Happy Holidays from our family to yours!!!

Back to Domesticness!

So, every other week we get a box of organic fruit, vegetables delivered to our door in our desperate attempt to increase our fruit and vegetable intake. It also includes a couple of random items - sometimes carrot cake (Reagan's favorite) whole buckwheat (cook it like oatmeal), sparkling juices, organic marinara sauce and coconut milk to name a few. I realized the other day when going through my pantry that I had collected 3 cans of coconunt milk. In a house where only one person likes coconut, and only a little, I realized I needed to start looking for some ways to use it up. I found a couple of different recipes and since I was restricted to breakfast, dessert or smoothies, I decided to try this one first.

Indian Spiced Oatmeal with Coconut Milk
2 cups water
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn cinnamon
1/2 tspn ground ginger
1/4 tspn ground cloves
1/ tspn vanilla extract
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup sliced or chopped almonds
1 cup coconut milk

Bring the water to a boil and add the oatmeal and salt. Cook until done. Take off heat and add all the spices, sugar, raisins and vanilla. Portion out (about 4 servings) and top with almonds and 1/4 cup coconut milk.

I used quick cooking oatmeal and this recipe was adjusted to that. I also would probably use a little less sugar next time, as it is just a touch too sweet. I also used around 1/4 cup of raisins - my choice. Overall, this recipe is amazing and a great use of the coconut milk. Now I only have two more cans to go....

Today I set off into the city for a little beauty treatment before the big day. Where I live it is mostly snowy but in the city, it is more icy and a real treat to walk around on. You already know I am not the best or fastest walker on this kind of crap, but add a few (ok, more than A FEW) pounds and the really, really true desire not to fall - lord help me. Shuffling around like a 100 year old woman. HA! Oh well, soon I will have a baby stroller to hold on to.

Tomorrow I am off to the chiropractor and then meeting my mother-in-law for lunch. Need to stop at the local baby store to buy some winter gear for the little one - you have to purchase pretty special type clothing for winters here - all wind, snow proof, thermal things. I think I have done enough research to know what I need, but this particular store is incredibly helpful and I love their gender neutral attitude. It is not that my girl WON'T wear pink, it is just that I think there are plenty of adorable girl clothes that don't have to be dripping with pink and purple. Never was my color anyway. I remember telling people in middle school that black was my favorite color. Anders likes to remind me that black is not a color but the absence of color. Smart ass....

Laters!

Happy Lucia!

Happy Lucia everyone. Click back to this time 4 years ago and I was busy making lussekattor - or saffron cats, buns. Today, not so much as today marks the beginning of my very generous maternity leave from the great country of Sweden. 13 months to be exact - so strange to be away for that long. When we moved from Dallas to Sweden, I had no immediate plans but to take life as it came. Now, I have a small term and long term goal. Small term - birth a wonderful, highly anticipated, much loved already baby girl. Long term - raise a wonderful, highly anticipated, much loved already baby girl. Longer term - go back to work....ha!

That being said, I think baby girl will arrive prior to her due date of December 27th. All signs point to me actually having a child, so I think I should accept the reality of it all. Anders took the picture over the weekend - big belly girl, all hanging low. Swelling has made it's arrival too - so my poor little ankles no longer exist and my face looks like I had one too many margaritas from the night before. But it is all good - and makes for a nice reason to prop my feet up on the couch and chillax.

The holidays will be spent at our apartment. We have been so busy with the renovation and it still continues - the devil is in the details, no? But we make progress...everyday.... My goal today, after watering the plants and making date nut bread, is to empty two boxes - or at least sort through them. Tedious, boring and quite honestly feels like I could trash the entire pile - but needs to be done.

Not much else on the home front - I find it interesting that being pregnant at the end of your term is about the same as waiting to find out if you are pregnant. Just a big, old waiting game - but one that I am so happy and honored to have been a part of.

Baby on the Brain

Oy, oy, oy - I can't believe that I am 33 weeks now. This pregnancy has gone by so fast and as my mother will tell you, I still have a hard time remembering that I am pregnant. It has been such a wonderful experience thus far and I am looking forward to meeting our baby girl. We have been busy renovating our apartment - a long overdue project that only could be realized with a second income and the impending arrival of a newborn.

Back in April, May we decided we wanted to renovate our kitchen. Pretty much everything in our apartment is original (from the 60s) so you can imagine with a child on the way that a new kitchen would be a nice addition as well. Besides, I couldn't even remotely convince my sister or my mom to come over during the winter without the lure of a freshly remodeled kitchen including a new dishwasher. Well, one thing led to another and we ended up adding a few more projects. Mostly cosmetic touch ups here and there, but anyone who has done renovation knows that the devil really is in the details. We are in the home stretch, sort of, and have finally made it to the baby's room. My dad is the constant reminder that this child will show up no matter if we are ready or not, so luckily this is the last piece and does not involve too much...we hope. Anders has been a total rock star with his Dad and friend, Johan, as his faithfull roadies. He has pretty much done the entire project on his own. I have been so impressed with his deligence and seemingly tireless energy. Everyday I get more and more tired and he plugs along - even replacing pipes on our sinks in the bathrooms so they are more aesthetically pleasing. God love him! We will post pictures soon - because our apartment is so...uh cozy...we have to move boxes and things around when we work on other rooms. But soon, I promise! And definitely BEFORE the baby arrives...we hope. :-)

Guess who's back?

I know I must write this very often but in judging from my last post, it really does ring true.

Yes, I am back from a very long hiatus. Lots of things have happened since May 2009. My sister had another baby, Clinton is now a dog, Kissel passed away, I started working, we started renovating and I am FINALLY pregnant. Yep, life is one big roller coaster huh? In the build up to the arrival of our first child (late December) and my maternity leave (did I mention you can take up to 18 months?) I thought I would start posting here again. Mostly for my family to keep updated as not so many are really into Facebook. Quite honestly, I am not that into Facebook especially when it comes to posting pictures about me and my family.

So here goes - a return to the good old blog. It is so mid-2000 but I love it. :-)