10:47 pm ~ 
Filed Under:
Cooking, Emma & Ava
Oh. My. Gosh.
I made the best beef stew for dinner. I started out with Martha’s Beef Stew recipe but it was very bland when following the directions exactly so I played around with mine. I also did mine in the crock pot since I don’t have a dutch oven (yet). Mmmmm. I don’t mean to toot my own horn but it was the best beef stew I’ve ever had.
I just made out our meal plan for the week. I’ve found that it helps me tremendously to type out what we’re going to have every night of the week. That way, I already have it planned out and I’m way more likely to actually cook. I’ve been trying to cook a lot of new things and so it’s nice to look on the fridge and see the meal plan for the week and know ahead of time what I need to get out for the next day. Used to I would just mentally make a list, go shopping and then come time to cook dinner, I would dig around in the kitchen trying to remember what I was going to make and usually it was frozen, so we would end up going out. I’ve actually come to hate eating out. Now we usually only resort to eating out when I haven’t gone grocery shopping. Good home cooked meals are so much better. What I really need to do now is work on more creative lunches.
I think the girls are ready to try finger foods. We have been giving them little things here and there but it’s sort of starting to get silly when they eat baby food. You can give them a huge bite and they swallow it like it’s nothing and want more. They always try to grab the spoon and when you let them have the spoon they attempt to feed themselves. And they always try to grab our stuff when we’re eating. I think they are ready but I’m always paranoid to start new things. Also, they are wanting to have more baby food and a lot less milk. I guess that is normal…? I’m clueless on the solid food thing. See, I don’t know everything. 
Both girls can sit up now, did I ever mention that? Emma can’t for as long as Ava, but they are getting so good at it. No crawling yet, but almost! They have been saying “dada” for a couple weeks now but it’s just random. They haven’t made the connection between “Daddy” and “dada” yet but I’m sure that’s not far away either. They’re growing up too fast!!! 
One more thing… Emma has been trying so hard to get her foot in her mouth. She finally succeeded last week, and now I can’t seem to keep it out of her mouth! Notice in the previous picture I posted from the same day, her socks were off because they were soaking wet with slobber.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
I generally start with a general recipe too and then alter it to my/our tates. I think it is more fun that way.
I can’t wait until we are ready to have kids so that I can enjoy all these little joys in life.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:06 am
she is just too cute!
February 5th, 2008 at 5:11 am
I was a toe/foot sucker as a baby and ended up being a gymnast for 8 years. I doubt that has anything to do with it though lol. The pictures are still adorable.
Yum, beef stew. Thanks for reminding me to get some awesome recipes for Valentine’s Day. I plan on cooking a large meal for Matt.
February 5th, 2008 at 6:27 am
omg she is soooo adorable i swear!!!
February 5th, 2008 at 7:48 am
I love that photo!!! she is way too cute!
I tried those Cola pork chops that you talked about on your site I believe last week or the week before.. they turned out AMAZING and it was so simple to make. I should start cooking more so I should probably make a meal plan as well!!! Just wanted to thank you for sharing that recipe with us as my family LOVED it!
February 5th, 2008 at 8:25 am
A lot of kids in my mothers and babies group just have whatever their parents are having but chopped up or blended… whatever. I give my kid 5 ounces of milk and a weetabix/formula combination (don’t think you can get them in the US.. basically an adult breakfast cereal you can mix with milk) for breakfast, a 1/2 jar (the big one) of baby food, two small baby yoghurts and a drink for lunch, same for dinner and then 7 ounces of milk before bed time. The back of my formula carton says at 6 months onwards a child should have 6 ounces of forumla a day if they’re on a solid food diet.
For finger foods sliced banana, grated apple and stuff lke that is great to start out on because it’s hard to choke on for your own peace of mind! The nana gets a bit messy tho haha
February 5th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Isn’t it crazy how they can reach their feet into their mouths like that? So flexible!
What did you change on that recipe to make it more zippy?! I’m always looking for more stuff to make in my crockpot!
February 5th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
She is just precious.
I agree about the menu plan… it completely keeps me in line and makes me feel somewhat organized.
February 5th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
How incredibly precious!
February 7th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Awww…I was a toe sucker as a baby, too.