What I’ll remember from November:
beautiful changes // beans before everything // NY forever // the sweetest welcome home // my little kitchen helper // the most gentle giant // hosting simple bagel brunch >> hosting complicated dinners // post brunch hoops // showing them our old spots // unexpectedly matching cousins 👯 // this place is still magic when it's grey & gloomy
Back when I was a food educator and spent my days in the classroom teaching kids cooking classes, most of my dinners were like the one I made tonight. I was kid-free, had uninterrupted time and always had lots of odds & ends to use up from class.
But enter two little kids and meals tend to be a little less off the cuff since, given the chaos of every day I at least like to know what’s for dinner (and that we have the ingredients or that the kids will eat it 🤪).
So of course when @foodprintorg decided to host an Eat Down Your Pantry Challenge with @preservingthesouth I was so excited to shake off the culinary creative dust and be inspired to create meals using what I have on hand already.
Tonight was some mashed @heartyrootsmarket sweet potato, miso broth cranberry beans (@buttermilk_bean 🫘 club forever) and some roasted cauliflower with red onion, @burlapandbarrel black lime & chili salt, pepitas & raisins. And it was a hit!
If you're also feeling in a little bit of a cooking rut or want a way to reduce waste or your grocery bills I encourage you to check it out & sign up! #eatdownyourpantry #reducefoodwaste
2024 felt like a year where I accomplished nothing and everything all at the same time. Pregnancy, postpartum and motherhood feels like that often. On the surface it seems like I spent half of the year growing a new life and the other half learning to adjust to life with her here. But when I look closer there was so much more to it that made it the beautifully imperfect year that it was. Here’s to 2025 and doing more of what brings you joy 💞💫
Two months of mothering two. Postpartum riddled with bits of the old and still plenty to discover. Of her, of them and of myself as their mother. 🤍
📷: @kevinaorellana
Looking back on quite the July including the farmer’s market trip that ended with me in labor and my soon to be daughters birth-day cake that I baked in between contractions 🤣 🎂💗
Margot Marion Orellana, our sweet little pearl, joined us this week ✨🌻 She is the perfect piece to our family and it feels as though she’s been with us all along. Big sister Maeve loves to cuddle her little sister and my heart grows bigger each day with love for them. 🩷🩷🩷
(but also taking all of the toddler plus a newborn tips 🤣)
