The City Is Growing On Me

It's true, I am starting to enjoy the city.  I enjoy taking the subway in, walking around, grabbing a bite to eat. The other day we realized how we are becoming more of a city family when we asked Munchkie if she wanted to go to Subway with her Daddy.  She said yes and started to get ready to leave, then she asked, are we going to take the red one or the blue one?  It was then that we realized that we meant "Do you want to get a sandwich at Subway with Daddy?" and she thought we meant "Do you want to go somewhere on the subway with Daddy?"  We go on the subway so much that she just assumed that's where they were going. 

There are several things that we've learned about living in a city that we just never thought about before.  Some of these include-

• Boots- a good pair of boots is absolutely essential.  When the rain comes down, when the snow piles up, your feet need to be protected.
• Dressing in layers- because you have to peel them off and on as you sit on a crowded bus with the heat blasting or walk several blocks through  buildings that become a wind tunnel.
• A solid stroller- we destroyed a few before we realized this. Wheels popping off as you go over a bumpy sidewalk is not the most pleasant way to learn this.
• Patience- you can't do anything or get anywhere fast.  I heard someone one day on the bus in a southern drawl tell another rider that she thought that you had to be laid back in the south, but living here has taught her patience.
• You can find just about anything you could possibly want.  When a recipe calls for something interesting, or you think that there is something odd you want, you can find it somewhere in the city.

 Tonight I went into our little neighborhood shopping area to do my weekly shopping.  Some friends down the street from us have told me that they do all of their shopping in our neighborhood stores and I was always so amazed by this.  Tonight, I could completely understand how.  I went into our Middle Eastern store- Bob's Pita Bakery which sells a lot more than just pita, it is stock full of produce.  Good looking produce.  Really cheap produce.  I was in fruit and vegetable heaven.  I just kept telling myself, do not go crazy, you only have so much room in that ridiculously small fridge. I was able to get all this sink full of produce (those twelve lemons at the regular grocery store would have alone been $6), fresh herbs, tahini paste, coconut and ginger root for under $50, that to me is amazing!  This store is small, two people can't pass each other in the two aisles. I walked in and out of several stores finding a "welcome to the neighborhood" (which secretly means, sorry you live below a toddler, a dog and a Kinect) gift basket for the girl who just moved in underneath us.  We have a wine store, cheese store with all kinds of delicious things, several bakeries, a cafe, ice cream store, meat shop, Italian deli, thrift store, unique gift shops, among several other little places - all in a couple block area. I was able to put together a nice little gift basket of local treats, including a few take out menus of course! 

Needless to say, it may be a slow process, but I am starting to enjoy my new life.  I just wish that it wasn't so lonely, building up a new life in a new city. 

New Home: Kitchen

The kitchen is really important to have unpacked so that you can start to feed your family at your own home.  I was so ready to have fresh, homecooked food that I really wanted to get my kitchen functioning.  Munchkie's Daddy said that once we had a functioning house I could start decorating and crafting out the projects I wanted to do.  With the help of my mother-in-law and sister-in-law we got my kitchen to working order in no time!  Here it is.  I actually am going to include before and after shots.

Before

 These are when the landlord was still working on the place.

 

After

 I love that I have this big open space and large counter.  I am going to try to keep it cleared off so that it is available for work space.  I do really like this part of my kitchen.

 This is the cluttered space, the kennel will hopefully be replaced soon with a mobile dishwasher.

 The sink area, had to put the plates on the counter because there just wasn't any good place to put them.  The silverware drawer is just below them.  My refrigerator may not look that small, but trust me, it's SMALL.

 These are my coffee and tea drawers.  My mother-in-law says to me, "maybe you should avoid buying any more tea until you drink what you already have."  If only she could see my own mother's tea cabinet- yes a full cabinet of tea.

 The cabinet is one big long cabinet, had to stuff as much stuff in there as I could.

 Another cabinet full of stuff.

 We had to put our glasses, mugs, travel mugs and water bottles in the bottom drawer, then above that are storage containers and Munchkie's plates, bowls and cups.

A peak inside my refrigerator just to show you how small it is.  I'm not even sure that a gallon of milk will fit.  I have to be organized with it as well.  I am trying out the green bags for my farmer's market produce and have fridge binz from Habitat for Humanity Restore warehouse for more organization. 

Successful Saturday

I had one of those fantastically successful and productive Saturdays.  The ones that don't stress you out, but the ones that you go to bed and think, oh now that is how I like to spend my day. 

We started off by going to the super cute coffee shop and walking to the farmer's market.  At the farmer's market we found all kinds of goodies.  I just love the farmer's market so much.  I must have walked up and down the aisle at least 5 times surveying each booth's wares.  The first purchase I made was a little jar of eczema cream for poor Munchkie's face.  She started with these patches of eczema this summer and I was so excited to find something natural to try on them.  We are planning on making some tomato sauce with the tomatoes and basil to freeze and slightly replenish our frozen sauce.  The kale will make great kale chips for some healthy snacks and the peppers never made it past the raw stage because we snack on them like apples.  The delicious yellow honey tomatoes.  Oh they're gone.  Have been since an hour after we got home.  Now that is what a tomato is supposed to taste like!

 On the way from the coffee shop to the farmer's market we passed by a tag sale that had a few items that caught our eye.  The first was a dog kennel.  Both of our dogs' kennels were in bad shape and we recently bought a new one at Walmart for one of them, but couldn't handle paying the price for a second kennel.  The kennel at the tag sale was much better quality than the cheapest ones at Walmart and she accepted our offer of $5.  Amazing!  As we were walking away we both stopped and saw this trunk.  Oh my goodness.  We both turned and looked at each other and said, "I've always wanted a trunk."  The seller finally accepted our offer of $21 after some negotiating.  I can not wait to fix it up a little bit.  What perfect storage!  It's not too big and can hold all kinds of things inside of it.  With a little refinishing, paint and new hardware, I think this can be a very beautiful piece that will find the perfect place in our new home.  I was so excited after this find that I wanted to go look at some things for our new apartment.  We went to Ikea to get some ideas on making small spaces work.  Then  I went to JoAnn Fabrics to look at a few things, Home Depot for paint samples and found a great deal on a mirror at Goodwill for another project.  I really enjoyed the time with my family, but also a few hours by myself meandering through stores thinking and creating in my head.

The perfect ending for our day was a date night after Munchkie went to bed.  We had wanted to spend one last date night out while we still had people around us that we knew.  Unfortunately our plans slightly fell through and so we spent the date night in our own living room with Munchkie sound asleep upstairs.  Some Thai take out, a few candles and a movie really made it feel like a date night.  We had a good time together talking and enjoying each other's company without thinking about all the things that needed to be done around the house.  We were able to truly focus on each other.  I look forward to date nights and believe that they are an essential part in a healthy relationship.  Even though we spend quite a few nights together in our living room, it's completely different when you have a mindset of sharing a date night together.  You are able to mentally push all other things aside and truly focus your energy and attention towards the person you love.  It makes a huge difference to feel special and loved as you do during these times.


And so, after a movie, dinner, creative thinking trip, tag sale, farmer's market and coffee shop I had an incredibly productive and perfect day. 

The Pasta of Summer

Last fall this Tomato Basil Pasta Salad was my favorite pasta dish to make because I love tomatoes, basil and garlic. After a recent walk we looked through our cabinets and fridge to find something to fix for dinner.  We worked together in the kitchen to quickly made some food before we all had breakdowns.  While the water was boiling, Munchkie's Daddy chopped basil from our herbs and walnuts mixing them with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  While he was doing that I chopped tomatoes.  Once the cheese tortellini was finished boiling he drained it and I added shredded mozzarella mixing to let it melt on the hot pasta.  Then we mixed in the basil mixture and tomatoes.  It was so delicious that Munchkie asked for seconds and probably would have eaten thirds if it wasn't already past her bedtime.

Farm Fresh

Growing up we had a farmer's market downtown on the square several times a week.  I remember when I was younger it being so fun and there were so many stands to check out and buy fresh produce from.  As I got older and accompanied my mother I remember there being disappointingly less produce and even less farmers.  The same was true when I went to the farmer's market at our first house in Illinois.  When the grocery stores carry "local" produce, why do you need to venture to a farmer's market?  I was shocked when that market mostly sold jewelry, soaps and other crafty items and no fresh produce to be found.

Today was my first time being able to make it to the big city farmer's market.  I have been to the smaller one in the town we live in and bought some amazing things.  Things got off to a rocky start this morning when Munchkie's Daddy woke me and said "it's 9:30!" we both immediately looked at each other and knew that meant trouble.  While Munchkie's Daddy gave Munchkie a bath, I scrubbed the contents of her diaper off of the walls, crib and carpet.  Then two hours later than we intended we headed to breakfast and then the farmer's market.

When we first moved here, we really wanted to live in the "Little Italy" neighborhood.  When we found out that we couldn't really couldn't afford it, it was so sad, and we've had a feeling of regret ever since.  This morning as we walked through the park to this quaint coffee shop under large flowering trees we felt the regret even more.  We turned to each other as we walked in and couldn't even believe that The Weakerthans were playing.  How cute are these hand stamped cups?  And Munchkie's "hmm, maybe carrot, you know, all that good stuff in it" muffin was amazing!  From what I could tell there was carrot, zucchini and a hint of citrus with a cinnamon crumble on top.  My apple cinnamon scone with just a taste of salt and Munchkie's Daddy's chocolate croissant were also excellent.

Then the farmer's market.  It was a good thing that my cash was limited and they were all cash only vendors.  I also, had just the night before gone to both an area orchard and the grocery store to buy ingredients for my day of canning, so I knew what was a good deal or what wasn't a good deal.  The flowers were absolutely beautiful!  I wish that I could justify buying bunches of them.  I already had my eye on these sugar snap peas, but the guy behind the stand popped out and brought one for Munchkie to try.  She loved it and begged for more.  Two pounds seemed like a good number.  Guess what we'll be eating this week!  Apparently his cow likes them too, he was showing this "too cute picture" of his cow eating the snap peas.

Then I spotted a vender that had all kinds of fresh potted herbs.  The rosemary initially caught my eye, but then as the farmer kept showing me the different herbs I was drawn in.  I ended up with rosemary, stevia, chocolate mint and pineapple mint.  The man said that if you dry the leaves in a paper bag you can add them to teas and coffees to add flavor.  I can't wait to figure out what to do with them.  Then, just as we were walking out, I saw them.  The farm fresh eggs.  I just had to get them.  I absolutely can not even wait to make some scrambled eggs in the morning for breakfast.

Overall, it was a wonderful time.  I am super excited about my purchases and can't wait to use them all!  I will be frequenting the farmer's market this summer in it's various locations.  If you are in my area, check out CitySeed to see the locations and hours of all of the farmer's markets.  I am partially devastated that I didn't think ahead of time to get a CSA and enjoy fresh produce each week.  The one at the orchard near me equals out to $30 a week for 20 weeks of produce!  I seriously wouldn't be able to get fresh produce like that anywhere for a price like that!  Let me tell you, I will definitely be finding a CSA for next summer!

Meatless Meals That Taste Great (Ultimate Recipe Swap)

I read this post a while ago and decided to go ahead and post it now.  With the Lenten season underway and no meat Fridays along with the rising cost of groceries, especially meat, I thought this might be helpful.  I haven't actually tried any of the recipes, but I am willing to try them if it means healthy for less!

Meatless Meals That Taste Great (Ultimate Recipe Swap)

When things go wrong, start cooking

I had a very specific schedule planned out for this morning.  When Munchkie woke up I was going to get her, do my 20 minute exercise DVD with her "assistance," shower and make it to church for Sunday School.  Due to my schedule and our traveling I have not been able to go to our church since the beginning of December.  Isn't that crazy?  We really wanted to start participating more at church and we haven't been able to because I've been working.  When I woke up, went downstairs and started to brush my teeth, the water just stopped.  I turned the faucet off and on and nothing.  Nothing from the kitchen sink either.  Oh boy.  There went all of my perfectly scheduled plans.  No water= not good.  You don't realize how much you use rely on water.  I can't shower, I can't brush my teeth, I can't wash my scrubs (which are all dirty and I have to work tonight), and I feel amazingly dehydrated since I have limited water to drink. 

So when I get frustrated or stressed, I like to cook/bake.  Even though it meant that I would end up with dishes that couldn't be washed I decided to make something for breakfast.  It ended up being tasty.

I chopped up a couple tomatoes, sweet peppers and 4 cloves of garlic.

I sauteed the garlic in 1 teaspoon of olive oil and then added the peppers.  After they got slightly soft I added the tomatoes and about 1/4 cup black beans.  I know this may be weird, but I push the veggies around the outside of the pan and then pour the eggs in the middle to cook for a little bit.  I used 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites that were scrambled with a dash of milk, chili powder, paprika, cumin and freeze dried cilantro (bad choice, wish I had fresh).

Then I added just a little bit of shredded cheese once everything was cooked.

Munchkie's Daddy had his in a wrap with hot sauce to spice it up more.

I just put mine in a bowl with some more cilantro.  Munchkie and I were supposed to share, but she decided that she didn't want any once we sat down to eat it. 

And so she ended up with a more toddler friendly breakfast.

This ended up being so filling neither one of us could finish it!  Quite yummy I would have to say.  I think it made our lack of water just a little more bearable.  Now the water can decide to start running at any time.  That would be nice.