vegetarianism

I've been thinking a lot about what we eat (I know I've discussed this before)- not because I think we are crazy unhealthy or anything like that. No. I just want to try something new. A new way to cook, plan meals and bring my family together at night:

We are trying a whole month of being vegetarian.

This may end in disaster.

But it also might be a really great experience.

And, I've chosen February to do this. After all, it's only 28 days. If I hate it, it'll be over in EXACTLY 4 weeks.

So, the rules:

Meat ( beef, pork, poultry, fish ) is off the menu.

But milk, butter, eggs and cheese are still okay.

Veg, obviously.

Fruit too

Salad at every dinner

and I'm making all of our bread.

My sister-in-law, Jeanne, is the one who turned me on to making a menu which I have been faithfully doing week by week- instead of by the month, like her- for years now. It's a fantastic way to budget and plan ahead. But since I'm trying to improve my cooking repertoire, I'll need a Month budget instead of just a week so I don't repeat any recipes.

Tomorrow:

Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon-Caper Vinagrette over Linguine

Birthday apron #1

Birthday apron #1: COMPLETE!

I call this my Meximos Apron- great earthy colors, oranges, reds, greens, browns, all a bit muted. I LOVE it. For some reason (maybe the blinding camera flash) the colors are brighter than they are normally- but you get the idea. Any other takers?

My christmas present

I wanted one thing for christmas this year...

TA-DAA!

My new couch. I'm happy.

Aprons

I am on an apron kick.

Check it out:

This is my Christmas French Flea Market Apron made with Moda, Figgy Pudding (to match my stockings and tree skirt!)

And, on the model...

What I love about the French Flea Market Apron is that it is nice and long, it has lovely gathering on the lower tiers (making you look slimmer, which is always a good thing in my book!), AND the most stylish thing I think is the extra long apron tie that you wrap around and time in the front! Julia Child would be jealous!

And, apron #2:

The Lily Apron
And on the Model:
Don't worry, I'm not put out about it. I really like this one too. Drue had just been taking WAY too many pictures of me trying to "get the right light" in an ill-lit room. 'nuff said.

Anyways, for those of you who will be receiving birthday presents from me this year (and you know who you are) let me know which one you like and your colors. Maybe you'll get one:)

Pulled Pork New Year

Somehow, I just realized that I write a lot about food.

But I like food! I like to make it, write about it, but most of all, I like to eat it.

Here is the delicious delicious DELISH-us indoor pulled pork I made for our New Year's feast. If you remember, last year I tried a Brisket and I failed a Brisket.

I'm not my father.

But this pork was AMAZING. Look at the bark on this:

It just FELL apart. Oh yum.

Plus my homemade honey mustard barbeque sauce and I was in (hog) heaven.

I heart my new Cooks Illustrated Magazine! Thank you Daddy!!!!

Sleep is important, right?

I am at my wit's end.

Literally.

And now am asking for help from the blog community (all 2 of you who actually read this).

Oliver does not sleep through the night.

And not only does he not sleep through the night, he does not sleep for more than 2 hours at a time right now.

Case in point:

LAST night, I woke up with him 9 (thats right, NINE) times. From when he went to sleep at 9:50pm until 7:00 this morning, when James woke all of us up, I was up with him 9 times. How many of you feel fully functioning when the MOST sleep you get at once is an hour and a half?

This is what I've done to encourage sleep:

Grains before bed

Veggies before bed

fruits before bed

juice before bed

water before bed

nurse to sleep

nurse before bed

put to bed awake

put to bed alseep

baby massage

working out toots

spending the last hour before bed on his tummy to encourage gas to escape

bathing

sleeping in a fully dark room

sleeping in a partially lit room (maybe he's scared of the dark?)

Dressing in footies

dressed in onesies

swaddled tightly

swaddled loosely

added a pillow

took it away

Mylicon before bed

and on night when I don't get more than 45 minutes of sleep all consecutively (and thats happed a few times)- tylenol!

I can't think of ANYTHING ELSE to do.

Do you have any suggestions? At all?

-desperately seeking sleep