I’ve recently found that I am a million times more productive if I leave the house to do things. For example: I have a long, long list of thank you notes to write for all of the lovely gifts we received at our baby shower, and somehow I can’t make myself sit down at my desk long enough to just write them. For me, the same thing happens with blogging. I have a list of recipes and lots of photos just waiting to be published, but nope. It just hasn’t happened. Does this happen to you? What is it about sitting yourself down at a coffee shop that makes you work harder? Maybe it’s the people around that are watching…making sure you’re doing what you should be. In any case. Here I am…and guess what? My notes are written and you’re reading a shiny new blog post. Yipee! Thanks to all the encouragement of perfect strangers sitting around me.

On a side note: I’m full term today, so this baby can safely come any day now. Let’s all say a prayer and hope really hard she comes sooner rather than later. Let me know if you have any tips on making that happen.:)

Here’s a yummy new way I’ve used up my zucchini! The nice thing about this soup is that you can enjoy it hot or cold. Personally, I like my soup hot…but I hear it’s really refreshing chilled as well. However, I’m thinking the cheese would be omitted in that case.

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We’ve recently started receiving our local CSA boxes, and it’s been like Christmas every Thursday when a new one comes in. You never know what kind of delicious veggies and herbs are inside this week’s box! One thing we’ve consistently received weekly has been kale. I’ve talked about my kale-love here before, but I’ve been trying to get a little more creative with preparing it because of the shear mass I have to go through. Here’s a new recipe I’ve recently tried out. Clif and I loved the creamy roasted garbanzo’s and loads of garlic mixed with the sauteed greens. We enjoyed this as a main course for dinner tonight, but I also think it would be deeeelish as a side or smothered on a crusty bread. Yum!

Things have been going well on the baby-front. She still has a little over a month to go until her estimated appearance date, and we’ve been having fun finishing up her room and shopping for cuteness. I’m continually getting bigger….and the weather is only getting warmer. Which isn’t making for the best combination, but I think I will make it a little longer with the help of A/C and large quantities of water. Speaking of, I’m headed to the lake now!

Do you have a favorite go-to recipe using kale? I’d love to hear!

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I’ve been on a bit of a pizza kick lately. We have a little brick oven bakery close to us that has the most amazing pizzas ever on the most delicious crisp whole-wheat crust. And since we can’t exactly afford to go there daily, my kitchen has sort of turned into a pizzeria. My biggest challenge has been the crust. After trying recipe after recipe and being let down over the bland, chewy crust, I think I’ve finally found the perfect one. I prefer a light and crisp crust, so for me, this one hit the nail on the head. I topped it with a pesto base along with left over veggies and cheeses I had from the market last weekend (I’m currently trying to clean out my fridge before heading out of town!). We went a little on the lighter side with the toppings, so that we wouldn’t weigh down the crust too much. Alongside a salad, It was a perfect and simple dinner for two, and we have leftovers for lunch today. Woohoo!

We are headed out of town this weekend to celebrate Clif’s sister Evelyn’s wedding, which happens to also be Clif and my 3rd wedding anniversary. Celebrations all around! Can’t wait to soak up family time and celebrate a weekend full of love. This will probably be the last big trip we take before the baby arrives, so we’ll enjoy the long car ride with just the two of us while we can.:) Talk to you next week!

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My mom introduced this recipe to me after finding it in a cookbook she recently bought called “One Pot” (unfortunately I can’t find a link to the book at the moment). It’s full of delicious looking soups, stews and stir fry’s and though this is the first recipe we’ve tried from this book, we’re impressed so far. This soup has an amazing combination of spices including cumin, coriander and cinnamon, and the addition of the semi-sweet chocolate really completes it. It may sound odd, but if you haven’t had chocolate in a beef stew before, it’s high-time you do. Yum.

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I found this recipe by chance from our friends over at Thokalath.com. It’s one of the simplest, yet most delicious, recipes in the Northern Indian cooking tradition. Follow the recipe as a guide, not a a rulebook– you’ll want to adjust spices to your own taste and preference. How this usually goes is that I follow the recipe (although I’m always over-generous with cardamom, cloves and cinnamon). Then when all the spices have settled, I take a deep breath and think: gotta have more ginger. » Read the rest of this entry «