April was everything – spring teases, soccer, Easter, vacation, lacrosse, and maybe too much rain.

Easter was fun and full of magic. We ate lots of brunch including these very easy sausage & cheese stuffed biscuits.

When I needed more veggies, I put them all onto a very veggie sandwich with zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, and a spread of pesto and and a smear of blended cottage cheese.

This French white bean cassoulet got a refresh from 2013.

I added a grain bowl with this teriyaki mushroom rice bowl. It has a sesame peanut drizzle that makes it really special.

Our vacation getaway to NYC was the best time. Ellen’s Stardust Diner was my favorite. J had tons of work but was able to do it all.

The Big Kid:
He’s into lacrosse and we’re so proud to see him try new things – a few years ago he wouldn’t have. He’s winding down on the trombone – it was fun to play but not to practice. We got a hotdog slicer and he loves a ‘slotdog’. He got incredibly motion sick coming home from NYC, but he loved navigating the subway, The Empire State Building, and Times Square at night.

The Littler One:
It’s soccer season! She’s having a great time except for some rained out games. Boo. We’ve been to the indoor pool more and she can swim on her own (even though she can’t touch). It’s lovely to supervise without getting in sometimes! She loved the Statue of Liberty and I couldn’t get over how much walking she did without ever getting tired.

Goals for this upcoming year:
Year of replacements/upgrades! I got new perfumes!
Restaurant Recreations – this one should probably
Special ingredient focus – oops
More fish – the littlest requested fish tacos.
What I’m reading – I read Good Dirt which was the best of the year. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating was the town read and I was into it. I loved Berry Pickers and for suspense and Home is Where the Bodies Are.

October went by so quickly with lots of soccer, the end of fall baseball, and all the fall things. By the time Halloween actually hits the kiddos will have been in their costumes at least 3 times. October is wrapping up with a bang and November will be a flurry with a super busy work time the time change, and a lot to fit in.

In the kitchen, I loooved this whipped cottage cheese with honey and pistachios and I definitely don’t love cottage cheese.

Nachos got an upgrade with some special touches for Nacho Average Nachos. There are flavored chips (mine are El Nacho – Hot Honey, Mango, & Lime), refried black beans, queso, lots of cheese, salsa, and pickled onions. Try any flavor of these chips…they are incredible.

Next I made Hibachi stye rice bowls! They were good and I’ll keep at the yum yum sauce to get it closer to the restaurant. This is an easy step compared to the flaming volcano onion.

I gave some Greek rice wraps with rice, greek salad, chicken, and dressing.

I’ll be OK with soccer wrapping up. I guiltily said no to helping coach basketball – that’s not my sport and I need a season off. I cannot wait to be a spectator. I’m not 100% set on November blog posts. The darkness is tough! Work gets crazy and I’ll be excited for Thanksgiving.

The Big Kid:
He’s had a fun time with lacrosse and it’s so nice to try something without committing to all the gear and a whole season! He lost 2 teeth! He has a creepy skeleton mask for halloween. We found a few fun chapter books even when I was choosing for him. He tried out for basketball and made one of the travel teams which starts soon! He has one more lacrosse 3×3 and is taking lacrosse after school for a few weeks.

The Littler One:
She lost 2 teeth! It was exciting to see big ones come in. We’ve had a fun soccer season and there are just a few more. She had a friend over and went to a party with the class so I think she is settling in a bit more. She chose to be a witch and has a great time in her purple velvet cape! She is signed up for gymnastics starting in December and she’s interested in ice skating so we’ll see what comes together.

Goals for this year:
Year of small businesses/artisans/writers: I got a black & white wreath ribbon that felt fitting for fall/Halloween
More meatless meals: nachos were our meatless dinner
sandwiches and salads: salad bar came in handy to prolong shopping.
a focus on going to new or places we don’t get to all the time:
redo photos – no redos right now
what I’m reading: I reread Firekeeper’s Daughter for bookclub and loved it as much years later. I read The Women and it might be my best book of the year. I read I Hope This Finds You Well and it was very interesting…kind of a train wreck. Then I read Fake which was better than some other art/auction/forgery I’ve read.

May is a marathon with lots of fun things, true feelings of spring to summer, and also, work is so busy so the month is FULL. We had some fun food and got outside much more.

I made a Street Corn Pasta Salad which felt like familiar flavors in a unique format.

Then I gave a refresh to the beloved Ranch Chicken Burgers we’ve been repeating 4x a year, since 2012!

I turned sausage & peppers subs into burrito-ish wraps. They had great cheesy and mustardy flavors!

My love for rice bowls runs deep so I did a Chicken Parm rice bowl theme.

June will include a my bffs trip, that busy end of the school year, the end of the fiscal year at work, and of course flag day which is only a big deal in our town. I’ll make a birthday burger, a redo is on the menu, and some other spring/summer ideas.

The Big Kid:
We’re wrapping up the baseball season and school is a max capacity. There are so many field trips, spring concert, field day, the art show, and so much more. We keep hoping we’ll have the last spelling homework packet but eventually it has to be the last one! He got a new bike and is obsessed. It was shocking to see him this spring on his old one where he looked like a clown on a tiny one!

The Little One:
She had her dance recital to wrap up the year and really loved it this year. Her class is huge and I loved that she wasn’t nervous this year. She too had a field trip and will have another one coming up. We got a load of hand-me-down dresses and she’s in her glory with more sequins. She loves playground time during the baseball games and is very into egg salad for quick or picnic dinners.

Goals for this year:
Year of small businesses/artisans/writers: I didn’t get to it this month.
More meatless meals: We had peanut sesame noodles & edamame recently!
sandwiches and salads: salad bar dinner one night & a few salad kits were a nice change!
a focus on going to new or places we don’t get to all the time: Mom and I hadn’t been to lunch at Legal Seafoods for chowder in a very long time!
redo photos – Ranch Chicken burgers got a refresh since 2012 and apartment life!
what I’m reading: I read Sunshine Nails which was pretty good- it’d be perfect for vacation. The List was kind of a letdown…it was not really worth it. Alternatively, I was very captivated by First Lie Wins which I sought out for a page-turner I could undo the last two I hadn’t loved. I’m pretty obsessed with some others and should finish any day.

March was a celebratory month – my birthday! I had a fun family dinner, a really fun night out for indoor mini golfing and dinner with friends, and booked a getaway with my college roomies. Highlights this month was a work trip to NYC and a very fun hibachi dinner for my nephew’s birthday.

These Chicken Cordon Bleu Rice Bowls were the best thing from my kitchen – the kids were wayyy more into this than I expected.

I gave these blueberry pie smoothies a facelift since the 2014 debut!

Orzo with boursin and sundried tomatoes was so good and couldn’t be easier.

I cannot wait for April vacation and we’re ready for some springy weather. I have a breakfast idea, maybe a salad, maybe something Mexican-ish.

The Big Kid:
He is doing indoor baseball clinics and is loving it. Any item in his hand becomes tossed into the air. I’m helping his class with bookclubs and like we all know, the teachers are not revered or compensated as they should be. His teacher was getting them reading that days chapter for 3 different book groups, helping with vocabulary words, giving discussion prompts, keeping kids on task, allowing bathroom trips, and having some read aloud to her all while they wiggle, drop pencils, and repeated ask which graphic organizer they’re supposed to use. They are very fun to chat with about their books.

The Little One:
She went to a Frozen Tea Party Sing-Along which was very cute. She survived pink eye – the medication drops just about did her in. We are trying very hard to get more food into her and are focused on calorie dense options. She learned her whole ballet and tap dances for the recital in May. The kids are very into walkie-talkies and the closet forts continue.

Goals for this year:
Year of small businesses/artisans/writers: I got a whole bag of local treasures from my bffs. It was perfect.
More meatless meals: peanut sesame noodles & edamame
sandwiches and salads: we had Jersey Mike’s one day and made our own salad bar
a focus on going to new or places we don’t get to all the time: We went to Puttershack for my birthday and I loved every second of it!
redo photos – blueberry pie smoothies!
what I’m reading: I read ‘West with Giraffes’ for bookclub and found it very captivating. For a non-fiction pic, I read ‘Extremely Online’ and it was very well done but so dense. ‘Lucie Yi is Not a Romantic‘ was a palate cleanser and pretty cute. I did not like ‘Good Material’ it wasn’t for me.