CSA Week Three

In our third CSA box we got: 1 bunch beets, 1 bulb fresh garlic, 4 PINTS STRAWBERRIES, 2 heads of spinach, 1 huge lettuce, 1 bunch of radishes, 1 bunch of chard, 1 Napa cabbage, 1 bunch of green onions, 1 bunch peppermint. I also picked up a coral mushroom, an extra bunch of radishes, and a leg of goat!

We have even more strawberries this week! And, oh man, are these the best strawberries ever! So sweet and tasty. Also, a little known advantage of small berries is that you don't have to cut them up for little toothless (nearly toothless in our case) baby mouths. Score!

Yummy!

Check out this crazy mushroom.

Here's my plan for the week:

Dinners:

Frozen spinach pizza from Trader Joe's (hey, sometimes we need a break and this will be PomPom's first pizza) and salad using lettuce from the box

Penne in mushroom-garlic butter sauce; roasted beet and chevre salad with sunflower seeds and balsamic vinaigrette

Grilled salmon with cabbage-mint slaw

Stir-fried cabbage, chard, beet greens, and radish greens (including green onions, garlic, ginger) with chicken and jasmine rice

Goat "Bourguignone" with roasted radishes (these were SO good last week) and roasted and smashed gold potatoes with wilted green onions and chevre

Breakfast/Snacks:

Spinach and strawberries will go into smoothies, besides eating straight strawberries

Lunch:

Grilled strawberry and chevre sandwich

Drinks:

Mojitos with that mint!

As you can see the CSA box is getting more and more dense.  As the season goes on we'll be eating out of the box breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  As it is, we had three vegetarian dinners in a row this week (Indian from last week's box, spinach pizza and salad, mushroom pasta and salad).  You'll probably notice us go vegetarian more frequently through the summer.  I was vegetarian for a few years, so I'm totally comfortable with it.  PomPom has no preconceived notions, of course.  And Jeremy will eat what's made! Haha.

A Day in the Life

Let me share with you how we're spending our days.  Indulge me please, because we are so lucky to have our lifestyle, so I'll be bragging a little.

Technically I'm a lawyer.  I went to law school (loved it), took the California Bar Exam (hated it), and then never practiced (I guess I'm indifferent) for reasons that are too boring to talk about now.  Anyway, I now have the inordinate good luck to be a stay at home mom.  Not only that, Jeremy works from home! No kidding.  He's got stuff going on of course, but it's almost as if PomPom has both parents at home raising her on the daily.  Lucky girl!

PomPom plays in her first fort!

Things change all the time, but here's what staying home looks like for us:

We get up between 8-9 AM.  Oh yeah, baby.  It used to be more like 7-8 AM, but PomPom has now been night weaned (no longer nurses in the middle of the night), and she started sleeping later!  Totally the opposite of what I expected.  Anyway, night weaning is another post.

PomPom nurses, gets a diaper change, and we dress her.  I say we because she's pretty helpful these days--pushing her arms through and trying to put on her shoes.

We have breakfast.  That means PomPom gets breakfast and I sneak a few bites she doesn't eat.  From my understanding this kind of parent-scavaging is typical.  Never in my life would I have thought I would eat what's leftover from my kid's meal, but there you have it.  I do. PomPom's breakfasts are pretty awesome if I say so myself.  Her favorite thing is buckwheat-banana pancakes (Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe, no less).  We mash the bananas and mix into the batter instead of slices.  Make up a big batch, freeze them flat, then toss in a bag in the freezer.  You can pop them in the toaster and PRESTO, pancakes for breakfast every day!  You'll thank me for this tip.  We also give her some fruit (strawberries and oranges are favorites these days) and try to get her to eat some Greek yogurt.  She loves Greek yogurt, plain and unsweetened, but it's a little tough getting her to eat it right now because she enjoys feeding herself but does not yet use a spoon...so we have to convince her to let us give her the odd spoonful through breakfast.  While PomPom eats, I'm usually in eyesight in the bathroom brushing teeth, washing face, and slapping on a bit of make up.  Jeremy gets up at  8:40 (unless he has something scheduled early), and heads to his office in the basement to start work at 9 AM (lucky guy!).

After breakfast, it really depends on the day.  We might have a playdate, or be meeting up with other mamas and babies for some exercise, or running errands.  Sometimes we stay in the house so I can get some household chores done while PomPom entertains herself.  That self-entertaining thing is not happening so easily right now.  She used to play self-directed for over an hour.  I think she's starting to get to the point where her usual activities are old hat and not stimulating enough.  So, then I end up playing, reading, and dancing to music with PomPom.  If you haven't discovered Caspar Babypants, please give him a listen on Pandora.  Raffi is great and all, but Caspar Babypants is where it's at.  Jeremy is, of course, working during this time, but sometimes we luck out and he comes up for a visit, and sometimes even brings me a steaming cup of awesome (I mean coffee).

About 11 AM PomPom starts to lose her mind.  That means it's time for lunch followed closely by nap.  She might nurse before lunch, sometimes not.  We're getting to a stage where she's decreasing her nursing.  Totally fine by me.  Lunch is usually vegetarian, consisting of beans, veggies, and cheese.  Again, she digs feeding herself and makes a giant mess, but it's cool.  It's all in the name of development, right?

PomPom's critical naptime start is between 12 and 12:30 PM.  She'll usually sleep about two hours, but not if you get her into her crib after 12:30 PM.  Talk to other parents, most will tell you that naptime rules their schedules.  A well-rested baby really makes everything else possible!

I try to get as much as possible done during naptime, but I can't do anything too noisy after she has been sleeping for over an hour or she'll wake up.  There is definitely some strategy going on here.  Today I got some beets roasting (from our CSA box!) to put in a salad at dinner, called Azure Standard (an online bulk natural foods company) about a problem with my order, made lunch for myself and Jeremy, planted some plant starts in the garden, and started some beansprouts.  I meant to fold diapers and do this blog post also, but I got to chat with a dear friend instead.

Today PomPom woke up at 2:15 PM, though it varies.  She nursed a bit, had a snack (graham cracker, orange pieces), and then I tried to make her play by herself while I started some homemade coconut milk.  I made it happen, but PomPom was holding up her arms ("up") and whining the whole time.  I moved into the living room to fold those diapers and she "read" a couple books, but was still whining at me.  We turned on the Caspar Babypants station and danced a bit.  She's finally playing right now, as I blog!  Sometimes after nap we go out and do stuff, just not today.

At about 3:30 PM PomPom starts to get hungry and will snack consistently until dinner, and then eat a full dinner. Maybe I need to just make a fourth meal after nap, but I haven't tried that yet.  We're dealing with snacking now.  We'll see what happens.

At 5 PM, [ideally] Jeremy comes up from work and entertains PomPom while I make dinner and we're eating by 6 PM.  Tonight I'm going to a workout at six, so hopefully dinner will come together a little quicker.

Following dinner, it's bath time for PomPom.  She LOVES baths, but recently went through a stage where she was absolutely freaked out by the bath.  It was so strange, but we got her over it by having her shower with me instead.  It totally worked (thanks to our pediatrician, Dr. Thompson, for suggesting this) and now we do either shower, or bath.  Please note, if you want to shower with your baby, there is some finesse required.  A wet and sudsy baby is slippery.  Try not to drop your baby in the shower!

Jeremy is in charge of bath time.  Which goes: wash up, play in the water a bit, dry off and lotion up (if necessary), coat the bottoms of her feet and spine with doTERRA essential oil blends Balance and Serenity to help her calm down and go to sleep (ask me about doTERRA if you're interested in essential oils!), and stuff her in some jammies.  Then it's bedtime!

It's about 7 PM when she's ready to lay down.  I nurse her one last time if she's interested then read her a book.  We close the blinds, turn off the lights (PomPom has been flipping the switch herself for months!), turn on the space heater set to 75 (if necessary), turn on the white noise, and giver her Ducky (a Wubbanub pacifier with a little plush duck attached).  I usually sing her a lullaby unless she's pushing off me to get into her bed.  Tuck her in (she graduated to a blanket at a year), give her back a little rub as she's a tummy sleeper, and head out.  She's sleeping until between 5-6 AM when she needs help going back to sleep (give her Ducky, which is usually on the floor, and lay her down again).  She goes back to sleep and we're ready to start again at 8 or 9 AM the next day!

It goes without saying, I hope, that every family is different and parents do the best they can for their children.  This post is not meant to be a judgment of others' lifestyle, nor is it an invitation for others to judge us.  Thank you.  ;)

CSA Week Two

In our second CSA box we got: 2 heads of spinach, 1 huge lettuce, 1 bunch of radishes, 1 bunch kale, 1 bunch mustard greens, 1 bunch turnips, 1 Napa cabbage, 1 bunch green onions, 1 bunch oregano, 2 pints strawberries. I also picked up garlic scapes, spring onions, and fresh garlic (and Rainier cherries, but forgot to take a picture!).

 In the box

Extras; those curly things are garlic scapes!

Here's my plan for the week:

Chicken burgers (with lettuce from the box); sauteed spinach, mustard, and radish greens; brown butter roasted radishes

Chicken Caesar salad with garlic-oregano dressing

Quinoa pilaf with garlic, cabbage, oregano, grilled chicken; side of sauteed garlic scapes

Fish tacos with Napa cabbage-oregano-green onion slaw

Turnip masala, Indian cabbage with crispy chickpeas and basmati rice

We've been eating those strawberries as snacks and they are SOOO good.  And then we'll have the kale as kale chips with either a lunch or as a snack.

CSA Week One

This isn't a food blog, but you'll probably be reading a lot about food. We like food! Our household is focusing on eating whole and traditional foods and it's definitely a journey. As a step in that journey we joined a a CSA (community supported agriculture) for our summer produce. It means we paid up front to support a farmer's costs and we get a bushel of local, organic produce every week for the whole summer (mid-june through September, possibly into October). It seems like a lot of money at first, but it's a bargain on what you would otherwise spend on organic farmers' market produce through the season anyway. It's cool because you eat whole, healthy foods and you get to try new things and a variety that you might not otherwise pick. Breaking out of routine is fun, and scary, but that's what makes it fun...like a culinary amusement park ride.

I'm a little behind, so the following is our first week of produce from the CSA...from last week.

Here we have: 3 heads of spinach, 1 huge lettuce, 1 bunch rainbow radishes, 1 turnip, 1 bunch rainbow Swiss chard, 1 bunch mustard greens, 1 bok choy, 1 bunch green onions, 1 large bunch tarragon.

Here's how we used it ALL:

Tarragon hake (a white fish similar to halibut), spinach salad with fresh turnip and sunflower seeds

Lamb lettuce wraps with a green onion-ginger relish, shredded carrot, homemade kimchee (my friend Daniella made it for me!), and rice

Honey-tarragon salmon grilled on a cedar plank, a spinach salad with tarragon, radish, and green onions

Grilled chicken, tarragon hasselback potatoes, and sauteed Swiss chard

Stir fried greens (bok choy, mustard, radisn greens) with shrimp and rice. It was supposed to have cashews, but I burnt them! And then we forgot to take a picture.  :)

Let's get to know each other!

Hi! My name is Kathryn (KT) and I'm married to a nice guy named Jeremy (Jezza). We have a sweet daughter [nick]named PomPom. We're starting this blog to share about our life and document all the fun we're having. I'm hoping PomPom will someday read this and roll her eyes, but secretly love it.

Anyway, we're living in Spokane, WA, our hometown (-ish, we both lived in other places through our childhoods at one time or another), after having lived in San Francisco/Bay Area for 10+ years. We moved back after PomPom was born so she could be around all her grandparents. Grandparents are awesome! It has been a big change, and this blog will tell you all about how we're getting along day to day.

Thanks for stopping by!

We look our best blurry.