Well I have technically and officially never been this pregnant before. Two days shy of 39 weeks that is. Because I had Al early I was thinking I would have #2 around the same time. But I guess I thought wrong. So now we wait. For a Type A, planner and organizer, like myself, this is driving me crazy. I will admit that I like to have control of most (if not all) situations. So when God hands me things that I have no ability to influence it is a deep personal challenge/struggle. I have had everything ready for months as that seems to help me feel better about the "unknown". So I have nothing left to prepare. (Literally, "the easter bunny" filled all the eggs with treats this morning and the basket has been ready for weeks). The bags are packed and in my truck, everything and anything is washed and put away and the nursery has been finished for weeks. I am taking the opportunity to enjoy playtime with my little guy but with the weather being as sour as it has we are both going a little stir crazy. I've kept play dates relatively minimal as I am worried about having to cancel a whole pile of plans if I go into labor. But when I don't make plans to get out of the house I get so bored and frustrated with this waiting game.
The whole reason I felt inclined to blog about this was not to whine and bore you with trivial details of my last few weeks of pregnancy. It was more so to say to other mama's I feel your pain and this is totally normal to feel this way. I have come to realize that with pregnancy (much like with a lot of other exclusively female experiences such as menopause and periods) there is a ton of myth and stigma surrounding the topic. We are made to feel that because pregnancy is such a blessing and divine event that is is glorious and wonderful and feels fabulous for every woman. I don't think that we should always necessarily hold up this illusion. I do appreciate this gift from God but I can sincerely tell you I much prefer the prize at the end to the actual getting there. My friends often laugh or freeze in horror when I tell them fun little facts about my pregnancy. Probably shocked because they have never heard these things before. I think it is important we "keep it real" and be truthful about what we go through. Why? Because when we glamorize it and hide the facts about the real experience of pregnancy we isolate one another. We make each other feel like we are the only ones who feel this way or have these thoughts. What I mean is I don't enjoy pregnancy. But now that I just said that I feel apologetic, like I should take it back and sugar coat it and say its not so bad. As if I have broken woman code and am ruining the progress of Women's Rights leaders or something. But the truth is that doesn't make me a bad mother, it makes me human. It doesn't make me weak it just means that this is an experience that challenges me and forces me to find the positive in it. I wanted to write all this so that other woman can feel comfortable saying the same thing and not feel any less a Woman or Mother.
Basically I will be singing praise when Baby arrives and I can: sleep on my tummy, see my own crotch, read a story to my son without losing my breath, enjoy my body all to myself, stop taking heartburn medication ahh the list goes on. Anyway power to you mama's out there. Hold on you are almost there. And if you need any cliched advice about waiting for babies arrival I'm sure you can turn to the nearest stranger in a supermarket and they will have it for you!
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
On the Menu
We've been baking and cooking up a storm lately. And thanks to a friend I have a new website I am completely addicted to for delicious recipes. Great for those who are Gluten Free or Vegan, but equally as awesome if you aren't either of those! You must check it out Nutritionist in the Kitch.
Today we tried out a Peanut Butter Honey Muffin recipe. They were probably the simplest recipe I have tried and so tasty!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons sugar free peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
PREPARATION
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the peanut butter and oil and mix with a fork until crumbs form.
- Add the milk and honey and mix until just combined. Do not beat.
- Pour into muffin tins (about 3/4 full) and bake for 10-12 minutes, until tops are golden brown and spring back when you touch them.
Mmmm seriously divine. Another recipe we gave a go tonight was Pesto & Cheese Stuffed Chicken. If you are anything like me and completely useless at cooking any meat other than salmon and chicken, this was a great recipe to spice things up. Although still chicken, it took away from the same old boring "chicken and veggies" dinner.
You can steal the printer friendly recipe here or copy it from my blog
Baked Chicken Stuffed with Pesto and Cheese
(Makes two servings, but recipe can easily be doubled or tripled; recipe created by Kalyn in 2005 and adapted again in 2011.)
Ingredients:
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 T Basil Pesto with Lemon or your favorite commercial pesto
2 T low-fat sour cream
2 T grated mozzarella cheese
(I used heaping tablespoons of pesto, sour cream and cheese)
2 eggs, beaten (or if they're large eggs one will probably be enough)
3 T finely grated Parmesan cheese
3 T almond flour (or almond meal, but almond flour is better for this because it's more finely ground)
black pepper to taste
Instructions:
(Makes two servings, but recipe can easily be doubled or tripled; recipe created by Kalyn in 2005 and adapted again in 2011.)
Ingredients:
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 T Basil Pesto with Lemon or your favorite commercial pesto
2 T low-fat sour cream
2 T grated mozzarella cheese
(I used heaping tablespoons of pesto, sour cream and cheese)
2 eggs, beaten (or if they're large eggs one will probably be enough)
3 T finely grated Parmesan cheese
3 T almond flour (or almond meal, but almond flour is better for this because it's more finely ground)
black pepper to taste
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Spray a small casserole dish with non-stick spray. Trim any visible fat from chicken breasts, then put them one at a time inside a heavy plastic bag and pound with meat mallet until the chicken is as thin as you can get it. Don't worry too much about the shape or whether there are some loose pieces, you can tuck them in when you roll up the chicken.
In a small bowl mix together the basil pesto, sour cream, and grated mozzarella. Use a rubber scraper to spread a thin layer of this mixture over each chicken breast, stopping about 1/2 inch from the edge of the chicken (so it doesn't run out so much as it cooks.) Roll up the chicken breasts and secure them with a couple of toothpicks. (I roll them so the finished piece is as thin as I can get it so they will cook quickly.)
Prepare two bowls, one with the beaten egg and the other with the grated Parmesan-almond flour mixture, seasoned with black pepper to taste. Dip each chicken breast roll first into the egg mixture and then into the Parmesan-almond flour mixture, patting it on so the chicken breast roll is well-coated with the mixture.
Put chicken breasts into the casserole dish and bake until the chicken is firm and lightly browned. (Start checking after about 25-30 minutes; total baking time will be 30-35 minutes.) Serve hot.
We've also been big on smoothies lately so here are a few of my favourites that I have found
Coconut Raspberry Smoothie
• ¾ cup fresh raspberries – note that you can also use ½ cup frozen raspberries if you cannot find them fresh
• 1 can coconut milk – this is a 15 ounce can
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup or light honey
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon – this is based on preference
• Water – depending on how thin or thick you like your smoothie
• 1 can coconut milk – this is a 15 ounce can
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup or light honey
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon – this is based on preference
• Water – depending on how thin or thick you like your smoothie
Maternity Photos
I just received our maternity photos for baby #2 in the mail today. Love them!
Melissa was a fabulous photographer, and definitely very patient with our uncooperative "big brother".
I seriously love her editing style, so soft and creamy. Makes me think of Vanilla.
Check out more of her work here.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Mud Room Project
My husband spent a couple hours over the past week working on a house project for me. A few weeks ago I finally decided I was fed up with our system at the back door. By 'system' I mean the way we were storing our jackets and children's winter gear. Everything seemed mismanaged and I was sick of having my hubby's work jackets piled on top of my nicer smelling jackets. So naturally I began to peruse Pinterest. This pinterest thing paired with nesting is a very bad idea. We have a very large mudroom that enters through our garage and carries through the pantry, but the space was just not being utilized. Plus we have a large coat and shoe closet, but coats rarely seem to ever get hung up on their hangers. We needed a more convenient and quick way to stash away our 'stuff'. These are the ideas I found:
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| simple and efficient and we liked the idea of two rows of hooks (one for adults one for kids) |
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| these colours go well with our home, and again a very simple idea, although probably wouldn't use our storage space for decor |
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| slightly more complicated but a nice polished look, plus the bench cushion is cute |
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| Loved this one for the use of the corner space which is exactly what we were dealing with |
A nice one piece unit
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| Liked the idea of the overhead cabinets |
We talked about the pro's and con's of each idea and came up with three possible options. 1) We built a unit ourselves. Probably more cost efficient but maybe wouldn't be as professional or polished looking 2) try to assemble something ourselves from pre-built pieces such as good ol' Ikea. Again relatively cost effective but would it be durable and reliable for such a dirty and "lived-in" space. 3) Hire a woodworker or carpenter to custom build a unit for us. Least cost effective but would result in a beautiful addition to our home.
Being pregnant and indecisive we went back and forth and finally settled on doing nothing at all. After allowing some time to pass my husband suggested he give it a whirl. He is not a woodworker by trade but anyone who knows my darling hubby, knows that he can pretty much tackle anything. He is a hands-on kind of guy and is awesome at every project he takes on. From car building to plumbing, to deck building to tree and flower planting, he is seriously amazing! Anyway we decided to go with a shelf row of hooks, followed by a lower row of hooks, followed by a bench. We designed it to have space for baskets on the top shelf as well as under the bench.
I dont know how he just knows this stuff, but it turned out awesome. I am so pleased with our mudroom now and feel so much more organized. With a second boy on the way I know we are going to need lots of room for muddy boots, hats, winter gear and coats. It is perfect.
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| working away with Dad |
The mirror that used to hang where
the shelves are now
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| The finished product. Still needs a bench cushion but we will see if I get around to that before baby |
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Freezer Cook
Hello Pinteresters and welcome!
I seem to be getting a ton of traffic to this post via Pinterest so I thought I would spruce it up a bit for you! Below is my blog post about a giant freezer meal prep I did just before I had baby number two. I have included all of my planning and prep work (for the freezer meal prep) as well as links to all the recipes!
As promised here is the post about my giant, pre-baby, freezer meal cook. I wanted to have a ton of meals ready for when baby arrives so that I don't have much to worry about in terms of dinner. Hubby often works late and the question of him cooking even if he were home is a funny thought (unless you consider KD and eggs an acceptable meal). So my plan was to have crockpot and "one-dish" meals prepped and frozen so that I have at least a few weeks of easy dinners. Turns out I will probably have close to 2 months worth of food but there is nothing wrong with that! I did a few meals over a few days and then did the bulk of the meals last Thursday with C. It is a pretty intense process but if you are well prepared it usually goes well. So how to begin you ask? Here is how I tackled this project.
Step 1. Recipe Selection
Back in January we picked out all the recipes we wanted to make. As mentioned above I stuck to crockpot meals, one-dish meals and I also did soups. Where to get the recipes? Well I use some of my own family recipes such as lasagna or Ham & Cheese Buns, I use my casserole and crockpot cookbooks (or any cookbooks for that matter), I use the internet for inspiration (specifically the Kraft website) and lastly Pinterest! For this round I chose to stick to recipes that are tried and true so that we don't end up with a dinner that no one likes. Once we have our list of recipes compiled it's onto the next step.
Step 2. Planning
Once you have your recipes chosen it's time to compile your lists! List #1 consists of ingredients. I wrote/typed out every ingredient required for each recipe. This will help you start a tally chart for your grocery list. Using your ingredient list you can tally up all the different ingredients you will need to purchase. That brings us to List #2 the grocery list. Using your tally chart of ingredients you can compile a master grocery list. Since I was cooking so much food I decided to get a few things at Costco to cut cost. If I didn't have baby brain I would have done the rest of my shopping on 15% Tuesday at Save On but sadly I thought of that after I had bought all my groceries. Sigh, next time. Once you have your grocery list ready you are good to go!
Step 3. Grocery Shopping
Buy in bulk to save some money, use coupons and take advantage of "discount days". I needed 50 chicken breasts for all my meals so I definitely utilized my Costco card. Once you've done a few freezer meal cooks you get the hang of the grocery shopping step and definitely figure out ways to make your dinners as cost effective as possible! I think I kept my meals around $8.00 a dinner. Not too bad, but like I said I could have done it better.
Step 4. Label and Plan
Now that you have everything it is time to label your freezer bags. Each bag will need to be labeled with the name of the meal, the cooking and serving instructions. Lasagna may look like this:
I seem to be getting a ton of traffic to this post via Pinterest so I thought I would spruce it up a bit for you! Below is my blog post about a giant freezer meal prep I did just before I had baby number two. I have included all of my planning and prep work (for the freezer meal prep) as well as links to all the recipes!
As promised here is the post about my giant, pre-baby, freezer meal cook. I wanted to have a ton of meals ready for when baby arrives so that I don't have much to worry about in terms of dinner. Hubby often works late and the question of him cooking even if he were home is a funny thought (unless you consider KD and eggs an acceptable meal). So my plan was to have crockpot and "one-dish" meals prepped and frozen so that I have at least a few weeks of easy dinners. Turns out I will probably have close to 2 months worth of food but there is nothing wrong with that! I did a few meals over a few days and then did the bulk of the meals last Thursday with C. It is a pretty intense process but if you are well prepared it usually goes well. So how to begin you ask? Here is how I tackled this project.
Step 1. Recipe Selection
Back in January we picked out all the recipes we wanted to make. As mentioned above I stuck to crockpot meals, one-dish meals and I also did soups. Where to get the recipes? Well I use some of my own family recipes such as lasagna or Ham & Cheese Buns, I use my casserole and crockpot cookbooks (or any cookbooks for that matter), I use the internet for inspiration (specifically the Kraft website) and lastly Pinterest! For this round I chose to stick to recipes that are tried and true so that we don't end up with a dinner that no one likes. Once we have our list of recipes compiled it's onto the next step.
Step 2. Planning
Once you have your recipes chosen it's time to compile your lists! List #1 consists of ingredients. I wrote/typed out every ingredient required for each recipe. This will help you start a tally chart for your grocery list. Using your ingredient list you can tally up all the different ingredients you will need to purchase. That brings us to List #2 the grocery list. Using your tally chart of ingredients you can compile a master grocery list. Since I was cooking so much food I decided to get a few things at Costco to cut cost. If I didn't have baby brain I would have done the rest of my shopping on 15% Tuesday at Save On but sadly I thought of that after I had bought all my groceries. Sigh, next time. Once you have your grocery list ready you are good to go!
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| This is part of my master Grocery list, I wrote out a list of each meal I wanted to prep and numbered them 1 - 30. I then pulled out the recipe for each meal and wrote out the ingredients with corresponding number to the meal list (this step is pictured above). I then used this list to do a tally chart of each ingredient, pictured below. |
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| Once you have compiled your tally chart of each ingredient (for example 10 cans of chicken broth, 15 large potatoes) you can then decide how and where to grocery shop. From all of the meals I had planned to prep I tallied out that I would need 15cans of broth. From there I decided it would be best to purchase it in bulk so I assigned that particular item (chicken broth) to a particular grocery store (Costco). Once you've finished your tally chart, go ahead and total each item (pictured above) and then assign a grocery store to each item. For example, dollar store for tinfoil pans, Costco for chicken breasts and local grocery store for bell peppers. Lastly compile a master grocery list for each store! And to be extra organized write out your store lists in order of grocery store departments (ex. all dairy items together, all produce together) that way you won't forget anything on shopping day! A reader also mentioned a website called zip list to help get organized with your lists! I haven't tried it out yet but I thought I would post a link incase you want to give it a try! |
Step 3. Grocery Shopping
Buy in bulk to save some money, use coupons and take advantage of "discount days". I needed 50 chicken breasts for all my meals so I definitely utilized my Costco card. Once you've done a few freezer meal cooks you get the hang of the grocery shopping step and definitely figure out ways to make your dinners as cost effective as possible! I think I kept my meals around $8.00 a dinner. Not too bad, but like I said I could have done it better.
Step 4. Label and Plan
Now that you have everything it is time to label your freezer bags. Each bag will need to be labeled with the name of the meal, the cooking and serving instructions. Lasagna may look like this:
Lasagna
Thaw. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle with parmesan and serve
Where as Italian Crockpot Chicken might look like this:
Italian Crockpot Chicken
Thaw
Place in crockpot on high for 3 hours
Drain liquid and serve
Where as Italian Crockpot Chicken might look like this:
Italian Crockpot Chicken
Thaw
Place in crockpot on high for 3 hours
Drain liquid and serve
Once you've labeled all your bags you can put each recipe card with the corresponding bag. Lastly I lay out my non-parishable ingredients in front of each bag so that my groceries are divided and ready to go.
Step 5. Cook
Oh the best part of it all. You are about to cook a million dinners all at once, and when it feels like the chopping, frying and grating will never end, just remember you will get a whole week/month/or however many days off of cooking. Now that is a glorious thought! When prepping your crockpot meals you will chop and mix according to recipe but instead of placing items in the slow cooker you will stuff them in your freezer bag. I usually try to pick one step recipes to make the process much easier. Then you simply seal and lay flat to freeze. Laying flat is important because once you have 10 or more you can stack or store them much easier than if they are a giant frozen ball of food. As for one-dish meals you prep the meal up to the point of putting it in the oven. Instead of baking it you will simply insert your meal into the freezer bag and freeze. I chose to make my one-dish meals in disposable tinfoil pans (easy cook, easy cleanup). And the square size (8x8 i think it is) fits perfectly into freezer bags. The tinfoil pie pans fit nicely as well just FYI. Lastly for soup I cook the soup fully, allow to completely cool and then divide into freezer bags and lay flat to freeze.
Ive also been told you can find tinfoil pans cheap cheap at the dollar store. You can also buy various sizes there so if you are only cooking for one, you can still prep all the meals the same just divide them into the smaller pans before you freeze so that you have smaller portion sizes when it comes time to cook! Super convenient.
Ive also been told you can find tinfoil pans cheap cheap at the dollar store. You can also buy various sizes there so if you are only cooking for one, you can still prep all the meals the same just divide them into the smaller pans before you freeze so that you have smaller portion sizes when it comes time to cook! Super convenient.
Here are some of the recipes I prepped:
Crockpot
One Dish Meals
Sloppy Joes
Soups
Ham Chowder
** I should mention that for the soup recipes listed above I cooked each soup fully, allowed to cool and then bagged or put in containers. They will be a thaw a reheat meal on the day of, no cooking required
** I should mention that for the soup recipes listed above I cooked each soup fully, allowed to cool and then bagged or put in containers. They will be a thaw a reheat meal on the day of, no cooking required
Each of the meals listed above contains a link to the recipe so feel free to click on it and you will be directed to a source containing the recipe!
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| Everything except the soups! |
With the tiny bit of room that is left over in my freezer I have also packed in the following frozen baked goods (which should hold us over until I am up to the task of baking again):
** I should also mention that for the baked goods recipes listed above I baked them fully, allowed to cool and then bagged or put in containers. They thaw perfectly and are ready to enjoy!
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