Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Never Ending Questions + Some Easy Recipes

For those of you who haven't had a child yet, be prepared for a vast amount of random (& somewhat intrusive) questions that occur LOOONNNGGG after you bring home that sweet bundle of joy. Like, my child is 15 months old, and I still get them from people all. of. the. time.

Here are some prime examples:

"Sooo, like, does he sleep through the night? Do you sleep?" 
Note, this question occurs 1234890382 times from the time they are born until...? Oh wait, I still get it on a regular basis. 
So, let me disprove the myth regarding getting no sleep being a 1st time parent:
  I actually get more sleep now than I ever have.  Brooks slept through the night at 6-7 weeks, and has slept great ever since. 
(Yes, we followed the Babywise schedule. I know people have differing opinions about Babywise, and it def. doesn't work for everyone, but it did work for us. 

"What can he do right now?"
Lets see... he's become fluent in French, earned his Black Belt in Karate, and dunk the basketball like Demarcus Cousins.  
Bahahahaha, yeah, right. 
 Ummm, honestly, its pretty anticlimactic until they hit around 6 months, so if people try to claim their child is some rockstar before then- Newsflash: they are LYING to you. After 6 months, the milestones come at you 90000 miles per hour.
And by milestones, I mean, crawling, saying their first words, walking, etc. 
Refer to the picture below to gauge their talent level at 15 months.




I mean, the child is clearly gifted, right? Just look at those mad crafting skills. 
Bahahahahaha. 

So, here's question that I have gotten repeatedly and I honestly didn't anticipate getting asked this at all...

"I bet you don't cook anymore, do you?"

Seriously, people ask me this all the time (along with how long it took me to get off the baby weight, but thats a post for another time), and I find the question so incredibly weird.
I'm unsure if people assume that when you have a child, you just have absolutely no time to do anything but tend to them, or what? Or maybe they think that you stop cooking normal food & replace it with baby/kid food?

 Those are the only things I can piece together, because otherwise, I'm not sure how being a new Mother & not cooking on a regular basis correlate?
Maybe I'm missing something :)

But to answer that question,

YES, I do still cook 4-5 nights per week. 

Honestly, I find it just as therapeutic as I always have. For me, working out & cooking are the two things that make me feel like I have some control in my life.
Now, I know not everyone feels that way, which is absolutely fine. I don't judge.
I'm a firm believer that people have to do what works for them.
*Side note: I will say that it has absolutely blown my mind when people get an attitude and/or get defensive about eating out, AFTER they ask me how often I cook for my family. 
Listen peaches, if you don't want to know the answer, then don't ask the question :)*

Believe you me, I'm not trying to be Martha Stewart over here. 
I just really like to eat :)



My happiness in this picture is a perfect example about why I will never be a size zero again, and why I have to work out on a super regular basis :) 

To break it down even more, I honestly just find solace in the kitchen.  I've said this before in another post, but I actually cook in complete silence.  No tv shows, no radio, no podcasts, etc.
I neeeeeed  that time to unwind every day after work.

Also, nothing delights me more than creating a fabulous meal to share with my little family of 3. 

So, if you do enjoy cooking, here are a few simple recipes that my family can't get enough of lately......

Kentucky Hot Brown




INGREDIENTS
-2 cups milk
-2-3 tablespoons of butter
-1/4 cup flour
-1/4 cup diced onion
-1/2 tsp. salt & pepper
-1/2 tsp. Worcestershire
-1/2 cup cheddar cheese
-1/4 cup parmesan cheese + Extra for topping
-Dash of Paprika
-Cayenne Pepper to taste
-2 Pieces of toasted Bread per plate
-3-4 pieces of sliced turkey per plate
-3-5 pieces of cooked bacon
-1 sliced tomato

INSTRUCTIONS
Cheese Sauce:
-In skillet, Melt butter on medium heat, whisk in 1/4 cup of flour.
-Quickly add in milk & continue to whisk & cook on medium heat until it becomes thick/bubbly.
-Add cheeses, onion, salt & pepper, worcestershire, & paprika.
-Whisk until mixed thoroughly. Keep warm on low.

-For each individual plate: Layer toasted bread, then turkey slices, then cheese sauce. Top with tomato, bacon pieces, parmesan, and paprika.

-BROIL on HIGH until cheese is bubbly--> Should take 3-6 mins.
-Serve on hot pads & enjoy :)



CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP


INGREDIENTS
-1.5 lbs of cooked chicken, shredded
-2 tablespoons butter
-1 onion, chopped fine
-1 can rotel
-1 can of black beans
-1 can of mexican corn
-1 large box of Chicken Broth
-2-3 tablespoons of Taco Seasoning
-1 package of low-fat cream cheese
-(optional:Tortilla chips, sour cream, cheddar cheese)

INSTRUCTIONS
-Sautee onion in butter in large stock pot, until onion becomes clear in color
-Then mix in the rotel, black beans, corn, chicken broth.
-Add in taco seasoning.
-Stir in cream cheese.
-Serve when cream cheese is completely melted.
-Top with fav taco toppings, if desired :)


Both of those little numbers take less than 30 mins to prepare, and they are both delish!
  So if you work full time, like me, those types of meals are ideal on week nights :)
I'll be sure to share some more of our favs soon- I'd actually planned on putting some more in this post, but if I don't get my tail in gear,  my family won't have their dinner until 9pm tonight :)

Hope yall are having a great week!













3 comments:

  1. You had me at easy recipe...that chicken tortilla soup looks super yum!

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  2. I hate when people ask the sleep question as well...but...for a different reason. Our 9 month old still doesn't sleep! We have tried every single method and nothing works. I hate the question because it always leads to oh you should try this and you should try that...my angel child slept for 12 hours straight when they were blah, blah and we did this. I just want to tell them to shut the front door because we have done it all. Every kiddo is different! :) Definite a great list!

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