5 ingredients or less – Modern Notebook

Cranberry wild rice pilaf

I have been away from this blog for a few weeks, and I missed it pretty much every day. I know I need to be more consistent and I like writing here, so I’m back.

The first week I missed was election week and we started potty training, which required me to pay extra close attention to the littlest member of the family. I have also been spending more time on job searching. I’m also trying to declutter and sell things on Mercari and Poshmark. It’s both a slow and busy season around here, if that’s possible.

For once, I decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving. The mantle is covered in decorations, the door has a wreath on it, and there is a light up dinosaur on the floor next to the fireplace. (Yes, you read that right.) I just won’t put our stockings up until the week of Christmas and, although I was considering it early, Paul said we should wait on setting up our artificial Christmas tree until the day after Thanksgiving.

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Rosemary Yukon Gold potatoes

Food, Food + Drink

When I was a kid, I didn’t used to like potatoes, or at least I would complain about them at dinner time even while eating them. Thankfully, I have learned to appreciate potatoes. Russet potatoes still aren’t my favorite, but you can often find me cooking baby potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes. I especially love that the yellow-fleshed Yukon gold potatoes are slightly sweet and tend to cook faster than Russet potatoes.

Roasted potatoes go well with pretty much any dinner. This week we had the potatoes with some leftover pork and tortillas. There wasn’t much pork left from the night before so the potatoes filled out the tacos. The next night, we had the leftover potatoes with mahi mahi and wild rice pilaf. Sometimes I make these potatoes with stovetop burgers and call them home fries.

I like roasting potatoes with a good helping of olive oil, salt, and rosemary for an easy side dish. Oh yeah, and garlic is nice too. I forgot the garlic until after I put the potatoes on the baking sheet and then had to add it in, but you won’t because I’m reminding you now. Garlic is good on pretty much anything savory.

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Baked sweet carrot fries

Food, Food + Drink

Happy November, everyone! October seemed to go by fast, probably because I had so many events on my calendar from family gatherings like my aunt’s wedding to pregnancy related doctors appointments and tests.

The other day, my sister’s 4-year-old son asked “what’s next” after Halloween. He can be shy, but apparently he loves social events. It’s nice that he looks forward to those times and he may be thinking about when he will see his cousins next. Well, the day after Halloween is his uncle Paul’s birthday (my husband), then a baby shower, Thanksgiving, and another baby shower. Before we know it, Christmas Eve will be here. I’m very much excited for Christmas because my sister and brother who live out of the area will be visiting.

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