Banana Bread Granola

I apologize again for my lack of posting lately, this pregnancy is kind of kicking my butt and I have been really tired and just struggling to get basic things done around the house. I do miss my blog though and I was realizing the other day how I haven't done a recipe post in forever so I thought I'd share my latest obsession. Seriously you guys, this granola is so good! It's so good in fact that I have abandoned my trusty peanut butter and chocolate chip granola in favor of it. Whenever I have granola out at a restaurant I always think, "well it's not as good as that banana bread granola".

You can find the recipe here at Minimalist Baker. It is so easy to make incredibly delicious! I make mine with just pecans and no walnuts and I use maple syrup for my sweetener which I find gives it a great flavor and the smell that perfumes the house while cooking this stuff is just divine.

 Echo love this recipe too and enjoys eating it with fresh fruit. I like mine with fruit and home made yogurt plus a drizzle of honey. Try this recipe and you will never buy granola again!

Making My Life in the Kitchen Easier

We've discovered a few odds and ends around the kitchen lately that have really made things easier for me and Eric when we cook! When you have such a small space to work in even little changes can make a big difference. 

The biggest and best new thing in the kitchen is the new under cabinet shelf that Eric put in this past weekend (seen in the photo above, please excuse the messy countertop!). I'm kind of ridiculously excited about it. We desperately needed a spot to stash our cutting boards and shallow dishes and this gets them out of the way while still leaving them really accessible. This shelf is by far the best thing that has happened to our kitchen in recent months. 

We also got some awesome new cutting mats that we love but I forgot to take photos of them. You can kind of see them on the right hand side in the photo of the shelf. They are great because they are so thin and take up so little space. They are also flexible and durable and they come as a set of 4, each a different color so we can have designated cutting mats for different types of meat and veggies. We got ours at the Buford Highway Farmers Market but you can fins similar sets almost anywhere that sells kitchen goods. 

Recipe card on display

 The other things I'm posting about are just little tips that have made our life easier. First of all Eric had the idea to hang a chip clip from our kitchen shelves to use for clipping recipes up while we cook. A lot of our recipes are copied on to recipe cards and stored in a box or binder so this is a nice way to have them at eye level while you work.

My last two tips are for freezing. We are in the market for a chest freezer which I am really excited about! Our current freezer is teeny tiny and it makes it hard to stock on meats and veggies when they go on sale because we have no space to store them. I also like to bake all of our bread but it goes bad so fast without all the preservatives that are in store bought breads that freezing it is the only way to keep a supply on hand. so yeah, I am looking forward to having more freezer space in the near future.

Frozen chicken in teriyaki marinade

That being said, I have some issues with freezing things, especially meat. I know it is a really economical thing to do when we can stock up on sale meat and freeze the extra for later but in my opinion freezing meat can change it's texture and flavor and I hate that! Eric recently came across a tip on one of the frugal boards he reads that has really helped with this problem though. When we freeze chicken breasts we now add a hearty splash marinade. That way when it can marinate while it thaws and we have found that this really helps combat the dryness that usually comes with freezing chicken.

Frozen fresh ginger

 Lastly, I came across this tip for cooking with fresh ginger on one of the blogs I read. I love cooking with fresh ginger, you can't beat the flavor. However it is always really hard for us to use it all up before it goes bad. I recently started peeling the whole ginger root when I buy it and cutting it in to chunks. I stick it in the freezer and then when it's time to use it in a recipe I take out just what I need and and grate it directly in to my dish. This way I don't have to waste any ginger and it's easier to grate when it's frozen.

These are just some things I've been thinking about lately and was hoping they would maybe benefit someone else's kitchen life. Hope you all are having a lovely week!

May Photos

Another month has flown by and we are that much closer to being a family of four! Time is really going fast now and I feel totally unprepared for a new baby but I just keep reminding myself that they don't need much ;-) We had such a fun May and lots of pictures to prove it. Here's what we have been up to. 

Echo is really in to jewelry lately. Not sure where she got that from since I don't wear it much but she sure is cute all dressed up!

Member night at the Botanical Gardens

Visiting friends Will, Neil and Isaac in Charlottesville 

Visiting Logan in Alexandria and DC

Blueberries from the farmers market in Alexadria

Baby ducks!

This is all Echo wanted to do while we were in Alexandria, she must have walked around this fountain 1,000 times!

Bonding with uncle Logan

Shopping in a fancy cheese store

And to finish off our trip to the DC area Echo got to play in an awesome children's park in the navy Yard area of town. It had this great wading fountain, all the kids loved it!

 Last but not least, here are a few of my favorites from our maternity shoot last weekend (in case you aren't on facebook).

See more May photos at https://audreyalbright.shutterfly.com/pictures/5296 and more maternity photos at https://audreyalbright.shutterfly.com/pictures/5232

Recent Sewing

After I had so much fun sewing my new infinity scarf (which has been a big hit by the way, I've worn it a ton already even though I don't need it for nursing yet)I got a major sewing bug! I immediately dove in to some new projects. I am still trying to keep things simple due to my limited time and energy but it felt good to be making something again and I have a few more ambitious projects lined up in the near future.

The first project was my take on this tutorial for a hobo bag. I used their pattern as a guide but ended up drawing my own version of it in a slightly smaller size. I loved my more structured purse that I made earlier this year but wanted something a little more light and Summery that I could take with me on my mini vacations and plentiful trips to the pool that have been happening so much this Spring and Summer. I was able to use all materials that I had on hand which made this even more satisfying and it has been a great little bag to haul around town. I'm enjoying having a nice light purse before I have to switch to a giant diaper bag again ;-)

My next project was for my maternity photos which we had taken just last weekend by my lovely and talented business partner and friend Joanna. We had decided on a "bun in the oven" theme for the photo shoot and did some really cute photos of me, Eric and Echo cooking together. I made Echo and I some matching aprons to wear for the photos.

They are a little wrinkled here since I stuffed them in my bag after the shoot but I think they will make the maternity photos extra special and they will be something that Echo and I can use for years to come. I'll be sure to share some of the professional photos as soon as I get my hands on them.

Above is a close up of the heart appliques that I added for an extra special touch. You can find the tutorial that I used for this project here.  All this sewing has really whetted my appetite for more (I may have an addiction) and I am excited to be starting new projects soon!

Absence Makes the Garden Grow Larger

The garden area looking lush.

Last week I went on a little five day mini vacation to visit my brother in DC and while I was gone my garden shot up like crazy! Ok, so I realize posts about my garden are not interesting to anyone but me. However it's my blog so I'll do what I want ;-P Seriously though, I like to be able to look back and compare things year to year so I find it helpful to record this kind of thing here.

Let me tell you, my garden is a great big hot mess this year! That being said it's also shaping up to be my most successful gardening year to date. There is a lot going on here that I am excited about and a lot that could be done waayyy better in the future but it's all pretty fun and exciting to watch.

My first problem is that I totally mixed up all my seeds when I was starting them inside and now I have no idea what things are (blame my pregnancy brain). For example the photo on the above left could be of zucchini or of acorn squash, I really don't know which. If it is zucchini it could be one of several varieties. The above right photo could be ground cherries or tomatillos, apparently the plants look similar and I can't figure out what it is by looking online (at least not in a the amount of time I'm willing to spend on it which is not much).

My other biggest problem is that I have things planted much too closely together. I know not to do this but I always end up doing it every year. I get way too excited and try to squeeze in as much as possible without allowing enough room for plants to spread. *Sigh* maybe someday I'll learn :-)

Bush beans flowering

 One the plus side things are growing splendidly out in the gardens and everything is just beginning to bloom which is very exciting. I've also been able to grow some things that I have never had success with in the past such as carrots (seriously, these are supposed to be so easy!) and cilantro (I was about to give up on this but gave it one more try) and they are turning out great this time around!

Cilantro

Moving the gardens to a sunnier location has really paid off and we have been lucky enough to have a nice rainy spring which has made taking care of the garden really easy.

Lettuce and carrots

Now if I can only figure out what everything I've planted actually is then I will be in business! I have high hopes for successful crops of some kind or another as the Summer progresses though!

Breastfeeding Infinity scarf

Ok guys, I am officially in my Third trimester! Woo hoo! The past few weeks I have been feeling very third trimester, as in suuuppper tired. I haven't had enough energy to keep the house clean and stay on top of dinner much less do anything fun or creative. Well yesterday I treated myself to a large homemade iced coffee in the afternoon that left me feeling wonderfully refreshed (caffeine restrictions while pregnant have gone out the window) and I got to spend some time with my much loved but lately neglected sewing machine. 

As much as I would love to sew up a bunch of cute stuff for baby Clover I simply don't have the time or energy. However an infinity scarf is something even this busy momma can handle and it was fun to make somethign I can use when our new baby arrives. I got the idea from this tutorial  but it really couldn't be easier. You basically take a rectangle and sew the ends together. When finished the scarf can be worn like a normal infinity scarf or unfolded and draped across your chest if you need a little extra cover while nursing. 

I had this awesome piece of really stretchy green fabric that I picked up in the scrap bin at Joanne's which was perfect for the project. Not only is it light and soft but it happens to be my exact favorite color in the whole world. I love that mossy green shade. I still felt it seemed a little plain so I decided to silk screen a little fern design on it (although in retrospect maybe I should have done a clover, hmm...).

 I had a really hard time taking pictures of this on myself so my apologies for the terrible selfies. At least they get the point across, showing the two ways the scarf can be worn.

Just a note on breastfeeding covers in general, I'm not a huge fan of them. I really never used one when i was nursing Echo and I strongly believe that women should be free to breastfeed in public and uncovered without shame. However there are always some circumstances where you might like a little privacy so it's nice to have a cute option in case you decide you need or want to cover up. Again, i never used a cover with Echo and I'm not sure if I will with Clover either but I figured if I don't ever use this one as a nursing cover at least I will have a cute new scarf!

Sandbox for Echo

One of the things on Eric's to do list for a while now has been to build Echo a little sand box to play in. He actually built it a while ago but I keep forgetting to post photos. We put it out by our blueberry bushes in the front yard so that I can see her from the garden. The idea was that I could work in the garden while she played in the sand but she almost always wants to help me when I work in the garden so we usually just play in the sand together after I am done gardening.

This is such a simple toy to make but such a huge hit! My parents got her some sand toys to play with and we were able to pick up a few more from the dollar bin at Target so she has lots of things to build and shovel with.

It's pretty small at this point so it may need to be expanded after Clover is big enough to want to play in it too but it's a great size for Echo right now. When the girls outgrow it we will probably convert it in to another raised garden bed.