Email notifications have arrived!

It is an exciting day in the Flickinger household as I *think* I have figured out how to add email notifications to my blog so that you can sign up to receive an email when new content is posted.  Who's excited?  I am giving it a test run and we'll see how it goes!  If you want to be part of the guinea pig group, go ahead and enter your email address in the "Follow by email" box appearing in the right hand column of the blog.  I promise not to inundate your mailboxes!

Changing of the seasons

After what feels like 5 years of oppressive heat, it is finally "cooling down" a bit in Boulder.  Yesterday I wore a SWEATSHIRT while eating dinner outside and had to close the windows a bit at night...big doings!  I couldn't be happier about it.  Understand that we are still hitting the 90s on a regular basis, but with these cooler nights, I know sweet relief is just around the corner.  In honor of this realization, I bought a down jacket on Steep and Cheap (love it when Patagonia pops up on there) and  started looking at skis for this season.  That's right, mama's gettin' some new fat skis this year, look out.  Of course, this pretty much guarantees a repeat of last years snow (or lack-there-of) for Colorado (sorry everyone), but I am due.

With cooler weather comes a whole new arsenal of recipes for me to work into the dinner rotation: Chili, beef stew, pot pie, roasts, and dishes involving winter squashes and apples (pies and cobblers anyone?).  Don't get me wrong, I love the rush of inexpensive, fresh produce that fills the supermarket shelves in the summer, but by the time September rolls around, I am ready to change gears.  This is what I love about the seasons.

Seriously, what is better than this?

Once I am through moving my recipes to the new site, get ready for some of our favorite comfort foods and fall dishes to start making an appearance.  Anyone have some good Halloween costume ideas?

 
 Enjoy the meals this week!

Curry Spiced Noodles (apparently I have some work to do with my photos)

Filets and Spinach with Balsamic Vinaigrette

 Heavenly Honey Chicken

Italian Meatball Sliders













Fall Veggie Curry over Cashew Coconut Rice

Intentions

In my pre-baby days I was involved in a number of athletic endeavors.  I played on an indoor and outdoor soccer team, did yoga, rode my bike multiple times a week with Flick, ran, swam, skied, hiked, and occasionally even rock climbed.  Many of those activities had to take a back seat while I was sporting a very protuberant midsection.  In the months following Ellie's birth, it was easy to say "well, I am not doing (insert activity here) right now because I just had a baby".  In my opinion, this is extremely legit.  You birthed another human...you deserve some time off from having to do anything but take care of that little person.  I am reaching the limit of my "just had a baby" response.  I think it is different for everyone, but for my own personal baby experience, I feel like it is time to get back into some of those old habits that I miss so dearly.

Last camping trip before Ellie!

As a step in this direction, I pulled myself out of bed at 5:20 two mornings this week to go to a yoga class...a real yoga class.  Not my beloved prenatal classes where we talked about how we were feeling, swapped stories, and spent an hour and a half limbering up (might I recommend, Yo Mama Yoga to any pregnant Boulderites out there?  LOVE this place).  This was a legs and arms shaking, sweat dripping, Ujai breathing, mind centering yoga class (well, it was for me at least...thank you Radiance Power Yoga!).  It was difficult and really great all at the same time.  For the first time in about a year, I set an intention for myself to focus on during the class - being gentle and understanding of the new post-baby "me".  It is too easy to set high expectations and be disappointed or frustrated when we don't meet them.  When you are just starting out, or getting back into something after a long hiatus, give yourself a break!

This goes for cooking as well.  If you are a take-out kind of family and want to turn the corner and get into the kitchen, start small.  Maybe 2 nights a week you do a home cooked meal.  It is much easier to stick with something when it is reasonable and attainable.  Think of how good it feels to accomplish something and to be able to move on to the next level.  If you start too big and have to scale back, it is still 100% fine but can be a little self defeating.  Give it some thought, set your intention, and get after it!  I hope you enjoy the meals this week:

Coconut Curried Pork, Snow Pea, and Mango Stir Fry

                                   Cornmeal Crusted Catfish

Enchilada Casserole













Curried Couscous with Broccoli and Feta









Grilled Veggie and Hummus Wraps (again, no photo...I didn't realize I was missing this many!)