Today DF Mandy went home! She drove here on Thursday evening with my mom and is driving back today. She was so sad to leave because when she was here about a month ago, DD wanted almost nothing to do with her. This visit, DD was calling her name, hugging and kissing her, talking to her. What a difference a month makes. So we told her that she had to get a video camera for her computer so she could skype us!
We also got a visit from DF's The Sabin's! They stopped on their way out of town to say hi and see DS. After they left, my mom and I took DD to the spray park to play for a little bit. She still won't really run into the water. Maybe if she had some of her little friends with her she would. My mom and her were playing by some squirt guns when they were ambushed by a little boy, hahaha! We also played on the playground while there.
For dinner tonight I decided to make a large salad with some sausage on it. My SIL made this once when I was over her house and I thought it was really good. I used Al Fresco All Natural Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage. The only reason I bought these is because I had a dollar off coupon. They are kinda pricey and only come with 4 of them. I did see on their website you could get a dollar off coupon, but it looked like you had to sign up for their emails to get it. Every few weeks there is one on smartsource.com.
I was afraid that my mom wouldn't like it because she is very picky. BUT she did!! And I know she wasn't just being nice because she ate up all the salad. They were pretty tasty. I even used raspberry vinegarette instead of my usual Cala's dressing! I still have another dollar off coupon and may have to buy them again, maybe try another flavor. On their site they had a chipotle chourizo flavored one, but I haven't seen those yet!
Unfortuntely I totally forgot to take a picture of this meal!! I'm sure we'll have it again sometime, so I'll take a picture then!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy 4th of July!
Happy 4th to everyone!! We haven't been able to enjoy fireworks for a few years now! When I was preggers with DD, she was doing backflips in my belly over them. Not sure if she liked or disliked them. We went to South High to watch them and were practically in front row because of SIL. Her work is right there! Last year we just stayed home and this year I don't think DD would have lasted. She totally hates loud noises.
Today we had my MIL and AIL for a little BBQ. My mother and DF Mandy are still here as well. On our menu today was:
Today we had my MIL and AIL for a little BBQ. My mother and DF Mandy are still here as well. On our menu today was:
- Hamburgers
- Hot dogs
- Black Bean Burger (for me!!)
- Fridge Pickles
- Macaroni Salad
- Baked Beans
- Potato Salad (My MIL brought this.)
- Pizzales (My AIL brought these.)
- Left over Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Home Sweet Home!
Today we came home from the hospital. My DM and DF Mandy are here visiting for a little while. My MIL brought over chicken and rice casserole and salad for us all to have for dinner. For dessert she made us a Chocolate Zucchini Cake with a glaze on it. I don't have her recipe, but I found this one on line that I think is very similar except she doesn't add chocolate chips. This sounds like a weird combination, but it is actually really good and I don't even really like chocolate. It comes out so moist and yummy. She also makes it with a yellow cake, which I do like better. It's nice not to cook, but I hate people deciding what I eat for me.
While in the hospital I got to have a grilled cheese and tomato soup! I was so excited because I never get to have that at home. DD and DH both don't eat either! So sad! The food in there wasn't all that great, but it was included in the price, hahaha! We can't wait to get into a routine with the new addition.
Sorry I had been missing! I will try to promise not to be MIA so long in the future!
While in the hospital I got to have a grilled cheese and tomato soup! I was so excited because I never get to have that at home. DD and DH both don't eat either! So sad! The food in there wasn't all that great, but it was included in the price, hahaha! We can't wait to get into a routine with the new addition.
Sorry I had been missing! I will try to promise not to be MIA so long in the future!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Turkey Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and Freezer Meals
Today was possibly my last day of work for a while! I went into work this morning and then went to the doctors. We decided to induce tomorrow since my doctor would be at the hospital. Recently I bought a bunch of food to make freezer meals for when baby comes. I guess that means I HAVE to make them today otherwise the food will go bad!
Here is a list of things that I made:
Kaylee's Casserole - I found this on OAMC with Once a Month Mom. I haven't tried this recipe at all, so I'll have to get back to you when we actually eat it.
Chicken and Rice Casserole - I got this recipe from my MIL. I think this recipe is too much for us, so I always split it up into two containers. I usually make it when someone has a baby and I give them one and we eat one for dinner.
Stuffed Peppers - I always use Giada De Laurentiis' recipe for stuffed peppers and zucchini. I never have stuffed the zucchini because DH isn't a huge zucchini fan. I made the filling for the peppers and I added in some grated zucchini to use it up. I stuffed the peppers, then I put them on a baking sheet, and stuck them in the freezer to freeze individually. Once they were totally frozen I put them in a ziplock bag. This way we could cook what we want instead of cooking all 6 at once. I haven't tried this before either, so I'll have to get back to you if it works well.
Stuffed Buffalo Chicken - I also found this on Once a Month Mom. I only used 3/4 cup of butter because that's all I had out. I also added some ranch dressing to the mix because I always add ranch to anything buffalo. I haven't tried it either. Again, I'll have to get back to you on the finished product.
Lasagna - I always use the Barilla noodles recipe to make lasagna. In my cheese mix though I add garlic and some spices (oregano, parsley, basil).
Tomato Soup Cake - This recipe made 5 mini loafs. I got this from my MIL as well. Sounds weird, but it is really good!
Zucchini Bread - Again this came from my MIL as well. This recipe I lost on my kitchen table, so I'll have to get it for you at another time.
I can't have meatloaf without mashed potatoes. But I always cheat with them, hehehe! I buy the Ore Ida Steam and Mash Garlic Seasoned Mashed Potatoes. These taste really good and I can always have them on hand in the freezer. I take small portions out and then microwave them. I usually get two uses out of a bag.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Slow Cooker Mango Pork
Today DD and I went to meet up with DF Bridget who was in from Chicago. We went over to the west side to Johnny Mango's. It was a cute little restaurant and had tasty food! Keeping with the mango theme I decided to make something with mango for dinner!! Even though I didn't eat anything with mango at Johnny Mango's!!
I wanted tonights dinner to be in the slow cooker like this recipe says, but my pork wasn't thawed in time! I got this recipe from onceamonthmom.com. I did mine a little different though, of course!
First off I used an Italian marinated pork loin. I have since learned a lot about pork loins from I think Alton Brown on his show "Good Eats". In the past I've bought the premarinated loins because I thought they tasted better. But I learned that they have much more additives and preservatives than if you just buy a plain ol pork loin. And the plain ol ones are cheaper! When I was just a few months preggers I made one of the Italian marinated ones and just couldn't eat it. I have since learned that my taste is still not liking them! Haha!
I mixed all the ingredients except the mango and the italian spices (since it was already a seasoned loin) together with the pork in a ziplock bag. I let it marinade for the afternoon in the fridge. I put everything in the pan and began to cook. Well, now I know why it should be done in a slow cooker!!! The sauce cooked up so fast that it began to burn!!!
I also added fresh mango instead of frozen because I had a mango on hand. To accompany the dish I made rice and peas. I really couldn't eat this meal because of the Italian pork loin taste. I am interested to try this in the slow cooker with frozen mango though.
I wanted tonights dinner to be in the slow cooker like this recipe says, but my pork wasn't thawed in time! I got this recipe from onceamonthmom.com. I did mine a little different though, of course!
First off I used an Italian marinated pork loin. I have since learned a lot about pork loins from I think Alton Brown on his show "Good Eats". In the past I've bought the premarinated loins because I thought they tasted better. But I learned that they have much more additives and preservatives than if you just buy a plain ol pork loin. And the plain ol ones are cheaper! When I was just a few months preggers I made one of the Italian marinated ones and just couldn't eat it. I have since learned that my taste is still not liking them! Haha!
I mixed all the ingredients except the mango and the italian spices (since it was already a seasoned loin) together with the pork in a ziplock bag. I let it marinade for the afternoon in the fridge. I put everything in the pan and began to cook. Well, now I know why it should be done in a slow cooker!!! The sauce cooked up so fast that it began to burn!!!
I also added fresh mango instead of frozen because I had a mango on hand. To accompany the dish I made rice and peas. I really couldn't eat this meal because of the Italian pork loin taste. I am interested to try this in the slow cooker with frozen mango though.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
YMCA Dream House and Leftovers
Since DD has been asking to go "Bye Bye" all weekend we decided to take her out today. Of course it had to be 90 degrees out on the day we leave the house, hahaha! We traveled out to Painesville Township to see the Lake County YMCA Dream House.
I still like the one in Concord two years ago the best. Last year was in the Marsh Landing or something like that and you couldn't pay me enough to live there. For those of you not from Ohio, every year the Lake County YMCA has a home built and completely decorated. Then they sell tickets to visit it which are raffle tickets. In August they pick 12 names and give 12 people the keys to the house. Whose ever key fits the door wins the house or $250,000.
This year they had a lot of the rooms ropped off which made it more like a museum than home. We let DD run rampid in there, but she had fun, hahaha. After leaving we stopped at BW's for lunch. DD was soooo awful we almost left without ordering. We had to bribe her with everything we had to get her to stop whining!
For dinner we did the leftovers from the Louisiana Chicken Pasta. Tomorrow I think I may do some bulk cooking and freezing for when baby comes. If I don't do that, then I'm just resting and hoping for baby to come!!
I still like the one in Concord two years ago the best. Last year was in the Marsh Landing or something like that and you couldn't pay me enough to live there. For those of you not from Ohio, every year the Lake County YMCA has a home built and completely decorated. Then they sell tickets to visit it which are raffle tickets. In August they pick 12 names and give 12 people the keys to the house. Whose ever key fits the door wins the house or $250,000.
This year they had a lot of the rooms ropped off which made it more like a museum than home. We let DD run rampid in there, but she had fun, hahaha. After leaving we stopped at BW's for lunch. DD was soooo awful we almost left without ordering. We had to bribe her with everything we had to get her to stop whining!
For dinner we did the leftovers from the Louisiana Chicken Pasta. Tomorrow I think I may do some bulk cooking and freezing for when baby comes. If I don't do that, then I'm just resting and hoping for baby to come!!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Louisiana Chicken Pasta
Today we didn't even leave the house! DH worked on my back brakes all day. Now the noises coming from my car are gone, yay!! I spent the day cleaning, laundry, organizing, cooking!
I make jello about once or twice a week for DH to take to work. It's much cheaper than buying the packs at the store. I have a bunch of the little 1/2 cup glad containers, which is one serving size of jello. I buy the family size package and usually get about 9 cups out of it. Costs about $2.00 about, when 6 packages premade are usually over $3. I'm going to soon start to rotate between jello and pudding for him. We buy the pudding premade now. Only thing I hate is that he won't eat instant, he wants it to be cook and serve, argh!!
I also make simple syrup once a week for my ice coffee. I make ice coffee about twice a week (1 pot of coffee cooled and put in the fridge). I also make ice tea about once a week for DH. I cut up fruit today as well. I made an angel food cake as well. DH had bought everything to make it on a run to the grocery store (which is why he is not allowed to go there very often!!!). I also went through all the baby clothes from my SIL. For me that seemed like so much, hahaha!
For dinner I made a recipe that DF Chrystal recommended to me on another post. It comes from a website called Annie's Eats and is Louisiana Chicken Pasta. It was good, so good DH had seconds. It was also a very simple recipe that only took me about 1/2 hour to cook.
I of course didn't follow directions, haha! I was worried about it being too salty from DF Chrystal's suggestion and I was also worried about it being too spicy for DH. I did not salt or pepper the chicken. I just put the cajun seasoning on it. I also did not add salt, pepper or cayenne to the bell peppers and onions. The ingredients mentioned garlic powder, but no where in the recipe did it tell you where to use it. So I put it in with the bell peppers and onions. Instead of half and half I used up some whole milk that I had.
I made one of my famous frozen breadsticks as well, hehehe (see earlier post for secret recipe, hehehe!). It made a very good size pan as well. On a week night it would make for some pretty tasty leftover lunches! Only one drawback, DD would not eat it! Only a little and dipped in honey mustard, which I beleive totally ruins any recipe, haha!
I skipped angel food cake after dinner in lieu of going to the movies with some friends and munching on popcorn instead! I went to see Sex and the City 2. I was kind of disappointed in the movie. The first one is much better, wait for the video!
I make jello about once or twice a week for DH to take to work. It's much cheaper than buying the packs at the store. I have a bunch of the little 1/2 cup glad containers, which is one serving size of jello. I buy the family size package and usually get about 9 cups out of it. Costs about $2.00 about, when 6 packages premade are usually over $3. I'm going to soon start to rotate between jello and pudding for him. We buy the pudding premade now. Only thing I hate is that he won't eat instant, he wants it to be cook and serve, argh!!
I also make simple syrup once a week for my ice coffee. I make ice coffee about twice a week (1 pot of coffee cooled and put in the fridge). I also make ice tea about once a week for DH. I cut up fruit today as well. I made an angel food cake as well. DH had bought everything to make it on a run to the grocery store (which is why he is not allowed to go there very often!!!). I also went through all the baby clothes from my SIL. For me that seemed like so much, hahaha!
For dinner I made a recipe that DF Chrystal recommended to me on another post. It comes from a website called Annie's Eats and is Louisiana Chicken Pasta. It was good, so good DH had seconds. It was also a very simple recipe that only took me about 1/2 hour to cook.
I of course didn't follow directions, haha! I was worried about it being too salty from DF Chrystal's suggestion and I was also worried about it being too spicy for DH. I did not salt or pepper the chicken. I just put the cajun seasoning on it. I also did not add salt, pepper or cayenne to the bell peppers and onions. The ingredients mentioned garlic powder, but no where in the recipe did it tell you where to use it. So I put it in with the bell peppers and onions. Instead of half and half I used up some whole milk that I had.
I made one of my famous frozen breadsticks as well, hehehe (see earlier post for secret recipe, hehehe!). It made a very good size pan as well. On a week night it would make for some pretty tasty leftover lunches! Only one drawback, DD would not eat it! Only a little and dipped in honey mustard, which I beleive totally ruins any recipe, haha!
I skipped angel food cake after dinner in lieu of going to the movies with some friends and munching on popcorn instead! I went to see Sex and the City 2. I was kind of disappointed in the movie. The first one is much better, wait for the video!
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