not necessarily in this order

A handful of helpful things that are keeping me going recently! One : Scoopable salads. Game changers. (I’m so behind the trends haha!) I’ve been trying to eat more veggies and beans lately and discovered all of these wonderful make ahead salads that we’ve been playing since my birthday. Last week, I made one with black beans and roasted corn and feta and lots of chopped veggies. This week, we have pesto and navy beans and chickpeas and mozzarella. Quick and easy lunches for me and a bonus has been Lil Momma asking for “scoops” in her own meals.  Two : the mood brighteners that are holiday lights. Thanksgiving weekend, we put strands of lights up across our windows in the living room (which we’ve never done) and it’s just brought a new level of cozy joy to our late afternoons and evenings - especially with it getting dark so early. A cup of tea, a book, and fun lights? Yea, please! Three : Big dog cuddles. Maysie is the biggest dog I’ve ever had: She’s at about 35 lbs so far and so...

Yesterday, Lil Momma asked to make a treat she saw on Kids YouTube that falls into a category the Mr. and I call “a mess that won’t be worth it”: Basically, you pour a flavored seltzer into a zip-top sandwich bag and seal it. Then, you put the sandwich bag into a larger freezer bag filled with ice and salt and shake it for a bit. The result was to be a flavored, bubbly shaved ice.  My doubt came from the fact that isn’t rock salt in the bag. I grew up making “kick the can” ice cream where rock salt was the magic ingredient. The Mr.’s doubt wasn’t really doubt but more of an aversion to a mess or a disappointment while he was working in the room next to the kitchen (where she’d make it) and living room (where she’d eat whatever came out). However, we both remembered that this was a summer of building independence for our girl (and how much mess can a seltzer make compared to other baking and crafting “experiments” she’s done?!), so we gave the go ahead and tapped out as she rustled ...

 The Mr and I have been together for 19 years. When we began celebrating holidays (a whole other journey that we went on) in like year 3, we did this elaborate Thanksgiving for 2 in our first house. It was the first time I had spent Thanksgiving away from my parents. We made so much: a full turkey, cornbread stuffing, roasted green beans and crunchy onions, apple pie, and a pumpkin pie cheesecake.  I was sure the Mr would love it - pumpkin pie was his favorite. But the next day we ended up giving it away to friends because it was good for a piece but not for a memory: he wanted pumpkin pie like on the can . It’s what he had growing up and it WAS Thanksgiving to him.  Now, I don’t eat pumpkin pie (nor any custardy or cream pie, to be honest), but I am specific about recreating my food memories so I totally got where he was coming from. From then on, I made the pumpkin pie on the back of the orange Libby can and hoped for the best. Now, we’ve had our ups and downs with figu...