Ham Shank: The Forgotten One-Pot Wonder

This recipe is a total throwback to simpler times, when dinner was literally boiled meat in a pot with a bunch of root vegetables. Doesn't sound appetizing? Then think again.

The ham shank is an incredibly flavorful, ridiculously inexpensive cut of meat, and this recipe hails from a time when every part of the animal was used because, well, meat was expensive. And it still is today, so next time you think that you need to save a bit of dough, ask your butcher for a ham shank. This whole big thing cost me £3, and we've gotten 2 meals out of it already, with leftovers to spare. If you like ham, you'll love it. It's simply a cheaper cut of meat that has been cured the same way.

For this recipe, I used potatoes, swede (that's like a big giant turnip, for my American readers), carrots, one red onion, a bulb of garlic, and a head of cabbage. The seasonings in the pot included 6-8 whole peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, 2 sprigs of rosemary and a handful of fresh parsley (stems and all). Cut up all your vegetables into big 2-inch chunks, and cut the head of cabbage into quarters. Try to aim to have everything cut to the same thickness so that it takes the same amount of time to cook.

Begin by covering the shank with water in a stock pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for approx 1-1 1/2 hours, skimming the top of the pot occasionally to remove any foam & sediment that might come out of the bone. Seriously though, leave it and don't worry about it, this is easy.

When the meat is fork tender, chuck everything except the cabbage in the pot, cover and cook for another 20 minutes, then add the cabbage and cook for the remaining 10. Drain the vegetables, lift out the ham and pull the meat off using forks and/or a knife.

To make a quick gravy, make a roux from 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp flour in a pan, then add a few ladles of the cooking water. Add white pepper and salt (to taste).

Tadaaa! A big, hearty, healthy, delicious meal that your great-grandmother would be proud of.

Sunday 24th April in Photos

The hubs are I are both sort of obsessed with the idea of gardening/farming these days. Saw this book in the café at Country Market and definitely want to get a copy. 

The best "soda" ever. Pressed rhubarb and apple juices with sparkling water. That's all, folks. I will require a case of this stuff when the weather warms up. 

Now that I can have dairy in my diet again, I indulged in a latte and cake today. (Did someone say "cheat day"?

Visited the brother- and sister-in-law today. Auntie Zoe made Chloe a daisy crown! 

Their new kitchen is gorgeous! Steve helped out with some DIY stuff while we girls enjoyed the new room and played with Chloe in the garden. 

Is this the start of a mischievous grin? 

Hope everyone had a great weekend! 

12 Weeks

I guess you could consider it 3 months, but being the OCD family we are, we count the weeks until it's the exact day of the month (the 9th) when she will actually be 3 months old. We're just... You know... Nuts like that. I'm dreading the day when she's too old to celebrate turning months/weeks old. I know that this phase wears off soon, but I'm digging my heels in. She's too tiny and perfect and I want to watch every week go by in complete awe. 

Yesterday my computer bit the dust. Not in an, it's-slow-and-needs-to-be-repaired kind of way, but in a hard-drive-meltdown kind of way. The kind of meltdown that the Geek Squad would play taps for as they lowered my old laptop into a shallow grave. Today I'm commandeering the hubby's work computer so that I can get a little bit of editing done, but I've just sort of accepted that most of my blogging activity will probably take place on my phone for a while. Thank God for every editing app under the sun, right? But it's also why these photos are grainy and a bit overexposed. See, I'm trying to find a perfect app that you can adjust the exact pixel size of an image without downsampling it. Once I've edited a photo on my phone, it's gone through about 4 apps before it's done, and the quality tends to be compromised. Can't wait until I have my Photoshop up and running again! It's installing on Steve's computer as I write this. 

Yesterday was exciting, though, because Chloe rolled over. Twice! Tummy Time turned into the most thrilling thing that's happened in weeks. I posted a video on Instagram, so head over and follow @munchiemummyd to see it! 

This week is a blur of a growth spurt: when I'm not feeding Chloe, I'm going through her clothes picking out everything she's outgrown already (and sobbing hysterically in the process). I remember time dragging on when I was a kid; why does time fly now that I have one? It's not fair. I feel like I don't have enough time to savour each and every expression and noise she makes before she's on to doing something new. But at the same time, I'm so excited as she starts sitting up and playing with toys. 

12 weeks already feels like a lifetime. 

Wardrobe Hacks: Breastfeeding

I. Love. To. Wear. Dresses.

And now I've come to terms with the fact that most of my favourite wardrobe items have to be retired for at least six months, because they're not breastfeeding-compatible. Why oh why is life so cruel?

It's been a learning curve, which started with my hysterical sobbing with a two-week old baby that I couldn't wear any of my existing clothes, except for maternity leggings, yoga pants, and the two nursing tank tops my mom had sent me. 

But as the baby weight gradually began to fall off, and I started having the energy to actually get dressed every day, I learned a few ways to bend my existing wardrobe to make it breastfeeding-friendly. 

Unfortunately, a massive heap of dresses did have to go into storage, but I know I'll see them again before the year is up. Save another rant for another day, but I found the same issues I had with buying maternity clothing in the UK applied to nursing clothes as well: high street shops don't stock it, and most of it that does exist is poor quality, horizontal stripe t-shirts and outdated designs. If anyone reading this has millions of pounds (or dollars) that they'd like to invest, there's a huge gap in the maternity clothing market in this country that I'd love to tap into. But I digress...

I've only needed to buy a handful of new wardrobe items so far, so here are some of my favourite nursing outfits to our together, without busting the bank on (not-so-attractive) "nursing" clothing. 

Shirt Dresses

Button-down styles are a breeze to nurse in. Even half-button-down will do the trick (just try on and "test" how far they button down). I found a chambray one at TK Maxx that I love; the relaxed fit is pretty forgiving of new-mummy-tummy, and if can be belted once your waistline reappears. Here are a couple of others that I love:

Sleeveless Shirt Dress, H&M, £14.99

Denim Shirt Dress, Next, £28

Belted Shirt Dress, M&S, £55

Wrap Dresses
Universally flattering on almost every body type, wrap dresses can be so easy to breastfeed in. Look for true wrap dresses (not faux wraps) and fabric that has a bit of stretch in it.

Khaki Wrap Dress, House of Fraser, £30

Marrakesh Jersey Wrap Dress, East, £79

Overalls

This came to me the other day as a sort of revelation: Overalls are perfect for breastfeeding! Just un-snap one side (or both), and you're good to go! I have a couple of pairs of vintage corduroy ones, as well as some cute denim overall dresses. 

Brooklyn Dungaree Dress, Oasis,  £48

Bandeau Dresses

Even though spring has just sprung, stores are already beginning to stock some summer dresses. Bandeau dresses, with their stretchy, elastic tube tops, are perfect for pulling down to feed. 

Camie Printed Bandeau Dress, Monsoon, £39

I hope this post helps if you have any worries about your post-baby wardrobe! It's been a learning curve, and I feel like I'm just beginning to get the hang of getting fully dressed each day, with the help of some of the clothes I've mentioned above. Let me know in the comments if you have any more tips for building a breastfeeding-friendly wardrobe!

It's Not What It Looks Like

Sometimes we bloggers get so caught up in making things picture perfect that readers might think that our kids are well dressed, our homes are always tidy, and our hair and makeup is always done. So here's a little recap of my day, to put your mind at ease:

10am

We finally get out of our respective beds. No joke. Chloe decided that her 5am feeding was time for everyone to wake up and play, so once daddy left for work, she and I took a nap from 8 to 10 to recover from her early morning adventures. Did I mention that we're in the throes of a growth spurt, and she's been eating every hour for the past lol, 3 days? Yeah. Lots of sleep being had over here. Not. We'll take what we can get. 

12pm

Laundry folded and put away, dishes washed, bed made, time for a workout. But Chloe didn't want to be put down so I ended up doing some squats in front of the TV until she calmed down enough to sit in her bouncy chair and watch Tiny Pop so I could do a 5-minute workout, in which I had to stop about 10 times to put her binky back in. I'm on Day 4 of the 30 Day Flat Abs Challenge, but technically it's day 6. I'm 2 days behind and it's not even been a week. Yep.

This is a no-shame, no-airbrushing mom body pic. Not because I'm preaching anything, just because it's the reality of it, and it's part of my journey back to fitness. Nothing wrong with that. And as I kept *mostly* covered up, trust me, you're welcome. Sorry for the poor photo quality; phone selfie in a poorly lit room. You know how it goes. 

1pm

Made a really yummy tuna salad, because I didn't actually eat a real meal yesterday. My dinner was roasted sweet potato wedges - I literally just cut up two sweet potatoes, and put them in the oven. It's all I had time/energy for. So here's my pole caught tuna salad with cucumber, spring onion, heirloom tomatoes, lemon juice, shredded beetroot and mixed greens, topped with a soft boiled egg. Made a double batch and extra egg so I can have a decent lunch tomorrow, too. 

2pm

Popped on the sling and decided to try taking it out of the house for the first time now that Chloe can hold her head up steadily on her own. She usually likes it and falls right asleep, but my overstimulated child was wide awake as we walked to Waitrose less than half a mile away to pick up the spinach I forgot when we did the grocery shopping yesterday. I got my free coffee (perks of having a MyWaitrose card, so if you don't have one, get one!) and sat in the café when I saw another mum from the antenatal classes, all tall and skinny with her fancy pram and designer changing bag. Well, my baby is always well behaved in public, and she was sitting up and looking around and babbling, so I thought I'd be smug about it. Nope, Chloe threw a stink fit and screamed bloody murder for no reason, so after a couple of minutes I just abandoned my coffee, bundled her back up in the sling and walked away embarrassed. Of course, as soon as I stepped foot outside the cafe, Chloe went back to her calm and happy self. Thanks for knocking me down a few pegs, kid. 

4pm

Used the spinach and kale I picked up at Waitrose to make a quick green smoothie in the Nutribullet. I figured it was a better snack option than finishing a big bag of Penn State pretzels (*cough* - yesterday - *cough*) so I blended it up quick and sat down to write this post. Oh, and the first two bananas I peeled were rotten inside. Awesome. Perfect and yellow outside, manky as hell inside. Yum.

I'm planning to make a garlic & herb roasted chicken for dinner, with roasted courgette (zucchini) wedges with a balsamic glaze, and dairy-free mashed sweet potatoes. And now I have to go change a *very* stink diaper that just occurred, and then tackle the pile of ironing hanging from the living room door handle. It's 5pm and Chloe still hasn't taken a decent (more than 20 minute) nap since 8am. Wish me luck!

I'll probably end up posting this at like, 10pm, so don't mind the delay. C'est la vie.

Happy St Patty's Day, btw!

9 Weeks Already!

I totally dropped the ball on the "Two Month" post, so here's a "9 Weeks" post instead! Sort of. The lazy version. 

I can't believe Chloe is 9 weeks old already. Every week I have to pack up clothes she doesn't fit into anymore; when will it end?! (I already know the answer... waa!)

I love that the weather is finally feeling spring-like. I mean, I still wore a long puffer coat today, but I didn't need gloves or a hat, and I didn't have to put the rain cover over the pram because of the cold. It was actually pretty warm in the sun.

So Steve's been pretty busy with work, and has been pulled in all sorts of directions lately - literally. He's been driving to appointments every other day, and found out last minute that he had to leave for two days in Bath, so it's been just us girls (and Doopy) holding down the fort.

I'm constantly fascinated by how much she learns and does every day - from holding herself up better, to grabbing toys, recognising people and sounds at a distance, and being able to entertain herself. She stays awake a lot longer these days, too. It's about a half mile walk to the high street, and she was alert and awake the whole way there. After a trip to Boots for some necessities, I was going to stop off for a coffee at the Ivy House, but knowing that they don't have soymilk (still dairy free strong over here) I thought I'd try the Sainsbury's cafe, since I had to pop in for some groceries anyway. And she was awake the whole time! I mean, what baby stays awake for like an hour in a pram? My baby. Lol. But you can just see her little brain processing it all and soaking it all in as she looks around. I'm sure the world must be fascinating from her little point of view.

She's also begun to roll onto her side, giggle during bath time, and gets really excited when reading books - sometimes. It seems like every day she's making more sounds and interacting with us more. I swear today when I walked out of the room to go use the bathroom, she yelled something that sounded like, "HEY!"

Grabbing toys is a new game- once she has a grip, she hangs on tight and swings it around like mad. For this reason, I've been trying to give her soft rattles to prevent any head-bashing incidents. Today she pushed her own binkie back in whilst laying down a couple of times, but I'm not sure if that was a fluke or a legitimate accomplishment. She certainly wiggles around enough trying to make it happen when she wants it and when it's in reach, though. 

Here's to hoping we haven't thrown off her sleep schedule! (The post-walk nap was longer than usual, and I have a bad feeling I'm not sleeping until midnight tonight!)

My First Mother's Day

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day (don't panic US readers, you haven't missed it - the UK has a different Mother's Day! Yet, curiously, Father's Day is the same date. I don't get it, but oh well). I woke up with a cold... well, I'd been waking up all night sneezing with said cold, so my wish for Mother's Day was a quiet day on the sofa, complete with lots of cuddles - but no smooches, and lots of hand sanitizer, so as not to give Chloe said cold (although we all have a slight case of the sniffles at the moment).

Look at that happy face. I melt. I'm one proud mama. 

Anywho, I love daffodils, and Waitrose was giving away free £1 bunches with your MyWaitrose card, so I couldn't resist having fresh flowers in the house. I've always loved flowers... sometimes on the way home from work, I'd hang around Waitrose having a coffee for 15 minutes so that they'd mark some down after 6pm, and then I could take a bunch home for like, 50p. I'm such a sucker for fresh flowers, but I can't afford to buy a new bunch every couple of days to support my habit. Hence the waiting for markdowns. 

Yep, that's a pint glass for a vase. They were too short for any of my real vases, I swear. Don't judge. 

This is my Midweek Mum Meal of the week: Bowtie Chicken & Kale Pasta. It can feed 4 from a bag of pasta and 2 chicken breasts, so it's economical, too. I had picked up a bag of Tuscan kale (Cavolo Nero, UK readers) and wanted to think of recipes to incorporate it this week, as well as use up the last bit of white wine that I had in the fridge. It's both dairy free and potentially vegetarian, so it would work for Meatless Monday if you nixed the chicken. Oh, and in the photo, it's not dairy free-  I added some chunks of Mozzarella onto Steve's bowl because I needed to use up what we had left in the fridge. Which, if you're not dairy free, is another great addition to the dish. But on its own, this meal is full of veg and fresh flavour, while still feeling like comfort food. 

PS- I've added the UK "translations" for this recipe in italics, because I know there can be a minor language barrier when it comes to supermarket items. Hope it helps!

8 Weeks

Little miss Chloe is 8 weeks old today, but because I plan on doing a "2 month" post all about her next week, this post is all about little old me. And the photos are just little daily snaps from my phone, so no Pinterest-worthy perfection up in here. I mean, that's just not the reality, is it? But it's still to cute too omit.

"I woke up like this." All of the smiles.

8 weeks of motherhood, and my very first Mother's Day tomorrow. What have I learned? Well, forgiveness, for a start. Forgiving myself for losing my house keys and a binkie cover this week. "Mommy brain" is a real thing, people. Steve has to decipher what I want when I can't think of a word and have to resort to pointing and grunting for communication. Am I losing my mind? Maybe. It's ok though. It's like I'm that kind of nuts that is too far gone to realise it, so I'm fine. It's just the people around me who suffer. 

I've finally gotten into a sort of household routine, which pretty much revolves around a constant supply of dirty laundry. I don't know how one little person can generate so much washing, but alas, this is my life now. I cannot wait until we're out of this flat and I can either have A) a dryer (currently the best we can do is a heated drying rack, which is getting mucho expensive to run 24/7) or B) a home with a garden so I can hang laundry outside. Did I mention that this flat is getting kind of cramped these days? And that's without having an airer set up in the living/dining room all day, errrrrryday. 

Someone wants to go for a ride in the car. 

Doopy (the cat) is such a proud big brother. He loves to watch over Chloe while she sleeps, and he is so gentle and barely bumps her with his nose when he sniffs her, if he touches her at all. Often, if she's laying on her play mat or on our bed, he curls up about a foot away. Just close enough without mummy telling him it's too close. He knows. He's so good with her. I feel like they're going to be bff's someday soon and I'll totally take a back seat. I know how special a kitty can be when you're a little girl, though, so it's a-ok with me. 

Late night YouTube workout time.

In my 6 free minutes each day, I'm doing the very best I can to get some kind of exercise. I am following a few YouTube workout channels and downloaded a couple of apps (everything is semi-Pilates-based, as that is my exercise of choice) and I'm trying a little here and a little there every day. Even if I only get ten reps of a move in, a few times a day, I feel like it's better than nothing. On nice days (when it's not freezing/raining/Narnia outside) I go for a walk with Chloe in the pram, and do a loop from our flat to the centre of town, up the high street, and back around to our flat from the opposite direction. On that route, it's 90% uphill so I get a pretty good leg/bum workout in. I'm happy with my progress, and on the days when I try on pre-pregnancy clothes and they still don't fit, I really have to remind myself that I am 8 weeks into changing something that took 9 months to re-shape. I have a goal in mind: a wedding in May, and I have a specific size of dress I'd like to fit into by then. I don't have a scale, I'm just holding myself accountable each and every day to be the "hot mom" I hope I can be. 

As far as our meals go, Steve and I are both striving for hearty salads and healthier versions of our favourite comfort foods.  I have some epic recipes on the horizon, so stay tuned this week. 

TGIF: Week in Review

Left: Catching a quick workout while Chloe naps.          Right: We finally figured out the sling! She's still not crazy about it, though.

This week has been a pretty good one; we're starting to get into a rhythm with Steve's new job; he's pretty much self-employed now, so we had to figure out how to run smoothly on the days when he has to work at home. After all, there's not much room in this 1 bedroom flat for an office, and I don't want to be confined to the bedroom all day with Chloe when he's set up our dining table as his 'desk'. It's a new, exciting chapter for both of us and we're just making it all work as he's getting things rolling. Short term sacrifices = long term goals, or something like that.

I went to Costco and picked up the only decent bagels I can get over here, so it's been bagels for breakfast, bagel sandwiches for lunch, bagel "pizzas" for dinner... almost a bagel a day in one way or another.

Broke my new yoga mat in this week since I got the all-clear to start working out again from the doctor. I actually just downloaded three new pilates/workout apps yesterday, so I'll be trying those out (and probably reviewing them in the next MM Approved post) in the days/weeks to come.

On the Chloe front, she smiles and reacts to things more and more every day, and her babbling skills are developing more as well. I just cannot get enough. We tested the waters with dairy again, at the suggestion of our GP, and poor little angel did not handle it well, so I'm still avoiding the cow. We have discovered, however, that goat/sheeps' milk/cheeses are just fine, so I've found a brilliant soft goat cheese with herbs that I've been using as a cream cheese substitute on my bagels. Happy mummy.

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, @munchiemummyd!

1 Month Old

I'm two days late posting this, but my little angel is a month old and I have no idea when that happened. Call me crazy, but when I look at photos of Chloe from her first week I can't believe how different, how much bigger she already is. 

Current advancements: 

She's holding her head up like a champ (see below selfies, taken late last night with my new selfie stick!). She's starting to make discernible baby noises that aren't grunts or cries, like, goo-goo-ga-ga type noises, and I can't wait for full-fledged baby talk. That jet black hair is coming in thicker every day, and we've nailed down a routine and sleep schedule. Believe it or not, once I put her down for the night (usually between 12 and 1 am) she only gets up once to feed in the night, and goes straight back to sleep until about 9am. Last night I got 7 hours of sleep, I kid you not. How on earth did I get so lucky?!

Current struggles:   

Baby acne. No clue where it came from, it just showed up out of the blue the other day. I've been told that it normally is at its worst between 4 and 6 weeks, but I'm really hoping it clears up soon. I know it doesn't bother Chloe, but I feel like it does (as if it's a rash or something). But our (my) biggest current struggle is with little miss Chloe's intolerance of dairy. In any form and quantity. It took a lot of discomfort on her part, poor thing, before we discovered that she was getting painful gas/trapped wind and constipation every time I ate dairy. Once I cut it all out of my diet, it took about a week to fully get out of my system, and she's sweet as can be (though she can still make quite a rumble in her nappy after I eat chili - learned that lesson the hard way when she went through 5 nappies in the span of about 10 minutes).

I think my biggest dairy struggle is finding a butter substitute, but I'm also having to re-think a lot of my classic Italian go-to recipes as well. I'm planning to do a post on dairy-free-ness soon, but if you've had this issue with a newborn being dairy intolerant before, drop me some wisdom in the comments!