This Easter weekend was a little different than past years. I didn’t eat any Peeps or cook a ham this year, but Mazen and I had a lot of fun playing egg hunt in the house after his school hunt. The only downside is Easter basket grass got everywhere when he decided to play snowfall with it. I told him he had to help me clean it up before he could go over to the neighbor’s house to play, and he took one look at me and walked out the door. What’s the mom of a threenager to do!?
Friday night I made this lentil, olive and king salmon salad from a Cook Smarts recipe. It was delicious but I had 3 times over the weekend and don’t want to look at it again! I’m going to have to learn more about eating for 1.5!
I had some friends over to watch the UVA game – a win!
And then we went outside to light up the firepit for the first time of the season! It was so cool! I mean hot!!
We shared and devoured the s’mores ingredients I bought in celebration!
Saturday breakfast –
I went to the gym and did a Body Pump class with my friend Erin! I haven’t done one since before Mazen was born, but it was kind of fun to do something different. I’d say the biggest difference between traditional Body Pump and the Strength Challenge kettlebell class that I normally do is I left BP feeling like my major muscle groups were more tired but the stabilizing muscles weren’t so I didn’t feel like I got as balanced of a workout as in strength class. I did use heavier weight though because the bars can hold more, so it was a weird trade off!
Saturday lunch was more lentil salad –
Mr. Sawyer says hi!!
Mazen spent the night at Matt’s on Saturday, so I had the evening to myself. I went out for Thai food and drinks with friends. This Butternut Squash Red Curry with tofu from Monsoon was so good!
This was a twist on a Sidecar from Commonwealth – lemony!
Sunday morning I was up early so I could make muffins for breakfast! I’ll be featuring this recipe from Andie Mitchell’s new cookbook Eating In The Middle this week. This innovative cookbook comes out tomorrow, and I LOVED this first recipe!
I spent Sunday organizing the house, cleaning out my winter clothes from my closet (easier said than done) and working on some food prep for the week. Determined to be organized!
Have a great week guys!
Glad you enjoyed your Easter! I do not like Peeps.
So, what did you do when mazen walked out the door? My threenager is almost four and testing boundaries right and left. I’ve learned the hard way if I say something i have to stick to it, no matter what.
Well I was on the phone with our bakery buyers so I had to let him go, but we had a talk about it later. Agree about holding ground though – have to start that young.
Congrats on the buyers!
Glad you enjoyed your Easter! Your Thai meal looks delish. I could eat Thai every night : ) Hope you have a great week!
Sam
Thank you for sharing such a personal story with us. Im currently going through the same thing, so it’s a breath of fresh air to hear your story + daily happenings with a toddler.
Burnt s’mores are my favorite!
I am excited for the muffin recipe- I don’t have enough carrot cake in my life.
I am a single mom of three teenagers , and I often am home alone at night due to jobs and various activities. It is too easy for me to have popcorn for dinner…but then I think what would my favorite RD (you)have to say about that?? The better I do with prep meals etc the better my lunches and dinners are!
I’ve had that Morning Glory muffins recipe for almost 10 years. Got it from the Robin Hood flour website.
Not an original recipe to whoever wrote this cookbook. Although I stopped making them when I started trying to get healthier. So much fat and sugar. It is, however, delicious!
How do you know the recipe? Did you buy her book?
Actually, the recipe can be viewed on Amazon if you click the preview for the book (I even used the link you have in your post) 🙂 The recipe in the book is just another recipe for whole wheat muffins with carrots, raisins and pineapple. I think that muffins for breakfast is just an excuse to eat cake for breakfast, but I can’t throw any stones here, I LOVE muffins and make them once a week.
Fair enough. I saw your batter and muffins, it looks identical. Perhaps this person made a recipe with almost the same exact ingredients and gave it the exact same name. Or perhaps she slightly changed a recipe she found online.
I find a lot of cookbooks are doing this lately. I know it’s difficult to be original but it seems like changing a couple of ingredients and claiming a recipe as your own is all too common. Using the same name is a step further than I have seen before, however.
Andie (the author) makes well known recipes and makes them healthier. Nothing shady going on here.
Hi kath! I am a newly separated mom of two and am going through similar “growing pains” as you are. I was curious if you would be open to doing a post about changes/adjustments you have had to make In your life as you have ventured to being single again. Emotional, physical, financial, parenting decisions etc. I think reading about your experience would be very comforting to so many people. Thank you for taking the time to read this 🙂
Definitely crafting a post in my head as I navigate life. I’ll do something!
How do you like having your TV above the fireplace? I see that a lot, but always thought it would be hard to get used to having one so high after being used to having them on a stand. I don’t know if you’re old enough to remember when they were huge boxes that just sat on the floor, LOL!
Love it! Such a convenient spot. Ours is far enough away not to be hard on the neck
I’ve had that muffin recipe for a long time as well, and I believe it was called Morning Glory muffins too. Very yummy!
Morning Glory is just a common name for carrot, raisin, pineapple, coconut muffins I think!
I’ve been wondering how you’re adjusting to cooking for 1.5 people. My house recently has fewer mouths to feed than it used to. It’s been really difficult for me!
Love the honesty with which your sharing this new phase for you and Mazen and Matt. I think you’ve made a good call between sharing some of the stuff but still focusing on what this blog is about – living healthily etc.
Random question: where did you get your glass food storage containers and are you happy with them? I am hoping fun new storage containers will inspire me to be bether about food prep. Thanks!
They are Pyrex brand and I love them! My only complaint is that they are heavy, so the make packing a lunch a bit of a weight to lug around.
I have the same Pyrex ones. About 2.5 years into their use all the plastic lids started cracking. 🙁
Are your lids neon green and thick? I have some that has the blue thin lids and those are cracking. 2.5 years is pretty good though. Wonder if they sell replacement lids?
If anyone finds where to order them, then please let me know! I looked on their website and on Amazon. I believe we have Anchor brand, and I need some replacement lids due to cracking or warping.
My pyrex ones have the thin blue lids. I also have the anchor brand with the red lids and those are cracked as well 🙁 I haven’t come across replacement lids but that’s a good idea. I should email pyrex to find out! If they answer me I will update here with a reply.
I need to start meal planning for the week too. My days are so much smoother when I’m not scrambling to figure out what to feed my 2.5 year old!
Thanks for continuing to share as you enter this new phase of life. Grateful for your blog & honesty. Can’t wait to see the muffins!
I recognized the salad from the picture before I even read the post! I made the same one this week and was surprised at how good it was! Although, my husband didn’t end up eating his portion and I made the 4-person size so I got sick of eating it all week too 😉 Gotta hand it to cook smarts though, I would never have thought to put those ingredients together on my own!
Yumm!
My husband works a lot of evenings, so I’ve gotten pretty efficient at making meals for me and the toddler. I tend to cook/prepare a lot of salad, or burrito (!), ingredients and then serve them to myself on greens or in a tortilla and serve them to my todd as finger foods. Maybe that will be helpful! Good job, mamma!
What an interesting blog and i enjoy reading your post. I love spending time and love when cooking like you do. Thanks for sharing