How to Host an Easy Brunch

And the winner of the Tuttorosso and Inspiralized giveaway is...greenmtngirl!

Congrats! Please email your address to SomeSugarAdded@Gmail.com so we can get the prize pack out to you.

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So today we're going to talk about brunch. And how to deal with hosting it at the very last minute with virtually no time to prep.

Have you ever ended up having people over for a spur of the moment meal, and had a minor panic attack that you didn't have time to plan and have no idea what you're going to do? This weekend the only plans I thought I had were doing some shopping for my sister's upcoming bachelorette party in Florida and a long-awaited get together with my girlfriends on Saturday night. Buttt my husband apparently had other plans.

On Friday evening, while sitting in the driveway leisurely drinking an IPA and watching Riker ride bikes with his new neighborhood friends, he informed me that we had plans with his family to go to the boardwalk all Saturday afternoon (after Riker's first soccer game at 8:00 in the morning), and also that he had invited a bunch of friends and their children over for Sunday brunch. Um...ok. For me, the "plan every last detail and everything must be perfect Type A dinner host", this was way stressful. I had no time to really plan anything and not much time to cook since we'd be out all day/night on Saturday. I had a little freakout, and then decided to just go with it. And I ended up having a really great weekend. I loved seeing all our friends and family, enjoying the beautiful weather and seeing our kids having fun running around together. I'm really going to try working on not getting so worked up about impromptu plans and be more spur of the moment, because a lot of times those days end up being the best days.

But that said, if you find yourself in a situation where your significant other informs you that you're having people over for brunch (or any meal) at the last minute, here are 4 tips to get you through it.

1. Don't Stress Out
I plan everything to the nth degree. But sometimes all that planning makes it way more tiring that it needs to be. A few months ago I read this blog post called "Friday Night Meatballs: How to Change Your Life with Pasta", and it really made me think about how every meal and gathering of friends does not have to be "special." What's special is that we're getting together. We all just want to see each other (okay and have some food and drinks most likely), but no one is going to judge if the table isn't perfectly set or the house is a little (a lot) messy. If you haven't read that article, I highly suggest it. Let's all be more impromptu about getting together with our friends and not worry about all the details. Who cares about place settings and crumbs on the floor when you're sipping a mimosa with your best friends watching these joyful little babes run around with glee?

2. Make it a Potluck
With #1 in mind, making a gathering a potluck makes things way easier on the host. When people offer to bring something to my house, my first instinct is to say, "Nope, just come, we've got it." I like people to just come and relax. I enjoy being a host. But it doesn't have to be that way every single time. This was a casual spring brunch and all our friends offered to bring a dish, so we let them. It made me way less stressed, and I think everyone actually liked bringing something. People brought their A game to this potluck.

For brunch it's nice to have a mix of breakfast and lunch / sweet & savory items, so we coordinated accordingly. And by "coordinated" I mean there was a text chain where everyone threw out ideas. One friend brought a gorgeous fruit & yogurt parfait bar and some roasted breakfast potatoes, and another friend brought flatbreads with fig jam, prosciutto, arugula, goat cheese and balsamic glaze (vegetarian ones for me and Heather).

3. Make Only One "Wow Factor"Dish
Another issue I have is over-thinking the menu. I go down the Pinterest rabbit hole and make a mile-long list of things to cook. But lately I've been trying to just make one or two complicated items and keep everything else simple.

For brunch I feel you have to have something egg-based and some kind of bread, as well as a salad. It's a classic combo. I had my heart set on making a homemade bread bar, so that was my one "wow factor" item. Everything else looked nice but was super simple to make.

The Bread 
I used this recipe for whole wheat bread because you don't have to knead it or let the yeast bloom. It takes time, but not much effort. And it came out great - less dense and crumbly than other whole wheat recipes I've tried. I made the dough first thing when I woke up so it was ready to go by brunch time.

For toppings, I made a few compound butters, a cream cheese spread and then some straight-from-the-jar organic strawberry jam.

Topping 1: Herb Butter using unsalted butter with fresh parsley and basil, dried thyme, lemon zest, sea salt and cracked pepper.

Topping 2: Sweet Orange Butter using unsalted butter, a few teaspoons of organic cane sugar, orange zest and a squeeze of orange juice. (Look at that color! It's all from the orange zest since the butter was white.)

Topping 3: Sundried Tomato Pesto Cream Cheese (unpictured) using homemade pesto I had in the freezer and the stash of sundried tomatoes I always have in the fridge.

Topping 4: Strawberry Jam. An old standby.

I put the "bread bar" on the kitchen island so people could snack on it right when they came in, while other things were cooking. It was something a bit unexpected and fun, and everyone seemed to like it. I also think homemade bread makes people feel like you made something special, but it's made from just a few simple ingredients that are always in the pantry, so it's a win win. Bonus: It makes your whole house smell amazingly yeasty, comforting and warm.

The Frittata
I like to make quiche for any special breakfast or brunch. But quiche meant I also had to make crust, and since I was already making the bread, I forced myself to quit the crust and opt for a frittata instead. Frittata reminds me of my grandmother; when I was in college she used to make it quite often and serve it with a simple green salad. This one included kale, caramelized onions and Vermont sharp cheddar; it had a great fluffy texture and nice salty bite from the cheese.

To make it, I  caramelized onions in some ghee (you can use oil or butter), then removed them from the pan. In the same pan I cooked a bunch of chopped kale with some sea salt and pepper. Once it was done, I added the onions back in. Then I whisked together 10 eggs with a splash of milk, salt, pepper and about 5 oz. of shredded cheddar cheese. I poured the egg mixture over the veggies and cooked it on the stove over medium heat for a few minutes until it start to set. Then I popped it in the oven at 450 for about 10 minutes until it was golden brown on top. Once it came out of the oven, I turned it over onto a wooden board and topped it with fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Frittata is great for brunch because you can toss in literally whatever veggies, meats or cheeses you have on hand, you cook everything in one pan, and although it only takes about 30 minutes and very little effort to make, it has a really nice presentation.

The Sides
Lox is also a breakfast favorite of mine, and these little cucumber rounds with cream cheese, lox and dill took all of 10 minutes to make. These are also nice because lox is pricey - especially when you buy wild caught - but I only needed one 6 oz. package to fill a whole platter of cucumbers. A little goes a long way when you use it as an appetizer.

I also threw together a spinach & arugula salad with dried cranberries, orange segments, toasted walnuts and goat cheese, tossed with a homemade balsamic & raw honey dressing. Spinach and goat cheese salads are a no brainer in our group of friends - they're always gone in a flash.

{It looks so much prettier before it gets doused with cheese and dressing, doesn't it?}

Other Stuff
Matt still has some steaks in the freezer from our annual Vermont Natural Beef cow purchase, so he marinated a big steak in the morning and then threw it on the grill when everyone arrived. One steak cut into strips was plenty given all the other food around (we actually had a bunch leftover), but it's nice to have some kind of meat for the carnivorous crew.

I really debated making something sweet, like muffins or a lemon bread, but forced myself to cross it off the list. Not needed! There was plenty of food, and the sweet stuff probably would've barely been touched and then it'd be sitting at our house all week.

All in all, this menu was pretty simple to make and took about 3 hours total - even with a toddler and 10-month old running around between our feet all morning, even with trying to do a quick vacuum and toy pick-up, even with Matt very ambitiously doing some yard work before everyone arrived, and even with everyone getting showers (though I'll admit, I didn't make it to blowdrying my hair). If it weren't for all the distractions, I probably could've cooked everything in less than two hours.

4. Use What You Have
I based the menu almost entirely around what I already had in the house. I didn't want to have to make a big grocery list and spend an hour at the store. Instead, I just thought about what I had on hand that I could easily turn into a few dishes. I did have to run to the store early Sunday morning to grab lox (simply because I really wanted it) and some strawberry jam (I was low on jam and figured the kids might want it for the bread, but honestly, I could've made do with what I had). That made things much easier.

5. Ask Someone to Bring the Bubbly
My last tip is to have someone bring some bubbly. My friend Heather kept asking what she could bring, and really there was plenty of food already coming, so she offered to bring mimosas. They were the perfect addition. Mimosas make it a party. They feel a little special and fun, and sipping them sitting around the farm table while watching the kids play in the playroom made for a very relaxing Sunday morning. ;)

Note: Champagne actually gives me a bad headache and makes me extremely tired so I rarely drink it, but Heather used Prosecco, which has a lighter carbonation and doesn't seem as sweet to me, and it didn't make me tired or headachy at all. So if champagne goes straight to your head, try Prosecco.

Happy spring brunching!

Carson's Story

Hello, world! As you can imagine it's been a bit of a whirlwind week here. After spending a week in the hospital and then a week at home adjusting to having a newborn with us, we're finally getting into somewhat of a routine. We're still not sleeping much of course, but I'll take no sleep any day if it means having a sweet face like this in my arms.

Carson actually came a week before she was due, so she caught us by surprise - thankfully we had been baby prepping like crazy the last few weekends. Last Monday started like any other Monday. It was supposed to be my last week of work before maternity leave, so I had a list of things I planned to power through that day. But after dropping Riker off at my in-laws' and coming back home to start work, I realized I hadn't felt the baby moving at all. She nearly always moves after I eat, but I got nothing from her after breakfast; I even tried eating a sugary snack - a peach, some crackers, and some chocolate covered almonds - to get her kicking, but still, she didn't move. That made me really nervous, so I set a timer and paid attention for the next 2 hours to see if any movement occurred at all - nada. I called my doctor, and thankfully they told me to come in right away.

Matt left work early so he could come to the appointment with me, and after throwing my hospital bag in the trunk just in case it was needed, we sped to my OB/GYN's office. Let me tell you, that was the scariest doctor's appointment I've ever had in my life. The nurse hooked me up to a heart rate monitor, but was unable to find a heartbeat for Carson. After a few minutes, she left and called another nurse in to try. The second nurse wasn't able to find a heartbeat either. At this point Matt and I both lost it. Tears just started pouring out as I imagined the absolute worst. Every terrible thought was running through my head, and I really thought we had lost her. The nurse handed us a box of tissues, said she was sorry, and went to get the doctor. We were both beside ourselves with grief.

When my doctor came in, she calmed us down and said not to panic yet. She repositioned the monitor a bunch of times and kept pushing on my belly trying to get Carson to move. Finally, FINALLY, after about 10 minutes, we heard a very faint heartbeat. The emotions I felt when hearing that little thump thump is indescribable. I felt elation, incredible relief and joy, while at the same time anxiety and fear that something was wrong with our baby. The heartbeat was so faint that while we could hear it, the monitor didn't even register it on the computer. We went right in for an ultrasound, which told us that miraculously the baby had gone breach over the weekend (on Friday, the doctor had said she was in proper birth position, head down); she was now head up, and while her heart was beating, she was not moving or breathing. After seeing all this, the doctor immediately sent us to the hospital for an emergency C-section. More emotions erupted at this point - we were both so scared that something would go wrong before the delivery, or that she would have brain damage from not getting oxygen, but at the same time excited since we knew we'd be having a baby that very day - in just 2 hours.

Last pic of the bump before heading to the hospital!

After a quick ride to the hospital, a bunch more tests (all of which confirmed that Carson needed to come out right away), and surgery prep, I was in the operating room by 4:00. It took two doctors up on foot stools to push and pull Carson out since she had lodged herself up near my rib cage, and had the umbilical cord wrapped around her entire body and around her neck twice. Apparently when she flipped over the weekend, the cord tangled her up and nearly strangled her. After she was born, they had to keep watch over her and not let her cry until they were sure her throat and lungs were okay, which thankfully they were. By 4:29, we were the relieved and proud parents of a healthy baby girl.

Had I not realized she wasn't moving that fateful Monday morning, the turnout could have been much different and we might have lost her. I am SO thankful that my doctors' office had posters up reminding mothers-to-be to pay attention to their baby's movements so I knew that something was off, and so thankful that they took me seriously when I said I didn't feel her moving that day. It was the greatest feeling to hear her cry when she was born, and to finally hold her in our arms.

A day or so later Carson ended up with jaundice, which is a fairly common problem, but meant we had to stay in the hospital a few extra days while she underwent phototherapy in the nursery. The hospital was so great and gave us a room to stay in even after I was discharged so we could be with her the whole time, and so I could feed her throughout the night. By the time we finally got the green light to take her home on Friday, we were more than ready to leave the hospital and start life as our new family of 4. Talk about a week of ups & downs!

We were welcomed back home with a decorated house, flowers inside & out and our families there to celebrate with us. It made the homecoming even better.

Riker was glad to have us home too (I missed my little guy!), and he's already taking quite the interest in his little sister. So cute.

After so much hospital food, I was also excited to get back to eating normal food. Food with lots of color! While my parents were with us, they took care of the cooking which was great and super helpful. After they left and we were on our own, I took to making quickie meals - green smoothies, frozen carrot soup, Hilary's veggie burgers with goat cheese and tri-color peppers, and salads. 

Last night's salad was my favorite so far. It included:

- Frisee
- Red peppers
- Cucumbers
- Beets (no time to roast fresh ones these days - I used a can of beets I had in the pantry)
- A handful of mixed nuts
- Blueberry vanilla goat cheese (snagged at Trader Joe's during our big haul last weekend)
- Olive oil & vanilla balsamic vinegar
(Matt and Riker added sliced up Italian sausages to theirs for some added protein)

So colorful and tasty!

We even snuck in a mini date night already, if you can believe it. Riker had a sleepover on Tuesday night with his cousin, so Matt and I decided to seize the opportunity and go out for dinner. There were multiple reasons:

1. Dinner without a 2-year-old in tow is quite the relaxing experience!

2. Carson is probably one of the quietest babies, ever. Riker was colicky from the beginning, but we got lucky with this one - she only cries when she needs something (fingers crossed it stays that way!). We figured we'd take a chance and see how she did at a restaurant, and she slept peacefully under her canopy through the entire dinner.

3. It was beautiful out, and I really needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air. Dinner al fresco sounded perfect.

4. I've been craving sushi since the day I found out I was pregnant. 

And...

5. Mama has also been itching for a cocktail since the warm weather set in a few weeks ago. I am currently breastfeeding, but my doctor says one or two cocktails is fine, so I thoroughly enjoyed this Lemon Ginger Martini with my sushi and edamame. Yum!

While we're settling into parenthood of 2, blog posts will probably slow down for a bit, but I'll post as often as I can. I have some new recipes to share and a giveaway coming up, so I won't be idle for long! :) In the meantime, I'll close this crazy long post with one more pic of the babe. Despite the sleeplessness, our house feels so warm, full of life and surrounded by happiness. So in love with my little family! <3 

Dinners Lately

I feel like a farmer's wife this week. A little like Ree from The Pioneer Woman...a husband doing hard manual labor from dawn till dusk every day and me, the wife, handling all childcare, housework and cooking duties. About a month ago I mentioned to Matt how much I really want a nice big patio out back (our current one barely fits our table & grill), and the amazing guy that he is, he jumped in with both feet and gave up his entire spring break this week to work 14-16 hour days in 40 degree weather to build me one. I love this man! In about two weeks, we went from this...

To this...

I'm loving it! It's going to look so beautiful when it's done. I spent some time outdoors today watching him work and envisioning how I'm going to furnish and decorate the whole thing when it's complete. And chasing after Riker who loves to jump in the sand immediately after Matt gets it perfectly smooth and ready to lay pavers down. And snacking.

With Matt working so hard, I've been wanting to make sure he has something tasty and filling to sink his teeth into when he takes his dinner breaks. Of course on the days I work in the city, that hasn't been possible and we've admittedly ordered pizza and Mexican a few times over the last few weeks when I just didn't have time to cook, but for the most part we've had some good home cooked meals.

On a warm day, we had lox & fried eggs over Food For Life English muffin halves, with a side of salad with homemade dressing. This is a pretty standard staple around here, we usually eat it once every two weeks.

When it got cold (um, why is it 42 degrees in the middle of April?!), I made a pot of vegetable barley soup. Right before serving, I threw in handfuls of fresh spinach and topped it with fresh parmesan cheese. So warm and hearty.

When creativity escaped me, I took to my Pinterest boards and tried out some recipes that I'd pinned a while back. I actually included these on my meals list for the week to make sure I had the ingredients on hand. 

One of my favorites was Grilled Salmon & Pineapple with Avocado Dressing by Giada DeLaurentiis. I made a few adjustments to her original recipe, but for the most part kept it the same. It was SO good - highly recommend! I'd eat that avocado dressing on just about anything. On the side we had some roasted fingerling potatoes and steamed broccoli from my Door to Door Organics box.

My other favorite Pinterest find of the week was Orange Sesame Tofu from In Jennie's Kitchen - one of my favorite food blogs.

I made a fair amount of adjustments to this recipe too, including adding quinoa and kale to turn it into a full stir-fry meal, but I didn't mess with her sauce. The sauce was so fresh and orangey and just felt bright. Loved it!

But tonight I finally did some real cooking. I totally forgot Recipe ReDux is coming up on Tuesday, and thank goodness I remembered today or I never would've had time to come up with something since tomorrow is Easter and weekdays are just too hard for recipe testing.

We had crunchy quinoa burgers with a side of baked carrot fries. In Matt's words, these were killer. I was glad to give him a fun and delicious dinner as a reprieve to all that brick-laying he's been doing today. I'll be posting the recipe on Tuesday!

Alrighty, time to go put together Easter baskets and relax for the evening. G'night!

Eating Green

Good morning! Hopefully your weekend has been a good one so far. I've had a pretty busy week and haven't had a chance to post in a few days...in addition to the usual workday duties, my evening computer time has been spent doing something crafty for my sweetie and putting together Riker's cards for Valentine's Day. I finally finished everything up at 1:30 AM last night - thankfully just in time to order it in time for rush delivery on Friday. Phew!

Matt spent the night in Atlantic City last night with a bunch of our friends to celebrate my friend Heather's birthday (I opted out, being almost 6 months pregnant and finding it pretty tiring to stand around in heels), so Riker and I have been on our own since yesterday afternoon. I decided to do something fun for dinner with him instead of staying at home; we went out for a bite at Smashburger, where Lindsay and Ryan met up with us - Lindsay is due in a couple of weeks and she's glowing! It was so good to see her even for just a little while.

Other than fries last night (yes, I polished off every last fry that came with my black bean burger) and Friday night pizza with the neighbors - which I like to think I burnt off at yoga yesterday - it's been a pretty on-track week as far as meals planning goes. It feels so good to not have pregnancy food aversions anymore and be able to eat normally again!

Breakfasts

Smoothies, smoothies, smoothies. I've been drinking them every morning, usually with a side of Ezekiel toast and almond butter to keep me powered through till lunchtime.

Green smoothies are my norm lately, but I switched things up on Friday and just used frozen strawberries and raw chocolate protein powder. It tasted like ice cream!

Yesterday morning I wanted something hot, though, so tried a new paleo pancake recipe for the fam. It was the best version yet! The mixture included:

- Smashed bananas

- Eggs

- Coconut flour (only 3 Tbsp. was enough to hold the batter together)

- Cinnamon

- Baking soda

- Salt

That's it! I couldn't believe how much the texture resembled regular pancakes - the coconut flour definitely works better than nut flours.

I made a wild berry compote (just frozen organic berries + raw organic honey) to spoon over top, which set them over the edge. Matt and Riker also ate theirs with slices of farm raised peppered bacon.

Afternoon Snacks

Brown rice cakes (or Ezekiel toast) + almond butter + fruit slices (apples or pears) + cinnamon. It's my new addiction.

I love it for snacks and even for dessert if I'm hungry after dinner.

Lunches

Greenery!

Mostly salads, but also some sandwiches. I told you, I eat a LOT more carbs when I'm pregnant. ;) My green sandwich has smashed avocado, arugula, English cucumber, green peppers, a squeeze of lemon, and shards of sharp peppercorn parmesan cheese from Trader Joe's. Ahhhmazing. I ate this baby with a bowl of Amy's Organic tomato soup. Love all that vibrant red & green.

Dinners

Dinners on the meals plan this week included some old favorites, like lox & arugula with fried eggs. I never get sick of this one and it takes all of 15 minutes to make.

I also made a batch of Hawaiian curry with tofu from my Eat Clean cookbook. It made a bunch so we were able to eat it for a few meals.

This recipe was fantastic. It was spicy but also sweet, with the addition of raisins, raw coconut and banana slices. 

Desserts

Um, do you remember all the dark chocolate we bought at TJ's last weekend? I've actually been pretty good about having all that good stuff in the cabinets, and only broke into the stash twice this week. I've actually been craving fruit way more than I've felt like eating chocolate lately. I'll take it!

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Speaking of food, time to get lunch going. Once Riker goes down for a nap I'm going to take a break from all things productive and park myself on the couch to watch the Olympics for a while. Love the winter games.

Have a great rest of your Sunday!