Time, ahhhh.  I’ve wasted much of that time on Facebook (I just can’t quit you!) and staring at beautiful food photography here and here and here. And every so often, I get really productive and listen to my audio book while I steam mop the floors (Shark Steam Mop – #bestpurchaseof2012).

But lately I’ve also done a bit of playing around in the kitchen. Making homemade strawberry lemonade. And strawberry jam. (Dudes, we live right by a strawberry farm). Learning to take pictures of food. Staring at the bacon in the fridge and feeling lousy for buying commercial pork products (but.oh.my.god.i.love.bacon). Prepping dinners. The kitchen is the center of our family. Our life seems to revolve around cooking meals, enjoying good food, and looking forward to the next time we can eat.

So the other day,  the girls were napping(ish) and I stumbled upon a recipe for Olive Oil Cake in People magazine. I debated continuing to flip through People but while I was staring lovingly at the bacon, I noticed some farm eggs that needed to get used. So partially out of guilt for buying expensive eggs that weren’t getting used and since I had all the necessary ingredients for the recipe, I made this cake on an impulse. Just popped up and made it without a second thought. I never even considered whether my family would enjoy something like olive oil cake.

The cake happens to be really easy to make. A couple of bowls, a cake pan, a bit of mixing and you’re good to go. Even the ingredients are accessible. Assuming you’ve got kids, you probably have whole milk. You might not have in your pantry is cake flour but you could substitute all purpose flour in. If you’re curious about the difference in flours, you can read more about that here.  And although the original recipe called for coconut, I didn’t have any and so I left it out. No big dealio.

Thankfully, I took one bite of this cake and knew that everyone around here would love it. It’s sweet and moist (do you hate that word too?) and so frosting is totally unnecessary. A few berries and the cake is good to go. (Yes, yes, we have a lot of strawberries).

Monday: The girls and I were sick with colds. One of the things I find most amazing about children is their lack of concern with runny boogers on their upper lip. They just don’t care about them. Can you imagine being that zen?

Tuesday: A nasty migraine. Like I tried to get out of bed and couldn’t. Well, I did. I just threw up because of it. Can you even believe that? This was my first jaunt with a migraine like that and I hope I never, ever, ever have another one.  My lovely husband came home from work and took care of the girls. I laid in bed. All day. . Donovan worked. The girls played.

Wednesday: Newport Beach. It was short lived and perfectly lovely. Southern California has the kind of weather most of you can only dream about. The days are just, well, damn perfect.

Thursday: Donovan’s long day at work was highlighted by a trip to Target where I bought stuff that I decided to return immediately after getting home. Except for the seeds. I bought some cilantro and basil seeds which I planted on our back porch. The packet says fourteen days until I see growth and sixty days until I can harvest the plant. Our very own basil plant! Yippee (we’ll see).  Also, I gave the girls ten minutes to play until nap time and they played so happily in their room with no screams, no cries, and no nonsense that I just let them keep playing. No nap. They played for at least an hour and a half and it was so worth it. I love everything about those two little girls and it makes me so happy to hear them getting along.  Gracie sang Neva “You are my Sunshine” when they went to bed in the evening. It was darling. Then, because I’m an adult, this mama made some tabouleh and because sometimes I wish I wasn’t an adult, I ate chocolate ice cream for dinner followed by a piece of sourdough toast with avocado, salt and lime juice. Yep. Judge away….it was delicious. Then I watched an episode of Scandal (my first!) and read some of Eiger Dreams. One of the many, many books on my shelf I own but haven’t read.

We’re going to try to make it up to the The Aquarium of the Pacific this weekend. What about you?

Whatever you do, I hope it’s great. xoxo.

We’re still trying to eliminate meat from more of our dinners and I’m amazed at how many delicious, simple vegetarian recipes are available when you spend time looking for them. It makes it especially simple now that we’re living in California and fresh, local, organic produce is everywhere. I swear our meals taste so much better when we take the time to buy good ingredients. So we have two meatless meals + on Wednesdays (since D works late) the girls and I usually do something really fancy like eat oatmeal or cereal :)

Monday: Kale Noodle Bowl with Avocado Miso Dressing

Tuesday: Sausage and Pepper Breakfast French Bread Pizza

Wednesday: leftovers or something really simple

Thursday: Chicken and Avocado BLT Salads

Friday: Sweet Potato Tacos

So we cook something like five nights a week with one being leftovers and one being some kind of breakfast food. Sometimes we cook six meals if we don’t have enough leftovers. Pretty good, right? Five years ago (much to Donovan’s chagrin) I didn’t know that you used the white part of scallions. Yep, since they were called “green onions,” I assumed you only used the green part. True story.

Up next, I want to focus on figuring out what to eat for lunch. Lunch is a big problem area for me because I tend to eat junk – like the scraps of the girls’ PBJ’s or mac n cheese. Sometimes nothing much at all – which means I snack all afternoon!

We’ve been listening to this song on repeat for a week straight. I mean like if we take a fifteen minute car ride, we hear it four times in a row.

So far the girls know plenty of the lines…but if they start to sing “I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer” I might have to stop the madness.

And couldn’t they have a picked a song that was so much worse?

At least Donovan and I enjoy it too.

Do your kids have a song they obsess over?

xoxo.

On Saturday night, we watched basketball (Go Bulls!) and rolled grape leaves or dolmades. I found the leaves at our local international market and couldn’t wait to bring them home. It’s one of Donovan’s favorite meals but since they go out to their yard and pick their own grape leaves in Ohio, the jarred and canned versions never tasted the same. As usual, they were delicious with a little bit of yogurt.

After making Cakies curried split pea soup with coconut milk last night though, everything else might pale in comparison. I totally forgot about Cinco de Mayo and made something decidedly Un-Cinco de Mayoish. I rarely look with curry but every time I do I think I should do it more often. It smells so delicious and I love the subtle heat.

So here’s the rest of our week – hope you find something you might enjoy.

Monday: DALS Redemption Salad (which I made last night since I was already doing a ton of chopping. I just make the dressing in a separate container and popped it all in the fridge).

Tuesday: Alexandra Cooks’s Chicken with Lemon and White Wine

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: William Sonoma’s Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

Friday: My New Root’s Pho Inspired Noodle Bowl

P.S. As I wrote this post Mr. Jones by the Counting Crows AND Push by Matchbox 20 played on my Pandora station. Whoa, high school.

We have so much fresh, delicious (cheap!) mint in California. It make my heart happy.Most of the ingredients are cheap and the recipe is sooooo simple. We love to make a ton of it and enjoy it for an entire weekend. Hope your weekend is great!

I really love to read. And I’m making sure I do everything I can to pass on this love to Gracie and Neva. When they were smaller, I struggled to find books that both kept their attention and interested me. But lately I’ve stumbled on a couple of series and a couple of old classics that we all enjoy so I thought I’d share them with you.

Blueberries for Sal is a classic story about a mom and her daughter out collecting blueberries. I love the simplicity of the stories and the drawings.

Skippy Jon Jones is a fun series of books about a Siamese cat who thinks he’s a dog. It’s hard not to smile when you read the little songs in funny accents. The stories all involve Skippy using his imagination to travel to far away places like space or his life as a paleontologist.

I know nothing about Bunny Bunny Catkin except that it was given to us as a gift and it’s amazing. It’s super simple and perfect for springtime. The words are rhythmic and my little one’s get a kick of filling in words every time I pause. What I really love in the book though is the beautiful artwork. The pictures are adorable.

Caps for Sale was one of my favorites as a little kid. And you can get your little ones up and acting along with the monkeys in the book. We love shaking both our hands and stomping our feet and yelling at the monkeys.

Pete the Cat reads like a song and they all include sweet little lessons. We catch ourselves saying things like “did Pete cry? Goodness no!” all the time with the girls. Most of them come with an audio disc of the author reading the story as well.

What are your favorite books to read with your toddlers and preschoolers?

Of course, Grace is three so this is really really really hard for her. She chose orange juice even though milk is her favorite. Midway through the glass, she said she wanted milk instead. I told her that she already decided on the orange juice but she could have some milk later.

She looked at me, rolling her three year old eyes, and said, “Mom, next time you say that, I’m not going to live with you. I’m going to live somewhere else.”

Guys, she’s THREE. A preschooler.

Boy oh boy, I can’t even imagine having a middle schooler.

Since becoming a mom, I appreciate my mom so much more. Like exponentially more than I ever did before I had kids of my own. Like every time there is a temper tantrum. Every time my toddler takes off her diaper and pees on the floor. Every time I get a random “I love you so much, mom.” I never knew how much love, worry, sweat, and tears go into parenting.  And although celebrating moms shouldn’t be about gift – a sweet gift never hurts, right?

Custom Return Address Stamp  |   Custom Handpainted Recipe   |   You’re Awesome Cutting Board  |  Heart Shaped Tea Bags   |   Personalized Pillow   |   Tea Towels

Lightweight Organic Robe   |   Eiffel Tower Ring Holder   |    Literary Print

The custom handpainted recipes are done by Lucille Prache and are amazing. She has prints that are more affordable but if your mom likes to cook and has a really wonderful, personal recipe, Lucille will customize a painting for you. I love everything about that. There are so many beautiful things out there (etsy is such a wonderful place to find unique, handmade items). What is on your list for Mother’s Day this year?

Of course, what would a Southern California birthday be without a trip to the beach?We spent Saturday morning in Newport. Donovan and the girls watched the waves and built an enormous pile of sand sandcastle while I went for a jog. I spent a few years living in Newport after college. I really love the stretch of beach between the Newport and Balboa piers. It’s wide and mostly empty and you feel like you can see gray-blue water and sky forever.

After the beach, we went home and relaxed a bit before trying to organize the garage. While we were outside, we finally met some neighbors (young ones! with a preschooler and a toddler! I hope I seemed excited to meet them but not TOO excited. Do you know what I mean?) and then after the girls went to bed, we blew up balloons and set the table using some leftover Toy Story decorations. I also bought a banner and some other decorations from Target. I think the Spritz line is adorable and so reasonable. We spent a little while coloring on the paper tablecloth I picked up.  And then of course, it was pancake time as per Neva Lou’s request. Donovan made them and they were delicious (as usual). Neva ate 5!

Mid morning, my little kitchen helper and I baked Neva Lou a cake. Grace loves to help in the kitchen and once I realized that the plastic attachment for my Kitchenaid Mixer made it easy for her to pour things into the mixer, I was really just a bystander in the process.Not beautiful but delicious. It was the first time I had baked in this oven and the edges turned out a bit brown.  It was also the first time I tried to make a layer cake (I grossly underestimated the amount of frosting I needed).  This is my favorite cake recipe and this is the recipe for the cream cheese frosting. We like our frosting a little less sweet so I only added about 2 cups of powdered sugar. Oh, and a bit of lemon juice!

We filled the girls’ bedroom floor with balloons last night (Donovan used his air compressor which made quick work of it).

Stay tuned for a bit more of Neva Lou tomorrow :) xoxo.

Also as I sit here typing this, I’m pretty sure my dish washer is leaking but I can’t for the life of me figure out where. It’s making this weird noise like water running slowly from high above a plastic, upside down bowl. I’m going to keep looking (and praying!) that I don’t come home to a wet floor.

I’m going to try to make these lights for the girls room. So simple and pretty, right? And since Donovan has late meetings on Wednesday nights, I need some kind of DIY project to keep me from indulging in ice cream and three episodes of Revenge. Or at least I’ll be semi-productive while eating ice cream and watching three episodes of Revenge, right?

OMG. So on my 20 hour drive to California a few weeks ago. I made amazing time. And then I hit a swarm of these people right outside of Palm Springs. Poor planning on my part. I’m too old to know that there would be a mass exodus of hungover people on a Monday morning somewhere in the middle of the California desert.

We made these homemade granola bars yesterday after a really fun trip to Trader Joe’s. Check out my instagram if you want to follow along! My day never feels complete without a trip to the grocery store. I have an unhealthy obsession with going to the grocery. Every. Single. Day.

Have a wonderful weekend! Which way to the beach? xoxo.