The babysitter

We all knew it had to happen sooner or later, a babysitter. Eventually we would HAVE to find someone to watch the LO on the rare occasion we wanted to set foot outside of the house to see a movie, go on a date, or just get some fresh air. It was extra difficult for us as we don't live near any family and the majority of our friends live pretty far away in the city and don't have children so we were pretty much out in the cold for getting help from anyone we knew personally. Thankfully i do have one friend here in my area who can watch her but we needed an additional babysitter for when she wasn't available.

So after much soul searching we finally settled on Care.com. I was highly averse to finding a babysitter on a website as its so impersonal and you don't know who or what you're getting, but we were at our wits end and needed to find someone.

After dozens and dozens of emails with local people we finally found some local people who are experienced and had good references, which means we can finally leave the house without baby in tow.

Now if i can just leave the house without calling 900 times to make sure she hasn't fallen in our non-existent backyard pool, or run into the middle of the expressway, true its about 2 miles from our house, but hey it COULD happen.

Turkey Meatloaf sandwiches!

I've always thought meatloaf was a lazy dinner option for when there was no time or resources for anything else. Then i made my first batch of the stuff....i was in heaven.

I've made this recipe for the past two weeks, last week i came down with a 24 hour stomach bug which hit JUST as i finished chopping the onions. It came on so fast that i could barely get it in the oven before almost passing out while standing upright. Obviously i didn't get to eat any, so i made it again last night and this time i absolutely devoured it.

I always try to use fresh ingredients and with a recipe like this as there aren't a lot of bells and whistles and each ingredient really shows in the final product. I'm VERY loose with my measurements, so feel free to modify this as you go and add or subtract amounts of things based on taste.

Start off by preheating your oven to 375

I use enough for a small batch as that's the only size my grocer sells, so this is for approximately 3/4 lb of ground turkey.

Loosely chop up one jalapeno, 1 small onion, half a bell pepper (i use red), and add them to a bowl.

To that, add one beaten egg, half a cup of bread crumbs, and your ground turkey

chop up a few sprigs of parsley, roughly 1 TBSP, and add that to the mix.

Finally add about a half tsp of cayenne, 1.5 tsp of salt, and 1.5 tsp of pepper (fresh ground if possible)

Mash it all up nicely then turn out into a baking pan, spray with cooking spray if needed. Remember this is for sandwiches so it needs to be nice and uniform in shape. 

Last take about 1/4 cup of ketchup and put it in a tiny bowl. Add 1 tsp of cayenne pepper and mix thoroughly then spread uniformly across the top of the loaf. I would also suggest making more for putting on the sandwiches if your as big a fan of tomato sauce as our family is. 

Then toss in the oven for roughly 35-40 minutes or until the internal temp reads 170 degrees. 

Slice up and serve on a freshly warmed bun with pepper jack cheese (FYI this is almost as important as the meatloaf) as the flavors balance quite nicely.

Tuna with a French twist

We had just finished a walk through downtown Key West in the blistering and unforgiving heat of a late August day when we happened upon a little food stall with a french transplant who made the most delightful sandwiches.  What follows is my adaptation of her recipe as I felt there was no way I would be able to survive without ever tasting the best tuba recipe I had ever tried.

Unfortunately (for the reader) i'm generally not one for measuring so the entire recipe is 'to taste'. Im a seafood junkie and id even go so far to as to call myself a tuna snob....if its not well made i just wont be able to eat it, so i promise you this recipe is well worth your time. 

Begin with canned white albacore tuna, I prefer the type in water as the other additives will have a bit of oil and you don't want oil overload.

Separate the chunks so they're manageable, then chop up some marinated artichokes and add them in. 

Next chop up some capers unless theyre too small, keep in mind the salt content as you add them. If you like it saltier add more and you can even add a bit of the juice. Or if you're a caper addict like me, you can just dump the entire thing in, i'm joking of course....

Or am i? 

Next add some black olives, canned is fine, slice them up if they aren't pre-sliced. I tend to go light on the olives as they can be overpowering. 

And.....

PARMESAN!! Add oodles of it, don't skimp as it really warms up the flavor.And if that wasn't enough lastly add some Mayo and even though it is to taste I would still suggest doing it sparingly. Sometimes i even add it as im putting it on the bread so that i dont have to add it to the mix...it will store better and longer that way.

Finish it off with a sprinkling of fresh lemon juice, freshly cracked pepper, and some Parmesan chips (if you so choose) Serve on toasted sourdough. 

The day time conundrum

Ever since the day we brought her home one of the biggest things we have had to think about was what we would do with her during the day. Pre-child it seemed like such an easy question to answer, take care of her during the day at home until kindergarten of course! I mean, why pay a stranger to do something i can do for free? Not to mention i can raise her the way we want to and i can also oversee her nutrition and have no fears for how well she is being treated in whatever day care i decided to try.

Then the first tantrum happened. Well i shouldn't say first tantrum as it wasnt a tantrum, it was more of a meltdown because i had dared leave her alone and go to the other room without her. Eventually i found out that daycare is not only a necessity for parents who work, but for children to experience the world as it is away from their parents.

Until we do get her into daycare i do everything i can to ensure she gets time with other kids, Gymboree, the play center at the mall, the park, but aside from leaving her with her daddy (im Papa) she still doesnt get time away from me.

Next step: Dropping her off for some time with our new babysitter! Lets hope this is a success.

Diaper Dekor Plus Pail

If youve seen my reviews before, you know im scathingly honest about whether or not something works. Usually there is good and there is bad, in the case of the Diaper Dekor Plus Pail its a case of a true 50/50.

Lets begin with the good:

It looks nice, well, as nice as a diaper garbage pail could possibly look without spending a ton of money. It also holds in the smell until it begins to get full to capacity, or unless the little one has particularly pungent presents for me. Its relatively stable and can be locked so the baby doesn't get tempted to try to climb inside and do some digging, however its not perfect which brings me to the less than stellar elements of the item....

Now for the not so good:

Its difficult to get into, i could overlook this when i have a nice big wet diaper and i dont mind futzing around with it (oh yes, i went full Yiddish on you there), but when its something more, erm....substantial its impossible to do without first unlocking the entire top and propping it open in order to get the diaper in. You see that little squarish opening? Thats what the diaper has to fit into and its a trap door with a spring on it.....so even if you push it open with one hand you still cant get the diaper in without getting poo on the sides.

So typically our changed go:

1) Sniff

2) If dirty prop pail open and get everything ready
3) Give baby something to play with so she keeps her hands out of the soiled spots
4) Remove/wipe/set aside
5) new diaper/powder/yada, yada, yada (ok that ones not Yiddish but, close enough)
6) Then the process of dealing with the pail....Pull the entire top off (which makes the built up smell come wafting out.WHOOOO!)
7) Insert diaper very carefully and replace lid
8) Wash diaper/liner if necessary (we use cloth diapers with disposable inserts)

If its just a wet diaper usually the wipes just end up propped between the lid and the trap door until i get the chance to insert them fully. The trap door is REALLY that small.

And my least favorite, however not a deal breaker if i had to repurchase, it uses proprietary bags. Which means you cant go to the corner store and buy some trash bags when it runs out....you have to buy THEIR brand. They do last a long time though and they arent ridiculously expensive, just be sure to read the instructions as its slightly complicated the first time around.

In short it works, but its a pain to use and if you have Man Hands (Seinfeld reference #2) like myself the trapdoor is null and void.