What’s New in KERF Land

Here’s a this + that recap of what’s new in KERF Land!

What’s New in KERF Land

How are you guys doing? We just finished a number of soggy days in a row, and I’m looking forward to some fall sunshine again! Our big backyard tree is starting to turn yellow too. (I was literally about to type “I love September!” until I realized September is long gone! Ha!) 

Here’s what’s new in our world. 

What’s New In Romance

For our anniversary, Thomas and I decided to do a day date. TGF teachers! We are grateful to have the flexibility in our work to be able to take a long lunch. I wish we could do this more while the boys were in school. 

Our destination was the new-ish Hazy Mountain Vineyards & Brewery in Crozet. The views at the top of the mountain were breathtaking. 

Beautiful Virginia!

Beer + Wine Flight

We tried all 4 beers they had for sampling. I surprisingly loved the brown ale. I’ve been all over IPAs for the past few years and forgot how much I love a good amber or brown ale in the fall. The wines were pretty good too. The Cab Franc was my favorite of the four we shared. 

Cheese Board

We shared a cheese board and a pizza for lunch. Both were just OK….

And to be honest, I was not a fan of the pizza crust. I was also not a fan of the unmasked staff who greeted us at the door and served food. With delta going around, I think all food service staff should wear a mask and we felt very uncomfortable. So while the views were great and I hate to be critical, I’d say there is room for improvement on the service side. 

Dinner by Candlelight

Since we were home for dinner, we waited until we put Birch to sleep and prepared a Blue Apron dinner together! Sautéed kale, roasted potatoes, and crispy baked chicken. (Mazen was next door watching an outdoor movie – see Kid Land below!)

What’s New In Food

Blue Apron recently launched Heat & Eat meals. The meals are single serving, come refrigerated, and are ready in the microwave in less than 5 minutes.

I likened them to re-heating leftovers that we had, and thought it was just as delicious as something cooked from scratch! You can add them on to any meal plan – say if you have a sports night at your house when you normally might get fast food or eat cereal for dinner. Check out all the deets here. 

Also in the heat and eat category are the new Daily Harvest Harvest Bowls. Unlike the Blue Apron meals which are refrigerated and need to be eaten in 5 days or so, these bowls come frozen so you can keep them on hand longer for unexpected sports nights or when something keeps you from cooking what you had planned. Or like me, when you come home from vacay with a totally empty fridge and would normally get takeout. You can get up to $40 off Daily Harvest when you mix and match meals from smoothies to flatbreads to ice cream here.

The Sweet Potato and Wild Rice Hash bowl was great – warming and filling. 

Return of Tempeh

I used to eat tempeh all the time and for some reason haven’t thought about it in ages. I picked up a package and sautéed it in my Always Pan for lunch one day, lightly seasoned with soy sauce. SO GOOD over a salad!! I love its texture. 

Little Chef

I cut spicy peppers with a super sharp knife while he slices banana with a spreader. 

A couple of our yummy Blue Apron meals of late: 

Beef, rice and zucchini bowls –

Miso butter steaks with bok choy and carrot rice –

Pita Dinner 3 Ways

This dinner was supposed to be served gyro style. Here is Thomas’s pita, which he folded in half and ate like a taco!

I prefer to eat with a fork when I can, so I made a gyro bowl instead and enjoyed my pita on the side. (THAT SAUCE THO!)

And here is salad #2 that I had the next night!!

Family Green Smoothie

About half the days of the week we make giant green smoothies for the whole fam. The ingredients are usually lots of banana, milk, vanilla protein, spinach, and sometimes peanut butter. The kids love them, and it sure makes an efficient breakfast when we all have the same thing! 

Waffles on the Weekend

Thomas made his dad’s famous waffles from scratch. I had mine topped with Noosa Pumpkin Yogurt!

What’s New In Kid Land

Cold mornings, warm afternoons! I never know what to wear these days. 

Family Putt Putt Outing

And we all packed raincoats on this day, but made it through putt-putt without a drop! 

Family Dinner at Brazos

The best tacos! And chips. And queso! 

Neighborhood Movie Night 

Our neighbors set up a screen and projector and invited all the kids over to watch a movie in their yard. What a great pandemic activity!

Go Figure

B LOVES puzzles and did all of these by himself while humming songs from school. He is so hilarious and smart!! (note the pieces that have gotten chewed by dogs or loved too hard…)

Baseball Fam

We’re quite the baseball family every Saturday. Games are usually around 11, so we pack a picnic for B and have to leave in one of two cars halfway through to get home for nap. I don’t know how families of 3,4,5 kids do it!?

B isn’t really into baseball much – he prefers to play trucks in the dirt, check out the lawn care vehicles, or play on the nearby playground, so T and I have to trade off who “gets” to sit and watch Mazen play! His team is getting a little bit better each week. 

Said lawn care vehicle : ) 

New Sleep Sacks

Birch LOVES his sleep sack, and we love Kyte Baby! I picked up two more at Green Bean Baby Boutique here in town because we’re having some issues with stinky diapers in the morning and need to wash them more often. These are both 18-36 month size and 1.0 tog. So so soft! 

What’s New With Me?

Building our basement fitness room was the best decision EVER. I am loving it so much and look forward to the cheerful bright space. Also: Peloton was also the best investment. We’ve gotten our money’s worth 10x. I do bike bootcamps 99% of the time these days so I get a combo of strength and cycling. And I love the variety of bike – strength – bike – strength. I stick to 30 minutes when I’m busy and 45 on more open days. Fun fact: I have yet to do a 60 minute Peloton class! I don’t know how I used to do hour group ex classes all the time. 45 is the best. 

New mums on the porch!! I don’t care for yellow, so yellow mums are on my do not buy list! Purple + orange are the best Halloween combo anyways. Next up: pumpkins!