Quick Tip: Wash Fewer Paint Brushes!

Don't wash your brushes between coats!

I'll share with you soon what we were working on last week, but to give you a hint... it involved multiple coats of paint.

In general, I prefer to brush on paint as opposed to spraying. There are less fumes, even coats, and less of an overall mess. The one downfall is saving the brush from drying out in between coats.

Introducing: ziplock baggies! You could use plastic wrap if you prefer. 

Place your paintbrush into the bag, squeeze as much of the air out as possible, and seal the top. This will keep your brush from drying out in between coats. I left my brush in there for 24 hours without consequence.

Happy painting!

Meatless Monday: Spaghetti Puttanesca

Meatless Monday! 

Our family chooses to eat meat from animals that were responsibly and preferably locally raised, which means that we choose to pay more for our groceries. Sometimes it's hard for me to go into our regular grocery store and see normal boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for $0.99/lb and have to walk by. Even if you don't share the same philosophy that we do when it comes to buying meat, maybe environmental factors will pull at your heart strings. 

For a family of 4, skipping meat and cheese for one day a week is equivalent to taking your car off of the road for 5 weeks. If everyone in the US skipped meat and cheese for a day, it would be like taking 7.6 million cars off of the road for a year.  (Source: Environmental Working Group)

Admittedly, it's hard for me to make a meal that doesn't have meat or cheese, but this one comes super close. This pasta is surprisingly full of flavor, very easy to make, uses ingredients that I already keep on hand, and comes together in less than 30 minutes. 

The ingredients are strong on their own, so be sure to serve it with plenty of noodles to balance them out.

Arguably this shouldn't count as "Meatless Monday" since it has anchovies. For those of you squeamish about anchovies, keep in mind that you won't taste anchovy, per se; it will just give it a richer flavor than going without. You could always leave it out given the potency of the other ingredients.

Spaghetti Puttanesca

super slightly adapted from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 tbs regular olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tsp anchovy paste (or 6 anchovies rinsed and minced)

1 tbs tomato paste (optional)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or part of a minced fresh hot pepper, like a jalapeño)

1 small red bell pepper, minced (optional)

1 (28 oz) can fire-roasted Muir Glen diced tomatoes (or use what you have)

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped

3 tbs minced fresh parsley

2 tbs capers, rinsed

salt & pepper

12 oz whole-wheat pasta (spaghetti, tubes, bowties... whatever)

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and dry pasta; cook until al dente. Reserve some cooking water in a separate dish and drain the pasta. Tip: Place a measuring cup in the sink and pour the pasta in a strainer over the measuring cup.

While waiting for the water to boil, in a 10-12 inch skillet over medium heat, cook the oil, garlic, anchovy paste, tomato paste (if using), bell pepper (if using) and red pepper flakes for 1-2 minutes. Do not let the garlic brown.

Stir in the undrained tomatoes, and bring it all to a simmer. Cook 15-20 minutes until the sauce has thickened, stirring every couple of minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in the olives, parsley, and capers. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the drained pasta to skillet. Toss to combine, adding some of the reserved pasta water to loosen it, if needed. I usually add a tablespoon or so to the container with the leftovers since the pasta tends to dry out some over time.

Optional: top with freshly shaved parmesan and your best extra virgin olive oil.

The sauce can be made 4 days ahead and frozen up to 2 months. Add cooked pasta to the warmed sauce when ready to serve.

16 Months!

We've had a really fun month that's been full of activities. From the splash pad to play dates to visiting her grandparents in St. Louis to a trip to Chicago, it's been busy! At 16 months, LE

• Comes running, grinning, arms flailing, cup in hand at the prospect of dried cranberries. 
• Says "Uh oh!" (yes! first real word... finally!) whenever she drops something by accident or on purpose. Her second word, if you want to call it that, is "Bahh!" which means "Bam!" (as in the loud noise something makes when it's banged against something else.).
• Knows "high five" and where her eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, ears, hand, feet, and bellybutton are. 
• Loves to play hide and seek, especially with her dad. Throughout the day, she'll go sit behind the curtain, waiting for someone to notice. If we don't immediately notice, she'll send out a quick shriek and then go silent. 

• Giggles and shrieks as she's being chased or is chasing.
• Understands a lot. If I ask her "Where's your sippy cup?" she'll squat down and look under furniture or around the house until she finds it. 
• Plays with chalk and crayons by writing with them and placing them in and out of buckets. 
• Runs straight to her trike when we go outside, climbs up onto it, and tries to buckle her seatbelt.
• Waves hello and goodbye to everyone, including photos and her reflection.
• Climbs in and out of the laundry basket and other baskets.
• Rearranges our furniture.
• Asks us to read to her by bringing us books.
• Loves her babydoll LeLe and elephant chair, Felix.
• Kisses, hugs, and cuddles a lot.
• Still loves ice and eating with a fork.
• Smacks her lips loudly when she wants to eat or drink something.
• Picks and eats the grape tomatoes straight from the garden.

• Has 11 teeth, still sleeps about 12 hrs/night, takes 2 naps a day unless we're out during the morning nap time.

Splash pad, sprinkler, pool...

We're blessed to have near us a fun "splash pad" water play zone intended for toddlers to run around and, well, splash. Oh, and it's free.

This is LE's "I think I'm funny" face.

I take LE to the splash pad when we have playgroups that meet up there. This day, we went with John since he had never been, and I thought it'd be fun. The whole park is really nice-- there's a pond, two playgrounds, a couple of covered picnic areas, and little soccer fields.

It always takes LE a while to warm up to the idea of running through freezing cold water. What you don't see in these photos are all of the times that I led her out into the water area. Then, when she's ready, she plays with the dinkiest water source available. Can you even see the water coming out of the turtle's forehead? 

After barely touching it or getting sprayed by the water spout that suddenly turned on, she runs back to the sidelines. 

At the splash pad, kids her age are all independently trying to figure out the water, and the bigger kids are all running around screaming. There's not a lot of interaction going on with the little ones. The wonder and amusement for 1-2 year olds come from touching the water. 

I must say, it's really nice to have access to this splash pad when there's a lot of us wanting to get together or to have a change of pace. Though, if you don't happen to have access to a free toddler-friendly water playground... for kids LE's age, your own sprinkler or little pool can provide just as much fun. I promise.

Photo from when LE was playing with her Granny in St. Louis

Small blow up pool that we have on our patio

You can see the excitement and sense of wonder on her face at the splash pad, with a water hose, and with a little pool. The key is just to get your kids outside and let them explore how water works! You don't need anything fancy to let them learn and have fun.

Quick Tip: Sticky Ingredients

Measuring Sticky Ingredients

When you have to measure sticky and hard-to-pour ingredients-- like honey, nut butters, and condiments, do one of two things to save yourself the hassle of scraping out the measuring cup.

1. Spray the cup with nonstick cooking spray, or
2. Use the measuring cup for your oil measurement beforehand. Then, without rinsing out the cup, measure your sticky ingredient. Many recipes have you add the two ingredients to the same bowl to whisk together, but more often than not, the oil is listed after the sticky one in the recipe, which means you're stuck scraping out the cup.

It's simple and effective. Will life be drastically different if you don't do it? No. But it's just one less hassle. Honestly, I was skeptical about the difference it'd make when I first heard this tip, but now I always think about it when cooking.