Mama in the City

What stresses you out in your day to day life? Is it multiple little things or single big huge things that give you stress? For me, I find having to make dinner for my family each day is a stress in my day to day life. Recently I was able to subtract cooking dinner from my daily life and I noticed how much of a weight was lifted. Since I'm currently visiting my family in Victoria it means no day to day cooking for me. I'm lucky as my parents generally take care of fixing dinner for our brood. Whether it is outside BBQ's or ordering in pizza or preparing a traditional ham dinner. What a relief it is to me not to have to squeeze in cooking dinner! I seem to be able to handle the very early wake ups with my baby (5:30 AM today) and the constant chaos of hanging around the under 10 crowd when dinner duty is removed.


Yes, I admit it. I hate cooking dinner each night.

While I do enjoy doing some cooking, I don't actually enjoy having Josie crying at my feet for attention while I'm trying to sauté onions. I also happen to have quite the foodie husband and a mediocre dinner doesn't really fly with him (no pre-bought Costco pasta dishes here). So, churning out dinner has become quite the chore for me and somehow thinking about cooking dinner seeps into parts of my whole day. You've got the meal planning, grocery shopping with the kids, cooking with the kids around, yada yada. What do you mean you want dinner again? I just made it yesterday!

My other issue with making dinner is that it falls right during our witching hour. When your youngest wakes at 5:30 AM, 12 hours later she is tired and done. Even if I crank things up and start dinner before 4 PM there is still a lot of chasing wee ones out of the kitchen and crying. Oh the crying. I definitely have increased my kitchen repertoire during my maternity leave and can now come up with at least something healthy and delicious to cook. It is just the actual act of cooking from scratch that gives me stress. Maybe I need to drink more wine while I cook?

The dinner that I can guarantee to be a family hit with everyone chowing down with gusto and satisfaction is spaghetti and meatballs. Sounds easy peasy but not when cooking for my food loving man. The meatballs are a mix of pork/beef/veal and the sauce is absolutely homemade. The good thing about making this dinner is that it is easy for me to double up and throw an extra dinner in the freezer.



My tomato sauce is pretty tasty and I will admit my husband was right about homemade sauce being that much more delicious than any store bought jarred sauce. Plus the whole apartment smells so fragrant and rich when I've got the sauce reducing on my stove top. I just wish it making dinner was as easy as ordering in sushi.

Did you know that the #1 reason for married couples to divorce is because they fall out of love? Apparently we are all too busy multitasking that we lose sight of the things that make our heart beat a bit faster.

The flip side to this is to obviously keep on falling in love with your spouse. For me, nothing makes me feel as reconnected with my husband than when we go on a dinner date. I love getting dressed up with purpose and having dinner out, it is one of my favourite things to do with my husband.

Last night we hit up a 'new-to-us' spot in Gastown called L'Abbatoir; a very fresh and funky spot with a great cocktail menu. I chose 2 perfectly mixed cocktails to enjoy while we relaxed and talked and giggled. The meal we had following these delicious cocktails was perfect too and we left so satisfied and in love.



Clover Club Refashioned ~ Gin, fresh raspberries, sweet vermouth, mint, fresh lemon



El Camino~ Watermelon-infused tequila, Campari, fresh lime, grapefruit pop, salt

What makes you feel fresh and in love? Do you love going out on dinner dates as much as I do? I'm seriously already looking forward to the next one and very thankful that our babysitter (my sis!) has the summer off from work. It's the summer of dinner dates I tell you! Which means it's also the summer of love.

Last week my college friend Heidi came for a visit with her 2 little girls. What a delight when she showed up with a huge box of freshly plucked garden treats from her farm in the Fraser Valley, Simple Roots Farm.

I was most excited when I saw sweet little purple potatoes in the box. They instantly reminded me of a delicious brunch I had last year on a sunny patio in Kauai, Hawaii; the Moloka'i Sweet Potato Hash with purple potatoes, pulled pork and topped off with two eggs. It was delicious!

Of course I automatically put the request in to my husband to try and recreate the dish. He took the general idea and added his own flair and the final dish was tasty. We roasted peppers from the farm, added some fresh corn and sauteed onions to add to the mix.









The purple potatoes were a big hit and had such a unique and hearty flavour, I wish I could eat them all the time! A perfect compliment to the pulled pork and vegetables.





The final dish, our Hawaiian inspired pulled pork potato hash with onions, peppers and corn topped with a poached egg. Once pierced the poached egg gives a really lovely smoothness to the dish. I was so happy to have the treats from Simple Roots Farm.

Last Friday my husband surprised me with dinner out to celebrate my 'champagne birthday', the surprise was the addition of some lovely friends that spent the evening with me. I also have a really nice sister that came from out of town, and spent the evening at home with our boy. I ate some yummy meatballs, sipped some white wine and just enjoyed the moment.



A few of the lovely dinner guests.

Over the last two weeks I've been feeling rather low on energy, which means that I probably could use a real vacation but that won't be happening anytime soon. Instead I just mope around the apartment and complain to myself about how crappy I feel and how I dread going back to another set of shift work tomorrow morning.

The thing is, I don't dread the actual work, that isn't it at all, it's just that I'm finding it hard to go and work hard with long hours and not get much reprieve on my time off. The type of work I do is so unstable and unpredictable; there could be a couple of births or a crazy boom of births with obstetrical emergencies to boot! It is hard to know if it will be an "easy" set of shifts or a ridiculously chaotic set of shift without any breaks.

Despite my lack of desire to move myself off my couch, I still need to make dinner that is relatively healthy with exceptional taste. So, tonight I decided to make something I've made before and found to be tasty but not too strenuous in the kitchen (which works perfectly with my apathetic mood right now). Tonight's dinner was thanks to Oprah who featured the Mar-a-Lago turkey burger on her show about 2+ years ago! Mar-a-Lago is a private club in Palm Beach with a fantastic chef who put this recipe together and currently charges about $26 US for their version.




Photo from Burger Buddies
The original recipe available for the Mar-a-Lago turkey burger is available here.

The hardest part of this recipe is finding the Major Greys chutney in your grocery store. It is available but it takes a bit of looking around and really helps shape this turkey burger. I've bought it twice and both times had to look around the shop for it. There are no big tricks to this recipe and a novice cook (like myself!) can whip it up no problem. I used less salt and less pepper but the rest was strictly following the recipe.

So, what dinner options do you turn to when you feel burned out?

The other day I had a good friend over for a coffee date. This works out well with a busy toddler who won't sit still in a coffee shop or cafe and is also friendly on the budget. I've started having more at home coffee dates with girlfriends and I think that it allows for a truly relaxing coffee date. I made a spread of delicious nibbles and, of course, a fresh french press of coffee to serve.

I put together an assortment of things to serve. We had some fresh roasted almonds, plump strawberries, yogurt covered raisins, out of the oven croissants with strawberry jam, spiced crackers with Gouda and some organic turkey.



It was a lovely coffee date with good conversation and lots of giggles from little Ben. I thought I would set out the coffee and snacks on the kitchen table so that everything was ready for my friends arrival. Little did I know that Ben can now reach up on to the table and help himself to the feast. He loved everything about having an at home coffee date, especially the yogurt covered raisins!

Tomorrow night I am escaping to Mexico!! I can already taste the delicious food and feel the sun and sand and the joy of relaxation.



I'm not really going out of the country but I do have a date with girlfriends tomorrow at a Mexican restaurant and I am already getting excited! There will be a few margaritas and some fun conversation and of course the taste of Mexico! There will only be adults and I plan to eat slowly and linger.

I am going to be trying someplace new to me and I have high hopes for a good night out. I love going out for dinner with girlfriends, family, whatever! I love trying to new eatery's and fun places around the city and am there for more than just eating. Tomorrow night I will be heading out with two girls that I have known a l-o-n-g time. Like, since we were fresh faced Noxzema teenagers.

Now to get through my final night shift at the hospital. You can bet that I will be day dreaming about all things Mexican during all my tired moments.

My husband is our family chef and can whip up some tasty dishes that will leave you feeling jealous if I was to list them (I know, I know). In fact he is such a good cook that in our first year of dating I am pretty sure I gained 15 pounds from all the delicious high fat meals that he made for me. So, it is no surprise that my 16 month old son also has a keen interest in cooking.

Going back to work full time thing, and being the mum to a young boy, had me wondering how I was going to balance life and live to blog about it but I survived heading back to work and I am feeling pretty good about things right now. I know that I have only survived my first 2 shifts at the hospital but it's a start. And guess what? I am really loving being back into the whole labor, birth and babies area. I am loving it so much that I might have accidentally gushed a little too much over someones newborn babe and I might have shared a few too many details about my own labor with my patients but.... I survived!

My husband has been the parent on duty while I am at work and tomorrow I will be on duty, before I head to my night shift, while he works. It's a whole balance and trade off thing and we are in this together. Somehow this will all work out (I hope!).







While I was working my boy figured out that feeding yourself is so much more fun than someone feeding you. So, Ben gave it a try and loved it. Here he is having his lunch of chicken and carrots made by his Dad. Thankfully my husband has his camera ready to go and can capture all Ben's moments for me to see.

This weekend I spent some time out with girlfriends and catching up with them. Friday evening I met up with some glorious girlfriends that I used to work with, back when I was a fresh brand new shiny nurse. We had drinks and dinner at Coast downtown and it was lovely to see these ladies (Candice, Bal and Harman this is for you!). I love going out for dinner and have missed it so much. All that the leisurely eating with cloth napkins and multiple forks. It was so nice and I was so happy. Today I followed up with a coffee and shopping trip with my gal Krista. There was a trip to Sephora to buy presents and a trip to my favorite Caffe Artigiano to sip cappuccino before heading home.

I can't help but be a little reminiscent today and do the whole, 'a year ago today' deal; a year ago today I was in labor and waiting to see if I was having a boy or a girl. I was 36 weeks along and was being induced for high blood pressure and a few days later I had Ben. It's a really good feeling to think about where I was one year ago and where I am today.

Being able to be a good mum and also stay in contact with girlfriends is important to me and I try to make it a priority when I have some spare time. Of course you have to be realistic and something has to give or at least change. So, dinner on Friday night is now at 6 PM and not 9 PM. Coffee out is scheduled around your babies nap time and your shopping is focused.

I guess that Jennifer Lopez was right; "There's you before kids, and there's you after kids – and they're not the same you."Yeah, that is quite true but this past weekend there were moments where I really felt like my old self.

Today we made the short trek to Little Nest cafe: 3 mamas, 1 stroller, 1 toddler and 2 babies. I couldn't help but compare it to North Vancouver's Munch Family Restaurant because of the similar concept. That restaurant was reviewed by me here. In my dream world the two places would combine and mesh all the good stuff together and toss out all the things that don't work. Creating the very best parent friendly dining spot that Vancouver could offer.

First impression was that of a very busy lunch spot! Breastfeeding mamas all around, hipster dads dining with their kids, tattooed rocker mom's having a coffee date with their babies and friends. A 'new mothers' group was meeting in the back with their newborn babes in various slings and infant carriers. It was a true urban mesh of people. There were even a few single people dining alone with no tots in sight. We were pretty tight on finding a table as the place was seriously packed. No room to move your stroller and no 'stroller parking', which would have been a smart addition to this parent friendly space.

Right away I knew the food was going to be tasty because you could see the meals being made in the open style kitchen and the delicious baked goods that sat right next to the cash register taunting my insulin supply. This place is definitely more of a cafe than a restaurant and I say that because there is no ordering or service at the table. You order your food at the till and pay right away; good strategy in case you have to make a mad dash in the middle of your meal with a finicky diner.

The food was delicious with wonderful fresh organic ingredients and it definitely surpassed Munch restaurant in taste, flavor, portion size and variety. A variety of hearty salads and organic filled baguettes were to choose from for lunch and there is also a full breakfast menu. Someone has done a great job in putting together tasty ingredients and flavors and I really enjoyed what I ordered. The only thing missing from the Little Nests kids menu was some baby food items to choose from.


They have high chairs from the 70's and your baby will look super cool sitting up in one but be warned tey don't have seat belts in the high chairs. Definitely something that could be easily fixed with a handy person. Overall, it was a chaotic and tasty lunch excursion that didn't leave me feeling relaxed but did leave me feeling satisfied. I would be interested in trying Little Nest for brunch one day and see what they had cooking.

The kids play area was small and over crowded with older children through to babies trying to get a spot to play. I found that these age groups don't go well together in a small play area. The toy selection was mostly retro and mainly consisted of a little kitchen. The toys were in short supply and questionably clean. The children's play area was off at the back and you either had to score a table right nearby (we didn't) or finish your meal and head on over. Munch restaurant rocks the play area much more. I would like to see the play area larger, cleaner with more toys for different age groups. Garage sale finds are great but there really needs to be more than a few items for this busy cafe.



Photo credits

Oh tomorrow! You are going to be great! I can just feel it (exclamation mark, exclamation mark)! Tomorrow we have a baby lunch date with friends and we will be checking out another parent friendly dining spot. Seriously, can you tell how stoked I am? I love lunch dates and I love the idea of these parent friendly ones. Ben has been on a run of good day time behavior so I won't be expecting any loud baby singing but at least he has the welcomed opportunity if the mood strikes him. Of course now that I wrote that and have published this he will probably sing up a storm!

We are going to Little Nest in Vancouver, and while their website sucks, I have heard rave reviews from mum friends. This is the spot to check out.

Yesterday I hauled Ben and his car seat into the Zip car and we hit the road from downtown to the north part of our city for a lunch date. There is nothing like a nice summer day lunching with a girlfriend! Our date was to meet up with a friend and her baby girl B at Munch Family Restaurant (formerly called Babyeats). The thing that got me excited about this restaurant was that they offered a baby food menu and had a play area for tots. Reason enough to make the trip from downtown. I felt good knowing I could bring my loud boisterous baby boy and we wouldn't get the stare down from fellow dining patrons if he decided to sing!

The scene was mum's lunching with their tots or mum's with babies and young children who were meeting up with a friend. The cool thing is that everyone seemed to be having a stress free time. I was really looking forward to the baby food menu, especially because you are asked to not bring in outside food for your baby. I was curious what they would have to offer and had high expectations. You might have read about what Ben likes to eat here.

I was disappointed that the baby food options were applesauce or carrots but we ended up going with carrots. The actual baby food was so so and a very small portion for a baby. We also ordered yogurt and the portion was still really tiny too. I was hoping for some thick creamy full fat yogurt but what we got was a little watery and hard to spoon into a baby's mouth because of the consistency.

I liked that Munch served wine and had a full menu to choose from. My friend and I both ordered the same thing: a free run chicken, double-smoked bacon and avocado with chipotle aioli served open face on a nice toasted foccacia with a side of salad. Sounds delicious doesn't it? This is how it goes: pretty tasty, nice choice of bread, excellent crispiness of the bacon, chicken a bit dry, salad just okay. Nothing fantastic to rave about: it was all just okay.

However, the absolute best part of our experience was the great play area for children! It made the experience and is probably what would bring me back if this city mama decided to make the trek again. There was a good choice of age appropriate toys for babes up through toddlerhood and older. Bring up the quantity and quality of food and I would be giving it more top marks. Next on the list of baby friendly eateries to try is Little Nest in Vancouver.

You've got to love weekends at home with nothing much on the agenda. We decided to take advantage of our lazy Saturday and head off on the aquabus to Granville Island! We left the stroller at home and Ben hung out in his sling and the dog trotted at my husbands side. Granville Island is a great destination to spend a lazy Saturday at with your family and there is so much to see and do.



First we chowed down on the patio of Cats Social House and then headed to the public market to shop for dinner. Shopping at the public market is wonderful and you can buy so many fresh ingredients; it is also the place that our top local chefs go to buy ingredients for their restaurants. We love fresh local food and my husband is a seriously good cook. An added bonus is that the Jazz Festival has started and so we enjoyed some good music at the same time.

Tonight's menu, compliments of my husband was: seared diver sea scallops, BC chanterelle mushroom risotto with haricot vert.

Once in awhile a city mama needs to have an evening or two out and about on the town sans baby. Dinner out with my husband ranks high on my priority list of fun things to do. So does meeting up with girlfriends to enjoy some conversation and something delicious. When Ben was being a naughty baby, and cried all day and night, we would schedule dinners out and let my youngest sister 'shh' and sway with him while we enjoyed some of the delicious food that Vancouver has to offer. Here are my top five places to dine around Vancouver city. I have a way longer list but these are a few gems that I offer to you.


1. Afternoon tea paired with a Kir Royal or two at Bacchus Lounge. Eating finger sandwiches here gives you the feeling that you are a lady of luxury. Especially when I am spooning out jam from the little pots and sipping some lavender early grey tea. This is a weekend girlfriends date but my husband loves it too. He always hopes that ll bring him home any leftovers and I have excellent intentions but always come home empty handed. I often will celebrate something by going out for afternoon tea with family and friends. Here are my parents last Father's Day having brunch with us and two great girlfriends and me just before I got married having afternoon tea of course!


2. A close second is pizza and wine at Bacchus. Mmm. Thin crust pizza paired with some local Okanagan wines. I have this date with my girlfriend Krista every few months and we savour every little pizza crumb and drop of wine. Plus we love lounging in the plush red seats as we sway in our chairs to the live piano music.

2. Eating mussels and house made frites with my :boyfriend: at Chambar. A great little local spot with fresh Vancouver artwork on the walls. We enjoyed the art work so much that we got one of the artists to paint us a picture. Delicious selection of Belgian beers to boot! We made the painting the backdrop to many many at home pictures from sisters with their husbands to girlfriends heading out for dinner.




3. Italian Kitchen for kobe beef meatballs and spaghetti. Absolutely delicious and so incredibly filling that I always question why I finished it off. Nice city vibe for a meeting up with a group of friends. Sipping cocktails and enjoying some people watching.

4. For authentic Italian paninis we head to Scuie in Yaletown and devour their sandwiches. My favorite is the Milano which has pastrami, crem de brie, carmalized onion, tomato and some misculin. It is served toasty warm and takes me back to sitting in the pizzarias through out our vacation in Italy.

5. My last place is Glowbal Grill in Yaletown. A very favorite place for brunch, lunch and dinner. Really anything on the menu is tasty and if you are into the whole Twilight obsession you can rest easy knowing that the cast had a birthday party celebration here and might have eaten off the same plate as you.