World Breastfeeding Week and Blogs about Boobs!

I've been so happy to be involved in my local La Leche League as Mad grown older and I feel like I need to be surrounded by women that know, understand, and agree with my ideas of breastfeeding and parenting in general. To make me feel a little more "normal" you know?

August is almost here and that means World Breastfeeding Week is almost here too! I'm excited to support the events my local LLL groups have planned (I'm volunteering for several days at the SLC Breastfeeding Cafe so if you're local you should swing by and say hello!) and one of those events is a series of blog spots, a Blog Carnival if you will, by different bloggers. I don't really have time to post every day of the week so I offered to do a guest blog post on the main Cafe page. Today my post on Breastfeeding in Public (something you already know I'm a supporter of) is being featured so I hope you'll stop by and give it a read, if that interests you, and check out some of the other posts linked at the bottom.

Even if you aren't a breastfeeding mama, never were, and never will be (*ahem* men, we need your support too), there is more information than ever about the awesomeness that is breastfeeding so consider reading up. I hope by the time Mad has little babies of her own to nurse she is joined by a world that knows, loves, and supports breastfeeding mothers more than ever!

Evening Beverage - Fresh Mint Mojito

One of my absolute favorite warm weather drinks has to be a fresh mint mojito (I specify fresh because if you order one at any random bar at any time of year it will be from something that is NOT fresh picked mint and yummy sugar water). At one time mojitos were drinks for poolside Vegas vacations but now that I'm all growed up and grow my own mint (and don't get days poolside or vacations in Vegas) they are a more frequent occurrence. A little bit of vacation on a busy mama day. So, I'm going to give you all a little mojito recipe that I use. There are a lot of recipes out there and this is the only one I've found I really love, passed down from my mojito loving mama.

The first step is to make a batch of sugar water. It's super easy and tastes a million times better than a sprinkle of sugar in the bottom of the glass. I make several cups at a time so I can have it sitting in the refrigerator when I'm ready for it but you can make as much or as little as you want.

 

Add 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water to a pot over medium high heat. I actually do about 4 cups at a time to last me a while (keep any extra in the refrigerator in a easy pour container, I use a sports water bottle!). The point here is to melt the sugar into the water to make a thick syrupy liquid. My mom just cooks it until it looks good, without bringing it to a boil. I like to heat it until I get a few good bubbles and then turn the heat down, stirring frequently, until the texture is nice and thick. It's basically fool proof as long as you stir it often. Once it's ready put it in your container of choice and refrigerate until cold. Or something close to cold if you are as impatient as I am!

Grab your ingredients, light rum, a measuring cup, sugar water, mint leaves (washed and dried),  club soda and a muddler (both not pictured here). 

 

Throw 11 or so mint leaves and a large lime wedge in the bottom of your glass. I love my mason jar glasses, they are pretty and the perfect size and shape for mixed drinks. Muddle it all together, I squeeze the lime juice in before I start this step to make sure it's nice and limey. 

Add 2 oz. of light rum and 2 oz. of your sugar water, fill glass with ice and then add club soda (just fill the remaining space, whatever room is left is the right amount of room!). 

Stir well making sure to get your mint leaves dispersed throughout the glass, garnish with a sprig of mint and enjoy! I can't drink without a straw but I guess that's not in the official recipe. 

Pretty isn't it? Please note that tonic water isn't a good substitute if you run out of club soda before you're done getting your drink on (I learned the hard way!). Also, if you have kids that like a special drink or you want some mint goodness without the alcohol just omit that portion of the recipe for a yummy virgin mojito. 

If you aren't growing your own mint then you need to get on that ASAP! It's almost effortless and will grow like CRAZY! I keep mine on a hot cement patio so I have it in almost full shade and water frequently. I'm telling you guys I cannot believe how much mint there is in my tiny little pot. I used tons for dinner and then enough for several drinks and you can't even tell I've touched the thing.

Fresh Mint Mojito

2 oz. light rum

2oz. sugar water

lime wedge

11 (or more) mint leaves

club soda

ice

Squeeze juice of a large lime wedge in the bottom of an empty glass. Throw remaining wedge and mint leaves in and muddle together. Pour in sugar water and rum. Fill glass with ice and pour club soda until you reach the top. Stir well, enjoy, and repeat!

P.S. If you are having a party and want to make a big batch just use this recipe x4 (for an average sized container). Everyone loves a mojito!

Day of Summer

Summer is doing all the wonderful things to my life that I had hoped it would through those rough, and never ending, Winter months. The wait? It was so worth it! We play in the little blow up pool, weed our mini vegetable garden, swing, swing, and swing some more on our finally completed swing set. It's amazing. Mad and I have hot, crabby, tired days but more often, as she adjusts to the heat of Summer and learns that drinking endless cups of water helps, we have hot, fabulous, happy, days.

We gave Mad her first hair cut.

We took Mad to the Utah Hogle Zoo.

 

We clean and we nap. We laugh and we play. It's beautiful really. Already I find myself counting the days left of Summer. I wonder to myself how long the warm weather will stick around. Will we get an extra few weeks of shorts and sunshine? The year Mad was born it went from HOT to COLD so quickly. Before I knew it we were bundled up with the heater blasting and not one NOT ONE pair of adorable baby shorts were worn. Tragic really. I'm trying to focus on the now. To enjoy the time in the sun we have while it is here but it is so easy to get distracted. I want to spend every night out in the yard swinging and chasing around in the yard. That's my goal. Now. Unofficially. Maybe it's just a few minutes before bed or eating outside together as a family before the wind and rain pick up (on hot but rainy days) but I will make sure when the cold does come we are filled with the warmth of Summer for as long as possible. Now I'm off to make some simple syrup so I can have a mojito while I enjoy each evening!