Just Checking In #8

Oh, hi there! It felt like the right time to check in again. Last time I checked in, I had a basketball under my dress, and now I have a 2-month old daughter. Who am I? Is it all a dream?

Sorry.

Let’s chat. Did I tell you I wrote a second cookbook? I feel like I might have mentioned it, but I also feel like I’ve been really forgetful lately. SO YEAH. I wrote a second cookbook that is all about cooking for two! You can pre-order HERE. It has breakfast, lunch, dinner, and more dessert for two recipes. I can’t wait to put it in your paws! It’s officially released September 10th, but if you just can’t wait to get your copy, you can tune in to QVC on July 22nd to buy a special advance copy from me! Yes, really! There is a limited number of advanced books available, so don’t miss your chance! If you do, you’ll have to wait until September to get a copy. Plus, the advance copy will have a special cover!

Here is a sneak peek of the entire cover! I'm in love with the fact that it has all the same font as Dessert for Two, but with a whole new color scheme.

Let’s see. What else is going on in my life? I feel like life lately is consumed by two things: ensuring I’m eating enough calories for breastfeeding and cloth diapering. Between those two things, I look up to see the clock says 5pm and I have no idea where the day went.

We must talk about my hunger first. Have you ever been so hungry that you start to sweat? That’s been me lately. Breast feeding is so time-consuming and all-encompassing. My entire life is planned around it. I love it and all, but don’t hate me for saying that I look forward to a day when I’m not always walking around with my shirt half off. I regret that the UPS man has seen me topless too many times lately. I am so looking forward to wearing a regular shirt. Sometimes, I pump a bottle for Brian to feed her and go out for drinks with a friend, and I wear a regular shirt. It feels so special! A shirt without buttons! A shirt that isn’t low cut enough to flop out a—nevermind, we won’t go there. I’m in this weird phase where I can’t wait for Camille to grow up and eat solid foods, but also don’t want her to grow because her newborn clothes don’t fit anymore, and every time my husband talks about packing them away, I start to ugly cry.

So, “the hunger is real”. That was the motto of my pregnancy, but it is even more true now. I wake up ravenous. I crawl my way into the kitchen and grab a cup of yogurt. The lovely people at Yulu sent me a whole box of their blueberry flavor, and I’m obsessed. It’s Aussie-style yogurt, which means it’s thick like Greek yogurt, but creamier. If you’ve tried Greek yogurt and thought it was an ‘aquired taste,’ you’ll probably love Yulu from the first bite. It’s thicker than plain yogurt, but thinner than Greek. And double-smoothed, so double creamy. Mmmhmm, I love it! I always sprinkle in some nuts, raw oats, and flax seed to make it even more filling. While I scarf down a container (or two, let’s be honest), I toast a couple slices of bread, slather on the coconut oil and wash a few pieces of fruit for breakfast dessert. Yes, I even eat dessert at breakfast. The berries are so good lately, have you noticed? Even though I’ve been eating blueberry Yulu, I still grab a handful of fresh blueberries. I wash it all down with anise-coriander tea with a spoonful of honey. That’s just breakfast #1. I’ll have cheese and carrot sticks or dried fruit a few hours later. And probably another Yulu, too.

I’m really struggling in the dinner department, friends. I could use some serious help. I’ve been making my usual meals (almost always a Heidi recipe), but I need faster, higher-protein meals. I’m on the hunt for delicious one-pot meals that can be made with a baby on my hip. I’m even open to slow-cooker meals—that’s how desperate I am. Leave me links if you’ve got ‘em, and bonus points for tons of vegetables, especially leafy greens.

I’ve been a little slow in the kitchen lately because it just doesn’t feel right to bake in the summer heat. My cooking inspiration always experiences a little slump in the summertime. I try to make up for it with frozen treats like boozy pops, and no-churn ice creams. But, I’m slowly getting back into my groove and have some fun desserts and dinners for two to share with you soon.

When I’m not stuffing my face with food, I spend the rest of my waking hours obsessing over cloth diapers. We always knew we wanted to use cloth diapers, but waited until Camille was 6 weeks old to start. The world of cloth diapering is very confusing. We had to go to the Cotton Babies store and have someone explain all the options to us several times. We finally have it down now, but it was intimidating at first. We use bumGenius cloth diapers because while there are mixed reviews of all other cloth diapers on the market, no one seems to have a bad thing to say about bumGenius. We figured that meant they were great, so we jumped in. I hear they’re the most expensive ones out there (~$20 each), but I haven’t done a price comparison. I received 4 as gifts from my registry, and then bought another 4 with gift cards. I’ve also bought 3 gently-used ones, and I actually prefer the used ones because all the previous washing makes them lay flatter and easier to snap on quickly.

Currently, we use a mix of 4.0s (because the cloth around the legs prevents leaks), Flips (love that I can reuse the shell a few times), and FreeTimes (quickest to put on in public because no stuffing required). I like having a mix. I also finally bought a diaper sprayer, and can I just say it makes ALL the difference? There may be things that turn you off about cloth diapers (things I won’t say on a food blog), but let’s just say that the high-powered sprayer takes care of all of those things. This is not a paid endorsement for bumGenius, I just really love 'em.

Here’s Camille’s favorite place: she loves her changing pad. Her Grandma made the hot pink cover that feels cool against her skin. She’s so happy on that table. We joke that she loves having her diaper changed because she loves being waited on.  Along with cloth diapers, I made some cloth wipes. I cut white wash cloths in half for this, but I think they’re too rough. With every washing, they’re getting softer, so maybe I’ll keep using them. We’ll see. I stack the wash cloths in the glass jar, and then I pour 2 cups of boiling water over them that I mixed with a tablespoon of Dr. Bronner’s baby castille soap and 2 tablespoons of aloe vera puree. I use the high-quality drinkable aloe vera puree, not the neon green stuff.

The stuff in the vintage glass jam jar is coconut oil for her little bum. The metal canister is a powdered sugar shaker full of cornstarch, also for her little bum (thanks, Mom!). The rectangular thing on the end is an essential oil diffuser. I diffused lavender oil almost every night of my pregnancy, and had it going full blast during the delivery, too. I like to think that lavender oil soothes baby Camille.

Here’s where I confess my hippie heart to you. Have I ever told you that I make all of my own beauty products and cleansers? My Mom is rolling her eyes right now at all of my homemade stuff. I also make Camille’s baby wash using this recipe from Hello Natural (one of my favorite go-to homemade beauty product sites). I leave out all essential oils though, because baby skin is too delicate. I also go halvsies on the glycerin, because I have eczema and it seems to make it worse, so I don’t consider it gentle enough for baby. I use the full recipe for my own body wash, though. I switch up the essential oils and use the rose-hemp Dr. Bronner’s castille soap (I use the unscented baby version for Camille). It smells dreamy. Making your own body wash is a slippery slope, because I soon found myself making my own face wash and deodorant (<--recipe by the lovely Edible Ash). Ever since I started washing my face with oil instead of soap, it’s been a game-changer for me. My skin is so soft and smooth! I’m a believer in oil! The oil face wash recipe I swear by is here. (I know it's technically listed as an eye makeup remover, but I use it all over).

It’s time consuming to make all of these products, but I consider it worth it. Just months after I made the switch to all homemade beauty products, I got pregnant. So take that as you will. Clean out the junk in yo’ life.

Until next time, I’ll be changing diapers~

Love and cupcakes,
Christina

P.S. One more photo of Camille, because apparently, I gave birth to the Gerber baby:

P.P.S. Please tell me she looks like me, because I think she looks exactly like my husband as a kid, and I love hearing the opposite.