Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Thank You Pinterest- Part 2

So today is the last day of August and that means it is the end of Pinterest month. It was a successful month at that. I am excited about bringing my cookbooks back out but I will still use recipes that I find on Pinterest (because there are soooo many good ones!)


Meal #1: Tuscan Pasta with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

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Malachi was the culinary artist behind this meal. I started chopping everything up to start cooking but Roman was getting one of his two year molars and all he wanted was his mommy. So I went and sat on the couch and snuggled with my little man so my big man cooked dinner for us. And my man can cook! It was delicious! We will be making this again!!!

Meal #2: Stuffed Zucchini Cups

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Roman hated this meal! Lately he has been boycotting anything green, so there was a bit of a battle to get him to take a few bites of this. He loved the stuffing though. Malachi and I both loved it. Really...can you go wrong with anything stuffed with meat and cheese? The one thing about this recipe is that is makes SO many leftovers of the stuffing. So what I did was mixed the stuffing with elbow noodles, topped with mozzarella cheese to make a casserole. It was yummy...and Roman liked that since it didn't have any of that yucky green stuff in it!


Meal #3: Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce

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I wish I could say this dish was amazing...but it wasn't. There was nothing wrong with it...my husband really liked it...but I don't think I will make it again. I think the main thing I didn't like about it was the tortellini. I'm not a big tortellini kind of girl. I think it tastes kind of funny. I would much rather have ravioli!

Meal #4: Jalapeno, Sausage, Jack, Egg Breakfast Braid

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I know they say this is for breakfast but we had it for dinner and it was amazing!!! Wasn't spicy enough for this spicy craving pregnant gal, buuuut it was still amazing! It was super easy to make as well. So that is a huge plus with this huge pregnant gal!

Meal #5: Crispy Onion Chicken

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This was a yummy light meal. It needed a little extra flavor so we ended up dipping the chicken in some honey mustard (which it was also coated in while it cooked) I wasn't amazed by this dish but it was good, healthy, and easy.

Meal #7: Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry

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If you do not make this...then you are CRAZY! It was my favorite of this batch of recipes! I kept eating and eating and eating this stuff! If I go into my doctors appointment tomorrow and have gained wayyyyy too much weight...I will know why!

Breakfast: Cinnamon Sugar French Toast

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Just look at those! Don't they look tasty! They were pretty quick and easy to make as well. I made too many for just me and Roman to eat so I froze the rest of them and the heated them up a few days later and they were just as good as the day I made them. I will be making these again!

Dessert: Nutella Cookies

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Okay...so these cookies are made with four ingredient. Four. Super easy and the recipe doesn't make that many cookies which is good since I am a sugar addict!

So that wraps up Pinterest month...but each month I'm going to do a post of pictures of the food I made that month and share recipes!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful August!






Thursday, August 25, 2011

How time flies

Today I am thirty weeks pregnant. Thirty weeks. It seems like such a big number. I remember when I was ten weeks and that was twenty weeks ago! How time flies! I'm ready (but not really ready) for my little girl to get here. I'm ready to hold her in my arms and kiss whenever I want. I'm ready to memorize her perfect little face. I'm ready to introduce her to her big brother. I'm ready to see my husband fall in love with her. I'm just ready! But I still have a lot to do in ten weeks. I need to finish Roman's room and then move him in there (along with transitioning him into a big boy bed...not looking forward to that). I need to finish Adelai's nursery. I need to finish buying all the little baby girl necessities we need. I need to buy Roman a whole new fall/winter wardrobe. I need to do a lot in ten weeks time. Which will, I'm sure, make it fly by even faster.
I can't wait for you to see the both of their rooms when they are done.
Here is the before picture of Roman's new big boy room:
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Here is the before picture of Adelai's nursery.
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I'm sorry the rooms are such a mess. The nursery has been cleaned since this picture was taken but I don't want to have to go take another picture.

But yes...thirty weeks. I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore to be honest. This pregnancy has been a lot harder on me than Roman's was. With Roman I really didn't start to feel pregnant until I was like thirty-six weeks pregnant, but with this one I have felt pregnant the whole time. Seriously...if you go look at a pregnancy book and look at the symptoms you might feel through-out...I feel like I have all the ones from the book! Today I couldn't even walk until around two in the afternoon because I was in so much pain. I feel sick to my stomach everyday. And I'm tired all the time. But I just keep telling myself that it is all worth it and it won't last forever. Ten more weeks and then I shall not be pregnant anymore!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Thank you Pinterest- Part 1

So as I mentioned before, this month I am only trying new recipes that I find on Pinterest. It so far has been wonderful! Everything I've made has been delicious. For our first batch of meals we did theme nights. Started out with Mexican night and ended in Asian night. Some of the meals were very time consuming (especially for this swollen little pregnant person) but all very worth it. We just went grocery shopping and all the meals I have planned for from Pinterest are a bit easier and not as time consuming as the ones I just made. Being on my feet for two hours can take it out of me! Especially with my huge belly. But this huge belly certainly appreciated everything I put in it so I can't really complain!

Meal #1: Jalepano Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
So I know this really doesn't go with our theme idea, but I was tired this day and wanted something easy. Plus I mean...we love jalapeno poppers and grilled cheese sandwiches...so there was no way we could go wrong with this recipe! It was amazing!

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I omitted the chips and next time I will leave some of the seeds in the jalapeno because it was not spicy enough for me (and this pregnancy is making me crave spicy!

Meal #2: Chicken Enchiladas and Homemade Salsa
So our first night was Mexican themed and it was amazing. The enchiladas were one of those things that were very time consuming to make so Roman missed out on them since they weren't ready till after he went to bed. But Malachi and I had a little impromptu date night. We found some Mariachi band music and had a wonderful Mexican meal. Plus may I mention that I made homemade salsa! I was pretty proud of myself! I will never buy store bought salsa again!

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I forgot to add the cumin in the salsa but it delicious just the same. And be prepared...this recipe makes a lot of salsa!

Meal #3: Gyros and Greek Pasta Salad
Malachi was super excited about this meal. He loves Greek food. Loves it. We have both been wanted gyros for a while now but didn't know of any good Greek restaurants around here so why not make them. I was pretty nervous about trying to make them myself since I figured it was one of those things you only eat out but I went for it and I'm glad I did. They were very good. My husband looked like he died and went to heaven while he was eating it! Which makes every moment spent in the kitchen worth it! This was also a time consuming meal to make and I will not lie...making the meat for the gyros was nasty. You have to made a meat paste...so yes...gross. But worth it in the end. I don't think I will attempt this one again for a very loooong time, but I'm glad I did it.

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Meal #4: Basil Fondue and Chicken and Bow Ties
I love Italian food so I knew nothing could go wrong with this meal! I changed the fondue from pesto to basil. I followed the recipe except for adding the nuts. I left those out so it was more of a basil fondue than a pesto fondue but it was amazing! I could only have a tiny serving of the pasta because I ate so much fondue! One thing I will do differently next time is cut up the sun dried tomatoes into smaller pieces instead of leaving them in strips. They were too overpowering for me as strips. But other than that is was delicious!

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Meal #5: Buffalo wings and Fried Pickles
I was going to make these Buffalo Chicken Bites but I was having a rough pregnancy day and I was tired so my husband decided to make dinner for us. So instead of the complicated 'bites' he made some homemade buffalo wings. They hit the spot! They were super spicy and delicious! I am not ashamed to say that all three of us were covered in buffalo sauce by the end of the meal. Malachi also made fried pickles. And really...can you go wrong with fried pickles? No...I didn't think so!

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Meal #6: Mongolian Beef
Alright...so without knowing it I saved the best for last. This recipe was SO good that I not only had it for dinner, I had it for dessert and for lunch the next day. And sadly it is all gone! I will be making this again sometime soon!

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I did use pre-cut stir fry meat for the store but that is all I changed in the recipe.

After every meal Malachi tells me he is so happy that I have found Pinterest and he thinks I should keep using it! So I think I shall! Roman has been inspired by Pinterest too!
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Keep a look out for part 2!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Takin' it easy

I am starting to get to the point of my pregnancy where I am going to have to start taking it easy. Lately I have been go go go and it is taking a toll on my body. One day I went to the gym and then ran a ton of errands and ended up having some pretty painful contractions throughout the day. And the next two days I kept just as busy and at the end of the night my whole entire body hurt. Malachi has been getting on to me to slow down and I always agree with him, but it is easier said than done. I have SO much to do all the time I feel like! Which is all in my head. I feel like I have to go to the gym three days a week to stay healthy. Malachi asks me why I don't just take it easy at the gym but to me that seems like an oxymoron. I feel like I need to break a sweat. Especially since my goal this time around is to only gain 35-40 pounds. With Roman I gained 60...yes...60 pounds! So that is why I have been 'gyming' it up so much. But I have caved and I am going to start slowing things down at the gym and in all other areas in my life. The last three days Roman and I have locked ourselves in the house (other than running to the library, but that really doesn't count). I'll admit it has been really nice. I felt a little peakish yesterday since I was cooking all day (which I'm so excited about sharing with you all but that is for another day!).  So for my health and my daughter's health I am going to take it easy.