Rediscovering the Kitchen

We did pretty much nothing for Halloween, so a Halloween post will have to wait for another year...

A couple weeks back Alex and I (mostly me) committed ourselves to doing a weekly meal plan. I'm so tired of running to the store multiple times a week for one ingredient and we were eating out way too much. So, as much as I love going out, we've been eating in for the last week and a half. In an effort to stay committed to a meal plan, I've been trying a new recipe every day. Some were suggestions from friends. Most were from Allrecipes.com, my favorite cooking website. Honestly, we have had some AMAZING dinners. I have yet to figure out if we're really saving any money by eating this way, but either way it's been nice to good to cook again... and learn some new recipes. Here is our favorite so far:

Souvlaki

Ingredients

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tsp. dried oregano

3 cloves garlic, crushed

4 lbs. pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 medium yellow onions, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 green bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces

Skewers

Directions

1. In a large glass bowl, mix together lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce, oregano, and garlic; add pork, onions, and green peppers, and stir to coat. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
2. Preheat grill for medium-high heat. Thread pork, peppers, and onions onto skewers.
3. Lightly oil grate. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or to desired doneness, turning skewers frequently for even cooking.

We made ours with chicken and grilled the skewers in the oven - 375 for 20 minutes (10 minutes each side). When they were done we put them in pitas with romaine lettuce, tomato and this sauce I had leftover from fish tacos:

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 lime, juiced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1 tsp. minced capers

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried dill weed

1 tsp. ground cayenne pepper

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It was a very quiet meal since both of us were too busy stuffing our faces to chat. Alex and I don't agree much, but we both thought this was the best meal we had eaten in awhile. So good that we are having it again this week. : )

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the Souvlaki, but here is last night's pizza. Also good, but I wasn't really craving it when I made it.

The crust was super annoying to work with, but turned out good in the end.

Maybe a little too good. It was definitely a super fatty deep dish.

Anyway, that's what we're up to. Robert is still doing more of the same - watching Sesame Street.

Insomnia. Again.

I should be used to the sleepless nights by now, but it still ticks me off when these pregnancy hormones keep me from doing the one thing I need the most. On the plus side, most days I don't feel pregnant. I eat what I want. I haven't been very sick. And I have a fair amount of energy to chase a one-year old and keep the house semi-clean. I can't complain too much.

The last few weeks are kind of a blur. I turned 31 at the beginning of October (gasp!). I was hoping to let it come and go without celebration, but Teri got me to agree to dinner. Free food is hard to refuse, especially when it involves German pancakes. I love having breakfast for dinner.

I get less and less excited about birthdays the older I get. Another year older, a few pounds heavier... nothing too exciting. I don't feel old when I think about the number, but when I was deciding how to spend my birthday cash, it hit me. YOU ARE OLD. Here's what I bought:

1) Beverly Cleary book collection from Costco

This set includes most of the Ramona Quimby books and some of the Mouse and the Motorcycle books.

2) Some Scentsy bricks to make the house smell yummy.

3) Tupperware... I would even say it's cute Tupperware and stain resistant.

4) Food. More specifically, dinner out at one of my favorite places - La Fiamma.

5) ... a work in progress. I'm still looking for a new soft and cuddly blanket to add to my collection. I love blankets.

I've come to terms with the fact that these are lame purchases for most, but they made me very happy. (Thank you everyone for hooking me up with some cash to spend).

Back to the pregnancy... I recently went to the doctor for a routine check-up. Everything is going well. I'm 16 weeks now and heartbeat and everything else is good. They were a little concerned that I'm still losing weight, but I'm totally okay with it. I know it will all be back in the last trimester. The most exciting part of the appointment was scheduling my ultrasound!! I'm so ready to find out what we're having. Really I just want to see if my suspicions are confirmed. I'm thinking girl, but we'll find out for sure on November 5th, assuming baby cooperates.

Aside from that... here's what we've been up to according to our photos:

Robert hanging out with Mom... this is pre-haircut.

Sleeping. At least someone in this house is sleeping.

Robert getting his fill of Sesame Street six inches from the TV.

This is after the haircut. I'm kind of sad about how short and choppy it is. I like it when it gets a little wavy.

It looks crooked - that's totally his hairline. I blame his father.

Back to more important things - Sesame Street.

Another one of his favorite "toys", the Swiffer Duster handle. He carries this all over the house and pokes at things.

More Sesame Street.

On a completely unrelated note, here's where we spent most of today (Saturday):

... clipping this beast of a hedge. My parents came out to help with the first half and we managed to get most of the second half done today. There's quite a bit to do still, but it's coming along. I was convinced we were going to find some dead bodies in there or something, but our hedge is just a hedge with a few bird nests and some random bottles and cans.

That's the news.

Off to try that sleep thing again...

One Year Old!

Robert turned one last Saturday (the 25th)... I tried to convince myself we could get away with doing nothing, but in the end we had a small party with the family out back. Don't worry, they're totally related. Robert had no idea what was going on - but he scored some awesome gifts (Thank you everyone for the new distractions!) and got to throw cake all over the floor, so he thought that was pretty cool. Here are a few pics...

Opening presents... which really means playing with the ribbons and letting Aunt Sophie open the gifts for him.

How to eat cake:

1). Karate chop the cake in half and wait a minute to make sure it's dead.

2). Throw the biggest piece on the floor and shove the rest in your mouth.

3). Throw the remaining pieces on the floor and spit out contents of mouth.

We also had another birthday this week - Daddy!

Alex turned 24 on the 22nd. I feel bad that we didn't do much on his birthday, but he also scored some cool gifts and got to spend some time with his brother, so he was happy with that. We tortured Alex by singing him his own "Happy Birthday". Here he is experiencing that awkward what-do-I-do-while-people-are-singing-to-me moment.

Aside from birthdays, here's what we've been up to.

Alex:

Back in school as of last week and working! He was offered a T.A. position with one of his professors from last quarter. I thought he'd be grading papers and basically working as a personal slave, but no. He actually teaches a class at the college one day a week. He was really nervous going into it, but after teaching his first class last week he felt much better. The best part about this position is it pays his tuition and a stipend to boot. We are so grateful for this.

Kristine:

Pregnant, tired and cranky -- but not nearly as sick as last time. I've had a much better time managing the morning sickness this time around. I've still had some weight loss due to lack of appetite, but all in all things seem to be going more smoothly. As of late, I've been craving Pepsi, fruit and juice. I'm hoping once I get into the second trimester I'll get my appetite back. I miss eating!

Robert:

Crawling! No more army crawl. This kid is finally crawling on his hands and knees and has recently started pulling up on things. I suspect he'll be walking before we know it. Another latest discovery is food. Real food. No more baby mush, he wants whatever we have on our plates. So we give it to him -- pizza, Indian food, turkey sandwiches... whatever it is, he eats it and begs for more. So far he's tolerated most everything. I'm hoping this will get him that much closer to being weaned... we're still at 3 feedings per day. I hope to be done with that soon!

Here he is doing some of his favorite things:

Watching Sesame Street (Thank you, Mom!)

Playing with the PS2 and Game Cube controllers. He likes to drag them all over the living room trying to find things to plug them into.

Crawling!

Pulling up on Mom.

"Hi, Mom! Look what I did!"

That's the latest and greatest.

Next on the agenda: Get Organized!!

It's 3:15 in the morning...

and I can't sleep. This has been happening to me EVERY night for a week now and it's sooooo frustrating!

So - how about some BIG news that I should have posted a month ago?

We're having another BABY!!!

That's right. I just couldn't wait to look like this again. Beached whale is one of my better looks.

Baby #2 is due April 9th. We feel like it's a girl, but won't know for sure for another 10 weeks or so...

Stay Tuned.

New Shoes

Best. Gift. Ever!

Robert just scored a new pair of shoes from our friends Alicia and James. Thank you, James for picking them out! We love them. I think Robert is a little confused about why we put them on his feet, but after a few minutes he turned into a dancing machine!

Check 'em out....

Sorry, the video is sideways and I'm not in the mood to flip it.

Eggs

ROBERT LOVES EGGS!

He really is my son!

Anyway... here's a short video. Disregard my Mommy voice and use of the word "eggs" repeatedly...

...

We're alive.

We will update soon.

Just trying to survive this Summer.

To Be Continued...