Tag: first light farm and creamery

Sunday Meal Plan – Week 16

Posted on May 18 by Jillian416 • 8 Comments

Happy Meal Plan Day!!

It has been an amazing weekend for us here in WNY, and we definitely got outside and enjoyed it!

Saturday we made our first visit to the Elmwood-Bidwell Farmer’s Market. There wasn’t much in the way of produce, but we did get some delicious looking asparagus and some locally made chicken sausage (both of which are on the menu for this week). I also was able to grab some of my absolute favorite goat cheese from First Light Farm & Creamery, I’ve been waiting all Winter for it! They do sell it at the local co-op, but I don’t get there enough, whereas the Farmer’s Market we go almost weekly.

Later in the afternoon, we headed out for ice cream and to play. We went to a playground that is right next to the hospital where Emmett was born. I love going there, and seeing the hospital, plus it’s fun to point it out to Emmett every time (we’ve been there before). Emmett had a good time running around and trying to jump in the puddles and it got some his super high amounts of energy out.

Today I went out on my first long bike ride of the season. I was aiming for 15 miles, I did 16.5, mainly because I got lost. Whoops! I was using Google Maps and it kept telling me to turn right, but I couldn’t. There were only dead ends. So I kept going straight, thinking I would eventually be able to go right. Eventually, I could but then I was thrown off so I had to call Seamus and he headed me in the right direction and I easily found my way home. I won’t knock Google maps for bikes, though, it does say they’re still in BETA. Now I know they’re saying that for a reason.

After that, I came home ate a yummy breakfast (GF bagel, goat cheese and eggs), and we headed out to grocery shop. Came home, unloaded the groceries, Emmett ate a small lunch and then went down for a nap. While he napped, I did some laundry, cleaned my berries, and prepped some food for the week. I also dozed for about an hour, and it felt so good! My body was tired. Once Emmett was up, we headed out for a walk. Emmett wasn’t really enjoying the stroller so we let him walk on his own, so long as he held Daddy’s hand. He really liked that!

Alright, enough jibbah jabbah, on with the food (AmIRight!?)

Monday: Cheeseburgers & French Fries

Tuesday: Homemade Steak Hoagies with veggies

Wednesday: Teriyaki Salmon & Asparagus

Thursday: Locally Made Sausage & Zucchini

Friday: Homemade Pizza (carry-over)

Saturday: Leftover Pork Loin & Veggies

Breakfasta for the Week: 1 scrambled egg with bacon on a piece of romaine lettuce. I eat it like a breakfast burrito and I don’t even miss the bagel.

Lunch for the Week: GF bagel with avocado mashed onto it, with cucumbers and Smoked Salmon (this is so Yummy!) I got the idea from Peas and Crayons.

That about does it! You know the drill, I’m linking up with Laura from Mommy, Run Fast! and Jill from JillConyers.com Be sure to stop on over and check-out their menus and link-up!

Your turn!

What fun things did you do this weekend?

Any fun new eats for the week?

If you are feeling generous and want to support cancer research, donate to my ride. I’m riding 62.5 miles for Roswell Park Cancer Institute and their Ride for Roswell. Anything will help me reach my goal, and further advance cancer research. Just click HERE to donate.

Filed Under: All About Me, Family, Food & Recipes

Weekly Wishes – Celebrate

Posted on October 14 by Jillian416 • 4 Comments

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It’s time to celebrate with Weekly Wishes!

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

It has been another perfect Fall weekend in Buffalo, the weather was just beautiful, sunny and warm. Who could ask for more!? We had a pretty laid back, but awesome weekend. Saturday, Emmett and I made our weekly trip to the Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market for fruits, veggies and cheese. I got a brand new cheese flavor from First Light Farm & Creamery, it is amazing and I’ll be sharing what it is, later in the week.

We did almost have a small catastrophe, Emmett carries around this small stuffed monkey that Seamus and I bought him when he was brand new, he loves that thing and it goes with us everywhere. Well, it was in the buggy with him and at some point, without me realizing it, he threw it out. When I finally noticed it was gone, I had no idea where he’d dropped it or how long ago it had been. I had only gotten through a couple vendors before I had to turn around retrace our steps. In my head I’m running through how we’d find something similar for Emmett to hold (I mean, he sleeps with this thing and demands it before bed), when I thankfully saw it lying on the ground right on our street, completely unharmed. Phew!! Crisis averted!

Sunday was a day at home, spent tidying up around the house. I did about 7 loads of laundry because I always do everything on Sunday afternoons, we also went grocery shopping and then watched some football. The perfect Fall family day!

This week’s Weekly Wishes theme is celebrate. I chose the picture above because one of the most fun days recently, was the day we celebrated Emmett’s first birthday. We did have a party for Emmett and that was a lot of fun, but we held that a few weeks after his actual birth date, the picture above is from the actual day of birth. We had a really wonderful time that day. Seamus and I both took off from work and spent the day celebrating with Emmett. We did things that interested a 1 year old, not things that interested us. It was such a special day, and when the time of his birth rolled around, I made sure to spend a moment sharing what we had experienced at that very moment. The moment, Emmett took his first breath and made his first cry. Music to my ears! I plan on doing this yearly with him, for as long as he’ll allow it. 🙂

Back to my Weekly Wishes!

My first wish from last week was to continue to be an active participant in the Everyday Happy e-course. If you read my post yesterday, you can see that I am doing my very best to remain vested in this program. I want to be happy and I want to make an effort in that happening. So this goal is a COMPLETE success! Woohoo!

Next up was to create a “to-do” list of everything that needs to be done around the house. I failed this one, big time. 🙁 I seriously forgot that I had made this one of my goals. Grr! I’m irritated with myself for that. Guess that means I need to check-in with my Weekly Wishes post more frequently this week.

Finally, I gave myself a goal of working out 4 times and even made a schedule of what I should do on each day. This one is a partial fail, I did walk a few times with Emmett, but it was no where near the level of exertion I need to lose weight. And, now that I’m done nursing, I need to be more mindful or the weight that I lost before my wedding, will all come creeping back. Yikes!

And now for this week’s goals –

Do 1 load of laundry a night. I’m so sick of having 6 or 7 loads of laundry to do on Sundays because I was lazy and didn’t do any during the week. There’s no reason why I can’t come home from work and throw a load in the washer. This one will make my weekends less stressful, worrying about how I’m going to get everything done and still find time to relax.
Create that “to-do” list I mentioned last week. This will help with getting things done. If I have a list in front of me of tasks that need completion, when I find that I have 15 spare minutes, I can jump on one and get it checked off. Is there a better feeling than checking off an item on your to-do list?
WORKOUT! Yep, that deserves caps and it needs to happen this week. I’m sick of reporting any failures on this goal to you, so I need to hold myself accountable. I’m going to give the schedule I came up with last week a try. “Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, change clothes at work and come home and either do a wog or ride my bike, with Emmett. Wednesday, change clothes at work and ride my bike. Friday, off. Saturday and Sunday can be any form of cardio, walking, wogging, biking, just as long as I stay active.”

Okay, those my goals for the week. Help hold me accountable, folks!

Please join me in linking-up with The Nectar Collective.

Your turn!

What do you have to celebrate this week? Share in the comments below!

Check out all of my other Weekly Wishes and see what I’ve been working on.

Filed Under: Weekly Wishes

What I Ate Wednesday – #10

Posted on September 18 by Jillian416 • 4 Comments

Happy 10 week anniversary to me and What I Ate Wednesday!

Oh my, what an AMAZING day I’ve had! I have absolutely been sticking to my Weekly Wishes goals that I’ve set for myself. I have today, tomorrow and Friday off and I swore to myself (and put it on my blog), that I would NOT waste these days being a bum on the couch and I have (proudly) stuck to that.

I woke up early with Seamus, got everything ready for Emmett to go to day care and then off we went. He got there at just about his normal time, I wanted to maximize my alone time. I’ll admit to feeling slightly guilty about leaving him there, when he could have stayed home with me but I reminded myself how much I have been looking forward to these days without work and a few hours without baby. I stopped for coffee on my way home, once home again I opened my laptop to blog. It has been wonderful being able to type away without interruption! Don’t get me wrong I love Emmett so so so sooooo much, but it’s nice to have some uninterrupted time, I’m sure other momma’s understand.

I just can’t believe I have two more glorious days! I know that it probably seems like I won’t stop talking about this vacation time but I literally cannot remember the last time I’ve been home completely by myself, with no work and not pregnant. I was sitting on the porch this morning, typing away and it hit me, the last time I was home alone was last summer, however I was (very) pregnant so I didn’t really get up off the couch except to pee. And while I (really) love my job, I needed some days away. I haven’t had longer than a day away since my maternity leave last October (other than weekends), I really think I was due. This way I will go back calmer (hopefully) and refreshed and ready to take on all the craziness ahead.

Alright – Onto What I Ate Wednesday

Breakfast was a couple delicious oozy sunny side up eggs on 100% whole wheat toast with First Light Farm and Creamery Garlic and Dill Chevre, strawberries, blueberries and half an avocado. Seriously, my favorite breakfast!

It was a very busy day, I spent time on the porch blogging, watched some TV, worked out and relaxed. I was so busy that I didn’t even think about a snack and just went right into lunch around 1 PM. I had some delicious Trader Joe’s Mushroom and Black Truffle Flatbread. If you haven’t tried it, I would absolutely recommend that you go out and buy some now, it is so very delicious!

Dinner was some leftover pulled pork on a Ciabatta roll and some boiled potatoes. Certainly not the healthiest of meals, but it was so good.

Even though Emmett’s been pretty finicky with his food, he is still so darn adorable!

Emmett singing for his supper.

Your turn!

What yummy eats have you had this week?

Thank you to Peas and Crayons for hosting, What I Ate Wednesday.

Filed Under: What I Ate Wednesday

Active Weekend – Unofficial End to Summer

Posted on September 2 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

Since this weekend is considered the unofficial end of summer, I wanted to make sure I made the most of it. We were active and busy every single day and I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you had asked me a year and a half ago whether I’d want to have a jam packed active weekend, my answer would have been no. Now? I love it! I love having something to do with Emmett and Seamus, it makes the weekends so awesome!

On to what made this last weekend of summer, so great…

Emmett actually let us sleep in until quarter to 7 on Saturday, which was wonderful considering he had kept us up most of Friday night. Once he did wake up, we spent our usual time in our bed cuddling and waking up and then got up for breakfast. It was still early, and the cloudy sky had started to turn sunny, so I decided that Emmett and I would head out on a walk and end up at the Farmer’s market. It was pretty humid, but it felt good to get outside and to grab some delicious fruits and veggies from the market. This week’s spread was similar to last week’s.

I grabbed some tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, red onion (that ended up being rotten inside, yuck!), nectarines, a cinnamon roll (for Emmett and I to share) and finally some First Light Farm and Creamery Garlic and Dill Chevre (of course).

Once we were home, we attempted to put Emmett down for a nap but since he had taken a quick little nap in his stroller, he fought going down in his crib. He fought hard too! He scratched me and kept hitting me to get down, I knew he was exhausted because he kept rubbing his little eyes and yawning. Eventually I gave up trying to put him down in the crib and we went back in our bedroom and took a family nap.

Have you seen anything sweeter?

I eventually dozed off too, for a good hour and a half! I think we were all still behind on sleep from Thursday night / Friday morning. It felt good to nap and we all woke up in much better spirits! We played for a bit and then went out to grab some Five Guys for dinner, definitely not the healthiest but it sure was tasty. My favorite part about Five Guys are their fries. They fill up the fry container and then just throw (about) another small fry on top of the bag, and they’re SO good.

I made plans Saturday evening, to go out for a bike ride with a couple friends, and Emmett in his trailer, on Sunday morning. Emmett woke up bright and early at about 5:30, which gave us plenty of time since our ride wasn’t until 7:30. We ate breakfast, got dressed and then played, while we waited for my friends to show up.

We rode 5 miles down to Canalside where we stopped and got some coffee (and milk for Emmett). It was gorgeous down there! The City of Buffalo has done a really nice job of beefing up the waterfront to attract more visitors. Emmett was so cute by the water, I let him out to walk around, he was watching the birds bounce around and playing silly games with my friends. Rest assured, he had a good time!

Our ride back was decidedly more difficult than the ride down. There’s a very steep incline, that you have to go up in order to get back home. Sadly, I got off and walked at one point, I just couldn’t make it up the hill. I couldn’t peddle fast enough to keep my bike moving forward. I think if I didn’t have the trailer and Emmett, I might have been able to make it. It would have still been a challenge but definitely something I could have accomplished. Either way it was a great workout with great friends!

We got home, Seamus had just finished up his workout at the gym, so we all had a small snack, showered and then headed out for some lunch. We ended up at Milos, the food was fantastic! Seamus needed new work pants so our next stop was the Eastern Hills Mall once we were finished with lunch. We weren’t in any hurry so we walked the whole mall just to see what other stores were there (we haven’t been to this mall in years) and so Seamus could find a couple pairs of pants that weren’t astronomically expensive. He found the best deal at Sears and bought a couple different pairs.

Emmett was the best little boy. He just sat and was friendly with all the strangers we came across, smiling at them and waving. He was very very happy!

We got home and played for awhile and eventually it was time for dinner, then bath, milk, cuddles and bed. We were both so worn out!

And finally today, Labor Day! Emmett once again had us up early at 5:30, I went in and nursed him and then we went back to our room where we all cuddled and tried to get Emmett to sleep for just a bit longer, it didn’t work out. We were up and making breakfast before we knew it. That’s okay, when you’re up early, it gives you time to get everything done that you need to.

We went to Target and got some household items that we needed, and also a few items that weren’t needed. (It’s just not possible to go into Target for only what you need.) Then to Wegmans for our weekly grocery shopping, it was dead when we got there but eventually got pretty busy. I’m assuming it was because of all the kids who return to school tomorrow and Wednesday.

We got home, put the groceries away and then put Emmett down for a nap. While he slept I was able to relax, clean and work on my blog! Call me productive!

Our weekend ended with a trip to Babies R Us for new shoes for Emmett, he lost the pair we got him two weeks ago, well we have one shoe but the other is gone, it disappeared into thin air. We also hit up Kohl’s for gym shorts for Seamus and then Anderson’s for ice cream for the whole family.

We were active and busy and it felt good to enjoy the last “unofficial” weekend of summer.

Your turn!

What fun things did you do this weekend, to end your summer right?

Filed Under: Daily Updates, Family

What I Ate Wednesday – #7

Posted on August 28 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

What I Ate Wednesday, week 7!? I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for 7 weeks already.

This Wednesday, is my last Wednesday working from home, regularly. My promotion is showing itself to be one that I need to be in the office 5 days a week for. I’m really sad, not because I don’t like my job or because I resent needing to go in for 5 days but because I love spending time with Emmett, even if he’s on the floor by my feet playing and I’m working. It was a hard decision and one that I did not take lightly, but Emmett deserves to have someone pay direct attention to him, to play with him and I can’t do that when I’m working. I tried to make the most of the day, by getting in a few extra cuddles and having him sit on my lap while I worked through some emails. Next week will be hard, it will be the first week in over a year of life that I will be away from him for 5 days. I really should stop looking at the negative, it’s only making me feel worse.

Onto What I Ate Wednesday!

Breakfast today was so delicious! I had a couple slices of Wegmans 100% Whole Grain bread with First Light Farm and Creamery’s Garlic and Dill Chevre, which was topped with 2 eggs scrambed and a juicy, delicious tomato from this past weekend’s farmer’s market and also a handful of blueberries. I love healthy meals, that are delicious and hit the spot. It helps me realize that you can eat healthy and still enjoy your food.

My snack was some First Light Farm and Creamery (I swear I don’t work them, just love their dairy products) Garlic and Herb Jack cheese and a handful of Keebler Sea Salt and Olive Oil crispbread.

Lunch, oh goodness lunch was so so good! I’ve been stuck on this salad… It includes romaine hearts, fresher farmer’s market tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles, 1 hard boiled egg, an ounce of Krakus Ham, Wegmans sliced chicken and unsalted sunflower seeds. Pure yumminess! I’ve been really into Ken’s light Honey Mustard, it’s very flavorful and tangy so I don’t need a whole lot to beef up the salad. Doesn’t it look amazing? I also had some Polar Seltzer, I gave the ginger lemonade flavor a try based on a friend’s recommendation and I’m glad I did. It tastes a like a mix of 7-UP and ginger ale but without all the added sugars. Mmmm

As always, Seamus made a delicious meal for dinner. We had Buffalo salmon and Israeli couscous, with a few cut up carrots. It was so so good!

When Seamus got home from work, we went to a local gym to sign-up for a family membership, I’m super excited! It will be rare that Seamus and I go together (just based on time constraints) but it’s nice to have us both working out again.

Now we’re about to watch some TV and relax! Night!

Your turn!

What did you eat on this, What I Ate Wednesday?

Thanks to Peas and Crayons for hosting, What I Ate Wednesday, weekly!

Filed Under: What I Ate Wednesday

Wonderful Weekend – Fun as a Toddler

Posted on August 26 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

That title says it all, it was an absolutely wonderful weekend!

We didn’t have any major plans this wonderful weekend, but I did knew that I wanted to get Emmett out of the house as much as possible. The warm weekend summers are slowly but surely coming to an end and I want to do as much as possible before the first flakes flies.

Emmett woke up very early on Saturday morning (5 am) and I decided to take full advantage of that. We ate a quick breakfast and then decided to hitch up the bike trailer that my in-laws (THANK YOU!) got Emmett for his birthday. It was so awesome! The trailer is the inStep brand and is just perfect, it has room for 2 kids and little pockets on the side that Emmett can put little toys or snacks in. We put on his little helmet, got him all buckled in and away we went. I think we were riding for about 15 minutes, before I turned around and saw that he was fast asleep. So when people ask me whether I think Emmett had a good time or not, I say, heck yes he had a good time, he was comfortable enough to fall asleep. We ended up riding for 6.5 miles and then heading back home because I wanted to get to the farmer’s market before it got too busy.

We stopped home, used the bathroom and then pulled the jogging stroller out to head to the market. I was concerned that Emmett wouldn’t be very pleased with going from one enclosed buckled in seat to another, but he was just fine, in fact, he seemed really happy. Once we’re at the market, he’s always happy because he has so much to look at. He’s totally like his momma, a people watcher!

The colors of fruit and vegetables at the market were just beautiful. Check out this spread I picked up, tomatoes (so many tomatoes), cucumbers, red onion, zucchini, red potatoes and some Chevre from First Light Farm and Creamery. I barely bought any produce at the actual super market, just some lettuce because they didn’t have much at Bidwell. That makes me happy because I love supporting local and things that are fresh, never shipped, ALWAYS taste better.

After all that early morning activity, Emmett was really sleepy and I needed a shower so we headed home for both. While he slept I worked on my blog post, 5 tips for New Moms and got that nearly completed so we could have some family fun after Emmett woke up.

We headed out for some ice cream at Anderson’s and then some playground time. We always get Emmett a baby sized dish of vanilla frozen custard and he eats about a quarter of it and then daddy finishes the rest. 🙂 It really hit the spot. We headed over to a nearby playground next and we swung and swung. He loves it! He giggles and smiles the whole time and it just makes me so happy. After awhile there was another baby waiting to get on the swing so we decided to try the slide. Check out this picture, is it not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?!

Finally, we ended up in a ginormous sandbox, which Emmett loved. We didn’t stay long because we had forgotten sunblock and didn’t want Emmett’s skin to be damaged, but he thoroughly enjoyed himself. He even whined a little bit when we forced him to go, he’s turning into such a little boy, no longer our tiny baby, in fact he turned 13 months on Friday. (OMG!)

Sunday was another early wake-up for Emmett, 5 am again. I normally don’t mind getting up that early but I was really feeling sluggish Sunday morning. Didn’t matter though, we sat down to some breakfast, ate, then I showered and we headed out to the grocery store. I really like taking Emmett to the store, it gets him out of the house and able to experience something new and different each week. Since it wasn’t even 9 am yet, it was pretty quiet at Wegmans and our trip went quickly.

We unloaded and put away the groceries and then it was time to head to Grammy and Grandpy’s house! We were heading down there to celebrate a belated birthday with my dad (it was back on 8/13/13). Nothing special, just some playing, a light lunch and cuddles with Grandpa. We did have some cake but Emmett wasn’t interested, he was having more fun playing with all the new and different toys that live at Grammy’s house.

We headed back to Buffalo around 3:30 and were home in time for dinner as a family. We were all feeling lazy, after a busy weekend so we decided on some pizza… I think that Emmett thoroughly enjoyed himself!

Shortly after that, came bath time and bed. Emmett was going between super cuddly to meltdown mode, when that happens we know it’s nearing bedtime.

We had such an amazing weekend, I didn’t want it to end!

And an announcement!

The winner of the The Magic Path of Yoga Giveaway is:

Commenter number 12, Betsy G! Congratulations! Please use the Contact Me link above and send me the address you’d like the game shipped to.

Your turn!

What fun things did you fill your weekend with?

Filed Under: Daily Updates, Family

What I Ate Wednesday – #3

Posted on July 31 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

Has it really already been 3 weeks!? Time is moving WAY too quickly, it can slow down any moment now. Thanks.

Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled What I Ate Wednesday!

Emmett and I got up and started eating early today, well earlier than we usually do on a Wednesday. Since I don’t need to shower before I start working, I’ll typically get our breakfasts ready and sit down to my work computer and get some stuff done while we eat. Today’s breakfast for me, was rolled oats, with First Light Farm and Creamery (I swear I have no affiliation with them, I just seriously love their stuff) plain yogurt, strawberries, blueberries and cinnamon.

It was just alright. I love oatmeal and I love this yogurt but together they didn’t go so well. Maybe if I had added some honey or cinnamon directly to the oatmeal, instead of just sprinkled on top, it would have made a difference. Either way, it was so filling!

For the remainder of the day, until dinner, I just did snacks. I wasn’t in the mood for a big, heavy or warm meals. My first snack was the rest of my Wegmans guacamole and some Trader Joe’s cut organic carrots.

That stuff is seriously good! I’ve been eating it on top of my salad in place of salad dressing and it’s been hitting the spot. If you live near a Wegmans and haven’t tried their guac, I highly recommend that you do!

Oh and with that, I also had a cup of coffee. I know that sounds disgusting but I didn’t have them together, it was one right after the other, so completely NOT disgusting

My next snack happened to occur right around lunch time, so I got Emmett’s meal together and then mine and we sat down with the grub. I had blueberry and cinnamon goats cheese with some Wasa crackers and a delicious locally grown peach. Mmmm

The picture doesn’t do the goat cheese justice, it is really really delicious but I think you’ll just have to trust me on this one. Remember, looks can be deceiving!

And here’s that lovely peach I mentioned earlier…

Dinner was nothing fancy, typically week night dinners aren’t. Evenings are just such a whirlwind of spending time with Emmett, making dinner, doing laundry, eating dinner, bath and finally bed, so we try and keep it on the easy side. Tonight’s meal consisted of a Trader Joe’s chicken burger on a mini-Kaiser bun, french fries and some blueberries (not pictured).