Friday Things
1. The boys have been great lately! Dominic is talking up a STORMโฆ I canโt believe how much he repeats and remembers. When he says something and I know what it is, his eyes light up and he looks SO proud of himself. Itโs so fun to see him and Joseph play and โtalkโ to one another.
Joseph continues to grow into a little boy before my eyes. He comes home from school singing entire songs that they learned and is just so sweet and so much fun to be around. I adore these two so, so much. Not to paint everything with rose-colored glassesโฆ our days are crazy, thereโs fighting over toys and crying, there are timeouts, but itโs all still the very best life. Being a mom is the best thing Iโve ever done.
2. And sweet Judith! Sheโs fitting in so well here at our house. She and Duke have become great friendsโฆ itโs so wonderful to see Duke trotting around the house with toys in his mouth, taunting her to come play. Itโs been so long since heโs been playful, and Iโm so glad we were able to give him a friend. Sheโs great with Duke and the boys and just a wonderful dog in general.
She does share Einsteinโs old habit of being utterly food-obsessed, so Iโve had to re-train myself to push everything to the back of the counters (HA, I got complacent with Duke โ the boys could put bowls with snacks on the coffee table and heโd never touch them!), but other than that, sheโs been a dream. Iโve been sharing a lot of pictures and videos on Instagram stories, so if you want to see more than I share here on Fridays, be sure to follow me on Instagram!
3. Confession: Iโve seen references to the Keto diet all over Pinterest and, to a lesser extent, Facebook, and I have no idea what it is. Who wants to fill me in?
4. Important! If you own the Instant Pot Gem 65 8-in-1 Multicooker, be aware that there is a recall. More details HERE.
5. I have always been totally enamored with the Subaru dog commercials (shocking, I know), and I love this outtake reel!
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address, and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
Making commercials with dogs can be ruff. But also pretty adorable. #DogApproved #BarkleysBehindTheScenes pic.twitter.com/zN4kEbTtxp
- Subaru (@subaru_usa) February 16, 2018
6. When I asked about requests for Easter recipes yesterday, quite a few of you asked if I had an Italian Easter bread recipeโฆ good news! I do! AND I just added a video for it, as well :) You can find it here >> Italian Easter Bread.
7. I went to Costco for the first time in what felt like AGES yesterday, and I picked up tons and tons of stuff, including an impulse purchase of these milk chocolate sea salt carameals, which was an excellent decision on my part, if I do say so myself.
8. Absolutely dying over these copycat Levain Bakery dark chocolate chocolate chip cookies โ must make!
9. We loved the latest episode of Homeland on Sunday, finally! After two rather ho-hum episodes, I was excited to see it was picking up a little bit. Weโre not really watching anything else right now!
10. TGIF! I hope you enjoy a sunny weekend with a buddy :)
Love reading your posts! I just got a Costco membership and would love to hear your input on โmust haveโ items!
Hi Erin! I buy a lot of the things that we go through quickly on a regular basis, most of which are snacks for the boys โ Pretzel Factory pretzels, Annieโs fruit snacks, goldfish single serve packs (easy to throw in my purse or a diaper bag), graham crackers, eggs, Romano cheese, dishwasher tabs and Jetdry, Utz honey wheat pretzel twists (those are for me, ha!), Cheerios, raisins, other dried fruit as needed, nutsโฆ thatโs all I can think of off the top of my head, but itโs fantastic for anything you go through quickly and you have the space to store in bulk!
Nice to have a girl in the house :). Judith is a beautiful girl. What a find! ย Joseph looks sooo grown up. Btw, if I run into you at the local food store I will prob chat you up like an old friend. My girls keep saying โis this one of your friend Michelleโs recipes??โ I tell them about your recipes and your dogs like I know you. They tease me mercilessly โบ๏ธ
My dad just started a Keto diet since he was told by the doctor that he had to lose 50 lbs. ย As others have said, the idea is to eat extremely low carb, less than 25 grams a day, in order for your body to go into ketosis meaning that it burns your fat stores instead of carbs you eat. ย Since most foods have some carbs, to achieve this, youโre basically cutting out all bread, sugar, root veggies, and grain. ย If you like meat and heathy fats, it can be a healthy lifestyle people can stick with but it is very extreme. ย There is actually some research behind it that shows people on the diet not only lose weight but their bad numbers go down and good numbers go up. ย It is amazing how your body can heal itself when you lose weight!
Also, duke and Judith are so cute together. ย Duke has looked so apathetic since he lost his brother so it is nice to see him enjoying life again! ย Hopefully, he will be a good influence on her, but watch out because it often seems like the naughty one becomes the teacher!
I love the last picture of Duke and Judith! He looks like heโs telling her about the yard and
Einstein.
Thank you Kathie, and I love your interpretation of their conversation! xo
You should add โ7 Secondsโ on Netflix to your viewing list..intensely good!
Thanks for the recommendation Jyll!
I am so happy to hear Judith has settled in and that Duke has a new best friend. I have no doubt the past year was hard for him. He seemed to always have a sadness in his expression whenever you posted a photo. It must be so confusing for an animal to lose a โsiblingโ. I do believe animals mourn but clearly the best remedy for Duke is Judith. I wish the two of them many happy, healthy ย play filled years together.
I didnโt had a chance to comment yesterday. I wold love a recipe for a traditional Italian Ricotta Easter Pie. A few years back, I took a, Italian food tour of the North End, in Boston. It was on a Saturday a few weeks prior to Easter and few bakeries we visited all offered the Ricotta Pie. The tour guide told us that is it a tradition Italian Easter dessert. I purchased one to take home and it was deliciousโฆnot too sweet but rich and creamy.
Hi Nancy, I havenโt had a ricotta pie before, but Iโm totally intrigued and will do some research!
what a neat person you areโwith a baby girl on the wayโsoonโyou STILL adopt a new dog. You are a such an example of love to your kids, animals and familyโyour blog is my favorite not only for the recipes, but I so look forward to Friday Things to get to see a new doggie picture, and picture of your babies. Itโs the only one that I read consistentlyโLove the pictures of your boys, and the dogs look like they were meant for eachother. Duke looks like a new man lol. Love it.
Aww thank you so much, Macy, you are so sweet. And Duke definitely is acting like a new man, ha!
We have a dog that is you and food obsessed. We bought one of the of the hand held ultrasonic things for barking (We have four dogs that would go crazy every time the door bell rang it worked miracles with them) We also use it for the food and toy issues. It really works. Sit some food on your coffee table and of Judith tries for it click it and say no. She will get the message.
Thanks for the suggestion!
I think that many of the recipe titles out there use the words โketoโ and โlow-carbโ interchangeably. Instead of sticking to one specific diet like south beach or Atkins, you can just eat low carb in general. For anyone interested, I do think there is a benefit to reading some background before starting anything like that so that you understand how the body changes gears to burn fat instead of carbs (as Linda Jean mentioned). ย It is very interesting and provides a lot of benefits to many people. For me, itโs a balance โ there must always be a place for delicious baked goods โ and I thank you for providing lots of inspiration and successful recipes!
So heartwarming your recent adoption of Judith I am assuming she was from a shelter so glad she is fitting in and I too love the commercial Subaru you have such a big heartโฆ..God Bless you and you family.
Thank you so much Enid! She didnโt come from a shelter, but did not make it through a long therapy training course and needed a home :)
Keto-diet! Mmmm, probably not good while pregnantโฆlow carb, high protein, high fat. It pushes the body into โketosisโ, which is a metabolic state that kinda reverses the way your body burns fat for fuel. Iโve done it, itโs a pain in the butt, youโre counting a lot of โmacrosโ, but hereโs a good primer for you: https://ketodash.com/ketogenic-diet
Thanks Wendy! Just to clarify, I wasnโt at all interested in starting a diet, I just had no idea what it was about!
I donโt know if youโve ever checked out modernhoney.com, but this food blogger has multiple Levain Bakery copycat recipes and they are TO DIE FOR! Check it out sometime! Also, do you do Easter baskets for your boys? My hubby and I are expecting our first little boy soon and I would love some Easter basket ideas if you have any. Thanks for sharing!
Oooh thank you Brittany! I will definitely check out those copycat recipe, thanks for the rec!
We do baskets for the boys! In the past (depending on age), weโve done pacifiers, sticker books, board book, bubbles, plastic eggs filled with puffs, yogurt melts, Annieโs cheesy animal crackers, little stuffed bunny, infant toy, Sun Cups (Joseph is allergic to nuts), fruit snacks, etc. I hope that helps with some ideas! :) And congratulations, best wishes for an easy and healthy delivery!
You are the anti-keto! ย I am slowly moving to keto eating but I am a devoted follower of your blog โ itโs quite the conundrum because when I read what you are making, I just want to go all out and make that too! ย Fortunately, I have others to cook for who do not share my keto interests. ย To sum up keto quickly, eat fats, eat protein, drop the carbs, especially the processed carbs, but beans and grains, too. ย When Iโve really watched and eaten keto, Iโve dropped weight quickly. ย Itโs about using the fat on our bodies as fuel, not carbs (or excess protein) that weโre taking in. ย I do feel better, am less hungry and have had better cholesterol numbers when I manage to stay faithful.ย
Sweet boys! If your looking for something good to watch on T V this weekend check out Seven Seconds on Netflix. ย Have a great weekend!
Thanks for the recommendation!
Your boys are growing up so fast! They are both so handsome! Judith is adorable too! Luck for her and your family that you found her!!!
Aww thank you Donna! And I canโt believe how quickly theyโre growing, either, crazy!