White Chipotle Chicken Chili

Did everyone enjoy their St. Patrick's Day?

Last year, Mr. Vittles and I took the train into New York City for a party, and even though we left NJ early in the morning, the train was already filled with crazy drunks.

This year.... was a little more low-key for us.  The highlight was probably dressing up Mini Smalls in her St. Patty's Day outfit from my dad & stepmom, which later included some ridiculous green sunglasses.

And while most people were probably making corned beef & cabbage, I was making white chipotle chicken chili.  I do have some Irish in me, but not enough I guess!

The Mini and I have been recovering from a cold so chicken soup probably would've been a better choice for me, but Mr. Vittles and I are really not soup people.  So I figured chicken chili was the next best thing.

Not much other news to report.  As my friend from work (who has a son 2 months older than the Mini) pointed out - every day is like Groundhog Day, and we are probably living parallel lives in separate households.  Get up, take care of the baby, rush to work, rush home, take care of the baby, wash bottles, try to figure out what to eat for dinner, hang out for an hour or so, feed the baby again, and go to bed.

Not exactly setting the world on fire over here!  But I do have some good news.  For one, I did well on my promotional exam at work (that I mentioned I was "preparing" for a few weeks ago).  It turns out I got the highest score of the 70+ people that took it, so I should hopefully be in a good position whenever they announce the openings for my title.

And two - the Mini rolled over from her back to her tummy today!  Mr. V and I were your stereotypical kooky parents on Monday night - we actually sat watching her with the video camera for about 15 minutes because we were sure she would do it then.  (My mother-in-law told us she had been incredibly close at her house, numerous times that day).  But... nothing.  Then today I put the Mini down on a rug in our bedroom, while I made the bed.  I looked away for maybe 10 seconds, looked back and there she was on her tummy!  Go figure.  So no one witnessed it, but it seems she reached a milestone nonetheless.

She will be 5 months old on Monday, I can't believe how times flies.  Everyone said it would, but it still surprises me.  In the meantime, I'm wondering if I should have doubled this chili.  Then we could have eaten it four nights this week, and it would really feel like Groundhog Day :)

White Chipotle Chicken Chili

• 2 C. reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 2 15-oz. cans canellini beans, drained, rinsed & divided
• 2 T. canola oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/4 t. chipotle chili powder
• 1 1/2 t. cumin
• 1/4 t. salt (or to taste)
• 1 4.5-oz can green chiles
• 1 lb. chicken breast, cooked & shredded
• 1/4 C. half & half
• 1/4 C. fresh cilantro, minced

In a food processor or blender, puree 1/2 C. of chicken broth with 1 can of drained & rinsed canellini beans until mixture is smooth.  Set aside.

In large dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onions & cook, stirring until softened (about 5 minutes).  Add garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.

Add remaining 1 1/2 C. chicken broth & can of canellini beans along with chili powder, cumin, salt, green chiles, and chicken.  Bring mixture to a boil (increasing heat slightly if needed) and simmer 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Add reserved bean puree and half & half.  Reduce heat to medium low & cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is heated through.  Stir in cilantro & adjust seasonings to taste.  Serve topped with sour cream and/or cheese, if desired.  Serves 4.

Recipe Adapted from Organic Gardening

Thai Iced Tea Ice Cream

So as I recently said on Facebook... time flies when you're having fun.

(And sometimes even when you're not?)

Four months ago Monday, I was a pregnosaurus, scrubbing our shower and wondering why on earth my stomach hurt so badly.

Fast forward to today, and I have the cutest, wiggliest little munchkin on the planet (though I may be just a tad biased ;)).

I had all intentions of posting this yesterday, but as usual the day got away from me.  I had to bring the Mini to the pediatrician for her 4-month check-up, and then I spent the afternoon 'studying' for a promotional Civil Service test at my job.  (Which, as it turned out, was pointless because the majority of questions were not like a typical Civil Service test... all the exercises I practiced were nothing like the ones on our exam.  Go figure!)

In any event, the Mini & I had quite an adventure at the pediatrician.  We arrived in good spirits (see exhibits A & B below) but the longer we waited, the more antsy in the pantsy we became.

the calm before the storm ... in the pediatrician's waiting room

By the time the doctor arrived, the wheels had fallen completely off.

She screamed through almost the entire check-up, so much so that I could barely hear the doctor.  And THEN, just when I thought I had her calmed down, they gave my little love an oral vaccine... which she proceeded to throw up (along with the contents of her stomach) all over herself and the exam table.

(Words no parent wants to hear: "Hmm... I'll have to ask the doctor what we do now.  I've never had a child do that before.")

<Sigh>

So, Rotavirus... whatever you are... you better stand down, buddy.  We have enough issues to deal with around here.

In other news, I went back to work on February 8, so that's been a bit of an adjustment for the Vittles family... but it seems we're starting to settle into our new routine.  My mother-in-law is the BEST for offering to watch the Mini on her two days off.  I think they've been having some fun, which, let's face it, is what grandmas are famous for.  Gigi knits her adorable sweaters, and they go for walks around the house & listen to 2 Chainz.

(Ok fine, the last part isn't true... but wouldn't it be funny if it was?)

Then the Mini goes to my neighbor two days a week, and I stay home an extra weekday until the end of April.  At that point, she will go to my neighbor 3 days a week.

Amidst all this, umm, excitement, it's been pretty hard to find time to try out any new recipes (let alone take pictures and write.)  But for a while now I've been wanting to create an ice cream that tastes like Thai iced tea, and I decided it was time to finally cross that idea off the list.

I'm happy with the way it came out - the tea flavor is not super intense, but I didn't want it to be overpowering.  Also, the neat thing about this recipe is that you do NOT need an ice cream maker - just a way to whip heavy cream!

But before I leave you, I want to tell you guys about something that happened to me recently (relating to my statement above about finding time to blog) that I think is important to bring up.

A couple weeks ago, I got several emails from other bloggers telling me that fan page on Facebook was posting things from V&B, presumably without permission.  When I went to the Facebook page, I saw they had posted a "status" with a picture from one of my recipes and the entire recipe copied & pasted underneath.  However there was also a link to the original post I wrote, crediting the source as V&B.

They were apparently doing this with a lot of recipes, and bloggers were complaining - so eventually the page was shut down by Facebook and only allowed back up if the page administrator(s) took these things down.

Other bloggers were apparently outraged that their content was being "stolen" (although many of their comments to this effect were apparently removed by the page administrators).  Conversely, fans of the site were blasting bloggers for being oversensitive & thinking that their ideas were new.  They claimed that recipes can't be copyrighted, and anyway there is no harm in sharing recipes.

Now I'll be honest.  I don't know whether or not recipes can be copyrighted, and quite frankly I don't care.  I'm not the blog police, or the internet police.  I do this as a hobby, this is not my job.  In fact, I've probably (unknowingly) broken a few of rules from the Blogger Code of Conduct myself.  And whether it's right, wrong, or otherwise - I do not personally consider someone posting my recipe & photo to be stealing as long as they credit V&B somewhere (which these people did do).

I also understand the point that most "new" ideas are actually recycled.  Someone else has probably already thought of it.  A few times I've been sure I've thought of a totally new combination of flavors, only to do a Google search and find out it's already been done.

Furthermore, 'sharing' is great, and as a blogger I encourage it wholeheartedly.  Pinterest is one of my favorite sites, and that's all about the sharing!

But the thing that really bothered me about this whole situation was that the fans of this Facebook page didn't seem to get the fact that food bloggers spend hours thinking of ideas, testing & tweaking recipes, taking photographs, & writing posts.

Like, I don't just read a recipe somewhere and slap it up on V&B, word for word, with someone else's photo.  As tough as it is to find the time, I still try to blog when I can because I like it... and I take some element of pride in what I post.  Mr. Vittles teases me all the time for using the backspace button too much, but that's because I really do think about what I write.

Yes, blogging is a choice, certainly no one is making me do it.  I made the decision to put my ideas and words out there for others to potentially take.  I also earn a small amount of money from advertisements on the blog (though that was not the case until just about a year ago, and I've been writing almost 3 years).

But in my opinion, none of those things mean that I & V&B don't deserve to be treated with a little respect.

Before the aforementioned fan page was 'reconfigured' to adhere to Facebook's policies, I saw that the post with the V&B recipe had been shared almost 1500 times.  Which means waaay more people than that actually saw it, because not everyone who saw it would bother to share it.  And then you have all the people who in turn saw the shares.  But at the bare minimum... 1500 people got a recipe I wrote & photographed without ever having to take so much as a 5-second look at my blog.

Was this recipe some amazing feat of culinary wonder?  No, absolutely not.  I'm a government worker (as you now know) not a chef.  But since I took the time to make it & put it out there, I just think it would be nice for people to drop by V&B to get it.

And in my mind, that's what it comes down to - being nice.  Having courtesy and respect.  I was sad to see some really nasty comments from fans of the Facebook page, about how bloggers need to "get a life," "stop hiding behind their computers," "stop ruining a good thing," and "realize that everything they post is public property."

Well if I could say anything to those people, it's this:  I do have a life, and it's actually pretty busy.  Yet I still spend my precious free time making & posting recipes so people like you will visit my site.  And while you're here, maybe you'll see something else you'd like to make.  Maybe you'll leave a comment that will brighten my day.  But I can almost guarantee you won't do either of those things if the whole recipe is posted somewhere else, and you already got what you wanted.

(And by the way - if bloggers like me never posted our recipes, you'd have a lot less "old" ideas to share with each other.  Just sayin'.)

But... since it seems the people who made those comments could care less where a recipe comes from, it's unlikely I will ever have the chance to tell them much of anything!

So, my wonderful readers, I instead ask a favor of you -- when you find a recipe on ANY blog, that you like and want to share, please just think before you copy & paste the entire thing on Facebook or in a Pinterest pin.  Instead, consider posting a link so they can visit us.  Maybe we'll get a new friend.  To me, that's what blogging is all about!

As always, thanks for reading & for your support!

Thai Iced Tea Ice Cream

• 1 5-oz. can evaporated milk (2/3 C.)
• 8 black tea bags
• 1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 pint heavy cream (2 C.)
• a few drops each of red & yellow food coloring (optional - this will give it an orange hue like Thai Iced Tea)

Place evaporated milk in a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup.  In 30-second intervals, heat in microwave until steaming, stirring after each.

Place tea bags in hot evaporated milk and steep 5 minutes.  Squeeze out excess milk from tea bags as best you can, and discard bags.

Empty tea mixture into a medium bowl, and mix with sweetened condensed milk until combined.  Add food coloring if desired, and stir until evenly mixed.

In separate large bowl, whip heavy cream until soft-medium peaks form.  Pour tea/milk mixture onto whipped cream, and fold in until mixture is combined & uniform color.

Pour into freezer-safe container, and freeze at least 6 hours or until firm.  Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.

Recipe Adapted from Eagle Brand 

Baked Chocolate Coconut Coffee Donuts

In case anyone was wondering how my 30th birthday shaped up to be (I'm sure you were on the edge of your seat) -- it was great!

It was a little more low-key than going on vacation (as we had planned pre-Mini Smalls) but it was still perfect!  Last weekend I celebrated with all my fellow February B-Day people in Mr. Vittles' family, at his parents' house.  Then on Sunday my dad & stepmom came over for Super Bowl with enough snacks for a small army and also a delicious, homemade chicken parm dinner!

On Monday (my actual birthday) Mr. Vittles had to work but my stepdad & his wife babysat The Mini so we could go somewhere after & sit down for a nice dinner.  They also brought me a fabulous chocolate mousse cheesecake (which turned out to be the THIRD birthday cake I enjoyed - yeah that's right, don't hate!)

You probably think it ends there.  But noooo.

This past weekend, my mother & father-in-law watched The Mini for a night while we continued the festivities out west in Lambertville, NJ.  Mr. Vittles planned for us to stay over in a really cute old hotel there, and we went to a great restaurant over the bridge in New Hope, PA.  It was awesome to do "couple stuff" for a night!

I heart us :)

So anyway, Valentine's Day is this week and I thought it was time to honor another couple I heart...

Coffee and coconut!

As I've mentioned previously, the discovery of Coconut Iced Coffee at Dunkin' Donuts was a life-changer for me.  I do not know who came up with this holy marriage of deliciousness, but I hope that today finds this person very, very rich and successful.

Now in my opinion, baked donuts are more like cake than traditional donuts.  So really this is like eating chocolate cupcakes with coconut coffee frosting for breakfast.

(If that sounds like a problem to you, you should probably leave this blog.  Immediately.)

But if you're still here - I heart you too.   Happy Valentine's Day, hope you enjoy it!


Baked Chocolate Coconut Coffee Donuts

Donuts:

• 1 C. flour
• 1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 1 t. instant coffee granules
• 1 T. water
• 1/2 C. low-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 C. packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 T. melted butter
• 1 t. vanilla extract

Glaze/Topping:

• 1 C. confectioner’s sugar
• 1 T. melted butter
• 2 T. half & half (or cream or milk)
• 1 t. instant coffee 
• 1/2 t. coconut extract 
• 1/2 C. toasted coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat mini donut pan with non-stick cooking spray. (If you do not have a donut pan, you can also use a mini muffin tin).

In small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt to combine.  In very small bowl, mix water with instant coffee granules to dissolve.  Then add to large bowl with buttermilk, sugar, egg, butter, and vanilla.  Whisk to combine.  Add dry ingredients to wet and whisk until batter is smooth.

Spoon batter into a large resealable plastic bag. Cut a little bit off of one corner and squeeze batter into prepared mini-donut pan, about 2/3 full.  Bake for about 6 minutes, until donuts spring back when lightly pressed.  Allow to cool in pan 2-3 minutes before carefully turning out donuts onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with remaining batter (unless you're really cool and have two mini donut pans?  I'm not that cool.)

In a very small bowl, combine the half and half with coffee granules and mix until dissolved.  In a medium bowl, stir coffee mixture into confectioner's sugar, melted butter, and coconut extract until consistency is thick.

Dip cooled donuts into glaze and top with toasted coconut.  Return to rack to dry, or serve immediately.  Makes 24 mini donuts

Recipe Adapted from Shutterbean (who originally adapted from Full Circle Magazine)

Molasses Cake

So in less than two weeks I'm turning the big 3-0.

If you're rolling your eyes & saying "Seriously? 30 is not old," relax.  I'm not about to tell you that I'm upset I'm turning 30, because I'm not.

However, when I hit certain 'milestone' ages, it does make me think back to my younger self imagining this age.

For example, I remember when I turned 21 and how different it was from what I pictured 21 to be years before.

Like... I didn't imagine myself sitting at the bar with my dad in New York City.  But that's how it turned out.

I was doing an off-campus study at NYU at the time, and I had just gotten to school only a week or two before.  I had made a couple of friends in the same program, and the three of us went out to dinner.  (It also happened to be Restaurant Week so we got a really nice meal on the cheap).

However, we didn't know each other that well yet - so when they told me they had schoolwork to do & couldn't go out after, I believed them.

And proceeded to call the only other people I knew in NYC - my dad & stepmom.

Meanwhile... my new friends fully intended to 'party' with me despite the fact that it was the middle of the week, and were wondering where I disappeared to.  But it wasn't until the next day I found out it was all a joke.

Oh well!  Don't get me wrong, I still had fun, just saying it's not how I imagined turning 21 to be.

I can also tell you that around that same time, I thought 30 was old with a capital O.

And L and D.

Now "earmuffs" Dad and Mr. Vittles, but when I was in college I had a taste for the older fellas.  I went to a really small school in Florida where I got an excellent education but had a very bizarre social life.

Think 'Land of the Misfit Toys' and I was there with all my working parts.

I wasn't a hippie, I wasn't into Dungeons & Dragons, I wasn't LGBT, I wasn't a Marxist - I was just Maggie from Point Pleasant Beach, NJ.  And even though I was OK with that, it seemed like no one else was.

Either that, or I was just totally invisible because I had nothing edgy to "define" myself.  I would see people from my classes at parties, and half the time they didn't even realize I went to school with them.  I can honestly say more people recognized me at my best friend's college an hour away than at my own.

Luckily, early on I found two other girls who felt the same way, and we became fast friends.  One of them, Natalie, became my off-campus roommate until we left school.  The fact that we all felt a little out of place led us to befriend more people away from school (or as we called them, Townies)... and often the Townies we befriended were much older.

First, I started dating the owner of the ice cream shop where I worked.  He was 7 years older.

Then the gaps seemed to get progressively larger, until I finally reached 10 years.

(Or... so I thought I reached 10 years.  But nothing ended up happening.  Read on.)

Through a friend of my roommate's boyfriend, I met this guy who was 30.  One night we were all out in a group, but he & I hit it off, so he asked me out on a date later that week.

I was... tripping.

Not because he was especially good-looking or successful or anything, but because I was shocked that someone at the ripe old age of 30 would be interested in little 20-year old me.

On the days leading up to our date, I fretted about seeming too immature.  This guy had already been married & divorced, had a regular job, paid his own bills.... etc etc.

I worked part time scooping ice cream, and watched Maury every afternoon on one of the 5 channels we got without buying cable, in an apartment that my dad and my roommate's mom paid for.

In other words, the only thing we really had in common was breathing oxygen.  What in the hell were we going to talk about?

Well let me tell you.

Our fabulous date consisted of me driving myself to a coffee shop, where he had been waiting and already purchased himself a cup of coffee.  Once I then purchased my OWN coffee, we walked up to the beach to watch the sunset.

Where he proceeded to tell me he wasn't looking for a serious relationship and just wanted to have fun.

Which was FINE, I mean hello I was 20 - not looking to get married here.  What he was too dumb to figure out is I was looking for the exact same thing.  But even I had the sense to know you don't make a statement like that within five minutes of a first date.  Some things just don't need to be spoken, and only serve to dampen the mood.

Also on that list is telling the other person you just want to hook up with them... and asking what type of panties they are wearing?  And then trying to make out before you've talked for more than 5 minutes.

Umm... excuse me.  I may have been 20, but I was not born yesterday.  Sunset Beach Makeout Party could have been a reality for my new friend if he had just shown a little respect.  (Clearly I was not the one who should have been concerned about seeming immature.)  So I not-so-politely told him where to go, and stormed off - with him running behind calling me names, then asking if we could 'start over again.'

And on that day, I realized that with age does not necessarily come wisdom.  Perhaps 30 was not so old and sophisticated as I thought?

Now, at 30, I pay my own bills.  I'm married.  I've been at the same full-time job for 5 years.  I own a home.  I have a child.  I have an accountant.  I have a living will.  I am planning for retirement.

I make molasses cake and blog about it, for God's sake.

For all intents & purposes.... I am old with a capital O, L, and D.

But most times I still feel like that 20 year-old college kid.  I wonder if anyone ever has Life figured out?  Probably not.

So for now... whether it's old or not... I'm just going to enjoy being 30.  I'm going to enjoy being married, and having a job, and being a mom, and owning a home.  I'm going to enjoy planning for retirement - when I can look back on this time in my life and say "HA! Remember how I imagined retiring to be? Silly 30 year-old Maggie."

Until then... let's all leave this business of figuring out Life to another day and just enjoy some molasses cake.

P.S. This is delicious but intense - so if you are not completely in love with molasses (like myself), you might consider perusing the recipe annals of V&B for something more suited to your taste!

Molasses Cake

• 1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 3/4 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground ginger
• 1/4 t. ground cloves
• pinch salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 C. (1 stick) salted butter, melted
• 1 C. molasses
• 1/2 C. hot water
• 1 t. pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease or spray an 8x8 baking pan with nonstick spray, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt.  Set aside.

In a separate large bowl, whisk together egg, melted butter, molasses, hot water, and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and whisk (or beat) until smooth, scraping down sides with a rubber spatula if necessary.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 28-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack, slice, & serve warm and/or topped with powdered sugar or whipped cream.  Serves 9.

Recipe adapted from Just A Pinch

Smoky Black Bean & Bacon Chicken Chili

So I'm not gonna lie to you guys- this mom stuff is tough!

Especially when your little monkey is having digestion issues like ours.  We ended up having to take Mini Smalls to a pediatric gastroenterologist when we found out that in addition to her milk protein intolerance, she has a bad case of reflux.

The poor little muffin has not been able to get through a meal without stopping frequently and crying.  You can tell when the Tummy Gremlins are acting up - she is happily eating away when suddenly she stops, goes completely stiff & arches her back, then starts wailing.

With all the stopping & starting, it takes an hour or more for her to eat - so by the time she gets just a few ounces in her, she is usually exhausted and falls asleep.

But in addition to feeling absolutely horrible for her, I must admit I've been feeling pretty badly for myself.

As the Grinch would say "Oh the noise, noise, noise, noise, NOISE!"  All that crying can really get under your skin, especially when it is happening so frequently & there is nothing you can do to soothe the little critter.  Which is a huge contributor to my stress as well - our little girl is in pain, and as of yet there has not been a damn thing we've been able to do to stop it! Sooo frustrating.

By the time Mr. Vittles gets home from work, I've had it up to here with the crying, barfing, diaper changes, bottle-washing, and laundry.  Close to going off the deep end, cooking is usually the furthest thing from my mind.

Don't get me wrong, I knew motherhood would not be easy; but I had been imagining my maternity leave to be a bit more peaceful than it's been.  I want so badly to enjoy my time with my daughter, but in truth that's been very challenging at times - and I now go back to work in less than a month.

Ugh!

So this past week, we were having some beautiful weather & I decided to get out of the house and bring the Mini to a place that always makes me feel better - my hometown of Point Pleasant Beach.   And more specifically, the inlet (a waterway where the nearby Manasquan River meets the ocean).  Growing up I spent a lot of time hanging out there with my friends, and I would often take walks there alone to clear my head.

Luckily, this week it had the same effect on me that it had when I was a teenager.  As I pushed Mini in the stroller along the road that parallels the river (called Channel Drive) and up to the point that looks out over the inlet to the town of Manasquan, my exhaustion floated away and I felt content.

Along the way, many happy memories came flooding back.  I thought about climbing on the jetty as a middle-schooler, and writing "I love so & so" on the rocks.  We were all warned by our parents not to play on the rocks, but naturally we did it anyway.  And at the time, you had to swing out over the water around this fence to get to one part (that was always the scariest) but it never stopped us!

I also thought about the time that, right before we left for college, my best friend Lauren and I schmoozed our way to the very top of the Coast Guard station... only to be "propositioned" by a creepy officer more than twice our age.  (Almost twelve years later, the guy is still stationed there - I actually saw him!)

I thought about all the hours we spent in the car in the parking lot of the inlet, when we were home from college - we would go there after a party or bar-hopping to recap the events of the night.  "OMG, can you believe what he said about her???"  Ain't no drama like 21 year-old drama!

I also thought about when, four years ago this March, Mr. Vittles brought me out to the jetty and made me the happiest woman alive by asking me to marry him.

And then I thought that, someday, Mini will have such funny & happy memories.  (Hopefully not of creepy men trying to get in her pants, but ... yeah, probably those too.)

And I realized that my mother-in-law is so right when she says that 'this too shall pass.'  It's just a phase.  Our trip to the specialist has brought me hope that we can get these issues under control, and either way she'll eventually grow out of them as her system matures.  She won't cry & cry forever.

And someday I will wish I could return to these days, when she was tiny like this again.

When the slightest smile between those chubby little cheeks could light up my morning.

When she didn't mind that I covered her perfect face in about a million kisses every day.

When she could wear a bear hat and hold up her little fist of fury and melt my heart.

It really put things into perspective for me.

Later that day, when Mini was down for a nap, I talked to Lauren ("Hey, remember the time we...?")

We talked for almost two hours straight while I made this chili.

And all felt right with the world again :)

Smoky Black Bean & Bacon Chicken Chili

• 1 T. vegetable oil
• 1 large red onion, finely chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 lb. lean ground chicken
• 1 T. + 1 t. chili powder
• 1 t. ground cumin
• 1 3/4 t. smoked paprika
• 1 T. dried cilantro (or more, if using fresh) 
• 1/4 t. cayenne pepper (or to taste)
• 1/4 t. salt (you can add more later to taste, but the bacon & broth are salty)
• 1 14.5-oz. can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 C. low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 t. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 1/3 C. cooked, finely chopped or crumbled bacon
• 1 14.5-oz. can black beans (undrained)
  

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, heat oil.  Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 4 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook 1 minute.

Increase heat to medium-high and add ground chicken; break it up with a wooden spoon and stir gently until it loses its raw color, 6 to 8 minutes.

Stir in spices and salt and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, Worcestershire, brown sugar, and bacon - bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover partially, and cook 30 minutes.

Add beans and cook 10 minutes, uncovered. Season to taste with additional salt and/or freshly ground pepper if desired. Serve warm.  Serves 4

Recipe adapted from myrecipes.com (originally Sunset Magazine, January 2007 issue)

Goodbye, 2012...

Happy New Year, everyone!

I don't know about you guys, but for the Vittles Family 2012 was quite a year!

We endured Hurricane Sandy.  We bought our first house.  We had our first baby.

We got through January, February, and March without any snow.

(Ok, maybe not that eventful to you, but very much so to me.)

And along the way, I made some awesome recipes (if I do say so myself).  Some were old favorites, some were new & exciting.

Some... were not so great & never made it onto the blog.  But that's ok - trial & error my friends.  Not everything is a winner!

However, on this first day of 2013... whilst my husband is napping on the couch beside me and the Mini is a-snooze in her bed... I thought I would recap my top 5 favorites from 2012.

Enjoy, and all the best to you in the coming year!

Cheesy Bacon Oven Chips with Chipotle Ranch Sauce

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Frozen Peanut Butter Cup Pie

Raspberry Lemonade

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars

Cranberry Spice Infused Vodka

Ok so how is it nearly Christmas already?

I know I always say how time is flying, but seriously... nothing makes the time go faster than taking care of a baby!

Which is kind of funny considering every day is like Groundhog Day.  Basically they sleep, eat, poop, repeat... and inevitably your day is centered around that.  Nothing new to the moms out there, but to anyone who doesn't have kids yet - yes, it's really true.  Of course there is some slight variation, but essentially every day is the same.

The first few weeks are SUPER rough (or at least they were for me) and you think "Oh I'm home from work, I should be doing so much stuff."  And then you do none of that stuff, because it's amazing how time consuming sleeping, eating, pooping & repeating can actually be!

However, life is starting to mellow out in the Vittles household and before I know it, I'll be back to work.  And probably crying that I won't see my little monkey all day... and that she's growing up & changing so fast. (Yes I know she's only 8 weeksold,  but when it's YOUR baby they really do change incredibly quickly).

Speaking of Miss Mara.... I do have to take a moment to brag about how stinkin' cute she is. Check out a few of her professional pictures I mentioned last post (by Sarah Fuller, of Purple Circle Photography):

2012 Sarah Fuller

2012 Sarah Fuller

2012 Sarah Fuller

FYI, my mother-in-law knit her that fabulous stocking (may as well brag about that, too, while I'm at it!)  And yes... it is actually big enough for her to fit in.  Santa will have his work cut out for him filling that bad boy!  Thanks Gigi :)

In any case... since things are calming down, I've had a chance to make some of my homemade gifts for friends & family.  My favorite this year is this Cranberry Spice Infused Vodka.

I'm not much of a drinker, but I'm still kind of a sucker for all those flavored liquors that seem to be cropping up at the store.  At Thanksgiving I saw a pumpkin spice liqueur that I wished I could drink (and now I could, but let's face it, Pumpkin Spice is spent til next year).

So when I saw an idea in Country Living magazine for infused vodka, I started searching for other interesting recipes.  I came across one for the Cranberry Spice on About.com, and changed it slightly to suit the containers I bought.  (If you're wondering, I bought 16 oz. swingtop glass 'flask' bottles, and made labels on my computer - the below recipe was enough to fill two bottles.)

Super fun for the holidays!


Cranberry Spice Infused Vodka

• 32 oz. vodka
• 1 1/2 C. fresh cranberries
• 8 whole cloves
• 1 whole nutmeg, cracked
• 1 whole vanilla bean, cut in half
• 1 1/2 sticks cinnamon, cracked
• 9 whole allspice berries, cracked

Place cranberries & spices in the bottom of a large pitcher or container (I used a large, widemouth mason jar with a lid) and pour vodka over them. Cover & let steep 3 days, then strain & discard berries/spices.  Place liquor in decorative containers, if desired.

Recipe Adapted from About.com

Chocolate Peanut Butter Breakfast 'Cheesecake'

At my shower, my mother-in-law gave me the fabulous gift of a newborn photo session for the baby.  The original photographer's studio was unfortunately ruined during Sandy, so she had to schedule with a new one & we had the shoot at my in-laws house yesterday.  (BTW- considering the fact that Mara is no longer a sleepy, pliable newborn it went surprisingly well.  I am SO excited to see the pictures!)

The photographer is a mother of two children (3 and 5 years old) and one of her first questions for me was, "How are you adjusting?"

My immediate answer was "Good!" with raised eyebrows & a happy little smile.

And I realized right after I said it... that's not true at all.  (And she probably knew it!)

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that having a baby is not the most incredible thing in the world.

Every day I look into the eyes of this adorable little person and think, "Holy crap.  We created her."

But I'm not gonna lie... this mom business is exhausting.  "Adjusting" to not sleeping and spending your days & nights tending to an extremely needy little critter is no easy task!

As a person who functions best with about 8 hours of sleep per night, six weeks of catnapping is really not cutting the mustard.  (Also I would just like to say for the record that the next person who tells me "Sleep when the baby sleeps!" is taking their life in their hands.)

It was also not helping matters that our munchkin was having terrible gas pains that were making her miserable.  Sleep, eat, cry, repeat - this was how it went for weeks.  We tried everything to help her, even the pediatrician was out of ideas.  Then my dad pointed out that as a wee Maggie, I too cried all the day long.  Eventually they discovered I had a sensitivity to lactose.  He said my mom had to stop breastfeeding & switch to a soy formula, and then I was "a very different baby."

At Mara's one-month checkup, the pediatrician noticed the gas situation right off the bat, and actually told me to avoid dairy... (and vegetables... and anything else that might potentially be gas-producing.  Which is, like, everything under the sun.)

Like a good little mommy I tried to avoid it but a) it's in sooo many things you don't even realize, and b) telling me I can't have dairy is like telling me I can't breathe air.  I pretty much live for cheese and Greek yogurt.

So after a week of us BOTH being absolutely miserable, I called the pediatrician back and said nothing I had tried was helping.  She was fresh out of ideas, so I started doing some poking around on the internet about lactose sensitivity.  As a last resort, I decided to try two days of strictly hypoallergenic formula - and lo and behold we had a much calmer and more pleasant Mara.

So, long story longer... I'm not sure she'll be enjoying any 'breakfast cheesecake' anytime soon?  Especially not of the peanut butter variety.

But at least I can again.

 :) :) :)

Please note:  This is a breakfast, not dessert.  So don't expect the ingredients below to magically morph into a 1,000-calorie slice of heaven from The Cheesecake Factory, ok?  It still beats a a bland bowl of oatmeal any day!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Breakfast "Cheesecake"

• 1 6-oz. container plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
• 3 T. creamy peanut butter
• 2 t. honey
• 1 1.76-oz package chocolate BelVita breakfast biscuits (4 biscuits), crushed

Mix yogurt with peanut butter and honey in a small bowl.

Reserve a bit of the crushed biscuits for topping, then divide remaining crushed biscuits between 2 separate, small serving bowls/cups.  Top each with half of yogurt mixture, then reserved biscuit crumbs.  Serves 2.

Original Recipe

Red & Green Striped Sugar Cookies (and a Giveaway!)

Is it seriously December already?

Time is flying, I can't believe my little munchkin is almost 6 weeks old & I feel like she has already changed so much!

Living up to her nickname of Mini Smalls, so far she takes after her mommy in a few regards.  For one, she likes her sleep.  (Sadly, she enjoys sleeping in the day a little more than the night, but hey it's a work in progress).  

Two, she loves to eat!  She was a peanut at birth but now (as my brother-in-law would say) she's getting her 'man weight.'  At her 4-week checkup, she was up to 9 pounds and 21 inches.  The pediatrician actually told us we can't let her eat so much at each feeding- ha!  When she's awake, all she wants to do is eat and even when she's asleep you can tell by her mouth movements she's dreaming about eating.

Ugh, truly a girl after my own heart.

Now if only she could have solid foods, I bet she would LOVE these sugar cookies with her milk.  (Santa would probably love them too.  Just sayin'.) 

Which brings me to my next point - I am excited to introduce my second promised guest, Amy of Yummi Yogi   We have actually never met in person, but she is a friend of a friend of a friend (!) who contacted me a couple months ago about doing a giveaway on V&B.

Yummi Yogi is company that makes cookie cutters in the shape of yoga poses - so cute, right?

Call me a nerd, but to me this is one of the coolest things about blogging.  You get to 'meet' so many amazing & interesting people that you might not have otherwise come in contact with!

Anyway, not only was Amy kind enough to giveaway of one of her designs to a lucky V&B reader, she also shared her recipe for these super fun striped sugar cookies AND a peek into her life via the interview below.  

Please check out her online shop for any yoga (and baking!) lovers on your Christmas gift list.  Or maybe for yourself... don't be shy now ;)

To enter the cookie cutter giveaway-- now through December 16, 2012, just leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite holiday recipe or tradition.  I will randomly choose a winning comment, and that person will receive one of Amy's adorable cookie cutters!  Easy peasy! (Please  just make sure there's a way for me to contact you in your comment in the event you are the winner.)

Interview with Amy from Yummi Yogi

Please tell us a little bit about your family and the area where you live.

I have a beautiful new 10 month old baby girl, Elle Ruby and I married my soul mate, Dennis but I call him Dube (Doobie) which is our last name. (long time nick name for him) We reside along the coast of NJ. I love our area and to be able to see the water everyday if we choose to is so refreshing. Especially in the summer for beach yoga :)

How did you get started doing yoga, and how long have you been practicing?

I started yoga over 5 years ago searching for more activities to do after the company I was working for closed down. I was familiar with yoga from my childhood friends growing up but never practiced when I was younger. I thought I would try different classes at my club/gym and after I walked into my first yoga class I never stopped! 

What do you enjoy most about the hobby?

I feel very connected to yoga and love how it encompasses your mind and body off the mat as well. It is challenging which I like and it helps me stay focused. There’s always something new to learn that is why it is called a practice, it will never be perfect and I love that. You can express yourself on the matt and let your mind go which is not easy for a lot of people to do. I wish everyone can experience it. And I’ve met some really amazing people through yoga.

What were some of the things that were most important to you to include in your business model? 

I not only want to reach yoga studios with this product but to be able to grow the business into health food markets as I really enjoy the life style of healthy eating/living and also to children. Both through kids yoga schools/groups etc., and also with kids eating healthy, very important to me!

I am also interested in helping my retailers grow their business. So I provide a free marketing service to them. I try to provide merchandising ideas for selling the cutters and also help promote their business events etc., through my platform of social media. I am a small business and hope to help other small business grow too. 

What advice would you give to someone interested in starting their own business?

That it is possible! I believe organization is a key factor to being successful. Take your time, think everything through and go for it! If you have a true passion for something you won’t mind putting the time and energy into your business because it is so rewarding.

What are some of the biggest challenges of being a business owner?  Most rewarding aspects?

For me at this stage in my career, it is the time management now that I am also a mom and have my own business. I have a strong support system with my family that I am grateful for but it is very challenging! I love what I do and I also love being a mom :)

The reward from a business aspect is that I am proud of myself that I have come this far and that I am positive about what the future holds for Yummi Yogi. Each day I grow and learn more and more. I love that the customers & followers really respond positively to what I am doing which makes me happy as well. I also love that I can be creative with the cookies and also from the marketing perspective too. I do every part of my business from designing the cutters, assembling the cutters, to slapping on the shipping labels and also marketing my business and creating the website.

How did you become interested in cooking/baking, and which do you prefer?

I love to cook and explore all types of styles. My favorite is Indian. I don’t eat meat but do eat fish on occasion. Baking is something that I have grown up with especially during the holidays, it is tradition to make a plethora of cookies and give them away as gifts. I like to bake because I can be creative in a visual way with decorating etc., however cooking is being creative with your ingredients which is fun too!

Where do you like to go to find inspiration on recipes and different ways to use your products?

I love to see what others are coming up with in the kitchen. For cooking I usually take bits and pieces of different recipes and mold them into my own. For baking, I don’t always look at baking recipes but just seasonal inspirations and then try to incorporate it into using the cookie cutters, like the corn bread and chilli for example. I love pinterest and food blogs for ideas too.

What are some of your family’s favorite holiday traditions & foods?

I grew up with both my parents having polish parents so there was a lot of pierogies and cabbage! At Easter we always would dye eggs and before our Easter Brunch everyone at the table would take a decorated egg out of the basket and usually one of the kids starts by turning to their neighbor and “bang” eggs. Who’s ever egg got cracked loses that round. And it continues around until there is a winner or crackless egg :) We still do this today. 

Christmas was all about the cookies! From Kruscyki’s to anise cookies to name a few.

I hope to carry on my family traditions and also create a few new ones of our own too. I think it’s important for the kids to have that and now as an adult I really appreciate it. 

Thank you to Amy for sharing her story & talent with us!  Now... get to commenting so you can win one of these cuties for yourself!

Striped Sugar Cookies

• 1 lb butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 C. sugar
• 5 C. sifted flour
• 2 t. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• red & green food coloring

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla & mix well.  On low speed, add one cup of flour at a time & mix until incorporated.

Divide dough in half and place into 2 bowls.  Mix green food coloring into one bowl to desired shade.  Mix  red food coloring into other bowl to desired shade.  Wrap each ball of dough in plastic and flatten with a rolling pin.  Refrigerate for 2 hours, then preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place a new piece of saran wrap on a flat surface.Cut a 1”x 6” strip of red dough and place on the new piece of saran wrap. Repeat with green dough and place green strip next to red strip. Continue this process until there is enough dough to fit a Yummi Yogi™ cookie cutter. (Approx. 5” x 5”).  Gently roll dough again to join strips, then place dough in freezer 5 minutes.

Cut dough with cookie cutter and transfer to a greased cookie sheet or a non-stick baking mat. Gently press dough out of cookie cutter onto sheet and bake in preheated oven 10-14 minutes.  Cool briefly on sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.   

Family Recipe & Cookie Photos Courtesy of Amy Dube, Yummi Yogi™

*Note:  I did not receive any compensation for this post, only one product to give away.  All opinions are my own.

Pumpkin Tiramisu

Today I am excited to introduce to you a good friend of mine, Pauline.  Pauline is married to one of Mr. Vittles childhood friends, Bryan, and over the years she and I have found we have a lot in common - particularly a love of cooking & baking!  She is a middle school English teacher, so she also happens to be a great writer.  She has always been a wonderful supporter of V&B and I am honored to have her guest post.  She's been kind enough to share not only a special Thanksgiving recipe with us, but also a peek into her holiday traditions.  So a big thank you to Pauline, and a Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Thanksgiving is a bittersweet time for me both literally and figuratively.  The sweet part is that Thanksgiving is a holiday that symbolizes my two favorite passions…family and cooking!  I love the shades of amber and scarlet leaves, I love the flavors of nutmeg and pumpkin, I love the sounds of neighbors of all ages playing touch-football in their yards, and the scent of thyme and mirepoix sautéing in preparation for stuffing.  On the other hand, the bitter part is that my job prohibits me from ever hosting my own Norman Rockwellesque Thanksgiving. On top of enduring an hour commute each way, I am a teacher and have 80 parent conferences the days and nights leading up to the holiday.  It is exhausting.   In addition, my husband and I travel from New Jersey to Queens, New York and battle at least three hours of white-knuckle driving in order to celebrate with 45 members of  his side of the family.   It is well-worth the drive, and I love that his family’s tradition has become my tradition;  however, it presents me with a conundrum. 

What do I bring to Thanksgiving dinner that does the following:

• is not time-consuming
• travels well
• does not require me to use an oven or do any preparation in someone else’s kitchen
• reflects the elegance of the holiday and stands out in a crowd of golden homemade pies

The answer… pumpkin tiramisu.

Pumpkin Tiramisu

The basic version of this recipe appeared in Bon Appetit in November 2006.  I made major changes in the ingredients and measurements.  This recipe must be made 1 day ahead of time, which makes it perfect for Thanksgiving.  I serve it in a glass trifle dish because you can see the layers and colors.  The quantities below will fit your basic trifle dish.  However, you can use any deep serving dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ cups chilled whipping cream
• 1 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar
• 12 ounces of mascarpone cheese (it comes in 8 oz. containers)
• 22.5 ounces canned pumpkin (I prefer Libby’s Pure Pumpkin, and it comes in 15 oz. cans)
• 1 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 packages of halved, soft ladyfingers  (24 total) *
• ¼ cup of Frangelico (It is a hazelnut liquor)
• 1 bag of Gingersnap cookies (I prefer Archway and crush them in a Ziploc bag with a hammer)
• 1 bag of toffee bits or Heathbar bits (found in the baking aisle)

Preparation:
1)      Beat whipping cream and sugar until soft peaks form.  Add mascarpone cheese, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice; beat just until filling is smooth.
2)      Line bottom of trifle dish with one layer of ladyfingers (crowd them in and cover the bottom).
3)      Lightly brush ladyfingers with Frangelico.  Air on the side of caution.
4)      Spread about ¾ cup-1 cup of pumpkin filling over ladyfingers.
5)      Cover filling with a thin layer of crushed gingersnap cookies and toffee bits/Heathbar bits.
6)      Repeat layering (ladyfingers through toffee bits/Heathbar bits) until you reach the top of the trifle dish.  The final layer should be the gingersnap cookies and toffee/Heathbar bits).
7)      Cover tightly, and refrigerate overnight.  Serves 8.

*Note:  Lady fingers vary in quantity by brand.  I prefer the soft ladyfingers because it is easier to layer in a round trifle dish.

Apple Crumb Pie

***If you can find it in your hearts, please help the victims of Hurricane Sandy by making a donation to the Red Cross... every little bit helps!***

So if there's one thing I've learned recently, it's that your world can be turned upside down in a matter of weeks.

Just for kicks, let's look at a little timeline, shall we?

• Monday, October 22, 2012: First day of Maternity Leave (23 days prior to my due date)
• Thursday, October 25, 2012: Mara Melissa is born at 37 weeks at 2:44PM - 6 lb, 7 oz, 19 inches
• Saturday, October 27, 2012: We are discharged from the hospital at 12PM
• Monday, October 29, 2012: "Superstorm Sandy" hits the Jersey Shore - we lose power around 7PM
• Thursday, November 1, 2012:  Mara is admitted to the hospital with jaundice
• Friday, November 2, 2012: Mara is discharged from the hospital
• Saturday, November 3, 2012: We drive to my hometown of Point Pleasant Beach to see the damage, and return home that evening to find our power has been restored
• Monday, November 5, 2012: Mara has her first pediatrician visit and is now 6 lb 10 oz - the doctor is very happy with her progress
• Wednesday, November 7, 2012: Nor'easter brings 7 inches of snow to our area, and we lose power again

So essentially, I went from being giddy about my last day of work and making freezer meals & apple crumb pie to being a stressed-out vampire.

For those of you that are interested... let me take it back to the beginning.  Warning: I am a proud, new mama and I happen to have a lot of stories to tell at the moment - so for those of you just here for the apple crumb pie, I hear you, see recipe at the bottom ;)

Anywho... Thursday morning of October 25, I woke up very early with some pesky abdominal cramps.  I thought maybe I was finally experiencing those Braxton-Hicks contractions I kept hearing so much about.

But as the day wore on, the pain got worse & worse.  I tried to power through it, cleaning pretty much the entire house and doing other various chores on my to-do list (like paying the mortgage & watching a 30-minute mandatory work presentation online about taxpayer confidentiality- woo hoo!).  But eventually it got to the point where I could not concentrate on anything.  The only thing that gave me even the slightest relief was a hot shower.

I had an appointment with my OB practice at 2:30PM, but by noon I feared I would not make it til then.  The pains were severe & coming in waves, but not in any recognizable pattern.  I truly thought something might be wrong with the baby.  I called the doctor's office & asked if there was any way they could take me earlier, and they told me to come right then.

Luckily their office is less than 10 minutes away, so after a painful ride there and pacing laps outside the office waiting area, I was seen by an OB.  She did an exam and looked at me dumbfounded. "Honey, you are in LABOR. You're 6-7cm dilated and you need to get to the hospital right away.  How did you get here?"

I told her I drove, and she deduced that if I made it there, I could make it another 10 minutes to the hospital on my own.  So she called the hospital and off I went, calling to explain to Mr. Vittles on the way that I was... in labor?  And he better come to the hospital as soon as he could.  And ... "Ugggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  Sorry, contraction."

Unfortunately the area where he typically works is about an hour from our house, but I figured that was plenty of time.  From everything I'd heard about labor, I'd be in the hospital for quite a while before our daughter made her appearance.

Which was a good thing & a bad thing, because that meant I had a number of HOURS more of this pain?  Get real.  I was already dreaming of an epidural.

I pulled up to the valet at the hospital, stunned him with my contraction-bearing, grimacing silence, and he figured out pretty quickly that I needed a wheelchair up to the maternity ward.  When I got there (by this time it was about 1PM), I was greeted by nurses and another OB in the practice, Dr. Keelan.

From that point on things got a little blurry.  I got situated in my bed, got hooked up to an IV & fetal monitor, and they called the anesthesiologist.  When he arrived, he was taking his time, waiting "to get some of those fluids in me"- meanwhile my contractions were barely giving me time in between to breathe.  Getting impatient, the nurse pointed out to him that I was already more than 8cm dilated - labor was progressing quickly and there was no time to wait for the slow drip to enter my system.

"What! Why did you wait so long?" he asked, and she snapped "Because she just got here!"

Holding completely still for the number of minutes it took to actually do the procedure was perhaps the hardest part of the whole birth process for me... but 15 minutes later I was feeling great.

Until about 20 minutes after that when I was feeling ... pain again?

According to Dr. Keelan, that meant it was time to push.  At that point, Mr. Vittles had arrived, and also my stepdad Chris (who actually got there first because Mr. V called & told him he had to drive home from work).  I couldn't believe she was almost here already! What happened to the hot bath and massage & breathing techniques that my 'coach' and I learned in childbirth class?  The closest I had gotten to the bathtub that day was scrubbing it.  This was not the endless hours of labor that I had been anticipating.

But Dr. Keelan told me that how long this next part took was up to me - some women push for hours.

Hours? Oh no.

Thankfully, after 15 minutes of some determined pushing (not to mention faces & noises I never knew I could make) Mara Melissa was born!  Since everything went so quickly, our little angel looked pristine... not to mention she had a full head of hair.

We hadn't even settled on any names yet, so we got to work reviewing our mental lists.  One name they both had in common was Mara, so that seemed like a no-brainer.  Her middle name is after my husband's sister, Melissa (the cat-dancing extraordinaire).

While we were in the hospital, we kept hearing about this hurricane Sandy that was supposed to come up the eastern coast & make landfall in New Jersey within a few days.  After the problems Irene caused for us last summer, we started getting nervous.  If we lost power for days again, this time it would be cold - and more importantly, this time we would have a newborn.  We called around to area stores looking for a generator, but there were none to be had and no promise of any coming in.

By some miracle, my father-in-law found a lead on a new shipment coming to a Home Depot in Philly.  He got up early in the morning, drove all the way out there & waited on line.  From what I understand he was one of the last to actually get one off of the truck.  He truly saved the day as we would soon find out.

When we got home with Mara on Saturday, Mr. Vittles got right to work preparing for the storm.  Other  than spending a little time with Mara's many visitors, he barely rested that day or Sunday.  By Monday, we were nervous watching the forecast - unlike most hurricanes that come this far up the coast, this one was not projected to make a right turn out to sea - in fact, Sandy was making a beeline for our area.

By Monday night, it got extremely windy and our power went out that evening.  Mr. V got the generator going and we were able to power a decent bit of the house (most importantly at that point, the television so we could see what was going on).  Outside, a piece of siding blew off the house and a large tree branch crushed part of our fence.  We eventually moved down into the basement because we were afraid something might come through a living room window.

Not impressed with Superstorm Sandy

Neither one of us slept that night.  I was up with the baby most of the night anyway, but we were both pretty stressed.  The following morning, we turned the TV back on and saw what damage Sandy left in her wake.  My hometown of Point Pleasant Beach, NJ (just 10 minutes from where we live now) was devastated.  I read on Facebook that my stepdad and his wife had a foot and a half of water through their whole first floor.  They just spent so much time this past winter renovating the house, only to have their hard work ruined.

As the day wore on, the terrible stories and images kept coming.  People died from trees falling on their house, people's homes burned to the ground in massive fires that were unable to be put out (or sometimes, even accessed) by firefighters, and floods carried some people's homes right off the foundation.  To date, so many people still are without power, and many more are unable to even access their homes.

After day one, we also realized that we may not be able to get gas for a while, so we started rationing the cans of gas that we had.  We would turn up the heat, let the house get super warm, and then turn the generator off for a few hours.

On Thursday, Mara's one-week birthday, I promised my grandmother that Mr. V would check out her house in Point Pleasant Beach and report back any damage.  Before the storm, my aunt took her up to Harrison NY (where as I understand, they are still without power).  However, late that morning I noticed a yellowing in the corner of Mara's eyes.

We were supposed to see the pediatrician on the Monday following our discharge, however the doctor's office was closed due to the storm and had yet to reopen.  I called spoke to the doctor on call, and based on what I described she thought it was best that we went to the emergency room.

So back we went to the hospital.  They took her blood (after pricking my poor sweet girl FOUR times and her mommy having a sobbing fit) and her bilirubin levels were slightly elevated.  The pediatrician on duty explained that at those levels, they would normally just have us come back the next day for another blood test.  But she consulted with Mara's pediatrician, and given the situation with the storm they decided she should be admitted overnight to spend some time under the blue "bili-light" and be monitored.

Mr. V went home to turn the generator back on (we were trying to avoid losing all the food in our 2 refrigerators) and I got Mara settled in to her new digs.  Then he came back to the hospital, and I drove home to shower and pack a little bag.  There was only enough space for one of us to stay in the room, so I slept there overnight.  Mara had to be fed 2 oz every 2 hours- I was insistent on keeping up breast feeding if possible, but the doctor wanted her to spend as much time under the light as she could.  So I requested use of a pump and was able to feed her bottles under the light.

(Which, by the way, lit up the room like a UFO or something.  Good thing I was dead tired and slept in spite of it.  Mara didn't seem to mind though - she was nice & cozy and looked like she was tanning in her little eye mask!  I think we're gonna have a beach girl on our hands.)

'tanning' like a true Jersey Shore Girl

The next day, Mara was taken out of the light mid-morning and finally got to meet her pediatrician.  (Our doctor was away when Mara was born, so her partner saw her before we were discharged.)  The first thing the doctor did when she walked in was hug me.  That's when I knew I made the right choice in picking a pediatrician!

Mara's levels went down overnight and the jaundice had receded to just her face.  The doctor was happy with her progress, and said she could be discharged that afternoon.  Mr. Vittles came back to the hospital mid-morning, almost killed the woman at the front security desk for telling him to wait until 'visiting hours' due to the emergency storm situation (since when are parents considered visitors?).  Then he stayed with the munchkin while I made a run out to Target (one of the few places in the area that had power) to get myself a pump and some other much-needed supplies.

Mara was such a peanut when she was born that almost all the clothes we received as gifts were too big for her!  Luckily I had bought one set of onesies and shirts that were newborn-sized, but a little more variety would be nice.  It was so weird to be out and about by myself- after a week I was already so used to having a little person attached to me constantly!

We were discharged in the afternoon and hoped to return home to power, but no such luck.  However Mr. Vittles had found an open & stocked gas station about a half hour inland the night before, so we had refilled our tanks for the generator.

On Saturday we made it to my grandmother's house, and I was truly shocked by the level of devastation that many parts of my hometown had seen.  (And sadly, there are towns in far worse shape than Point Pleasant Beach in this area).

Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

The street that runs parallel to the beach was completely covered in sand by the storm.  Some of it had already been "plowed" and you could drive down the street, but other parts were still inaccessible by car.

Ocean Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ (cleared)

Most of the homes/businesses near either the beach, inlet, or any of the 3 lakes in town got water in them and peoples' ruined belongings were stacked along the sides of the road.

Luckily for my grandmother, her house is raised up over a crawl space - water did ruin both her car and her garage, but you can see the water line came within 2 inches of the first floor of her house.

you can see the water line between the top of her steps & bottom of door

She did not get water inside the house, it's completely dry.  In comparison, her next door neighbor's house is right at ground level and everything in their first floor was out at the curb.

When Mr. Vittles and I got home from our little excursion, we found that our power was restored.  It was such a relief that some aspect of life was about to return to normalcy!  We spent the next few days trying to get our house back in order, get into a routine, and most importantly enjoy some time together as a family.

Daddy & Mara

(Somewhere in the midst of all this I caught a terrible cold, almost lost my voice but I think I'm finally on the upswing!)  This past Monday, Miss Mara had her first official pediatrician appointment and we were happy to hear that all was well... she had even exceeded her birth weight by 3 oz!

(We were also happy to welcome our first trick-or-treaters that night in our new neighborhood, since Gov. Christie officially changed the date of Halloween in New Jersey this year to November 5!)

Today, our little munchkin has snoozed most of the day away. (Oh yeah, to our friends & family that keep begging to see Mara's eyeballs -- come to my house at 2AM!  She'll be happy to show you her peepers then).  Mr. Vittles took the day off, and we were back to watching The Weather Channel as inches of snow fall outside our window from the Nor'easter they've dubbed "Winter Storm Athena."

Except the snow is so wet and heavy that the power went out... again.  This time so did the satellite TV.  So it looks like we're back to partial power and the generator off & on schedule until further notice!

The past couple weeks have been crazy, stressful, heart-breaking, amazing, and awe-inspiring all at the same time.  But every day I am humbled by this new little life we've created.  And I know it will just keep getting better and better!

As for Mother Nature... lay off us, already!  I think this area has been through enough now.

Apple Crumb Pie

• 1 9" unbaked pie shell (either refrigerated, or your favorite recipe)
• 6 C. apples, peeled, cored, & thinly sliced
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2 T. cornstarch
• 2 T. flour
• 2/3 C. sugar
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. cloves
• 1/8 t. allspice
• pinch salt

Crumb Topping:

• 1/2 C. (1 stick) butter, cut in tablespoons
• 1 C. flour
• 1/2 C. brown sugar
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. cloves
• 1/8 t. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

Peel, core, and slice apples thinly.  Place in large bowl.  Sprinkle with lemon juice, and stir with rubber spatula to coat apples.

In separate small bowl, whisk cornstarch, flour, sugar, spices, and salt until combined.  Sprinkle mixture over apples, and stir to coat evenly.

Arrange apples in pie shell, mounding slightly in the middle.  Place entire pie dish onto a baking sheet to catch any drips or rogue crumbs.

In a medium bowl, combine all crumb topping ingredients.  Cut butter into dry ingredients using a pastry blender or two knives.  (I actually start with a pastry blender, then I just use my hands to rub the ingredients between my fingers - I feel like everything gets mixed more evenly this way).

Sprinkle crumb mixture over top of pie evenly.  Bake 50-60 minutes until crumbs are browned.  Cool on rack at least 2 hours before cutting.

Adapted from Family Recipe