October 15, 2012

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. Today we remember all the babies that were lost in pregnancy, the babies that were born sleeping, and the babies that were born but couldn't stay. October 15th is a day of remembrance. You may not know it, but someone you know has been affected.
Miscarriage / infant loss / stillbirth affects 1 in 4 women. 

To all my friends and family who have lost their little ones, this is for you. My heart aches for you <3
 

October 13, 2012

Pink and Orange 1st Birthday

So my sweet baby [who is not so much a baby anymore] turned 1 on Wednesday! We had her birthday party the previous Saturday, and it turned out great! She had a blast running around with a few of the kids, and enjoyed eating the wraps and her cake. The theme was hot pink and orange polka dot, with black as an accent color. I got most of my ideas from Pinterest and just went with it.
 

 
 
Here's the Birthday girl testing out the cake
 
 
 
 

October 1, 2012

Freezer meals revealed!!

They turned out great!! We have a small freezer, so I was worried with how much I could store, but it fit perfectly :) So I spent a good 5 or so hours prepping/cooking/cooling and packaging my meals for the almighty freezer (not all of them cooked, many frozen raw for future cooking), but boy was I happy to be done! There were a few times I had to hit pause since Mimi would wake up from a nap, but with that said, it was the BEST 5 hours of my life spent. So far we've eaten 3 of the meals (the meatballs shown below, lasagna and tortellini soup), and they have been great! I got the recipes here at This Lady's House (This George Romney Meatballs pictured below was fabulous)..... I made many of the freezer meals listed here at Ring Around The Rosie's blog,and also loved the one's here at Dreaming of Poultry. Fantastic ideas!!
 
 
Here's a few of the meals I made- once you split the meals in half, I ended up with about 15 or so meals ready to be frozen. Not bad for $200 of *organic food right? :) 
Already prepared nightly meals = one happy mama!!
 
 
* Our family tries to eat as many organic products as possible (this usually includes meat, dairy and at least the dirty dozen veggies)

September 22, 2012

Part One- Freezer meals in the making


Thanks to Pinterest, I was able to find some great freezer meals to make! I'm so beyond excited to begin this, especially since the only meal I've ever truly frozen is spaghetti sauce. I don't know about you, but my evenings are pretty busy between making dinner, playing with Mimi, helping pick up the house and hanging with the hubs.... I'm wearing myself out!
 
I decided to make freezer meals that either go directly into the crock pot or into the oven directly from the freezer. I went to the store today and purchased 90% of the foods I need- or $181 worth. Sounds like a lot, but the goal is to get anywhere from 10 to 20 meals out of this, so overall it's not so bad. I then went to Trader Joe's and got the remaining $40 worth (not pictured here)
 

Sorry about the horrible photo!
 
 
Hopefully they turn out delicious! I'm prepping/freezing them tomorrow..... more pics to follow! :)

September 13, 2012

My birthday dinner

So yesterday I turned 34. Yep, another year wiser!! My husband asked me what I wanted for dinner, and I said steak and potatoes au gratin. So he did some research and decided to make me Steak au Poivre, Potatoes au Gratin and a nice big salad. I am the cook in our house- albeit I have had my share of lazy days, but nonetheless I'm the cook. He wanted to make me a special birthday dinner, and I can honestly say it was just as good, if not better than we could have gotten at a nice steak restaurant! Mad props to the hubby there.



It was so delicious, I thought I would share the recipes he used :) I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Steak au Poivre- courtesy of Alton Brown

  • 4 tenderloin steaks, 6 to 8 ounces each and no more than 1 1/2 inches thick.
  • Kosher Salt
  • 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/3 cup Cognac, plus 1 teaspoon
  • 1 cup heavy cream
DIRECTIONS:
     Remove the steaks from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour prior to cooking. Sprinkle all sides with salt.

     Coarsely crush the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle or using a mallet and pie pan (we have an automatic grinder he used). Spread the peppercorns evenly onto a plate. Press the fillets on both sides into the pepper until it coats the surface (he just ground it directly onto the steak and firmly pressed them into the meat). Set aside.

     In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. As soon as the butter and oil begin to turn golder and smoke, gently place the steaks in the pan. For medium-rate, cook for 4 minutes on each side (if you like them more well-done, cook them for 1-2 minutes longer on each side, careful not to burn the steaks).Once done, remove the steaks to a plate, tent with foil and set aside. Pour off the excess fat, but do not wipe or scrape the pan clean!

     Off the heat, add 1/3 cup of Cognac to the pan, and carefully ignite the alcohol with a long match or fire stick. Gently shake the pan until the flames die. Return the pan to medium heat and add the cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and whisk until the sauce coats the back of a spoon (approx. 5 to 6 minutes). Add the teaspoon of Cognac and season to taste with salt. Add the steaks back to the pan, spoon the sauce over and serve!

Potatoes au Gratin- courtesy of allrecipies.com

  • 4 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
  • 1 onion slided into rings
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups of milk
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
DIRECTIONS:
     Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), butter a quart casserole dish.

     Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

     In a medium size saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, stirring constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened, then stir in cheese all at once. Continuously stir until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes and cover the dish with foil.

     Bake for 1 1/2 hours and serve.


August 31, 2012

Diabetes


 
 
I was diagnosed at 28 weeks with Gestational Diabetes while pregnant with Amelia. It was a total shocker to everyone (not one member in my family has had diabetes). It can honestly happen to anyone- even children. I am walking to help raise money for those who do have it, and to help fund research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes.
 
Please help me raise money HERE (either to me or a general donation to my team) to help end this. I totally understand if you think diabetes is not as big of a deal when compared to other things in life.... but the costs alone to pay for those who have it should be enough to want to help!
 
Here are some scary facts*
 
Total: 25.8 million children and adults in the United States—8.3% of the population—have diabetes.
Diagnosed: 18.8 million people
Undiagnosed: 7.0 million people
Prediabetes: 79 million people

Under 20 years of age
  • 215,000, or 0.26% of all people in this age group have diabetes
  • About 1 in every 400 children and adolescents has diabetes
Age 20 years or older
  • 25.6 million, or 11.3% of all people in this age group have diabetes
Age 65 years or older
  • 10.9 million, or 26.9% of all people in this age group have diabetes
Men
  • 13.0 million, or 11.8% of all men aged 20 years or older have diabetes
Women
  • 12.6 million, or 10.8% of all women aged 20 years or older have diabetes
Even scarier?

Cost of Diabetes
  • $174 billion: Total costs of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2007
  • $116 billion for direct medical costs
  • $58 billion for indirect costs (disability, work loss, premature mortality)
Factoring in the additional costs of undiagnosed diabetes, prediabetes, and gestational diabetes brings the total cost of diabetes in the United States in 2007 to $218 billion.
  • $18 billion for people with undiagnosed diabetes
  • $25 billion for American adults with prediabetes
  • $623 million for gestational diabetes

** All factual information gathered from The CDC

A big thanks to those who have donated or are already walking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


August 30, 2012

My new blog design

So upon my searching for simple cute blogs, I came across Shabby Creations with some great looking templates. There are some cute affordable premades (such as this one), as well as different packages. Just thought I would throw it out there in case anyone is on the lookout!

Thanks Shabby Creations!