Aside from quinoa, these greek veggie wraps are the single best food find I’ve had in a very long time. They make perfect lunches. They make for scrumptious, easy, light dinner fare. We’ve basically made these every week or two for the past two months.
Shame on me for not sharing them with you sooner.
But hopefully many of you have already seen these over at Annie’s Eats, and maybe you’ve already “discovered” them, too. Mine aren’t nearly as pretty as Annie’s, but wraps are pretty darn hard to photograph. They taste good, you’ll just have to trust me on that. And try them for yourself.
Now, I’m not big on hummus, but I have to say, it makes a great condiment on these wraps. And healthy, too. Add that to couscous, baby spinach, tomatoes, shredded carrots, feta (if you so choose) and balsamic vinegar (or dressing–we’ve been using balsamic vinaigrette because it’s convenient)… you’ve got yourself a hell of a wrap.
I’ll quit there because it’s actually been a couple of weeks since we’ve made these, so my mouth is watering.
Greek Veggie Wraps
(Source: Annie’s Eats)
Ingredients:
– 10-inch wraps or tortillas
– Cooked couscous
– Baby spinach leaves
– Diced fresh tomatoes (or halved grape tomatoes)
– Julienned or shredded carrots
– Chopped banana peppers
– Crumbled feta cheese
– Balsamic vinegar dressing (store-bought, or make your own)
Directions:
1. Lay a wrap out on a work surface and spread with a thin layer of hummus. Top with a handful or two of couscous. Add a small mound of baby spinach leaves, a handful of diced tomatoes and a handful of carrots.
2. Roll up your wrap, burrito style. Cut in half and serve, or store in airtight container for 4-6 hours (until lunchtime, yum!).
It’s been an interesting (and busy) couple of weeks, as far as our house is concerned. As I mentioned in my Ketchup Post, we scheduled our new cork floor installation for the week of August 20, and we have a number of preparation steps to complete before that happens.
I’ve actually FINALLY painted (two coats) three of our new six-panel doors that we installed forever ago. I must say, they’re looking nice. Too bad I still have eight more (upstairs) to go. *whimper*
In the middle of all of this…
…THIS happened. That is a gigantic branch down on our deck, in case you couldn’t tell. In fact, it’s actually two gigantic branches. The photo above was taken after Michael ran out into the pouring rain to pull our table and chairs out from underneath it (we were worried that the weight could end up cracking the tiles on top of the table).
The top one had come down first, and when the lower one was bearing the extra weight, it buckled, too. Awesome.
For some perspective on how big this mamma-jamma is, here’s Nora’s little house sitting beneath it. Anyway, the most troublesome thing was that the branches didn’t come COMPLETELY down (which, of course, is a really good thing in many cases). We have a chainsaw now, but still couldn’t easily get up that high. Thankfully, our neighbor came over with a pole saw and was a huge help. Even so, it took a week to get the backyard cleared and the limbs down completely.
Last week, it looked like this:
Again, I say… awesome. But Michael chipped away at it throughout the week and then he and our next door neighbor took care of the rest yesterday.
Our backyard is looking a bit different these days. Poor old tree.
The good news is that we now have some extra (and free) fire wood for the winter. The bad news is that all of the time spent on tackling the tree severely cut into the prep time for the floor installation. Which means we need to catch up. Michael started a small patch on Friday night, and I set out to tackle some of it last night. (Michael would’ve helped, but he had some work (work work) to do last night, and I figured I’d do what I could.)
Well, we’ve put in a total of about three hours at this point, and here’s where we’re at:
That’s only 25 sq. ft. of floor cleared, mind you. And we have a total of 340 sq. ft.
Those of you who follow me on Instagram have already seen this photo and my plea, but it’s worth repeating for all of you: If you’re ever thinking about gluing some kind of flooring to your subfloor, DON’T.DO.IT. Because I, and any future owners of your house BEG YOU not to. The subfloor is so jacked up from the removal that we’re going to need to put new subfloor down anyway (over top of this old stuff, apparently), but that doesn’t save us from having to chip away at this parquet piece by freaking piece.
We have a floor scraper (basically a flat shovel) that we’ve been using to pop up tiles, too, and it’s helpful–when it works. But some (most?) of the tiles are glued down so tightly that there is no getting under them without a mallet and chisel. And it is HARD WORK. By the end of two hours, my back was killing me, my shirt was soaked with sweat, and I had multiple blisters forming on my right hand (despite wearing work gloves). In fact, I *still* don’t have feeling in my fingertips.
You can imagine how excited I am to get back to it tonight.
Our flooring guy originally quoted us $750 for demo/removal of the old floor. If I knew that it was going to be only $750, I would–after testing this out on my own–GLADLY pay that money. However, after seeing what this is like, I know there is no way in hell we could get away with paying only $750. In fact, now that we know that we need a new subfloor, that adds costs to the job already. We’re hoping that by ripping it out ourselves, we can at least cancel out that added expense. Ugh.
So, pardon me if I’m quiet in the blog world these next couple of weeks.
Has anyone ripped out a glued-down floor from a wooden subfloor with success? Any trees down in your yards from the summer’s storms?
Up until a few weeks ago, I had never even had quinoa. I heard plenty about it and its superfood properties, but no one had ever made it for me, and I’d never seen it anywhere. But over the past few months I have pinned and/or bookmarked a few quinoa recipes, so I decided one day that enough was enough. It was time to see what all the fuss was about.
I freaking love quinoa, you guys. This is the only way I’ve prepared it so far, but I’ve made it three times in the last month–with leftovers, to boot. And guess what? Nora has been known to devour it, too.
This recipe is easily adaptable, as you can take out or substitute in any vegetables that you like. We’ve been using combinations of black beans, carrots, celery, zucchini, onions, corn, and diced tomatoes. You could also use red or green peppers, mushrooms, etc. The possibilities are endless.
So good. So wholesome. So healthy. I’m on the lookout for other good quinoa recipes, so please send them my way (leave them in the comments?) if you have any. I’m obsessed!
Vegetable Quinoa
(Source: Adapted from Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
– 2 cups quinoa
– 4 cups water (or vegetable broth or chicken broth)
– olive oil
– 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 (16 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
– 1 (16 oz.) can corn, drained
– 1 (16 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
– 1 medium onion, sliced
– 1 small to medium zucchini, sliced
– 2-3 celery stalks, chopped
– 1/2 cup chopped carrots
– 1 teaspoon cumin
– 2 teaspoons dried oregano
– salt and pepper, to taste
– juice from 1 lime
Directions:
1. Rinse your quinoa using a fine mesh sieve. Some people will tell you it’s not necessary–and you don’t HAVE to rinse–but our quinoa had a slightly bitter taste the one time I tried not rinsing it. When rinsed, the quinoa will initially foam up as if it is soapy, and the water will eventually run clear.
2. Combine quinoa with water in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender. Follow the directions on your package, but mine says to let it simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat up a sautee pan over medium heat. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of the pan. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic to the pan and cook until the garlic softens and the aroma mellows, about 2 minutes. Add the fresh vegetables and cook until they soften, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, and corn. Season with cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper, and cook for 1 minute more. Reduce heat. Once quinoa has finished cooking, stir it in. Squeeze the juice of a lime over the top of everything. Stir again.
4. Serve hot or cold.
Twenty-three months in, and I think it’s safe to say that I’m no longer a “new” mom. I have had plenty of time to use and abuse (and then pack away! ::sniff sniff::) a crap-load of baby and toddler stuff.
When I was pregnant and we were creating our registry, I was so indecisive about so many things. There is just so.much.stuff out there, and 145 options for each thing. I did loads of research, asked a ton of experienced parents, referenced Baby Bargains repeatedly, and then made selections… and then changed my mind. A lot. Even after we received things at our baby showers, we took a bunch of items back to exchange them for something else that I had discovered was cheaper/safer/better/whatever.
{Me, registering for baby gear back in the day. Note the Baby Bargains book tucked under my arm}
The thing that kills me now is how much things have changed already… in two years. There are things that are baby necessities now were considered unnecessary or a luxury back then. (I use the terms necessity and luxury loosely, by the way. I recognize that most things are actually luxuries, and that babies actually need very little. But you know what I mean.)
Thankfully, because I did so much hemming and hawing over every decision, I pretty much loved everything that we had, and have no problems using it all again for another baby someday. But as Nora grew and time went on, I came to realize: I have one baby registry regret.
A video monitor.
We didn’t register for a video monitor. Instead, we chose a basic audio monitor, but a good one at that–I think the thing was like $65 at the time, although it is only $45 now. Video monitors were $200+ and I just felt like, Why do we need to see the baby? At the time, we lived in such a small place that I wondered if we really even needed a monitor at all.
Nora was born and it took us a while to even need to use the monitor–but we did set it up fairly early in her life, when she started going to bed before us, even when she was still in our room with us. It was helpful then, and was even more so when we moved her to her own crib. And although there were times that I wanted to see her–I was able to pretty easily sneak into her room (even when she was awake) and get a peek without her seeing me.
That all changed once she started sitting and standing up in her crib. And that’s when I started feeling like maybe we had made a mistake with this whole monitor thing. I resolved that we would probably be splurging on one for Baby #2 someday.
Fast-forward a year or so, and this past spring, Nora had a bout with a stomach flu. And by bout, I mean a bout x 3. She was sick, then she was better for a few days, then she got sick again, better, sick… you get it. It sucked.
The worst part about it was that we didn’t know. Nora would throw up in her bed at night and would be completely quiet about it. The first night it happened, I happened to go in there to check on her before bed and found her sitting up, shivering from being wet from being covered in her own vomit. She was awake but totally out of it. If we had a video monitor, we decided, we would’ve been able to see her up, and possibly see the vomit-covered mattress. I started researching, but we still didn’t have plans to get a video monitor… yet.
Then it happened again, but this time, we didn’t discover the mess until the morning–after she had fallen back asleep in it. My poor baby. And when it happened a THIRD time, we decided we were fed up. I ran out to Buy Buy Baby that morning and brought home a video monitor.
{This is our actual monitor. That’s Nora, passed out at this very moment}
And I swear, this thing is the BEST.PURCHASE.EVER. I am still so pissed at myself that I didn’t register for one the first time. They were out there, people had them, but I didn’t know anyone who had one or insisted that it was a “must-have.” Now? Well, now I think that most people know they are must-haves, no? Take it from me, expectant mamas: YOU WANT ONE. You may not know yet that you do, but YOU DO. They’re expensive, but you will use it every day, and for a long time.
Now that we realize the error of our ways, we have plans to keep a video monitor on Nora for probably a couple more years so we can see what she’s doing in her room once she’s in a big girl bed and can move about the room freely when we’re not in there. So when we have another baby someday, we’ll purchase a second camera and be able to see both kids in each of their rooms. Brilliant.
As for our choice of monitor? We love the Motorola we ended up with. We had a 20% off coupon for Buy Buy Baby so the total was right around $200 after the discount. And again, it was worth every single penny. There are cheaper models out there, but we liked a few things about this: First, the ability to move the camera remotely. We have Nora’s camera mounted up on the wall (with a simple screw) in one of the corners of her room and when we control the camera, we can see every inch of the room. When she’s older and can move around the room, this will be great. Secondly, it has a two-way talk feature–so not only can we hear her, but with the push of a button, we can talk to her and she’ll hear us, too. It’s not a feature we use very often right now, but again–I can see this really coming in handy with a 3- or 4-year-old, e.g. “Get back in bed!” :)
Otherwise, the clarity of the video is great in both the daytime and in the complete dark at night. Sound is great, too. We haven’t had any problems. And unlike some of the other video monitors out there, the data is encrypted specifically for our receiver, so there’s no chance of us picking up a neighbor’s feed or vice versa. Obviously, being able to add another camera was a must for us, too.
Complaints? Well, I don’t really have any. Two things that I’ve noticed/heard others say, though, is that 1) You can’t turn the volume all of the way down. This doesn’t bother me because I figure that if I’m going to turn the volume down, I might as well turn the monitor off completely. 2) The temperature gauge is inaccurate. This is an added “perk” and not a necessity to me, so I don’t really care. We’re used to it reading about 5-10 degrees warmer on the monitor than it actually is in the room, so we know to adjust accordingly.
So, all you parents and future parents out there: Get thee a video baby monitor. I promise you won’t regret it.
And that is my nugget of wisdom for the day.
Do you have any baby registry regrets? Something you got that was worthless to you, or something you didn’t bother with that you wished you had?
It has been a really, really long time since I’ve done a “Ketchup Day” post. But as I sit here and think about what it is that I want/need to write about, it is a hodge-podge of stuff so I was having trouble coming up with a title. Then it occurred to me–it’s Ketchup Day. Because I’m catching up, you know.
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We made the leap and ordered CORK FLOORS for our entryway, kitchen, and half bath. I am still so nervous about the whole thing, because this wasn’t an easy decision. It is the largest investment we’ve made in our home so far, and I just really, really want to love it when it’s all said and done.
Obviously, in an ideal world, I think we’d all love to have gorgeous, continuous flooring all throughout our homes. But we’re not dealing with a new build; our house is 40 years old. An “open floor plan,” we do not have. We wouldn’t have been able to match our existing hardwoods in a way that was satisfactory or affordable for us, so we had to look at other options. We couldn’t get behind the idea of tile, so… we’re taking a chance on the road less traveled with the cork.
And, well, I’m shaking in my boots about it. It’s just such a huge change. But I haaaaate the current parquet, so I figure that at the very least, it has to be an improvement. Right? I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but nothing really is.
Here are the photos of the floor I shared when we were going through the process of debating and deciding:
{Cork with our existing hardwoods–which are staying–in the dining room and formal living room/playroom. There will be a transition strip here, just as there would be if we had done tile.}
{Cork next to our carpet that we have just in the family room}
{Cork with the white of our cabinets and with a peek of our countertops}
The floor is scheduled to be installed (by a pro) the week of August 20th. We have a lot of prep work to do leading up to it, including as much demo of the old floor as we can manage on our own. Every square foot of it that we rip up ourselves saves us like $2 or $2.50 so YEAH.
{Jake, 18 months & Nora, 22 months}
Here’s hoping that the cork is everything we dream it will be!
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The Olympics have made me a completely worthless human being. Seriously, if I’m not working or taking care of/playing with Nora, I have my ass parked on the couch in front of the boob tube. It’s addicting; I can’t turn it off.
I have always loved the Olympics, especially the summer ones. I still vividly remember watching the ’96 games while we were at my dad’s for the summer. I was 14 and just obsessed! It was so cool back then to have them in the States here; I’d love to have them back again. The worst thing about being in a different time zone from the games is THE SPOILERS! I feel like I can’t go anywhere without seeing something Olympics related so I’ve been staying away from all news sites. And I find it to be completely obnoxious when people announce stuff on Facebook.
I can watch pretty much any event, but my favorites are swimming, gymnastics, diving, the track and field events, and volleyball. I have to say that I’m pretty sick of hearing about the decline of Michael Phelps, but it’s nice to see the other American swimmers succeed. And the women’s gymnastics last night? Incredible. I cried.
The lack of sleep is surely going to catch up with me at some point but for now I am hanging in there. So far, the late nights have been worth it!
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We had a mini family reunion of sorts on Sunday. My cousin and her husband were visiting from Shanghai (where they currently live), so my mom invited a bunch of our extended family members over to her house for a barbecue.
We had great weather and my cousins brought all of their kids, so it was a lot of fun to see all of them run around together. There are five kids who were all born within 20 months of each other, and it was hilarious to see them all interact. I get such joy out of seeing my girl with other kids, because she just seems to love them so much.
{Jake, 18 months & Nora, 22 months}
{Nora, 22 months & Logan, who will be 3 in September. I love the way Nora is looking at her!}
{Ring Around the Rosie}
{The Toddler Club + Michael}
{Ring Around the Rosie}
{The Toddler Club + Michael}
{We also did a big birthday cake for my grandma, who turned 80 in April}
It was one of those perfect summer days that for some reason reminded me a lot of my own childhood. Kids running around outside having fun all day… I didn’t want to go home!
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On a final note, I can’t believe it’s August already. I love summer so much that I’m not ready to begin even thinking about the end of it yet. But I know that before we know it, we’ll be welcoming football, apple picking, and crisp mornings and evenings back into our lives. I do love fall; I just don’t like what comes after it.
Here’s to making the most of the rest of the summer. Cheers to tank tops, shorts, flip flop tan lines, bare feet, sidewalk chalk, cold beers, and sleeping with the windows open!
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
