Greens, Beans & Love Always

Life lately 💕

July has been a tough one. We had to say goodbye to our first baby, our 8.5 year old German shepherd. We planted our first apple tree in his honour.

Garden harvests have been so slow rolling in, but we’ve enjoyed some zucchini, greens, peas, and all the berries.

I’ve thrown myself into organization and making functional systems in our home, including preparing for our first official year of homeschool (pre-k).

Still spending all the time making our food from scratch, including trying new things like zucchini pickles (so delish on sandwiches), and the classic sourdough goods.

As much as I’m not wishing away the rest of summer, I’m ready to feel that sweet, crisp fall air again soon.

Far too many years spent letting my body image keep me from having water fun.

Putting a swimsuit on in front of others was just too uncomfortable. I wasn’t where I wanted to be yet, my body wasn’t “perfect”. I stopped going swimming, and as a result, I need to relearn how to swim and be comfortable in the water. Ouch.

Thankfully, I was given the gift of two beautiful girls to raise, and I’ll be damned if I don’t teach them that every body is “perfect” in its own way. The only opinions I care about are theirs, and they’ll judge me for what I’m not doing with them, not what I look like. I’ll continue to work on my fitness for my own desires, but it will not stop me from living life in the meantime.

It’s wonderful how children can change your perspective 🩷

Today we suited up, and ran through the sprinkler today to cool off in this heat wave. I sure did have fun ☺️

These are the days ❤️

The kids wanted to pick berries after dinner. Out back we went! We don’t have a huge acreage, we live in town but are blessed to own our home.

We have two haskap bushes, a row of raspberries, and some garden beds for veggies. Hopefully a few fruit trees by the end of summer. It’s enough to still feel incredibly grateful for the experience.

Homesteading is trendy these days - and I’m so glad that it is. It’s so beautiful to connect with your food by growing and cooking from scratch. It’s amazing to look for ways to be self sufficient -but it’s not all or nothing.

Start with what you’ve got. Where you’re at. It’s okay to want to homestead but never want that big acreage. Plant a container of lettuce. Learn how to can purchased produce. Start slow, start simple.

And be present enough to enjoy the ride ☺️

Our 1st backyard to table harvest for dinner 🥰

Fresh greens (basil + oregano) to accompany last year’s frozen tomatoes, cannellini beans, onions, and garlic into the oven. Roasted at 350*F for about an hour until softened and bubbly. Blitzed in my vitamix and voila! The tastiest tomato sauce I have ever had.

I swear everything tastes better roasted 😋

This year’s preserving goal is to learn pressure canning to safely leave my tomatoes on the shelf!

🌸 Spring Things 🌸

I’ve been terrible at posting, but busy soaking up life. Hiking with friends, baking sourdough, planting the garden, enjoying my babies.

All the wonderful, slow things life has to offer 🩷

Currently enjoying life with a 1-year-old and her willingness to try any foods! Soaking up all these cute mommy & me plates 🩷

May long weekend = garden planting in my neck of the woods.

For so many reasons, last garden season was hard. This year I’ve been dragging my heels to find the drive, but today I got half my beds & boxes planted, and I’m finding some excitement again.

I’m leaning more into intensive & companion planting to make the most of my space and *hopefully* crowd out the weeds. The tough part of organic gardening! I’m doing many more flowers to bring in the pollinators as well as many herbs to drive away pests. I’m also dedicating a bed to try the old 3 Sisters planting method: corn, squash, beans. Hoping later in the season to add in a couple trees, too! 🤞🏻

What are you most excited to grow this year?

Mother is without a doubt the toughest job title I’ve ever held.

But for every moment of tear-filled overwhelm and intrusive thought that you’re not doing enough, there is an unmatched moment of tear-filled joy and love at the little humans who you get to do life with.

To my two beautiful girls - thank you for keeping me humble and full of wonder.

To my angel who never made it earth-side - I hold you in my heart every day. Thank you for showing me how badly I wanted this life.

Happy Mother’s Day 🩷🌸

Ahh, the seasonal sweet spot.

Early morning sourdough bakes, midday garden seeding, and not enough bugs to annoy you 🍞🫛🌸

Been missing this meal 🍲🧇

When I first thought of soup on waffles, I thought it was crazy. Turns out it’s *almost* as good as dipping in fresh sourdough bread.

Creamy veggie soup recipe (dairy free): https://dishingouthealth.com/creamy-vegetable-soup-vegan/

Serve on your favourite basic waffles.

POV: it’s not the gluten, it’s the quality of your flour.

It should be freshly milled, luxuriously soft, nothing but the grain. No additives to make it shelf stable - instead you keep it in the fridge or freezer for freshness. It should be whole grain and locally sourced, so it’s not losing valuable nutrients in processing & transportation.

Someday I hope to mill my flour fresh on my countertop, but for now is my go-to for the BEST flour in my area. Ever since I’ve started recommending it in my sourdough classes, it’s hard to find in store, but I’ll keep praising it anyways! 🤗

PSA: it’s OKAY to play with your food 😉

In fact, if you have a selective eater, being playful can help them to engage and feel brave enough to taste new things!

As a parent, I found feeding kids became a lot easier when I let go of “table rules”. I serve safe foods at every meal alongside new things. There’s no “finish your plate” or “just one bite”. If they need to take a break, take a break.

If these rules work for your family, great! If you’re struggling with mealtimes, give yourself permission to CUT THE NOISE and let it go. The most important thing is to foster a positive relationship with food and raise the next generation to know how to take care of their bodies. It comes over time.

So grab those raspberry fingers, be a pretzel walrus, or bowl with your peas. Have fun!

“Can I help?”

3 of the sweetest words I’m hearing constantly from my 4-year-old lately.

It’s so easy to bypass them when I’m feeling rushed to get a meal on the table, but I’m also constantly reminding myself to take this phase while I can to build her skills and work together as a family to ease my load.

Dinner doesn’t have to be a set time.

Snacking on veggies or rice or sourdough while helping to prep dinner is still filling their bellies, even if they end up eating nothing at the table.

For the long term goal of raising capable children, and for the living in the moment of watching them learn. Slow down 🩷

How do you do a bread crumb coating without eggs?

It’s quite simple, actually.

1) Toss in flour and shake off excess.
2) Cover in milk of choice (we use soy).
3) Toss in bread crumbs!

This cubed, breaded (extra-firm) tofu is my girls’ favourite, and to be honest, I love it too! It’s versatile - from salads, to rice bowls, to dipping in sauce, it’s a quick and easy legume addition to any plate.

Our favourite bread crumb to coat with is my homemade sourdough scrap breadcrumbs. So flavourful, they need no extra seasonings! Recipe can be found on my blog through the link in my bio 😊

It’s a bit too early for planting seeds, but perfect timing for rocks & dreams 💕

Hoppy Easter! From our family to yours 🐣🐰🩷

It never fails: when I put out a tray of cut veggies, the whole family eats more veggies! It’s the greatest trick.

My favourite Dill Dip to pair them with:

▪️ 1/2 cup vegan mayo
▪️ 1/2 cup plain coconut yogurt (Riviera is the best brand)
▪️1 tsp lemon juice
▪️ 3-4 tsp dried dill, or a large handful chopped fresh (garden fresh is the 💣 come summertime!)
▪️ 1/2 tsp garlic powder
▪️ 1 tbsp finely chopped green onion
▪️ Sprinkle of S&P

Stir together and munch away! 🥕🫑🫛

MICROGREENS 🌱

Sprouts & microgreens are among the most nutrient dense foods on our planet. I’ve tried my hand at both several times over the years, but microgreens - specifically pea greens - are my favourite. They are low maintenance and so refreshing!

🌱 Fill any vessel with seed starting soil. Doesn’t have to be a fancy tray - cut a milk carton in half or use a spare bowl! Water the soil so it is moist but not soaked.
🌱 Densely scatter seeds around the soil, pushing down or adding more soil to just cover.
🌱 Give another spritz of water and wait for sprouts!
🌱 Water as needed to keep the soil moist as they grow. Ready to eat within a week!

Enjoy on salads, sandwiches, as a garnish for warm meals, or even a smoothie booster.

Holding onto those comfort meals that warm the soul, while waiting for the outside warmth that keeps teasing but has yet to stay ☀️

I haven’t been finding the time to write new recipes, but I have been digging through the old ones on the GBL blog. This Gnocchi in Rose Sauce is one of the greats!
https://greensbeansandlovealways.wordpress.com/2022/11/30/gnocchi-in-rose-sauce/

Are we there yet? 🥰🌱

Just a few seed packets purchased today to fill in the gaps for this year’s backyard garden.

New things we are excited to try growing: cucamelons, corn, and lots more flowers!

Hi 👋🏼 Still here. Living in the hustle & bustle of it all.

I’ve been trying to up my meal prepping game. I have always loved to cook and eat fresh meals, but lately, it seems if we want to leave the house, it’s always right before a meal time. So planning ahead is getting to be a priority!

One of my favourite hacks is using my instant pot as a grain cooker. No monitoring the stove, completely hands off. This mix is a staple for our stir fry / bowl meals - the addition of quinoa gives it a “sticky rice” texture with no one noticing the variety!

▪️ 1/4 cup dry quinoa
▪️ 1 3/4 cup dry brown rice (short grain is my pick)
▪️ 2 1/2 cups water

Rinse the grains and add to instant pot with water. Cover and seal, set to high pressure for 20 minutes. Let naturally release. Fluff and serve!

The best part? Leftovers can be frozen for a future meal, because grains freeze well.

7 days, 7 walks!

It’s no secret I’ve struggled with my fitness over the past year and a half. Being pregnant and postpartum with my second, it’s been a battle to find the energy.

We’ve had such a mild winter, yet stayed so cooped up. I’m finally breaking free!

I know that even if I can’t muster the energy to hit my gym, a walk outside when it’s warm will fuel my soul and give my body the restorative movement it needs. I walked with my first child so often, this feels like a return to myself in such a good way.

My streak will break tomorrow and that’s okay. I now am reminded of the power of simplicity. I’m motivated.

I guess the point of this post is just to say: life can be hard. The changes we desire aren’t always so easy to make progress towards, even if our mindset is the biggest roadblock.

If fitness is something you want to build, but don’t have the space, funds, equipment, etc…just walk ❤️

The best kind of recipes are the kind you measure with your ❤️

This is one of my favourite, easy meals - perfect for dinner & leftover lunches:

▪️ Fill a sheet pan of whatever veggies you have on hand, chopped to roughly the same size for even cooking. My favourites are yams, red onion, carrots, peppers, broccoli.
▪️ Add 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas (1 can, drained and rinsed).
▪️ Toss it all with a drizzle of avocado oil, S&P, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika. Bake at 400*F until crisp and all veggies are fork tender.
▪️ Serve with favourite pasta or rice, pecans, and pesto.

It’s got some sweet, some savoury, and a lot of plant points.

Beautiful baby bok choy, grown in 27 days on my countertop 🥰🌱

Oh how I miss garden season! This hydroponics system fills the gap during the winter months (thanks mom for the gift!).

Many have asked to tell them how I like it, so here it is: LOVE getting a snip of homegrown greens in a short time, but it definitely doesn’t produce a lot (unless I’m just impatient, which is often the case). I’m still waiting for the other greens to get a bit bigger before harvesting, but this sucker took out my basil, so it needed to go! Was the perfect addition to our favourite sushi bowls 😋

Oh how we needed to get outside 🤍

Between the holidays, the cold snap, and just getting stuck in hibernation, we have not gotten near enough fresh air. We aren’t doing the challenge this year (my mental health is just not up for tracking yet), but our attempt last year made me realize just how important it is for all-around health to get out, even to do nothing but breathe deeper.

Hubby lit a backyard fire, Kid 1 and I made some fresh chocolate chip cookies (we were out of graham crackers). Roasted some and enjoyed snowy campfire s’mores!

Would love to hear some easy winter activities from my outdoorsy friends to push us to keep this up! 🤗

Things that feel good:

▪️ An hour of kid-free ME time in the morning.
▪️ Pressing play and putting in the work before the world wakes.
▪️ That shirt fitting just a little bit looser.

I’ve never been team “bounce back” postpartum. But I am team “do what feels good.” If that looks like improving your body and strength, all the power to you. It’s hard work, but we don’t give up 💪🏼

Greatest change to 2024 so far: “everything on the table” dinners!

For years, we’ve served up our plates at the counter and gone to eat at the dining room table. 2 reasons why:
1) Less dishes to clean.
2) I thought that serving my selective eater a perfectly plated meal was the answer to food exposures.

Turns out, it wasn’t! By adding the extra dishes and placing everything on the table, it gave my selective eater a feeling of CONTROL. She’s now exposed to the full meal, while being able to choose what she’s comfortable trying. It’s been a wonderful experience and she continues to surprise me!

The bonus: mom getting to eat and enjoy more of her meal and avoiding 5-10 get ups for more for two little mouths 😆🍴

2024 goal: budget better, especially when it comes to groceries.

I love corn tortillas, but the quality ones I like to buy come pre-frozen and in large quantities. We always ended up tossing some because we couldn’t get through it.

So for the same cost, I bought a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Masa Harina (corn flour), mixed it with salt + water, and made them myself.

This way, I can freeze them with parchment paper between and pull them out as needed!

Recipe: https://www.cookingclassy.com/homemade-corn-tortillas/
*I started with using an electric tortilla press, but quickly learned this flour is delicate! It worked best hand rolling between parchment paper - which is also perfect if you don’t have a press.

They say that eating black eyed peas on New Year’s Day is a symbol of luck and good fortune.

I’ve been waiting since last year to give it a whirl 😋🤞🏻

My go-to recipe: https://healthiersteps.com/recipe/southern-black-eyed-peas-vegan/

Paired with freshly baked sourdough, of course!

Do you have any new years traditions / superstitions?


#2024