menu plan monday

Last week I totally forgot to take a picture of my beautiful lasagna! It turned out quite yummy! Here is the recipe I used:
30 oz ricotta
2 cups mozzarella
1/4 cup Parmesan
2 eggs
2 26 oz jars of sauce
noodles
diced zucchini from the garden
mushrooms
10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thaw and squeeze out liquid

Cook mushrooms and zucchini with some minced garlic. Mix ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, parmesan, 2 eggs, and spinach. Mix zucchini and mushrooms into sauce (also put your meat here if you like meat sauce). Put one cup of sauce in 9 x 13 pan, layer uncooked noodles to fill the pan, cup of sauce, 1/2 the ricotta mixture, sauce, noodles, sauce, ricotta, sauce, noodles, sauce. Cover with aluminum foil, bake at 375 1 hour. Remove foil, sprinkle one cup mozzarella, bake 10 more minutes. Serve!!

This uses more sauce than a traditional recipe so you can use normal lasagna noodles and skip the pre-boiling step.

For this week we have 5 doctors appointments int he day before Kyle leaves for work at 3pm. So.........I think I am going to try to prep dinner the night before so it's essentially ready otherwise we'll eat out every day while we're out at the various doctors. I think I'll just plan meals and we'll eat them as we feel like instead of assigning a day. This week in no particular order we will eat:

• spaghetti and aidell's meatballs
• 15 bean cajun soup (recipe on bag of dry beans)
• teriyaki chicken with brown rice and peas
  
• nachos with ground beef, black beans, tomatoes, cheese, salsa
  
• veggie fried rice and egg rolls
  
• leftovers

For more meal plan ideas check out OrgJunkie

The Fair

On Saturday we hit the Kitsap County Fair and Stampede. We got a funnel cake right off the bat of course! Then we walked around to check things out. Reese is in the height range 36''-42" that required a "responsible party" to ride with him. Mommy and Gus watched and took pictures while Daddy and Reese hit the rides.

We also checked out the animals, but didn't stumble upon the petting zoo until after it closed so we have no photos of animals. We saw sheep, cows, horses, bunnies, roosters and dogs and cats and parrots. We skipped the goats and pigs because Gus and I really weren't digging the smells. Then we had some philly cheesesteaks and a pigs ear for dessert.

Of course we also visited the businesses in the pavilion. I got a tote bag and signed up for free drawings from tupperware, pampered chef, window companies and I'm sure some other stuff too--oh yeah gutter companies---lots of leaf guard systems available.By the end pf the night we were beat! Reese had lots of fun and is excited for next year. He's thinking about bunnies with the 4H Club!

9 weeks!

On Friday the 28th Gus turned 9 weeks old. I can't believe it has gone by so fast. Perhaps because it's been a ridiculous blur of medical issues...ha ha. He slept about 5 1/2-6 hours four nights this week. Woo hoo!! Life is a lot better when you have some rest.

The comparison:

Reese at 5 monthsGus wearing the same outfit (a hand me down, not in an alternate size).

So Gus can wear the same suit at 9 weeks that Reese was wearing on his 5 month birthday. They actually look quite similar. When you compare Gus to Reese's photos they really look alike. I haven't been able to get a really good photo of Gus to show a side by side comparison though.

menu plan monday

oops I forgot to get this up in a timely fashion. I'll go ahead and do it late though since it's helps us stay more organized and helps keep us from eating out for lack of an idea what to do.

MONDAY: return of the glorious glorious butternut squash ravioli from costco (we bought 4 2 packs to stock in the freezer. We'll get more throughout fall to tide us over next Jan-Aug when it is not available because we love it so much!)
TUESDAY: Big Apple Diner with Kyle's relatives
WEDNESDAY: Low Sodium Zatarain's Jambalaya with turkey keilbasa and shrimp (ooh I see they have a new brown rice version we'll have to look for)
THURSDAY: Lasagna that we didn't get to last week because Kyle got sick and we substituted a homemade pasta fagioli variation instead. The lasagna will be no boil noodle, veggie and sausage lasagna. I'll post a recipe once I've made it.
FRIDAY: Ham Casserole
SATURDAY: leftovers
SUNDAY: leftovers

Check out more ideas here!

59 days, A Comparison

Gus is 59 days old. He turned 8 weeks last Friday. He is a plump faced little cutie (with skinny arms and legs) and a fat belly. He's wearing 3 month old sized clothes now, cooing, laughing, demanding to be held ALL THE TIME, working hard at rolling over and "tooting" ferociously.This is Reese at 59 days, the day he came home from the hospital. He was exactly 5 pounds, compared to Gus' 10.4 pounds on our home scale clothed and his preemie clothes finally fit instead of being baggy. Look at his plump little face though--they look pretty similar. Reese is just littler.
Here's Gus modeling Reese's homecoming suit. Do you see how crazy small the hat is? The feet are at Gus' knees. It's pretty amazing how little Reese was.
Last night Gus slept for 6 hours and 15 minutes IN A ROW!!! First time ever. Reese was still being fed at 3 hour intervals, 43cc exactly. He was on the 12,3,6,9 schedule. Gus is on demand so essentially non-stop at the moment. In fact he's screaming now in impatience but I told mommy needs a minute to herself to blog!!! AHHHH!!Here's Gus laughing at his brother doing something weird with his hair.
Sharing secrets.
Reese down for the count and Gus gearing up for his second wind.

GO HAWKS!

Reese officially qualifies to get a job as the 12th man for the Seahawks! He attended his first game on Saturday. Kyle's dad's brother and sister-in-law are visiting from back East. Their BIG vacation event was a Seahawks game. So we all---Granddad and Candy Gram, Great Uncle Don and Great Aunt Irene, Daddy and Mommy and Reese and Gus were planning to go to the game against the Denver Broncos on Saturday. Unfortunately on Friday night I got a horrible stomach bug/food poisoning that prevented Gus and I from attending. But everyone else was able to attend.

They walked on the ferry over to Seattle and went to dinner at the Crab Pot, my favorite and I missed it!! Grrr!!! Then they walked to the stadium, Qwest Field. Out front they checked out the Clydesdale horses.Once they got inside they discovered they had awesome seats about 12 rows up from the 35 yard line. Reese found all the screaming pretty fun and realized he could fit right in. It was almost midnight by the time they made it home and he was a trooper. Daddy did not regret taking him without me there to help, so I guess that means he behaved pretty well.Tickets are hard to come by so I'm pretty disappointed I missed my one opportunity to go to an NFL game and I'm really sorry to have missed the Crab Pot. But now that today is winding down I finally feel better and I am super happy about that!

Soup for the Sick

Kyle brought a nasty cold home from work and ended up staying home from work for 2 days. So I decided to make some soup for the sickie. This is my modified Pasta Fagioli recipe. This photo is a little bowl for Reese and a normal bowl for Daddy, both Longaberger, of course!
1 can tomato sauce (14 oz)
1 can diced tomatoes (14oz)
1 cup soaked white beans
2 cups of mixed veggies
1 diced zucchini from our garden
2 tablespoons parley flakes
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
a little sugar
32 oz chicken broth

1 1/2 cups of mini wagon wheel pasta

I started with only 16 oz chicken broth and simmered for about 1 hour then I refrigerated it for use the next day. When I was ready to serve I brought it to a boil and added the pasta and cooked fro about 10 minutes and found I had to keep adding stock to keep it soupy for sore throat help. I suppose you can have it as runny (souplike) or thick (stewlike) as you prefer. This turne dout pretty tasty. Even Reese gobbled it up.

Canning Season is Here!!

It's canning season again! Year 3 for my mommies group to can together. When we started there were 4 mommies (Amy, Anya, Julie and me). Between us we had 5 kiddos and it seemed pretty full in Anya's kitchen. Last year we had 2 more mommies (Jennica and Deb) and way more kids. This year Julie moved away and we sure missed her. But we did add her blogless neighbor, Jackie and her 2 boys to the canning mix.

Over the weekend Kyle and I harvested some pears. Tuesday my pal Amy and her boys came over to help harvest more pears. whew it's hard work and we all agree we are so thankful we are not professional fruit pickers!

Gus making the rounds on canning day. He had to be held by everyone.

Reese had quite a fun time. He got busted pelting people that were down in the yard from his strategic position on the deck above...with pears!

Anya taking a break from her pregnant lady sitting duty (slicing fruit) to man the processing water bath.

Jackie, a new canner who offered her house as canning central, and Amy's son, Austin.

KIDS GALORE having taco bar dinner: clockwise from far left, Phoenix, Moses, Conner, Liam (standing) Reese, Matthew, Lincoln, Maisey, Austin.

Austin played in the laundry basket of pears for a SUPER long time. This kid has a great attention span!

Amy and Austin

Anya and Lincoln

Nectarines!!!!

Blackberry Jam!

It's sweltering hot and labor intensive, but I do believe good times were had by all. It's a long day of play for the kids and gives us time to catch up on mommy things. It's nice to know exactly what went into this food we've made for our families. AND generally it works out cheaper to process our own canned goods. But even if it doesn't on the surface we reuse all our materials each year. Occasionally we lose a glass jar that cracks in the canner but in '07 we got a massive batch off craigslist so really each jar has probably already been used again and again. So all in all we've saved money in our food budget, provided access to yummy homemade goodies for our families to enjoy off season and had plenty of socializing with good friends.

Movie Buff

For a kid who didn't watch tv until well after he turned 2 Reese is seriously trying to make up for lost time."This one!!"

This is what I got after about 15 requests to look at me and smile during the previews.

I am quite sick of Elmo in Grouchland. I am still okay with Monsters Inc, but am relieved we're moving on to some other requests: Bee Movie, Ice Age, Madagascar, Open Range, A Bug's Life and Cars have been on this week.

Where's the Beef?

Angus in his beefy cow suit from our shopping trip with Mimi.

menu plan monday

Wow has it been a LONG time since we had a menu plan. June 29-July 13 we had most of our meals provided by friends and family. The next week my Dad visited and we mostly ate out. Then my kidney stones happened and the last 3 weeks have been pretty hit or miss, in fact I don't even know what we ate most of the time because Kyle fed Reese while I tried to sleep. The narcotics helped my kidney stone pain, but that paired with Gus' constant night time nursing has kept me pretty exhausted. Last weekend we got back in a groove. We had:
*Ham, individual potato gratins, brussell sprouts
*pizza Kyle's parents
*chicken tetrazini from the freezer
*chicken and rice (mushroom sauce) and brussell srouts
*Red Lobster
*pork chops, rice and peas with my parents
and I guess one day we didn't eat???
This week I'm planning again:
Monday: pizza bagels ----brush minced garlic on bagel, cover with tomato sauce mixed with oregano and Italian seasoning, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and pepperoni
Tuesday: cheeseburgers on the grill, potato salad, green salad (trying a new lettuce thing from costco since since spinach is on my anti-kidney stone list)
Wednesday: stacked enchiladas----put together like a lasagna, tortilla, chicken, black beans, corn, cream cheese, diced green chillies, green enchilada sauce, shredded cheddar cheese. This is a meal from my friend Jennica during baby week that we will recreate. My friend Anya used the green sauce in regular rolled enchiladas and we loved it, so we're meshing the two recipes.
Thursday: Italian style lasagna with spinach (I'll drink extra water to counter balance it) in the ricotta layer and ground sausage in the sauce layer. I do not pre-boil my noodles and I do not buy special noodles--just use more sauce than when you pre-boil.
Friday: leftovers
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: egg rolls, fried rice

Check out other ideas at organizing junkie

My kidney stone surgery was successful--the biggie was blasted into sand like particles that i have so diligently been collecting---fun times! I go back to the urologist on the 1st to turn in my particles for analysis. Then I'll do a 24 hour urine collection for a metabolic study. That should refine my list of no-no foods.
Tomorrow I go to my primary care physician for a blood pressure follow up. Of course the last time I saw her was pre-pregnancy and my blood pressure was totally normal. Now I'm on 3 different BP drugs--I'm hoping she doesn't have to refer to anyone else and we can start weening my meds away.
Other than the BP I finally feel mostly back to normal. I have lost all the Gus pregnancy weight and I am now solidly 8 pounds into the leftover Reese weight (although this am the scale said I was an extra 1.5 pounds into Reese weight). I actually put on some size 6 American Eagle jeans I was wearing the summer before Reese. I am hoping to get back to my pre-wedding weight by Christmas. I'm shooting for 18 more pounds in the next 4 months. That's only one pound a week with a an extra week and a half or so to make up for holiday food. I think it's actually a possibility. Woo hoo!! The secret is 2-3 quarts of water a day. Not only does it keep kidney stones away but it makes you way less hungry. So portion control is easier. (Though today I ate a little extra, since I drank my water mostly at night instead of pre-dinner, bad move.)

Catch Up time

SO I've been a bit of a slacker keeping up with my blogging. Really I've checked email and paid bills and that's pretty much it for quite sometime. The last few days I got caught up on facebook and I'm now finally going to get some photos up.

Reese has formed some new habits in the past couple of weeks. He LOVES to drink out of his own coffee cup. This is actually the cup and saucer to my Longaberger dishes he just doesn't get the saucer. This started with a smidge of coffee--Daddy was hoping to get to drink his coffee somewhat undisturbed. But Reese really likes his coffee so continues to beg for Dad's coffee anyway. He also drinks his water out of this cup now.
He also insists on a regular grown up dinner plate. That's his egg remnants on a butternut colored Longaberger plate.

It makes him quite happy.

Here's Gus in a cute summer golf pants suit--his expression seems to show he thinks it's sissified.

Here he is hanging out on the boppy. He likes to be propped up so he can look around.

Gus turns 6 weeks old! This is the first day of wearing 3 month old sized sleepers.

He wants to get the show on the road. Once he decided it's time to eat--it is time!Gus turns 7 weeks old!He sure is chunkier than his brother was!!!

Glasses

Seriously we are going to have to put a can out to collect coins towards our medical costs this year! Reese went to the eye doctor this week. He goes every 6 months----not sure why it's not once a year---and he needs a new prescription! We just bought $200 glasses in February! There are such limited options in his tiny size. The only place that carries his size doesn't take our insurance. GRRR....... Here's the cutie in his post-dilation sun glasses. He thought they were pretty cool and he was super cooperative this visit. This was really the first time he could take direction about what to do and he actually listened!

Kidney Stones

So here's my what my poor boy has been up to since Daddy returned to work and Mommy had kidney stones:Chillin' in his camp chair, feet propped on his picnic table bench watching DVDs. Previously he had only seen Sesame Street, but now.....he loves Monsters, Inc and Elmo in Grouchland.

I have seen the urologist. I got some meds to help dissolve and pass the non-calcium stones and a surgery date (8/12) for the calcium one. I also got a lovely list of bad foods.
The DO NOT EAT list includes: tea, chocolate, COLA products, ground pepper, nuts, parsley, poppy seeds, rhubarb and spinach. The stuff I don't eat anyway I didn't mention.
The LIMITED QUANTITIES list: green beans, blackberries, blueberries, carrots, celery, coffee, grapes, green onions, green peppers, raspberries, strawberries and sweet potatoes.

What the heck am I allowed to eat you may ask? Well thank goodness you don't see Big Mac or fries on these lists!!!!