Last night was a mess..let's just put it that way! Amerie was up screaming and crying for like 2 hours because unfortunately, her and I are very stubborn! She wanted me to rock her back to sleep for the third time and I wanted to stay with consistency and lay her back down, lay beside her on the floor and pat her back....well her and I pretty much sat and looked at each other for 2 hours while she screamed and I got frusterated..oh and this was between the hours of 11:00 to like 1:00 until at 3:30 I got up and went into my own bed! But I woke up this morning anyways...early as usual, and wanted a blueberry pancake so I created a Blueberry Cinnamon Pancake with a Blueberry (and Corn) Sauce (Recipe from yet another cookbook!....well minus the corn) Sprinkled with chopped walnuts and a little powdered sugar. On the side a peanut butter and berry celery snack...I'm addicted to peanut butter..like eat it with everything, by the spoonfuls about three times a day etc addicted....So I first made the sauce with frozen wild blueberries which are a tad bit sweeter than fresh ones. Now for the corn...I know your thinking..WHAT??...well one night I was wacthing Iron Chef America and Bobby Flay had made some Blueberry Corn "Salsa" sort of speak to top one of his dishes..the colors caught my eye immediately and I thought well...yes corn and blueberries go great together...think Blueberry Corn Muffins are the bomb so I figured I would try to add it to my sauce..it gave it a unique color and the two different sweetnesses complimented each other very well. Then I made my Cinnamon Blueberry Pancake with fresh blueberries because I like the juiciness that fresh blueberries give especially when heated and hidden inside something dry and "wheaty" sort to speak! I cooked my pancake in a little oil this time around which gave it a nice crispy and golden brown exterior which prevented my pancake from becoming mushy from the sauce. All together it was just enough sweetness added with just enough "pancake"; just enough moisture with just enough crunch to bring my morning to a berry happy beginning!
As for little Amerie..she enjoyed a deluxe blueberry meal with blueberry yogurt, the other half of my blueberry sauce, fresh blueberries, and purply-blue blueberry mini pancakes...unfortunately I didn't get a pic...but her love for blueberries was written all over her face..literally!
So today I decided we were gonna stay home and Amerie and I would spend some time together! She woke up late..around 9..not a surprise at all due to the episode from last night...she sat up on the counter and made her own pancake mix..she poured and stirred away all while pretty much eating her meal; her sauce, her blueberries, all her yogurt (that never made it to her tray!..once the pancakes were done she was already half full!!! After that I ended up talking on the phone to a friend for a little, while I just played around with Amerie watching her climb couches and all..by the time I got off it was almost 11 o'clock!!! The day was going by fast...so we went upstairs and got her dressed, then we painted her toenails (mine later) and we chilled on the bed and interacted/watched her favorite show (and the one out of two shows a day I let her watch...)Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...
She loves Mickey Mouse and Disney but again, I only let her watch two shows because she has hit the age where she will stop dead in her tracks, stare and watch whatever’s on and I personally believe that tv is ok as long as you make it a learning experience and not use it as an entertainment tool. I dislike it when kids just sit there and watch TV all day…I actually prefer video games sometimes over tv.I just feel that it hinders there growth by not allowing them to use their imaginaton send them in their room to play with toys, send them outside or better yet play with them!! But that’s me….after we said Bye to Mickey we went to fix lunch..when it comes to me and cooking I try to find recipes that consist of ingredients that are in my fridge that need to be moved out; like leftover beans or opened tofu or veggies that are beginning to age, so I found a recipe on vegcooking.com for a Crunchy Veggie Wrap. It was very tasty…the raw veggies gave it a nice crunch, especially the red cabbage..and it needed no dressing for the cream cheese, avocado and tomatoes did the trick. Then a long side my wrap I created a shredded carrot-grape salad topped with raisins and chopped nuts….I love carrot salad but this one needed no dressing as well….with each bite the juicy grapes added the moisture needed to go along the dryness and sweetness of the carrots and raisins and the saltiness savory creamy textured cashews brought a subtleness to the sweetness of the three. I swore to myself I was gonna need something but it worked out amazingly enough! Amerie, well she had her own mini carrot salad and Campbell’s Mega Chicken Noodle Soup to help her with her watery eyes, runny nose and overall painful teething symnptoms. It definitely cleaned her nose out and she loved every bite!
We spent a little time at the playground after lunch..then nap time it was as I prepared dinner…
I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner when I came across Sloppy Joe in my Skinny B Cookbook…I thought oh yeah that sounds really good! Before I was vegan, I loved Sloppy Joes so I was looking forward to this meal…I of course, switched the Vegan Textured Protein for drained, dried, pressed, frozen, thawed then crumbled and stir-fried extra-firm tofu and it turned out pretty ok with the tofu..maybe not the texture of ground beef but hey I’ll sacrifice a little texture difference for a little health and happiness! It wasn’t what I was expecting..I guess because we always bought the can version and just browned some ground beef…but hey it still tasted like a Sloppy Joe and I threw it down in a second..Amerie on the other hand wasn’t as fond of it but she ate a little of it! She more wanted to enjoy the cheese that was on her plate alongside her crackers and some of Tim’s baked potato which she destroyed and licked the crumbs from,,,he of course wanted some popcorn shrimp and another bacon and cheese baked potato!!! When he gets hooked on something he’ll continue eating it until he gets sick of it…then we’re stuck with It if he doesn’t eat it all before he gets tired of it …I hate that (remember, I can’t waste food!) But what can I say…at least his meal was easy to prepare and clean! That’s a plus.
So here’s another story..I live with my in-laws as well as with my sister-in-law and 4 year-old niece.,we have a pretty full house here…well I love to make different snacks for Amerie and when I make them for her I have to make them for my niece too because when she sees what Amerie’s eating (like all pre-schoolers) she looks at you with those cute eyes and asks, “What she’s eating??” And then goes on to tell you how she’s never had that before and so on and I find it so funny and adorable so I decided that from now on I would make snacks for both of them to share plus she’s my food critic…trust me she’ll tell me if she likes it or not!! so I have her hooked on banana pops covered in yogurt and sprinkles..so when she got home I invited her over to share one with Amerie and I had a frozen banana pop covered in peanut butter and rolled in crushed cheerios..oh was it good..again Peanut Butter Addict…but I had to take a picture of the 2 crazy girls enjoying their pops…they were so happy!!!
This day ended up being a day well spent…it was relaxing, a little lazy but my time to enjoy and dwell in my daughters presence…watching her develop and grow into such a mini adult..talking non-sense, expressing her emotions, especially anger =-), showing me she can understand…I love it!! After this crazy week it was what I needed. Now if only I can catch up on rest..maybe I should start by getting off here and sleeping! What a concept!
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