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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Thank you Pinterest and Bakerella!!! Whoa baby, this pie is amazing. Super easy and it made for a great dessert tonight. Hopefully I can just force Henry out with food.

This recipe is courtesy of Bakerella.





Ingredients:
1 unbaked 9 inch deep dish pie shell ( I used Schnucks brand) located in the freeze isle
2 large eggs
1/2 C flour
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
3/4 C softened butter
1 C semi sweet chocolate chips
1 C chopped pecans

Directions:
Thaw pie crust and poke holes with a fork into the crust so it doesn't bubble up while baking
Preheat oven to 325
Beat eggs in a the mixer until foamy
Beat in flour, sugar, and brown sugar
Beat in butter
Stir in chocolate and pecans
Pour mixture into pie shell
Bake for 55-60 minutes
If you notice the top getting dark, cover with foil and resume baking
Cool on a wire rack, but serve warm with a scoop of ice cream

YUM YUM YUM!!!!

41 Weeks?!

Well, I guess its no secret that Henry did not arrive on his due date. That's ok, but the question is...when is he going to arrive!? I cannot even begin to explain how ready we are for this to be over as we are getting ready to embark on week 41. I am really uncomfortable and REALLY ANXIOUS to meet our baby boy! We are dying to see what he looks like. I have been trying to move, but I get sore pretty easily. I have been pushing myself- I promise. My mom and I went on a all day shopping spree the other day and I just spent 3 plus hours in the kitchen. Hell, I even washed and dried the dishes by hand so I could stay on my feet. Henry is just not ready to come out. I have accepted it, but I hope that he comes soon. If anything...we are getting bored. Everyone keeps saying to enjoy the peace and quiet while we can. I know someday we will look back and remember this moment and wish it had lasted longer, but now we are ready for it to be over. Zac was just ragging on me for not updating my blog enough so I figured I should post an update and a few recipes since I'm bored and all. Plus...maybe talking about it will make it happen??? Perhaps?

Anyway, here are some photos and recipes from tonight's dinner :)
 
Creamy Chicken with Wild Rice Soup

 
4.5 Cups chicken broth
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package Rice-a-Roni long grain and wild rice
1/2 t salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 all purpose flour
1/2 C butter
2 Cups half and half- you can use fat free if you want to reduce calories
1 C grated carrots- I just buy the shredded bag and then use the left overs for salads
1 C diced celery
1 C diced onion
1 to 2 garlic cloves
 
Poach chicken breasts in water until cooked (or you can use a rotisserie chicken) allow them to cool and then shred with a fork-season with salt and pepper and set aside.
 
Saute veggies in 1T of butter until cooked, but don't over do it. I like a little crunch to my veggies- set aside.
 
Cook rice according to package instructions- set aside.
 
In a stock pot melt 1/2 C butter (1 stick) and add the flour. Cook for a few minutes to remove the raw taste. This is the roux that will eventually thicken your soup. Slowly whisk in the 2 cups of half and half. Whisk over medium heat until it thickens.
 
Add the chicken broth, chicken, veggies, and rice. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes or so. You want all the flavors to meld together.
 
This soup is absolutely delicious and will make 6-8 servings. If you want to bulk it up a bit, you can make two boxes of rice instead of just one. I actually ended up doing that for hubs because he LOVES wild rice.
 
Enjoy!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

39 Weeks

Warning- bare belly photo. I haven't taken any of those up to this point, but I figured that one day I might want one to look back and see what I looked like...don't fret, its tasteful.
For starters, let me preface this post by saying that I hope this is my LAST baby bump photo shoot. (I'm sure Zac feels the same) It can't be easy taking 20 plus pictures of me with a chalkboard until I find one that I can tolerate. I have mentioned before that I feel so blessed to have had such an easy going pregnancy. Trust me.... with that being said though, I am soooo ready to be done. First and foremost because Zac and I want to meet our son. In addition to that------> I hurt. My body just hurts. I don't know any other way to explain it. I don't want to go on and on with complaints that I know other mothers out there are familiar with, but I will just simply state that I am sick and tired of being pregnant. The End.

Here are some pictures that we snapped today...as mentioned earlier, hopefully these are the last ;)







Caramel Corn

Last year for Christmas Jace and Andrea bought us a Whirly Pop from Crate and Barell. I use it all of the time. Soooo much better for you than the microwave stuff. Its a lot of fun to create custom seasonings and flavors and it tasted a million times better. Last night I thought I would try a sweet version so I decided to make caramel corn. I started by popping 2 cups of kernels. I always save my large paper brown Trader Joes bags, so when I was done I emptied the Whirly Pop into a bag. On the stove I brought to a boil: 2 sticks of butter, 2 cups of brown sugar, and a 1/2 C light corn syrup. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1t of vanilla and 1/2t of baking soda. Pour mixture over popped popcorn. Then shake, shake, shake! Pour onto a couple of pans and throw in the oven at 225 for 1 hour. You should take it out and stir once every 15 minutes. Trust me- it is totally worth it. Once you remove from the oven spread it out on wax paper to dry.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Nursery

We started working on the nursery this summer and I'm sooooooo glad we did. My advice to future moms... do stuff while you feel good! I'm not much of a waiting til the last minute type of person anyway, but I'm really glad we did so much so early. I'm pretty uncomfortable and I can't imagine having to work on the room at this point. Overall I'm happy with the way it turned out. There are a few photo frames left to fill and some that still need to be hung on the wall, but other than that...we are ready for Henry! The inspiration for his room mostly came from Pinterest and my love of giraffes. I knew I wanted to do grey and mustard. We left the walls alone as they were already painted a light blue color. I will admit that the walls would look better grey, but the thought of repainting ANOTHER room in our house was too much to deal with...so we went with it.
I wish there were some more mustard accents, but oh well. I like that its eclectic and many of the items were homemade.

The crib is from WalMart and the sheets are from Pottery Barn

The little side tables were already in the guest room being used as night stands. We spray painted one expresso to match the white and brown crib.

 
This griaffe came from a consignment shop for $25


The book/toy shelf is from IKEA



 
The glider is from WalMart as well
 
The lamp was $12 from Target and I stenciled some grey and blue paint designs onto the plain white shade.
 
 
The changing station came from WalMart and it is FULL of diapers and clothing
 
These cute chevron giraffe prints came from Etsy : )
 
This came from Etsy as well. I LOVE it

 
I'm hoping this will develop into more of a gallery wall eventually as I find more things I like and want to hang on the wall. The H on the left was made by me. The middle square is canvas wrapped in scrapbook paper. The top frame is simply filled with scrapbook paper and the bottom frame will evetually have a photo of baby Henry in it. 

 
The closet...
 
I tried to organize it as much as possible.

 
The mirror was on clearance at Target, originally colored white, and I just spray painted it bronze.

 
 

The Holidays

This year I have not focused on the holiday season too much with Henry coming. Zac and I made some food on Thanksgiving and celebrated together. My family came down on black Friday and spent the weekend with us. We decided to celebrate Christmas and exchange gifts. It was nice to take care of both holidays in the same weekend. We still need to celebrate with Zac's family, but we will probably celebrate when they come down to see Henry. I was horrible and didn't snap many pictures, but here are a few of food and the dogs (my favorites) lol.

Our favorite Thanksgiving dishes
 
 My first attempt making Pecan Pie was a success!
 
 Rueben
 
 Rueben was very thankful for his bones : )
 
Our 2012 Christmas Tree
 
Our 2012 Christmas Tree
 
Stockings
 
The holidays are always exhausting!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

9 Months

Well, its official. I am nine months pregnant! As I sit and contemplate my final month of pregnancy, I feel so many different emotions. First and foremost, I think about how thankful I am. I am so thankful to have an amazing and supportive husband. He has been ready to be a daddy for a while now and I'm so happy that we were able to get pregnant without issue. My heart goes out to those who struggle every single day. My pregnancy has been uneventful which has also been a blessing. I thank God everyday for our blessings and pray for those who are still trying.

Like Zac, I am so excited to be a parent. I would be lying though if I said I wasn't scared. Scared of our lives changing forever. I do know that Henry will be the best thing that has ever happened to us. I can't wait to meet him and feel that feeling that everyone describes as a love that is beyond imaginable. When we hold him for the first time, our lives will change forever. Things are great now, and I can't wait for them to be even better.

I am starting to go to bed at night wondering if tonight will be the night... the anticipation is kind of rough. Mostly because I am a control freak and this is something I have zero control over. I have to just let that go because Henry is going to come when he is good and ready. Hopefully I have made a good enough home for him over the past 9 months and he'll hold out until its safe : )
We are going to install the car seat this weekend. I think once we start toting that around, what's about to happen is going to get even more real. We have a few more items to buy from our registry and the closet needs to be organized, but other than that- we are ready to go.

Lastly, I hope that we're good parents and we that we can give Henry the best life possible. We are responsible for making sure he is happy and that he turns out normal. See what I mean...scary. Scary, but also amazing. I just can't believe that I'm going to have a baby with the same man that I met when I was only 15 years old. We have come such a long way and I CANNOT WAIT to start this new chapter of our lives.

Here is the 36 week (9 month) bump picture. Its hard to believe that we have come so far and so fast!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Maternity Session

My awesome sister in law of Plaid and Paisley Photography took some beautiful photos for Zac and I. I can't wait to show Henry someday when he is older. I love all of the pictures, but here are some of my favorites. Andrea is becoming quite the talented photographer. I'm so proud of her. I'm going to print some of these pictures and make a collage for Henry's nursery.



 
 
 
 
 

Crock Pot Stuffing

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving at work! Yay! Last year I took a stuffing recipe from Rachael Ray and adapted it for my Crock Pot. It turned out so great that I decided to bring it in for work tomorrow as my dish to pass and I will be making another batch next week for Zac and I. For the first time ever we are going to have our own Thanksgiving. Just him and I. I'm pretty excited. My parents, sister, and her husband are coming over the next day to spend the rest of the weekend with us. We'll have PLENTY of leftovers, so I think it will work out nicely.
Photo by katierae84
 
 

 

Ingredients:



 

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

This one was good as well. I think the spices needed to be adjusted slightly as in...there needs to be more. Zac said it was a little on the bland side. I love how healthy it is, but filling very filling at the same time.

The corn bread recipe that goes along with it is the shiz. Highly recommend making it as well.
 I forgot to take a photo, but here is the picture from The Comfort of Cooking Blog Post























Ingredients1 16 oz. can black beans, drained
1 16 oz. can kidney beans, drained
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
10 oz. package frozen corn kernels
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, uncooked
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Optional toppings: Additional cilantro, shredded cheese, chopped scallions, red onion, sour cream, etc.

Directions
Combine ingredients 1 through 14 in a slow cooker*. Stir until combined. Place uncooked chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
Thirty minutes before serving, pull chicken breasts apart with two forks. Stir and continue cooking. Top with fresh cilantro or any other desired toppings.



Honey Jalapeño Cornbread
Ingredients
1 jalapeno
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. honey
1/4 cup melted butter
1 large egg
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup flour

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the seeds from and slice jalapenos finely. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, stir sugar, honey and butter together. Whisk in egg. Whisk in baking soda and buttermilk. Add salt, cornmeal, and flour. Do not overmix. As soon as the flour disappears, stop mixing. Add jalapeno.
Add batter to a greased 8-inch baking dish and smooth out the batter. Bake for 28-30 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Prick the center with a toothpick and make sure it comes out clean. If not clean, bake for about 5 more minutes.

Slow Cooker

I started road testing crock pot recipes this weekend. I figure that will be the easiest way to make meals once the baby comes. Many recipes that I've found seem high calorie or don't pack a lot of nutritional punch. Here are two that I just tried. They were both good and I would make them again. Husband approved as well.

Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken- Serves 4
Courtesy of The Comfort of Cooking
Adapted from Six Sisters Stuff

I loaded mine with sesame seeds and green onions for some texture and amazing flavor.



Ingredients
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or 4 chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup honey
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup water
2 packets minute rice, optional
1/2 tablespoon (or more) sesame seeds
3 scallions (or more), chopped

Directions
Place chicken in Crock Pot and lightly season both sides with salt and pepper.
In a medium bowl, combine onion, garlic, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, oil and red pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, or high for 2 hours.
Remove chicken to a cutting board, leaving sauce. Shred chicken into bite-sized pieces; set aside. Prepare rice according to package instructions.
In a small bowl, dissolve 4 teaspoons cornstarch in 1/3 cup water; add to crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Cover and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes, or until slightly thickened.
Add cooked rice to 4 plates, top with chicken and spoon sauce over top. Sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds and chopped scallions.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

29 Weeks

Baby Henry is roughly the size/weight of a butternut squash. Yum! My favorite lol! I just completed the first week of my third trimester. I feel great overall and cannot believe how fast this is going! Only 11 weeks left.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Football and Chili

On Sunday's our absolute favorite thing to do is making a big pot of  chili early in the day, let it simmer, watch football, and practically eat the whole pot in one day. Well, not really the whole pot, but almost. This is our first year doing fantasy football so we love to watch as many games as we can and cheer on our players. We purchased NFL Sunday Ticket from Direct TV for a second year in a row and let me tell you fellow football fans- its totally worth it. The main reason we get it is so we can watch the Bears. Living in St. Louis, its not often the Bears are on TV. We're huge Bears fans in our house and I'm sure our son Henry will be too :) To celebrate the opening Bears game last week, we decided to take the weekly bump photo with Bears garb and write "Go Bears" on the chalkboard.

 
Here is a photo of the pot of chili that I made today. I made a double batch so we had plenty and Zac could take some with him back to Cape for the week. He loves this chili and I'm so glad because its a healthy recipe. The two main ingredients are ground turkey and black beans.
 
 
 
Here is the recipe. Please don't be turned off by the fact that I labeled it healthy. This is the best chili that I've ever had and Zac LOVES it.
 
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed, drained, and divided
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
Cooking spray
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
3 sweet hickory-smoked bacon slices, chopped Click to see savings
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups mild salsa
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro- I omit this because I think cilantro tastes like soap ;)
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
 
1. Combine 1 1/2 cups beans, 2/3 cup water, and sugar in a food processor; process until smooth. Combine bean puree and remaining beans in a bowl.
2. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add turkey; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove turkey from pan.
3. Add onion, bell peppers, and bacon to pan; cook 5 minutes or until bacon and onion are lightly browned. Return turkey to pan. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and crushed red pepper to pan; stir well to coat. Stir in bean mixture, salsa, tomato paste, and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Combine sour cream, cilantro, and juice in a small bowl. Serve chili with sour cream mixture.
Courtesy of Barbara Estabrook, Rhinelander, Wisconsin,
OCTOBER 2009
 
 
 
 

Whole Wheat Apple Zucchini Muffins

These puppies will be my breakfast at work for the week. I love making muffins on Sunday because they are so easy and great to grab and go for work.

 
Here is the recipe.
 
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour, such as Bob's Red Mill
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted
6 oz plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup applesauce
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup diced apple
 
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper cups.
In a medium bowl sift together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Mix in the butter, yogurt, applesauce, and egg. Stir until combined. Fold in the zucchini and apple.
Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full. I like to use an ice cream scoop since it's the perfect size.
Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm or room temperature.