Five

Our sweet boy turns five tomorrow. He laughs huge guffaws. He eats oatmeal almost every day.  He knows that a trip to the coffee shop means a latte for Mommy and a cocoa for him. His excitement does not mean much to him until he shares it with his sis. He likes to be on Daddy's team when we play cards. The first five years have been sweet, my boy. Can't wait for the rest.

A Resting State

Over the past three days, I have been gifted with more quiet than in several months past. Children playing with cousins, host and hostess preparing meals, snowy weather outside. I have realized just how much of my day is dedicated to home and children. Without those two, really important, elements of my day carving away time, I am left with time to rest, read and think. I find my mind, as it often does at this time of year, drift off to ideas of newness. New projects at home, new recipes to try, new hobbies to explore.

I have been snuggling in bed with a sick one all day...watching her sweet face. Children's features are so much more prominent when they are sick, I think. Those dewy eyes, pink cheeks and finally, a smile, after hours of sadness. I painfully realize that my life will, soon enough, not be quite as filled up with home and children. The motivation that sweeps in with the new year, the focus on newness, is valid and necessary for growth. But, the familiarity and constant of the old is quite fulfilling as well.

Hola, 2013!

Awakened early by a snuggly bug, an almost 5-year-old snuggly bug. Five!? After an hour of snuggles, our 6-year-old beauty joins us and we putter downstairs to my brother and sister-in-law's cozy kitchen. Coffee is made for me. Children color at the table with a much-loved cousin. Husband snoozes upstairs. Life feels a bit like a retreat right now. This is a nice start, 2013. Well done.

Last night, as I contemplated goals, resolutions, plans for the new year, I found myself a little...uninspired. There are certainly parts of my life that need tinkering. Certainly habits that could use some breaking.

However, my instinctive reaction to life is to be action-oriented. Challenging day with the kids? Read up on ideas once they go to bed, talk to trusted friends, and make a plan for tomorrow. Feeling a little off? Make a good lunch and go for a long walk the next day. I found myself wondering if my list of goals will just put more pressure on myself, when I already do that pretty damn well all on my own.

Still, I do want to get back to yoga, to learn to sew, to practice Spanish, to wash my face at night (sort of a lame resolution, but my flossing one last year was just as lame and was a game-changer.) :)

I read about a woman who comes up with a theme each year on which to focus. I appreciate the singular focus of a theme, the vagueness that allows interpretation as we, inevitably, change over the next 12 months. My theme...Growth.

I am emerging out of the phase of my life where I am knee-deep in caring for young children. This fact can make me weep if I think about it too long. However, it is an important transition back to myself.

Searching

I am back to this space. Not sure what I am looking for, but looking I am. Feeling the need for expression. For creativity. For a space of my own. For communication. And sharing.

I will start with the simple moments that crept out of this busy season. Reading Christmas stories on the sofa. Making sticker-filled, marker-covered projects for Grandmas and Grandpas. Playing in 1 inch of snow as if it were a verified snow storm.  Lots of cocoa. Secretly making gifts for siblings with a random assortment of glitter, glue and reused salted caramel boxes! Sugar cookies with Aunt Jess and Noona. Delicious dinner with the whole family.

There is much that can be overdone at this time of year. Stress over aspects of the holidays that, in reality, are not important at all. I am relieved to learn, once again, that family life can be as complicated or as simple as you would like it to be. Life will throw curveballs, even tragedies, as we were all so horribly reminded of over the past few weeks. But, even during those dark times, we can gift ourselves and others with simple joy. Or simple love. Or simple gratitude.

Love at Last

I have made attempt after attempt to love quinoa. It seems to have superpowers, according to healthy foodies everywhere. All attempts failed until this one. I have discovered, by stealing an idea from a local vegetarian joint, that I love quinoa when it is paired with lots of other crunchy textures of food. So, my last and best attempt...Warm Vegetable Quinoa Salad.

Ingredients

spring lettuce mix

cooked quinoa (I used the red quinoa from TJ's)

tempeh (cut into small cubes, browned in a cast-iron skillet with some olive oil, salt and pepper)

onions (caramelized, lots of them!)

zucchini, tomatoes, peppers (lightly sauteed with a bit of crunch left in them)

herbed goat cheese (from my favorite store ever, of course...see quinoa above)

Just make all of this into a huge salad. Dump it all in. Onions and goat cheese on top, as they are super flavorful and with them added, you really don't need dressing.

I would serve this with some really good crusty bread and real, real, real butter. Yum.

And since it is such a complete protein/animal-friendly/high-in-vitamins dinner, you should definitely eat half of a dark chocolate bar like I did. :)

P.S. Avocado never, ever hurts. Pile it on if you have it.

P.P.S. I need to start taking pictures of our food before it is devoured, so my posts can be a visually interesting. Hunger always seems to beat boring blog post.

P.P.P.S. If you are thinking, "Her kids eat that!?" You are erroneous. But I keep hoping...

Job Well Done

You know when I feel really good about a day of parenting?

When the day is halfway through and they look like this.

Fun was had, don't you think?

Intermission

So, I am realizing that taking time to write a blog implies that you have time. Here lies the problem...My lovely little L must have talked to her other 4-year-old friends and the jig is up. No more naps for me (I mean, for her, ahem....) Needless to say, my two-hour-block of quiet lunch, quick cleanup, serene shower and zone-out internet time, are OVER. Can you hear me weeping?

However, I have two recipes I must share before I depart. Tomato Soup and some sort of Quinoa Warm Salad that I have made up, which I will try to post next week.

Let it be known that I actually LOVE Campbell's Tomato Soup. This is a simple, healthy version of said soup with a little more oomph and texture. I got it from the 345 lb. book by Mark Bittman How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. This cookbook is definitely on my Christmas wishlist, by the way, seeing as my local library has already lent it to me two times.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. tomato paste

1 large onion, sliced

1 carrot, diced

Salt and pepper

4 cups canned whole tomatoes (include juice)

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 cups vegetable stock

1 tsp. sugar (optional)

Heat oil deep saucepan. When hot, add tomato paste and let it cook for a minute. Add onion and carrot, salt and pepper. Let cook for about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and thyme and let cook for about 15 minutes. Add stock, stir and taste. Adjust seasoning if soup tastes flat. When soup is cool, pour into blender and puree.

I added salt and pepper upon serving. We ate this with cornbread muffins (made from Trader Joe's mix.) Of course, grilled cheese would be perfect also.

Bittman offers several variations in his cookbook, including adding cream or milk. However, I found that with the blending, this soup turns out very creamy without the addition.

And the greatest miracle of all, both kids ate it. I owe you one, Bittman.