Fun Facts Friday: Pre-G Birthday Edition

TGIF! And TGIS- Thank Goodness It's Summer!

We are finally having some nice summer weather in Madison. Here are the fun facts for today:

1. G's big 2nd birthday party celebration is on Sunday. Even though I simplified my menu, I still feel like I am spending a lot of time prepping for meals. My parents are coming in to help (thank goodness), but they seem to think lunch is an actual meal. On weekends, we have a tendency to just alternate between snacking on carrots and hummus or egg whites and salsa. Not surprisingly, we also have a tendency to have an early dinner.

2. Because my parents both have an unlimited sweet tooth, I made these to put in the freezer.
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They looked much better on Pinterest. Frozen bananas taste like ice cream so I am hoping they taste better than they look. I made sure to sample all of the ingredients and if the sum is equal to the parts, we are in a good shape. 

3. G has started calling me Big Mom. It's not as cute as it sounds.

4. In other G news, my toddler loves radishes. Isn't that weird? We got some in our CSA and I cut them up to keep in the fridge. On a whim, I gave some to her with some carrots and hummus. She devoured them and kept asking for more. It wasn't until my thirties that I could even tolerate radishes. Wonders never cease. Just goes to show that you can never tell what your kiddo might like.  

5. Sometimes I wish I didn't read labels. I really wanted to just buy some poppyseed dressing to make coleslaw (for my parents' lunch). But every bottle found had sugar as the first or second ingredient. One of them even had high fructose corn syrup as the first ingredient! I just couldn't buy it. I have a recipe that I made for the cookbook that's super easy. It does contain sugar, but at least I know how much is in there. It came together pretty easy and just goes to show that it is really simple to make your own dressing. But sometimes even I am a little cranky about it.

6. I did not make one to-do list this week and it felt amazing. In addition, I got a ton done. I may be done with to-do lists forever.....

7. We went to the pool yesterday and I have a feeling, our summer is going to look a lot like this:

8. So, if you were at a party and they served mini cupcakes (in addition to brunch), would you eat more than one? My mother is convinced that each person will eat 2 or 3 mini cupcakes. Did I mention my parents both have a huge sweet tooth? This is the same woman who also convinced me that I needed to also serve coffee cake. Two coffee cakes.

That is it for this week. Enjoy the summer weekend!

Fun Facts Friday

Hi Folks!

I am going to try to keep this short. I'm actually writing this Thursday as we are leaving Friday for St. Louis for a weekend visit to my brother and his family. 6 hours in a car with a toddler: wish us luck!

Let's just get right into it, shall we?

1. I heard the best description the other day: to-do-list-itis. I suffer from that greatly. It's when your to-do list takes over your sense of self. Add on to that the fact that I think I can do way more than is ever physically possible, I feel defeated at the end of most days. Really trying to work on this. It's so hard because there is so much I want to do, but only so much I can do. Damn Donna Reed for making it look so freaking easy all the time.

2. Yesterday G got stuck in her crib. My mother was here and I learned a very important lesson: my mother is not a good person to have around in an emergency. G was screaming, her knee was completely stuck between the slats and my mother was wringing her hands and tell me that I had to call my husband because we'd have to cut her out of the crib. I don't think my mom realizes that my husband is not a handy man. God love him, it's just not his strength. G was stuck for quite awhile but we finally got her to lay down and we were able to slide her leg out. Everyone involved was traumatized. I think we will be getting her a toddler bed very soon. If I have my say, it'd be next week. We can no longer let her 'cry it out' at night because I'm worried she's stuck.

3. We totally fell off our meal plan this week. First two days went great (so what if one the days was going out to eat?) and then we had the crib incident. Abandoned the meal and we were supposed to use a bunch of the CSA in it. I'm going to try to use the produce in a frittata tonight.  I wonder if there is a condition called CSA-itis.....

4. Been obsessed with beet salads this week. Beets + Goat Cheese + Apple + Sweet Onion + Toasted Walnuts + Balsamic Vinegar + Spinach/Arugula/Sorrel = what I could eat every single day. Thank goodness for Costco where I bought beets, goat cheese, and balsamic vinegar in bulk.

5.  G is such a toddler now. We tried two outings yesterday morning and I wish I could drink because I could have used one. Took her to Barnes and Noble and things were fine until she decided to pull any book she could reach off the shelf as she ran through the store screaming. Rather than take her home (which would have been the right thing to do), I then tried to take her out to lunch with my mom as a belated Mother's Day treat. We were those people: G decided to just stand on her chair and scream. We took turns devouring our food and walking her around the restaurant. It was a nightmare. For the record, it was really out of character for her. So much for my extra special morning with my mom...

6. In happier news, I found some great maternity running/golfing gear!  I got some great tops at Impact Fitness Wear and some great golfing/running skirts at Running Skirts.  I've been really impressed with them and I actually feel kinda cute wearing them. Makes working out just a little bit easier.

7. I discovered three additional bins of maternity clothes in my basement that I forgot I had. It could not have come at a better time. I am moving into the next size of maternity gear and was thinking I would have to do more shopping. I am so thankful for my sister-in-law and best friend as it is almost all of their hand-me-down gear. It's also stuff that I couldn't wear last time because the seasons didn't line up so it feels like new clothes for me.

That's it for me. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Would love to hear a random fact from you about your week. Any adventures? Best discovery of the week?

Parsnip Oatmeal Cookies

This cookie solves two problems: getting your kiddo to eat veggies and using up parsnips. Parsnips are my CSA nemesis. I have a tendency to stockpile them in my fridge. I modified a recipe for some Carrot Cake Cookies (thanks Lexi!) to make these tasty, healthy treats.

Check out the recipe on my other blog: Badger Girl Learns to Cook.