First post

I used to be a budding "homesteader".  I mean, not really a homesteader, but, you know.  I had a garden.  Canned vegetables and fruits and tomato sauce.  I cooked from scratch, baked my own bread, sewed my own crafts, and had a bunch of stuff I wanted to do and learn.  And then I had kids. 

First I had twins.  And it was SOOOOOOO hard at first, but then it got better.  I still managed to have a garden, and can some stuff, and bake pretty often.  My husband is from Italy, and going there every summer definitely puts a crimp in the summer garden plans, but I mostly made it work.

Then I had another kid, and now I just don't seem to have time.  The twins are 8 now and the little guy is 3, and I'm slowly trying to get back to where I want to be. 

I started my bread-baking journey probably back when I was in high school, and I still make a recipe or two from those days.  My staples now are some sourdough baguettes that I make a few times a month, in large batches so I can freeze the extra, and focaccia, which is yummy and probably not healthy, but everyone loves it.  I have a sourdough starter now, which I couldn't have imagined way back when, and aside from it being just one more daily chore I have to do, I think it's great.

I sometimes make my own yogurt, thanks to my Instant Pot.  My yogurt is delicious, although I tend to over-strain it and end up with greek style yogurt, which isn't necessarily what I want, but it's good!

We still mostly cook from scratch.  Luckily, my Italian husband and I both grew up with families that sat down and ate dinner together, and with parents who cooked at home, so that has not been a hard habit to develop.  Before having kids, we would cook a lot of vegetables and gourmet-style food, and really enjoy our meals.  Now we're both busy and our kids are pickier than we are, so things are simpler, but we love having friends over to share some fancier stuff.  I'll post pics of recipes we make here, sometimes.

I'm trying to get back to sports and get back and shape.  This has been an up-and-down journey for me, as my life has gone through so many changes in the past few years.  I'm back on an upswing and hoping I can keep it that way.

Anyway - off to get stuff done.  I'm busy, what can I say.