Men and Menus

A few thoughts on my relationship. I love my husband, but he needs to grow up! Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with his childish, selfish ways that I want to go away! For days, weeks, maybe longer! Really I love him, and I know he reads my blog too, but acting like a responsible, caring, nurturing husband and father is the standard. I am not accepting less.
Sometimes I think, maybe all the mamas should live together and raise kids. We just would go party with the daddies on occasion, they would do the shopping (based off our wonderful lists that we create), and we would get massages from them and then have sex. That all sounds kinda nice to me!
So with all of that, last week was rough. Thank goodness Negra Modelo and Pinot Noir got me through it! I stayed with the kiddos during the beginning of the week, then worked my butt off for the rest of it. Today is definetly a day outside in the garden and playing catch with hito and baby girl.
I have been rethinking the whole business venture...makes you wonder!

So this last week we had some tasty veggies from LPO. We are gonna start ordering more of our staples from them! All local and organic!

Dave planned the menu this week! We try to share menu planning and cooking jobs and even cook together when the kiddos will let us!
Monday Lemon Chicken with steamed arugula and lemon couscous
Tuesday Coconut Red Curry with Shrimp, papas, g. beans and onions
Wednesday Green Chile, Spinach, Mushroom And Cheese Enchiladas with slow cooked beans
Thursday Spicy Red Pepper Sauce and Fettucini noodles
Friday Orange and Grapefruit Salad with Chicken and Cilantro Yogurt Dressing (YUM!)
Saturday BBQ AT Ryans (Dave's Drinking buddy)
Sunday Cheese and Cracker Plate with grapes and carrots
Ribs and Cole Slaw


I baked some peanut butter oat cookies with dark chocolate chips. Then for a special treat I topped with some H&D Vanilla Bean ice cream! The kiddos love them!

Patience and Inner Peace for all who seek it :)
Love
Jess

Spring Time!

Nothing like going to the zoo with your kiddos. Or walking down to the park to play with all the other innocent ones. Or taking your babies on a bike ride with your nephew. Watching your beagle wear booties to go run in the mountains is pretty hilarious too!
We had 2 more parties for baby girl, who is the tinyest thing (bottom 1% for weight), but breastfeed, solids feed, active and happy! What a nice time Sunday was celebrating at our home with freinds and family! Too bad mama had to much wine at the end!!! Whoops, it happens!
I got back on the bike this week, because it is nice enough outside! I loaded the bike and trailer all by myself and got all of us ready to go! What a happy accompishment!
This week finds me back at the flower shop to help for Mother's Day. I am also bartending on Cinco de Mayo. Maybe I will make some enchiladas that day!

Monday-Steaks and Potato Salad. Berry Shortcake for dessert!
Tuesday-Parmesean, Red Bells, Mushroom Rissotto with a Green Salad with Jalepeno Ranch and cherry tomaotoes
Wednesday-Chicken Lettuce Wraps with ginger and shredded carrots
Thursday-Macaroni and Cheese
Friday-Salmon with Rissotto Rice Cakes (made from leftovers!)
Saturday-Take out Pizza because mama works a double.
Sunday-Hot dogs with Carmalized Mushrooms and Onions, Baked Beans, Queso, Spinach Dip and some more Berry Shortcake for Lucia!!!

I am so pumped to have 3 followers! Peace ladies!!!

Reflection

I lost my voice with all the go-go-go this week, so it is giving me a chance to do some more listening! I enjoy the stillness of my breathe or the music with no husbands voice interrupting. :)
Our garden is starting to sprout, thanks to nice weather and rain! Followed by beautiful NM rainbows!
Lucia turns one this week and we are thinking about purchasing a little house of our own! So of course my voice is gone! My sister and I made cute and crafty birthday cards for Lucia while my mom and husband cooked for us! It was so fun and reminded me of the other times that I get together with friends and family to make cards or bake!
We traveled to Alamogordo to visit with family down there and celebrate sweet Lucy's bday. We are gonna have a BBQ on Sunday here for her too!

THis past week for dinner included
Red Bell Peppers stuffed with brown rice, thyme, chives, boiled egg and parsley
Veggie Salad with Grilled Chicken and homemade croutons
Veggie Stir Fry with carrots, celery, mushrooms with sweet and spricy sauce
Green Chile Alfredo Shells!
Pulled Prok Sandwiches, Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Chips and Sour Cream Cake with Vanilla Frosting and Fresh Strawberries!
Thai Food from a Burque Favorite

I baked quite a bit for Lucy this week, almonds, birthday cake, a pie crust for Monday's dinner, and whole wheat zuchini muffins with chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

I love birthday food!

Where has this month gone?!

It is crazy how time flies by! Especially when your friends are in town visiting! Meemaw came to town to visit her grand babies, and Granddad helped us turn our garden. We ordered seeds and got soil and compost for this arid climate and hard ground that we are trying to plant our food in. I am estimating about $500 worth of produce to come from our backyard. Which is great because we have put a lot of money into the fence, bricks, soils and seeds. After the garden was planted, I scooped the kids up and took them to Scottsdale to get some girlfriend time and hang out by the pool in the sun!
What a refresher that was! My mini vacation with my babies gave me some energy to come back to Burque and get Lucy's birthday cards made and plan for her party!
We will be celebrating her first birthday in Southern NM, and getting in a full moon yoga class at the White Sands!

So my menus haven't been posted recently, but that doesn't mean we haven't been eating! I thought that for this blog I would just post some suggestions for dinner. We are currently still using the CSA until our crops come in! Local, fresh, organic healthy food for our bodies!

Spinach Custard tart on Phyllo dough with herbs and broccoli
Chicken Alfredo with Roasted Red Peppers
Cobb Salad with homemade Ranch dressing, bacon, avocado, eggs, and blue cheese
Hot Pastrami And Swiss Sandwiches with spicy mustard
veggie Ragout over Tortellini (Radishes, snap peas, asparagus) topped with Parmesan
White Fish with Mango, Avocado Cucumber, Basil and Lime
Spinach and Mushroom Enchiladas with NM Green Chile
Meatloaf (breadcrumbs, eggs, onions, spices) and Blue Cheese mashed potatoes

This week a few friends had BBQ's so I didn't have to cook too much!
And I stayed with my mom and sisters working on birthday cards, so we cooked up there!

Sat- Beans and Rice with smoked sausage
Sun- BBQ at my sisters
Monday- Crab Cakes with Greek Yogurt and Lemon and Asparagus
Tuesday-
Wednesday- Fresh Taos Egg Salad Sandwiches and Couscous
Thursday- Salmon and Crispy Potatoes over Spinach
Friday-Cobb Salad
Saturday-Green Pizza with homemade dough, arugula, broccoli, and mozzarella

Thank you to peacefulmamma's blog for getting me through this weeks menu planning! I love that my friends also blog about their menus because it gives me great ideas for healthy cooking for my family!
Happy Eating!

Birthday Fun!

So obviously I have had a wonderful birthday because it has taken me until now to write about it.
First gotta give a shout out to mom and dad for having me! Then a big thank you to me for staying alive and living this wonderful life! Then who would I be without all my crazy friends and family (they are crazy too, even my in laws!)
We had a wonderful dinner for 16 at Seasons. The same week an article was published about how Seasons is expensive, but so worth it for that special occasion. And it was.
I started the month off with some good cocktails at the bar (which is a rare occasion with two little ones). Then my sisters and mama and I went to the spa to be pampered with Aveda products for 3 hours!
Finally it was time to bake and get the house ready for all the out-of-towners coming in to have a birthday weekend!
The old Burque Crew goes way back to when I was underage and drinking! Jumping off roofs, water fights, BBQ's, shoulders to cry on, Halloween Parties, Thanksgiving in Angel Fire, NY, Taos, Phoenix, Denver, Bend, Ft. Collins...the list goes on. My friends like to laugh, party, and make memories!
My birthday was no exception! Late night at Monte Vista, hiking, breakfast, Apples to Apples, wine, Dave cooking dinner, and partying for my birthday (although I made an early exit that night if you know what I mean! Too much Crown, but from what I remember a freaking great time!
Then my brothers from other mothers showed up for the Seasons dinner too!
The icing was topped off when the Larkins, our homies from our Bend years decided to come and visit and party with us for my 30th.
The Larkins stayed with us for a week, so we were busy hanging out with our good friends, and then recovering from all of this too!!! Which is why I haven't blogged
in a few! I have been busy getting back to the gym, planning menus, baking, and hanging with the kiddos. Then my mother in law came to stay and visit for a day! So it has been busy in the house.
Starting to get motivated to garden! And make baby announcements for Baby Girl. I am also trying to find some photog jobs for the Larkins when they come out in June.
My hubby is recovering from a broken wrist. Its been four weeks. At least he still feels good enough to party and take care of his drunk wifey!
I am looking forward to my bath! And a few more spa days :)

I have some great menus from the last few to post soon!

What a Week!!!

Whoa, last week flew by!!! It started on Monday night with a delicious carne avada at our friends, and ended with Elias bumping his head. So both of my men were hurt. Which meant more mothering and loving than cooking this last week.
I love being able to make David smile and help him deal with the pain of a broken wrist. And my hito, well I would rather him not be hurt, but, I am so glad I can calm him. Plus I took Lucia for her 9 month check up. She was supposed to get shots, but since she doesn't do all those vaccines in her little body, I really didn't need to take her, and she ended up getting sick (or teething)! Dirty Doctors Office.

Thank goodness our veggie/fruit box from our CSA was still delicious!

Monday-Carne Avada, Calabacitas, Frijoles
Tuesday-Mexican Leftovers!!!
Wednesday-EggBake with hashed browns, spinach, cooking greens, eggs, sharp cheddar, red bells, and onions
Thursday-Spinach and Mixed Green Salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado and Chicken
Friday-Brown Rice, Bok Choy, Carrots and Salmon with soy sauce
Saturday-BBQ at Nicoles
Sunday-Wheat Pasta with Zuchini, Eggplant, tomatoes, and mozzerella

I made a big batch of carrot muffins, with apples and zuchini and wheat germ. they will make a good breakfast snack for us this week and next week when our friends come to town!!

a fast week

This week flew by. I went to the gym almost everyday (6) and tried to shed some pounds but was still disappointed with the scale. So i am seeking a protein meal replacement shake that is safe while breastfeeding.
I worked at Monte Vista on Saturday, a great young reggae band from my old High School played and partied their with their fans. Good Times, good times.
I also hung out with an old buddy from HS. I have been drinking a bit, getting ready for the homies to come into town. I wonder what we will be cooking or where we will be. I know we had a ski trip in mind, but thats outta the question because Dave broke his wrist snowboarding. So maybe just friends food and more good times.
I am thinking I am gonna make abig casserole and salad while they are here. Plus Dave wants to cook really good New Mexican food for our Oregon friends. I can't wait to see the babies and kiddos!
So this week, we made food based on the CSA box that we get at the pickup store (or the Farm). The fruit we got this week was delicious! And good for our bodies.

Monday_Veggie Rigatoni with eggplant, zuchini, red peppers and mozzerella.

Tuesday_Lightly Breaded Chicken with sauted brocoli, peppers, eggplant.

Wed_Slow Cooked Pinto Beans, Spanish Whole Wheat Rice with cumin, garlic, onions, celery, tomatoes, red bells. topped with sharp cheese and avocado. YUMMM...

Thursday_Leftovers

Friday_Pork Chops with Mashed Papas and Corn

Saturday_Red Chile with Tofu, Fried Potatoes, Eggs, Refried Beans

Sunday_Whole Wheat Strawberry Pancakes with Honey, Peanut Butter and Greek Yogurt.


This past week I made some trail mixes and oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I also made some dips for the delicious carrots and cucumbers that picked up. I need to go pick up some t shirts for my friends kids...or spend it at the spa. Birthday month is starting!!!

menu's

So Thirty is quickly approaching. I am trying to get some party details worked out and then I am gonna get the house ready for my homies who are coming from NM, CO, AZ, and OR! I thank God for my friends because they are all unique and awesome! I can't wait to meet the new additions to our clans!!!
So I have been calling some restuarants to have a cocktail party and dinner. I have also been trying to get some flowers and maybe a cake too. But mostly I have been at the gym everyday. It is good for the kiddos too! I try to go when other kids will be in the Child Watch while I work out. I am meeting other moms and dads too! But mostly I listen to Michael Franti and workout.

I have decided to start writing about the Menu at the end of the week once we make the actual meals. I am doing this because my hinny is a great chef and so sometimes we might feel like something easier or different, and he will just whip up something tasty! Plus, we are shopping for our produce through a CSA and they choose your "basket" every week; which means that we have to plan our meals around what we are getting from their greenhouses and co-ops.
We are also getting our garden ready in the back yard. I wish I could have some chickens.

Tell your friends about me!

menu Monday

Menu Monday!

DAVE PLANNED the menu this week. Today has already been a crazy day because last week I worked 40 hours! Holy Crap. was that exhausting. I worked at the flower shop. I got to see a lot of pretty designs from lots of professionals, young and old. One of the ladies made my moms bouquet, and i got one awesome one for me from another artist. I am going to get my check this week and pick up another arrangement for my sister. I noticed it getting a little catty towards the end of the week, which just made me the peacemaker because i am a lover of mankind, even if you are a terrible driver!
Thsnk Goodness I am back home with my precious children.


MONDAY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP AND SALAD
TUESDAY GREEN PIZZA
WEDNESDAY CHICKEN SALAD WITH HOMEMADE BALSALMIC DRESSING
THURSDAY BBQ RIBS AND COLLARD GREENS
FRIDAY VEGGIE STIRFRY WITH SWEET ORANGE SAUCE
SATURDAY EGGBAKE

Maybe I will bake some Coconut Pumpkin Bread this week. Its a great healthy breakfast bread and tastes delicious. I try to use all organic and healthy products with low sugar but full flavor! I am always changing recipes and writing down new ones. I love talking food and cooking for others!

Working Mom

How crazy it is to get two babies ready in the morning and then go to work. I am struggling with that for the week, but its okay because we are blessed and I normally stay at home with our babies.
Elias seems to have grown up since Thursday (when I started the job). And Lucia nurses all night long now.
I ordered some flowers for my dad for Valentine's Day. They are so pretty. Tulips, roses (reds, creams and peaches) and lilies. It is a huge arrangement. I am gonna have Yoli make me one too! I asked Dave to get me some flowers from the shop and he said i was silly and should get them myself. So today I am ordering a beautiful bunch from a local shop that makes great stuff.
Support Local!!!
Love Each Other!!!

mankind

So...hmm whats for dinner? This week Los Poblanos sent us a bunch of fruit and salad veggies, so that what we will be having with our CSA Box. I really like the concept of a CSA, plus Farmer Monte puts out a weekly newsletter on sustainable living.

This week the Swans will be having...
MONDAY-FALL VEGETABLE GRATIN, HOMEMADE BREAD, DINNER SALAD
WITH CARROTS, CUCUS, ARUGULA
TUESDAY-CHICK PEAS, GINGER, AND SPINACH CURRY
WEDNESDAY-RED CHILE, SPANISH RICE WITH AVOCADOS AND TOMATOES, FRIJOLES
THURSDAY-LOADED VEGGIE SALAD WITH CHICKEN AND GODDESS DRESSING
FRIDAY-GREEN PIZZA WITH TOMATO SAUCE (we had this last week, but its so good)


This week I am baking sugar cookies for Valentines Day. I will be baking these again in March when all my friends come to Burque to celebrate my thirtieth. WOOHOO!
I will also be making some banana bread with wheat germ, craisins, and walnuts).

I have to get some party planning done for this party in my spare time. You know from going to gym, to making meals, changing clothes and diapers....etc...
I can't wait!!!

Peace and Love,
A lover of Mankind...

flores

What a crazy week!!! I actually interacted with tons of adults this week! I am learning how to talk to big people again! I spent Tuesday and Wednesday working out at the gym and preparing for a crazy weekend.
Then I spent Thursday through Saturday at ABQ Florist for the Valentine's Holiday. It was so great to hang out with ladies, and talented ones too. I saw many arrangements and corsages go outta that shop this weekend, and am so impressed with the ladies who work there on a daily basis. Plus we had a delicious pot luck and have fun getting ready for a crazy week.
Saturday was crazy because I had to work at the flower shop and then bar tend at the end of the night. Thankfully Andrew and Jaime are fun to work with, although they were "grumpy" that I brought some pretty flowers with me. And good thing it was busy because it gave me some money to spend at the employee party!
So SuperBowl Sunday is always the employee party, where we pot luck and party like those in the business do! A little gambling and a few shots of tequila along with some good friends, food and football...what a day. And thanks to my mom and sister (and dad and nephew too) who watched Elias and Lucia so we could go party...Arm Pump!
This morning was crazy getting up, but, coffee, two gym sessions, and some good home cooking have got me through!
One Love...

Menu Monday

Our family tries to eat local and healthy. We have been creating our menus for a few years now because it lets us try new things, keeps us organized and not stressed about meals, helps me journal my food to watch my weight, and we both love to cook, so why not.
We just joined Los Poblanos Organics CSA Program. My kids and I started going down to their lavendar field in the North Valley, and quickly became a fan of their fields and animals!
So now we plan our menus based on whats in the "box" that we pick up on Monday afternoons.
Los Poblanos Organics
Harvest Box for February 1-3rd
Week #5

Mint
Red Cabbage
2 lbs Mixed Potatoes
4 D’Anjou Pears
1/2 lb Baby Arugula
2 Avocados
Red Leaf Lettuce
1.25 lbs Cucumbers
Satsuma Tangerines
2 lbs Fuji Apples
Lemons


MONDAY: ALYSON'S GREEN PIZZA WITH HOMEMADE PESTO AND PIZZA CRUST. I added caramelized onions and garlic to the veggies.
TUESDAY: One Pot Meal: Chicken, Dill, Feta, Lemons, Orzo
WEDNESDAY: Tuna Melt & Clam Chowder
THURSDAY: Loaded Salad with cucumbers, pears, arugula, red leaf, spring mix, avocados and walnuts
FRIDAY: Soy Ginger Chicken with Brown Rice (CROCKPOT)
SATURDAY: Roasted Winter Vegetable Gratin and a loaded Salad

I am baking chocolate peanut butter chip cookies, healthy breakfast carrot muffins with oats, wheat germ, and flours, and pizza crust this week.

turning thirty

I really turn thirty in 6 weeks. I am not counting or dreading it. I am looking forward to the big rager we are gonna be having. ABQ crew and OR friends...good times, good times.

I Bartend at night

I work at Monte Vista on Saturday nights to make some cash and get in a few hours of adult time...hmm is it really adult time when you are the sober one making the drinks for all the partiers? although these conversations tend to be funnier.

lets see, Anthony reminded me about the time he trimmed his nose hairs and told me about it.

Katie, a new friend talked to me about rings and babies.

Interesting...and a live band!

The First One

Yes! I have some time to start journaling. I am excited to be doing this in front of everyone. I hope you enjoy reading my posts.

Happy Days

Jessica Chapman Swan