It’s my husband’s birthday today! Cheers to my partner, my inspiration, my everything, my love – he deserves so much more than we made for him!

Last night, I made (Birthday) Pot Roast for the first time in my life. It was literally melt in your mouth! We ate the entire thing in one night. Even Matty, our red meat protestor, ate it!! I was overjoyed! I believe that love is passed on through food and this was just a LOVE overload!

It was sooooo simple. Melted some butter and olive oil, seared some onions, then seared some veggies. Set them aside and then seared a 3lb chuck roast on all sides. De-glazed the pan with some red wine and beef broth and popped it all in the oven at 275 degrees for 3 hours. Oh, and saltedthe meat and added rosemary and thyme to the broth. Holy heck, yum!

YUM!!

I forgot to take a pic of my plate, but this was my sweet daughter’s portion

This morning, thanks to the kiddos, we were up at 4:30am!! Which, I suppose was fine, because we had a big breaky planned for the man of the house. We made Croissant French Toast with Maple Glazed Bacon, oh emmmmm geeeeee. This was super easy, so decadent, and I always consider it a huge success when my entire family eats it.

And, my sweet little Quinny enjoying every bite : )

We love you SO MUCH, Noah! You are the light of our lives and our rock.

HAPPY 36th BIRTHDAY!! XOXO

Threw in the towel on responsibility today! We came home from school, skipped naps, watched Monster’s University, played in the rain and made yummy pizzas. We even skipped homework…The truth is, we all went to bed rosy-cheeked, exhausted and content. Ahhh, it feels so good to let go! So therapeutic, so calming and just so much bonding…

In the morning I got the urge to make a chicken “stew” meaning that I stuck two chicken breasts, various veggies, herbs, spices, chicken stock and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker for about 6 hours. I have got to say, this type of meal can last for a long time and serve several purposes. I can chop up the chicken and add it to the boys’ lunches, I use the tender veggies for Quinny and I can add all of it, or variations of it, to my lunch salads. Lastly, the broth is such a treat, Matty will just suck it down.

So, after our romp in the rain we made pizzas. I bought the dough from Whole Foods, as well as the sauce and the toppings. We have a pizza stone that I heated at 500 degrees for one hour and then very ungraciously, dumped the dough and the toppings – sort of – onto the stone. In the end, they were so yummy and it was cool to customize them to our personal tastes: Me: fresh mozzarella, tomatoes & basil, Matty: sauce & pepperoni (no cheese) & Ben: sauce and cheese all piled in the middle. It was the most amazing end to a cold and rainy day (which incidentally, I love, because days like these remind me of growing up in beautiful, rainy Vancouver, BC).

STAY TUNED: Next week is my husband’s birthday and Matty and I are very excited to cook for him! So far on the menu is Croissant French Toast…and beer.

XOXO!

Here are our weekend curiosities!

This was a doozy of a week. It was the first week back after a super long winter break and I can easily say that we feel pretty beat, overwhelmed and in need of some serious comfort.

So, this afternoon we cooked Chicken Parmesan, had a family hot tub with calming essential oils (which may or may not have been calming and I feel like I have to admit there was beer involved) and did a little work on settling and cooling some of the rampant energy that abounds in the Asch home!

Cooking: The Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Parmigiana: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/chicken-parmigiana/

Now, this was super fun to make and pretty much one of the yummiest dishes I have ever tasted. It was also very simple and easy enough for Matty to help with. I think that cooking can be really therapeutic when you have the stuff, have the time, and it’s something you really love to eat. I plan to serve our Chicken Parmesan tonight with some sauteed green beans and some type of noodle with butter. Take a look at our pics below and stay tuned for a few adorable videos that my YouTube lover made.

Calming: http://www.sensorytreat.com/single-post/2015/04/30/IT-IS-TIME-FOR-A-DEEP-PRESSURE-MASSAGE

In addition to our cooking endeavors, we visited an Occupational Therapist this week to figure out some strategies to calm our kiddo with ADHD. She taught us a version of the massage above, which is interesting, because we had been doing our own form of this massage based on instinct, before learning this. It was amazing! Who doesn’t benefit from some loving touch? My kid looked like a cat basking in the sun while this was being performed and I feel like I actually saw excess energy melt out from his body. It was cool. We have a long way to go with this, but each week we hope to implement a new and interesting calming technique that is relevant to the WHOLE family, no matter what what’s going on in your tribe.

As always, we must end in GRATITUDE: I am overwhelmingly thankful for my family and for the closeness, loyalty, love and dedication that abounds. Life can be really hard at times and we’ve had a rough few weeks, but the belonging and security we have within these walls is the definition of comfort.

So much love! See you next week! XO

Cooking Curiosity #1: Marbled Chocolate Apples by The Pioneer Woman

I would say this recipe was a fail for me, although I went all in, I promise. I should truly throw in the towel on trying to make sweets, I really am a cook at heart, not a confectioner. My first attempt at melting the chocolate discs came out chunky and yucky, not smooth as satin like in the video. So, that kind of messed up the whole thing. The icing on the cake, so to speak, was when my kids bit into the chilled apples, both were poked by the chocolate coating (only one bled).

I wasn’t able to squeeze in any yoga today, but collectively (two helpful boys, one paper-eating toddler) we attempted to “de-boyify” my daughter’s bedroom with some sweet decals ordered off of Etsy.com. The process was actually quite calming and therapeutic…sometimes that repetitive type of action can be meditative and super satisfying! We started by cutting out the images, which consisted of different sizes of stems and flowers in two different colors, and then just randomly placed the stems where they looked balanced. The boys learned how to gently pull off the transfer paper and press the decals into the walls, which was cool to watch. I am really happy with how adorable her room looks!

Here are our pics from the day…

Prep Work

Matty Dipping

Chunky Chocolate Mess – Ew!

Our Goal

Our Sad Result

Quinn Madison’s New Boudoir

I have a new passion! One that actually fits into my current reality.

As a mama who has had to put her business on hold due to the need for 100% family present-ness, as well as some annoying physical injuries, I have decided to make the absolute most of it and to quell my need for creativity, nourishment and adventure.

My new project is…

My Cooking & Calming Curiosities: A look into feeding the family with new and comforting recipes while breathing in the invaluable benefits and life changing attributes of simple yoga poses and other quick calming gems for families. Just a bunch of fun little tidbits to read! I’m doing this for my own therapy as I forge forward in life (my career on hold) while balancing the well-being of 3 young kiddos while and mom-managing of a swift and busy household.

Mad Matt (oldest son, 6) and I are absolutely obsessed with The Pioneer Woman and are about to dive into working our way through her cookbooks. Her recipes are anything but gluten free, dairy free, soy free and meat free, but she is all about COMFORT and WHOLENESS and we need both of those right now in our busy home! In addition, we are going to start experimenting with what helps bring us more peace and more of that luscious and comforting zen feeling. The Asch family is taking it down about 100 notches in 2017 in the hopes of getting more centered, grounded, content, healthy and happy.

Stay tuned for how our Marbled Apple experiment goes this afternoon!

Have a great day out there! XO