In my last GI Update, I was agonizing over the decision to switch The Littlest Apple from NG tube to G tube.  We had our surgery consult last week at Texas Children’s.  Going in to the consult, I had decided that I was ready to schedule the surgery.  The Picky Apple hadn’t quite made up his mind and still had some questions about the G tube.  We really liked the surgeon.  She was reassuring and took the time to answer all of The Picky Apple’s questions, interacted well with The Littlest Apple.  She showed us an actual G tube button and demonstrated how it works.  She also had a baby doll with a G tube button for The Littlest Apple to play with.

We scheduled The Littlest Apple’s surgery for September 20th.  We tried to get it done sooner, but this surgeon was going to be out of town, and her colleagues would have required their own consult before scheduling it.

The timing isn’t that great.  The Littlest Apple starts preschool (3 days a week) on September 8th.  I hate that he has to start a new school with a new teacher and new kids with this NG tube (instead of the less conspicuous G tube), but that’s just how it has to be.  (I was asked to write a note home to all of the parents in the class explaining the NG tube so that parents could explain it to their kids….it would have been nice to avoid that!!)

And just as he’s settling in to the routine of school (and being away from mommy again…which I can tell he’s already anxious about), we’ll be pulling him out of school for surgery, spending two nights in the hospital, followed by at least a week of rest at home.

I really think this surgery is for the best, but it is going to cause some bumpy transitions at school and I’m really anxious to just get it over with.  I’m not looking forward to seeing The Littlest Apple in pain during recovery, but I know he will bounce back quickly.  We’ve been talking about the surgery lots with The Littlest Apple, and he seems to understand what is going to happen.

The Littlest Apple just moved to his big boy bed last weekend, and he’s exceeded my expectations about staying in bed.  But he does have LOTS more room to roll around (he’s a squirmy sleeper) at night when he’s connected to the feeding tube which has caused some tangling and more frequent pump alarm beeping.  The other morning I went in to find the tubing wrapped around his ankles about 4 times rather tightly….just the way you might rope a calf!  At least it was his feet, right?

What if someone else took care of your menu plan for you?  Enter Food on The Table.  I had the opportunity recently to try out Food on the Table‘s menu planning service.  They didn’t ask me to write a review and I don’t normally review products for my blog.  However I think this service could be of great use to many of you!

Food on the Table is a menu planning service that is just the solution for busy moms like me.  This graphic below sums it up perfectly!

Here’s how Food on the Table works:

• You select your grocery store.  Food on the Table then finds the current sales at your local grocery store, and you have the option of incorporating those items into your menu for the week.
• You select your food preferences and what you’re in the mood for.  Have a craving for shrimp?  Select it here, and you’ll get a shrimp dish (or two!) as part of your weekly menu.
• Then Food on the Table provides meal suggestions based on your grocery store sales, food preferences, and what is most important to you (quick recipes, cheap meals, etc).  At this point, you can use the suggested recipes or view some similar recipes to create your meal plan for the week.
• Time for your grocery list!  Food on the Table generates a cumulative, printable grocery list for the week based on your menu plan.  You can review the list and delete things you already have on hand and add personal items.

Things I liked about Food on the Table:

• Nutritional info for recipes is provided along with the serving size.
• I love that you can personalize by grocery store sales and food preferences.  I usually only buy the meat that is on sale, and we’ve got picky eaters here, so this is perfect for me.
• Tasty recipes!  All the recipes I tried were delicious!
• Grocery lists keep the whole week in mind, and figure out the total amounts needed.
• Easy to use website!

Things that need work:

• I’d like to see fewer processed foods on the ingredients lists, but I am comfortable enough making substitutions that it’s a non-issue for me in most cases.
• A way to exclude certain ingredients for allergies or special diets.  Luckily we don’t have food allergies anymore, but when my son was allergic to eggs and milk this would have been a helpful feature.

Overall, this is a great service for anyone who needs a little help planning their menus.  Not only are you getting your dinners planned, but you can save time and money at the grocery store and try delicious new recipes at the same time!  Head on over to the Food on the Table’s website to check it out.

Now for the GIVEAWAY!! The nice folks at Food on the Table have offered one of my readers a $25 gift card to the grocery store of your choice! (How cool is that?!  You get to pick the store!)

You can earn up to THREE entries:

(1)Please leave a comment answering the following question: What’s your biggest meal planning hurdle?

(2) Leave a separate comment after you subscribe to The Picky Apple’s RSS Feed or via email.  Or let me know that you already subscribe.

(3) Leave a separate comment after you join The Picky Apple on Facebook or let me know that you’re already a FB fan.

I’ll leave comments open until 12pm EST on Friday, September, 3.  The winner will be selected randomly and announced on Friday evening.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free 30-day trial of Food on the Table’s premium service, but they did not require me to write this review.

You turn THREE tomorrow!  I can’t believe how much you’ve changed in the last year.  So, so much has happened!

You’re potty trained.

You can recognize all of your letters and know what sounds they make.

You’ve had a vocabulary explosion, and almost everyone can understand what you say.

You already have an entire year of Mother’s Day Out under your belt.

You’re gaining weight!

You’ve got even more energy than you had before.  Your energy just blows me away some days.

You ask LOTS of questions.

You love Curious George and Buzz Lightyear.

I am so thankful to have you in my life.  After all we’ve been through, I know what a miracle it is that you’re here.  You brighten our days with your exuberance, your sweet spirit, your sense of humor, and your vivid imagination.  You challenge me to be a better parent and a better person.  I am so proud to be your mom.  I love you so so much!

Love,

Mommy

Blueberry Caramel and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies @ Picky Palate

Faux-Wallpaper Walls @ k.f.d. designs

Bean Art @ New Nostalgia

Cowboy Candy @ The Weekly Bite

Halloween Trick or Treat Wreath @ Craft-o-Maniac

A Lesson Learned: Each Word is  a Gift @ I Can Teach My Child!

Goal Setting Charts for Young Kids @ Simple Kids

Homemade Cinnamon Bread @ The Pioneer Woman

The Littlest Apple has thoroughly enjoyed playing with this bin.  He likes to transfer the apples from the bin to a bowl using tongs, and scoops the beans, stirs the beans….okay, and throws the beans too.

This morning I got out the sensory tub for a playdate.  This was the first time I’ve done that, and it kept the boys busy for quite a while.  They sat facing each other on a quilt on opposite sides of the bin with bowls, tongs, and scoops.  This turned out to be a really great playdate activity (especially when there are just 2 kids).  I LOVE sensory bins!

1.  Homemade butter tastes better than any store-bought butter

2.  You can use less salt than store bought butter

3.  You can add fun seasonings, like cinnamon, honey, garlic, cilantro, rosemary

4.  It’s a neat process to observe and share with your kids (or your spouse)

5.  It’s FUN!

Let’s get started!  All you need is a quart of whipping cream and your stand mixer with the whisk attachment (and whatever add-ins you may want).

Add the cream to your stand mixer, and mix on medium low (to prevent splashing) for about 5 minutes.  As the cream thickens, turns the speed up to medium high.

As the cream thickens it should start to form soft peaks (the stage you would stop at if folding in to baked goods).  This is a good time to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Continue to mix on medium high or high.  The cream should quickly reach the stiff peaks stage, when the cream stands up in peaks without falling down.  (If you’ve made whipped cream before, this is where you stop and add sugar and/or vanilla extract.)  Stop the mixer, and scrape down the sides of the bowl again.

Keep mixing on medium high speed.  Now the cream will begin to look “curdled” and seize up.  It will also start to look light yellow.  This is the beginning of the butter’s “ugly duckling” phase.  Keep going!

As more liquid appears (this is buttermilk!) you should turn down the mixer to medium-low or low to keep it from splashing and mix for a few more minutes.

Now it is time to separate the buttermilk from the butter.  Transfer the butter to a bowl, squeezing out as much buttermilk as you can.  You can save this buttermilk to bake with in recipes like Blueberry Crumb Cake or Buttermilk Pancakes.  It’s not going to taste exactly like store bought buttermilk (which I never buy anyway!), but you can add a little bit of lemon juice or vinegar to it and it will work just fine.

Time to wash the butter!  Add cold water to the bowl of butter, and knead the butter.  When the water turns cloudy, pour out the water and repeat the kneading process.  You’ll need to do this about 5 times, or until the water stays clear as you knead the butter.

To make the butter lighter and smoother, put it back in the mixer for a few more minutes on medium speed.  This is when you should add the salt or any other seasonings, and mix well.

The butter can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks….if you don’t eat it all first!  Tastes delicious with homemade bread!

Have YOU ever made your own butter?

This playdough would be perfect to go along with all of those apple crafts I’m seeing on all the blogs right now!  I’ve got an apple-themed sensory bin (inspired by No Time For Flashcards) coming soon!

Apple Pie Scented Playdough

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt (use iodized, not kosher for smoother dough)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup water
• Red food coloring (I use the Wilton gel colors)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

Stir ingredients together well in pot.  Over medium heat cook the dough, stirring constantly until it forms a ball.  Turn dough onto a board (or the countertop) and knead until very smooth.  Cool.  Store in a covered plastic container.

If I was really on-the-ball, I would have given The Littlest Apple an apple shaped cookie cutter.  Need to get one of those!  For now, we’re using our fall leaves, some cinnamon sticks, popsicle sticks, and a rolling pin.

I’m sharing this post with:

I bought this with dreams of cooking through the entire cookbook with The Littlest Apple, enjoying the experience as we went along and hopefully finding a few new things for him to eat.  While we DO cook and bake together fairly regularly, this particular experience was less than idyllic, ending with The Littlest Apple crying and in time out.  Just keeping it real, folks.

Honestly, this cookbook pleasantly surprised me.  As expected, there are lots of easy recipes a preschooler can make, and it is certainly geared toward kid favorites (chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, pizza).  Here are some of the titles: Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce, Cookie Monster’s Homemade Peanut Butter Sandwiches (the recipe is for the peanut butter), Ernie’s Frozen Fun Pops, Zoe’s Rainbow Salad Boats.

But the first section of the cookbook has recipes from Martha, Emeril, Jamie Oliver, Rachel Ray, and Alton Brown.  The rest of the cookbook also includes some surprising recipes like Grover’s African-Style Peanut Butter Soup, Bert’s Tutt-Frutti Turkey Salad (which has curry), Grover’s Egg and Sausage Strata and this recipe for Blueberry Oatmeal Bars.  We all really liked these Bars (though it does seem to be one of the less healthy recipes from the book!).  Great for breakfast, snack or dessert.

This cookbook also contains lots of useful information about getting kids involved in the kitchen and making food fun.  Each recipe includes at least one kid-friendly step, and there are even some Sesame Street stickers at the end.  This is such a cute cookbook!

Best Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

from C is For Cooking

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups uncooked old-fashioned oats
• 1 pint (2 cups) fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with aluminum foil.  Lightly grease the foil with nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt until well-mixed.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter until fluffy.  Beat in the oil, eggs, and vanilla.  With a wooden spoon, mix in the flour mixture until blended.  Stir in the oats and blueberries.

Use a rubber spatula to spread the batter evenly in the pan.

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.  Lift by the foil from the pan and cut into 24 bar cookies.

So, what did The Littlest Apple decide to store in his Treasure Box?  What item does The Littlest Apple treasure most right now?