quick and easy
About 3 years ago I tried an all raw food diet, earning me weird looks from co-workers and a completely tuned-up, revamped digestive system. I had lots of energy and thought it was super cool to sprout, chop and dehydrate living foods into delicious meals. (Feel free to go back and browse some of the raw food posts that came out of that time, like this recipe.)
But ever since that raw food experiment, my husband has refused to eat zucchini or yellow squash. Chalk it up to a much too garlicky raw “fettucine alfredo” that used vegetable peeler strips of squash as noodles. He hated it. I didn’t love that particular dish either. But the man refuses to eat zucchini or yellow squash to this day.
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August 9th, 2011 | quick and easy, raw foods, recipe, summer, vegan, vegetarian | 9 Comments »
It’s that awesome time of the summer when we are inundated with tomatoes and corn – and by “we” I mean people who have a summer CSA. I’m psyched about ours. Every other week I carry Danny in the baby carrier thingamajig to the yoga studio on our corner, pick up our 2 big bags of veggies, fruit and eggs… and pretty much look like a pack mule walking back down the street.
But hey, the food is great.
And if your produce comes from the supermarket, surely you’ve noticed tomatoes and corn on sale! Let’s hear it for seasonal veggies, huh?
So, I was gazing out the kitchen window the other day, thinking about how when we first moved here, pre-baby, I *thought* we’d be hosting BBQs in our backyard all summer. With our new entourage of friends that we’d somehow meet in this new city? While we kicked back and drank beers and grilled burgers, not a naptime care in the world?
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August 4th, 2011 | Farmers Market, quick and easy, recipe, summer | 9 Comments »
Thanks for the outpouring of support since my post about postpartum depression. I feel like we can all really make a difference by being more open about hard times. So thank you for all the comments, suggestions, and most of all for sharing it with women in your life. I’m feeling better and better!
So, we all know there’s no going wrong with your little black dress. Right? Dress it up, dress it down, make it worth the $350 you spent on it at Banana Republic, or the $29.99 at Marshall’s, whatever.
Well there’s one way to go wrong I guess. By not having one! Duh. I don’t. I have a navy blue dress that comes pretty close. I wonder if that still fits? It’s not exactly nursing-friendly with that zipper in the back. Um. I also have a black wrap dress but the strap got accidentally sucked into the vacuum cleaner once and is kind of shredded. Oops.
Maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree with a fashion analogy. Says the girl wearing a nursing tank 2 sizes too big.
Here’s what I really want to talk about:
Salmon.
Because salmon was my little black dress this week. It fit perfectly.
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July 27th, 2011 | fashion, quick and easy | 7 Comments »
Here’s what I wore today: jean shorts, a t-shirt and a ponytail.
Here’s what I wore yesterday: the same thing.
It’s sort of a new trend called “Put on whatever you can grab the fastest and it doesn’t matter if it’s dirty.” This is…really strange. I’m the kind of girl who can spend 10 minutes on mascara alone, given the chance.
But am I that girl anymore?
The other day I met a friend for lunch downtown and put on a dash of makeup while Danny finished his tiny nap. (I also wore earrings – strategically, they were not grab-able hoops) Taking Danny to lunch is actually fairly easy because he adores new settings and new people. Knock on wood, he never throws a fit in a restaurant or in public in general. A true extrovert.
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July 6th, 2011 | baby, happiness, quick and easy, recipe, vegan, vegetarian | 6 Comments »
I been eatin’ a lot of Joe Joes. Know what those are? They’re the Trader Joe’s version of Oreos. Oh man.
My husband started buying them…I started eating them…it’s totally a way I’ve been self medicating between the baby crying and not sleeping, etc. Nice health coach, right? Yeah, way to set an example, Michelle.
I can see exactly what I’m doing though:
I am so stressed/I feel so crazed/I feel so confused…here this nice cookie makes me feel sweet!
Note: I am not recommending this approach. In fact by publicly admitting it I am hoping I will get a grip myself.
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June 22nd, 2011 | happiness, quick and easy, raw foods, recipe, stress relief, Sugar | 10 Comments »
I’m sure that anyone who has seen me lately walking down the street would not guess that I am a health coach. Or a coach of any kind. My hair is either slicked back in a wet ponytail or air dried into a mass of curls. My eyes speak of my son’s new “wake ever hour” night routine. My legs might be shaved, but don’t look too closely please.
There are times in everyone’s life where self care takes a backseat. I suppose in college I didn’t do much to take care of myself, period. When I worked long, hard, annoying hours in my previous career, self care amounted to a coffee shop run. So now it’s baby stuff. Whatever. We’ve all been there.
The main thing that has kept me from absolutely crumbling during this time is insisting on eating real food. It isn’t always sexy. It’s sometimes just eggs and frozen spinach hastily defrosted in the pan, possibly still with ice chips as I fork it in. But it’s real, and it’s nourishing, and it’s why I can look at my family and fairly confidently say, “Thank goodness, we may be tired but we are healthy.”
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June 13th, 2011 | baby, happiness, quick and easy, self care | 7 Comments »
I used to drink a lot. Not falling-down-the-stairs kind of drinking, but close. Wait, I did fall down the stairs once, at Pour House in Boston. I still have a scar where my pint glass broke and cut me.
We lived about 20 high-heeled steps from the closest bar, and routinely saw last call there as the lights came on. I can almost smell it still. I knew that one foot on the floor while lying in bed later would keep the spins at bay.
Give me a break. I was 20 years old. And yes, had an excellent fake ID. And I believe I was dating the barback which is why we were ever at Pour House in the first place. Barback is a word I haven’t spoken aloud in nearly a decade but back then it was a mighty fine second place to bartender or doorman, in terms of someone you might be dating.
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June 8th, 2011 | beverage, Boston, quick and easy, recipe, self care | 8 Comments »
Oh, internet full of recipes, I love you so. But gone are the days of experimenting with teff flour and Indian inspired recipes…I’m sorry but I don’t have time right now to prep grocery lists and hunt down new ingredients.
And while we DID finally sell our condo back in Massachusetts, I don’t have the extra green to spend on an assortment of oils and seasonings and kitchen equipment I’ll only use once. Oh, that mandoline that sits and sits…I never quite got the hang of it and the knife works just fine…
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June 6th, 2011 | baby, Boston, frugal living, groceries, quick and easy, recipe, self care, Washington D.C. | 3 Comments »
Do you have time to cook? Really? I don’t mean heating up a frozen burrito either. I mean actually cook with real ingredients. Here’s the thing. We all have Facebook statuses to update, partners to talk to, bills to pay, cats to pet, you know, whatever. If you prioritize really cooking a real meal a few times a week amidst all of that, I salute you!
For me lately it’s 4pm before I look at the clock, I’ve got a baby getting antsy and a nursing pad falling out of my top, and I forgot to defrost the chicken. Plus the added pressure of using the veggies from our CSA. I mean, spring onions, turnips and radishes? What’s a girl to do with that?
(I’ll let you know in a few days, when I figure it out.)
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June 2nd, 2011 | frugal living, quick and easy | 8 Comments »
Doesn’t that sound dreamy? I mean, can you really melt fruit?
Turns out, yes you can.
I saw this recipe online and it was a miraculous day because I had all the ingredients on hand. Yup. I suppose apricots and raspberries are popping up everywhere because it’s the season for beautiful, colorful fruit! Go grab yourself some.
(Sorry, apples and pears from Argentina. It’s summertime in North America, suckas!)
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May 31st, 2011 | healthcare, quick and easy, recipe, summer, try new things, vegetarian | 9 Comments »
