Chicken and Leek Potstickers

 

Bedtime on Vacation

We took our first vacation as a family of four to visit friends and family this past weekend. We knew bringing the dog would be a bad idea, so we made a 45 minute detour to my parents house to drop him off.

We made the trip with only hitting a few pockets of traffic, only a couple meltdowns and only arrived an hour and a half later than we planned. All in all it wasn't so bad. Now, because we were staying with friends whose kids are exactly the same age. And when I say exactly I mean both kids have birthdays within days of their kids birthdays. We are reproduction soul mates. We figured with such a long nap in the car bedtime would be hard.

It was a long day in the car and we got there late in the afternoon. We started out bedtime routine around the same time as we do at home. Right after dinner, go up and get the bath started. The older girls got to have bath-time together. Brush teeth and get into pajamas was all good. We read stories and got snuggled into bed. The babies went right to sleep without much fuss. As soon as we heard the last of the baby cries, the big girls were up and downstairs ready to play.

Oye, we knew it was going to be a long night. We all go back upstairs and tuck them back in. They both protest that they aren't tired at all. Hmm what do we do? Well how much worse would it be if they aren't tired to just put them in one room together. They can play quietly with the door shut and the lights on and when they get tired, just go to bed. Okay, it can get so much worse - they are two 3-year olds! After less that 5 minutes we were up there again to separate them back into different rooms.

So what did we actually do? We took turns laying with her until after 11PM every night on vacation. It may have been the most exhausting vacation I have ever taken and the least amount of sleep I have had 4 nights in a row, except after each of their births.

Anyone have any tips for better vacation sleep? We could really use some advice for the next time!

Zucchini Fail

Zucchini is such a healthy vegetable that I always want to use it in muffins and breads. It seems as though every time I use it in a new recipe it ends in a fail.

This morning my three-year old and I decided to use one of the zucchinis I forgot to cook for dinner last night to make some mini muffins to bring to a friend's house this weekend. We looked at a few recipes online for inspiration and began mixing ingredients. It smelled and looked delicious. A healthy version using applesauce and coconut sugar as a sweetener and whole wheat flour instead of all purpose.

After about 15 minutes the mini muffins had risen beautifully and were a great brown color. I pulled them out and took all of them out to cool on the rack. After a few minutes, we both took a bit and yuck! They were gooey and not fully cooked. They stuck to the muffin liners. 

It seems like I have a love hate relationship with zucchini baked goods: I love to try to make things with them and I hate how they always come out.

Replacement Freemie Valve Review

With my second baby I was eligible for a new pump. In August of 2018 I received my Freemie Independence. I wasn't pumping often until one of my friends had a dip in supply and I started giving my extra to help fill the deficit. In April I stared pumping once a day every day mostly using the new pump. Over the past couple weeks I noticed a huge drop in how much I was pumping. I decided to order replacement valves to see if that was the problem. The replacement valves arrived on Father's Day. I washed them according to the instructions and used them today for the first time.




With the original valves that the Freemie Independence came with, I was down to getting only a few drops or maybe a half an ounce at most from both sides. This morning I was able to get 6.1 ounces from both sides! That is exactly the same amount I got yesterday from my Medela pump.

I would say that these valves are just as good, if not better, than the original ones that came with the pump. I like how clear and easy to follow the instructions were. I also liked that there were 4 in the package. These valves are highly recommended and what I will purchase if I need to replace again.


Happy pumping (as happy as it can be :) )!

Time to sell a stroller

The time has come where I am ready to get rid of one or more of my strollers. We still use strollers almost every day, but the amount of strollers I have clogging up my front porch making it look like a hoarder's house is giving me anxiety. I have 3 double strollers (not including my Uppababy Cruz with the piggyback board). We use one of them and the other two are just taking up room.

One was an impulse buy when I found out we were expecting baby number 2 and when I actually used it for the first time after cleaning it up (it was used and very dirty) I was not a big fan of how heavy it is to push.

The other one I haven't even cleaned yet. It was a freebie that is actually what I like to call my franken-stroller. It was a combination of two broken strollers that now makes one usable stroller.

For the record almost none of my strollers were brand new when I got them and I have not invested a ton of money into all of my strollers, since most were $100 or less.

Which one is going to go? I think the impulse buy is first. That will be our project on this lovely Monday morning. Clean it up and take some nice pictures to post online to sell it. I hope I am able to get back what I spent on it, but even if I don't, purging to get some of my sanity and space on the front porch will be nice.

Wish us luck and sunny weather today!

Pumping

Love it or hate it, pumping is a necessary part of many Mommies lives. I got a new pump with my second and decided to go for the hands free, more portable Freemie Independence. After reading all of the reviews, I was expecting something that would probably get a little bit less output, but would make life with two little ones and a dog a lot easier. Not having to be stationary for 20 minutes in the morning and any other time during the day was certainly very appealing.



After using this pump for about ten months, I am very satisfied that the other reviewers got it right. The pump does ok, but doesn't get as much as the Medela Pump-in-Style I have from my first baby. However, I am able to get breakfast ready for everyone, take the dog out, pack lunches and everything else we do in the morning when I really should be pumping.

Last week I started to notice a huge decrease in my output. I switched back to the Medela pump after using the Freemie and got an additional 5 ounces. What was going on? Trusty Google to the rescue. I hadn't ever changed my valves and I am fairly certain the suggested life of them is about 3 or 4 months. Granted I don't pump a ton. Usually it is just once a day in the morning. So I am ordering a new set this morning (affiliate link above - I receive a small commission when you purchase through my link). I will update when they arrive.

S'mores Crispy Treats

One of my favorite things about summer is everything s'mores! My favorite frozen s'mores beverage is back, campfires with the real thing and of course I make plenty of s'mores crispy treats. This is such an easy recipe and is always a hit.

Ingredients:

1 box of graham cereal (12 oz.)

1 bag of mini marshmallows (10.5 oz), 1 cup reserved

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Start by putting the chocolate chips into the freezer. Next, grease a 9" x 12" pan or line with parchment or wax paper. Set the pan aside, but keep it near the stove. In a large saucepan, melt the stick of butter over medium heat. After it is completely melted, add the marshmallows. Make sure to reserve a cup to add in later. Once the marshmallows melt and mix together with the butter, take the pan off the heat and mix in the cereal. Add the frozen chocolate and reserved marshmallows and mix quickly. Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Fish in the Instant Pot

Fish is one of those things that we always feel obligated to eat, but never really love how it tastes when we make it at home. I usually keep a supply of either salmon, flounder, haddock or some other frozen wild fish, as well as lemon zests, in the freezer at all times. My go to recipe for fish involves a quick defrost in a warm water bath, then sauteing in a pan with garlic, capers, white wine and lemon juice. Although it is not a large time commitment for sauteing fish, it isn't very quick either. After a long day playing outside and an even longer afternoon of correcting the older child repeatedly, I wasn't in a mood to cook. We haven't had fish in a while and we've been eating too much pasta lately, so fish was for dinner. We only had two fillets of salmon, so I mixed in a flounder fillet as well. Here's what I came up with.

Easy Instant Pot Fish and Vegetables

Ingredients:

3 fillets of fish (this works with any type of fish)
3 carrots (can substitute potatoes or another firm vegetable)
1/2 cup frozen spinach
1 cup of water or broth (can use whatever broth is available)
3 tbsp of butter or margarine
3 tbsp of lemon juice
2 tsp of garlic powder
The zest of 1 lemon
A pinch thyme
A pinch of Salt
A pinch of Pepper

Instructions:

Cut the carrots into 3 and half them. These will go at the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle frozen spinach on top of the carrots. Add the water or broth to the pot. Put the frozen fish fillets directly on top of the carrots and water. In a separate bowl, melt the butter or margarine. Add the garlic powder, lemon juice and thyme to the butter. Mix well and pour over the frozen fish. Season the fish with salt, pepper and add the lemon zest.
Cook on high pressure, manual setting for 4 minutes. After 5 minutes of natural release time, move the pressure release valve to venting. I always wear a pot holder and make sure the pot is away from anything, since it often will splatter when opening the pressure release valve.


Note: I made this recipe in a 6-qt pot (not Instant Pot brand). I used water, not broth, however broth would give this a richer flavor. From start to finish this took me about 30 minutes including cook and release waiting time.

These are the best baby, toddler or big kid snack!

Both of my kids are obsessed with these! Here are some flavor choices. Use this code to save even more: 30BABYMUMMUM




We recently sampled the blueberry goji and carrot sweet potato flavors for a mommy testing group. Both were gone so quick and many of my mommies have already bought more!

The rainbow connection

What a great song! We are outside enjoying this beautiful day listening to some tunes. The spring and early summer are some of the best times to enjoy all of what nature has to offer. There aren't a ton of mosquitos out and the flowers are all in bloom. The only downside is all of the allergens in the air. Luckily I am the only one with spring allergies and they are very minor. 

Anyone have any ideas on how to spend time outside with a baby who is either not mobile yet or only crawling? Since we replaced our back deck last year and there is no chance of the baby eating paint or getting splinters we can actually enjoy the backyard! He still has to be watched like a hawk since he will eat all the bugs and tree droppings. 

More fun for big sister being able to run around in the backyard, play with her water table and go on bunny hunts.

Is it awful that I know all the words to do many kids songs and sing along? 😑

From Old to New.

I started Blogging on this site: old blog https://kutrybl.wixsite.com/diapersdisastersdeal

It doesn't work as well as this one, so I am giving up (once again) and starting fresh! At some point I will transfer some of the recipes I started there over here.

 Mostly I write about things going on in my life with my kids or work and recipes or products I like or have created. It's almost like reading a crazy person's thoughts. Since I don't have time for yoga classes anymore, this is my outlet and method of decompressing. Now that there are two kids and a dog involved, there are more things to juggle and go wrong. But there are also more of those awwww moments too!