Top 10 Signs I’m A New (and Very Sleep-Deprived) Mom

As I ring in a key milestone today – our little Emily turning 2 weeks old – I thought it appropriate to encapsulate a list of the top 10 signs that I am a brand new and very sleep-deprived mom. This list isn’t exactly about eating when you’re hungry or listening to your body (I’m doing the former, but not the latter, given that all my body is saying now is GET SOME SLEEP), but I find the following list worth posting anyway.

Most of these things (minus number 6, which brought my husband and I to the ground in laughter the first time it happened) have not been funny in the moment of impact, but in retrospect, I guess they are fairly comedic. Here goes….


1. Boob Lube. My entire life now revolves around two sources of food sitting atop my chest – and the care (read, expensive products) that goes into keeping my girls happy, healthy and producing milk for my munchkin, is beyond anything I’d ever imagined.

2. Dead Car Battery. Earlier this week, I discovered that my car battery was dead after gearing up for over an hour to get out of the house for one errand (to which my mom was going to drive me, as I can’t get behind the wheel yet). Reason for dead battery – light was left on (by sleep-deprived mommy) in the backseat.

3. Meals A-Flying. Last night, all I wanted was broiled chicken breasts, green beans and biscuits and I was determined that 13 days into motherhood, I could pull this off. I will commend myself for pulling it off (and the end result was surprisingly delicious), but that was after I literally dropped the chicken and the pyrex pan in which it was sitting, into the stove. The pan ended up face down on the open oven door, with the raw chicken breasts slammed against the oven window. Hubby was called in for the rescue, and the meal was saved.

4. SYTYCD….the 24-hour show. It now takes me at least 24 hours to get through one episode of my favorite show, So You Think You Can Dance.

5. DVD Pause Button Wearing Down. During the last two weeks, our DVD player has taken on a new function – teaching us what the heck we’re doing with various baby products. At the end of week 1, my hubby and I were on hands and knees with our munchkin atop one of her many swaddle blankets (see image above), watching the Luna Lullaby DVD explaining how to swaddle appropriately. We had a lovely orchestra of screaming adorable-munchkin to help set the mood, and we paused after each step was taught to practice it ourselves. One week later, Emily is sleeping soundly in a top-notch double-swaddle as mommy writes this post.

6. Projectile Poop. I’ve now officially caught in my hand both poop and barf. That alone qualifies for a good present for my first mother’s day next year.

7. White Noise = One of Life’s Biggest Joys. That’s right, the white noise maker we bought on Amazon during week 1 is definitely up there on my list of favorite products. It helps during the swaddling process to calm our munchkin…..which in turn helps keep mommy and daddy sane.

8. Diaper Diva. Yes, our little girl is a diaper diva. Her first 24 hours at home filled an entire Diaper Genie II with dirty diapers.

9. New Vocabulary. Most frequently used words include: swaddle, wet, swaddle, dirty, swaddle, hungry, swaddle, poop, swaddle. Get my drift?

10. Love Takes On New Meaning. It baffles my mind that I can love someone so much and so unconditionally, particularly given that this someone poops and barfs on me, keeps me up all night long and produces the above top 10 list. But I guess that’s how parenthood works. I’m in love with my little girl. And that’s that.

Cry When You’re Hungry

Hi there. Sorry I’ve been away for some time. I was off having a baby! That’s right. I haven’t blogged about being pregnant, though I might still write about the experience, as so many different food and body image issues arise during pregnancy.

Two of the most prominent for me were the following:

1. Food grossed me out. Food never tasted quite the same to me when I was cooking our little bun in my oven. People often asked me if I had any weird food cravings, and aside from milk and grapefruit juice, which I couldn’t get enough of during the first six months, the answer was mainly no. Way more bizarre to me was the long list of foods I normally love that I just could not stomach during pregnancy.

2. My body became a conversation topic – anywhere and everywhere I went. It’s a good thing I am in a healthy place with body image, because the moment I became pregnant, my body – it’s size, shape, growth or lack thereof, was on the table for discussion. Publicly. And now that I’m not pregnant anymore, it actually still seems to be. Quotes from the last 12 days include: “Wow, your belly really went down since yesterday!” “How long will it take for you to not look pregnant anymore?” Said over laughter, "You still look pregnant!" (hysterical, right?) And my personal favorite, “Why do you still look pregnant?” Hmmm, let me think for a moment -- because I had a baby 12 days ago? Just a guess.

Anyway, all sarcasm aside, I am now a very proud mommy to my little pumpkin. And though this blog is not about pregnancy or babies, it’s all a part of who I am now, so I thought I’d better make the announcement here.

Plus, I have a sense my little girl is going to have a lot to teach us all about intuitive eating and listening to our bodies. During the past 12 days I’ve already learned volumes about what intuitive eating looks like in babies.

It’s called CRYING. And lots of it until you give them that milk. Sometimes it takes my husband and me an hour to figure out that – though she just had a great feeding an hour prior– our little pumpkin is still hungry. And the moment mommy gives her some milk, she’s calm as can be.

So…..here’s to intuitive eating from birth. More regular blog posts (including some, perhaps, about pregnancy and about the intuitive eaters present in all of us from birth) to come when I have a little more sleep in my system.

To the right....pregnant Maggie, and Mommy Maggie with Baby.

Buttermilk Biscuits, Anyone?

In honor of the weekend, which is almost here, I thought I’d post the recipe for my favorite homemade buttermilk biscuits. I discovered this recipe sandwiched between 300+ pages of a wonderful book called The French Don’t Diet Plan. Please don’t be scared off by the word “plan” in the title. I realize that word can suggest this book is actually a “diet plan,” even if it’s being marketed as a “don’t diet plan.”

While I don’t recommend this book to the novice intuitive eater, I do recommend it to people who have truly made peace with food, and are looking to explore their palates even further. It offers a nice glimpse into the “French paradox,” and I find it a refreshing reminder of the importance of finding pleasure in eating. I also enjoy re-reading it after any particularly annoying experience of hearing someone tell me something is “fattening” or “caloric” or you-name-it.

Anyway, like the book or not (I really enjoyed the read, and many subsequent re-reads), these biscuits are sure to make any morning a good one. If you have time this weekend, I highly recommend you preheat your oven to 475 and enjoy the aroma that fills your home as these wonderful biscuits puff up in the oven.

“Somebody’s Buttermilk Biscuits”
Courtesy of The French Don’t Diet Plan

You’ll Need

2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a Large Mixing Bowl

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder). Then mix the wet ingredients (oil and buttermilk) into the dry ingredients. You can either stir them around with a wooden spoon, use a food processor, or knead it with your hands until the dough is nice and smooth. If your hands get a bit sticky from the wet dough, just dust a bit of flour on them. (NOTE: This dough is very wet! I usually add a tiny bit more flour to make it easier to handle. But don’t worry if the dough seems too wet. It probably isn’t).

Preheat the over to 475 degrees.

On a Cutting Board

Sprinkle with flour and set the dough on it. Knead it a few times to increase the fluffiness you can expect from the biscuits when they come out of the oven. The dough picks up flour from the board; make sure it takes on just enough to be soft but not sticky.

Form the dough into a round that’s about ½-inch thick. Use the open end of a small glass to cut the biscuits.

Dab the glass in flour periodically or it’ll get sticky from the wet flour on the inside of the dough. The biscuits don’t have to be perfectly round, and you can mold them into any shape you want. Put them in a 9-inch baking pan or large iron skillet so they’re snug one next to the other. Once they are all packed in, cut a sliver of butter to place over the top of each.

Bake for about 14 minutes (my oven runs “cool,” so they take a bit longer for me). When you smell them and the tops are golden, take them out and enjoy.

Favorite Product of the Week: Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves

I like to eat real food, and I like to make it myself when I can. But I’m also a full-time working woman writing a blog during my “free time,” and still trying to be the best wife, daughter, sister and friend that I can be. As you can imagine, this leaves little time for cooking. So when I find a product that tastes like I (or better yet, my mom) made it, and the ingredients are easily pronounceable and appear to be things I could purchase myself in the grocery store, I get very excited.

That happened this week, so I have to share it with you here.

My favorite product of the week is Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves. Not surprisingly, this is a product of France. It comes in an adorable jar that looks like your grandmother jarred it herself. The ingredients are what you’d expect to find in strawberry preserves and it tastes like it was made fresh from the strawberry farm and jarred just for you!

Before the weekend, I will try to post one of my favorite recipes that makes a scrumptious bed for these preserves.

Pork Cutlets with Mustard Sauce

“Maggie, what do you eat on a daily basis,” people often ask me when they first learn about Eat When Your’e Hungry. “Give me some of your real food recipes.” Well, I’m just as busy as the next person in this 24-hour/day nonstop working world, but when I do find the time to cook a meal worth sharing, I guess I really should start posting the recipes here. These are tried and true Maggie favorites: easy and delicious, and always made with real food (rather than food-like-substances).

Here goes. This is a recipe we made last week and one that has become almost a weekly staple. It’s a cinch to make and tastes like a meal you’d eat at a fancy restaurant. As you can see from the picture, we often make it with roasted potatoes and either broccoli or asparagus. Bonus points for you if you see the heart-shaped potato on my hubby’s plate.

Try this recipe when you feel like putting on your chef’s hat. You’ll be so impressed with yourself after making this dish, you may even feel inspired to buy the entire cookbook.

Pork Cutlets with Mustard Sauce
Courtesty of Food Made Fast: Weeknight (Williams-Sonoma)

Boneless center-cut pork loin chops, 4, each about 6 oz
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Mustard seeds, 1 tablespoon
Unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons
Shallots, 2, minced (chopped frozen onions are also A-OK)
Dry white wine, 1/3 cup
Chicken broth, 1/3 cup
Heavy (double) cream, 1/3 cup
Honey Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons

1. Cook the pork

Season the pork chops with salt, pepper, and the mustard seeds, patting them firmly into the meat. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Working in batches if necessary, add the pork chops and cook, turning once, until golden on the outside and barely pink in the center, about 8 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.

2. Make the sauce

Add the shallots to the drippings in the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and broth, stir, and cook, scraping up the browned bits on the pan bottom, for about 1 minute. Add the cream and mustard and cook, stirring, until smooth and bubbly, about 1 minute. Return the pork and any juices from the plate to the pan. Simmer until the pork is heated through, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper