Hot Chocolate

The perfect hot chocolate:
- Grass fed organic cow milk (2% or whole)
- Dagoba cocoa powder or any cocoa powder of your choice
- Whipped cream
- Sugar, chocolate and coffee bean grinder from Trader Joes

Enjoy!

What is a Phthalate? Why do I check all of my shampoo bottles?

The Facts: Phthalates are hormone-disrupting chemicals tied to obesity, and they are ubiquitous in the personal-care product industry, particularly due to the chemicals' use in synthetically fragranced products. A 2010 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that children with higher phthalate levels in their bodies experienced stunted growth.

Avoid It: Avoid personal care products that list "fragrance" or "parfum" as an ingredient, and nix air fresheners and scented candles. They are likely laced with phthalates and a host of other hazardous materials. (Choose beeswax if you need candles.)

Alternative: OLIVE OIL!! You probably have it in your pantry. Use olive oil on your baby's skin. It is a great alternative.

Grilled Salmon

I made grilled salmon with haricort verts yesterday for dinner. I used the grill pan, a little lemon juice, salt, pepper and a dash of garlic. It turned out pretty good and was easy to cook.

Breast pumps! Free?

Due to the Affordable Care Act, there are provisions for Breast Pumps and Lactation Consultants.

This would be a good article to read:
http://www.hellobee.com/2012/11/08/dont-pay-for-a-breast-pump-until-you-read-this/

Petroleum Jelly: A No-No.

http://chinaadopttalk.com/2012/02/01/avoiding-toxins-petroleum-products-in-lotions-and-make-up/

I was researching healthy baby products when I came across non-petroleum jelly, so I looked up petroleum and found some interesting information.

Advice: Avoid vaseline, aquaphor, mineral oil or petroleum jelly.

Why? These are all biproducts of the processing of crude oil into gasoline, and there are different grades of each of these. Why would you put something strictly hydrophobic on your skin to moisturize it? If your skin is already wet then it’s going to push the surface water down deep into your skin, but that will leave the surface skin cells all dried out. If your skin is already dry it’s just going to keep any moisture from getting to it. Yes, it lubricates the outside of the skin cell, it makes the outside slippery, but what good is that doing, really?

Vegetable Stir Fry

Vegetarian dish: Penne pasta, string beans and broccoli stir fry

I can't rave enough about out non-stick Calphalon Bronze Collection pots and pans. We barely use oil in our stir fry dishes because the cookware is so excellent, nothing sticks. 

For this stir fry used cooked pasta, trader joe's broccoli florets and string beans. We basically threw them all in the pan, added worcestershire sauce, some olive oil, and you have an easy quick dinner. We also sprinkled cheese into it.

Chicken and Haricort Verts

Easy to make, and tastes good!

What you need:
1 package of chicken (breasts or tenders)
1 package of haricort verts or string beans
1 egg
Flour
Sauce (teriyaki) and Olive oil

What you do:
I got a package of chicken tenders (if you have breasts, cut them into strips and pound them a little to tenderize). I dipped each one in egg and then flour, and poured some teriyaki sauce and olive oil in a large pan. Make sure to have a lid nearby as the sauces can get angry and spit.

Flip the chicken once it looks done on the first side, you want it to brown a little and get nicely coated in teriyaki and a little olive oil.

When the chicken looks almost done, toss in your beans. Mix it all up so the beans are on the bottom of the pan. Cook for just long enough for the beans to get warm/hot, so they aren't 'mushy'. If you cook them quickly, they will stay pretty crunchy and hold up better for leftovers.

Turn off the fire and serve!

Below- Noah making Guacamole. Mangoes, Cilantro, Onion, Avocado, Lime juice, Salsa, all chopped and tossed together. Yum!

Mashed Potatoes

I made some delicious mashed potatoes and thought I'd share my recipe.

First, you boil some potatoes. Pictured, I have organic small yellow potatoes. Creamer potatoes are very good for this. They're buttery and delicious. I have found that smaller potatoes tend to be tastier.

I used my double masher from Crate and Barrel outlet to mash up 4 lbs of potatoes, as well as 3 cloves of garlic, cilantro and parsley to taste. Add salt.

If you want your potatoes smooth and tasty, add milk or heavy cream, and butter. It will be very dry without these ingrediants, milk and butter make the potatoes softer and smoother.

The next day, I reheated potatoes in a pan (yum! can be reheated with eggs for breakfast) with leftover brussel sprouts my mom made for Passover.

Noah's aunt Karen gave us some very nice hyacinths when we visited Albany. They have blossomed beautifully, and the whole apt smells like flowers now. :)

My basil plant ($1.50 at Christmas Tree Shop) is sprouting in the background.

EDIT: Those sprouts stayed that tiny for months. My basil plant from the Christmas Tree Shops has not grown. It is a bad basil plant. Do not trust their plants.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

Guess what I made recently?! Chicken soup!! I decided to document it because it turned out really good.

Step 1: Get out your ingrediants and tools.

Ingrediants:

- 1/3rd onion

- Cilantro and Parsley

- a few sticks of celery

- 2 good carrots

Tools:

8 quart stockpot

knife for chopping

cutting board

Step 1: Chop everything. If you like large chunks of celery and carrots, make large chunks. Small chunks will be easier to eat and fit into the spoon better. Chop parsley and cilantro finely, and mince onion finely as well.

 Pick a good whole chicken. This one is from whole foods.

Put your large chicken in a stockpot of boiling filtered water (Millburn residents have bad water if it is unfiltered). You do not need to wash your chicken before cooking it. In fact, numerous sources advise NOT washing your chicken before cooking it because washing or rinsing your chicken could spread bacteria around the sink. I don't sprinkle salt into my water because I let everyone salt their own bowls (people have different preferences for how much salt they like). You are welcome to salt and pepper to your taste.

After boiling for a while (an hour or more), pull your cooked chicken out and tear off all of the meat. After you pull the chicken out, put in all of the veggies and herbs you chopped. You don't want to put these in too early so they won't get too mushy. When you hand pick the meat off the bones, you may want to sit down. It will take a while. Put all of the meat into the stockpot and you are done :)

A note about chicken skin- it is apparently unhealthy. If you want a healthier soup/stock, remove the skin before putting the chicken in. If you want a tastier and not as healthy stock, leave the skin on when you boil the chicken.

Enjoy!