2010 – Page 9 – a hippie with a minivan

How times have changed…

Last time my mom was over she left some old birthday/ welcome new baby cards and miscellaneous papers from when I was tiny…

The cards were fun to look at, but the other documents were, well a bit scary…

One is book that she got when she was pregnant with me, and the others are two little pamphlets that she received in the hospital concerning feeding.

The pregnancy book was full of information for the pregnant mom. What to expect each month, what is happening in her body, what to eat, ideas for exercise etc… I skimmed though it a bit and then happened to read something that stopped me in my tracks… a page of recommendations…

Here are a few:

Avoid X-rays unless the doctor deemed it necessary (I guess my mom’s doc did find it “necessary”)

Do not ingest any Baking soda or antacids during pregnancy. (Really? What’s wrong with Baking soda?)
Limit alcohol and cigarettes if you can. (No!! Wait!!! that cake has baking soda in it… here’s a cigarette and a martini instead…)
Avoid getting cold. (so… don’t go outside 6 months of the year)

Of course, this was followed because there were not many other ways to get information about such things in the 70’s… and of course, doc knows best… right?

It gets worse though…

I’ll post the hospital feeding policies and recommendations next….

EC and Babywearing…

This summer a friend passed along my name to a new and amazing Montreal buisness called Melons & Clementines for the potential of giving babywearing classes. This little shop in the NDG district of Montreal is all about breastfeeding. Clothes, accessories, pumps, babywearing shirts and carriers. Not only that, but while you shop, you can sit down and have tea and a lunch while the kids play in the kids corner, all in a very breastfeeding friendly environment. They also have a private room and a schedule for lacation consultants for moms that might need help.

I talked over the phone with two wonderful women that started this little shop, Renee and Marie-Maude, and I went to meet them soon after to talk about what they needed and soon after we set the date for the first workshop. Not only am I giving a babywearing workshop but also an EC one, and not only is it great to meet new people and talk and share about two subjects that I love, I am also making a small amount of money (at least to cover my transporation… lol)

If you are in Montreal, do go and have tea and hang out, you won’t regret it… and if you are looking to learn more about EC and/or babywearing, come to one of my workshops… the next one will be this saturday, with EC in the morning at 11am and babywearing at 1:30pm… (the schedule on their site will have the next workshops when we set the dates)

Potato-Leek soup

I love leeks and love that leeks are cheap right now. I usually stock up on leeks in this season, chop them up and freeze in portion sizes for soups.

This is such a fast meal also, I got home late yesterday after a trip to the Library, the pool and two parks and 1/2 hour later we were sitting down to eat.

I usually use dill but I didn’t have any on hand so I improvised and I love the way it turned out.

3 Leeks (whites only, sliced)
6-7 medium potatoes (peeled and cubed)
6 cups of water
1/4 cup Braggs seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika

In a soup pot, sauté the Leeks in a bit of oil or butter until the are a bit caramelized. Add the potatoes, the water and the Braggs (or you can substitute the water and Braggs for stock). Add the smoked paprika and garlic powder. Bring to a boil and then let simmer until potatoes are soft. Taste broth and adjust seasonings.

Take off heat and Purée the soup using a wand blender until smooth and creamy… .

That’s it…

Meal Plan for the week…

Making a meal plan every week is a life saver with 4 kids, or even 3… or 2…

Having a list of planned meals, buying for those meals and going to the grocery store with a detailed list means that you don’t only save money, but you also don’t waste food. I have following this way of shopping for a few years now and I have never once regretted it. I don’t go to the extent that I plan all of the meals each day, I need some spontaneity. I plan 6-7 supper meals and eat them in the order that we feel like, starting with meals with ingredients that we need to use up more quickly, like meat.

My procedure for planning meals was written here…

To make things easier and to add a bit of variety, I am in the process making a document of Meal ideas at the moment that has all of the meals that we enjoy eating and making by category. I find that looking at a list of meals makes meal planning a lot easier. It also reminds me of things that we haven’t made in a while.

This week our Grocery bill came to about 110$, in my opinion that is not bad at all for a family of 6 (well 5 who actually eat)

Chicken Tikka Masala
Pizza (dough here)
Szechwan Eggplant and Cauliflower
Meat and sweet potato pie (recipe to come)
Potato-Leek soup (recipe to come)
Spaghetti sauce (recipe to come)
Fondue

Retro Owl Dress….

As those in Canada know, fabric is hard to find. There is only so much that you can find at Fabricville/Fabricland… I had seen a large fabric store called “Club Tissue” from the Highway heading to Montreal but I had never stopped… but I decided to head there last weekend when I was in the area. I was so surprised at the selection they had! I fell in love with this Retro Owl fabric the minute I saw it and the coordinating fabric with little flowers and peace signs… I knew I had to make a dress out of it!

I am so happy with the way this dress turned out…

The bodice is inspired from one in the Ottobre magazine and I really love the idea of having the elastic in the shoulder straps. The rest of the design is mine… The bodice was a bit big so I added the tie… Of course that means that it will just fit for longer…

ETA: Here is the Mushroom version of this dress…