The second half or our food filled weekend is a recipe suggestion from the warm, tropic regions of the globe. We are in the middle of summer and planning Louise’s Caribbean baby celebration (post-delivery in order to partake in a bit of festive rum), so naturally the combination of hot and caribbean brings to mind yummy island food. To be honest I’m pretty sure we can find a food for any ocassion, but I digress.
We came across this delicious looking dish while searching for all things Caribbean, and it was love at first sight. The recipe looked pretty easy, and our efforts this weekend proved it to be exactly that. So, we share this wonderful discovery with all of you looking for a fresh, tangy, island-flavor dish for a shower, a wedding menue, a girl’s gathering, or just because you want to treat yourself to something new. Enjoy and let us know how you like them!
Caribbean Cornbread Crab Cakes
Ingredients
1 (6 oz.) package Cornbread Mix
SALSA
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (parsley or basil will work as a sub)
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 mangos, peeled and cubed
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
CRAB CAKES
2 large eggs
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon seafood seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup sliced green onion
2 (6 oz.) packages pasteurized lump crab meat, lightly drained
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil
Preparation Directions
BAKE cornbread according to package directions in 8-inch Lodge cast iron skillet. Cool and crumble.
WHISK together lime juice, honey, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Add cilantro, red bell pepper, mango and pineapple; stir. Refrigerate.
COMBINE eggs, mayonnaise, lemon juice, seafood seasoning and dry mustard in large bowl; mix well. Add crumbled cornbread; blend. Fold in green onion, crab meat and black pepper.
HEAT oil in cast iron skillet over medium heat. Form crab mixture into 12 cakes. Cook in hot oil 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.
DRAIN on paper towels. Serve topped with salsa.
Recipe found at The Power of Family Meals.
I’m not much of a pink person, but I must admit that this pink and gold is gorgeous. Romantic, classy, dreamy and subtle, this color combo is the stuff of every childhood girly, princess fantasy without being overly ‘feminine’. Even though a lot of men can and do sport pink with much style, the addition of the gender neutral gold will make his man genes a little more accepting of its pink partner. Tip: Using rose more of an accent color will make its beauty have more of an impact.
That story may be a shock for some of you now, learning that babies as young as 5 and 6 months are capable of signing when they can’t even talk. However, it’s true. Infants develop and learn to control their motor skills long before they develop and are able to control the vocal muscles needed for speech, so it seems only logical that communication would first come in the form of a physical language. Utilizing the signing communication method doesn’t mean you will stunt your baby’s speech development like parents and educators once believed. In fact, researchers have found that using sign language with your baby can actually help to improve her/his language learning. Plus, understanding what your baby cannot tell you with words further helps to form and cement the bond of trust between you.
So, after researching on the topic, Signing with Baby offered the following steps to help get you started with teaching your baby to sign.
First, choose one or several signs to fit your comfort level.
Second, show your child the sign (or signs) during an activity (for example, during nursing, if you choose to begin with the sign for milk). Use the sign(s) before or during the activity, and show your baby the sign every time you do the activity. Consistency is the key. Use your chosen sign(s) until your baby begins to sign back to you.
Third, choose another sign and start the process over again – but don’t drop the sign(s) your baby already knows. Once you begin adding signs like this you will find your sign vocabulary really grows with your baby’s.
Just keep in mind that babies can take weeks or even months before making their first sign, so don’t loose hope if weeks of signing bear no fruit. Your little bundle is just setting her own pace.
For more great tips and signing resources, we found the following sites also helpful: Sign 2 Me and Baby Signs
The entrance to parenthood can be a very scary time. You have this brand new being, fragile, innocent and completely dependent on you to survive, and worst of all, the little creature can’t even tell you what it needs when it needs it…at least not in a way that you immediately understand. The baby’s only way of telling you it needs something is to cry, and if you’re just starting out, every cry sounds exactly the same. Of course the first 3 things you usually check for are hunger, a dirty diaper and sickness, but what if it’s none of those? How do you stop a baby from crying if you don’t know what’s wrong? Is it boredom? Fear? Sleepiness? The need to see a familiar face?
After doing some research, we stumbled upon Ask Dr. Sears in which was posted this very helpful list of easy ways to sooth your crying baby, no matter the cause. Some are common knowledge (at least in our family they are), while others may surprise you. But no matter the familiarity, all are tested to sooth your baby in just a few minutes.
36 Time-Tested Ways To Sooth Baby
• Wearing baby in a sling
• Dancing with baby
• Swinging baby
• Car rides
• Pushing baby in a carriage
• Taking a walk
• Bouncing on a trampoline
• Nursing while walking with baby
• Draping baby over a beach ball
• Comfort sucking: nursing, pacifiers, sucking on the move
• Music, tapes of womb sounds, heartbeats
• Echo baby’s cry
• Tape recordings of baby’s own cries
• Tick-tock of clock or pendulum swing of grandfather clock
• Singing lullabies
• Vibrating, humming gadgets wrapped in diaper or blanket
• Running water
• Tape of environmental sounds
• Metronome
• Ceiling fan; bathroom fan
• Sounds of vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, washer-dryer, air conditioner
• Show baby your “silly face”
• Magic mirror
• Fire in fireplace
• Gazing at traffic
• Watching parent on exercise machine
• Watching television or video
• Infant massage
• Warm fuzzy
• Neck nestle
• Nestle nursing
• A warm bath together
• Colic carries
• Eliminating bothersome foods from mother’s diet if breastfeeding, or changing formula
• Slowing down mother’s lifestyle and changing her expectations
• Creating the most peaceful home environment.
Another great tip we found on the site was the article, 4 Ways to Teach Your Baby To Cry Better. They are time tested as well, and help make sure that when your baby cries, it’s for a good reason.
1. View your baby’s cries as a communication rather than a manipulation tool. Think of your baby’s cries as a signal to be listened to and interpreted rather than click into a fear of spoiling or fear of being controlled mindset.
2. Better early than late. New parents may be led to believe that the more they delay their response to baby’s cries, the less baby will cry. While this may be true of some easy, mellow babies (they become apathetic), infants with persistent personalities will only cry harder and in a more disturbing way. Learn to read your baby’s pre-cry signals: anxious facial expressions, arms flailing, excited breathing, etc. Responding to these pick-me-up signals teaches baby that he doesn’t have to cry to get attended to. Again, forget the fear of spoiling. Studies have shown that babies whose cries are promptly attended to actually learn to cry less as older infants and toddlers.
3. Respond appropriately. You don’t have to pick up a seven-month-old baby as quickly as a seven-day-old baby. In the early weeks of cue-response rehearsals, respond intuitively and quickly to each cry. As you and your baby become better communicators, you – and only you – will know whether a cry is a “red alert come now” cry or one that merits a more delayed response.
4. Learn that magic cry-response word appropriately, which implies balance – knowing when to say “yes” and when to say “no.” In fact, you will naturally start off as a “yes mom,” then intuitively become appropriately a “yes and no” mom. When in doubt, say “yes.” It’s much easier to fix over-responding – you just back off a bit. It’s more difficult to repair the distrust that stems from under-responding and becoming disconnected.
5. Try the Caribbean approach. A system we have developed to model calmness to a baby is one we dubbed the Caribbean attitude: “No problem, mon!” Imagine your seven-month-old baby playing at your feet and you’re on the phone. Baby starts to fuss and give pick-me-up gestures. Instead of dropping the phone and anxiously scooping up fussing baby, put on your happy face, caringly acknowledge baby and make voice contact, “It’s okay, love…” In this way, your body language is reflecting, “No problem, sweetie; no need to fuss.” By your body language, convey to your baby – be happy, not fussy.
For more tips about calming your fussy baby, visit AskDrSears.com or stop by BabyZone, another great find!
