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Daily Rebecca

dishing up a little bit of everything

A Day In My Life

Shortly after Grace was born, I started reading Ashley’s blog The Domestic Wannabe.  I got hooked pretty fast because Ashley is adorable, she has great taste, her daughter Ryann is just a little older than Grace and her husband Christopher was in Medical School (he’s now doing his residency).

Getting to stalk watch someone who is at a similar phase of life has been really neat :)  A few months ago she started a weight loss journey and I’ve been so inspired by her success!  She’s a full blown runner now who’s eating healthy and looks fantastic.

On Wednesdays Ashley features A Day in the Life series which peeks into the lives of various other mommy bloggers.  It’s always fun to see how other women spend their busy days.  I was beyond thrilled when she asked if anyone was interested in participating in her series and I was even more excited when she scheduled me for today!

Three days per week I work half the day from home and the other half at the office.  The other two days are spent working from home the whole day.  Here’s a peek at one of my split days!
7:30 – The alarm goes off and, in a half conscious state, I try to figure out what day it is.  When I realize it’s not Saturday I groan and roll over.  “Just 5 more minutes” I say, but my husband Andy is already at work.  He works part time at an assisted living center, passing medication to elderly folks with memory loss.  All the old ladies flirt with him, but I know who he comes home to ;)

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Full Day in the Life

7:48 – I’ve already snoozed twice and am about to lose any time I might have to get going before Grace wakes up, so I muster up the motivation to get up and start some coffee.
The mug says, “I’ve been on a few diets because I can’t get enough to eat on just one!”
8:00 – I’ve brewed a single cup of french press coffee for myself.  I bought the french press for Andy at Christmas and the coffee is so unbelievably delicious that we put our old Bunn coffeemaker in the basement and haven’t looked back.  A splash of hazelnut creamer and I’m good to go.  (except I’m dying for a piece of that triple-layer chocolate cake you see on the counter, but I somehow manage to resist!)  I flip open my laptop to see if I have any urgent emails and I hear Grace starting to stir.
She’s happy even though she’s sporting a black eye from falling on her plastic shapes container :(
8:15 – Grace is up and her diaper is changed.  She generally wakes up happy and hungry so I get her breakfast ready.  Today it’s oatmeal with banana and a sippy cup of whole, organic milk.  Coffee and whole wheat toast with peanut butter for me.  I’ve been on a weight loss journey that’s pretty slow going, so I’m trying to stick to my calorie budget today. 
8:35 – Breakfast is over and Grace is cleaned up.  She’s been a finicky eater lately, but breakfast is usually a home run which I’m so thankful for!  Now she starts pulling all of her toys out to play while I get ready for work.  Because I’m working from home this morning I don’t have to commute until later so I take a few minutes before 9:00 to pull myself together.  I showered yesterday, so I really just need to freshen up my hair and do my makeup.  I tend to throw my clothes on right before I leave so that I don’t get hit with random juice splatters or sticky snack fingers :)
9:00 – The work day has officially begun.  Grace plays in the living room (which is also my home office) and I check all the emails that have come in since last night (how are there 33??) and start planning out my day. 

“Fingers in” means she’s sleepy.  Obviously she’d rather read than play with my iPhone.  Good girl!


10:30 – With the exception of a few tearful moments due to tripping or not being able to reach, grab, push or pull something, Grace has been playing in the living room, hallway and her bedroom while I work.  Our house is pretty small, so I can pretty much see her the whole time :)  Her fingers are in her mouth now (her substitution for a paci) so I know she’s tired.  I check her diaper and lay her down for her morning nap or “rest time” as it sometimes ends up being.  I keep plugging away with work and start prepping to make all my phone calls while she’s asleep.
11:15 – It took her a while, but Grace is finally napping.  I make a bunch of phone calls (most people answer today, yay! — Leaving voicemails and having them call me back later when Grace is being loud is not ideal!)
12:20 – Grace starts to stir from her nap and I’ve got a few more minutes till Andy gets home for work.  I get Grace out of bed, move my laptop to the dining room and get her set up with lunch.  Almond butter and strawberry jam sandwich and avocado for her and they’re ordering a small greek salad for me at the office.  My boss buys lunch for everyone when he’s in the office (generous much?!) so I keep plugging away at the report I’m reviewing while Grace eats.
She loves her avocado!  That’s the highchair I used when I was a baby :)

12:30 – Andy is home from work and takes over lunch duty while I wrap up my current project, throw on my work outfit and head out the door.  He takes great care of Grace while I’m at the office and it’s so nice knowing she’s getting quality time with him before he starts med school next year and gets really busy.

I’ve lost a few pounds and boy are these pants looking baggy! 

12:40 – I’m on the road.  It takes just under 20 minutes to get to the office from my house.  Most people are at lunch so I don’t miss much while I’m getting from point A to B.

1:00 – I’m at my desk eating my salad while I work.  My co-workers are fun people, so the banter in the office is usually entertaining.  We work in the banking industry so things get tense and deadlines loom, but we manage to have fun sometimes too!

5:50 – One of the best times in my day.  Coming home to my sweet hubby and baby girl waiting for me.

6:00 – Time to make dinner.  Tonight is Roasted Veggie Quinoa and I can’t wait for it to be ready because I’m hungry!

7:45 – Grace’s bedtime.  We cuddle, read a few books, give her a sippy of milk and then lay her down.  She’s a really good sleeper and didn’t nap this afternoon so she’s out without even a peep.

8:00 – Andy and I are hopelessly addicted, so we watch a few episodes of Mad Men on Netflix and munch on some stove-popped popcorn.  Butter and salt for him and salt and lime for me.  Yum!

We have to watch it on the laptop because our TV is on the fritz.  Repair man coming this week!

11:00 – We squeezed in one more episode than we should have, so it’s later than usual when we head to bed to read before falling asleep and starting again tomorrow!

Thanks to Ashley for letting me share my day with all of you!

______________________________

1. What is the most surprising thing about being a mom?
How it totally changed my perspective on everything.  Having the perfect house, body or wardrobe doesn’t seem important anymore.  Being joyful, generous and content are what really matter to me instead of all the superficial crap I used to think about.

Also, being so enamored with everything about my little girl.  I can literally watch her do anything for long stretches without getting bored.

2. What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be moms?
Go easy on yourself.  It’s going to take time to figure our your baby and get into a routine.  Don’t worry about what other people think and trust your instincts.  Also, read Baby Wise.  It gave me the greatest gift ever: a happy baby who was a good sleeper.  Take it with a grain of salt, but it works!

3. What are your top 3 baby products?
I loved our video monitor.  I was cheap and registered for the bedside monitor instead of the handheld, and really regretted that, but being able to see her any time was great!

Colic Calm saved my sanity when Grace was inexplicably fussy in the early days.  It’s natural and safe and not full of sugar so I swear by this particular brand of gripe water.

Our nursery glider.  I hate the look of these things and prefer the “armchair looking” nursery chairs.  But a wise mom told me I’d love the glider in the middle of the night because it was tall enough to support my neck and the rocking was effortless.  She was right.  I still think it’s ugly, but I love it.

Sauteed Chicken with Tomato Pan Sauce and Garlic Pilaf

Oh boy was this dinner good!

After a long streak of recipes that were just “meh” I was starting to get pretty irritated.  I love to cook and consider it the perfect way to wind down after a long workday, but the real payoff is getting to eat it!

I made a Black Bean Spinach Pizza that I had high hopes for but didn’t love.

Even lots of extra cheese didn’t make this one a winner :(

Then there was the Grilled Corn Chipotle Soup that had great potential but would have needed to simmer 2-3x longer than the recipe suggested in order to properly thicken up.

I made a simple Greek Chicken Stew that was ok, but nothing to write home about either.

Tangy and fresh, this dinner was ok and I might even make it again if I have garbanzo beans and tomatoes in the pantry.

I’ve linked up to the recipes in case you want to take a stab at them or even try to improve on them, but ultimately I didn’t love them, so I didn’t want to highlight them on the ol’ blog.

I want to only share recipes with you if I really like them, and these were not “Rebecca Approved” so onto the next!

The Tomato Pan Sauce recipe didn’t sound overly amazing when I first read it, but I took Annie’s word for it when she said it was great.  I’ve loved just about every one of her recipes and she referenced several other bloggers who also recommended it, so I went for it.

Boy am I glad that I did!

Preparing the tomatoes as instructed was a little nerve racking.  The pan gets really hot and the tomatoes start making lots of noise and turning black.  I stuck with it though and followed the directions only shaving 1 minute off the cook time to compensate for differences in stove temps.

The incredible flavor that develops when these little grape tomatoes freak out and burst open is so worth it!  The herb butter used to cook the chicken and richen (That’s a word…I just made it up) the sauce is out of this world.

I added spinach to the sauce and we liked it so much that I’d definitely do it again next time.

The other star of the show was the garlic pilaf.  I was pressed for time so I didn’t follow Annie’s recipe (baking the rice twice), I just prepared the rice on the stove with chicken stock instead of water and added a few pats of butter and cloves of garlic (pressed).

The aroma of the garlic pilaf make me salivate for hours after dinner since it hung in the air all evening.

Do yourself a favor and make this recipe.  Pour yourself a nice glass of wine (we had Pinot Noir) and savor each bite.  You’ll be glad you did.


Print
Sauteed Chicken with Tomato Pan Sauce and Garlic Pilaf
Author: 
Recipe type: Main Dish/Chicken
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • FOR THE CHICKEN
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and halved (4 halves total)
  • Salt and pepper
  • ¾ cup flour
  • FOR THE SAUCE
  • 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1½ tsp. fresh oregano, minced
  • ½ tsp. sweet paprika
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tsp. olive oil
  • 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes (about 12 oz.)
  • ⅓ cup dry white wine or chicken broth (I used Pinot Noir - red wine)
  • 2-3 cups fresh baby spinach (long stems removed)
  • FOR THE RICE
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1 cup long-grain white rice
  • 2 cups chicken broth
Instructions
  1. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour, shaking off the excess. Set aside.
  2. Start cooking the rice by adding the chicken stock, butter and garlic to a saucepan over high heat. Add the rice, stir a few times to evenly mix with the broth, butter and garlic and then bring to a boil. Boil for one minute uncovered, then reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Do not remove the cover before the 20 minutes is up!
  3. In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic, oregano, and paprika. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the oregano butter with the olive oil. Place the chicken breast halves in the skillet and cook until golden brown on each side and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and set aside.
  4. Increase the heat to high and add the tomatoes to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to char and burst, about 5 minutes (I did 4 minutes). Turn the heat down to medium and add the remaining butter mixture to the pan. Crush the tomatoes slightly to release their juices and continue stirring until the butter is melted. Add the wine to the pan, scraping the bottom to loosen the browned bits. Cook for a minute more until well blended. Add the baby spinach and toss gently till the spinach is wilted.
  5. Slice the chicken and transfer it to serving plates on top of the garlic pilaf. Top with the pan sauce and enjoy!
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