time keepers and villages

Oh my god, I love this . Not for me, mind you - I regard mornings as a not-entirely necessary evil which, should the universe work the way I think it should, would not require any intervention from me. But the idea of this going off on the Eldest's bedside table (not that he has one, not that one would fit in the boys' shared room) just makes me delighted.

Maybe it would make waking up fun. For him, anyway.
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For all of you lactating mums out there, past or present, biological or otherwise, here's to you:

Happy World Breastfeeding Week.

And for myself, a deeply heartfelt thanks to everyone who made it possible. Nursing the Eldest was a group effort, spearheaded by the Grandmere (my personal lactation consultant), and bolstered by any number of people, from the ER attending who told me to keep nursing and gave me a pump while the Eldest went into surgery at 8 days old, to the lactation consultant at the children's hospital who helped me ignore all the tubes sticking out of the kid, and to find peace, cuddled up to him. The nurses who listened and agreed with the Grandmere, and showed me how to nurse a baby through an IV shot, making it nearly painless. And above all, to the Man, who swore before having kids that he was bottlefed and it was good enough for him, but stood by me and my night-feeding, co-sleeping parenting - to the point that, when I was ready to end the co-sleeping, he loved snuggling his little one too much to stop.

You done good, o village of mine. Very, very good.

P.S. try this site (among others) for some information on the benefits of nursing the kid within the first hour of life, the theme of this year's B'f'ing Week. I didn't get to do that for the Eldest (emergency c-section), but did for the Toddles (stubborn natural VBAC), and oh but it was just the right thing to do.

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for those lactating mamas with their hands full, a quick and allergy-friendly (and yummy) recipe!

Rachel's Roasted Rice

(adapted, but the alliteration was too good to pass up)

Serves 4-6 as a main course

1 cup of basmati rice, rinsed, + 2 cups water and a sprinkle of salt. Stick this in the microwave and cook it. On my microwave, that's 5 minutes on high, then 35 minutes on 50% power. Read your manual or just risk it.

1 yellow bell pepper

2 handfuls green beans

1 onion

1 eggplant

4-6 cloves garlic, peeled

olive oil

herbs de provence, or rosemary, black pepper and thyme (dried), 1 tsp or less

1 lemon, juiced

1 can small white beans/equivalent, rinsed well with cold water

salt (1/2 tsp)

2 Tb reduced fat coconut milk

Preheat oven to 450F. Line a cookie sheet with tinfoil, then spray it with cooking spray.

Cut veggies (except for the garlic) into 1-2 inch strips/chunks. Spread over tray, spray and drizzle a bit of olive oil over them. Sprinkle with herbs and 1/4 tsp (more or less) salt. Roast for 30 minutes, but yank the garlic out after 15-20 minutes.

Toss garlic, remaining salt and lemon juice into a food processor/blender. Carefully add olive oil so that you have just a little more oil than vinegar. Add coconut milk and blend until frothy - that's important, it helps keep the dressing from separating.

When rice finishes cooking, add beans and dressing. Toss with roasted veggies and serve.

Note: veggies are flexible here. You can use zucchini instead of the green beans, different peppers, squashes, etc. I'd go for a range of colors and textures, making sure to keep the onions, which add a nice rich mellowness to the recipe. And if you try this with sweet potato, you are an absolute carb hound and I really, really want to know how it comes out. Also, consider adding a little cumin and ground coriander (in equal amounts) for a more Middle Eastern flavor, or chili powder and paprika for a more Southwestern cookery effect.