Dan gets an A+ for rocking at fatherhood — he can change diapers, navigate hospital bureaucracies, provide supplemental feedings, do all our dishes, and make sure mom gets extra sleep.
Theo gets a B+ — he’s an adorable little baby but he beat up his mom pretty bad on the way out, was small for gestational age and lost significant amounts of weight over the first couple of days — but he’s been gaining weight and starting to get the hang of things over the last several days.
My grade is decidedly the weakest — a gentleman’s C for still being alive (though Dan argues that surviving has required more than that and deserves a higher grade). I did spend an hour in the operating room under anesthesia after Theo’s birth for repairs after the delivery and then was readmitted five days after the birth for postpartum preeclampsia, which required being strapped to an IV that dumped magnesium sulfate into me for 24hours. Magnesium sulfate makes you feel awful — dizzy, pounding headache, nauseous, and unable to eat solid foods. But, on the plus side, I didn’t have a seizure.
I was re-discharged on Sunday and we are just starting to get into a routine at home. Today was our first day without a visit from a nurse and we celebrated by going to lunch at our neighborhood pub — and we even got there before 3PM.
Erin and I wanted to let folks know that our new baby Theodore entered the world happy and healthy at 1:36pm on Monday February 20th. Theo weighed 5 pounds, 14 ounces, and measured 19 inches in length. Both he and Erin are doing well. We will make little updates here and there on this blog if you want to follow along.
We got home on Erin’s birthday (22nd), and that was a lovely gift and made it easier to celebrate.
Before sending us off into the world, my mom taught my brother and me one of our favorite weeknight dinner recipes — spinach burritos. I always liked this recipe and it was always a hit among my college roommates. Recently, I revisited the recipe and as I always do, took it as merely inspiration. And I realized that the changes to the recipe throughout my life presented an interesting chronology.
This is the tale of my life through Spinach Cumin Burritos…
Original Mom’s quick weeknight dinner recipe
Dan’s poor college student adaptation
Dan’s Spoiled Millennial adaptation
A return to simple, how fast can I cook baby makes me tired
Nuke frozen spinach 3 minutes while combining salsa and crumbles in medium sauce pan to warm. Squeeze excess water from spinach to add to crumbles and salsa. Add spices, heat through.
Serve on tortillas with cheese. Roll and enjoy.
Dan’s College Recipe
Add rice, frozen veggies, can of tomatoes, and increase seasoning to cover the boring rice. This increases the yield to feed 3 hungry college guys and friends. At the end of ingredients line add, “whatever is on sale.” All items generally from CostCo.
Nuke frozen spinach 3 minutes while combining salsa and crumbles in medium sauce pan to warm. Squeeze excess water from spinach to add to crumbles and salsa. Add spices, heat through.
Serve on tortillas with cheese. Roll and enjoy.
Dan’s Spoiled Millennial Update
This is by far the most delicious of the bunch, but it requires you to check your privilege 😉
Basically, you need to have a productive garden and buy farm fresh ingredients.
Ingredients
1 pkg organic free range ground beef (Step 3 or above)
1 giant harvesting bowl of organic home grown kale from your garden
1 shallot
1 1/4 cup chunky salsa (any favorite), this is basically the same but of course fresh organic salsa
2 Tablespoons Chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
actually 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin, yeah lets go ahead and triple that (3x the cumin kale power combo)
2-3 home grown hot peppers, jalapeño recommended
2-3 cloves of home grown garlic
2-3 carrots, of course home grown preferred but I guess organic will do
hand full of home grown basil
hand full of home grown arugula
lime wedge
1/2 lbs of home grown heirloom cherry tomatoes
1/2 bag of organic cheddar cheese
Preparation
pour glass of wine or craft beer to begin
sauté shallot while prepping
chop kale (and arugula) in food processor with olive oil
put chopped kale in a bowl, squeeze in lime, add seasonings, add some of favorite hot sauce
add carrots to sauté
prep other veggies
add veggies to kale mixture (tomatoes, garlic, salsa, other extras)
add beef and hot peppers, season with Worcestershire sauce
season sauté with salt and pepper to taste (possibly some extra paprika, crushed red pepper, etc)
minutes later add kale marinading mixture
add cheese immediately before turning off stove and stir in
wrap with freshly heated tortillas
Serve to your non-impressed and tired of waiting hungry guests
Perhaps our final months of slow cooking garden fresh foods?
Dinner? Burritos? Umm, but the baby is crying
A return to simple, how fast can I cook anything… We have a baby on the way… I don’t know if we will garden. Who knows if I can cook anything that isn’t microwavable. I am currently contemplating on moving to compostable plates for the next few years.
Ask Mom to make original recipe and bring it over
or
Cook original recipe in giant batches and freeze enough to feed a small army.
Erin and I have been adventuring together for over 10 years… so, we decided it was time to try something new, exciting and scary. We are extremely thankful on this Thanksgiving week to announce that we will be adding a new member to our family, coming in February.
