Quick snacks that saved my sanity in the first weeks with a newborn

Our son, Maks, is 5 weeks old tomorrow and I couldn't be happier for my little bundle of joy. But being a new parent is not a piece of cake. 

And speaking of cake, here is a challenge I have not foreseen when preparing for my maternity leave: eating regular and healthy meals! 

I mean sure, I had prepared frozen dinners. And they are great for the evenings when your partner is home and can help.

But during the day, when you are all alone with your newborn who demands ALL of your attention and hands, making and eating a full meal (and by that I mean something as advanced as a sandwich) is a real challenge. 

So when you don't sleep enough and start your day at 5 or 6 am, use a lot of your body resources on breastfeeding and caring for your baby but your breakfast doesn't start til 10 and doesn't end til 12, having a quick snack solution is a life saver. 

Here are a couple of the recipes/ideas that really came in handy in the past few weeks:

Oatmeal cookies - recipe from my awesome Sister.

These cookies take 5 minutes to mix and 15 minutes to bake. They are packed with healthy calories to keep you going for a while. And you can easily control how sweet they are and "spice" them to your liking. They will also keep 4-5 days before starting to get a bit dry.

Ingredients (makes 12-15 cookies):

1. 2 bananas - mashed
2. About 12 spoons of oatmeal
3. A table spoon of flour
4. A teaspoon of honey (if the bananas are ripe and sweet, you can skip that)
5. 1 egg
6. A pinch of baking powder

Mix this basic ingredients in a bowl and then add anything you might like: dried or fresh fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, coconut, peanut butter, cinnamon etc. My personal favorite is fresh blueberries (although frozen would probably be as good), dried cranberries and a bit of dark chocolate chips.

Bake cookies for about 15 minutes in 200C hot air. And enjoy!

Pre-cut fruits and veggies

When you have time during an evening or weekend, peel and cut fruits and vegetables so you can easily grab a healthy snack when you are passing by the fridge.

Peeled carrots hold well in a cup filled with water. Bell peppers, watermelon, apples, radishes...cleaned and cut in small pieces are fantastic. If they are as easy to eat as a piece of chocolate, you are more likely to make the right choice.

I also like to pre-make a salad so I can eat it during the week for lunches. If you don't add any dressing, it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days without going bad.

Fried chicken and fish

Slice chicken or fish filet and fry it on the pan or bake in the oven, the way you like it (in breading, herbs or without anything). Keep it in the fridge and add to your salad or just eat as a quick snack during the week.

Don't forget the water!

It is easy to dehydrate and water is soooo important. The best way for me to remember about water is to have a couple of flasks standing around the house. This way, wherever I am, I can always quickly grab a couple of swallows - and the bottles remind me to do it.

3 Favorite Recipes for this Autumn

Each season of the year has a different taste for me and a different set of favorite recipes. I make them every year, sometimes with variations.

Spring tastes of young vegetables and Easter cakes, Summer of rhubarb pies, cherries and butter beans, and Winter has all those amazing spiced cookies, mulled wine and the Polish "ryba w galarecie" (fish in jelly - way better than it sounds).

But Autumn, oh Autumn! I think taste-wise it is my favorite season of the year. The spices, the pumpkins, the squashes, the plums, the apples...ohhhh boy.

Et billede slået op af Maria Lind (@mariafurya) den 23. Aug 2015 kl. 5:58 PDT

These year, my favorite Autumn recipe collection has been extended by the following 3 recipes:

1. Pumpkin Truffles

A yummy vegan dessert that's an essence of Autumn. I added peanut butter to my version (what doesn't taste better with peanut butter, eh?).

Et billede slået op af Maria Lind (@mariafurya) den 14. Nov 2015 kl. 2:28 PST

2. Butternut Squash Muffins

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe from his 30-minutes-meals series. They take me a bit longer to make but they are super easy and a big hit with friends and family.

Et billede slået op af Maria Lind (@mariafurya) den 25. Okt 2015 kl. 7:05 PDT

3. Roasted Cauliflower, Leak and Carrot Soup

Delicious, hearty and warming creamy soup for the cold Autumn evenings. Perfect for the vegetarians but if you are meat inclined, add some crunch bacon, shrimps or even chicken - yummy!

And as a bonus, I have started baking my sourdough bread again. I heart Autumn! 

Holiday Craft Specials

Last week we, together with my husband's family, took a boat cruise on the Baltic Sea. The itinerary was Stockholm (Sweden), Helsinki (Finland), St. Petersburg (Russia), Riga (Latvia), Gdańsk (Poland), Visby (Sweden), and back to Stockholm. And even with a so-so weather and the fact that we couldn't go to St. Petersburg due to a storm, the cruise was brilliant.

Vision of the Seas, our ship, was magnificent. We were lavished with great service, delicious colorful drinks, good music and most of all tones of  food!

 And the trips we took in the ports-of-call were very existing. Whenever I travel somewhere, I make a point of learning about the local crafts and trying the local food. On this trip the food highlights are from Helsinki, where I got to try reindeer meat, lingonberry wine and rainbow trout soup. These are all local delicacies and I am much in love, especially with the meat. 

Also from Helsinki comes this most awesome, life-size, police car crocheted and knitted in yarn. It is on display in Kiasma, Helsinki's modern art museum and it took the artist (whose name I sadly forgot to note down) 3 years to complete!

And last but not least, in the beautiful Riga, Latvia we stumbled upon this lovely little shop called Hobby Wool.

In the shop I got myself a book about Latvian knitting craft from the Rucava region by Aija Jansone. Latvia has a long tradition of knitting socks, gloves and mittens. These hand-knitted items were used both in every day life and as special gifts during weddings and funerals. Elderly people from this region would knit or order knitting of ornamented mittens in preparation for their own departure. 

And even better than that, I also got a DIY kit for Latvian style knitted mittens. Now, that is going to be challenging due to a sophisticated pattern...and the fact that my knitting skills are very basic...

Have a great summer and I'll get back to you when I knit like a Latvian! 

Fancy Eating

So my life has been totally upside down the last month and I had (and still have) to deal with a lot of stress. For me one of the day to do that is to spend quality time preparing and eating good food. Taking this extra few minutes preparing a delicious and beautiful lunch gives me the chance to occupy my mind...and just do something that makes me happy. Not to mention the joy of actually sitting down and eating that.

So today I had French bread with olive oil, Italian ham, goat cheese and cocktail tomatoes on a bed of rocket leaves. And for desert I had delicious plums (did I mention I really like autumn?).

Do pay attention to my new table napkins I recently finished making. I made only two but I am thinking of adding 2 more to the set.

I know the colors are a bit off but there is really very little sun here nowadays and I don't have professional equipment for taking photos in poor lighting.

Rhubarb!

I love seasonal fruits and veges. There is truly nothing more enjoyable on Saturday morning than a visit to farmers' market. I love browsing around the stalls, smelling fresh, earthy smells of roots and herbs, and picking up what's in season.


May is the season for asparagus and rhubarb. And boy, do I love rhubarb! So many good things you can make with these sweet and sour sticks.
Yesterday night, I turned the fresh batch of rhubarb into this delicious rhubarb sour cream cake. It is a very easy to follow recipe, but the outcome is orgasmic. The cake gets better on the second day, if kept in the fridge. And I strongly recommend you serve the cake with whipped cream, vanilla ice-cream, or sour cream and vanilla sugar. Mhhmmmm...