comings and goings and eatings

i *heart* Cupprimo

The past week has been beyond crazy.  Chris came out to visit and we worked on a program that will help me shave months off of my thesis.  In addition, we ate at some tasty restaurants, made some delicious dinners, and generally hung out all over Austin.  And while normally, a visitor isn't cause for that much chaos, my brother-in-law moved in with us on Wednesday.  Colby got him a job at his company and he started today, so this weekend was filled with rearranging the house, sacrificing our guest bedroom, and trying to fit in some Halloween activities as well.  Colby and I dressed up as Juno MacGuff and Paulie Bleeker, since the only thing I needed to buy to complete my outfit was a bottle of Sunny D.  By the way, Sunny D is disgusting.  Six year old me had some pretty terrible taste in beverages.  Colby got some sweet yellow gym shorts out of the deal, which I've been wearing since Saturday night since they're actually way too short for him. ;)

confituras apple butter fresh from the farmers market

Monday:
Pan sausage, potatoes, and eggs with toast+Confituras apple butter

Tuesday:
Butternut squash+apple soup, roasted brussels sprouts

Wednesday:
Lasagna from Central Market, salad

Thursday:
Mac'n'cheese chicken casserole (recipe to come, if it turns out okay)

Friday:
Chicken and 20 cloves (We got 4 pieces of chicken thighs instead of cutting up a whole chicken), roasted brussels sprouts + butternut squash

Oh hai

Hello old friends,

Welcome back from the dark recesses of my closet. It's been far too long.

Love,

Julie

yet another menu plan

We arrived back from our babymoon yesterday evening and since then I've been tired and trying to keep busy.  We have another appointment tomorrow where we find out the sex of the fetus.  I definitely have my preference and so does Colby.  Either way, I'm just glad that I'll finally be able to start filling out the rest of the baby registry so the overeager grandparents can get off my back. ;)  Our babymoon was awesome and I'll be posting pictures once we finally sort through them.  We put our new camera to use and wow, does it ever make a difference.  In the mean time, here's a quickie menu plan for the week

This is what happens when a DSLR meets dusk and my dinner

Tuesday:
Pasta with spinach, tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, chicken and mozzarella cheese

Wednesday:
Grilled cheese with homemade tomato soup

Thursday:
butternut squash gnocchi with brown butter sage sauce and roasted brussels sprouts

Friday:
Chris comes to town, so it seems likely that we'll go out to eat somewhere.  Or maybe we'll make something fancy for dinner

Menu Plan, because cooking doesn't make me want to pukedie anymore

My summer long odyssey of getting through the first trimester of pregnancy largely unscathed meant that I basically had to stop cooking. It's not that all I wanted were pickles and ice cream, but rather the convergence of common first trimester side effects. Everyone knows about morning sickness, and I became intimately familiar with it. What I didn't realize, however, was that I would attain a superhuman sense of smell. Granted, it was nothing like my dog's amazing snout, but it was enough to make things like cooking onions verboten in my kitchen. One day, Colby made a salmon burger without using the vent hood and the entire kitchen and living room reeked of its salmon-y afterscent. In order to escape the stench, I made him go to IKEA and the outlet mall in Round Rock, in which the only thing we ended up purchasing was a halloween costume for my dog (and oh man, does she ever *love* it. ;)).

Kimchi only looks a little bit defeated, no?

Now that I'm well into the second trimester, I'm at the point where I can cook again.  Both my wallet and the 'sband thank me.  Mostly my wallet.  Colby still isn't so happy about the constant mess in the kitchen, but baby steps, you know?

Monday:
Bison tacos with spinach, tomatoes, sour cream, sharp cheddar, and salsa

Tuesday:
Pasta with sundried tomatoes, grape tomatoes, spinach, artichoke, garlic and mozzarella

Wednesday:
Pan-fried marinated chicken with roasted brussels sprouts and mashed sweet potatoes

Thursday:
Tuna salad sandwiches with roasted butternut squash

Friday:
Something yummy in Corpus Christi

My goal this week is to eat in for every lunch and dinner.  Monday and Tuesday I'm attending a conference that provides lunch, but on Wednesday and Thursday I'll be schlepping in leftovers.  On Friday, Colby and I are going on our babymoon.  My plan is to eat yummy food, hang out on the beach, and visit the aquarium.  Posts and pictures to follow.

Austin Bakes for Bastrop Recap

Austin Bakes for Bastrop was a resounding success.  Between the seven bake sale locations, online donations, and online donation matching from Key Ingredient, over $12,500 was raised.  This will all be donated to the Central Texas Wildfire Fund.  

I volunteered at the Whole Foods Gateway location with some pretty rad ladies, including the authors of Stetted, The Kid Can Cook, and My Vegan Journey, as well as the owner of Sweet Pop and a couple other people who don't have linkable places on the internets.  Thank you so much to everyone who organized, volunteered, and bought goodies.  Here is just a smattering of pictures (taken with the new camera!) of our location.

Setting up one of two sets of tables

Wonderfully decorated Halloween cookies

Cake pops from Sweet Pop 

pretty cupcakes

One of the many gluten-free items available at our location

Pretty granola, and one of the default suggestions for people asking for "not too much sugar"

table full of goodies