Summer Bounty

Baby's first Farmers Market! Gotta start her out right. 

This summer we got to participate in the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program. "The FMNP was established by Congress in 1992, to provide fresh, unprepared, locally grown fruits and vegetables to WIC participants, and to expand the awareness, use of, and sales at farmers’ markets." As if we really needed any more motivation to get to the market, but how great is it that one of our nation's public health programs are supporting local and organic foods?!?!

Our loot from the Saint Paul Farmers' Market: 

Green bell peppers

Zucchinis

Onions

Tomatoes

Yukon gold potatoes

Early Season Apples! 

All for under $20! I love August for thus very reason. 

My summer favorite, a Caprese salad.

That's the only one I managed to take pictures of... most of the time I'm just lucky if I get to eat in one sitting. But here's some links to meals we've made recently using the bounty of the summer: 

garden pesto pasta 

easy quiche 

Though we used different ingredients this time: onions, zucchini, bell peppers, bacon and mozzarella! This meal is a great "garbage" dish because you can toss in whatever veggies you have leftover or whatever you have on hand. Mix up the cheeses, go sans meat, whatever you desire. 

potato/zucchini pancakes

zucchini bread muffins

Next week Jenna is going to teach us how to can tomatoes!!! Linnea and I can't wait! 

Cloth Diapering

My Mother-in-Law found a little gem in Blaine called All Things Diapers - and was a treasure it has been! They are a great local business, answered all our questions (and believe me, we had a TON) and got us all set up for cloth diapering. They even have great workshops and education events as well.

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Why on earth use cloth diapers?!?!?! Because we're crazy. Crazy broke and crazy in love with the earth. And disposable diapers are just that... disposable. They go right into landfills and don't biodegrade (even biodegradable diapers don't because the conditions in landfills are not conducive to it). Solid waste then goes into trash cans instead of into the sewer system.  

To be honest though, it's not really an all-or-nothing thing for us. For instance, we really won't start using cloth until she grows out of newborn size (I didn't want to buy cloth newborn diapers for what would be such a short time, so we'll use disposable for a short while. Plus it'll be just a little bit easier in the first few weeks that I'm sure will be crazy enough anyway.) And I'm definitely using disposables when we travel/camp - it just doesn't make sense - how on earth would I wash them? 

AND... it's a heck of a lot cheaper. Thanks to wonderful family and friends, we have only spent $9 towards getting our cloth diapering system ready. But even if we hadn't been gifted so much it still would have cost only about $200 for everything on this page. Disposable diapers cost about $1000 a year. So add in a little extra laundry detergent and a little extra on the utility bill... the cost savings is just incredible. 

The Basics: Cloth Diapers 

Initially when I started researching cloth diapers and read a bunch of blogs it seemed like all-in-one diapers like the Bumgenius were the best - they were cute, convenient, and so highly recommended that we thought that was for sure the way to go. After going into All Things Diapers and getting a little tutorial and looking at our options, however, we decided that the classic pre-fold route was not only cheaper (by more than half) but the process was more appealing to us. I think what it comes down to are which companies are getting bloggers to write about them... and it had me convinced. Ross and I are pretty happy with what we decided to try out - and will definitely let you know if we are still happy with it after! 

So we have the pre-folds, which are just an absorbent cotton diaper worn against the skin. 

Then of course you need the waterproof outer diaper! You need 1 cover for every 4-5 diaper changes, which of course will vary as they get older. We got four from Thirsties -  their duo diaper. They ran $12.95 ($1 more for prints) in the store. We got 3 with snaps and one with Velcro - I personally feel like the snaps are more durable, but thought we could try out the Velcro as well. Who knows what we will really like. Great thing is we can return/exchange everything!!! 

I like that the Thirsties come in a size one and a size two - so you should only need two sizes until potty training as opposed to ones sizes in newborn, s, m, l, xl. They get a bit better fit than one size, but are still very adjustable. 

This one was on consignment for $6 so we decided to try it - a Bummis size small. (That's another great thing - they have a used/consignment section!)

These next two are one size and adjustable - we have them snapped to the smallest right now (I should have taken pictures with them unsnapped). This is a Rump*a*rooz cover. 

And these two are Econobums which were by far the best deal at only $8.95, and we definitely wanted a couple plain white to go under certain outfits. As cute as the colors and prints are, we thought they might show through some clothing and having plain colors would be nice.  

The Accessories 

No more pins!!! For which I was relieved. The are called Snappi Diaper Fasteners and work the same way that those little metal clips on an elastic bandage would. 

Something awesome that my soon-to-be cousin-in-law (1 week til her wedding!!!!) Jenna found were these flush-able, biodegradable diaper liners from OsoCosy. The line the pre-folds so that solid waste easily goes right where it should - down the toilet. Makes for easier clean up and as my sis-in-law said, she would be much more willing to work with cloth diapers if should could use these liners. A pack of 100 cost $8. Not sure if these will be a permanent part of our system, but maybe! Makes for a nice hybrid between cloth and disposable. 

These are flannel wipes from Osocozy - instead of buying wipes! You just wet them with warm water and use one every diaper change. Toss them in with the diapers when you are ready to wash and you're good to go! These were also a great deal - $6.50 for 15. 

Cleaning 

Seems like it could be the worst part right? Eh... shouldn't be too bad. 

My dear friend Krystal sent us this beauty (along with a few diapers and such) - a hand held diaper sprayer (among other things)! It just attaches to the toilet and when you wish to use it you pull the lever and have a high powered stream of water to use to rinse soiled diapers and put solid waste directly into the toilet. 

Also we got two diaper pail liners (large) to keep diapers in between washes (recommended is every 36-48 hours) and a small wet bag to use if we are out and about. Both are cloth, waterproof, and go right into the wash with the diapers. I imagine we may need to pick up another small travel one, but we'll see how it all goes. 

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Many brands of cloth diapers make their own laundry detergent, but really you just need something that is additive free like Seventh Generation Free & Clear. Plus you can find this brand at Target or the like - which is much easier than worrying about ordering it from a website.

 For washing you just use a hot wash, cold rinse, extra rinse perhaps, and it's best to line dry in the sun (will remove the most stains) but tumble dry is fine in the winter. 

Practicing 

You can see the use of the Snappi here. 

Then we tried a couple covers on our Slumber Buddy Frog. This one Ross did... and then he ran away when I grabbed the camera. Oh well. 

Looks like Froggy is giving us a thumbs up! 

Any tips or advice for using cloth diapers? 

Maria's Cafe

Ross and I went to Maria's Cafe in Minneapolis on a recommendation from a friend - and I think it is my new favorite breakfast spot!

Inspired by Maria's Colombian upbringing, the menu offered a wonderful fusion of American and Latin American breakfast favorites.

It's been a long time since I've had a cup of this!!!! It was definitely decaf, but I couldn't imagine eating a Latin American breakfast without a cup of Colombian coffee. It was wonderful, and reminded me so much of my time in Costa Rica. 

For breakfast I had Pablo's omelet, 3 eggs stuffed with rice, refried beans, onions, tomatoes, cheese and served with salsa and a tortilla. 

On the side - the meal wouldn't be complete without plantanos fritos!!!!! It has been so long since I've sunk my teeth into one of these! 

And the Ross enjoyed a meal much more on the American side of things: bacon, eggs and toast. 

There were so many other things I wanted to try: they had many different types of pancakes, including the traditional Colombian corn cakes, arepas, plantain pancakes with cotija cheese... we will probably be back soon! 

The cafe was simply decorated, the Latin music created a wonderful ambiance, and it was extremely affordable! Everything was under $10, sometimes well under, yet it was delicious and the service was great. I am glad I took the recommendation and am now passing it along to you! 

!Fue increible!

Breakfast Date & Exciting News!

Alright - the exciting news first! 

Ross and I just found out that we were accepted into a long term staffing position at Holden Village! 

Ross will be a Utilities Assistant and I am going to be a Lead Cook! We start in early January and couldn't be more thrilled. Now I just need to make sure I graduate...  

After hearing the news, however, I started thinking about all the places in Bellingham I would miss, and the Old Town Cafe was one that popped in my head right away! 

Therefore, Ross and I decided on an impromptu breakfast date Friday morning. 

So fun to wear my hair down as opposed to in a hair net!

Ross ordered his usual - the Farmer's Skillet Deluxe with bacon. It is their home fries with peppers, onions, mushrooms, celery and cheese, 2 eggs, 2 slices of toast, sour cream and salsa - always on the side (for me!) 

I vary my choices between their amazing huevos rancheros to scrambles to omelets - this time it was a 2-egg omelet with green chili, avocado, and cheese with home fries and their incredible black beans on the side. 

I love that they use local and organic ingredients as much as possible, and that their food is so delicious!!! Best breakfast in Bellingham. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Homemade Apple Pie

I suppose it's a bit ridiculous to spend my days off making apple pies.. but I think a part of me really needed to prove that I could do it from beginning to end. And it wasn't exactly work... baking is my stress relief! And the result... simply beautiful. 

I followed this recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. The key is to keep a pie crust cold - if you plan ahead, it would be good to refrigerate the flour beforehand.  

Sweet Pie Crust 

All amounts double, separated - perfect for an 8- or 10-inch 2-crust pie. 

1 cup unbleached white flour + 2 Tbsp whole wheat flour 

1 stick butter (1 cup), cold and cubed

1 tsp sugar 

1/2 tsp salt 

3 Tbsp ice water 

Filling

6-8 Large sweet-to-tart apples (Like Gravensteins)

1 cup Sugar 

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp other spices (cardamom, nutmeg, cloves)

1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. 

Cube the butter, making sure it's cold. 

Add the butter to the food processor and process for only about 10 -12 seconds - until the resulting mixture looks like cornmeal. 

If you over-process it will warm up the dough, which you don't want. 

Pour the dough into a bowl and add the ice water. 

Mix with your hands gently until you can form it into a ball. If it's too wet add a little more flour, and if it's too dry add a little more ice water. 

Wrap it in plastic and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. You can store it for a couple days in the fridge or a few weeks in the freezer, or longer. 

Repeat to make the second crust. 

While the dough is chilling you can work on the apples! These are BelleWood's Gravenstein apples which are excellent for baking due to their sweet-tart quality. 

Slice and core the apples however you see fit really. Some of these were too big for my slicer/corer, so I did them by hand. It had me pining for the machines at work! 

Then you want to make sure there is no core remaining on your apple slices - as the core will not cook and is not very palatable. 

Slice off the skin as well. 

After all the apples are sliced you can toss to coat with cinnamon, sugar, spices, and the apple cider vinegar. 

Then take the dough balls out of the fridge and sprinkle a surface with a little flour. 

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is 1-2 inches wider than your pie dish. 

Using the rolling pin, lift up the dough and gently lay it onto the pie dish. 

Then press the dough into the dish. 

You can cut off any excess easily with a knife. 

Fill the crust with the filling. 

The roll out your second crust. 

Place it over the filling. 

Trim off the edges leaving about an inch hanging over the side. 

Tuck the dough under and press to seal to the bottom crust. 

Then you can use your thumb to press in a pretty pattern around the edge of the crust. 

Be creative!!! 

Place a few slits in a circle using a sharp knife to allow to pie to steam. 

Then place the pie on a cookie sheet (the helps to cook the bottom crust and the catch any juice from the filling that may drip over the pie). Bake at 400F for 50-60 minutes, using a pie crust shield or a ring of foil to prevent the top crust from cooking too quickly (take this off in the last 20 minutes of baking). You know the pie is done when you stick a butter knife through on of the slits and meet no resistance. 

Let it cool for at least 2 hours - that way you serve slices of pie and not apple slosh. You can always reheat the slices in the microwave. 

I sprinkled it with a bit of raw sugar to give the pie a little sparkle. 

I am so excited! 

Then it can serve it up with a bit of vanilla ice cream and apple cider for a game night. 

Stress relieved for sure! Though I'm probably not going to do this again until Thanksgiving. Or if I get really stressed about finishing my masters degree... so I'm sure it'll be sooner than later. =) 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

What's your stress relief?