100th Post, New Name, and a Recipe

Re-titled my blog in hopes that I post more frequently, and also because it more closely reflects the current state of our lives. With Jacob on the move at 10 months and Kaleb at 3 in full on negotiation stage, I feel like we've entered a new phase, two busy, active, curious and demanding little boys and Kyle and I doing whatever we can to try to keep on top of things.

I went through a bit of a lull in posting, just didn't feel like sitting and writing all that much lately. The combination of hectic family life that translated to a severe lack of sleep, a period of career growth for me full of lots of first time challenges and new, more complex, problems to solve at work, all while trying to find balance again after battling a case of wicked postpartum depression (to be addressed in a separate post) just left me feeling not all that bloggy or connecty or sharey. Oh, and I also make up words now...wait, I always did that, nevermind.

So, without a long catch up (perhaps in yet another separate post) I will jump right into sharing.

First, a recipe. For some reason I never felt like posting recipes made sense on here before. So, I changed the title and BAM! This is the perfect place for recipe sharing! seriously, that's how it works in my world...don't waste time trying to explain to me that the only thing I changed was the title at the top of the page and how that really doesn't do anything to change the blog...or that I am the owner of this blog and I could have put whatever I want on it at any time. This is the way it works in my world, and if Kyle hasn't figured out how to get through to me in over 10 years, trust me, you aren't going to fix my broken logic brain either :)

Okay, recipe. I'm coming out of a long period of just getting through the days, which means we haven't been doing much in the way of menu planning or dinners. Everyone made it through, and it's not like anyone was neglected...maybe me, but no on else! We pretty much reverted back to our habits from before I went on my big Family Dinner kick last year around this time. Kaleb and Jacob have dinner when we get home, Kyle and I would either make food after the kids were in bed or just scrounge up whatever. hmmm this is kinda turning into a catch up post isn't it? Back on track, Jacob is sleeping better lately which means so am I, which helps immensely in going beyond just getting through the day! And, seriously, the entire reason for this post was supposed to just be to capture a quick and easy dinner that I threw together last night, so I think I'll just jump to it without any further delay.

Smoked Sausage with Kale and Couscous
1 lb smoked sausage, cut into bite size pieces
1 scoop of minced garlic using the knife from cutting the sausage to scoop it out (yeah, that's as specific as I can get on that measurement)
1 onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
Crushed red pepper flake, maybe 1 tsp? I just shake it in and use the same amount we typically add...sorry, again with the no measurement thing
3-4 handfuls of mixed baby kale
1 package Couscous, we used the Near East Garlic and Olive Oil

Start water boiling for couscous. In separate pan, saute the garlic, sausage and onion until sausage gets some nice cook marks on it and onion is softened a bit. Your water should be boiling, add in the couscous. Back to the sausage pan, dump in the can of tomatoes, juice and all. Stir it up all nice like then add your kale. I did 4 handfuls because I wanted some left over for my smoothie this morning, you can (and should!) do more, the recipe could have handled plenty more. Let that simmer until the kale wilts.

Kyle wanted the couscous in a bowl with the sausage kale mixture on top. My original vision was to just mix it all together and serve. Whatever, same in the end so I went with Kyle's way :)

It was good and filling, and we had plenty left over for Kyle's lunch today.

There. A recipe. Great for a quick dinner and can easily be played up or down depending on what you have on hand.