Blog Posts by The_Stir

All this talk of President Obama's upcoming health care summit has moms worried about how health care reform legislation will affect our kids' coverage.

And it's no wonder: No one knows whether Congress will be able to agree on a final bill, and it's been nearly impossible to get straight answers about whether the line to see our pediatrician will get longer or if costs will go up...until now!

We asked the head of a leading group of physicians what we can expect from a health care reform bill. Our brief conversation with her was more helpful than several hours of Internet searching on the topic...

According to Dr. Lori Heim, President of the American Academy of Family Physicians, passage of a health care reform bill this year is highly probably; in fact, the issue is "how, not if." Here, she explains which changes moms can expect in terms of their children's coverage and benefits under a health care reform bill.

CafeMom: If a health care reform bill is passed

Would you ruin an already perfect Girl Scout Cookie by using it as an ingredient in a dessert recipe?

I would!

The official Girl Scout Cookie website has a slew of recipes for the following sweet treats featuring Girl Scout Cookies:

• Tagalongs Shake.
• Samoas Dream Cake.
• Thin Mint Brownies.
• Cheesecake Cup (using Trefoils).

These recipes are especially great if you're a mom who had to order a few extra boxes (that your daughter couldn't sell).

I'm sort of partial to this Southern Peanut Butter Pie recipe, featuring my all-time favorite Girl Scout Cookie, the Tagalong.

Southern Peanut Butter Pie

1 package Tagalongs

1- 3 1/2 ounce package vanilla pudding

1.5 cups milk

1/3 cup peanut butter

Cool Whip

Peanuts, crushed (optional)

Grind cookies in blender or food processor and press into 9-inch pie plate. Prepare pudding mix using 1.5 cups milk. Stir in peanut butter. Pour into pie shell. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Photo by Michele ZippI'm back from maternity leave! The past weeks have been the greatest of my life and there is no doubt that being mommy is the best "job" on earth. I'm experiencing separation anxiety right now -- my arms feel empty without one (or both) of the twins. And my breasts feel really heavy. Is it time to pump yet? Yikes...almost!

In between diaper changes, dancing around the room singing to Hunter, and helping Penelope "fly" through the air (she loves this!), I've thought a lot about the things I've learned after having the babies.

The one thing that really stood out is those lists for hospital bag essentials. Hilarious! Fancy pajamas? Not unless you want blood on them. A chic going home outfit so you can prance out of the hospital in heels? ROTFL.

Even the list I wrote had some doozies. Let's examine it, shall we?

• Cheap throw away slippers. Jackpot! It's the smartest thing I brought because the first time you stand up after having a child there is a whoosh of blood the

Ever since my husband and I embarked on our eating less meat experiment, people always ask if we miss steak, chicken, turkey, burgers, etc. To be honest, there's only one meaty dish I constantly crave: Meatballs! Specifically, the homemade spaghetti and meatballs that my mom makes, oops, I mean *used to make* for me. Wistful sigh...

That's why I was psyched to come across this recipe for Meatless Meatballs and Sauce on Hip Hostess.

How in the world can you have a meatless meatball? Here's how:

The meatballs are actually breadballs, made using ingredients found in a traditional meatball (dried herbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic), torn Italian bread instead of meat, and a beaten egg to hold it all together. You pan-fry the breadballs right before dropping them in the sauce, and they soak up the lovely olive oil and release it into the tomato sauce.

Overall, I was happy with how the breadballs turned out when I made them for my husband last weekend. They were time-consuming,

I've heard of pregnant women hiring doulas to help them get through labor and delivery, but today is the first I've heard of a doula supporting a woman through an abortion. But the Doula Project is doing just that: "Supporting people across the spectrum of pregnancy."

The Doula Project is just beginning - currently it's comprised of 20 volunteer doulas who work in a hospital in New York City. Abortion doulas help explain the procedure to patients, and provide them with emotional and physical support before and after the procedure. The project plans to expand within New York City, has an affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia, and will provide doula training kits to those who are interested.

"To me, it seemed like a very intuitive idea," Lauren Mitchell, who co-founded the Project, tells Bust magazine. "Why aren't there doulas for abortions? It's usually an uncomfortable procedure, it can be emotional, it encompasses a huge range-life, sex, death. It's intense."

For more information

Whether we like it or not, some moms judge other moms. Some working moms criticize stay-at-home moms, some breastfeeding moms look down on bottle-feeding moms, and some co-sleepers snub, um, whatever non co-sleeping moms are called.

It's not the best-case scenario, given that we can all use all the support we can get (a greeting card here and there would be nice!). But we're grownups, we can handle it. What's harder to deal with: children getting judged based on what their moms do.

A new study shows that if a child has a working mother people don't like that child as much.

Researchers at Kansas State University studied the perceptions people have of women and their children based on the women's work status. Here's what they found:

1. People value mothers who stay at home.

2. People value mothers who compromise between working and staying at home-moms who work part-time, for example.

3. People devalue moms who work full-time outside the home.

4. People

Photo From I Am Mommy

Nutrition experts recommend eating a colorful diet for a healthy lifestyle. They are, of course, referring to naturally colored foods-berries, oranges, lemons, spinach, etc. But these rainbow foods are much more fun and exciting! I won't condone cooking with unlimited amounts of synthetic food dye, but I can condone unlimited looking at it! Now, on to the essay...

1. Rainbow Pancakes from I Am Mommy have been making their way around the Web. And, did you know this week is National Pancake Week?

2. Some bakers bake layered Rainbow Cakes, but I prefer this bright and swirly version from Omnomicon.

Photo From Omnomicon

3. Where there's cake, there's cupcakes...specifically, Rainbow Cupcakes from Delicious Delicious Delicious. Can it be my birthday already?

Photo From Delicious Delicious Delicious

4. Kids (and adults, too, who am I kidding?) get a kick out of Rainbow Cookies. From Dinner Cakes.

Photo From Dinner Cakes

5. By far the healthiest option on this list, these Rainbow Wraps from Healthy. Happy. Life. get their color the old-fashioned

As moms, we all make different choices for different reasons. We work outside the home, we work from home, we stay at home. I'm cool with all that. But, here's what gets my goat.

A mom I know (let's call her M) describes herself as a "stay at home mom," and she's always talking about how much she loves it because she gets to be with her son, blah, blah, blah. My problem with this: she never stays at home-at least not if her kid is there.

Two full days a week, M has a babysitter come in. M kisses her two-year-old tot goodbye (I hope) and takes off for her personal trainer, her private Pilates class, coffee with a friend, a day of beauty, or a day of shopping.

Two full days a week, M drops her son off at nursery school and takes off for her personal trainer, her private Pilates class, coffee with a friend, a day of beauty, a day shopping (or she stays at home and watches TV and socializes on Facebook).

One full day a week, M drops her kid off at a daycare center, and takes