road trip.

We're grateful to some lovely friends who invited us to their cabin recently. It was a much needed break from home, gave the kids some time to explore & play while the grown ups got to relax.

Bear Lake

sand castles

Cassidy got the camera! Artistic, no?

 

Our (13 months today!) munchkin is a climber!

Walking to dinner.

 

Heading home via Wyoming. Gorgeous wide open spaces.

Thanks again friends! We had a wonderful time!

recipe month - gingery apple crumb pie

Another simple recipe from Real Simple. It looked so good we made two!

Ingredients

1 pie crust - 9"

½ c. cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

¾ c. + 1 T. flour

¾ c. granulated sugar

2 ½ lb. assorted apples, thinly sliced

1 T. freshly grated ginger

¼ t. ground cinnamon

¼ t. kosher salt

If you take a look at the original recipe you'll notice they say to peel your apples. I think it takes too much time, plus the skins are good for you & they look pretty! Use your food processor & they'll be sliced in no time at all.

Directions

1. Set an oven rack in the lowest position and heat oven to 375º F. Place the pie plate on a foil-lined baking sheet
2. In a food processor, pulse the butter, ¾ cup of the flour, and ¼ cup of the sugar until large clumps form. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. In a large bowl, toss the apples, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and the remaining ½ cup of sugar and tablespoon of flour.

4. Transfer the apple mixture to the crust, sprinkle with the crumb topping, and bake until the top is golden and the apples are tender, 55 to 60 minutes.

5. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

life with a toddler.

Cassidy attends Little Gym classes each Thursday. Each week has a theme. Today's theme was "Your Enchanted Child" & the teacher talked about how much & how quickly children change, particularly at this age. She mentioned how they could change in a matter of 5 weeks...to which I responded, "Or a matter of 5 minutes or 5 seconds!"

I'm clearly not the first person to raise a child or have a strong-willed toddler. Each day has it's ups & downs, blissful squeals & raging screams. According to Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, the author of Raising Your Spirited Child, spirited children fall somewhere into the spectrum of the following nine traits: intensity, persistence, sensitivity, perceptiveness, adaptability, regularity, energy, first reaction & mood. Things that may not necessarily bother or trigger another child will cause a scene for my darling girl. 

As a parent I've learned to be a master of prevention...always carrying snacks, staying on a nap schedule, constantly introducing new distractions or activities at home or on errands. It's kind of exhausting, quite honestly. I've had to recognize my somewhat "spirited" self in the process of learning to parent. I never would have guessed that I'd have to give myself a timeout because a two-year old was getting on my very.last.nerve.ever. I probably wouldn't have guessed how excited I'd get over watching ants march down the driveway or using the potty or playing with Dora either.

Amidst the meltdowns about putting the milk away or having her chair in not quite the right place - Cassidy is growing into an enchanted, beautiful, thoughtful little girl. And perhaps too quickly for her mommy's liking. Life with our toddler is a daily adventure. I'm such a thankful & lucky mom to get to grow & learn with her.

recipe month - skillet poached huevos rancheros

An easy brunch or dinner...courtesy of Real Simple.

Ingredients

1 16 oz jar salsa

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed

4 large eggs

kosher salt & black pepper

2 scallions, sliced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

4 small flour tortillas, warmed

1/2 cup sour cream

Directions

• In a large skillet, combine salsa & beans. Bring to a simmer.
• Make 4 small wells in the bean mixture. One at a time slide eggs into the wells. Season with salt & pepper. Cook covered over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.
• Sprinkle with cilantro & scallions. Divide among plates & serve with tortillas & sour cream.

happy belated mother's day

Lots of love to my mom, mother-in-law & all the other moms in our lives

recipe month - scalloped sweet potatoes w/thyme + tofu steaks + broccoli

Post A.K.A. "Cooking Dinner with a Toddler & a 7-Month Old" or "Chaos in the Kitchen...& Everywhere Else"

So Michael found this decadent sounding recipe in Real Simple the other week, "Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Thyme". It sounded really easy; in fact, the recipe said "hands on time: 10 minutes" right up top. I couldn't wait to try it. I decided to round out the menu with tofu steaks, steamed broccoli & cookies. Pretty simple, right? It would be if there weren't two beautiful little munchkins crying vying for my attention. I started out when, miraculously, both girls were napping. Here's how the story went...actual cooking instructions in regular font, other notes in italics.

Step 1: Gather Ingredients...
Scalloped Potatoes:
2 medium sweet potatoes (1 lb), peeled
2 medium russet potatoes (1 lb), peeled
2 cloves garlic, crushed I use minced from the jar
2 t. fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt & black pepper
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
butter, for the foil

Tofu Steaks:
1 package extra firm tofu, drained & pressed
2 T. sesame oil
Kosher salt & garlic pepper

Step 2: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, peel potatoes, put food processor in the living room so when you slice potatoes you don't wake the baby (use UGA mascot to guard food processor from cats), slice potatoes, arrange in 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Clear sharp objects from the area but leave processor there. It matches the decor & you can clean it up later anyhow.

Step 3: Notice toddler waking up by hearing very loud banging. Look at monitor & see her, still laying in bed, kicking the wall beside & saying, "Wow! Loud!" Hurry to stick cheater cookies in the oven to avoid temper tantrum of toddler actually seeing cookies. Get toddler out of bed, deal with poo, throw in a load of laundry while you're down there.

Step 4: Situate toddler in living room with a snack & a few iPhone toddler apps & take cookies out of the oven secretly. Eat one without sharing. Don't feel guilty one bit. Maybe even eat two. Increase oven to 400 degrees.

Step 5: Add garlic, thyme, salt & pepper to baking dish & toss. Add cream & press gently to cover potatoes. Cover the dish with buttered foil & bake for 20 minutes. Hear baby starting to stir. Send in toddler to distract while you open the tofu, drain & press it.

Step 6: Nurse baby, stick her in the high chair. Slice tofu into triangles & down the middle. Salt & pepper to taste. Feed pureed carrots to baby. Notice how adorable she is. Invite toddler in to "help". Remove foil & bake for 25-30 additional minutes or until the potatoes are tender & the top is golden brown. Rinse & cut broccoli. Place in steamer.

Step 7:  Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Cook tofu for 8 minutes on each side. Turn on steamer for broccoli during last 8 minutes. Send toddler to feed cats while dealing with hot oil. Also distract toddler with turkey baster fingers. Bribe baby with Puffs (aka baby crack). Serve dinner.

Step 8: Take a breathe, say the blessing & eat up! Also, maybe have a glass of wine, you deserve it. Yummy!

recipe month - Jane's Vegetarian Chili

May is Recipe Month for the Blog Dare. Since I haven't documented recent dinners lately, I thought I'd just share a favorite here (with stock photo from MyRecipe.com). Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon  olive oil

• 2  cups  chopped onion

• 3  garlic cloves, minced

• 4  cups  water, divided

• 2  tablespoons  sugar

• 2  tablespoons  chili powder

• 2  tablespoons  Worcestershire sauce

• 2  (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

• 1  (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

• 1  (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

• 1  (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

• 1  (16-ounce) can cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained

• 1  (6-ounce) can tomato paste

• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese, (optional)

Preparation: Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Add 3 cups water and next 8 ingredients (through cannellini beans), stirring to combine.

Combine remaining cup of water and tomato paste in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended. Stir tomato paste mixture into bean mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with cheese, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups soup)

...and we're back.

It's been a long few weeks, but things seem to have calmed down now.  At least for a while.

So first, a video of each of the girls & an update...since they are the important ones!

Cassidy is getting so big! She's talking & talking lately, which is nothing new, but words are getting clearer. She speaks in short sentences most of the time - although needs some reminding about it. We're so proud of her lately since "please", "thank you" & "you're welcome" are beginning to come naturally. She's still definitely two & shows it sometimes, but is starting to understand & verbalize feelings. The other night she was none to happy about going to bed & I had to take a deep breathe to remain calm.  She looked at me & said, "You frustrated Mama? I give you big hug...feel better?" Pretty good for two, right?

Kalea is growing like a weed. She had her 6 month appointment last week (yes, even though this week she turned 7 months!). Her updated stats are: 16 lbs 2 oz (50th percentile for weight), 28 inches long (90th percentile for height).  The pediatrician said she was just perfect for growth & development. We have to agree. In the last week she's found her voice & is constantly babbling. It's ridiculously adorable.

Michael & I are also doing pretty well. My work conference went pretty well & I'm glad it's over for this time around. We got some good & constructive feedback for next time around. We also got some not so constructive feedback from attendees who complained that we had the conference on a day that it snowed. If only I were so powerful to control that! But, I too was quite surprised that it snowed the last two days of April & into the first few days of May! I'm spending this week wrapping things up & then on to the next project - National Health Center Week (8/8-8/14). Michael has been keeping busy at work as well. I think, though, we're both looking forward to summer & a vacation. Maybe this will be the year we get to the beach. Can you believe that, in the almost 7 years we've know each other, we've never been to the beach? It's a little ridiculous.

Lastly, I'm trying to get back to the Blog Dare topics. Today is "Tasteful Tuesday" & I'd like to share my new favorite cookie from a box. May I present "Newman-O's Hint O'Mint" cookies. I am an Oreo fan, but these are better. Newman's regular Newman-O's are good, probably better than regular Oreos. But these are just fantastic. And they carry them at our regular grocery store too, not just the fancy-schmancy grocery store.  Try them!

daily photo

While I was looking online for some inspiration for my April photo of the day (which, um, I'm not doing all that well on, am I?) I came across Salt Lake Daily Photo, a neat local blog.  She had this image on her site that I just fell in love with. (Don't want to post it here, bad manners, you know? But check it out, it's awesome.) My photo of the day isn't as breathtaking, but I think it's pretty cute.

Cassidy

Kalea

April: Photo of the Day Month

I admit that I'm definitely cheating on this first Photo of the Day, but I wanted to share a few images of our Easter. Cassidy had a fantastic time painting eggs, hunting & hiding eggs all over our living room. (Crazily we're having snowy weather right now so outside egg hunts were out this time around.)  She also had a heck of a time stealing candy from everyone's Easter baskets & was on a full fledged sugar overload by the end of the day. Good times! 

family time

Grandpa Doug & Uncle Mark are here for the long Easter weekend. It's been extra nice to have two extra sets of hands to occupy Cassidy & entertain Kalea. It's been like a vacation to be able to go to the bathroom all by myself! We spent the morning today hanging out at home. Cassidy is thrilled to have more people to boss around play with for the weekend. Grandpa went with us to Little Gym to play. Aunt Jenny & Uncle Mark offered to watch Kalea while we went to play since she was in the middle of a nap. It was nice to be able to run around & give Cassidy some special attention.  She had both of us down on all fours on the mat doing the "crab walk," swinging from the uneven parallel bars, running & jumping all over the place. After class we all headed up to Park City to have lunch with Michael. This week we're so thankful to be able to spend time with them. While it is fun to Skype with Grandpa & Uncle Mark, it's even better to see them in person.

visitors!

 We're so excited that Grandpa Doug & Uncle Mark are here for Easter weekend!