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What to wear: Easter Style!

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Easter Style

Can you believe Easter is just around the corner? Yep, mark your calendars for Sunday, April 5th. That little bunny will be making his appearance. Have you given any thought to what you’ll be wearing? Here are some Easter style ideas for the whole family, should you need a little inspiration.

I’ve so been on a blush and navy kick lately. Home wise and clothes wise. I feel blush flatters all as it gives a little glow, and navy is just a classic and oh so perfect for the boys. Here’s how I’m breaking it down. 

1. Let’s start with mom because, let’s be honest, that’s typically the last thing on your mind. How darling is this dress from the Gap? The floral print is killer and dead on for spring, and the price isn’t too shabby at $69.95.

2. Easter wouldn’t be Easter without a little gingham, right? B will be rocking this shirt.

3. Pendant necklaces are all the rage right now. Add a little punch to that sweet dress with this rebel pendant. I’ve been living in mine.

4. J Crew recently came out with a Lacoste line which is amazing for many reasons, the top one being it’s much more affordable than the typical line and that means you can totally justify buying one for the bebe.

5. Spring means it’s time to store away those salt stained black boots and break out the classic nude heel. I’ve yet to invest in mine because man, it’s steep, but a girl can dream, right?

6. More Lacoste for the older lad. Love L in navy.

7. Every single year Easter and Mother’s Day hits and my kids have no shoes aside from muddy boats or worn out sneakers. I’m ahead of the game this year, as these are already on their way from Amazon.

8. And let’s not forget dad! Love adding in a bit of linen. Banana nails it with a slim fit subtle stripe.

Do you feel inspired now? What will your family be wearing this Easter? Let’s chat about it in comments below!

*The fine print: this post contains affiliate links which means that if you use one of these links to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Of course, you are not obligated to use these links to make your purchase but please know that when you do, it helps to support my blog and for that I thank you.

Chopped Thai Salad.

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Chopped Thai Salad

Something pretty spectacular happened the other night.
 
To start, we had Becky, Tyler, and their brand new baby Will over. Yippee! This was awesome for many reasons; most of which is that the three cousins finally got to hang.

photo-1257
 
See? Cuteness overload. Also, oh my goodness L is massive. Holding a newborn completely magnifies that, wow. My baby! 
 
Anyway, secondly, Aunt C joined us, which always makes everything more fun, including baseball in the mud. Oh and did I mention it was 64 degrees?
 
Happy. Dance.
 
That meant a slight nod to summer entertaining, which of course meant chilled sauvignon blanc, the best grilled chicken ever on the grill, skillet potatoes roasting away in the oven, and this over the top chopped thai salad.
 
You guys. It’s pretty. It’s healthy (baby kale! carrots! edamame! red pepper! yellow pepper! etc!). The zippy dressing… it’s just so good. The serving size I made was for 8-12 people, but between 4 of us it was gone. Granted the Glantz crew (including in-laws!) are quite the, um, eaters but still. That’s saying something.
 
And that something is that this salad is perfection.
 
Chopped Thai Salad
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For the dressing
  1. ⅓ cup canola oil
  2. 3 cloves garlic, peeled
  3. 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
  4. 2 tablespoons water
  5. 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar
  6. 2 tablespoons honey
  7. 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  8. 1 tablespoon ginger paste
  9. a squeeze of lime juice
For the salad
  1. 16 ounces frozen shelled edamame (I actually bought pre cooked edamame from TJ's to save step)
  2. 5-6 cups baby kale, chopped
  3. 3 large carrots, cut into thin sticks
  4. 2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 yellow), cut into thin sticks
  5. 1 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
  6. ¾ cup cashews, roughly chopped (if you can find them, go with Trader Joe's Thai Lime and Chili Cashews!)
Instructions
  1. Blend dressing ingredients together and set aside.
  2. To arrange salad, place baby kale at the bottom of a large bowl. Add ingredients by sections on top (see photo below). I kept the salad this way, separate from the dressing, in the fridge until dinner was ready. Then, I simply tossed it all together and served.
Adapted from Pinch of Yum
Adapted from Pinch of Yum
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

photo-1258

Old Bay Skillet.

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old bay shrimp & sausage skillet

Yes my friends, it seems… (shall I say it)… that spring has sprung?

HALLELUJAH!

To celebrate, meet the perfect recipe to add to your March repertoire. It’s dead on for when you’re just not sure if you want to sludge through the mud and leftover snow to dig out the ol’ grill but you want to keep things light and fresh. Because comfort food is so February and you no longer want to cry because you are deathly cold and stuck in the house eating carbs to find happiness (happy dance, happy dance, happy dance). 

Alright. Back to the kitchen, dancing optional. Super light, super healthy, this Old Bay Skillet is just what you need to get one step closer to rocking that itsy bity teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini on spring break. Or this suit (affiliate link) which, in my opinion, is even better. So chic!

Sigh, isn’t spring fun?

Old Bay Skillet
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Ingredients
  1. 1 lb of medium or large shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  2. 6 oz of pre-cooked smoked sausage, chopped (choose your favorite)
  3. 3/4 cup diced red bell pepper
  4. 3/4 cup diced green bell pepper
  5. 1/2 of a medium yellow onion, diced
  6. 1/4 cup chicken stock
  7. 1 zucchini, chopped
  8. 2 garlic cloves, diced
  9. Salt & pepper to taste
  10. Pinch of red pepper flakes
  11. 2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
  12. Olive oil
  13. Optional garnish: chopped parsley
Instructions
  1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with some olive oil. Season shrimp with Old Bay Seasoning and cook shrimp about 3-4 minutes until opaque – remove and set aside.
  2. Cook onions and bell peppers in skillet with 2 tbs of olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add sausage and zucchini to the skillet, cook another 2 minutes.
  3. Put cooked shrimp back into skillet along with the garlic, and cook everything for about 1 minute. Pour chicken stock into pan and mix through. Add salt, ground pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste. Remove from heat, garnish with parsley and serve hot!
Adapted from Paleo Newbie
Adapted from Paleo Newbie
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

C’s picks – week of March 15th

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weekly menu plan week of 3-15

Word of the week over here? MUD. We have a literal trench in our back yard due to the expansion, and things are muddy and slippery and melty and dirty but despite the mess, it’s all good things. Right? Yes. That is what I’m sticking with. 

Alright, let’s get our line up going for our kitchen this week. Your menu plan takes just 20 minutes, that’s all!

On Sunday night I am so excited to have Becky and Tyler and brand new baby Will over for dinner, yippee! I’m thinking of getting this killer grilled chicken on the grill to serve with this chopped thai salad, which might just be the prettiest thing ever. Skillet potatoes too because you know… men.

On Monday M flies away, which mean spicy & sweet salmon on the grill. Veggies and brown rice on the side. 

These balsamic rosemary steak kabobs look so beautiful and I mean… mushrooms. Drool. Can’t wait to try them out on Tuesday night! A simple mixed green salad on the side all dressed up with this vinaigrette, obviously.

Wednesday is always a fast night here since I’m on baseball duty, so I’m going to get this gorgeous spring pea chicken soup going during nap time. Come dinner I’ll just cook up some quick quinoa and ladle the soup over. Darling.

Oh I so love a new spin on the old pasta salad concept. Roasted tomatoes – fresh herbs – mozzarella balls, this one’s got it going on. I have daydreams of making it to entertain this summer in my new kitchen… sigh.

And that brings us to Friday. I’m thinking a family date night out is in order.

How about you? What’s cooking in your kitchen this week? I’d love to hear all about it in comments below!

Motherhood: on toys & clean up.

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Motherhood on Toys and Cleanup

Sigh. Is this a familiar scene for anyone?

Life with a toddler can be best summed up here. It explains why you can be at home all day and yet feel like you literally accomplished nothing. It’s so true. While I’m putting laundry away in L’s room, B is ripping apart all his legos. While I’m making our bed, he’s undone an entire roll of toilet paper in our master bath. I have that kid from the cover of ‘I’ll love you forever‘ and while I certainly love the heck out of him, the like can sometimes be iffy while he is undoing the home over and over and over again.

Even my 8 year old. I’ll find his pants in the kitchen. He’ll be in the basement for 5 minutes with his buddies and it will be completely destroyed (also the workings of his brother). Toothpaste is regularly smeared all over his bathroom sink. Heck no. I am not raising a slob. Heaven forbid someday some poor nice girl (please be nice, please be nice) enters either of my boys’ apartments and sees a disaster zone. Our home will be picked up, tidy, organized, surely welcoming and lived in, but not over run by the kids. There is a fine line, and here’s my best tips for balancing it all:

  • The first floor is the grown up floor. Sure, there are fingerprints smeared on the glass doors, art work hung up, brown bear brown bear in the pile of books in the living room, and toys for the kids – but they are organized, stored away, and out of sight. We have a large trunk for our coffee table that holds eight baskets of toys so the legos, trios, magnet tiles, etc., all own their own little place in our home that is not in our view.
  • Speaking of baskets, I can not stress this enough. All the toys need a place to go, otherwise you will end up with drawers and bins of just random items (AKA: my greatest nightmare). I’ve also found this concept helps the kids in their ability to clean up well. The balls go in the yellow basket, the trios go in the green box, etc. Items need a home.
  • The basement. Sing it with me now… ‘let it go, let it go.’ This is my let it go room. Especially in the colder months, it will be the room that is destroyed and unorganized and chaotic. And that’s ok. Kids need a spot to play like that. My rule of thumb is the boys tidy it up each night, and once a week I spend a chunk of time organizing their ‘clean up.’ Again, make sure you have a spot for everything (we have massive bins labeled ‘instruments’, ‘cars’, ‘blocks’ – etc.). I’ve found if you put the tidy rule into effect along with your once a week organizing rule things never really get out of control.
  • When my favorite living room or just picked up family room has legos and balls and batts strewn all over 5 minutes later, I take a deep breath and repeat this to myself over and over: ‘your home is not dirty, it’s messy.’ Those are two very different things. It may look awful, but when you really stop to clean it up with the boys it takes about 5 minutes. 
  • I only fold and put away laundry when the little one is sleeping. It just doesn’t work when he’s awake (see photo above).
  • This tip took me a few years to figure out but now I can’t imagine living without it: before birthday parties and Christmas, clear out old toys. Donate them. Move some to storage, do whatever you need to do to make room for the new ones that are coming. Because if your family is anything like mine, they will be coming in abundance and you will need the free space.
  • When it comes to chores, L doesn’t have a chart or allowance – it’s just expected of him to do certain things. Hang up his backpack and coat. Bring in his plate. Clothes in the laundry basket. No more smeared toothpaste. Little things like this to teach him to pick up after himself, and I don’t believe it warrants the reward of money. 
  • Embrace the havoc kids can bring to your home. I have marker on my bay window frame from when L was 2; B colored with marker on our stainless steel dishwasher days after pouring blue paint on our stair runner. One of the boys (I’m thinking L) slammed the door so hard into our brand new mudroom wall that there is now a hole. The marks, dents, scratches are going to happen. Just take a deep breath and tell yourself it adds character.
  • I pick up toys twice a day: at nap time and before M gets home from work. In between I just go with it; otherwise I would be picking up after B all day. Before bed, we all pitch in, and go to sleep with a tidy home.

What do you think. Any good tips? Anything I’m missing? I’d so love to hear what works for you in your home. Why not share in a comment below?

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