Modern WenchCooking, Baking, Gardening, Parenting, Pregnancy, Photos, and Humor. Enough?

I’ve been struggling to lose the last of my baby weight. You see, right before I got pregnant I lost 20 pounds. It was a glorious time, and I was all set to continue down the health path. Then my husband knocked me up and I became a typically ravenous pregnant woman. I gained 65 pounds during my pregnancy. It wasn’t too difficult to lose 45 pounds of that weight in the past 10 months, but that’s where I’m stalled. Right where i was before I lost weight in the first place. The weight I sat at for years. Ugh.

So I joined the YMCA, I’ve been using their gym and pool. I feel healthier and stronger, but still not any thinner. I should be more particular about what I eat, but it’s tough because I love food. I worked out this morning then ate waffles and bacon for dinner. It was counterproductive in the most delicious way. Anyway, this comic is hanging on the lockers above the scale in the women’s locker room. It made me giggle (not cry), so I thought I would share.

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Posted by MW | Posted in Health | Posted on 02-10-2012

Tags: health, Humor, Photos, weight loss, ymca

So I’ve been slacking a bit when it comes to logging our dinners. I’m doing my best, it’s just that accomplishing anything on a regular basis when you’re also parenting a baby is nearly impossible. My husband is tied up in a seemingly never-ending work project, so the baby and I are left to our own devices more often than we usually would be. Anyway, tonight we had a sauteed trio of summer squashes in browned onions, baked kabocha squash, steamed green beans with garlic. For our protein we split a steak.

Since I forgot about blogging last nights meal until just now, here it is:

Last night was a bland crappy pork chop, roasted asparagus, the same trio of summer squashes only not quite as good, and the best potatoes ever. The potatoes really saved the dinner. I’m not going to attempt pork chops with sage and apples anymore.

2 lbs yukon gold potatoes
1 onion
1/3 pound center cut bacon

Slice your potatoes into 1/4 inch thick pieces.

Dice your onions and chop your bacon. Add both to a saute pan with a tiny bit of oil. Over med-high heat saute them until both begin to blacken. Add … Read the rest

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Posted by MW | Posted in Recipes | Posted on 12-01-2011

Tags: Food, Recipe, tonight's plate

In May ago I wrote a review of some dishes I won on a blog contest. I was happy that I won, and looking forward to using the products with my baby. She just started eating solid foods a few months ago, and we’ve been using the baby feeding spoons. They’re great!

I’ve been using small ceramic or glass dishes to feed her from. Last week I decided to pull out the corn bowls so that I could let her try feeding herself applesauce from a bowl. I knew it would be a huge mess, but I wanted it to be a safe mess so I eliminated the glass by enlisting the corn. And then this happened:

That happened while removing the packaging, not even during normal child use. I assumed that being a child’s product that it would be able to stand up to being smacked around. I fully expected my baby to pick it up and smack it on her tray within seconds of placing it in front of her. I’m so glad it didn’t get that far, because those edges are sharp! She would have really hurt herself if she’d been holding that in her hands.… Read the rest

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Posted by MW | Posted in Parenting | Posted on 11-27-2011

Tags: baby, baby food, BPA, health, parenting, review

When I had my child almost 8 months ago, I was completely unprepared. Of course I had a nursery ready for her, I had clothes, and I had diapers to last a year, but once she came out of me none of those things seemed to matter. I had heard about the struggle it is to have a newborn. I had heard about sleep deprivation. I thought I understood, but I really had no idea. Until you live it, there is no way to truly get it. Mo matter how prepared you believe you are, you’ll likely lose all confidence as you’re loading your 3 day old baby into your car in the hospital parking lot. I nearly had a panic attack.

In the frenzied days and weeks that followed, I did more googling than I had ever done before. The collective knowledge of the internet answered hundreds of questions for me, but also left me hanging on some. There were also things I learned along the way that I wish I had known sooner, but had not known to look for. So now I’ll add my admittedly limited knowledge to the vast resource that is the internet.

My newborn … Read the rest

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Posted by MW | Posted in Parenting | Posted on 11-27-2011

Tags: baby, parenting, pregnancy

I have no pictures of the spread. Once again, I failed to snap a shot before everyone dug in. Whatever, though, here’s what I made.

Turkey, slathered in compound butter made with sage, thyme, garlic, parsley, coriander.
Maple-cured spiral cut ham
Mashed yukon gold potatoes
Mashed sweet potatoes with goat cheese and kale
Roasted root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets, onion)
Winter squash soup
Baked kabocha squash
Traditional stuffing
Cornbread stuffing with cranberries
Homemade applesauce
Sweet corn
Roasted asparagus
Green beans with bacon
Cranberry sauce, both homemade and from a can
Cream biscuits
Sweet potato rolls
Gravy

Let me just state that this was way too much food for 8 people. Especially when one of those 8 people is a baby. I blended up some turkey, gravy, asparagus, and corn in my food processor, and my baby loved it. She loved it so much that she dropped the gingersnap she’d been sucking on to eat the turkey slurry.

Everything turned out great except for the cream biscuits. The dough felt very wet, like I didn’t use enough flour. I added more, because it was unworkable. They didn’t really rise, and they came out kind of damp, dense, and doughy. … Read the rest

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Posted by MW | Posted in Parenting | Posted on 11-25-2011

Tags: baby, Food, holiday, NaBloPoMo, Thanksgiving, vegetables

I was let on to a photo assignment by Jennifer over at Bread and Putter. I met her at Big Summer Potluck 2010, and have been enjoying her recipes and wit ever since. I’m the kind of person that works best when on assignment, so I think I’ll be following Scott’s blog and attempting his assignments.

This is an especially easy one to start with, as it doesn’t require me to shoot any new photos. Picking just one favorite from the year my first child was born, however, is not actually so easy. I found out about this assignment late, sadly, and have missed the deadline. Whatever, though, I’m doing it anyway. Hopefully Scott will forgive this transgression, since I’m new to his blog.

So here it is, my favorite photo of 2011. My daughter, 6 weeks old, caught mid-sneeze.

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Posted by MW | Posted in Parenting | Posted on 11-19-2011

Tags: baby, cute, NaBloPoMo, photo assignment, Photos