Herbs and fresh vegetables make this spring vegetable green curry taste light, fresh, and full of vibrant flavor. Made with an easy homemade green curry paste.
Hello from the trenches of the 2 year old sleep regression!!
If you are reading this from the other side (and therefore lived to tell the tale) – HAAALLLPP.
How did you survive?????
(And are you still married???? Asking for a friend.)
I swear it’s like Remy turned two and turned into a sleeping disaster. She had a very tenuous relationship with sleep for the first year of her life, only to forgive and forget and EMBRACE sleep from year one to year two. Even when she was sick, teething, whatever, the girl would sleep and then play in her bed when she woke up until one of us came to get her. It was glorious and so unexpected after that first year.
Now she won’t go to sleep unless one of us sits or lays on the floor next to her bed. But that’s not even the worst of it!! She’s also been waking up multiple times a night and expects the same thing. Let me tell you, her floor at 3AM is NOT comfortable, so we need to find a solution to this.
I asked on Instagram and everyone said “DO CRY IT OUT”, which we then diligently attempted but my darling child then spent 4 hours saying “Daddy you have to open Remy’s door”, “where are you daddy?”, “you have to lay on Remy’s floor daddy” without showing any signs of letting up. It was late and we wanted to go to sleep so we brought her into our bed. Shame on us, I know, but even in our bed she wakes up a gazillion times a night! Last night she thought 3AM was “time to wake up, mommy”.
FALSE, my child. Very false.
So, moms who have survived this with their marriages intact (because lets face it, feeling like you’re up all night singlehandedly tackling this sleep thing while your husband sleeps/appears completely unbothered is not exactly ideal for marital health) – send your success stories my way.
Is it just time? Do we just need to wait this out? Will it resolve on its own? Because I could handle a few days/weeks/months of interrupted sleep if I didn’t feel like either by doing or not doing something I was messing up my child’s sleep habits forever. Or if you have any tactics (NOT cry it out because it just doesn’t work for my kid), please please please let me in on them.
In return for your kindness and empathetic ear, I give you an incredibly tasty completely homemade Thai green curry, complete with homemade curry paste!! It is bright and cheery in flavor, filled with vibrant fresh herbs, and the best vegetables that spring has to offer. I always feel that homemade curry pastes are more trouble than they’re worth, but this one is super easy and uses only ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry/fridge, and certainly can find in your local grocery store if you don’t.
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves
- 2 stalks of lemongrass, dry outer leaves removed, chopped
- 4-to-5-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 Thai or serrano chiles, seeded
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
- ½ cup green curry paste
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 13.5 oz full fat coconut milk
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
- 2 small zucchini, diced
- ½ cup peas
- 1 lb asparagus, woody ends removed and cut into 1-inch lengths
- 1 cup mixed herbs (basil, mint, cilantro)
- 1 tsp soy sauce, plus more for serving
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 1 cup farro or rice, cooked according to package directions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor bowl. Blend for 1-2 minutes, or until it is the consistency of a finely ground paste. Paste can be made up to 1 week in advance and stored in the fridge or frozen for up to 1 month.
- Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Stir in the curry paste and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the carrot and ½ tsp of the salt. Saute for 2 minutes, then add the coconut milk, stirring until combined. Bring to a simmer and then stir in the bell pepper, zucchini, and remaining ½ tsp salt. Allow to cook for 2 minutes. Add the peas and asparagus and simmer for another 10 minutes, or until asparagus is tender. Stir in the fresh herbs, soy sauce, and lime juice.
- Season to taste with soy sauce, lime juice, and salt.
- Serve over a cooked grain (we used farro).
I only have a 3 month old so no firsthand experience(but I feel you on the sleep deprivation!) but I am a pediatrician- have you tried an ok to wake clock? Can be helpful to keep in her room. Hang in there!
we got an ok to wake alarm clock. You set the time it’s ok for your child to get out of bed, and the clock lights up green at that time. It took a few days of going in to lay my son back down…and then some tears, but he figured it out after about a week and would then either go back to sleep or lay quietly in bed until his clock lit up, at 6:30 – which after a few months of him thinking 4:30 am was time to get up, was amazing.
I know you will not like to hear it but… you have to let her soothe herself. Once you get through the first couple of nights (which are hair pulling terrible and will have YOU crying too), she will figure out that she needs to settle/sooth herself. It will also help her self esteem to know that she can handle it on her own. It worked with both my kids and they were awesome sleepers after we finally just took the leap. Good luck!!
The curry looks and sounds amazing. Bookmarked.
Agree with Pam. I’m not sure if there is a concept in behavioural science called co- conditioning but if there isn’t there should be. She is conditioning you with positive punishment to respond to her in the night. You are conditioning her with positive reinforcement to continue to attempt to wake you. Both learnt responses that support each other and that need to be and can be unlearnt. Did this with tbe second of 3 good-sleeping sons at 7 months when he started speculative wa-waaing (and this had a particular sound!). Consistency and routine are also key. Understand it is a hot button issue for people though.
1) Kids don’t develop bad sleep habits. That’s a fear mongering cry used to sell books to impressionable new moms (you can go on PubMed and read actual sleep studies instead that show that children vary in their sleep schedules with no regard to aids.) Anecdotally, we held my oldest son’s hand for months and then we just didn’t need to. We always met whatever need he… needed, and by 3 he turned into a fantastic sleeper who even puts himself to sleep if he gets tired before bedtime. He knows we’re there, sleep is a good thing, and never fights it because he feels safe and secure.
2) We trade off wake ups. Sometimes that means both of us get a full night sleep, sometimes only one of us, sometimes neither of us, but there’s less resentment (and most of the time you end up with a full night sleep). We also do “3 wakes and you come to bed with us” because everyone sleeping is the most important thing, and see #1 about bad sleep habits. Those occasional nights in our bed haven’t turned either of our kids into permanent co-sleepers.