Wordless Wednesday: My goofball Daughter

Daycare sent me this picture today, it says it all, my daughter is going to be a goofy girl. I love it!

Frugality?

So, being new parents and having to tighten our budget has been hard. We've definitely had our share of financially "tight" moments this year. I think we're in denial that we can live like we used to while paying for daycare and baby needs; we can't.

Over the last few months, I have been trying to see where we can cut some costs. First, I refinanced my car. I had an ugly interest rate because when I bought the car my credit was in the shitter and the car was going to rehab it (which it did, I was able to get a mortgage because of it and now my credit is close to immaculate). I was able to get it down to 5.9% and reduce the payment to $350/month saving $150 a month- win!
Next, the decision that was the hardest for us- switching cable providers. We are HUGE TV people, so while it may not be a big deal to some people, trimming our cable channels is painful. We decided to cut the cord on Comcast because I was sick of spending $200/month on TV, phone and internet. We called around some other places and were able to get all the channels we wanted for $79/month and $54/month for internet and phone. We also will not keep any premium channels unless a show we watch is on. So, unless True Blood or Dexter is playing, we won't order the channel.

Between refinancing my car and changing cable companies, we're saving $215 a month, almost $2600 a year. It's amazing what 2 little changes can do! We decided we could do more though and we are actively cutting down on our Starbucks consumption. There have been weeks (we're not proud of this) that we have both gotten Starbucks every day, that's like $10/day. To save a considerable amount of money, we've been making our own 2 gallons of iced coffee for the week. I found this recipe that uses a cold process method that really turns out well. No acidic taste at all. There is another $100/month.

I think we're on our way to being more conscious about spending. One thing we need to do more of is weigh need vs want when we make a purchase. It's hard because we haven't had to do that in the many years we've been together. I guess it will make us easier to shop for during holidays though!

Tasty Thursday!

So, I made these incredible, light, fluffy pancakes last week, this is a picture from the blog I got them from because, well, we ate them so fast I couldn't get a picture. I am obsessed with pumpkin in the Fall and what better way to wake up on a cool crisp weekend morning than these bad boys? Use REAL maple syrup on these, it's really a sin if you don't because they are soo good, too good not to have the real thing.

Pumpkin Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour (you can do 1/2 whole wheat pastry flour if you want some added fiber and protein)
3 Tbs. Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
3/4 tsp. of Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
3/4 tsp. Salt
1 1/3 Cups of Milk
3/4 Cups Canned Pumpkin
4 large Eggs, separated
1/4 Cup Butter, Melted
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Heat your pan

Combine all the dry ingredients together. Whisk to combine. Combine all your wet ingredients together, MINUS the egg whites. Stir wet and dry ingredients together. Beat your egg white just until soft white peaks form. Fold into your batter.


Recipe adapted from sweetandsavorybysarah

Fall Weekends

Weekends in the Fall are my favorite! It's not hot (though this weekend I think it will be on the warmer side), not freezing and there are a ton of things to do outside. This weekend happens to be a long weekend since daycare is closed I took the day off on Monday. I am so excited for it, I think I may have already booked us full with ideas running through my head of what to do.


Saturday, we're going to see some friends I went to college with and their kids, I am excited to do some play dates now that Anneliese is getting to be more social. I am definitely going to try to get to the new Pinkberry this weekend as well (I am sure it will be mobbed). Monday if time allows, we're going to brew some beer, it'll be perfect weather for it. We have all the making for a Oaked Vanilla Imperial Stout sitting around so that's what we're going to try.


I am also going to try to do some cooking! I have decided, it's way too hard to get meals done during the week when I hardly have time to breathe. I am going to try some meal planning for the first time ever and start this Sunday. This week, I am going to make a whole roast chicken on Sunday night for dinner and then plan my weekly meals around that. One night, I am thinking about mac and cheese with broccoli and chicken, maybe some chicken fajitas. I am open to some suggestions, what are some of your favorite quick chicken dishes? Sunday, I will post what I am going to do for the rest of the week to hopefully give some inspiration to others!

TV Land

So, I have yet to see a really good show this Fall, but I am looking forward to Dexter coming back! I stumbled upon this website today, it has some great trailers for shows. Check out Awake for an awesome trailer. The show is about a man who survives a car accident and has 2 realities, one where his son also survived, and one where his wife did. If the show can live up to the trailer, it'll be a winner. The New Girl looks promising, mostly because I am a Zooey Deschanel fan. Once Upon a Time looks cute too for a little family Sunday show.


Not like I have endless time for TV right now, but I deserve some mindless entertainment, right?

End of Season

What's better on a rainy day than making some fresh sauce from the last of this season's tomatoes? Nothing I can think of and it's super easy. Just cut up the tomatoes you have, lay them in a baking sheet with sides, sprinkle with salt and pepper and some olive oil. Last, roughly chop 2 large garlic cloves and disperse among the tomatoes. Stick in a 400 degree oven for 45 min or until the tomatoes start to carmelize. Then, put it all in a blender and there you have fresh tomato sauce. Seriously, nothing is easier.

Tonight, we'll have it with low cal eggplant parm (also from the csa), recipe is on my pinterest board. Have a great weekend!

Under the Weather

So, I get my first day in months to stay home and just veg, too bad it feels like my throat is being ripped out. I hate being sick, and I hate being sick 10 times more having a baby. Granted, I am lucky and got to send her to daycare today but I still had to get out of bed, wake her up, change her and pump milk for today. Prior to having another human to take care of, I would have stayed in bed until 10.


Every inch of my being wants to go get her from daycare right now and snuggle with her but I am going to go make myself a cup of tea instead. Because A. I really need rest (ie catching up on documentaries on HBO) and B. I don't want to get her sick (really, I don't, that would be terrible and result in even less sleep for me).


Maybe I will go make some bread too.

Time is flying by

Sometimes life feels like it's passing me by. I hate Mondays and Thursdays now because I get up at the crack of dawn to get ready for work and I don't get home until after 10 from class. That means a whole day without seeing Anneliese for more than 30 minutes. Sometimes I really wonder what I am doing trying to finish my Master's but I am more than 1/2 way through so I have to finish.


I think working moms definitely have a big set of challenges aside from the obvious juggling act that goes on. Having little time with my daughter during the week since she sleeps 12 hours a night, I often want to snatch her out of her crib at 10pm and snuggle with her which I know is a bad idea. My weekends are sacred, I like to spend as much time with my family as possible so if if you want me to come somewhere I can't bring a baby, you probably won't see me more than once in a while. I do try to do adult things as much as possible, but school is making me very clingy. And, if you are a family member, taking my daughter when we see you on the weekend may seem like you are giving me a break, but I really, really miss her. While I don't mind you feeding her, holding her; hell, change her diaper, sure! But, give her back to me before I have to ask.

Fall! Well, kind of..

It feels like fall as I am sitting on the couch in my hoodie listening to bacon sizzle on the griddle, watching the drops of rain hit the window. The air is crisp. While I am sure that we'll have a few more hot days, it's pretty much Fall in my world. I go back to grad school tomorrow, and days will become shorter. I grabbed my first Pumpkin Spice Latte yesterday- that was kind of the clincher- before I know it, it's going to be Christmas, really??


Fall is probably my favorite season, Spring being a close second. I am totally over the heat, I just want to put on my long sleeves and corduroys. Now that I have a little peanut to dress, it's 2 times better. We're going to do her 9 month pictures at the local orchard so that will be fun; there's nothing like pumpkins, apple cider and apple cider doughnuts to put you in the mood. Then there's the Big E. If you don't live in the Northeast, the Big E is our version of the state fair. Lots and lots and lots of fried food and every state has a "specialty". For instance, Maine has baked potatoes and Rhode Island has clam strips. There are also all sorts of animal exhibitions which I think will be fun for Anneliese to see.


Lots to look forward to in the upcoming weeks, excited to share it all with my family.

Culinary Adventures: baby food

I have pretty much made every veggie I can think of for Anneliese. I have even braved chicken. I need some new ideas to keep her interested. I tried beets and brussel sprouts last week , that was a big fail. Thinking of adding some coconut and curry to some chicken peas and potatoes for her, sounds tasty to me. Also, a big thumbs up to the Tyler Florence baby food cookbook. I have made the broccoli and a few other things and they have been fabulous.

Going mobile!

So, this is just a test post because I just got a new Android phone and I can now blog on the go. Hoping that I can keep more current with posts. I will leave you with a picture of Anneliese in her jumperoo.

Trying new food

So, I decided after tasting my sister's quinoa salad I would make one of my own. I was browsing foodgawker for my daily fix of eye candy (I live vicariously through the pictures of delicious food) and came upon this recipe: Mango, Blueberry, Q​uinoa salad with Lemon Bas​il Dressing . I decided to add some protein in the form of chicken but you could make this a vegan recipe if you follow it exactly. I used a blood orange olive oil I got in Portsmouth, which was AMAZING but if you can't get something like that, regular old extra virgin olive oil is fine. The only thing I would tweak is a little less basil and definitely let it sit and soak in the dressing in the fridge for a few hours. A little cheese, feta maybe wouldn't hurt at all. I imagine if A was eating food with a little more texture, this would be perfect for her so we'll have to make it again. The colors in the salad are amazing and the mango was just a great flavor with the blueberries and chicken and the quinoa balanced everything out. Great as a side or main dish which is what we used it for.

Changes

Well, since I have given birth to another human being and she has become 99% of my life, I decided on a new title and face lift for the blog. Don't worry, I will still post about food related things. However, I will now be "allowed" to discuss baby things too, hence the name change. Having morning sickness last Spring/Summer cut down on the food adventures I was able to have so I hope to keep this more up to date. Currently, I am into making baby food which has been very rewarding. We decided to go in on a CSA this year too so it will be fun looking for recipes to make with the odd things we get like Kohlrabi. Thanks as always for reading!