It was while I was working at a local daycare that I had my first encounter with the new and improved cloth diapers. I was only a few months pregnant and at that point had not considered cloth diapers. These diapers changed everything!
To be honest I hadn't considered cloth diapers because the work of trying to get it folded right, then on evenly, then pinned (without pinning the baby), than that ugly plastic cover over the diapers just made me exhausted thinking about it. The new diapers were different.
These new diapers had snaps and a little pocket to insert a pad to absorb waste. They were fun with different colors and designs. I was intrigued, but not interested enough to really educate myself on them.
Then one day I saw a picture of a friends baby wearing these diapers. I immediately sent her a message (my friend... not the baby) and started asking questions. I'm grateful for the time she spent answering my questions. She even shared with me the best ones for the best value. It is because of the time my friend spent with me that we have been able to save money.
Let me break down my likes, dislikes, what I've learned, what I wish I had really known in advance, etc.
1. We have already saved a ton of money and Joseph is only four months old.
2. We do use disposable diapers when we leave the house. We do it mostly for our own convenience. They do sell nice little lined bags to put soiled diapers in while traveling. These also come in some pretty cutters patterns.
3. It is imperative that you be able to wash at least every other day. I have learned this the hard way. The diapers get clean, but the stink stays. Do not fret if something like this happens. I have successfully rewashed diapers like this after re soaking them in sole detergent and vinegar. Ideally it helps to be able to line dry them outside, but if you live in the north like myself that is sometimes difficult.
4. Alva is the brand I went with. You get your best bang for your buck with them. The upfront cost is hefty, but totally worth the savings in the end. I was registered on Amazon.com, so I actually received some as gifts which also helped us save. They are a really great brand. I've not had any issue with the quality of the product at all and truly they are the most economical. They also have a huge selection of patterns. If you like their Facebook page you have the opportunity to give input on new patterns and products. It's kind of nice.
5. The one thing I really wish I had known was that you have to purchase a separate diaper for newborns. The reason is you need a diaper that will rest under the umbilical cord. They do have these as cloth diapers, but we chose not to invest since the time our son was in that size was so fleeting that we chose to do disposable for that very small period. (Not to mention we were at a disadvantage since we didn't figure this out until after he was born)
6. The work to maintain the diapers is not really that difficult. I gather all the diapers. I pull out the inserts. All inserts and diapers that are only soaked with urine go in to a bucket I have set aside. I pull the inserts out of all the poopy diapers. Those join the other items in the bucket. I than take the dirty diapers and rinse them in the laundry room sink. There are gadgets you can buy that connect to your toilet that allow you to spray the dirty ones immediately, but if your washing them every other day you really do not need it. The diapers spray out fairly easy and I have yet to get sick from doing this. I'm sure my process will change when my sons bowel movements become more firm. Once the diapers have been dried I put an insert in them right away so I'm not struggling with this while in the midst of a diaper change. My son takes too much pleasure in aiming and firing.
7. I did buy a diaper pail for the nursery and a couple of reusable cloth bags. Both items are from Dekko. The diaper pail has a double door system. It truly does keep the smells enclosed inside. It's pretty amazing. Downstairs though we use just a small garbage can with a lid. It does a decent job of keeping the smells at a minimum. If there is a diaper that I know is going to be particularly heavy with stink I make the effort to run it upstairs. It's good exercise anyway.
Overall, my experience has been pretty positive. I am sharing a link for the Alva diapers. Check out their fun patterns.
Do you use cloth diapers for your baby? What has been your experience with them?
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Surviving Colic (probably part one of a 100 part series)
There is the question "What causes colic?" or "What is colic?" If you've stumbled upon this blog because you googled colic and your searching like mad to find some sense of peace than you know the same as I at this point... there is no real answer. Or maybe your a friend of mine reading this and have been through the situation yourself.
Frustrating to say the least! Even now, sitting here in the temporary evening silence, I want to weep with the weariness of it all. There are many well meaning souls who offer you such advice as "all babies cry" or "welcome to motherhood" (admittedly that one makes me want to slug people the most... motherhood does not equal being terrorized for eight plus hours a night of crying) Of course, there are the really overly helpful people that just know if they could be present when the baby is crying they could solve all of your problems. This one is aggravating as well. We live in an information age. I have googled, read and searched for every possible solution to the long evenings of crying. I have rocked, played music for, sang to, put the baby in a bouncer, let the baby "cry it out", taken him for so many car rides that oil industry should be sending my husband and I thank you letters.
The truth is you don't know or understand until you have lived the life day after day. What works one day may (and most likely) will not work the next day. You squeeze your eyes shut most days and pray that God touch your baby. You cry with your baby. You search desperately for possible answers.
Most importantly you start learning to cope. During a ten minute period of peace you run down to the laundry room to switch everything over. You take a few minutes to pump if you are breastfeeding. You stand at the refrigerator door and stuff as much food and liquid in your mouth until the baby starts crying again. You let the dogs out and for just a brief moment stand outside, lift your face to the sky and breathe. If you're smart you've realized that baby sleeps well when your holding him. So you settle down with your ipad, computer, book, tv remote and multitask of sorts.
When people come over to visit you attack that pile of unfolded laundry that you've been piling up from your sneak visits to the basement. You drop the baby in their arms, wish them luck and run to the bathroom for what is probably a much needed shower. (yes... I have cried huge tears wishing for the moment I can just get in to the shower) When we attended our birthing and newborn care classes the teacher advised having a list of things to do for people who come over to visit. I thought this was an excellent ideal. My views on this have changed a bit. Doing these tasks offers me a moment of normalcy.
I say all of this with a huge pile of guilt in my heart. For eight years we waited for a child. Eight very long, very frustrating years. We went through the IVF process to find final success. We wanted a baby so very badly. It pains me that I look forward to someone asking if they can hold my baby and the relief that I feel that my hands will be free for a few minutes. Guilt washes over me when I finally grow weary enough of the crying that I have to call my husband to come home from work to relieve me. The internal struggle of loving a being so much it aches, but being so utterly frustrated that there is nothing you can do to relieve whatever it is that is making this being cry and scream.
So to all of you mom's out there dealing with the pain. I hear you. To anyone reading this with a friend going through this, don't ask what you can do. Evaluate! Find what you can do and do it! Oddly enough, asking what you can do only adds to the pile of guilt a mother will add on top of what she has already put on herself. Just do it!
Alas, someone calls my name... to be continued.
Frustrating to say the least! Even now, sitting here in the temporary evening silence, I want to weep with the weariness of it all. There are many well meaning souls who offer you such advice as "all babies cry" or "welcome to motherhood" (admittedly that one makes me want to slug people the most... motherhood does not equal being terrorized for eight plus hours a night of crying) Of course, there are the really overly helpful people that just know if they could be present when the baby is crying they could solve all of your problems. This one is aggravating as well. We live in an information age. I have googled, read and searched for every possible solution to the long evenings of crying. I have rocked, played music for, sang to, put the baby in a bouncer, let the baby "cry it out", taken him for so many car rides that oil industry should be sending my husband and I thank you letters.
The truth is you don't know or understand until you have lived the life day after day. What works one day may (and most likely) will not work the next day. You squeeze your eyes shut most days and pray that God touch your baby. You cry with your baby. You search desperately for possible answers.
Most importantly you start learning to cope. During a ten minute period of peace you run down to the laundry room to switch everything over. You take a few minutes to pump if you are breastfeeding. You stand at the refrigerator door and stuff as much food and liquid in your mouth until the baby starts crying again. You let the dogs out and for just a brief moment stand outside, lift your face to the sky and breathe. If you're smart you've realized that baby sleeps well when your holding him. So you settle down with your ipad, computer, book, tv remote and multitask of sorts.
When people come over to visit you attack that pile of unfolded laundry that you've been piling up from your sneak visits to the basement. You drop the baby in their arms, wish them luck and run to the bathroom for what is probably a much needed shower. (yes... I have cried huge tears wishing for the moment I can just get in to the shower) When we attended our birthing and newborn care classes the teacher advised having a list of things to do for people who come over to visit. I thought this was an excellent ideal. My views on this have changed a bit. Doing these tasks offers me a moment of normalcy.
I say all of this with a huge pile of guilt in my heart. For eight years we waited for a child. Eight very long, very frustrating years. We went through the IVF process to find final success. We wanted a baby so very badly. It pains me that I look forward to someone asking if they can hold my baby and the relief that I feel that my hands will be free for a few minutes. Guilt washes over me when I finally grow weary enough of the crying that I have to call my husband to come home from work to relieve me. The internal struggle of loving a being so much it aches, but being so utterly frustrated that there is nothing you can do to relieve whatever it is that is making this being cry and scream.
So to all of you mom's out there dealing with the pain. I hear you. To anyone reading this with a friend going through this, don't ask what you can do. Evaluate! Find what you can do and do it! Oddly enough, asking what you can do only adds to the pile of guilt a mother will add on top of what she has already put on herself. Just do it!
Alas, someone calls my name... to be continued.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Rummage Sale Day Coming!
The O'Brien household is having a rummage sale this coming weekend. Please stop by and buy some of our stuff. (preferably all of it) Also, let me know if you are interested in bringing some stuff over to sell as well. I'm attaching a link with additional information and photo's.
Rummage Sale Info
Rummage Sale Info
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Give Me Faith
There are a lot of "I wonder's" in my mind today!
Imagine yourself out in your yard picking up some sticks. This isn't just an ordinary yard pick up day. You are picking up sticks in order to make a fire that will cook a last meal for both you and your son. It's a pretty bleak day. You expect death to be upon you soon after.
You see there has been a famine in the land for quite some time. In your kitchen sits just a little bit of oil and a little bit of flour. Enough just to make one final meal. You've probably been meagerly portioning out meals in the hopes that the famine would end before this day came, but it didn't.
So here you are, prepping your last meal. You're preparing yourself for one last taste of goodness before hunger turns death. I wonder if you are determined to just let fate happen. I wonder if there is any hope at all. I wonder if you are walking around in a delayed sense hoping your circumstances will change. I wonder if there is just a little bit of hope that the God that freed the Israelites from slavery would make a miracle happen for you and your son.
The Bible tells us of a woman in the Bible that was doing just this. While she was picking up sticks to prepare her meal a man of God walks up to her and asks not just for water, but for a little bit of food as well. She tells the man that she has just enough flour and oil to make one last meal for her and her son and that they then planned to die. The prophet, Elijah, tells her go on and make a cake for him first, then one for her and her son. He then promises her that if she does that, she and her son will not go hungry the rest of the famine. Of course, we know that when we read the story, the woman follows Elijah's orders and the Bible tells us that the flour and oil never ran out during the remaining time of the famine.
I wonder what that woman thought when Elijah told her to take what little food she had saved for her and her son's last meal and make a meal for him first and then them. What? WHAT? Didn't you just hear me preacher man? I said I'm making our last meal and then we are going to die! The Bible doesn't tell us what exact emotions ran through the widow's mind, the doubts that plagued her or even maybe some resentment that she was feeling. It only tells us that she went and did as the prophet bade her to do and because of her obedience her and her son never died of starvation.
Jesus told us in Matthew 17, that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed that we could tell a mountain to move and it would move. The verse finishes by saying, "nothing would be impossible".
Faith takes obedience! Faith takes doing what I can do and then letting God do the rest! Faith takes trust! Faith takes love! Faith takes WORK! But with it... nothing is impossible!
Hebrews 11 is a great chapter on faith. It starts off by defining faith for us. It's something that we can't see physically, but hope for with our spiritual eyes. It tells us about men of the Old Testament and how they did actions based on faith. Verse 6 even tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith. The rest of the chapter goes through even more Old Testament figures that used their faith muscles.
None of these people were perfect. Some had made big mistakes. Take for instance Sarah who was old. God promised her a son. When she first heard it she laughed. If I were in my nineties I'd probably laugh as well I think. However, God still performed a miraculous work and gave her a son that would be a start of a great nation.
I want mustard seed faith. I want the faith that says "move mountain" and it moves. I want that faith that would go and prepare my last meal for another person trusting that God would provide as promised. I want faith that believes the impossible is possible through my God. I want it!
Lord, give me that mustard seed faith. Give me that unwavering faith. Give me faith that will move mountains. Help me to learn to love you so much that I see that nothing is impossible with you! I have requests Lord! Things I selfishly want for my life. Things I want for others. I need that faith. Give me mustard seed love! Give me mustard seed faith!
Imagine yourself out in your yard picking up some sticks. This isn't just an ordinary yard pick up day. You are picking up sticks in order to make a fire that will cook a last meal for both you and your son. It's a pretty bleak day. You expect death to be upon you soon after.
You see there has been a famine in the land for quite some time. In your kitchen sits just a little bit of oil and a little bit of flour. Enough just to make one final meal. You've probably been meagerly portioning out meals in the hopes that the famine would end before this day came, but it didn't.
So here you are, prepping your last meal. You're preparing yourself for one last taste of goodness before hunger turns death. I wonder if you are determined to just let fate happen. I wonder if there is any hope at all. I wonder if you are walking around in a delayed sense hoping your circumstances will change. I wonder if there is just a little bit of hope that the God that freed the Israelites from slavery would make a miracle happen for you and your son.
The Bible tells us of a woman in the Bible that was doing just this. While she was picking up sticks to prepare her meal a man of God walks up to her and asks not just for water, but for a little bit of food as well. She tells the man that she has just enough flour and oil to make one last meal for her and her son and that they then planned to die. The prophet, Elijah, tells her go on and make a cake for him first, then one for her and her son. He then promises her that if she does that, she and her son will not go hungry the rest of the famine. Of course, we know that when we read the story, the woman follows Elijah's orders and the Bible tells us that the flour and oil never ran out during the remaining time of the famine.
I wonder what that woman thought when Elijah told her to take what little food she had saved for her and her son's last meal and make a meal for him first and then them. What? WHAT? Didn't you just hear me preacher man? I said I'm making our last meal and then we are going to die! The Bible doesn't tell us what exact emotions ran through the widow's mind, the doubts that plagued her or even maybe some resentment that she was feeling. It only tells us that she went and did as the prophet bade her to do and because of her obedience her and her son never died of starvation.
Jesus told us in Matthew 17, that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed that we could tell a mountain to move and it would move. The verse finishes by saying, "nothing would be impossible".
Faith takes obedience! Faith takes doing what I can do and then letting God do the rest! Faith takes trust! Faith takes love! Faith takes WORK! But with it... nothing is impossible!
Hebrews 11 is a great chapter on faith. It starts off by defining faith for us. It's something that we can't see physically, but hope for with our spiritual eyes. It tells us about men of the Old Testament and how they did actions based on faith. Verse 6 even tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith. The rest of the chapter goes through even more Old Testament figures that used their faith muscles.
None of these people were perfect. Some had made big mistakes. Take for instance Sarah who was old. God promised her a son. When she first heard it she laughed. If I were in my nineties I'd probably laugh as well I think. However, God still performed a miraculous work and gave her a son that would be a start of a great nation.
I want mustard seed faith. I want the faith that says "move mountain" and it moves. I want that faith that would go and prepare my last meal for another person trusting that God would provide as promised. I want faith that believes the impossible is possible through my God. I want it!
Lord, give me that mustard seed faith. Give me that unwavering faith. Give me faith that will move mountains. Help me to learn to love you so much that I see that nothing is impossible with you! I have requests Lord! Things I selfishly want for my life. Things I want for others. I need that faith. Give me mustard seed love! Give me mustard seed faith!
Monday, February 1, 2016
A Deliberate Touch
The story starts out for someone else. A man named Jarius. His daughter is sick and he comes to beg Jesus to go home with him and heal his daughter. Jesus agrees and begins the journey with Jarius.
Of course, the crowd that typically surrounded Jesus followed them. At one point, Jesus turns and asks the crowd, "Who touched me?"
This is of course a strange question to the disciples. They were surrounded by people. They say, "Master this whole crowd is pressing up against you."
Jesus is God manifest in the flesh. He KNOWS who touched. Some say He asked the question because He wanted the one who touched Him to step forward so He could teach them it was He who healed them and not just a magical touch of His garments. Others speculate that He wanted to teach the crowd a lesson. Neither of these stuck out to me as I read the passage.
What stuck out to me was Jesus' reply when the disciples tried to brush away His concerns that someone had touched Him. He said, "Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me."
Someone didn't touch Jesus because He was the newest and hottest fad. Someone didn't touch Jesus because they had nothing better to do. A woman fought her way through the crowd to touch Jesus with the thought of "If only I could touch the hem of His garment I could be healed". A deliberate touch.
The Bible tells us that the woman had an issue of blood. Jewish law said that any man that touched a menstruating woman would become "ceremonially unclean". This would have held true whether it was a natural time for her or in her specific case an "abnormal circumstance". This woman was to be avoided, but she was desperate. Desperate for a healing. So desperate that she didn't try to get Jesus' attention and risk rejection. So desperate that she didn't call out His name to gain His attention as others had. She was so desperate that she didn't need to bear words. She said, "If only I could touch Him".
It was that faith that brought her a healing. The kind of faith that said, "I don't care what others say." She just wanted a healing.
I want that kind of faith. Faith that doesn't care about what others say. Faith that doesn't care who is in the way. Faith that says "I just want to touch Him."
How about you? How long have you been praying for something? Are you daring and bold enough to deliberately touch the God of the universe? I promise you, if you do, you won't walk away disappointed. You will walk away with the healing you seek! You will even walk away with peace, but first you have to deliberately touch Him!
Of course, the crowd that typically surrounded Jesus followed them. At one point, Jesus turns and asks the crowd, "Who touched me?"
This is of course a strange question to the disciples. They were surrounded by people. They say, "Master this whole crowd is pressing up against you."
Jesus is God manifest in the flesh. He KNOWS who touched. Some say He asked the question because He wanted the one who touched Him to step forward so He could teach them it was He who healed them and not just a magical touch of His garments. Others speculate that He wanted to teach the crowd a lesson. Neither of these stuck out to me as I read the passage.
What stuck out to me was Jesus' reply when the disciples tried to brush away His concerns that someone had touched Him. He said, "Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me."
Someone didn't touch Jesus because He was the newest and hottest fad. Someone didn't touch Jesus because they had nothing better to do. A woman fought her way through the crowd to touch Jesus with the thought of "If only I could touch the hem of His garment I could be healed". A deliberate touch.
The Bible tells us that the woman had an issue of blood. Jewish law said that any man that touched a menstruating woman would become "ceremonially unclean". This would have held true whether it was a natural time for her or in her specific case an "abnormal circumstance". This woman was to be avoided, but she was desperate. Desperate for a healing. So desperate that she didn't try to get Jesus' attention and risk rejection. So desperate that she didn't call out His name to gain His attention as others had. She was so desperate that she didn't need to bear words. She said, "If only I could touch Him".
It was that faith that brought her a healing. The kind of faith that said, "I don't care what others say." She just wanted a healing.
I want that kind of faith. Faith that doesn't care about what others say. Faith that doesn't care who is in the way. Faith that says "I just want to touch Him."
How about you? How long have you been praying for something? Are you daring and bold enough to deliberately touch the God of the universe? I promise you, if you do, you won't walk away disappointed. You will walk away with the healing you seek! You will even walk away with peace, but first you have to deliberately touch Him!
Friday, January 29, 2016
Mustard Seed Faith
When you think about it, it's so easy to say that I have faith for something. Lately, the Lord has been dealing with me about this. Am I just saying I have faith? Or do I really have faith? Do I have faith that will move mountains.
I was reading through some Scriptures on faith and I came across the Scriptures when Jesus talked about mustard seed faith. The conversation came about because a man had come to Jesus and asked him to heal his son. The man said that his son would "have seizures" and "fall into fires and water". The man said to Jesus "I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him". Jesus seems a little irritated when he turns to to address the crowd, but then he calls for the boy, rebukes the demon and the boy was healed.
Afterward, the disciples come to Jesus and ask Him "why?". Why you and not us? Jesus very simply tells them that they do not have enough faith. It sounds as if the disciples were saying that they had faith, but didn't actually have the faith to back up their words.
At the beginning of this year, my pastor asked me to come up to the front of the church and speak faith over some things that were going to happen in my life. I spoke those words. I called out a committed life to God for my husband, restoration to God for my family and babies for my husband and myself. Those are some pretty tall orders. I spoke those in faith!
Now, it's three or four weeks later. It's hard to hold on to those words. We look for an immediate answer. When it doesn't comes, we start to justify our words, God's untimely answer, etc. Where is my faith? Why is it so easy to say it, but not believe it?
Jesus when speaking to His disciples told them that if they had faith of even a mustard seed, you could say to a mountain to "move" and it would move! WHOA! Now that is a faith that is believed. Jesus even follows up with something that should resound in our heads over and over again. "Nothing would be impossible".
If I have mustard seed faith for those things that I spoke of than I realize that nothing is impossible! Nothing! The things I listed in my moment of passion can be fulfilled because I said them with a sincere heart. All I have to do is believe.
So what is the difference between just saying it and believing it? I believe it comes from a true fear of the Lord. Not just an "I love you" moment, but an everyday, every breath, every step commitment with Him. It comes from a true bond that has been formed with the One True God! When we have a true relationship with Him, we can easily rest in the fact that whatever we ask in His name will be done.
So what is it that you've called out in faith to God? Have you grown weary from waiting to see it happen? Or did you not believe it in the first place?
Join me today, as we take the step of growing a deeper relationship with Him. Let's grow a love so deep for Him that we are nothing but secure when speaking out in faith.
Here is my favorite Bible to use while studying.
I was reading through some Scriptures on faith and I came across the Scriptures when Jesus talked about mustard seed faith. The conversation came about because a man had come to Jesus and asked him to heal his son. The man said that his son would "have seizures" and "fall into fires and water". The man said to Jesus "I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him". Jesus seems a little irritated when he turns to to address the crowd, but then he calls for the boy, rebukes the demon and the boy was healed.
Afterward, the disciples come to Jesus and ask Him "why?". Why you and not us? Jesus very simply tells them that they do not have enough faith. It sounds as if the disciples were saying that they had faith, but didn't actually have the faith to back up their words.
Now, it's three or four weeks later. It's hard to hold on to those words. We look for an immediate answer. When it doesn't comes, we start to justify our words, God's untimely answer, etc. Where is my faith? Why is it so easy to say it, but not believe it?
Jesus when speaking to His disciples told them that if they had faith of even a mustard seed, you could say to a mountain to "move" and it would move! WHOA! Now that is a faith that is believed. Jesus even follows up with something that should resound in our heads over and over again. "Nothing would be impossible".
If I have mustard seed faith for those things that I spoke of than I realize that nothing is impossible! Nothing! The things I listed in my moment of passion can be fulfilled because I said them with a sincere heart. All I have to do is believe.
So what is the difference between just saying it and believing it? I believe it comes from a true fear of the Lord. Not just an "I love you" moment, but an everyday, every breath, every step commitment with Him. It comes from a true bond that has been formed with the One True God! When we have a true relationship with Him, we can easily rest in the fact that whatever we ask in His name will be done.
So what is it that you've called out in faith to God? Have you grown weary from waiting to see it happen? Or did you not believe it in the first place?
Join me today, as we take the step of growing a deeper relationship with Him. Let's grow a love so deep for Him that we are nothing but secure when speaking out in faith.
Here is my favorite Bible to use while studying.
Monday, December 28, 2015
Cuban Sandwiches In The Midst Of Snowmageddon
I woke this morning with the knowledge that today would be a definite stay at home day. Snowmageddon had been forecasted for us already. I had planned all weekend long to make a recipe from my Cook's Country magazine (Dec/Jan 16). So once my husband left for work in the early afternoon I broke out the frying pan and got busy.
The entire recipe is extremely easy. Easier than I would have thought. Of course, I am finding the more I venture in to home cooking that a lot of dishes are a lot easier than I had thought them to be. Of course, since I am somewhat forced to be inbound I had to make some adjustments to the recipe.
It turns out the only struggle I had was getting a juice to thicken in to a syrup. The original recipe called for orange juice. I did not have any, but after a brief google search I read that really any juice will do. I'm not sure if this was fictional or if I was just cooking it wrong. I tried two different juices and neither of them really ever turned in to syrup. One of them I left on the stove for approximately 15 minutes and even turned it up to a high temperature.
The sauce ended up being a little more runny than I would have liked. Again, I'm not sure if it's because I was cooking the juice wrong or if I truly just needed actual orange juice for it. I didn't have any buns, so I enjoyed without any bread. The end result was very delicious.
I am including the recipe with my changes to it.
4 boneless pork cutlets
1 tablespoon peanut oil (changed from original recipe)
3/4 cup mango orange naked juice (also tried mango white grape juice)
1/2 cup dill pickle chips, patted dry and chopped
2 tblspn yellow mustard
4 thin slices of ham
shredded mozzarella cheese
1. I trimmed and patted the cutlets dry and added salt/pepper to them. Then, I heated oil in a skillet over medium high heat and cooked the cutlets on both sides until they were cooked all the way through. There was a nice golden brown color to them. (The original recipe said about two minutes on each side, but my cuts were a little thicker so I just adjusted until they were cooked all the way through) I placed on a plate and set in the microwave.
2. Then, I added my juice to the empty skillet and cooked over medium-high heat. This is where it was supposed to become syrupy after about 5 minutes, but it never did with either juice. Separately, in a bowl I stirred together the pickles and mustard. (The original recipe said to add salt and pepper to taste. I did not since I had already added both to the actual meat) I then stirred the juice together with the mustard relish.
3. Since I did not use buns I placed the pork down first. I added the shredded mozzarella cheese. Then placed a slice of ham on top. I had not preheated the ham, so I put the plate in the microwave for about 30 sec, then placed the mustard relish on top.
All in all this was not a difficult recipe and it had a pretty tasty end result as well. Hope the hubby likes it as much as I did.
The entire recipe is extremely easy. Easier than I would have thought. Of course, I am finding the more I venture in to home cooking that a lot of dishes are a lot easier than I had thought them to be. Of course, since I am somewhat forced to be inbound I had to make some adjustments to the recipe.
It turns out the only struggle I had was getting a juice to thicken in to a syrup. The original recipe called for orange juice. I did not have any, but after a brief google search I read that really any juice will do. I'm not sure if this was fictional or if I was just cooking it wrong. I tried two different juices and neither of them really ever turned in to syrup. One of them I left on the stove for approximately 15 minutes and even turned it up to a high temperature.
The sauce ended up being a little more runny than I would have liked. Again, I'm not sure if it's because I was cooking the juice wrong or if I truly just needed actual orange juice for it. I didn't have any buns, so I enjoyed without any bread. The end result was very delicious.
I am including the recipe with my changes to it.
4 boneless pork cutlets
1 tablespoon peanut oil (changed from original recipe)
3/4 cup mango orange naked juice (also tried mango white grape juice)
1/2 cup dill pickle chips, patted dry and chopped
2 tblspn yellow mustard
4 thin slices of ham
shredded mozzarella cheese
1. I trimmed and patted the cutlets dry and added salt/pepper to them. Then, I heated oil in a skillet over medium high heat and cooked the cutlets on both sides until they were cooked all the way through. There was a nice golden brown color to them. (The original recipe said about two minutes on each side, but my cuts were a little thicker so I just adjusted until they were cooked all the way through) I placed on a plate and set in the microwave.
2. Then, I added my juice to the empty skillet and cooked over medium-high heat. This is where it was supposed to become syrupy after about 5 minutes, but it never did with either juice. Separately, in a bowl I stirred together the pickles and mustard. (The original recipe said to add salt and pepper to taste. I did not since I had already added both to the actual meat) I then stirred the juice together with the mustard relish.
3. Since I did not use buns I placed the pork down first. I added the shredded mozzarella cheese. Then placed a slice of ham on top. I had not preheated the ham, so I put the plate in the microwave for about 30 sec, then placed the mustard relish on top.
All in all this was not a difficult recipe and it had a pretty tasty end result as well. Hope the hubby likes it as much as I did.
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