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Couscous Salad with Corn & Bell Pepper

I stumbled across this recipe on epicurious last week and thought it would be a good one to post here for meal monday.  It's very simple and very tasty.  An easy option for those first weeks after your baby arrives.  

Here's what you need:

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3/4 c fresh corn (cut from about 2 ears)
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1.25 c water
  • 2/3 c couscous
  • 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 c fresh chopped cilantro
  • cayenne pepper, optional

Here's what you do: Read more »

You Just Never Know...

I was asked in a client interview last week what I thought was the most important thing for a birth plan.  I thought hard.  I was kind of caught off guard.  I don't think anyone has ever asked me that exact question.  But I managed to come up with my answer after a long pause.  Flexibility.  A willingness to deviate from your plan.  Birthing is so very unpredictable.  You just never know how things are going to go.  Labor and delivery always seem to deviate from even the best-laid plans.   I continue to be surprised and shocked with nearly every birth I attend.  Something always surprises me.  The woman I thought would go "all natural" asking for an epidural within minutes of entering the hospital.  The other woman, who I gave about, oh, one chance in a million, for going all natural pushing her baby out without any drugs or interferance of any kind.  Short umbilical cords.  Heart-shaped uteruses.   Inductions.  Magnesium sulfate.   Things rarely go according to plan.

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Dubsea Coffee

Local Review

Another Seattle review as we gear up for winter and the hunt begins for indoor play options.
Up this week:  Dubsea Coffee in White Center
Overall rating: 9/10

 

Thumbs up & Thumbs down...

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Bran Muffins

When most people think of bran muffins, their response is usually "bleh."  I understand that.  I've had some truly terrible bran muffins in my time.  But these are my mom's recipe.   And every year when Fall rolls around, the leaves start changing and the weather turns cold, I turn to this recipe.  It's a comfort thing, I guess.  Autumn and the thought of the holiday season makes me feel nostalgic and I start wanting to do all these mom-ish type things, like baking and making ornaments.  But these bran muffins really are good.   They crisp up a bit on the outside and stay moist on the inside.  The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 8 weeks so you can make them fresh whenever you like.  

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Coffee to a Tea

Local Review

Time for another local review!
This week's establishment:  Coffee to a Tea in West Seattle.
Overall Rating: 8/10

Thumbs up & Thumbs down...

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Roasted Red Pepper Wraps

Been awhile since I've posted a recipe.  I think it's because we've been grilling so much all summer and veered away from all the cold weather soups and stews.  This is a recipe from Real Simple's current issue (October 2011) and is easy to throw together on a busy day.  

Here's what you need:

4 cups romaine or other lettuce
1 cup sliced roasted red peppers
Olive Oil
Red Wine Vinegar
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Cream Cheese
Sliced salami or Prosciutto (8 ounces)

Here's what to do

  • Toss the lettuce and the roasted pepper ina  bowl with the oil and vinegar.  Season with salt & pepper
  • Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on 4 tortillas
  • Top with lettuce mixture and sliced salami or prosciutto

Other Notes: Read more »

Twirl Cafe

Local Review

I've written some posts in the past about getting out in Seattle with your baby or toddler.   And I've recently been hearing from past clients, now with one-year-olds or toddlers, wondering where to go and what to do in Seattle.  So I thought I'd start a review section on the blog for some local places to get out with your kids.  If you know of a place you'd like reviewed, let me know!

First up?  Twirl Cafe, located in the Queen Anne neighborhood.  
Overall Rating: 5/10 Read more »

Talking to "Kick Ass" Little Girls

This has been a year of girls.  Every single birth that I have attended as a doula in the last year, with one exeception (yay, Baby C!), has been a girl.   And my next client, due in a couple weeks, is having a girl.    My two closest friends have recently welcomed new nieces, Morgan & Elisa.  And I've got 4 wonderful nieces myself who are dearly loved.  So when I read this article by Lisa Bloom, I thought of them (below) and of all the little girls that I've seen come into the world in the past year.

                              

Here are a few of the paragraphs that really struck me.   Read more »

The Ups and the Downs

Life with young kids really ebbs and flows it seems.  There are some days, some weekends, that just fill Jason and I to bursting with love for our little fellas, with endless hours in the yard, wonderful adventures, singing, dancing and no end of silliness and the feeling that life really couldn't get any bettter.  Today has not been one of those days.  Nor was yesterday.  And, come to think of it, the weekend wasn't all that great either.    There has been much testing of the boundaries by Gryffin lately, countless "time outs," tantrums and tears, while Isaiah is in a cling-on phase, wanting to be glued to my hip 24/7 with much weeping, wailing and general carrying on when I attempt to put him down to, like, I don't know, go pee by myself.  It's frazzling and exhausting and frustrating and by 7:30pm we are completely worn down and discouraged.  

 

              

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Summer Sides

We've been grilling a lot lately and I've been on the hunt for some new and different ways to use our grill.  And now that summer is (maybe?  today notwithstanding) here, we've been wanting some meals that are more... "summery."    So I've been digging around and trying to find some new ideas to add to our usual weekly mix of meals.  It can be so easy for us to get stuck in a rut with our meals these days.  Sometimes the day gets so hectic that we just want to throw whatever is quick and easy onto the table and call it a night.   So if at all possible, I try to find at least one new main or side to try each week, just to keep us on our toes.   Here are two that we tried last night.  Taken from this month's issue of Real Simple.  As it turns out, they were both real simple.  Took less than 30 minutes to prep, plus the grilling time for the corn.  Not too shabby.

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