For months now y’all have been trying to get me on Instagram and I have stubbornly refused to join another social networking site! I mean really, do I need another app for the blog to obsess about daily? Why, YES I DO! I caved in a couple of days ago, downloaded the free app for my iPhone, and was instantly addicted.

Instagram is like Twitter, Facebook and Hipstamatic had a wild night in Shanghai with a few too many drinks resulting in this twisted love child. For those of you who are not aware of how it works here’s the scoop: Snap a photo with your iPhone, choose a filter to transform the look and feel, send to Facebook, Twitter or Flickr – it’s all as easy as pie. It’s photo sharing, reinvented. Plus your photos will automatically be posted on your Instagram account for all of your Instagram followers to see. I love it because it reminds me of my critique days back in photo classes in college but mostly because I get to view the world through another person’s eyes. It also keeps me from thinking about the dirty diapers I have to take out to the trash too. I am the queen of procrastination.

So here’s what I would like all of you with iPhones to do:

1. If you aren’t using Instagram yet, check it out and if it ruffles your pants download it.
2. Find me, smonkeyslippers, and follow if you choose.
3. I will follow you right back because I want to see what you find photoworthy. No seriously, I really do. Anything to keep me from watching reality TV at night is a blessing!

By the way if you think I am getting paid to say this, I wish, but no. It’s just a way to influence you to get you to join so I get to see what you, who willingly read In Sock Monkey Slippers, is all about! My childhood friends’ mothers always said I was never a good influence. *wink wink* See you on the phone!

…and if you don’t have a smart phone, no worries. In Sock Monkey Slippers’ Instagram account will be uploading to twitter. That is for those of you who really care and I know you do…well at least my mother does…but she’s not on twitter…crap.

A little while ago Babble.com released their picks for the Top Food Mom Blogs of 2011 and to our delight In Sock Monkey Slippers made the list! I just wanted to take a second to thank the editors of Babble.com for including us in this list. It’s an honor to be included with such great company, many of which are on my own personal blogroll!

ISMS was ranked #27 overall and #4 Most Fun To Read! Pretty cool for this little blog that’s only a year old. Sharing stories and food has been great and has saved my sanity when I’m knee deep in dirty diapers, covered with purees and wiping crayon off every surface in the house. Thanks to Babble for the recognition and to all of you who, for some reason, keep coming back. wink wink. It’s been fun and I’m looking forward to a great year with all of you!

If you have a second today, stop by and check out this very talented list of bloggers. Here are some of my favorites:

• Smitten Kitchen
• The Naptime Chef
• Not Without Salt
• Annie’s Eats
• Evil Chef Mom
• La Fuji Mama
• Bell’alimento
• Wicked Good Dinner
• The Pioneer Woman

My dearest friend is getting married this weekend! We are leaving today for San Francisco and I’m sorry to say I will not be bringing my computer with me. I was trying to gather up a couple of posts for the next couple of days while I was gone but unfortunately with Mia getting over a bad cold I ran out of time. Lately we have had many new visitors and subscribers to In Sock Monkey Slippers due to the recent attention from Babble.com and Tasty Kitchen. To all of you, “Thank you, welcome and stick around!” We’ll be back! Y’all have a great weekend and I’ll see you mid-next week with many more stories and recipes!

- Meredith

Things that go through my head at 3am while I’m giving Mia a breathing treatment from a recent bout with RSV: ” How long have I had that bag of flour in the pantry and how do you know when it goes bad…does flour go bad?….Will Mumford and Sons ever come out with a new album?…Will Elmo ever go away?…If I could live anywhere in the world where would it be?… How the hell I going to squeeze my foot into a 41/2 inch heel for an upcoming wedding?…and I need a spray tan before I go to San Francisco this week.”

Answers: Yes flour goes bad, especially wheat flour and it’s the worst smell ever. yuk. Still no news on Mumford and Sons. Not sure about Elmo but I’m convinced he will be here longer than pyramids. Our family’s ranch on the K or in a villa in Spain. I don’t know but I feel a post coming up about how I fell in front of everyone walking down the aisle. Spray tan is booked. And I need a nap today.

Notes on Flour:

Store in an air-tight container.

Keep white flour at room temperature for up to 3 months and 6 months in the fridge.

Keep wheat flour at room temp for up to 1 month (I just learned this) and in the fridge for up to 4 months.

All types of flour should have a fresh neutral smell. Whole grain flours have a higher oil content and will deteriorate faster than white flour.

Bring cold flour to room temp before using.

And if you see any bugs like those little weeble things throw it out! You don’t need the extra protein that bad.

Most popular types of wheat flours:

• Cake flour: best for angel food  and other delicate cakes
• Pastry flour: great for crusts, cookies, biscuits and small baked goods
• All-purpose flour: Like it’s name suggests it’s good for about everything from pancakes to puff pastry
• Bread flour: good for breads especially those that demand a lot of yeast
• High-gluten flour: use for slow-rising naturally leavened breads

There you have it. The basics of storing and types of flour. I wonder what tonight’s thoughts will come up with?

*Flour info derived form, Family Meals by Martha Helm Sinskey. A very informative book full of simple, healthy, real-food recipes. I highly recommend it!

… because it’s Monday and I need to get in the car and drive to Dallas, I’m leaving you today with a little photo essay from this weekend’s Miracle Match Marathon that The Husband ran. It’s also a post that reminds me that I should have ignored my insane advertising/graphic design path and followed my true passion in art and photography. Oh well, things happen for a reason and if I did follow that path to the Kansas City Art Institute instead of my alma mater University of North Texas I would not have met my amazing, fantastic and quite handsome husband. I just can’t live without the husband, mia, a good meal, and…

my camera.

I was also reminded how much I am attached to my camera when my iPhone was stolen later that day and all I could think of was, “I’m so glad it wasn’t my camera!”

By the way, what is it about a man in uniform or in action that makes such a great subject? hmm?

My husband once told me that if you stumped your toe that everyone in my family would come running with a band-aid. He’s right and that’s what I love about the massive horde of people that I call my family. (Seriously we’re huge, think My Big Fat Greek Wedding minus the Greek) This week has been no exception as one of us is going through their own war. No matter how close or far away you are to that person you still get your guns out and fight it with them because you are apart of the same cloth. So, I sit here after a long and trying day to ignore a heavy heart and the thought of the days and weeks to come. In doing so…

I hear the laughter of a beautiful, strong and loved man while he bathes his daughter,

I smell a venison roast roasting in garlic, wine and stock in the cold night,

I taste a smooth glass of red wine calming my nerves,

I feel the most precious lips of a two year old kissing my cheek goodnight,

and I ask myself, “how did I ever get so lucky to be blessed with this life?”

courtesy Rebecca McCoy Photography

mia, 3.5 months old

If you keep up with us here then you know that our sweet little girl, Mia, had a rough start to her young life. Being born 16 weeks early (at 24 weeks gestation) and weighing a little over 1 pound, her chances of survival were less than slim. She was so critical that her only hope was to be transferred to a hospital 40 miles away. She fought for 132 days in the NICU at the Children’s Hospital at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas before she came home. Shortly after we had her home, she returned to Scott and White PICU for another 2 weeks.

We owe everything to all of the staff at Scott & White for putting their hearts and souls into saving our daughter. If they where not there Mia would have never made it to the Children’s Hospital in Dallas over 100 miles away. Not only did they save her but they became apart of our family and helped Tim and I through every step of a very difficult journey. Two years have past and Mia is a healthy, happy and rambunctious little girl! Now Scott & White is beginning their own journey to provide a brand new state of the art and the only free standing Children’s Hospital in the central Texas area and they need our help.

From now until January 31st, the Pepsi Refresh Project is giving away millions to great ideas that will better the world and you guessed it, Scott & White’s strive to build a “World Class Children’s Hospital to Save Lives” is on their list. All we have to do is get enough people to  vote for this and Pepsi will give the new Children’s Hospital at Scott & White $250,000 to build state of the art operating rooms and purchase surgical equipment! Please remember this hospital is being built mostly by the kind donations from the community and generous donors. So, whatever you may be doing today, please don’t forget about the thousands of Central Texas children and families who will be afflicted this year by illness and injury and need the expert care of this amazing hospital!

You can VOTE THREE WAYS every day until JANUARY 31,2010:

1. Cast your online votes at: http://www.refresheverything.com/childrenshospital – for “A world-class Children’s Hospital that will save lives.”

2. DOUBLE YOUR VOTES by voting again via Facebook:  http://vote.refr.es/scottwhite.fb

3. TRIPLE YOUR VOTES by texting 104716 to Pepsi (73774)

4. And those of you with an iphone can actually quadruple your votes by downloading the free iphone app from the link above.

FROM ONE FAMILY WHO KNOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF A GREAT CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, THANK YOU!

For more information about the new Children’s Hospital at Scott & White, please visit: http://www.sw.org
And for more information about voting for this great idea, please visit: http://pepsi.sw.org

In two weeks, I will have been writing, cooking, posting, venting, and bewildering (<-that’s a word, right?) for an entire year. I’d never thought I’d start a blog and I’d never thought it would have become what it is today. Thanks for listening to me when I was down, half out of my mind, standing in a pile of dirty diapers up to my knees, covered in flour and butter, stained with baby food purees and just being myself. Your comments and following this year have been an overwhelming support through my first real year of motherhood (meaning not in a hospital with Mia or in and out of doctor’s offices) and I couldn’t be happier that that I signed on and started this. I hope all of you have a wonderful 2011 full of family, friends, good food and laughter!

A look back on In Sock Monkey Slippers’ first year of most viewed and favorite posts:

family meals:

rosemary and garlic roasted salmon – most viewed post to date. Featured on Tastespotting.com and TastyKitchen.com

walnut & spinach crusted chicken with butternut squash mac n’ cheese - featured on thePioneerWoman.com and TastyKitchen.com

pork tenderloin with peach ginger glaze – featured on Tastespotting.com

the worthless cat, a fall, and a holy pizza – Featured on ThePioneerWoman.com, Tastespotting.com, and TastyKitchen.com, and not to mention my favorite  pizza recipe

roasted butternut squash soup – featured on TastyKitchen.com

limoncino cookies – the cheesiest post I’ve ever written but the most viewed cookie recipe and according to many an e-mail a very popular cookie at communion (I know, random right?)

roasted chicken – popular but only because I think Ashley C. uses it weekly

baby and toddler meals:
crock-pot butternut squash applesauce

sweet potato and beet chipppps! – featured at Tastespotting.com

blueberry, apple, and spinach puree – one of Mia’s favorites

blueberry & spinach french toast sandwich – it’s like eating a cheese danish

butternut squash and peach puree – my favorite puree

carrot, apple & ginger purée

roasted pear and vanilla puree

happy fat tuesday pancake day

popeye meets olive oyl ~ spinach, mango, and pear puree

spinach and sweet potato quiche

mom bewilderedness:

the art of war & strategic peeing – it was a rough day

an accidental tourist in the state of parenthood – the very populaur and first post written by guest writer Ashley Bass

tejano love songs and particle board – ugh, so glad I’m done remodeling

the food revolution is here. are you ready? – the first post that I was asked to write by Jamie Oliver’s camp

boob nazis, the sisterhood, & a few cows – probably the most hurtful e-mail recieved but a vendicating post

girl meets boy – a story about a girl running off with a musican

the nicu roller coaster {mia’s fight} – Mia’s NICU story written for the March of Dimes

red headed stranger wigs & pear chutney – a very popular post but for the life of me I can’t figure out why

the easter bunny, jesus, and a gastric bypass – exactly how it sounds

a recent photo essay from the ranch

May 2011 be just as good! Happy New Year!

Nap time was over.

Snacks had been consumed.

Kitchen was being cleaned by yours truly.

Mia played quietly and sweetly with her tea set in the living room.

It was too cold for our cat, Athens, to be outside.

Everything was quiet until….

“Meowwwww.”

“Atttthens come on.”

“Merrooeewwwww”

“Athens…. Athens…Athens.” “COME ON!”

“Hehehehe.”

“Merow = Fine. I give up.”

Hours pass. He’s tried to find solace in our bedroom still wearing the, necklace, the bow (sort of) and now…

I need more coffee.

I’ve got my sock monkey slippers on (because it’s finally cold in Texas) and I’m ready to play Santa! Next week starting Monday morning we will be highlighting some of the best and most unique gifts for the holiday season and the best part….each day will have amazing giveaways, just in time for Christmas! Custom Gifts for Mom on Monday, great gifts for baby and toddler on Tuesday, gifts for the home chef on Wednesday, unique gifts for the man in your life on Thursday and we can’t forget gifts for your favorite pet on Friday. You won’t want to miss out next week because theses gifts and giveaways are awesome. See you Monday!