It's Party time

Every good party has two things going for it - silly party tricks and tasty food. 

C has turned out to be quite a little ham.  She has never met a stranger and loves to be the center of attention.  Her newest party trick is showing everyone how she can 'jump' ... and it's adorable.  Bless her little heart, she thinks she is jumping so high and she never actually leaves the ground.  I captured her trick on my phone yesterday.  Enjoy.  (The first 6 seconds are blurry, but I just couldn't bring myself to cut that part because it's so cute)   



 A few weeks ago I came across the most fabulous party sandwich idea (at HEB, of course)... Lazy Girl Muffalettas.  I've made them twice already - once for a party and then on a smaller scale for dinner for my family. 

To feed a crowd you'll need:
1 loaf of ciabatta or French bread
olive tapenade
provolone cheese slices
mozzarella cheese slices
deli slices of ham, turkey, salami and or pastrami (I use a combo of all of 'em)

Heat the oven to 350.

Slice the loaf lengthwise and spread both sides with some of the tapenade.  Layer your chosen meats on both sides of the bread, followed by the cheeses (one type on each side) .  Put the two sides together, with the cheeses meeting in the middle.  Wrap the entire thing in foil and then pop it in the oven for 20 or so minutes, just until everything is warmed through and the cheese is melted. 

Delicious right out of the oven, but just as yummy as they cool also.  I'm planning on making several variations on this theme over the next few weeks/months.  Seems like it would totally work in the grill too.  I'm always trying to think of ways to NOT use my oven during the summer months.

Yes, I'm Still Alive

Just pulled up my blog for the first time in a loooong time. I thought it was very interesting that the last post I made was EXACTLY one month before C came into this world! Yep, we had a Groundhog Baby. I ended up being induced and was able to choose between January 31st and February 2nd. For some reason I have always really liked the month of February, I wanted her to be born on an even day (weird, I know) and Groundhog Day is also my grandparents' anniversary.  It was the most amazing experience and one of the best days of my life. We now can't imagine life without C!



Just a few hours old.  Isn't she precious?



There were a few bumps in the road along the way the first year. We dealt with nightly 1 - 3 am scream-fests for a few weeks, difficulty digesting dairy (I ended up giving up dairy for 5 months so her little tummy wouldn't hurt), and chronic ear infections that led to C not sleeping through the night before her first birthday.  I will be forever grateful to Dr. Harvey Karp’s book Happiest Baby on the Block, all of the great dairy replacement options on the market and to Dr. Jakob for putting tubes in C’s ears.  Through it all the Hubs has been such an amazing support. I know I would not have survived without his encouragement and love. 

Found this stuck to my  lamp while getting ready for bed one night.

Although it’s not my first choice, I did have to go back to work this school year and honestly, balancing working full-time and trying to be a good mom has been really hard.  I rush home from work every day and try to cram in as much quality time as possible before bedtime.  And before C began sleeping well at night I was still getting up 3xs a night on average.  Needless to say I was exhausted.  For the first year of Little C's life I didn’t do much cooking.  Never before had we ever eaten so much take-out, fast food and pre-packaged meals.  It’s not like I was happy about it, but I just felt like I had no other choice.  I did make a fair amount of her baby food, but not as much as I would have liked - still working through all of the ‘mom guilt’ I feel about that one.

This photo captures it perfectly.

It’s only recently that, as I posted on Facebook the other day,"I'm finally starting to feel morelike ' me'... starting to cook more and meal plan again, tackling a few 'just for fun' projects, and am ready to buy some new, stylish clothes for my post-baby body". C has started sleeping very well, only occasionally waking up once during the night. She also now plays independently for extended periods of time, freeing me up to actually prepare meals, as opposed to just heating something up.   I have missed cooking.  A lot.  But I am getting back into it, slowly, but surely.  I’ve found that planning ahead and utilization of the crockpot are keys to success for me.  For April I actually made a monthly dinner plan calendar! 

It's color-coded and even includes hyperlinks to recipes

On Pintrest I have seen a ton of links to sites that say something like “prep a month worth of meals in 1 day”.  I excitedly open each of them hoping that they hold the key to simplifying my life, but without fail they require large chunks of hands-on time to do the food prep. This is a problem for me for several reasons: 1) I work full time and 2) the Hubs holds a second job as a photographer and most weekends he has at least one, and many times two photo shoots, in addition to several weeknight sessions.  Two other criteria that have to be met for a meal plan to work for me are that the meals need to be fairly nutritious and budget friendly.  I’ve been trying to take some of the ideas behind those “ahead of time food prep” sites and shape them in ways that work for my family with my time, nutrition and budget constraints. 

C is such a big help in the kitchen

One thing I have noticed is that tons of make-ahead recipes utilize already cooked and chopped or shredded chicken. If you’re using store-bought rotisserie chickens it can get really expensive really fast. So when bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts go on sale at my local HEB, I stock up and roast them all at once. Super simple. Here’s what that actually looks like time-wise at my house:

1. When I get home from work I turn the oven on to preheat (375°F) while I’m changing clothes and getting us snacks.  C then helps me season the meat with some olive oil, salt and pepper and any other spices I feel like using. (I’m currently addicted to this blend from Penzeys).  
2. We play outside while the chicken breasts roast (45 - 50 minutes) and then I let them cool completely while we eat dinner and do our bedtime routine. 
3. After she is down it takes me about 10 minutes to remove the skin, pull all of the meat off of the bones and then cube it.  I typically use my FoodSaver to vacuum pack the meat into 2 cup portions to go in the freezer. 

This means that this week I spent a little less than $10, lost no precious time with my daughter and ended up with over 12 cups of cooked, cubed chicken that I am using in empanadas, green chili chicken enchiladas, chicken tortilla soup, and homemade pizzas (Thai & BBQ) that we will eat later this month and next month, too. 

Score. 

A "Bucket List" of Sorts

I hit the beginning of my third trimester last week.  How can that be?!?!  It seems like only yesterday that we received the shock of our lives when we found out I was pregnant and then a month later had it confirmed by the doctor and got to see an image of the little one for the first time. 

The last 28 weeks have been filled with so many exciting moments.  All tests have come back with good results for both the baby and me so far and I have managed to stay very healthy (no swelling, high blood pressure, morning sickness or even a cold).  About 2 months ago we learned our baby is a girl!  I was so happy that I started crying right there on the ultrasound table.  Little C is growing like a weed and makes her presence known on a very regular basis.  I've been feeling kicks for almost 3 months and finally about 3 weeks ago The Hubs was able to feel her move too.  I'm amazed by how strong my love for her is already and I haven't even met her yet.

Little C grabbing and playing with her toes

I know that our lives are about to change forever.  Our time will no longer be completely ours, but will instead be largely spent taking care of and enjoying Little C.  If I'm completely honest, in some ways that makes me a little sad.  For the past 6 years it's been just the two of us (wedding anniversary was this month) and we've really enjoyed that season of our lives.  Although we feel incredibly blessed and cannot wait to bring Little C home, change can be tough.  I know there will be an adjustment period for all of us and yes, things will never be the same, but I'm also expecting these to be really good changes. I cannot wait to see what our little family of 3 is like. 

The Hubs and I

However, I am determined to make the most of these last 10 pre-baby weeks so I've come up with a Pre-Baby Bucket List.  These are things I've always wanted to try/do and if I'm realistic about it, probably won't have the time or energy to try them for awhile once Little C arrives.

1. Attempt a souffle
2. Make a salted caramel sauce that will make my sister drool
3. Cook a meal that includes duck breast for the Hubs (he's been asking for years).  Ideas anyone?
4. Make a batch of these Frappacino Cupcakes
5. Make homemade pasta

My goal is to do a post about each of these as I attempt them, whether I succeed or fail!  Wish me luck. 

Thankful

Thanksgiving is my sister's favorite holiday.  She loves the Thanksgiving meal - the sweet potatoes, cornbread dressing, green beans, cranberry sauce, gravy and turkey.  It's a meal she looks forward to all year long.  Seriously.  She's hard-core.  Me, I like Thanksgiving, but surprisingly it's not the food part as much as the whole spending time with family and friends thing.  I think the big reason why is because I'm not really a turkey fan.  It's okay, but I've never had one that blows me away.  And I don't like that jellied cranberry stuff either.  Do those two statements make me un-American?!?!



GROSS!

We did Thanksgiving with my extended family this past Sunday and it was wonderful.  Despite the 80+ degree temps, everyone had a wonderful time stuffing their faces and catching up on life.  Mom and Sis are both nurses so we've become quite creative over the past 5 years as to when we actually celebrate the holidays.  We're going to my in-laws' a little later today for a small family meal.  It's quite nice - two Thanksgiving celebrations, but they aren't squeezed into the same day! 



How we entertained ourselves at our early Thanksgiving dinner

 I'm struck this year by how many things I have to be thankful for.  I'm thankful that even though last year was one of the toughest of my life (personally and professionally), I was able to learn so many valuable lessons from it.  I'm thankful for my family, I no longer take their health for granted.  I'm thankful for my job, I no longer just assume that because I'm a teacher I will always have one.  I'm thankful for the friendships we have, they truly have become our extended family.  I'm thankful for the Hubs who keeps me sane and supported me through last year.  I'm also thankful for his incredible talents and how he is able to use them to bless so many other people.  Finally, I am thankful for Little C.  This unexpected blessing has already changed our lives so much and she's still just cooking!  God definitely knew what our little family was missing. 

Little C @ 20 weeks (she's a LOT bigger now)

One last thing I'm thankful for: non-traditional Thanksgiving desserts.  We don't have these often (Dad loves and insists on the traditional pumpkin and pecan pies), but occasionally I try to sneak one in.  One of my favorites is Pumpkin Creme' Brulee.  Super simple and super delicious!  A great make ahead dessert that pairs perfectly with those Thanksgiving leftovers everyone nibbles on all weekend.

Cookin' Up Somethin' New

So, I obviously haven't posted much this summer.  At all.  Ugh.  This is the one time of year when I actually have time to do lots of cooking and write ups and I have not taken advantage of it.  That makes me sad.

The truth of the matter is that I just haven't felt much like cooking.  What have I done a lot of?  Napping.  And snacking.  And then napping some more.  And avoiding strong smells.  Basically, I haven't been very productive when it comes to things around the house this summer.

So what have I been doing?  Surviving my first trimester. 

Turns out this Cookin' Up a baby thing is hard work!  So glad these first 3 months have passed and so looking forward to that 2nd trimester burst of energy that should show up any day now...