All posts by Monna

Sep 02
0

Windsor Restaurant Review

By | Local Restaurants | No Comments

Rob and I, like most parents we know, are on a budget. So, date nights when we actually go out for dinner are a special event.  When we do go out, we choose local restaurants.  We love meeting our neighbors and supporting the local economy. According to Local First Arizona, when we spend $100 at local businesses, $73 stays in the state. When we spend the same amount at a big box store, only $43 stays in state. It’s a painless way to invest in our own communites.

Don’t know any good local businesses? No problem! Over the next few months, I’m going to share with you some of my favorite local spots and introduce some friends who also love to shop local.

This week’s choice is Windsor Restaurant. Here are some of my favorite things about this restaurant.

Food: Craig DeMarco, owner of Postinos, opened Windsor earlier this year. So you know right off the bat that the service and the food are top notch. I’m always impressed with the servers at both Postinos and Windsor (and that’s saying a lot). They are friendly and efficient without ever making you feel rushed. The menu includes a variety of foods from burgers, salads and chicken sandwiches to a halibut sandwich and the porkwich  (Ahhhh….mouthwatering!).

The Halibut Sandwich

The Halibut Sandwich. My friend ate this the other night. My pregnant taste buds weren’t in the mood for fish but she loved it!

My favorite dish at Windsor is the grain salad, which sports a panoply of cooked grains like quinoa, pearled barley and kamut as well as veggies like carrots, beets and squash, topped with ricotta and an orange dressing. I fantasize about this salad when I haven’t been in a while.

The grain salad. This is a half portion. My friend and I split it. Never liked beets till I tasted this!

If you’re into spirits, they have a full bar and offer happy hour daily from 11-5. Cocktails or pitchers of beer are only $5.

My friend ordered the No. 11 – gin, blackberry and lemon. It looked very refreshing. Isn’t that fresh blackberry beautiful?

Local sources: As much as possible, Windsor sources their ingredients from locally owned businesses. Suppliers include Willie Itule, MJ Bread & Avalon gourmet, Mount Hope (spices) and Tenderbelly. Tenderbelly recently moved their processing operation from AZ to Iowa due to supply needs but they still get a thumbs up from me because they only use hogs that have been raised on good food and no antibiotics.

Kid friendly: When the weather is cool enough to sit on the patio, I’d say this restaurant is “older” children friendly (no booster seats or high chairs). The menu includes small hamburgers and little corn dog poppers. We actually took Destructo Girl (2yo) when they first opened this spring and while they were super sweet about accommodating her, they aren’t actually set up for small people. Thankfully, we were outside and she spent her spare moments dancing out of the way. Kids who can sit quietly in their own chairs (5 & up) are fine. That’s ok with us. We like going there for dates anyway. Still, the staff gets five stars from me for being so cool about it.

Elegant bar seating

Ambience: Windsor relies on the combination of exposed brick, retro style lights and dark wood to create a cool, upscale winebar.

Have some fun picking out some old favorites.

I know it might be hard to imagine right now (if the heat has fried your brain like it has mine) but most of the year, sitting on the patio is a lovely experience. The greenery and strings of white lights give Windor’s enclosed patio a comfortable, relaxed feel. And, they have misters! I love the touches of wood surrounding the seating area.

Cool patio seating            

Parking: Windsor is on Central and has limited parking so, like Postinos, they offer valet. It’s really the easiest option so bring a few extra bucks and save yourself a ticket. There’s no parking in the neighborhood.

Bonus: If you have room for dessert, stroll next door to Churn, the attached ice cream shop. They have delicious homemade style ice cream and even offer ice cream sandwiches. More on them in another post.

That’s it for today. Windsor is located on the southeast corner of Oregon and Central just a bit north of Camelback. If you’re going out this weekend, try some great local food and meet a few of your neighbors.

                  Phoenix, AZ 85013

http://windsoraz.com 
Windsor on Urbanspoon

Aug 30
0

Destructo Girl’s Narrow Escape (or why NOT to put a nightlight in your 2 year old’s room)

By | Honest Mothering | 2 Comments

More than once, I’ve been told Destructo Girl (2 years old) has a very active guardian angel and last night, she proved it once again. We had a long day running errands and being out in the heat, so after dinner everyone was pretty worn out. By the time the kids were down for bed, Rob and I were ready to relax – alone.

But a few minutes after we put the kids in bed, Rob went upstairs to investigate a noise. As he headed up the stairs, I heard a breaker pop in the kitchen and the lights went out (in our old house, the kitchen electricity and upstairs bedroom are on the same breaker). I heard Rob exclaim loudly and call for me so I ran upstairs.

He said that he’d found Destructo Girl sitting in front of the nightlight, looking stunned. She said, “My arm hurts, Daddy.” He checked her over and found a nickel in her hand. When he questioned her, she showed him that she’d been sliding the nickel behind the nightlight between the plug and the outlet. She interrupted the current enough to give herself a good charge. Thankfully, the breaker worked and the power shut off before she could do any real damage. The outlet was black from the charge.

The infamous coin. It's going in her scrapbook!

After I stopped hyperventilating (usually I’m so good in a crisis!!), I gave my little DG a very STERN talking to about not touching outlets and promised dire consequences if she does so again. I reminded her again when she woke this morning. (I found myself waking every few hours last night to check her).

Lessons learned…We decided the girls will now sleep without a nightlight and we won’t be keeping their piggy banks in the room where they sleep. AND the plastic outlet covers are going back over all outlets.

I’m so glad my little Destructo Girl is ok but I’m hoping she’ll refrain from any more crazy shenanigans today so my blood pressure can go back to normal!

Aug 24
0

Organic Mama’s Top Ten Tips for Managing Pregnancy Nausea part two

By | Birth Week, Natural Health, Pregnancy | One Comment

Yesterday, we explored remedies for pregnancy nausea (AKA morning sickness). Today, we’ll look at a few more.

Feeling sick twenty four hours a day is disheartening when you’d rather be happily anticipating a new baby. Discouragement is not my normal approach to life. But there have been more than a few days this time that I’ve succumbed to tears of exhaustion and hopelessness from feeling nauseous non-stop.

These tips have not erased the feeling of nausea but at least their keeping the lunch losses to a minimum!

5. Try a more alkaline diet. My friend Busca over at Birthfaith.org writes that alkalinizing the body may help with “morning sickness“. While it’s advisable to do this prior to pregnancy, I’ve still been boosting my intake of veggies vs. greasy or starchy foods. The latter might seem comforting at the time but they often pack a wallop after dinner, if ya’ know what I mean.

6. Mingle with friends. Schedule visits with understanding and compassionate friends to enjoy the benefit of encouragement and having a little different energy in the house. It will lift your spirits.

7. Keep the toilet clean. You may not have the energy to clean much around the house right now but clean this. There’s nothing more gross that having to lose your breakfast in a dirty bowl.

8. Laugh as much as possible. Watch a funny movie, listen to a great comedian and laugh. You’ll be surprised how nice your lips feel when they’re curved into a smile!

9. Distract yourself with something you love. Notice the great antics of your kids, play the piano, read a book, watch a great movie, take a bath, enjoy a maternity massage. I’ve noticed that being stressed about anything can make nausea seem so much worse. So RELAX.

10. Drink small sips of water (or herbal tea) all day long but avoid it at mealtimes. Drinking just a little at a time will keep you from experiencing that sloshy feeling you get when you discover your stomach has been pushed up between your breasts by an enlarged uterus. For me, not drinking during meals helps with indigestion and nausea.

In my  first pregnancy, I was so overwhelmed by the unexpected feeling of constant nausea, I complained to my OB, “It feels like there’s some kind of alien sucking the life force out of me!” She was not amused and chastised me with, “That’s a sweet life sharing your body.” Me: “HUMPH!”

Now, when I feel like an alien is sucking out my life force, I remind myself  strong nausea is usually a sign of raging hormones, a good thing in pregnancy!

Treat yourself well in these early days of pregnancy. You’re growing a little person. Enjoy a rare excuse to pamper you! Remember that you’re not alone. Lots of women have felt this way.

As my mom used to say…

“Hang in there. This too shall pass.”

If you have any other great anti-nausea pregnancy tips, share them below and let fellow sufferers enjoy the benefit of your wisdom!

Aug 23
0

Organic Mama’s Top Ten Tips for Managing Pregnancy Nausea

By | Birth Week, Pregnancy | 4 Comments

The person who named pregnancy nausea “morning sickness” must have been a man! Ok, maybe that’s unfair. At least it was someone who’d never actually suffered a severe case of being sick in pregnancy. It’s more like “ALL DAY sickness”, the “curse of the first tri” or “the wretchedness“.

Whoa. Little bit of angst going on over here. Sorry, it’s just where I am right now. Unfortunately, some of the remedies we often hear prescribed for nausea – like saltine crackers (gag, gag, choke, choke) – often fall short of the mark.

A lot about you changes when you’re pregnant. Organs get shoved around, metabolism speeds up while hormones slow digestion down and increase saliva. Yuck! Is it any wonder we feel funky?

The third time around, I’ve found a few tips that at least make nausea manageable (meaning less vomiting), though I  haven’t figured out how to get rid of it!

1. Keep blood sugar stable. This tip comes from my midwife. She suggests breaking meals into snacks spaced every 1.5-2 hours. Start when you wake and don’t put off eating. The snack should include a carb and a protein. Some of the snacks I’ve been enjoying are:

  • Fruit and nuts (or nut butter – like almond, peanut, sunflower etc).
  • Salads with chicken or cheese (my current fave)
  • Chicken, cheese and veggies wraps
  • Cottage cheese and fruit (thanks for the tip, Jeanette!)

I would love to eat only fruit all day, but experience speaks. It boosts blood sugar really fast and leaves me reeling from nausea when my blood sugar drops. This is true of most sugary foods. They’re best avoided when you’re nauseous. Try increasing veggies in your diet. They will, ahem, keep things moving and possibly help you avoid some of the other tortures of pregnancy – constipation and hemorrhoids – that may be a result of slowed digestion.

2. Exercise. I know you’re tired (me too!), but a little exercise in the morning can reset your system for the day and get your energy moving. And, if you’re not used to it, try starting with twenty minutes. Biking, swimming, walking, etc – even briefly – can be a huge help!

3. Change your toothpaste. The toothbrush can become a torture tool when you’re nauseous and minty flavor seems to make it worse. Thankfully, there are lots of other flavors out there to  choose from like Cinnamon, strawberry etc. Try it!

4. Rest. I know. I know. You have a million things to do and if you don’t do the housework, no one else will. But, trust me, it will still be there in just a few months when second trimester energy and nesting kicks in. A nap or slightly earlier bedtime makes a huge difference between a day spent gagging from nausea and a day when nausea seems manageable.

5. Minimize offensive odors. Pregnancy nausea is often tied to super hero smelling powers, which seem to have no purpose other than letting you smell every disgusting thing on the planet. Try these tips.

  • Switch to safe cleaners that won’t leave a smelly residue or potentially harm your growing babe
  • Cook outside. It’s summer! Use the grill.
  • Switch to cold brew coffee. If you’re like me – married to a coffee addict who’ll drink hot or iced coffee, teach him how to make a cold brew coffee. It tastes AMAZING. He’ll be hooked and you’ll be spared the smell of brewing coffee every morning.
  • Let your husband change the poopy diapers (when possible). I know it seems unfair but he benefited from the, er, “joy“ of your fruitful union and now you’re paying for it. Just remind him if he’s forgotten already.

Here’s Day 2’s tips for managing pregnancy nausea.

If you have any great tips I missed, please share them for fellow readers in the comments below!