my first summer with a newborn
my garden sucks, i have the same meals on constant rotation and i can't seem to knock a single thing off my task list because someone has decided to start taking the shortest naps ever
I’m not complaining. I’m just trying to embrace this very new person in this very fragile season of my life, and quite honestly, I feel like I’m doing a pretty damn good job.
I’ve been back at work for several weeks now and while I won’t say it’s not stressful, I will give myself a very hard high five and say “you’re doing such a good job feeding lots of people every day with a newborn strapped to you!”
But my vegetable garden—my prized summer obsession—is riddled with weeds and crops just aren’t producing, which I will blame on this weird weather. I actually had to purchase tomatoes from our town grocery store yesterday because I have no tomatoes from my own garden to enjoy. A summer first! I’m hoping they’re just late because they’re filled with little green beauties. Just nothing ripe to pluck. And the weeds. The weeds! They’ve taken over and there’s nothing I can do about it at this point. This year has been our wettest summer (ever) which has made the weed situation an impossible nightmare.
And it’s just hot. Hot in my giant old house. Hot outside. Hot with a newborn strapped to me while I’m trying to do anything at all like writing this Substack post.
With all that said, I’m doing just fine.
That affirmation is directed to that one woman who keeps being extremely negative about the fact I’m working in a kitchen with my baby and feels the need to tell me this is the easy stage. It’ll get harder (insinuating that I won’t survive for much longer). I appreciate the encouragement…not that I need it, but a little mom-to-mom support would be so nice.
The most important things are getting done each day—Theo is taken care of, I’m getting to work and doing my absolute best, I’m feeding myself and Robert every night and I’m working out daily. And every once in a while I’ll check a few other things off my list, which means I’m knocking life out of the park right now as a fresh new mom. No more measuring my productivity against society’s standards. I’m living a simple life in this stage. I’m doing just fine.
ON REPEAT IN THE KITCHEN
AKA MY NEWBORN MOM KITCHEN TACTICS
While I would love to be a little more adventurous with my home meals, I’ve resorted to a basic, but delicious rotation of the same, or nearly the same meals each week. Thank goodness they’re all really good meals.
My kitchen tactic is to ensure I have a fridge and pantry stocked with items that I can use to create several dishes from the same ingredients: dried or canned beans for smashed bean toast or taco bowls; a braised chicken to eat with salad or shred for something else; homemade or store-bought hummus.
Funny story on store-bought hummus. At one of my pop-ups, a lady saw me eating store bought hummus during my “lunch break,” gasped and appalled, asked in such a tone, “you don’t make your own hummus?!” Like I’m not allowed to be too busy to make my own hummus sometimes. I think about that every time I buy hummus, which I did earlier today because I would rather have some on hand than be forced to make my own if I don’t have the time or energy. You do the same and don’t ever feel bad about it.
Other important staples for me right now: pickled onions or a pickled thing of some sort, tahini and lemons for making batches of white or green tahini, my homemade cumin-sesame chili crisp, salad mix, fresh tomatoes, summer veggies for salads, sourdough discard + spelt flour for my skillet sourdough flatbread, and slices of homemade or bakery bought sourdough tucked away in the freezer.
Please note that this list does not include all my other kitchen staples like spices and such. The every, every day ingredients that go without mentioning.
Here are things I’ve made this past week/weekend, complete with some fancy plating and all because Robert and I deserve nice things and it also gives me five minutes of fun when I’m frantically trying to finish cooking before Theo wakes from a nap or needs to be nursed. I’m also working on a very, very, very special project and I need to work on the plating a bit before the final rendition is shared.
My current summer meal lineup:
Roasted eggplant with a big fresh salad, a spoonful of beans or lentils, a smoosh of hummus or some sort of dip (whatever I have prepped in the fridge), pickled onions if I have them, blistered shishitos from my garden, a drizzle of white tahini and sourdough skillet bread—the beauty of this meal is that the only prep/cooking time it requires involves roasting a veggie and chopping a salad (and blistering those shishitos if I have them). I almost always have cooked beans on hand (or at least a can in the pantry); there’s usually some form of homemade dip in my fridge/freezer because I like to triple batch things for future use; white tahini is so easy to prep; and my sourdough skillet bread take 5 minutes to prep and 5 minutes to cook. I’ll change things up based on what summer veg I have on hand.
A braised chicken of some kind—whole chicken or bone-in, skinless thighs only, please! Such a simple method for cooking chicken. No oven required which is what I’m seeking during summer months. Sometimes I’ll get fancy like I did with my braised chicken with garlic and farm leeks (see photo below). Other times I’ll braise a whole chicken and shred it for taco bowls or chicken salad or add it to some roasted veggie salad. But at this stage, I’m going for a simple braised thigh with salad and air-fried potatoes.
Broiled summer squash with yogurt and blistered tomatoes—more on that one later, later, later on. It’s in the developmental stage for something I have in the works. But doesn’t that sound delightful?
Taco bowls!—and I don’t mean your basic taco bowl with shredded cheese and ground beef. We’re talking good stuff here like quick pickled red onions, fresh tomatoes, homemade salsa, fiery hot sauce, a braised meat of some sort, smoky pinto or black beans, stovetop charred corn, fresh or pickled jalapeños, and air-fried crispy potatoes over a bed of fresh salad greens. Again, lots of ingredients I’ll have on hand, so when I do, this meal is a go-to. And not all at once. Each bowl varies on what I have prepped and ready to go!
Smashed beans on toasted sourdough—as simple as a meal can get. Cooked beans fork smashed with fresh garlic, lemon, herbs, salt and black pepper. Spread onto a toasty slice of bread, maybe over a layer of smashed avocado or creamy goat cheese. Top it with some pickled onion or preserved lemon slices. Serve it alongside a big, delicious salad. Ah! So simple.
Bean salads galore—the combination possibilities are endless. My usual go-to involves torn olives, fresh tomatoes, chunks of fresh cucumber, preserved lemon, slivered onions, fresh herbs, lots of black pepper, ground coriander seed, lemon juice, olive oil vinegar and a spoonful of grainy mustard. Sometimes I’ll add in some sun-dried tomatoes if I have them on hand. Done and done!
I have no idea what the coming weeks will bring as my schedule and headspace is so dependent on Theo. Perhaps this rotation will last a few weeks longer, or maybe I’ll add yet another thing to the mix. I do know that my roasted eggplant platter will forever remain on my summer dinner list as it has been a must each time eggplant season rolls around, way before Theo graced this earth. I love it so much, I made it for my Rural Studio kiddos for lunch one day and then proceeded to eat nearly the same exact meal for dinner that evening (and the next).
The best way to ensure you’re feeding yourself good things is to keep your kitchen stocked with basic essentials, most of which can be prepped quickly and easily and in bulk, and most of those essentials (dips, breads, pickled things…) can also be bought (locally if you can) if you really want to shorten you kitchen time during these summer months. Dinner can be fancy without the fuss. Honestly, that’s the best way to cook. Let the ingredients and simplicity be the star.
