Thursday, December 04, 2008

Too tired

Too many things going on.

My tooth lost a filling last week and I went to the dentist to get it fixed. Spent too long in the chair Monday. Yesterday, I realized that my jaw hurt like a mofo and I went back.

Skin sores on the gums. Viral or maybe stress induced possibly. Blech.

It's all Harpers fault.

Ok, maybe I can't blame my dental issues on him. But dammit, if he gets to pick up his ball and go home just because he's losing the game, then all the rules are changed and weaseldom rules.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

Next thing, we wait until January to get a goddamn budget now. Only good point to me? The Conservatives are dead in Quebec, permanently for all time. After the Quebec bashing they just engaged in---they will never ever ever ever get another seat there. And lots of those middle of the road votes will come to the Liberals. And Harper is toast in his own party after all the dictatorial bullshit he has engaged in. You see, Steve does not play well with others.

Like since kindergarten.

So about my sore mouth? My dentist lasered away the dead tissue and it feels much much better. He says it should be healed by tomorrow. Yayyy lasers. Funnily enough, they are the same kind used to erase wrinkles and age spots. At least my mouth will be young and good-looking. Well, just my gums. Still....if that's how easy and painless it is, I think I'm really going to get some work done. Remove a few age spots, smooth out a couple of tired bits, maybe get that stress-free relaxed look. Honest, it was completely painless.

I should write more about Julius' new diet, we started him on solids, and no I don't follow those rules either. (Gee, big surprise, like I EVER follow the rules. Heh) They were all written by formula companies anyway. Have you ever tasted anything worse than baby rice cereal? I haven't! So I skipped it. Fuck that noise. I figure the Joy of Cooking is a better source for recipes that taste delish. I've got the slow cooker out, my baby food grinder, my blender, and my freezer trays and I'm cooking up a storm.

Since Sunday we've done baked sweet potatoes, fresh peas, green beans, avocado, squash, applesauce, blueberries, bananas, oatmeal, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and my special bean recipe. (Most of the veggies were steamed and mashed, or lightly sauteed in olive oil and cut up in teeny tiny pieces with my french knife.) Yes, olive oil for a baby, why not? I don't add salt, but I do add sage, thyme, maybe some garlic, etc. Applesauce is yummier with a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg, don't you agree?

The bean recipe is really Teh Coolest Shit Evah. The purpose of the beans is to add some nutritious protein and fiber to baby style veggies which really have a lot of water and don't have any calories to fill the kid up. That baby cereal doesn't, and neither does fruit, so of course, until you add meat or milk products or a dense food like beans, the kid is still eating just as much breast milk or formula as they did before. And if you are going to pay for food and spoon it bit by bit in the kid's mouth, shouldn't it have some sort of purpose beyond making you work hard?

Anyway, I use navy beans, but you can use whatever kind you like. Before bed, I do the usual soaking overnight of beans, 3 cups water per 1 cup beans. (I make a big portion in my largest pot, so really I do 12 cups water for 4 cups beans.) In the morning, rinse them, add more water, toss in a bouquet garni for flavour, then cook for 10 hours on low in the slow cooker while you are at work or blogging or taking the baby for a walk.

When the beans are tender, but not mush, remove from heat, take out the bouquet, pour out most of the water, and start squishing. (You can add the herbs in as you squish if you prefer. I add mine just before serving.) For large quantities, use the blender or food processor, but with these beans, add water as needed, and mash in small quantities. They can be so thick that you will burn out the engine on your machine if you get too ambitious. You should have a good bean paste when you are done. Then stick small portions in ice cube trays and let it freeze. When it's frozen solid, pop them out and put the little cubes in Ziploc bags.

Then whenever you serve a cube of veggies like carrots or squash, add in a cube of beans. Same for fruit, or anything else that needs a boost. You may need to add a touch of water to smooth it out and blend it in, but it should work well. 4 cups of dried beans makes about 50 cubes of beans, which should last 6-8 weeks.

Tomorrow, I'm going to make him an organic chicken. I'm going to brown it in oil first, then cook it upside down in the slow cooker with onions, mushrooms, celery, herbs, and some broth. Then I'm going to debone it, and chop the meat very finely and mix it in with the broth and veggies. And again, portion it in my freezer. It should make about 4 weeks worth.

Next week, poached salmon with dill. And yes, so far he loves everything. Practically licks the bowl. And no he has no allergies so far either. I won't be doing anything like cow's milk or wheat for a little while, but other than that, I'm taking it one day at a time.

Ta toots. Time to sleep.

11 comments:

  1. With Monkey, I started her on buckwheat cereal, if you can call it that. I bought whole organic buckwheat, ground it up into pulp, more or less, then boiled up some breast milk and added fine buckwheat. Couple of minutes-- done. When we started with veggies, I also used to make and freeze. And I also used breast milk instead of water for texture when grinding. Green beans were a big hit. Sweet potato too. She still prefers it to white. :)

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  2. Boy, You're good! Puts me to shame :(

    So far I'm giving him a variety of veg mash and a portion of fish or chicken but all plain, no fancy dill or anything... maybe I should, I wonder if he'd like it???

    xxx

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  3. Julia, I don't have enough breastmilk pumped to spare for mixing in with everything. Remember, you are the bountiful one in that department, hehe. ;)

    I'm taking some domperidone right now to get my supply up so that may change, (Stupid menopausal hormones are making my milk production go down).

    And Artblog, I don't want you to feel bad, sweetie. I'm sure he's happy as pie. You could try, right? Hey, maybe Julius will hate dill, and I'll fall flat on my face! I'll let you know.

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  4. That is VERY impressive. It is just cheerios, whatever we are having or jarred food here.
    I'm hoping to get Julia invited for dinner!

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  5. I am awestruck at your energy, not to mention your culinary skills.

    Dh cracked a molar over the weekend (must be something in the air? -- maybe too much teeth grinding over the news lately, lol). Thankfully, aside from the jagged edges, it hasn't been bothering him. Yesterday was the first day he could get in to see our dentist. He said it's nothing to worry about & he'll put a cap on it. On January 27th!!! ARGH!!

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  6. It's called outrage fatigue.
    A lot of us are suffering from it.
    If making J yuumy foods help calm the nervous system then by all means cook away!
    I'm going to eat a lot of chocolate and knit alternating with working out like a lunatic.
    In 52 days maybe we'll feel all tired from outrage again. Who knows.

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  7. You are feeding that babe well.

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  8. I don't think I know what baby cereal is. I'm sure they sell it here, but I don't remember buying it.

    Current advice here is to start with mashed potatoes and veggies and a teaspoon of oil or margerine.

    Must try your bean recipe. Doesn't it make Julius gassy though?

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  9. Totally shamed. I did much better with Ace, than with the twins.

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  10. I don't know what to think about the fed govt problem. I do hate Harper, but Dion does not impress me either. The idea of the BLOC having more power is revolting!

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  11. Sounds yummy.

    Though I have to admit, I looove baby rice cereal -- especially the banana flavor. Yes, I know, I have odd tastes.

    I eat it myself all the time (mixed with milk), although there hasn't been a baby in my house for many, many years.

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