January 2012

January Round Up

by Lisa on January 31, 2012

I thought it’d be fun to recap what’s happened on The Splattered Apron each month with a round up. So if you miss something, don’t worry, I’ll wrap it all up at the end of each month! I’m also going to update how I’m doing with my 2012 goals. Let’s start it off with January.

Recipes

Sun-Dried Tomato Dip

Mom’s Cinnamon Rolls

Shrimp Fried Rice

A Lighter Mexican Layer Dip

Pineapple Mint Smoothies (via Shared Bites)

Cranberry Yogurt Scones

Life

2012: My Goals
Update: Recipage and my Amazon Shop!
My First Week Back at Work

Baby

Caroline’s First Foods
Back to Work and Breastfeeding
On Maternity Leave
Five Months!

As Seen On

DC Ladies
Peppermint Stick Ice Cream Pie
Accepting My Role as a Working Mom

Food Fitness and Family
Documenting My Daughter

2012 Goals

Family and Friends

Since going back to work, I don’t look at my computer or my phone between the time I get home and the time Caroline goes to bed.
Jeromy and I didn’t go out together on a date in January, but we did spend time just the two of us together after Caroline went to bed. That’s good enough for me!
We had to take a week off of solid foods while Caroline was sick. Now that she’s better we’re back on track with solid food and she’s enjoying her dinner every night.
I found swim lessons for Caroline to start in March!
We haven’t used Skype weekly, but we’ll keep using it whenever we can!
Even with going back to work, breastfeeding has continued to go well. I can’t believe we’ve been doing this for almost six months! I’ll write an update about that soon.
We haven’t hosted a dinner party yet but we did have friends over for a make-your-own-pizza football party.

Organization

I’m using my calendar more
I’m not checking my to do list as frequently, I still need to learn to use it as a way to stay organized.
We did a HUGE clean out of the basement to prep for carpet to be installed. This weekend I’ll pack it all up in the car and drop it off at Goodwill, woo hoo!

Fitness

I’ve been sick for the majority of January so I have not yet joined the gym and used it.
I’m thinking my first race may be in April, but I need to go out for a test run on my knee to be sure it’s okay.
Caroline and I have only gone walking a couple of times this month.

Hobbies

Still in progress with my first knitting project of the year.
Two books down, eight to go! Sarah’s Key and the Midwife’s Confession. Both excellent, but a little predictable. I finished two other books that I started last year, but I’m not counting those in my ten for this year.
I didn’t volunteer this month. That doesn’t make me very happy.
I did well with posting until my unintended blog vacation and I’m totally okay with that.
I wrote a guest post this month and have a few more lined up.
I started to explore what my DSLR can do off of auto. It was fun!
Still haven’t reacquainted myself with my sewing machine.

Food

We’ve been trying new recipes and I plan to share a few of them.
Only eating out twice a week has been going moderately well, the convenience of take out is always so tempting, especially when I wasn’t feeling well this month.
We went to the farmer’s market once this month. There were donuts there. I have no explanation why we haven’t gone back yet.

All in all, I’d say I’m off to a good start. How are your 2012 goals coming along?

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Cranberry Yogurt Scones

by Lisa on January 30, 2012

Well hello there! As you can see, I decided to take last week off. Turns out I have been fighting a sinus infection and bronchitis while Caroline has been fighting her own nasty cold, so we were not a very active family this past week. I still have no idea how Jeromy has managed to avoid our sickness. I only get sick every couple of years so when I do get sick, I really get sick.

This past Saturday my aunt and uncle came to meet Caroline. Despite the massive pressure in my head, I wanted to bake something to accompany the frittata, hash browns and salad. I was going to go with muffins but decided to make something different and went with scones. Who knew—they’re just as easy as muffins! I really wanted to use whole wheat pastry flour since I’ve had a bag of it sitting in my cabinet for awhile, cranberries that were in the freezer and Greek yogurt in the fridge. And so this recipe was born.

Cranberry Yogurt Scones

by The Splattered Apron

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15-17 minutes

Keywords: bake bread breakfast cranberries

Ingredients (8 scones)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and diced
1/2 cup Chobani 0% Greek Yogurt
1 cup cranberries, chopped
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon almond milk {not pictured, I used Pacific Organic Original}
turbinado sugar, for dusting the scones

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with a rack in the middle of it.

Rinse the cranberries and chop coarsely. I used my food processor and pulsed the cranberries for about 30 seconds. I used frozen cranberries if you use fresh it will be faster.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.

Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut in the butter to the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

With a fork, stir in the yogurt, almond milk and cranberries until all of the ingredients are moistened by the wet ingredients and starting to stick together.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface.

Form the dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 triangles.

Place on a lined baking sheet and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.

Bake for 15-17 minutes. The top will be golden brown and the center will be soft but still firm. Very similar to a muffin.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the baking sheet.

I don’t know why I haven’t made scones before. They’re so easy! And delicious.

I’m not a huge fan of dry scones, thanks to the Greek yogurt these came out a bit more moist yet still crumby, exactly how I prefer scones.

I might have eaten three of them.

And if that’s wrong, I just don’t want to be right.

Cranberries are one of my favorite ingredient to put into sweet baked goods. I love how the tartness contrasts with the sugar.

The small amount of cinnamon really stands out in the scone.

I’m so glad I had a great excuse to bake this weekend!

P.S. Make these now. You’ll thank me later.

Enjoy!

{ 4 comments }

Happy Friday!

by Lisa on January 20, 2012

I am battling a nasty cold that seems to have taken over my lungs, so my apologies for not having a post ready for you today. BUT head on over to Food Fitness and Family for my guest post—all about how I’m documenting Caroline’s first year. I love Maddy’s blog and I hope you do too!

Happy weekend, friends!

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Pineapple Mint Smoothies

by Lisa on January 19, 2012

While Jeromy and I were getting to know our sweet Caroline, generous friends filled this space with guest posts. Naturally, I had one that was never published by Katie of Shared Bites. Katie’s photography is gorgeous and her recipes delicious. Head on over and say hello! You might want to make this smoothie to enjoy while you do…..

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Pineapple Mint Smoothies from the Welcoming Committee

Hello Splattered Apron readers! Pineapples have long been known as symbol of welcoming. To share a pineapple with a neighbor is to accept them into your community. So what better ingredient for a guest post here than pineapple to welcome baby Caroline to the world?!

Today I’m sharing a simple, but wickedly delicious drink recipe that people in the U.S. have sorely been missing out on: pineapple mint smoothies. In 2009, my husband and I went to Brazil to visit our friends Mariana & Andrea (who actually just welcomed their own baby girl, Victoria, a few months ago!). They showed us an outstanding time in Mariana’s hometown of Sao Paolo and in Rio de Janeiro (where we experienced the spectacle that is Carnival).

At the end of the trip, I was sad to leave our friends, sad to leave the warm weather, and sad not to have more time to explore such a beautiful country. But I was truly, truly heartbroken to leave the food and drinks. Pineapple mint smoothies. Caipirinhas. Feijoada. Fresh maracujá (passionfruit) juice. Barbeque from the churrascarias (best. meat. ever.). O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate de Mundo (translates to, “the best chocolate cake in the world,” though Mariana assured me that she, in fact, makes the best chocolate cake in the world). Fresh, young coconut water available on every block (you just stick your straw straight in a coconut). Paçoca (candy made of ground peanuts, salt and sugar). Pão de Queijo (cheesy bread bites). I could go on, but I think you can see why I grew so attached.

The hardest part about coming back home though wasn’t finding good food here, because DC has plenty of good food in its own right, but leaving a place where fresh fruit and fruit drinks are available everywhere you turn. Even the tiniest little shops and snack stands in Brazil had freshly squeezed tropical fruit juice. You want fresh squeezed juice in DC? Good luck (one joint that labels its OJ as fresh-squeezed actually has the squeezing done off-site and then shipped it in jugs…ummm, that’s not fresh-squeezed in my book). Looks like DIY is my best option for fresh juice.

So as a welcome to baby Caroline, a tribute to Brazil and to satisfy my own longing for fresh fruit juice, enjoy this recipe for refreshing, delicious pineapple mint smoothies.

Pineapple Mint Smoothies

Makes three tall servings

three thick slices of fresh pineapple (about 1″)
heaping half cup of mint leaves, washed
1 cup cold water
6-7 ice cubes
simple syrup to taste (made by dissolving one part sugar into one part water over medium-low heat; let cool completely)

Peel and core the pineapple, making sure to remove all of the hard skin. Cut pineapple into chunks. Add pineapple, mint, water and ice cubes to a blender. Blend until smooth. Add simple syrup to taste (if you have a ripe pineapple, you probably won’t need any).

To store, keep juice in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Separation is normal, just stir or shake before drinking. Good for at least 24 hours.

Do not feed to newborns. Just let them know you are enjoying it in their honor.

{ 3 comments }

My First Week Back at Work

by Lisa on January 17, 2012

We survived my first week back at work and are into the second week. Monday was brutal but when I stepped back and accepted my new role, life became a lot easier. I’ll never say that leaving Caroline to go to the office is easy, but knowing and accepting that this is my reality makes it bearable.

With my commuting time to the office, I only get about 3 hours for the entire day with Caroline. It hardly seems like enough. No matter how I try to finagle it, there is just no way to hold down a full time job and squeeze more hours out of the day. At least, there’s no way to do that and continue to have a well-rested baby. As much as I would love to spend more time with Caroline, we are sticking to her schedule and putting her to bed at 7:15. She’s a happy baby when she sleeps and we don’t want to mess with that.

My work from home days are much better. I hand Caroline over when I start to work, take her to feed her three times and then take her back the second I’m done with work. Plus she sees me coming and going to the kitchen for snacks all day.

Next week when Caroline is at our friends’ house instead of at ours it will be tough but again, it’s our reality. Being upset about it isn’t going to make it easier or change things, so I am choosing not to be upset.

To be very honest, it’s not all bad. It’s nice to get back into the swing of things in my office and pick up my projects again. And pumping is going well. I don’t enjoy it {does anyone??} but pumping four times a day is producing enough to replace the milk Caroline consumes. With any luck, we’ll be able to keep this up for the next six and a half months.

I would not have survived Monday without the support of my family, friends and my blogging friends who were sending me messages and encouragement ALLLL day. It’s pretty incredible how supportive the blogging community is, you don’t have to know someone in person to make a difference. Thank you so much Amanda, Callie, Madeline, Emily and Lindsay!!

Most of all, the flowers from Caroline brightened my day. I have quite the advanced 5 month old