the first seven days of summer.

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

You've heard that one, right?
We live about 35 miles from the city,
but that quote rungs pretty true for us too.
June and July aren't our warmest months.
{april and may? awesome.  august thru october? awesome.}

So swim team can get a little chilly.
But nothing a little post-swim hot chocolate from Starby's can't cure.



I broke down and bought Gwyneth's new cookbook.
I hated to do it.
I really didn't want to like it.
Does Gwyn really need my $18?  No.
But darnit, it's a good cookbook.  Good, healthy cooking.
So I broke down.



This wasn't from her book,
but it's so good.
I could eat it every day.
Garlic and mushrooms and brussels sprouts sauteed in olive oil,
and tossed with quinoa.
I'm becoming a brussels sprouts fiend.



Reality:



That was a few days ago.
It's worse today.

Riley has taken piano lessons for a little over four years.
He's decided he wants to switch to guitar.
I'm a little sad, but I get it.

His guitar-playing daddy, however, is verrrrry happy about this.

Plus he's such a cute guitar player.



Playdates that end at In-N-Out are the best kind.
Especially when they started at the bowling alley for "kids bowl free".
{have you signed up?  it's awesome.  totally free bowling!}



This week ended with two days of dance recitals.
There really is nothing cuter than a dance recital.
Avery's class danced to "Proud May".
We curled her hair with curlers.
She wore her first tiny smidge of mascara.
Adorable.



We crammed a few other things in this week, too,
like smog checks and sick kids and bible study
and grocery shopping and play dates and birthday party prep.

After this week my brain can slow down a bit.
I hate that I haven't done anything crafty in the longest time.
It makes me sad.
Next week I am going to fire up that sewing machine.
And paint something.

********************

1000 Gifts:

quiet mornings



fresh air

pizza: hold the grains and dairy.

So.  Let's talk food for a bit.

Recently I've had a bit of a diet change.
For the past couple of months I've been trying to
avoid dairy...all grains...and sugar.
I decided to make this chance in hopes it would help my migraines.
They're not gone completely, but I do think it's helping.
Which is huge for me.
Migraines are awful and I'll do just about anything to get rid of them.
Gary's avoiding wheat & other grains along with me,
because he feels better without them, too.

It's awesome to feel better.
But it's not easy.
I miss bread.
And cookies.
Oh, and flour tortillas.  Sigh.

And pizza.

The other night I planned to make pizza for the kids
{they're still eating whole-wheat like usual}
and "grain-free" pizza for Gary and me.
I've seen a few recipes floating around and decided that they looked
like they wouldn't be half bad.

I tweaked some I found just a bit and, I must say, it was good.
Gary loved it.
I didn't miss the wheat...or the cheese.

And it's easy to make.  Want to try it?

Grain-Free (and Dairy-Free) Pizza

2 eggs
2 cups almond flour
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Mix all of the ingredients together.



Next I plopped the dough onto the counter and began to roll it out.



It rolled out nicely,
but it was STICKY.
I couldn't get it off the counter.
Even with the spatula, it just kept sticking.



So I switched tactics.



Enter the Silpat.
The Silpat never fails.
I put it on a jelly roll pan and rolled it out there.



Perfect.



Now bake it in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes,
or until it's brown.

Then, chop your toppings and prepare your pizza sauce.
{that pizza sauce is so good.  and easy.  forget the stuff from a can or pouch.}



That day I used what I had: bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, and basil.
And one chopped up leftover piece of bacon from breakfast.

And, as much as it pains me to say it, hold the cheese.





Then I heat it in the oven for about 10 minutes until everything was hot.



Yummy.
It's a great substitute for the traditional pizza,
minus some of the guilt.

Now I just need to find a good substitute for chocolate chip cookies.

food, lately.

Let's talk migraines.
Have you ever had one?
If you have, you know.  They're horrible.
If you haven't...they're horrible.
{understatement}

I get them pretty often.

So I decided to make a pretty drastic diet change
to see if I can put a dent in their frequency.

So for thirty days I'm off of sugar...and dairy...and all grains.

YIKES.

Today is day 7,
and I haven't died.
So, that's good.
But I won't lie...it does suck.
Rumor on the street is that it sucks less and less as time goes on.
We'll see.

But you know?
What I'm cooking and eating is good.
Lots of veggies...some good quality meat...fruit...nuts...and good fats.
I'm hopeful that my migraines will respond and hit the road.
Or at least take a lengthy vacay.

I thought I'd show you what I made tonight.
It was yummy.
You should make it.

It starts with pesto.
You can't go wrong with pesto, right?



I don't have good step-by-step pics for you.
But we all know how easy pesto is.
And the measurements here are a guesstimate.
You really can't mess it up.

Yummy Easy Pesto
-a handful of basil leaves.  maybe 1/4 cup?
-approx. 2 Tbsp. olive oil
-3 Tbsp. or so pine nuts
-1 clove garlic
-a couple of teaspoons of white balsamic vinegar
-if you want, add some grated parmesan.  i usually do.  {until 7 days ago, that is....}

Chop it all up in your awesome mini aqua food processor.

Grab your chicken breasts.
{i used two.}
Flatten them between saran wrap.
I let Colin whack away with the back of a ladle.

Once they're flat, sprinkle them with salt and pepper and
spread pesto on top of the flattened breasts.
{fyi: i cut the two breasts in half and they fed the five of us.}

After you spread the pesto,
roll up the breasts and wrap each in a piece of bacon.

Warning: raw chicken photo ahead!



I know...it looks so gross.
But TRUST ME.
Deliciousness awaits.

Bake those little pretties for 30 minutes at 400 degrees,
or until the chicken is cooked and the bacon is brown and crispy.

And chances are your bacon hound will remain within a
two foot radius of the bacon at all times.



Then...get out your best knife and your cutting board.
And grab a bunch of veggies.



How pretty is that?
Broccoli...red peppers...carrots...brussels sprouts...mushrooms...
red and white fingerling potatoes...and zucchini.
Drizzle with some olive oil and a whole mess of balsamic vinegar.
Roast at 425 for 25-30 minutes.

Now here's a really crappy photo of the end result.
It's yellow and bad,
but it was dinnertime and I was starving and ready to eat.



Ok, seriously.
This was really good.
Make it.

It's been hard to give up all of those foods.
And then last Friday Riley wanted to make cookies.
Wah.



We made cookies and homemade graham crackers.



I didn't have any.
Not even a crumb.
Oy.
It was pretty tortuous.
But I did it.  And I'm feeling good.
I only had one migraine in the last seven days, which is good.

Today the temperature was in the 70's
and it's going to be even warmer later in the week.
We ended the day by the firepit, all five of us.




The kids were telling silly stories
and I was telling them to keep their feet away from the fire.
I'm looking forward to more of those nights soon.

{and leftover bacon wrapped chicken for lunch tomorrow.  booyah!}

a week of stuff.

I wish I had some great reason for not checking in here since last week.
Like...I was on a Hawaiian vacation and
ditched my laptop for the beach.
Or maybe I broke my arm while rock climbing and couldn't type?

Sadly, no.

It's just that life has just been kind of hum-drum lately.
It's been good, just not very note-worthy.

Avery decided that our white board calendar
is better used as her drawing board.



I'm kind of nuts about calendars.
I was going to try and get away with using only my iphone calendar this year,
but it was too hard.
So I broke down and got another Erin Condren planner.
It really is the best.
If I ever were to lose it I'd be in big trouble.

This was my kitchen yesterday morning.



Clean dishes from the dishwasher on the counter and
dirty dishes in the sink.
Those three middle plants on my windowsill are basil from my mother-in-law.
I am trying super hard not to kill them and to keep them going.
Having fresh basil at my disposal is too awesome.
I'm making pesto like it's my JOB.

In another {somewhat clean} corner of my kitchen...



cookbooks, cauliflower, tomatoes, and gumballs.
I'm digging the Weelicious and Homemade Pantry cookbooks.
And P-Dub, of course.
Practical Paleo has been good for some recipes too.
We are NOT paleo over here,
but I try to incorporate a lot of veggies into our diet these days and paleo is good for that.
That cauliflower became faux mashed potatoes tonight.
They were garlicky and yummy.

I made homemade heart-shaped graham crackers the other day
and the kids are nuts for them.



The granola recipe is from 100 Days of Real Food.
It's delish.  I make it a lot.

I told Gary I think I spend 90% of my day in the kitchen.
Do you ever feel that way?
I like to cook for my family but it's definitely a lot of work.

The other 10% of my day I'd like to be outside.
Especially when the temps are in the high 60's.





And yesterday just seemed like a good day for new shoes.



But...is there ever a BAD day for new shoes?
Duh.

So...there you go.
My week.
Messy kitchens, the never-ending task of feeding people, sunshine, and new shoes.
That about sums it up.
Oh, and add yoga in there.
Seriously...I think I'm addicted.
I even went to heated yoga and didn't pass out or die.

Yay me!

monday.

I guess I'll do a little Monday recap.

Well, I knew it was going to happen.
Germs know no bounds, so naturally it's my turn to be blowing my nose every 5.8 seconds.
Today once the kids went to school I wanted to crawl back in bed
and watch my New Jersey housewife friends.
Yeah.  Didn't happen.
Today was the dentist and two piano lessons and soccer and dinner and homework
and everything else that comes along with a plain old Monday.

But tomorrow?
I have a glorious Tuesday morning with nothing on the calendar.
And...if I'm still not feeling well...I won't even feel guilty about not running.
I'm going to start some laundry...then I'm going to sit at my desk and make some stuff.
I have plans to open my etsy shop again with a few new things.

Um, what else?
Let's talk food.
I fell off the wagon for a few months,
but I'm back to eating and making "real", non processed, food.
Yesterday I made a batch of faux ritz crackers.
The kids can't get enough of them.



Did you know real Ritz have both high fructose corn syrup AND partially hydrogenated oils?
Not good.

My kitchen is pretty much a constant mess again.
That's one thing about cooking everything...your kitchen is never clean.
By the way...if you're interested in looking into eating "real" food,
this is a good place to start: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com.
Or read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food.
Kind of a game changer.

And finally...homework.
She loves it.
Her brothers...notsomuch.





And now to cap off the Monday I'm off to watch Bachelor Pad.
I KNOW.
It's so bad.

{so bad it's good!}

friday. random. sorry.

Hey there.
Warning: super random stuff ahead.

It's Friday night!
I'm having a wild evening of watching
My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding
and trying to understand what they're saying without reading the subtitles.

Crazy...I know.

I'm a little obsessed with this song by Gotye.
I kind of love it.
{not so sure of the video though, but i didn't know how else to link you to the song.}

So we're still doing our best to avoid processed food.
I made this "refried beans" recipe again this week.
Very good...no fat...very little salt.



And when you put it in the crockpot in the morning,
eight hours later your house smells awesome.



It's a keeper!

And this was lunch a couple days this week.
Chopped spinach,
garbanzos, red pepper, a little onion, quinoa,
and this dressing.



So healthy.
You won't believe how good it is.

And...full disclosure...I bought a package of Cadbury eggs this afternoon.
A girl's gotta live.

I wish she really was washing dishes in this picture.



Nope...just pretending.
One thing about healthy eating?
It means a lot more dirty dishes dishes!
I was kind of complaining about it at first,
but then I realized that this really is my job right now:
feeding my family well, washing a bazillion dishes...
that's why I get paid the big bucks.
{ha.}

And I posted this picture on instagram this week
when the photo prompt was 'eyes'.
Here are mine, theirs, and his.



As far as the eyes are concerned,
I won the DNA battle.
Booyah.
:)

our thursday.

Today I had to take our car into the shop to get a few things fixed and rotated and whatever.

Once the shuttle dropped Avery and I off back at home

we were carless and stuck for a few hours.

As a result I did every single bit of laundry in the house.

There is not much on earth that can make me as happy

as when all the laundry is done and put away.

It was almost worth the $300+ I spent on the car.

I also made bread.

I've almost got the recipe memorized.

And the bread machine?  Such a rad invention.

{my bread machine is actually white, and not this really this cool mint green color.  i wish.}

Today while Colin was in his drum lesson 

we walked down to one of the antique stores here in town.

I love that my kids are all old enough now to bring into a store like this.

It's so nice to not have to worry about them touching everything 

and breaking something.

Even though they complain sometimes about going in,
they're always entertained in antique stores.
There's always "new" things to discover.

Like this weird phone,
where you have to put your finger in this little round space
and drag the little space around to dial.
So crazy!



Riley was so impressed that I knew how to work the rotary phone.
He was like, "Mom!  How did you know how to DO that?!!"
Ha!
Do you remember that it was always annoying when someone had a zero
in their phone number, because it took so long to dial numbers with a zero?
Wow.  Memories.

Tonight I made veggie fajitas and rice and beans for dinner.



{pepper seeds are pretty.  who knew?}

I just marinade the veggies for an hour or so,
and then cook in a skillet.



I marinated them in a little olive oil, red wine vinegar,
chili powder, oregano, and garlic salt.
Gary and I ate the veggies over spinach with guacamole and salsa.
The kids had beans, rice, and veggies with a tortilla.

They still complain a little about all the veggies,
but I really do think they're getting better about it.

And...I am totally craving something sweet right now.
The grapes I ate aren't cutting it.
It is a really good thing there are no cookies in my house tonight.
They'd be gone.

saturday pancakes.

I try to make breakfast for the fam on Saturdays.
It is really the only day of the week where we can linger in the morning.

This Saturday I mashed up the two mushy bananas
that have been in our fruit bowl all week and made banana pancakes.



Yep.  With chocolate chips.

Other than the chocolate chips they were pretty healthy.
All whole wheat flour, no sugar, yadda yadda.



They were goooooood.

Later on in the day Saturday we went and watched Gary compete in
a CrossFit competition.

It was crazy and intense.
I was nervous watching him.
He was awesome.  And is very sore still today.  :)
By the way check out that gaggle of boys back there.
All of our kids' friends were there...they were in heaven.

This is a busy week with a lot going on.
I feel like I need to carve out time to visit that place in our town
that offers one-hour foot massages for $25.
I need that.
I mean, $25 for an hour!
Foot massages can cure a lot of ills, right?
Ok, that's it.  I'm convinced.