#loveisthemainingredient

[margarita1968]

Spinach, kale, avocado and salmon salad. Spinach, kale and avocado by nature. Grilled salmon by @nawsome_nicholas. The salmon is savory and tender. I had no idea my son could cook, let alone grill. All these years, he was holding out on me. Thank you, son, for this delicious dinner. I love ❤️ you. #grilledsalmon #salad #delicious #loveisthemainingredient (at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCUPG7WjSZ8/?igshid=uh55vmqvbbrp

[fundementalelement]

Make quesadillas cute again #hipstercomida #loveisthemainingredient (at Wave) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8AAMcLAfoO/?igshid=hcewg1ydxz34

[supahtasty]

Homemade Guava Valentines For Heath❣️

Maybe it was the 2 years we lived in Coral Gables, Florida when I was young, eating amazing Cuban food? But I’ve always had a love affair with guava. Even moving to chilly New England, where I spent most of my childhood, could not knock guava from its spot as my all time favorite fruit!

Tough to get ahold of during a Northeast winter, though :) Shelves are full of cranberries, but tropical fruit? Not so much. Luckily there are great brands offering frozen and packaged versions, so you still cook and bake with guava  - even if you can’t grow them in your own yard!

So in choosing what to bake Heath for Valentine’s Day, I decided on classic Guava & Cream Cheese Pastelitos (or Pastelitos de Guayaba)! And although I love making these with puff pastry, I used Goya Discos this time. Which, for those unfamiliar, do not contain mirror balls ;) But do have a flatter, smoother surface, making them easy to decorate.

These flat, round, pastry discs can be easily found in the freezer section with other Goya products. In making these, also discovered that Goya now has an awesome, reduced sugar version of their guava paste! Great for those of us who’ve cut down on sugar, and are trying to eat healthier! 

These are super easy, super fun & super tasty valentines to make! So if you want to make them for your Valentine too, here’s all you’ll need:

• 1 10-pack frozen Goya Pastry discos • 1 package Goya guava paste • 1 rectangular pack, cream cheese: Better from a construction standpoint, than tub version :)  • Colored sugar • 1 egg

Start by taking two discos, and stack them on top of another. Next take clean kitchen scissors, and cut them in shape of a ♥️. Then separate them, and put about one tablespoon of fresh cream cheese, similar amount of guava paste, onto one of the dough hearts. Then put the other on top and take a fork, to lightly press around the edges to close the heart, keep the filling inside when they bake. Then crack your egg into a bowl, dip a basting brush into the egg, lightly brush the top of your heart with a bit of that. 

I decided to create a variety of designs, to personalize these for my guy. So I experimented, using pieces of pastry I’d cut off when making the heart shape. I rolled one up, and it looked like a rose! So I dipped that in red sugar. I then cut a “stem” out of the remaining dough, and dipped that in a bit of green sugar. 

Heath is fond of calling me his “blue lobster” :) We grew up in a lobstering town in MA, and blue lobsters are the rarest! So on one pastry I assembled a lil lobstah, colored with blue sugar. Also made one with our initials: K + H! 

Once you’re done with your designs, put them on a cookie sheet, couple inches apart from each other, and bake them @ 350º for 12-14 minutes. Check in on them at 12. But leave them in a little longer, if need be. 

If you’re looking for a super fun, super tasty way to personalize Valentines, or just make those you love something personal and sweet, give it a go. If you’re not a guava fan, just substitute strawberry or blueberry jam, lemon curd - whatever you like. But these were fun to make & Heath ♥️’d them!

Happy Valentine’s Day. xo

[orangehatchronicles]

Missing the weekend with this ✨⚡️special⚡️✨ lady - thanks for blowing my mind with such an awesome picnic and music at the Bowl !!! 😻📡📀🎙🔊🎈👌🏿💥 #orangehatchronicles #loveisthemainingredient

[isomysanity-blog]

"Just go commando, be nice to your wife and maybe, I'll wash your drawers today!

LOL- conversation Carlos and I had this morning about not doing laundry last week!❤️😂

[isomysanity-blog]

The path to self recognition.....

I cannot even remember the last time I climbed out of bed, due to a restless over processed mind. It's like my brain is thinking of 100 different things and I cannot stop it. I am hoping this blog post, will somehow help categorize my thoughts so that I can start tackling them one at a time. It makes me think of the old library dewy decimal system. Everything in categories by alphabetical order. I know I am not alone with this struggle. Carlos has been very busy at work the past month. I try to remember he misses us as much as we miss him and I'm not the only person in this family with feelings. But it sucks and it is hard. I spend all of my time with my daughter and not that I am complaining. I am simply reiterating how important it is to have outside outlets away from home. I am in a personal game of tug of war. I have learned I LOVE being home with Natalia. There is no other place I would rather be. I just feel as if the two days a week we are getting out, does not quench my thirst for personal development and interactions outside of our home. I have always worked. I have always taken care of others. Even though I will always put Natalia first, I am starting to feel like I have put everyone else's oxygen masks on first and we all know, this is breaking the golden rule. I feel as if I am loosing myself. Like I am stuck in quick sand, being slowly sucked into an unknown world. I have reached a point where, I know being home with my daughter is the best decision for us. "Especially after watching the evening news, and yet another child was left in a daycare van. UMMM hello this is Florida people." No one is going to care for Natalia the way I do, it's just not a possibility. Only a mother would understand this statement. What I have learned in the past week and a half while being stuck in the house with my daughter very ill, is ..... I have no self discipline unless it is needed or warranted. What do I mean by this. I have 6 loads of laundry and my husband had to ask me to wash his underwear tonight. Snuggling with Nat and trying everything to make her feel better consumed me. I wasn't interested in doing the laundry. I think I only cooked three times last week, so my kitchen stayed clean. Nat wasn't playing often so, the living room stayed organized. The only real chores I had to complete, washing our sheets, maintaining the bathroom, sweeping the floors and caring for Natalia. I realize a more disciplined woman would have stuck to her schedule and somehow managed to get it all done. NOPE, not me. My philosophy... It will be there when she's better. Flip side When I am at my 9-5 job... I am all about time management, productivity, staying on task, and getting the job done before I walk out the door each evening. I have more time then needed on my hands, "yes even with a toddler" to overthink everything. "Just ask my husband, he will vouch for me" So I started thinking about what could be wrong, why is it I get off track so easily now. Then it hit me, square in the nose. " I have lost my self stimulation". Yes me! The crappy house wife, and excellent mother. Has forgotten who she is." "How did this happen?" What am I going to do?" "What is going to fill this void inside of me?" I really know myself believe it or not. It took me along time to get to a point of self evaluation and recognition. I know I want to return to work. I am 300% positive if I were to return to an out of the home job, it would have to be one hell of an offer, to even consider this option. Returning to work doesn't have to mean I leave the home. It means I have to find a way to satisfy my needs as a person and still have the ability to satisfy the needs of my family. Should I take a different career path and work part time in the evenings when Carlos is home? This is an entirely different blog post but I'll give you a little glimpse! I have separation anxiety leaving my daughter. We have not left her since June of this year, stay turned you know the post on this subject will be interesting!! Carlos and I are at a cross roads, for him it is financial freedom if I were to take a 9-5. For me it is finding something I love to do, or something that will fulfill this hole, while having the freedom of staying home and continuing with my main job. Raising Natalia. I have many ideas brewing nothing set in stone. Somehow after realizing what was wrong and acknowledging it, I have taken the first steps of getting back on track. There is a path out there for me, I just have to find the one that fits my everything!! P.s. Writing helped wear my brain out. I am sleepy and ready to crawl back into bed with my awesome husband.

[isomysanity-blog]

Nat Nat UPDATE....

Have you ever felt like you were caring a million pounds on your chest? Then that weight is lifted. Your overwhelmed with gratitude and relief. You think to yourself, "I knew it was there, but didn't realize how much it overtook me." This is how I felt this morning. Natalia has been very sick the past week. Sicker then she has ever been. It started with a little rash, that led to her whole body being engulfed by this terrible rash monster. She started running a high fever, and her lips were fluctuating from purple blue to pink. She saw a doctor every day this week to include a 5 hour emergency room visit, where they witnessed every symptom she had. Her fever wouldn't go down. The had no idea what was causing her to be so ill. For such a little person she is definitely a fighter. " pretty sure she gets that from grandma" She was poked and prodded and even had urine taken with a catheter . She had more medicine given to her then any little person should endure. Her pulse was high and she was miserable. I know for a fact if I was that sick, there is no way I would have handled it half as well as she has. Natalia saw her doctor on Friday. They still do not have a "diagnosis" for her illness, other the it is some sort of viral infection. They are hesitant to call it an amoxicillin allergic reaction, pretty sure it is not fifths disease. So they are going with a viral infection and possibly allergic reaction to the medicine. This week has been horrible. Natalia has been miserable. Itchy, irritable, not wanting to eat or drink. The worst part is she knows when she does not feel well, she can only verbally express her feelings with a few words. The most popular....OUCH. Which she is saying about everything now. Her doctor said on Friday he wanted to see her fever disappear within 48 hours. Today is Sunday. She went to bed last night running a fever and so far woke up today, the first time in 5 days with no fever. I know we are just about out of the woods. I can feel it. Never in my life, have I worried about another person as I have worried about her. There is nothing in this world more important then her well being. The fact that I couldn't fix this, scared me. Carlos is a practical thinker and I am obviously emotional. I wanted to punch him, when he would say, she will be fine. Like really dude. She is miserable, they can't figure it out and mommy is about to have a melt down. We love her and couldn't imagine life without her. My heart goes out to any parent that deals with a sick child. It's a lot easier said then done. Keep us in your thoughts, we still are going to take it slow. But baby girl is feeling better, playing with her toys, and running around. I am one happy relieved momma!!

[isomysanity-blog]

It's definitely not.... The most glamours job I've ever had, I spend more money then I make... I do not bring home a paycheck... Days like today, I'm at the beck and call of a mini me.. I've stood in the shower for an hour, because it makes my boss feel better. I get spit on, peed and pooped on, I clean up after 2 other people and 2dogs daily, I've been known to not shower before work. I make toys out of toilet paper rolls, I repeat myself more times then the average person, I am tired, I only wear make up on special occasions, I make sure everyone else is happy, fed, content, and ready for the world before I am!! I am a stay at home mom...... I love my life.... This is absolutely by far the best, most powerful, self fulfilling position I have ever had. I am ready for anything... Bring it on!!! #isomysanity #stayathomemom #mommyblogger #loveisthemainingredient #familia #whatevermakesherfeelbetter #grateful www.isomysanity.com