Naptime Lifestyle: Everyday Favorites for Everyday Life

I am taking a little break from the regularly scheduled food programming today to talk fitness. I am in the middle of a fairly intense fitness regime to lose the baby weight and get back in shape. It is going well, but I still have a little bit further to go. My goal is to be comfortably back in my skinny jeans by Thanksgiving. It takes a while for the bod to bounce back post-baby! The good news is that I have lots of reasons to stay motivated. I love it when my clothes fit a little better each week, plus I have a few killer workout outfits I feel good in. My most recent fave is from this cool company that focuses expressly on women’s fitness and swimwear called Albion Fit.

We have weather two mega heatwaves so far this summer and it is only the end of July. Eeps! To get me through I’ve been turning on the oven very little and only using the stovetop as needed. There has been a lot of gazpacho, sandwiches, and ice cream on our dinner table. Yes, the ice cream has been put right on the table alongside our dinner because it is practically part of the main course when it is so hot out. I am still trying to lose the very last of the baby weight, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t enjoy a small scoop at the end of the meal. I just tell myself it is in the name of staying cool.

Every so often I like to share one of my favorite kitchen appliances with you. Remember the milk frother from last winter? I swear, that baby got me through infant sleep-deprivation like it was nobody’s business. Needless to say, I’ve put that away for the summer and have become devoted to the Magimix Vision Toaster. Magimix by Robot-Coupe makes the highest quality kitchen appliances. Remember the food processor from last year? It is the gold standard in food processors and, like that appliance, the Vision Toaster is the highest quality toaster I have never used. In fact, I love it so much I’ll be giving one away in September.

I have a secret to share. I LOVED our cool, slightly rainy, June weather. I know I always moan about the cold, but a cool 70 degree summer day with no humidity, and the occasional sprinkle, is just fine with me. I am SO not looking forward to the crazy heat and humidity (and potential droughts!) of August. The survive that month I mostly submerge myself in Lake Otsego and do my best to keep the kids cool. This also means I turn on the oven as minimally as possible and employ all of my favorite “stay cool” strategies. The other day I broke out the first item on this list and whipped up a batch of ice cream. It was so refreshing to eat outside after dinner! Rest assured I’ll have plenty of stay cool recipes this summer. But, to get me started, I am tuning up all of my favorite kitchen equipment. I am thinking about giving away one of these items soon. Any requests? Let me know!

Father’s Day is right around the corner and it is time to drum up something really awesome for Dad. If the man in your life is anything like my husband he doesn’t want anything expensive or fancy, he just wants a really great family day with some good food thrown in. Here are some of my favorite foodie gifts for Dad this year. I hope you have a delicious one! (p.s. – here are some of my favorite ideas for Father’s Day food!)

My friend Julie is one awesome woman. She runs this great website, Dinner with Julie, is an editor, author, and rockin’ mama. Recently she and a friend started this great website, Rolling Spoon. As a music fan I am super excited that someone has finally decided to contact cooking with rock’n’roll. They go hand in hand! Today Julie is stopping in for a quick interview to introduce her site and give us some hot tips for great food and musical pairings.

It has been a crazy busy week around here and I haven’t gotten much cooking done. Over the weekend we were helping my in-laws move and spent most of the time packing up the attic. It was exhausting! Anyway, the one thing I have been doing, when putting my feet up at the end of a long day, is flipping through some new design books I got this spring. They are my new favorites! Design, architecture, and style have always been interests of mine. More like side interests, things I enjoy but am not necessarily an expert at. As my husband will attest, I could spend hours rearranging our furniture, building tablescapes, and styling my coffee table. My eye is still a work in progress, but I am getting there. While I tinker away I am always looks for new ideas and these books have really been inspiring me lately.

New moms deserve their own special category when it comes to Mother’s Day. I am not saying that since I am in the thick of it with our second baby. I am talking about the first time mothers celebrating their first Mother’s Day ever. That first year with the baby is so exhilarating and overwhelming and every woman going through it needs a little special something. Of course, if you can’t wait for Mother’s Day to come around, all the gifts below would be awesome for any new mother at any time of the year. Here are a few of my picks for new mom gifts this year:

It is always nice to show your Mom a little appreciation on Mother’s Day. I am not saying that because I like to be showered with gifts on every Hallmark holiday that could possibly apply to me. I am just saying I don’t mind the idea of a little “thank you” now and then and I am sure your Mom doesn’t either. Here are a few nifty gifty ideas for the Mom on your list!

Over the next few months I am going to stop in from time to time with some questions for my next book. Since this book is all about curating the best go-to recipes for parents for all occasions throughout the calendar year I want your voices to be included! One of the chapters is going to cover road trip snacks, spring break travel treats, and generally portable food for kids. My editor and I thought it would be fun to include a pole of everyone’s favorite travel candy. So, here is my question for you all:

When I heard about The Perfect 10 Kookie – it is gluten-free, dairy-free and sweetened naturally with Agave – I thought it sounded really cool. I am a huge cookie addict and any kind of cookie I can enjoy with a little less guilt is a great idea in my book. I have been a long time fan of Christina Tosi and pretty much anything that Momofuko Milk Bar churns out. In fact, that is one of the first places I plan to hit when I achieve my baby weight-loss goal. (Those cereal milk treats are beckoning!)

It is hard to believe that my little guy is already two months old. I can now officially say things like “where did the time go?” and “boy, time flies with kids.” I’ll admit, I can hardly remember late January and early February. Many thanks to all of you while I dealt with severe sleep deprivation and adjusting to life with an infant. It was not easy! I know a bunch of my posts were late getting up and there were quite a few typos. Hopefully those days are behind us. You’ve probably also noticed that I have taken on quite a few sponsors this year. They help me keep this site running and I appreciate your support of these posts. I would never agree to a project I didn’t believe in sharing with you!