Alexa's Table

Watercress Pesto

2010-06-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

I love watercress! It is very versatile; great in salads, soups, pesto...

I had bought a bag from our favorite organic farm, White Gate in East Lyme. It had been in the fridge a little too long for a salad, so I thought I would try Pauline's (White Gate's owner) suggestion. I whipped up a batch of pesto. I didn't have the traditional walnuts or pine nuts, but a handful of hazelnuts. I thought," How bad could that be?"

Well, I have to say it was great!!!! We had the pesto over cheese tortellini for dinner and the next day with friends as a veggie dip.

The pesto was very simple; I pulsed the hazelnuts and garlic in the food processor first then added the watercress (stems and all,) extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Matthew garnished his with Parmesan, but it was delicious without!

Childhood Vaccines

2010-05-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

I would love to say that our table is adorned with beautiful and delicious food, but no. It is cluttered with books, pamphlets and papers about childhood vaccines. All new parents are finding themselves in this situation. I'm not opposed to vaccines, but so many at once. The recommendation for a baby's 2 month pediatrician appointment is a total of 8, combined into three injections.This seems severe and drastic for any person, of any age. Many rumors about autism have recently been debunked, but many ingredients despite this are frightening. Mercury has been taken out of children immunizations, but replaced with aluminum. This is another scary element and has been linked to Alzheimer's and the FDA has specific amounts not to exceed. However, vaccines can contain up to 3 times this allotment. I just can't get my head around that!

In defence of vaccines, without immunizations we will be dealing with the rise of these seemly distant diseases. The less people are vaccinated the greater the chance for many of these diseases to make a comeback. This has already been proven with the rise of Measles, Mumps and Pertussis. The Polio vaccine has helped to eradicated wild Polio from the Americas and this could be achieved worldwide.

This is just the tip of the iceberg! I have decided to educate myself the best I can. My family, friends, books and the Internet have all given me many facts and suggestions, giving me much to consider. Out of all this great advice I have found three references to be the most helpful. So, happy reading!

I have found a great blog that has Dr. Sears and Dr. Stephanie Cave's Alternative Vaccine Schedule.
The Daily Hammond
I found these very helpful. They recommend spreading out the vaccines and Dr. Cave's has them starting at 5 months. As I said before I'm not against Western medicine, I just have learned not to believe everything at face value. The medical industry is now driven and guided by insurance companies and drug manufacturers.

Another great blog!
The Natural Mommy
She has a great entry about the Pc vaccine.

I have also read The Vaccine Guide by Randall Neustaedter OMD. This has proven very helpful, but also scary! When you read anything that spells out the facts you become enlightened. I believe knowledge equals power but, what to do with this power. We all can say, "Oh, those side effects won't effect our child." We need to face the fact that they are affecting someone's child somewhere!

After much thought my husband and I decided at the 2 month appointment to start with the Pedi dt. This begins her protection of Tetanus and Diphtheria. I decided to hold off on the Pertussis because of the side effects and my ability to be a stay-at-home mom. I was also vaccinated with Dtap before leaving the hospital helping to protect her further. I had read that an infant is protected against Tetanus if the mother is current with her immunizations, but we have dogs. Tetanus can be found in the familiar places; rusty nails, deep cuts, dirty cuts, puncture wounds....it can also be found in unfamiliar places like horse and dog feces. My dogs have the wonderful habit of eating horse poop. This, I'd imagine, would make the chance even higher that they could have Tetanus. I can't keep them away from her every second of the day, so I thought it best to protect her.

Be sure to double check everything you read on blogs, including mine!! We are just well intentioned parents sharing what we believe to be true.

Well, wish me luck and in return I wish every parent the same!!

Bread recipe update...

2010-05-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

I searched around and found the cookbook on Amazon, $63!!!!
Wow! This book must be very sought after, so if you find it used at a tag sale or used book store, GET IT!!! Even if you just turn around and sell it, the book is worth buying.

Homemade Bread

2010-05-14T05:12:00.000-07:00

Another great slow rise recipe. A friend shared this recipe with me as a shower gift. I can't share this recipe because I haven't yet asked my friend. I do however feel safe telling you the recipe come from the La Leche League Cookbook. I don't know if this book is still in circulation, so keep your eyes open at the used book stores.

This bread also toasts wonderfully. I have been devouring egg sandwiches every morning. The featured sandwich has arugula, tomatoes (from VT, sooo good,) a farm fresh egg, mayo and homemade hot sauce. If you have never had mayo on an egg sandwich before you are missing a tasty surprise. I justify the morning mayo by having no cheese and using light mayo. Hellman's Light Mayo if actually delicious and only uses potato starch as the thickening agent. I can live with that, at least I can pronounce "potato starch"

A May Day

2010-05-13T10:59:00.000-07:00

This butterfly was too beautiful not to share.

Miriam's Library

2010-05-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

At only a few weeks old Miriam has quite a library for herself. To help myself and our loved ones keep track of these books here's the list:

Marshmallow, by Clare Turlay Newberry
Library Lion, by Michelle Knudsen
Kitten's First Full Moon, by Kevin Henkens
The Runaway Bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown
Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
Mike Mulligan and More, by Virginia Lee Burton
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, by Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, by Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle
The Very Hungery Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr/John Archambault
Roger Tory Peterson's ABC Of Birds, by Linda Westervelt
Over The Rainbow, performed by Judy Collins and paintings by Eric Puybaret
Forever Young, by Bob Dylan
The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg

I will do my best to keep this updated!!

Homemade pizza

2010-04-26T04:47:00.000-07:00

Who knew that homemade pizza was one of the easiest meals to make while caring for an infant. I used the slow rise method and VOILA pizza for dinner.
While Miriam took her morning nap, I made the dough and popped it into the fridge.
When Matthew came home from work he kept Miriam happy and I put together the pizzas. Matthew has a great way to roll out the dough. Lay piece of parchment on the counter, with your hands stretch the dough out a little, cover with plastic wrap and roll out the dough to the desired thickness. Also, remember pizza doesn't have to be round. Be sure to keep a creative mind, remember you have just had a very busy day!
I used left overs to make delicious pizza toppings. I was able to make three different kinds of pizza; Red clam sauce with Parmesan, caramelized onions, fresh sage, kalamata olives and Parmesan, and salt, pepper, olive oil and Parmesan (this very simple one was great the following days with cheese and snacking.) It's quite fun seeing what you can make with left overs.

Basic Pizza Dough
1 3/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast (keep a jar in the fridge.)
5 1/2 cups a.p. four (unbleached white flour that has a little bran still, tasty and healthy,)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for coating the dough and bowl
1 tablespoon salt

For the dough:
Pour the water into a mixing bowl and dissolve in it the sugar and yeast. When the yeast is active add your first cup of flour and whisk. Next add the oil and salt. With a dough hook incorporate the remaining flour until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and the dough holds it's shape.

For kneading:
Dust your kneading surface with flour. (Only use enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your work space.) Turn out the dough and knead until it feels smooth and springy. Place dough back in the mixing bowl. Be sure the bowl and dough is well oiled. Cover and pop in the fridge.

An hour before baking the pizzas preheat your oven and pizza stone to 475.

Take the dough out of the fridge about 15 minutes before preparing the pizzas. Turn dough out onto counter, knead out any air bubbles and cut into 4 portions. Roll out as I described above. As for the toppings open your mind and your fridge. Again, just have fun!!! Slide the pizza into the oven right on the parchment.

Bake at least 15 minutes until the crust is cooked and the desired crispness. It is easy to tell when the crust is cooked though because the pizza will easily slide off the parchment. We like our crust extra crispy so I baked ours longer and kept an eye on it's progress.

Homemade red clam sauce with Parmesan.

Not only did we have a tasty dinner but, Matthew and I had a few days lunch.

A new kind of catering...

2010-04-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

The last month has brought many changes to my world. Every day brings new joy, just when I think my heart has reached it's full capacity it simply expands with the tiniest and sweetest of smiles (even though until last week they were caused by gas bubbles.) My young family has been the most exciting and rewarding job I have ever had. I must give a great big thank you to my husband for catering to me and our daughter. He created delicious and nutritious meals over the last month. Eating was the farthest thing from my mind, but the very important. Here are a few pictures of his creations!!!

Breakfast Quesadilla with refried black beans, avocado, red onion, Cato Corner Farm Cheese and homemade hot pepper relish (canned from the summer, super good and super hot.)

Baked Pumpkin Soup! Baked and served right in the pumpkin, a tasty dinner with a beautiful presentation.

Roasted White Gate Farm Chicken with Swiss Card, Stewed Tomatoes and Creamy Semolina

Southwest Omlet with Avocado, Black Beans, Corn, Homemade Salsa (canned from the summer,) and Cato Corner Cheese

Now that I have a good handle on things I am back in the kitchen and will be sharing some of my creations soon!

My new blog

2010-04-14T05:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome!!! Please join me on my new blog!

I will be sharing recipes, thoughts, ideas, pictures and stories of my young family.