Spring break may be over, but what a fantastic week it was, full of food and family.
Back in the day, Easter was the first family holiday I hosted as a new mom, and we still use the holiday as a reason to get the whole family together.
It’s nice.
But, before I share Easter photos, I have some fun food to share!
Protein Yogurt
I recently posted my best protein yogurt idea yet on Substack, and I’m totally obsessed!
First off, I’m mad at myself for forgetting about chia seeds for so long. What a fun addition! They add such a great texture to the yogurt. And, I never would have thought to pair warm apples with yogurt, but wow! What a combo! It’s like comfort in a bowl. I posted this recipe on Substack here.
This photo pretty much sums up the rest of my Thursday. 🙂
Pasta Making!
I reached this month’s goal of making a homemade pasta on Friday, and I am SO proud of myself!
I made orecchiette by hand! This was my first batch of semolina pasta that I made with just water. Then I watched some videos online about how to make the shape and… viola!
The photo below shows the whole process:
- Roll into small logs
- Cut into pieces
- Roll with a butterknife
- Flip inside out
It was oddly relaxing. I spent the afternoon making pasta and listening to music.
Then, for Fancy Friday, I made Pasta all Norcina, which I shared a recipe for a few years ago. It’s such a fun dish to make, and I’m excited that I’ve now made it with both homemade sausage and homemade pasta.
Yes, I totally geek out about these things.
While I was cooking, this little guy patiently waited for me to share something. Anything.
(We were expecting guests the next day for Easter, which is why the living room looked clean. I promise, it doesn’t usually look like that!)
Easter Weekend
Hosting can be exhausting, but I won’t lie—it’s nice to have a house full of family every now and then.
Most of my time was spent cooking, but I did manage to snap a few photos!
We had a full house, and I made my traditional Easter meal: ham, pork loin, roasted potatoes, corn, and asparagus.
By Monday, everyone had headed home, and it was back to work for me. But I did sneak in one more day of baking and made my 14-year-old’s favorite cake (recipe posted on Substack yesterday!).
He’s obsessed with it, and I make a few simple swaps to make it a little more nutritious for him.
Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough
I’m going to end this post with my latest Sourdough obsession.
Honestly, I never liked cinnamon raisin bread until my oldest requested I try it with sourdough—and now I can’t get enough! It’s so good.
My approach to making this loaf is pretty easy. Once I get it just right, I’ll definitely share the full recipe. For now, I’m having fun experimenting with different techniques and ratios of starter, water, and flour.
2025 Goal Check In
Okay, That’s all I got this week. Survivor is already on so I really got to go! It’s been a crazy day.
- Blog Weekly.
- so far… ✔️
- Paint More. Don’t overthink it.
- so far…✔️ (Slacking!)
- Make a new handmade pasta monthly.
- Jan ✔️ ✔️
- Feb ✔️ ✔️
- March ❌
- April ✔️✔️
- Hike at least twice a month.
- Jan ✔️✔️
- Feb ✔️✔️
- March ✔️ ✔️
- April ✔️
- Perform one unassisted dip.
- Training!
- Perform five strict pull-ups.
- Training! (As of 4/1 up to three!!)
- Handstand walk.
- Training! (See above)
- Take at least three yoga classes a month.
- Jan ✔️✔️✔️
- Feb ✔️✔️✔️
- March ✔️✔️✔️
- April ✔️✔️
- Make homemade sourdough bread.
- ✔️✔️✔️OMG I did it!✔️✔️✔️
- Take the kids to Iceland.
- Training underway
- Fix the holes in my house (long story, lots of plumbing issues this year).
- Two holes down, two to go!
- Continue my Spanish Streak on Duolingo (I’m on day 1,231!!).
- so far…✔️ day 1342
- Take a Spanish class in person.
- No update. 🙁
- Plan something special for The Husband’s 50th birthday!
- Research is underway.
- Snatch 125lbs.
- Training! .
- Compete in at least one weightlifting meet.
- Walk a minimum of half a mile daily with Marsh and, preferably, with the Husband, but I can’t base my goal on him.
- 105/113 days so far this year.
- Track my movie-watching on Letterboxd.
- so far…✔️ Click here to see!
- Keep my citrus trees alive! (I have a lemon and a lime tree I named Laverne and Shirley. Laverne is not doing too well after a disastrous root rot issue this fall, but we are doing our best.)
- so far…✔️ They are outside!
- Host an extended family dinner monthly.
- Jan ✔️
- Feb ✔️
- March ✔️
- April ✔️ (see above!)
- Clean out and organize my closet and drawers.
- Thrift more and purchase no brand-new clothes.
- so far…✔️
- Take daily supplements more consistently.
- so far…✔️ (I am back on schedule!)
- Reduce alcohol consumption to once or twice a month.
- Jan ❌ 1/18, 1/23, 1/31 (close!)
- Feb 2/1, 2/15 ✔️
- March 3/22 ✔️
- April (Haven’t drank yet! But this weekend I plan to enjoy a cocktail)
- Cook one new recipe/dish a month.
2 replies on “Food & Family (w16)”
There’s that Cinn Raisin again! I haven’t tried it yet. When do you add the cinnamon sugar, and raisins?
I just make regular sourdough and then when I shape, I add the cinnamon and sugar. It’s the only add in I feel comfortable doing at the moment.