Author: Amy

Three-Day Potty Training – Round Two

Posted on by Amy

I started the 3-Day Potty Training program with Lass today.  I used the program with Miss, and it worked really well, so I figured it was time to jump into it with Lass.  Day 1 was an overall success.

I was a bit nervous at first, since apparently she has an iron bladder.  She hardly went at all this morning, in spite of my pushing water like mad.  So I was worried she wouldn’t get enough chances to go and thus, to learn.  After her nap she drank a ton more water though, and things picked up.  She seemed to really be getting the hang of it by bedtime.

Though the author of the program recommends doing nighttime training right away and not using pull ups at all even at night, I learned from my experience with Miss that it is much less stressful for everyone involved (and I sleep better) if we use pull ups during nap and bedtime.  So we’re doing that again.

Hopefully we’ll have more great progress tomorrow.

Running On Empty

Posted on by Amy

I’m staring at the screen tonight, not really sure how to write what I want to write.

I guess I’m not entirely sure what it is I even want to say, so I’m just going free form here, and hopefully something coherent will emerge.

The past week has been a rough one for me.  I’m far from the perfect mom, but there have been moments this past week that I’ve struggled to even feel competent.  I mentioned that I don’t much enjoy the weeks when my husband works nights.  I have less back up and less time with him.  Plus I think my girls miss their time with him, so they end up being less easygoing as well.  I don’t have family nearby, so when circumstances align so that my husband’s availability is limited, my sleep is less than optimal, and my older girls are listening to me about as well as my dog (who’s deaf) does,  I end up feeling very cranky and impatient.  Adrift and lonely.

I have to take more deep breaths.  I have to tell myself to chill out.  I have to get creative to keep everyone mostly sane.  I sometimes have to apologize to my kids for being a big jerk.  I pay a babysitter to get an hour of uninterrupted time by myself.  I count the minutes until a play date with a cherished friend, whom I don’t get to see often enough now that summer is over.  I keep telling myself, “The reinforcements are coming.  And it’s gonna be good!”  And it will.

My parents are coming tomorrow to help out while my husband is out of town for the next ten days.  Hallelujah.  We are thrilled to have Grandma and Grandpa coming.

Because Grandma does much better than throwing a bunch of crap on the table and calling it “craft time.”

Because Grandpa and I can put together something much better for dinner than a PB&J  picnic/movie night.

Because I’ll pull myself out of this funk and get my mommy-groove back.

I’m not really sure what has had me so out of sorts this past week. Yes, I have missed my husband (still do), but that’s not all.  I’m tired, lonely, and feeling frayed.  I suppose all moms have times like these.  Hell, I sure hope I’m not the only one!

My reinforcements are coming.  I’m running on fumes, but soon my tank will be full again.

 

Going Paleo for Real – Giving Up Dairy. Sort Of.

Posted on by Amy

A few months ago, I wrote about my early efforts in switching my eating habits to a paleo diet.  Trying to eat what the cavemen ate.  No processed foods.  No breads, pasta, or other grains. Mostly just meat and vegetables.  Some fruit and nuts.  That’s about it.  I’ve been learning to switch my eating habits and find ways to make my more limited choices for food delicious.  I’ve been coming up with new go-to recipes.  It’s been going pretty well.  Meat of some sort and roasted vegetables with a pan sauce it a pretty common dinner at our house now.  I have learned to use almond meal in meatloaf and even made some grain- and dairy-free “tortillas” for taco night.  It’s working.

But.  Another food group that is not found in the paleo-style of eating is dairy.  In my first post about going primal I mentioned that I was not willing to give up milk.  In fact, I haven’t done a very good job of giving up dairy in general.  Cheese.  Sour cream.  Milk (especially frothed in my coffee).  Ice cream.  No way.  I thought I just couldn’t do it.  However, I have rethought my stance on this and decided to give it another try.  So, I’m giving up dairy, including milk and ice cream.  There are two reasons for this.  First is that my post-pregnancy weight loss has been excruciatingly slow, and I thought this would help.  The other is that I have something called keratosis pilaris, which is a fancy name for a yucky rash on the backs of my upper arms, and I heard from a couple of sources that this could be due to a mild food allergy and that cutting out grain and dairy could help.  I had already cut the grain.  Didn’t work.  What can I say?  I am vain.  I had to try to cut the dairy to see if I could get the arm thing to go away.

I have pretty much been dairy-free for about two weeks now.  I had a bit of pizza when we were out of town for Labor Day weekend and a little bit of ice cream.  Twice.  Oh, and once I had a Starbucks mocha. But other than that, no dairy.  I haven’t seen much change on my arms yet.  Some, but not much.  This might be due to the fact that I think this keratosis pilaris is also hormone-related to some degree, as it always gets worse when I’m pregnant and for a while after (anyone else have this problem?).  So maybe I just have to wait a bit longer for all that to get back to normal.  On the up side, I’ve lost about seven pounds since ditching the dairy.  Not too shabby.

So, how has life been with no dairy?  Surprisingly not bad.  I can make a decent substitute for sour cream with coconut milk and vinegar.  I don’t miss cheese or yogurt.  Much.  I have begun using almond milk or coconut milk in my coffee.  This has been great, except when I go somewhere to meet a friend for coffee and know they won’t have almond milk or coconut milk there.  In those cases I bring my own.

Yes, that is almond milk in the same type of bottle into which breast milk is typically pumped.  Yes, I took this into the coffee shop today and poured it into my coffee.  And yes I did clarify, to my friend and also the women working there, that it was almond milk, not breast milk.

Coffee was one of the biggest hurdles for me to overcome in the move away from dairy.  I do love frothed milk in a coffee.  But almond milk is an excellent substitute, so that doesn’t really feel like a sacrifice anymore.  Another big hurdle has been trying to figure out what to eat throughout the day.  With three kids under four, I don’t have time to get real elaborate with the things I eat.  I used to eat a Zone bar a couple of times a day (gave those up about a month ago) and maybe a piece of muenster cheese here, a yogurt there.  Since the dairy drop I have had to get more creative, but it hasn’t been too hard.  So what do I eat now? I have a few go-to items during the day:

– Lunch meat or grilled chicken breasts from the deli

– Salad – I have invested in some excellent olive oil and balsamic vinegar for this and stopped putting feta or bleu cheese in with my greens

– Foil packs of salmon or tuna – I scoop the salmon out and add a little bit of olive oil, lemon juice, and salt, or just eat the tuna out of the pack.  The flavored packs of tuna are great, especially the herb and garlic flavor.

– Baby carrots

– Apples.  I eat a lot of apples.

– Trail mix made up of raisins, dried dates, and cashews.  I try to keep this to a minimum, but it’s my favorite treat.

Other things I don’t go to as often but have on my list are hard boiled eggs (I never bother to boil the eggs), cut up veggies like bell peppers, cucumbers, etc. (I never get around to cutting up the veggies), and berries (these usually get devoured by my kids).  I never realized, until making a point of changing my eating, how much my eating used to be dictated by convenience.  It’s so easy to grab a scoop of cottage cheese or a stick of string cheese or a yogurt cup or a bowl of cereal.  It’s getting easier to see the other choices as convenient too.

The hardest thing, by far, is not having ice cream.  Okay, truth?  The hardest thing is the idea of not having ice cream.  Coconut milk ice cream and almond milk ice cream are okay, but they’re just not the same.  I have actually had real ice cream twice and frozen yogurt once (in-a-little-over-two-weeks-insert-sheepish-grin-here), and still look for excuses to eat it, even more than I did before I “gave it up.”  I guess the thought that I can’t have it anymore makes me think about it more and want to eat it all the time.  I don’t give in most of the time.  But give me any “occasion” and I’m all over it.  Date night?  You bet.  Cookout with friends?  Why not?  A special treat after today’s lunch picnic with the girls?  Sure!  A pint of Hagen Daz split three ways isn’t too much anyway … right?

Right?

Going dairy-free has not been as difficult as I thought it would be.  I sometimes miss milk, and maybe some day I’ll go back to it.  But for now, I’m happy to be giving this a try.  It really is helping me to get over the hump with my baby-weight loss.  Imagine where I’d be if I could just kick the ice cream. …

Animal Farm Revisited

Posted on by Amy

My husband is working nights this week.  Ugh.  There are several reasons this is not my favorite work schedule for him, not the least of which being that I feel the need to stay out of the house all the time to let him get some sleep.  Though we can and sometimes do stay home while he’s sleeping, it generally leads to me feeling anxious about the girls being loud, and then crabby because invariably they are loud, and then guilty because of course they’re loud, they’re kids, and I hate fussing at them about it.  So needless to say, when Daddy works nights we try to stay out of the house as much as possible.  Today I decided to make the most of it.  After a little bonding time with Daddy over some archery in the morning, we hit the road to have a bit of fun out and about.

I decided to take the girls back to the dirty weird zoo we visited last summer.  Why did we return to such an odd place, you may be wondering?  Well, if you recall from our visit last year, though the place was kind of strange and dirty, it really was fun and Miss totally enjoyed it.  So I was kind of excited to check it out again now that both of my older girls could appreciate it.

I was happy to see this guy right when we pulled in.  He was one of my favorites last year and was right there to greet us when we got out of the car.

Okay, really he totally ignored us, but it was fun to see him again.  The place still had the long stretch of trail that was full of trash, but happily no bison skulls in varying stages of decay this time.

And of course, they still had tons of fun animals to feed.  This time the animals were all much cleaner as well.  A major improvement.  My favorite thing about this place is that they give each person a bag of bread when you come in and you can feed almost all of the animals there.  This time we were told we could feed any of them except the new wolf and dingos.  No problem there.  The rest of the animals were eager to accept our offerings.  In fact, we had almost the exact same problem this time with the goat assault that we had last time.  As soon as we came in and got our bread those guys were all up in our business wanting to get some.  Lass started screaming (just like she did last year) and Miss started trying to climb my leg (just like she did last year) and I started hip checking goats and hustling my wagon out of their range.  After that, Miss was kind of hesitant to feed any of the animals and Lass wouldn’t get out of the wagon.  But they still loved looking at the animals and watching me feed them.

After a while we saw this goose on the trail and Miss wanted to feed him.  She took a piece of bread and tried to take it to him, but he just waddled away from her.  Finally she threw the bread at him and then ran like hell when he turned around and started coming back towards her to get it yelling, “Momma, I knew I could do it!”

And that was her mantra for the rest of the morning. Once she braved the goose, she was all in.

She really wanted to feed the llama.  She kept calling him “Llama Llama,” like the book character.  I had to distract a few other animals (a zebra, a cow, and a pony) so she could have a clear path to feed Llama Llama.  She was really proud of herself after she did it.

She wanted to make sure each of the animals in this area got a piece of bread, and she kept pointing out animals that hadn’t, “Give one to him, Momma” and “He needs some bread, he looks hungry.”  She was quite concerned that we try to get some bread to the ones who had gotten boxed out by the bigger and more assertive animals.  So we did.

This zebra was new and very beautiful.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so close to a zebra before.  I know I’d never fed a piece of bread to one before today.

I was a little bit surprised that my typically fearless middle child did not want anything to do with feeding the animals.  She held one piece of bread the whole time.  At the end of our walk through the zoo she kept saying she was going to give it to one of the pigs, but wouldn’t quite pull the trigger and throw it through the fence.

Then the goats came back and she quickly shoved it at me  and ran back to the wagon with more screaming.  Miss was not as fearful this time though, and actually walked up to a goat and petted him on her own.  But due to the screaming of her sister, we headed out pretty quickly at that point.

When we got back to the car I asked each of the girls which animal was her favorite.  Miss said the goats (really?).  Lass said the horses (though both of them had seemed terrified of the huge horses).  In spite of the goat terrorizing, we had a really great time again this year.

And, in a burst of mommy genius and planning, I made our lunches before we left this morning so when we got home we went straight from the car to a picnic in our front yard under our beautiful oak tree.  The girls thought this was so cool.

We had some new elderberry jam on our sandwiches today.  The girls had never had this kind before (or even heard of it) so we pretended it was “Bumbleberry” Jam, which is a favorite of the Care Bears.  It was a big hit.

After lunch we just enjoyed a beautiful day outside.

Sis and I hung out while the older girls ran and chased each other back and forth.

Naturally they found the one remaining puddle from last night’s rain.

It was a great day.

Preschool Couture

Posted on by Amy

One of my favorite times of the day is when Miss chooses the clothes she is going to wear.  It is so fun to see what she picks, and to hear her describe why she has made her choices.  Today was the first day of school, and she excitedly picked out her “school tights, skirt, and topping” last night before bed.  She really couldn’t wait to wear these tights.

As an aside, I really need to get over my compulsion to buy things one size up so that they will last her longer. These tights look ridiculous they’re so big. Note to self: I have three girls. The clothes will get worn plenty. Stop being a cheapskate.

It has been fairly recently that she has gotten into choosing her own outfits, and I have really enjoyed some of the other ensembles she has put together.  She is developing her own sense of style.  I love letting her run with it and be creative.

The one below was one of my favorites.  She pulled out the shorts and then said she needed to find a shirt that also had flowers on it so they would match.  Then she chose a leopard-print bow for her hair.

I laugh at myself sometimes, because though I know it is probably very obvious, I still feel the need to tell people that she picked out her own clothes when she is dressed this way.  Partly because I don’t want anyone to think I dress my adorable child in mismatched clothes, but mostly because I feel proud of her independence and style and like to draw attention to how she expresses herself.

And I love to see how she is working on learning how to match clothes.  For the outfit below, she first picked out the skirt and then had initially chosen a light blue and green top to wear with it.  She held them up together and said, “No, these don’t match.  I need a brown shirt to go with this skirt.”  And she found one. ( The goggles were part of a game she and Lass were playing where they were “hunting trees.”  As in the trees that pulled at Snow White’s dress as she was running through the forest after being told by the huntsman that the queen wanted to kill her.  I think).

I love this stuff.  My girl has definite ideas about how she wants to express herself through her clothing.  She wants to wear skirts and dresses and still loves her tights.  It can be difficult in the few instances where I really need her to wear something particular.  Like when we went to the visitation before my husband’s grandmother’s funeral and I had to purchase all new clothing for myself and the three girls in a hurry (we were out of town and had no nice clothes to wear).  I bought Miss a blue outfit I thought she would love, with a flow-y, ruffly shirt and capri leggings, in blue, her favorite color.  She put on the shirt and was so excited, until she realized it didn’t quite cover her rear end.  She pulled on it and danced around trying to get it to cover her tush.  She said, “It’s not long enough, Momma.”  She thought it was a dress.  Then I told her excitedly that it was a shirt with some beautiful blue pants that went with it.  She didn’t fall for that.  She wanted nothing to do with pants.  She kind of threw a fit about the pants.  We had no other option.  She wore the pants.

Sometimes the definite ideas of my preschooler can be tricky.  But most of the time, they make me proud and they make me smile.  Sometimes they make me laugh and sometimes nearly scream.  Almost always they make me excited to see where they will lead.  How this strong little personality will evolve.  I love that part.

 

How to Have the Best. Party. Ever.

Posted on by Amy

As I mentioned yesterday, I went to an awesome family reunion party with my husband’s family this weekend.  I have been to a lot of parties in my life.  This one was definitely one of the very best.  All of the best parties I have been to, including my wedding reception, have had several things in common (most likely because they are all parties involving my husband’s family and/or the Farm).  My in-laws seriously know how to party.  So here’s what I’ve learned from them in the past 10 years about throwing a good party.

1. Have it in a barn (Morton building).

Nothing really screams “party hard!” like a big, cleared out building, ripe for dancing and all sorts of other antics.

2. Involve camping of some sort.  When people come from far away and are able to stay in close proximity by camping out, the fun is bound to multiply.  This was our home away from home for the weekend.

Along these lines, include a campfire.  And throw in some swine (or other farm animals) whenever possible.  Just because.  This was the view from the front door of our RV (one of these guys is going to provide some yummy bacon for our freezer come November):

3. Get a band.

Better yet, be the band.

Yes, this is my awesome husband

And play awesome music, like “Fight for Your Right (To Party)”

PAAAAARTY!

If you have no awesome musical talent available, get a karaoke machine.  Seriously.

4. Make it about family and include all generations.

My father-in-law and his brothers routinely get up and sing with the band at these family parties.  My 13-year-old nephew played the fiddle during “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” and the trumpet during “Sweet Caroline.”  My five-year-old nephew played cowbell during another song while his dad played the guitar next to him.  It was awesome.

And have a good way to keep on partying once the tiny ones go to bed (notice the monitor clipped to my waist so I could keep an eye on the girls in the RV after they went to bed).

5. Get people moving.  Encourage crowd participation.


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^This link goes to a video of part of the “Sweet Caroline” performance.  You might have to click on it twice.  I haven’t quite figured out uploading videos with this new platform yet, I guess.

6. Don’t take yourself too seriously.  If your idea of a good party involves breakable dishes and pinkies out, these tips probably aren’t for you.  But if you like a sweaty, exhausting, dance-til-you-nearly-pee-your-pants kind of crazy good time, try it.

In all seriousness, I don’t think a party like this can be easily replicated.  It’s impossible to truly describe the fun and family togetherness that is The Labor Day Party.  It’s a big group of people dancing and singing and hugging and laughing, and all of them are related.  The band is made up of my husband, his brother, three cousins, and a family friend.  The dance floor is packed with more cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews of all ages.  We used to have these parties annually at the Farm every Labor Day weekend.  We had a similar party for our wedding reception at the Farm.  For the past three years there hasn’t been a party, and I’ve missed it.  But I didn’t even realize how much until getting back to it this year.  This year the party was hosted by my husband’s amazing cousin and his wife.  Different venue, same crazy fun family, same awesome party.

The best thing this year was being able to see Miss enjoy the party (Lass and Sis were in bed before it started).  She loved dancing and I think I could have just watched her do it all night.  She totally got into the Hokey Pokey.  The first time I got up on the stage to sing, she looked up at me with a quizzical and slightly awed expression.  Then I pointed to her while I was singing, and the beaming smile that broke across her face was priceless.

What a way to wrap up summer.

Miss starts school tomorrow.  When we were talking about what she wanted to wear for her first day she said, “School tights, a skirt, and a topping,” and then she picked out a lovely outfit.  Photos of her first day to come.

Party Preview

Posted on by Amy

We partied with my husband’s family this weekend.  For many years they had an annual party at the Farm over Labor Day weekend.  We haven’t done it for the past three years.  This year, the party made a huge comeback at a new venue.  It. Was. Awesome.  The party was last night and we traveled home today.  Naturally, I am very tired tonight and not up to doing a long post about it.  But, here are a few sneak photos.

Because of this party, I cannot get the song “My Dingaling” out of my head tonight.  More to come tomorrow!

On Socialization

Posted on by Amy

Recently my husband came home from work and told me about a conversation he had with two of his colleagues during lunch.  He said that one guy was discussing schools, the importance of choosing the right school, how expensive private schools are, and so on.  The other guy, who doesn’t have children yet, was taking this all in and seeming quite concerned about it.  Then they asked my husband where our girls will be going to school, and he replied, “We’re going to homeschool.”  Well.  They were shocked and asked all sort of questions, starting with “Why?” and quickly moving to “What about socialization?”

When my husband came home and told me about this my response was a knowing nod and chuckle.  “Hehe.  Yep, they always ask about socialization.  Ha ha ha.”  Then I laughed a little more, at myself, because that was me about five minutes ago.

I used to ask the same thing.  My initial reluctance to homeschooling when my husband suggested it was for that very reason.  Socialization.  Yes, the S-word.  It really freaked me out.  Then, I decided to actually educate myself on the topic and find out what socialization, in the context of homeschooling, is really all about.

When I started thinking about it, I ended up having to turn my ideas about the concept of “socialization” upside down.  Because really, what I think about as socialization, is based on my experience of having gone to public schools.  Naturally I, and most of the rest of society in this day and age, tend to think of regular school as the way for socialization to occur.  You go to school, you sit in a room with 25 or so other kids of your same age, you listen to a teacher a little bit, you pass notes, you do work from a book, you have recess, and so on.  When you get a bit older, you have school dances and football games and lockers and pep rallies.  Lots of things that I remember fondly from my days of going to school.

But those things are only one way to experience childhood and adolescence.  And really, I have lots of other memories of my school days that aren’t quite so pleasant, like the merciless teasing of one boy who was seen picking his nose in class one day, or the hateful taunting of a disabled girl in the lunchroom, or the passing of notes amongst tweenage girls saying something like, “Let’s be mad at Jenny,” for no reason other than to be mean, or the times when I was the one everyone chose to be “mad” at and spent recess alone.  And this was, of course, before the days of Facebook and Twitter and cell phone cameras and all sorts of other scary stuff kids have access to these days.

As I have learned about socialization and reflected on how kids are currently interacting in most regular schools, I began to realize that I don’t actually want my kids to be socialized in schools.  I don’t want them to have to face the mean girls of the world or various peer pressures all day every day without some back up or guidance from their Mom.  I know some people argue that kids need to go through the difficulties that come with school and peer interactions in order to grow into tough, independent adults.  But my thought in response to that idea is, “Why?”  Why cant’t kids learn to navigate the social waters of the world and become competent, caring, responsible citizens in a different way than what is currently set up in our culture?  Why do they need to go through an experience of being with many other children of the same age, under minimal supervision, while I have no idea what they’re doing, in order to be “socialized”?  Why does their main source of socialization need to be their peers?

So, in response to my own questions, I have decided that it doesn’t necessarily have to go down that way and have chosen to do it differently.  I have learned that homeschooling groups are abundant and so widely varied that I have found several sources of “socialization” that I think will fit with my worldview and the things I want my children to learn.  We will have plenty of social interaction.  We will do gymnastics classes and Daisies and other sports and recreational activities.  We will  get together for play dates, with children of varying ages, some of whom are homeschooled and some who aren’t (our best friends are not a homeschooling family).  We will go on field trips and do volunteer work and interact with people in the “real world” in many different ways, so that when it’s all said and done, I’m confident my kids will be at least as well socialized as kids who go to school.

And through it all, we will have lots of time together to figure out the rest of it.  If I’m honest, I have to admit that I still have no idea just how I’m going to homeschool.  I’m not sure if I’ll be good at it.  Though I am truly sold on the idea of it at this point, when I think about the logistics of doing it day to day, I start to panic a little bit.  But at least I can say this: whatever else they learn, I feel good about my ability to help my kids learn to be good social beings.  And I’ll keep working on figuring out the rest of it.

 

 

A (Long Overdue?) First Hair Cut

Posted on by Amy

Miss is three and a half years old, and before today, she had never had a haircut.

I’ve been toying with the idea of having her hair cut for the last six months or so.  I just haven’t been able to get myself to do it.  I know she has been needing at least a trim, but I so loved her long hair.

And somehow, it seemed like getting her hair cut was such a big girl thing to do.  Like it would be the for real end of her babyhood.  Yes, I know she’s three and a half.  Her babyhood is past.  But it seems like just yesterday I was putting in her first pigtails.

I’ve never been much of a hair stylist.  Pigtails and ponytails or a barrette on the side about round out my hairstyle repertoire.  Even with my own hair, that’s about the best I can do.

I was quite proud of myself for styling this adorable bun when she was a flower girl last summer.

Fortunately for me, she went through a several-month-long ponytail period in the winter and spring.

Lately, she hasn’t wanted to let me do anything with her hair.  She almost never allows me to put her hair in pigtails or a pony anymore, and it’s been a bit difficult to even get her to let me put in a barrette.

So, I’ve been thinking for a little while I really ought to go ahead and have her hair cut.  But I was still a bit hesitant to do it.  Good thing my girl knows what she wants.  She told me a few weeks ago that she wanted her hair cut.  I waited just a bit before actually scheduling an appointment, to make sure she really wanted to do it.  When she mentioned it again last week, I went ahead and made an appointment.  She was so excited.

She did a great job sitting still for the stylist.

She didn’t like the clips in her hair, but she was okay with them when I told her they were only temporary.  This is the part where I almost cried.  And yes, we saved the first cutting of hair.

I love her little shy smile.

I was very relieved that she loves it.

I love it too.  She looks so grown up.

Quick Paleo Pork Tenderloin with a Pan Sauce and Roasted Vegetables

Posted on by Amy

Before I started trying to conform my eating habits to the paleo diet, I had plenty of “go-to” dishes I made regularly.  When I didn’t have much time to prepare or cook dinner, I’d throw together tuna melts, several different dishes involving a flour tortilla (tacos, burritos, tuna wraps, etc.), or any number of quick pasta dishes.  Some of these dishes have been revised to fit with the way I try to cook nowadays, like by making seasoned meat or tuna and using a piece of lettuce for wrapping instead of the tortilla, guacamole instead of sour cream and cheese.  Some have been discarded entirely.  We don’t eat pasta anymore, so most of those are out, though I occasionally use spaghetti squash as a vehicle for some good sauce.  I’ve had to come up with a few new “go-to” meals.  One of my favorites is pork tenderloin with a pan sauce and roasted vegetables.  So yummy and quick.  And it doesn’t get any easier than this.

For pork and pan sauce you’ll need:

1 pork tenderloin (or more if you need)

Salt and pepper

Coconut oil (or olive oil)

1/2 cup white wine

2-3 Tbsp butter (cold)

For roasted veggies:

Preheat your oven to 400.  Get about 1-2 lbs of a good roasting vegetable.  We like asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, butternut squash, and broccoli the most.  Cut into approximately evenly sized pieces.  Arrange on a big sheet pan, drizzle with a good olive oil, sprinkle with salt, toss to coat and put in the oven until done.  Usually about 20 minutes, depending on your vegetable.

While your veggies cook, trim the fat and silvery skin from the tenderloin.  Slice it into 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick medallions (try to make sure they’re all about the same thickness).  Use the side of your knife to press the medallions so they are about 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick.

Use a paper towel to pat the medallions dry on both sides.  Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and melt about 1 Tbsp of coconut oil in the pan.  Give the pan and the oil time to get hot before you put the meat in (it should sizzle when it hits the pan).  Put several medallions in without overcrowding.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, then flip with tongs and cook the other side until done, about another 3-4 minutes.  Remove to a plate to rest and repeat until all meat is cooked.

After you’ve cooked all the meat, pour the wine in the pan and let it reduce for a few minutes.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the bits of meat from the bottom of the pan.

After the wine reduces a bit, turn off the heat and add the butter (cut it into Tbsp-sized chunks first).  Stir until melted, pour in any accumulated juices from the plate where your meat has been resting, and the spoon the sauce on your meat (and your veggies if you want).  This is a thin sauce, not a gravy.  But it is yummy and fast.  Dinner!

What’s your favorite “go-to” dinner?