the waiting.

we're waiting patiently to add one to this family. two weeks to go! the nursery is ready, Jim is home from London, and the world is in bloom. my turn next.

Days

Each day in a certain sense, a complete life by itself. It has its own duties, its own trials, its own burdens, and its own needs. The very best we can do for the perfecting of our life as a whole, is to live the one day well. We should put all our thought and energy and skill into the duty of each day, wasting no strength, either in grieving over yesterday's failures or in anxiety about tomorrow's responsibilities. - J.R. Miller*

Let's try our best each and every day. Let's be our best. Let's give our best. Let's not dwell on frustrations and failures of the past, or focus too much on the future. Be present, love hard, and please, please don't take any of this life for granted.

(I'm feeling especially sentimental as I prepare to leave town & my family for a few days. Pregnancy has made me so sappy..)

*quote via Lesley Graham's beautiful blog

a peek into the nursery

We made major progress on the nursery this weekend- hooray! My family came to help move the heavy things, and mama began spoiling her first grandbabe with little auggie's cross-stitch bumper and sheet set. I'M IN LOVE.

...more to come!

sesame chicken noodles

The baby is always on my mind these days. Preparing the room, registering for all things mini, feeling the kicks, counting down the weeks (8), taking a baby & birthing class. I catch myself feeling like I'm in a holding pattern, like I'm just waiting for little babe's arrival. I mean, nothing will be the same... which is kind of amazing. (also, scary.)

About this baby class. Taught by local birthing-guru Pat Nielsen at ARROW, a family-oriented community space, we had 6 weeks with 5 other couples to GET READY FOR A BABE. Swaddling, check. Icky birthing videos, done. Labor support techniques, yep. Asking lots and lots of questions, oh yes. If you're newly pregnant and in the Athens-area, I'd highly recommend it. We wrapped up our class with a potluck dinner and new mamas telling their birth stories. It was a carb-heavy meal; clearly mamas-to-be were responsible for the food. ;)

We took Cook's Illustrated's Sesame Chicken Noodles - a total winner. It doubles easily, reheats well, and will please your food-discerning husband. Here's the recipe for you.

Sesame Chicken Noodles (adapted from Cook's Illustrated), serves 4-6


¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup chunky peanut butter
2 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
5 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon hot sauce (such as Tabasco)
2 tablespoons lightly packed light brown sugar
Hot water
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1½ pounds), trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon salt
12 ounces dried spaghetti
2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
4 scallions, sliced thin on diagonal
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated on large holes of box grater (about 2/3 cup)

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon sesame seeds in a small bowl. In a blender or food processor, puree the remaining 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, and sugar until smooth, about 30 seconds. With the machine running, add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the sauce has the consistency of heavy cream, about 5 tablespoons; set the mixture aside.

2. Bring 6 quarts water to a boil in a stockpot over high heat. Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to 6 inches from the broiler element; heat the broiler. Spray the broiler pan top with vegetable cooking spray; place the chicken breasts on top and broil the chicken until lightly browned, 4 to 8 minutes. Using tongs, flip the chicken over and continue to broil until the thickest part is no longer pink when cut into and registers about 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken into bite-size pieces and set aside. Add the salt and noodles to the boiling water; boil the noodles until tender, about 4 minutes for fresh and 10 minutes for dried. Drain, then rinse with cold running tap water until cool to the touch; drain again. In a large bowl, toss the noodles with the sesame oil until evenly coated. Add the shredded chicken, scallions, carrot, and sauce; toss to combine. Divide among individual bowls, sprinkle each bowl with a portion of reserved sesame seeds, and serve.

P.S. this also makes a great late-night snack :)

I want to BAKE!

I volunteer at E's school every other Monday, and as I was driving there yesterday, I noticed that my hands were coated in flour. I'd quickly pulled together the dough for a loaf of Buttermilk Bread and stuck it in a warm oven to rise on my way out the door. In the car, seeing that I'd only dusted my hands off, the flour that stuck between my fingers and in my wedding ring gave me a little thrill. 

You see, when I think about what I really want to do, and how I want to make people happy, it's bake. I want to do it today, this weekend, after the baby is born (to have a routine, to feel sane), and then when she's in school. It's what I want to read about before I go to bed, and what I always want on my kitchen counter. Fresh-baked bread. It calms me and gives me purpose, the purpose I'd hoped to find almost a year ago when I left the workforce, and it nurtures others, too.

I don't know how I want this manifested - other than being able to bake and share - but I do want it. So this is me putting it out there. I hope the future holds a (somewhat structured) way for me to share it with others. For now, what I'm trying to say is this- let me know if I can bake something for you. :) PLEASE! xo

All photos my own, taken of goodies I've baked in the past year.

bebe belly: 29 weeks and what healthy means.

29 weeks

I've thought a lot about how to best capture my changing body and the growth of this babe during my pregnancy. I admit, I've struggled to find comfort in my skin, going from being in the best shape of my life when I got pregnant to finally giving my body peacefully over to the inevitable and magical changes of growing a baby.

Being healthy now means something different. Though I continue to exercise and eat well, it now has a different purpose; preparing for labor and birth, and maintaining a healthy environment for my baby. The big lesson was that no matter how healthy I am, my body will change regardless. For me, that loss of control was the hardest thing.

I believe it's the first lesson of motherhood; becoming selfless.

The loss of control led to questioning how I defined being healthy, which in turn led to an awareness that has spread into other parts of my life. Medicine? Chemicals? Let's look at it all.

Aside from a single dose of Tylenol, I haven't put any true medicine into my body in 29 weeks. My daily "medicine" now consists of a vegan Prenatal, fish oil, alfalfa, and probiotics - all with a focus on my developing baby. Instead of using chemical-laden shampoo & conditioner, I've gone "no-poo" - washing with baking soda and rinsing with apple cider vinegar - and only need to wash my hair 2x/week (as opposed to daily before). I've also switched my lotion routine to only using coconut oil and all-natural Burt's Bee's products. I know it sounds a bit extreme - but everything that goes into my body goes straight to the baby - and why expose this new being to anything harsher than needed?

All this is to say that I've learned to not only accept the changes, but to embrace them. Jim has always said, "there is nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman." And now, I believe him.

Really Good Oatmeal Muffins

Oatmeal muffins. Really good oatmeal muffins. Hearty without being heavy, satisfying without being too sweet, and impressive without being too difficult. Try them!

..................

Oatmeal Muffins (adapted from the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Cook's Illustrated)

Topping

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup pecans, chopped fine

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Muffins
2 tbsp unsalted butter, plus 6 tbsp melted
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar
1 3/4 cups milk
2 large eggs, beaten

1. Topping: Combine oats, flour, pecans, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl. Drizzle melted butter over mixture and stir to thoroughly combine; set aside.
2. Muffins: Grease and flour 12-cup muffin tin. Melt 2 tbsp butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add oats and cook, stirring frequently, until oats turn golden brown and smell of cooking popcorn, 6-8 minutes. Transfer oats to food processor and process into fine meal, about 30 seconds. Add flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to oats and pulse until combined, about 3 pulses.
3. Stir 6 tbsp melted butter and sugar together in large bowl until smooth. Add milk and eggs and whisk until smooth. Using whisk, gently fold half of oat mixture into wet ingredients, tapping whisk against side of bowl to release clumps.* Add remaining oat mixture and continue to fold with whisk until no streaks of flour remain. Set aside batter for 20 minutes to thicken. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.
4. Scoop 1/2 cup batter into each prepared muffin cup; they'll be filled to the rim. Evenly sprinkle topping over muffins (about 2 tbsp per muffin). Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 18-25 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking.
5. Let muffins cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and serve or let cool completely before serving.

*This method reduces lumps (that all oats tend to form, even finely ground oats) without overworking the starch and gluten, which would toughen the crumb.