EASTER SUNDAY

today was nice. beautiful church service. skyping with grandparents.  colouring eggs.  a giant feast.  family cuddles.  so much candy.  everyone is bed so its time for mama to catch up on watching the bible on history channel.

CHICKPEA POT PIE

we eat a lot of legumes around here, can you tell? ;)  for dinner i wanted something hearty and comforting and what is more comforting than a pot pie?

chickpea pot pie

one cup cooked chickpeas
two cups of a veggie blend (like carrots, peas, corn, etc)
one cup onions, caramlized
ten and a half ounces of cream of mushroom soup
one teaspoon of italian seasoning
two tablespoons of milk
two nine inch pie crusts

preheat the oven to 425 and put one of the pie crusts into the pan, mix all of the ingredients together and then pour it in.  top with the second pie crust and make a couple slits on top.  bake about a half hour.  cover the crust with foil if it starts to burn. yum :)

i hope everyone is having a lovely easter weekend.

CURRENTLY

thinking about how much i hate my hair and how much i miss my stylist in the states. i don't know what i'm going to do with it.  nothing deep going on in my head right now, moving along. ;)

reading the hunger games trilogy, i said it a few posts ago and i'll say it again, katniss is so inspirational and strong.  i love her name, i would definitely name my daughter that if i had heard it another time and this book didn't exist.  the book is kind of scary just because i feel like it's something that could really happen sometime in the future (right though?)

listening to kind of embarrassing but i have this mix i listen to when i clean sometimes and its total disney paradise.  i have like bridgit mendler, miley cyrus, selena gomez, and demi lovato on it.  i know. whatever.

looking forward to seeing my queen, lana del rey in exactly one month from now in munich

watching i'm trying to watch malibu country.  reba is one of my favourite shows and i'm trying to get my fix since this show seems kind of similar? i'm only on episode two so i'm not sure yet.

making me happy that the family is (physically) whole again, daddy is finally home after being gone for weeks cos of work.  cohen is so excited and in such a good mood.  i'm just trying to get used to a new routine again, and cooking with meat, i adjust really quickly luckily.  we went and surprised him and met him at work when he got back in, we've never done that before!

CHICKPEA + RADISH DIP

earlier at the market coco and i finally got some radishes (to my knowledge ive never had one before),  theyre so pretty ive always wanted to buy some.  we made a chickpea and radish dip for dinner, which turns out was really hard to photograph because all dips kind of look weird to me, but trust me this is  a m a z i n g.  recipe after the jump.

SPRING EQUINOX

today's the first day of spring, it's 43 degrees and the sun played peek a boo with us all morning.  the snow is all melted so after the farmers market we had a little picnic at the park with more duck feeding.  it never gets old. ;)

SOME THINGS

i've been in such deep thought lately, i'll blame the weather ;)

the thing about having a tracker on your blog, is you get to see who reads you, its so interesting to see what countries come to read and how connected we all are thanks to the gift of the internet.  it also makes you realize how interesting you are to certain people, especially certain people who don't like you, but insist on googling your name and spending hours on your blog.  i suppose its kind of a compliment, but mostly it kind of confuses me and makes me a little bit sad.

i've been thinking a lot lately about myself, and life in general and i've come to realize that some people do change.  i know that i have changed tremendously this past year, i'm showing so much more of myself that i've hidden due to pressure from the people that i surrounded myself with (yes, i get that too sometimes!) and i kind of felt like i had somewhat type casted myself a certain way to the world and to suddenly change that would come off as strange and fake.  but its not, whats strange and fake is not truly being yourself.  i no longer value the same things that i had once tricked myself into thinking were important, i'm no longer seeking the same things i used to, that i now know for certain isnt the right path for me.  i don't feel the need to be silent on my beliefs, if my old friends don't want to accept the fact that i have a new relationship with god then as cheesy as it sounds, they weren't my friends to begin with.   i know i've made a lot of mistakes in the past, but who hasn't?  all you can do is move forward and learn and the best person you can be.  i think the hardest thing for me was finally understanding that i can't make everyone happy.  i still struggle with it because i am such a people pleaser, but its an unrealistic expectation that causes unnecessary stress.  being here has given me so much time to think and i like where i'm at.

speaking of extra time i've been reading so much! i really missed reading, i've been reading to fall asleep at night and in between school lessons and while dinner is on the stove.  recently its been the hunger games trilogy, and i've been having nightly dreams that i'm katniss.  i'm obsessed (but still way more obsessed with that little book about the sparkly vampires ;)

TRICKY LEPRECHAUN

he fell in, but somehow got out!  maybe we'll catch him next year ;)

MIDNIGHT THOUGHTS

when i let my mind wander in the quiet of my dark room, as i listen to the rhythym of the prince's breathing just inches away from me, his warm little toes pressed against my leg i can't help but think that our children are made up of little slices of our own souls.  i mean, how else would i explain how familiar cohen is to me, and has always been to me and how i feel like i've known him since the beginning of time?

when i was fourteen my parents took me to see a psychic, and she told us that we travel with the same souls our entire spiritual journey, interchanging in each life cycle.  that's why when you meet certain people it feels like you two are old friends.  if by some odd chance thats true, then maybe we are souls that are finally reunited.  maybe we were separated centuries ago and have been waiting this whole time for our chance to pick up where we left off.  as i watch him brush the hair off of his face  i think about what kind of adventures we've seen together, and what we used to talk about.  how long did he wait for me? or more like how long have i been waiting for him?  i can't really tell which one of us needs the other more. (i think it's me)

i know he is mine, that we were made for each other.  that the second he was born into the universe everything shifted into its proper place and i'd like to think that at that moment i knew that nothing else would ever matter to me as much as this little soul that found its way to me.

IS BLOGLOVIN THE NEW BLACK?

apparently google reader is going away in july? hmmm, i guess i better import my rss subscriptions elsewhere.  can you all do me a favor and go to bloglovin and follow me through here from now on?  and let me know your bloglovin info as well so i can keep on following :)


update: you can import your whole reader into bloglovin and it took like two minutes! woo.

PASTA + AN ULTRA CUTIE

uh its like i'm turning into a food blog or something.  i don't know why i keep posting about food!  this pasta was so delicious, that coco had thirds.  i got the recipe from HERE, seriously all of his food looks amazing.  anyway, i adapted the recipe with what i already had on hand (mixed salad greens instead of the turnip greens and red pepper flakes instead of the chili pepper)

also, "look mom! i'm a bunny!"

(but like, what are those?!)

LENTIL STEW

tonight we went with a lentil soup, cohen chopped all of the carrots and potatoes (can you tell), and helped add the ingredients.  i like my soups more on the stew side, it feels more heartier that way so i always add less broth than people normally would.  it's supposed to be in the 30s tomorrow so this will be perfect reheated for lunch!  i didn't use a recipe or measure but i did my best to write it down.  recipe after the jump.

THE BEST KIND OF DAY

every day since we've been in germany its been under 30 and snowing.  i actually forgot what the sun looked like and today it was actually sunny and warm (like 55 degrees) which is pretty much my favourite kind of weather.  the kind where you can wear a light jacket and leggings but not be cold or hot.  sorry virginia, we traded weather!  so anyway we woke up early and went to the farmers market thats in the middle of town every wednesday.  since the season is changing different stands are emerging and there is a larger variety of fruits.  i can't wait until its spring for real because its filled with flowers for sale.

cohen picked out the fruits and veggies and everyone was so sweet and were teaching us the german word for the things that we wanted and of course everyone stroked cohen's cheek and gave him samples on samples on samples and free stuff.  we went to the chicken stand where there are racks of rotisserie chicken rotating and doing their thing where we got half a chicken for 2 euro.  cohen basically ate the whole thing the minute we walked into the door.

on the walk home we stopped by the park and crossed over the bridge where they keep all of the birds (like there are hundreds of all different kinds of birds in these giant cages in the park, its kind of sad, but nice to look at and listen to) we talked about all kinds of things on our walk and collected leaves and twigs until we ended up at the water where we fed the ducks stale bread.  that's something i could do all day long, and i think it's going to become a ritual with us.  a wednesday tradition.

while we were feeding the ducks and giggling a nun stopped what she was doing and came over to watch,  the look in her eyes made it seem like she was so happy to see us feed the ducks and was so happy to see cohen enjoying life. have you ever been smiled at by a nun?  its the best.   she made me feel like she was acknowledging that i was doing a good job with my life, with cohen, with everything, and thats exactly what i needed today.

BABES AND CHORES

when i was a new mother i was super against the idea of children doing chores everyday.  i love taking care of my home, and the people in it.  i actually enjoy picking up other peoples messes and doing all of the homekeeping.  i always kind thought that parents who made their children do chores were lazy and mean.  i thought, "they are children! let them play and have fun and you do all the damage control."

but over the years i've come to realize (with the guidance of a few people, shout out to kelly and neet!) that children actually love to help around the house.  in fact they thrive on it, not only does it teach them responsibility and gives them a routine, but it helps with their self esteem.  its amazing to see how happy cohen is to help mama around the house even though he doesn't do it like i would do it and i have to go over it when he isn't looking, seeing him be proud of himself is so worth it.  this little boy even gets excited when i post the chore list on the fridge once a month.  he loves feeling like he is contributing to the family and i love watching him cos he looks so darn cute while doing it ;)

STIR FRY FOR MAMA AND BABE

whenever dan is away, i like to turn the negative into a positive.  one of the ways i take full advantage (besides watching all the twilights over and over and eating in the bed) is by not having to cook any meat, and its super easy to do since cohen loves his vegetables just as much as a hamburger.  we decided to go with a simple brown rice stir fry with marinated tofu from my current favourite cookbook meatless by martha stewart, recipe is after the jump!

CATS RULE EVERYTHING AROUND US

this is what a typical day of homeschool looks like for us.  we start off strong and motivated

then five minutes later miss princess kitty lays on the page that i'm trying to read and then we stop what we are doing to pet her and give her lots of attention.

repeat 17 more times throughout the day.  she is so spoiled.

MOO

have you ever drank raw milk before?  today we went to a local farm to fill up a couple of bottles and cohen loves it so much.  i still don't like milk but this is definitely really creamy and good for milk and its only .75 euro a liter, the farmer was really nice and we got to see the cows and bulls up close.  we arrived just as he was finishing up milking the last cow, so we didn't get to see him actually milk any.  hmph, there's always next time.