Category Archives: food

books, food, food, home, mommyhood, random thoughts, siblings, Uncategorized

Currently

1 Comment

Folks, I’m feeling pretty silly that I missed a week of Currently. So hopefully this one will be stellar enough to make up for it! Here’s a bit about what’s been going on since my last Currently. I’m linking up like always with Becky at Choose Happy!!

currently button

Reading || About That Fling by Tawna Fenske. It popped up on an ad on my Kindle, it was on sale, and it sounded like a good beach-type read. It was! There was nothing really incredible about it, but it’s a great romance with a love triangle and a little akwardness to round it all out, haha. It was fairly easy to read and I plowed right through it, which is my favorite thing about a book I’m really enjoying. I just (finally) downloaded The Girl on the Train so I’m excited to start it! 

 Excited || for fall TV to start back! I’m always really glad to start back up with the shows that stop for the summer – even though thank goodness for Netflix to get me through! I’ll be watching Modern Family, New Girl, Grimm, and Once Upon a Time. Anything else I should add to my queue?

Enjoying || spending time with my big kids. Now that they’re both in school a couple/few days a week (9-noon) and the fact that lunch and naps take up most of the afternoon, I’m trying to spend more intentional time with them. They’re also thriving now that they’ve got some time away from each other. There have been some sweet moments (organic moments, even!) of togetherness in the past couple of weeks, and I love it. I’ve also added a cute thing to EK’s bedtime routine. I ask her what her favorite part of the day was, and I share mine, and we talk about them. Sometimes she even extends the conversation to something she didn’t like, and we can talk about that, too. I don’t like to talk about the negative part too much, but sometimes it opens up good conversation. It’s been really nice to get to know each other better in this way. 

   
Cleaning || up after my son all day every day. Y’all, J is like a tasmanian devil, a whirling dervish… he wrecks SO MUCH without really even trying. In one day, he’d locked himself into two rooms (and our door locks don’t unlock easily) so we took the doorknobs off the two rooms, and behind one of the doors, he was pouring my (favorite) dark grey nail polish on the floor! I’d like to say I didn’t get mad, but I did. I totally checked out; I handed Hubby the nail polish remover and told him to leave as much of the floor finish as he could. It doesn’t look too bad, but I was just surprised J could be so destructive in a matter of two minutes – what a huge parenting fail. I don’t know how to do a better job teaching him what not to touch, where not to go, what things to be careful with. I know it’s just “a boy thing” but I need him to calm it down. Phew!

Baking || pumpkin muffins! I’m going to do two recipes… this one from Wellness Mama and this one from the Barefoot Cook. Hopefully they turn out well! Hooray for triple naps and baking!

What are you up to currently? Have any pumpkin recipes you love? Anything else fall-related you’re doing?

food, home, mommyhood, My Big Jesus, random thoughts

Currently

4 Comments

Hello, friends! It’s time for another Currently! I’m linking up with Becky at Choose Happy and our other friends to bring this week’s update. Join us!

currently button

Hoping || that EK gets back in a rhythm here at home after her weekend away. I think she was tired and a little off-kilter, because she was tantruming like a champion yesterday afternoon and evening, and wouldn’t nap. That’s a little unusual for her… she likes her sleep typically. Anyway, I’m hoping she’ll figure it back out soon because it was a tough night last night, and this morning was still a little off.

Watching || Lost. I know, I know… I’m years behind on the Lost train, but it’s never too late to watch a good show, right? No spoilers, but tell me what you thought of it if you’ve seen it! I’m about halfway through the first season. I’m loving Jack, I like Claire and Charlie a lot too, and I have really enjoyed learning everyone’s back stories.

 Eating || a snack that for some reason popped into my head after not having it for years. In college, I nannied for a family of four boys, and they and their mom would sometimes have a snack of graham crackers with vanilla icing  – just the stuff from the can. It seems so simple and unremarkable, but it’s actually quite good, and made it into my “comfort food” category. It’s sweet, but not the worst thing I can think of to eat (I don’t like too much icing on mine) so the other day, I finally broke and bought the can of icing and box of graham crackers. I’ve really been enjoying myself! 

 Enjoying || some morning and evening family walks. Before it gets too hot or after the sun starts to set are the only times we can really stand walking with all of us – probably because it’s a heavy stroller with two, and wearing a baby is extra toasty. But we’ve been enjoying the family time, and the exercise… or the glass of wine while we stroll after dinner!

Loving || the new My Big Jesus website! I love writing for the site every week, and I’m glad their site has had an overhaul! It’s faster and looks better now. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that I post for them every Monday. If you’ve never gone to visit the real site and check out the rest of the material, make sure you do it! It’s a great, encouraging and entertaining operation.

Well, that’s what’s going on with me right now. What’s going on with you?

food, home, mommyhood, pregnancy, random thoughts

Currently

3 Comments

Happy Monday, everyone! I won’t lie… I was hoping to be in the hospital with a baby or something right now, but since I’m not, I’ll tell you what I’m up to instead! I’m linking up as usual with Becky at Choose Happy, and some other wonderful bloggers to bring you this week’s edition of Currently…

Picking || tomatoes and more tomatoes! And also some peppers. And cucumbers and zucchinis. And even a couple of eggplants and one squash (finally). I know I keep talking about it, and I guess I should dedicate a whole post to it, but I LOVE our garden this year. Every year I’ve gotten a little more involved with it, and this year I feel like I’ve been growing those vegetables right alongside growing my baby, and it’s been so fun! It’s therapeutic, it’s a great way to get outside, and it’s fun to teach the kids about it, too. If you’ve thought about doing a garden, but haven’t done it yet, I encourage you to do it! It’s so rewarding!!

  
Finishing || the nursery. I think I might’ve said it was finished before, but I must’ve lied. It’s actually done now. We rearranged furniture, cleaned the rug, hung the drapes with dark backing, put sheets in the crib (ahhh!) and books on the bookshelves. Y’all, we are ready for this baby. 

   
We also did some finishing up in our closet/office. One of the upstairs bedrooms in our house is dedicated to the rest of our clothes (the master closet is dreadfully small) and a desk to work at (you know, if I ever want to blog from NOT the couch). It only needs curtains, and it’ll be all ready to use. Right now it’s the cleanest it’s ever been, but being on the west side of the house, the afternoons are awfully hot in there, so we don’t spend any time in there yet. Curtains and then finished! 

 Cooking || a big pot of spaghetti sauce! We had so many tomatoes that needed to be eaten, and I had gotten a text from a friend who said she was using the tomatoes we’d given her to make a pot of sauce… so I decided to do the same! We used about ten tomatoes (all different varieties and sizes) to start a huge pot of sauce. We aren’t actually eating any of it tonight (we’re also making French onion soup right now – Hubby’s craving!) but I’m going to freeze it to have it ready to go when I need a quick meal that will make my whole family happy.

Enjoying || time with my babes. I’m trying to have time with them together and one-on-one so that I can truly savor them before the baby gets here. I don’t want them to feel they’ve been neglected or abandoned (I know, worst case scenario, probably, but still) when I am gone for two whole days, and come back with a new baby! I want them to have their love tank all filled so they know how much they are treasured and loved. It’ll be a transition for everyone, and I want to start it off on the right foot if I possibly can.

Well, there’s what’s happening with me currently! Don’t worry – I’ll keep you posted when the big day arrives!

food, food, home

Nesting Means Baking!

Leave a comment

Apparently, when I get into nesting mode, I just can’t stop baking. I had a day last week that I made several batches of muffins to freeze, and here I am, at it again!

I’m still working on that enormous zucchini I mentioned – which is a damn shame, because today I picked another huge one (also hiding). It’s been in every smoothie and several recipes now, and I’ve still got about two cups left of the other one. Sheesh. Anyway… Since I had so much still, this baby STILL has not graced us with his presence, and because Hubby and EK were out visiting this morning, J and I got to baking.

I chose two Paleo recipes, one from Against All Grain and one from Detoxinista. It’s a battle of the zucchini bread, y’all.

Against All Grain Zucchini Bread (Muffins)



  

Detoxinista Zucchini Bread


The main differences were almond flour vs. coconut flour, and honey vs. maple syrup. Both recipes turned out incredibly moist (yum) and obviously delicious. While waiting for the loaf to bake, J and I ate three muffins. Obviously nothing wrong there!

All in all, I’d say they both turned out well enough for me to do them again! The Detoxinista recipe was so sweet that I think if I do it again, I’ll lay off on the maple syrup just a bit. But folks, they’ve been eaten right up, so I’ll say they were a success!

food, home, mommyhood, pregnancy, random thoughts, siblings

Currently 

4 Comments

Happy Monday! I hope y’all had a wonderful weekend! I’m joining Becky at Choose Happy again this week for her currently link up. Lots of pictures in store for you today – I hope you enjoy it! Leave a comment or join the link up and let me know what’s going on with you!

Loving || Our finished shower! We chose a dark grout (it matches the wall color we chose almost perfectly!) to offset the white subway tile, and I really like the effect. We don’t have a door quite yet, because our old one is now too big, so we aren’t able to use it till we get one. Otherwise, I’m really happy with it! We need a little paint touching up in a few places, but it looks awesome.

Still undecided on the mirrors… there are two of those and they’ll be almost touching. What do you think?



Eating || at the Honey Pot! It’s a local restaurant here, and the chef is actually a friend of Hubby’s from high school. It is AMAZING. The food is fresh, mostly local, and really creative. Most of all, it’s plated beautifully and it’s outstandingly delicious! (If you’re local, check out their website here.) I wish I had taken a picture of every dish, but it was too good to not just eat it immediately. However, this dessert – a Georgia peach tart, with basil crema, accented with tiger lilies (who knew you could eat them?!) – was so beautiful I had to take a picture. And folks, it was as good as it looks. Really.

Growing || tomatoes and peppers! I mean, we are growing other stuff too, but those are our most fruitful plants at the moment. We’ve had one eggplant and some cucumbers and an ENORMOUS zucchini (I talked about that here) as well. Here are a few pictures I snapped last night as I was harvesting…



  


 

Planning || A baby shower! My sweet friend from college Melissa is expecting her first baby (a little girl!) in a couple of months, and my friend Lauren and I are throwing her a shower. We had a planning session this afternoon, and I can’t wait to post with a bunch of pictures after we shower her with love on Saturday!

Enjoying || this little series of photos. The first picture is the night before I had J… EK sprawled across my belly, the tiny little thing that she was, in her mismatched Christmas jammies. I’ve always loved that photo, and so now while I’m not so far away from having baby D, I thought it would be fun to try to recreate the moment with my two older sweeties sitting on top of their little brother!


 

Well, that’s about it in my world. Just waiting on baby D to get here! I have a post coming soon about how I packed my hospital bag – look for it this week!

What’s going on in your life currently?

 

 

food, food, home, mommyhood, pregnancy

Muffins For Days!

7 Comments

Y’all… I’ve been losing my mind. I’ve not necessarily been any busier than usual, but I’ve been the most forgetful I think I’ve ever been, and the most distracted. I can’t seem to get my normal rhythm going. And on top of that, today I had the pregnant rage of a total crazy person. Poor family. Anyway, sorry for the blog lapse. It was unplanned, accidental, and so sad! But here’s a good one… now on to what I’m actually talking about!

A couple of days ago, I finally acted on my idea to make several batches of muffins so that lots could be frozen, and I could use them as easy breakfasts for the kids and me when baby D gets here. I chose several different recipes, including one adapted by a friend. They’re all gluten free, and fairly healthy – no added sugar! I’m not a very good food photographer, or else I’d have taken some awesome pictures. I apologize. There are pictures that accompany the original recipes that I’ve linked for ya.

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

I first found out about these on my friend Melissa’s blog (One Mother to Another) although they’re originally a Dashing Dish recipe. They. Are. Delicious. I basically just made these because I wanted them. I wasn’t sure how they’d freeze, so I only froze a few from the batch and will let you know how they warm up later. (By the way, I did what Melissa did in her original post about them, and instead of a dry sweetener like stevia, I used 1/2 cup of honey and just cooked them a minute or two longer than the recipe suggests so they were cooked through. STILL DELICIOUS.)

Paleo Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

These yummy little guys are actually mini muffins, so I doubled the recipe for good measure. Hubby had just picked a HUGE zucchini from our garden (we lost it underneath the squash plants that were growing all around it) and I had to figure out how we could use it. He grated it and we are adding it to basically everything. So naturally, I googled around a bit for a recipe! I wanted muffins instead of the usual zucchini bread because I wanted them to freeze well. I let Hubby choose between two recipes, and he obviously chose the ones with chocolate! (By the way, I didn’t have any grapeseed oil, so I used coconut oil instead. It worked just fine!)

Carrot Cake Muffins (adapted by my friend from Against All Grain’s Black Forest Cupcakes)

These babies have shredded carrot added in, and some cinnamon instead of the cocoa, and they’re delicious! Technically they’re cupcakes, but I didn’t ice them and I figure they’re so healthy I’ll just call them muffins and eat them for breakfast! Also, if you like chocolate, I suggest making the originals, too!

What are your favorite muffin recipes? What else do you stock your freezer with?

books, food, home, mommyhood, pregnancy, random thoughts

Currently

3 Comments

I’m linking up this week with Becky at Choose Happy for her Currently link-up! If you’ve never joined us, you should! I love reading what everyone is currently up to. What’s going on with you?

currently button

Reading || I actually finished The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton! I’ve been working on it for an embarrassingly long time… but I’m done! I loved it, I just didn’t have much time to be reading. Anyway, I’ve just started the first book in the Maze Runner series. So far, it seems like the Hunger Games or the Divergent series in that it’s a dystopian society and there are a lot of weird things going on. It was on my “recommended books” list from Amazon based on what I’d read, and was rated pretty well. I’ll let you know how it is!

age of innocence

maze_runner

Watching || The Harry Potter movies! We finally got them out of storage and are watching them! We’ve watched the first two, and my withdrawal is finally satiated. Hopefully we’ll get through the eight movies before the baby gets here, but who knows!

ravenclaw

Loving || the new tile in our bathroom! Everything is supposed to be finished and put back together by the end of the week, so naturally I’m really excited to use my own bathroom again. It’s been interesting either going to the hallway bathroom or all the way downstairs (to the newer, nicer one of course!) to do everything, and I’ll be glad to be back in my regular routine… upstairs.


Preparing || our freezer and our nursery! I’ve got everything to make two recipes worth of muffins, and enough frozen fruit to feed 1000 people breakfast smoothies! I wanted to at least have some breakfasts taken care of so that the morning routine with the kids wouldn’t go awry if I could help it. Having a healthy breakfast is a priority for me, and starting the day smoothly helps the rest of the day stay along the same lines. When my kids are throwing their breakfasts in the floor or refusing to eat them (because that obviously happens sometimes – FOR NO REASON AT ALL) it can throw my mood off. I planned for smoothies they love and muffins they devour that are also healthy! I’m excited about it. The nursery is now clear of bathroom stuff (even if our closet isn’t) and has been rearranged. The floor is super clean, the drawers are full of clean clothes, and I even have some diapers! I call that progress! Now if I could pack a hospital bag, I’d really be in business.

I mean, it’s coming along, right?
Messy but it’s happening!

Coveting || this Lily-Jade diaper bag. I saw it on Instagram a while back, and have been looking at it again and again ever since. It’s beautiful, flexible, and well-made, but totally out of my price range. The SALE PRICE is $295 and I just can’t justify it. But it sure is one beautiful bag!

ELZ1-BRANDY_GLD-2T

Celebrating || the Fourth of July! We had a day of eating red, white and blue donuts, and spending time with friends! Not many photos, but it was a good day! We even let the kids stay up for the local fireworks, watched from the elementary school in our neighborhood- the perfect spot!  IMG_1716

This girl loves donuts!
This is J’s only patriotic swag. (Sorry Hubby, for posting this photo bomb, but I was only trying to get the photo of J!)
If you’ve got a couple of toddlers, you know how tough it is to get a family photo!
The only photo from the fireworks… J sleepily snuggling my friend Lauren and loving his glow sticks! They are a must for fireworks, am I right?

Well, we’ve had a busy week, and things just keep getting busier as we prepare for our little guy! What has been going on with you? What are you preparing for? Link up and join us!

food, food, home, mommyhood, random thoughts

Why We HAVE to Buy a New Espresso Machine

3 Comments

Naturally, as a parent, I need some caffeine. Hubby and I are constantly feeding our addictions. We wouldn’t survive a moment without it. So we have a percolator, a Keurig, a French press, and an espresso machine. And a grinder, of course. Between these things, we usually manage to survive on our coffee intake without having to go out and get it from somewhere (although we have a few choice places around here we like to go if, you know, we’re already out).

But recently, our beloved espresso machine is doing this thing… It’s like it wants to explode a little. We aren’t overfilling it, or letting it run out of water or letting it run too long. Truly, I think the machine is just old. It’s about 20 years old and we are the third owners (all in our family – it’s not from Craig’s List or anything). But anyway, it’s put a serious kink in our routine. 

 We like to have a cup of coffee, or even two, in the morning, and then about lunchtime we like another little punch. This is usually in the form of a beverage from the espresso machine. Hubby typically likes a straight up shot (or four). He likes to do the least amount of sipping with the most amount of power. I go back and forth… I like regular espresso, but I also like to make fancy drinks or iced lattes when it’s hot. This blast to push us through the afternoon is crucial. If we don’t get it, we don’t get anything done during naptime (like gardening, bill paying or house cleaning) and we are in terrible moods the rest of the evening. If Hubby has to go into work late, it takes another round of caffeine shots. It’s like a vaccination against tiredness. 

 So, in light of our addiction, our broken espresso machine, and our upcoming addition to the family, we pretty much know that we’re going to need a hasty replacement or else we are IN FOR IT when Baby D gets here and is waking us up at all hours of the night. I know we’d survive, but I don’t think I’d remember anything. I use caffeine as a motivator, an encourager, a Rememberall (a little HP reference for those of you fellow nerds), a communicator (often I let it speak for me), and a peacekeeper. I’m less annoyed, more able to function and generally happier if I’ve got a little caffeine flowing through my veins. Okay, fine. It does sound like I have a problem.

food, food, home, mommyhood, pregnancy, random thoughts

Currently – Thank Goodness It’s Summer!

7 Comments

Hey y’all! I hope you had a great weekend, and happy Monday! Can ya’ll believe today is the first day of June? It’s blowing my mind that 2015 is half over, I’ve got less than two months till baby #3 gets here, and that preschool is over and summer is in full swing!

I’m linking up again this week with Becky at Choose Happy. It’s her twentieth week hosting the link-up, so join us to celebrate!

currently button

As for me, this is what I’m currently up to:

Watching || Movies! It’s summertime, and TV has come to a halt. I’m catching up on movies that have been out and I haven’t seen them yet. Let’s be totally honest: all you parents know that going to the movies is an expensive date night, since a movie ticket these days is anywhere from $12-15 right off the bat, and that’s not counting snacks or dinner, or a babysitter! So naturally, we don’t go very often. We love to just catch things when they hit Redbox or Netflix. Anyway, the two I’ve seen most recently are Wolf of Wall Street (totally awesome movie but not for the faint-hearted, due to sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll), The Duchess (historical fiction, Kiera Knightley, wonderful costumes, enveloping story, and winner on Netflix), and Big Hero 6 (so much awesome that I can’t fit it into a description). I really enjoyed them all! What’s something that’s come out in the past year or hit Netflix recently that I should see?

Eating || Tomato sandwiches! This is my favorite summertime staple. Of course, my favorite way to do it is go out to the garden and hand-pick the tomato is like on my sandwich, but since we aren’t quite there yet, I’ll settle for heirlooms from here and there. Delicious!

Pretty soon these babies will be sandwich ready!

Excited about || This coming weekend! Hubby’s cousin is getting married up in the mountains, and so we are packing up, totally kid-less (thanks, Mom!) and spending Friday and Saturday in the mountains, celebrating and relaxing! It’ll be the only time we “get away” without the kids before baby #3 arrives, and so I’m really glad that we had an excuse (and a good one at that!) to get out of town, even just for one night. And it’s really nice that my mom was able to come up here and stay with the kids… that way they’re at home in their comfortable space, and with someone they know really well.

Preparing for || baby #3’s arrival! I guess I’m always doing this off and on (well, I’m always cooking a baby), but this week I’m really planning on doing some work in his nursery and with the clothes, etc that I have for him to use. I’ve already got some size 1 diapers (leftover), crib sheets (shared from J) and clothes (hand me downs, of course!) I need to get organized and put away. It’s totally coming soon – less than 9 weeks till my due date! – and I want to be ready if possible. Also, with my third, it’s a little more likely that he’ll be a day or two early, so I want to be ready for that, too.

Feeling || energetic (finally!) and productive. I have a long but needed to-do list (see above) and I want to do a few workouts this week as well. I’ve been enjoying working outside in the garden (having had a green thumb a day in my life) and calling it exercise, but I need to be walking, and visiting the Y also. Here’s to a great week ahead!

That about sums up what I’ve got going on. What about you? What are you currently up to?

food, home, mommyhood, random thoughts

Currently

4 Comments

I’m a little late on my Currently this week, but here it is! I’m linking up as usual with Becky over at Choose Happy! Join us and let us know what you’re up to currently!

currently button

Enjoying || a day at the lake! Hubby’s parents have a place on Lake Norman, which is about an hour from us. So last Thursday, we packed up and went down for the day to enjoy the sunshine! We are super excited to be going back this Thursday, also! 

          Writing || about pregnancy, delivery, and newborns. Some of these posts have already gone up (like this one on delivery), and some are coming soon! It’s been on my mind a lot, for obvious reasons, and writing about it for y’all helps me prepare myself, too! Since it’s my third time doing this, I’m not terrified or anything, but the more comfortable I am with the process of having, bringing home, and nurturing a newborn, the easier it will be in addition to keeping my older kiddos happy. It’s going to be a huge life shift (as it always is) to add another person to our family, so I’m preparing myself mentally and emotionally to make it happen!

Eating || the three meals from our free week of Blue Apron! My friend Lauren and her husband have been subscribing to the service for a few weeks, and had a free week to give away, so Hubby and I just finished our first round! For $59, you are sent every single thing you need to prepare three separate meals for two people each (or two meals for four people) and directions, etc to make it happen. They’re fairly quick (20-40 minutes prep and cooking time) and all three have been totally delicious! Our favorite thing about them was that we’d never have fixed those dishes or used some of those ingredients (I’m looking at you, ramps. What even are you, anyway?) except that they were given to us. We totally recommend it! 

    Thankful for || beautiful weather and kids who love to play outside! J runs toward the door every time it opens, hoping to catch a few minutes in the grass. When we pull in the driveway, he doesn’t want to go in the house… he just wants to stay outside! It’s great because they usually wear themselves out and nap really well – and who doesn’t love that?! 

      Well, that’s what we’re doing Currently in our family! What have you been up to?