what's cookin'

This morning I decided that the best way not to feel tired would be to keep myself active and busy today. Lately there have been several things I've been wanting to cook, but I haven't had the motivation. On the list:

• spaghetti sauce (enough to freeze for about 6 dinners' worth)
• pumpkin muffins (great way to get healthy pumpkin and whole grains into Celia's belly)
• black bean & corn salsa (another of Celia's favorites)
• split pea soup (easy to make and freeze, for me to have when Chris is eating meat)
• a fruit crisp (because I've been wanting a dessert, but also a way to get Celia eating fruit)

While Pita had breakfast this morning I made the spaghetti sauce. This had to get done because I'm carbo loading a bit for tomorrow's run, and want to have pasta tonight. When the sauce was done, I left it on the stove to cool while we went grocery shopping. Oh, and Pita's eating strike continues. Breakfast was yet another meal marked by Celia flinging food on the floor, smearing it all over her tray and hands, and declaring victory by crying "Mess!"

Luckily, her behavior is much better in public than at home. She was a perfect angel in the car and at the store. She doesn't want to sit in the cart for long anymore, but will hold my hand and walk up and down the aisles with me. It is SO cute! She also likes to help push the cart, and will hold things for me and carry them to the cart. She's always a magnet for attention at the store. I wish I'd taken a picture today.

When we got home it was almost lunch time. I got Celia to polish off a container of baby food carrots. She loves it and calls it "sauce", like applesauce. It's funny how the way things are presented to a toddler make such a difference as to whether they like it. After that, things went downhill. The rest of lunch involved more food flinging and Celia insisting that she play on the deck while I tried to get her to eat. At this point it was close to nap time, and anything that didn't go her way ended in a mini tantrum. When Celia brought me the remote and requested "Elmo", being the supermom that I am (haha) I didn't resist.

Celia watches Sesame Street sometimes, but that's pretty much the only TV she's ever watched. I don't have the TV on much, but it sure is nice to have her occupied for 20 minutes now and then so I can take a break or get housework done. Usually she watches Sesame Street while I have my coffee and check email in the morning.

After this came nap time. Oh, glorious nap time! While Pita has been sleeping, I've crossed a couple more cooking tasks off my list. First, a peach and strawberry crisp! I adapted another fruit crisp recipe from Veganomicon. We're having a decent nap today, thank goodness. Celia has already been asleep for two hours. Hopefully we're getting back on track with sleeping now. Last night she only woke up twice. I need sleep and lots of energy for my 17 miles tomorrow! Speaking of which, I think I'll do some stretching now before Celia wakes up.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. The weather is looking perfect here!