How about a life-y things type update? It’s been a while! I’ll start, and you can fill me in on what’s new with you, if you’d like. Don’t mind the occasional blurry iPhone photo below (they secretly kill me).
1. June Challenge
For the month of June I challenged myself to 1 smoothie a day and 1 salad a day. So far it’s going strong and I’m packing in more veggies and fruit (check out the slew of smoothies, smoothie bowls, and parfaits taking over my Instagram lately). And chocolate for good measure. Want to join me? This smoothie bowl below is going in the next cookbook. Adults and kiddos alike are going nuts over it. I’m having so much fun coming up with summer breakfasts lately…
2. May fun.
May was a fun and busy month! There was my first Mother’s Day and birthday celebration, a visit from my mom, another visit from my mom and stepdad, celebrating my Grandparents 50th anniversary (!), and a lot of baby milestones in between (we now have a crawler on our hands!).
3. Morning Sing Songs
As it turns out, Adriana loves to sing when she’s in a good mood. Check out this video I shared on Instagram last week (turn on the volume). I have no idea how she hits some of those notes! I certainly can’t (a reality she knows all too well). We’ve had some challenges with teething and other developments this month, so these sweet, happy moments are all the more appreciated! I may or may not watch this video before bed every night…girl kills me.
4. Organic CSA
An easy way to get more veggies into your diet? Support a local CSA (community shared agriculture). We just had our first delivery yesterday. I had forgotten how exciting it is when the loot arrives! It takes all of my restraint not to tackle the delivery person. Since we don’t have a veggie garden in our current backyard, I figure this is the next best thing. It’s already helping me break out of cooking ruts. Random question – what would you make with this loot? The first thing I did was sauté the mushrooms and throw them over a salad. The second thing I did was make collard wraps (SO GOOD). A new obsession has formed…
5. Kitchen Adventures
The state of my kitchen lately (on a good day). Note: only one drawer is open Eric! I’m currently wrapping up the recipes for my next cookbook over the next month or so. The kitchen reno that we did last summer is definitely being put to good use! It’s easily the most used, loved, and enjoyed room of the house.
6. Current state of mind.
Image via heyokreal.
I feel like I could write an essay on this topic, but I’ll save that for another day.
7. A couple press things
I recently found out the University of Guelph (where I pursued my undergrad studies) included me in their alumni spotlight. See: University of Guelph Alumni feature
The Oh She Glows Cookbook was #1 on the Globe and Mail Bestseller list (Food and Cooking) again last month. Thank you all so much for your continued support! It’s making me all the more excited for cookbook #2 in 2016. There are so many awesome recipes I’m dying for you to try (I seriously think I’m going to have to host a big kick-off party with all my fav recipes or something).
8. Updated blog header + pictures
You might have noticed an updated blog look for the summer (or until I get bored of it again). Eric took a couple updated photos of me and I added those to the sidebar, About page, and Before and After page. It feels like just yesterday when our photographer Dave Biesse shot my last headshots for the cookbook, but as it turns out, that was 2 years ago already. Slow down time!
So there’s a random update. Much more to share, but this is a good start.
Ok, tell me about your plans for June and this summer. Any exciting work/personal projects or travels on the horizon? Also, what would you make with my CSA loot?
Love the new OSG header – it’s beautiful!
Congratulations Angela, life is good!… Enjoy every second of it, well deserved, you are an amazing cook, recipe developer and it seems to me, an awesome mom too.
I’m a new mother too (Sophie is 18 weeks) and I love reading your baby blog posts! Life has been uber busy for us. Since finding out we were expecting – best news ever! – my husband got transferred with his company from NYC to the San Francisco Bay Area. We made the move when I was 8 months pregnant! I remember walking onto the plane with a big belly, ridiculous amounts of luggage and our crazy cat Gizzy! Since we’ve settled down, I’ve been debating whether or not to return to work. Luckily my parents live nearby and are more than happy to take care of little Sophie, which made my decision a little easier! In the end I decided to recruit for a new job and return to work since I do feel it’s important to have a balanced life and show my daughter that as a mother I can have a career, friends, and my own interests. Balance is so important!
I was thinking it would be very interesting if you did a blog post in a day in the life of a work from home mother. Even though I will be returning to an office setting (and therefore pumping while at work, eeek!), I’m very curious to see how you make it all happen!
Last but not least, thank you for continuing to share your healthy lifestyle with everyone! I am sure it’s not easy but it is well worth it – I am personally so inspired by your healthy choices!
Great update! I have so many goals and plans but I really need to sit down and get them on paper. Then I need to space them out and see what is feasible right now. Until I do that they are all just flying around my head and driving me crazy!
The quote is so true; finding a balance of being a mom and having a career is a dance that changes daily. CSAs are so wonderful and highly underrated. If I had that box I would make a greens and mushroom sautée mixed with pasta, fresh basil, tomatoes, squeeze of lemon and olive oil. Summer in a dish!
I always tell my friends who don’t have yards or don’t want to garden to lock into a CSA too! You end up getting so many items that you may not usually cook with, but it “forces” your hand to experiment! I wish I had some advice on what to do with the foods, I eat a lot of veggies just raw because I’m a lazy cook and I’m not that picky about what I eat. As long as I eat, I’m happy, I don’t care too much about what (which makes avoiding fried foods and other C.R.A.P. carbonated drinks, refined sugars, alcohol, processed foods) a bit easier! Best of luck with your CSA though!!!!
I love that quote. The story of my life every day.
I can’t wait for cookbook #2 to come out! I use the first one all the time. It’s well-loved in my house! :)
I try to do a green smoothie a day, and it’s had a huge impact on the amount of greens I take in. Hands down the tastiest way to get your greens on a daily basis!
I haven’t been here in a while!! Love the new look and great to hear an update!
My new mission is more reading, hikes and to wear sun block this summer. New summer food phase: Kale Salads! Everyone hates them but I like finding different ways to create these green dishes. I found a citrus one from Cookie + Kate. Chopped and massaged kale with sea salt with my hands for a few minutes to soften the lettuce. Almost cooking slightly. I was so intrigued! :)
Ohh! I see there are some nectarines (?) in your CSA box! I would grill them and top them with coconut whipped cream, and some toasted nuts and/or granola! My June challenge is to not eat gluten, and maintain the plant-based diet I have been on for the past year and a half. So far, so good! Glad to hear that you and your fam are doing well, and that the cookbook is progressing! Cannot wait for it to be out! :)
Baby Girl is going to be 8 months on Saturday (eek! Where did the time go?!), so we are also enjoying the first year with our new baby. She is starting to get more vocal, though no singing chops yet :), and she can squirmy-wormy her way wherever she wants to go now. Which is bad, because we haven’t finished babyproofing yet. Oops. We are gearing up for our first family vacation – heading to Victoria for Canada Day. I am both looking forward to getting away and filled with trepidation about how she is going to react to the plane ride and sitting on our laps for 2 hours.
I don’t know how you find all the time to do all your cooking and testing with your little one around! Most mornings, it’s all I can do to find a few minutes to make myself some toast and a cuppa! Though that is getting easier since she started eating finger foods. Now we can sit down together for breakfast and enjoy a quiet moment before rushing out the door. :)
Baby girl is so adorable singing! I may have let it play on repeat while I read the rest of the update <3
Hi Angela! I’m loving the fact that I moved from Nob Hill to Walnut Creek and now experience a real summer. I can’t wait to visit my pool in June! And a smoothie-a-day — me too! I second that one. In fact, I’m having one right now. :)
Thanks for the update; I always look forward to them!! It sounds like you have a singer on your hands. :) Finally planted (3/4 planted) my deck garden last weekend. Looking forward to some nice tomatoes, eggplant and a few mystery items, perhaps.
Great post! Thanks for keeping us updated! I’m glad to know thing are going well for you :)
xx Lane
I LOVE the smoothie/salad challenge idea.
That smoothie bowl looks amazing! I can’t wait for your second book!!
And that video is too cute! Adriana has some serious pipes! You might have a future singer on your hands. :)
Heck yes don’t forget the chocolate! Congratulations on your book too! <3
I love the picture of you and Eric. Beautiful! Our CSA starts next week and almost always features a lot of greens like yours. I usually start with a greens, potato, and garlic soup. Sometimes blended, sometimes not. It’s really yummy and reduces the sometimes overwhelming volume of greens pronto.
“A new obsession has formed…”
That’s my favorite part of a CSA! I’d never tried garlic scapes until we got ours in our CSA box. Now I can’t wait. They’re coming soon! I have obsessions for July, August and September, too.