Freezer Cooking Extravaganza!

Good news, we didn't set the kitchen on fire!  Also, we ended up with four successful dishes!   As promised, here are some pictures and the recipes:

Sledge made us a Mac-n-Cheese dish with spinach.  We haven't tasted it yet but it looks delicious!

Here is the recipe:  http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/baked_mac_cheese.html

Rosina took the crock-pot route and made this Cilantro Chicken meal in a bag.  All you do is throw it in the crock-pot before work and when you get home serve with tortillas!  Assembling all  four of these only took her about a half hour!  If our little group fizzles out I would definitely consider doing something like this on my own.  She wrote out all of the direction right on the bag too!  Talk about husband proof.  Even J couldn't screw this up!  Rosina and her husband Sparky reported back on this one with medium reviews.  They thought it was just OK.

Destiny made us a Mexican/Italian fusion dish, Taco Filled Pasta Shells.  The "Mexican/Italian fusion" bit makes it sound fancy.  This one you thaw overnight, cover with salsa and taco sauce then throw it in the oven.  Top with some crushed chips and cheese and you are ready to go!  Sledge reported back this morning that her and her husband Los tried this one and were pretty big fans!

   
Here's the recipe Destiny used:  http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Taco-Filled-Pasta-Shells 

So there you have it, freezer cooking times four.  We had a great time and I think next time we will include more girls.  We tossed around the idea of preparing meals ahead of time but honestly it was a lot of fun to cook together so we'll see.

This weekend Destiny is hosting a Murder Mystery Masquerader for our friend Bella's thirtieth birthday.  Looks like I'll be busting out my hot glue gun to whip up some masks for J and I.  First cooking and now arts and crafts!  What can I cay I'm a real Renaissance Woman, Jill of all trades you might say!

    

Welcome to My Life

A family conversation last night while shopping at Target.  My husband (It’s probably about time he got a pseudonym so we’ll just call him J) is trying to take MB’s picture.

MB: Daddy, stop taking pictures of me.

J: I’m going to use these for blackmail.

MB: Daddy, I’m not a black man!!

Me: *dies laughing*

J: (obviously not hearing his son) MB, you don’t even know what blackmail is.

Me: *can’t breathe*

MB: Yes I do, I know what black man is.

Me: *covering MB’s mouth – still not breathing*

J: (finally hears what MB is saying and is also now laughing) Oh yeah, what is it?

MB: (not amused that we are both laughing at him) It’s when you take someone’s picture and color them all black!!

I guess there's an app for that??

Back From My Trip To Negative Town

Good Morning! (fake it till ya make it!) 

As I suspected, my test this morning was negative but I'm determined my attitude wont be.  I used up my fussy day for the month yesterday so today has to be sunshine and unicorns.  That's  right, I allow myself one day a month to wallow in self pity.  One day that I'm allowed to be as sad as I want.  Most of the time I'm a blob on the couch in my pj's watching terrible TV and stuffing my face with comfort food like mac-n-cheese and ice cream.  Last night it was McDonnalds and Teen Mom.  Good choices I think.  But that was yesterday.  This is today, so I am moving forward, and I have a lot of fun things coming up to look forward to!

This Friday I'm going to my step-son's school for a parent reading hour.  I love to read and hope to pass that on to him so I'm pretty excited   Let me tell you a bit more about our little Monkey Butt.  I met MB when he was two months old and have been helping to raise him ever since.  Last month he turned SEVEN!  He's just like his father and he makes me laugh everyday.  Even yesterday when I was down in the aforementioned dumps he had me cracking up in the middle of Wal-Mart.  

My Husband and I are very lucky to have a great relationship with MB's mother and he's better off for it.  He gets to have three parents that love him and work together to raise him.  We don't always agree but we treat each other with mutual respect and always put MB's well being first.  We celebrate birthdays and holidays together and have even started some of our own traditions.  If you ask MB he will tell you he has three parents.  He has a Daddy, a Mommy Carrie because he came out of her belly, and a Mommy Larri because she'd married to his Daddy.

Kids are funny that way.  They accept things outside of "normal" without concern or judgment.  MB doesn't care that Johnny has one Mom and one Dad that live together and he doesn't.  Hell, I'm sure he wouldn't care if Johnny had two Moms or two Dads that lived together.  Actually, I think he might be a little jealous of any kid that got to have two Dads because MB thinks his Dad hung the moon.  When do we as adults loose that? That willingness to accept?  

Sorry, I got off track a little.  What I was getting to is that one of the many perks of having three parents is that between the three of us usually at least one can always make it to school functions.  He's a pretty lucky kid.  So Friday I'm going to his school to read books and eat popcorn.  We recently started reading to MB every night before bed and he seems to really look forward to it.  I remember when I was about his age my Mom used to read me the Little House on the Prairie books before bed.  I loved it.  I think that might be where my love of reading was born.  I remember laying in her bed watching the words on the page turn into images of life on the frontier.  I want that for him.

Also on Friday a group of my gal pals and I are getting together for an experiment in freezer cooking.  This will combine several things I love.  Friends, cooking, wine, and a freezer full of healthy warm and serve meals!  From time to time my girlfriends and I come up with excuses to get together for some girl talk and wine under the guise of being productive.  This is one of those times.  The plan is for each of the four of us to pick a recipe and bring all of the ingredients to makes said recipe four times.  The idea is that by the end of the night we will each have four different dishes to bring home and stash in our freezer.  If it's a success we plan on rolling this out to a bigger group.  To be honest, I'm a bit skeptical that we will actually end up with four edible meals.  It seems like a lot of cooking in one night for four ladies hopped up on gossip and booze.  We are easily distracted   Two things are for sure though. One, We will probably set the kitchen on fire at least once and two, it will be a great time!  I am bringing this recipe for Asian Lettuce Wraps: 

http://thrivinghomeblog.com/2010/01/asian-lettuce-wraps/

I have it on good authority that we will also be making mac-n-cheese and cilantro lime chicken.  Yum!  I'll post about how everything turns out.  Maybe I'll get real nuts and take a few photos.

See, lots of stuff to look forward to. And that's just Friday!

   

  

Bitter – A Nasty Taste

OK, I’m there.  To that ugly place I've been desperately trying to avoid.  I’m bitter.  Through all the ups and downs over the past nine months this is the first time I've been bitter, and it tastes awful.  I take a pregnancy test tomorrow after our second cycle of IUI and I’m not very optimistic.  I definitely don’t  feel pregnant.

I feel betrayed.  My body is supposed to be able to do this.  It’s supposed to want to do this.  I’m starting to understand more of what it means to be an infertility patient.  And it sucks.

Dear Not Jonas (Day 57)

This is a letter I wrote to Caroline on the 57th Day of my pregnancy.  I wrote several as a sorta of pregnancy journal.  I like this one because it helps me remember back to when all this baby stuff was more lighthearted.  Especially on days like today.  Tomorrow is the end of our two week wait and I'm not feeling really good about it.  Everything is just so intense.  

Dear Not Jonas,

The All Knowing Internets tell me you are 5/8 of an inch long right now.  I think you are probably bigger.  I have two reasons.  First, you pretty much hit the jackpot as far as jeans go, so you’re probably already more advanced than your peers.  Second, I’m convinced that something so small could not be torturing me the way you are. 

There are days I am certain I am not going to make it till the end of this journey they call pregnancy.  Those are the days I refer to you as Demon Spawn.  I was never planning on telling you about your fist nickname but your father assures me he intends to tell you so I figured I’d beat him to the punch.  One of those days was yesterday.  This is the text convo I had with your Aunt Destiny about it:

Me:  So every week I get an email telling me about my baby’s stage of development and every week it makes me mad!!  It’s not even an inch long?!!  How is it kicking my ass!!!!

Destiny:  Lol haha.  (This is text code for haha sucker!  Glad it’s not me!)

Me:  It’s not funny!!! I’m going to be dead before it’s bigger than a grape!!  I’m fairly certain it’s trying to kill me.  Fucking 5/8 of an inch.  Bullshit!

I know it sounds harsh but you’ve really been kicking the crap out of me for the last few weeks.  The past weeks nightmare has been an undefined “virus” that I just can’t seem to kick.

I have a theory on these “viruses” that doctors diagnose people with.  If a patient comes in with a bunch of typical, “I’m sick” symptoms like a sore throat and runny nose there are just too many things it could it be and they don’t know what the fuck to do!  So what DO they do?  They have created this thing called a “virus”.  The symptoms for a “virus” include everything and the treatment is NOTHING.  They say, “Well, gosh it looks like you must have come down with a pretty nasty “virus”, make sure you get plenty of rest and lots of fluids.”  Then they add, “If you’re not feeling any better in seven to ten days give us a call.”

SEVEN TO TEN DAYS!  Do you know how long that is to not breathe?  I know it is not something you are familiar with yet, but trust me you NEED me to be breathing.  Now for people who aren't carrying a Demon Spawn Tinny Miracle this is not a big deal.  There are millions of medicines you can buy from your local grocery or drug store that can sooth the systems of these so-called viruses.  HOWEVER, if you do happen to be expecting a little Bundle of Joy, you are on your own.  NO DRUGS FOR YOU!!!  This in turn means no breathing or sleeping.  This makes getting “plenty of rest” nearly impossible.  And that means that instead of going away, the “virus” turns into a Ninja Virus and kicks your ass all up and down China Town.  Here is how the end of my conversation with Aunt Destiny went:

Destiny:  Haha you are cracking me up.  Trust me you don’t want an enormous baby.  In 31/32 weeks you’ll be wishing your baby was smaller.

Morale of the story,  it looks like your Mom’s a little dramatic and a touch crazy.  But hey, at least she’s funny…

A Pep Talk

We are on Day 10 of our two week wait and I could use a pep talk.  My amazing, wonderful, sweet, supportive husband sent me this.  It's pretty dope.  Make sure you watch it till the end.  That's one of my favorite parts. It makes me tear up every time.  LIKE A BOSS. 

And I love Space Jam.