Teething and Crunchy Cravings

My baby is  teething something awful. 

She just got three of her four first molars (the ones next to the eye teeth) in the last three weeks and the fourth is now making an entrance. Plus, at least one of the eye teeth is on the way. The worst part is, she seems to be such a slooooow teether. My two older kids used to get two teeth at a time, there would be two days of distress and then bam! it was over. This seems to be lasting forever. Pile on a 24 hour stomach bug (for her AND for me!) and it's been less than pleasant at my house lately. 

In the process, my little gal seems to only want either crunchy foods or super soft stuff like applesauce and avocado. I'm taking matters into my own hands. We are well stocked on avocados. The applesauce is easy enough - I make this one fairly regularly. Applesauce is also great for tender tummies, so it's doing double duty. Bread crust is beloved right now but she keeps begging for "cah-cahs" (crackers) so I decided to make croutons - bread crust, taken to the next crunchy level. 

Here's how: 
I used the remaining half of a loaf of seeded sourdough bread that I bought from my local bakery three days ago. I sliced it into chunks that seemed a good fit for her little hands (she likes to have something in each hand these days) and drizzled with olive oil. I spread them onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and popped them into an oven preheated to 375. They baked for 15 minutes and came out perfectly crispy, crunchy and delightful. 

These are also great for dipping and have been used as a hummus delivery vehicle by my little gal too. These croutons would keep for several days but most likely, they'll be devoured within 48 hours!

What Does Your Diaper Bag Say About You?

I'm pretty much out of the diaper bag phase now but here's a fact: my diaper bags were always packed with everything you could possibly think of needing for any situation. When my first baby was born in 2006, I got one of those fancy diaper bags with the special compartments for everything and with special attachments so that I could hook it right onto my stroller handle, or use it as an over-the-shoulder-bag. In theory, it was right up my alley. But in reality, while I had everything separated (diapers did not mingle with snacks and the extra set of clothes had it's own baggie), all of the stuff got thrown into the middle compartment. At some point I realized it was ridiculous to carry a purse and a diaper bag, so the middle compartment became the home of my keys, wallet and phone too. It basically mirrored the chaos of my own purse, only it contained stuff for my baby. Sure, I had moments of clarity where I would empty everything out, reorganize and start again, only to land in the same place all over again.  I gave away that diaper bag to a friend and tried to come to terms with the fact that I'm a disorganized-organized person. I'm a neat house/messy closets kind of gal. 

My eldest in May, 2007. Wish I had a pic of the diaper bag but at the very least, it held the book, the toys, the lovey, the blanket and some diaper changing stuff. Just in case! 

Four years later when my son was born, I got one of those looks-like-a-purse-but-it's-a-diaper-bag thing. Even empty, it was heavier than my son when he was born, and he was an eight pounder! Again I tried to organize the compartments and put bottles here, toys there, diapers here, changing pad there. Again I failed. But at least I had everything I needed *just in case*. And let me tell you, my babysitters LOVED this. If you're prepared like this, you never have to detour from the adventure. My husband disagrees; he says the detour is part of the adventure and always wondered why I needed to have everything on hand just in case? I wondered how, when he had solo outings with the kiddies, he could just leave the house with a diaper and a few wipes? 

We live in New York City. There are snacks and waters and wipes and diapers on every corner. If there's a major poop accident and a change of clothing is desperately needed or something else that I haven't thought of happens and the place on the nearest corner can't help, we can just hop home. 

I've got a third baby now who will be 18 months this weekend. I can't remember when I last used a diaper bag but I can admit this: when we leave the house, I bring everything just in case. But now it's shoved into a canvas bag. Spare pacifiers, extra diapers, wipes, books, toys, extra socks, you name it. And I've always given myself a little pat on the back for it until today. I was stopped in my tracks today after reading this article from Morgan over on The818.com. It's all about decluttering and getting rid of the crap you don't use (decluttering/purging and I have a love/hate relationship). She quotes Karen Kingston, author of “Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui”  who wrote:

“Keeping things ‘just in case’ indicates a lack of trust in the future…It is often not your own future you are concerned about providing for. You may also sincerely want to be able to help others. So then you keep absolutely everything ‘just in case’ someone else needs it.”

Morgan writes "you’ve kind of got to get rid of all that crap and trust that you’ll be able to access/aquire the crap you need when you need it." 

Ugh. I.AM.GUILTY! And frankly, the diaper bag is just one teensy example of this larger problem. I have a lack of trust in the future. And that's a bad example to set for my kids.

Must. Change. I want my kids to feel empowered that they can weather any situation, even if they aren't prepared for it. They shouldn't *need* everything packed just in case. So why should I?  

Lots of food for thought here. I'm not even sure if I'm about to dive whole hog into embracing the uncertainties of the future and my ability to deal with them as they crop up or if I'm about to spend more time defensively justifying my own perspective. Stay tuned. 

Banana Oatmeal Bars: Breakfast, made simpler.

I'm a morning person. To me, that means I get up and have energy, even on nights when I get less than 6 hours of sleep. Stressful mornings drive me up a wall. But realistically, there are so many moving parts in a house with three kids in two different schools and while I understand how hard it is to get everyone up and at 'em, I keep wondering what we can do to make the mornings a little easier on everyone. Breakfast is the one meal that my family has where we are all reliably together. As a gal who grew up on family dinners but can't yet get it together to make that happen with my family of five, I rely on breakfast as our time to connect. The food needs to be ready quickly so that we maximize our time at the table. 

Experts say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It needs to be healthy and balanced so that kids make it to lunch. I've said it before: to make life easier on busy parents, breakfast likely needs to be assembled at least in part, the night before (and of course, chosen in advance). Voila! These Banana Oatmeal bars fit the bill. In a nutshell, it’s like making oatmeal with bananas. Only you do it in advance. And there’s no messy pot to clean. And it’s super easy, with just four ingredients, absolutely yummy, and a very healthy meal.

I have seen various iterations for bars like these. Many have seeds or nuts or raisins or dried fruit and those are certainly great options or additions. I’ve tinkered with several recipes to create this one that my family devours - and it's a straightforward recipe to make with kids. I love that it doesn’t require elaborate steps or ingredients or even things like flour, eggs or milk. There are four ingredients! This is nut free, dairy free and vegan and has great fiber, potassium and protein. There is zero added sugar. And for those mornings when we’re literally running out the door with part of breakfast tucked into a paper towel, these really come in handy. They also double as a fantastic mid-day snack for parents and kids alike. 

Will these eliminate your morning stress? No. But they may lighten the load, and that can make all the difference.  

Banana Oatmeal Bars

3 super ripe (aka brown) bananas

2 cups of rolled oats (not instant)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8 dish with parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas until they are smooth.

3. Add the oats and mix to combine.

4. Add the vanilla extract and salt and mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

5. Pour into baking dish. Bake for 25-28 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and enjoy.

Here are some other recipes you might like: 
Guide to Safe, Nut-Free Lunches
Banana Sweet Potato Muffins
Banjo Muffins
Banana Pancake Kebabs
Carrot Soup with Ginger and Sweet Potato

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Allergies, Birthdays and Special Treatment in the Classroom

I came across this article the other day – a rant from a mom who is fed up about having to accommodate the various food allergies of her child's classmates. The piece was obviously designed to be inflammatory so I hesitate to even get involved here. But this line just fires me up: "Some schools have even gone the route of banning all classroom birthdays and celebrations, which is ridiculous. The fear of one shouldn't outweigh the rest. We don't always get to eat things we want to eat." 

Since when did birthdays become only about the food we eat? How sad it is that our celebrations revolve around food in this way and that as a culture, we have lost the creativity to design birthday celebrations (in schools and otherwise) around the birthday girl or boy and not the sweets. And at what point did the in-class birthday celebration become the end-all, be-all? The author says that "it makes sense to ban certain items when children are too young to ask and avoid foods that they might have sensitivities toward. But once we cross a threshold, personal responsibility and parental education need to come into play." When, I wonder, do people cross that supposed threshold? Is it the same age for everyone? Does it happen when children are ten? When they're thirteen? When they're seven? I highly doubt that parents of children with severe allergies would ever agree on any kind of threshold. I am a grown woman with children of my own and my parents still worry about my allergies. 

It's this kind of disrespect for allergies that keep us down as a society. I have life threatening allergies to nuts and fish and I am tired of this debate. I don't want to force my allergies on everyone and I don't expect to live in a completely nut-free and fish-free world. But I expect to be treated with the same dignity as my non-allergic friends. Having allergies is not a choice I made. 

my life-savers

Two nights ago, while on vacation with my family, I took a bite of a piece of grilled chicken and within seconds, I developed hives in my mouth and had to take Benadryl which put me out of commission for the entire night. There were no nuts or fish hidden in my dish but something was wrong. Somehow in the kitchen, the same utensils that were used on salmon must have been used on my chicken. This kind of lack of hygiene is absolutely abhorrent to me; not only because I have allergies, but also because I have respect for proper food preparation. Cross contamination is a big issue in the allergy community. And that's why even when we talk about having special items available for the allergic children in the classroom, it's never that simple. One of the commenters on that article, a self-proclaimed teacher, wrote "I think it's bullshit. Peanut allergy? Reasonable, don't bring peanuts or peanut butter in. Anything else? Your child can sit on the hallway with a piece of licorice while everyone else eats their homemade cupcakes. Other children shouldn't have to be punished because your child happens to be allergic." Putting aside the fact that there are many allergens that cause reactions just as serious as peanuts, it's completely terrifying that a person who teaches children as his profession is so obtuse about allergy reality. Isolate the allergic child in the hallway in a shaming way? Inhumane. How sad that as a society we are so poorly educated about these issues and that we equate being punished with not eating cupcakes. Frankly I think it's shameful that teachers and parents would ignore this enormous opportunity to teach compassion and understanding about the (very serious) needs of others. My second grader has classmates with anaphylactic allergies. Her teacher espouses tolerance, acceptance and shared responsibility. Schools have an obligation to make the safety of children a top priority. I look forward to the day when we look back on these issues and wonder how we ever could have been so uncaring. 

Special thanks to Sally at Real Mom Nutrition for compiling these terrific food-free ideas for birthday celebrations. 

For an amazing cupcake recipe to celebrate outside of school, here's our family favorite (contains gluten and dairy). 

DIY Pizzas and "no touching raw meat"

It's well documented that my kids voice their opinions when it comes to breakfast and lunch and that it's something that I both encourage and celebrate. But dinner? That's all me. Whatever I want to make (and eat) for dinner is what we're doing. I'm usually pretty confident that each of my kids will enjoy some part of dinner – but frankly with three kids (one of whom can't eat dairy, another who would eat her weight in dairy and pasta every day if she could and a third who basically only eats fruit, yogurt and chicken legs but will sometimes experiment with whatever his big sister is eating), it's near impossible to please everyone all of the time. Fine. Even when I'm past that challenge, dinner needs to be ready quickly. I aim for 30 minutes or less. And it usually has a protein, a vegetable and a fruit. 

After this weekend's kitchen disaster, where embarrassingly I mangled two fingers in a stick blender, I was told by an ER doc not to touch raw meat until the stitches come out next week. You can't be too careful when it comes to potential infection and wounds. I'd be fine with grain and green salads and black beans for days (or weeks!) on end, but I'm not sure the rest of my gang would feel the same. 

So tonight we're making pizzas. I bought whole wheat pizza dough and found these organic (fully cooked) sausages at my local market that my crew can add to their pizzas or have on the side (or not). My kids go bananas for DIY pizza. I cut some corners by buying pre-shredded cheese (I'm feeling a bit squeamish about sharp edged things at the moment) and buying already prepared sauce. We'll pair it with grapes (cut for the baby) and frozen peas (my son prefers these still frozen) and call it a day. It's a win-win, as far as I'm concerned. The prep time is not much more than the time it takes for my kids to roll out the dough and spread their own toppings, and I've followed doctor's orders. 

DIY pizza means you can leave the cheese off part of it, for the dairy-free!