Money, money, money, must be funny, in a rich man's world.

Lately I've been spending money like a madwoman. I'm usually quite thrifty and not much of a consumer, but occasionally I go on these spending sprees like a desperate housewife. It's my husband's fault, really, because he made a comment about how nice it would be to have a comfortable reading chair. I proceeded to sell the Hitchcock table and benches we were storing in our living room, purchase new curtains, a mission style rocking chair, an antique mahogany desk, and a Morris chair from LLBean. Once you get started, it's hard to stop. I still need a chair for the desk and an area rug. Of course, now the room needs to be painted too. The good news is I purchased the curtains for 1/2 price at JCPenney, the rocking chair for $85 on craiglist, and desk for $130, but I paid full price for the LLBean chair. I sold the Hitchcock furniture for $900 and purchased all the above items with that money. I'm afraid the box (I mean, cave) is here to stay.

"But that is not all! Oh, no, that is not all," said the Cat In The Hat. I've purchased autumn clothes for Lillian, new clothes for myself (a reward for losing the baby weight and insurance to not gain it back), and Christmas presents for both kids. I purchased many of these things on etsy.com, which makes me feel slightly less guilty. Alan painted the kids' room with No-VOC paint ($$$) and now that the walls are so beautiful I've purchased artwork to hang. The artwork needs frames. It's a vicious cycle, but I'm having fun.

Grilled vegetable salad with sweet poppyseed dressing

This recipe was OUT OF THIS WORLD!! I forgot how sweet and delicious grilled vegetables can be, especially eggplant and fresh corn. I found this scrumptious recipe on author Cynthia Lair's website Cookus Interruptus. She wrote a wonderful cookbook entitled Feeding the Whole Family, which gives smart tips on feeding your entire family the same dish, even babies as young as 6 months old. I DREAM about her yummy Emerald City Salad and have yet to be disappointed by one of her recipes. I highly recommend her Fried Brown Rice, Edamame Tofu Salad, Lemon Tahini Sauce, Rosemary Red Soup, Asian Noodle Salad, and French Lentils with sage. The only change I made to this recipe was adding grilled corn and serving it with smoked salmon. It was so fabulous!

What's in your fridge?

I just got home from the Farmer's Market and am mourning the loss of the bounty of summer. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to root vegetables and soup, but will miss the endless supply of melons and mangoes. The good news is, my beloved comice pear will make her return in a couple of months. Also, the leaves are about to change and sweaters will soon come out of the closet. Woo hoo!!

This is what's on the menu this week at our house.
Monday: Grilled vegetable salad with smoked salmon. Tuesday: Roasted brussels sprouts, bison, mushrooms & onions with raw alfredo sauce & PBu, inspired by Heather Eats Almond Butter. Wednesday: Edamame tofu salad with sesame chili dressing. Thursday: Raw zucchini noodles, basil, carrots, tomatoes & alfredo sauce and sweet potato french fries. Friday: We usually eat out on fridays, but Alan has to work, so I'll probably make whole wheat breakfast wraps with eggs, salsa, cheese, and organic italian sausage. Saturday: Vegetable chickpea curry with brown rice, with raita yogurt sauce.

Yes, I cleaned my fridge first and here's what's in it:

top shelf - mustard, pickles, ghee, jerk chicken spice, apple butter, white miso, green curry, walnuts, peanuts, brazil nuts, cashews, almonds, raspberries.

2nd shelf - chock full o nuts coffee, 1/2 & 1/2, Banilla yogurt, plain yogurt, yogurt tubes, salsa, sour cream, cottage cheese, almond milk,

middle shelf - eggs, saflower oil, yo baby yogurt, applesauce, organic green grapes, pineapple, marinara, left-over black bean zucchini quesadilla mixture, tiramisu.

cheese drawer - tofu, smoked salmon, dates, feta cheese, whole grain wraps.

shelf - spinach, bison, organic italian sausages.

produce drawers - carrots, potato, corn, eggplant, okra, cucumber, basil, boston lettuce, red pepper, yellow squash, zucchini, mushrooms, portobellas, dill, brussels sprouts, lemons, cilantro, sugar snap peas, sweet potatoes, broccoli, minneolos, apples, limes, ginger.

other treats from the F. Mkt - plums, peaches, bananas, kiwi, chickpeas, onions, soba noodles, dark chocolate, date coconut rolls, edamame, frozen peaches, poppy seeds, cherry tomatoes.

What's in YOUR fridge? What are YOU eating this week? What's your new favorite food discovery?

10 years ago today

I made the best move of my life and married my sweet hubby, Alan. He is so kind, so generous, and makes me laugh every day. He also makes some beautiful babies, if I do say so myself :-)
Happy Anniversary, babe.

For the love of peanut butter

I have a hard time keeping the fridge stocked with peanut butter. I've had a passion for nut butters for as long as I can remember. My husband, Alan, often makes "poor man's dessert," which is a mixture of peanut butter and maple syrup or honey. Apples cut into little boats with peanut butter on top was a breakfast staple growing up, and I still eat almond butter with pink lady apples at least 3 times a week. I sometimes add a scoop to my green smoothies and always put some on my oatmeal.

As a child, I couldn't understand why my mom kept our peanut butter in the fridge while other families kept theirs on a shelf and enjoyed it at room temperature. Their peanut butter didn't have oil floating on the top, thanks to hydrogenated fats. My mom knew about hydrogenated fats before hydrogenated fats were uncool. We were also the only family I knew who ate whole grain bread. I don't mean soft wheat bread from the grocery store, I'm talking grainy, brown, frozen bread full of seeds. Thanks to whole grain bread and natural peanut butter, my brother says his lunch was never stolen in middle school.

I've been reading a lot of food blogs lately and kept hearing about PBu. It's a delicious concoction invented by Emily at Curly Top. It's so good there are no words to describe it, so I won't even try. Just buy yourself some natural peanut butter and plain almond milk and mix them together. Emily recommends 1 cup of pb and 2 cups of almond milk, but I like mine a little thicker. Try 1 cup of peanut butter mixed with 1 cup of almond milk and then thin it out if you'd like it thinner. You have to stir, stir, stir for a long time, until the two become one. If you're allergic to peanuts, try it with almond butter. I don't think it needs any sweetener, but add some if you'd like. Cinnamon works well too. You can use PBu on anything - oat bran, toast, salad, ice cream, you name it! It's heavenly!! It's much lower in fat than straight peanut butter, but it tastes just as decadent.

The blog I keep returning to again and again is Heather Eats Almond Butter. In fact, Heather was the first person I noticed using PBu in her recipes. She lost over 100 pounds ten years ago eating a healthy diet. She's beautiful and witty and has learned over the years which foods make her body happy. She and her husband created a recipe they call Marinutta, which is a combination of marinara sauce, peanut butter, and ground flax seeds. AMAZING! We ate ours with some roasted brussels sprouts, ground bison, carrots, onions, and mushrooms. Heather eats hers on broccoli.

Man, I love food. Like Julia Child, I'd rather go food shopping than dress shopping any day.

Into Everything

"Into everything" doesn't even begin to describe the extent of the mayhem my 13-month old son commits on a daily basis. My daughter was just taking her first steps at this age, but Jonathan has been walking for 3 months. Our house looks like it's been burglarized 90% of the time. Jonathan loves sharp objects, outlets, electrical cords, toilets, you name it. Without fail, when I open the dishwasher, he'll pull out the sharpest knife he can find. He's also been known to take a plate out of the dishwasher and throw it over his shoulder. If anything is left within arms reach, he pulls it to the floor. Paperwork, dishes, toys, clothes, etc. I have to be very careful when the bath is filling with water, because once he fell in head first with his clothes on. He takes his own diapers off, dirty ones, so he must at all times be wearing a pair of pants. He drops items in the toilet, so the seat has to be down at all times. There are so many new rules in our house, just to prevent brother from hurting himself. He can open the oven door by hanging on the handle. If you try to shut a door, better check for little fingers first. Don't leave the back door open, or Jonathan will escape and make a bee line for the deck stairs. He has no concept of falling and repeatedly tries to dive off the bed. The other day at the playground he reached under a friend's stroller and pulled out an aerosol can of bug spray. The good news is, he wears himself out every day. He naps consistently. He smiles almost constantly. He's funny and sweet and everything I dreamed having a son would be.

Kindergarten

Lillian started her first day of Kindergarten last Monday! It's been a wonderful change, for both her and for me. She THRIVES on the structure and routines that school provides, which is something I've always known, but haven't had much luck implementing at home. We're fortunate enough to be in a fantastic school system and even more fortunate to be able to walk to and from school every day. Oakhurst Elementary, "One of the best little schools in the world," is a beautifully renovated school, originally built in 1915, with a lovely outdoor classroom. It's an Expeditionary Learning School, which is the primary reason we moved to Decatur. The Expeditionary Learning model emphasizes active learning and teaching, with all subjects being integrated into a semester-long expedition. You can read more about Expeditionary Learning Principles here. After 5 years of one-on-one time with Lil, I now have one-on-one time with Jonathan. We practiced kissing while sister was at school this week.