eating Archives - Life's Tidbits

12Aug 2014

{Recipe} Szechuan Green Beans with Ground Turkey

by Nicole ⋅ 1 Comment

Growing up green beans were always called string beans in my house. Or at least that’s what I think they were called as each time I go to say green beans my brain desperately wants to say string bean. STRING BEANS, STRING BEANS, STRING BEANS! Okay I think I got it out of my system. =)

Oddly enough I have a few fond memories of cooking with string green beans. I’m standing in the kitchen next to my grandmother (or mother) snapping off the ends of the green beans and eating a few along the way! Green beans are one of those things I can eat cooked or raw.

But back to the recipe …

Do you ever have one of those days where you defrost meat and then none of your go-to recipes sound appealing? I’ve been having that happen to me frequently as of late. The other week I decided to defrost some ground turkey for dinner. Shepard’s pie, taco salad, turkey meatballs and a few of my other easy recipes felt just well ‘over-done’ … get it?! I’m so funny – well probably not, but I couldn’t help myself.

So yeah, anyways, it was time for something new, easy and healthy! I was browsing Pinterest while contemplating dinner. After doing a quick search-a-roo on ground turkey I had a few contenders. The husband and I really enjoyed this new meal. One of the best parts … it’s a ONE pot meal so relatively easy cleanup.

Recipe inspired by The Lemon Bowl

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
4 garlic cloves – grated
2 tsp ground ginger (or 1 tbs fresh grated ginger)
1 lb green beans – trimmed
½ cup chicken broth
1 tbs corn starch
3 tbs soy sauce – low sodium
2 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs chili sauce (more or less to taste)
½ tbs sesame oil

Instructions
Serving Size – 4

Pre-heat a large wok or frying pan over high heat and spray with non-stick spray. Add the ground turkey, garlic and ginger. Break up the turkey and cook until browned.

In a small bowl, whisk together chicken broth, corn starch, soy, rice vinegar and chili garlic paste.

Once the turkey is browned, add in green beans and broth/soy mixture. Cover and let simmer on low for 5-10 minutes. Stir occasionally so the sauce doesn’t burn. Add in the sesame oil. Cook an additional minute or two then serve.

Serve with Israeli couscous or rice.

This recipe has definitely grabbed a spot in our dinner rotation! What’s an easy recipe you are digging lately?

If you enjoyed this post, please add your tidbit by commenting below. Don’t forget you can follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

24Jun 2014

Introducing Solids or Should I Say Purees

by Nicole ⋅ 6 Comments

Being part of a ‘New Mamas’ group on Facebook has been such a blessing. It has allowed me to get answers to questions I didn’t even know I had, share some of my own experiences as well as hear a variety of opinions on caring for a baby. I only actually know (like talk to in person or hang out with) a couple of the women and yet I value everyone’s take on being a mom.

One of the topics discussed when I was anxiously awaiting JB’s arrival was when to introduce solids. I followed along with the conversation. Some were introducing food at 4 months while others waited until 6 months. At the time I made a mental note and thought to myself we would wait until 6 months.

Ha. So AMATEUR of me to make ‘decisions’ such as these when I had NO idea what caring for a baby would be like. At Jellybean’s 4 month checkup we got the go ahead from our pediatrician to being solids. She recommended starting with oatmeal cereal (skipping rice cereal).

Jellybean has always been a good eater and it seemed as though she was always hungry! I often said to my husband “Should couldn’t possibly be hungry again” and then baby girl would demolish her bottle in record time. We really couldn’t make it very long during the day between feedings. As a result the husband and I decided we would go ahead and start solids at 4 months old since the doctor gave the A-OK.

I was so excited as we strapped JB into the highchair and mixed some formula with the oatmeal cereal. She looked kind of confused as we moved the spoon to her mouth. The oatmeal dribbled out of her mouth and down her chin. Throughout the entire first solid food feeding Jellybean was breaking out some seriously hilarious facial expressions. They were absolutely priceless!

Fortunately the husband and I were pretty well prepared and broke out the camera prior to giving her the food. She went from looking pissed off to completely clam {see pictures below} in the amount of time it took to snap two photos!

Guess she was adjusting to the spoon, new tastes, and the expressions on her parent’s faces. See Sophi in the lower left hand corner of the picture? She wasn’t going to miss out on all the attention Jellybean was getting. :)

It took about two weeks for Jellybean to get the whole eating thing down. I was a little concerned after a week that we introduced solids for the first time too early. So we took a little break. When we re-introduced the oatmeal with applesauce, per a friend’s recommendation, a few days later we were in business!

We made such a big deal of saying “yum yum” and praising her that she developed an amusing association to being placed in the high chair. As soon as we put her in the high chair the legs start going a million miles an hour, a huge smile emerges on her face, which is followed by shrieks and babbling. I get the biggest kick of out it!

For the most part I am homemaking the food – I mean – purees. Jellybean is a fan of apples, pears, sweet potatoes and prunes. I decided to purchase pre-made prunes, because I just wasn’t interested in figuring out how to make them into baby food. :)

We attempted to introduce peas – it was a total fail. Jellybean gagged in disgust and then acted like she was chocking … which she wasn’t (thank goodness!), but it got my adrenaline going nonetheless. We thought it was a texture issue so we offered her the pre-made kind and she still refused to swallow it. Kid already has sweet tooth … not shocking considering how many sweets I ate during my pregnancy.

Next up on the list is cauliflower, butternut squash and maybe carrots. Though, I’m kind of afraid of carrots. Our friends told us the WORST diaper they ever changed was after introducing carrots. Oh my, the joys of parenthood. =)

Once baby girl is a little bit older I plan to have her try broccoli, zucchini and mango. I’m really excited for her to acquire a taste for a variety of foods!! How to keep up with the cooking and storage of all this baby puree is a little bit daunting. Recommendations??

My favorite and must have items for baby girl eating ‘solids’ … I really think we should call it introducing purees. The kiddo won’t be having a ‘real’ solids for a few more months, but I digress. Favorite items for eating solids (so far) includes …

OXO Tot Feeding Spoon / OXO Tot Roll Up Bib / Fisher-Price Space Saver High Chair / OXO Tot Baby Blocks Freezer Storage Containers / Baby Bullet Complete Baby Care System / Earth’s Best Oatmeal Cereal

And all of these, with the exception of the oatmeal, would be perfect items to put on the baby registry!

What was giving your baby solids for the first time like? Any suggestions for keeping up with homemade baby food?

If you enjoyed this post, please add your tidbit by commenting below. Don’t forget you can follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

28Apr 2014

3 Months Old {Jellybean}

by Nicole ⋅ 11 Comments

I’m a little bit behind in this post given the little one is almost 4 months old. Time just keeps getting away from me – it’s crazy! Sadly I officially turned in my stay-at-home-mommy hat and put on my bringing-home-the-bacon-mommy hat this month. It has definitely been an adjustment for baby and mama, but probably harder on me than my little one. Being separated during the day has gotten easier though I would be lying if I said I didn’t still miss her terribly. It would have been nice to put my career on hold for a couple more months (or even a year), however that just wasn’t in cards for us. I feel fortunate to have been able to stay home for 12 weeks … I bow down to you mamas who go back to work after just 6 weeks!

I had a lot of fun doing Jellybean’s 3 month photo shoot, but I also learned some valuable lessons on the photography side of things. Although I thought it would be easier to do the photo shoot with help it was actually more complicated. JB kept looking at my husband and mother-in-law instead of at the camera. For her four month photos I will probably go back to doing it solo like the one and two month shoots.

Sleeping

Jellybean is sleeping anywhere from 3 to 7 hours in a row during the night, which I redefined as 7pm to 8am. She will wake 1-2 time during the night to eat and go back to bed fairly easily. I am looking forward to the days of consistent sleep, but I will take those nights of 7 hours of sleep in a row with no questions asked! =)

We have her on a pretty good night time routine of playing, bath, book (sometimes if she isn’t too tired) followed by a bottle/rocking and then directly to bed. It’s been working pretty well for us so far. I’m ever so hopeful of some sort of daytime routine in the near future.

Eating

She eats about 3-4 oz at each of her 6-7 feedings per day. We had to increase her ounces per serving from the 2-3 we were originally offering. The doctor explained she should eat approximately 2 to 2.5 times her body weight per day. Ever since we’ve increased how much we offer her she has been able to wait longer between feedings, which is really nice!

Wearing

She’s wearing all of her 0-3 and 3 month clothing. A few of her 6 month clothes are starting to fit. The 6 month clothes mainly fit her in length and are still quite large in the belly area. I’m not really sure how she’s pulling it off, but she’s tall … unlike her mum and dad!

Milestones

Smiles and “giggles”/coos more frequently. Though you still have to work for it, she’s handing out more smiles by the day.

Rolling over from back to tummy. She rolled for the first time on a Saturday morning. The husband, my mother-in-law and I were all sitting around and JB was on her play mat. Out of no where she slowly started to roll. I started screaming for my husband and MIL to pay attention. Then she was on her belly with one arm stuck under her body … poor kiddo couldn’t figure out how to get it out at first. I was beyond excited her first time was when I was around and not while she was with the nanny!!

Goodbye pacifier and HELLO hands. She’s totally over her pacifiers. She will briefly suck on them, spit it out and shove not one, but BOTH of her hands into her mouth.

What is your favorite tidbit from your baby’s third month?

If you enjoyed this post, please add your tidbit by commenting below. Don’t forget you can follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

03Feb 2014

1 Month Old {Jellybean}

by Nicole ⋅ 3 Comments

While the pregnancy series has come to a close the baby series is just beginning! I must admit there is a small portion of me that misses blogging about being pregnant. That being said I might have a few “reflection” posts in my back pocket should the mood strike. In any event, it has been a WHOLE month since Jellybean made her grand entrance.

I am not sure where the past 4 weeks have gone. The days seem to fly by. I’m not really sure what, if anything, I actually do all day. My day revolves around feedings, diaper changes, soothing and trying to get baby girl to sleep. There is no routine to speak of, yet. I am looking forward to getting Jellybean (and myself) on a routine, however her eating “on demand” doesn’t lend itself well to a schedule. We will get there eventually … as the pediatrician told me there is no need or rush to get her on a set schedule at this point.

On her one month birthday we did a little photo shoot to document the occasion.

Love how her fist is reaching for the camera!

A few tidbits about the first month …

Sleep

Not consistently :) Jellybean is sleeping anywhere from 2 to 4 hours during the night (9pm to 8am). I’m unable to identify what factors influence how many hours she sleeps for, but I very much appreciate the 4 hour stints!

Eating

At this point we are exclusively breastfeeding. She eats every 1.5 to 2.5 during the day. We have had a few days when we think she had a growth spurt and all she wanted to do was eat every 45 minutes to an hour. It was very exhausting!

Wearing

Much to my surprise she is still in newborn diapers. After a couple of diaper blowouts we tried upping her to size 1, however they were just way too big on her so we went back to the newborn size. Despite being told countless times by other moms I’m completely shocked at pure number of diapers we go through each week!!

Jellybean is currently wearing newborn and size 0-3 month clothing. It was only the past couple days where she wasn’t swimming in her 0-3 month clothes. The newborn clothes are starting to get a little small so we will be transitioning to all 0-3 month clothes soon I expect.

Milestones / Random Tidbits

Jellybean can already lift her head … she’s so strong for such a little person! Though it looks like she has control over her head for a few second she then looses it and her head comes crashing down onto my chest. Despite her ability to lift her head tummy time only lasts a minute or two before she gets agitated.

Jellybean is also incredibly alert. She’s drawn to bright light and often stares intensely at something for a good amount of time. Now what she’s actually looking at (unless it is directly at me) is sometimes hard to tell.

Those are two of my favorite pictures from her one month photo shoot! I would love to know what she is thinking in the second picture. She’s almost like “are you done yet mom? I know I’m cute, but let’s get this over with already.” Hahaha.

What was your favorite tidbit from your baby’s first month?

If you enjoyed this post, please add your tidbit by commenting below. Don’t forget you can follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

15Jan 2013

Tasty Tuesday – The Perfect Roast Chicken

by Nicole ⋅ 1 Comment

I have a little bit of an obsession with Food Network. If there isn’t a show recorded on DVR that I want to watch, Food Network is my next go-to channel, followed by HGTV. Food and home improvement … you can clearly see where my passions lie. One day while blogging and watching Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten was cooking her “Perfect Roast Chicken“. I quickly made a mental note that I must make this dish. An opportunity quickly presented itself and I adapted the recipe just a little. This dish is well … absolutely DELISH!!!

Not only is this recipe super yummy, but totally falls within the healthy cooking/eating category. WIN WIN!!! And just to add one more log to this amazing fire (yeah I’m horrible with analogies, but I try!) it is also a pretty cheap dinner menu item that will impress!! So I hope you enjoy the Tasty Tuesday recipe this week.

Ingredients:

1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme (and/or rosemary)
1 lemon, quartered
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted (can be substituted with olive oil)
2 large yellow onions, thickly sliced
4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
4 Yukon Gold Potatoes cut into quarters

When you get the chicken home remove the chicken giblets and pat the outside dry, salt it inside and out, wrap it and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Preheat the over to 425*. Place the onions, carrots, potatoes and some thyme in a roasting pan.

Pat the chicken dry and liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, lemon, and all the garlic.

Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper.

Tie the legs together with kitchen string. Place the chicken on top and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken cover with aluminum foil for about 15 minutes. I suggest putting this in a bowl, because the juices will seep out of the chicken as it rests. I did this on a cutting board the first time and literally juice all over the floor and my dog, Sophi, was seriously pleased about this!!!

Allow the vegetable to continue cooking. Slice the chicken and place it on a platter with the vegetables. I like to pour some of the juices over the chicken/veggies. The rest of the juice/gravy put in a gravy boat … I promise your guests will appreciate it! This serves about 4 people.

Happy Cooking!

Tag Archives: Eating

{Recipe} Szechuan Green Beans with Ground Turkey

Introducing Solids or Should I Say Purees

3 Months Old {Jellybean}

1 Month Old {Jellybean}

Tasty Tuesday – The Perfect Roast Chicken