Well, now that I have finished scraping scrambled egg and mushed fruit off of my windows, bookcase and husband's blackberry (darling if you're reading this, just kidding), and have stopped taking a cocktail of drugs that Lindsay Lohan would envy, I have time to update all of you wonderful peeps on what has been happening around here.
First off, there is no real update on project downsize ass thanks to my back injury, but thankfully it is mending and I should be able to get back to the gym and running this week, although sadly not enough to burn five family size cadbury's dairy milks, so I shall have to cut back or risk further back damage. Will let you know which one I choose.
The Little Princess has started sleeping through the night (FINALLY) after three not too painful nights of sleep training. Good thing this worked as our plan B was too call her grandpa (an anesthetist) and see if he could slip anything into her mashed banana (before she smears it through her hair and up her nose) that would give us 12 hours of blessed peace and silence.
Right, must go watch the freakshow that is the X Factor and make notes for my audition next year. Since my other half has flatly refused to duet "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with me while wearing matching his and hers outfits, I'm open to suggestions....
Showing posts with label The Little Princess. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Little Princess. Show all posts
Saturday, 28 August 2010
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Only in America....
Now, I know it's wrong that my first thought upon being sent the link to this article from a friend was "WHY didn't I know about krispy kreme cheeseburgers when I was pregnant?!? That would have been even yummier than mango macaroni with extra cheese" but hey, you can't help what you think sometimes. I'm still a bit speechless at this article, and while in jest I have titled this post "Only in America", it's unfortunately becoming more and more common everywhere to see shocking food options in such big portions that our view of normal portion sizes is becoming increasinly distorted. Just recently I have seen one fast food restaurant chain advertising huge "snack" chicken wraps dripping in cheese and all kinds of things. When did a snack stop being a piece of fruit and a glass of milk? Is this how warped our views of acceptable food choices and sizes have become?
A couple of years ago a nutritionist friend told me that a portion size of a food (ie of pasta, rice, meat, vegetables) at meals should only ever be the size of your clenched fist. (Note: luckily yesterday when I had pizza I was able to double fold, pound and squash the slices so they fit into my fist. Phew. Major post pizza guilt avoided there).
On a serious note though, lately I've become more and more interested in childhood obesity (and obesity in general), and I'm not sure if this is prompted by having my own baby or by my return to university and psychology. Some of my (many) hopes for the Little Princess are that she will grow up healthy, unridiculed by her peers, that she will enjoy the kind of happy, easy, outdoorsy, long summer days spent bike riding kind of childhood that I had, and that we can keep her protected from some of the influences of the "outside world" for as long as possible. And that when she is at an age that she is exposed to things like krispy kreme cheeseburgers at public events, that we will have hopefully equipped her with enough common sense, knowledge, and love for herself, that she will make a better choice.
P.S. I am still toying with the idea of organizing a group of mums in London/Surrey to run a 5k for an obesity charity (something along the theme of "Fit Mums for Fit Kids") so if that's something you'd be interested in, please drop me a line.
http://www.thestar.com/living/food/article/848767--a-krispy-kreme-cheeseburger-only-at-the-state-fair
A couple of years ago a nutritionist friend told me that a portion size of a food (ie of pasta, rice, meat, vegetables) at meals should only ever be the size of your clenched fist. (Note: luckily yesterday when I had pizza I was able to double fold, pound and squash the slices so they fit into my fist. Phew. Major post pizza guilt avoided there).
On a serious note though, lately I've become more and more interested in childhood obesity (and obesity in general), and I'm not sure if this is prompted by having my own baby or by my return to university and psychology. Some of my (many) hopes for the Little Princess are that she will grow up healthy, unridiculed by her peers, that she will enjoy the kind of happy, easy, outdoorsy, long summer days spent bike riding kind of childhood that I had, and that we can keep her protected from some of the influences of the "outside world" for as long as possible. And that when she is at an age that she is exposed to things like krispy kreme cheeseburgers at public events, that we will have hopefully equipped her with enough common sense, knowledge, and love for herself, that she will make a better choice.
P.S. I am still toying with the idea of organizing a group of mums in London/Surrey to run a 5k for an obesity charity (something along the theme of "Fit Mums for Fit Kids") so if that's something you'd be interested in, please drop me a line.
http://www.thestar.com/living/food/article/848767--a-krispy-kreme-cheeseburger-only-at-the-state-fair
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Choosing childcare for the Little Princess
What, you are saying? Two posts in a row about the Little Princess? How about an update on Project Downsize Ass and Mummytummy. Ah fine then - well it's 9pm and I am not at the gym tonight, as I'd planned to be. I put this down to sheer and utter exhaustion caused by the fact that I've had three sleepless nights in a row plus the fact that I spent part of the day scraping dead banana out of the washing machine (don't ask). Hence I am sat on the sofa, half comatose, trying to work out when the Apprentice will be back on TV. On the plus side - I am not sitting here with an extra large tub of Ben & Jerry's clutched in one hand and a spoon in the other with a chocolate ice cream covered face whilst growling at anyone who comes near to try and take it away. See, you always have to look for the silver lining.
Seriously though - gym update and healthy recipe coming tomorrow. Anyway, we've been going through the agonizing process of deciding whether or not to put the Little Princess in part time day care (nursery) when I go back to university next month. Back in the months of the immobile, cooing little cherub who couldn't yet sit up, eat mobile phones, dump the fruit basket into the washing machine, or consume dead moths wing by wing, I naively thought I could easily manage both. Commence crawling, and BAM...reality hits. She is now almost a toddler and clearly all those people who told us the first year is the hardest were LYING.
Anyway...before I have to submit my first paper that is half eaten, half covered in strawberry mango slobber, and half written at 2am in a state of mental breakdown (yes I know...there is no such thing as three halves!), we began our childcare search. Suddenly every well meaning, kind hearted babysitter and daycare full of shiny, happy people are potential dark pits of hidden dangers, murderers and sociopaths. I used to half vaguely listen to coworkers returning from maternity leave with tears in their eyes on the phone to their day care centres ten minutes after leaving them, reminding little Johnny to drink all of his milk and half gag and roll my eyes. Now I am that teary eyed mother and she's not even gone yet.
Before I fall asleep typing I must go compare the names of the people we've interviewed with the most wanted list on Americasmostwanted.com. Just in case. Not that I'm a paranoid mother.
Seriously though - gym update and healthy recipe coming tomorrow. Anyway, we've been going through the agonizing process of deciding whether or not to put the Little Princess in part time day care (nursery) when I go back to university next month. Back in the months of the immobile, cooing little cherub who couldn't yet sit up, eat mobile phones, dump the fruit basket into the washing machine, or consume dead moths wing by wing, I naively thought I could easily manage both. Commence crawling, and BAM...reality hits. She is now almost a toddler and clearly all those people who told us the first year is the hardest were LYING.
Anyway...before I have to submit my first paper that is half eaten, half covered in strawberry mango slobber, and half written at 2am in a state of mental breakdown (yes I know...there is no such thing as three halves!), we began our childcare search. Suddenly every well meaning, kind hearted babysitter and daycare full of shiny, happy people are potential dark pits of hidden dangers, murderers and sociopaths. I used to half vaguely listen to coworkers returning from maternity leave with tears in their eyes on the phone to their day care centres ten minutes after leaving them, reminding little Johnny to drink all of his milk and half gag and roll my eyes. Now I am that teary eyed mother and she's not even gone yet.
Before I fall asleep typing I must go compare the names of the people we've interviewed with the most wanted list on Americasmostwanted.com. Just in case. Not that I'm a paranoid mother.
Today's healthy recipe - vodka
That's right, you read it correctly. Vodka. Just a big old bottle of smirnoff or absolut or whatever cheap label you prefer, and a shot glass. Or, if you've had as little sleep as I have these past few nights - just get a straw.
The Little Princess (who from here on in will be known as Quite Possibly the World's Worst Teether) has deemed no daytime or nighttime sleep required for the past three days and nights, thank you very much. In all fairness to her sweet and adorable little soul, she is suffering with her 7th tooth and I curse the mother who recently told me "oh after the fifth tooth we never even noticed them coming in". I feel terribly sorry for my poor little poppet, and as always try to keep my fatigue and impatience from showing to her, but I feel even sorrier for ME. This is all about ME today. Okay, I feel sorry for my husband too, but not as sorry as I feel for ME.
What would make me feel better? A one way ticket to an (adults only obviously) resort in Aruba, a shiny set of complete pearly whites for the Little Princesss, a massive triple layer calorie free chocolate cake that will not immediately settle on my ass and hips and more booze than is currently stocked in Amy Winehouse's basement.
Tomorrow's healthy recipe will depend on how tonight goes. It will either be A) homemade eggplant pizzas or B) moonshine with a side of heroin
Hope all the babies out there are faring better with the horrible thing that is teething! x
The Little Princess (who from here on in will be known as Quite Possibly the World's Worst Teether) has deemed no daytime or nighttime sleep required for the past three days and nights, thank you very much. In all fairness to her sweet and adorable little soul, she is suffering with her 7th tooth and I curse the mother who recently told me "oh after the fifth tooth we never even noticed them coming in". I feel terribly sorry for my poor little poppet, and as always try to keep my fatigue and impatience from showing to her, but I feel even sorrier for ME. This is all about ME today. Okay, I feel sorry for my husband too, but not as sorry as I feel for ME.
What would make me feel better? A one way ticket to an (adults only obviously) resort in Aruba, a shiny set of complete pearly whites for the Little Princesss, a massive triple layer calorie free chocolate cake that will not immediately settle on my ass and hips and more booze than is currently stocked in Amy Winehouse's basement.
Tomorrow's healthy recipe will depend on how tonight goes. It will either be A) homemade eggplant pizzas or B) moonshine with a side of heroin
Hope all the babies out there are faring better with the horrible thing that is teething! x
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Today's healthy recipe - veggie quiche cups
These are FAB! Easy, quick, high protein, delish and freezable, so you can make a whole batch at once. Great for breakfast or snack on the go!
3 large eggs or 3/4 cup egg whites
1 package (10oz) frozen spinach
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheese such as mozzarella or cheddar
1/4 cup diced red or green pepper or mix of both
1/4 cup diced onion
Thaw spinach, mix ingredients and pour into greased/sprayed muffin baking tray (no little muffin papers necessary) and preheat oven to 350F/180C and bake approx 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean)
Think I'm going to make some later today and see if the Little Princess likes them. Does anyone from N. America remember those old television commercials from the late 70s/early 80s with the breakfast cereal and Mikey and the line "he likes it! he likes it!" Well, it's a bit like that feeding the Little Princess...if it passes her clamped shut mouth and turned away head, it must be yummy!
3 large eggs or 3/4 cup egg whites
1 package (10oz) frozen spinach
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheese such as mozzarella or cheddar
1/4 cup diced red or green pepper or mix of both
1/4 cup diced onion
Thaw spinach, mix ingredients and pour into greased/sprayed muffin baking tray (no little muffin papers necessary) and preheat oven to 350F/180C and bake approx 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean)
Think I'm going to make some later today and see if the Little Princess likes them. Does anyone from N. America remember those old television commercials from the late 70s/early 80s with the breakfast cereal and Mikey and the line "he likes it! he likes it!" Well, it's a bit like that feeding the Little Princess...if it passes her clamped shut mouth and turned away head, it must be yummy!
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Feeding the Little Princess
Thankfully before she started to turn mango yellow due to over consumption, we have been tossed a feeding lifeline by a lot of lovely friends who have "been there and done that" with their non eating babies. As the Little Princess has decided over the past couple of weeks that she would eat nothing served from a bowl or via a spoon, we were at a a bit of a loss and trying to prevent the UK's first case of rickets in I don't know how long.
So we asked around and were given the fantastic advise of putting a selection of finger foods that she could manage on her high chair tray and basically ignoring her and what she did with them. We've never been afraid of a little mess - babies, high chairs, and clothes are all washable (thankfully, as are my now jam and yoghurt covered dining room windows) so we gave it a go and so far it's proving a success. What have we given her?
Pieces of cooked sweet potato, carrot, and potato. Strawberries, blueberries, grapes and pieces of banana and melon. Hard boiled egg (her current fave!) with pieces of cheese or toast, and cut up pieces of cooked pasta and turkey. A lot of it ends up mashed into her hair and my once lovely hardwood floors have now seen much better days, but none of that matters. And as we've been told...the best way to create a fussy eater is to be anal retentive about them making no mess.
Right, I'm off to eat my lovely homecooked dinner of aubergine (eggplant) and goat's cheese pasta, and maybe smear a bit of it into the carpet just for fun....
So we asked around and were given the fantastic advise of putting a selection of finger foods that she could manage on her high chair tray and basically ignoring her and what she did with them. We've never been afraid of a little mess - babies, high chairs, and clothes are all washable (thankfully, as are my now jam and yoghurt covered dining room windows) so we gave it a go and so far it's proving a success. What have we given her?
Pieces of cooked sweet potato, carrot, and potato. Strawberries, blueberries, grapes and pieces of banana and melon. Hard boiled egg (her current fave!) with pieces of cheese or toast, and cut up pieces of cooked pasta and turkey. A lot of it ends up mashed into her hair and my once lovely hardwood floors have now seen much better days, but none of that matters. And as we've been told...the best way to create a fussy eater is to be anal retentive about them making no mess.
Right, I'm off to eat my lovely homecooked dinner of aubergine (eggplant) and goat's cheese pasta, and maybe smear a bit of it into the carpet just for fun....
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