Boo. My dear husband left today. He’s leading his youth group’s mission trip to Kentucky, and he won’t return until next Saturday evening. I am sad and a bit overwhelmed. While Jude and I had a lovely day together, I know it would have been even more lovely to have enjoyed it alongside my partner in crime.

This week, I’m eating simply. Some leftovers, lots of sandwiches, and a surprise dinner of enchiladas from my friend upstairs, Tracie! I have great friends, and I’m very, very grateful for them. Here’s what cooking (or reheating!) this week:

Breakfast:
Raw soaked oatmeal with hemp protein, chia seeds, hemp seeds, frozen fruit, and honey
Hot oatmeal with frozen fruit, cinnamon, flaxseed meal, and honey
Eggs and toast
Green smoothies

Lunch/Dinner:
Split-pea soup
Lentil soup
Enchiladas (thanks to our upstairs neighbor, Tracie!)
Avocado, lettuce, tomato, and cheese sandwiches (ALTs)
Peanut butter, honey, and banana sandwiches
Breakfast for dinner! Eggs and toast and smoothies
Pasta with fresh basil pesto
Refried bean quesadillas on homemade flour tortillas
Homemade pizza

Need more dinner ideas? Check out Jenna’s Mindful Menus Blog Roll or I’m an Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday Blog Roll.

Jude and I have been having some great days together lately. I’ve been more present and connected with him and have started saying “yes” more. He thrives when I’m in the thick of life with him. He laughs and pretends and has full-on conversations with his toys; he responds to me, helps me, and offers me many kisses.

And then, this morning, he flat out refused to go shopping at the farmers’ market and co-op with me. I was happy Josh was home so that I didn’t have to force him to come with me, but I’ll be honest: I was hurt and sad.

I pressed on–headed out into the muggy heat of this Saturday morning and made my way to the train station. I rode the train to Evanston and shuffled my feet on the way to the market. Then I got there and saw all the amazing fruit for sale, and I just got so much sadder. I wanted my sweet boy by my side. I wanted him to sample all the fresh fruits that were available. I wanted to dance with him. I wanted to share the experience with him. As I left, all I could think about was how nice it would be to have him sitting next to me on the train, eating our entire blueberry purchase before we arrived home.

Handsome devil, isn’t he?

I consider myself to be a very, very lucky woman. When I met Josh, I instantly knew that I had found an incredibly special man. I knew he would be an amazing husband–one who would love me and put up with me for the rest of our lives. When I found out we were expecting, I had no doubt in my mind that Josh would end up being the most wonderful father this world has ever seen.

I wasn’t wrong.

Josh, from both Jude and me, I say thank you. Thank you for being a present and involved father. Thank you for being kind and gentle and for keeping a even temper. Thank you for loving us. You are more than either of us could have asked for, and I think more than we both, at times, deserve.

Happy Fathers’ Day, Josh. You’re the best Papa a boy could ask for.

Love,
Us

Chicago has had a ton of wet, dreary days lately. The sun finally made an appearance yesterday, but is only slated to stick around through today before it retreats behind the clouds to make way for MORE RAIN tomorrow. *sigh* At least we’ll have a good excuse to take Jude to see Toy Story 3.

For Fathers’ Day, Jude and I registered Josh to participate in the 17th Annual Artists of the Wall Festival at Loyola Park. Josh will get to design and paint a section of bench, and that painting will stay up for a year–until next year’s festival. Jude and I have a few more tricks up our sleeves for the best Papa in the world; check back early next week for a full account of the celebration!

After reading through a bunch of Sheri’s post of what she and her family is eating, I started making a wish list for myself. It started off with things like a dehydrator and a yogurt maker; you know, things that would help me cook more from scratch, and then it kind of spiraled into an all encompassing “Household Items” wish list. Now, I get that wanting all this, eh, stuff is kind of in direct opposition to living simply. BUT! In my defense, not much of this list is really frivolous (okay, maybe the waffle maker is frivolous). And, this list will likely go unfulfilled for the next ten years or so. It’s a wish list. I’m certainly not going to go out and blow our next few paychecks on these things. Anyway, here goes:

Kitchen
Excalibu 9 Tray Food Dehydrator
Yogurt maker with glass jars
Waffle maker (Cast iron, perhaps? We don’t use any non-stick cookware any more.)
KitchenAid Stand Mixer
Grain mill
Immersion blender
Cotton napkins
Reusable sandwich bags
Reusable snack bags
To-Go Ware for family
Stainless steel/Glass storage container
Cotton napkins

Bathroom(s)
Matching bath towels, hand towels, and wash cloths
Bathroom accessories for both bathrooms
Fabric shower liner for second bathroom
Bath mat for second bathroom
Towel rack/over-the-door rack for second bathroom
New shower head for second bathroom

Bedroom
King-sized comforter
Bed linens
New lamp shade for bedside lamp

Living room/Dining room/Jude’s room
3 Rugs (one each for the living room, dining room, and Jude’s room)
Dining room chairs
Ceiling fan for living room

Outdoors
Patio furniture
Tall stainless steal trash can for porch

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I had a hard time planning this week’s menu. I don’t want to be stuck inside cooking everyday, but I also don’t want to eat sandwiches day after day. The two soups on my menu should come together pretty quickly, as long as I get the chopping/bean cooking done before hand. Any suggestions for yummy, quick, and nutritious vegetarian meals for these hot summer months?

Breakfast
Oatmeal with flax seed meal, cinnamon, frozen fruit, and honey
Eggs and fresh fruit/green smoothies
Cereal with fruit

Lunch/Dinner
Black bean and rice burritos on homemade flour tortillas
ALT (avocado, lettuce, and tomato) sandwiches
Breakfast for dinner:  Scrambled eggs, bagels, and fresh fruit
White bean soup with kale/cooking greens
Potato and mustard greens soup
Spinach Pesto Pasta

Need more dinner ideas? Check out Jenna’s Mindful Menus Blog Roll or I’m an Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday Blog Roll.

Want more? Check out the Weekly Menus archive.

I’m hoping that Jude will consent to relaxing all day with movies and popcorn and books. Since he’s been begging to watch The Wizard of Oz multiple times a day for the past three days, I don’t think this will be a problem. (Side note: Jude got an awesome stove-top popcorn maker for his birthday from our neighbor-friends, the Lashleys. That thing is incredible. I love using it!)

I’ll be MIA from the interwebz for most of today. Josh has to take the power cord to work with him, and my laptop won’t hold a charge for more than five minutes. Boo. So, on this deary, rainy day, I’ll leave you with a picture of happier, warmer times. Cheers, friends!

Before: (Please excuse the poor quality. These were taken in a hurry.)

As you can see, we live underground. I call our apartment “The Dungeon.” (Sorry there aren’t any pics of the mess that covered the patio floor. I simply could not document that.)

And now, the After:

We attached the fiberglass window screen with photo wire (CAUTION: V. V. POINTY!)

Empty gutter (with end caps attached) that has been cut to size.

Close up of drainage holes

Holes drilled for zip tie attachment

Gutter attached to railing via zip tie

Gutter attached and half-way filled with soil

Gutter along side of porch bordered by dumpster

Gutter with planted peas, marigolds, and purple flower. Space reserved for green beans.

Close up of plants in rain gutter planter

Josh and Jude sifting through dirt looking for the worms they had dug up.

Jude with a little baby worm in his hand. (Picture taken from the safety of my living room, hence, the screen between us.)

So tell me readers… whaddaya think?

Our porch, up until very recently, hasn’t been really usable. We live in a garden apartment, which means our apartment, and porch, are below ground level. The porch is right next to our building’s parking lot and is bordered to the east by two dumpsters. It has been impossible to keep it anywhere near clean. Recently, my twitter friend SnarkyVegan gave me a great idea that would not only give us space to plant in, but would also help keep dirt and debris from getting onto our porch: rain gutters.

Maybe I should back up. The first thing Josh and I did was install fiberglass window screen around our porch railing. It was a slightly dangerous task, owning to the sharpness of the screen edge and the pointy-ness of the wire we used to attach the screen to the railing, but it worked out well and ended up looking pretty darn good. Then came the gutters. Josh cut the gutters to size and we used zip ties to attach them to the bottom of the porch railing. There they block the biggest entry way for trash (minus “entry by squirrel”), and they also make for some awesome planters. Pictures to follow. I promise.

So far I’ve planted peas, marigolds, and some purple flower I can’t remember the name of. I have some space left for green beans and (hopefully) pinto beans. I also have a tomato plant in a five-gallon pickle bucket and two basil plants, a cilantro plant, and an Italian oregano plant waiting for transplant into permanent pots.

Jude likes helping me water the plants, and yesterday, he and Josh had a blast digging for worms for our garden. Today I need to go back out there and check on everyone–we had some heavy rain yesterday, and I want to make sure there aren’t any casualties.

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Sorry for the lack of posting as of late. The past week and a half has been super busy with getting the house ready for company, hosting my mom and pop for a few days, having Josh’s mom and dad visit, and then finally, recuperating.

Josh, Jude, and I spent Friday night in the suburbs at our friend’s house visiting. We came home early Saturday morning, but because Jude refused to sleep all of Friday night, we took a nap during co-op/farmers’ market hours and missed shopping at either place. Luckily, I have a bag full of CSA goodies to help us get through the week. Here’s what on our menu:

Breakfast:
Cereal with milk and fresh fruit
Oatmeal with flaxseed meal, frozen fruit, cinnamon, and honey
Cottage cheese with green smoothies

Lunch/Dinner:
Leftover minestrone soup
Black bean and rice burritos on homemade flour tortillas
Pasta w/fresh basil pesto
Homemade veggie pizza (peppers, onions)
Black bean burgers w/baked potatoes and braised turnips w/ greens
Home made mac & cheese w/frozen peas and corn on the cob
Eggs and bagels w/fresh fruit and a green smoothies
Cheese and basil polenta with tomato basil sauce and a salad
Brown rice with red lentils, barley, almonds, and cranberries
ALTs (avocado, lettuce, and tomato sandwhiches)

Snacks
Salads
Baba ghanous
Green smoothies
White bean, asparagus and basil hummus with chopped veggies

Need more dinner ideas? Check out Jenna’s Mindful Menus Blog Roll or I’m an Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday Blog Roll.

Want more? Check out the Weekly Menus archive.