For some time now, I’ve been looking for a fabulous recipe for hummus. I’ve found a few that are fine. I found one that was decent. I also found one that was not good at all. I just haven’t found one that is great, though.

I really like the hummus from the store. It’s so expensive though for such a little container. I should be able to make my own for a fraction of the price, right? Well, I can make my own, but it’s missing…something. Mine seems to have a bland taste and not be rich and deep like the flavor of the store bought hummus.

My recipes are all pretty similar. They all contain chickpeas/garbanzo beans, olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, and salt. I just vary the proportions of each ingredient, but I just can’t get it right! Heather! Do you have any gourmet magic? Anyone else? Even sitting here, I’m getting a craving now for some really good hummus. Too bad the stuff I made on Sunday is just okay.

It’s always nice for us when the 4th of July falls near the beginning or end of the week. We don’t have any family in town, so if it is near a weekend, either we or they can make a 3 day weekend out of it and take a trip. This weekend, Jason’s mom and dad came to visit us.

They drove up yesterday, and brought A a sandbox as a gift for his first birthday. It is very nice. They even bought sand that feels like beach sand! WOW! I want to go play in there once the kids are in bed. K seems to have made more use of it than A has so far. A sat in it yesterday for a while and then started eating the sand. Once he got tired of that, he was tired of the sandbox. K, however, was happy to play in there all afternoon and again this morning for almost the entire morning.

Part of the reason that they stayed overnight is that we are still trying to do a few odds and ends jobs around our house, and sometimes those jobs are easier with a second set of hands. This morning, Jason and his dad worked on installing a fan in our main bathroom. This afternoon, they worked on building a compost bin. Jason found the plans for the bin on Lowe’s website, and I have to say it is much bigger, nicer, and sturdier than I anticipated. We will have to do some serious composting though with this thing.

Jason and his dad were only able to finish about half of the compost bin project. It said that it was a five hour project on the plans, but I think if I were helping, I could easily help them turn it into a ten or twenty hour project. Just think of the family togetherness that could result from that help! So, now the bin is in our garage with the rest of the lumber waiting to be finished. In fact, those things are right next to and on the cement pavers that we will be using in our next big project of re-landscaping the front of the house. That project may have to wait for our next long weekend…Labor Day!

Happy 4th of July!

Over the past, oh, six months or so, Jason and I have been trying to take steps to be a bit greener and more environmentally friendly. For a long time, I practically ran away from anyone or anything that was “green” or “crunchy.” Slowly, since having kids, I have made a turn around. More on this to come in a future blog. Right now, we’re trying to do a little more and a little more to take care of the world around us. I’ve also found myself reading blogs about organic living and green choices. One blog that I read is the Crunchy Domestic Goddess. She’s having a giveaway for Mother’s Day. Check it out!

When I was in college and for the years after before I was pregnant with K, I was a semi-regular blood donator (is that a word?). In fact, Jason’s cousin tried to convince Jason that one time when Jason and I went to donate blood together was actually our first date. It wasn’t by the way. I just didn’t want to go alone.

Anyway, after I had K, I was interested in donating blood again, but I had a hard time finding any information on the subject. Most of the information I found said that it was allowed but it was a mom’s choice whether or not it would work for her. Well, that didn’t help me much. I checked on the La Leche League website and the American Red Cross website although it seems they have changed their layout and that information is no longer available. I found a few specifics, but I didn’t find a hard yes or no answer.

When I had A, I had a fairly significant oversupply of milk after he was born and had to (and still have to) take steps to control my supply to allow him to be able to nurse without getting overwhelmed by the milk. Because of this, I felt more confident in choosing to donate. I thought I would wait until he was 6 months old and taking some solids just in case I did have a dip in supply. Well, he’s now almost 8 months and not taking solids. I just couldn’t wait any longer. In my absence from donating, Jason has caught up to my donations and surpassed me! I need to get donating again.

I made my appointment, and the day I was supposed to go was -38 degrees with a -54 degree windchill. Needless to say, I did not go that day. I just couldn’t justify taking my 2 boys out in that weather for anything other than an emergency. I rescheduled my appointment and went the next week. I really didn’t do much to prepare ahead of time. I made sure that I was drinking extra water and eating well the days before. My appointment went well. When the woman put the needle in to draw blood, she had a little trouble finding the vein. That resulted in me being a bit sore that night and the next day, but it wasn’t anything terrible.

I know that one person’s anecdotal experience doesn’t replace the advice of a doctor or lactation consultant, but I hope it helps at least a little bit if this is a decision you’ve been trying to make for yourself.

When I started NaBloPoMo, I was a sporadic blogger at best. At worst, I sometimes let my blog go for *cough* months *cough cough* without writing anything. After NaBloPoMo, I was pretty energized as far as blogging goes. I saw how quickly and easily I could put something up. I liked the feedback I got from comments and friends and family. What could stop me from blogging 20+ times a month, right?

My son.

I’m not trying to say that in a mean way. He is simply a high needs baby, and he takes a lot of time and energy to parent. If you’ve read my previous blogs, you know that I’ve been dealing with a dairy sensitivity and some sleep issues. Well, we are still dealing with the dairy sensitivity and sleep issues. I have tried a few times to introduce dairy back into my diet with the same results each time. A cries and screams while arching his back for 30-45 minutes. Not worth it. The sleep issues have changed a bit though. When A was younger, I was often up with him for 30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes while he was figuring out that night just isn’t the time to be up and play. Thankfully he seems to have realized that night isn’t a good time to play and be up. He has, however, gone from waking 2-4 times a night to waking 7 times or more.

In talking with some other mom friends of mine, they suggested that since he has a dairy sensitivity, he may also have other sensitivities that affect his sleep. For a few months now, I’ve considered this and ignored the possibility. I finally decided to do something about it. Unfortunately for me, that something is the Elimination Diet. So, for the past 2 days, I’ve eaten nothing but chicken and jasmine rice. I’ve had nothing but water to drink. My mom friends told me that if this was going to be something that worked for A, I would notice results in 1-3 days. Well, last night, we did not notice any results. I’m hoping for some sort of change tonight.

In all the information that I read about the elimination diet, I have read that it takes up to two weeks for it to work. To be honest, I don’t know if I can do chicken and rice only for two weeks. I don’t love chicken, and I’m starting to hate rice (well, not hate). I am not really sure what to do, though. I can’t keep getting up with him five or more times a night (Jason usually gets up the other 2-3) and parenting both him and K during the day, but I also don’t know if I can survive while tandem nursing if all I’m eating is rice and chicken. It doesn’t seem healthy for long term nutrition.

So, that’s mostly why I haven’t been all that active on my blog. Hopefully, I will be able to increase my posting frequency as A gets older, starts solids in the next month or two, and gives me some cute funny stories to post.

A few days ago, I wrote a little about our attempts to live a healthier lifestyle. We went grocery shopping, and it was easier than I thought to find meals that were in line with our new goals. We’ve had healthy, dairy-free suppers for the week. They are actually tasting better than I thought.

My problem though is the cravings! Oh, the cravings… Last night, I was oh, so close to begging Jason to drive into town to buy me a bakery cake. I couldn’t stop thinking about the frosting and the yummy sugary feeling on my teeth. If I was able to eat dairy, I would put a scoop of cool, creamy ice cream right next to it and let it melt into the cake. Could it get any better?

Fortunately, I was able to resist and I did not order my husband out in the 40 mile an hour wind to get me a craving-satisfying cake. I am feeling a little less desperate for the sugary foods today. I’m hoping that what people tell me is true, and after I’ve eaten healtheir for a couple weeks, I won’t want that stuff nearly as much. Keep your fingers crossed!

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about aging, health, and lifestyle. I’ve been watching Dr. Oz on Oprah lately, and I’ve started thinking more and more that we could be doing a lot more to give ourselves and our kids a healthy future.

What I wanted to do was to purge our kitchen and pantry. I wanted to throw away anything that wasn’t good for me and start over in a utopia of fruit, veggies, and chickpeas. (I LOVE chickpeas!) Instead, what we are planning to do is to make the change gradually. We’ll decide on a goal or two for the month, and then once we achieve that goal, we’ll move to our next goal(s).

This month, we will be doing a few things:
*Buying whole grain rice instead of white rice
*Buying wheat pasta instead of regular pasta
*Buying sunbutter instead of peanut butter
*NOT buying anything with high fructose corn syrup

I think the first two will be pretty easy transitions for us, since we do those at least to some degree now anyway. The third will be a matter of getting used to a new taste/texture, but the last one will probably be quite an adjustment for us. I think it will also take a while to get our shopping done if we’re reading every label of every product we put in the cart.

Does anyone have any suggestions for cookbooks or websites to find good tasting, healthy recipes for supper?