Nineteen months

Everyone who has two children close in age: I think I can say with confidence that when your second

reaches about a year and a half, things start getting easier. I am cooking again! Not every day, and certainly nothing fancy, but it is happening. Sometimes I even can do it without holding a 27 lb toddler! I am grateful for small miracles.

Look how civilized dinner cooking is! One in the learning tower, one watching TV.

One of the lovely things about living in a large metro area again is the delivery possibilities. Of course, take-out is close at hand (thank you www.seamlessweb.com) but also now I can get my farm share delivered! It is a little more expensive, but sometime between midnight and 7 am on Tuesday mornings, my vegetables, fruit, eggs and bread show up in a cooler bag. I just love this service.

Strawberries roasting

So, now I have lots of things in my fridge to use creatively, I'm trying some new things. I roasted strawberries last week. I made lemon curd after receiving it as a hostess gift and proceeded to hand it out as teacher and hostess gifts myself. (And I mix it into Greek yogurt with delicious results.) I made this simple roast with only three ingredients! And I went back to an old favorite, Mexican quinoa casserole, and brought some to a sick friend.

Sometimes I still have a barnacle while I cook. And I'm sweaty and tired.

Connor continues to be my picky eater. On his list of no-nos are the entire category of fruit, milk, yogurt, and even ice cream. In an effort to get cheese and milk into him, I've quit even the Annie's mac and cheese and started making my own from scratch. It is so easy. I promise. I boil some macaroni noodles, and put them to the side. And then I melt a tablespoon or two of butter, and add a little flour until it is golden. Throw some milk (or half and half for my skinny boy) into it, and then add whatever cheese I have in the fridge. The kids love it and I feel so good for not putting preservatives into them.

Speaking of dairy, I have been embracing Kerrygold butter kept at room temperature in a butter keeper. I love it on my toast or roll in the morning. Yes, I know I should be eating chia seeds in Greek yogurt or whatever, but I just love a carb with my coffee in the morning. And speaking of coffee, the other day I ran out of half & half, and I had to put 1% milk in my coffee. I won't let that happen again anytime soon. Full fat dairy is worth every single calorie.