Somehow I turned another year older in what seems like no time at all. Last year I celebrated my birthday in the hospital on an IV drip of Magnesium hoping baby K would not make a surprise appearance. This year I spent my birthday at home hoping baby K’s cold wouldn’t get any worse. However this year I was able to drink champagne with my cupcakes and that is pretty much the makings of a happy { birthday}. Thank you to my girlfriend for bringing my these goodies, and thank you to my girlfriends who brought me goodies to the hospital last year. I still can’t believe it’s been a year!

Kaili seems to be feeling a little better today, she has had low-grade fevers and a cough. Although today she seems to be enjoying herself more and she also got to meet a ladybug for the first time.

I bought some boneless beef short ribs at our last run to Costco and was trying to decide whether to braise them with red wine or marinate them Korean style. I chose the latter and they were so very good. This recipe is combination of this recipe and this recipe. I also added some Hoisin sauce because everything is better with Hoisin sauce. Both recipes said to grill the ribs for 3 minutes a side but I found that it was more like 5 minutes for rare. Maybe my grill isn’t as hot as it should be, who knows.

Korean Style Beef Short ribs

1½ lbs Boneless Beef Short Ribs

3 Tbs. Dark Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1/4 cup Hoisin sauce

4 tsp Pure Toasted  Sesame Oil

3 cloves garlic, diced or pressed

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 Tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

Directions

Sprinkle the beef ribs with the brown sugar and let sit at room temperature for 10 min.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, whisk to blend well. Pour into Ziploc plastic bag. Add ribs; seal bag. Let the meat marinate at least two hours, turning occasionally.

Prepare barbecue to medium high heat. Drain ribs; discard marinade. Working in batches, grill ribs until browned and cooked to medium-rare, about *3 minutes per side.

These paired nicely with sautéed baby bok Choy. Enjoy!

* 3 minutes may not be long enough.

Last year at this time I was just given the green light to be off bed rest. Shane took me to the Apple store and bought me the best Valentine’s Day gift, my MacBook Air. This year, he is working in Ventura and I am spending the most romantic day of the year at home with the babe. So to be festive I took some fun Valentine pictures of Kaili. [Inspiration came from Pinterest, where else?]

A friend from my Meetup group had us moms over to make Valentines crafts with the kiddos. I am so mad that I didn’t take any pictures of the craft making fun in action but I have the end results. She had paint, brushes, poster board and craft paper with the idea of making hand or foot print pictures for family. [I think she has Pinterest to thank for the inspiration too] I have to say I do miss all the creative activities I used to do everyday in the classroom, so this was fun! {for me.} Kaili had fun playing in the grass while mommy did her crafts.

This was one of the first recipes I “pinned” on Pinterest.  I make another version of Tandoori salmon and it one of my favorite fish dishes, so I didn’t have any doubt that this recipe would please. They are very similar recipes but I have to say Aida’s is better. Maybe it’s the sweetness of the honey and  juice of the orange or the perfect blend of spices, either way, it is a must try.

Her recipe calls for  a Ras el hanout spice blend, which translates to “top of the market”. However I couldn’t find it at my ethnic markets so I made this recipe.  If you don’t have most of these spices in your spice cabinet, you should. I find it to be cheaper if you can buy them in bulk and store then in an air tight container. This recipe made a lot so I have plenty extra saved away for next time.

I followed her recipe as instructed and it turned out great, the fish was cooked perfectly.

Enjoy!

Oh how I wish I had Pinterest when I was in the classroom. I could have documented all my lessons by monthly themes and pulled them out whenever I needed them. Since I left my job so abruptly I didn’t get a chance to pack my stuff up in a neat and orderly fashion so everything is packed into plastic tubs and in the garage. As time goes on I am forgetting  the songs I once knew and the millions of fine motor and tray tasking lessons I created. Now thanks to Pinterest I see a lot of these activities I used to do and it’s so exciting because I can file them away here and bring them out when I need them. Today was one of those days.

I came across an activity I used to do with my Pre-K kiddos. White paint in a ziplock bag on top of black paper. Then I would put out cards with sight words on them and the kids would use their fingers to write the words on the bag of paint like this:

I thought this would be a perfect way to let Kaili paint without the mess or the worry about her eating the paint. So I put some paint in a ziplock bag and taped it to the floor with a piece of white construction paper underneath it and let her at it.

So what do you think, do we have a mini Picasso in the making?

I  sure hope Kaili’s love of food stays the way it is right now. She is not a picky eater and will eat everything I offer her, well, all but avocados. { weird child } However she hasn’t had mama’s guacamole yet, so time will tell.

She tried her first Steamed Pork bun from the 99 Ranch Market. She happily ate as much as I gave her, I should have bought more.

While out to lunch she had some of my salad with citrus grilled chicken and gorgonzola cheese. I was impressed that she liked the cheese and after about 5 bites I wondered how her tummy was going to handle it but no need because she was just fine.

She enjoys quinoa, black beans, peas and carrots, egg yolks {hard-boiled and scrambled} mozzarella cheese, hummus, pasta with olive oil and garlic and she recently tried some with a tomato basil sauce and scarfed it down.

I need to challenge myself to start making more dinners during the week. It’s hard to get motivated to cook for one but since I have an eager little eater I guess I should pull out some recipes and get cooking.

I came across this recipe while browsing Bon Appetit. I wanted to bring a sweet treat to a Meetup some of us moms planned and it turned out I had everything this recipe called for in my pantry. {I love when that happens} Well I didn’t actually have Marcona almonds but I did have roasted almonds so score!

These are delicious so when you get a chance, make them!

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups roasted roasted almonds roughly chopped

1 pound good-quality dark chocolate {62%–70% cacao}, finely chopped

Coarse sea salt (for sprinkling)

* recipe courtesy of Bonappetit.com

Shane was going through some piled up paperwork and came across our Reproductive Partners folder. As I was going through it, trying to decided what to keep {incase we decide on a sibling for Kaili} I found all my old charting calendars.

It brought back a lot of emotions, I can’t believe I am saying this but I sort of forgot all about these.

Infertility is isolating and lonely, no one can truly understand what you go through unless you are going through it. I charted my fertility cycle every month with my doctors assistance and without, before our 6 failed Intrauterine inseminations and after. The last month I charted was July 2010, we started IVF in August and thankfully we know how that story ends.

This was just a reminder of what we went through to get the baby girl of our dreams. As hard as it was and as awful as the injections of different meds made me feel, it was all worth it. Just remember if you are struggling through infertility, you are not alone. And as terrible as all those stim meds side effects are, I promise you this, once you are in the process of giving birth you will forget all about them.

Quinoa is a staple in our home, I will use it in place of rice or couscous and it makes a mean tabbouleh. I came across a few good quinoa recipes for baby on this site.  This particular one  looked pretty yummy plus I had the ingredients on hand. I also had blueberries in the fridge {which Kaili loves} so I decided to throw those in too.

Cooked Quinoa { as much as your babe will eat }

Whole milk yogurt {I used Yo baby vanilla and she also likes Trader Joe’s vanilla yogurt cups}

Diced bananas and blueberries

Combine ingredients in small saucepan and simmer on low for 5 minutes. You just want to warm the ingredients not cook them.

I threw a few more blueberries on top at the end 

I had some free time this evening {meaning no good reality TV on} So I decided to read the beginning of one of my favorite blogs. I started her blog somewhere in the middle and never got a chance to see how it started. Well, this little quiz was one of her posts and I thought it would be fun to see how many foods I have tried. The ones in bold are the ones I have eaten. Play along, should be fun!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue  {so good}
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns { breakfast in China, delish}
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi { does unsalted count?}
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar {I have had them separate}
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka + Jell-O 
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk (does goat CHEESE count)?
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu

47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian

66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar 
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie 
78. Snail (oh, escargot is a must try – so delicious)!
79. Lapsang souchong 
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant – {Someday I will get to French Laundry}
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare { does rabbit count?}
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam {Sadly yes,}
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox 
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100.Snake

I plan on trying all of these before I die, well maybe not horse and roadkill but everything else.  So, how did you do?