North Shore mom of four and lifestyle blogger, Katy Rexing has something to share with all of you! She’s finding some major zen by baking and cooking up a storm with delicious and healthy recipes featured on her lifestyle blog Grace in the Crumbs! In fact, her IG and blog are so tantalizing, you might just try to reach right through your screen to try a crumb or two! Spoiler alert: Delicious pasta recipe below!
Where are you from originally and how long have you lived in town?
I’m originally from Ohio, but moved to Chicago right after college where I met my husband. We moved to Wilmette after we had our second baby, and proceeded to have baby number three. Soon after the arrival of our third child, we moved to the east coast. First to New York and then Connecticut. We loved the east coast, but missed so many of our friends and family back here in the Midwest.
This past summer we returned to Wilmette and are so happy to be back in the community we originally began our “family”. We love so many things the north shore has to offer, but by far the number one are the amazing people.
Child(ren) and Age(s)?
We three boys and one girl. My oldest is 10, then we have our girl who is eight and our boys ages four and three.
One thing people would be surprised to know about you…
I’m terrible at sports. At 6′-1″ I think it was always my parents dream to see me play basketball or volleyball. And I get asked all the time what sports I played in college – only to disappoint people that I’m the most uncoordinated person alive.
Favorite mom hack?
As a mom of four, the biggest thing I’ve learned over the years is to have my kids help out at a very early age. For the most part, my kids make most of their own lunches, they help out with the laundry, make their beds, etc. It may not always be done perfectly (or how I’d like). And in fact at times it can almost feel like MORE work. But it’s done. So my favorite “mom hack” would be to not do it all! Have your little ones help. They can usually handle a lot more than we think.
Favorite place to take the kids?
We love so many of the great museums in Chicago. We just recently spent a snowy Saturday night at the Art Institute of Chicago and our kids LOVED it. The best part, kids up to age 13 are free.
Guilty pleasure?
Oh this is an easy one, a bowl of popcorn and anything on Netflix! I try not to get hooked into watching too much TV, but for sure my favorite guilty pleasure is turning on Netflix while holding a huge bowl of popcorn (with all of my little people asleep of course 😉
Go-to cosmetic “tired eraser”?
I love all things by Glossier, but two of my favorite products are the “stretch concealer” and “boy brow”. I don’t wear a lot of make-up, but I love how these two products just wake-up my eyes and hide how little sleep I’ve really had. They have a very natural look, but still help you look a little more “put together”.
Favorite family movie?
We love Home Alone in this house, and probably watched it at least a half a dozen times (if not more) over the holidays. My littlest guy Frankie belly laughs so hard at all the little slips/falls the “bad guys” make. Plus, it’s so fun that so much of the film was shot right in our town!
Favorite book for you?
Oh this is such a hard one. My night stand consists of a rotating pile of all of my favorite books at any particular moment. There are so many great books I love, but the one I open the most frequently is “Savor” by Shauna Niequist. She also wrote “Present over Perfect” which is another one of my favorites. Both books are about creating a life where you’re truly present and “savor” it all. They have both really helped me with my parenting journey, and just embracing life exactly as it is – chaos and all!
Favorite Children’s book?
My current favorite Children’s book right now is “In my heart”. It’s my four-year-old’s, favorite book. We love how it helps give words to so many of their different feelings. The book ends asking about “your heart is feeling today?”….which usually leads into some pretty sweet conversations.
A perfect day with the family is….
We love going to the beach! We live just a few block from Lake Michigan and love spending our evenings there. We usually order pizza to the beach, listen to some great music, play in the sand, and just relax together as a family. I think I love it so much because it’s one of the few places where age doesn’t matter. Everyone from my three year old, to my ten year old, to JonPaul and I, love it equally as much.
Anyone special you’d like to thank for helping you through parenthood?
Oh this is an easy one, all the women who’ve gone before me. Not just my mom and my mother-in-law, who both help me more than I can express. But rather all of the other friends and support systems of women who have kids older than mine. All of the women who were doing this years before me.
Someone gave me advice years ago to surround myself with women who have kids older than mine, and that has made such an impact in my parenting journey. Their wisdom, experience and most importantly perspective have helped guide me in some of my trickiest moments. I only hope that one day I’ll be able to pay it forward with some of my own knowledge and experience.
Are you involved in a business venture, a local organization, a creative endeavor, or in the corporate world? Please share!
Yes! My background is in advertising, yoga, cooking, mothering. I started a blog called Grace in the Crumbs almost two years ago. Grace in the Crumbs is a space dedicated to finding beauty in the everyday, ordinary, and often times messy moments of our lives. Moving around the country mixed with unexpected family plans had brought chaos and a lack of control to my world. But I began to find peace and solitude through this: Time on my yoga mat, time in my kitchen and most importantly on the floor with my kids every day.
When I first started to chronicle my life’s journey through Grace in the Crumbs, I didn’t know the first thing about blogging. So much of how I’ve grown, and how the blog has grown, happened organically. As hard as it is, I’m just taking it one day at a time with Grace in the Crumbs – but having so much fun along the way!
Your content is beautiful and the recipes look down right delish! Would you please share one of your favorite recipes we us!
Pasta with Sausage, Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard
Ingredients
- 1 lb. of uncooked ziti (or pasta of your choice)
- 4 tbsp of olive oil
- 2 shallots, minced
- 12 oz of chicken sausage, sliced ¼” thick
- 2½ cups of cubed sweet potatoes
- 8-10 large stalks of swiss chard, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp of pine nuts, lightly toasted
- pinch of nutmeg
- salt/pepper
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt. Then add your pasta noodles (I used ziti). Stir, and allow noodles to cook for 7-9 minutes or until just al dente.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, over medium heat, add 3 tbsp of olive oil and add the sweet potatoes. Cook the sweet potatoes for 3-5 minutes until they begin to caramelize/brown.
- Next add the sliced chicken sausage and shallots. Mix and allow the vegetables and sausage to continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes, just until the sausage begins to brown.
- Next add all of the chopped swiss chard, Lower heat to medium low, add a pinch of nutmeg and a sprinkle of salt/pepper, stir all together.
- Before pasta is done cooking, use a ladle or a measuring cup to carefully scoop out about a cup of the pasta cooking water. Set aside
- When the ziti/pasta is done cooking, drain the noodles and then add them to the skillet with the vegetables and sausage. Stir to combine.
- Slowly add a little bit of the pasta water to the pan, along with a little drizzle of olive oil, and heat all together over medium low heat. Add more of the reserved pasta water as needed (the starch from the cooking water will help create a “sauce”). Stir all together to combine.
- Finish with a sprinkle of the toasted pine nuts and enjoy!
Keep up with Katy her delicious blog Grace in the Crumbs! Follow on on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest!