Weekly Meal Plan

Thankfully I have a 4-year-old who will eat almost anything (or at the very least try new things). I am a big believer in introducing as many kinds of foods as possible to my kids, not to mention I just like to try new things. So really, by default, my family kind of has to try new things. Here are the meals I cooked recently:

Loaded Steak Nachos 

[recipe from Delightful-E-Made]

This meal was a winner with everyone in our family. It was a quick and easy mid-week meal. Daniel had to eat it rewarmed because he worked late, but it still tasted good reheated in the oven an hour later.

BBQ Salmon and Crispy Chickpea Salad

[recipe from How Sweet It Is]

Jack is rarely interested in soups or salads, so for him I typically make a deconstructed version of our meal. In the case of this meal I let him skip the salad part and served it with a side of rice along with the corn and roasted chickpeas. 

The salmon had a pretty strong BBQ rub on it, so I was surprised that Jack gobbled it up. Daniel and I both really enjoyed the combination of flavors in this dish.

Mexican Tortilla Casserole
[recipe adapted from A Cup of Jo] 

For a twist on Taco Tuesday, I made this Mexican Tortilla Casserole and it was a hit. I made it to share with a friend and it was easy enough to double the recipe at the time of assembly. Instead of doubling the beans, I chose to add browned ground beef instead. This dish works great as leftovers.

Rotini With Butternut-Sage Sauce
[recipe adapted from A Cup of Jo]

When making this dish I decided to add crumbled sausage for some extra protein. Also since Isaac is in the beginning stages of learning to eat, I saved some of the pureed butternut squash and onions for him to have separate from the pasta. He ate a decent amount but made a face every time I spooned it into his little mouth!

This dish is a healthier version of homemade Mac-N-Cheese. The pureed squash serves as the sauce instead of cheese. I barely noticed that there was no cheese in this dish and Jack gobbled it up without a second thought.

Naan Personal Pizzas

So this recipe was a repeat from a couple of weeks ago. This time I used Naan bread instead of Pita. I think I prefer the Pita. Both are delicious though. I chopped up mushrooms as small as I could before sauteing them, in an effort to sneak them onto the pizza. Both Daniel and Jack noticed. You win some, you lose some. 

This meal is great if you need to make something quickly (plus it is easy to customize). I actually ran out of cheese and had to grate little packets of cheese – oops!

Chai Latte 
[recipe from Live Simply]

I recently dug out an espresso machine that I received for Christmas several years ago. I have been treating myself to daily lattes. I decided to try out a Chai Latte in my machine. It worked out fairly well – I just placed the tea bags and spices in my coffee filter and then steamed my milk as usual. It turned out pretty well. The linked recipe tells you how to make this drink on the stove top without an espresso machine.

TopConTn 2015

This past Saturday I took off my mommy hat for the day and spent the entire day wearing my designer hat. Since entering the freelance world and become a full-time mommy, I really don't get many opportunities to immerse myself in the design world. I spent my day with a fellow designer at the TopCon design conference here in Chattanooga at Track29.

The day was a little tricky for me in that I am still nursing Isaac, but Daniel and I were able to coordinate so that he met me right before lunch and then again right before the last speaker of the day. Getting to hear speakers in my field was inspiring for me, and Daniel (along with the help of his sister, Amy) had a fun day with the boys. Isaac did melt down at the end of the day, but the witching hour is always hard no matter who is with the boys.

James T. Edmondson sharing his process for creating fonts.

From a strictly design point of view, my favorite speakers were James T. Edmondson of OhNo Type Company and Bethany Heck from Microsoft. Overall fine artist, Wayne White, did a fantastic job of wrapping up the conference encouraging the attendees to find the things they love and pursue them – even if it is crazy puppets.

Bethany Heck questions the rules regarding typefaces.

Illustrator, Logan Faerber, shared some of his failures and mistakes on his journey as an illustrator, and art director, Adé Hogue, shared his 6 crushing doubts. Doubts and mistakes are things all of us can identify with at some point in our careers.

Wayne White shares his crazy adventures in fine art including his work on Pee Wee Herman.

James Edmondson shared his process for developing typefaces and Bethany Heck went into depth about not being afraid to break the so-called rules of only using 3 typefaces in one work. I think the more experience you have under your belt (and more understanding of the design process) it becomes easier to break these rules. Fresh out of college, it is easier to make mistakes just by not having a good grasp of why you should or shouldn't combine certain elements.

 Logan Faerber shared some of his failures and mistakes, working with Marvel.

Adé Hogue shared his 6 crushing doubts and ways to stay creative.

It was fun getting to screen-print our own t-shirts. Print-making was among my favorite classes in college and I have always thought it would be fun to pursue again at some point. Fresh out of college, I actually purchased the equipment, but I didn't have a good space and I never really got it going. Maybe as my boys get older I will be able to create a studio space at my house. Who knows?

I am feeling very inspired and looking forward to implementing some of what I learned on Saturday into some of my upcoming projects. I have to say that I feel very blessed to have the clients that I have and that I am able to combine a lifestyle of being a stay-at-home mother who can also continue to freelance and keep my creativity flowing. 
 

 

Motherhood has maybe been a slight step back for me professionally, but it hasn't meant losing myself, or my profession. I am so grateful to be able to do both.

S'mores with the Moores Birthday Party, Jack's 4th Birthday Party

For some reason October through the end of the year always feel extra crazy. This is the fourth time we have had a birthday party for Jack (though a first time to do it with friends) and we were still scrambling to put it together in a timely manner.

How do birthdays always sneak up on us? Are we alone in this mad scramble?

Anyways, this year we decided to invite a few friends over to celebrate with Jack. He had one specific request: he wanted a pinata. We went to a party earlier this year with a pinata (he called it a piranha) and he was enamored. 

Daniel and I quickly decided on a woodsy-outdoors theme and sent out an invite via Facebook (I'm falling down on the job, there were no printed invitations this year). 

I then said a little prayer that the weather (in November no less) would cooperate and then started perusing Pinterest for party ideas.

Besides the plan for S'mores, I thought an outdoor nature scavenger hunt would be fun, and then of course, we had the pinata.

While Friday was sunny and warm, Saturday we experienced a huge drop in temperature, along with rain. Boo.

This basically meant I had to scrap the S'mores and scavenger hunt idea. At the last minute, I found some animal silhouettes that I printed off and set out on the table, along with kraft paper, glue, markers and leaf stickers. I figured I couldn't go wrong with stickers. We also moved Jack's tent from our screened in porch to the living room.

The kids arrived and had a blast. They weren't bothered by what we didn't get a chance to do. And when they started to fight over who got to play with what, I directed them all to the dining room table for my last-minute craft. The kids decided they were making treasure maps – sure, whatever you want to make is fine by me!

After our craft, we celebrated with Owl Cupcakes that Jack helped to make (thank you Pinterest!, though mine were not nearly as pretty as the online photos I found). But they were delicious!

And finally we let the kids hit the pinata. Jack had a blast, and I'm pretty sure his friends had fun too. I am working on relaxing a bit and enjoying the party and going with the flow. 

I will probably always do a bit of decorating and making things (nothing wrong with that), but I'm trying to find balance and not go overboard.

We still have all of the ingredients for S'mores with the Moores... 
I guess we just have to save that for another day!

 

Birthday Parties from Years Past: 

Trucks Go, Age 1  |  Frogs, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, Age 2  |  Curious George, Age 3

Happy 4th Birthday Jack!

We had several celebrations with Jack over the course of the last week. We had a friend party on Saturday, followed by a family dinner to celebrate at El Metate (the Mexican place where you wear a blue hat), and then a preschool party on Jack's actual birthday.

We are about partied out around here.

I have so much to say about my sweet boy, though not all of the blogs in the world would adequately describe him or what he means to our family. Hopefully these few words will suffice.

At four, Jack is incredibly curious. As with most parents of 3 and 4 year olds, we continue to be in a never-ending why phase. As a parent I have a love-hate relationship with these questions. I love that he is learning and wants so badly to know things, but sometimes the questions never seem to cease. These questions stretch me to help him understand the world around us and in turn I learn more as well.

Right now Jack havs a deep love for people and helping others. He has never met a stranger. His standard pick-up line at the park is "Hi, I'm Jack. I'm three [now four]. Do you want to play with me?" I hope he is always this outgoing and that his sweet spirit never gets crushed. His confidence amazes me. He doesn't care how old or young you are, he wants to be your friend. It makes him sad when older kids are not interested in playing with him. In turn that makes me sad, but I try to let him experience these harder moments without interference, along with the sweet moments.

 

At preschool and church, Jack wants to hold the door for every single person coming in and out. We are typically running late anyways, so I really have to check my patience at the door. Instead of being exasperated that we are behind (mostly my fault anyways), I allow him to hold doors and talk to everyone. I hope he always desires to put others first.

We spend a decent amount of time in the car and I try to use those moments to teach him things like our address and how to count to 100 and how to do basic addition and subtraction using his fingers. He is a little sponge and soaks up all of these lessons. He is starting to consistently recognize a handful of letters and can spell his name. One of his favorite games is to play teacher and I know that his time spent in preschool aids in his love for all things school and learning related. He has quite a few books memorized (his favorite right now is Madeline) and I can't wait until he learns to actually read and all of the doors that reading will open for him.

This year Jack requested his very own kayak so that he could take his friends paddling with him. This was a big change from last year when all he wanted was an electric toothbrush! Since it was November, we weren't ready to commit to a kayak, but we are still mulling it over – maybe Christmas little buddy! His back up request was an Optimus Prime robot (which his Great Grandmother lovingly bought for him!). I think he had a good birthday.

Most days the days are long, but the years really are short. I'm still kind of in shock that we have a four-year-old. Jack loves being four, but doesn't get why he doesn't get to move up to the 4s class at preschool and church. I am working to convince him that he is one of the first to turn four and he gets the privilege of teaching the other kids how to get ready to be four. I am really looking forward to the coming year and all that it holds for Jack.

Thirty Five

Entering my 30s was rough for me. The summer before my 30th birthday I quit a good job, sold a house in another state and was living in a 30-ft camper in a campground. Life was feeling bleak and very much on hold. I felt like there were so many things I had failed to accomplish as I stared 30 in the face, and I was really lonely. 

Five years later, so much has changed. I am in a very different place – literally. We have moved twice in the last five years [Hollywood and Signal Mountain] and we now have two precious boys [Jack and Isaac].

My lower cupboards are full of kid's plates and cups. I find toy cars, swords and dinosaurs in the oddest places. I have an ever-growing pile of kid's artwork that I haven't quite figured out how to deal with. I change poopy diapers on a daily basis, haven't had a good night's sleep in a while, and answer a never-ending string of "why" questions. But I wouldn't change my life for anything.

I didn't cross many new items off of my List of 100 Things to do in my lifetime, but that doesn't bother me. My life is full and, even with the hard moments, my 30s have been my favorite decade. Each passing year is better than the last.

I don't know if the changes in me are because of motherhood, or if it stems from the wisdom you can only gain with age. Perhaps difficult life experiences have helped me embrace where I am today instead of longing for what I don't have. I don't know. At 35 I am no longer looking for the adult in the room, and I don't feel like I have to prove myself to gain validation from others. I don't have regrets, even though there are some things I wish I could do. I am embracing the season of life that I am in.

There are elements of my life that I would change if I could – namely Daniel's long hours and commute time, but we have learned to make the most of a challenging circumstance, and I know that life as it is right now won't stay this way forever. There will be more hardships, but I believe that there are also wonderful days ahead.

Here are Five Things I hope to do before 40 (though, hopefully I will have many more adventures and projects):
1) Participate in a Triathalon
2) Remodel our master suite
3) Take an epic road trip to visit various National Parks
4) Hike 100 miles on the Tour de Mt Blanc in France
5) Take a multi-day paddling trip in the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area

I can say without a doubt that I am looking forward to being 35 and all that the coming year holds.

 

Things Lists From Previous Years:

2007 Things // 2009 Things // 2010 Things // 2011 Things // 2012 Things // 2013 Things

// 2014 Things

Weekly Meal Plan

The last couple of weeks have been super busy. We have had quite a few events to attend which has meant lots of eat outs and lots of leftovers. Thankfully fall meal planning is great for leftovers – chili and soups tend to taste better with time, and we made good use of both in recent weeks. Here is what I have been cooking lately, I hope some of these recipes encourage you to cook more at home!

Chicken Marsala with Rice and Carrots
[recipe adapted from Fancy Fork]

Originally I had planned to use a slow-cooker recipe from Creme de la Crumb, but once again I have been reminded that I am not a slow-cooker cook. Mostly because I get too busy and don't remember to start the meal in a timely manner. So I pulled an audible and found a recipe from Fancy Fork that incorporated most of the ingredients I had already purchased.

The only thing I didn't have in my pantry was tomato paste, so I substituted with sun-dried tomatoes, which I think added a nice flavor to the dish. For Jack, I kept some chicken tenders separate from the sauce. Overall, a great dish.

Chili with Triple Cornbread 
[Chili recipe via Mohaus and Cornbread recipe from Betty Crocker] 

This is one of my all-time favorite fall meals. I don't cook many meals more than once, but this chili and cornbread makes an appearance a handful of times each fall. It is great for a crowd, and if it is just going to feed a small family, the chili tastes better with each passing day.

I love this cornbread because it is super moist – more like a bread pudding than cornbread. It was perfect for letting Isaac have a taste as well. Chocolate and cinnamon are my somewhat secret ingredients in the chili and they really make the dish. I skip on the jalapeno when serving to kids, but it still tastes delicious and has a bit of heat from the spices.

Personal Pita Pizzas

I don't have a recipe for this. I just got inspired when my brother-in-law made us pita pizzas when we were visiting last month.

Basically you take Pita bread (or Naan bread) and brush olive oil on it. Bake for about 10 minutes at 350º then remove from oven and add pizza sauce, toppings (I used sausage, bell peppers and onions), then top with mozzarella cheese. Bake for another 10 minutes. These are really customizable, great for kids, and a fast mid-week meal.

Vegetable-and-Steak Soup with Croutons
[recipe adapted from Annie's Eats]

Croutons in soup is one of my new favorite things (I buy store-bought, but the recipe tells you how to make homemade). We use them instead of saltine crackers. The only problem is limiting Jack on how many croutons he can eat with his soup! 

Since my husband loves meat, I added steak to the soup to make it a little heartier. We were all fans of this meal and it tasted even better as leftovers later in the week.

Sausage-Egg-Pancakes Muffins
[recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com]

I had some leftover pancake mix [my mom's recipe] and leftover sausage from the pita pizzas, so I decided to make pancake-egg muffins. I have made this before with bacon, but this one was a little difference since I had sausage. I used a Scrambled Egg Muffin recipe from AllRecipes but used a pancake base like I had before, and added cheese.

These were a hit with everyone and really simple to make, plus you can't go wrong with breakfast for dinner. They are easy to customize which is good if you have picky eaters (Jack isn't too picky but he doesn't like green peppers).

Super Simple Banana Muffins
[recipe from Eazy Peazy Mealz]

I recently picked up some really ripe bananas from our local grocery store ($0.88 for 6). These were perfect for this muffin recipe. I just hand mixed it and baked in a muffin tin for 18 minutes (instead of 60 minutes for a loaf of bread). Like chocolate chip cookies, there are a million recipes for banana muffins, and from my experience, I rarely find a bad one! These muffins were super moist and great for preschool mornings when I am running behind.

Apple Spice Cinnamon Sugar Pound Cake Bites
[recipe adapted from Table For Two]

This super simple dessert was perfect for a potluck we attended recently. You toast the pound cake and roll it in a special Apple Cinnamon spice mixture. I had enough spices leftover that I saved it and added it to the top of my banana muffins before cooking, and it was also a good addition to our Saturday morning pancakes.