Balancing Motherhood

Motherhood is a balancing act.  Balancing the needs of various family members.  Balancing the needs of the house, hearth, and home.  Balancing the needs of the bank account.  It's like balancing spinning plates.

It feels like my spinning plates are careening out of control for a moment.  *lol*

I started pumping for the first time in six months this week.  I cannot aptly express the anxiety that melted away when I saw that liquid gold dripping into the storage bag.  I had stopped pumping because I didn't have a need for milk wasting away in the freezer (I threw out almost 30-ounces of six-month old dairy-laden breastmilk earlier this month); but now I have a need again and, gratefully, I am able to still pump.

It's interesting to observe differences between my milk back in August (with a four month old) and my milk now (with a 10 month old).  It takes a little longer for it to start dripping into the storage bag.  There is no obvious foremilk.  I still get less with the pump from the same side I have always gotten less with (even with the first child).  And I'm getting less milk overall than I was in August.  But, while we rely heavily upon my breastmilk, it is no longer the only nutrition received so I'm not spazzing about only pumping one or two ounces at a time.  

We will likely rely heavily upon my breastmilk until he is at least two years old.  He has an issue with dairy.  I have an issue with soy, almonds and coconuts that I would prefer not to introduce him to prior to more effective communication.  So we'll be providing breastmilk for at least two years.

It's just another plate to spin into balance--and it's looking like a good balance at the moment!  Now to work out the other wobbling plates.  ;)

Menu Plan Monday

http://orgjunkie.com/menu-plan-monday-guidelines

SUNDAY:

• muffins
• animal crackers
• chips&dip
• meatloaf

MONDAY:

• cereal
• cheesy chips/nachos
• sandwich
• ckn alfredo

TUESDAY:

• eggs, bacon, toast
• granola bars/jello
• soft tacos
• chili

WEDNESDAY:

• oatmeal/cream of wheat
• popcorn/cake mix muffins
• sandwich
• crock down home chops

THURSDAY:

• eggs, bacon, biscuits
• nuts/jello
• soup and quesa
• ckn teryaki

FRIDAY:

• cereal/lftover muffins
• pretzels and craisins
• tuna, carrots
• lumberjack hash

SATURDAY:

• breakfast burros
• apples&pb/graham crackers
• leftovers
• ckn fajitas

Menu Plan Monday

http://orgjunkie.com/menu-plan-monday-guidelines

SUNDAY:

• muffins
• animal crackers
• chips&dip
• Roast Ckn

MONDAY:

• eggs, bacon, toast
• cheesy chips/homemade nachos
• sandwich
• chili mac

TUESDAY:

• cereal
• granola bars/jello
• soft tacos
• ckn noodle potato

WEDNESDAY:

• eggs, bacon, biscuits
• popcorn/cake mix muffins
• sandwich
• naked burritos

THURSDAY:

• oatmeal/cream of wheat
• nuts/jello
• beef&barley and quesas
• Ruth's Sweet & Sour

FRIDAY:

• cereal/lftover muffins
• pretzels and craisins
• tuna, carrots
• biscuits and gravy

SATURDAY:

• breakfast burrito
• apples&pb/graham crackers
• leftovers
• yellow-eyes and brauts

Menu Plan Monday

http://orgjunkie.com/menu-plan-monday-guidelines

Baking with rice milk is my saving grace!

SUNDAY:

• pumpkin muffins
• animal crackers
• chips & dip
• herbed pork roast

MONDAY:

• eggs, bacon, toast
• cheesy chips/homemade nachos
• sandwich
• rotini or hillbilly beans

TUESDAY:

• cold cereal
• granola bars/jello
• soft tacos
• cajun skillet ckn

WEDNESDAY:

• eggs, bacon, biscuit
• popcorn/cake mix muffins
• sandwich
• pork stew

THURSDAY:

• oatmeal/cream of wheat
• nuts/jello
• veggie soup and quesas
• Auntie's skillet ckn & rice

FRIDAY:

• cereal/lftover muffins
• pretzels and craisins
• tuna, carrots
• ham steak, scalloped taters

SATURDAY:

• breakfast burro
• apples & pb/graham crackers
• lftovers
• tortilla pizzas

We've already revised this plan though.  We forgot to pull out the roast for Sunday so Grandma made meatloaf.  We fetched some pork ribs when we were shopping Saturday, but didn't end up getting home with them until dark so we're saving them till this weekend so DH can grill them.

Menu Plan Monday

http://orgjunkie.com/menu-plan-monday-guidelines

Grandma arrived safely and her critters survived the drive (as well as the snow and rain)!  They're staying with us until Grandma finds a house all her own.  On top of that, I haven't grocery shopped sufficiently for at least a month--one round of grocery budget was gingerbread supplies, another was never used on food because it was used on Christmas gifts; I don't recall beyond that now.  So my upright freezer is running slim, which means it's time to sort the logistics for defrosting it--it has three pork roasts, about a third of a package of meatballs, several quarts of various homemade soups, and a number of freezer jam pints; plus some lunch containers, a ham steak, and a pound of bacon.  Everything else doesn't require freezing, I just keep them in there to prolong the shelf life for me: grains, dried produce, tea, MIL's coffee....

What I have for this week's menu, thus far:

Monday:

• cereal and fruit
• leftovers
• chili and cornbread (the cornbread will be a rice milk attempt)

Tuesday:

• oatmeal
• sandwich
• beef stew and biscuits (sans rutabaga because i don't have any right now; the biscuits will be a rice milk attempt)

Wednesday:

• toad-in-a-hole (if I get bread made)
• dippy ckn
• crockpot pork roast

Thursday:

• barley mush
• sandwich
• garlicky meatloaf

Friday:

• eggs, bacon, toast
• soup and quesa
• soutwest easy oven ckn

Saturday:

• ??
• sandwich
• breakfast for dinner:  ??

Sunday:

• peach pancakes (made with rice milk)
• chips and dip
• crockpot rotisserie ckn

Rice Crispy Treats--Dairy Free!

The idea for this hit me while doing our twice-monthly grocery shop this morning.  I've done individual microwaved servings of crispy treats for years, this is just nixing the butter.  My non-stick spray is an organic olive oil spray.

Pour some mini marshmallows into a microwave-safe bowl.

Spray with non-stick spray and toss till evenly coated.

Sprinkle with cinnamon (it masks the flavor from the spray).

Pour in some rice crispy cereal and mix well.

ENJOY!

On a Quest for Snacks

I've finally sat down with the computer to google for snacks--I hold to the concept that if I can conquer the snack department then I won't feel like there is nothing for me to eat.

First I googled: snacks, dairy free, soy free, oat free
That wasn't helpful since the first two hits was Cheerios (an oat cereal), and granola bars (again oats...).  Also it asked if I meant "snacks, dairy free, soy free, wheat free."  I wanted to respond with a "did I stutter?" but that's not a helpful reaction. *lol*

So instead I changed my order: snacks, oat free, dairy free, soy free

And it gave me Jeanette and her intriguing granola bars.  I was bummed at first because they include nut butter, but then I realized that her substitution of quinoa flakes for quick oats could be applied to our favorite granola bar recipe.  I'll try it out as soon as I have quinoa flakes!

Unfortunately, her link was the only ting useful to me from the first page of results.  I miss recipezaar.com.  Their recipe sifter let you sort out recipes with certain ingredients.  Now that food.com has taken over you can't remove ingredients from the search parameters.  *sigh*  Upon further searching, I found the recipe sifter right underneath my nose.  *roll eyes*

The search continues....

Diet Woes

When I logged onto yahoo to send a couple emails inquiring about astronomy clubs there was a story about the changes that occur to a mother's body with a baby (I closed that window so don't have a link to share for it).  From there I had opened a story about foods to eat post-partum.  Their suggested snacks include:

• Whole-grain crackers with hummus
• Nuts (stash some in your purse in case you get a craving on the go)
• A cup of whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk.
• A hardboiled egg with some carrots
• Low-fat cheese with a piece of fruit
• Peanut butter on an apple
• Plain Greek yogurt -- add in a cup of berries to avoid added sugar from the flavored kind.

The only things I can eat on this list?  Crackers and hard-boiled eggs.  Everything else either I react to it or the babe reacts to it coming through my milk.  *sigh*  And folks wonder why I joke about subsisting on Coke and chocolate.

Some other suggestions I gleaned from related articles include black bean soup (yum!), egg salad, wild Alaskan salmon (super yum!)...  I need to figure something out, the brownies just aren't cutting it.  And there are some exercise routines that look like they're all able to be done at home--no gym required--that I want to look at more closely when it's not the middle of the night.

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/abs/exercises/beat-belly-fat/
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/health/lose-baby-weight/workouts/post-pregnancy-exercises/
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/health/lose-baby-weight/workouts/lose-the-baby-weight-fast-toning-circuit-workout/