After doing the last two moves completely on my own (and my husband thinks I haven't caught on to his little game haha)...I found this amazing thing called "help" in the form of Moms.
My mom and Patrick's mom came over and blitzed through almost all of my boxes in 2 days. It was pretty magical. Patrick's dad helped me put our bed together the first night and my sister-in-law came over yesterday to help with the rest of the boxes and set up the dining room. Aaaaaamazing. I think 1 week has to be some kind of record.
I will forever be thankful to Henry and Colleen that I didn't have to come home to a scary, dark house by myself for 6 months. That being said, I'm giddy to have my kitchen back <---the best part. Opening those kitchen boxes and seeing all of the things I'm used to cooking with was like those Crate & Barrel boxes showing up on our doorstep again! First order of business:
beeeeans! I *always* have beans readily available in our house. Such a good source of protein and you can use them for anything: salads, side dish, mixed with rice, with eggs in the morning....the list goes on. I make a big crockpot about once a month and split them up into weekly portions and freeze what we aren't using. Beans go bad pretty quickly and the smell of rotten beans is right up there with rotten lettuce = awful.
I soak the beans overnight and then rinse in the morning. Put them back in the crockpot with enough water so that its about 1/2" above the beans, 1 yellow onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin (the magic ingredient). Cook on high for 8 hours. Sometimes I do black beans, sometimes I do pinto beans. Sometimes, after they are done cooking, I'll put them in the food processor for about 10 seconds to give them the texture of refried beans - but WAY healthier. Lots of options.
Another reason I'm happy to have my kitchen back: my bulk storage. I totally could have made this happen in the apartment, but I didn't have my glass jars (or room to store them really) and its just prettier in there than grocery store plastic bags right?!
I made a trip to Sprouts last night (a farmer's market-type grocery store...Whole Foods quality without whole paycheck prices) to stock up on our staples. Its so much cheaper than buying the packaged versions - and greener. :-)
I enjoyed a delicious breakfast this morning on my dining room table that I missed so much (amazing wedding gift from the grandparents!):
2 eggs, tomato and vegan cheese on a slice of toast, a bowl of mixed fruit with a drizzle of honey, and tea in my new mug that a certain handsome man mailed to me. That certain handsome man happens to be coming home soooooon. Not soon enough, but we're definitely getting there! I'll keep you guys updated. I may disappear for a few days again when that happens, so just prepare yourselves for blog inactivity. :-)
I'm going to enjoy the California sunshine on a walk around our new neighborhood this morning. Have a fantastic Tuesday and I'll see you tomorrow with a baby update!
xo
Shaina
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