Saturday, January 2, 2016

First meal I've cooked in a loooong time

I've been very, very lucky the past many months to have a husband who has cooked dinner for me, first while I was pregnant and writing my dissertation and second while I've been recovering from my csection and feeding a newborn. I haven't cooked anything more than eggs in maybe half a year!

Also the past month, we've been eating food made by friends and family, ranging from turkey soup to a huge lasagna to vegetarian meals. That's been a big help.

Anyway, it worked out that Hunter was well fed and well rested at dinner time and we were making shrimp - my favorite thing to cook! I handed the baby over to Chris in a good mood and got to cooking.

I made garlic butter shrimp tacos on corn tortillas with guacamole and a side of roasted broccoli:


I'm a little rusty but it was fun to get back in the kitchen. Hunter is still making it difficult for me to cook when I'm alone because he doesn't like to be put down most of the time, but hopefully that will change as he gets older :)

As the flow of prepared food slows, it'll be important for us to get back to cooking and food prep if we want to eat well (do not want to rely on takeout or frozen pizzas!). I think we'll definitely simplify from what we had been doing- more frozen veggies, premarinated meats, etc, but preparing the food ourselves has always been important to us! Chris and I love cooking together and always have a lot of fun doing it, so it's good for our bonding too :)

9 comments:

  1. What all comprised your shrimp tacos? Shrimp, onions, bell peppers? They are very appealing. My husband does the cooking when we don't go out or order in. I plan to start cooking again in 2016. We need it if we are going to succeed at eating healthy and losing weight.

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    1. Did a really basic shrimp sauté- the guacamole had tomatoes and onions in it! I was too lazy to do my usual shredded lettuce and other assorted vegetables for the tacos!

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  2. Welcome back. You'll develop a routine and your baby does NOT need to be held 24/7. He'll learn to self sooth while you cook.

    Cooking is taking care of you which takes care of him by producing mamma's milk with the best nutrients. Be sure to keep putting yourself first- by allowing life's basics, and then holding Hunter a lot.

    My little one had colic and you know what? Sometimes I just had to put her down 10-15 minutes so I could shower or cook a quick stir fry. We all lived and I taught my whole family that I could and should take a smidge of time for myself and no harm would come.

    I later did co-op baby sitting so I could take longer walks and shop and cook for the family. Good luck and keep putting yourself first, always. Bravo.

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  3. As Karen said, your baby will self sooth and it's very important to let them develop this skill. I can't ever remember not cooking or doing everything both before and after having my babies - it was never an option back then. Trust me, your baby will be just fine if you put him down (after being fed) and get on with what you need to do.

    I know that every instinct you have is to nurture but looking after you is important too. Hunter will be just fine :)

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  4. He might be happy if he can see you. I used to put babies in the other half of the sink padded with bath towels. That works well until they start grabbing.

    I also used a baby sling (wore the babies) with all my kids thru toddler years. I used sling in the house and out shopping. Even standing in the pool. I used a front sling.

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    1. I had a very deep dish pan (plastic, used for washing dishes in the sink). I used that as a baby holder, a lot. I would prop the baby in it, facing me, padded with towels, so baby could see what I was doing and we could talk. I never put the baby on a table or counter. But at my feet so we could interact. Also on bathroom rug so I could take a bath or potty. I used that until they got big enough to crawl out of it. I still have that dish pan.

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  5. I 2nd the sling idea and do agree baby will learn to self soothe. Not at 5.5+ wks though. 6m would be more of my thought on that. Now of course I am totally not saying that you you need a break for 5 min the baby cannot cry but everyone's view of proper age for xyz is different as I am sure you have found. Just gotta go with your heart and what you think is right. :)

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