Well, hello May!

I. LOVE. MAY.

And not just because my birthday happens to fall on the 19th.  While the first day of Spring is officially in April, I feel like May really kicks it off.  Flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, that last bit of the winter chill finally fades away, and the smell of people BBQing fills the neighborhood…every day.

Plus, there’s Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, my anniversary, and my dad’s birthday!

It’s just a fun, beautiful month.

So, happy May everyone!

 

solids for baby. a (VERY) delayed post.

Tags

baby food, food, kids, natural food, wholesome baby food

We started feeding our 9 month old solids in early February, and this was meant to kick it all off with a bang.

I meant to post this back in February.

I lag.  So, I didn’t.

Little man is cute, isn’t he?!

 

Yes, we make our own baby food, and I have to say that it’s MUCH easier than some people make it out to be, cheaper than jarred, and better for him (no added preservatives, flavors, nasty chemicals, etc.). Seriously, steam up those veggies, and pop ’em into the food processor. If you say you have no time, you’re lying…or lazy. Even when I was working full time with my first (and my husband was home more often than me), I was the one making up the food.

If anyone else is about to start, or has started, feeding their little one(s) solids, I have to link you up with Wholesome Baby Food. It was a life saver with my first, and they have such great resources for parents. Food charts by age, meal plans, recipes, etc. It’s my “baby food bible” if I must put a title on it.

We decided not to start with the rice. Simply because it’s FORTIFIED with iron. Iron is not naturally found in any of the grains suggested by pediatricians to first give your baby. I am in no way a medical professional, but our family feels that it’s probably best to feed a child foods high in nutrition…naturally.

My two cents.

What foods did you start your baby on?

All for now.

super bowl hangover

Tags

musings, organizing, super bowl

Well, Super Bowl is over.

I was rooting for the Niners, but I guess the officials had to make sure Ray Lewis got his last win before retiring.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not one to believe that an entire game is won, or lost, by ONE call…but that hold toward the end of the game was a BIT apparent, and there were TWO refs standing right there.

End of rant.

Our Super Bowl party was a success, at least in my book.  We didn’t spend the entire first half in the kitchen, and I actually got to enjoy hanging out with friends.  AND, I didn’t have a counter top covered with beer cans and dirty dishes.  Clean up was easy!

I’m not talking about an alcohol hangover….I’m talking a football is over, it’s really REALLY a new year, Spring will be here soon, hangover.  It means that the party is over, and now I have to start thinking about deep cleaning the house, making repairs to things, touching up paint, getting organized, etc.  While I know I should be doing these things regularly, I don’t.

Since I was working full time up until last July, those weren’t always on my priority list.  Now, they are.  The house, the kids, and all the upkeep that goes with them.  Another adjustment I’m making to the home life.

So, as I’m typing this out, I have a million and one things on my to do list…and of course, I’m procrastinating.

Time to stop thinking about it, and just do it already!

First project?  Document clean out, and filing.  Maybe I’ll make a post about it.

Maybe.

Oh yeah…

Happy Birthday JRT!

Still a fan…since *NSYNC formed in 1995.

Don’t hate.

Paleo Jambalaya

Tags

chicken, food, paleo, recipe

This past week has been draining.

My mother-in-law was in town for a long weekend, and then I came down with a nasty little cold that I’ve been fighting off for the past few days.

While she was here to help, I sometimes feel like things get even more chaotic.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for having family members to just kind of dump my kids off to when I need a break!  But, it was good having the house back to myself and the kiddos after she left…and I could cough, and make weird “sick” noises in peace.

To top off the weekend, I pulled out one of my fave Paleo recipes, Jambalaya, (in all honesty, all of this chick’s recipes are my favorite) to cook for everyone on Sunday (including my dad who is “bach-in'” it up while my mom is visiting family in San Diego).  Juli over at PaleOMG is a genius, I tell you!

It brought everyone together, and kind of wrapped up the weekend.  I always know a recipe is a hit when even non-Paleo eaters (my dad…who’s Italian and LOVES his pasta), thoroughly enjoys it.

Anyhoo, here’s the recipe.  Click the recipe title and it will take you to her original post.  I use double the spices, except for cayenne.

(image courtesy paleomg.com)

Jambalaya (and it’s paleo hoes!)

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  15 mins

Total time:  25 mins

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 2 andouille sausage, sliced
• 2 chicken breasts, cubed
• 1/2 lb – 1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 head cauliflower, riced
• 1 (6oz) can tomato paste
• 1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. First get everything ready. It’ll make your life simpler. Dice all your veggies then throw your cauliflower in the food processor with the shredding attachment to rice the cauliflower.
2. Now heat a large pot over medium-high heat with your olive oil. Add your garlic until it becomes fragrant then add your onion and green bell pepper to begin to cook down.
3. Once the onion in translucent, add your cauliflower, broth, chicken and sausage. Mix together. Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Then add your tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices. Stir to incorporate.
5. Cover and let cook for another 5-8 minutes or until cauliflower is tender and meats are cooked through.
6. Let sit for around 5 minutes to cool.
7. Consume!

“The Swan Thieves”: a book review (ish)

Tags

book reviews, books, Elizabeth Kostova, novels

I am a self described book nerd.  I’ve read a TON, and still have piles and piles to get through.  I’ve loved most of them, simply because they’re books.  There have been quite a few that were crap, but until now, I’ve never been one to “review” books.  Simply, because, who the hell am I to say that a book is good or bad?  It is published isn’t it?  Someone liked, or likes, it!

So, I’ll keep it short and sweet.  Take it, or leave it. Check out the book if you so wish.  I usually like to let individuals decide to love a book, or hate it.  And I don’t like putting thoughts into other people’s heads before they’ve even opened the damn thing.

Except, of course, “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck.  If you haven’t read it, read it. It’s the most amazing book…of all time.  If you disagree, you’re an idiot.

Joking.  Kind of.

“The Swan Thieves” by Elizabeth Kostova

synopsis:

(taken from Amazon.com)

Andrew Marlow, a psychiatrist, has a perfectly ordered life–solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when the renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes Marlow’s patient.

When Oliver refuses to talk or cooperate, Marlow finds himself going beyond his own legal and ethical boundaries to understand the secret that torments this silent genius, a journey that will lead him into the lives of the women closest to Robert Oliver and toward a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.Moving from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

 

my two cents:

There is something about historical fiction, that ignites my passion for reading.  I’d say that I am a “romantic”, and thoroughly enjoy reading all about forbidden loves, intrigue, passion, and crazy people, especially when it takes place before the 1900s.  The author has weaved the story line through two completely different eras, and has done it seemlessly.

I loved Elizabeth Kostova’s first novel, “The Historian”, so I was excited to read her second.  She has amazing attention to detail, and is known to actually research her subject to make sure that those minor, but important, details are accurate.

If I had to give it stars, I’d probably give it 4 out of 5.  I mean, it was good, but it is definitely no “East of Eden.”

(Seriously, if you don’t read this book, read “East of Eden.)

in mint condition

I’m on Pinterest…a LOT!

And, looking back over the fashion items I’ve “repinned”, MINT seems to be a theme for me.  It’s a color that is refreshing during a season that has screamed oxblood (I love the color, don’t get me wrong).

Purses: mint

Accessories: mint.

Pants: mint.

Tops: mint.

Shoes: mint.

(Click on images for product links.)

Mint will translate into Spring, and I can’t wait!

introduction: more than mommy

Tags

intro, me, mommy

A year ago, I was working full time as a booking agent at one of the top agencies in Portland.  I was paid shit, worked well over 60 hours a week, and was accessible to our clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  It was a horrible horrible job, and I wasn’t happy.  But, I had gotten in on my own, started as the lowly office bitch, and worked my way up to head booker within 4 years (horrible management and a failing economy helped a bit with this, I must admit).  I was a woman in the second highest position, working full time, with a two-year-old at home.

And I was pregnant with my second child.

I had been thinking of a way out…possibly to start a new, and exciting job, that didn’t demand ALL of me.  I did want to give more time and attention to my husband, Sean and daughter, Olivia.  By June, Sean was graduated with a new job lined up, that would pay only a bit less than what the two of us had been making, combined.  We decided this was the time for me to step out of my job, and stay at home with the kids.  And I was completely fine with it.

Nathaniel was born in July, and I have been at home since.

But, I’ve realized something being a “new” stay-at-home mom.  I’m MORE than just a mom.  I am still Sarah.  I still have hobbies, and interests, and bad days, the desire to do more than clean up after the kids.

This is what this blog is about.  I am not a one dimensional person, and found that I couldn’t decide on just ONE subject to share with others.  So, I decided to focus on one subject with multiple facets…ME.

I am more than just a mommy.

I write, I read, I love fashion, I love music, I love to cook FRESH  foods, within the the limits of the Paleo diet (80/20 of course).

This is me.

Welcome.