I am 8 weeks postpartum and learning to love my new body. I’ve already gotten back to my pre-pregnancy weight (oh the miracles of breastfeeding) but I’ve realized that certain parts of my body will never be the same. And this is more than okay. My stomach is no longer flat (because it carried a human being inside of it). My breasts will likely sag (because they fed another human being for 8 weeks, 6 months, 1 year). My hips are wider (because they had to open up to let my daughter come into the world). And there are stretch marks, battle wounds, that will always remind me of how strong I am.
I enjoy exercising now that I’ve gotten the okay from my doctor, but I do it because it makes me feel good (not because I need to look like I did before I had our baby). I’m learning that loving this new body will teach my daughter to love her own (in all of its forms and stages.)
I haven’t always had the healthiest relationship with food, and I know there are lists, miles long, of foods that one should or should not eat. These lists are especially prevalent in the lives of women. I used to know them, and follow them well.
Ryan and I try to lead healthy lives. We eat more vegetables than any other food group. We haven’t ordered fast food in over three years. Sprouted grains. Organic meat. Pink Lady apples with thick globs of almond butter. But if I’ve learned anything about food it’s this: everything should be enjoyed in moderation.
And so yes, as you well know, I make and eat dessert. Not every night. Not even every week. But when I do, it’s good and it’s made with love and it’s shared with friends and family. Because I want Lucy to learn how to love her body and to enjoy something like this–a caramel apple tart. Or a croissant in Paris. Or a glass of wine with a bar of dark chocolate split between friends.
So here’s to dessert and bodies that are less than perfect but strong with love.
Skillet Apple Tart with Brown Butter Caramel
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (1/2 of 17.3 ounce package)
3 apples, peeled, cored and quartered
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection Roasted Saigon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection Nutmeg, Ground
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place puff pastry sheet on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cut 4 (3/4-inch) strips evenly around the puff pastry with small knife. Place strips along the edge of the pastry square to form a frame. Prick pastry all over with fork.
Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly on wire rack.
Meanwhile, toss apples with sugar, roasted cinnamon and nutmeg. Heat butter in a large skillet on medium-high heat until it just begins to brown. Add apples and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until apples are tender, turning occasionally. Remove apples with slotted spoon to puff pastry, arranging apple slices in rows.
Cook remaining sugar mixture on medium heat until it begins to bubble. Add cream carefully (it might splatter!). Cook and stir until bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Spoon caramel mixture over apples. Serve warm.
that looks absolutely amazing!
Hi Monet,
Your apple tart looks so yummy, love the deep caramel colour of the apples!
Love your positive outlook to the changes in your body! Way to go! 🙂
What a beautiful tart! And all mums have beautiful bodies for what they have gone through.
I find your attitude towards life really inspiring, I love to read your posts!
And this tart looks amazing! The brown butter caramel is something that sounds out-of-this-world delicious! x
This is gorgeous and scrumptious! I try to eat very healthy too, but am a big believer in afternoon snacks and dessert after dinner. 🙂
These tart sounds incredible Monet! With that brown butter caramel – so good! I completely agree with you – we try to eat as healthy as possible in our house, but definitely eat dessert in moderation. Because a good dessert is absolutely worth enjoying : )
Hi,
Nice tart… I will try it. Soon starts autumn here and the apple season too so I have looking forward to start baking applepies, apple tarts and apple strudel.
Ciao.
A gorgeous tart and very inspiring words Monet!
Love it! If anything, having Lila has changed my relationship with food in a positive way, just because it *does* seem so important to raise her in a house where food is to be enjoyed, not viewed as the enemy. Like you, I haven’t always had the best relationship with food, but everything in moderation is a mantra we follow pretty closely these days. 😉
This tart is beautiful!
this is such an inspiring post Monet! I wish I could be so accepting of my body (which would probably come with not eating so many treats!) this tart looks so good!
Wow look at the beautiful colour on those apples! I bet this recipe makes the whole house smell delicious.
I swear Monet, you are just one of the wisest human beings I’ve ever encountered. I’m in total awe of you and aspire to have even half of the perspective and peace you do.
I love love LOVE this post! What a wonderful thing you’re doing for little Lucy, setting a wonderful example of loving your body and everything it can do, and enjoying a healthy relationship with food and how it nourishes our bodies. Everything in moderation, indeed! This apple tart with caramel looks incredible, and a perfect dessert to savor. Enjoy your week!
I absolutely love reading your posts. There’s so much meaning in them. Your wise words are always so refreshing and I love being able to relate to you! Your tart is gorgeous and I bet it tastes divine! Must try a skillet tart pronto!
I love how you approach life… working out not to look a certain way, but to make you feel good. Eating foods that make you happy (both healthy and not so healthy). I have some friends who talk about cutting cheese and butter and bread out (not because they are allergic in any way, but because those are “evil foods”) and I just can’t do it. So, pass me a spoon and this tart and let’s go to town.
I hope I can have the same outlook when I’m in that place someday. I just love this apple tart, it makes me think of fall!
How lucky to have such a body like yours that can recover so quickly! It took me quite a while to get back into shape! I have to for go all my favorite food for months! Certainly can’t munch on cakes and tarts like yours! Looks delicious!
As I was reading your post regarding loving your body the way it is now and knowing it will never be the same again… We have to congratulate you for becoming a mom and coming to that realization early. It is part of life and it is totally worth it. Really love your recipe and can’t wait to try it.
I love the values you’ll be instilling in your daughter. And I’m loving these particularly poignant posts lately! PLUS, you’ve always got a delicious dish to share! =)
Hooray for healthy relationships with food! And hooray for delicious desserts too. 🙂 This tart looks stunning and bursting with beautifully caramelized fruit.
Wonderful. <3
Monet, I am 53 years old, and still an exercise fanatic – I do it exactly for the same reason you do: it makes me feel good, and healthy and strong.
Reading your post made me smile all the way through it – we have the exact same approach to nutrition. Everything in moderation (which by the way is the phrase I used in my blog to define my own cooking style) – no deprivation of anything, but we never use food to compensate for frustrations in other areas of life, which seems like a problem for many many people these days.
Your daughter will grow up to be a very special woman, I am sure of it!
What a great attitude toward your body. It really is wonderful the things we can do with it, isn’t it?
And I’m loving your tart so much that I hope to replicate it when our apple season starts!
beautiful tart! you have some lovely photos. And congratulations on your new baby girl 🙂
This tart looks great, but even more I love your feelings about your body and food! You have some great values to pass on to your daughter 🙂
I’m really looking forward to apple season around here. What a beautiful tart!
Monet, your tart is gorgeous and I love how it’s simple to throw together. Now that fall is coming and apple season is upon us, I’m definitely making this (my husband will love this – he’s an apple fanatic). Even more than the tart though, I always love reading your thoughts. This post is especially important, simply because all women have hang-ups about their body and it’s sad. I haven’t have children yet and I’m certainly not overweight but I hate my body all the time because it isn’t as tall/thin/toned/etc as the bodies I see in magazines and on the screen. Your perspective is how we should all approach fitness and nutrition because it’s healthy and balanced. Lucy has such an amazing role model in you!
You are so right…about all of it. I had two 9 lb. plus baby boys — my youngest is now 10. My body changed just like you’ve described, but I learned to love exercise even more after my sons were born than I did before. I’m purely addicted to exercise now, and it’s a good thing, because I love food. This tart you’ve made looks so rustic and beautiful, and it makes me want to reach right through the screen and grab a piece! You’re blog just seems like a lovely comfortable place to hang out and enjoy.
Lovely post and such great encouraging words to all women and girls in general. I raise a piece of your delicious tart to you, great job. 🙂
You sound so well-adjusted. It’s so important not to put all that pressure on yourself to look like one of those celebrities who has just given birth – we all know they’re up to tricks! I don’t cook dessert too often but when I do I like it to be just like this – this looks very yummy xx
This looks like a gorgeous, tasty tart. Glad you’re getting back into the swing of things 🙂
This is such a beautiful post – I want to teach my daughter the same thing! 🙂
What a great post! Having had a baby 2 yrs ago, I stare at that changed body everyday but I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world! I wished I was as balanced as you are towards your food, I still have a long way to go and I need to embrace moderation not excess 🙂
The tart is beautiful..
Well said! Even after a year my body is still changing, especially now that I’ve stopped breastfeeding. I can’t eat like I used to! So I’ve turned to more fruits and veggies and watched my portions. I’m constantly trying to fit in exercise, but it means walks with my daughter will do the trick. 🙂
This tart is indeed beautiful (as I am sure you are). I agree so much with what Anna said. GREG
You have a great philosophy! I totally agree that everything is okay to eat in moderation. I eat a little dessert every day because it makes me happy. If life is all Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, it’s not going to be very enjoyable and life’s too short to not be enjoyable.
Such a great message. It always makes me happy when people who are comfortable with their bodies have daughters. It’s so important to set the right example, and Lucy is so lucky to have that in you.
Also – this tart looks amazingly delicious.
Monet, this is a great message. I think it’s so important to recognize that our bodies reflect the stages of life that we’re going through currently, and the things that we’ve been through in the past.
And also, I can’t wait to try out this tart — what a great use for brown butter!
this is seriously beautiful! I’m going to bookmark it and return to read it again and again 🙂 thank you for being such a positive role model!
Such wise words. Lucy will learn so much from you and from your example. And she will love this amazing tart once she is eating solids…who wouldn’t?
I have to say – one of the benefits of not being a skinny minnie to begin with (and there are very few perks) is that my body didn’t change all that much in/through childbirth. I already had the hips and saggy breasts!
I am falling in love with this post. Bodies that are “strong with love”. Now what is more sexy or gorgeous than that?
This tart is absolutely gorgeous. It sounds like the perfect dessert for when we go apple picking in a couple months 🙂 It’s so important to impart a healthy body image onto your daughter. I wonder, if I have a daughter, how I will manage that. My husband has already been pointing it out when I make negative comments about my body, in preparation for if we have a daughter (even though who knows when or if that will happen!).
Oh Monet, what a gorgeous tart!! I am just starting to catch back up on posts. I have been traveling TOO much lately for work I am missing everything!
Dear Monet, That is the attitude. We should age with grace and beauty and love ourselves. Sometimes we look and say where did the years go! but age is a blessing when we do it well.
The apple tart looks delicious!! Blessings dearest and a hug. Catherine xo
looks like the perfect dessert to enjoy this fall!