Goodbye, March! I hope you and yours have fun plans for Easter weekend and the impending warm weather. We’re planning our garden, gearing up for family in town and spring sports. The zoo will have baby animals at their farm soon and our pool pass is purchased for summer!
Whilst we wait for farmers’ markets and sunshine, I’m soaking up the last bit of winter with homemade comfort food, indoor home projects and a bit of reality TV to pass the time. Here are my March 2024 favorites 🙂
Favorite recipes: A couple of weeks ago, I was craving a real comfort food meal without the price tag/added nasties so we made paleo baked chicken tenders and parmesan smashed potatoes (and steamed broccoli). Heavenly.
Full disclosure, I find the smashed potatoes to be way too salty as they are, so I cut the salt to 1/4 tsp. I also peel the potatoes and add 1/3-1/2 cup of heavy cream because Eric prefers them to be creamier. Not exactly a light dish, but satisfying.
Favorite breakfasts: Peanut butter granola or banana bread granola with yogurt and blueberries or apple crumble cake (kids’ favorite). We ate SO much oatmeal this winter that we’re all totally bored of it. So I’m experimenting with other breakfasts at the moment.
Favorite beauty tool: A cheap pumice stone from Target. Pumice stone + foot massage with lotion + trimming my nails = the feeling of getting a pedicure, but for $0 at home 🙂 I’d throw in nail polish but we’re far away from sandal season here still.
Favorite kid purchase: The UppaBaby G-Luxe Stroller now that we only have the need for one stroller spot. Extremely light (16lb), folds up small and pushing it feels weightless. We’re keeping our Mockingbird single-to-double because we hope for more kids in the future 😀 but right now, it’s nice to have something that’s just the right size for our needs.
Favorite read: I picked up 10% Human again after setting it down for a couple of years. It’s all about the microbiome, how our current lifestyle disrupts it and the effects of that. One of the chapters overlaps with my college senior thesis (obviously much expanded) about how broad-spectrum antibiotics have long-term impacts on gut microbial composition. I started my thesis only a couple of months after the book came out, although I didn’t know about it at the time–I’ve even read some of the studies the author cites in detail. It’s literature-heavy but so fascinating!
Of course I said all this to Eric and he told me I was a nerd. Yep… once a nerd, always a nerd 🙂
Favorite TV show: Eric and I have been watching old episodes of Bondi Rescue (you can find it on YouTube) for something light and fun lately. All the 2000s fashion and non-politically-correct behavior have been giving me nostalgia, haha. It’s fun to pretend you’re on the beach in Australia when there’s still snow on the ground.
What are your March 2024 favorites? Happy Easter!
xx Claire