes, cut in half
3 T Red Wine Vinegar
2 T Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Slice the bread down the middle and hollow out the top and bottom of the bread, set aside.

Whip the goat cheese with a fork and add a little milk at a time until it reaches an easily spreadable consistency, stir in green onions.

Place tomatoes in a bowl and drizzle with vinegar and olive oil, add salt and pepper to taste (I'm sure this would be even better if you let the tomatoes marinate 30-60 minutes, but I didn't have time for that).

Spread goat cheese over bread, top with tomatoes and squish on bread--wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Slice into 6-7 portions right before serving.

Note: For the appetizer portion I used 4 oz of goat cheese, one pint of tomatoes and two ciabatta rolls.

The other (super) simple recipe I made for guests recently was Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette.  This was one of the first recipes I tried after (finally) giving in and joining Pintrest.  I discovered this recipe when creating my Thanksgiving menu last fall and have made different variations of it at least a half-a-dozen times since then.  This version has become my favorite, and I was lucky enough to have good (Arizona) olive oil on hand the night I hosted dinner thanks to my thoughtful brother.

Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

1 lb Brussels Sprouts, picked of any brown/bruised leaves
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
1/2 Cup Feta, Crumbled
6-8 Tablespoons Lemon Vinaigrette

Shred the Brussels sprouts (I have found cutting them in half, then thinly slicing works well). Mix in cranberries and feta.  Store all in a large zip-lock bag until ready to serve.  Add vinaigrette to mix a few tablespoons at a time while it's in the bag and shake. Pour into a serving bowl.

I like to dress it lightly and serve additional vinaigrette at the table.  Even dressed this holds up remarkably well if you have leftovers.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Note: If you're not up for shredding the Brussels sprouts, some stores sell them already shredded (I've seen that at Trader Joe's and HEB).  This and the original recipe are excellent with baby spinach too, though watch the amount of dressing and toss with tongs since it's much more delicate.

What impossibly easy dish can you not get enough of lately?

Hosting Reinvented

I discovered that I love hosting when Joe was in law school.  Several of his law school buddies were married or in serious relationships and none of us had any money to go out very often so we started having pot luck dinner parties at each others homes.  Somewhere between enchilada night and the chili cook-off a hostess was born.

In our pre-baby days we crammed people into whatever space we were calling home for dinner parties, the Super Bowl, Easter brunch, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving (the last seven years!) and somehow I talked Joe into having a Christmas party one year.

Now, we've entered into the world of play dates and our dinner parties start a little earlier, have less wine and a few high chairs have been added around the table.  I've tried to not lower my expectations for how the food tastes, but you won't find anything too complicated on my table these days.  I stick to food that can hold its own for awhile, can be made in advance and I rely on dishes that don't really require a recipe.  I can and do cook with Vivie at my feet, but usually she's playing in the pantry or the fridge.  Fishing the garlic out of the vegetable drawer and peeling the cloves is currently her favorite kitchen task (there is probably garlic "paper" on my floor right now). 

 And, when I'm really lucky she'll play in her kitchen preparing her own feast (and not making a mess out of mine).

Last week we hosted two couples with babes for dinner and held a play date for six other mommas and babies.  I thought it might be a little much doing both, but it was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed the company and conversation (even if it did digress to sippy and straw cup preferences on occasion) and our guests graciously gave the food good reviews.

So, what did we eat? (recipes and notes below)
Playgroup Menu: 
Tomato & Goat Cheese Sandwiches (recipe coming soon-it's so easy it's embarrassing)
Mushroom and Spinach Crustless Quiche
Honey Vanilla Herbal Iced Tea

Dinner Party Menu:
Tomato & Goat Cheese Slices (yep, the same thing from the playgroup, but cut smaller)
Pan-fried Salmon with Lemon Vinaigrette
Brussel Sprout Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Roasted Butternut Squash and Fingerling Potatoes with Herbes de Provence
  
Mushroom and Spinach Crustless Quiche
I doubled the recipe, used 10 eggs and 1/2 cup of 2 % milk (rather than a small amount of cream) and carmelized one red onion.  This yielded 12 standard muffins and 15 mini muffins.  Grease the pans REALLY well and soak immediately (clean-up was the hardest part).

Pan-fried Salmon with Lemon Vinaigrette
Salmon
Salmon (skin on) (one 5-8 oz portion per guest)
Kosher Salt
Fresh-Ground Pepper
Olive Oil

Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high heat.  Salt and pepper the skin side and place skin side down in pan (I could fit 3 portions at a time).  Drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper the flesh side.  When the salmon is cooked half-way through (when the pink edge has turned from translucent to opaque all the way to the middle), flip the fish.  Cook a couple minutes longer (this goes much faster than the skin side) until desired doneness is reached (I like it medium rare, but cook it closer to medium for guests because that's usually what people are more used to).

Pass lemon vinaigrette at the table for guests to drizzle on themselves.

Vinaigrette (I've made a couple changes, but originally discovered it here.  I use this on everything!) 
1 lemon zested and juiced
2 garlic cloves grated (this is key!)
olive oil equal to the amount of lemon juice
Salt & Pepper to taste
Shake or whisk ingredients together and toss with salad, adding a tablespoon or two at a time until desired taste is reached.
(I tripled this to dress the salad and pass with the salmon.)

Tip: If using a hand-held grater/microplane, flip it over and juice the lemon over it so it catches the seeds.

Brussel Sprout Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
The original recipe is terrific, but like I said, I'm using the Lemon Vinaigrette on everything these days (and it went better with salmon).  I even have a few pictures of this one, so I'll post my version soon--in the meantime, try the original (really, even if you hate brussel sprouts). 

Roasted Butternut Squash and Fingerling Potatoes with Herbes de Provence 
One 3-4 lb Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into 1-2" cubes
2 lbs Baby fingerling Potatoes (cut to similar size as squash)
Olive Oil
Herbes de Provence (or favorite seasoning)
Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 425°.  Toss squash and potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and Herbes de Provence. Line pan with foil and brush with oil.  Roast for 40-50 minutes.

Yield: Plenty for 6 adults and 3 babies.

What's your favorite event to host?  Do you have a go-to recipe or one you can't get enough of right now?

Capturing the Moment

So, this is something I've wanted to do for awhile, and what better time to start something than the beginning of a new year.  Well, at least that's what I'm telling myself.  Resolutions have never really been my thing, but I've decided to make a few this year--I mean it can't hurt, right?  And, Domestic Improv is one of them.

Last year I tried to keep a journal, I really did, documenting the first year of my daughter's life and my experiences as a new mom.  You guessed it, I didn't do a very good job, there are oh, about four entries.  So, maybe, knowing that there's a chance someone else is going to read this too I will be able to capture a few more moments.

I think one problem with the journal was I tried to focus it too narrowly on Vivie and what she was doing.  I want Domestic Improv to be more than that--I mean, I'm not just a mom--I hope to share about exploring our new city, a few kitchen success (and maybe a few failures), and I have a feeling I'll share a few parenting challenges (and maybe even a few successes).  And, who knows, maybe a few other things will come up--this is improv after all.

So, thank you to anyone who stopped by, I hope I give you a reason to come visit again soon.