Quick and Healthy

After having a few days at home with just me and Baby K, I realized I really need to work on my eating. BK and I eat pretty healthy, and we eat out way less than we did in the US, but on any given day I often find myself scrounging around for food when I need to eat.

Most days I eat all three meals at home, getting out in the mornings and afternoons, sort of missing meal times out. And besides that, eating out in Switzerland is fairly expensive, especially considering I'm not interested in eating fast food. I typically default to some sort of green salad or fruit and hope that I have some rotisserie chicken in the fridge. There may also be cheese toast involved in most cases. Not bad, but gets boring after a while.

So at the end of this week, after I had recovered from our whirlwind two weeks with family, I set out on a mission to find some summer salad recipes that I could easily grab for a quick bite. I was thinking something like Central Market's to-go section where I could just dish up a couple of healthy bites.

Middle Eastern Veggie Salad

I tried three new recipes for this little endeavor: Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad; Pesto Pasta Salad with Roasted Asparagus, String Beans, Cherry Tomatoes and Olives; and Citrus Quinoa Salad.

Pesto Pasta Salad

The grocery trip seemed enormous, but Baby K and I made it home, stroller, rolly bag, and another grocery bag in hand. There wasn't really all that much cooking involved, more chopping lots of fruits and veggies. I somehow managed to get the most of it done in the time that Baby K took her nap from 3pm to 5pm, and before BK arrived home from the airport.

Citrus Quinoa Salad

Hopefully my adventures in cooking will pay off this week when Baby K and I are around the house. So far the Middle Eastern Veggie Salad is my favorite; it makes a great bruschetta as well. The Citrus Quinoa Salad is a little different, but something I'm willing to try, in hopes that it fills me up more than just a piece of fruit would. And I haven't actually tried the Pesto Pasta Salad yet, so hopefully it doesn't disappoint!

We're busy living life!

SO. FAR. BEHIND. Hmmm...will I ever finish a series of posts when a trip or event takes more than one post. I'm really not sure at this point. I'm also sure that you're all tired of me constantly talking about how far behind I am with posting on the blog. BK, Baby K and I are out living life, so I guess I'll just have to do what I can.

Being on the go wears her out too

Ok, enough about that. So much continues to happen in our lives- it seems (and feels) crazy sometimes. I just told BK the other day that right now it kind of feels like he and I are trying to prove to people that we can still jet around and travel like we used to before Baby K came along. Point made, yes we can do it. And honestly, it feels like we're doing more than we were before.

An evening at home and some family time on the play mat

I think I left off when TR, Baby K and I were in Paris. Where does the time go? I think I may have also mentioned that we did our first long weekend away as a family to Lugano- also successful. We seem to be toting Baby K around anywhere and everywhere possible. She either rolls along in the stroller or is strapped to one of us, always along for the ride.

Trekking around in Lugano

We went though a really hot spell in Basel the first week of June, which was pretty miserable. How quickly I let myself forget what it was like to have 95 degree temps outside with no AC! And I totally hadn't thought about how in the world I was going to keep Baby K cool during the summer. We did venture out to one of the public pools here in Basel with a friend, so that was a new experience. The water was really cold- Baby K screamed when I put her feet in- so we just splashed around a little bit. Also, apparently they don't sell tops or full swimsuits in Baby K's size- these bottoms were all I could come up with.

Ready for some sun!

Most recently BK's mom, sisters and niece have been visiting for the past two weeks. We made the most of the time and did A LOT. Their trip included Monaco, Nice, Eze, Basel, Luzern (we skipped this one), Paris, Black Forest and Basel again.  Whew! The trip also included delayed flights, missed connections, cancelled trains, bad hotel rooms and many other adventures in just getting around Europe. Baby K also had her first plane and car rides as well. Yes, she rode in a car for the first time at 12 weeks.

Our first flight- she had a baby seatbelt too

I figure I might as well end this blog like the others, with the hope that I'll return soon to tell you more about our trip to Lugano and all the adventures we had while family was visiting. We had tons of fun together. I am very thankful that they all got to come over, meet Baby K, experience a bit of our life, and see some new places together.

Visiting the Eiffel Tower- one of the many highlights

I have a few days of downtime before it's time to get out and go again. We'll see what happens!

Party of three in Paris

Paris with an infant? Yes, it can be done! TR, Baby K and I ventured off to the city of lights last month during her visit to Basel. This was Baby K's first multi-night trip away from home and TR's first trip to Paris. Fun times!

Similar to what BK and I did last year, the three of us took the TGV (fast train) to Paris, which is about three hours from Basel. I was a little concerned about this train ride with Baby K, but only because unlike trains around Switzerland, the TGV has assigned seats, meaning that she could not ride in her bassinet on the way there. The train ride still went well though, I put her in the carrier and she did great. A nap and one meal later, made it to Paris.

On our way to Paris!

For this trip, I used www.airbnb.com for the first time and rented an apartment for the three of us in the Montemarte neighborhood of Paris. TR and I researched how to get there from the train station using the metro. This would have been a good plan had we not had the stroller and rolling duffel bag. As a warning, the Paris metro is NOT stroller friendly at all. Very few stations have elevators and you have to wander way out of the way to get to them, if they are available. We ended up carrying the stroller up and down many sets of stairs like the ones below. Baby K and I worked TR pretty hard that first day, so after all that she was up for anything.

A small set of stairs in the Metro

I really liked having an apartment for the three of us, and would go that route again. The only downside is that you don't have anyone to help you get around or answer random questions you might have about how to do things around the city. I liked the apartment because it had a separate bedroom that I could put Baby K down in, and when she got up earlier in the morning than TR would have wanted to, she and I could get up and start our day in the living room and kitchen, doing what we needed to do before we went out for the day.

Abbesses- our Metro station

The Montemarte neighborhood is where Sacre Coeur is located and is a favorite for many people. Often Baby K and I would get out and take a walk in the mornings, picking up croissants and fruit for breakfast, and the neighborhood makes you really feel like you're in Paris. It's what you imagine- small cafes, shops and markets line the cobblestone streets, not too much traffic, and lots of locals going about their daily lives in the morning. I like this area, but it's a little removed from the center of Paris where everything is located.

Sacre Coeur

The first night there, TR picked Cafe des Deux Moulins for dinner. Yes, it is the one from the Amelie movie (neither of us have seen), but was also not far from our apartment. It's good, typical French fare; something easy before getting out for the night. I did the usual bath and bed time routine with Baby K and put her down for the night at the apartment. Pretty much as soon as she's asleep, you can take her out for the night, simply putting the bassinet on the stroller and making sure she's covered up. She typically sleeps through anything. It's pretty awesome.

Snoozing through dinner

After dinner we made a brief stop in front of Moulin Rouge. TR was surprised that it was not a freestanding building on it's own. It's not- it's in a row of buildings in our neighborhood, just like most of the other businesses and shops. We didn't go to a show, but I would still highly recommend it if you're in Paris; it was one of BK and my favorite things that we did there.

Moulin Rouge

After many more steps up and down in the metro, TR and I managed to get down to the Eiffel Tower. It is magnificent at night. Last time we visited Paris, BK and I went to the top of Arc D'Triomphe at night and saw the Eiffel Tower from afar, but seeing it all lit up right there is different. I actually think it's much prettier at night than during the day, but on the other hand, you also don't have the views you have during the day.

Eiffel Tower at night

We wrapped up our evening after this stop, tying unsuccessfully to get home via bus, and eventually carrying the stroller up and down more steps to the metro. We arrived back at the apartment around 1am and fell into bed.

The next couple of days held new adventures for the three of us, but this post is getting long and Baby K is about ready to get up from her morning nap, so those will have to come later. I'll be back soon with more!