pasketti

I made garlic scape pesto pasta with veggies tonight for dinner and I was hesitant about giving Leo the linguini because he's so picky (he eats most things we give him for dinner now, but it still takes some coaxing), but the second I put the bowl down he was shovelling it into his mouth. My jaw dropped to the floor. It was pretty hilarious.

We even got a little video of it...

What a kid...

rolled hem jean shorts refashion

I'm not sure about you, but I'm one of those people that keeps clothes for a long time. If they fit well and are in good shape, why not? I get this from my grandmother.* It's not uncommon to comment on a shirt of hers only to find out that it's at least seven years old.

Enter these jeans.

They have been in my drawer, no joke, since at least 2002 (I think!? Come to think of it, I've had this black T-shirt for likely just as long). I remember wearing them when I worked in Aurora north of Toronto and I ripped the bottoms on one of those big black and neon metal lawn signs. I was so sad because I really liked these jeans at the time. Anyway, that's why in this picture they're capris, because I cut away the hole.

Cut back to 2013 and I'm in desperate need of shorts. Unfortunately (fortunately??), when one is breastfeeding, some people including me, tend to lose their bum. None of my regular shorts fit me properly and for some reason these jeans still fit pretty well in the tush area.

Today at nap time, I broke out my trusty fabric marker to mark off where I wanted to cut them... and yes I'm well aware it looks like a yellow tampon.

I decided to go right above the knee. I wasn't graced with model stick thighs, so these will be longer in length.

Not bad. I was going to leave them like this, but then I decided to do a little rolling.

I stitched the ends of the rolls and a few places in the middle so they'd stay put when I was chasing after my crazy kids.

There we go! Pretty comfy!
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*I couldn't mention my grandmother without saying that my family was shocked and saddened to find out that my grandmother has advanced ovarian cancer. My grandmother is one of the most fit 86-year-olds I know (and more fit than many people younger than her) which is one of the reasons why it's a shock. Apparently she's had it for years, but finally pushed it's limits on her body a few weeks ago. She's been in the hospital for a couple weeks and isn't expected to leave. I'm devastated that she's leaving us, but thankful I was able to spend some time with her while visiting home last week.

miss mila - 10 months

Except for the fact that Mila is almost always smiling, this photo sums up what it's like around these parts right now. Mila is non-stop moving! I wasn't sure she was going to crawl on all fours because she was shuffling around on her bum most days, but once I put her on her hands and knees a few times she picked it right up. And she's fast!

Her favourite thing to get into is the cat food and water. She loves to munch on the dry food (eek) and pour the water all over herself and bang the bowl on the floor. It's very strange to have to think about child proofing again. To be honest, I didn't do a ton of it for Leo - we just made sure for the most part that there wasn't anything crazy for him to get into and led him away from the cupboards until he didn't try to get into them anymore. I hope to do the same for Mila. We'll see. She already has a certain look in her eyes that tells me she's going to be way more of a handful than Leo was.

Mila is a great eater so far which is fantastic. I've only just started giving her finger foods, but so far she loves eggs and she absolutely loves kamut puffs - next to cheerios they are baby crack I'm telling you.

Happy 10th my sweet! xo

airy master bedroom

I just saw this master bedroom on my facebook feed from Dwell and instantly felt at ease. I'm constantly going back and forth between modern and traditional style - this seems like the best of both worlds to me. I would love a door like this that opens to the elements!

What do you think?

a little story about local food

This post is pretty local to Toronto so I apologize to anyone reading elsewhere, but I received an email last week telling me about FoodStory, a new food delivery service that allows people who want to eat locally in Toronto, but are too busy to make it to the farmers’ market each week, to purchase their fresh fruits and vegetables (meat and dairy are coming in the next few weeks) online. The fruits and vegetables are delivered straight from the farmers’ market to your front door. 

So far, FoodStory has been joined by the Leslieville Farmers’ Market, the SickKids Farmers’ Market and the Regent Park Farmers’ Market, but the company hopes to one day work with every farmers’ market in the city.

I think this is an excellent idea especially if you don't have time to get out to the various markets. Weekdays are usually out of the question for me to get out and weekends are typically packed with other activities to make it out to the local markets.

Even though I was sold on the idea, mainly because of this cute video, I still wanted to know how this was any different from getting a typically fruit and veggie box.

My contact Damian had the answer: "We source directly from the farmers' market. Along with the small profiles we will have on the ordering page, we are currently building more in depth profiles of each farmer/vendor/producer at the market (which you will soon be able to refer to on our site) so you know exactly who and where your food is coming from. 

"Also, because we source from the markets, we are not mostly local (typically veggie boxes turn to food from other countries in the off-seasons), but rather entirely local. The food is also as fresh as it possibly could be. We don't keep an inventory, so the food we deliver comes directly from the market. It literally couldn't be fresher.

"Lastly, and most importantly for our consumers is the level of customization you receive. Firstly, we will not charge you to customize your box. We will suggest a box for you at the beginning of the week with what is seasonal, but you then have the ability to pick and choose from the wide array of selection at a market. Assume only 10 vendors attend a market, and each brings only five products, you then have the option to choose from 50 different products. Because we don't keep inventory, we can advertise everything from the market for sale."

FoodStory started delivering this past weekend so they're up and ready to go. Check out the Website and let me know what you think of the idea. As an added bonus, the organization is offering a free delivery with your first order. Just plug in LEALOU to your order when you check out.

On the menu this week

I'm not sure about you, but my grocery bill is way out of control. I think groceries account for more than 50% of our expenses. It feels that way anyway. I've mentioned before that menu planning helps a lot with gaining more control over spending too much on food, but my planning went out the window last summer. It got hot. All I wanted to eat was BBQ meat and salad. Oh... and I had a baby.

So, I've decided to get back onto the meal planning bandwagon. Last week was great. I didn't have to leave the house once during the week to get something extra. This week I managed to get most items I needed over the weekend, but I still may need to get out for a couple things. The great thing about having a pretty well-stocked pantry is that sometimes you can just wing it with what you've got on hand if you don't feel like going out.

I decided to share what's on the menu for this week. I'm hoping it will keep me motivated to keep with the menu planning program.

Monday
Kale and mushroom pizza

via 

I made this pizza tonight (not my photo) and it was pretty good. I used this pizza dough recipe, but I didn't have enough spelt so I used a cup of all-purpose flour instead. Delish.

Tuesday
Veggie Fried Quinoa 

Via

Mark's out at a golf tournament so I think I'll make this Veggie Fried Quinoa from Damn Delicious and if I'm feeling spunky I might make some cucumber carrot fresh rolls.

Wednesday
Pasta with Lentils and Kale

via

I didn't really want to have pasta on Wednesday, but I had to shift a few menu items around since I'm hosting my book club last minute and need something easy to make. This pasta with lentils and kale honestly doesn't sound super yummy, but the reviews were good so we'll give it a whirl.

Thursday
Roasted zucchini, black bean and goat cheese enchiladas

via

Everything about these enchiladas from The Sprouted Kitchen is making my mouth water. Enchiladas can be a lot of work, but I'm hoping these won't be too bad. I'm opting to make the enchilada sauce she mentions in her post so we'll see how long that takes. My time management isn't always the best it seems.

Friday

Grilled shrimp and scallops with grilled peppers and quinoa

via

Friday seems like a good day for the BBQ. We're still not eating meat at home, but still tend to have fish at least once a week. I actually still need to get the shrimp and scallops this week so hopefully this pans out.

Well that's it! Saturday and Sunday are typically one day of leftovers and one day of eating out.

What are you eating this week?