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spring.forward.
So, here we are, into this blog’s third season!! I started this blog with the intent to have fun, share some of my talents with the world, and expand my reach.
In the months since then, I have grown from an Instagram count of roughly 100 to almost 7000 followers! Tom likes to use percentages, in his speak, that’s like 7000% increase! I can’t say how amazed I am with the support, and wanted take a moment for helping to be a part of this new experience for me!
Anywho…Spring always brings such an exciting sense of rebirth, renewal, and reflection. As bits of green start to pop through the dusty yellow lawn, and the Forsythia starts to pop their bright yellow tips, I get excited thinking about all there is to come.
About f-o-u-r Springs ago, Tom built us a raised bed garden box with a U shape so you can access all sides from the middle of the box. We have filled it with topsoil, compost, potting soil, etc., and each year we’ve planted a mix of flowers and fruit/veg.
While we have had some limited success with flowers and lots of fruits and veggies, we are more excited this year thinking the older girls can help take the responsibility of caring for and watering the garden.
We typically plant Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, jalapeño and bell peppers, zucchini, pumpkin (no winners yet, but a girl can dream), along with various herbs like fresh basil (yes, Caprese salad, I’m talking to you), parsley, cilantro (amen!) oregano, and the like.
Every year, as the kids get a tiny bit older, we have tried to include them more and more, and this year will be our biggest collaboration yet. What sorts of things did you do to keep your kiddos in on the garden action?
Last, but not least, is the flowers. Dogwoods bloomed in white, willows shaking off the winter’s coat, and the west side of our flower box plantings starting – what could be better?
Speaking of better, how about Springing ahead? Sun-Friday will see the sun setting after 8 o’lock which is truly remarkable for the time of this year. Driving home tonight from dance class, the sun was still quite high in the sky – a telltale sign of summer fun approaching.
So, in spite of everything (we see you and support you Ukraine), humans still need to connect, to have fun, and find ways to unplug from all the negative news and happenings. So while we pray for peace, we also take the time to enjoy each new birth or rebirth along mother nature’s highway that whisks us from the cold winter nights to the hot summer days. And what a ride it is!
Best,
jess
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sunday.meat.loaf.
Nothing quite screams Sunday dinner after Church in below freezing temps like a roast, meatloaf, or chili. Today was one of those days.
By in large, we tend to stick to lean cuts of meat and usually have red meat no more than 1x per week or even less. But when we do, we try to go for the best. Our local market sells Schweid & Sons Prime Beef, actually geared towards burgers, but with its mix of Prime Chuck & Brisket, makes for a tremendous loaf.
A 2 lb helping of their beef set the stage for a simple meatloaf in the vein of a roast, with russets, carrots, and sweet onions in a beef broth with red wine reduction (just a 1/4 cup or so), and lots of spices, and even Daddy’s little helper.
I know that some people wouldn’t consider a loaf of ground beef a true meatloaf. Eggs, breadcrumbs, fillings, onions, mixed in spices, etc. all come to mind. That’s all fine and good. But Tom was raised with a simpler meatloaf – one that is literally just a loaf of meat, no fillers, additives, or anything fancy. Tom, being the fancy guy that he is, embellishes with browning the meat & onions, lots of spice on the meat to form a great crust, and then braising in his beloved Le Creuset Dutch Oven, but still honors his childhood with top notch beef, molded with nothing else.
I know, I know, that may sound boring. But done right, turns into a little bit of magic, with the simplicity of a quality burger, but the elevated flavors of an all-day roast. But don’t trust me – try it for yourself.
- 2 Lbs Prime Beef (or best quality you can afford or obtain) – we used Schweid & Sons Prime Chuck & Brisket
- 4 lbs Russet potatoes (lessen for a smaller vessel) – partially peeled & chopped
- 2 lbs Carrots – diced on the round edge
- Roughly 4 or 5 medium Sweet Onions – large chop (quartered)
- 2 cups Beef Broth – we used Swanson
- 1/4 cup red wine – whatever you’re drinking
- Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Onion, Cayenne, White Pepper, Oregano, Basil, Rosemary – no exact measurements here, just coat the meat generously and watch the magic happen
- Preheat the oven to 325 – We use the Convention Roast setting on our oven, but normal bake is fine
- Shape the meat. Don’t add any spices while shaping, just on the top.
- Coat generously with the spices above, or add or subtract to your own preference. This is meatloaf. It’s not Filet.
- Do some stretching, then break out your trusty heavy large pot – Tom’s is a large Le Creuset Dutch Oven – enameled cast iron in blue – and it is HEAVY.
- Preheat a generous amount of olive oil on medium-high heat, then place the meatloaf spice side down for a few minutes. Once you have a nice brown crust forms, use tongs to flip the loaf carefully, and brown on the back and each side for another few moments.
- Toss in the onions after the first side of the meat so they brown and add some caramelization to the pan sauce you’ve got going and to, well, themselves.
- Remove the loaf and onions, deglaze (fancy word for pour into something hot) the pan with the red wine, and scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon.
- Let the alcohol cook off for a moment or two, then add the potatoes, carrots, beef broth, and place the loaf & onions on top. My goal is to have enough liquid to mostly cover the potatoes and carrots, but to leave the meat and onions mostly exposed.
- Cook in the preheated oven for about an hour to an hour & a half depending on the size of your loaf and preferred doneness. Use a meat thermometer to ensure it is done to your preference.
- Sit back and enjoy! Let us know if you like this simple, flavor forward version of an American classic.
- Bon Appetit!
-jess
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here.comes.february.
And just like that, January is headed to a close, and February beckons.
As we always try to do, we try to make each holiday and each season special and unique for the kids. Even though it is a bit early, I had some good ideas for cute Valentine’s pictures, and the girls were not only cooperative but actually having a great time.
I set up a simple white backdrop, their white PB Kids table from the playroom, and an assortment of Target balloons and Valentine’s goodies for a fun, festive shoot.
All the sweaters and decor are available on my LTK shop via the shop.my.look tab above. The sweaters are super cute and run mostly under $15.
In keeping with the spirit of the holiday, we typically make lots of festive treats, baked goods, and then a big Valentine’s Day breakfast once Cupid has made an appearance. Stay tuned for more February Fun…
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live.laugh.ski.
So after what felt like an eternity, the weather finally cooperated with some cold weather long enough for some PA skiing!! While we love all the seasons, and certainly love the warm weather, there is nothing quite like getting out on a cold, crisp January day, strapping a pair of slippery rockets to your feet, and blazing a trail down the…. bunny slope? Hah!
While Tom & I have been skiing for more than a decade, much of the past decade has been spent on and around bunny slopes and beginning greens as we teach our little ones to ski. We started Natalie at 2 years old, and have followed that tradition, with Autumn even getting on skis before her 2nd birthday. It is a lot of work to pour into our kids, with specialized gear to rent, equipment to carry, boots and skis to latch, etc. But as with most things in life, all of the efforts, all of the time and money spent, becomes irrelevant when years of work turns into a little one smiling and carving S turns down a slope with comfort, ease, and enjoyment.
This week, we had the chance to take our three girls, the youngest just over the age of 4, to Bear Creek Mountain Resort, one of our favorite haunts that is close to home. There was plenty of snow on the mountain, and being a weekday saw very little in the way of lines and lots of opportunity for us to get their “ski” legs back.
After that time, Natalie was ready to roll onto the regular lift, and Tom took her up as I stayed and worked with Savannah & Autumn.
For those of you that don’t already try it, our go-to has been to find a local ski shop by your home where you can lease skis for the season. This accomplishes two things – 1) you have a fixed cost which is usually made up if you go skiing more than a handful of times & 2) you bring your gear to the mountain, and avoid waiting in long lines each time you go to sign waiver, size up, and then get your gear. More-so than cost, this saves you precious moments that you could instead be working with the little ones and enjoying.
Also, we have tried most methods out there for training, including the “tether backpack” setup, where Mom or Dad wears a backpack and guides the child in front with “leashes.” For us, the thing that has worked best more than any other method has been to hold one pole horizontally, and have the child hold the end of the pole as far over as possible to avoid our skis getting tangled. This does require some wrist/arm strength, but really helps the kids get a feel for how their skis should feel and how to stop/turn while still having Mom or Dad as a safety net.
It is also quite easy to start teaching them to ski on their own by having them remove their hands but still keep the pole handy in case they need it as a crutch. Eventually, they learn to live without it.
Once this happens, we then try to have them follow close behind us. Tom or I will make very wide, exaggerated S turns in the snow, and we have the kids follow our snow tracks as closely as they can. Before you know it, they are making beautiful S turns just by simply tracing our pattern. It may not be a perfect teaching system, but it has worked wonders for us.
Our hope is to get the girls skiing at least once a week for the next 2 months, as ski season goes as quickly as it comes around these parts, and also hope for a ski-trip or two to give them that overnight experience. We had planned on a week in Vermont this year, but the combination of sub-zero Arctic blast the first week of January, and a little thing called COVID-19 had other plans.
I hope you enjoyed our post, and hope you get a chance to get out on the slopes this year before the snow retreats.
best,
jess and tom.
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power.smoothie.
A quick, easy, tasty smoothie recipe to help your New Years’ Resolutions get off to a solid start!
Since it is not always easy to have time or energy in the morning to get all of this together, I try to prep a week’s worth of smoothie’s in freezer gallon bags (minus the liquid) on the weekend, so during weekday mornings I can grab from the freezer, combine in the NutriBullet with the right amount of liquid, and I am set to conquer the world!
Power Smoothie Recipe:
- 1/2 frozen banana (if using fresh, add ice for consistency)
- handful of fresh baby spinach
- tsp natural peanut butter
- 2 scoops protein powder
- bag of frozen mixed fruit – cherries, mangoes, strawberries – picked up from freezer section at Target – $10 for a large bag
- 1/2 C to 1 C of Orange Juice (liquid depending)
I am not always in the mood to make a smoothie in the morning, so I try to prep ahead. I add all the ingredients in a. freezer gallon baggie except for the liquid. In the morning, I dump into a smoothie, add the liquid to approx level, and then add to the right consistency once blending.
I also use Moon Balance, an herbal mix from a company called Your Super that has tons of great, healthy stuff for that extra kick of nutrients – not necessary, but a definite bonus addition to an already power packed smoothie.
The whole enchilada takes just a few minutes to prep the night before in a freezer bag, and literally 60 seconds to dump and blend.
Enjoy!
jess
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planning our forever home
So the time has come for us to start prepping to build our forever home. We built our current home in 2014, back when we had 1 small child and dreams of having another or even 2 more. Fast forward 8 years, and we now have 4 kids, 2 dogs, and lots of new ideas of how we’d like our forever home to look.
While we have loved living here, and are blessed to have a safe, warm place to call home, we have known for quite some time that the house we built in our 20s would not the be the house that would carry us into our 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond.
We have been plotting our style ideas on Pinterest, House, iPhone Albums, etc. for as long as I can remember. Our style has shifted over time, from more traditional style colonial homes, to the rustic farmhouse, to now even more Nantucket/Cape Cod style.
Some of this has been influenced by our time spent at the beach house and proximity to cedar shakes, some by our desire for a nice, inviting, open living space, but none of our design is more driven than by the desire for light. From day to night, we’d like wide windows, bright sunshine, and light abound.
Our options are most likely limited to finding a country lot, or finding a current home, demolishing, and then building to suit. The latter actually sounds like a decent option as that allow out to use the prior footprint without additional storm water management considerations with can runs 10s or thousand or more for compliance.
Our wish list is high, with proximity to Tom’s office, girls activities, close to a good school, proximity to everyday staples like Target, Starbucks, various eateries, etc., but still have privacy, some acreage, and most impotently, southern exposure for abundant light.
We have been in talks with several builders, along with some auction houses, and also on constant monitoring on sites like Zillow & Realtor.com. There have been some possibles, but none that have met all our criteria.
You can check out my recent Instagram story to see our attempt this weekend to see a demo/rebuild land situation which did not make the cut.
As we carry on this journey, we plan to keep updating the progress here with photos and text. Feel free to ask questions, comment, and we will talk with you soon!
jess & tom
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stuffed.pepper.bake.
Simple weeknight dinner for those cold, snowy nights in early January for you all tonight.
So stuffed peppers are a common dinner in our area. Meat, rice, cheese, sauce, stuffed in a bell pepper and baked until done. Pretty simple. But kids don’t always like the look of big green bell peppers coming at them. So we try to spice things up, and tonight, went for a bit of a deconstructed stuffed pepper bake, and it was a hit!
Basics:
- 5 green bell peppers
- 1 lb. organic grass fed beef
- 2 bags of microwave ready jasmine rice
- 1 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes (if not avail – petite diced Hunts will also do)
- 2 medium sweet onions
- 2-3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp butter
- Spices
- salt. black pepper. white pepper. garlic.
- paprika. cayenne.
So we have fun just kind of cooking by instinct – i.e. with no set plan or recipe. So we took a traditional stuffed pepper and deconstructed it to make it more appealing to the kids.
Chop the peppers & onions. Saute on medium high with lid cracked to also steam them (to soften). Remove lid after soft to create some browning. Scoop from pan, and then brown the meat. Drain. Add butter, peppers, onions, rice, and stir. If pan gets too dry, add a little more olive oil.
After a few moments, add the meat, crushed tomatoes, spices, and mix. Remove from heat, sprinkle with an even layer of shredded parmesan cheese, and bake in 325 degree oven for about 30 minutes, more for extra crispy rice and less for a “wetter” dinner.
If you’re like us, you can also set the oven to the warm setting after about 20-25 minutes and just let it hang for a bit while we’re having fun with the kids.
We served the meal with some buttered toast and a Caesar salad kit salad with Olive Garden dressing. Easy.
Probably about 10-15 minutes of active cooking, and the rest just letting it bake and hang.
We do meals like this quite a bit, so I’ll try my best to post when we come across an experiment gone right, especially if it’s an easy one to put together.
jess.
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christmas.day
The big day has come and gone. The wonder and excitement on the kids faces, the warmth of family conversation, and a good meal help to put a stamp on every Christmas season.
Sometimes, when the day is done, a wave of sadness hits knowing that one more year has passed, one more Christmas for our little babies, one less Christmas with the being so little. I know as New Years approaches many people take time to reflect on the year and what lies ahead, and it is natural to feel a yearning for time past, for time to slow down. Those feelings hit me hard this year, with knowing Natalie will be 10 (10!) already next year and her single digit Christmas days are in the rear-view mirror. But then I look at the excitement our 6, 4, and 2 year old have, and know that there will be many, many more special Christmas memories, and while they may be different as they grow, they will still be cherished and beautiful.
Santa was very generous this year, but with 4 little ones, we were pretty happy that our house wasn’t completed overloaded with presents. The girls got a new Barbie House, lots of new Barbies, American Girl dolls, sand art, and lots of fun games to play. Cameron saw his day filled with excavators, big and small, a new red tractor to ride on, and lots of rough and tumble toys to play with.
We always do an aromatic breakfast of uncured bacon, scrambled eggs, orange juice, and some form of bread (this year we had Pillsbury Crescents) after all the presents have been unwrapped. Tom has had that tradition since he was young, as have I, and it is amazing how smells can trigger your memory – to this day, the smell of bacon & eggs reminds him of Christmas morning.
Since the kids were little, we have hosted our family at our house, so upwards of 20 people or more can show up. This year, the gathering was a bit smaller, but still north of 12. We had two hams which went in the oven shortly after breakfast and slow cooked for about 4 hours, just in time for a 3:30 dinner call. We also made 10 pounds of mashed potatoes, 12 pounds of green beans, and 10 pounds of corn. Needless to say, there was plenty of food, and plenty of leftovers to send home with everyone.
Another fun tradition we do in our extended family gathering is “now you have it, now you don’t,” or some variation thereof, to add some fun to the evening. This year, we did a pass the potato style, with everyone passing their gift until the music stopped. At the end, everyone had a shot to trade their gift with someone else prior to unwrapping. It was a lot of fun, and made for some great memories.
As we close out 2021, and say goodbye to another wonderful Christmas season, my wish for you is that you have many memories of Christmas, and many blessings for a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!
jess.
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favorite.tradition.
As the big day approaches, we continue to check major milestones off of our “must do” list for the season. Of all the traditions, one of the simplest but most special is our annual Christmas light hunt.
It really is as simple as it sounds. We pick a day on the calendar, wait until dark, get our comfy PJs and some hot chocolate, possibly make a quick detour at Starbucks, and put on some of our favorite Christmas tunes, and drive around the streets, neighborhoods, and towns near our house for a night of Christmas joy.
Tonight, we sampled new music from Ed Sheehan and Elton John, timeless favorites like The Carpenters and Neil Diamonds Christmas Album, some 98 Degrees, Mariah Carey, Polar Express, Ben Rector, and more. We do our best to sing along to every song we know by heart, and muddle through the ones we don’t with gusto.
It did seem that more houses were “dark” this year than usual, and our hope is this is a temporary malady caused by the strains of the past two years. Even though some homes weren’t fully in the spirit, we did catch a full light-show spectacular at one home that included a radio station tuned to the lights, with lights timed to TSO, Alan Jackson’s ‘Let it Be Christmas,’ and more.
Adding to the festive atmosphere, our beloved Chocolate Lab, Brody, turned 13 today. We celebrated him with a birthday serenade, silly pictures, and special dog bone treats to help him ring in the new big year. Our other dog, Milo, also has a big day coming up, turning just 14 in a few short weeks.
Even though dog years has our dogs pegged as “seniors,” they still provide us with lots of fun and enjoyment. We are thankful for the years we have gotten to spend with them, and are hopeful that we still have some years left before they leave us.
With only 48 hours until Santa starts his special flight, we pray that everyone stays safe, healthy, and gets the chance to enjoy this Christmas with full hearts.
jess.
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5 more sleeps.
So at this point in the year, things are wrapping up (no pun intended) quickly, and the excitement and anticipation of Christmas has taken full-on hold of the house. Morning calendar movements and chocolate calendars, Charlie the Elf hiding spots, Christmas movies and even board games have pretty well taken over daily life at this point.
In addition to the usual fun, we had the chance to visit Dutch Wonderland, a kids theme park designed for the very small and the small at heart crowd, complete with festive lights and a very cold afternoon and evening. Those two elements helped to reinforce the season nicely, as the so-far mild December weather has been a bit of a damper on the usual chill Christmas air.
Can you believe it is only 5 sleeps until Christmas morning? Each night, as the kids fall asleep, I try to think back to my childhood, and reminisce about that feeling, that special childhood excitement that comes at this time of year. Is it just about the prospect of gifts? Is the the cookies? The songs? Candy canes? Outings? Clearly, the season of Christmas is all of these things and more, wrapped up in a shiny, twinkling package that can be just as exciting for adults as for those precious children currently snuggled in their beds.
Earlier in the season, we made a short-list of “must see” movies this year, and it had the usual suspects, like The Santa Claus, Home Alone, Elf, A Christmas Carol, Charlie Brown, The Grinch, and the Polar Express, but has also expanded now to the likes of “Christmas Chronicles” and “all Hallmark movies” (which is a big number). While Cameron and Autumn will sit some, the movie watching is definitely more geared towards the older girls, who loves to stay up after the little ones go to bed and hang with mommy & daddy to watch a show or movie.
We have gotten through most of the movies on our list, but Charlie Brown, The Star, Home Alone 2, and maybe even Miracle on 34th Street still beg of our time. What Christmas classics does your family have on their must see list, and to that end, which ones have you saved for the final run-up to Christmas?
In spite of all the bad news in the world at this juncture, our goal with this blog is to stay positive, light, informative, and hopeful. We are hopeful that this post finds you well, not too stressed, and exciting for the final few days of this joyous season.
Wishing you and yours a joyous Christmas season.
jess.
