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!

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.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1lb or 10 cups of good quality sourdough , white, or multi grain bread

1lb pork sausage

4 T butter

3 ribs celery chopped

2 large onions chopped

2 cups chicken broth

1 large egg beaten

1/2 dried cranberries

1/2 chopped fresh parsley

1 T chopped fresh sage or 1 tsp dried

 

Directions:
 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spread the cubed bread on a baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, 15-20 minutes. Transfer bread to the Crock Pot.

 

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium high heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to the Crock Pot along with the bread. Discard all but 2T of the drippings from the skillet.

 

Melt the butter in the reserved drippings in the skillet. Add the onion and celery and cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add to Crock Pot with the bread and add the chicken broth, egg, cranberries, parsley, sage, and salt and pepper. About a tsp of each.

Cook in the Crock Pot on high heat for 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally, and add more chicken broth as needed.

I'm going to post the rest of my Thanksgiving recipes next week so stay tuned!

 

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.

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.

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, Cooking Light
OCTOBER 2009