Meals Made Easy, Well Easier Perhaps

I have been waiting for my days to switch over to 25 hours ever since I blew out the candles on my last birthday cake --- and we all know that those wishes come true! Since it seems like my wish is not going to be granted any time soon, I have been trying to make better use of the 24 hours I do have.

Meal planning is all the rage these days - especially with Real Simple's Take Back Dinnertime Challenge (I swear it has been popping up on all of my food blogs! Maybe it's the $2,000 prize... wish I knew about that earlier!). I am determined to give it a go. I think it could help me keep my grocery shopping in check and make my weekdays a little easier.

I am trying to carve out time on either Saturday or Sunday when I can do most of the prep work, and maybe even make the majority of the food for my family for the upcoming week.

I was hesitant to do this because I treasure the time we all have together on the weekends. It always seems to go so fast! But I figured if it can give me more family time on a daily basis, it's worth a shot, especially if it means we all get to sit down together for a homemade dinner at a reasonable hour.

Also, since I am just feeding a family of three (well, really more like 2.5 because Phinn doesn't require that much, and still can't eat all the things we do), it's likely that one meal will last two nights ,and maybe even have enough left over for lunches.

I choose at least one dish a week where I can make a batch large enough to feed an army. My poor very lucky husband knows what I am talking about, and is probably having flashbacks to my Red Beans and Rice recipe - delicious, but be prepared to have a LOT of it!

Here are my meals for this week:

Sunday - Summer Squash Turnover stuffed with Ricotta and Mozzarella cheeses (Recreating a meal I had at The Local in Charlottesville. If you live nearby and haven't been there - GO!!!)

Monday- Tomato soup and grilled cheese (for the boys) and soup and tuna salad for me (since I am not a big cheese person)

Tuesday - Risotto with spinach, mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes (I may throw in some more veggies that are hanging out in my fridge just to make sure I use them before they go bad.)

Wednesday-Veggie Burgers from the Farmers Market with roasted broccoli 

Thursday - Risotto leftover :)


Lucky for me, I only have to menu plan through Thursday this week because Hunter and I will be traveling to PA this weekend (more on this soon!), and Phinn will be having a sleepover at his grandparents.

Do you menu plan? Have any recipes this week you are excited to make?

Running Through the Fear

I always seem to do some of my best or at least most creative thinking when I am running. Sometimes I have to stop and make note of my good idea (if possible), and other times I have to remind myself over and over until I get home and can write it down.

Yesterday was no exception. I was running, and it was lightly drizzling. It may even only have qualified as misting. Any way, the temperature was cool and it was heavenly. I was running to a recently purchased song from OneRepublic called, "Good Life." And I got to thinking...

First, I am ridiculously blessed to have a wonderful husband who has been such a source of strength, encouragement, and support, and to have a son who brightens my day with his smile, melts my heart with his laugh, and inspires me with his curiosity and persistence.

Second, I am lucky to have good health and the ability to run.

With these thoughts swirling in my head, I started thinking about the Richmond marathon that I signed up for back in January. As you can tell for someone who signed up for a marathon and blogs about health and fitness, I sure have been quite about my marathon training. And that's because I haven't been doing it.

I wondered where that fire went. Why did I let it burn out? What threw me off course?

While I have been running, I have not made marathon training a priority. I had a lot on my plate this year - new mom, working mom, moving twice, etc. Any time I tried to stick to a training schedule (okay, the only time), I became frustrated when week after week I wasn't getting all my runs in and hitting my mileage. I felt like it was putting a lot of stress on me as a new mom and a wife. I was still trying to adjust to life with a baby and life with a baby and working and to throw marathon training in on top of it was too much for me.

So my plan that I had not formally committed to yet was to switch my entry from the marathon to the half-marathon; however, I have yet to be able to make that phone call. Maybe somewhere in the back of my head I figured things would change.

Well back to my original story, while I was running yesterday and listening to "Good Life," I thought why don't I just try to go for it? What is stopping me?

FEAR. Fear of failure. Fear of injury.

And then I thought about the example that I want to set for Phinn.

Do I want to pass up opportunities or things I want to do because I am afraid? I want Phinn to keep his curious personality and his sense of exploration. Don't I need to show him that it is important to try new things, even if I might fail? Isn't failure just as important as success, if not more important?

I am still not committing to running the marathon. If I think a marathon will only set me up for injury, then I'll change to the half. Otherwise I'll run the full.

But I am committing to running as often and as far as I can and see where that gets me come race time. I am committing to the hard work, and I am also committing to be flexible. I am not going to give up when things interrupt my runs - such is life and you have to learn to work with it.

Look for more running updates from me as I cobble together some sort of training plan and do my best to stick to it. And I am asking you to help hold me accountable. If I am not speaking up, ask me how the training is going. Keep me honest :)

So here is your big takeaway - Don't put off your dreams and goals because you are afraid of failure or you think life is going to get in the way. The risk of failure will always be there, you just have to learn from it and come out the other side stronger; and life, well life will always be giving us little speed bumps and hurdles and you just have to work with them.

Happy running to all you weekend runners! I'll see you out there!!

Phinny Friday!!

Happy Friday (or as they are called in our house Phinny Friday) to you!

Phinn with his Grandpa also known as the Mayor on 9/3/2011.

Down On the Farm

"Oh please, don't stick your hand up the cows nose!" I pleaded in my head as I reached out to grab Phinn's arm as he met Chloe the cow.

On Labor Day, we participated in "Meet Yer Eats" farm tour sponsored by the Charlottesville City Market. Although it was overcast and rainy at times, we managed to squeeze in some fun!

Our first stop was Vintage Virginia Apples/Albemarle CiderWorks.

Both of my boys - Virginia Grown!

Here we did a cider tasting. I am not a huge cider fan, but it was interesting to taste the differences between the various samples. Plus we got a mini history lesson on cider. They are huge fans of TJ (Thomas Jefferson, duh!) there and try to grow various varieties that he had at Monticello (which is just down the road). 

Phinn and I standing outside the beautiful tasting room.

We also listened to a mini lecture by a woman who according to our cider tasting guide is a history professor, wealthy stock investor, and an apple enthusiast. We were able to sample some of the more obscure varieties of apples they grow there such as Winesaps and Golden Russets.

CiderWorks has a great patio with some pretty views. They host various events out there including live music.

Another great thing about Vintage Apples is that they are dedicated to finding the most richly flavored apples (and other fruits) that will grown well in our climate and our soil so that they can use minimal sprays and chemicals. 

Next we went to Innisfree Village. It is a beautiful farm with a very unique mission. It is a residential community for adults with intellectual disabilities. As a community with some assistance from caregivers, they manage a herb and vegetable gardens, a woodshop, a weavery, a bakery, and some farm animals (chicken, sheep, and cows). 

It was cloudy and kind of rainy when we got there, but even that could not take away from its beauty. Those are the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in the background.

We got to tour the farm and meet many of the adults who live there. They even sell their products and have partnerships with some local businesses. I was hoping to find a sweet treat in their bakery but it was closed by the time we arrived.

Phinn did get to meet some farm animals including Chloe the Cow...

Phinn loves to grab noses and Chloe's was no exception! I am just glad we caught it in time, otherwise we would have had a pretty gross situation!

After our farming adventure, I think we were all pretty tired.

We hope to participate in the farm tour next year and hopefully visit a few more farms as well. Have I mentioned how much I love that Charlottesville has so many activities to offer families ;)

Would I Believe It?

Ten years ago today, I met the man of my dreams.

I was 16 years old. I had recently moved from St. Louis to Richmond. I was the new girl.

He was the cute, smart, friendly guy from English class who had read the same book over the summer as me. He offered to show me around.

Yes, that's the book... pretty nerdy! If you have read and enjoyed this book, you know that you will have an instant kinship with anyone else that has as well.

Would 16 year me believe that over the next ten years, I would...

Have a high school sweetheart

That is Hunter and I in the center. I am the EXTREMELY pale one! I am already dreading when our children see these pictures!!

Have my heart broken but stay friends

No pictures during this time also known as the dark period.

Reunite with that guy from English class only to be happier and stronger than ever

Enjoying coffee in Chattanooga

Graduate from college together

My graduation from Radford

Hunter's graduation from Virginia Tech

Get engaged

Not a picture from the actual night we got engaged (Because we did not take any photos of that- oh hindsight!) but one from that summer.

Marry my best friend

What an awesome wedding if I do say so myself! When is our next one sweetie?!

Travel to Hawaii

When can we go back???

Get pregnant

Thanks for partaking in my maternity photos - now that is a real man!

Have a beautiful baby boy

Our little bundle of joy! Gosh it is hard to remember the days when he was that small!!

Be one happy family of the new girl, the guy who scooped her up (as Hunter says), and their happy and may I say very cute son.

I'm thinking it is about time for a new family picture, honey! This one is from Easter.

Some times I wish for a crystal ball to get a glimpse of what the future holds for me; however, I cannot help but to feel that knowing what's in store steals some preciousness from the future.

Here is to many more decades together, looking back in wonderment at how far we've come.

New Approach to Breakfast

Muffins, breads, bagels, waffles, toast, cereal, pastries, oatmeal ... I am a carbaholic. I love having brinner (which I never get to do often enough because my husband is not such a big fan of breakfast). I love it all. I love breakfast!

As I started reflecting on my eating habits and why I almost constantly feel hungry, I realized that I am not starting my day with the breakfast of champions. My selections tend to provide short term satisfaction, leaving me hungry an hour or two later.

So today, I gave my breakfast a makeover.

Phinn was very intrigued with my proposal to change the way we eat breakfast. He is also a breakfast lover!

I made some Steel Cut Oatmeal (based on Peas and Thank You's Creamy Protein Porridge).

Steel Cut Oatmeal is a good source of dietary fiber. It is low in calories, fat, and sugar. It also provides a decent kick of protein (4 grams/serving).

First you have to process the steel oats into a fine powder using either a blender or food processor. I even made some extra so I would not have to pull out the blender each morning.

For my add-ins, I chose some vegan vanilla protein powder (2 tsp), a pinch or two of nutmeg and cinnamon (I figured out that I am not a huge fan of nutmeg. It seemed pretty overpowering in the oatmeal. Maybe add less?), 1/2 tsp of organic cane sugar, and some of Trader Joe's Mixed Dried Berries. As you can see in the picture, I was originally going to add some almond butter, however, I did not want to go overboard on the protein.

My add ins - however- I opted for dried berries instead of almond butter at the last minute.

Overall, it was pretty tasty. I'm not going to lie and say it was the most delicious breakfast ever. Sure the stuff that is terrible for you and leaves you wanting more tastes much better, but you need to realize that like the cool, cute football quarterback you had a crush on in high school that finally says "hi" to you, you are just getting a few minutes of satisfaction that ultimately won't fulfill you.

Yummy! Creamy porridge - now that is the breakfast of champions!

So I'm redoing my approach to breakfast, refining my pallet, and choosing options that have more to offer that some sugar on top.

Tasting My Own Medicine

As I ate my second slice of banana bread this morning, I realized that I have a problem.

I talk about the importance of eating healthy. I preach that you need to eat your fruits and vegetables, your whole grains, your lean protein, your good fats, etc. I warn against the dangers of overly processed foods and getting hooked on convenience food.

I think it is so easy.

It isn't.

And I have realized I need to try a little harder and by trying harder I mean making some resolutions and sticking to them.

I know a food journal is not for me. Evident by the two food journals collecting dust on my nightstand.

I know that making too many restrictions on my diet will only end up in me scarfing down half a sleeve of cookies or my body weight in pumpkin bread.

I have not quite figured out what will work for me or what type of lifestyle change I'm ready to commit to making.

Now that I have polished off my burgers and fries (Yes, I chose not to correct the waitress and ask for the Seven Bean Salad instead of fries...) and am feeling even more guilty, I am going to watch a movie (more like fall asleep to a movie) and leave these hard thoughts for tomorrow.

The Great Burger Vanishing Act....

But seriously, change is coming...