Cake Cake Balls

It happened last week. On a Monday. I went into my thrice yearly visit to Trader Joes, where I usually stock up and buy the family favorites in dry and frozen foods. 

So, this visit I begin like any other, happily, in the produce aisle. Uneventful and I even pass up the sample station as I move to the calming white glow of the dairy aisle. As I leave the Coffee station with an already half half filled cart, and turn onto my favorite-- the frozen food aisle, I get a bit nervous. 

There I was, cruising up and down, getting the things we need -- frozen mac & cheese, rice dishes, and then all of a sudden I noticed it -- or the lack of it --- it was not there.  It was no where to be seen.  

I immediately panic.  This has happened before.  I know the drill, this is no drill.  This is not going to be good. I went over and I grabbed the Trader Joe's man in the brightly colored Hawaiian shirt and I uncontrollably blurted at him: "Where are my Cake Cake Balls?" 

The man looked at me slightly confused. But, then, after a few beats he realized what was angering me and immesiately got a consoling look. "Oh, you mean the Danish pancakes?"

"Yes, where are my Cake Cake Balls?"

Notice how I do not relent on the proper name of the item?  And I consistently refer to them as mine?  This is the sign of a person in panic. 

The man sat, trying to decide how to give me the bad news, for a good 10 seconds.  He has done this before, I could tell, I am not the only one with a strange attachment to this frozen food.  I think he can tell too, that I already know the answer.  This is what he is thinking about.  How is this "Cake Cake Ball" lady going to react?  Is she going to cry?  Yell? Make a scene?  Something abnormal is going to happen, because she clearly is way too invested in this.

So, he just comes right out and says it, no apology, no nothing.  Just rips the bandaid. "Discontinued."

And, I actually scream in the middle of the frozen food section.  Legit scream.  He jumps, and everyone turns.  People come from other aisles.  I go on and on.  I buy 10 bags of these things three times per year.  My sons eat them at least twice a week.  They are a staple.  I tell other people about them.  They can't be discontinued, everyone loves them.

"Mam, they have been gone for a few months now."

"You mean there are none in the back I can grab from you?  Some sitting in a store 30 miles away?"

"Mam, you can make them, I can help you find the ingredients."

"Have you ever tried to make them?  At 7:45am when the bus is coming in 10 minutes?  Do you know they require a special pan?  Do you sell the special pan?  I have friends who introduced us to the special pan.  They come over and THEY make them for us as she is Danish and she has the talent.  You have to be talented to know when to flip the ball."

No joke, I went on and on about the expertise and cleaning needed when making Abelskievers (Cake Cake Balls) from scratch.

"I'm sorry, Mam."

"You did this to me once before with the Baignan Bhartha."

"Excuse me, what now?"

"The Indian eggplant dish.  You just ripped it away one day without any warning.  I still longingly look in the Indian frozen food section hoping you will bring it back, but no."

"You can write a letter."

"Oh, I will."  (then I calm) - "Sorry, I know it is not your fault.  Who is going to tell my boys?!"

I finish my shopping trip.  Deciding what I may need to stock pile on for their next heartless cut of my favorite product, and the entire check out process goes very similar to the situation above.  Everyone suggests I make them myself.

Haven't told the boys yet.  Went in the freezer and found three cake cake balls in the blue bag hiding in the back.  We will make an event out of it, and one night - with a bottle of wine, I will make 500 cake cake balls from the pan which takes talent and I will freeze those suckers.  And you know what else?  I won't need to drive 30 minutes to Trader Joes to get them either.

Party Sunday - including the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival

We had a nice little Sunday.  There was no Home Depot, there was not enough time.  But, there was lots of socialization, party, fun and chores done.  It was nice to have a full weekend at home, no driving to another place, no packing food up and cleaning another place - just being home.  Lovely. 

We started out by all waking up past 8:30, leisurely watching TV, playing with toys and eating breakfast before going to Party #1, at our neighbors house.  It was Epic!  A tailgate in their driveway before the first Patriot's game.  Everyone brought delicious food, and the King buffalo chicken dip was a huge hit.  The boys loved riding around in the neighbors John Deere truck.  Not an adult free task mind you, someone needed to run around with them at all times to ensure there was no tipping.  Joel Andrew is very good at backing up.

Once the game was on, and we had our first touchdown Joel Husband high-tailed it home to watch in the comfort of his own seats.  He does not watch the game well at other's homes.  I was tired and thought I would take a nap but then quickly realized that I was about to let another year of the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival slip by me - so I took Joel Andrew and we went, and it was awesome.  If you go next year, go on a Sunday during a Patriots game, there was no traffic, we parked right next to the entrance, and we had no line to get in.  The food tents were mobbed, but Joel and I managed well.  We got to ride the kiddie train, play in the playground, but by the time we got to the Disney sponsored "Kiddieland" it was already packing up.  Joel Andrew refused to enjoy it anyway, he was missing his dancing buddy Poppy, who is away at college now.

We shared a whoppie pie, Joel got some french fries and I had some lobster tails.  It wasn't the "gourmet" experience one may think, they should probably call it the fried food festival!  And, each tent had it's own long line, so if you wanted something from here and something from there it would be a mess and take forever.  If you wanted to drink with it, then you had to coordinate everything and go into a whole different tent.  I guess this is just the way a Festival is, I should know!

We got home, did some chores and had a late dinner before going to bed by 8:30.  It was a nice day.  And, it meant Monday we could wake up at home and have an adventure!

Crane Beach, Appleton Farms and Fried Oysters

We were to go to the See Science Center today, but as it is school vacation week in NH, we decided to keep away.  So instead we visited some of the old places Mommy has worked - we went to Crane Beach first.  It is one of those incredibly beautiful blue sky days, but windy and cold.  You think it should be 65 degrees because the sky is so blue and the buds are on the trees, but in reality it is 45 and it feels like 20 because you are expecting it to be warm and it just isn't.  We still suited up and went to the beach anyway, and lasted a good twenty minutes before Mommy decided we should get to the car before we freeze.  For the record, there was only one other car in the parking lot when we got there - at Crane Beach!  It was amazing.

The boys picked up seashells of all shapes and sizes and I tried to teach them the difference between a snail shell, an oyster shell, a clam shell, the shell of a crab that is no longer with us.  Joel may have got something from this excursion?  Regardless, they laughed and ran and touched and dug and looked so I think it went well.  When we were leaving I showed Joel the sand dunes and told them they were called sand dunes and he responded: "Mommy, I didn't know that before.  Thank you for teaching me."  Nice!

We then journeyed onto Appleton Farms, walked around, saw the moo cows, smelled the farm, saw the choo-choo drive through the property (a huge hit) saw the tractors in motion (a huge hit for Joel, James was terrified), and just in general had a great time.  But, I let it go too far for too long and we went through a bit of craziness before we finally sat down to lunch.

I decided not to pack a lunch for this trip.  This weekend Cristel and Doug visited, and my little James sat in my lap and ate tons of every kind of cheese Cristel and Doug brought.  Blue cheese, yum.  Goat Cheese - his favorite.  All sorts was loving it all.  We joked he ate $20 of they cheese they brought...  So, today I took him to get fried clams from the Clam Box.  And, yep - he ate them, and the fried oysters, ate them all.  Good thing I got the plate!  He barely touched his hot dog, which his brother ended up eating.  Looks like either we are in a he-will-eat-anything-phase, or he is a true Hall.  I remember when Joel Andrew was so good at eating - though he would never try blue cheese and fried clams.  Joel Andrew would not even touch the pasta I made last night for dinner, it had mozzarella balls, mini-tomatoes and basil in it and a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  You would have thought the world was ending the way Joel reacting to this "evil" pasta.  Again, James and I ate it up.

Now I am hoping the both of them will nap, Mommy is tired and Daddy isn't coming home for four more days!

NH Maple Sugaring Weekend

This weekend the Joel's were able to go skiing for the last time, and James and I stayed home by ourselves to get caught up on laundry, buy groceries, pack for Hilton Head, get drycleaning, etc, etc.  Who won out there?  How do I get to be named Joel?

It wasn't all chores though, we had a good time of course.  Though James has certainly entered the whiny phase of life.  He also says "Mommy" about a bizallion times a day.  I am pretty psyched for naptime.  I cooked pretty well all weekend, including sauteed scallops over soba noodles last night.  I also realized pretty quickly that my 5k running is around the corner, and I have officially gained 15 pounds since I started my job one year ago.  This means that my clothes from last year, do not fit.  This means that packing for Hilton Head was not pretty.

In avoidance of weight issues and impending 5k, this morning I made pancakes (whole wheat?!) - but we had run out of maple syrup!  How that worked out though, as I quickly did a google search, thinking: "Isn't it maple sugaring season?" and, sure enough it is - not only that, but it is maple sugaring weekend in NH.  So, in the car James and I went and we visited two sugar shacks.  We are set for maple syrup now, and James was able to stomp in puddles, get covered in sticky syrup, see chicks and a few horses and eat the messiest cookie in his brother's car seat.  Everyone was a winner.

I am about to start my last week of work, and then we are off to Hilton Head before I begin my new job as the Interim Administrator of the American Independence Museum.  I am hoping that the eating better and exercising will all come with these changes, because it is too hard to get a grasp on now with so much going on!

Topsfield Fair, Year 2

So, I thought, lets pick something ridiculous.  Something that would be horrible, terrible, stressful, and bring out the worst in me, and lets do it with the boys on Columbus Day.  This way I would be BEGGING to go back to work on Monday.  Pleading.  I would even wear close to sweatpants on our outing so that I would want to get dressed up for work.  I would even eat more crap so that I would want to eat healthy.  Well, guess what happened?  We had an awesome day.  So awesome. I am in tears that I have to go to work tomorrow, and put my adorable awesome kids in daycare.  So, so sad.

We went to the Topsfield Fair, on Columbus Day, probably just as crazy as a weekend, but we were there with Auntie Lauren - and a good time was had by all!  We managed to stay one step ahead of the crazy, crazy crowds, that is until the end and the kiddo rides.  But even then, we found a few rides without a line and although this Mommy may have thrown a tantrum while waiting, none of the kids did, a plus there!

We of course saw all the regulars, said hi to the chickens in the poultry tent (which is disappointingly not as scary for Joel Andrew this year as last year - in fact it was more scary for Mommy and Auntie Lauren as when Auntie Lauren tried to feed the goose some food, the goose immediately took the whole cup which was hysterical and very scary at the same time, Joel Andrew still talks about it).

We ate bad for us food which makes it three days in a row for me, and officially back up the 6 pounds I recently lost in anticipation of our Disney Trip...  Oops.  But, I mean come on, you are at a fair.  Can you imagine working the fair?  They must gain like 800 pounds.  It isn't like the food just seems good and really tastes bad.  Every single thing I have had at the fair has been delicious.  Down to the 80 pound whoopie pie I bought.  Yep, it was good.

The boys tried hoola-hooping, we saw the pigs, we saw the horse show (when they are older I am guessing we can kill some real time in one of these shows).  The littles got out and about for a little bit, and the Mommies had some good quality time, though we didn't really chat about much of substance, we had a good time!

Then, the best thing ever happened.  Last year when I came to the fair alone, with a three month old and a two year old, I could not think of me at all.  I walked by the piergoi tent ten times vowing to come back.  There was no time last year, with the feeding that need to happen in discrete places, the diapering, the everything.  This year, there was no way I was going to miss this.  Auntie Lauren was plotting her next snack move but I knew where I was going.  I B-lined it for the Piergoi tent.

Joel Andrew asked: "What is this Mommy?"  He can see the photos of the food and what was pictured was far from the red hot dogs and chicken fingers he has been used to from his recent, generous experience at fairs.  "The food of your heritage, your people" I replied, dead pan.  The people behind us in line laughed and it was on.

I remembered some Russian from my days abroad, and I looked at the vendors.  They were legit, for a few reasons.  First, it was an older couple, and the woman had short grayish hair and an apron.  Second, because the man had gray sweatpants on with the string tied in a perfect bow.  Call me terrible for stereotyping, but I could have been looking at my great-grandfather (a full 25 years before I was born - making the pierogi there).  The excitement mounted.

I quickly taught Joel Andrew to say Spa-Cee-Ba (our version of thank you in Russian) - and like an awesome child when the man handed us our food, Joel Andrew repeated.  I was so proud.  The man immediately started rattling back to us in Polish, and Joel Andrew and I were both at a loss.  Finally the man said: "don't you speak Russian?" To which I replied "Ya - Ne-Lou-blue Smet-tan-ou" - (I hate sour cream), and other gems I learned during my time in Russia.  He would laugh and the people behind me would beg for translation.  It was awesome.

Anyway, I walked over on cloud nine, I had two Polish plates stocked high with piergoi, glumpki, kielbasa, potato pancake - and I was done.  It was the best, end of birthday celebration meal I could have ever dreamed of, and it was capped off with an 8 pound whoopie pie.  I could not have asked for anything better.  I know what I am doing next year for my birthday.  (Auntie Lauren's and my's only complaint - where is the beer?)

The day got better, we rode some rides, we drove home in silence.  Baby James fell asleep in the car but then transferred to his crib for a nap that took 2-1/2 hours longer.  Joel Andrew and I watched Cinderella, and had puppet shows.  We did errands when everyone was awake, ate dinner, and had an EPIC dance party with Daddy in Baby James' room. Now I get to drink a glass of wine and watch some TV sitting on the DVR.  Do I really have to go to work tomorrow?

Spaghetti Dinner at the Fire House

Tonight Joel Andrew and I had a date night.  It was awesome.  Everything a date night should be.  We ate, we laughed, we had dessert.  He even told me: "Mommy, I like spending time with you."  Unprompted.  Just said it, when we were in the car.  Yes, I cried.  What a gentleman.

It all started off in the driveway, getting ready to go.  I told him we were going to have spaghetti dinner in the firehouse, and he said, "Oh wait, I need my fireman hat."  How do you argue with that?  So, we got his fireman hat (and he proceeded to wear it backwards the whole time, but whatever).  Back in the car, Joel Andrew picks up the laptop toy that was in there, leftover from Baby James many Dr visits this week.  He feverishly "typed" away at the buttons and when I moved his arm to put the strap on he exclaimed: "Mommy, I am just trying to get my work done.  One minute!"  Ummm.  Wonder where he learned that from...

We arrived at our dinner place, and it was pretty cool.  Not just prego, actual homemade sauce.  The boy scouts put this on as a fundraiser.  I think it is super cool in our town to be in the boy scouts, because there were a lot of them there.  It was nice to see!  The firemen were there too - but then had to leave for a call.  I love that in my small town they have various fundraisers in the firehouse.  I wonder if we could ever rent it out for a party.  hmmmm.

Joel Andrew ate more than I have seen him eat in a while, he really enjoyed the challenge of eating spaghetti and for the first time ever he actually ate sauce, which is now all over his shirt...  He also ate salad.  Like lettuce and everything, three pieces of bread (I think he had a crush on the girl who was giving out the bread), and then two cookies and watermelon.  Yummy.  We sat with friends and neighbors.  It was nice.

We stopped at the supermarket on the way home, and it was question time.  Joel Andrew loves you to ask him questions to things he knows the answers too.  And, there are quite a number of things now he knows the answer to.  Where do you live?  What's your address (I recently taught him that!).  What's your middle name?  What's Baby James' middle name?  Where does Nana and Pa live?  Where do Grumpy and Ama live?  What's Grumpy and Ama's cat's name? What's Mommy's name, Daddy's name, etc.  We went through everyone's name - and he knew it all!  Except, when I asked him What's Nana's name.  He said "Nana, Nana Boo-Boo."  And, he said it like, duh, Mommy...  Good thing Nana Nana Boo Boo does not read this blog!

Quick and Somewhat Delicious Dinners

Just to keep up with my new year's resolutions, I thought I would share a few additional dinners we have added to our plate.  Ha, ha.

Pulled Pork
You can make this healthier by making your own BBQ sauce, adding chicken broth (that seems to be Weight Watchers answer for everything), and using Pork Shoulder (although I still used pork butt).  Put with sauce in crock pot over low heat for 8 hours, and delicious pulled pork awaits.  Minimal time by you.  Kids may not eat the pulled pork per se, but you can make quick quesadillas out of the whole wheat tortillas and cheese you have to go with the pulled pork.  Serve with avocado and sliced peppers and everyone is happy!

Piergoies
This is kind of cheating, since I already knew how awesome this is.  Frozen piergoies, sauteed with a little bit of butter an olive oil are a suprisingly low weight watchers point treat.  Serve with heated up turkey kielbasa and you have a healthy and complete dinner.  The kids love it.  (just look at the kielbasa as another version of hot dog and they will eat it).

Baked Chicken
A huge Weight Watchers fav, 4 points per breast and super easy to make.  Just put chicken breasts, trimmed, in a baking dish.  Add whatever fresh or dried herbs you like and pour chicken broth to the top of the breasts.  Cook until done (about 15 minutes).  Easy, simple.  Serve with whatever side you like (I like Quinoa) and steamed broccoli.  Lots of variations, juicy chicken.  Add white wine to be sassy, or sliced jalapenos to be spicy.

Steak Tips, drew style
I buy the kind that are not yet marinated, cut them up and make my own WW approved marinade of worcesterchire sauce, garlic, italian seasoning and a bit of olive oil.  Then I brown them, and finish them off in a low oven.  (depending on how you like your meat cooked you leave them in the oven).  Yum.  Similarly, we do the same for Flank Steak which is also a big hit in my house.

Lasagna
The easiest, WW friendly lasagna.  Take a box of barilla no-cook lasagna noodles.  Follow the package directions BUT - use Jimmy Dean already cooked turkey sausage; use part-skim ricotta, and part-skim mozzarella.  Add italian seasoning to the ricotta mixture.  And, just use 2 Pomi crushed tomatoes from the box in place of jar sauce (I have a particular aversion to jar sauce).  Throw it all together, so easy, no cooking of anything in advance and you have lasagna.  Make it the night before and leave it in the fridge. I make it to take up to Sunday River, as soon as we get there oven on and 1 hour later delicious dinner.

All of these things can be made in the time my husband gets home from work to dinner time (when he takes the kids and I have a glass of wine!).  Yum!  Let me know if you have any more ideas!

Eating

Last night we tried out a new family go-to dinner. It was sort of a success.

My toddler has not eaten meat willingly in a few months. He is generally a big eater, but something happened around Halloween and he is totally turned off to meat. Whether it be hot dogs, hamburger meat, meat sauce, etc. The only exception - Chicken Nuggets.

My family is particularly challenging. Husband does not like anything "weird" Toddler does not eat meat now and is starting to not like anything "weird." And, I have a Baby who wants to eat everything, but because he is only 8 months old I need to keep it simple, but at least let him try some new tastes. I like to eat everything, and miss eating things like fish, other veggies besides green beans, cucumbers and peppers, things with flavors like curry, etc. The way I formerly dealt with this was just to make two separate dinners, one for my husband and one for me. This turned into three separate dinners when Joel Andrew started to become difficult, and now four with the baby? I do not think so. I need to get back to one dinner, eat it and like it. And, Mommy should have stuff we like too (plus, the food list that they eat is boring, and not very long).

So, last night I tried Taco Dinner. Like the kind you buy from Old El Paso. Others have this in their repertoire, but we did not because Husband was not a fan. But he is now. It is simple, easy, and everyone can customize their own meal from the few things I made. I found that for the most part, the dinner worked well for all of us.

I made it with ground turkey, which significantly cut the weight watchers points. I also added whole wheat tortillas as an option. Low-fat sour cream, cheese, and sliced avocado. As well as chopped tomatoes, peppers and onions. Finally, salsa for Mommy. It took some pleading, but Joel Andrew eventually at the meat. Baby James had some great finger foods from this meal: turkey (before I added the spices, though next time I think I will give it to him no matter what, new research suggests spices are great for baby), cut up tortilla, shredded cheese and of course avocado. 10 points for Mommy, and happy and fed family! New on the list for us. Next time I might not buy the whole kit though and just get the tacos and come up with my own seasoning from stuff I have.

Fun with Food Part II

My little munchkin is 7 months old. Below I list my meal plan based on books, friends and Dr advice. Of course, a lot of the books, friends and Dr. advice has been contradictory. So, this is what I could piece together based on all of the recommendations (weighing heavily on the Dr's of course), and also based on J's interest and needs. But, I open the floor - did you introduce anything sooner? What was your 7 month old doing?
0-4 months:

Straight Boobie juice

4 months:

Introduction of formula*, cereals.

5 months:

Introduction of fruits and veggies. (apples, pears, squashes and sweet potato)

6 months:

"Breakfast" and "Dinner" implemented. Introduction of puffs and teething biscuits. Further exploration in fruits and veggies, including peaches, bananas, blueberries, mangoes, cauliflower, peas, green beans, turnips, carrots. And, raw bananas in a mesh bag. (quotation marks around breakfast and dinner indicate that by no means is the amount of food I am giving him at these times enough for him, all meals are still supplemented with a bottle).

7 months:

Begin to mix food offerings, and add olive oil and spices (ex. sweet potato, banana and roasted turnip with olive oil, I want some!). Increase food at "Breakfast" and "Dinner" to a few more ounces. Formula started scaling back to 20 ounces a day. Introduction of "Lunch."

8 months:

Keep mixing food offerings. Introduce mushed chicken, turkey and then maybe lamb and beef. Continue to play with gentle spices and start to make textures less mushy.

9-12 months:

Introduce yogurt, and finger foods. Start having meals (no quotation marks). Drop all bottles by 12 months. How many meals a day do they get? 3 square or a few smaller? When is it right to start finger foods?

* Would have continued with boobie juice, but couldn't.

Fun with Food

Now that he is 6 months old, we are having some fun with food. We are about done with his frozen supply of straight up fruits (apples, pears, peaches). I thought today I would make the next 4 weeks worth of fruits and have fun. So, we have been making every permutation that can happen from mangos, apples, bananas, pears and peaches. Now that he is older, and we know that he has no problems with these fruits - lets go for it. Tonight, Mango-Peach-Apple it is!
I enjoy making my own food but needed to be reigned in. I have to go to the supermarket and see what they offer for stage 2 in order to get my ideas. I was running a little ahead of the pace and making anything organic I could get my hands on. Come to find out, cauliflower should not be given to a 6 month old. Eh, he loved it! www.wholesomebabyfoods.com is also helping.
We tried the food bags today. What a hit! The banana was a huge hit in the bag, which was odd because he is not a fan of straight up mushed banana in a bowl. He has also been into the sippy cup. He knows what he is supposed to do, but can't hold it up long enough to get a sip. He seems to like water though.
The poor little booger is just that recently. We put him to bed at 7 :30 last night, no problem. Happy baby. At 9:00pm, screaming, he is a snotty mess. Looks like he finally caught Mom's cold (either that or the tooth that is just peaking out is making his mucus work overtime). But the guy toughed it out. He is much tougher than his mommy.