Happy 1 Month!
Posted: May 24, 2012 Filed under: Motherhood 1 Comment »
One month has gone by so fast but it seems like forever ago that Beau was born. It’s true that no matter what you are told, nothing can really prepare you for motherhood. The first week was hard because I was so tired and everything was healing and I didn’t really feel over the moon in love and connected with Beau. I never had baby blues or depression, but there were several times where I just cried and cried. One day I was feeding him and just pouring tears because I just didn’t want to be feeding him in that moment and I had to and I didn’t feel loving toward him and I felt so sad that I was feeling that way. Once I cried because I thought he was hungry and thought that I didn’t have enough milk to feed him… it turns out he was just crying because he was tired. So was I! I cried because none of my clothes fit and all of my maternity clothes look so frumpy and I just wanted to feel cute again. Each week has been challenging but it gets better and better as I learn what Beau’s cries mean, what soothes him, how to get things dones when he is sleeping, etc. Overall, it has been great and I am getting the hang of this mom thing. I also love seeing Alan as a dad. He is so great with Beau and always seems like he knows what to do with him. Each day Beau grows and changes and I see his personality come out and love him more and more.
Things Alan and I love about 1 month old Beau:
- Sometimes when he is done feeding, he will pull away with his face covered in milk and grin really big. It melts my heart every time. I wish I had a picture!
- He is so strong. He will be laying on mine or Alan’s chest and hold his head up and look at our faces and turn his head and look around. I love that he is starting to look at us and make eye contact and started to respond to me talking to him.
- Beau smiles and giggles in his sleep. It is the cutest sound.
- I am not sure why he does this but toward the end of feeding, he will pull away and then cry about it as if I were the one that made him stop eating. But it is the cutest little whine. I think it is so funny.
- Beau has man farts! It cracks Alan and I up at how much and loud he farts.
- Cuddling and sleeping with him on our chest.
- Funny Faces! Our favorite is Chinese Man face where he purses his lips together and raises his eyebrows.
Welcome, Beau Samson Wade!
Posted: May 2, 2012 Filed under: Motherhood 1 Comment »
Dear Beau,
You’re 1 week old today! One week went by so fast but it also seems so long ago that you were born. Your dad and I love you so much and each day we are finding new things that we love about you. You are such a good baby. You eat and sleep so well and are rarely fussy. I can’t wait to watch you grow and hope I cherish each stage, because I know you are going to grow up so fast. I wrote down the story of your birth so that I could always remember the day you were born. It goes something like this…
The weekend of April 21-22 I was in full nesting mode. Even though we kept saying that Beau would probably come late, I had this overwhelming anxious feeling that everything had to be done that weekend. My mommy-senses were already kicked in and all I wanted to do was clean and get our apartment ready for Beau. I went to work Monday, April 23, and was feeling anxious all day… like time was running out to get everything completed. After work I came home and took a nap. Usually, I come home and nap from 4:00-5:00pm and then wake up and make dinner. But this time I slept through my alarm and woke up a little after 6:00pm…which my body obviously knew I needed because I was getting ready to have the longest day of my life. Alan and I stayed up until around 10:00pm getting Beau’s room ready. I wanted to stay up longer and get everything done but Alan said we could finish everything the next day. I remember laying in bed telling Alan that I wanted the apartment clean and organized the next day. Well, that didn’t happen! I woke up to go to the bathroom around 12:30am on Tuesday and started feeling cramps. I layed in bed trying to figure out if what I was feeling was contractions or not. I woke up Alan and told him I thought I was having contractions but wasn’t sure. We both just weren’t sure that what I was feeling was real labor or not. I woke him up again and asked if he would time the contractions. They were about 3-5 minutes apart so we were confused. We thought that contractions would start out far apart and not that strong. It turns out, I probably started having contractions as soon as I fell asleep and just slept through the first few hours. Around 2:00am, Alan got up to pack our bags. We were not ready at all!
We drove to Allen Birthing Center and got there about 3:00am. The midwife checked my dilation when we got there and I was at 3 cm. She told us to go walk around the block and to come back in about an hour. Alan and I walked up and down the street and went back in to get checked around 4:00am. I had progressed to 4 cm and she told us we could be admitted. Alan called our moms and Autumn, our photographer, and told everyone that they could head up the the birthing center. The rest of the day is a big blur to me where I have no idea of time and blocked out everything that was going on around me. What’s great and different about laboring at a birthing center is how intimate it is. Most of the day it was just me and Alan by ourselves getting through each contraction one at a time. The midwife or her assistant would come in often to check the heart rate, write down what I was doing, and very few times check my progression. I remember trying to do all of the things we learned to help get through contractions. I sat on an exercise ball and rocked my hips. I leaned over the side of the bed a lot. We went walking outside several times. I hung around Alan’s neck with all my weight. I was standing and walking all day and it was so exhausting since I was going off of two hours of sleep. Twice during the day I was so exhausted that I got in the tub with warm water to slow down the contractions so that I could sleep between them. At some point in the afternoon, our midwife checked me and decided that we should break my water to help speed things up. Once she did, the contractions came on so much stronger and it was so hard to get through each one. The hardest part was around 2:00pm, our midwife took me and Alan outside and we walked around the block. I wasn’t allowed to stop walking, I just had to push through it and keep walking to get me fully dilated and Beau in position for birth. After we walked around the block, Alan and I sat on the porch swing and we rocked back and forth for a while. Finally, I had the urge to go to the bathroom, which is a good sign I was getting close to pushing. We went in and I sat on the toilet for not long because the pushing feeling started to come. We moved to the bedroom and I started to feel intense pressure and the urge to push. I was trying to tell the midwife that I needed to get in the water because he was coming. I don’t think anyone realized how close he was to coming. I got in the tub and started pushing with each contraction. It was the most intense pain I have ever felt. I remember praying and asking God to help me get through this. I was praying, Lord, give me the strength, I can’t do this. I had the 3D sonogram taped to the wall next to the birthing tub. During one of my pushes, I opened my eyes and looked at his sweet face and thought, I’m doing this for you. After about 20 minutes of pushing, I pushed with all my strength and out he came! Alan caught him and put him on my chest and everyone cheered and cried and I just sat there completely exhausted and overwhelmed with what just happened and the fact that I was holding my baby and he was safe and healthy and we made it!
Alan was the best coach! He was encouraging, helped me focus on my breathing, let me hang on him with all my weight for most of the day, and didn’t let me give up when I wanted to. I am so thankful for him and all the work he did to help me get through the birth of our son. Carol, our midwife, was so helpful and did everything to help me know Beau and I were doing great and that we could do it. Our moms were so helpful in getting Alan and I food and drink throughout the day to keep up our energy and were understanding whenever I was rude or told them to go away or be quiet or whatever I said to them throughout the day. Autumn was there the entire day capturing the whole thing through her lense. I am so thankful to her for giving us pictures to always have to remember the day. And of course, I am continuously thankful to God that he blessed us with a child, that he kept us safe and healthy, and gave me the strength to get through it all.
Here is a video of Beau’s Birth.
Here is a slide show of some pictures.
Autumn Reynolds blog of Beau’s birth.
Opinions on Baby Making…
Posted: January 12, 2012 Filed under: Motherhood, Opinions | Tags: baby 1 Comment »
I have some opinions on baby making… you know… the daily ins and outs of my body making a baby! There are so many things that I have come to realize or experience each new week of this process that I want share with everyone. I would normally post these opinions and little thoughts as a facebook status, but I don’t want to come across as though that is what my entire life is about. In fact, I will just start with that opinion!
1. It may not seem like it, but there is more to my life other than the fact that I’m pregnant. As soon as people find out that you are pregnant, that is THE ONLY thing that people want to ask you about. Even if you see these people every day, it is the same question. “How are you, how’s the baby”?! Guess what, I told you yesterday I was good, and I’m still good, thanks for asking! I know people are just being nice, and I’m probably guilty of doing the same thing at times, but it can be a bit annoying. Tip: Maybe be creative if you are going to attempt small talk with a pregnant woman and come up with a new question besides how’s the baby. Suggestions- What books are you reading? (several, let me tell ya!) Try any new recipes lately? (tons! which I promise to share eventually) What movies or shows are you watching on netflix? (just finished all Harry Potter movies for the first time) See, that was so easy! Now that I’m done talking about why there is more to me than being pregnant, I have lots to say about being pregnant! 
2. Pregnant brain actually exists! It’s not fake, I promise! For all you skeptics like me that think women just make excuses for things by blaming it on their baby, I am living proof. I was fairly… um maybe mostly, forgetful about things before I was pregnant. It has gone to an all new extreme! For example, today someone asked what apartment number I live in and I said “5934… no 5034… yeah 5034 I think”. I drive up to our building today and was like oohhhh, that’s right! I live in 5434! If I don’t write it down right when you ask me to do something or do it right away, I will forget. And husband, sorry, I am just not going to remember any conversations! You know how if you want to delete a file and it always says “Are you sure you want to delete?” My brain auto deletes things without asking me and I dont know how to turn this function off!
3. Why aren’t all pants made like maternity pants!? The Gap makes some maternity pants and jeans that look just like the regular kind except with elastic waist bands! I used to be excited about jeans day at work but now I just don’t care because all my pants have elastic waist bands… what is better than that!? Which I have also come to realize the elastic waist band isn’t so much for the growing belly as it is for the fact that I might pee myself at any minute and buttons and zippers would be disastrous! I do however miss tucked in shirts with cute belts… I was just starting to really like that look and had to forgo that very quickly after getting pregnant. But for now… elastic waist bands!!
4. You know what else is real? Crying! I really havent been as emotional as I thought I would be. I really don’t cry or get emotional that often. But the times I have been super emotional have been so random and over little things. Just the other day I went into the bathroom at work and could not stop crying, and it was over the silliest little thing. The other night I accidentally hit Alan in the hand, which has a swollen jammed finger, and he hardly responded but to me at that moment, he might as well of yelled and cussed me out because I just started crying and going I’m so sorry and I didn’t mean to. He was like why are you crying!? Now that I think about it, I am more emotional but it’s not really on the crying side of the spectrum. I just get really easily annoyed with people more than normal. I think maybe I’m bitchier than I am anything else. I apologize for any past or future rudeness you see from me. It’s the um… hormones, yeah it’s not my fault, totally the hormones!
5. Gas! Yeah, I don’t think anyone prepared me or Alan for all of the gas. But this is one thing I totally blame on the baby every single time. It’s totally not me, it’s Beau that is farting! So I don’t feel so bad.
6. I have an opinion about complaining. Sure, there is a lot to complain about when there is a human growing inside of you. My back hurts, I’m hungry but nothing sounds good, I’m so tired, my chest and throat are on fire and on and on. I’m really good at complaining. I can do it without even noticing! But, I try really hard not to complain with being pregnant. The reason is because I actually had a fear that I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant. All I ever wanted was to be a mom and I thought for some reason it wouldn’t happen. And I know a lot of women that would give an entire year of misery to be pregnant and would consider it the best year of their life. And the fact that I was able to get pregnant on the first try and have a healthy baby and healthy pregnancy is worthy of daily praise and thanks to God, not complaints. So, I just want to acknowledge the fact that I consider every nausea, heartburn, backache, etc. a joy because it is evidence that God has answered my prayer. And I pray that all of you that want to have a baby will be able to one day experience the miseries of pregnancy and do so knowing how much of a blessing it all is.
I have another opinion…. what was it? Shoot, I forgot! I’ll remember later!
Back to Cooking!
Posted: October 11, 2011 Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Recipes | Tags: broccoli salad, butternut squash, gouda, lentils, spaghetti, split pea soup, three bean salad Leave a comment »
Hi friends! So, I was temporarily out of the kitchen for a while but I am so glad to be feeling better and back to cooking. I experienced a month of constant morning sickness shortly after I found out that I was pregnant. I could not stand to think about or be around pretty much all food stuffs. I could not go to the grocery store, or cook, or really do much of anything. All I wanted, when I did feel like eating, was mashed potatoes, toast, chocolate chip cookies, and lots of sleep. We mostly eat vegetable based dishes but I will say that I have increased my protein the past few months… except I absolutely cannot stand the smell or taste of chicken. There has been no chicken in our household in the past few months and I don’t expect there to be any time soon. So, here are a few dishes that I have made that are super easy and healthy. I wanted to fix meals that would make a large batch to freeze half for later so that I don’t have to cook as often and some side dishes to keep in the fridge for an easy snack. Check em out!
Butternut Squash, Chickpea, Lentil Stew
I will admit that this soup looks pretty gross but it was actually really tasty. The flavors work so well together. And a great bonus is we got to use the butternut squash that our brother-in-law grew in his own backyard! I used yellow lentils instead of red since that is what I had in the pantry. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/squash_chickpea_red_lentil_stew.html
Ground Bison, Pasta Sauce, and Whole Wheat Spaghetti
Spaghetti is a pretty easy go to meal when you don’t feel like putting a lot of energy into dinner. To get some protein in for the week, we use either ground bison or organic grass-fed ground beef. Cook some organic pasta sauce and whole wheat spaghetti. Brown the meat, simmer the sauce, cook pasta until al dente. Add a spinach side salad and there ya go!
Split Pea Soup
Again, another yucky looking soup but we love this meal! I saw this on Barefoot Contessa and decided to try it. It is so easy to make and you can freeze half of the batch for another week. Serve with some warm bread and there’s your dinner. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/parkers-split-pea-soup-recipe/index.html
Broccoli Crunch Salad
There are so many different versions of this cold broccoli salad. I don’t ever measure things out for this recipe so I estimate that I use 1-2 heads of broccoli florets, half a small purple onion diced, 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds, 1 cup chopped cashews, 1 cup rasins or dried cranberries, about 1/2 cup or so of Brianna’s Poppyseed salad dressing. Mix it all up and enjoy for days!
Three Bean Salad with Gouda
I first made this salad for Easter this past year but I made this again recently because it is so super easy to make and so yummy. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/3006
Do you have any easy meals that you have made recently? I hope you try these out and let me know what you think. I actually have a lot more recipes to share with you but I will save those for another post. And since this blog is all about things I make… well I am making a baby, so of course I will be sharing more about my experience with that as well!
20 Minute Summer Quinoa Salad
Posted: July 22, 2011 Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Recipes | Tags: Quinoa 5 Comments »I just made the yummiest Quinoa salad and have to tell you all about it! It was 3:00pm and I was getting very hungry. We didn’t have anything prepared to eat and we are getting to the end of our groceries for the week. So, I looked around the fridge and pantry and decided to throw together a Quinoa salad with sauteed veggies and some feta cheese. I think this is one of the best dishes I have created so far! I’m sure someone else out there in the world has created this dish, it might even be in a cookbook! But, I came up with this on the spot and didn’t measure anything out, so I will do my best to give a recipe…. because I know you will want to make this! I started at 3:00pm and was scarfing it into my face at 3:20-3:25.
1. Turn on some great music as you soak 1 cup of quinoa in water. I chose Bon Iver, that was the mood I was in! FYI- Quinoa is a complete protein source among plant foods and is a a good source of dietary fiber, phosphorous, magnesium, and iron. It is gluten-free and easy to digest.
2. In a fine mesh colander, drain and rinse quinoa and add to a pot of 1 1/4 cups of liquid (water, chicken or veggie stock) and bring to simmer. Cover and simmer on low-medium heat for 20 minutes.
3. Leaving the quinoa alone to simmer, dice half of a yellow onion and add to a pan with about 2 Tbl of olive oil on medium heat.
4. Chop 4 oz. of mushrooms and add to onions to saute. I drizzled a bit more olive oil and stirred. (I would add more mushrooms if you have more).
5. Once it looks like onions are becoming translucent and the mushrooms are good and tender, add 2-3 handfuls of fresh spinach leaves. A drizzle of olive oil and a few stirs and allow all to continure to cook.
6. Dice up some tomato and toss in when spinach has started to wilt. I had some local red and yellow cherry tomatoes but I’m sure you could use whatever tomato you have.
7. By now, 20 minutes should have passed and the quinoa is probably ready. Add quinoa to pan of veggies. Stir.
8. Add some crumbled feta…however much you want. I added about 1/4 cup or so. This would probably be good with parmesan if you don’t have feta.
9. Top with finely chopped basil, a sprinkle of garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
That’s it, that’s all!
Sorry for the shadows, I use my iPhone for pictures!
Road Trip!
Posted: June 28, 2011 Filed under: Food and Nutrition | Tags: food list, road trip 2 Comments »
Alan and I just got home from a looonngg road trip to visit family in Ohio and Indiana. Yep! We drove from Texas to Ohio and then to Indiana and back to Texas. If you have ever driven through middle America on a road trip, then you know that there is nothing but Fast Food chains or “Country Home Cookin” type restaurants that really have nothing but fried foods or foods covered in salt and butter. Gross! So here’s the skinny on how to stay skinny on a road trip! (I’m lame!) You need to prepare for the trip by planning meals and snacks that are easy to assemble and healthy and can keep in a cooler or at room temperature. Of course I’m going to suggest organic produce and so on and so on. But, buy what you can! Here are some suggestions to help you start planning for your next road trip!
You will need:
A large cooler (or two) with freezer packs
A large bag for non-cold items
Plates, Napkins, cups, cutlery, baby wipes for clean up
Eatin Stuffs:
Easy to eat fruit such as- Bananas, grapes, cherries, apples, clementines, etc.
Fruit Salad- cut up fruit at home and drizzle with a mixture of a small amount of lemon juice and water. Keep fruit salad in a large ziplock bag. Or you could do a large bag of bite size pieces of different melon.
Bite size veggies- baby carrots, broccoli, bell pepper, zucchini, etc.
Sliced Bread
Peanut Butter and preserves/jam
cheese slices or sticks
Hummus
Chips (Food Should Taste Good chips or my favorite)
Guacamole (they make it in easy to eat packets)
Yogurt cups or apple sauce cups
Hard-boiled eggs
Granola or protein bars
Mixed nuts or trail mix
Canned fish- tuna, salmon, or sardines
Mustard
Jar of Pickles or olives
Homemade muffins
Juice
Large gallon of filtered water
Addendum: Endless supply of LANCE sunflower seeds
Yep! You see this sort of thing driving through Ohio!
Ok, I think that is quite enough! Did I miss something? Do you have any other great suggestions for healthy eats for a road trip?
Milk and Mylk
Posted: June 7, 2011 Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Recipes | Tags: almond milk, mylk Leave a comment »Milk Substitutes are becoming more and more popular these days. Whether you have an intolerance to lactose or just choose not to consume cow’s milk, milk substitutes can be a great alternative when you want to add some moo juice to your drinks, shakes, or dishes… without the moo. I’m not completely opposed to cows milk, but I try not to consume much of it. Why? Because I believe that it is so important to consider not only what you eat, but what you eat eats. Animals are no longer raised the natural way they were intended to, therefore, their products aren’t natural for us to consume and can even be toxic to our health. Become educated on how cows are raised and treated in order to produce milk and meat products and you might think twice before you pick up that carton. Check out a few bits of information about conventional milk production:
- The majority of cow’s milk comes not from cows grazing on grass and raised in a humane way. The majority of cows, like 90%, are raised in confinement.
- Cows are fed whatever it takes to grow them large and fat as fast as possible. This means they are fed a combination of genetically modified corn, grain, and soy products mixed in with synthetic growth hormones, antibiotics, and other animal byproducts like hair, skin, hooves, and waste.
- Why are cows given antibiotics? Well, cows are meant to eat grass. So, when cows are eating food that they are not created to eat, their stomachs develop ulcers and other digestive problems occur, resulting in sick cows. Also, the cows’ utters can become infected and develop puss from the overproduction of milk.
- Raw milk is found to be healthy. Conventional pasteurized and homogenized cow’s milk is not healthy. Why? Pasteurization kills all of the beneficial enzymes, bacteria, and vitamins in order to kill to bad bacteria. It also reduces the minerals in milk such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and trace minerals. So, synthetic vitamins and minerals are added to milk. But these synthetic vitamins can be toxic for our bodies and even difficult to absorb for any nutrition purposes.
New Resource: Experience Life
Posted: May 29, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »
Hello friends!
I would like to take a moment of your time to tell you about a new website/magazine that I added to my list of resources. I first discovered the magazine, Experience Life, at a friend’s home. I have actually known about this magazine for over a year now and read it every time I am at her house. I have never known of a magazine that promotes a healthy lifestyle and natural products and uses fascinating research to educate while entertaining. I could easily pick many of the articles to use for a blog post because they are so great and educational, and I probably will someday soon. But, I want you all to check out Experience Life Magazine for yourself and have it to reference or maybe even subscribe to if you’d like!
Review of Austin
Posted: May 2, 2011 Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Thoughts/Opinions | Tags: Austin 2 Comments »Alan and I just got back from a three day weekend trip to Austin, TX. It was so relaxing and rejuvenating to get to spend three entire days just the two of us with nothing to do but eat, drink, explore, and sleep. The idea of a trip to Austin started with a Groupon deal I saw for Habitat Suites- One night stay in a suite for only $65! I instantly thought, what can be an excuse for us to go to Austin? Alan’s birthday, of course! So, we bought two of the Groupon deals and planned on a weekend trip to Austin, TX to celebrate Alan’s birth, which is this Wednesday May the 4th.
Habitat Suites- A Review
I liked the idea of staying at this place because it is labeled as eco-friendly and titled Austin’s “Green Hotel”. Check out their Green Philosophy here. The entire property was filled with plants, flowers, and vegetation growing everywhere, which was great. The location is just north of the UT campus and within a few minutes drive to the downtown area. The staff was very friendly and I loved that they offer fresh apples at the check-in counter and instead of matchbooks they have scratch books (little scraps of paper in the disguise of a matchbook. The suites are large and equipped with a fully functioning kitchen. The property has “Quiet Hours” from 9:00pm-9:00am daily, so if you are looking for a nice quiet place to relax, this is it. The only thing I didn’t like was that the location is right next to a large mall. I guess this could be nice for some people who want to shop at a mall on vacation, but I was hoping for a more sanctuary… but, not a big deal. Complimentary snacks and drinks are served 5:00pm-7:00pm, which was great because we were hungry and wanted a snack before we headed out to explore the downtown area. The snacks weren’t anything fancy or gourmet, but definitely better than what most hotels would offer to guests for free. Habitat also offers complimentary breakfast for guests which was beter than I expected but again, nothing gourmet about it.
Snack Bar:
Trail mix, mixed nuts, pretzels, gold fish, mixed greens salad, fresh veggies and dip, fresh fruit, cold cuts, bagel bites, nachos, popcorn, spring rolls.
Drink Selection:
Dos XX, Shiner Bock, Coors Light, Bud Light, red wine, white wine, blush wine, sodas, coffee, tea, water.
Breakfast Bar:
Organic cooked oats, scrambled eggs, beans and rice, steamed veggies, vegetarian breakfast patties, link sausage, hash browns, waffles and syrup, biscuits and gravy, toast, bagels, organic local honey, jams, organic yogurt, fresh fruit, whole grain cereals, coffee, tea, juice, milk, rice/soy milk.
The food in Austin is soooo delicious! I was wishing we could have two lunches and two dinners each day, there are just too many places it was so hard to pick just one. These are the eateries we ended up selecting:
Home Slice Pizza- We shared the Margarita pizza. One of the best pizzas I have ever had.
The Flying Carpet Moroccan Souk- We had the vegetarian wrap. Oh man, this was so good! I definitely recommend stopping by the little trailer on South Congress and trying some of this Moroccan goodness.
Crepes- Another little trailer on South Congress Street. We ordered the Rotisserie Chicken crepe. This was tasty but I would have rather had one of the dessert crepes instead.
The Snack Bar- We only stopped in here for drinks but the menu looks great. They serve local organic food in an eco-friendly and creative way.
Amy’s Ice Creams (yes, creams)- I ordered Vanilla with butterfinger and Alan ordered Kahlua with Heath bar, he won. This delicious ice cream shop is all over Austin.
Trudy’s- Famous for their Mexican Marinis which is limited only two per person. For dinner we shared the vegetarian fajitas and the fish tacos. Both were excellent! Oh and the chips and salsa, probably one of the best I have had… and I love chips and salsa.
Two fun things we did for the first time:
1. Kayaking! This was both relaxing and exhausting. It really can be whatever you make out of it! We kayaked up and down Lady Bird Lake which was beautiful and fun to watch all of the people on the trails running or walking their dogs or just out enjoying the sunny day. If you ever do this, I suggest going when the weather is very warm because the water is so cold and you get really wet from the paddles. So, you will want to wear a bathing suite and have a change of clothes in the car! Also, bring some water and a snack. There will be times where you just want to cease with the paddling and just relax and float along and snack on some fruit while you take in the scenery.
2. Watching the bats fly at Sunset! This happened at about 8:30pm and the sun really does set before the bats fly out from under the South Congress bridge. So, it was really hard to see and absolutely no way to get pictures of this. But, this was really neat to experience as I have never seen bats fly so up close before. If you go, stand up on top of the bridge instead of sitting on the grassy hill with everyone, you can see them fly much better from up top, or so it seemed.
Thoughts I had while in Austin:
1. As much as I love American Apparel and hipster fashion, I’m not a hipster and I will never be one.
2. I love that people were always outside walking, riding bicycles, or out jogging. I definitely want to live in a place where I can just walk around the town and people not think, oh no should we offer that lady a ride.
3. It seemed like there were two pre-requisites to living in Austin, having tattoos and owning a dog. I don’t have nor am I a big fan of either.
4. I was left wanting two things very badly. A bicycle and a toddler.
5. This is a funny quote!
Jen: Hey, we should give our extra piece of pizza to a homeless person!
Alan: How can you tell the difference between a homeless person and just a regular Austin person?
On that note! I love love love Austin and I love the attitude and way of life there. I love that people there are more conscious about the environment and about their physical health and about having an attitude of enjoying life than most cities in our country. I love all of the art, shopping, music, and outdoors events that seem to always be going on. If all of my family didn’t live in Dallas, I would really like to move and help keep Austin weird.
Oh, and check out this poster we bought!
Easter Side Dishes
Posted: April 23, 2011 Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Recipes Leave a comment »Tomorrow is Easter, which means lots of time with family and lots of food. We do Easter lunch potluck style and I have decided on two side dishes to bring. If you want to make these dishes vegan, you could do without the cheeses and use a non-dairy milk and butter for the potatoes.
Three-Bean Salad with Gouda Cheese
This bean side salad is so delicious! It has an unexpected tanginess to it with the gouda cheese and the mixture of the dijon mustard and red wine vinegar in the sauce. This was so easy to make and I would definitely recommend this if you are in need of a quick dish to bring to a potluck or picnic.
Garlic Rosemary Whipped Potatoes with Goat Cheese
I made this recipe up and, like always, I don’t usually measure when I cook. I eyeball things and taste as I go along and add whatever I think is needed. I created this for about 20 people so cut the recipe in half if you are cooking for a smaller crowd. I hope you enjoy these creamy potatoes!
Ingredients:
10 medium sized yukon gold potatoes
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
1-2 teaspoons salt
1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 cup organic milk (or non-dairy sub if vegan)
4-5 tablespoons butter (I used Earth Balance vegan butter)
2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
Cooking Instructions:
1. Wash and cut potatoes into wedges and boil with minced garlic for about 10 minutes, or until tender all the way through.
2. Drain potatoes and add back to the pot or a large mixing bowl. Mash potatoes until all of the large wedges are good and mashed.
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the mashed potatoes and whip using a hand mixer until all is combined and the potatoes are smooth and creamy.
What dishes do you like to make for Easter? Do you have a traditional dish that you make every year?
