We’ve been busy this spring!

Spending a lot of time at various parks….

Dragon Park – a local favorite.

Eating A LOT of these…

Starbucks Spinach Feta Wrap – I’m addicted!  

 I never understood why people would sit and wait in a long line at the Starbucks drive-thru when it would be quicker to simply walk inside.  However, with multiple children strapped into car seats, I get it now.  Drive-thru people, I’m sorry for judging you as I have now joined your ranks.

We’ve also been attending numerous toddler birthday parties.  I’ve been trying to get creative with our gifts for several reasons.  First off, like many of our friends’ homes, our house is filled with toys.  So I’d rather not add to the clutter.  Secondly, since the cost of birthday presents can really add up, I’ve been making gifts.  I usually use this method for making a wax crayon batik drawing and then put it in a simple frame.  These all took less than 30 minutes to make, and you can add a personal touch by asking the mom what her toddler is into these days.

This was for our friend Taylor, who turned one last week.  He’s into trucks and choo-choo trains.

Collette turned two and loves hearts and lambs…

For her gift, I also painted the glass of an empty frame with chalkboard paint and included a box of chalk and an eraser.

For Hugh’s first birthday, he got a sun…

I love making gifts for our kids’ friends as I love to draw and paint.  I used to paint a lot more in high-school and college, but then I started running…and that kind of snowballed into spending ALL of my free time either exercising or thinking about exercise.  It’s good to be creating again.  Didn’t realize how much I’d missed it!

Besides the whole Starbucks drive-thru thing, I never understood women that had whole areas of their homes devoted to gift wrapping.  Yeah, totally get that one now too…

I had just as much fun wrapping these gifts as I did making them.  It’s amazing what you can do with a little Kraft paper and washi tape.

Hope all of you are enjoying spring, and Katie, I promise the snow will end soon!

Growing up in the South, we didn’t do bagels.  Now, there are numerous bagel shops around town, but in my younger years, breakfast side options consisted of toast, biscuits, or grits.  I clearly remember my first bagel encounter.  We were on the way to elementary school, and a girl in my carpool was eating what looked like a bready donut slathered in cream cheese.  Her parents were the local “health nuts” – they used to power walk around the neighborhood together every night in their 80′s warm-up suits.  Think Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her yuppie husband in Christmas Vacation…

Anyway, I asked the girl what she was eating, and when she told me it was a bagel, I’m sure I immediately wrote it off as her usual horse feed fair and went back to eating my Pop-Tart.  However, over the next few years, I grew to love bagels.  In fact, I lived on them in college, back in the fat is evil, carbs are good decade.  It was during this time that I decided to make some changes in my life and eat better.  Sadly, bagels became an occasional treat, and then I stopped eating them altogether…you know, because they’re empty calories that shoot your blood sugar levels through the roof.  Fast forward to 2010…I got pregnant and welcomed bagels back into my life with open arms.  Less than two years later, I was pregnant again and ate bagels for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I try and aim for a little more variety these days, but bagel, I will never forsake you again.  You are and will always be one of my favorite breakfast foods.

My breakfast this morning: a cinnamon raisin bagel with whipped cream cheese on one half and crunchy peanut butter on the other.  Last week, I finally tried Peanut Butter Boy’s Crunchy after finishing off all of my opened jars of PB.  OK, I have to tell you that this is THE BEST crunchy peanut butter I’ve ever eaten.  I’m usually an all natural crunchy unsalted girl (think Smuckers or Trader Joe’s brand – I like it runny!), but nothing compares to the jar above.  It tastes straight up like fresh roasted peanuts – like the kind you get in a bag at a baseball game, and the chunkage factor is like no other PB I’ve tried…

We’re talking big pieces of peanuts in every bite, and the amount of salt is just right.  I must get my hands on more!

To read my review of Peanut Butter Boy Smooth, click here.  Also, some of you asked about Nick’s use of palm oil in his products.  To combat the unsustainable farming of palm oil, Peanut Butter Boy uses only Sustainable Certified (RSPO) Palm Oil. No exceptions.

So who out there fears the bagel?  Nothing to fear my friends, nothing to fear.  Also, do you prefer crunchy or smooth?  I’m a crunchy girl.

Colored Eggs…

A wall to display art in Summer’s room…

The heart is leftover from last year’s Eric Carle inspired Valentine’s craft and click here for instructions on how to make the wax crayon batik.  Both fun and easy projects.

This Easter Sun catcher…

Hoping the sun comes out for Easter tomorrow!

 Playroom wall art with leftover sun catcher supplies…

And last but not least, a kitchen creation…

 I prefer my macro plates in bowl form and have been eating a lot of them lately.  The above contained sprouted rice and quinoa + chickpeas + cooked carrots + gomasio + sesame ginger dressing.  The dressing is from Whole Foods, and I’m kind of obsessed with it.  Macrobiotic March is almost over, but I plan to keep eating my big bowls of rice and quinoa.  Love them.

So, I stopped doing formal reviews of products on the blog a while ago for several reasons, mostly because they were starting to feel icky?  Lame?  I don’t know, they just no longer felt right.  I also don’t have a lot of time to blog these days, and therefore, I like to fill this space with my own words, thoughts, creations, etc.  That being said, when Nick, aka Peanut Butter Boy wrote to me about the unveiling of his own brand of peanut butter (I was a taste tester when he began developing the product), I immediately agreed to some samples and a review.  Nick was one of the first food blogs I discovered, and his peanut butter creations are both creative and delicious.  If you love peanut butter, you will love Peanut Butter Boy.

I’m a crunchy girl myself, but I busted into the smooth peanut butter first for a little cookie baking…

I read about The MacroChef’s Gingery Peanut Butter Cookies via Maggie last week, and when Nick’s samples arrived, I knew I must make these cookies.

I subbed a combo of oat & sweet rice flour for the whole wheat and skipped the molasses since I didn’t have any. I also used butter instead of oil.  Ginger + peanut butter = a very enjoyable combo, but I know the cookies would be even better with molasses.  Ginger cookies need molasses, but these still turned out great with a strong peanut flavor.

I eventually finished off the jar of smooth peanut butter like this…

Late night snack of leftover cold brown rice and peanut butter.  Don’t knock it ’til you try it.

Peanut Butter Boy Peanut Butter is an all natural no-stir peanut butter.  The only ingredients are roasted peanuts, palm oil, and sea salt.  The peanuts are unblanched, meaning the skins are left on during manufacturing, resulting in a peanut butter packed full of flavor, fiber, and antioxidants.  The taste is powerful – peanuty and salty, and it’s nice to have a no-stir peanut butter that doesn’t contain any added sugars.  Peanut Butter Boy, you done good!  Thanks for sharing with me.  To learn more about Peanut Butter Boy Peanut Butter, click here and to purchase online, click here.

Haven’t tried the crunchy yet, but it will happen soon.  Very soon!

Meals I’ve been enjoying lately…

“Fried Rice” Quinoa

I sauteed some frozen stir fry veggies and kale in a couple spoonfuls of sesame oil and once they were cooked through added cooked quinoa and then two eggs.  Stirred until eggs were done and then added a spoonful of soy sauce.  I tried sharing with Summer, but she thought it needed ketchup.  I told her I didn’t think that was a good idea, to which she announced, “all done” and left me to eat in solitude. PS Chopsticks are just for show.  Can’t use ‘em to save my life.

Next up, BROWN RICE.  Best I ever made too!

Like I’ve said before, I love my rice cooker, but it’s a cheap model and over 10 years old.  So, often my grains don’t cook up all moist and fluffy, but I guess I’m just used to it.  Since many of you don’t own a rice cooker, I decided to try another method for cooking my grains.  Enter Jess’s Step By Step Guide To Making The Most Perfect Grain.  I soaked my short grain brown rice overnight with a TBSP of apple cider vinegar and after draining and rinsing the next morning, I used fresh water for cooking the rice.  I also skipped the wakame because I couldn’t find it.  I’m not usually a fan of seaweed, but I was willing to give it a try in this recipe as I keep hoping my taste buds will change their mind.  Anyway, the rice only took about 30 minutes total to cook – about the same time it would take in the rice cooker, and it came out fluffy and delicious.  Thanks Jess – definitely a keeper!

Brown rice was topped with tempeh prepared hippie style and eaten alongside this kale with brewer’s yeast (butter makes kale SO MUCH BETTER!).  I’m not a fan of tofu, but I love a little tempeh every once in a while.

And now I’m off to research rice cookers.  Suggestions are welcome.

Maggie has declared March the Month of Macrobiotics. I’ve always been intrigued by the Macrobiotic lifestyle, and although it’s never something I could do 100%, I do like many of the principles.  So, I decided to partake and make more of an effort when it comes to meal preparation.  We still keep meals pretty simple around here, but lately, I’ve been spending more time in the kitchen.  All three kiddos now go down at the same time for their afternoon naps, and I have a couple hours to get things done around the house, including sitting down to lunch and doing dinner prep.

Lunch: salmon, quinoa, and sauteed veggies.

The above bowl took very little time to prepare.  Quinoa went into rice cooker along with a few chopped carrots in the steamer basket.  I cooked the frozen stir-fry veggies in a bit of butter and chicken stock for 5 minutes.  I then removed them from the heat and covered the pan until steamed cooked to my liking.  For the salmon, I removed the cooked veggies from the pan, added a bit more chicken stock, and sauteed the salmon until cooked through.  PS I LOVE my rice cooker!

Dinner: red quinoa, steamed carrots, and this kale (my new favorite kale recipe!), all with a drizzle of tahini.

A really ugly iPhone photo of a yummy dinner consisting of the same kale recipe from above, quinoa, and roasted kabocha squash…with more tahini.

Basically, I’m enjoying plenty of whole grains and more veggies.  Again, I could never go 100% percent macrobiotic as I love red meat and butter.   However, I do love the thought of eating simple whole foods, and I’m also working on eating more slowly.  Too often, I find myself scarfing down whatever I can get my hands on while trying to multi-task my to-do list.  It’s also nice for our children to see me eating something other than tortilla chips dipped in the cottage cheese container.

Lou asked how I made the tie dye onesies for the baby shower last weekend.  Lou, this post is for you.

A friend of mine had a hard time finding plain colored onesies for her son and decided to make her own using Rit Dye.  Using her idea, I simply wrapped rubber bands around my onesies before throwing them in the washing machine with a bottle of pink dye and voilà, tie dyed onesies…

I’ve been wanting to make a tie dyed onesie for Charlie and used this post as an excuse to purchase blue dye.  Rit Dye costs less than $3 a bottle and can be found in the laundry detergent aisle of most grocery stores, Target, Wal-Mart, etc.  I gathered up a onesie, a tank top and t-shirt, and a couple of burp cloths for my dyeing adventures.

Thick and strong rubber bands are the key to tie dyeing with dye in your washing machine, and I made a quick video on how to wrap them around your material.

This morning, I hosted a baby shower for a good friend…

We brunched…

There were quiches (thanks mom & Jessica!), sausage balls, quinoa salad, homemade biscuits (thanks again mom), and chocolate turtle and white chocolate raspberry flavored Bundtinis.

 LOVE Bundtinis!

There was also some delicious gluten free banana bread.  Summer loves her bah-nanas but usually only eats half at a time.  So, we have quite a stockpile of bananas in our freezer.  Therefore, I bake banana bread, and I make it gluten free so that Summer can enjoy the other half of her bah-nanas along with us.

Not too long ago, a friend shared her family’s favorite banana bread recipe with me, and after a few tweaks to make it toddler friendly, it’s now my go-to recipe.  Thanks Hailey!

All five of us got hit with that nasty stomach virus going around, and wow, that was not fun.  Not fun AT ALL.  Do you know what’s worse than puking and running to the bathroom hour after hour when all you want to do is lie in bed and sleep?  Watching your three babies go through it.   We survived, but I was more than happy to bid adieu to Puke Fest 2013.  Everything is pretty much back to normal including my appetite, and after several days of eating nothing but Saltines, I’ve been enjoying a variety of meals this week.

Lunchtime around here can get a little crazy.  We have a part-time nanny that helps me in the mornings.  She usually leaves right around the time Chris arrives home to grab a quick lunch and see the kids.  He’ll help me feed Summer and put her down for her nap and then goes back to work, right around the time Charlie and Katie wake up from their 2nd nap of the day.  Sounds a little hectic, and some days it is, but thankfully I have help.

Now, where was I?  Oh yes, lunch.  I usually eat after getting the twins up and all settled.  They like to hang out with me in their bouncy seats while I eat. My mid-day meal must come together quickly because Charlie and Katie are usually ready to eat about 30 minutes after their nap.  Also, it must satiate me for several hours.  This is why I never just make a sandwich.  As much I love a good PB & J, I can eat two or three before I’m full.  Below are two easy-to-put-together meals that kept me going all afternoon.  Pretty darn tasty too!

Avocado Egg Bowl inspired by Elise.

I threw some red quinoa in the rice cooker earlier in the day, and when it was time for lunch, I stirred the cooked quinoa together with a little butter and brewers yeast (LOVE this flavor combo) and then topped my bowl with an egg and half an avocado.  Filling and delicious!

Today’s lunch…

Two white potatoes cooked in the microwave and topped with baked beans, sour cream, and pepper.  So easy, so yummy.

Still here, still eating bizarre combos all slopped together in a bowl, still HEAB.

So far, the year has been pretty grey in Nashville, and until the sun decides to once again grace us with its presence, we’ve been trying to come up with activities for a rainy day(s).  Enter Play House Project 2013…

We used cardboard boxes leftover from Christmas deliveries, and after a few swipes with the X-AXTO knife and a little paint, Summer now has her own play house.

For days when she feels like romping around in the grass surrounded by flowers…

and butterflies…

And for those days she’d rather wander the streets of New York City, hail a cab, and head to the Village…

Such a fun project, and Summer seems to be enjoying her new digs.