Baby Toys

There are tons of icky plastic toys out there, but I don't like that sort of thing for babies. They chew on them like you wouldn't believe and I don't think phthalates and such are great for chewing. And how many toys do babies actually need? Not many! Just a few interesting things to look at and drool on. They are as happy with a washrag with frozen water on a corner to chew on as anything else when they are teething.

And so, in that vein, I'm going to post what I think are some of the best baby toys out there!



This is the Bonita by Haba. It's colorful and full of chewy fun! And it's awfully girly and cute, which totally gets me every time.







This is probably my favorite, cause it's a whole set for a really great price. Sassy has a really great line of wooden infant toys that I really like, and they are all very reasonably priced. I plan to get a few of these if nothing else.












I love this thing, too! It's another one by the German company Haba. Look at its bright simplicity, and how wonderful must that be to chew on while teething for a baby?







To be honest, I love nearly all of the toys put out by Haba, though they are kind of expensive.

Oh, and my love for Vulli natural rubber toys from France is pretty deep, too. I NEEEED this little thing:

This is one of the Chan Pie Gnon teethers from Vulli. Hehe! Chan Pie Gnon! Get it? This is Pink Pie. And I would really like one of these for Madeleine.
Sophie the Giraffe is Vulli's most famous toy apparently, but screw the giraffe, I want this one!











As I said before, babies don't need many toys. And I would rather put more money into something made with certified sustainable products, safe paints, are positively lead free and plastic free, so my own baby can chew and drool to her heart's delight and I can keep my peice of mind.

Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce

I mentioned yesterday that I would be trying this out for dinner. Wow, it is so good.
I'm reposting this from Simply Recipes with additional notes of how I did it. Italics are mine.

Ingredients

1 5-pound roasting chicken, cut into serving pieces (I used 5 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves)
Flour, salt and pepper
1 cup grapeseed oil, or canola oil (I used canola, and only about 1/2 cup since I didn't have as much chicken)
Butter
1/4 cup rich chicken broth
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced (I used baby portabellas, NOM!)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper

Method

1 Put a cup of flour, a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper in a brown paper bag. Piece by piece, put a piece of chicken in the bag and shake to coat the chicken with flour mixture.

2 Preheat the oven to 350°F. On the stovetop, in a large frying pan, heat oil to medium high heat. Place the chicken pieces in the pan. Watch the oil carefully, you don't want the oil to be so hot as to burn the chicken, you just want to lightly brown it. Brown the chicken pieces on all sides, turning when necessary.

3 Butter a roasting pan generously. Arrange the chicken pieces in it, pour broth over it, and bake at 350°F until the chicken is tender and cooked, about 40-50 minutes for pieces from a 5-pound chicken. You know that the chicken is done by poking a thigh with a meat fork (the thigh meat is dark meat and takes longer to cook than white breast meat). If pink or red juice runs out of the hole made by the fork, the chicken is not done. If only clear juice runs out, the chicken is done. (Since I used the boneless, skinless chicken, it only took about 20 minutes, the time it took me to make the rest of it, to cook through)

4 About 20 minutes before the chicken is expected to be done, start cooking the onions and mushrooms. In the same frying pan as was used to cook the chicken, empty the pan of all but 2 Tbsp of oil. Add the onions to the pan and sauté on medium heat until softened. Add the crushed garlic clove and the mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are no longer crisp. Remove and discard the garlic, and add the sour cream and the heavy cream to the onions and mushrooms. Lower the heat. Keep warm, but do not boil. Salt and pepper to taste. (I lost the garlic clove in there, so it stayed in)

5 When the chicken is done, remove from oven. Serve on a platter with the mushroom sauce spooned over it, or served on the side.

Serves 6 to 8.

Serve with noodles, rice, or Spanish Rice. (I lightly sauteed several large handfuls of baby spinach in just a little olive oil and served the chicken and sauce over that, with a large slice of sourdough bread on the side)

This was a very quick and yummy recipe and I will definitely make it again. We also have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.