Presidential elections are always extra fun since they are rare occasions every 4 years – kind of like leap year! I went to bed early knowing I’d probably hear the results at the 3am feeding, but Matt woke me up with the news at 11:30!
Our family celebrated breakfast with overnight oats, made with Greek yogurt, milk, oats, chia seeds, pumpkin pie spice and banana. Topped with sunflower butter and Autumn Spice Granola.
I heated this up for 30 seconds in the microwave to take the chill out and it was the perfect room temp.
MY OTHER RECIPES
Served with hot, hot decaf. It’s so funny how in the morning I’m all “I gotta get my coffee!!” and there’s no caffeine. It’s total ritual!
Hipster baby in his cords and a cloth diaper!
My mom, a librarian, sends Maze a new book almost every week. When she got word that he loves his bouncy seat birds, she figured he needed to learn more about birdies. This arrived today!
Maze and I went for a walk with our friend Gina, who is expecting a baby near Christmas. So fun to talk about pregnancy and motherhood! And so fun that Maze took a nice stroller nap.
Then we ate lunch before heading out to vote.
Salad made with baby kale greens, Woodstock dressing (Annie’s brand), trail mix, and grapes.
Plus leftover bean soup
And a thick slice of Woodstock bread from our bakery with some Wild Squirrel on top. #addictedtonutbutter
I was prepared to wait a couple of hours in line to vote but I was thrilled to find the entire process took only FIVE MINUTES. Yay for Cville voting for being organized and for me for picking a good time of day (2:30pm). I can’t imagine those who waited for hours – especially with a baby or other complications. Good for them for making the effort.
Matt was busy today, but I encouraged him to bike up and vote while we were there just so he wouldn’t run out of time.
Afterwards, we walked up and down the mall and got coffees!! I always see people with coffees on TV and the movies and they look so cool and cosmopolitan. I rarely get coffee drinks in the afternoon, so I tried to be cool with one, tossing my cup around while deep in conversation.
This was actually a pumpkin spice latte – but not your typical Starbucks variety. It was from Java Java and I was told it was made with real pumpkin puree, spices, a little condensed milk and a little sugar. I wasn’t going to order it when I heard the ingredients for fear it would be too sweet (as much as I love buttercream frosting, I don’t like sweet coffee drinks) but they let me taste a sample and it was GREAT!! Not much sugar at all. Even so, I asked for half of the amount of pumpkin milk and diluted it with regular milk to make a delicious beverage.
Later on in the afternoon, snack of dry cereal from the jar and a date ball.
Matt and I had a candlelit dinner with a lovely combination of foods –
Wild Alaskan Salmon, coated in blackening spices and pan-fried in some safflower oil and finished in a 400* oven. Just sear the first side, flip and put in oven until cooked through. Yum! The blackening spices were a mix that the Alaskan Seafood Marketing Group sent me a while ago with some fish. I just got around to using it, and the combo of cinnamon, cumin, cayenne, sugar and salt was great!
On the side – oven roasted potatoes coated in olive oil, herbs, garlic and salt/pepper and roasted for about an hour at 400* on our cooling rack
Canned green beans! Not only tasty, but soooo easy to prepare with no washing/prepping needed!
A small glass of vino on the side
And I ended the night with a taste of pistachio chocolate!
****
I want to share a few of the thoughtful auctions, fundraisers and aid going around the blog world to support Hurricane Sandy survivors.
Anne organized an auction on Fannetastic Food to benefit the Red Cross with workout gear and more. The auction goes through Thursday.
Ashley has set up a Target registry for fellow running and health blogger Jen whose family lost everything in Hurricane Sandy. You can purchase items for her family to have when they find a new place to rent while they rebuild their lives. Here is the registry. In addition, spread the news by sharing and liking this article on Good Morning America regarding the registry!
Here is a wishlist for a reader’s town’s school that was destroyed in Monmouth Beach, NJ
The Fitnessista is holding a Sweets For Sandy auction this Friday and we donated Cville Cluster Granola and pancake mix!
OpenSky donated all profits to the Red Cross on Halloween (KERF shop participated!)
Props to Oh She Glows with an auction that ended yesterday [ <– still going!!!] raising over $8,000!
If you have a Sandy cause to share, please do in the comments!
Remember reading your blog from before the last election! How time flies.
!!
I remember that too! For some reason, I remember one specific comment from a reader who assumed you voted a particular way because of “all those button downs” you wore. Ha!
Haha. I rarely wear them now!
I’ve noticed that in your photos…and secretly always wondered whether it was because the conclusion that reader drew was so unsavory ;).
Haha not at all. I just don’t have many reasons to dress up anymore!
Ha, yes, just teasing.
I can’t believe the election is over just like that! Can’t say I’m too sad about it though but these past four years have gone by soooo fast. Last night when we were watching the results we reminisced about what we were doing the election before that!
The eats from yesterday look so good- and every time I see you post a photo of grapes, it makes me want to go buy some. It’s just one of those things that I tend to forget about!
What a cute little hipster- love the cords. 🙂
I’m glad the election is over – people get so hostile (on both sides) and friends temporarily turn into enemies. Funny how a lot people couldn’t care less the 3 years in between elections.
Oven roasted potatoes always look so wonderful. I really need to make some. I think I’m just too busy/lazy to chop up potatoes. 🙂 That pumpkin drink looks fantastic too. I could go for one of those right now!
Thank you for sharing the info for some of the Sandy relief in the blog world.
That blackening spice sounds like it would be delicious on oven roasted sweet potatoes. May have to make my own mix and give it a try. I love cumin and cinnamon on sweet potatoes!!
I’m so craving potatoes after seeing yours! YUM! Thanks so much for the links for Sandy, I’m going to go check them out now.
Hey – I just wanted to comment to let you know I love reading your blog everyday. It’s fab how you eat healthy wholesome food but non of the gimmicky diet fads you read about. I take tips from you all the time. Oh and your little man is too gorgeous.
Thanks Kate!
That pumpkin latte sounds delicious, and way better than a starbucks latte! I’ll have to check out some local coffee shops to see what they’re doing for fall!
Morning Kath-I know this is off subject today, but my daughter is due next week and she went yesterday for them to try to turn the baby, no luck. Could you please remind me which post you talked about this? Thanks, and so glad you and your beautiful family are doing well!!
You mean for breech position? I’m not sure I remember writing a post, but check out spinningbabies.com.
Thanks Kath…it was actually Gina over at the Fitnessista who posted it!
Chiropractic and acupuncture each have about 85% success rates for turning breech babies!
Thanks for mentioning the fundraisers! My fundraiser is still open and will remain open as long as it’s raising money. The draw for the prizes is tomorrow so anyone who donates today is still entered. 🙂
Oh I didn’t realize! Thanks for the clarification. Ill try to edit when we’re home.
Look at your baby’s stone blue eyes!! Holy gorgeous!!!! 🙂
Thanks for sharing all those Hurrican Sandy support links. Going to check them out tonight. I love it when the healthy living community comes together to help those in need. 🙂
I am so happy today – my grin is ear-to-ear. Your hipster baby is adorable, and I am glad you got out to vote!
Fun to see Maze looking at the bird book. On the review page, grandmas wrote in that their toddler grandchildren love to look at the pics of the different birds. I realize Maze isn’t a toddler but he’ll be one before we know it. Love the red cords!
Gah – baby cords! I was thisclose to ordering some for my little guy (12 weeks) from Old Navy but stopped myself with the realization that he has more clothes than he will ever wear as it is (hand me downs are a major perk to being grandkid #15, and boy #10).
Love your blog. It’s my daily reminder to make healthful choices 😉
Cute Mazen!
Love Mazen’s crazy hats!!
I’m not a big sweet coffee drink person either…I can dig into desserts but I just can’t drink super sweet things for some reason.
Mazen is as adorable as ever!! I swear he just gets cuter by the day.
He looks adorable in his hat!
That coffee sounds so good! I love pumpkin lattes but am particular about how I like my coffee and that one sounds delish.
And so does the date ball. Every time you link them, I want one!
I adore that baby outfit, it is just beyond adorable!
Oh, the blackened salmon looks delish…must try to recreate a mix. Great of you to mention all the fundraising events to aid those whose lives have been touched by Hurricane Sandy.
That is what I’d call a SIP of wine, not a glass! HA!
Maze is ridiculously adorable in all of his outfits. I just melted over the owl hat. Seriously, where can I find one? 😛
It’s by Naartjie kids! http://www.naartjiekids.com
I too went to bed at about 10:00 not knowing the election results. I woke up at 3:30 and had to get out of bed to find out. haha Glad your voting was seamless, mine was too!
Hi Kath. Well I tried the canned pumpkin in my oatmeal. pretty good. I add a little honey, raisins, a few walnuts and some maple flakes. Still no sugar in oatmeal! really starting to develop new tastes without sugar. But question:
do you use steel cut or regular old-fashioned oats? I purchased some from wal-mart and it looked like the left-overs that fell out of the bottom of the truck. Is it supposed to look like that? What brand do you buy?
I use old fashioned from the bulk bins!
Thanks for getting the word out about relief for victims of Sandy. I live on the jersey shore, and know a ton of people that could benefit from it. Here are two other organizations:
Waves for Water – wavesforwater.org
Jetty Surf – there’s a tee for sale and all profits go to Sandy victims. The site is jettylife.com
Elections are so exciting. Maze is adorable in his hat! Enjoy it now because they don’t want to wear them for long 🙂
Wow Angela really did amazingly well! #addictedtonutbutter should be a prerequisite for being a food blogger 🙂
Mazen is so cute and it looks like you all are really hitting your stride. I have to say, while I am so happy you are still posting daily recaps…sometimes I miss the 3x per day. I know you have to do what works for you, but it was my own little ritual to follow your day along with mine…and I guess I miss you ;-).
I read Ashley’s post and donated to the rebuilding registry earlier this week- I was in such awe by their thoughtfulness and contributions to help! It’s great to see others coming together to support those who need it the most!
As someone who lives in NYC, I think it is so great that people around the country are coming together to help those of us who were affected out. My husband and I were really lucky; we live in a part of Manhattan that was barely touched. There were some evacuations because of a crane that wasn’t properly shut down, but we were lucky enough to be able to stay in our building. The worst of it for us was that we lost hot water for about 5 days. I have friends, however, that have been without heat, hot water, or electricity for almost the past two weeks. And I know THEY are lucky because at least their homes are in tact! Anyway, just wanted to give you a shout out from NYC. Thank you!
can you help me find the fitnessista’s aution on her site?
thanks
I don’t believe she has posted it yet – it starts on Friday
Good on ya for making voting such an important part of your day!! Even though I’m Canadian I followed this election closely and unfortunately fell asleep last night while watching the coverage!
I had dreams all night about the election!! Needless to say I jumped out of bed to find out the results this morning!
I too enjoy going out for “coffee” with my hubs…Well, we usually just pick up coffees..I get a pumpkin spice soy steamed milk and he gets the sugar loaded coffee drinks! It makes me feel so grown up 😉
What is it about a freshly opened jar of sunflower butter?! It just makes morning oatmeal/overnight oats that much better!!
Today, I put half the hot oatmeal in the bowl then topped it with sunflower butter and then put the rest of the hot oatmeal on top of that…it was fun and delicious finding spots of sunflower butter throughout 🙂
How do you like the cloth diapers? 🙂
Good!! Wish they weren’t so bulky because none of his clothes would fit well on top, but the process was fine. Hopefully he will grow into them
Decaf coffee still has some caffeine in it, it is a misnomer. http://www.m.webmd.com/diet/news/20061011/decaf-coffee-isnt-caffeine-free
That may be true, but 8-13 mg is hardly any at all. I’ve never felt any effects, so I still think it’s a psychological response and not the caffeine itself. I wonder if I would feel the same about hot decaf tea if it was brewed like coffee though?
I haven’t hosted a Sandy auction or anything, but I have a friend who lives on Staten Island and I reached out to see what was needed and sent her a care package. Her house had minimal damage but her neighborhood was torn apart. I liked knowing sending something directly to her meant that the right things would get to the right people and I felt like I was helping more than with a donation, even though that IS a GREAT way to help.
How long would you say you baked the salmon at 400 for?
About 8-10 minutes
I love to make toast cuts on my cooling rack because it makes all the sides and edges crunchy! I never thought to use it for potatoes…have to try that!
Thanks for sharing all the Hurricane Sandy fundraising efforts.
Man that baby is cute, I love that hat.
DC readers can attend a fundraiser this Friday at Town Tavern in DC. Here is the link to the FB page for the event:
http://www.facebook.com/events/522194794468127/?notif_t=plan_admin_added
Thanks!
canned green beans are the ultimate kid food (well in my house at least). I think my kids would choose them over a cookie, and they are the plain organic unsalted kind! My 4 year old ate an entire can and part of another before i cut her off the other week…should you ever cut a child off of veggies? 1.5 cans seemed crazy!
Gosh, those red cords! I swear, I am taking notes from you for dressing my future children. Your afternoon coffee treat sounds fun! Thanks for sharing all the fundraising links.
It’s interesting, I’ve just notised, that we have the same I-feel rocker from Chicco – same colour too…and we live so far away
Cute cords! The few times I put Anderson in more “structured” pants (when he was around your sons age) he just seemed so uncomfortable! So…I decided only “soft” pants till he could walk! Also they fit so much easier around cloth. I knew I wasn’t going to give up on cloth… So it was a great solution.
I’m too jealous of all your meals! How long do you allocate/have to enjoy your meals?
Cute baby pics, as always!!! I’m glad he got to take part in his first election-it’s pretty important stuff!!! : )
That pumpkin spice latte sounds lovely! I like that they use all real ingredients. Your dinner really looks fantastic! I’ve never cooked salmon before but I’ve always wanted to. I’ll have to try making it the way you do 🙂
I thought your Mom was a writer, but you called her a librarian – where did she go to school for her MLS? I saw on her website that she has an MFA in writing, but no mention of an advanced degree in librarianship.
I went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill right after I graduated from Duke. Only worked in a library for about five years, until Kath was born. I always thought I would go back, but then I got busy writing and teaching. Love libraries! Old ones, new ones, little ones, huge ones.
It’s so great that your Mom sends books to the baby. It’s our tradition to always give books too.