The Poopsie Collective

Dinner Solutions: Easy Quiche Recipe

written by STEPHANIE

Bacon, mushroom and leek quiche.

Quiche has been in my repertoire for a long time. Beginning way back when I was a vegetarian, I made my first quiche for Thanksgiving as my turkey-substitute entree. Ever since, it has been a staple because it is simple, requires few ingredients, is ready to eat in under 45 minutes (start to finish), and makes EXCELLENT leftovers. This past weekend, I spruced up my tried-and-true recipe with one from my mom, and I have to say it was a HUGE hit! It will definitely be my new go-to quiche recipe.

Ingredients:

9 inch unbaked pie shell (I like the frozen ones found typically in the dessert aisle/freezer section)

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups cream

1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

1 T unsalted butter, melted but not hot

pinch white pepper

pinch nutmeg

salt to taste

filling: examples are sautéed mushrooms and leeks (drain liquid), sautéed asparagus cut into small pieces with shallots and butter, cooked spinach with dill, crumbled sweet Italian sausage with sun dried tomatoes, bacon, etc. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farh. Beat together eggs and cream. Add all remaining ingredients (except filling) and stir until well combined. Pour filling into pie shell. Pour egg mixture over filling into pie shell. Bake until set, approximately 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes or until egg mixture is firm. Serve.

*Double the recipe and add in another pie shell for easy meals for the week!

Simplify Series: Yoga Lessons are Life Lessons

written by STEPHANIE

My biggest challenge these days is finding balance. I obsess over not having enough time to do all the things I need and want to, lacking space in my life for myself, not feeling in-control of my time and my space as I once was, and I obsess most over my ever-changing roles as a woman, mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend. There never seems to be enough to go around, yet I liberally pile more onto my plate all the while. It’s quite the pickle I create for myself! After nursing a knee injury throughout the winter, I returned to my yoga practice last week and found that some of the balance I was seeking was waiting for me right there on my mat. 

Early in our Poopsie adventure, Brooke wrote a post titled ‘Why I Run’ and asked us what we do to stay sane. The question has stuck with me all these many months, because, at the time I didn’t have an answer. I wasn’t sane. I was still breastfeeding and there was a direct correlation between the quantity of breast milk feedings stored in the freezer and my mental stability. Looking back now, there were some dark days. But I am (mostly) sane now and I have yoga to thank for it. 

Yoga asks us to dedicate our practice. Sometimes I dedicate my practice to someone in my life who needs my extra energy. Sometimes I dedicate my practice to myself (of course!) and send my energy to my healing knee, achey back, foggy head, etc. This simple act of dedicating my practice, naming my intention, consciously creating and sending energy out into the world, puts my daily struggles into a different perspective. It doesn’t trivialize them, but it does put them into a larger context making them more manageable and less overwhelming. 

Yoga is infinite. No matter how many times I have done Downward Dog, there is still more for me to learn and explore. Somedays, a simple pose is the toughest. Somedays, a pose I have struggled with for months flows easily. How true this is in all aspects of life. Somedays, making coffee is taxing, while other days ticking off all the items on my to-do list is effortless. In yoga, there is no nailing a pose because there is always deeper. In life, we are always evolving and changing too. We are always becoming.

Yep, that’s me! Yeah, right. 

Yoga is present. Yoga doesn’t ask that we do poses perfectly, only that we do and continue doing. As a mother, I have had to let go of perfection, live in the moment, and accept things as they are at times. So long as I can embrace moments big and small with my daughter, it doesn’t matter that we are eating McDonald’s or watching our second episode of Sesame Street that day. Letting go of my expectations, whether it’s what I intended to accomplish today or how many words my daughter should be saying by now, living in the moment releases us from the judgement of the past and anxiety over the future.

Yoga asks us to breathe. As we contort ourselves into poses we wouldn’t have thought possible, then accept the challenge to go further in the pose, we are reminded to breathe and continue breathing. In the rest of life, if I can remember to find my breath in the moments when I feel like I might break, the tense spots ease, heavy spots lighten and moments become livable again.  

Yoga is personal. Looking around the room and comparing my practice to another’s is self-defeating. We don’t know what is going on inside another’s head and body. They may appear to be effortlessly in handstand, but we have no idea how they are struggling in that moment, nor do we know the many months or years of struggles that allowed them to get into the pose. I look around at other mothers and think they have it all figured out. They balance work, motherhood, friendships and family so effortlessly, and they still manage to read The New York Times! But, how can I possibly know what each woman overcomes to achieve all that she does? And why should I allow someone else’s accomplishments to diminish my own? We never really know what someone else is going through, so rather than projecting and comparing, I can turn my gaze inward instead and feel strong in myself. 

I’ve included these lessons in the Simplify Series because yoga gives my life a calm and clarity I am lost without. Making my practice a priority each week is a challenge in itself, but the payoff is immeasurable. It keeps me sane, grounded and feeling wonderful. And now, to quote Brooke, what do you do to stay sane?   

Recipe: Poached Salmon and Risoni Salad

Written by GWEN

As you may recall, while I enjoy cooking, I’m not a huge fan of making separate meals for Izzy. So, now that he eats most things, I try and find meals I can make that the whole family will enjoy. Yup, I just said that.

Below is a healthy summery salmon salad that the Mister and I love, and it turns out, if you throw it in the Cuisinart for a few seconds, so does Izzy. Obviously, it’s a Bill Granger recipe.

AND, as an extra bonus, here’s a link to a chocolate pear dessert loafy type cake from our fave food site food52.com. It has become a staple in our house. And yes, Izzy likes it too! Anything with pear.

Yogurt Cake with Pear and Dark Chocolate… a family favorite, Izzy included. 

Poached Salmon and Risoni Salad

Chef: Bill Granger 

Serves:4-6

Ingredients

1 tablespoon salt


½ teaspoon white peppercorns - I use black ones


1 bay leaf


400 g (14 oz) salmon fillets, skin removed


200 g (7 oz) risoni - use orzo if you want, always easier for me to find


85 g (3 oz/1/2 cup) peas (frozen are fine)


Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon


55 g (2 oz) baby spinach leaves


2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf (italian) parsley


2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill


1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil


A large pinch of caster (superfine) sugar


Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put the salt, peppercorns and bay leaf in a large deep frying pan with 750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cups) of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat. Add the salmon, cover and leave for 15 minutes. 

Lift the fish carefully out of the stock. When cool enough to handle, flake the fish into pieces, picking out any bones. Cook the risoni in a large pan of boiling salted water until al dente, adding the peas and lemon zest for the last 2 minutes of cooking. Rinse under cold running water and drain well.

Put the risoni, peas, salmon, spinach, parsley and dill in a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and sugar to make a dressing. Add the dressing to the salad and toss gently. Season with sea salt and black pepper. 

When I put this in the cuisinart for Izzy, I add a little of the cooking stock. It freezes well too!

Does that look like the belly of an undernourished child?!

What’s For Dinner?

Written by BROOKE 

Stephanie’s “Simplify Series” this week inspired me to write a post about how I do dinners. I haven’t figured out everything in the world of homemaking but I would dare say that dinner time is something I have greatly improved on in the past few years. Gone are the three nights a week of takeout or frantically unthawing meat under hot water ten minutes before my husband gets home. 

Here are my secrets…

Plan a Menu

Usually on Saturdays, but always by Sunday we (meaning I involve the hubby for the most part) plan a menu. We look over the weekly grocery ads to check the sales, take inventory of our freezer and pantry and plan five meals. I’m a realist. We’ll eat out, go over to friends or eat leftovers at least twice. Sunday-Thursday usually does it for us. Having a menu plan makes everything easier; shopping, making sure whatever meat I need is out of the freezer, and it helps that I post it on the fridge so I don’t have a husband who comes home and says “Tacos? I had those for lunch.” It’s on the menu! My menu is flexible. Although some meals are slated for certain nights because of work schedules, I have no problem switching things around too. Nothing is set in stone at our house. 

My cute menu planner that I keep on the fridge. You can get one at Anthropologie.

Make Your List

I’ve learned this the hard way. Now, I painstakingly go through my meals and figure out what I need, even if it means getting out the recipe. Too many times I’ve gone to make something and been missing a key ingredient (ask my neighbors, they’re always the ones I call in a panic) and, well you’ve seen what happens when I try to drag my kids to the store for “just one thing.” I also make sure my list includes items for breakfasts and lunches (those are pretty simple around here, lots of sandwiches, fruits, veggies, yogurt). 

Shop

I usually have to hit up some combo of Trader Joe’s, grocery and Costco but if I can, I try to cut one of those out each week (Costco can usually be every other week or every three weeks and if I’m getting something at Trader Joe’s, I sometimes plan my whole week around items I can get there). 

I try to shop sans kids. Saturday night is my preferred time, but sometimes the hubs and I split it up on Saturday during naps. 

My goal is to only shop once a week. I find it saves tons of money when you are not running to the store three times a week and it saves sanity! 

Know Your Schedule

Be realistic. What is your week like? Is your husband working late every night? Don’t make a huge meal for just you and a toddler. What about work, lessons, etc.? I work out of the home on Mondays and Wednesdays in the afternoon. I don’t get home those days until 6:30, which is way after my kids normal time for dinner. On those days I try to plan something that I can totally make ahead that my husband can heat up for the kids when he gets home, or something in the crock pot that will require minimal effort. It’s not that my husband can’t cook (he’s a great cook) but by the time he gets home and I’m still gone the kids are starving and they need something quick. Plus I like to have something as soon as I walk in the door.  

Prep and Freeze if Possible

I actually don’t mind making somewhat elaborate meals. I try to keep it pretty simple but once or twice a week I make something more involved or try something new. The secret for me, in this stage, is that I have a napper. I can usually get my four year old to have quiet time while the little one naps and during that time, I prep dinner. Anything that can be done ahead of time, I do. I cut up veggies, cook chicken to shred, anything I can get done before that dinner rush. The ideal meal for me is something I can almost completely prep ahead of time. Also, when I can, I’ll cook double of a meal or part of a meal and freeze it. I haven’t really perfected this yet but taco filling, stuffed pepper filling and some soups freeze really well and it’s great to have a few meals stashed away in the freezer for a crazy week. 

Go Easy on Yourself

We have PLENTY of nights when it just doesn’t come together. A few weeks ago we had family in town, life was crazy and I realized on Friday I had fed my kids quesadillas three times that week. It happens. But it’s nice on those weeks when you have it all under control. And having a plan assures that happens more often than not. 

The response I hope to get from dinners…

The Simplify Series: A Room of One’s Own

written by STEPHANIE

I am a full-time-stay-at-home-mom/ blogger/ writer/ yogi/ laundress/ interior decorator and baker. And despite getting paid for very few things on my “business” card, it was becoming evident to me that I needed some real space of my own from which to work. 

Between the dining room table (which had become the daily dump station, littered with diaper bags, clean laundry, returns and unopened mail…) and the kitchen table, I did what little work I could. But the obvious mess and disorganization was spilling over into my head and work ethic, making it impossible for me to focus. 

The solution? Transform the rarely-used-for-dining dining table into my workspace! It was so simple and I don’t know why it took a year of living and working like this to figure it out. 

AFTER: My tidy new “office”!

Here’s how I did it, and here’s how you can do it too…

Step 1: Locate a spot in your house that isn’t being well utilized and claim it as your own.

Step 2: Clean it out! I moved out all of the random items that were accumulating there. This alone helped me see more clearly! Diaper bags were unpacked and put away, unopened mail was opened and dealt with, returns were returned, and so on.

Step 3: Organize. I sorted my papers into three categories, then bought 3 file racks for the desk top. I already had a beautiful, large, wooden box with lid where I hid everything that didn’t have a home (like gift cards, business cards and power cords). Now it is visible and accessible on the desk top as well. 

Step 4: Charging station. I never knew where my phone, iPad or laptop chargers were. And so, I was constantly dealing with “dead” devices. Not anymore! I plugged all the chargers into the outlet behind my desk and when I’m not using my devices, they are being charged. This also means that I usually know where my phone is now too! 

Overall: HUGE IMPROVEMENT! Why didn’t I do this sooner? 

BEFORE: My dining room/ dump station.

Wild Card Wednesday: Simplify

It’s the last week of January, which means most of you probably still have a little bit of self-improvement energy left to burn. Our very own Stephanie is beginning her personal Simply Series starting next week… but while we all wait patiently to learn from her misadventures in self-help, here are a few more of our favorite tips for simplifying your life.

1) We all know what happens when kids get their hands on crayons and crafts. Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or computer screen with WD40.

2) And since no one likes a messy play area, store your crafts materials with items you already have in the house. A muffin pan becomes the perfect craft caddy and magnets hold the plastic cups down to make them tip-resistant.

3) As Erica (and most new moms) now know, hair loss is an unfortunate side effect of motherhood. Thank god for bobby pins. And now you’ll know where to find them! Use magnetic strips to store bobby pins, tweezers and clippers, behind a vanity door.

4) Ah yes, the old fruit-turning-brown-by-lunchtime dilemma. Stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box by securing with a rubber band.

5) Kid or big-kid in a parent’s body (guilty!), everyone craves a sweet treat sometimes. Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream.

Have an idea of your own? Email us at poopsiecollective@gmail.com

The Simplify Series

written by STEPHANIE

One thing leads to another and suddenly I’m de-mothing my closet for the second time. Not because the moths have returned but because I don’t like the smell. This isn’t like me. It wasn’t like me to buy airtight boxes and moth repellent to begin with, then sort and neatly fold piles of sweaters for storage. It’s too responsible. What’s like me is to continue wearing moth-hole sweaters season after season and say, with feigned surprise each time, “Oh, look. There’s a moth hole in this sweater.” But I did it. And now I’m in the midst of re-doing it.

The de-mothing efforts.

I wish I could pinpoint the exact moment that set me on this path of doing. I wish I could hold that moment up to the light, examine it from all angles and become intimately familiar with it, so later I can blame it when all this doing comes back to bite me in the arse. I mean, maybe it won’t. Maybe doing things will actually make my life better, which is what I’m hoping for, after all. But knowing me, something is going to piss me off and I’ll be cursing that moment, which I cannot pinpoint.

Right, so on with it. This is the first installment in The Simplify Series, chronicling my misadventures in self-improvement. My objective is to sweep the cobwebs from the corners of my mind, put aside the good intentions that just hold me back, and actually make good on the promises I’ve made to myself over many, many years. 

Step one, and the next installment in The Simplify Series: A Room of One’s Own. I will make myself an “office” out of a dining room.

Cheerio and stay tuned…

Wild Card Wednesday: Simplify

This week our wild card post is continuing Operation Simplify—helping you to simplify your life one random (and super clever) tip at a time. Here are couple more of our favorite “doh why didn’t I think of that” ideas…

1) Taking a family vacation or live in the land of sea and sun? Add this must-have item to your beach bag.  Baby powder! It gets sand off your (and your kiddo’s) skin easily, who knew?!

2) Planning a birthday party, hosting an over-the-top play date, or been bullied into participating in a school bake sale? Try this fun trick: bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so much more fun to look at and way easier (and more exciting) for kids to eat.

Have an idea of your own? Email us at poopsiecollective@gmail.com

Wild Card Wednesday: Simplify

In honor of a new year, fresh start, resolutions, blah, blah, blah, we are dedicating January’s Wild Card Wednesdays to clever solutions to everyday messes, aka. Simplify. 

1) How clever is this? Store sheet sets INSIDE their pillow cases. 

2) Secure a velcro strip to the wall and use it to hold stuffed animals in a crowded playroom/nursery/kid’s room. 

Have an idea of your own? Email us at poopsiecollective@gmail.com