I'm Back, Baby!

Hello, Reader (yes, I know there is only one of you!) -

It's hard to believe it but my new baby girl will be 4 weeks old this coming Thursday! Much of March has passed by in a blur, to be honest. We are sleep-deprived and adjusting to Life With a Newborn, which we forgot all about. Here's one observation: Any attempt to sit down and share a meal with your husband will be interrupted by said Infant. I am talking about breakfast, dinner, even our delicious Dairy Queen Blizzards that the Hub so thoughtfully picked up for us last night. Infant will invariably begin to cry for her own meal, or just wants to be fussy/be held/be changed. So the past 4 weeks have meant eating in shifts. I try to remind myself that this stage is short-lived and that it will get better soon!!!! Mantra... it will get better soon...

So, Reader, in an attempt to shed these last 12 pounds of baby weight I am looking for tasty alternatives to the Crap I Craved While Pregnant, such as cheese, nuts, chips, and the like. I have read on various blogs about Kale Chips, which seems bizarre, if you think about it. My grocery store has an iffy produce section but last week I wandered over to the greens, and lo and behold, there was kale! So I decided to try it once and for all. It is rainy and dreary today; the kind of weather you want to indulge in warm chocolate chip cookies and milk. So, instead, I took out the Kale. You get the salty, crispy, chip-like feel, but a good dose of greens.

Kale Chips

Kale
Olive oil
Salt

Preheat oven to 350. On cookie sheet (I covered mine in parchment) tear kale into pieces. Do not include the fibrous stem.

Toss kale with olive oil and salt.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until crispy.

Note: next time I may add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese to see how it adds to it!

Cookie Monster

Is it normal for an almost-39-week pregnant woman to have such an intense craving for homemade chocolate chip cookies that even though she is exhausted, decides to whip up a batch on a Sunday afternoon? That's what I did today. The Hub even offered to go out and buy me some sweet treat, but I knew only warm chocolate chip cookies and a glass of cold milk would do. There's probably about 10 other things I should be doing, such as resting, or setting up the pack 'n play, or organizing something.

I do love to bake. In fact, I love to bake a million times more than cooking, to be honest. I think it's also a calming mechanism for me. A few days before my wedding, I decided I would make a nice dinner for my parents (I was living at home at the time) and decided to also make an apple pie from scratch. I had never made a pie before, and I know my mom thought I was nuts to take on such a task right before the wedding, but it did help me with my stress.

Unfortunately, I think the baking may have to take more of a backseat very soon because I don't think an infant is conducive to that hobby, plus I have over 35 pounds of baby weight to lose! I've already eaten 3 of these cookies today, and I imagine that might push the weight up just a bit more. Can't wait to get weighed tomorrow at my doctor's appointment!

This recipe is adapted from David Lebovitz's The Great Book of Chocolate!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (200 grams) semisweet chocolate chips (note - I did not have enough semi-sweet chips, so I added some milk and dark chocolate to make up the difference)
1 cup (130 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

Adjust the oven rack to the top third of the oven and preheat to 300F (150C). Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat the sugars and butters together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda.

Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts. Put the dough in the fridge for at least 30 min, preferably longer so you don't end up with a flat cookie.

Scoop the cookie dough into 2-tablespoon (5cm) balls and place 8 balls, spaced 4 inches (10cm) apart, on each of the baking sheets.

Bake for 18 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days (if they last that long!!)

Snow thanks!!

37 weeks and counting... on one hand I am looking forward to ending this pregnancy and meeting this little person, and on the other hand sits dread. So I am very torn, but I think the former wins out. I am just so uncomfortable at this point.

Amidst all that, I have been fervently praying that I don't go into labor during these past 2 snowstorms that have hit. We had one Saturday, and a new one last night and all day today. I think in total it's close to 4 feet of snow!! Crazy! I did learn a new term from the weather people, however - Thundersnow. How cool does that sound? I think it could be the name of a new superhero or something.

For Superbowl we stayed close to home and had a few snacks, but my favorite was this yummy Warm Cranberry and Walnut Brie. It took hardly any time and was melty and good. I had to remind the hub that it was supposed to serve 8 people, not just the three of us. We made sure not to finish the entire thing, but it was tempting!!

Warm Cranberry-Walnut Brie
(serves 8) from Cooking Light

1 (8-ounce) round Brie cheese
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped walnuts, toasted
Triscuits to serve with the dip

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Using a serrated knife, remove topmost rind from cheese; discard rind. Place cheese, cut side up, in a small ovenproof baking dish; sprinkle with cranberries and thyme. Top evenly with nuts. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until cheese is soft and warm. Serve immediately with crackers.

Nesting Mode

I am 35 1/2 weeks and counting and now that we have a new chest freezer in the basement, I no longer have an excuse to delay making up some meals in preparation for #2's arrival. Wednesday I decided to make Cooking Light's Ground Turkey Chili, found here. This is a staple in my house. I doubled it so I have enough for 3 dinners. I also decided to make cornbread, however I didn't look to make sure I had cornmeal in my pantry... so instead I had buttermilk and melted butter, but no cornmeal. This is typical of me. So I improvised and made an Irish Soda Bread instead.

I also decided to jump on the Marcella Hazan bandwagon of late and make her Simple Tomato Sauce, which I read about here. It is almost too simple that is seems impossible that it could taste good. Butter, canned whole tomatoes, and an onion. The verdict: I really liked it. It almost reminded me of the pizza sauce on Bertucci's pizza. It was very light, yet flavorful. The hub thought it missed something, like basil or some seasoning.

Next on the cooking front will be Bolognese sauce & meatballs. (Yes, I'm Italian) Although the thought of making meatballs nauseates me right now, so I may have to recruit the hub.

It's really true about the end of pregnancy and the overwhelming urge one has to get things in order. I have a big list for this weekend, which includes packing my hospital bag, getting the carseat ready and out of the attic, etc. Now that the Big Girl Room is complete, I have to make sure the nursery is in order for the new occupant!

Labor of Love - My First Quilt

This title is tongue-in-cheek. As you may have gathered, Internet, I am expecting Baby #2 very soon, hence the Labor. (Ugh don't want to think about it!) My first quilt was certainly a laborious process, and many times I did NOT enjoy it in the least! In fact, it took me over a year to complete due to my tendency to procrastinate. I don't know if I thought it would just make itself, or what, but I finally finished the top piece in November, and brought it to the quilt store for them to finish it for me.

In preparation for Baby #2, the Hub and I decided to make our guest room into our 3-year-old's new "big girl room." We are pretty pleased with how it all turned out and I think it's the perfect little girl's room. Luckily the little, or shall I say, "big", girl loves it, too. Here are some pictures of the quilt. The top piece has a variety of fabrics, and the underside of the quilt is a pink Peter Rabbit toile.

Don't act like you're not impressed: Minnie Mouse Cupcakes

Yes, we are still celebrating my daughter's birthday a week later. Isn't that how we all like our birthdays to be? Today we held a party for her and some of her little friends at one of those indoor moon bounce places. It seemed to be a hit with most of the kids and the best part was that I did not have to clean my house before or after the party. The only effort I had to put forth was making up some goody bags and making these cupcakes.

I actually saw this idea on http://acupfullofcake.blogspot.com/2009/08/minnie-mouse-themed-cake-and-cupcakes.html

and decided to try my hand at it. I used chocolate cake mix and made per the directions on the box, iced them, and made Minnie's bows out of bite-sized Twizzlers and the ears were Oreos, sans the cream filling. Unfortunately, the Oreo "ears" got pretty soft overnight, and they kind of broke off, so I had some repair work to do this morning, but otherwise, they were a big hit and tasted delicious!

Cake Boss Wanna-Be

Happy New Year, Internet!

I was not nursing a hangover this New Year's Day because I am 31 1/2 weeks pregnant, but I did enjoy sleeping in this morning. The child also slept in until 9 (!) which was a gift unto itself, especially since she has been getting over a nasty cough/cold. So today we are headed to an aunt's for some traditional New Year's Roast Pork and I offered to bring a birthday cake for J because the whole family will be together and her birthday falls on 1/5. I feel a little bad lumping her birthday into New Year's, but I figure she's too little to know any better. :)

So my project for this morning involved making a Minnie Mouse-inspired cake. As you can see, this was a very amateur effort. Basically, I used 2 boxes of cake mix and made two cakes in 9-inch pans (4 altogether). One cake turned into the "face" and the other, I cut in half for the "ears." If I ever have to do this again, I would probably just invest in some smaller cake pans b/c icing the "ears" was pretty annoying. I used some pink fondant icing from a tube from AC Moore, and made Minnie's bow with those fruit slice jelly candy. The Minnie image is actually stickers that I just laid on top of the icing - not edible! If I ever have more time (ha!) I will play around with fondant. Cake Boss, I am not! I think my soon-to-be 3-year-old will like this regardless.