TV Free

The other day I made a CRAZY decision: no more TV, movies, computer games, etc. on weekdays.

We are definitely not an anti-TV family. Ben and I love watching TV. It’s one of our favorite past times! And prior to these past two weeks, Sam watched 1-3 shows a day (and Campbell too, but her attention span is shorter). We don’t have an iPad, but Sam likes playing some games on our phones. And Sam has enjoyed a few movies for special occasions (Disney’s Robin Hood is a recent favorite).

The main reason I put the TV on, is because it buys me some nice down time. As I have mentioned in my WWAW posts, I usually cook dinner while the kids are watching a show. And I’ve been known to let the kids watch a show so that I can have a few minutes just to sit down.

So why on earth would I change things? Well, recently I have been noticing that letting Sam watch TV seems like more trouble than it’s worth. Sam seems to be very impacted by technology. When a show is on, you cannot tear him away. He is completely sucked in. But the problem is really when it comes time to turn it off. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell him just one show, we’re turning it off when the credits roll, etc. etc. Every single time he has to turn the TV off, he goes crazy. He begs and begs to watch one more show and then when it becomes clear that I am not going to change my mind, he has a total meltdown. That usually lasts 5-10 minutes, and then he is grumpy for at least another hour, often for the rest of the evening.

So two weeks ago I decided to tell Sam that we weren’t watching TV on weekdays any more (I didn’t want to take it away all together). I was really nervous that he would be resistant to this new plan and also nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get anything done in the afternoons. But it has worked out SO WELL.

Sam accepted the decision with almost no push back. He used to ask to watch a show almost instantly from getting up from his nap/quiet time but he never asks at all anymore (except on the weekend). And he never even complains that he wishes he could watch a show. No one is more surprised by this than me.

I have tried to come up with a few things to keep Sam busy in the afternoons, like books on CD from the library (a big hit with both kids), but it hasn’t been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Turns out when he isn’t melting down about not getting to watch TV, he is quite capable of entertaining himself. He’s been reading books, coloring pictures, playing sneaky spies with Campbell (my personal favorite–they go upstairs sneaking around quietly and whispering), and taking an ungodly amount of photos with my iPhone.

I am not sure how long we will keep this up, but at this point, I really don’t see why we’d change the rules!

What We Ate Wednesday

*Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week!*

I have to be honest, and admit we have cheated a little bit lately on the vegan thing. I am loving making vegan dinners, and while not all recipes have been a success, I have found some great new veggie-full dinner recipes. But I hate trying to order vegan food at restaurants–it’s too hard! And Ben and the kids really miss dairy at breakfast. Ben tried making some vegan pancakes but they were about as good as you’d expect. I am quite happy with my pb, honey, banana on english muffin breakfasts, but I have been itching to do some baking, which is tricky without eggs! But we’re half way through the month now!

Wednesday: Bean and Avocado Tacos

While I miss cheese in general, I was really surprised how much I didn’t miss it in these tacos. They were still totally delicious and filling!

Thursday: Girls Dinner

I went out to dinner at Rustico with some good friends of mine. We shared delicious pizzas (yes, I cheated!). One was a margarita and the other was roasted mushroom, which was amaaaazing! (I made pasta with tomato sauce and meatless crumbles from Trader Joe’s for Ben and the kids. And fruit salad for dessert.)

Friday: Adas Lentil Soup, Hummus, and Roasted Broccoli

The other day we went out to lunch at a nearby Palestinian restaurant (the food diversity here is one of the best parts of living in the DC area) and I had the most delicious lentil soup ever. It was so comforting and simple. When I got home I looked up recipes and found this one. It is remarkably similar. You need red lentils, which I got at Trader Joe’s. I also made this hummus, which involves peeling the chickpeas. I know that sounds crazy but it was kind of fun and the end product was really good, and. I also made my favorite roasted broccoli, which wasn’t nearly as good without the Parmesan–kind of surprising what a difference it made!

Saturday: Cava Grill

After being stuck inside for what felt like an eternity due to cold and rain, we decided to have a fun family outting to the mall. We got dinner at Cava Grill, which was not vegan, but not super dairy-full either. We all had falafel wraps. Yummmy!!

Sunday: Chickpea and Broccoli Burrito

This was another recipe from Thug Kitchen (expletive warning!). I was really excited about this one but it was pretty disappointing. The filling was really good, but it was just too dry for a taco. The next day I ate it for lunch without the tortilla and liked it much better that way. I might serve it with rice next time.

Monday: Peanut Tempeh Summer Rolls

Yet another Thug Kitchen recipe! This one was great!! And I felt like a master chef making these because they were so beautiful. We had these with rice.

Tuesday: Carrot Soup, Lemon Tahini, Roasted Chickpeas

I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and did a happy dance when I realized it was vegan! It was just as delicious as I thought it would be! But the lemon tahini sauce was amazing! Like, weirdly good. The carrot soup was a tad sweet, but I bet these accoutrements would be good with any pureed soup!

HBTM Swimsuit Preorder!

I am currently doing a preorder for swimsuits (I know, crazy to think about swimsuits now, but now is when I order!).

This year I am selling adorable seersucker one-pieces and bikinis in pink, green, or turquoise for girls and swim trunks in green or turquoise for boys.

The one pieces are $33, the bikinis are $31, and the trunks are $27. This price includes shipping and an embroidered name or monogram.

Please go check out the album and be sure to email me no later than FRIDAY, January 17th to place an order. You will receive your swimsuit in late April or early May.

What We Ate Wednesday

*Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week!*

As I mentioned in my New Years Resolution post, we are trying to be mostly vegan this month. When we made this decision, we decided we would cheat a few times–for Ben’s birthday later this month and anytime we were invited to eat at someone’s house. So far it is going pretty well. I was feeling a little drained the first few days, but I think that was due to a variety of factors. I also think I needed to adjust how much I was eating since a vegan diet is naturally lower in calories. I did already lose the 5 lbs I put on over the holidays, so that was pretty great!

As for why we decided to do this, the main reason is to broaden our horizons and learn to cook (and order when eating out) more vegetable heavy foods. I will always go for cheese over veggies when given the option, and I want to try to adjust my palate to be a little more veggie heavy (am I making any sense?). I am pretty sure we will never be full-fledged vegans, but there are lots of reasons to eat a primarily plant based diet.

Wednesday: Lucky New Years Dinner

We had a traditional southern New Years dinner, but veganized: vegan cornbread (really good, I promise!), vegan collard greens (definitely prefer these to the “hammy” kind), and my favorite black eyed peas, Texas caviar.

Thursday: Sweet Potato Chickpea Wraps

My friend Diana told me about this recipe a few weeks ago and raved about it. It sounded like an unusual combination to me, but I decided to try it for one of our vegan meals (plus Diana and I tend to have similar taste in food). It was really good!! The whole family gobbled it up. So go ahead and give it a try! Oh, but be warned–the recipe is from Thug Kitchen and the writing is colorful!

Friday: “Hot Dogs” and sides

Man, I love these Field Roast Sausages. Seriously, they are really good! And they are not full of all the fake stuff that vegetarian “meats” often are. We had them with some mini rolls from Trader Joe’s (their hot dog buns are not vegan but these worked great), roasted Brussels sprouts, and roasted fingerling potatoes. We topped our dogs with ketchup and veganaise, which, I KID YOU NOT, tastes exactly like mayonnaise.

Saturday: Dinner with the Owens

We were invited to dinner at our friends’ house for dinner on Saturday. Sam and Campbell are good friends with their daughters, and we love their parents, so we all had a great time. We had delicious guacamole, veggie pizza, and cookies for dessert!

Sunday: Dinner with the Hobbs

After a little break due to the busy holiday season, we are getting back into our dinner routine with the Hobbs. As usual, Nicole made a delicious meal: cheese sticks with marinara sauce, tomato-mozzarella-pesto paninis, and Caesar salad. And ice cream pie for dessert! Yuuumm!

Monday: Crispy Avocado Tacos, Rice, and Beans

This is a recipe from one of our favorite restaurants that I have been wanting to make for ages, but I have never gotten around to it because I was a little intimidated (frying makes me nervous!). But I am so glad I finally made it! It was delicious!! And really not that hard, and easy to do in little bursts over the course of the afternoon. For leftover lunch the next day, I didn’t fry the avocados, but instead just made a simple guacamole (smashed avocado, lime juice, salt), which was also good. Either way, you should try this recipe!

Tuesday: Spicy Beans and Coconut Milk

This recipe calls for light coconut milk, but since we are being vegans all month, I decided to really live it up and use coconut cream, which I found at Trader Joes. Not surprisingly, this really kicked it up a notch! I also made some vegan naan to serve with this (the one I usually get at TJs is not vegan), which was fantastic and not super hard. I would like to try making some and freezing it for a more convenient weeknight meal.

Campbell’s First Haircut!

Campbell had her first haircut today! Well, I guess it was her second, if you count the time I snipped a few little longer hairs when she was a baby. She was so excited and kept talking about it all day (“Campbell get haircut too!). She was such a big girl and did whatever the hairdresser told her to do! There isn’t a huge difference, but it looks a little cleaner now. Very cute!

Before:

During:

After:

Christmas Countdown 2013 (part 2)

This year we are doing our Christmas Countdown again. So far we are having a great time and it’s fun being able to include both kids in more of the activities. I love this holiday tradition! Check here for part 1.

Day 13: Wrap Presents

Sam made a few salt dough ornaments to give to neighbors and friends, so today we wrapped them. He had fun taping the paper and sticking on the to/from labels.

Day 14: Visit the White House Tree

The kids were fascinated by the toy trains at the base of the tree. So much so that we couldn’t get them to turn around for a picture!

Day 15: See Frozen

This was Sam’s first trip to the movies and it was a blast. Sam and I went to a morning matinee while Campbell and Daddy stayed home and had their own fun morning. I can’t wait till Campbell is old enough to sit through a movie and we can all go together!

Day 16: Christmas Crafts

I saw these on pinterest. Nothing to difficult, but a lot of fun!

Day 17: Christmas Cookies

I have the best butter cookie recipe (thanks Mrs. Bain!) and I love making them for Christmas. I took a pic of the recipe so you can make these too! (The secret is to get the dough pretty thin so they bake up nice and crisp!)

Day 18: Slimy Snow

The kids loved this one! I thought I was being so smart taking off Campbell’s shirt but then I went in the other room for a minute and Sam started shouting that Campbell was putting it in her hair. Ha! Here is the “recipe” we used.

Day 19: Hot Cocoa

We made some hot cocoa (the kids’ favorite) and drank it along with some of our yummy Christmas cookies.

Day 20: Snowball Fight

For this we scrunched up a bunch of paper into little balls. We divided into teams, set a timer for a minute and threw as many “snow balls” at each other as we could before the timer went off. Super fun. Thanks for the idea Kelly!

Day 21: Videos from Santa

We did these last year and they are great and free! The kids love them. Check out this site to make your own. This was a good short activity since we spent most of the day driving down to Georgia.

Day 22: Holiday Lights

The dads took the kids to a neighborhood near my sister’s house that always has an amazing light show. Campbell was a little tired so Nikki and I just drove around with her to see the lights at the neighbors’ houses.

Day 23: ??

Um. Well, I can’t remember what we did this day. We were thinking about going to the Botanical Gardens in Atlanta but it was sold out. We went to a playground by a small airport and I think that was what we told Sam the activity was that day. Playing with your cousins at a park where you can watch airplanes take off is pretty cool, right?

Day 24: Reindeer Food

We made a bag of reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter) and the kids sprinkled it on the front yard for Santa’s reindeer to eat that night.

Day 25: Christmas!

2014 Resolutions

I love making resolutions! I am a big time goal-setter and list-maker so combining those things with a fresh start is so appealing to me. I just looked at my new year’s resolutions post from last year and was so excited to see I had accomplished each and every goal! Go me! So here’s hoping for another year of realized resolutions.

1-Exercise. I have fallen off the running wagon ever since the weather got cold. I really don’t like running in the cold but I can’t decide whether to join a gym or just get a membership at a nearby indoor track like I did last year. On the one hand, an indoor track is much cheaper. On the other hand, I would really like to add some conditioning/weight work to my running, so I need a gym for that. I think I am just going to bite the bullet and get a gym membership.

2-Drink more water. This is a simple one, but I am going to try to get in the habit of drinking a glass of water before and after each meal.

3-Eat more fruits and vegetables. I would like to include more vegetables in our meals and buy more fruits for snacking. In an effort to accomplish this goal, we are embarking on a month-long vegan challenge! I will talk about this more in my next WWAW post, but basically we are trying to eat mostly vegan meals this month. Eek!

4-Spend more quality time with the kids. I am going to try to spend 15 minutes, two days per week with each kid just hanging out, doing whatever they want to do (coloring, playing with trains, make believe, etc.). I know this probably sounds simple (and really minimal), but I find myself easily distracted by my phone, cleaning up, making dinner, etc. when I am with my kids. (This idea is from Meghan Leahy, a great parent coach that I follow on FB!)

5-Make and freeze food. I like making food from scratch but there’s not always time. I would like to clean out our freezer to make room for some homemade foods like muffins, waffles, naan, etc.

6-Redecorate. With the help of my talented friend, Sarah Bohl, I have already started redecorating our living/dining room and am so excited about it, I have a long list of things to buy (you can see some of my ideas on my pinterest page), and the hard part is spacing out the purchases so I don’t spend too much at once (gotta keep to our budget!). If I get the living room done, I would like to move to our bedroom next, with Sarah’s help, of course!

7-Make stuff for my kids. I make so much stuff for Handmade By The Millers‘ customers, which is great, but I almost never getting around to making stuff for my own kids. I have wanted to sew a pair of pants for Sam since he was two and still haven’t done it! This is the year! I would also like to get back to making them special holiday shirts, like the ones I sell.

8-Get off my phone, especially Facebook. I am so addicted to checking my phone–I am constantly looking at it to check email, Instagram, and Facebook. I really don’t get much out of this, but it is so addicting! I want to come up with limits for myself but am not really sure how to make myself stick to them. Maybe 1 minute per hour? We will see. Any suggestions are welcome!

What We Ate Wednesday

*Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week!*

Happy New Year! I hope everyone is having a great start to 2014. I am about to go cook our New Years Day feast–collard greens, cornbread, and black eyed peas (Texas caviar) but you’ll have to wait a week to get those recipes!

Wednesday: Chinese Food

Rather than slave away on a traditional Christmas dinner, we decided to go the route of movies and Chinese food! We shared some tofu and vegetable dishes, all delicious!

Thursday: Chipotle

We drove from Atlanta to Myrtle Beach and stopped off at Chipotle for dinner. Ben and I split the tacos with beans, rice, cheese, guacamole, and salsa. The kids split the taco kit kid’s meal which was adorable! You should check out their kid’s meal if you haven’t already!

Friday: Sea Blue

My dad, his wife, and my grandpa made a detour to Myrtle Beach on their drive down from Minnesota to Florida so we went out to dinner with them. My mom and Jerry stayed home with the kids so we could have a nice adult dinner out! The food was delicious! My sister and I shared a salad and 4 sides: truffled mashed potatoes, 5 cheese macaroni, sauteed spinach, and grilled asparagus.

Saturday: Pirates Voyage

We went out to a pirate dinner theater event. It was kind of like Medieval Times but with pirates. the kids loved it! We got the vegetarian option so we had a baked potato, pasta with tomato sauce, broccoli, bell peppers, & corn, corn on the cob, cream of vegetable soup, and an apple turnover. You definitely don’t go there for the food, but the show was fun!

Sunday: Tacos

Ben made bean and cheese tacos for everyone and my mom made guacamole. Easy and delicious!

Monday: Chuy’s

After finding out a month or so ago that one of our favorite Texas chains had opened in Virginia, we have been trying to find an excuse to go to Richmond (about 2 hours away). Our drive back from Myrtle Beach was the perfect excuse! We were so excited to eat in a Chuy’s! Other than the salsa being a lot milder and the prices being slightly higher, it was exactly the same as it is in Texas!! Can’t wait to go back!!

Tuesday: New Year’s Eve Party

We went to a very fun New Year’s Eve party at our neighbor’s house. We dined on all kinds of delicious party food, including the Texas caviar that we brought over. Gotta get those black eyed peas in!! Oh and we made a double batch so we can have some for dinner tonight!

What We Ate Wednesday

*Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week!*

Yes, it is Sunday! But Wednesday was Christmas, so I have a good reason for not posting that day. And after that it just fell off my radar, since we’re on vacation. Also, because of said vacation, you will notice a lot more eating out and a lot less cooking. Enjoy!

Wednesday: Nostos

Our friend Angie was in town for work so we me her for dinner. We were going to bring the kids, but Angie had to work late so we ended up getting a sitter and having a grown up night out! We all shared a few starters for our meal. I can’t remember them all but they included spanikopita, Greek beans, feta and olives, crispy zucchini, and flaming cheese. Delicious!!

Thursday: Macaroni and Cheese, Creamed Spinach

Ben brought dinner to the family of one of his work friends, whose wife is sick and we made ourselves the same meal, but minus the cookies! The mac and cheese is the recipe I always make but the creamed spinach is a new one I got from my friend Nicole. It’s not too creamy and it is very lemony, which is what I like about it!

Friday: leftovers

Since we were leaving the next morning, we tried to finish off all of our leftovers. Nice and easy!

Saturday: Christmas Party

After driving all day from VA to GA, we put the kids to bed and then headed over to my sister’s friend’s Christmas party. I ate an unhealthy amount of seven layer dip, cheese bread, hummus, and olives. Oh and wine.

Sunday: Marlow’s

We went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants to go to when we come to Georgia. We shared some kettle chips (house made potato chips, blue cheese sauce, tomatoes, scallions, hold the bacon) and then I got a lobster chowder and delicious green salad.

Monday: Sweet Tomatoes

As I mentioned, I haven’t been doing much cooking! We decided to go to Sweet Tomatoes, a family friendly soup and salad chain that was delish!

Tuesday: Christmas Eve Party

My sister hosted Christmas Eve at her house for family and we made a feast of heavy hor d’oeuvres. We had tomato soup in cups for sipping, basil butter bread, mac and cheese bites, roasted red pepper and feta dip, jalepeno popper dip, amazing dill dip, fruit skewers, vegetables, crackers and chips.

What We Ate Thursday

*Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week!*

Ooops! Sorry I am a day late on this. I will make it quick.

Wednesday: Roasted Red Pepper Soup and Grilled Cheese

This soup was not good. I realized half way through making it that I meant to make the *other* soup recipe I pinned that day. Oh well. The grilled cheese were good!

Thursday: Leftovers

This week I tried to incorporate more leftovers into dinner, instead of lunches. It went OK. I spent nearly twice as much as usual at the grocery store, but I am hoping that as I build up a supply of lunch staples that will not be the case!

Friday: Out to Dinner

Ben’s boss hosted a little happy hour at his house for all employees. I came by with the kids for a bit and then we went to District Taco, but the capitol hill location. WAY more exciting!

Saturday: Date Night

We met up with our friends Jess and Matt for dinner at Oyamel, my absolute favoritest Mexican restaurant in DC! I got Brussels sprouts, queso fundido, guacamole, papas al mole, and a few more things I can’t remember (it’s a small plates restaurant). Oh and a couple of their delicious margaritas!

Sunday: Christmas Party

Our friends, the Hobbs, hosted a wonderful Christmas party/first birthday party for their daughter. I brought my corn and wild rice dish from Thanksgiving. Nicole made a feast of holiday foods, including mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, creamed spinach, cranberries, etc. Yummmm!

Monday: Cheese Pizza and Greek Salad

I made a cheese pizza using pizza dough, pizza sauce, and shredded cheese, all from Trader Joes. Super easy, but I do recommend allowing lots of time to stretch out the pizza dough because I always rip it when I’m in a hurry. Also, I do a pan pizza, which I think is great, and you don’t have to worry about transferring it to a hot pizza stone, which seems unnecessarily difficult!!

And I made my sister’s greek salad which was sooo yummy: 1/2 english cucumber, grape tomatoes halved, 1/2 block of feta cubed, 1 bell pepper chopped, greek olives, red onion thinly sliced, olive oil, white vinegar, dried oregano, and salt.

Tuesday: Mexican Lentil Soup and Quesadillas

I made this soup recipe that my friend Angie gave me. On her recommendation, I skipped the herbs the recipe suggests and added cumin and smoked paprika instead. I also subbed the spinach for fire roasted frozen corn. I served it with a little crumbled feta (very similar to queso fresco) and some jack and corn tortilla quesadillas made by Ben.