Peaches Part II

Peach Tomato Chutney...

During our experiment to see how much I can get done with only a few winks, I thought I'd share a one of the things that one can accomplish with minimal sleep. I've found if I can get past that hump that comes somewhere after exhaustion, my body suddenly gets a surge of energy trying make up for it. That's usually when things like this happen: peach tomato chutney. Mmmm! I was inspired by Sarah's fruit cocktail. I too had a few peaches lying around. They were just a bit too ripe to eat on their own, but not past the point of no return. That's the great thing about chutney recipes, you can use fruit that's gone just a bit soft but still too good to throw away. They work great with plums, mangoes, and anything else you have sitting on the counter. I also had some pretty cute small canning jars in my cupboard I've been dying to do something with, so chutney was the perfect answer!

Now, I should mention something about my method of cooking. I'm not very patient when it comes to following recipes. Some may say I'm a lazy cook. I admit that I get a little bored half way through with measuring everything out just exactly. I once saw a woman who actually measured out the weight of things while baking on a scale - I'm sure her cookies turn out perfect every time but what a lot of work! My motto- if it takes longer to cook it than it does to eat it, not a recipe I want to make. Because of my "laziness," most of the things I make end up being improvised or with me taking short cuts. I fully recognize this is why I'm not a top chef. But with chutneys, this is kind of OK. You can put the ingredients in the pot, let it cook up, and voila, ready to slather onto a yummy grilled chicken sandwich, slather onto some pork chops for all you pig eaters out there, and even spread on some warm zucchini bread. Possibilities galore. The best thing about making a chutney is that you can toss everything into one pot and let it simmer away! Some recipes only cook for 15-20 minutes, but most recommend around an hour. I think my ended up simmering for 1 1/2 hours before I got back to the pot. I didn't seal the jars since I planned to use it up sooner than later. This means my chutney will last in the fridge about two weeks. If you can the jars, they will obviously last much longer.

So this particular batch ended up being a blend of two recipes. I had to make some adjustments to accommodate what ingredients I had on hand, as well as what I thought sounded better taste wise. Like I said, I had some peaches just hanging out on my counter that were starting to get bruised. I just cut them up, bruises and all, into a glass measuring cup. Then I just stuck the knife in and started slicing them up more. Like I said, I'm kind of a lazy cook. Four peaches gave me about two cups. I also tossed in a small bag of peaches I had pulled out of my freezer the night before that I had gotten at the Dollar Tree. That's right! The dollar store now sells frozen foods for, you got it, a dollar! I added the extra peaches because I wanted it to be really peachy! 

I also had a few tomatoes from my in-law's garden sitting around that were starting to get that wrinkly look like they'd sat in the bath too long. They were still good, but too soft to slice for a sandwich. I ended up using a few small roma tomatoes, and a handful of cherry tomatoes. So I simply cut those all up into small-ish pieces, and tossing them in with the rest of the ingredients. Many chutney recipes call for onions, which I don't always love so I left them out. Plus, the one onion I had didn't look too safe to eat and I tossed it.You can try the recipe with onions if you'd like.

                                         

One recipe I had called for lots of brown sugar, the other used a tablespoon of honey. I wanted it to be a bit sweeter, but remember, I already planned to add lots of peaches. So I did some brown sugar, and some honey. Honey is kind of a pain to put in a measuring cup since it's so sticky, and I feel like I lose some of the honey along the way when it sticks to the measuring cup. I just squeezed a fair amount into the pot, using the change in amount of the honey bottle to estimate how much I had used. 

Chutney's usually call for a good blend of spices: ginger, mustard seeds, red paper flakes, etc. Again, I just used what I had in my cupboard that was as close to the recipe as possible. I did measure these out, since too  much of one can make the whole thing take a turn for the worse. I love ginger, so I would recommend making sure you have that for your chutney. Fresh grated ginger would be ideal, but I had to use ground ginger. Also, mustard seeds would give your chutney a good flavor and texture, but ground mustard works too. One of the ingredients I didn't change was the apple cider vinegar. Vinegar is an important part of chutneys and helps give a good balance to the amount of acid in the recipe. I used a whole cup which one recipe called for. The other only used a tablespoon. The only downside to the cider vinegar is that it will make your house smells vinegary and your husband will probably complain the whole time the chutney simmers. Just tell him to calm down and reassure him he'll enjoy the results. I've put the recipe that I ended up with below. It tasted great!  Feel free to adjust it a bit according to your liking. 

Rachael's Peach Tomato Chutney

1 Tbs. butter

2 tsp. minced garlic (or 2 cloves)

1 med. sweet onion, chopped (if you want, I didn't)

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 pint cherry tomatoes (or what you have)

2-4 cups peaches, pitted, peeled, and diced

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1 Tbs. grated ginger or 1/2 Tbs. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds

1 tsp. chili powder (you could add more to amp up the heat if you want)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup raisins or cherries (craisins would work too)

zest/juice of 1 lemon

Melt the butter in a sauce pan on med. heat with the garlic and onion. Once the garlic starts to be fragrant, only a minute or two, start adding all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil, then turn town and keep it simmering for 1 hour. Stir occasionally. I tasted mine part way through to make sure it was turning out how I wanted. Towards the end it will thicken a little and may stick to the bottom of the pan, so stir it more often near the end of cooking. Take off the heat and let it cool down before putting in jars. Makes just about 4 cups of chutney. Enjoy!

Becoming Nocturnal...

I'm in the process of becoming nocturnal. Up at night, asleep during the day. Actually, by that definition nocturnal isn't really the right term, because I don't really sleep during the day either. It's more like I've become a test subject in a crazy experiment to test how far a mother can last on the least amount of sleep. This experiment has not been my choice, but rather my daughter Liberty's idea.
She's now 7 weeks old, and still mostly runs the schedule around here despite my best efforts to say otherwise. I've told Sarah I will gladly potty train her children if she sleep trains my baby. I already clean up poop several times a day. (Libby has officially been crowned the pooping queen, really, there was a coronation and everything.) And I'd secure my spot as favorite aunt for sure if I get to hand out treats just for sitting on the toilet.

Many "experts" say a baby is capable of sleeping through the night by 8 weeks. Capable however is not the same as willing. Liberty just doesn't like to sleep! I've never seen someone fight it so much. And then once she finally drifts of to dream land, it doesn't last long. She's not a restful sleeper. If only she knew that one day she'd do anything just to get a little nap in her day, she'd soak up all Z's she can get now. Too bad we can't stock pile sleep; take a super long nap and bank those hours so we can dip into them after a long night.

We seem to have a few good nights, and then take a huge step back and stay up for days and nights on end. Oh believe me, I run a tight schedule during the day. Feedings at regular intervals, nearly the same time each day to get a pattern going. I'm reading "Baby Wise," a book my sister-in-law swears by to give the "gift of sleeping through the night" to my baby. So you'd think that by following its precepts my baby would have a great relationship with the Sandman by now. Not so. The book has lots of great tips, especially for solving problems when a child wakes early from a nap. I've definitely read that portion a few times. But the statistics they give about babies sleeping up to 18 hours a day, falling promptly to sleep simply because they've eaten a good meal, are suspicious. Where are they finding these babies? The more I read the book the less successful as a parent I started to feel. I was doing everything they said and Libby still winds up staying awake till around 3 or 4 am. Then again, she is her father's baby and therefore I was destined to give birth to a night owl.

The book also says after feeding there should be "minimal" wake time. Who wants minimal wake time with their baby? Especially one who is as adorable as mine? I want my baby to be alert during the day so I can see her beautiful smile and listen to her cooing and awing, intermittent with naps of course. I don't want to feel like I'm just trying to force her from nap to nap. Could it be that my little angel just isn't ready to sleep through the night?

Everyone keeps telling me to just let her "cry it out." Really, you want me to stand back while my precious baby cries? When all it would take is a little holding and cuddling to calm her down? It's not an easy thing for a mother to let her baby cry. It's not like I'm going to get any sleep while she cries so it doesn't really solve the main problem. I also don't want her to think I won't respond when she cries. I feel its also important for her to learn to trust that when she needs something, mom's gonna be there. She has her hungry cry, her burp-me cry, and sleepy cry, which is a half-hearted wimper. And there is her just hold me cry. I know its her only way to communicate right now and she needs to know she can count on mom to respond and take care of whatever the problem is. So to all those people who say just let her cry it out, sorry, but I don't think that helps her either. Don't think I can't put Libby down. I want her to become independent, and I know that means not smothering her, but what child ever complained that their mother held them too much as a baby? I'm okay to let her fuss and she's able to put herself to sleep sometimes.

I think she's learning how to sleep through the night, just very slowly. I've had some pretty special moments with her during the late nights. She laughs in her sleep, a full on belly shaking chuckle. It's adorable! And I think she has a special smile reserved just for me, her mama.  I get to have these precious moments with her even if it means some sleepless nights where we finally settle down on the couch or snuggled in her rocking chair just as Dad's waking up for the day. I want my baby to sleep at night, because I want and need to sleep at night, but I think maybe she's just not ready. Until then, I'm just going to have to keep company with all the owls, bats, crickets, and oh yeah, the wombat. Who wouldn't want to be friends with a wombat.

Potty Training you say?

I don't know what I'm becoming completely by this one, but it better be a saint.  My children are supposed to become more independent and grown up.  I'm trying to be positive, and take it time minute at a time and remind myself we will live through it and it's got to be better than three kids in diapers.

So, it's been 24 hours since we ditched diapers except for sleeping times.  We've decided to do both Sam and Haley together, because she seems ready in many of her own ways.

To get through the personal insanity I'm passing through, I thought I'd journal the moments as we go.  I won't remember all the stuff I want to if I wait until the end.

12:21 pm, Friday
My mind is in constant prayer to God for help...

1:12 pm
I didn't really finish the previous thought.  We take breaks every 20 minutes.  Any sooner we get nothing, and any longer we have accidents.  I keep going back and forth in my mind with "We got this," "This is soo hard," "Hey this isn't soo bad," "What was I thinking?"  It's also ridiculously hard to nurse a baby while potty training two kids.

1:47 pm
And there will be no more juice. NONE!

4:54 pm
I'm not entirely convinced Haley is ready.  She's screams "no" a lot and only seems to go 1 in 3 times Sam does.  Is that normal? She's currently on "poop watch" because she hasn't pooped all day, and yesterday even though she did poop in the potty she also pooped while not on the potty.  And it happened in about 60 seconds between me checking on the kids.  Let's be glad I'm not sharing pictures through this all.

Right after lunch seemed to be quiet on the potty front.  I wonder if that's how it goes...they seem to be definitely more potty minded in the morning and more in the late afternoon/evening.

5:08 pm
This reminds me of Pavlov's dogs.

Dinner will look all goofy tonight, but hopefully good.  Chopping one handed with a baby in the other arm.

5:54 pm
I want to give up on Haley's potty training. I'm discouraged that she won't really go potty on her own and I'll just be dealing with accidents for lots longer than if we just wait for her to be really really ready.  But she did have another accident and I found her trying to clean it up on her own.

Sam is really doing good with a timer though.

Baby should now be asleep until dinner in 35 minutes *hopefully*

6:11 pm
I'm getting highly suspicious of Haley.

6:28 pm
I've at least had Haley sitting for a while on the potty.  I had to tell both kids that potty time is not play time.  We are going to limit activities to sitting and reading books.  Instead of being distracted elsewhere, they are bringing their distractions with them.

3:33 pm Saturday
The whole family is sitting the office doing various things.  We have the potty up here with us so we don't have to run to the corners of the house when it's time to go.  I stepped away for a few minutes and on my way back, I hear Haley say "potty" and then see that she has sat down on it all by herself and pees.  No one told her to go.  She just did it because she needed to.  Wow!!  Maybe she is ready for this.  Sam has done good today too.  We haven't had any accidents, and Sam goes every time we tell him to.  I think remembering on their own will come in time.  It's kind of hard to realize you have to go potty somewhere specific compared to the fact that up until now it's been where ever whenever.

Last night I had to remind myself that this weekend is only a start.  From now on there's a lot of reminding and checking on kids to go potty rather than using diapers.  It's not like a perfect miracle--hey do this for three days and you'll never have to work at it again.  These are the moments we live in.

3:56 pm
Sam just ran to the potty by himself too!  This feels monumental.  It makes sense why you can't give up after one day or two days.  This is definitely a moment of awesome!

10:05 pm
No accidents today!!! (granted we were out of the house in diapers for a few hours, but still)

Best moment of the evening was after dinner.  Randy had gone out to do a photo shoot so I was at home with the kids chillin' in front of a movie.  Haley was doing really good at running to the potty when she seemed to feel the need.  This particular moment she started grunting "uuuuuugggggggggggghhhhhhhhh" as she ran to the potty. I dashed to her aid to make sure she made it in time.  I grunted with her to show some family support.  We had a good laugh about it too while grunting.  Alas no results, but the fact that she knew to go sit on the potty was perfect!

5:29 pm Sunday
We did not attempt church without diapers.  I'm not ready for that yet.  Maybe next week?

No accidents yet today either!  Sam successfully called "Mom, I need your help," after breakfast this morning.  We made it in time!  Wheew--glad I didn't have a mess to clean up.

5:35 pm
We all cheer together when it's potty time.  It helps the kid not on the potty but almost in the way stay somewhat out of the way but still involved.

Haley is still afraid of actually flushing the toilet sometimes.  Ever seen the Tiny Toons with baby Plucky duck and he's flushing the toilet?  "I want to flush it again. I want to flush it again."  I try to help them overcome the flushing fears by waving bye-bye to the water in the toilet as it swirls away.  In my mind I always hear Plucky saying "I want to flush it again.  I want to flush it again."  I keep it inside my mind for fear the kids will take to flushing toys just to see the water swirl away.

6:10 pm
I'm wondering at what point we venture out of the house with no diaper.  Hmm this week should be interesting.  I've got one more day to ourselves tomorrow.  Maybe we can try a walk around the neighborhood.  I think it's finally cooled off enough to go outside without hating it.

8:02 pm
Kids are headed to bed, but as we were getting ready to head up to bed, my foot found a wet present.  So add that to one I found near the kitchen table and that's it for the night.  I told Randy that it helps to remember that these really were accidents and we were chaotic with getting dinner on and video chatting with family so I feel it's just as much our fault as parents.  Because diaperless is so new we can't expect them to be perfect at every moment especially the ones that are busy and action packed with everyone doing different things in different directions.  Still, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and continued success.

I think our weekend adventure is over.  More to go on in potty training world, but I'll end the post.  It's not like you really want this to go on forever anyway, right?  Me neither.  And maybe someday the kids will be happy I didn't share all the details and that I did end it here.

I feel like I've become less uptight about some of the things we do in the house the last few days.  That's a good thing.  I can't control or prevent everything.  I feel I've also gained a better perspective of who my children are becoming.  What happy and amazing and innocent little children they are.  They only want to do the best things---the things that make us all happy.  Sam even tells me the things that make him happy (drinking milk, playing with toys, helping, smiling and on).  I'm pretty sure he'd add going potty makes him happy too.

Sarah

Sick baby...

We've survived my newborn Liberty's first time being sick, in spite of all my anxiety. As if I didn't already check on her enough during the night just to make sure she's still breathing, (which I'm told is a perfectly normal new-mom thing to do). I was up most of the first night just holding and rocking her. It think I now have the perfect rocking, swaying, bouncing, and patting combination down. We finally got to sleep on the couch; Liberty in my arms all propped up with pillows and the Boppy.

The second night I was armed with saline drops, a bulb syringe, my forehead scanning thermometer, and the remote so we could settle down on the couch. Turns out there's quite a bit of stuff on TV at night, some I wish I didn't know about. Something that caught my eye as I'm trying to lose the baby weight was the Brazil Butt Lift, which promises a "holy bootie butt". Their words, not mine. Who knew there's an actual show dedicated to the America's Cutest Cats? And all the HGTV your little heart could want. Libby slept off and on, but didn't really call it a night until 4 am! She's also becoming more picky about how she likes to be held; not close, but still kept warm; tipped outward enough so she can see what's going on but still snuggled; not leaning to far back; and of course, keep the rocking, swaying, bouncing, and patting going at all times.  Good thing it was the weekend and Dad would be around the next day to help while I caught up on some much needed sleep.

Dad was sick all Labor Day weekend and despite my best efforts to keep him quarantined, our little one still caught the bug. My heart sank when her cute little sounds turned scratchy the other night, and I knew she was sick. Fortunately there's no fever, so probably just a yucky virus, but as a new mom I am still worried as ever over her. What do you even do for a new born when they are sick? For myself, I load up on sinus meds and stay in bed. Was I supposed to give her Motrin? Did I even want to? I called the pediatrician first thing just to check in and make sure I was doing everything I should be. Just like an adult, how much can you really do for a cold? Since Sarah is an IPC for do Terra essential oils, I called her second. (I also have a sister-in-law who is super savy when it comes to the whole oils thing.) Sarah suggested I use some of my oregano oil, but to test it first. I did rub a tiny bit of oregano oil, with a carrier, on Libby's tiny feet. It's considered a "hot" oil ,so I tested a small spot first. While it's not the most common for babies, like lavender or chamomile, it happens to be one of the few I have.

So what's the deal with using essential oils anyway? I haven't really gotten into using them for home remedies much. It seems all the rage these days, but I think you have to really understand what each oil is for to use them best. Sarah has been using them for her family, especially during her last pregnancy since so many medications and other treatments for things are a bit sketchy when prego. I have however been using oil of oregano for years myself to help ward off sickness. It really seems to do the trick for me. I stopped when I got pregnant and am avoiding it while nursing, but does have some natural properties I wanted to take advantage of, and hope it will help little Libby feel a little better. And yes, the price tag on it says $18.29; not cheap. Some people online list a plethora of symptoms and conditions that oregano oil will cure. It's almost as long as those list of side effects drug commercials casually mention at the end of an ad. While I don't think they are a cure-all, I definitely like to use it when I can. My thing with oils and home remedies is to not use them as alternatives, but in addition to. Notice the first thing I did was call our pediatrician:)

The oregano has seemed to help my little one and the last few days were spent just trying to keep her comfortable. Even though she can't tell me how she feels, I could see it in her face that she was feeling crumby. And her crying was so sad! It sounds so scratchy and just makes me want to cry to! Before she got sick we were trying to get to go fall asleep on her own, even if that meant letter her fuss a bit extra in the bassinet. Hard to do! But with her cold, too much crying just made her cough and the sound of sandpaper coming from my precious angel was too much for me to handle - I couldn't say no and picked her up right away. I can tell already I'm becoming the parent who won't say no very much. She's not over it entirely, but I do think the worst is behind us. I wish she hadn't gotten sick so early, but I recognize babies get sick, they get better, and I became a little braver because of it.

Peaches Part I: Freezer Fruit Cocktail

I served a mission for my church several years ago.  While assigned to serve at the Hamilton New Zealand Temple Visitor's Center, I served with an amazing senior couple--The Shumways.  Elder Shumway and I once talked about one of our favorite things--peaches.  He said "The only thing better than peaches, is more peaches."  I have to agree.  Who doesn't like peaches?  (If it's you, we need to talk.)

So, it's that time of year, when peach season comes.  My three favorite things to do with peaches are: 1-eat them all sliced up in a bowl with cold milk poured on top, 2-make freezer fruit cocktail out of them, and 3-my new favorite, make peach jam.

The fruit season starts earlier where we live than in Utah, and therefore ends earlier.  A couple of weeks ago I made my family go peach picking with me.  They didn't complain.  We found a local u-pick orchard, but because it was the last weekend for peaches, we had to walk all the way to the very end of the rows of trees.  Pickins were scarce--mostly smaller fruit, lots that wasn't worth picking, but some that were just perfect!  I wasn't too thrilled about the price ($1.50/lb) because I knew it was cheaper at the grocery store.  However, it was really fun for us to do as a family, our kids LOVED it, and I knew I was bringing home peaches that ripened on a tree--not in a box.  This kids really had a great time pulling the wagon too.





That night I made about 15 quarts of freezer fruit cocktail, because I knew the peaches weren't going to last more than a day.

When peach season comes, I make sure I'm checking prices for grapes too.  I try to get all the ingredients as the best price possible so that I know I'm not only putting food away for later, but that I'm not breaking the budget to do it either.

So here's what you need for freezer fruit cocktail:

approx. 15 medium peaches
1 large can of pineapple chunks
approx. 1 quart of grapes
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2-1 cup orange juice

Peal the peaches and dice them up about the size of the grapes and pineapple.  Add the lemon juice, washed grapes, pineapple chunks with juice, and orange juice.  (It's up to you how much orange juice you want, but I like 1 cup).  Gently mix everything together--I just use my hands.  Then fill FREEZER quart size bags up with the fruit cocktail.  The amount listed above is enough for 6 quart size bags.  Label and date the bags, and lie them flat in the freezer.

Then the next time you're craving delicious fruit--you've got it ready.  I like to give mine a little bit of time to defrost on the counter or toss it in the microwave very briefly, but not too much because I don't like completely defrosted grapes--too soggy, blech!  Serve and enjoy to your heart's content.

Thank you, Loleta, for teaching me and sharing the recipe a few years ago.  I LOVE freezer fruit cocktail.

-Sarah