Living Life Around a Table

It's not a secret if you are my Facebook friend or have read any of my writing on here that I adore feeding people, having people over for dinner, sharing conversation around a table.  Before we had kiddos that had to be put to bed, I loved nothing more than having another couple or two over, pouring another glass of wine, letting the dirty dishes just sit until late into the evening as we shared stories, laughed, and lived life together.  I think food brings people together in a powerful way, and I think a table is a beautiful symbol of community.  Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist is one of my all time favorite books, and it's about this very thing--how amazing it is when people connect with one another over food and around a table.  Now that we have little kids, dinner parties look a bit different!  There is a flurry of unloading sippy cups, finding extra booster chairs, cutting entrees into bite sized pieces and then wrangling everyone to the table to fold hands and pray together.  We eat quickly, with the dads usually having to get up from the table first to chase little ones into the play room in order to referee preschool squabbles.  They chat as they build race tracks and set sharing timers.  My friends and I finish eating and begin the kitchen clean up, nursing babies and packing up the sippy cups before it gets too close to bedtime.  Leisurely conversation isn't really part of our evenings these days, it's chaos but it's still connection, and it's so so important.

One of my goals for Lent is to make sure we make these connections once a week--with different families, but still inviting people to our table.  The food won't be fancy--most likely it will be one of the meals pulled from my freezer with a salad added, but I'm learning that's okay.  Life doesn't always have to be fancy and not every season in life is made for wine glasses and burning candles on a table.

Last night I had the chance to sit around a table until way too late into the evening having my soul filled.  The leadership team from our MOPS group a year ago got pretty close, and back in November we randomly got together one evening at one of our homes.  We each brought an appetizer, we wore sweats, nothing was fancy or really even homemade (thank you Trader Joes!).  We sat around a dining room table for 3 hours simply sharing life.  We laughed until our stomachs hurt, we chatted about raising babies, husbands, books we've loved and even how to be prepared for the next earthquake.  It fed us.  That evening someone said "we need to do this again.  How about once a quarter?"  So last night it was my kitchen table we sat around until almost 11.  People brought trader joes appetizers, I baked slice and bake cookies, we wore yoga pants and sweat shirts, and I spent a good chunk of the evening bouncing my 8 week old as we chatted, and when I climbed into bed that night my heart was so full.  It's not very often moms get to have uninterrupted conversations, but when the 6 of us gather around a table we do.

Jesus invited us to his table, he told us to break bread and share it with one another and remember him as we do.  He promised that where two or more are gathered in his name, he is among them.  We broke pita last night and dipped it into lentils and olive tappenade.  We poured sparkling water and tap water, we passed plates of cookies and bowls of fruit salad.  And he was there, right in our midst, as we laughed, asked questions, shared stories and headed home with both our bellies and our hearts feeling filled.

Freezer Cooking Frenzy

I remember a lot about my first 3 months with Aidan as a newborn.  I remember he cried a lot, I remember he was up every hour all night long for MONTHS (literally a 2 hour stretch was a LONG stretch of sleep), and with him wanting to nurse around the clock I remember being SO hungry.  All. The.  Time.  But of course with a really fussy baby, cooking was practically impossible.  We survived, thankfully my mom came to visit a lot and every time she did she made a couple more things to restock my freezer, but we were in a tiny apartment and didn't have much freezer space. One of my goals when we moved to our town house was to get a chest freezer to be able to cook in bigger batches, shop at Costco etc, and we've loved it.  Since we do have this extra storage space, and I know how hard those first few months can be with a newborn, my goal is to completely stock this freezer with meals that are ready to thaw and pop in either the oven or crock pot before baby brother makes his appearance the week after Christmas.  One of my best friends did a TON of freezer cooking before her little guy was born a year ago and she told me it was by far the best thing she did to prepare for baby's arrival.  We'll have family in town for awhile, and while they are here I'll have them do the cooking (no way am I sharing my precious stock of freezer meals when there are able-bodied grandparents around who are capable of getting something together for dinner!!), and we'll have friends from church bring some meals, but eventually February will roll around and it'll be up to me to get dinner ready on a relatively regular basis--so my goal is to have that not involve much cooking for awhile!

I've done a few smaller-scale freezer cooking projects in the past, and I've learned a few things in the process.  One, make sure you write an inventory somewhere (mine is on a google doc, but a piece of paper on the fridge works great too!) with what exactly is in the freezer.  It's way too easy for things to get buried, and for food to go to waste because I simply forget it's in there.  So on a google doc I have how many of each item I have in the freezer and it's cooking/reheating instructions written right there so I don't have to go looking up recipes on line or try to remember which recipe for lasagna I froze etc.  When we eat a dish, I'll change the quantity we have left on my google doc.  Also, label EVERYTHING!  I have had a few times where I've frozen things in Tupperware thinking "oh it's see through, I'll totally remember what it is!" and that's resulted in some surprises when I thaw what I think is a bean soup and is actually re-fried black beans for burritos.  Once frozen, many items do look alike!

This is a compilation of the recipes I'm freezing this fall, some I have tried myself in the past and know for a fact they freeze well and re-heat while maintaining their flavor.  Others have been personally tried by close friends of mine (AKA, people whose cooking and eating tastes are similar to mine that I trust!) and they have vouched for the freeze-ability of these dishes.  I know it looks like a lot, but that's why I'm starting in October--my goal is to simply pick two meals a week that I was going to make anyway, and double or triple the recipes to add extra batches to the freezer.  So far for the past 3 weeks that's been totally do-able--I've found that if I'm making a lasagna, it's really easy to just make 3--using the same dishes, bowls, ingredients etc allows for batch cooking without really extra mess or time.  So, without further ado, here's what is already in our freezer (or meals that will be soon!)

One of the meals it hadn't occurred to me to freeze is breakfast foods.  I'm not a huge fan of breakfast in general, but while pregnant, and I remember while nursing, I am SO hungry in the morning.  A friend of mine who is nursing a baby right now had the same problem and tried these freezer-ready breakfast burritos and raved about them, so I made a batch.  SO delicious and absolutely worth the time it took to make a big batch!  They reheat without getting mushy, and can either be eaten one-handed while bouncing a baby or with a knife and fork and a layer of salsa over the top.   One batch made 18-24 burritos, and I've been eating these all month--I'll make another couple batches before baby to have a stock pile for bleary eyed mornings. 

Another breakfast food I've already made and have frozen are these cranberry lemon scones.  These actually aren't so much for me to eat post-baby, but they are for those mornings when it's my turn to bring something for MOPS breakfast or a staff meeting snack.  A couple weeks ago I was in charge of the "sweet treat" for MOPS and made a huge batch of these scones (although the stores aren't selling cranberries yet, so I made raspberry-lemon scones instead).  I baked about 16 of them for MOPS that morning, and the rest I formed into scones on a cookie sheet and froze them overnight.  In the morning I placed them in ziplocks and next time it's my turn to bring something all I have to do is bake the night before.  

A meal I have made a few times in the past for the freezer is this apple cider pulled pork.  It received rave reviews from my father in law last Thanksgiving weekend when I served it!  Find a pork shoulder on sale and cook this up.  Enjoy some that evening and then freeze the leftovers in smaller portions (one thing we've realized about pulled pork is it will go a long ways, since you don't use that much on each sandwich, so one batch will last awhile!).  When you want to serve it from the freezer, let it thaw overnight in your fridge and then just reheat.

One of my very very favorite freezer recipes and comfort food recipes are Annette's Enchiladas from Shauna Niequist's book Bread and Wine.  I have made these so many times, have frozen them, served them to numerous family members and taken them to several new mamas for the perfect comfort-food meal.  I will be making a few batches of them for my freezer between now and December because they are amazing. 

Last November I did a bunch of freezer cooking so that I'd have meals on hand, ready to serve over the busy holiday season when family came into town or people dropped by.  This Skillet Lasagna was delicious, froze great, and was a big hit when re-heated and served to some seminary friends of ours who dropped in for dinner while on their way home for Thanksgiving weekend.  It was awesome to be able to have company for dinner the night before Thanksgiving without having to do any cooking! (Unless you count throwing a salad together or heating up french bread to be cooking!)  You could use any kind of meat and any kind of ravioli that sounded good to your family in this one. 

This past year I decided the new thing I was going to learn how to do was make my own chicken broth and soup from a whole chicken.  Dealing with large pieces of meat is something I don't do, but I read enough on Pinterest that this could be done successfully in a crock pot and was super simple, so about a year ago I gave it a shot.  I'm hooked.   My crock pot gets a big workout for about 24 straight hours, but that's what I love about these recipes and this process--I can add stuff to it, walk away and amazing things happen while I'm gone! It's kind of a multi-step process, but here's what I tend to do.  First, buy a roaster chicken.  Day 1 is all about cooking the chicken, which I do in my crock pot instead of in the oven so it really doesn't need to be baby sat.  This is the recipe/method I use, all you have to do is rub the spice mixture over the outside of the bird, and stick it in the crock pot as instructed.  About 6 hours later it will be falling off the bone (don't throw those bones away!!).  That's it.  So easy.  I personally don't love just eating chicken, so my plan for the meat is to shred it and use it in the above enchiladas that I'll make later this week.  But of course you could just eat the chicken.  Or shred it and put it in freezer bags to have on hand down the line when you do want to throw together a quick meal that involves cooked/shredded chicken.  Or save it for the next day if you're going to turn your broth into soup. After all the meat is off the bones, I throw them back in my crock pot with these other ingredients to make the chicken broth overnight.  In the morning, I place a fine mesh strainer over a big pot, and strain my broth.  I toss all the stuff that lands in the strainer basket, keeping all the liquid.  That's it.  You have chicken broth!  You can either portion it out in smaller batches or you can add it back to your slow cooker and toss in fresh veggies and other ingredients for chicken noodle soup that will simmer all day, and will be a great dinner that evening.  You can find any recipe on line for chicken noodle soup, the ingredients are all pretty similar.  So far I have two Tupperware of soup in my freezer, and another roast chicken in the crock pot as I write this which will turn into broth later tonight.  We found last winter that when any one in our house was sick, this was the most comforting thing to consume so I plan on having a few mason jars of just frozen broth on hand to heat up if sore throats strike. 

Lasagna is always a classic freezer meal, but I rarely make them because in my experience they've been really labor intensive.  A friend of mine brought us a lasagna made with ground turkey while Charles was recovering and it was so delicious.  We all raved about it.  She shared her recipe and I made several, so I have 3 in my freezer as of now.  The secret to the simplicity?  Jarred sauce, and well seasoned ground turkey.  I think I also really liked this recipe because there isn't any ricotta (which I hate) or other creamy cheeses.  But you could always add some if you like them!  I don't have a link, so here's the recipe:  brown 1 pound of ground turkey with approx 2 tsp of garlic powder, about a tablespoon of onion powder, and some dashes of salt and pepper (I used way more pepper than salt but I try to avoid adding extra salt to things). Use any jar of marinara you like but the Classico brand "Traditional" sauce was SO SO good. Layer lasagna noodles (I used the ones you don't have to boil first, but they were still a tiny bit crunchy when I baked it, so next time I would boil them for a few minutes) with ground turkey, a layer of sauce, and a sprinkle of any kind of cheese you like. Repeat 2-3 more times. My 8x8 foil pans only let me do two layers so I had enough ingredients to make an extra dish. Cover and freeze.  To serve, thaw overnight and follow baking directions on your noodle box.  

Macaroni & Cheese.  My son's favorite food.  I made 4 pans of this recipe, and I'm not sure it has the best flavor, so I would add more seasoning next time, but it's good enough!  The best mac n cheese recipe I've found is this one with fresh rosemary and french fried onions on top, and I'm betting it would freeze great, so next time I might go that route instead!  Simply freeze in foil pans, then when you want to serve it thaw overnight and bake according to recipe directions.  

Chili.  There is nothing better on a winter evening when you're hungry than a crock pot full of chili with cornbread in the oven.  This kid-friendly turkey chili recipe is a huge hit with my kiddo and the kids of many many friends--they especially like all the toppings that are suggested!  It's not spicy at all so if you like heat and aren't cooking for little ones, you can always add more chili powder or some crushed red pepper flakes.  I'm planning on making at least two crock pots of this over the next couple months and then freezing them in smaller portions, enough for our family for a meal or two.  

The Pioneer Woman is one of my go-to recipe bloggers to follow, I don't know that I've ever made anything by her that I didn't like.  Her sour cream noodle bake is a huge hit in our house--kind of a cross between lasagna and homemade hamburger helper (that's what my husband calls it anyways)--it's a great comforting meal for a cool evening, and a great one to freeze.  It's so simple, I made 6 pans of this last night (two for other new moms who had babies this month and 4 for us) in about an hour.  I promise your kids will like this one!  I made it with extra lean ground turkey instead of beef, but the ground beef is delicious as well.  

One of my favorite snacks is actually a bean burrito, so before baby arrives I'm planning on making a big batch of these bean and cheese burritos to have on hand for grabbing when mid-afternoon hunger strikes.  

Two other breakfast foods I'm planning on making a ton of are these waffles (my kiddo loves waffles with peanut butter for his breakfast, so having them ready made and waiting for the toaster will be a huge help) and these Omelet Breakfast Bites--both of which have been tested by a friend who said her only regret was not making more of them before her kiddo arrived.

What I'm Into (June 2013)

Clearly writing is not something I've been into in the past few months!  Yikes!  It's been almost 2 months since I have posted anything--how in the world did that happen??  I thought life moved quickly when I was in grad school--you get the syllabus on day 1 of the quarter and before you know it you're at finals 10 weeks later.  But that was nothing compared to full days with a very busy and very curious 17 month old.  I never. stop. moving.  I never sit down.  If he's napping I'm busy trying to prepare the next meal or quickly do a load of laundry since hauling laundry baskets and a 27 pound wiggly boy down to the laundry room is no longer physically feasible.  Life feels full, rich, a bit tedious somedays (how many times can you beg a 1 year old to not touch the DVD player??), and always always involves at least one change of clothes per day (for him...but often for me as well...this kid is a pro at finding water, dirt, mud, etc).  So as I think back over the past 2 months, here are a few of the things we've been into and up to in our little corner of Northridge.

The Little Man:  Aidan is growing & changing in new ways every day.  Today I heard him "baa" like a sheep for the first time.  I know, probably not earth-shattering, but I've never heard him do that before!  He surprises me all the time with new things and he is trying so hard to communicate, and he doesn't miss a thing.  This morning the car seat was sitting in our entry way when we woke up because my husband had gone to the beach super early & left the car seat so I could use it in a friend's car.  Aidan sees it and immediately starts making his airplane signs and sounds--he knows the only time we ever pull that car seat out is when he goes on an airplane.  It took me forever to convince him we weren't going on a plane today, no matter how many times he asked for Papa and Grandma, but I was amazed--that was a connection he made immediately that I probably never would have.  He's trying to learn how to "sing" which as one of our high school friends says is "the. cutest. thing. EVER!"  (I agree, it is).

We got him a water table at Costco one day because it was so warm outside and we wanted something he could play with out on our patio.  This kid is obsessed.  He's out there all the time, often before 7 AM in his pjs playing in the "wa-wa."  Definitely money well spent! He is completely in love with Elmo (Mo-mo) and will ask for Elmo at all hours.  Part of me is beginning to regret introducing Elmo but part of me is grateful that for the first time in a year and a half I can make dinner without him tearing my pantry and cupboards apart while whining to be entertained.  I used to be one of those moms who thought I'd never let my kid watch TV this young.  Yeah, there are a lot of things I used to think about parenting.  And then I had Aidan.  And now we do what works as we go along, and in this season of constant toddler activity and destruction, that means we watch Elmo twice a day (as Mommy drinks her morning coffee and as Mommy makes dinner!).  Just today for the first time he started asking for "choo choos" so we watched Thomas the Train instead and he was fascinated (my parents took him to play with the Thomas the Train table at Barnes and Noble last weekend and he LOVED it!) So perhaps there is hope that I can have a bit of variety in my toddler-TV time :)

Since we have a tiny apartment and almost no outdoor space with a very active little boy, I spend a lot of my days taking him on outings.  We've gone all kinds of random places together which has been so fun.  Underwood Farms, Universal Studios City Walk, the LA Zoo, friend's houses, a local park with a splash zone in it, and lots of places that involve ice cream or frozen yogurt.  I love these times with him, getting to see new things and getting to explore more of LA myself.  He adores the beach, can't get enough of the sand and water--this kid definitely doesn't have sensory issues that we've found so far!  While his mommy hates the texture of sand, he rolls in it.  I can't imagine having to roll in sand, but he dives in--usually face first. Yuck.

Books, Music, and Netflix:  We cancelled our cable, so whatever we watch now is either online or on Netflix, which so far has been just fine (I do miss the Today Show.  A lot).  In May I watched season 1 of the show Hart of Dixie on Netflix while I was home in the evenings by myself and I got a teensy bit addicted.  I loved it.  Small town, cute characters, medical stuff, love triangles--I was hooked and am looking forward to season 2 coming out this fall on DVD.  Charles and I finished season 1 of The West Wing last night and were going to start season 2 tonight (but someone decided to go to bed at 7:30 after an early morning surf session....I'm not naming any names!)  We both adore this show, the writing, characters and politics.  I always said if Jed Bartlett could run for president he'd have my vote in a heartbeat!

I'm super late to the party but I just discovered The Lumineers and adore them.  I've known Hey Ho for awhile now but hadn't ever heard the rest of their album....it's fantastic. The Nashville Soundtrack has also been frequently played in the car this past month, which has some wonderful new songs on it, and I'm still living in my obsession of Elizabeth Mitchell's kid's music--so beautiful and folksy and not obnoxious at all.  I just found out she's doing a kid's concert at The Getty in August and I think I might be a teensy bit excited.

I got to go on vacation in June for 2 weeks to see my family, and I managed to read a lot while I was there.  After Aidan went to bed every evening at 7 I read for a couple of hours because I didn't have any responsibilities of cleaning or laundry or anything else that occupies my time here at home.  I read 3 books and started 2 more (hey, for me that's a lot these days!).  I loved Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, a novel set in India about two cousins born on the same day and raised together.  It's a story of their lives unfolding, their arranged marriages, their family's secrets and past--all woven together beautifully.  Definitely recommend this one!  I also read Sparkly Green Earrings, Catching the Light at Every Turn by Melanie Shankle.  She's the author of the Big Mama blog which I really love and this is her first book, a memoir of parenting that is hysterical and will bring you to tears.  Her chapter on potty training made me about die laughing!  The last book I read was one my mom's neighbor read and immediate brought over to us.  My mom read it in a couple days and then I picked it up and finished it in a few days.  It's called Left Neglected by Lisa Genova, author of the popular book Still Alice.  It's about a woman who is incredibly successful, a high powered exec, mother of 3, carefully juggling her life.  A car accident leaves her with a brain injury that causes "left neglect" where her brain completely ignores the left side of everything.  She isn't blind but she literally doesn't register the left side of her plate, a book, her body, a room, anything she's looking at.  It's a very real disorder that people experience (often stroke patients) and reading her story & her path to recovery was fascinating.  It's a fiction book, easy to read, and definitely one I'd recommend.  I've started Francis Chan's Crazy Love, and Sticky Faith by Kara Powell and Brad Griffin from the Fuller Youth Institute (since I'm going to be Kara's TA in the fall as she teaches a class on Sticky Faith I figured I should read the book!)  I get the opportunity to preach at First Pres Granada Hills in August and have been doing some reading to prepare for that as well.  Walter Brueggemann's book The Message of the Psalms is fantastic, and has given me a lot to think about as I dive into the world of the Psalms of Lament.

Other Events and Happenings: Memorial Day weekend saw us heading up to Forrest Home camp with 110 other folks from church for the All Church Retreat.  It was a lovely weekend of connecting with those I might not have known well, and letting Aidan explore nature a bit more and playing.  I will say it was REALLY exhausting with a 1 year old--who didn't sleep hardly at all and who needed to be watched at all times to avoid you know, falling off a mountain or down a hill into a rockbed.  But I am still glad we went and am hoping next year might be a bit easier.

We're still house hunting, which is a painful process in LA on a limited budget!  The market is ridiculously competitive and we've put in offers on several places now only to have 15 other offers be submitted as well.  So nothing exciting to report on that front!

June saw us getting to attend two graduation parties from students we've known and loved since they were freshmen at the church we were at previously.  It was wonderful getting to reconnect with them and their families, and to hear all about their plans as they head to places like Stanford, Yale, and Harvard (yes I had a ridiculously smart freshmen girl's small group one year!)


I hopped on an airplane June 12 and headed to Minneapolis to spend 2 weeks there with my parents (with a 5 days side trip down to Iowa to see my sister's family & new home!)  Charles was in Costa Rica with the high school students so I headed east.  It was a blast letting Aidan explore, get to know his cousins, and having extra people to chase him and keep him from eating dirt (too much anyways) and falling into the fountain at my parent's house.  He LOVED being with his cousins and asks for Lulu and Book (Lily & Brooke) all the time.  They taught him the lovely skill of shrieking and he's been practicing to see if he can give them some competition next time we see them.  He could not get enough dirt and bark and rocks and grass and sand and water in their yards.  I think we went through 2-3 outfits a day while we were there.  But in my mind that's exactly what summertime should be for a little boy!  He discovered a few new foods that he loves while there--most notably "nini" (Zucchini).  My parents took him one Saturday for several hours while I worked on my sermon, and the 3 of them went to explore the aquarium at the mall of america and then went to eat ice cream and play with the train table at Barnes & Noble.  He had an absolute ball.  He learned to make choo choo noises, and came home with a stuffed turtle just like the turtles he saw swimming in the water.  He loves his new "turtle" and makes sure turtle is now in his crib for naps.  My parents also discovered having a little boy in the house is a little different in terms of what he's interested in exploring and getting into than having the two girls come to visit.  He got into all kinds of things the girls have never dreamed of touching and kept all of us running.  I loved eating delicious summer food off the grill almost every day--steaks, teriyaki burgers, apple basil chicken burgers, shish ka bobs twice, and salmon.  Stuff I never make for us but love to eat!

 Phew!  I think that's about it for what's been going on here.  Mostly I love having a little record of what each month has held for us since life is busy enough that I'm not journaling or writing much these days.  As usual I'm linking this post up with the lovely Leigh Kramer's collection of What I'm Into Posts from around the country :)  Happy summer everyone!

7 Quick Takes Friday!

It's Friday!  I know I don't have a normal job where I work 5 days a week outside the home, but let me assure you, stay at home moms still look forward to Friday just as much as all you outside the home workers!  There's something about knowing the pace of the next day will be different, the routine might change a bit, there's opportunity for something extra and fun to happen that causes me to be excited when Friday rolls around.  Even if my husband has to work over the weekend there is still something fun about Friday.  It also means it's time for another 7 Quick Takes--quick looks at life in our household these days.  So here goes....

**1**

I have finally figured something out about my kiddo.  After much trial and error I have finally discovered that his ideal bedtime is 7:30.  I know this may not seem like an earth shattering revelation, but for me it's been huge.  He gets fussy every evening between 5:30 and 6--so I started trying to put him to bed during the 6:00 hour.  It would take forever.  It would involve an hour of nursing, rocking, bouncing, putting him down, thinking he was asleep and then having him get up 5 minutes later to start the whole process all over again.  I hated bedtime.  We had so much company and activity around here the past two weeks that he's been forced to stay up later, and what I've learned is that as long as there are people (besides me and Charles) to interact with or things to see other than the same toys he has been staring at all day, he's happy as a clam.  Fussy time doesn't exist.  So I'm now searching for ways to get him out of the house in the evenings to avoid being fussed at until I put him down at 7:30!  But honestly, this gives me a bit of my social life back.  I can now go to Food Truck Fridays with the youth or go to dinner with friends if we do a 5:30 meal.  He'll cooperate just fine.  Then at 7:15 or so, we swaddle him up, I nurse him for a bit, and he goes right down--last night for a 3 hour stretch!  Hallelujah!  

**2**

We had our first book club meeting on Monday!  I am so thrilled people actually are interested in this (10 of them showed up to discuss The Poisonwood Bible!).  There seems to be a good energy and excitement about gathering together to read great books and discuss them--and disagree about them, which was very fun!  I wanted it to be open to anyone and intergenerational and it was--we had a couple high school students all the way up to one of our senior citizens in the church--men and women--and everyone enjoyed sharing with one another.  Next month we're reading and discussing Molokai by Alan Brennert which I'm super excited to start reading.

**3**

Speaking of books...I'm almost finished with a book that I think will now be a baby shower gift for me (to select people--not everyone would appreciate this!)  Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions has made me laugh out loud and has filled my eyes with tears.  It's a journal of her son's first year of life, and oh my word does she describe life with a newborn so well!  I'll tell people not to read it until their baby is 5-6 months old and they will appreciate it so much more.  It's full of her colorful language (ie: don't read this if you're offended by 4 letter words), but it's also full of her raw faith and honesty that I find so refreshing. 

**4**

Thanks to Pinterest I've rediscovered my passion for healthy eating--and vegetables.  I feel like lately we've been eating much heavier food than normal--we've eaten out more, eaten fast food more, and eaten meals that only contain one item (like just lasagna, no salad or side dish).  Part of this is due to my baby who is a terrible napper.  But this week I started craving vegetables, and have made salads the main course for several meals.  Pinterest is FULL of delicious salads that are great right now with our summer produce--this spinach salad with chicken and avocado was dinner last night and lunch today--YUM!

**5**

I've also rediscovered an old addiction.  The West Wing.  I borrowed season 1 from friends and am loving watching as I do data entry every evening.  Aaron Sorkin is one of the best writers I have ever seen, hands down.

**6**

My little one has decided to ignore learning how to sit and has gone straight to standing--he's trying so hard to balance while holding onto our coffee table.  Oh Aidan.  Next Saturday he and I leave for 3 weeks in Minnesota with my parents--we'll see what he manages to get in to at their house!

**7**

We're off to a busy weekend--Food Trucks tonight, dinner with a friend in Pasadena tomorrow night, and Sunday afternoon/evening is the big welcome freshmen event for the high school youth group--a photo scavenger hunt at Universal City Walk and then a big dinner at Buca di Beppos.  I'm going to attempt to take the little one to all these things, so we'll see how we do!  Happy weekend everyone!

Oh Pinterest...How I love Thee

I'll admit it.  I've become a bit addicted to Pinterest this week.  If you're still out of the loop and haven't figured out what Pinterest is, it's essentially an online bookmarking site where you can "pin" things you find from around the web onto your own bulletin boards to make finding them again nice and simple.  It's as if you were bookmarking a favorite page in your internet browser, only you're doing it online and other people can see what you're bookmarking--and you can see their pins and "repin" them for yourself.  It's amazing.  The ideas out there blow my mind sometimes.  I've been pinning a lot of things this week, and then decided it was high time I start actually trying them!  So here's the round up of my pinterest attempts this past week:

Our car needed a garbage solution, and lo and behold Pinterest had just the solution!  I bought a tupperware cereal container and put a trash bag in it.  The lid keeps the trash inside even if it tips over and it's the perfect size!

Apartment carpet is just crappy.  It traps dirt like no other (and we even have a no shoes policy!)  Needless to say our entry way and traffic area always looks dingy and dirty and it drives me crazy.  I went searching for how to clean your carpet (without renting a steam cleaner) and found this idea that worked like a charm.  Mix one part ammonia (yes it stinks to high heaven, open doors and windows if you try this!) and one part HOT water in a spray bottle.  Spray liberally on the spot you wish to clean, cover with a white rag or towel and iron it.  In seconds the towel will turn dirt colored under the iron and the spot will be gone.  It was amazing!  

I have always been a good water drinker, but now that it's getting hotter and I am nursing the babe just as much as ever I am finding myself more thirsty than I should be at the end of each day--which means I'm not drinking enough throughout the day.  I loved this idea.  I didn't use 2 water bottles, just my 1 32 oz nalgene but I wrote the times of the day at various marks on the bottle so I am spreading my water drinking out.  It's been super easy to consume 3 large nalgenes a day these past few days this way--almost 100 ounces of water, and I feel MUCH better!

 I kept pinning all these recipes but never made any of them.  Until this week--I've made 4 this week and all of them were delicious!  This was dinner the other night and my plan was to have leftovers.  We didn't.  It was that good.  A super easy pasta dish with sliced chicken, sundried tomatoes, regular tomatoes and a pesto cream sauce.  Sauteed zucchini or other veggies would be awesome to add to this.  You can find the recipe here.

 As a side dish to the pasta the other night I made these asparagus.  Simple steam them, then drizzle balsamic vinegar over them and top with feta and sundried tomatoes (they also used walnuts but I didn't have any).  So simple and a great way to jazz up some asparagus (although I love them plan too!)

 Beef stroganoff is one of those meals I remember liking as a kid but always assumed it was a tough one to make.  It's not.  And it's delicious.  This recipe is to make it in the crock pot which worked fantastically.

And dessert.  We can't forget about dessert.  Tomorrow night my parents, grandparents and sister will be here, and we're having chicken enchiladas.  I wanted to make a fun dessert, and this looked delicious.  No Bake Nutella Butter Pie.  It was so simple and I'll admit I already cut a piece (I had to make sure it wasn't terrible before feeding it to company!)  The crust is pureed nutter butter cookies and the filling is cream cheese, sugar, whipping cream, and nutella (I didn't say it was healthy).  There's no baking, just letting it chill to set and then you can top with melted nutella and cream mixed together to create a ganache.  My husband is in love with this pie after only a few bites already.

So! Those are my favorite pins of the week. Anyone else tried any that are a must to pass on??

7 Quick Takes Friday!

Happy Friday everyone!  June is here, school is ending for many, the weather is heating up (at least around here!) and people are transitioning to summer schedules....as much as I don't love the heat it's kind of a fun change in the pace of life!  Here's what we have been up to these days.

**1**

Summer produce.  Oh my word, I can't think of anything I love more.  This past week I think I've eaten an entire watermelon by myself, four artichokes, and two boxes of raspberries.  Plus a couple of pluots my friend Jenn sent me--they were my new discovery of last summer and I couldn't get enough of them while I was pregnant.  I am waiting for the heirloom tomatoes and basil to arrive and create some amazing pasta dishes or bruschetta :)  

**2**

On Thursday our family starts arriving for Aidan's baptism weekend!  I think it's going to be a bit of a crazy long weekend but we're excited to see everyone!  My parents, grandparents, and sister's family arrive Thursday and Charles' family arrives Friday--it should be quite the crew!  Between now and then I'm trying to get as much data entry done for my new job as possible since something tells me I'm not going to get anything done while company is here!  So when my munchkin is sleeping I'm frantically entering stuff into a computer database, but it'll be worth it to have a few days to play with fun nieces and nephews.  When my mom was here a week or so ago we figured out the menu and grocery lists for the weekend so that's all taken care of, now I just need to clean my house up and grocery shop for everything (which will be Wednesday's project--hopefully when Daddy can watch the little one so I don't have to drag him through Costco!)

**3**

It's kind of crazy, after our family leaves Aidan and I are really only home for 2 more weeks and then the two of us are headed to Minnesota for most of the month of July.  Charles has two different camps to attend in July--a house boating trip with middle schoolers and a week at summer camp with the high school students, and those two weeks are separated by a week off in the middle.  Rather than fly back and forth a bunch or sit here for a week with no husband we decided it would just be easier to send me to the midwest for 3 weeks.  We'll miss seeing Charles when he's home for that week in between but he'll get a lot of work and planning for the fall done that week I hope!  Aidan and I are excited to go hang out relaxing in Minneapolis--both my parents will be working so I'll still be home with him alone many days, but it will be nice to have them around in the evenings and on the weekend to help me out a bit and to have some company.  Plus the hot dry valley heat of Northridge is miserable to me, so getting out of town for a bit this summer will be great!  

**4**

Our little babe is FINALLY starting to sleep a little better!  HALLELUJAH!!  It's been a slow process, and some days/nights are way better than others, but we are finally starting to get some 3-4 hour stretches out of him (usually one or two a night) which is amazing.  His new reflux med is working, not perfectly, but so much better than the first one we tried.  Sometimes he sleeps in his little bed and sometimes it's in bed with us (something I swore I'd never let my kid do but after talking to MANY friends realized that the most important thing right now is to get everyone sleep, it doesn't matter where that sleep is taking place).  It's been fun to see a bit of a natural schedule emerge out of him lately too.  Around 6:15 each evening he hits his wall and is a fussy mess, so we start bedtime and I nurse him and usually by 7 he's down in his little bed.  He'll sleep almost two hours and then eat again and then go down easily again for the next stretch.  He's been waking up in the morning at 7 AM like clock work--so he stays in sleep mode for 12 hours which is awesome.  By 8:15 each morning he's back down for his first little nap of the day and then we go from there--sometimes taking better naps than others, but at least we're seeing improvement with nighttime sleep which is a HUGE blessing!  

**5**

Last Friday I posted about our new Beco Baby Carrier that lets me wear Aidan on my front and still use my hands.  We have used it a TON this week and oh wow it has made a huge difference!  He hates his car seat, and since that's the part of the stroller he still has to sit in, well shopping and errands are tough.  He just sits in there and sweats and that makes him cranky and he loves to see what is going on which he can't do from his car seat.  Being able to carry him through stores and around church etc so he can see what's happening has been a huge help, and this carrier is SO comfortable and easy to use.  Highly recommend it if you're in the market for one!  His daddy even wore him around a church event last weekend for quite a bit!

**6**

I've rediscovered The West Wing this past week.  I need to watch something while I enter data for this new job, and so I threw on a dvd the other day.  I had forgotten how much I adore these characters and the amazing writing of this show--I'm looking to start at season 1 this summer and work my way through all 7 of them!  (I've still never seen anything beyond season 3!)

**7**

I've spent this week re-reading The Poisonwood Bible for our book club and am just over half way through.  I love this book.  So so much.  It makes me laugh, it makes me want to scream in frustration at the ignorance of one of the main characters, it is full of incredible imagery that makes one feel like they are walking through the Congo, and the characters are so fascinating to me.  I can't wait to discuss it with friends soon!

Week 33--a 7 Quick Takes Edition

It's nearing the end of another week around here (and it's December! Yikes!) and I thought I'd take a few minutes in the quiet of this Friday morning to post a 7 Quick Takes-style update for ya.

**1**
Our munchkin is now about the size of a honeydew melon and is weighing in at about 4 pounds (the weight of a pineapple apparently). I'll be interested to see what he actually weighs when he's born and how accurate these baby sites are at predicting average weight! We definitely have a mover on our hands, he passes his kick count tests in a grand total of 5 minutes (you are supposed to give them an hour to see if they move 10 times within the hour. Aidan moves 10 times in 5 minutes. Usually more). I'm already making plans to enlist his cousin Lily to go be his running buddy to work off energy! Man they'll be a handful when they are together! I had a lady in Trader Joes yesterday stop me and ask when I was due, and when I said "next month, in mid January" she went a little nuts exclaiming that I was too tiny, I looked too good, and this must be my first because I am "the most adorable pregnant person ever!" in her mind. I don't know her name, but she might be my new favorite person on the planet. God bless the Trader Joes' shopper for making me feel like something other than a giant waddling mess!

**2**
My husband and I went to our first chidbirth class last night at the hospital (not the one we'll be delivering at, since I didn't know where we'd be delivering when I had to register for classes, but it's at least within the same "family" of hospitals). It'll be interesting to see what we learn in this class. I will say the instructor didn't present things in the most logical order last night, which I think led to some confused looks on people's faces. She did however load up a back pack with about 25 pounds of aquarium rocks to represent the different areas of weight gain women experience in pregnancy and made each of the dads try it on over their bellys. Then try to sit down, stand up and pick up a pen from the floor. That might have been worth the whole class :) By the end of the class one of the dudes said "wow, class was like working overtime, something I never want to do but am always glad I did!" We'll see how next week goes.

**3**
I debated a lot on even saying this publicly, because I know I am in a minority on this opinion, and I'm probably going to make some people mad, but I'm just going to come out and say it. I really didn't like Ina Mae Gaskin's book Guide to Childbirth. There. I said it. Wow that feels good to get off my chest. I realize it is the "go-to" book people recommend to pregnant women, and I realize it's been life changing, transformational, and has completely changed people's birth plans and expectations. And that's great for those of you who have loved this book and had such a positive experience with it. But it didn't do those things for me. It kind of had the opposite effect. I'm not saying I didn't come away from it with a few good nuggets of information, she has some wise things to say. But I will say that I found myself highly irritated throughout most of the book and here's why. The first half of the book are various women's stories of childbirth. They were interesting and engaging and this is where I gleaned some good helpful tips about childbirth being a very holistic process, about relaxation, about empowerment. The second half is more "didactic" where she covers different topics (pain management, relaxation, and I can't even remember what else). I realize she is a HUGE advocate for home births, no pain medication, little medical intervention etc. That's fine, those are fair perspectives to hold and thousands of women hold the same perspectives as she does. I'm not saying that's wrong, or if that's your choice then it's a bad one. But what I hated was that I felt like she was demonizing the medical community, hospital births, and any woman who does choose to enlist the help of pain killers, epidurals, or the like. The subliminal message I came away from this book with was "if you choose these things, you WILL have a horrible birth experience, your doctor will be an egotistical jerk who will never do anything in the best interest of you or your child, and you are a terrible mother putting yourself and your baby at risk if you ask for an epidural. You are somehow less of a woman because your body was made to do this naturally and if you can't, you're weak." No, she never comes right out and says those things, but that's the underlying message I heard throughout this entire book. My sister read this book after her first was born, but before her second. I asked her what she thought of it and she said "well, she is pretty full of herself isn't she? It's like the only appropriate place on the planet to give birth is the birthing center on her farm and if you choose a hospital you're an idiot who is guaranteed to end up with a c-section and a baby in the NICU." That's exactly how I felt. I realize some have had negative experiences with doctors or hospitals, and that's fair. I've had some myself. But to paint the entire medical community with broad brush strokes of being uncaring, institutionalized, egotistical individuals who just want to get you in and out of delivery as fast as possible is unfair, untrue, and really really offensive to me. My time of working in a hospital as a chaplain, working closely alongside doctors and nurses showed me just how deeply they do care, and work tirelessly to bring healing, relief, and comfort to patients. I have countless friends and family members who are doctors and nurses (including several labor and delivery nurses, a NICU specialist, and pediatric intensive care resident) who love their patients deeply and care immensely for their well being and the well being of their children. I found Ina Mae's tone and approach to speaking about doctors to be very disrespectful. She's absolutely right to voice her opinion, but it's not an opinion I can even come close to jumping on board with. I hesitated even saying anything on here about this book, because I know how beloved it is by many many people, but I just feel like the "other voice" in this dialogue, the voice that supports the medical community, isn't heard as much these days. So there you have it, my book review for the week--good tips, some helpful nuggets, but overall won't be drastically changing my life. And who knows, after this baby is born I may have a different perspective, and if so, I'll admit that on here.

**4**
On to something more fun :) I LOVE our new apartment and our new location. Love it. It's cozy, homey, in a fantastic location (I can walk to just about anything in 5-10 minutes), and is so close to the church my husband and great friend Jenn even walked over and came for lunch the other day. It'll be fantastic when Aidan is born, I can walk over and have lunch at the church with him to get out of the house, or Charles can come home a day or two a week to have lunch with us, or on a Sunday morning if he has to be at church for multiple hours and the baby needs to come home, I can easily walk him home to put him down for a nap without waiting around (since we only have the 1 car). My goal for today is to start figuring out where pictures are to be hung so we can finally get the last of the boxes unpacked from the nursery, that way next week I can start putting his room together, and figuring out what we need for him (like a crib...and putting together our changing table area etc).

**5**
Charles and I were talking last night about how incredibly different life feels here than it did for us in Seattle. Words cannot even begin to express how much lower our stress levels are, how much more peaceful our home feels, how enjoyable our evenings are (because we're not angry and stressed and processing how to deal with a very unhealthy leadership structure at a church all the time). Our schedule has filled up a little faster than I might have liked (mostly because it's December and there are all kinds of extra events) but even in the midst of that I don't feel angry and stressed about it, things feel enjoyable again. He walks out the door to walk to work in the morning with a smile on his face. I realized I am not an anxious and stressed basket case all day worrying about him and for him. I can be home making dinner and setting up our home without feeling so guilty and stressed that I'm not at the church helping him. Which makes me so much more relaxed and ready to engage with him when he comes home. We have energy to talk about other things besides the church. What a huge difference the right leadership structure and senior pastor can make for the lives of their employees! We are abundantly grateful to be here, and hope we get to be here long term.

**6**
For those who have been hearing the weather reports, we haven't completely blown away here, but it has definitely been windy! Nowhere near what poor Pasadena has encountered though! These are some photos of Fuller's campus posted yesterday on Facebook:

**7**
It's been so blustery around here that all I want to do is hide out and bake warm yummy things to counteract the wind outside. Yesterday I put a batch of chili in the Crock Pot (President Obama's family recipe actually, and it was SO good) and smelled the yumminess of garlic, onion, and spices all day, and then I baked up a batch of cheesy corn muffins from my Cooking Light cookbook which were incredible. They had garlic and chopped green onion in them, and apparently can be frozen. I think before this baby comes I'm going to make a big batch for the freezer because they will be an incredible side dish to any pot of winter stew, soup, chili, or pasta that my mom or I make while they're here. (And I'm all for freezer meals, things I can pull out and have ready to go!) This next week I'm breaking out our favorite comfort foods we haven't made in a couple months as we've been living with other people and traveling. On the list, pasta with pesto and shrimp, thai lettuce wraps, and a crock pot beef stew that will be warm and cozy if this wind continues!

Happy weekend everyone!

These are a few of my favorite things...

I'm not just talking about The Sound of Music (although thanks to my mom, that has always been one of my favorite movies!). I figured that some day I would want to remember the foods, drinks, and other fun things that I have been adoring throughout this pregnancy. I'll be interested to see if anything changes with my next one someday! (I realize this post may be of zero interest to most of you, that's perfectly fine, it's more for me to be able to look back on!)

First up on the strange craving (strange for me anyways!) were potato chips. I still like them, but my first few weeks of pregnancy I HAD to have them. Cheddar and Sour Cream, Hickory BBQ, Sea Salt & Vinegar...you name the flavor I had to have them. I never did venture into the world of Flamin Hot Cheetos though...sorry Becca!

About the same time I started wanting potato chips, I also started wanting more and more popcorn. My husband and I eat quite a bit of popcorn in our house. We make it from "scratch" (we pop it on the stove with just a tiny bit of olive oil so we avoid the chemical-y taste of microwave popcorn since we eat it so often). So I've always loved popcorn, but back in June, I REALLY loved popcorn. I was quite excited to see that 3 cups of popped popcorn was actually on my list of foods to eat while pregnant to count towards the daily grain total! (the potato chips on the other hand were not on the list...)

Then summer really hit, and with it came the beautiful, fresh, delicious summer produce I live for every year. I could not get enough heirloom tomatoes, mango, pesto, bruschetta, zucchini and watermelon. Oh the watermelon. And beautiful spinach salads. I hate the heat, but I could live with summer produce year round. I really could!

I don't keep it a secret. I love red wine. I've never really wanted more than a glass in a given night (maybe 2 if we're celebrating something special) but I knew that when I got pregnant the red wine would be hardest for me to give up. And it has been. But I found an alternative that is working quite well! Izze Sparkling Fruit drinks! I rarely buy them because they are pricey, but when we have something fun to celebrate and I can't join my husband in the wine drinking I splurge on these. A great alternative! (I will say we already have our bottle of wine picked out for when the baby is born and I can partake a bit, friends gave us a bottle when we went to their home for dinner last week and the taste I had was delicious--so we're saving it for January!)

This one is a relatively new product on the market that I discovered and it is delicious. I am pretty sure it is gluten free, it's healthy (it was featured in our Nutrition Action magazine two months ago as being a great side dish with low sodium and calories) and I am a bit in love with it. Alexia Saute Sweets is what to look for in the frozen food aisle. It's a saute made from frozen sweet potato cubes, black beans, corn, onion and diced red peppers. You saute it in a flavored olive oil that comes with the package until the veggies are cooked through and then can serve it any number of ways. We've tried it with eggs and bacon mixed in to make a breakfast scramble which was pretty good, but my very favorite way of consuming this delicious and satisfying fall side dish is in a tortilla, as a burrito. I put a bit of shredded cheddar on top and use this as my burrito filling and voila! A delicious and easy meal, full of fall flavors and the nutrition from vegetables!

My only craving that is very strange to me (and my husband, he thinks this is amusing) is french dip sandwiches. If you know me, you know that I really could pass on meat most days. I don't ever choose a meat topping for my pizza, I'm happy to pick around the chicken in my salads, every so often I'll want a good hamburger, but for the most part, I've NEVER voluntarily chosen to order a giant stack of meat for a meal. Until now. This baby boy either loves the salt from the liquid sodium they give you to dip the sandwich in, or he wants the protein (I'm guessing the salt, because other meat doesn't sound great usually). I've now ordered 5 during this pregnancy, which is exactly 5 more than I have ordered in the past 10 years combined.

Otherwise, my main go-to foods these days involve ice cream, lots of milk, and LOTS of apples with peanut butter. I have probably had one almost every day of this pregnancy--this kid better not be allergic to peanuts, it is literally my daily snack! Cereal before bed is also climbing the list (or sometimes at 5 AM as has happened a couple times now when I wake up starving!)

So far no weird combos like pickles and ice cream together, or anything too out of the ordinary! I'm intrigued to see what else starts sounding good as the days go by and we head into the holiday season filled with my favorite holiday meals! We won't be traveling anywhere for either Thanksgiving or Christmas this year (by Christmas I'll be way too pregnant to fly) so I'll have to try my hand at cooking some of my favorite family recipes to introduce our little man to their flavors! And now, after posting all this about food, I am shockingly enough, hungry again. Off to raid the cupboards again!

Well hello there little plum! And happy 4th of July!

It's been a fun week around here in our household, definitely a different pace from the past 7 months! Baby K has hit the size of a plum as he or she is starting his 12th week of life (almost done with trimester #1!), and is starting to make me look a teensy bit on the pudgy side. A friend of mine said about two weeks ago "if I didn't know you were pregnant, I never would say anything, but since I know, I'll just say you definitely are getting a tiny bump! If someone didn't know you well they'd never know, but to those of you who know you well, we can see it!" I had the realization the other day that I have the world's shortest torso. I thought the only problems this was going to cause in life was shopping for jeans (they are never long enough for my legs!) but on Wednesday I realized "umm....where's this baby going to grow?? There is nowhere for it to go but straight out!" I told my good friend Missy I wasn't sure how I felt about this and her response was to jump up and down and squeal "I feel very cute about it!!" So we'll see over the next few weeks how this little bump starts to form!

Since my husband is now finding himself with copious amounts of free time on his hands and since Bethany Pres (the church we're now going to, the church I am a member of from my college days) needed an extra male chaperon on their mission trip, he spent the past week helping them out. He had a fantastic time, and said it was a really healing experience--seeing a very healthy youth ministry, a ministry and church that cares about depth, not just entertaining kids. The youth director there is a friend of ours from Fuller, and the group he helped was led by Missy, one of our dear friends and bridesmaids from our wedding. They stayed at a church here in Seattle and during the day the 44 kids were split into teams of 7 or 8 and served at various spots around the city. His team spent the week at a retirement home doing landscaping and yard work for them.

Friday he flew down to San Luis Obispo for a job interview which was Saturday morning. He comes back super late tonight, and has had an incredible time. He loves the town, really enjoyed the committee, got to rent a board and surf yesterday and today, and said that even if we don't get this job it has been such a healing and life-giving weekend for him. It was so encouraging to see a church doing youth ministry the way we've been trained, and just to know there are still churches out there that would be willing to have conversations with him is always encouraging. His voice on the phone last night sounded happier than I have heard him in 7 months. So I don't know what this means, but I am so grateful for this time he's had in California.

I spent the week here, visiting with a couple different friends, putting the house back together after company last week, going on walks every day (you're right, Mom, they do make me feel better!) still napping, helping a friend wedding dress shop, and just enjoying the house to myself for awhile! My best friend from Portland drove up Friday to spend the night with me, and took me to get pedicures yesterday which was a fantastic treat :) Yesterday I video chatted with Miss Lily and she was cracking me up--that is a kid with a lot of personality! I am still "jah-jah" (or however you would spell her rendition of "Sarah") and I am very excited that Auntie Jah-Jah and Uncle Ca-ca (her name for "Charles") get to go play with her in person in about 2 weeks. Her newest obsession is mommy's heels. Except she wants mommy to be wearing them, not her. Megan said that she was eating breakfast in her boxers the other day and Lily brought the heels to her saying "mommy, shoes!" You can never be too stylish. Even in pajamas. She's also learned the word "no" and now everything is "no" even when it's really a "yes." Not sure how I feel about this particular stage! This kid is part fish--she started swimming lessons last week and LOVES the water. Even sprinklers. Seriously, how cute is she?? (this is after her first experience with the backyard sprinkler).

After so many people recommending it, I'm finally reading the book Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I'm still not entirely sure what it's about (only on chapter 2) but the writing is so beautiful it makes my heart ache. The way words are used, sentences formed, images employed--I am in love and almost don't care what the story is about.

I've also been in LOVE with summer produce and colors in my vegetable drawer this week. I cannot get enough of this beautiful food! I started buying mango for the first time, and am quite enjoying it (it's on the lists of things that are great for baby's development, so I figured I should try it). I've been going through strawberries, watermelon, tomatoes, pesto, basil, zucchini, sun dried tomatoes, and artichokes like nothing else these days. Here are a few of the meals I've been making with these ingredients--I'd highly recommend any of them!

Double Tomato Bruschetta
Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Turkey Pesto Paninis

Okay, that's enough rambling for the day--you're probably sick of reading this anyways! Have a great holiday weekend everyone!