Bread with the Brisels

And just like that, it's the very last day in July! Truly, this month has absolutely flown. This month I'm linking up with  Sheaffer  and  Shay  to share a bit about what's up in my life right now.  What we're eating this week... This week is known as "birthday week" in my extended family, so at this point, it feels like all we're eating is birthday cake. 😂 Within the span of 7 days, we have 5 birthdays. My dad, my brother, my sister-in-law, my sister, and my father-in-law all celebrate birthdays this week so we've been doing all the celebrating! My sister requested a strawberry "shortcake" cake for her birthday, so I was tasked with making one. Yum!  What I'm reminiscing about... Now that it's just about August, I'm starting to plan Sammy's "Back to School Brinner," which has me reminiscing about  last year's brinner . I'm so excited to do this tradition again this year! Sammy still remembers this special c...

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone's week is off to a good start. Today I'm sharing some of my daily habits that I've been trying really hard to be consistent with. By no means am I perfect at them, but I notice that I am a happier and more productive human when I am consistently doing these habits. I enjoy reading these types of posts on other lifestyle blogs, so I thought maybe you would enjoy reading this as well. 😉 In no particular order... #1 - Move my body  This summer I have been slacking on my Peloton workouts. During the school year I am so consistent with getting out of bed early for some cardio and strength training! During the summer...I like to sleep in. 😉 Regardless of the time of year, I try really hard to move my body in some way each day. Right now, we've been taking lots of walks as a family, and I love this form of exercise! Dustin and I have some of our best chats while we walk together. It's a good reminder for me that walking is still a valuable ...

  I say it every single summer, and yet every single summer it surprises me: A fter the Fourth of July, the summer just flies by.  How is it the last week of July?! I've done a pretty good job avoiding the "Back to School" advertisements and aisles, but I think it's getting to be time to face the music. 😂  We have had a really, really good summer. It's been different, balancing an active 5 year old, and a 1 year old who is still very reliant on getting his daytime naps in. When I think back to last summer, I remember lots of slow days at home, lots of naps on the couch, and lots of backyard play. This summer has involved a lot of shuffling Sammy around to camps, trips to the pool, and lots of food trialing for Jack. Jack finally began sleeping through the night (YAY!) and so this summer has been restful as well.  I love a good routine, so I know I will welcome the return of one when school starts, but I'm just not quite ready to have one in place yet. 😉 Here...

Happy, happy Monday! I hope everyone's week is off to a good start.  I'm sharing another favorite pasta salad today. Pasta salads are my favorite this time of year! I appreciate how refreshing they are as a side dish, and how easy they are for lunches. This recipe comes from my Aunt Pam, and it's a staple at family gatherings!  Orzo Salad makes about 8 servings Pasta Ingredients: 1 box of Orzo pasta, cooked al dente 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved 1/2 red onion, diced finely Feta Cheese Fresh Basil Dressing Ingredients:  1/3 cup Olive Oil  1/4 cup White Balsamic Vinegar  2 tsp garlic, minced 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard  Salt and Pepper  * If you'd rather use store bought dressing, I recommend Kraft Zesty Italian Directions:  Mix your cooked pasta, halved cherry tomatoes, and diced red onion in a bowl.  Mix your dressing ingredients together until everything is incorporated, and then add your dressing to your pasta mixture.  Give everyth...

  As summer continues on, I am finding these weeks are passing even more quickly! I can't believe that we're just about halfway through July. I'm linking up with  Erika  and  Andrea  to share some favorites from the week. Here we go!  First up...Vacation Bible School for Sammy! It was his first year attending, and it was from 9:00-2:30 each day. That's a long day for a little boy! Each day he'd come home hungry and exhausted, and I'm pretty sure it was a glimpse of what starting Kindergarten will be like. 😉 Overall it was a great experience for him! I'm glad he has the weekend to recover and have some down time.  While Sammy was gone at VBS, Jack had...all the appointments. Womp womp. He had his first dental visit, a pediatrician appointment, and an appointment with his food allergy dietitian. He was a little trooper through it all!  Matching outfits will always be a favorite of mine. I loved my boys looking handsome in their matching Mickey Mous...

This week is flying! Sammy has been living his best life at Vacation Bible School, and I've been doing all the things at home with Jackson. How does having one kid gone make it seem like you have no kids?! My house has been quiet.  Yesterday Jack had his first dental visit! The appointment lasted all but 10 minutes, but it feels good to get another appointment checked off the summer "to-do" list. 😉 See you back here tomorrow!

...was one of my very favorite summer meals. 😊 It was the first batch of Iowa sweet corn of the season, and the best main dish to sweet corn is a BLT, in my opinion.  Here's a little trick for you to try for your next BLT sandwich:  Grill your bacon!  A few hours before your meal, put your bacon in a large Ziploc bag with a handful of brown sugar. Put this back into the fridge until it is time to eat.  When it's ready to cook, you'll cook your bacon on the grill until it's done. That's it! No mess or smell of bacon grease in your house. Have a great Tuesday!

It's Monday again! Does anyone else feel as if the Fourth of July lasted forever with the day the holiday landed? We didn't necessarily do anything extra special over the weekend, but I heard lots of fireworks going off through the night, so someone somewhere was celebrating. 😉 I've been blogging here [almost] consistently for a year, and this blog has become somewhat of a digital scrapbook for me. I really treasure reading through old posts, and remembering events of the past. I wanted to share a bit of life lately, and what we've been up to this summer so far.  Jack has a lot to say these days. Haha. He is talking like crazy and can say around 10-12 words. His newest tricks are saying "ROAR" if you ask him what a Tiger says, and saying the word "ball."  He is cruising and crawling all over the place, so I'm sure we'll have a walker before too long. I'm not quite sure if I'm ready for that excitement, but I do love seeing him meet n...

  It's Friday! Yesterday was the 4th of July, so today actually feels a bit more like a Saturday. Hooray for having the weekend ahead of us!  As usual, I'm linking up with  Andrea  and  Erika  to share some favorites from the week.  My top favorite has to be our 4th of July celebration! We live right next to the park that shoots off fireworks, so each year we typically host a gathering. We eat hamburgers and hot dogs, the kids play, and there's a big firework show to cap off the evening. Such a fun time!  Our holiday started off with a *very* rainy parade. It rained pretty steadily for the first thirty or so minutes of the parade, but then the sun came out and we were left with a beautiful day!  Sammy wrist has to be killing him from the amount of waving he did. 😉 These two brothers had such a fun day!  Last year, we didn't host our party since Jack was just barely a month old, and Dustin was back to working night shift following his pa...

It's Fourth of July Eve!  Today I'm sharing a yummy little dinner recipe that is able to be assembled and cooked in one pan. (Amen). It's a variation on the viral pasta recipe floating around social media. Give it a try!  Caprese Pasta Serves: 4-5  Ingredients: 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces 1 carton of cherry tomatoes, washed 1/2 red onion, diced 1 large bag of tortellini, cooked and drained Extra Virgin Olive Oil Minced garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, fresh mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, and balsamic glaze (measure with your heart) Directions: The morning before cooking, place your cut up chicken breast in a Ziploc bag with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper and Italian seasoning. Let marinate in the fridge for at least a few hours.  In a 9x13 pan, place your marinated chicken breast, minced onion and cherry tomatoes. Mix together and make sure it is all on an even layer. Top with a drizzle ...

Many of you know that our Jack has a severe food allergy to oats and rice, and has a diagnosis of FPIES (Food Protein Enterocolitis Syndrome). Because of his allergy, eating solids has been a slow process since we have to "trial" foods for several days before they can be called "safe foods." This summer, I told Dustin my full-time job would be serving as Jack's personal chef and dietitian. 😉 With me being home with him all day, we've been able to add lots of safe foods to his list. We're up to 25, which is a TON, considering that six months ago we were at 0. Lots of his safe foods are super versatile, like wheat. He can have wheat in lots of different forms: graham crackers, pasta, bread, etc.. It's exciting! When Jack eats, he says "nom nom nom" as he chews. You can tell that he's starting to become very excited when he sees his plate of food and he has his favorite food items. Right now he is loving colby jack cheese, yogurt melts, s...

I have no idea how July is here already! I'd like to press the "slow down" button for my summer, please.  The produce section of our local grocery store was 10/10 this weekend. I got all sorts of fresh fruits, and one of the stars were the white nectarines. I used them in a salad - here's the method if. you need some inspiration!  What I used: Fresh Romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped  1 white nectarine, chopped  Feta Cheese Sliced Almonds White Balsamic Vinegar, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt and pepper  What you'll do: Put your Romaine Lettuce down on a plate and top with your nectarine, feta cheese and almonds.  Drizzle with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar, plus a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  That's it! Lunch is served.