The Mommy Games

Carolina Style Pulled Pork

Aug222012

I’ve tried a lot of pulled pork recipes in my time, and this is by far my favorite. It’s North Carolina style barbecue, so it’s a vinegar based sauce, which is there to serve as a compliment to the meat instead of overpowering it. The meat itself is super flavorful after chilling out in the fridge all night with a serious dry rub. It’s combined with smoked ham hocks that give it an awesome depth of flavor. Plus, it’s super easy and cooks all day in your slow cooker. I served it with corn, kale chips, and blackberry cobbler. If you are still searching for that perfect pulled pork recipe, I would definitely give this one a try!

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· Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes, Slow Cooker · Tagged With: barbecue, dinner, pulled pork, slow cooker

Setting the Mood for Sleep

Aug192012

Setting the appropriate mood is one of the most important things you can do to encourage your child to sleep. I think it’s helpful to remember that you can’t actually force your child to sleep, but you can make the environment as relaxing, comfortable, and conducive to sleep as possible. Like most things, consistency is the key, and maintaining a similar sleep environment and routine will allow your child to anticipate bed and nap times. Here’s what has helped my kids:

1) Keep it dark – Most people simply sleep better in the dark. I recommend getting blackout shades (these are a great, inexpensive option) or even taping up black garbage bags over the windows. If you are able to blackout a room during the day, there will be consistency between night and daytime and you won’t have to worry about early wakings due to sunlight. While some older children might need a small nightlight, young babies don’t yet know to be afraid of the dark and can actually be distracted by small lights (like on a monitor or temperature device). We use black tape to cover over any small lights in the room.

2) Play with the temperature – I know that a lot of experts argue that we need cooler temperatures to sleep well, but I think that a comfortable sleeping temperature is a personal preference and you need to experiment to see what works best for your child. Some like to be bundled up, but have the air at a cooler temp, while others might want minimal clothing in a warmer environment. Pay attention to your child and see when they tend to sleep best, and also what they were wearing. Personally, my kids sleep in full footed sleepers (or long pjs with socks) year round, but Rylan likes it set cooler than Brandon. For infants, you have to be mindful that you don’t want to overdress them since it can be a SIDS risk.

3) Love the lovey – An age appropriate lovey can be a huge comfort to a child at bedtime. If you are strict about it, and allow the lovey only to be used during sleep times, it can also be something that your child actually looks forward to come bed or nap time. This is important to remember if you don’t want your future toddler to walk around with a worn out blankie all day. Personally, I don’t have too many qualms about this, and Brandon can have his lovey if we are traveling, watching tv, or going for a long run – but that’s a whole different topic! A lovey is also a great replacement for the pacifier. I am not a fan of the pacifier. If your child is old enough to locate their pacifier in the dark and pop it in their mouths, that’s fine, but I don’t want to be the mama doing that for them all hours of the night. My kids both suck on their lovies, and have been able to find them themselves if they are dropped since they were a few months old (3 months is when I first introduced a lovey to Rylan).

4) White noise – A white noise machine is an easy way to block out any errant noise and can be very soothing to a baby. The machine should be positioned far from the crib, but turned to a level loud enough that it will actually be effective. We bring ours with us every time we travel, which is a great way to signal to your child that it’s time to sleep even if they are in a different environment.

5) Make it comfy – A comfortable but firm mattress is a good place to splurge when it comes to the nursery. Some kids can sleep on harder surfaces, like a playpen, but if we are traveling we like to line the playpen with quilts (underneath the sheet) so that it is more cushioned. Both my kids also like fuzzier sheets.

6) Have a consistent routine – This is probably the most important point. The actions you take before you bring your child into their room (which has been prepped accordingly) should be consistent so as to give them a clear signal that it is time for them to relax and sleep. Before bed you might do a bath, bottle, book, and prayers. You can then do a modified version before naps – like a book & prayers. I also like to do the pre-bed/nap routine outside of the nursery, so that when we walk into the room it is already dark and the noise machine is on. Whatever it is you do, just try and stick to it each time you put your child to sleep.

What are some of the things that you’ve done to help make your child’s environment more sleep conducive? Have you stuck with the same things or has your child’s preferences changed over time?

· Filed Under: Mommy Know How · Tagged With: Baby, child, sleep, sleep environment, toddler

African Drumsticks

Aug172012

There’s something about marinating meat that gets me excited. It’s such an easy way to impart a lot of flavor, and usually you can do the majority of the work in advance. It’s so nice to know that all I have left to do for dinner is to pop it in the oven. Like most New Yorkers, we are sorely lacking a grill (yet another thing that tops my “dreams of suburbia” list), so this is a great replacement recipe for when you would normally do bbq chicken. The flavor penetrates all the way through the meat, but isn’t overpowering, making this recipe pretty fool-proof for most palates (including children). The meat is also super tender, practically falling off the bone. You could easily set the chicken under the broiler for the last few minutes to give the skin a few charred bits if that’s more your speed as well. I served it with some fresh heirloom tomatoes and corn. A simple and fresh tasting summer dinner. Hope you enjoy!

African Drumsticks

Adapted from Nigella Kitchen

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tsp. English mustard
1 tsp ground ginger
1 T apricot jam
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
8-10 chicken drumsticks
1 T garlic flavored oil

Mix together Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, mustard, ground ginger, apricot jam, and chopped onion.
Add chicken and marinade overnight in the refrigerator.
Put oil in a rimmed baking sheet, and tilt so that the oil covers the pan.
Arrange chicken snugly in pan then top with any remaining marinade.
Cook for 45 minutes – 1 hour, turning at least once.

· Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes · Tagged With: chicken, marinade

Brandon 2 Year Summary

Aug142012

I know Brandon has been 2 for a while now, but I’m finally getting around to writing about his great 2-year old self. I’m in a bit of denial, I feel like we were just celebrating his first birthday. Guess time flies when you add a pregnancy and newborn to the mix! I’m really trying to live in the moment with him, as I’m sure with school and activities increasing in the coming years we won’t have as much quality time (also trying not to daydream about the bazillion things I’ll be able to do with him in school all day!).

Brandon has really come out of his shell this past year. He always erred on the timid side, but has become much more assertive with adults and children and has also gotten more involved in the classes and playdates that we go to. This summer we’ve done soccer and music classes in the park, and he really loves both. At the end of soccer he is dog tired and dirty, so if nothing else, it’s a great way for him to run out some of his energy. Music has always been one of his favorite things (he must get this from Brad) and currently, he can often be found walking the house with his mini guitar in hand. There’s always some kind of kiddie music playing here. Mickey hotdog song is the most requested.

Our biggest struggles recently have been with whining and eating. He babbles constantly and his word know-how is growing every day, but he gets really frustrated when we don’t understand him, which usually leads to whining. He’s only had a handful of what I would call temper tantrums, and we generally put him in his crib to cool off when he does. Hopefully as his vocabulary increases and he learns other ways of asking for what he wants the whining will subside. As for eating, Brandon is a skinny kid who does not like to eat, so we naturally have problems. Normally, I would say that he will eat when he’s hungry and not to worry about it, but weight actually is a bit of an issue for him so we’ve tried nearly everything to get him additional calories. Dessert at every meal, creative & fun presentation, serving something I know he likes, etc. Not too much has worked and I am certainly open to ideas! Lately, I’ve been serving his meals in muffin tins and not letting him leave the table without at least trying something from every section. This has cut down on some of our battles, but we are still giving him pediasure after dinner to make sure he gets at least those calories before bed.

Goal!

On a positive note with regards to the usual toddler struggles, sleeping is great! He still does nearly 12 hours at night and takes a 2 1/2 – 3 hour nap every day. I am so glad we did sleep training with him early on, it has paid dividends at this point. He’s still in a crib, but before Rylan came, we bought him a new one that converts to an adorable toddler bed, so we can switch whenever he seems to be ready for it. He’s totally content in the crib right now so I don’t think we will switch for a while. Independent play has also been amazing. While the Ipad is currently his favorite toy, he will play beautifully by himself in his room for up to an hour at a time. I love it!

One of the biggest changes for Brandon this year was that he became a big brother. For the most part, Brandon thinks of Rylan in a similar capacity to the dog. He likes him and is often amused by the funny baby things he does, but he still wants to know that he can have Mommy & Daddy’s attention when desired. He’s been incredibly gentle thus far. He really enjoys bringing out all the baby toys and piling them on top of Rylan. He is also Daddy’s helper at bath time and will use a cup to rinse off the baby. Rylan doesn’t seem to mind, and is almost always entertained and enthralled with his big brother.

This has been an amazing time for me as a mother, as I feel like you can practically see the wheels turning and the connections being made in that little 2-year old mind. He’s starting school in a month and I can only imagine what he is going to come home with to show us.

Here’s a typical day in the life of Brandon:

7:15 – wake-up, get dressed, drink juice/eat cheerios/play in nursery while Mom feeds Rylan
7:45 – breakfast
8:15 – chores (clear table, brush teeth, feed Suki)
8:30 – room time (independent play)
9-11 – outside for class/run/gym/playground
11 – free play
11:30 – dvd or Ipad
12 – lunch
12:45-3:30 – nap
3:30 – snack & play!
4:30 – learning/crafts with Mom
5 – room time (independent play)
5:30 – dvd or Ipad
6 – Dad comes home (highlight of his day!) and dinner
7 – bath with Dad and bottle of pediasure, family reading time
7:30 – Bed!!

· Filed Under: Our Family, Toddler Summaries · Tagged With: 2 year old, schedule, toddler

Pink Lemonade Bars

Aug122012

Are y’all as addicted to Pinterest as I am? I could totally just browse for hours, and at the end, I actually kinda feel productive. Unlike just cruising facebook or some other time sucker website, I have something to show for my time wasting – fabulous new ideas for organization, recipes, outfits, decorating, etc. I even know 100 uses for baking soda! Granted I will probably use only 1% of these, but who cares, the other 99% are there just in case. Like the recipe pin I found for pink lemonade pound cake. It ended up the actual recipe sounded not-so-fabulous, but as fate had it, Deb had just posted a recipe for these pink lemonade bars. It was meant to be.

These are like your typical lemon bar, but with a slight berry flavor and this really pretty magenta-like color. When I originally made them I decreased the lemon juice and increased the raspberry, thinking it would make them less tart and therefore, more appealing to my toddler. I wish I hadn’t, as I missed the tart, so I’m posting the original recipe’s proportions below. If you like your lemon bars on the gooier side, decrease the flour by a tablespoon. As is, they are delicious, it’s totally just a preference thing. These would be absolutely perfect for a girly party (baby/wedding shower) or any hot summer day when you want something rich but refreshing. They are just too pretty to pass up!

Pink Lemonade Bars
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

For cookie layer:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup flour

For the lemonade layer:
1 cup raspberries
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup AP flour (1 T less or more if you want them gooier)
confectioners sugar

Cookie Layer:

Preheat oven to 350°F and coat a 8×8 in . baking pan with nonstick spray (or line with parchment).
In food processor pulse together the sugar, zest, and salt.
Add butter and pulse until evenly dispersed.
Add flour and pulse just until mixture is combined.
Press dough into pan.
Bake for 15 minutes, then set out to cool slightly.

Lemonade Layer:

Rinse out food processor and puree raspberries.
Pour puree through a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl (you will need to press with a spatula to get out all the juice).
In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until smooth.
Whisk in 3 T of puree, then stir in flour.
Pour on top of crust and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until bars barely jiggle and the edges are slightly golden.
Cool completely in fridge then cut into squares.
Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

· Filed Under: Recipes, Sweets · Tagged With: bar cookie, cookie, pink lemonade

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

Aug82012

Craving something cheesy, salty and carb-coma inducing? Well, look no further! This dish is like restaurant style mac and cheese taken to the extreme. It has pretty much anything you could ask for at the end of a long day – bacon, cheese, pasta, ham and even a little chicken for good measure. You will eat it, your kids will eat it, then you’ll all eat it again for lunch the next day because it’s just darn addicting (isn’t all mac & cheese?).

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta
Adapted from Chef in Training —-> head on over and check her out!

12 oz penne pasta, cooked
2 cups heavy cream
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese (separated)
3 chicken cutlets, cooked & cubed
4 strips bacon, cooked & crumbled
1/2 cup ham, diced
bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Over medium low, heat cream cheese until melted, then stir in heavy cream, onion salt and garlic powder. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Stir in 1 cup cheese until melted and smooth.
In a 9×13 in. baking dish, combine pasta, cheese sauce, chicken, bacon and ham. Top with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs.
Bake for 15 minutes, until hot and cheese has melted.

· Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes · Tagged With: cheese, chicken, cordon bleu, Pasta

Rylan 5 Month Summary

Aug52012

Oh, my happy little boy! Rylan really seems to be growing up so fast, some part of me wishes he could stay this precious little baby forever. Having the experience of already having a baby has taken a lot of the pressure off this time around. You aren’t questioning every decision you make, or stressing about the little details like you did with the first. It’s quite a relief actually, and I find I’m truly able to enjoy Rylan at this stage.

This was a pretty exciting month for him. He went on his first plane ride down to Georgia to see my family (was excellent and slept most of the way), then was showered with attention once we got there. I feel bad that he might not be getting as much attention as he should when we are at home, but I guess most parents of multiple children feel that way. If he is starting to fuss, usually all it takes is for me to look at him and he breaks into a huge smile, like “Yay, you’re still here!”. I hope he’s just as easy to appease as the years go on!

Rylan is a determined little fella. I’ve called him my little snapping turtle since he was born, as he has a way of inflicting serious pain on any appendage he can get his mouth on. Most of the time he can be found with his two right fingers in his mouth, happily sucking away. He finds ways to grab a hold of things (hopefully toys) that I would have thought far out of his reach. The other day he grabbed Brandon’s cereal bowl and yanked it out of his hands. Not an easy task stealing cheerios from a 2-year old.

“Please share!”

Sleeping has been stellar. Still 12 hours a night and 3 naps. He’s super attached to his lovey and generally doesn’t cry at all as long as he can get his hands on him. He’s been rolling over from stomach to back for some months now, but found he had rolled from his back to his stomach in the night after waking him up one morning in GA. A side note for new parents – try not to freak when your baby does this the first time. If they are able to get to their stomach on their own, then they will be fine once they are there. Try and work with them being able to consistently get turned over to their backs during the daytime, so that they will have this ability (and you will have the reassurance that they can) during the night.

I totally stopped breastfeeding in the last couple of weeks. I had wanted to make it to 6 months, but it ended up being time for both of us. Rylan is a big boy and seems to get hungrier everyday. We’ve even taken to adding rice cereal to two of his bottles. He got some cereal on a spoon one morning while on vacation, and I will start him on more solids soon (much to the horror of my pediatrician – they strictly believe in waiting till 6 months). His reflux is rearing its ugly head again, and we are back to wearing bibs for most of the day, even after increasing his medicine dosage. It’s no fun – let’s just say I have a love/hate relationship with my washer dryer.

Here’s a typical rundown of his day:

7:30 am – wake-up, get dressed and bottle (8 oz with 1/2 tsp rice cereal)
7:45 – sit in bouncy chair as we have breakfast
8:15 – watch mommy do laundry/chores
8:30 – playmat time
9 – out and about, will sleep on & off in the stroller (at home naps from 9:15-10:45/11)
11 – “play” with Brandon
11:45 – bottle, then hang out while we have lunch
12:30-2:30/3 – nap
3:15 – bottle
3:30 – “play” with Brandon (tummy time)
4:30 – nap
5:30 – independent play in play pen
6 – dinner with family
6:40 – bath
7 – bottle (8 oz with 1/2 tsp rice cereal)
7:30 – bedtime!

Happy 5 months sweetheart!

· Filed Under: Baby Summaries, Our Family · Tagged With: 5 month old, Baby

July Restaurant Round Up

Aug22012

Here’s where we visited this month:

Boulud Sud

Daniel Boulud has a whole slew of restaurants all over NYC, and this is his newest addition. It was so thoughtful of him to locate it just steps from our apartment on the UWS. The menu is mainly Mediterranean, but it’s pretty extensive so I’m sure anyone could find something they liked. The atmosphere is modern/minimal, and is more appropriate for a business dinner than a romantic date. The food was absolutely spot on. You must, must have the fried artichokes – I’m still dreaming about them. We all (there were 4 of us) had different fish dishes and they were all exceptional as well. Do yourself a favor and forgo dessert and just go around the corner to Epicerie Boulud and have the most incredible chocolate chip cookies (or one of their other amazing treats) and enjoy the views of Lincoln Center at night.

The Dutch

I don’t have too much to say on this one – it just didn’t live up to the hype for me. The restaurant is pretty large, and was only half occupied when we went. Granted it was on the early side (7ish), but the people there seemed like tourists – not a great sign for a NYC restaurant. We found shell (lots) in our crab appetizer, the entrees were so-so, and the dessert pairing of peanut butter pie and lemon granita was just gross. On a positive note, the fries were pretty awesome (they waiter told us they’ve actually won awards for them). Don’t think I’ll be rushing back anytime soon.

Telepan (brunch)

This is an awesome “white tablecloth” brunch. It’s not necessarily where you want to be nursing a hangover, but it is delicious, fresh and just fancy and fun for a weekend morning. There is a price fix menu that lets you choose 2 courses. I think this is just plain genius since I usually spend a lot of time trying to decide if I would rather have something sweet or savory for brunch – now you get both! Do not miss the bread basket, it’s probably the best selection I’ve ever had.

Milos Estiatorio

Oh Milos, how I love thee! We have been going to Milos for years and years, and it’s still my most craved restaurant – and that’s saying a lot! The restaurant is this beautiful open space that makes you feel like you’ve been swept out of NYC and dropped right onto the Greek coastline. The food is well, crave worthy. If you like Greek food, you must try this place. They are known for their tomatoes, so start with a tomato salad (it’s seriously bizarre how their tomatoes taste amazing even in the dead of winter), then have the Milos special to share as well. It’s thinly sliced/fried pieces of zucchini and eggplant piled high around the most delicious tzaziki. Oh, and the chunks of fried cheese on the side aren’t bad either. Then you have your choice of seafood, which is all laid out beautifully on ice for you to see. My husband and I generally split one serving of dover sole, which is plenty when paired with everything else. Finish with a piece of chocolate mousse and you have the most scrumdidliumptious dinner ever.

A bit of warning though, that the seafood portion of the meal will not be easy on your pocketbook. And the waitstaff definitely errs towards the pretentious side. Just be aware of this going in. Not necessarily rude, but not overly nice either – unless you are ordering for 10, expensive bottles of wine included. None the less, this is probably our most frequented restaurant in NYC and would be a great place to go to before a show as it’s not too far from the theater district.

Quality Meats

Steakhouses in NYC are practically as rampant as bodegas, but in truth, most are pretty excellent and will put your local Ruth Chris to shame. QM has a great decor – walls of wine bottles and a labyrinth type layout that is rather interesting to navigate. It has a trendy edge, but given the location, it will be packed with suits at 7pm on a Tuesday. The steak we had was amazing, and they make the steak sauce table side (it was excellent and unique as well, but the steak on its own was so good I didn’t even think it needed any sauce). They really pay ice cream its due in the dessert section and offer a ton of different flavors as well as house made ice cream cakes. Yum!

· Filed Under: Restaurant Reviews · Tagged With: New York City, Restaurants, Reviews