S'Mores Trifle

Another Christmas has come and gone. It was a fun first Christmas for Peyton with lots of Christmas parties and events. While I did do a bit of cooking, I didn't document most of it. We were busy and Peyton really likes to wake up from a nap right when I'm in the middle of cooking something, so the clean-up and photo at the end get rushed...or forgotten. I did manage to snap a couple of photos of this prepared. It was a huge hit!

Usually I bake for the holidays, but this year I looked for really simple recipes. I made some easy gingerbread fudge and cookie dough fudge (completely forgot to take photos), my cheesy potatoes, a creamy corn side dish, this, and a mint lush desert for different parties. We had two stops on Christmas Eve, two stops on Christmas day, and then two more parties over the weekend. We were busy, busy, busy, but we enjoyed every moment!

If you make the brownies and pudding ahead of time this recipes comes together very quickly. The trickiest part (if you can even call it tricky) is "toasting" the marshmallows. Like I said, if you prepare each layer ahead of time, this comes together in a matter of minutes. I recommend having you brownies made, pudding made, graham crackers crushed, and mix the whipped topping and marshmallow cream before hand. Then it's just some layering and toasting and you're done.

S'Mores Trifle
from Mom Endeavors

1 box brownie mix, prepared according to package
2 small boxes instant chocolate pudding, prepared the quick way
1 package from a box of graham crackers, crushed
1 container whipped topping
1 small container marshmallow cream (Fluff if you're from New England!)
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 Hershey bar

1. In a trifle dish, place half of the brownies, cut into chunks. Top with half the pudding then top with half the graham crackers.
2. Combine the whipped topping and marshmallow cream. It may be a little chunky and that's okay. Spread on top of the graham cracker layer.
3. Repeat with remaining brownies, pudding, graham crackers and marshmallow.
4. Place the mini marshmallows on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Set your oven to broil and place them in the oven. Leave the door slightly open and don't go anywhere. They take maybe 30 seconds to "toast". Remove and let cool briefly.
5. Top trifle with broken Hershey bar pieces, toasted marshmallows, more graham crackers if desired.
6. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

Mashed Potato Bread

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We enjoyed our, as we usually do, by doing our usual two dinners with each side of the family. It was also Peyton's first major holiday. I think she was just as tuckered out as we were by the end of the night. I love looking up recipe for leftover holiday foods. I found this one on Thanksgiving night. The irony of it all is (is this irony? I feel like I always use that term wrong) we didn't have any leftovers this year. Well, there were leftovers but we didn't take any home, other than ham. The amount of ham my husband eats weekly is reaching a sickening level.... Anyways, since we didn't have any leftovers, I made mashed potatoes last night with our steak tips, so I saved a cup for this.

When I saw this recipe I almost skipped over it. "Real bread" intimidates me. I like my wet breads. You know like banana breads. Recipes that don't require yeast, kneading, rising, punching, flouring everything, etc. I like the "add all of this to a bowl, mix it, and bake it" breads. They make a batter, not a dough, and it's easy-peasy. While this recipe does require yeast, kneading, rising, punching and all that jazzy bread stuff it's still easy. It's also quick, it's not hours of rising, just a half hour.

As I was making this bread I was staring at the disaster that was my counter top. Dan always makes fun of me for being a messy cook. I'm like a toddler you give a marker to. Of course it will end up on their body, the walls, the dog, up their nose....
That's me with flour...and most of my baking ingredients. It's on my hands, in my hair, on my face, some falls on the dogs, it's on the outside of any container near it. I'm a messy baker/cook. If you're gonna get in the kitchen, make it worth it. That's what I say.

That sprinkling of flour used to knead the dough extends far past the edges of my cutting mat....

This recipe was so easy and another one that you will probably have everything you need to make it already in your pantry. I always have potato flakes for mashed potatoes and to thicken soups, so even if we didn't have any leftover from a meal I can whip some up in about 10 minutes. The bread came out fluffy, soft, and tasting of garlic mashed potatoes. I always add minced garlic and garlic powder to our mashed potatoes. The taste of mashed potatoes isn't super strong, but it's there, and it's wonderful. I need to finish this post so I can go eat some more...

The last thing I need to mention is that I found this recipe on Tasty, which runs quick videos of recipes on Facebook and includes the recipe in the comment section. Go check it out if you're on Facebook because they're recipes are always fun and pretty quick.

Mashed Potato Bread
from Tasty

1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup milk
3 tbsp. butter, softened
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
4 cups flour
1/2 cup water

1. Add all ingredients, except flour and water, to a bowl and mix well. Slowly add the flour and water, alternating. Mix until dough starts forming a ball. It will still be a bit sticky, but you can sprinkle more flour on it when you knead it.
2. Lightly flour your surface and knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle some more flour on if it's too sticky.
3. Place dough in a bowl and lightly cover. Let sit for a half hour to rise.
4. Halfway through letting the dough sit and rise, preheat your oven to 350.
5. Grease a 9x5 bread pan. Punch down the dough and form into a rectangle. Place into the bread pan.
6. Bake 45 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!

Nutella Caramel Coffee

Today was Peyton's two-month checkup and she had 3 shots and a liquid vaccine. Talk about a tough morning. Peyton is the most mellow baby, doesn't fuss much, but today she shrieked through most of her appointment. That was before the vaccines. After, she cried all of two minutes. It a gloomy looking morning and I was excited to make this fancy coffee when I saw the recipe yesterday. Right before we went to the doctor, a friend invited me to meet her for coffee, so I decided to have Starbucks over making my coffee drink. My Caramel Brule Latte was delicious, but not delicious enough that is satisfied me and let me put this recipe on hold. As I prepped some ingredients for tonight's dinner, I couldn't stop thinking of making this coffee. I was motivated because it was a gloomy day (it was sleeting when I left Starbucks....), but I had all the ingredients! If you regularly read my blog, you know how excited I get when I find a recipe that requires what is already contained in my pantry.

It's the little things in life...

I love flavored coffees. I'll drink a plain old coffee if the coffee is really good. I haven't found anything to compare to the coffee we had in Costa Rica. The coffee we brought home came close, but I could drink the coffee we had when we were there black. I'm a milk and sugar or flavored creamer girl. I like my coffee sweet. Not Dunkin Donuts sweet however. When I order coffee now,  get Pumpkin Spice (yes!) with half the amount of pumpkin and skim milk. Have you had their pumpkin coffee....it's disgustingly sweet if you get the full amount, which I learned is 3 pumps. So I get 1 and a half pump and no added sugar. It's perfect. When pumpkin isn't in season, I'll get another flavor with skim milk and 1 sugar.

Fancy coffee drinks are great when I can afford them. However, (and why did I never think of this before?) I have everything I need for this coffee at home all the time. Well, okay not exactly. I only have Nutella from a recent recipe I made, it's not a household staple. The whipped cream and caramel sauce is however, because ever since I became pregnant I have been an ice cream sundae fiend. Seriously. Almost every night, still (this is where the ashamed emoticon would be if this were my phone), I have a bowl of ice cream with strawberries, marshmallow, caramel and whipped cream. Yeah, I'm really concerned with losing that baby weight...

Back to coffee. I used hazelnut coffee because why not? I buy flavored coffee variety packs on Amazon. We just received a shipment of 80 coffees for our Keurig, so I can have a different type each day. I will definitely be playing around with more coffee drinks in my last month of maternity leave freedom. Why did I not discover this sooner??? You can use hazelnut, plain, or any flavor you'd like. If you use a Keurig, I use the smallest ounce button (6 oz on mine) twice to make the 12 oz of coffee. This gives you two drinks worth, so if you just want one, I'd choose the middle or largest ounce setting ( 8 and 10 oz. on mine).

This is so simple. If you want to make it even quicker, say in the morning before work, you can even heat the milk and Nutella together in the microwave and stir together and then stir it into your coffee. For the fully blended effect, I used my bullet blender and heated my milk and Nutella on the stove top.

Brew some coffee. I used some Hawaiian Hazelnut from my selection.

Gather your milk, Nutella and caramel sauce.

Brew some coffee. While it's brewing, heat some milk and Nutella together and mix.

Then, add your milk mix and coffee to a blender if you choose and add a big squirt of caramel.



See that delicious caramel at the bottom??

Then pour back into a coffee mug and top with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle.

Starbucks baristas have nothing on me!

Enjoy it while your baby and two dogs sleep and you watch the gloomy day from the warmth of your home. And while you tackle a new baking project (to be revealed soon!).

Nutella Caramel Coffee
adapted from Around My Family Table

12 oz. brewed coffee
1/2 cup milk (any kind)
2 tbsp. Nutella
Caramel sauce
Whipped cream

1. Brew some coffee.
2. In a small saucepan heat the milk until scalding, but not boiling. Whisk in the Nutella.
3. Add the coffee and milk mixture to a blender and add some caramel sauce. Blend.
4. Pour into a coffee mug and top with whipped cream and caramel sauce.

Snickerdoodle Bars

I have been dying to get back into baking lately, a task that is not easy to do with a baby. I've been able to find a few quick recipes lately to make, but I need to save my bigger baking projects for when Dan can be home so someone can focus on Peyton. I was able to make these in about 15 minutes, with Peyton being awake, so that is quite the accomplishment. I thought she had fallen asleep for a nap but about a minute into making these, she was wide awake. Luckily she's mellow and enjoys letting me bake...I hope....

These are quick, easy, and don't require any fancy ingredients, except maybe the cream of tartar. I always have some, but almost never use it. I use it so rarely, that the bottle I had, expired 3 years ago. So I had to buy a whole new bottle and cream of tartar is not cheap! I was amazed that it was 5.99 for the tiny little container or 7.99 for a larger one. The price of spices and things is insane these days. This recipe whips up in minutes, bakes pretty quickly, and then you just have to wait for them to cool.

They came out perfectly moist, soft, and chewy. It's like the perfect snickerdoodle cookie, but even better. I would reduce the cinnamon-sugar topping. The original recipe stated that it sinks into the batter during cooking, so having more is better, but I had a lot of spaces where it was just piled on, so when I cut them up and tilted them, a whole bunch just poured off. I would try maybe half the amount. You can always add more if you find that's not enough, but when I ate a square I was practically inhaling the topping. Maybe try pressing it into the batter a bit before baking. Either way, these are ridiculously good!

Snickerdoodle Bars
from Averie Cooks

1/2 cup butter melted, and slightly cooled
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt (optional) (I didn't use any)

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x8 baking dish with foil and grease.
2. Whisk the butter, egg, sugars and vanilla together until well combined.
3. Add the flour and cream of tartar (and salt if using), and stir to mix until just combined.
4. Spread into the baking dish and smooth the top of the batter.
5. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the batter.
6. Bake for 24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, cut and eat!

Bacon & Corn Chowder

The most repeated recipe from this blog is my Shrimp & Corn Chowder. Getting Dan to eat any kind of soup doesn't happen often, but this one is requested by him quite frequently. I always change that recipe up just a little each time I make it, and I always try to make it thicker. I love a nice hearty corn chowder, and while that one is stocked with veggies and shrimp and topped with bacon, it's ever quite the "chowder" consistency I want.

So, I decided to try a whole new recipe. I found this one, that looked simple. It's much less time consuming than my go-to recipe. There's no peeling or hard boiling of potatoes, less time sautéing veggies, and a much shorter ingredient list. I changed it up a little bit to make it to my liking. It has a saltier taste due to the bacon being cooked right in the chowder, and I sautéed my onions in bacon grease. I used a mix of sweet yellow and white corn. When I make this again, I would use cream instead of half and half, and maybe play around with the types of cheese to add. I think using cream would help thicken it without using as much potato flakes as I did, and I probably wouldn't sauté my onion in the bacon grease, I would just sauté them in the butter. I also would use the bacon as a topping, not have it cook in the chowder. I like corn chowder on the sweeter side, and this was saltier from the bacon. Upon standing, this thickened up quite a bit, so I'm sure I could have used even less potato flakes than I had and it would have been great. Overall, this is a great recipe that I would use again, perhaps instead of my other recipe, but I would add in the shrimp. It's one to play around with until it's just right.

The recipe below is how I made it last night. Play around with it to make it your own. Dan added shredded rotisserie chicken to his. The only reason I didn't add shrimp was because we ate shrimp the night before for dinner.

Bacon & Corn Chowder
adapted from Twelve O Eight

6-8 slices of bacon, chopped
1 small onion, diced
2 tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 tbsp. flour
4 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup half & half
1 to 1.5 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (to your liking).
4 cans whole kernel corn, drained
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 to 1/2 cup dried potato flakes

1. In a stockpot over medium-high heat, cook bacon until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and let drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Drain all but 1 tbsp. of bacon grease and return to heat.
2. Add the butter to the grease and add the onions. Sauté until clear and then add the garlic, pepper, and flour and cook, stirring, until flour is absorbed.
3. Add the chicken stock and stir, bringing it to a slow boil.
4. Add the bacon, corn, half & half, cheese, and nutmeg and again bring to a slow boil stirring occasionally. Lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. If you want it thicker, add the potato flakes, a few spoonfuls at a time, and mix in. You may want to wait a few minutes in between as it does continue to thicken up.

Peanut Butter Nutella Rolls

I love dessert recipes that are cheap, quick, and easy. Cheap is for the obvious reason of not spending tons of money on something, but quick and easy is for being able to whip something up in those moments where you need some sort of sweets, but aren't going to bake a cake or full batch of cupcakes. I have a ton of pictures of this process. That being said, they're all in terrible lighting so I apologize. I'd like to start with my workspace.

The workspace is a little crammed due to the counter space next to the sink and oven being taken over by the bottle-drying station, and the rest of my counter being taken over by gnomes.

Yes, gnomes.

There's a long back story as to why Dan collects gnomes, starting with some high school pranks. I won't get into it, but since then people give him gnomes as joke gifts and now we have about 15 or so in our mudroom and on the lawn. As he cleaned out the mudroom today we washed the dust and cobwebs (ughhhhh) off of some of them and they were left to dry on the counter. That's just a small section of what we have.

Anyways, back to these rolls. When I went shopping today I did need to grab some Nutella. It's not something we often have in the house. As I was grabbing it, I almost bought this instead.

Umm...since when has this been in existence??? You could make these rolls with this. Or with their chocolate cheesecake spread. Or peanut butter and jelly. Or cheesecake filling and fruit. Or...

The possibilities are endless!

My cream cheese icing was thicker than I would have liked and I used vanilla bean paste, so it's a darker color as well. It still tastes good, but it wasn't that gooey, melty icing I wanted. I thought it would melt when I swirled t on the rolls fresh out of the oven, but it stayed pretty thick. Either way, these are delicious. It's a nice balance of sweet and buttery from the biscuit dough. Next time, I will try a different fun flavor and probably make a standard icing/glaze of powdered sugar and milk.

Peanut Butter Nutella Rolls
adapted from Inspired by Charm

1 can biscuit dough (like Pillsbury)
Peanut butter
Nutella
Flour and powdered sugar for sprinkling
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1.5 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease 8 muffin tin cups.
2. Lightly flour and sugar your work surface. Roll out your biscuits until they are about double in size.
3. Spread a spoonful of peanut butter and a spoonful of Nutella on the dough. Roll up and cut into thirds.
4. Place the 3 pieces cut side up, into a muffin cup. Repeat with each biscuit.
5. Bake for 15 minutes.
6. While baking, mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread over rolls fresh out of the oven.

Now for the sub-par photos.

 

 



French Onion Pork Chops

It's been a while since we have had a home-cooked meal in this house. Between busy schedules and baby duty, it can be hard to get time in the kitchen. Luckily today Dan didn't have hockey, so he was able to sort of help with the baby (I say sort of because he cleaned out entire garage, mud room, and storage room in the basement). Luckily, Peyton was pretty chill all night so I could dinner and dessert. Yes...there is dessert...

Pork chops are something I thoroughly enjoy when they are cooked right. I cook them right about 70% of the time. The other 30% is when they come out a little tough and dry. Pork chops are also a very affordable meat option for dinner. I can't get over how expensive chicken has become, and steak is reserved for special occasions in this house. This recipe was incredibly easy to make, since all I needed was the pork chops. I already had the onion soup mix, bread crumbs, and eggs. The original recipe calls for Ritz cracker crumbs, but rather than buying a box of crackers that will never get eaten, I chose to use some Italian bread crumbs with it. Easy and delicious. I served them with some mashed potatoes and cheesy broccoli. When I say served, I mean made myself a plate. Dan has yet to eat dinner even though it was ready 2 hours ago...the man never stops...

These were cooked pretty well, not as juicy as I would have liked. The onion soup gives a great flavor and the coating doesn't get too soggy when it's cooked like some other breading recipes do.

French Onion Pork Chops
adapted from Food.com

4 boneless pork chops
1 packet onion soup mix
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp. butter melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a baking dish.
2. Combine the onion mix and breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Place the beaten eggs in another shallow dish.
3. Dip the pork chops in the egg, coating both sides, then dredge through the crumb mix, coating both sides. Place in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining pork chops.
4. Drizzle with melted butter and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Candy Bar Blondies

First food post since baby Peyton arrived! It feels nice to have fit a hobby into my new "mom" schedule. Granted, I chose a day when Dan is also home so I could have 30 minutes in the kitchen, but I feel accomplished nonetheless.

With Halloween a week away, this a great recipe to feature. If you end up with leftover candy, or perhaps you want to thin out your kids' stash, this recipe is for you. We live on a main road, so we don't get and trick-or-treaters. I had to buy a bag of mixed candy to use in this recipe. I chose not to use the Almond Joys in the bag, and Dan doesn't eat them, so I have to find a way to use those up next. Everything else you need for this recipe you should already have in your pantry. The great thing is, you can add whatever you want to these blondies. Don't have candy bars? Use chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, chopped up caramels, whatever you desire.

The original recipe says to bake for 25 minutes, and the center should still be jiggly. I baked mine for 22 and they are slightly over cooked, as the middle was fully cooked and golden brown. They were still soft, but not as soft as I was hoping for. Surprisingly, I thought the Reese's I placed on top of the bars would have melted, but they retained their shape. Next time, I will cook them a little less so they have that really soft, chewy texture I was hoping for. Also, there seemed like barely enough batter/dough to cover a 9x13" pan. The dough is very sticky, so spray your hands or spatula with cooking spray to help spread it out without it sticking to you.

Candy Bar Blondies
slightly adapted from Crazy for Crust

2 cups brown sugar
1/2 stick butter*, softened
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
1 cup candy bar pieces
Extra candy pieces for the top

*I used unsalted butter and just upped the salt a little, maybe an extra 1/4 teaspoon or so.

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. You could make thicker ones if you want to use a smaller pan.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the brown sugar and butter. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix to combine.
3. Add the baking powder, salt and flour and mix to combine. Add 1 cup of candy pieces and stir in.
4. Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan.
5. Top with a few more pieces of candy, pushing them into the batter.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Be sure to check them. The middle should still be a little jiggly as they will continue to cook a bit and firm out after you remove them from the oven.
7. Let cool completely, remove from pan, and cut into squares.

The Pregnancy Post

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT FOOD. IT IS ABOUT MY NINE MONTHS BEING PREGNANT AND THE SYMPTOMS I EXPERIENCED. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR RECIPES THIS ISN'T THE POST FOR YOU. IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO FIND OUT SOME MAYBE TMI STUFF ABOUT ME AND MY PREGNANT BODY, AND PERHAPS WANT TO FEEL AWKWARD ABOUT MAKING EYE CONTACT WITH ME NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME AFTER READING THIS, THEN READ AWAY. CONSIDER THIS YOUR WARNING.

So, let me start this post by saying compared to what I have heard from moms and read, I had a very easy and enjoyable pregnancy. These symptoms and experiences are my own, and can vary. I know I was pretty lucky compared to what some women go through in their pregnancies.

Where does this story begin? Well it begins with conception, but I'm not going to blog about that. If you don't know how babies are made perhaps you should be googling that instead of reading this blog post. I will begin this with Superbowl weekend. It started on Saturday, with a lunch outing with my girlfriends and bridesmaids dress shopping for my best friend's wedding. We had martinis and oysters and raw tuna and all the good stuff I truly enjoy in life. We made jokes about when Dan and I would get pregnant, and how soon the bride-to-be would get pregnant after her wedding. My response was it'll happen when it happens. Mind you, I had been married just under 4 months. Then, it was Superbowl Sunday. Dan tended bar during the day and met me at our friends' house for the game. We drank many Bud Lights (more than usual because I already knew I had a snow day from school the next day) and celebrated one of the greatest Patriots games I've ever witnessed. At the end of the night, Dan and I got into conversation with our friends about babies, because they have two daughters, and my friend and Dan making bets that I was already pregnant.

Why would they be making bets? I had mentioned that since coming off of birth control I had terrible acne and my boobs were sore. That my hormones were regulating themselves from being off the pill. My friend said the boobs were a dead giveaway that I was pregnant. Yeah....right. I headed home and Dan showed up shortly after to tell me they all agreed I was pregnant (meaning my friends spent another 20 minutes talking about my boob pains....) and that I should take a pregnancy test in the morning. I told him not to get his hopes up. I had taken one a month before and wasn't pregnant that time either, it was just crazy hormones and he would be let down. But, to amuse him, I would. Cut to the next morning and we lucked out when Dan also didn't have to work due to the blizzard. We had a snow day together! At 8:30 in the morning I trotted off to the bathroom to pee on the stick.

Now, if you've never taken a pregnancy test or don't know how one works, the digital one I had lights up these bars when you use it. The second you pee on it, a bar starts blinking, then it takes up to 3 minutes to get 4 blinking bars and then it will say "pregnant" or "not pregnant". My first test I took took 3 minutes to tell me I wasn't pregnant the month before. My plan was to pee, set it on the sink and check back in a few minutes. Well, the first bar lit up right away to let me know it was working. Within 15 seconds all the bars blinked and it said "pregnant". Uhhh, what?!?! I was so dead set, gut feeling, adamant that there was no way I'd be pregnant and everyone else was crazy. I was wrong.

I ran into the bedroom yelling Dan's name and hysterically crying. He thought someone was breaking into the house or someone had died. When he finally comprehended my hysteria we hugged and kissed and stared at the test. Then, we went back to sleep because sleeping in is a rarity and we were going to celebrate with all the good things, like sleeping in together. So, let's talk about pregnancy symptoms that I had for the following nine months.

Acne: I have blessed with pretty good skin my whole life. Maybe 4 times a year I get a nasty pimple on the end of my nose or smack in the middle of my chin letting everyone know it's there. Otherwise, I've always had decent clear skin. Well, my first sign was breaking out all over my chin with tons of little pimples that would just not go away. This happened a month before I found out about the baby, so you can get acne right from the get-go, and I did. I also was breaking out all over my chest, shoulders and back, which was something that never happened to me.

Boobs: Crazy stuff can happen to your boobs when you're pregnant. First, they get sore. Mine ached, would hurt when you even bumped into them, and felt heavy. I'm talking when I would take my bra off it felt like I had watermelons in each breast that were going to fall to the floor type of heavy. That's the only way I can describe it. "I carried a watermelon....?" I carried two, Baby...

Tailbone/Hip pains: These pains can occur at any time, at any intensity throughout the pregnancy. I thought I had moved my hip/tailbone weird when I was coaching cheerleading and it was randomly sore for two weeks. Turns out it was my body already preparing itself when I was about 3 weeks pregnant. Then, it occurred on and off throughout the pregnancy. In the last month, it obviously got worse as I got bigger and it was harder to move around comfortably.

Morning sickness: I never got this! In my first trimester, I needed to eat every 3 hours or so or I would get a little nauseous, which was especially tough when I had NO APPETITE. I either wanted cold fresh fruits and vegetables or nothing. It was tough goings until a few weeks into my second trimester when I could handle regular food again. The only things that made me sick my entire pregnancy was the smell of the trash one time, and a few times when food got stuck in the dishwasher or the dishes sat overnight. Which leads into...

Weight gain: Before I had weight gain, I had weight loss. Almost 10 pounds in my first trimester. With having no appetite and the baby taking all my calories and nutrients, I slimmed down quite a bit at first. Then I very, very slowly gained weight. I didn't gain most of my weight until just into my third trimester. So, I lost about 10 and maybe gained 22 (which includes gaining back the 10 I lost).

Appetite/Cravings: So the last bit sort of talked about my appetite. As for cravings, I never ever ate ice cream before I got pregnant. Seriously. Five bites of ice cream was enough to tide me over for weeks. I was eating full sundaes on an almost daily basis for many weeks. I also craved pickles and cheesecake (not together) and boxed mac and cheese. I did have an aversion to most poultry and meats for a long time. Not because of the taste, because of the texture. The feeling of chewing through meat made me nauseous.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: One night around 14 weeks, I went to bed around midnight. Twenty minutes into laying down my wrists and arms felt a little achy. I thought maybe I was laying on them funny and eventually fell asleep. Around 3 am, the pain woke me from my sleep. It was like a throbbing, annoying achiness that wasn't excruciating, but enough to provoke tears, which it did. I took some Tylenol (the only meds allowed that never worked for anything) and woke Dan up. Neither of us knew what to do so I just tried to go back to bed. By 8 am it was even worse, so my mom accompanied me to the ER to get checked out, because we didn't know that you can get carpal tunnel from being pregnant. In the ER they told me I had early onset carpal tunnel and gave me some wrist guards to wear. I called my OB and they said it was early for it to appear, but it will most likely get worse and more frequent later on when I start retaining more water and swelling. Well, guess what? I had one more day where I worse my wrist guard o the left hand and never experienced it again. Take that carpal tunnel!

Pubic bone pain: This one's an interesting one. At about 31 weeks, two hours after waking up I started to feel a general soreness in my pubic bone area. It quickly intensified to me having to slowly shuffle around because every time I took a step it sort of felt like someone was hitting the tip of my pubic bone with a hammer (fun!). I called the OB on this one and she said it was likely my pubic bones separating quicker than normal and that this was common, normal, and ranges from mild to excruciating. I could take some Tylenol (yet again, useless) and use an ice pack on it. The next day, same timing, two hours after waking up it occurred again, but very suddenly and crippling. I could step more than an inch at a time, or move my legs more than an inch apart without feeling like someone was sawing through my pubic bone with a chain saw. I made Dan bring me home ice packs and he had to help me get off the couch every time I had to pee, which was thankfully only every 45 minutes, or he could watch me move down the hallway at a snails pace in tears. This pain never came back until the last week of my pregnancy where it was mild.

Peeing: It goes without saying that pregnant women pee a lot. I had on and off days where some days I didn't pee all that often, and others I was peeing every 20 minutes.

Swelling: I only had swelling in my hands in my last week of pregnancy. Three days before I went into labor I had to finally remove my wedding ring because I was too afraid it would get stuck.

Braxton Hicks: So these "fake" contractions, or false or preparatory or whatever word people use for them can happen starting around 20 weeks. Not everyone gets them. I started getting them around 32 weeks or so and they were painless. It just felt like my stomach (uterus) would tighten up. Almost like the baby moving, but throughout my entire stomach.

Sleep: In the first trimester, when they tell you you will feel an exhaustion like you've never experienced before, they aren't joking. As someone who has had sleep issues since college and been prescribed meds to sleep due to insomnia and regular exhaustion, I can tell you, nothing compares to this. It's a metabolic exhaustion, like you've been running a marathon for 4 days and haven't slept in a year mixed together. Naps are the greatest. Weekends where you can sleep in is the greatest. Actually, those are great all the time, pregnant or not. I gained more energy in the second trimester and most of my third. Halfway through the third I got a little tired again, and then by 36-37 weeks I was back to needing a nap every couple of days. Sleeping at night comfortable ended around 15 weeks. Once I had enough of a bump and I couldn't sleep on my stomach it was all over. Sleeping on my stomach was one of things I missed the most about not being pregnant. I did have a maternity pillow that was a lifesaver, especially as I got bigger and more uncomfortable week by week. Also, getting up to pee every 30 minutes or every time you roll over or shift positions makes sleeping through the night impossible. I learned to sleep in 45 minutes shifts. It also took me HOURS to fall asleep most nights. Thank god for Netflix. Binge watching House and Criminal Minds was great, albeit pretty unhealthy...

Moodiness: I saved this for last. I don't think I was a hormonal monster, though maybe check with Dan on that one. I certainly had days where I was moody and irritable, but I recognized it ad kept it in check. What kind of things would bother me when I was pregnant? Well, being a pretty social couple Dan and I still attended every birthday, BBQ, fundraiser, wedding, we had going on. When I got tired and sore by the end of the night, I would get more irritated with people who were able to enjoy themselves with a beer. Or I would be irritated with people were very drunk and then wonder if I was like that when I wasn't pregnant. Luckily, Dan was super supportive with this and when I said I was ready to leave, he was on board. We maybe had two times where he was bummed we had to leave somewhere, but never complained to me even though I knew he wanted to stay. After a while, you do get tired with answering "How are you feeling?" or "Do you know what you're having?" followed by "Do you have names picked out?". Sometimes I wanted to wear a sign that said:

I feel pregnant.
We don't know what we're having.
Yes, we have names picked out. No, we won't share them with you.

But no question was more annoying than someone with a drink in their hand asking, "So, do you miss drinking?" or, "How much does it suck to not be able to drink?". Sometimes I missed drinking. I never cared that I couldn't drink, because I had the greatest reason in the world not to and I knew overall I was healthier, pregnant or not, for not drinking. But summer BBQs make you want a nice cold beer, so sometimes I missed drinking. Sometimes, I missed that I couldn't get a buzz on like my friends after a long week and just be silly. But it never truly bothered me to not drink. But, reminding a pregnant woman that she can't drink (while her body is going through all sorts of craziness) is just kind of obnoxious sometimes.

I waited to write this post until my pregnancy was over so I could go over all of my symptoms from start to finish. I made it to 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant before our little girl, Peyton Helena was born on October 3rd. The last week of symptoms will be chronicled in the next post, which will focus more on her being born and post partum goodness. Stay tuned for that one!

**I apologize for any typos that may be in this post. I am too tired/too busy staring at my baby to take the time to go back and scour this post for typos. Also, my 'n' key doesn't work half the time, so I'm sure there's some typos in there somewhere. It's amazing how many words, when spelled without the 'n', still make real words that spell check doesn't pick up....

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownie Pie

Two weeks back, as I was scrolling through Facebook, this recipe showed up. I browsed it quickly, saw how easy it was, and went to add it to my Pinterest. Of course, my phone is awful and won't let that happen, so I just make a mental note of the recipe and forget about it. That's mainly what being 9 months pregnant is all about...making mental notes and completely forgetting them...

Yes, I am now 9 months pregnant. I am due in 17 days. Seventeen! I know I haven't posted in over 2 months, but recipes have just taken a back seat to a busy summer and a tiring pregnancy. Dan has been making many of our dinners (so appreciated!) and we've been making recipes that are already featured in this here blog. Nothing exciting to report...

Anyways, the girls in Dan's family attempt to have a girl's night once a month. I think there's been three since we're all on different schedules and I've been to maybe one. I figured last night was one of my last chances, sans Baby, to attend a girls night. It's weird to think that from now on most of my events will require arranging childcare. Yikes. Again, anyways, this recipe is so easy that I figured I would throw it together for girl's night. Mid-September is a little too early for pumpkin for me usually (other than DD iced coffee!), and it was in the high 80's yesterday, but this pie is served chilled so I figured why not? Plus, it just sounded sooo good, and when you're pregnant, you don't argue with your appetite.

It wins every time.

Now, you can make this is homemade as you want by making your own pie crust and your own brownie mix and your own whipped topping, or you can keep it simple like the recipe and use some pre-made items. My only note for this that the pumpkin layer was a little thinner than I expected, perhaps try increasing that part of the recipe if you're a real pumpkin fiend. Also, I wish I had made some homemade whipped topping. This pie is so rich and fudgy with the brownie layer that homemade whipped topping would have been a better balance than the Cool Whip. Cool Whip is great, but definitely sweet. A fluffy homemade version would have made this all the more perfect.

This was seriously amazing though. The brownie layer ends up as a thick, but still gooey fudgy layer that sticks to the fork and every bite needs a glass of milk to go with it. Then you have the pumpkin cheesecake layer, adding in the bit of tart to balance out that chocolate sweetness, and to settle your pumpkin spice craving. The whipped topping rounds it all off with a flaky crust to make one small piece more than filling. Great for sharing! Yes, even the preggo says to share!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownie Pie
from Inside Bru Crew Life

1 refrigerated pie crust
1 box brownie mix
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, divided
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tbsp. flour
1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping

1. Preheat oven to 350. Roll out pie crust and place into a 9-inch glass pie plate.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the brownie mix, water, oil, and 1 egg and beat until combined. Spread into the pie crust and bake for 30 minutes.
3. As the brownie layer bakes, in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the pumpkin and egg and beat again. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and flour and give a final mixing. Spread this layer on the brownie layer when it comes out of the oven. Cover the edges of the pie crust with foil if they stick out a lot to prevent from burning. My edges weren't really exposed so I didn't have to. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for an hour, then place in the refrigerator to completely cool.
5. Top with whipped topping and serve!

You can also sprinkle more cinnamon on top, chocolate sauce, chocolate shavings, etc. Have fun with it!

Before I post my photos, I'd like to remind everyone of my horrible pie crust skills. I don't do decorative pie crusts where you flute the edges and all the jazz. I also don't practice or attempt to make myself better at it either...so there's that...

Best Ever Meatloaf

I'm not so sure I should keep the title of "Best Ever". I have probably eaten 3 different meatloafs (loaves?) in my entire life....each one once. I am not a meatloaf person...unless you count the singer/actor, in which case, I'm a fan. I figured I'd give it a shot, since it's easy to make and I had two packs of ground beef to use. I just don't have enough comparison to really say this is the "best ever".

Let me start by saying that mixing the ingredients by hand is a must, and most of my ingredients were very cold! Just thought I'd give you a heads up. As I added my ingredients to the bowl, I ran my faucet to get warm water to rinse with while I mixed, and I'm glad I did. I left out the onions for this since Dan doesn't like them and I didn't have one anyways. I also had some wheat crackers instead of Ritz, and they worked just fine. It used just under a sleeve to make a cup of crumbs.

The topping/sauce is what makes this recipe, I think. I misread the directions, and added the sauce in the last 15 minutes of cooking, not halfway through. Halfway through would have been better. This is why you always read through the directions, twice, before starting your recipe. Dan is busy as usual, so I don't have his opinion on this yet as he will be heating his dinner up later, so I'm hoping he likes it. I served it with some mashed potatoes and steamed corn.

Best Ever Meatloaf
from Pip & Ebby

2 lbs. ground beef
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup buttery cracker crumbs (about 1 sleeve of crackers)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

For the topping:
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apricot preserves

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. I a large bowl combine all ingredients for the meatloaf and mix by hand until well combined.
3. Press into the loaf pan. Place loaf pan on a baking sheet to catch any juice that may boil over and drip in the oven. Bake for 90 minutes. Halfway through, you will top with sauce.
4. To prepare the sauce, in a small bowl combined the sauce ingredients until well mixed. Pour half the sauce over the meatloaf halfway through cooking. Reserve the remainder for dipping.
5. Let the meatloaf sit for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Forgot to take a pic before I sliced it to check for doneness.

Pesto Chicken Pasta

Here's the other dish I brought to our monthly dinner at my grandmother's house. I just randomly threw it together with things I had around the house. It turned out pretty good and most of it went quickly. For the pesto, I used a mix from Tastefully Simple that I had (and finally used the last of). You could use prepared pesto or find a recipe to make your own. I had about 1/4 cup of it, which is all the pasta needed. It wasn't too overwhelming. I also added in just under a 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese to the pasta as well as I mixed everything together. I think this would be great as a cold pasta salad as well. Cold chicken sort of freaks me out, so I would substitute it with some cubed mozzarella or something if I were to serve it cold. Also, when I used the small jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, I rinsed them quickly. I didn't need all that oil in the pasta, since the pesto had some with it.

Pesto Chicken Pasta

1 package any pasta you choose, I used Farfalle
1/4 cup prepared pesto
about 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieced
1 small jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil

1. Boil pasta and drain. Return to pot.
2. Add the chicken and tomatoes. Add the pesto and cheese and mix everything together until well mixed.

Boom, that's it! Easy peasy.

Lemon Parmesan Asparagus

Last night was our monthly family dinner at my grandmother's house. With temperatures in the 80s and the humidity being thick and nearly unbearable, you may wonder why I would choose to roast something. First, I have central air in my house, and second, I craved roasted asparagus. Cravings always win...

I bought two bundles of asparagus and one bundle was pretty large, so I chose to make one and save the other. I should have made both, the asparagus went faster than I had expected it to. This recipe is simple. It's slightly time consuming to dip each stalk in the egg mix and then in the bread crumbs, but 10 extra minutes is hardly time-consuming to me. I made the lemon vinaigrette that goes with this, but found it far too lemony for me. I don't think anyone else used it at dinner either. If you want to make it, click the link for the original recipe.

Tonight, I used the bundle of asparagus I saved and just roasted it with olive oil, sea salt and some cracked black pepper. That was my dinner...a bunch of asparagus. Pregnancy has created some pretty weird meals for me. I eat more smaller meals to prevent heartburn (good Lord, the heartburn!) and because most of the time I just crave one thing at a time a few hours apart. So in about an hour, I'll have dinner part 2, which will consist of who knows what. Maybe the semi-homemade ice cream cake in my freezer...

Lemon Parmesan Asparagus
from Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice

1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends snapped off, peeled if desired
2 eggs
2 tbsp. milk
salt and pepper
1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 400 and grease a baking sheet.
2. In a shallow dish mix together the egg, milk, salt and pepper.
3. In a separate shallow dish, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese and lemon zest.
4. Working a few at a time, dip the asparagus stalks in the egg, then roll in the bread crumbs to coat. Place on the baking sheet.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until they come out fork tender.

Chicken, Bacon, and Ranch Crescents

For anyone who follows my blog, you know that I love making food with crescent rolls. It's just such an easy ingredient to use and any recipe that uses it is just as easy. Dan and I just spent 4th of July weekend camping with friends at my family's hunting camp, so coming home and having to cook just seemed so tiring. I had written the ingredients really quick on a piece of paper weeks ago on a shopping list that I found on my coffee table yesterday. I don't remember the original source, but I just improvised with what I had. My list looked like this...

Chix. tenders
Ranch
Colby slices
Bacon
Crescent dough, cut into 4 squares

That's it. So I went off to the store with the rest of my list. I remembered that I had 2 extra cans of the seamless crescent roll dough in my fridge, so I grabbed one, just in case I wanted to make extra. Turns out, I did not remember using those cans 2 weeks ago for my Sloppy Joe Bake. Pregnancy brain strikes again. Luckily, Dan grabbed some for me. I also completely forgot to get the sliced Colby jack cheese. I also forgot we brought our bacon camping and used it.

Aye aye aye.

So, I improvised even more. Luckily I keep a pretty ridiculous stock of shredded cheese in the fridge. Seriously, as of Sunday I had a bag of shredded Swiss, 2 bags of shredded cheddar, a bag of shredded mozzarella and a bag of shredded pizza blend. Cheddar it was for these. I also had a bag of bacon bits in the cupboard, so all was well. Real slices of bacon would have been better, but oh well. And what did I serve as a side? Kraft mac & cheese. Not my healthiest pregnancy meal, but the baby can use a few extra calories, right???

Chicken, Bacon, and Ranch Crescents
makes 8

2 cans seamless crescent dough
8 frozen pre-cooked chicken tenders
Ranch dressing
8 slices of bacon or bacon bits
8 slices of Colby jack cheese or shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with some foil for easy clean up.
2. Roll out your dough and cut into 4 rectangles.
3. Spread some ranch on each square. Place a slice of cheese on top, of sprinkle with shredded cheese. Top with a slice of bacon cut in half to make 2 pieces or some bacon bits.
4. Place a chicken tender on that and roll up the long way, making a seal with the edges.
5. Place seam side down on the baking sheet and repeat with remaining pieces.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until chicken is heated through. I baked mine for 20, then covered them with foil for the last 5 minutes to stop them from browning more. The dough will cook faster than the chicken.

Dan absolutely loved these, and they were so easy! My chicken tenders were rather large. If you use smaller ones, you could cut your dough into 6 pieces and make more. They would be great as party appetizers!

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

I've had this recipe saved on my Pinterest for maybe 3 years now. I figured it was about time to try it out. Earlier this week I made some pink lemonade cupcakes for a work wedding party and was asked to bring some cupcakes to my department meeting tomorrow. With it being warm and 8.5 days away from summer vacation, another summer flavor was called for.

And who doesn't love a cold, sweet orange creamsicle on a hot day?

This pregnant baker sure does!

This is another doctored box recipe. I had debated going with totally from scratch, but I'm glad that I had this recipe because I got home later than expected tonight and got a late start. The box is changed up by replacing some of the water with orange juice and by adding a box of orange gelatin mix. The recipe below calls for swapping out 1/4 cup of water for orange juice, but I swapped out 1/2 a cup. I wanted the cupcakes to have the real orange flavor with the frosting having the "cream"sicle flavor. I actually have some orange cream flavoring oil, so it amped it up a bit.

When making the frosting, I added the vanilla extract before the powdered sugar. I also added 1 tablespoon of milk to soften it up a little bit. Then, I removed just over a cup of it for the filling and topping. After that, I added 2 tablespoons of orange juice, 1 teaspoon of orange zest, and a 1/2 teaspoon of the orange cream flavoring oil. Once that was combined, I played around with my gel food colors to get a bright, sort of neon-ish orange that does not show up in my photos. It's a solid bright orange and my pictures show it as a peachy pink. BOOOO! I used a mix of red, yellow, and peach colors.

These are light and fluffy, and the cream cheese adds a slight tartness that the creamsicle flavor needs. It was hard to only eat one sample one and to save the rest for tomorrow. The recipe below is my version of the cupcakes. For the original, follow the link.

Also, if you're curious about these flavor oils I use, they are candy flavoring oils that only need to be used in VERY small amounts for baking. I've never used more than half a teaspoon in a recipe I don't think. I order mine from Amazon, and I use LorAnn brand.

Enjoy!

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
slightly adapted from The Cake Blog

For the cake:
1 box white cake mix
Eggs and oil as needed on the box
Orange juice *swap out half of the amount of water needed on the box for OJ
1 (3 oz.) package orange gelatin mix
1 teaspoon orange zest

For the frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
5 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons or orange juice
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 teaspoon orange or orange cream flavor oil (if using)
orange food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line two cupcakes tins with liners.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the dry cake mix and orange gelatin.
3. Add the eggs, oil, water and orange juice, and orange zest as called for on the box. Beat for 2 minutes until mixed and fluffy.
4. Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan then move to wire racks to cool completely.
5. One cooled, cut out the center of each cupcake to make a little cone.
6. For the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
7. Add the vanilla and add powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Mix until combined. Add the milk to soften it up just a bit. Remove just over 1 cup of white frosting and set aside in a separate bowl.
8. To the remaining frosting, add the orange juice, orange zest, and flavor oil. Beat to combine.
9. Add a couple of drops of food coloring and beat. Add more if you want a darker orange.
10. Using the white frosting, pipe some into the center of each cupcake. Save maybe a 1/3 cup for topping.
11. Using the orange frosting, pipe onto cupcakes however you'd like.
12. With the remaining white frosting pipe a little star, flower, or circle on top in the center to look like the inside of a creamsicle.