Mommy FTW

I recently posted about Cameron’s bout with pesky diarrhea.  Part of the solution was reducing his lactose intake, and another part was to get him eating some yogurt (the active cultures are good for the tummy).  Unfortunately, Cameron no longer likes to eat yogurt – but he does like to drink it!  I’ve been giving him Ronnybrook Drinkable Yogurt – his favorite flavor is strawberry.

Lots of flavors to choose from!

Ronnybrook drinkable yogurt is made with whole milk, fresh fruit, and 10 active cultures two of which are pro biotic.  There are 5 flavors -plain, Peach, Strawberry, Blackberry or Mango. You can find all the nutritional information for the Ronnybrook Drinkable Yogurt drinks on this page.

Locally, I’ve been able to find these yogurt drinks at the Fort Greene Farmer’s Market, Elly’s, Mr. Coco, and Fresh Garden.  You can also order it from Fresh Direct.

Posted from New York, New York, United States.

I’ve given Cameron pancakes before, but one day at the playground one of my mom friends whipped out some mini (silver dollar sized) ones in a container that she had kept for snack time.  What a brilliant idea!  It’s great for the kids because they can hold them in their hands and run around and play while they snack.

Pancakes, not just for breakfast!

I make my pancakes with the Arrowhead Mills Multigrain Pancake & Waffle Mix which is available on Fresh Direct.    The directions for the pancakes don’t call for an egg, but I add one anyways.  I also use melted butter instead of oil, and add a touch of honey for sweetness.  I haven’t gotten too advanced yet, but I am thinking adding strawberries, blueberries, or bananas would be good, or if you want to go the hidden vegetable route, perhaps some pumpkin puree.  So next time you make pancakes for breakfast, make a few extra little guys to tote around as snacks.  Yum!

I think twitter is an amazing way to get and share news about your neighborhood, talk to brands directly, and just have fun. I follow a lot of twitter accounts of websites that I read regularly because they will often post extra information – little tidbits, pictures, and news updates – and the brands will sometimes post about special sales, contests, and promotions.

Try twitter, even if you just want to follow people and not post. It's great! Plus, people will think you are cool.

So, if you give twitter a try, here’s my list of people you should think about following:

Brands:

Huggies – Huggies – my diaper of choice for Cameron, weather its their Little Movers, Overnights, or Little Swimmers. Whoever does their twitter is amazing. They are really active with the community, and love to share everyone’s pictures and advice.  Plus, there are lots of giveaways!

PullUpsBigKid – Huggies Pull Ups – for those of you who are potty training, get expert advice.

Sephora_Expert – An expert from Sephora (which is also on twitter) that gives expert advice and will specifically answer all your beauty questions. Go ahead, ask them a question!

FreshDirect – Fresh Direct – the grocery delivery service.  They offer lots of specials via twitter.

diapersdotcom – Diapers dot com – My go to spot when I’m in a pinch for baby supplies. Who can resist free overnight shipping?

PatagoniaNYC – Patagonia – Find out when the sales are on, and get excellent customer service. They even put Cam’s sizes on hold for me to be sure what I needed was there when I got to the store.

CCCalifornia – C and C California – I love this company’s super soft tee’s and clothing. Follow them to find out about all the sales and specials going on.

Neighborhood news / local bloggers:

PolishBar_Bklyn – Polish Bar of Brooklyn – This local mani-pedi spot is my favorite in the neighborhood.

Brownstoner – Brownstoner.com – Get up to the minute updates on what’s going on in brooklyn.

OneHungryMama – OneHungryMama.com – Get great food + kid related info.

fortgreenepark – fortgreenepark.org – Get local news straight from the Fort Greene Park Conservancy.

PrattArea – prattarea.org – The Pratt Area Community Council

LOVEofBROOKLYN – fortheloveofbrooklyn.com – If you love photography and you love Brooklyn, then you will really enjoy these tweets.

BrooklynKids – brooklynkids.org – the Brooklyn Children’s Museum – get the latest scoop on the new exhibits and activities.

achildgrows – achildgrowsinbrooklyn.com – All the news any Brooklyn parent can use.

clintonhillblog – ClintonHillBlog.com – Covering news specific to our ‘hood.

BKLocal – fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com – the New York Times Local covering Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

bklynbotanic – bbg.org – the Brooklyn Botanic Garden – see pictures, and learn about events.

PATHBrooklyn – parentsaroundthehill.com – See the latest from Parents Around the Hill.

camerongood – See what my son Cameron is up to. I post lots of pictures, and we check in on Gowalla, so you can see where we are at.

mrsbetsygood – That’s me! I tweet a lot about neighborhood news, as well as random stuff about my life in general.

When Cameron was younger he used to go to bed much earlier, which left me with lots of time in the evening to do some work and make a nice dinner before my husband got home from work.  But now adays Cameron is going to bed around 7:30 which doesn’t leave me much time to get anything done in the evenings.  Although I like ordering out, I get pretty sick of the options, and I also miss cooking.  So I’ve been trying to come up with fast and easy dinners – and I thought maybe some of you out there could use a little inspiration!  Below you can see a meal I made with a pre breaded chicken cutlet from Fresh Direct, and a fast pasta sauce that you can make in less time than it takes to boil water and cook pasta.

Yummy and easy!

Fast and Tasty Pasta:

Boil some water for whatever kind of pasta you like.  Be sure to salt the water.

Heat 2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil in a small sauce pan.  Throw in a few red pepper flakes.  Once the oil is hot and rippling, throw in a handful of halved cherry tomatoes.  Sprinkle in a little salt.  FYI, Trader Joe’s has a little package of Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes that I personally like.  Put the lid on the pan, turn the heat to medium-low and forget about it for 5 minutes.  The tomatoes will sweat a little and sort of release their juicyness.

Put your pasta in the water and cook it according to package instructions.  Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water.

When your pasta is almost done, throw some greens in the tomato sauce.  I use any salad greens I have… Spinach, arugula, whatever.  Put in about as much as you would in a salad.  Trust me, it will wilt down.  Put the lid back on.

Drain your pasta, then dump it in the tomato sauce.  Throw in a handful of crumbled cheese – I used goat cheese (again from Trader Joe’s).  I bet mozzarella or Parmesan would also work nicely, but the goat cheese made it tangy and creamy.  If the sauce seems too stiff then add some of the reserved pasta water.  Salt and pepper to taste.  This is enough for 2 side portions – but none of it is exact.  Play with the recipe to make it how you like it!

I’ve been wishing for a long time that Fresh Direct had an iPhone App – and recently, my dreams came true!  For those of you who don’t know, Fresh Direct is a grocery delivery service that us New Yorkers are lucky to have – and now we have it on the go!  The other day, I used the iPhone App to place a grocery order while Cameron was on the swings at Underwood Park.  How great is that!

Fresh Direct makes your life easier - again!

As far as I can tell, you can do pretty much everything you can do from a regular computer – reserve a delivery slot, check out what’s on sale, change your order, even shop from your favorites.  Now, Fresh Direct is even having a giveaway with $1000 in prizes – check here to enter.  And get the free iPhone App now!

FYI – Fresh Direct just launched their facebook fan page – become a fan and get a free delivery!

The other day I was hosting a playgroup at my house and one of the moms broke out some Snapea Crisps.  The babies were in a frenzy!  Cameron was double fisting them!  I knew I had to find these Snapea Crisps, and fast.  Fresh Direct came to my rescue, as usual.  I ordered 2 bags right off the bat!

Yummy Yummy in Cameron's Tummy

Now, I know these aren’t the healthiest snacks on the planet (I think the Fig Newtons are a lot better) although the first ingredient is “peas.”  But, sometimes it’s good to have a sure fire winner in your arsenal.

Recently a mom told me that her daughter loved to snack on fig newtons and that that her pediatrician had recommended them as a healthy snack.  I went on Fresh Direct looking for them, and I was happy to find that they had 100% whole grain Fig Newton Minis.  They come in little packages, which I keep in my diaper bag.  Cameron really loves them!  I did a little research on figs, and I learned that they are indeed good for you.

A tasty treat mom approves of

Here’s some of what I found out:
The mineral content of figs closely resembles that of human milk

Figs are rich in both vitamins A, B1, B2 and calcium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, sodium potassium and chlorine

Figs are high in vitamin B, that is essential in the intestine regulation, the fig has a similar function in our bodies as cereals do;

Dried figs are rich in fibre, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron

The fig is oxidant, laxative, diuretic, digestible and a blood cleanser

Figs excellent for the liver

Sounds good to me!  Snack on, Cameron – snack on!

Yesterday I was talking to a few moms about Cow’s Milk vs Goat’s Milk for babies over 12 months.  According to one mom Goat’s Milk is a better choice for several reasons – it’s more easily digestible, and is less likely to cause lactose intolerance in your baby (and later in life) and is closer to human milk.  I did a little research to learn more for myself.  I found this article which explains the differences between the two milks – here are some highlights:

Unlike cow’s milk, goat’s milk does not contain agglutinin. As a result, the fat globules in goat’s milk do not cluster together, making them easier to digest.

Goat’s milk may also have advantages when it comes to allergies. Goat’s milk contains only trace amounts of an allergenic casein protein, alpha-S1, found in cow’s milk. Goat’s milk casein is more similar to human milk.

Goat’s milk contains slightly lower levels of lactose (4.1 percent versus 4.7 percent in cow’s milk), which may be a small advantage in lactose-intolerant persons

Goat’s milk contains 13 percent more calcium, 25 percent more vitamin B-6, 47 percent more vitamin A, 134 percent more potassium, and three times more niacin. It is also four times higher in copper. Goat’s milk also contains 27 percent more of the antioxidant selenium than cow’s milk

Goat’s milk contains less than ten percent of the amount of folic acid contained in cow’s milk which means that it must be supplemented with folic acid in order to be adequate as a formula or milk substitute for infants and toddlers.

Read the rest of the Article HERE.

If you are interested in trying Goat’s Milk – the next step is finding it!  I’ve been told that Fairway sells it, and so does Fresh Direct – 32 Oz is $6.99!  This mom has a little bit of sticker shock, I must admit!

$6.99 for 32 Oz? Holy Cow... er...Goat!

So is Goat’s Milk right for your baby?  I suggest doing a little more research and talking to your pediatrician.

Cameron loves eating organic YoBaby yogurt, and I love giving it to him – although I’m not crazy about all the sugar.  The other day I was over at a friend’s house with Cameron and she told me that Fresh Direct now has YoBaby plain yogurt!  I didn’t think that Cameron would go for the non-sweetened version, but he didn’t even bat an eyelash.  So from now on at this house it’s YoBaby Plain from Fresh Direct, maybe with a little apple sauce or bananas stirred in.

YoBaby goodness without the sugar!

Brrr!  It certainly feels like winter out – which makes me want to eat something nice and warm for breakfast.  I posted awhile back about the Oatmeal that Cameron likes to eat that I make with Bananas.  Now that he is drinking cow’s milk I make it with whole milk instead of water and we share it (he ends up eating most of it though!)  I just thought I would highlight the post for my newer visitors in case you might have missed it.  Stay warm out there!

Check it out : What’s Cameron Eating? – Oatmeal with Bananas and Cinnamon!

If you want to try something different, add applesauce, pureed pears, or pureed pumpkin to the oatmeal.  It’s a great way to get some extra fruits or veggies in there.  Also, oatmeal is an excellent source of protein – so this really makes a great breakfast!