Linden Hills Hay Day

Our neighborhood continues to win us over. There are always little events in the 'village' of Linden Hills. Yesterday was the annual Hay Day Halloween event, where families bring their little kids all dressed up in their Halloween costumes for some trick or treating and festive fun. The shops of Linden Hills really take part and hand out treats and/or have projects for the kids to do. We made witch wands at Heartfelt and brunched at Tilia one of our favorite restaurants. It was the very first time Tim and I have braved going out to brunch with the kids. They did great. I see another brunch in our future!

Our little Spider Man.

Evie peeking out of the tree at Heartfelt

           

First ever family brunch at Tilia.

Happy kids = happy parents.

Granola Girl.

I can honestly say I have never bought granola, besides maybe in a Kashi cereal box. I just never had an interest in it, but lately I am trying to find more healthy snacks and looking for something my kids would eat too. I stumbled upon a great site on Facebook, www.100daysofrealfood.com and am loving it! It's so simple and a lot of times I do eat like this (avoiding as much crappy processed food as possible), but then sometimes I look in our cupboards and they are filled with packaged bars, cereals, crackers....anyway, I want to get back into making a lot of our own food at home. It makes me happy doing this and before Evie was born I was trying several new recipes a week, lately, not so much and there are several days where I will realize we haven't consumed a single healthy thing. Yuck. So I decided to give this granola recipe a go and it is fantastic!! I have been putting it on yogurt every single day, and Miles even had a bowl of it for breakfast. Next time I may skip the cashews so Evie can eat it without me being a nervous wreck. It makes a lot of granola too, so I gave half to a friend to try. The house smells delicious while it's baking. Perfect for a fall afternoon at home.

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/04/recipe-granola-bars-cereal/

Broiled tofu and carrots? Yes please!

I am always looking for new tofu recipes as I love tofu and find myself making it the same every single time....doused in Bragg's liquid aminos and seasoned with oregano and basil baked in slices. I eat them up like crazy, but need to expand my tofu go-to recipe box. My neighbor and friend made this dish for me this past May when I threw my back out and sent Tim with the kids to the cabin for memorial day weekend while I recovered. That is another post....anyway, let's get to the recipe already!

http://www.marthastewart.com/317722/soy-glazed-tofu-and-carrots

Simple, healthy and yummy. I used almost a full bag of baby carrots halved lengthwise (next time I may leave them whole as they cooked way faster than the tofu and use more than a whole bag) and Bragg's liquid aminos instead of soy sauce, also didn't have the green onions on hand so skipped those and didn't miss them one bit. Served with brown rice. I will make it again!

Fall Gym Plan

I'm so over the top excited that Evie FINALLY does the YMCA daycare by herself!!!! It is going on month 2 since she gave in and finally gave it a try and now she actually likes it...she asks to go!! I feel selfish bringing her there every single day Miles is at preschool, but I get my work out which makes me HAPPY AND she gets to play with kids her age and do fun stuff without me, we both win. For now. So with this new activity that I tried years to get my kids to do with no luck, I am going to take advantage of it 100%. Now if we can all just stay healthy so we can keep at it.

Mondays - Yoga class at Blaisdell (both kids)
Tuesdays - Spin
Wed- run/weights or bodypump
Thursdays - Spin
Friday - Rest day or RUN
Saturday - Run
Sunday- Bodypump

That is my plan for the month of October and I'm going to stick with it in November as much as possible. I know I have to understand that some days are not going to stick to this plan and that I have to take each day as it comes, but after last week's craziness of our entire family having the worst stomach flu bug for the entire week makes me want to take advantage of feeling healthy and WORK OUT most days. Trust me, I'm a much happier person when I take my medicine exercise.

Back to the blog......

Lately I read other people's blogs, and the first thought that pops into my head is "why did I stop blogging?" I love reading blogs especially about food and fitness, and of course blogs of long lost friends so I can catch up with their lives. These past 2 years have been so busy and crazy. The addition of our daughter Evie to our family 2 years ago really rocked our world. She is amazing and so tiny and sweet (when she wants to be), but can turn on you in an instant and make your life, eh hum, let's just say difficult. So that is why I am going to say keeping up this blog was definitely on the side lines for quite awhile. But I would love to try it again, and instead of making a whole new blog doing what I call a 'fresh start', I am going to just pick up the sad broken pieces of this blog to have a place to save recipes and document memories. Here we go....

37+ weeks

As of today I am 37 weeks and 3 days pregnant with baby girl Vedder. I have been having so many contractions at night the past several nights and feeling very uncomfortable. I feel as if I could go into labor any time now, but also know that it could very well be weeks yet. I'm anxious to meet you baby girl, so you can come on out anytime you'd like. I have going to prenatal yoga religiously this pregnancy and it has helped so much with so many things. I was also asked to be the pregnant yoga model for a photo shoot the studio is having next weekend so will have to stay pregnant until then. I need to get some pictures taken of this belly to remember.

Merry Christmas...

New recipes made this weekend:

Garlic Feta Hummus

Garlic Feta salad dressing

Greek Chicken

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Great holiday weekend....walked to the creek this morning with family and let Oscar run wild. Miles was in the sled and not a fan of the snow or cold. Cinnamon rolls one morning, blueberry pancakes the next. It was a perfect snowy white Christmas with my little family. These are the moments I never want to end. Miles opened his 2 presents from Santa and a handful of presents from my family on Christmas Eve. He has gotten really good at opening presents and letting out a big "wooooow" after he gets it open...then tosses the present aside to tackle the next.

He also enjoyed his time with Auntie Kay Kay jumping off the ottoman in our living room and entertaining her with all of his new toys.