Week 10 check-in, little boobs have feelings too

We finally made it to week 10 where we can see the baby and hear the heartbeat.  This momentous day seemed to take FOREVER to get here!  I know it sounds depressing but miscarriage is always in the back of your mind until you actually get to hear the heartbeat.  Now our chance of a miscarriage is less than 2%, thank goodness, and we can breathe a little easier now.

Pregnancy up until this point has really thrown me for a loop.  Never in my life did I think I could be so tired, be so hungry but not be able to eat, and not want to cook because the site and smell of food would make me want to vomit!  And let me just tell you, the boobie fairy strikes early, even for those of us who are less than endowed to begin with.  It's the feeling of menstrual breast tenderness times 100!  My favorite part of the day used to be coming home from work and immediately slipping off my bra and getting into comfortable clothes.  Well, let's just say that THAT is a distant memory.  Being a lifetime member of the "itty bitty titty club" had me assuming that I wouldn't have to worry about the sore and bulging breasts until MUCH later in my pregnancy.  I have never been so wrong.  It got to the point where I considered wearing a bra at night!  Speaking of which I definitely woke myself out of a dead sleep once because I accidentally flicked my own nipple while readjusting in my sleep, which seriously felt like I had cut it with a knife.  And a little warning, no matter how sore you are, your husband won't care and will still want to play with his new gifts.  

The good news is that the above mentioned ailments do tend to lessen as you near the second trimester, which I'm welcoming with open arms.  I'm slowly gaining some energy back and food it looking better and better, even in my dreams.  Recently I dreamt about apple crisp with vanilla ice cream and a skittles rainbow. Needless to say, that night while my apple crisp baked in the oven, I munched on a huge bag of those lovely little gems they call skittles...and they never tasted so good.

Weekly Check-In

Weight Gain: zero

Showing: not yet, just bloating...another lovely pregnancy side-effect which my husband keeps                  mistaking for a baby bump.

Favorite Moment This Week: Meeting my ObGyn and seeing Bob (if you don't get this name reference, read blog post 1-8-11) twirl around on the ultrasound. Hearing the heartbeat was incredible too.  Not gonna lie, I had tears streaming down my face...

Most Looking Forward To: Having a baby bump :)

Easy Stir-Fry w/edits

I make this quick and easy stir-fry at least once a week.  The great thing about it is that you can change it up for whatever you're in the mood for by switching out the meat, veggies, and sauces.  I usually use boneless skinless chicken breast but it's great with beef or pork too.  You could also make it vegetarian with tofu.  For the vegetables I buy frozen bags of stir-fry vegetables in different varieties and change it up depending on my mood. Greg and I also love water chestnuts so we always add an extra can of those for some more crunch.  You can modify the sauce by using a combination of sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, terriyaki sauce, or peanut sauce, to name a few.  My favorite is sweet chili sauce and soy so that's how I'll show it in the recipe.

A great tip to make this recipe even faster is buying your boneless skinless chicken breasts in bulk and then cutting them up into thin 1 1/2 inch strips and freezing them individually, two breasts per package, so all you have to do is pull out a pack of meat cut up the night before to thaw.  It's a lot less messy that way too.  I usually do this task on Sunday.

Ingredients
1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)
1-2 T oil (sesame adds great flavor but any oil will work)
dash of S&P
1 bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables
1 can of sliced water  chestnuts
1-2 T soy sauce
2-3 T sweet chili sauce (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 T flour
1/2-1 Cup water or chicken broth (depending on how saucy you like it)

Serve with 6 servings of brown rice (I like minute rice because if you start it when you start the recipe they finish almost simultaneously)

Directions
Stir fry the chicken in oil until juices run clear. Add S&P.  Add the whole bag of frozen veggies and water chestnuts and cook 5-7 minutes until veggies are tender.  Add the soy sauce and sweet chili sauce and stir to coat.  Sprinkle flour over top, stir to coat.  Add water and saute until sauce begins to thicken, about 2 minutes more.  Serve over rice.

Progress?

As the days count down toward the beginning of motherhood, I have become keenly aware of how I handle day to day situations, especially with my pets.  Recently our lovely yellow lab Maggie has decided that she should start sleeping on my love seat every night.  I knew that this would be one of my first tests as a newly pregnant mommy to show Greg how I can take care of business!

Now, until I came into the picture she was not even allowed into the house, so she is knowingly taking full advantage of my suckerish, for lack of a better term, personality.  When I first met Greg I was extremely impressed with how well he had trained Maggie.  She stayed home when we had to leave, she never jumped on people or misbehaved, and would listen to Greg's every command.  I took note of this and thought, well I know he'll be a great disciplinarian, which was a relief because I wasn't so sure about myself in that department.  So now, as I wake up every morning finding her on the love seat, I feel that I have eyes watching me and how I react and "discipline" Maggie.  I certainly don't want to be the pushover mom who doesn't support my husband when he lays down the law, so I'm trying to work on it with our pets.

 I, of course, try the nice approach first, telling her to get down, pointing to the floor and saying "stay down!"  The next morning, more of the same.  After a couple days of that I barricade the love seat with a table thinking that would do it, and of course I then found her on the couch...  I got her down from there and got a text later that morning from my husband saying that my nice mom approach hadn't worked because when he got up, she was back on the love seat, never minding my barricade.  Well that did it.  When I got home from work I called Maggie over, put her paw on the love seat and said "NO, you stay DOWN."  Then I walked her over the the couch and did the same thing.  Following that I laid down a rug and told her to lay down on it and stay.  This morning I discovered a lovely thing, Maggie was STILL on the RUG!  I was so proud of her, and trying not to give her to much credit, scritched her and praised her for being a good girl and staying on the rug, then, in a moment of weekness, I gave her a treat.  UGH! I can't teach my kids that every time they do something right they get TREATS!  What kind of mother would I be!?  So, as I reflect on this whole learning to discipline effectively process, I feel that I am at least making some progress....right?

suffocation by eggroll

I'm not sure when it happened but my sense of smell has recently become extremely keen.  I'm talking, a little different scent in the air and I'm all over it.  This sensitive sense of smell was one of the things mentioned as possible to happen while pregnant, however, I figured I would not be bothered by it.  Why I thought I was going to be lucky enough to avoid some of these weird pregnancy symptoms is beyond me.  My husband believes me when I say I can't handle some smells, however he enjoys getting a good laugh at my misfortune at the same time.  Just to give you an example as to how bad this is really affecting me, I'll give you the "eggroll incident."  It was about 10:30 at night and I had fallen asleep on our love seat.  Greg decided that he was "craving" an eggroll and proceeded to microwave and then fry a frozen one in a pan.  (and may I diverge by saying that I'm ready for MY cravings to start any day)  This woke me up from my slumber and I swore I couldn't breathe, the smell was so strong.  I immediately start dry-heaving and run to the bathroom to get ready for bed as fast as possible.  I then close off both bedroom doors to try to block the smell, which was next to impossible.  That night, all night, I had to sleep with my head under the covers in order to be able to breathe without gagging.  Now, c'mon, you may say, it couldn't have been THAT bad.  Well, at risk of sounding like a whiner and absolute nutcase, I'm telling you, it was!  I'm still trying to figure out what role a keen sense of smell has on a pregnancy, because at the moment, I think it's completely just to irritate my ability to eat and function normally even further.  Hopefully I will not have another episode like this one, and I'll be able to enjoy the smell of eggrolls once again

Huh?, well I've never seen that before

Well folks, we did it!  Finally got those two lines we've been waiting for on the pregnancy tests!  And, of course, one test was NOT good enough, we had to take two subsequent tests just to be sure that it wasn't a fluke.  Sure enough, all three came back positive!  Now, since these were the dollar store tests, we then headed to good ole' Wal-Mart for yet another digital test, because we weren't quite convinced until we saw "pregnant" spelled out.  The best part about finding out we were pregnant was that Greg was home and right there, ready and watching, to see what the results would be.  I had taken so many tests by this point that as soon as the whole thing turned pink and I saw the first line coming up I was like, "oh it always does that," and went back to doing laundry.  Greg then called me back in asking, "is this normal?", as he's thumbing through the directions, to which I replied, "huh?, well I've never seen that before."  Greg then jumped around the house singing, "I'm gonna be a daddy" over and over again, while I lowered myself down onto our bed to let it really sink in.

The following weeks have been quite interesting, I must say.  I thought I knew what tired was before I got pregnant but I was so wrong.  I feel like I could have nap time at any moment of the day, and over Christmas Break while in MI, my mom actually sent me to bed for a nap on a couple of occasions because I looked that tired.  I didn't feel any queasiness all through the holidays, THANK GOD, because I would've been so disappointed if I couldn't enjoy the holiday feasts, but it is starting to finally set in.  The other day I was so excited to get some new recipes with pictures in the mail...until I saw the pictures.  Instant urge to vomit.  I had to throw them into my passenger seat and slink into my house and onto the couch, all the while letting Greg know that the lasagna I had planned on cooking may not happen.  Luckily by the next afternoon I was able to eat again because poor Bob, and MOM, was being starved.  Oh yeah, we call our unborn baby Bob...  It all started with our "code" language we were using while texting or talking back and forth.  Greg mentioned "don't forget about BOB" in a text and, it took me a bit, but I finally got it, Baby On Board.  Now, my sister called her baby "Bobbles", after my large and in-charge cat, so she thinks I then have an obligation to name my unborn child after one of her's, however neither Linus or Phyllis is working for me.  It might take me a while to warm up to that idea...or never.

I'll keep ya'll posted as Bob progresses...which just got me thinking if it's a girl, we may have to call her Bobette...hmmmm...

Hunting Homecooking

My Mighty Hunter

Well, it's finally here, opening day of gun season for our deer hunters!  Every year around this time I think of chili and chex mix, both of which I made yesterday for my hunting folk.  My homemade chili is easy and just takes a little time to simmer on the stove top.

My basic chili recipe

Ingredients:
1lb ground round
1T extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 stalks of celery
8 oz fresh mushrooms, chunked
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 qt jar of canned tomatoes (or 28oz can of crushed or stewed tomatoes depending on how chunky you like it)
1 15oz can of kidney beans (drained)
1 10oz can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies (lightly drained)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp mrs. dash
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 tsp oregano
1-2 Tablespoon chili powder
dash of cinnamon
more S & P to taste

Brown ground round in dutch oven, drain.  Saute onions, celery, mushrooms, & garlic in same dutch oven with 1T EVOO with a dash of S&P until veggies are tender.  Return meat to pot, add tomatoes, beans, Rotel, and all other seasoning.  Let simmer covered on low a minimum of 1/2 hour.  If watery, let simmer 15 min. longer with cover off to boil off some of the water.  Makes about 4 servings.

Next up, chex mix.  The guys always need some goodies to take with them so I always have chex mix and cookies on hand.  I make a variation of the traditional chex mix recipe on the General Mills cereal boxes but kick it up a notch by adding some hot sauce.  I use about 2 1/2 T of Sriracha hot chili sauce and 1 T red hot, however that may be a bit too spicy for some.  In addition, I substitute worcestershire sauce with a combination of soy sauce and steak sauce because it contains sardines. (Greg's allergic)  This is what I use for my basic recipe...

                                        Chex Mix

Ingredients:
6T salted butter
1T soy sauce
1T steak sauce (like A-1)
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
3C rice chex
3C wheat chex
3C corn chex
1C deluxe mixed nuts
1C rye chips
1C butter snap pretzels (or 1C flavored snyder's pretzel bits for variety)

Heat oven to 250 degress, melt butter in large roasting pan in oven while it's heating up.  Add all seasonings (and hot sauce if you want it spicy) to butter and stir to combine. (I use a heat proof scooped spatula).  Add all other ingredients trying to do so in rows so all chex mix items have an even amount of surface touching the spicy butter in the bottom of the pan.  That helps the seasoning to be more even.  Stir to coat and place in over for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and spread on paper towel until cool.  Store in air tight container or zip-top baggy.

Salty Pumpkin Seeds

In honor of the Halloween season Greg and I decorated decorated our front porch with corn stalks and pumpkins.  Decorating with corn stalks, though it seemed intimidating at first, was actually quite easy.  I used about 10 stalks per pole and tied them with twine.  Not gonna lie, I did need a lil help from my hubby ;-)

Now, please disregard the couch on the front porch.  We had just brought it home and hadn't moved it in yet, lol.  We are  not THAT hickish!  I added a LOT more pumpkins but can't find that picture...and there's no couch in that one!

Though the porch turned out cute, we had to remove one of the pumpkins from its perch to carve!  After all it was close to Halloween and who doesn't love a lit carved pumpkin.

Didn't my hubby do a great job!  We had a fleeting thought to spell out our whole last name with more pumpkins but that seemed a bit too ambitious for a Tuesday night. :-)

If you do your own carving do NOT let your seeds go to waste!  I have been making pumpkin seeds since college and have learned that, as long as you don't leave the oven unattended, they are foolproof!  Some recipes say to clean them but I leave the pumpkin goop on because they seem to be crispier and more flavorful that way.  We like ours really salty but you could also use any type of spice, seasoning, or sauce to make them reminiscent of a dish you love!  Use cinnamon for a sweet flavor or add a bit of tabasco for a kick.  And remember to lay out newspapers before you get to carving, it will make clean up way faster.  Get creative and have fun!

Per Cup of Seeds:
1T melted butter
1T salt

Heat oven the 350 degrees.  Place the seeds, melted butter, and salt in a bowl, toss to coat.  Spread onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, flip and bake for another 5 minutes.  Watch closely making sure they don't get too dark.  Keep in mind you can slow roast for an hour at 250 degrees, flipping occasionally, or use your broiler to do an even quicker batch.