Prepping for winter.

Yep. I'm looking forward to winter already. I always do this...wish away the current season in hopes of the next one. While I'm enjoying all the iced coffee and reading outside in the warm mornings, I'm making the most of my baking and fresh produce from my bountiful basket to stock up some food for the winter. I have a feeling I'm going to be even more homebound than usual with a baby on the brink of crawling/walking.  

 

 

I made some molasses bread today, one for B to have during my upcoming trip to Colorado. (I'm attempting to bake some extra food for him to have on hand that week so he doesn't eat like a bachelor.)

 

 

 

I'm storing one for much later to break out and toast with some winter soup this year. This stuff is so easy to make, it's healthy, smells delicious when it's baking, and I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand.

 

 

I'm using my grapes fro this last basket to make a grape salad for a birthday party Ari and I are attending tonight.

 

 

I really feel like I let tons of food go to waste last year when I was getting my baskets because I didn't make myself get creative enough with my cooking. This year I plan on using every last piece of those fruits and veggies! Pear muffins for winter. Leek and potato soup all around. Every sort of veggie pasta you can think of. Pumpkin bread out of our ears! It's also going to make some great baby food for Ari bug. It really is a great deal, but not when I get lazy and reach for premade food first. Maybe I'll have to share some of the crazy recipes I come up with. ;)

 

My grandparents are in town and we are having a blast. This is the first great-grandchild on both sides of our family. It's been fun to watch the different generations interact. So they will be here for the next two weeks, and then Ari and I are off to Colorado with them to see my parents for a week. B is so, so busy these days. I'm sad that he won't get to go with us, but God's got some stuff in the works for him here. :)

 

 

Ari always steals a few kisses before daddy heads to work. :) I love these two boys.

 

xoxo

 

P.S. I got to be a guest blogger over at The Breastfeeding Cafe today! Check out everything Ari and I have learned so far on our adventures with breastfeeding! ;) haha And please ignore all the grammar mistakes. That's the downside to not being able to get back in to the dashboard to edit, and the downside of having mom-brain all the time. ;) haha

 



Quinoa veggie wraps

I can't stop eating these!! Literally, every day for lunch for the last...I don't know how long. Two, three weeks now? They are soooo good and I always have stuff on hand to make them. I first had them at a friend's house a few weeks ago while our husbands were rock climbing. Here's how she made them:

- Extra large tortilla wraps
- Spread some hummus in the middle (I've found this helps everything stick when you're eating it, so they don't fall apart)
- A few spoonfulls of quinoa (I've just been cooking a bunch at once and keeping it ready in the fridge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...I've also heard you can freeze it)
- Cucumbers
- Red peppers (I've found a new love for red peppers!!)
- Lettuce
- Cheese
- Avocado
- Pink Himalayan Salt (I swear, this stuff takes this wrap from being bland and full of veggies, to being so tasty and full of flavor!)
- Freshly ground black pepper

Oh yeah! I'm eating one as I type this. ;) You really can add whatever veggies you like or have on hand, this is just my favorite combo.

I've been trying, and quite often failing, to eat clean the last week or so. I've heard it helps balanace post-partum hormones. Crazy hormones or no crazy hormones, this wrap is delicious!! My other favorite clean eating recipe that I've found, which is also a sweet desert, are these Blonde Macaroons. Oh my!! Those didn't stick around for too long!! ;)

Happy eating! ;)

xoxo

What more could this girl want in a blog?

I recently found a blog about two of my favorite things, in one place!! It's called: Eat This Poem. Food and poetry equals love in my book. I love, love, love writing poems about food, breakfast dates, traveling and finding fun cuisines, as well as reading poetry about food. So, so fun! You totally have to check it out.

A poem about radishes. Now who would think to write about that!? Check out this post for the poem I loved. :)

While prepping for workshop tonight, I ran across this quote from one of my favorites, G.K. Chesterton:

Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.

Now, anyone who knows me knows I. love. cheese. Up until my doctor asked me to cut it out of my diet for part of this pregnancy, I would buy (I'm not even lying) AT LEAST six different types of cheese each week on my grocery trips. B and I loooove trying new cheeses. I feel like a high class snob at times because a lot of our late night snacking in bed includes fruit, cheese, and crackers. haha Anyways, Chesterton's quote was kind of a challenge for me. Maybe I'll be attempting a poem about cheese at workshop tonight. ;)

Happy poetry reading!

xoxo

Photo credit from Eat This Poem.

Only the two of us could enjoy a date to the library so much.

On Wednesday, B and I ventured down to Salt Lake City to get some fresh air. Our goal was to walk around the city and get to know it a little better, but for a pregnant lady that's kind of hard....because you have to use the potty every few minutes and it's hard to find public restrooms. :) So we stayed close to the city building and the library.

 

 

 

Yes, here is pregnant me in the city building bathroom. I was soooo thankful to see a sign reading "WOMEN'S." After that we picnicked in the park. Or...B picnicked. I think I've hit that stage in pregnancy where I'm not as hungry anymore. I NEVER thought that would happen...but I could literally live off of spinach and fruit smoothies and hummus (although, I know baby needs more than that).

 

 

This was hardcore picnicking on a budget. We have always loved to picnic, but I was totally out of all staples for picnicking and we were at the end of the pay period. I got creative. :) It's more fun that way anyways!! Peanut butter sandwich for B, egg salad for me (he hates egg salad), yummy banana bread, chips, salsa, hummus, carrots and celery sticks, applesauce, gummies for B (haha...I spoil him...), and I can't remember what else. This was the most random picnic ever. :) Then we walked over to the library.

 

 

We really explored the place this time. Usually we find a chair and plop ourselves down with a warm coffee and a book, but our purpose this time was really to explore. We found this super, duper cool door that simply leads to a giant room overlooking the awesome kids section. It was literally a staircase from the outside of one floor to the other....overlooking this....

 

 

How cool is that!? I bet more people would read if we had more awesome libraries like this. Complete with inside mini malls/gift shops and places to eat like this...

 

 



They also had a whole section of these Zines. They're like chapbooks, or handmade mini literary magazines. They gave me some ideas for things to do with my poems and smash booking.

Well, I'm off to make my favorite cobbler! :) The weather has been so beautiful that I can't help but cook with the windows open any spare second I get!!

xoxo

Spring green.

I love it when an avocado looks that good. Lime green and muted yellow. They're finally in season! And that means it's finally getting a little warmer and sunnier! (Knock on wood...it's only March, so it's bound to snow some more.) This perfect little avocado was the icing on the cake today. I spent an hour outside with my students, and came home to make this yummy dinner. It called for some guac, so I got my avocado on! :) I'm so thankful for the 60's weather today brought. B and I are heading to SLC tomorrow afternoon to walk around the city a bit and get to know the place more. I can't wait to put on some capris and get some exercise in the warmth. Maybe I will be able to break out those marternity shorts! ;)

10 weeks left! Oh wow!! I'm not sure B and I realize just how soon that is. ;) We're taking our Childbirth Prep class this Saturday. Maybe then reality will set in a bit more? B said he had a dream he got to hang out with our little baby. I can't remember much of what he said about the dream, but I thought it was adorable. He knew our little guy had to go back in my tummy to finish out his time, but I guess he had fun hanging out with him. I still haven't dreamt about him. I was feeling bummed about how uncomfortable sleeping at night is with the extra tummy weight, and I ended up having a dream that I had to carry around a dalmatian instead of the baby. By the end of the dream I was so exhausted from carrying around the little black and white bum that I was begging for the baby weight to come back. haha So weird!

Anyways, the dinner timer just went off! Time to chow down with my babe!

xoxo