OMG updates!

It's been so long since I've updated this, but I have been very busy.
here are some updates on previous projects:

knitted blocks haven't worked on these for awhile, oops!
garden: thriving! We ate our first squash the other night! I steamed it with some broccoli and carrots, and then tossed it with olive oil and some fresh parsley (also from the garden)

eating healthy: Also going well. I made vegetable curry two nights ago, yummy! Chili is on the horizon. Tonight maybe some pasta? I must admit to buying a box of captain crunch and going to town on it though. In my defense, it was on the clearance rack at Target, and it's pretty much my favorite cereal. Come on, I deserve it. I also bought a box of organic raisin bran clusters at Trader Joe's. BIG disappointment. I love raisin bran, and I love clusters, I don't know how you can mess up such a delicious combination but they did. It tastes boring, like I'd rather eat dry toast. Ok, not that bad. Also have to brag, Sienna's been eating very healthy lately. I swear, the things I give her to eat sound sooo nasty to me, but she chows down. Kale, beet greens, and spinach mixed with apples and plums and millet and barley cereal? Broccoli and avocado in plain yogurt with wheat germ? Beets and carrots with mango and flax seed? Ew to me, yummy to her. I hope she always eats everything I place in front of her.

motherhood: Well, if I say so myself, I think I'm doing a pretty darn fine job. I love Sienna so much, and she's growing up to be such a smart, fun, and healthy baby. I took her to the Pediatrician today, and she weighs 17 lbs 11 oz. and is 28 inches tall. I'm not too sure on that measurement, it didn't look like the nurse did it right. She's a long and lean girl, just like her parents. Looks like we can hold off on a convertible car seat until her birthday, yay!
I love Sienna, and I love being with her, but sometimes I find myself needing to come back to reality. I get so caught up in emotions, that I have to re focus myself on Sienna and what we're doing. It's the worst when I get annoyed, and I hate to admit it, but it does happen. Sometimes we have those days where nothing goes right, and the baby is crying, and I'm exhausted, and I just want it to stop. I don't want to be angry at her, so I just try and calm down and think about how ridiculous it is to be angry at a baby. It always helps to look into her little face (even if it's red and distorted by screaming and tears) and think about how beautiful and how special she is. I don't blame her for those days we get nothing done and I don't even get to shower. I don't blame her for when I hardly get anything to eat. I just hold her and love her and try to hold onto those moments because when she's older things will be different and she won't depend on me for everything.  I'm rambling now so I'll stop, but Sienna's napping in my lap and it got me thinking about all this stuff.

I have updates about new projects I'm working on, I just need to upload and organize photos first!

How to make delicious tofu

A lot of people are scared to eat tofu. After all, it's a bland, white cube floating in water. But if cooked properly, tofu is delicious, one of my favorite foods in fact. It can be prepared in endlessly various ways, and can be made any flavor or texture you desire.
My new favorite way to cook tofu is to fry it until crispy and then toss with a sauce. It comes out wonderful each time.

Ingredients:
1 lb block of firm or extra firm tofu, pressed for at least 20 mins. (I wrap it in a towel and place between 2 plates, then put a weight on top--usually a few more plates)
A few spoonfuls of flour
Cornstarch
Salt, garlic powder
Sauce as you desire--more on that later.

Mix dry ingredients in a plastic zip top bag. Just enough to coat the tofu. Break the tofu into largeish pieces with your hands. Don't cut it into cubes- it looks unappetizing and the sauce doesn't stick as well. I usually get about 18 pieces per block. Heat some oil in a skillet or wok. Maybe 1/4 inch? Place half the tofu in the plastic bag and toss to coat. When the oil is hot, take out the pieces with your hands and shake off the excess. Cook the tofu in two batches, turning over when golden brown. When the last batch is done, add the rest back in the pan, along with the sauce, stirring until thick. Serve immediately.

Here are some sauce ideas:
-orange juice, balsamic vinegar, garlic, oil
-bbq sauce
-lemon juice, herbs, olive oil
-soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic

It always turns out good!

Project 5: Name Wall Art

I've seen pictures of babies rooms where they have their names spelled out in wooden letters, and I thought that was a cute idea. My first thought was to paint the letters, which in hindsight, I wish I had done because it would have been much easier. But then I thought, it would look nicer if they were covered in paper..
Try covering an S in paper. Not easy. I was working on an art project for school in which I was using modge podge, so I had pretty much everything I needed. They only nice paper to match her room I could find was in a baby boy nursery scrapbook stack.

I've only done the S for now, but I'm hoping that during summer I will finish them.

Each letter will have a different paper. I was trying to decide if I wanted just the top, or top and sides covered, and I decided on top and sides. I think it looks good!

Project updates

It's been awhile! I've been really busy with school. Two weeks left! Time's been going by so fast, I'm trying to catch up, but I'm soo behind on all the stuff I want to do.

Here's how I'm doing on past projects:

knitted blocks:  I have one completely finished! I didn't end up using the velcro because it didn't seem like it was possible. The second one is almost done, I just have to connect the pieces together. Sienna really likes it, it's a little big, but I'm also making some smaller ones that she can stack easier.

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garden: Planted! unfortunately, a lot of my seedlings died when I put them outside to harden up. I started some new ones though. I have three thriving tomato plants, a lot of salad greens, 2 eggplants, 2 basils, and some squashes growing. Also some onion and sunflower seeds sprouted! I can't wait to eat my homegrown food!

Project 4: Baby Journal + status updates

I'm not much of a diary writer, but I love the idea of preserving memories, thoughts, and feelings on paper. (that's kind of what blogs are for!) I have some nice journals that are just not getting used, and I had a good idea a few nights ago on how to use them. I will preface my idea by saying that during pregnancy, I used to go on babycenter.com a lot and they send out emails every week that say how your baby is growing and weekly activities and stuff like that. One week the activity was to write a letter to your baby. I think I was 8 months along when I wrote it. We still didn't know her name, so I wrote Dear Baby. So I decided a few weeks ago that I would continue to write her letters, and give them to her when she moves out. But then a few nights ago, I thought why not write them in a journal? That way they will all be in the same place! So that's the plan. I just keep forgetting to start it!

Here's some updates on previously started projects:
Knitted blocks: I have one completely knitted, one halfway knitted, I just have to cover the blocks with fabric first because the styrofoam is kind of sharp, and then I was thinking of attaching velcro to one side of the knitted cube to make it removable for washing. It's going slow, but I really only have time to do this at school during my lunch break if I don't have homework.

Garden: My seeds are still doing well, I finished all the digging, now I just have to remove the grass and add some compost and I'm ready to plant. This is my slowest going project because someone has to be here to watch the baby while I work.

Eat Healthy: This one's going really well!
Here's some of what we've been eating:

Whole wheat spaghetti with homemade marinara and garlic bread

Peanut padang tofu and veggies with wild rice

Project 3: Eat Healthy

Let me start this off by saying I love food. I love eating, I love cooking, and I really love eating. I'm hungry right now, and I'd probably go get a snack if I didn't have a sleeping baby in my arms. I'm also a vegetarian, and have been for about 4 years. (it's awesome!) But even though I don't eat meat, I don't eat the healthiest diet in the world. I love to snack, and I looove sweets. I could probably eat sweets all day long and not feel sick. I'm pretty sure I've done it too (home alone, summer vacation maybe?).
Anyways, having a baby really got me started thinking about food and setting a good example. Yeah, I know the basics on nutrition already--doesn't mean I follow it most of the time. Sure, I read ingredients and nutrition facts on everything I buy--doesn't mean I won't buy that candy bar or bag of chips. What I needed was motivation: something (or someone) to force me to do better. I'm not saying I had a shit diet before, probably better than a lot of people's, but I definitely have a LOT of room for improvement.

My goal is to eat more fresh, whole foods. I'm kind of stuck on this pasta/stir fry/whatever's in the freezer rotation because half the time I'm too tired to cook a nice meal, but I want that to stop. I need more creativity!
So, I'm going to post pictures of the healthy meals I've been making!

whole grain spaghetti, spinach and cheese ravioli with pesto; cannelini beans with roasted veggies

leftover fajita veggies, spanish rise, sesame spinach with almonds, garlic lemon tofu

Damn, just looking at this food makes me hungry. I woke the baby up because my leg fell asleep and now I can't walk because of the tingles. I guess i'll never get my snack. I really want nachos.... (not healthy!)

As I write this I remember that we're going out for pizza tonight, score! I think i'll postpone healthy until tomorrow. I did a good job yesterday though, I swear! (fruit smoothie and toast for bfast, veggie pesto and hummus sandwich for lunch, and wild rice, veggie souffle and veggies for dinner). Plus, who can resist date night and pizza in one go? Not me.

Project 2: Garden!

I've always loved having a garden. It's so nice to just go outside and pick fresh, ripe vegetables for dinner. And what better for a vegetarian( or anybody) than to have a steady stream of cheap organically grown produce available every day? So, I'm excited for this one. We have a prohibitively small backyard, so the garden is going to take up at least half of it. Eric says I can use the whole thing since we never use it, but it's just too much work right now so I'm hoping to add to it slowly as the seasons pass. With the baby around, I hardly ever get a chance to go out and dig. Consequently, I've been working on it for months and am still not finished and I really need to start planting.
Here's what it looks like so far:

I'll tell you what, digging up sod is a lot of work!
About 2 months ago I started the first batch of seeds in a flat, and one month ago the second batch. Here's how they look now:

Here's what's above:

• crookneck squash
• patty pan squash
• lemon cucumber
• eggplant
• jalapeno
• strawberry spinach
• black krim tomato
• cherry tomato
• yellow pear tomato
• roma tomato
• cherokee purple tomato
• pearson tomato
• basil

Here's what I still have to plant:

• carrot
• bell pepper
• lettuce
• mesclun salad greens
• zucchini
• broccoli
• anaheim pepper

I can't wait for all the fresh veggies! I need to start planting asap because the seedlings are starting to wilt. The little peat pellets are too small, the roots are already coming out the sides. Hopefully this weekend I can get all the grass removed, then its just add some compost, rake, and plant! I'm going to do intensive planting instead of rows.
I bought all my seeds from bountiful gardens a place in Northern California. All the seeds are open pollinated and heirloom and really inexpensive. I bought some and so did my mom and we share.

Project 1: Knitted Blocks

Before Sienna was born I bought a book called Easy Baby Knits, and one of the patterns that really caught my eye was one for knitted building blocks. So I've finally started on them. I've had to adapt the pattern as it calls for 4 inch cubes and I was only able to find 5 inch and 3 inch ones.

my colors

so far I have 5 squares done, and am working on the last side of the first cube! I think I'm going to cover the cube in fabric first because the styrofoam flakes off into these sharp bits that I really don't like. I'm just going to go to the thrift store and buy some big t-shirts for that. I'll update as I get further along!

Intro

I'm Skye, 21 (though soon to be 22), and mama to a beautiful baby girl named Sienna. I don't get much time to myself, but there are many things I like to do when I find the time. Among these are knitting, photography, sewing, gardening, cooking, etc etc. After Sienna was born, it was hard to find time and energy to do anything for myself, but now that she's getting older I'm able to do more. I'm also going to school, so I'm cutting into my study time with me time, but so far it seems to be going well. My goals are to teach Sienna about the beautiful things in life that aren't all about flashing lights and sounds. I want to teach her about the joys of making things with your own hands, and going outside and smelling the fresh clean air and the sweet earth. I really love my life and I want to share all of it with her. Of course, she's only 5 months old, so for now I'm doing all this for me. I want to feel good about the things I've done and make some really awesome stuff in the process.

On to the projects!