Category Archives: My Life

Weekends

First Friday veg potlucks
As I’ve mentioned before, we’re part of a vegetarian potluck group that meets once a month to share delicious food and good company.  This month’s theme was “veggie adventure” (AKA, make something you’ve never made before).  Inspired by our recent Indian restaurant trip, I made chana masala, using this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, with delicious results.  (One of these months, I will actually remember to bring the camera and share more about these gatherings.)

And so it begins
Saturday marked the official opening of the 2012 gardening season, which unofficially opened in early January when Matthew started seedlings under the grow lights.*

The Dude “helped” Daddy and Grandma at the garden, giving me some time to myself.  Their day involved some heavy lifting — working to move two dump truck loads of compost while carrying a little monkey on their backs.

Meanwhile  . . .
I caught up on things around the apartment, cleaning the kitchen so we could mess it up again later, among other things . 

My bicycle turned routine errands into some nice physical activity and outside time, though the sun fooled me into under-dressing for the outing.  I’ll take a slightly chilly breeze on my face over being stuck in the car any day.

And then came Sunday
The Dude and I graced the church pews for the first time in eons — my attendance record since he’s been born is quite embarrassing.  I tell myself it will get better when he gets older and our routine is a bit more predictable, but thinking of families in times past (and present, I suppose) who make it to church Every. Single. Sunday., with a baby AND other little ones in tow makes my excuse look a little pathetic.

Pre-church bath -- we bathe a bit more frequently than we go to church, but not much 😉

Meanwhile . . .
In case he hadn’t gotten enough exercise at the garden on Saturday, Matthew spent a good chunk of Sunday on his bike, preparing for the Cycling Savvy class he’ll be teaching in a couple of weeks.**

We wrapped up the weekend with a relatively simple dinner featuring a large salad with greens from the low tunnel, homemade pasta (made and frozen on a previous weekend), and a delicious rhubard dessert.

*Stay tuned for a grow light guest post from Matthew.

**If you’re in the St. Louis area, check out the upcoming Cycling Savvy classes.  Thanks to some grant funding, they are offering the classroom potion for FREE, and each of the on-bike portions for $15/session.  All three sessions normally cost $75!  Whether you’re a newbie, someone who’s logged hundreds of miles, or somewhere in between, Cycling Savvy has a lot to offer.

What’s in a name?

Although there are many factors that influence your impact on the earth, what and how you eat, and your transportation options and choices, are two big players.  Food and transportation choices also contribute to health, or lack thereof.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve realized that two topics really inspire the posts around here: food and bicycles.  To that end, I’m pondering changing the name of this blog to better reflect the content.


I’ve brainstormed some good title possibilities, I’m just on the fence about whether or not to actually take the plunge.

So, what do you think?  Good idea?  Bad idea?  Neutral?

Making dinner happen

Monday through Thursday,  we enact a carefully choreographed dance, working together to make and eat dinner, put The Dude to bed, and get ready to do it all again the next day.  Here’s how it goes (exact timing varies slightly):

5:00  Matthew takes the lead on dinner, starting prep as soon as he gets home from work. At a minimum, we discuss dinner plans during the day, but we’re trying to sit down on Sunday and sketch out a rough meal plan for the week.  Some sort of plan helps things run much more smoothly than the arrive home from work, hungry and tired, and stare in the fridge asking “What’s for dinner?” approach.

6:10  Gabriel and I arrive, and Matthew spends a few minutes with him (mostly involving a potty opportunity and a nice, thick diaper).  I change, hang up my clothes, use the bathroom, and grab a drink of water.

6:20  The Dude and I snuggle up on the couch, and he  eats his dinner/bedtime snack.  Meanwhile, Matthew continues working on dinner.


Assembling a new lasagna

6:40  Once Gabriel finishes eating, we head to the bedroom.  We sing his bedtime lullaby, and I lay him down for the night.  On good nights he goes down without a peep, on so-so nights, 5-10 minutes of crying, during which I agonize over all the things that I may have done wrong in the bedtime routine while anxiously awaiting the quiet.

6:45  I return to the kitchen and jump in where needed to get dinner on the table ASAP.  Most nights this happens between 7:00 and 7:30, but some nights we’re pushing 8:00, which would just be quaint and European, except we’re trying to go to bed by 9:30, which doesn’t leave much time to digest, not to mention taking care of the after dinner stuff.

7:15  Light candles, set table, and sit down to dinner.*  If we’re lucky, we’re not too tired to enjoy the delicious food in front of us.

7:50  Pack lunches for next day (usually leftovers from the previous night’s meal), complete some minimal kitchen cleanup (I’m trying to improve on this, but things tend to pile up until the weekend), and put away dinner leftovers.

This concludes the “dinner” portion of the night.  In the remaining time, we grab a few minutes relaxing on the couch with books, use our neti pots, and have a bit of dessert (if we’re hungry having just finished dinner).**  I like to have things all wrapped up, including brushing, flossing, and last call in the bathroom by 9:00 if possible, leaving a few more minutes to read in bed before lights out.

*The fact that Gabriel is not at the table with us for dinner really bugs me, because family meals are important for establishing good eating habits.  Unfortunately, given my current work schedule and his current bedtime (which may sound incredibly early, but really seems to work for him), our options are limited.
**Some nights we also engage in fun extracurricular activities during this time, like hanging the diapers 😉

Friday Funday — Meet our new pet

I’m not really a pet person.  I like animals and all, especially baby animals, but I don’t like animal hair or the idea of spending lots of money on vet bills and other expenses.  It just seems like more trouble than it’s worth.  That said, we seem to have found ourselves a pet . . .

. . . a baby bulldog!

Lip protruding, bulldog style

I can’t imagine taking care of a baby and taking care of a puppy.  Fortunately, we don’t need to get a puppy — we got a two-in-one deal.

Baby Bulldog loves to chew

How babies are like puppies:

  1. Diaper-free time = cleaning up lots of puddles
  2. Chewing everything — Baby Bulldog favors slippers (we’re tempted to buy him a rawhide bone)
  3. Needing lots of attention

What do you think?  Any other ways that babies and puppies are similar?

Top 25 Vegan and Vegetarian Moms

HerGreenLife is in the running for Circle of Moms’ Top 25 Vegan and Vegetarian Moms.  To support HerGreenLife,  just follow the link and scroll through the candidates to vote.  (You can vote once every 24 hours, and voting closes on February 14th.)

I’ve been vegetarian for just over seven years now. I know a good bit about nutrition (I have enough college credits in nutrition to be considered a “nutritionist,” though not a dietitian, by most employers), and that foundation makes me confident in my dietary choices.

Though I don’t need outside validation, the last 15+ months provide some satisfactory evidence that my diet is not lacking.  Over nine months, I grew a big, healthy baby on a vegetarian diet*, and for the last 6 1/2 months, he’s thrived on nothing other than mama’s milk 🙂

As I wrote earlier this week, the time has come to expand The Dude’s one-item food menu, and we look forward to introducing him to our way of eating, meals filled with flavor, variety, and lots of nutrients, striving to eat in a way that is good for the body and gentle on the planet.

*In the interest of full disclosure, I took a high-quality fish oil supplement while pregnant, so I wasn’t quite vegetarian, technically speaking.

Read more about my thoughts on a vegetarian diet:
Vegetarian I
Vegetarian II