An Ode to Stretching.

I am pretty awesome.  Except when I have to tell you that my second Foodie Friday will have to be postponed until tomorrow.  Or Sunday.  Sorry.  It's my father-in-law's birthday dinner tonight.  And who passes up a birthday dinner?  I know who.

No one.

But back to more important thangs... I am awesome.  Just kidding!  Sorta. Kinda.

But mothers?  They are beyond stellar.  Bee. Yond.

I know that I am now a mother, and have been for 16 months (and counting...).  It is a hard job.  It stretches everything about you.  And what better way to express my feelings, than in a work of poetry.

An Ode to Stretching

when i am tried.  and all types of comfort denied.
my patience is stretched.

when laundry, dinner + dishes are all on the go,
and the length of her nap is what i do not know...
my time is stretched.

with baby in tow, i force my limbs to grow.
to get that dang sippy cup. that is on the highest shelf.
again.  why does he do that?
my arms are stretched.

when it's comfort i need, with extra super speed
i pick out my pants.
the stretchy ones.

when he is tired from work
and i call him a jerk.
his understanding is stretched. a. lot.

when she bulldozes through
the folded laundry pile
the cans in the grocery aisle
and works through my speed dial
her curiosity is stretched

when my food is not to her pallet.  and she throws a xylophone mallet. at. my. head.
my patience is stretched.  again.

when she snuggles and kisses
the Mr. and Mrs.
my love is stretched.

Insert smile and sighs.


So.  Mommies.  You are amazing.  I am learning everyday, and hope that I can live up to great ones.
I know I have some LARGE shoes to fill.

But I also have some pretty spectacular shoes to work my way up in.

The Challenge: An addition and an update

UPDATE ON CHALLENGE:

Smile people.  Or clap if you feel so inclined.

I am sticking to it. There are weeks, where I have spent more than $12.50, but I have yet to go over my monthly budget.  I know it's only January.  But i'ts the END of January.

Speaking of January, isn't this funny?

Anyways...

Since I have been so amazing,  I am going to reward myself with a terribly dreamy Philipp Lim 3.1

Hi.  How you doin'...

Just kidding.  Kinda. Sorta. Not really.  But I won't.  

I will just take a walk over to Holt and smell it.

Hello.  My name is Kristina and I am a Shoppaholic. 

Now, now. Don’t get your J Brands in a jizzy or your Guccies (Pronounced, “Goo-Chees - I do not know how to represent possession with the word, Gucci) in a gitchie.  I am not as bad as you think. 

So I dream of matching outfits and  fantasize about Tibi’s 2013 Spring collection.  While driving.  Or feeding G.  So?

So I envision platforms, stilettos and almond toes in oxblood and delicious suede.

So what?   I am real.  I can admit it.

So in addition to my reduction in spending, I will be trying 1 new activity every week, in attempt to broaden my horizons. 

Whatever that means.  Just kidding.  

This is a year of growth, so why not add new activities to my repertoire.

Sunday Sartorial: A Fun Sweater

Hello Sunday!  I love the weekends, even though they fly by super duper fast.  This weekend was still a fancy fizzle good time.  G slept in until 8:30AM (Which would have been a. Maze. Ing if I didn't wake up at 6AM.  But I appreciate the quiet time that was had)  The Hubster and I went on a romantic belated anniversary date.  A date has been LONG overdue.  Sometimes I forget how nice it is just to be alone with The Uber Dreamy McDreamster (aka The Hubster).  Not a cray cray ridiculous weekend.. But a nice one nonetheless.

Sweaters with Sayings on Them = Win.
Sweater with Symbols that Represent A Saying = Best Win.
Pictures with a Creeping G in the bottom R corner =  Top Prize in Life

So this will be my first self shot, with the exception of the professional one of myself in the top left corner of this blog.  Looking at these jeans, I think maybe they were not the best idea.  My leg line appears shorter since I cuffed my jeans.  And what is up with this face?  While my skin looks radiant, I believe the winter glare from the the sun and the snow contribute to my squinty face.

But this outfit made me feel cozy.  Or maybe it was the diva fur on the Mackage.  Whateva.

It was still a nice weekend nonetheless.

Introducing Foodie Fridays!

Hello all!  It has been a busy few weeks. We have been trying to get back into the groove, school has begun,  I am shopping less (Yay! Saving money!, and yet Nay.. It's hard...) and I am cooking more..

I have Fridays off (After working for 12 hours on Thursday .. (Cue baby cry...)) so I have decided that I will be exploring with new recipes each week.  

This week?  Tomato Tortellini Soup (With hidden Spinach.. My own sneaky touch..) and Arancini..

I consider myself to be somewhat of a novice cook.  I did not attend culinary school, like my uber dreamy Hubster. (He is SO dreamy. Sigh**)

But this is a year of stretching my abilities.

So, I will stretch my stomach.  And hide veggies.

Originally, I found the recipe via Pinterest.  I love Pinterest.  I loved it so much that I read pins about #FirstWorldProblems for a while.  Like, for 1 hour.  Before I knew it, it was 12:15 AM.

Anyways, after some continued googling, I found this recipe - It was terribly easy.

olive oil
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
1 small onion (chopped)
2 (15 ounce) cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans campbell's tomato soup
2 (10 ounce) cans milk (use soup can)
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped or 1 tablespoon dried basil
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chicken broth
3 tablespoons Italian-style tomato paste
1/2 cup light cream or 1/2 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 (9 ounce) package cheese tortellini

1 Coat soup pan with olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute till soft.
2 Add canned diced tomatoes, basil, tomato soup and two cans milk. Stir till blended.
3 Add chicken broth and stir in tomato paste till blended.
4 Simmer for 20 minutes
5 Add light cream and parmesan cheese.
6 Add tortellini and cook till tender (at least 15 minutes)

*Note - I am not too sure why the above came out that way... I can also admit that I am  not the most technologically savvy

To reduce the amount of calories, I substituted the half and half cream with more chicken stock.  I meant to make my own this morning, but 2 things happened.

1) I did not have any carrots, and
2) I did not want to

So I used this sodium reduced stock. It's pretty good.

I also threw in some chopped up spinach.

To go with the soup, I made some Arancini:

I retrieved the recipe from a children's cookbook.  Go ahead.  Laugh it out.  I can accept that you may or may not be laughing, or rolling your eyes.  I never said I was a professional chef.

But in all seriousness, Annabel Karmel's "Cook It Together" is a great book.  The ingredients are simple, and tasks are easy and I was able to include G in all of my cooking.  I have a few recipes from this text.   I have made corn fritters for G and delicious potato souflees (I did not know where the fancy, schmancy accents were on this blogger-thang).   And today, I decided to conquer Arancini.

1 tsp EVOO (How Rachel Ray of me...)
1tbsp diced onion
2 oz of risotto rice
8 fl oz of vegetable or chicken stock
3 tbsp grated Parmesan
salt and pepper
Mozzarella cut into small cubes
2 tbsp dried bread crumbs
1 egg beaten to coat
oil for frying

1 Heat the oil and add the onion
2 Add rice and stock
3 Simmer for 25 minutes until cook (STIR OFTEN!)
4 Add Parmesan, salt and pepper
5 Cool then refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm
6 Once firm, divide into equal sized balls and squidge cheese cube in the center
7 Dip arancini into beaten egg and roll a mix of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese

The recipe called for the arancini to be deep fried.  I baked them at 425.  I also added a bit of delicious panko  in with the breadcrumbs and parmesan..

Just call me an Iron Chef.

Renovations

Renovations ruin everything - But make the house nicer. 

Eventually.

Sigh.

Back to the Grizzle...

School time again!  Back to the grind...  Hooray!  And I do mean it.. Sorta... Kinda..

This semester I do not have many early morning classes.  For a 8 AM lecture I would get up around 4:30AM.  Yes.  I have this obsessive compulsivity to be cray cray early.  I need to shower, dry my hair, fix it, choose an outfit all before G gets up.  Then I give G a to-go  milk and off she goes with he gorgeous Daddy to her Gramma's.  It really is not as bad as I am making it seem.  But this semester I have later classes (Yay!) but I also end later (Nay!).  But I still have 2 days off during the week.  Holla..

My journey for spending less has been quite heartwarming. I managed to score some sa-weet polka dot pants for a cray cray price and a fun accessory... All within my budgety-budget.  Posts and pics to come!  While that is a small victory in itself, I think that (crossed fingers and toes) that I would love there to be months where I do not buy NE-thang.  That ladies and germs would be an astronomical feat itself.

So I will leave you with those very deep thoughts until we meet again...

The Goals

It is here.  2013.  The Hubster and I have each selected a handful of goals that we hope to achieve.  Here are mines (I hate it when my students use this in their formal writing)

1. Be purposeful

This can fall into a plethora of categories.  But in a nutshell, I want to be more conscious of what I do, in every aspect of my life.  The resolutions goals for this year are efforts to change the way I live, or will eventually change the way I will live.  I want to be an example for my daughter.  I desire will be someone that she looks up to.  So, (in another nutshell) I am making an effort to be deiberate about the daily choices I make.  Is what I am about to do worth my while?  Worth my money?  Worth my time? 

Need a deeper example?  Today The Hubster and I did  major purge of my closet.  Upon reflection of my day, I realized that I have A LOT of clothing.  Some of the stuff I was purging still had the tags on it.  Sad face.  One way I have decided to be purposeful this year is to be selective about what I buy.  For greater deets, take a look at The Challenge.

2.  Be more active

The Hubster and I met at the gym.  15 months ago we were going at least 5 times a week (And yes.  I still was gym-ing whilst preggo.  And yes.  It helped during mu labour and delivery.  Happy face).  I loved (and still have the terrible itch) working out.  It made me feel good, I looked good and I was at a really healthy fitness level.  We are currently shopping around for the best bang for our buck gym pass.  The Hubster and I are not motivated enough to work out at home.  Although I did thrift some work out DVDs and have sadly never made their way to the player.  I do go on walks with G, and wear ankle weights, but I need more resistance training.  The gym would be a great addition to our new year.

3.  Try at least 1 new recipe a week

Hopefully I will find some real gems in my adventures in cooking and baking...

4.  DIY more, Buy Less...

Instead of purchasing that sweater with the sequins on it, why not make it myself.  And this will serv  Wait.  Let me rephrase that.  Let me ATTEMPT to make it myself..  Operative word?  Attempt.  Try. 

TA DA!  This is the year peeps. 

This is the year of purposefulness, activeness, recipe-ness, and DIY-ing-ness.