Tis the season (to post pictures of your holiday decor)

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Sarah

It’s a yearly tradition for me to post my Christmas/Hanukkah decor here, but I don’t really have a lot of new items. The menorah is the same (and I have candles this year! Thanks, Bammy!), the red and gold ornaments in hurricane vases are the same, the DIY wreath is the same. I do have a couple new items, though (courtesy of my mom — aren’t moms the best?) and here they are.


Okay, so this is not from my mom — oh wait, the bud vase for the champagne IS from my mom — but I just wanted to highlight the fact that we also strung blue lights on the tree this year. Living dangerously, obvs.


Staircase strung with garland. This isn’t enough. I want to garland MY WHOLE HOUSE.


Pretty pretty sparkly garland hung in front of the fireplace. Please disregard AT&T bill awaiting its death by arson.


Here’s a closeup of a couple of the hangy doo-dads on the garland. See? Pretty pretty  sparkly!

So that’s what I’ve got so far this year. As for the tree, it’s been less than 12 hours and LG has already commandeered the bottom half. I am smart, so I put non-breakable ornaments on the bottom, but she keeps trying to drag the lights off. It should be a fun few weeks!

(She did find an ornament she “made” last year at daycare. It has her school picture on it and she keeps taking it of the tree and showing it to us saying, “Baby!”, which is very cute.)

Posted in Holidays, LG | 1 Comment

Seven Christmas-y Quick Takes

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Sarah

1. Today we plan to go to the farm stand and pick up some green foods, which I am not sure I’ll even recognize, but I’m hoping my memory will serve me well. We’ll also get our Christmas tree from the same farm stand which is obviously very convenient. While I’d like to do that thing where we decorate the tree AS A FAMILY! tonight, the reality is I’ll do most of it (after LG goes to bed.) I think some sort of festive drink (hot toddy? spiked cider?) would be fun, but the reality of that is that I’ll probably just have some wine.

2. I mentioned last week about not having any rules and while I still pretty much stand by that, I just don’t stand by Christmas decorations before December. (For me — you do whatever the hell you want, obviously.) I know a lot of people subscribe to the school of thought that Christmas starts Thanksgiving weekend, and while I don’t disagree, Thanksgiving also came early this year and if you do a real tree like we do, you’re asking for a fire hazard if you keep it up for a month plus.

3. Speaking of rules, I came up with more LG rules:

House Rule #1: Mom And Dad Are Always Right
House Rule #2: No Kids On The Couch Without A Parent
House Rule #2, Sub-Rule A: No Standing On The Couch Ever, Even If A Parent Is There
House Rule #3: No Crossing The Street Without Holding Someone’s Hand
House Rule #4: If You Have A Problem With Any Of The Rules, Refer To Rule #1

The reason this all came up was because we were meeting our BFFs for brunch yesterday and as we were about to walk across the parking lot, LG refused to hold either of our hands and so we ended up having to carry her into the restaurant so she wouldn’t she lay down on the street and cry LIKE SHE DOES EVERY DAY AT DAYCARE DROP-OFF. (OMG.)

I get that she’s independent (WONDER WHERE SHE GOT THAT) and obviously doesn’t understand “danger” and “bad drivers,” but damn. Nothing makes you feel like an awesome person than dragging your kid through a parking lot. Or, OR, hitching them up under your arm at their waist so you can go change their diaper in the In ‘n Out, because they wouldn’t hold your hand in the restaurant and tried to lay down on the floor instead and ew, gross.

Anyway, so we have more rules now, is the point. They’re going well.

4. I am mentally preparing my holiday meals, which you know from years past gives me great pleasure. For Hanukkah, we’ll of course do latkes and probably a roasted chicken. Normally for Christmas Eve/day we do roasted meat of some sort on one day (depending on work schedules) and a big breakfast followed by fancy appetizers (and champagne!) on the other day. My parents are moving up to Northern California this week (!!!) so our plans will differ a little from the norm, but if there’s anything we all excel at, it’s eating and drinking champagne, so I’m sure whatever we do will be filled with both those things.

5. I was searching the TV guide for Christmas/holiday movies to record and watch this month and I asked Twitter for their recommendations. Here’s a pretty good list of movies, some of which I haven’t seen, but plan to this year:

Love Actually
While You Were Sleeping
A Christmas Story
You’ve Got Mail (not really a Christmas movie, I suppose, but still great and holiday-y)
Elf
Home Alone
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The Family Man (people not fans of Nicolas Cage need not apply)
The Santa Clause
Last Holiday
The Holiday (I’ve never seen it)
White Christmas (I’ve never seen it)
The Family Stone (This one is hard for me to watch)
It’s A Wonderful Life (I fell asleep watching this the other night; must re-watch)
Miracle On 34th Street (I may or may not have seen this. I don’t remember.)

I am sure I’m missing a lot — what’s your favorite?

6. Back to the Christmas tree, I am a little concerned about having one with a mobile LG toddling around. I assume non-breakable ornaments go on the bottom of the tree, but what about lights? I can just see her yanking all the lights off and eh, my whole tree is going to look lame this year, isn’t it? (Although I must admit, I’m crossing my fingers she’s scared of the tree and just steers clear.)

7. Speaking of LG again, I still don’t have a stocking for her and I can’t say I’m that bothered by it. If I find myself in Target and they have non-ugly stockings, then I’ll pick one up, because it would be kind of fun to stock (heh) it with treats and little things (like toothbrushes and socks, haha, being a parent is awesome) but even without a stocking, I can still do that. Whether I will remains to be seen. Depends on if she ruins my tree or not.

Posted in Family, Food & Wine, Holidays, LG | 2 Comments

Rules? Where we’re going we don’t need rules

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Sarah

We don’t have rules in our house. I didn’t have any rules growing up, at least not that I remember, so maybe that’s why I’m so anti-rule now. We all do what we want, and as long as we’re all responsible about things and happy and kind and all that bullshit, then we’ll all go on doing whatever it is we want to do. That to me seems a lot more conducive to a happy house than, say, Rule #1: Men Clean The Toilets, which actually isn’t a bad rule, I guess (since I am not a man, after all), but eh, they’re just toilets. Having rules about toilets seems kind of silly. Although it does give new meaning to the term “throne.”

Anyway, so we’re mostly rule-free here. It is rarely a struggle to put LG down to bed at 6pm, so we’re not in need of bed-time rules yet, and Chris and I impose no rules on one another. If the dishes need washing, we wash them, regardless of who cooked and if the laundry needs laundering, well, I do it, but mostly because I like to, like the neat-freak I am. It’s come to my attention, though, that our house could use one major rule.

House Rule #Only: No Kids On The Couch Without A Parent

House Rule #Only, Sub-Rule A: No Standing On The Couch Ever, Even If A Parent Is There

A couple months ago, we were really struggling with the parenting of our lovely offspring because none of us knew what the other was saying, like, ever. Anytime LG was awake, she was yelling or crying because she wanted something, but we had no clue what. So, we ended up basically giving her whatever would make her happy. This was probably the wrong thing to do, I guess, but when you only spend a collective five or six hours with your kid during the week, you want those hours to be happy. So, if it made her happy to crawl around on the couch, or stand on it, or FLING HERSELF OFF OF IT (actually, that did not make her happy), then so be it. Go at it, kid.

Fast-forward a couple months and we’re finally to the point where she can understand us and we can…understand her…more than we did…I guess, and the point is, there’s about 100 times more communication than there was a few months ago, during CouchGate. Now when she stands on the couch, I yell, over and over, “On your tushie! On your tushie!” and eventually she’ll sit down. Mostly, she’ll just laugh maniacally. But whatever.

It is because I do not like yelling (and also because I do not like being worried that she’s going to swan-dive off the couch AGAIN) that I instituted our newest only house rule, as seen above. I don’t know if this is a good or recommended parenting tactic or not, but me removing her off the couch every time she’s on it (without a parent) seems better than yelling, “ON YOUR TUSHIE!” every three seconds. Since she’s pretty easily redirected (“Not on the couch! Let’s go look out the WINDOW!”) I’m hoping she just forgets about the couch eventually. I am crossing my fingers.


Meanwhile, snuggling under a fuzzy blanket to watch a movie is always okay. Even if it only lasts for two seconds.

Posted in LG | 1 Comment

Butternut squash-topped shepherd’s pie

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Sarah

(Wow, so I meant to post this recipe ages ago and then I kept thinking the hard-copy was upstairs and I was too lazy to go grab it (even though I, umm, SLEEP upstairs). Today I finally brought my laptop upstairs to finish up this post and Chris told me the recipe was downstairs. As it’s been the whole time. Anyway, I hope butternut squash is still in season!)

(Wow again, it’s been like another two weeks now, after abandoning this recipe for the second time. Third time’s a charm!)

Another Whole30-compliant recipe (ed: who even remembers Whole30?! Geez.) I found in Better Homes & Gardens was a shepherd’s pie with mashed butternut squash topping in place of the usual potatoes. We (okay, Chris) made this and it was quite delicious. Again, another recipe I’d make in the future and bonus, LG got her very own LG-sized ramekin.

Whole30

What You’ll Need

1 butternut squash, peeled and deseeded and cut into chunks
1lb. ground beef or turkey
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup-ish of sliced mushrooms (we didn’t have any, so we didn’t use any)
1 cup-ish of frozen peas and carrots
14oz. can crushed tomatoes (the recipe called for half of a 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes. That seems really inefficient.)
1 cup beef broth
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 TBSP. rosemary
Salt, pepper, butter, and olive oil
Optional: Parmesan cheese and sliced green onion

Whole30

What You’ll Do

– Preheat oven to 425-degrees and prep 4 ramekins (or one giant baking dish) for unsticking
– Boil butternut squash in salted water for 15-20 minutes or until it’s fork-tender. Once it’s done, mash with a potato masher and mix in salt and pepper to taste, and a couple pats of butter
– While the squash is a-boiling, brown meat in a little olive oil and when done, add onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Let cook for a couple minutes and then add broth, tomatoes, W sauce, rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste
– Let the meat and veg mixture thicken up a bit, maybe 5 minutes, then add the peas and carrots
– Once everything is cooked through, ladle the meat and two veg into the ramekins
– Top with the mashed butternut squash and bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes, or until the top is a little browned
– We topped ours with sliced green onion, but the recipe also suggested Parmesan shavings, which I’m sure would be delicious

Whole30
And now, FINALLY, to enjoy.

Posted in Food & Wine | 2 Comments

Race recap: Thank god it’s over, pass the bananas

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Sarah

The half-marathon is done and I feel like a race recap is in order. Race recaps are like birth stories — every experience is so different, so it’s not like you’re going to be compelled to run this race next year (or birth a child), but they’re both fun to read. So let’s recap!

First of all, it was very hard. I feel like my first half-marathon was not that hard and I don’t recall wanting to puke or die afterward, like I did this time around. Also, I placed (and paced) really poorly. I wanted to come in under 2:30:00 because I knew last time I came in at around either 2:37:00 or 2:35:00 (there were some chip and Garmin discrepancies, as I recall) and so I just wanted to come in under that.

(Okay, I just looked it up (you can look up old race times — awesome!) and I came in at 2:36:03. Memory served me pretty well.)

Anyway, so I did not come in under 2:30:00. At all. I came in at 2:48:49. Which is disappointing. I maybe should have saved myself the heartache by not setting an arbitrary goal in the first place (and really, I wasn’t THAT committed to 2:30:00 and really did just want to finish), but you know, it’s nice to have an idea in mind.

The race started out with a pretty long downhill grade, which was obviously really nice. It was cold outside, but my toes un-numbed themselves after a mile. At about mile 1, the course transitioned over to a paved trail that ran parallel with Lake Natoma. It was pretty and cool (thanks to the tree cover) and it was nice to run quietly among nature and shit.

From about miles 2 through 6, I ran along in this fashion: Run up a little hill, run down a little hill, check pace, walk through water stations, repeat. At around mile 6, the quiet was starting to get to me. Since the path was more secluded, there were no good places for people to post up and cheer. So, it was very quiet and it was making me crazy and pretty much miles 6 and 7 were dedicated to me trying to out-run this one dude who breathed too loudly.

At about mile 7, we came upon a pretty big hill/bridge, so I took that opportunity to walk and eat my Snickers bar, which was starting to melt. It was at this point that the course crossed over to the other side of the lake and not only were there still no cheerleaders, but the sun was beating down and there was no tree cover, so it was hot. Plus — and this is the worst part; runners gird your loins — they didn’t close the path to bicyclists.

I know. All of us running near one another were like WTF? To make things more confusing, the pavement was painted with signage saying, “Joggers stay left.” So we all tried to stay left (which seems really odd; aren’t the slower people supposed to stay right?) but we were all rule-followers and so we stayed left. Anytime a biker rode by me (or anyone else) ringing their stupid bell or shouting, “On your left!” I flipped them off. I did a lot of flipping off that day.

Anyway, pretty much from mile 9 until mile 11, I was on Bike Watch, which was at least a pretty good distraction from the fact that I just felt like crap. My ankles hurt, it was hot, I was really hungry, etc., etc. A girl next to me ran stomping her feet very loudly and so I also tried to outrun her. Fun times.

And then mile 11. And 12. Those were both really sucky. The end was so close and yet also so far and it was also where the course really started to ramp up (pun intended) to its highest grade. Thems were some big hills. I did a lot of walking during miles 11 and 12. Which, honestly, was fine with me. I never went into this saying I wanted to run the whole thing without walking, but there were some serious mental and physical conflicts going on at this time. On the one hand, I just wanted to be DONE and how do you get done faster? You run. But then I was in some pain and running was pretty miserable, so how do you mitigate the pain? You walk. But then walking doesn’t really take the pain away, does it? No, it doesn’t. So running is the answer! But I’m too tired to run. This was basically my brain from mile 11 until the end.

Something I kept repeating to myself was that it didn’t matter if I felt like I was hitting a wall while running (or walking) or if I felt like I was running (or walking) slowly. I was still moving forward and that’s all that mattered. I was never actually going backwards, even if it felt like I was.

Anyway, finally the race ended and then I felt really icky. I sat down and never wanted to get up, but after I found Holly and she brought me a water (seriously, she crossed the finish line and I made her go get me a water — I am an awesome friend), I managed to get up and we headed home. And then I had a Bloody Mary and tacos and somehow felt fantastic.

DONE. Also: Bananas
This race was bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

But I think it will be a good long time before I run another race that long. I also think I’ve found that 6 miles is pretty fine and good as far as racing goes. You and me, 10Ks, let’s do this.

Posted in Workin on my fitness | 5 Comments

I’m so scared, you guys

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Sarah

OMG I\'m so scared you guys.

Happy Halloween!

Posted in Holidays, LG | 1 Comment

Meat Month: The meats are done, man

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Sarah

Whole30 is nearing its end and I’m excited. It’s been a long month, where we’ve questioned our sanity numerous times (well, mostly Chris questioned my sanity, but whatever, he went along with all this madness) and I will be happy to get back to the usual routine and not be consumed with What’s For Breakfast! Lunch! And Dinner! every waking moment of every single day.

The half-marathon is coming up Sunday (Whole30 ends tomorrow) and I’m sort of at a loss for what to eat the night before. Normally before a race, I’d have a whole mess of pasta and bread and I obviously can’t do that, so…What? I have an acorn squash and was thinking that might be good. Also possibly some roasted carrots? Any other ideas for what carbs I should have? (First one to suggest sweet potatoes gets a knee to the groin.)

This week’s meals have been eh. I lost my cooking mojo about two Meat Month updates ago, so coming up with new dishes has been tiresome. I did try to Whole30-up my favorite meatloaf recipe, but it didn’t go well. (But if you’re not doing Whole30, do make that meatloaf — it’s delish!)

That said, this baked mustard lime chicken was very good (thank you Ms. Holly for the recipe.)

Whole30
Served on Swiss chard and mushrooms, which are ugly, hence why they’re covered up.

We also made this egg bake skillet and it was bomb. A definite make-again.

Whole30
Thanks to Egg Queen Erica for linking to that recipe.

In the heartbreak department, Chris picked up a ginormous bag of Halloween candy at Costco and, as you will surely understand, I had to bury that bag of candy along with his body. Haha murder jokes are always never funny.

But seriously, it was a good move on his part because there are Snickers bars in the mix and Manda, she who runs marathons like it’s no big, swears by Snickers as her race fuel. Also there are Reese’s and those are my favorites. I don’t even know what else is in that bag other than Snickers and Reese’s, but I don’t care. Come Halloween, I’ll probably pick out all the Snickers and all the Reese’s and just leave the rest of the candy in a bowl on my porch with one of those “One Per Trick-Or-Tre—–Oh Fuck It, Just Don’t Steal Our Bowl” signs while I sit inside comatose from my sugar crash.

(As Carrie Mathison would say, “Dark turn!”)

(Any other Homeland fans in the house?)

Yesterday I wore my skinny jeans comfortably (more or less) for the first time since before I was pregnant two years ago (wow, two years ago? Two years ago. Crazy.) and the other day, I put on a belt that was previously too tight and IT fit, even with layers, so SILVER LINING I GUESS.

In running news, I am nervous. Holly and I set out to run 10 miles last Saturday and I felt fine in the beginning, but then ate two Shot Bloks around mile 3.5 and felt like yacking for the rest of the run, ultimately only completing 8.5 miles. I know I shouldn’t harp on past runs, but damn. The run the week before that had been hard and I had committed to hydrating and eating right all week in preparation for my next run — which I did! — and so to have another shitty run was just…Shitty. Anyway, I am blaming the whole shitty run on those Shot Bloks (it’s giving me heartburn again just thinking about them!) and hoping the adrenaline from race day will carry me through.

Wish me luck and especially wish luck to all the pizza in the world on Sunday, because I’m coming after it!

Posted in Chris, Food & Wine, Workin on my fitness | 5 Comments

Three Thursday anecdotes

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Sarah

When I was a kid, my dad decided I was going to learn Spanish and so he bought the Muzzy tapes and I’d watch them and learn words like “naranja” and “manzana” from that sweet little (big) bear. Somewhere around that time, my dad, in an attempt to really integrate Spanish into our lives wholly, reprogrammed the TV so that everything would be in Spanish. For years, anytime we pressed the Mute button on the remote control, the word “Silencio” would pop up on the TV screen.

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There was a guy who used to walk around the streets of Bakersfield in, no matter the weather, a long black trench coat and combat boots. He walked everywhere and we’d pass him all the time, and then one day he was walking with a lady, she herself dressed in a black trench and combat boots.  I like to think Mr. and Mrs. Trench are still enjoying each others’ company *on the streets of Bakersfield.

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When I was in elementary school, I had to write my life story for a homework assignment and when I gave it to my parents to proof-read, they laughed out loud because I’d written that on the day I was born, I made a very “exiting” arrival. It’s true, they told me, you did in fact, make an EXIT, but I think the word you’re looking for is “exciting.” More than 20 years later and I still have trouble spelling “exciting” correctly on the first try.

——————————————————————-

*Anyone?

Posted in All About Moi, Family | 2 Comments

Baked lemon-caper fish on greens

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Sarah

I made up this dish the other night because I didn’t feel like dirtying a bunch of pans (story of my life) and was surprised at how good it turned out. I think you could make this with any type of greens and any type of fish and it would still be good. Bonus: Split between two people, you basically consume half a head of kale each and you didn’t even need to drink it in a smoothie!

Whole30
If I was on Top Chef, I’d get eliminated for that albumin (which I had to look up the name for and now I keep hearing it in my head in PadmaVoice, so that’s annoying.)

What You’ll Need

2 pieces of fish (I used steelhead, but you could use salmon or halibut or whatever you want)
A whole mess of greens, enough to fill an 11×13 baking dish (I used one head of kale, but you could use swiss chard or spinach)
One lemon
1 TBSP. capers and some caper brine
Salt, pepper, olive oil
Optional: Butter, dried mustard, garlic (powder or the real thing, minced)

What You’ll Do

– Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
– Spray your baking dish with Pam or whatever non-stick spray you like
– Throw all your clean, dried greens in your baking dish, season with salt, pepper, olive oil, and the juice of half a lemon and mix to coat the greens
– Place your fish on top of the greens and season with salt, pepper, and whatever other spices or herbs you prefer (I used a little ground mustard and a little garlic powder)
– Drizzle the fish with a bit of olive oil and the juice of the rest of that lemon and rub everything on the fish so it’s all covered with seasonings
– If you’re feeling crazy, throw a pat of butter on each piece of fish because why not?
– Finally, take your capers and scatter them on top of the entire fish/greens situation and drizzle some caper brine on the greens
– Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes, or until the fish is cooked to your liking (the thickest part of our steelhead was about 1″ thick and it was cooked perfectly; if you’re using a thinner fish, like tilapia, cook for about 15 minutes)
– Dish up a whole mess of greens and fish and enjoy!

Verdict

Easy. So very easy. Also: No cleanup save for that baking pan, which doesn’t need any soaking if you’ve Pam’d it. Also, in some parts, the kale came out like kale chips (where it was uncovered) and in other parts, like sauteed kale (where it was covered), which I thought gave it good depth or whatever whatever cooking jargon.

Posted in Food & Wine | 2 Comments

Meat Month: I don’t know what a Jedi is, but I know this is some Jedi mind-trickery

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Sarah

We’re coming up on our final week of Whole30 and things are looking up. I haven’t woken up feeling sluggish since day 16 (that arrived right on schedule, they tell me) and other than my quinoa-based stress dreams, I’m doing quite well.

Also, I feel I should mention that while I jokingly call this Meat Month, the reality is it’s mostly just Shitton Of Vegetables Month. I almost feel like a vegetarian. A vegetarian who still eats animal. So. Anyway, lots of greens and cooked vegetables and green salads and raw vegetable salads. Lots.

Here are some winning dishes we made recently, dishes that I believe will stick around post-Whole30.

Everyday Paleo’s Steak Dry Rub, Avocado Salsa, and Chopped Broccoli Salad

Whole30
We didn’t have broccoli and aren’t eating bacon on Whole30, so we subbed green beans and almonds. Oh, and apples, while a perfect match for broccoli, seemed weird with green beans, so we used orange segments. So basically we didn’t follow the recipe at all. (I actually did use her dressing recipe and it was delicious, highly recommend.)

Everyday Paleo’s Southwestern Frittata (h/t Kristabella for the recipe rec!)

Whole30
Because I’m me, I changed up all the ingredients — spinach instead of Devil’s Tuber, ground turkey instead of ground beef — but this was delish. We’ve all been eating it for breakfast all week, including LG, who digs on jalapenos because she’s totally our kid.

The Clothes Make The Girl’s Chocolate Chili (thanks Kristabella and Holly!) There’s no picture of this, because chili is ugly (womp womp sorry chili), but we did add extra meat (tri-tip) to this so we’d have some leftovers. It was quite tasty and I’d totally use the spice base again for chili with BLACK BEANS LIKE GOD INTENDED.

The Clothes Make the Girl’s Chicken and Moroccan Dipping Sauce (That makes it seem like there’s chicken in the sauce. That’s not the case. I’m just bad at grammars.) (Again thanks to Holly for the recommendation.)

Whole30
See? Look at all those vegetables.

So that’s what we’ve been eating. Well, that and like three gallons of olive oil. Seriously. So. Much. Olive oil. I hearken for the days when we used to fry up our white potatoes in bacon fat. It was a simpler time.

Anyway, some things I do/don’t miss:

– I still don’t miss any food in particular. Okay, except Mexican food. There’s just no way to do Mexican food on Whole30. I’m sorry, there’s not.

– I know Chris misses Asian food. Give me another month and I might start to miss potstickers with soy sauce, but for now I’m cool.

– I miss my morning tradition of coffee, and yeah, okay, the crack-like feeling it produces. I’m looking forward to bringing that back, hopefully right in time for the weather to not be ninety degrees (WHY? It’s OCTOBER.)

– I miss not cooking. And I love cooking. I would really like to just not have to think about dinner right now, but that’s not the case for like 9 more days.

– I miss not being able to use honey in my salad dressings.

– While I don’t miss snacky foods (really, I don’t! The Whole30 is like some Jedi mind-trick shit), I do miss the experience of post-dinner popcorn or ice cream or chocolate or something/anything other than tea.

– I miss wine.

Posted in Chris, Food & Wine | 3 Comments