Pork Steaks

Since we moved, my family's been on a real farmer's market kick lately. We've been going at least twice a week picking up red and yellow watermelon, pork rinds (we're so coon. We can't help it), grapes, strawberries and fresh veggies to make Sweet Baby Zo Zo's baby food. We've been frequenting Farmer Jones Market mainly, but decided to try the Miles Farmer's Market (http://www.milesfarmersmarket.com) the other day. They happened to have pork steaks bogo so they definitely came home with us (I only buy meat on sale).

I've never had a pork steak. Not that I know of. I honestly am not sure exactly what a pork steak is, but boy was it yummy. I used a recipe I found on foodgawker as inspiration and made it my own. It was a fiancé approved meal and fairly simple so I decided to share it.

Pork Steak with Marinara and Peach Pecan Chutney

2 pounds of pork steaks

4 carrots peeled and cut into chunks

One small onion

4 potatoes

1/4 cup chicken broth

8 oz can of finely diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups maple syrup

One jar of peach pecan chutney (or peach preserves)

One cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons garlic, divided

Salt and pepper to taste

First I mixed the Worcestershire, half the garlic, salt and pepper together in a bowl. I let the pork steaks marinate for 2 days (I was too busy and didn't get around to cooking them. You most certainly don't have to wait 2 days)

Slice up the onion and remaining garlic. Sautéed until carmalized. Remove from pan. Cook pork steaks in pan until about halfway done.

While steaks are cooking, add diced tomatoes, maple syrup, chicken broth, chutney, and garlic/onion mix to a pot. Stir and let simmer.

Cut up carrots and potatoes (I left the skin on my potatoes, but you can peel them). Add to boiling pot of water until tender. Drain and add to sauce. Add pork steaks to sauce and let simmer until pork is thoroughly cooked.

Yum! Yum! Yum! The chutney gave this dish a little kick, which I loved. And so did fiancé. And so did my dog who enjoyed our bones.

The Woes of Weening

I completely stopped breastfeeding about 2 weeks ago. I didn't want to. Sweet Baby Zo Zo just got so bad with her teeth. This is also coming from someone who had their nipples pierced. You don't know pain, until you experience a baby chopping down on your boobs. Ahhhhhh! I just grabbed my tit thinking about it. She thought it was funny too.

Breastfeeding is exhausting. It's so demanding. We never really gave her pacifiers, but who needs that when you have a boob? I was her pacifier and her bottle and her teething toy all in one. I was the only one who could really feed her at night. Yeah, we supplemented her since she was born, but if I was home, I fed her. Breast is best!

You could say I kind of disliked breastfeeding, but I miss it so much I want to cry. I have to fight back tears on the daily basis. As much as I loathed it, it was nice that she needed me. I miss her nuzzling her head in my chest. I miss her freaking out when she would see me without a shirt after a shower. I miss looking into those big, round eyes while I held her close. Breastfeeding is the most intimate thing a mother and child ever get to do. And now it's over.

My next child, I plan to do it longer. I want to be one of those weirdo people that breastfeed their 2 year old. It's honestly not that weird. Humans are the only species that takes another animals milk. And who decided cows milk was best? Our milk is nothing like cows. If anything, a goat is the closest to us. That's not really the point though.

I'm glad I was at least able to breastfeed her for the time I did. We struggled with it at first, but we got our shit together and had 7 wonderful months of mother/daughter bonding time.

P.S. I don't miss my boobs squirting milk during sex. The worst!

Cloth Diapering For Apartments

I always knew I would cloth diaper my child. The thought of diapers never breaking down freak me out. The average child goes through almost 4,000 diapers before being potty trained. That's horrifying! Especially at the number of people I know that have had children in 2013 alone. Fiancé and I took a great cloth diapering class at The Breastfeeding Center in Massilon. (They also have a great breastfeeding class and mom's groups www.thebreastfeedingcenter.com)

Now, I'm not going to lie, I can't say baby has never used disposable diapers. She did the first few weeks after she was born. I didn't want to use the cloth diapers while she was still passing meconium and we got a box of newborn diapers from fiance's grandfather. Also, after we moved. They were packed up and I had no clue where. Other than that, baby's got a carbon footprint as small as her own adorable little foot.

If you're not familiar with the process of washing cloth diapers, you do a cold wash, a hot wash, and then dry. You also have to be aware of the detergent you use on your diapers. Some detergents leave residue that causes leaking. Pinstripes and Polka Dots has a great chart with helping you choose a detergent (www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices). We used Babyganics liquid detergent for the first few months. It worked great! We recently decided to switch to All free and Clear. It's nice because we can use it on the laundry for the whole house. It does a nice job, but once the bottle I have is all finished, I'm going to give Nellie's all natural laundry nuggets a try. We sell it at my job and I prefer to use the natural detergent anyhow. 

Cloth diapering in an apartment building is a little bit challaging, but doable. My building charges $1.75 per wash and $1.50 to dry. That's $5 to do one load of cloth diapers. It can add up. You have 3 options.

1) Hand wash the cold load in your tub. I did this the first few months while I was on maternity leave. It helped save us a little bit of money until I went back to work. Just scrub out the poop (it may sound gross, but if you have kids, you end up covered in poop and other gross things on the reg), pour the detergent in the tub and fill up. Use a plunger to help swish the diapers around. Let them sit about 45 minutes, then ring them out, take them down to your laundry room, run a hot wash and then dry. Of course you could do both hot and cold loads by hand, but its hard to wring out the diapers when they've been soaking in hot water. This option is best for younger, breastfed babies. The texture of the poop is a lot easier to clean up. I wouldn't really want to hand wash them now that she's taking formula 50% of the time and eating baby food. The poops are a bit more real now.

2) Your second option, is to just fork out that $5 a load. It's not that much, especially seeing as you don't have to spend money on diapers regularly. This is the method that will save you the most time, and as new parents, there's never enough time as it is.

3) The last, and most economical method of cloth diapering in an apartment would be to just do them at your parents house. I know it sounds so moochy, but if your child's grandparents are anything like ours, they want to see her every chance they get. So, you get grandparent time out of the way, you're washing for free, and you have some help with the baby so you can actually get things done. THREE birds, one stone.

You can also line dry the diapers if you have the outdoor space. Save more money, good for the environment and the sun helps remove stains.

Every few months you should also strip your diapers. This can be done by hand washing them with some dawn soap. It'll help remove buildup from your diapers.

Yes, cloth diapering is more work, but it's totally worth it. And children who are cloth diapered end up potty trained an average of 9 months earlier than children who use disposable diapers. It's because with the cloth diapers, you can feel the wetness.

I absolutely love cloth diapering my daughter. Once you figure out your laundring system, it's a breeze. Disposable diapers are honestly not more convenient. They don't leak less. Cloth diapers don't get that weird smell when they're full like disposables do. If you're the type of mom that likes to step outside of the box, give cloth diapering a shot. You'll be surprised at how much you love it.