The Challenges of Breastfeeding...part 2

If you read my first post about breastfeeding (The Challenges of Breastfeeding...part 1), you knew that another post was coming, but who knew it would take this long?  Let's just say life is busy with a seven and a half month-old, and I hear it's only going to get busier once Ella learns to crawl and walk, but back to the main subject...breastfeeding.

Unfortunately, latching on was not my only dilemma during breastfeeding.  I was actually starting to feel confident about my breastfeeding skills when all at once, about one month in, Ella was crying and seemed hungry all the time.  I was working on a three hour schedule (Ella was eating, for example at 1:00 and then again at 4:00), but for some reason, at one month, she was wanting to eat all the time and once she was through, she was still unhappy.  So, I fed her, sometimes every hour (what else was there to do!?) and things weren't improving, not to mention, my nipples were sore as ever!

What was I to do?  Answer: call the lactation consultant.  She told me that Ella was probably not getting enough hind milk, which is the good stuff that keeps a baby full and nourished.  Most likely, she was only getting the fore milk.    This was not nearly as filling and thus, leaving her hungry and crying a majority of the time.  The reason she wasn't getting to the hind milk was, well, two reasons: not enough pumpin', and not enough stayin'.  Let me explain.

Let's remember back to my first post when I mentioned that when my milk came in, there was a whole lot of it, so much so, that Ella couldn't keep up.  So, when she did eat, which was probably enough, she was still only getting to the fore milk and not the hind milk because there was so much milk to be had.  The solution to the problem then, was to pump more, especially right before her feeding.  Check.

But, that was not the only solution, I also needed to learn to keep Ella on one breast for one feeding.  Many times I would change breasts throughout the feeding and she was not "finishing up" on one breast.  So, my rule of thumb from then on was to allow her to have one breast per feeding and sometimes I even stayed on the same breast for the next feeding just to make sure.  Check. Check.

So by making a call to the lactation consultant, I was able to remedy the problem in a week's time.  At first, I was embarrassed to be calling her some much, but after awhile, I got over it and realized she wanted to help me and she was there to make my breastfeeding journey a success.  I'm here to try to do the same for you too!  And to remind you that there are no stupid questions to me (because believe me, if you've asked them, I probably have too).  Just remember that breastfeeding is a challenge, but it's well worth it.  And once you're baby is seven months old you'll look back at that first month of challenges and laugh because breastfeeding will be a breeze!

Ella after a good meal.  Look at those rosy cheeks!

Test-Nest Recommendation! The Needle Shop - Fabric Store & Sewing School

I have mentioned my favorite fabric shop, The Needle Shop, in earlier posts like Playtime Baby Blanket and Quick Turnaround Table Cloth, but I haven't expanded too much on the shop, because I thought it deserved it's very own post.  This weekend they are having a 15% sale on EVERYTHING in the store, so I thought there was no better time to post than today.  Plus it is my birthday on Sunday, so you know where I will be ending up!

The Needle Shop

The Needle Shop sells beautiful fabrics donned with squids, skulls, squirrels, sweet mid-century designs that you can't find anywhere else in Chicago.  Designers such as Amy Butler, Alexander Henry, Kaffe Fasset, and Heather Morris are showcased in the cascading rolls of fabric that elegantly spill off the walls.  You can take these fabrics home and DYI 'til your heart's content or you can take them downstairs and work with them in one of their many sewing classes ranging from Sewing 101 to upholstery projects.  Yeah, I know, how awesome is that?

Sweet fabric from TNS! The magazine holder is inspired by Lotta Jansdotter.

 I've taken sewing 101, the raglan sleeve top, the wristlet, and zipper skirt classes over the past couple years, and I can't really explain the satisfaction that I get from walking out of a class with a beautifully constructed project.  Rachel and her staff are patient, kind, funny, and have all the secret tips that have saved me from shedding more than a few tears.  My mother can contest to my early years of sewing and crying. . . before The Needle Shop they seemed inevitably destined to be together.    Check out some of my TNS projects. . .

Pillows (turquoise) made in Sewing 101 (they have zippers (and it wasn't that hard)).

Raglan Sleeve Top

Wristlets for Christmas presents

Wristlet and Make-up Bag made in class

Zippered skirt

Oh oh, and did I mention that if you sign up for one of their classes in the month of March they will take $10 off?   No I didn't, you should do that too.  The class doesn't even have to be in March, just purchased then.   So anyway, make your way to 2054 W Charleston this weekend and be inspired and purchase some fabric for your first (or next) sewing class or project.  If you don't live in Chicago, no problem, check out their Etsy shop.  You're also welcome to crash at my place. 

I've got my eye on the new wrap dress pattern by Colette.  I'm also thinking I need to make another zippered skirt in some sort of springy fabric.  In any case, look forward to some sewing posts from this here Test-Nester. . .it's been a while, huh?

Cooking Lesson: Mexican Weekend Feast!

Last week, Jaime and I trekked across town to our friend Maria's house.  She was going to give me a lesson in cooking!  I had been asking her for a while to teach me how to make Chile Relleno.  She had made them for me once before and they were delicious.  The thing I liked best about them was the great flavor without the fried effect that chile relleno usually has. 

She said that in the town where she grew up in Mexico, Durango, they didn't fry the peppers.  She said it probably had nothing to do with healthiness, it was more about saving money.  Oil was expensive.  Alas, through frugality came one delicious entree.  So, here goes my first international cooking lesson.

 The menu items: Chile Relleno and Enchiladas.

This was a fun experience and everything was new to me.  I felt like I had never cooked before.  It was great to hear stories about why things were made a certain way and the techniques that are used to make the food perfect.  

Let's check out the step-by step.

This is Maria putting her cerrano peppers on an electric griddle.  She said she has done it in the oven before, but it works best to have direct contact with the heat.

We cooked the peppers on the griddle until they were bubbling and charred on the outside.  We really tried to get every surface in contact with the heat.

Here are some of the charred peppers.  Yum!

Now onto the enchiladas.  We made enchiladas using a green sauce.  The green comes from tomatillos.  I guess they are kind of like tomatoes, only green.  And they taste really good!

We added a couple habanero peppers to our peeled tomatillos.  I think we also added some cilantro.  Not sure!

These are tomatoes we roasted on the griddle.  They are going to make the sauce for the chiles.

After the peppers were completely roasted, we put them in a plastic bag.  The bag is tied up and the peppers are allowed to sit inside.  The steam that is created helps the skins of the peppers peel off more easily.

Here is the most tedious process of the whole meal--peeling the charred skin off the peppers.  Maria gave me gloves to wear just in case the peppers were too spicy--they could leave your fingers burning for hours!

Tough job!

Then, each pepper is split down the side and the seeds are removed.  Another not-so-quick task, but the result is well worth it.  No seeds to deal with while you are eating your delicious pepper!

All (or mostly) cleaned out.

We used two types of cheese in our chiles--Queso fresco and mozzarella.  I prefer the queso fresco, but mozz is nice and melty.

Here is Maria stuffing the peppers with cheese!

Here we are frying tortillas in preparation for the enchiladas

Fried is extra delicious!

Okay--so I missed a few photos here.  We put our roasted tomatoes in the blender with a little salt, sugar, and garlic.  Beautiful sauce.  To this we added some sour cream BEFORE the sauce started boiling.

Mmmm...tortillas just waiting for us to dig in.

At this point, we added our peppers to our simmering sauce.  The only thing we need to wait for is the chiles to heat through.  Mmmmm!  Let's do it! 

Another look at the yumminess.

Now, to assembling the enchiladas.  We have some shredded cheese ready on a plate.  The cheese was from Mexico and apparently Maria watched the people make it the day she bought it.  Now that's fresh!
Anyway, at this point, she is dipping a tortilla in our (now blended) tomatillo sauce.  Then she lays it on a plate, fills it with cheese, and rolls it up!  Easy breezy.

Adding the cheese!  Check out just how sporty Maria is here.

Finished plate.  I couldn't wait to dig in to this meal.  It was  soooo delicious!  I can't wait to try it myself.  Although I think cooking with a master is much more fun.

Here's the whole spread.  The glasses are even from Mexico.  What a feast!

We had a really great time in the kitchen together.  So, next time I've got a lazy Sunday, I'm going to show off my domestic prowess and get my chile relleno on.  Yes!  Que deliciosa!

Lasagna Rollin' Rollin' Rolls

You're craving a deep dish lasagna, but you don't have time to prepare all those layers of goodness; what do you do?  Roll up all your favorite flavors into one piece of pasta: that's what!  It works perfectly and tastes delectable.  Let me show you how easy lasagna rolls can be, step by step...

The first step in the recipe involved making a bechamel sauce, which I had never heard of, but came to find out, through watching Melissa D'Arabian on the Food Network, that it is similar to a rue.  It has butter, flour and milk.  Needless to say, with the butter element, it proved to be quite delicious.

As I was waiting for my bechamel sauce to thicken, I whipped together the ingredients for the filling of the lasagna rolls: a little spinach, a little ricotta, and some ground beef.  The recipe called for prosciutto, but that frankly wasn't in the grocery budget last week.  

A little more butter to grease up the pan, what's it gonna hurt, right?

After this, the bechamel sauce was done, easily I must say, and then placed into the bottom of the glass casserole dish.

Now, it was time for some rollin' rollin' rollin'.  Note: I cooked the lasagna noodles, but did not document it here.  Just remember it is not smart to cook large lasagna noodles in a small pot.  

Once the filling was laid out and spread on the lasagna noodle, it was a breeze to roll them up.

Here are the rolls nestled into the glass pan.  

And finally, here comes the good stuff: mozzarella and parmesan cheese, not to mention marinara sauce. 

And there you have it folks, melted goodness.  And it was delectable indeed!  Put a little garlic bread on the side with a fresh salad, and who needs to go out to eat Italian?  You can pull it off in your own kitchen.       Yes sir!

The recipe for the Lasagna Rolls comes from the Italian master herself, Giada De Laurentiis of the Food Network.  Personally, I've never bonded with Giada on her show, (a little too much teeth for my taste) but she really won me over with this recipe.  Check it out. 

Ingredients

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagna:

• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 12 uncooked lasagna noodles
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)

Directions

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes.Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water.Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.

Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagnanoodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamel sauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy smallsaucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.

White Bread - Sponge Method

Few things are as cathartic and enjoyable as baking your own bread.  The process is long, but not overly intense so it is a project that is best to take during a time when you will be home for a while.  I like to mix bread baking with a movie, maybe some sewing, or if I must, some work for school.  I was visiting my Mom and Pops last weekend.  It was a lazy, quiet Sunday and both Mom and I agreed that some bread baking was in order.  Included below is recipe that our family has been baking since I was in  4-H.  The recipe came from a 4-H book called More Baking Fun (I don't think it exists anywhere for purchase).  It was great for me at the time as I was newer to baking bread, but I will say that the recpie caught on with some veteran bread bakers, like my Grandma Dickey, as well, so it is a good one!  Anyway, here you go. . .

White Bread (Sponge Method)

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (100-115 degrees F)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour

1.  Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add two cups of flour and 1 teaspoon of sugar.  Beat until smooth.  Cover.  Let rise until bubble, 1 hour.

At this point the dough should look like bubbly, like a sponge (hence the name sponge method). 

2.  Heat milk, oil, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt.   Stir to dissolve sugar.  Add to bubbly yeast mixture.

3.  Add enough flour to make the dough moderatly stiff.  Knead until smooth.

Kneading the dough.

Kneading

4.  Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl.  Let rise for 1 hour.

Should be doubled in size.

5.  Punch down.  Cut in half and form 2 small balls.  Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Punch down.  The best part!

Really punch it down to remove unwanted air bubbles.

6.  Grease and flour two bread pans.  Shape into loaf* and place in pans.  Let rise until doubled in size.  45 min - 1 hour. 

7.  Bake bread at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Cover with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking time.

8.  Brush top with butter.  So delicious!

Yeah.  It tasted as good as it looked!

* Shaping the loaf is an important step.  If done correctly your bread will not end up with any air holes in it.  My Grandma Dickey taught me to do it this way. 

1. Flatten the ball out into a rectangle. 

2.  At one of small ends of the rectangle tightly begin to roll up the dough.  This will push out all of the air. 

3. After the loaf is rolled, tuck the two ends under to make a lovely shaped loaf.