Jacob :: 13 Months

• Is almost completely weaned. Thanks to an awesome onset of mastitis, that process is now being expedited (and in fact he was cut off completely yesterday thanks to the antibiotics and infection). It is absolutely heartbreaking to deny him what he wants because I know he doesn't understand. It's also incredible that he is so smart. He will start crying and point to me and to the chair in his room where we spent so many hours hanging out- but then he throws an absolute fit when he doesn't get it. So tiny and yet so manipulative.
• Is in all 2T clothes
• Still has a mean diaper rash (going on a month). What started out as a yeast infection turned into a diaper rash thanks to the chlorine in disposable diapers that we were using because the cream that we were using to treat the yeast infection couldn't be on our cloth diapers. So, now we're onto clean and free disposables because the cloth keeps wet against his skin and isn't allowing the moisture to wick away so he can heal. 
• Basically, life is hard for the little guy right now!
• He is eating much better! Still mostly baby food and we add in table foods as we see fit. The kid can put away 2-3 containers at meal times though (when he's not with me, though- he's holding out)
• Still LOVES being outside- watching birds, cars and now planes. We have a base nearby that has flight paths right over our house; he loves it.
• We now have a spanking spoon. Little dude is going to have to learn that Momma means business when it comes to a few things.
• He has slept "through the night" twice now (and by that I mean from 8pm to 5 am). I was nursing him at that 5 am time and sending him back to bed so I'm not sure what we're going to do about that now. Cry it out? Get up? 
• Napping has become more of a guessing game, but that's partly because my schedule changes as does his sleep at night. If he wakes up early, he'll usually take two good naps. If he sleeps in, sometimes it's just one nap. 
• We have the two bottom middle teeth in. So cute.
• One funny thing he did this month was take his long sleeved shirt off during a nap. I went in to wake him up and it was in the floor. 
• He talks a lot more (mostly babbling) but it's super entertaining and funny. 

Planner 2.0

Back at the beginning of this year, I shared my homemade planner.  A month in, I decided to change things up a bit. I knew that it was going to be work in process. (You can click the link to visit the post about the original version). And it was only $3 to get a new one rebound (plus the paper + ink) but that stuff is on hand.

Some things stayed the same:
--> I left my goals page in the beginning. I did type it up for this planner so it looked bit neater.
--> The monthly planner page I left, as it helps me get a big picture of view of what's going on that month.
--> The menu plan stayed the same, but I did find a prettier page to use.
--> The grocery list stayed in, but again, I found a prettier one to use.

Some things didn't make the cut:
--> I took the routines page out- I found it just unnecessary for a daily planner. It would be better suited for a home management binder that stayed at home.
--> Monthly blog topics page got the oust- I liked having a month plan, but it was kind of overwhelming and life happens sometimes and I would get off the plan and that just causes me anxiety.
--> The weekly outlook I had was broken down by days and hours and didn't always get filled in when life got busy. I needed just some blank space to give me that weekly outlook, but not so specific that I felt like I was wasting the whole page for a few things.
--> The to do list simply did not have enough lines.

New additions:
--> I found a new week at a glance page, but I think it's a little too detailed for what I need for this one page.
--> I also found a to do list that was divided into "work" and "home" and had plenty of space!
--> I found a weekly blog post schedule to try out.

Fab Food Feb : Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas

I don't remember where we got this recipe, but it is super yummy and reminds me of spring/summer which I want so badly to be here.

Oh, a quick google search reminded me that this recipe came from Pioneer Woman. Here's the link!

This is the last installment of Fab Food Feb. It hasn't gotten great traffic. The whole theme thing is cool, but it limits what you can write about and I don't like that. It's nice to have a fall back when you don't know what to write about, but meh, probably won't do a whole month long series again.

Hope that you've enjoyed the recipes, though!

Fab Food Feb : Beef Stroggie

This recipe is one that we use on a pretty regular basis. We pretty much know the recipe by heart and only have to pick up a few things at the grocery store to make this meal happened. It is really quick to make which is helpful when you have a baby crawling around everywhere.

Ingredients:
12 ounce package of egg noodles
6 ounces of mushrooms, sliced (I think we use more though because we love mushrooms!)
1/4 cup of butter
2 pounds of ground beef
One cup of sour cream
Worcester, salt and pepper to taste

First cook the noodles to package directions and drain. While the noodles are cooking, cook the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter, until soft. Remove from pan and set aside.

Melt the remaining butter and cook the ground beef until browned. Add the mushrooms back in and stir in the sour cream. Season to taste and serve over at noodles.

Fab Food Feb : Linguine with Basil and Bacon

I got this recipe from my new Giada cookbook, but I changed things up a bit. We're not big fish/seafood eaters in our house so I took out the shrimp and added chicken and it was still delicious.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound linguine (you can use whole wheat linguine, if you prefer)
• 1 pound thick-cut bacon, chopped into  1/2-inch pieces
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs. chicken (we just buy the stir fry chicken that is pre-cut)

STEPS

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl.
3. While the pasta is cooking, put the bacon in a large skillet. Turn on the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until the bacon is brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel. Then, cook the chicken until done. Remove and set aside.
4. In the same skillet, add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds.
5. Add the tomatoes with juice, the cream, chicken stock, 1/2 cup of the basil, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
6. Bring to a boil and with a wooden spoon, scrape up the browned bits that cling to the bottom of the pan.
7. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, until slightly thickened.
8. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixed well and warmed through.
9. Add the bacon and simmer until warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.
10. Pour the mixture over the cooked pasta and toss until coated.
11. Season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with the remaining basil.

Fab Food Feb : Spiced Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

This recipe came from the newspaper of a tiny Texas town. It looks overwhelming, but I'm pretty sure this is one of Jim's favorite desserts. Okay- top 3 (he just said that nothing beats a good Chocolate Chip bundt cake or Kahlua Cake) BUT IT'S GOOD. You'll need an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan.

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp.cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground clover

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

Frosting Ingredients:

5 oz. cream cheese

3 tbsp. unsalted butter

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt & spices

2. Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on high until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then, beat in applesauce.

3. Spread batter evenly in pan and bake until golden brown, 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

5. For the frosting, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy. Sift in sugar and cinnamon.

Fab Food Feb : Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today's post is short and sweet. Really- it's sweet treats.

Homemade Chocolate Chip cookies- so easy and so worth it. Here's what you do: buy a bag of Nestle Chocolate Chips and and use that recipe. Way better than chips ahoy or whatever.

While you're at the store- pick up some parchment paper. Line your pans with it and it will change your life on clean up.

Fab Food Feb : Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

I had these for the first time a couple of years ago while hanging out with some friends! (Hey Em!) She gave me the recipe and I started making them anytime I was required to "bring something" to a dinner or other event. I'm not a huge fan of snickerdoodle cookies, so I was skeptical, but they're SO GOOD.

Here's the link to the recipe. And of course, today's kitchen gadget will be my favorite way to top cupcakes. I actually prefer making mini-cupcakes; it's better icing to cake ratio if you ask me. I keep a package of Wilton Pastry bags and the coupling and big star tip to make icing cupcakes mess free and quick! (PS: Found this good post on how to do this!)

Fab Food Feb : Meatball Subs

This recipe was one we kind of made up to use up what we had. Well, we didn't make it up, but it was a "what can we cook with this, this and this?" Every once in a while, I love getting a messy meatball sub from Subway. So, when we had some extra hamburger meat and homemade tomato sauce that needed to be used, we found a recipe for homemade meatballs in "How To Cook Everything" and stopped for some hoagie rolls on the way home and voila!

 Here's a link to the recipe for the meatballs! Get some hoagie rolls, jarred (or homemade) tomato sauce, some good cheese and make yourself a yummy sandwich!

Hope you and the ones you love have a Happy Valentine's Day! Since it's a work night (and I work until 7 tonight) we'll find some other time to celebrate. Valentine's Day is fun, but honestly, Jim does a fantastic job of making me feel special all throughout the year, not just on specific holidays. But who doesn't love another day to shove candy in your mouth and get some extra treats?

Fab Food Feb :: Chicken Parm Wraps

Pinterest and I are kind of on a break. I know that taking a break from various things is a little bit cliche, but it's what I must do to maintain moderation in my life. (I've also taken "breaks" from Twitter and Facebook. PS: If we were friends on Facebook, you'll have to refriend me on my new profile, as the old one got irreversibly hacked!)

Back to Pinterest- one reason for the break was that I had so many pins and was doing NONE OF THEM. A lot of the pins were food items. So, I started picking at least one on most weeks and giving them a try. Chicken Parm Wraps were a delicious success.

Here is the original post so you can have the recipe for yourself.

A few things:

• We just bought a Rotisserie chicken that was already precooked at our market. I was needing fast, easy dinners. We just shredded it with a fork and moved on.
• I couldn't find egg roll wrappers at my store, so I bought Phyllo dough and used 5-6 sheets. You could also use crescent rolls.
• We usually make our own tomato sauce, but you could easily buy jarred marinara.

The cooking gadget/tip that I have to share with this is to have a nice size sheet pan (we have a cuisinart from Jim's Mom that is my new favorite!) and cooling racks that you can place inside of it to keep the heat circulating around them in the oven and also not sticking!

Jacob's First Birthday

We had a baseball themed party for Jacob's first birthday. Here are some of the details:
I cut out baseball hats with my Cameo and used them as the invitations. I made a pennant banner that says "Jacob is 1"and had each of his monthly pictures on it.

I made baseball cupcakes, ordered baseball sugar cookies, served "ballpark" food (hot dogs, nachos, cokes and sweet tea) and decorated the backdrop to the food like above. I also made Jacob a smash cake which he only wanted to lick the icing off of. He got lots of great gifts, some functional (which I love) and some fun! Here's a few more pictures:

Fab Food Feb : Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

This is probably one of Jim's favorite desserts. It uses some unconventional "cake" items but it makes the cake super moist and yummy! The tool I use? Definitely my Kitchen Aid Mixer! Maybe this next year I can explore some more attachments to the mixer (pasta making anyone?).

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

1 (4.5 oz) package instant chocolate pudding

1 (4.5 oz) package instant vanilla pudding

1 pkg. Devil's Food Cake Mix

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup milk

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup of water

1. Mix dry ingredients; add all other ingredients and mix for 3 minutes.

2. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan.

3. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar

Fab Food Feb : Honey Glazed Chicken Stir Fry

Jim and I have always been huge stir fry fans. We would just buy the bags of frozen stir fry veggies and serve over rice or pasta. When we found this recipe (which I remember we cooked for the first time when Jim's uncle was installing our new bedroom ceiling fan- I know, that's random) we had to try it to give a new spin on a dish we liked and love it.

We got the recipe from a friend, but I found it here.

Our favorite things to use to chop veggies for stir fry (when we don't use frozen)? Rachael Ray's knife set that I got Jim for his birthday last year (similar one found here) and then a bench scrape to gather everything together and toss into the pan!

Jacob :: 12 Months

UPDATE ON FEB. 6: We went to Jacob's well check today. He weights 27 pounds 7 ounces, is 32 inches long, is still off the charts, is going to cry it out at night and we're starting the weaning process down to one feeding just before bed. He's still got a bad yeast infection from antibiotics, but we're doing everything we can. Because he has nursed so long and so well, textures are going to take longer to get used to, so we're going to stick with the Stage 2 foods and keep introducing new things! He'll eventually come around!

Jacob turns one year old today!
We started out the day with a sleepy rendition of Happy Birthday.

He continues to scoot everywhere. Sometimes I think he'll start crawling, but he always keeps that leg under him. Cautious kid? Maybe. Being a boy, I'm not sure that's the case. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

We're almost back to a good sleeping schedule. He's only waking up twice at night and still taking two good naps during the day. I have a feeling I'm going to get the nod from our pedi to invest in some ear plugs and let him cry it out. I'm not sure what I'll do with a full night of sleep.

The whole table food and weaning thing is still so confusing to me. I'm pretty sure I'm just a wimp and need to let him gag it out but it's just scary. That's something else we'll be seeking advice from our pedi on.

He is equal parts ornery and cute. We are in a parenting Bible Study, and one thing we learned is that even from early on, they're fighting for control. And he is. We have some started disciplining as he sometimes finds hitting people in the face amusing when he isn't getting what he wants.

His party isn't until next weekend and i'll definitely be posting about it. Here is 12 month picture:

Fab Food Feb : Crock Pot Lasagna

It's Day 1 of Fab Food in Feb and I'm sharing a recent find that has become a dish we could more than once a month. It's super easy to prepare, cooks in a crock pot and is so good. I've even served it at a shower luncheon I hosted in December because it was something that I could make gluten free for a friend that would be attending.

I found it on a blog I read, so if you want to see the recipe, click here!

Crock Pot Lasagna

Recipe type: Crock Pot Entrée

Author: Mandi Ehman

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 26 ounces pasta sauce
• 1 cup water
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 2 cups italian cheese
• 1⁄4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoon dried parsley
• 8 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Directions

1. Brown meat and drain. Add pasta sauce and water and mix well.
2. Hint: I like to buy ground beef in bulk, brown it and freeze it in 1-pound portions to make preparing this (and other meals) even easier!
3. In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, 1-1/2 cup mozzarella, parmesan, egg and parsley.
4. Add 1 cup of the meat sauce to the bottom of the crock pot. Break up four of the noodles to cover the bottom. It’s okay if they overlap. Cover with half the cheese mixture and 2 cups meat sauce.
5. Repeat layers.
6. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and let sit for 15 minutes until melted.

We have a pretty basic crock pot, but it gets lots of use. If you want to avoid the possibility of having to clean burned cheese off of your crock pot, you could always use crock pot liners. We don't have a dishwasher, so any help is accepted.

Fab Food in February

I thought I'd try something this month- a theme for my posts. And, because I don't want to get too crazy, I picked an easy theme. FOOD. I'll still be updating my blog weekly with Project Life and taking one post to talk about Jacob's party. But, the rest of the days will be recipes that I love.

Outside of life updates (Project Life and Jacob updates) February is Fab Food Feb. Each day not devoted to Project Life of Jacob, I will share a favorite recipe and tool that I use. I've already shared two recipes (Taco Soup and Missouri Cookies recipes can be found here) so I hope you'll try them and share some, too!