Pumpkin pancakes … FAIL

Posted on May 29, 2009 by chatty

I don’t hang out in the kitchen like I used to. Well, when I do it’s because I’m starving. Did you know breastfeeding is supposed to burn something like 500 calories a day? Not that it is on this body, but that’s what everybody says. So I’m hungry. A lot. Anyhoo …

I did happen to make some pumpkin bread a couple of weeks back. No pic. But I had leftover canned pumpkin so I thought I’d try to make pumpkin pancakes. I used RF Bisquick because I’m short on time these days. I also did NOT use our nonstick pan because it’s been sticking lately. For the regular pancakes that I made first, the new pan was great and I will no longer use the teflon pan for pancakes (a secret that the husband only recently disclosed to me. Gee, thanks). However, the consistency of the pumpkin pancake batter did not make for restaurant-quality (or even chattycha-quality) pancakes:

Pumpkin Pancakes Experiement

If you’ll note, you just can’t pick the cake up without wrinkling and smooshing it. Tastewise, the batch wasn’t half-bad. Tasted like, well a pancake with pumpkin/nutmeg/cinnamon/brown sugar. But the texture needs work. I didn’t have time to tinker with the ingredients, and I’m not that knowledgable in the science of baking and cooking anyway, or at least in this case. Don’t think I’ll be trying this one again.

Instead, I’ll stick with the pumpkin bread and biscuits. And muffins. And cheesecake. And carving, of course!

A good morning, indeed

Posted on May 17, 2009 by chatty

The babe got up early this morning, and so did I. She fell asleep again, though, and I did not. The husband was leaving to take Max on a walk. So I came up with an ingenious idea of doing a workout outdoors on the deck. With Beat the Bridge and the U-District Street Fair going on today, I had pretty much given up on any chance of going to the gym. Plus, it’s beautiful out today, and I recall the idiocy I felt last weekend when I drove to the gym to lift on such a nice day.

So, I warmed up by running up and down the basement stairs a dozen times or so. Tabata squats for four minutes, and then …

DB Squats: 1 x 10 @ 20. 3 x 10 @ 25
DB Shoulder Press on ball 3 x 10 @ 20
DB Lunges, 3 x 10 @ 20.
DB Rows on ball , 3 x 10 @ 20
Ball crunches, 3 x 40

Green Lake path via flickr

I alternated shoulder press & lunges, and rows & crunches. Little or no rest in between sets, but I did rest in between the two exercise chunks, like last time, if that makes sense. By this time, the husband had returned from the Max walk, and the babe had woken up again. I put her in her bouncer and tried to do some plank work (Plank 60 seconds. Side plank 30 seconds each side. I’m working my way back to where I was a year ago). I fed the babe then packed her up and hit Green Lake for a 3-mile walk. We got there around 8:45. I thought I would miss the crowd this early, but on a day like today it was already hopping. Fortunately it was hopping with the serious runners/walkers, and not the lollygaggers that clog up the path later on in the day. I was passed by a mother pushing twins while walking her yellow lab. Curses! But, I did do a workout before I got there, so I let her pass. No other strollers would pass me by, though! And they didn’t.

Home by 10 a.m. Not bad. Now I’m trying to figure out how else to spend the rest of this beautiful day. Enjoying it while it lasts!

Workout Pop Quiz

Posted on May 15, 2009 by chatty

The husband took the babe over to Whole Foods, which means I have the house to myself! For the first time in I don’t even know how long! So what’s a girl to do with this free time? Update the blog, of course.

Question for you all: Say you continually find yourself with extra time on your hands (extra 20 minutes or so) following your lifting workout. What would you add to your workout, and/or, what is the best thing to do to burn the most calories?

a) Add some more weight exercises to your routine
b) Add more core exercises
c) Cardio: Steady state
d) Cardio: High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
e) Screw it. Call it a day and go home

I tend to do either C or D, however the husband says cardio after lifting decreases the benefits of the lifting you’ve just done. Now, it’s not that I don’t believe the husband. 99% of the time, he’s right (which often chaps my hide for some reason but that’s a story for another day). But, I am looking for the research as to why. So, if anyone feels like digging it up for me (because I sure as heck don’t have the time), please let me know.

In the meantime, I think I may switch to B anyway. I stopped doing plank while I was pregnant and just today went back to it. And my strength isn’t quite what it was a year ago, to no surprise. I barely made it (one rep) for 60 seconds.

Once I finish Stage 1 of NROL4W, which I predict will be in less than 2 weeks, I’m going to switch it up once more. Maybe make up my own routines. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Okay, now off to do other fun things by myself. Woohoo!

My First Mother’s Day

Posted on May 10, 2009 by chatty

Mother’s Day started with me being cranky.

Until the husband said, “Happy Mother’s Day” and I said, “Oh yeah!!” Goody. Suddenly I was in a much better mood. The babe gave me a wonderful card with lots of wonderful things written inside, as translated by the husband (she likes to call him the “waiter”).

Flashback to a few weeks ago. We were standing in line at the grocery store and I saw the display of Mother’s Day cards. I started thinking about all the things I had to do to get ready … get cards for my mom and my sis. Figure out what to get for my mom. Make sure the husband got something for his mom, etc etc. “Oh drat,” I say to the husband, “Mother’s Day is coming up.”

“Yeah,” he says back to me. “You’re a mother now”. I am! Suddenly I got very excited.

“I want pancakes!”

In the past, Mother’s Day has been brunch at some restaurant on the Eastside. This year, the mother-in-law offered to make brunch at the in-laws’ house, which was a splendid idea. I didn’t want to go to a restaurant, especially since the babe has been cranky lately. This also gave the grandparents as much time as they wanted to fawn over the babe.

Mother-in-law made a delicious brunch that included French toast (even better than pancakes), fresh fruit, bacon, sausage and blood sausage. I didn’t actually know what the blood sausage was. The husband had to tell me on the way home. I wished I had remembered to take a photo. Boo.

And … dessert! Cute little mini-pastries, including cupcakes from SweetCakes in Kirkland. Mini eclairs, tiny lemon meringues, cream puffs and more. My favorite, as I get the opportunity to try a variety. Yum.

mamma mia!

These are some of the desserts we were allowed to take home with us. The in-laws know me way too well.

I look forward to many more Mother’s Days, and to making amazing new traditions with my growing family. Hooray!

HMD

Posted on May 10, 2009 by chatty

Some reasons why my mom is great:

1) She let me get my ears pierced when I was in 5th grade. Meanwhile, my older sister had to wait until she was 16. No joke.

2) She taught me at a young age that you could indeed have a career and a family.

3) Although I’m sure she would have preferred that we go to college closer to home (Connecticut), she let us go where we wanted. As a result one kid went to California, one to Pittsburgh, and me to Chicago. I’m a better person because of it.

4) She herself has lived in a different continent than her mother for most of her life. Makes me understand more the importance of the time you do have to spend together. At the same time, she didn’t get too upset at me for insisting that we leave at least one state (Oregon) between us, for sanity’s sake. She may still move, though.

5) She loves her children, but she REALLY loves her grandkids. And they love her right back.

Love ya, Mom!

It’s sunny out. So why am I inside at the gym?

Posted on May 9, 2009 by chatty

Gym today. The original plan was to go to rowing practice this morning. Those who row with me (back when I rowed) will note that I didn’t make it. I hardly slept a wink two nights ago which I knew meant I’d be a log last night. And sure enough, the husband had to wake me up twice to feed the babe. Usually I can hear her stir, but not last night. So … rowing at 6:30 was not an option. I would like to actually enjoy it when I do eventually get back on the water.

Of course, it’s a beautiful day today, and I saw several Seattleites taking advantage of the sunny (but not necessarily warm) weather to run, bike, walk, etc. as I drove to the gym. I found lots of laughs in this. But I wanted to lift, so gym it is.

I’m finishing up NROL Stage 1. Today was:

Squats (3 x 10 with 25 lbs weights)
Push Ups (3 x 10 on the floor. the last set I went down to my knees for the last 2)
Squat & Row (3 x 10 @ 40) I used the freemotion machine here and was basically improvising. Next time I could probably increase weights by a bit
Step Ups (3 x 10 each side with 20)
Prone Jackknife (12, 15, 15)

As usual, I alternated sets of push ups and squat/rows; and step ups and prone jackknifes (knives?). But, rather than rest 60 seconds in between each exercise, I went back and forth with no rest, and then rested in between exercise sets (so in between the push up/squat rows and the step ups/prone JKs). This was a suggestion from the husband and it made for a tougher workout, no surprise. I plan to continue in this fashion. The weight I’m pulling is good, but not my heaviest, so the 60 second rest in between (I think) is unnecessary.

I took a bit of a break from the gym for a couple of weeks, so getting back into the swing of things. About a month to go before I head back to work. Maybe I’ll actually be able to shed some of these last 15 lbs from the pregnancy. When I do return back to work, our team will have moved to new offices. So, am trying to figure out a workout routine that doesn’t include going to the gym (I used to work a couple of blocks away from the gym. Now we’ll be in a different city). Could be a lot of stairclimbing in my future. Or maybe I’ll even venture outdoors into the foreign city I like to call ” Downtown Bellevue”. If you have suggestions please send them on.

And, I did finally enjoy some sunshine. Took the babe on a walk to the library to get some new books. Am now reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Don’t ruin the ending for me, okay?!?!?

The Library: Check it out

Posted on May 8, 2009 by chatty

At “Next Months” last week the babies were getting fussy so it was decided that we should sing to them. We sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and I realized I didn’t know the words to the song. I had to later look them up in a Nursery Rhymes book I took out of the library. “Like a diamond in the sky?” Really?

What cracks me up is the previous night I had been singing to Lily. The husband and I sang “American Pie”. Not the entire song, for pete’s sake. But just the one verse that I’ve been able to memorize. “Did you write the book of love and do you believe in God above …” Hopefully I have now successfully gotten one of two songs to repeat over and over again in your head. Because that’s what happened to me.

Speaking of the library … LOVE it. I recently got my Seattle Public Library card, and am actually using it! The Northeast branch is about 6 or 7 blocks from our house. Of course, four of those blocks happen to be uphill on the way to the library, and it’s hard pushing a stroller up. Thank goodness for the Baby Bjorn. The library has CHANGED since I went as a kid in West Hartford. First, I can go online at home and click here and there and hold books that I want to take out. Then, they email me when they are available (or I can go online and check the status). Walk in, find my held books and check them out. Even the check out is automated. I can renew online. Those stamped cards with the due date listed is a thing of the past. They also have CDs and DVDs of recent stuff. I am kicking myself for not getting back on the library bandwagon sooner. Will have to make a trip to the downtown library soon (the new one has been open for how long now?)

Cool pic of the Library downtown (but not the one I frequent)

I am also singing “American Pie” right now … “And good ol’ boys were drinking whiskey and rye …”

Back to basics

Posted on May 6, 2009 by chatty

First time back in the kitchen (baking, that is), since you-know-who. Simple lemon bars, for a baby shower. Easy and simple, and much overshadowed by the delicious panna cotta made by a certain talented pastry chef.

lemon bars

The husband was bummed that I baked the bars only to take them to a party. So I made another batch today, though this batch stuck to the pan more than I like. Dang.

Three months in, and all’s well

Posted on April 29, 2009 by chatty

If I haven’t already made this recommendation, here it is. All you Seattle and Eastside mothers of newborns (or soon-to-be mothers) … be sure to check out “First Weeks“, a drop-in class at Birth & Beyond (thanks, Kate, for the tip). I’ve learned quite a bit from this class, run by Ann Keppler, RN (she is a pediatric nurse and also taught maternity at UW Med School, or something like that). Moms from across the city gather together for a couple of hours and ask all sorts of questions, everything from “She’s got gas” to “When do we apply sunblock” to “What about birth control” and so on and so forth.

I'm snotty (via chattycha on flickr)

Case in point. For weeks Ann has been telling us to try squirting breastmilk up our baby’s stuffed-up nose. Lily sometimes whistles when she sleeps she’s got so much snot up there (we live in a very dry house … it’s inevitable. Actually we all sound like we’re whistling). And tonight, as I was putting her to bed I noticed a lot of noise when she breathed. We’ve been using a saline solution, but it wasn’t working to my satisfaction. So, today I tried the breastmilk and sure enough, a) Lily didn’t fight and cry when I used the dropper with milk and b) I pulled a major goober out of her nose afterwards. Stuffy nose unstuffed. Lily fell asleep about five minutes later. Thanks, Ann!

First Weeks is geared towards the first 12 weeks. Lily’s about 3 1/2 months right now, so we’ve started attending the 3-6 month class. Today was our first day in the “big kid” class, and Lily was the second-youngest. It was fun to see the five- and six-month old kiddies, knowing that she’d be sitting up and stuff pretty soon.

Whole Paycheck? Not anymore

Posted on April 26, 2009 by chatty

whole foods in seattle (but not the one we shop at)

Indeed, it is possible to walk out of Whole Foods and spend less than $25. We successfully did it this morning. Generally a Sunday morning shopping trip to WF would go something like this:

The husband would decide that he needs X (fresh fish, chicken sausage, garbanzo beans, etc) and I would tag along. He would pick up what he needs … maybe a few yogurts, a nice beer, oven-baked french fries. Meanwhile, I would decide, hey, I’d like some Clif Bars. I also think I’ll have a latte. While we’re here, let’s get some hot breakfast. And oh, look, they have those samosas that we like so much. Before you know it, we’re out of the store and we’ve spent $50. Ho ho ho, we chuckle, you can’t leave that store without spending $50.

Enter a new era. One we like to call a recession, one where we’ve decided to take a look at what we buy, and not buy the things we don’t need. So, today’s Sunday trip to WF came about because I wanted to buy some oatmeal in bulk. The husband bought some fresh cod for tonight’s dinner, and some frozen bison for two future dinners. Add in a few yogurts, and my favorite tofu that happens to be cheapest at WF (compared to PCC, QFC and MM) and a few other necessities. We spent about three minutes in the chips aisle debating whether to buy pretzels or not (the outcome: yes, we’ll buy).

The other aisles we toured but just toured. No single serving apple pies. No nice bottles of beer. No fru-fru cold drinks and no carb-heavy hot breakfasts. We toured and looked and laughed at what we weren’t going to buy. Got in line at the register and spent a whole whopping $24.89.

Of course, we could have spent $0 and gone to Safeway instead. But we’ve made the decision to save money by cutting out the unnecessary stuff, not by sacrificing taste and quality. So, goodbye (for the most part) to chips, cookies (specifically those big single ones), lattes, beers (unless it’s in a can and says MGD) … hello bulk oatmeal and tubs of yogurt. So far, so good.

Oh, this is just week one. Check in with me a few weeks from now, and see how we’re doing.

Chatty Cha

dessert first