Kayte's Bio

Name: Kayte

Family:  I am a married mother of two stinky little boys, ages 10 years and 19 months. I have been married for 11 years and still rather like my husband, so I think I'll keep him around at least another 11.

Augustine, Kayte, and Ayden

Yes, it has been nearly a year since a decent picture of us was taken.

Background: I grew up as number 9 of 10 children, with the age range spaced out about 36 years. It was interesting, to say the least. We traveled the U.S. and Mexico for a good part of my childhood, and finally settled down in a small town in Wyoming when I was 10. My parents figured it was time to put down some roots, considering I was about to go through puberty and my little brother could read and write Spanish but not English. Before you ask, no, my father was not in the military. He was 18 years older than my mom and liked to fish, so we traveled from fishing hole to fishing hole, winding up in Mexico when word on the street was there was great large mouth bass and crappie fishing there. Wyoming sucked. For 9 years. Then I moved around like a vagrant after high school, from Kansas City to a mid-sized city in South Carolina. By the time I met my husband at 21, I'd moved residences 17 times since graduating high school, burnt down an apartment, and was homeless twice (once briefly, once for 3 months). After baby #1 and an awesome natural birthing experience, I became inspired to be a nurse and did so in 2010. I've worked in Labor & Delivery, ambulatory surgery, antepartum, postpartum, and newborn nursery for 3 years before getting up the nerve to go to grad school to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. So here I am now, juggling 2 jobs, 2 kids, a needy toddler, a surly 10 year old, and full-time graduate school. I'm thinking I might as well have another baby and seal the misery deal.

Food: Unlike my mom (Mary), I seldom have the time or forethought to meal plan. We eat mostly low-carb or paleo home-cooked meals, organic as much as possible, fairly strictly following the concepts of the Clean 15 and the Dirty Dozen in order to maximize our food budget. Currently I make it to the grocery store about once per week, and each day am faced with the "Dear God what am I going to make for dinner" dilemma and subsequent emergency grocery store run by hubby on the way home from work. But that is about to change as of this weekend! I start my clinical rotations in a month, and am anticipating life as I know it to come to a bloody and screeching halt, so having a freezer full of ready made meals is a must. This next 12 months until graduation will be a grueling marathon run, and I'm trying to keep the hysterics to a minimum.

Greatest food challenge: Figuring out what to make for dinner every day. Shopping with a toddler. FINDING ORGANIC PEAS!!! Not eating too many carbs because they make me fat, and since losing 40 lbs of baby weight a year ago I'd really like to stay this size. Getting my toddler to eat dinner (thank goodness he's cute).

Favorite quote:  "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." -Mark Twain

Hobbies & interests: I am a huge reader, which is a horrible thing when I should be "enjoying" my assigned reading for school, yet there I am night after night devouring Gone Girl or the like. I am rather crafty, as I love to paint, sew, make jewelry, and have dabbled in just about every craft at some point. Unfortunately, school is seriously stifling my inner creative genius at the moment. I am on a bellydance troupe, and we perform 1-2 times per month at local venues. This, too, will have to take a backseat for the next year as well.

Ancient Echoes Bellydance Troupe

A favorite recipe: Hmm. Its tough to choose, but I have a bit of a crush on Alton Brown as well as his meatloaf recipe. Its. Amazing. Here is the link. We try to eat mostly low-carb/paleo, and the next time we make this plan to substitute the BBQ chips with BBQ pork rinds to make it lower-carb.

Photo courtesy of www.foodnetwork.com