Mommy Juice

Before becoming a mommy I had this amazing idea that I would be able to breastfeed my daughter till she no longer needed my mommy juice. I told people that I would breastfeed if I could and if not, no worries. But I secretly thought I would only breastfeed because it's not that hard, right? Wrong. It was super hard, especially with a 5 week preemie, a disabled husband (he is better now) and a daughter who nursed every 2 hours till she turned 4 months old!  After Delilah turned 4 months she nursed every 2 1/2-3 hours depending on what time of day it was. Then at 4 1/2 months she squirmed away during a mid day nursing session. She continued to do so after 5 minutes on each side for the next few days. At that point I caved and handed her to my husband to feed her formula after she had about 10 minutes of breastmilk - this is the same child that would nurse 50 minutes or more only a week before.

Within a week my baby dropped nursing during the day and only nursed when she woke up, went to bed and in the middle of the night. It just so happened that I went back to work that week.. This past week she dropped her bedtime and morning nursing. She is still nursing in the middle of the night for about 20 minutes before getting a bottle. She has been waking later and later to eat, this morning at 4:45. Soon she will drop that middle of the night feed and I won't have any nursing time with her.

It is bittersweet because I won't have that special time together that only she and I can have while breastfeeding, but now she will have more time eating with other people which is good for her food education. It is bittersweet because I can't say I exclusively breastfeed her, but now I have a little more freedom to go out for longer periods of time without feeling like I am going to burst out of my shirt and I am not a slave to the pump. I don't feel as guilty when I am not the one feeding her.

The best part is that I get my own "mommy juice." I had a nice hot cup of caffeinated heaven this morning and a delicious, long awaited glass(es) of vino this weekend :) And I have more time to cook. Not that much time, as I am still a mommy and working full time. So this weekend I made the best Sloppy Joe out of leftovers from the fridge and pantry. It was so good, I am getting hungry right now!

Mama Lexy's Sloppy Josephine

1 lb any ground meat or meat substitute
1/2 jar leftover pasta sauce (I had leftover dandelion tomato sauce)
a few tablespoons of chili sauce, to taste ( I make my own/ it was leftover from my BBQ rib marinade)
1/2 a red onion, chopped small
1/4 cup brown sugar

burger buns
provolone cheese

After browning the meat in a pan (use oil or spray), add all the ingredients till combined and heated through.
Put a slice of provolone on each side of the bun. Top one side with the meat mixture and cover with the other bun half. The cheese will melt from the meats heat.

This is the first time I made sloppy joe's;  I don't know why it took so long.  It was actually not thought out, hence the leftovers. I originally planned for hamburgers on the grill when I made my weekly menu, but we are out of gas. Not a lot of ingredients and so tasty!

The art of quick cooking

     Having a baby who is reaching new milestones each day and working full-time leaves very little time for anything else- especially one of my favorite pastimes- food! I have had to menu plan so that I can get some cooking done on the weekends and figure out how to cook healthful, flavorful meals in a jiffy during the workweek.
One of my new specialties is my Coconut Chicken. You can substitute many of these ingredients for whatever you have on hand, but here is what I use:

     This is a one pot dish so I use a heavy frying pan with 2" or higher sides that can also go in the oven.  A small dutch oven would work if you don't have that kind of a pan. I pan fry a bunch of organic boneless skinless chicken thighs in coconut oil till they are browned on both sides. Remove the thighs and set aside. Next, saute a small chopped onion with a good chunk of minced ginger for about 4 minutes, till translucent and fragrant (I break off a 2-3" piece at the grocery store and use the back of a spoon to rub the skin off before mincing). Add a can of light coconut milk and fill that can with low sodium organic chicken broth (you are looking for 3 cups of total liquid). When that comes to a boil, add 1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice. After the liquid is reduced by about half (no more than 5 minutes), put the chicken thighs on top of the rice, sprinkle the whole dish with reduced fat, unsweetened shredded coconut and pop in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. When it comes out of the oven I squeeze a lime over it and sprinkle chopped cilantro.

     I keep forgetting, but I have been meaning to add peas to the dish before it goes in the oven. You could switch out vegetable broth for the chicken broth, chicken breasts or tenders for the thighs (but the thighs withstand the long cooking duration on the stove and in the oven best), sweetened shredded coconut (might taste too dessert-like) and any herb for the cilantro. I also started out using Extra Virgin Olive Oil and then grapeseed oil. Both are great, but I bought coconut oil so now that's  what I use. It's super easy and I am going to turn the leftovers into fried rice tomorrow with the leftover BBQ pork ribs and corn on the cob I made tonight!

Happy Eating!!