Kitchen Sink Chowder

Easy Chowder

I always assumed chowder would be difficult. There is no denying how delicious it can be on a warm summer night in the backyard accompanied by garlic bread and a glass of cold pinot grigio. The first time I tried a recipe for chowder it was a corn and crab chowder recipe from Bon Apetite. It was fast and delicious. The (now numerous times) I have attempted to replicate it, I always find I am out of something. The other night I promised my hubby chowder, then started dinner at 6pm. The recipe called for bacon (we had none), yellow onion (we had red in the garden), red skinned potatoes (I found a handful of yellow), 2 1/4 cups of clam juice (I had a partial bottle in the fridge, maybe 6 ounces), crab (I found a little container of smoked clams in the cupboard, but no crab). About 30 minutes later dinner was on the table and it was delicious!

Chowder

Saute onions in olive oil and a tbsp butter, in a large pan (if using bacon, cook bacon first then set aside and saute onions in bacon grease)

Add cut up potatoes. Saute for a minute or so. 

Add clam juice up to 2 1/4 cups, I used vegetable stock to make up for what I didn't have. Bring to a boil and then lower to simmer until potatoes are soft. 

Add fish (crab or clams or whatever) and a small carton of heavy whipping cream (I did not say this was low fat!).

simmer for 5 minutes. Throw in some frozen veggies (either corn or peas or both, fresh spinach is also good). 

Serve with cold white wine and warm crispy bread. Enjoy!

Saying goodbye to stay-at-home motherhood

Becoming a student mom

Saying goodbye to middle of the week beach days, bike rides and play dates is something I find myself focusing on with all my mommy guilt. Being a stay at home mom was never a calling for me so much as the place I just assumed I'd be. I didn't take into account whether I would be good at it or whether I would love it. Now, as I prepare to put my little love in a real childcare for the first time and commence with a 5-day per week class schedule my feelings, like much of motherhood, are bittersweet. Am I making the right choice for my family? Not just for our future, but for our daily life right now? Will my little love be better off when her daily caretaker doesn't have to put on a cartoon so they can get the house clean? Or will she be torn apart when she can no longer spend mornings having a "cuddle on couch with mommy"? In reality, these worries and guilt pangs are as useless as most worries and pangs of guilt.  We have already made our list of pros and cons, we have already spent countless nights weighing our options and our dreams. I have already applied, waited impatiently and been accepted. The only thing to do now is to figure out how I will deal with the new schedule & guilt while working hard to be the mother I want to be and give my little love the childhood I've dreamed for her. I put my questions out to the lovely mom's in my holistic mom's group, mom's who strive to live a "natural" life, but who work and go to school and sometimes cook mac n' cheese for dinner. Here is the list I compiled for adjusting, for saying good-bye, for welcoming the next chapter in our lives.

Nursing School Mama Survival Guide

Make a food schedule. Not just dinners, but breakfast and lunch (or else you won't eat). Plan your favorite things for lunch (like the fixings for a caprese sandwich). For dinner, plan for all 7 nights, even though you know you will probably end up eating out. Mon: Pasta, Tues: crockpot dinner, Wed: Mexican, Thurs: real food, Fri: no cook dinner (salad, sandwich), Sat: family cook night, Sun: hubby bbq's.

Add exercise, self care and special time/activities with little love to your weekly schedule! Print schedule and post it on the fridge. We all have big goals, plans and dreams but sometimes life gets away from us. Scheduling one fun thing a day with little love will mean I will always have time to connect with her, whether it's a park stop on Monday afternoon or an art project every Wednesday. Also, I plan to do yoga everyday, but my mat remains rolled next to the couch unless I make that commitment a part of my routine. 

Simplify, Prioritize and then let things go. Nursing school isn't forever, but honestly it will always be something won't it?  Make food ahead of time and be sure to prep healthy snacks so you don't fall back on junk. Multitask, clean the bathroom while the kids bathe, do the dishes while water is boiling for dinner. Many mom's said to look at what's important to you and your family, at the end of the day is it really the end of the world if the house is cluttered or dinner is quesadilla's or mac more often than it's not? What drives you crazy (dirty dishes in the sink!), do that, and let other things go.

And the best piece of advice I received? Rather than focus on what your child is missing out on during this time, notice the things she will learn from it. She will learn how important education is, she will learn about organization and prioritization, she will learn about not giving up, about having and fulfilling our dreams. Those are beautiful things. I hope she will be proud of me. 

Homemade Ranch Dip

Yummy Get Your Kid To Eat Their Veggies Dip

Family, friends and two year olds all love this easy yummy dip. I make it just about every week these days. My little love now asks for dip every time she sees a carrot or broccoli head. The first time we tried it, her and I were practically fighting over the cucumber slices! Sometimes I change up the amounts depending on what I have in the fridge, more Greek yogurt, etc. It always turns out delicious. Enjoy!

Homemade Ranch

1/4 cup Organic Mayo (I get it at Trader Jo's, it's thinner than regular mayo, usually I only use a few tbsp)

1/3 cup Sour Creme (you can use plain yogurt or more Greek yogurt instead)

1/3 cup Greek yogurt 

1 large clove of garlic, crushed

juice from 1/2 a small lemon

dill, parsley & garlic salt (sprinkled to taste, about a tsp or more of each, even more if using fresh dill & parsley)

Toddler Yoga

My Little Yogini

I love yoga. I love the the hardwood floors and clean, bright studios. I love the sense of community. I love the way my body looks and feels after a class and the way I suddenly crave a salad and ok, some sangria. But even more than that I love the concepts that come along with yoga. The idea of listening to and respecting your body. Setting intentions, feeling gratitude and letting go. These are the parts of yoga I want to give my little love. I want her to take notice and be thankful for the amazing things her body can do. I also want her to have fun and get a little exercise. Thankfully, she Loves yoga as well. The picture above was taken during a spontaneous beach yoga session, "look mama, down dog, shake a paw". She just turned two and is too little for most kids yoga videos, they bore her. However, she did her first yoga pose at 18 months and can now go through a full sun salutation along with other poses, loving every minute. I credit her love of yoga to the Bari Koral Family Rock Bands song, "The Sun Dance". It is so fun, little love says "let's oga!" and pulls out a mat for all of us. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6B_OaTQm2I

Easy Recycled Teepee

I don't sew. I wish I did, but I have never had the patience for things that don't come easily to me. I realize this is not a pretty aspect of my personality, but all the same. I wanted a teepee for our backyard so bad. I envisioned my daughter, much as she is above, cuddling up with a book and her baby dolls. So one Saturday afternoon, hubby and I looked around the yard and fashioned this makeshift teepee. We used garden stakes that had previously held up a green bean crop so big we will probably avoid green beans for the next couple of years. For the fabric we used a drop cloth that had been used when spray painting little love's kid sized table and chair set (hence the gray designs). We tied the garden stakes together with twine and put a single rivet on the drop cloth which we then tied closed with more twine. Quick and easy, our little love now requests naps and stories in her teepee.

Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

A good friend of mine created these delicious cupcakes for my little love's family brunch last weekend. It was almost a hundred degrees outside so the frosting melted quickly, but was so good no one minded. I knew I wanted a strawberry cream cheese frosting that utilized delicious fresh local strawberries. She suggested we pair it with a lemon cupcake. The result was delicious!

Lemon Cupcake

 http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/lemon-cupcakes/

We chose this recipe because it used cake flour and buttermilk. We used 2 tablespoons of lemon juice instead of lemon extract.

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
lemon zest from two lemons
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

~½ lb. strawberries, pureed in food processor and put through a colander to remove seeds

1stick of butter, firm and a little cold
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt 

4 cups powdered sugar 

  

DIY play kitchen

Pinterest inspired DIY play kitchen

After browsing the thousands of DIY play kitchens on pinterest, I commissioned my hubby to create one for our two year old. I found a microwave cart ($10) and a single Ikea cabinet ($5) at a local thrift store. Hubby took apart the Ikea box and used the pieces to create an oven and cabinet shelf for the microwave cart. He painted a piece of scrapwood with chalkboard paint and screwed it into the back. He drilled a hole for the sink and used gray sandpaper for the oven burners. Our little love is crazy about her kitchen and cooks up delicious pasta for mama! Total cost: about $30.