WHAT'S COOKING | CAJUN JAMBALAYA PASTA

One of our favorite recipes around here is the Cajun jambalaya pasta.  In my head I like to call it Nouille Andouille because that's fun to say, but when I say it out loud I call it jambalaya which is still fun to say but not as fun.

 

This recipe was inspired by a dish that I used to get a local restaurant when I worked on the south side of Chicago.  Like a lot of my recipes, I try to recreate my favorite meals from my life in Chicago because the food there is amazing.  To be honest, the food at our favorite restaurants are the only things that Joe and I miss about that area (and friends too of course).

 

 

Cajun Jambalaya Pasta

"Nouille Andouille"

 

1 lb smoked sausage, cut in 1/4" slices

1 lb boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1" squares

2 Tbs Cajun seasoning

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips 

1 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips 

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips 

1 onion, cut into thin strips

1 Tbs minced garlic

1 Tbs Cajun seasoning

2 roma tomatoes, diced

1 c chicken broth

1 pound tri-color rotini

salt and pepper to taste

 

Heat up a large pot of water to a boil.  Cook pasta as directed on box.

 

Place cut chicken breasts in a mixing bowl and sprinkle 2 tbs of Cajun seasoning over chicken.  Toss chicken until even coasted with Cajun spice.  Brown sausage in a large saute pan over a medium low heat.  Remove and put aside. Place chicken in saute pan and cook until about half done. 

 

Add peppers and onions. Cook until peppers are half done and add garlic to the pan. Season the ingredients with salt, pepper and the additional 1 tbs cajun spice.

 

Add diced tomatoes and chicken broth into the sauté pan and cook until the chicken is done and vegetables are tender.  Add sausage back into the sauté pan and stir.

 

Dish pasta into a bowl and spoon jambalaya over the pasta.

 

One of these days I'm going to try making this recipe with zucchini as the noodles and see how that turns out.  If anyone decides to try using the zucchini instead of pasta, let me know how it turns out!

36 WEEKS

28 days.  That is all that's left in this baby countdown. Well, plus or minus depending on what this little baby decides for an official birth date.  Only one month that we will be a family of three.  One month to get meals prepped and frozen for the weeks following delivery.  One month to finish everything on my baby to-do list.  One month to clean every crack and crevice of this house (thanks to nesting).  One month to get out with family and friends before I hibernate for the winter with a baby.  One month of sleep left.  At this point, every day counts.

 

We had the 36 week dr appointment this morning.  Everything is still looking great from blood pressure to heartbeat to belly growth.  According to my doctor, this baby and belly are growing spot on.  At this point the baby is almost 6 pounds and over 18 1/2" long (babycenter.com). In other words, this baby would fit into newborn size clothes now!

 

 

How far along?  36 Weeks.  28 days and counting!
Total weight gain:  25 pounds. 
Maternity clothes?  Yes.  Same old story here.   
Sleep:  So-so.  At this point, it's usually the joint pain from sleeping on my side that wakes me up.
Best moment this week:  I was telling my friend this week that my belly button won't make up its mind on whether it wants to be an innie or an outie.  Her daughter took care of that for me when she walked up after I made that statement and pointed to my belly button saying, "Hey, I can see the baby's hand." Yep. So in conclusion - 1) That gives me a good laugh every time I think about what she said.  You gotta love kids' viewpoint on things. 2) I think I have to consider it officially an outie after that comment no matter how much I'm in denial about it.

Other great moments from the week include carving a pumpkin with Conner for the first time and having a date with Karra and Amy (always a great time with those two). We talked, lunched and laughed.  Karra even started pinpointing little body parts of the baby which gave me a good description of how the baby is sitting.  The second she found a foot I started crying.  It literally hit me at that moment that this little baby is more than an idea.  It's a real little being waiting to join our family.
Cravings:  I'm lucky if I have an appetite at this point.  Every once in a while I'll be in the mood for something specific.  This week it's been Snickers or Twix.  Must be getting close to Halloween to get that candy craving. Other than that.. cold apples with peanut butter.
Symptoms:  Some days I feel dead to the world with zero energy and other days I have some serious nesting going on.  Saturday was a zero energy day and Sunday was a nesting day.  I'm in the mindset that everything has to be clean and ready since this baby could make an appearance sooner than we anticipate.  My fingers are crossed that this baby actually comes about 5-7 days late though which makes me feel like the only 8 month pregnant lady to say that.
Looking forward to:  Finishing the nursery over the next couple of weeks.  I've got a handful of projects that I still need to start!  I've made so many trips to Joann Fabrics that I'm thinking I should just pick up a job application there.  Conner has his 24 month doctor check up this week, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how that goes.  And, some girl time with Karra and Amy is on the calendar.

PUMPKIN CARVING 2015

We officially have a carved pumpkin sitting on our porch now!  We were able to have a full night as a family since Joe was never called out for work, so it was a good thing we chose last night to do it.  This is the first pumpkin we've carved with Conner.  Life with this little boy keeps getting better as he grows up and we get to start doing these fun activities together.  He gets into it now and shows more excitement which is a blast for me and Joe.  I love these little first milestones.

 

It didn't take me long to think of a design for Conner's pumpkin.  He's been into Mickey a ton lately, so we had to do a Mickey silhouette, right? And it was probably the easiest pumpkin design I've ever done since it's literally only three circles.  I love it when things are easy!

 

Taking a peek inside.

For a little boy that loves getting messy, there was a lot of convincing involved for him to reach inside and touch the pumpkin guts.

And here we are still trying to convince him to get his hands down in there.

Do you know what this face is?  This is the face of a little boy that started sneaking pumpkin seeds into his mouth to eat.  No cleaning or toasting necessary - straight from the pumpkin to the mouth.

 

He was trying to get us to eat them raw too.

This was Conner's favorite part because he actually wanted to be front and center while we cleaned the inside with a spoon.

We're not sure what this little boy was trying to say, but he kept throwing his hand up to Joe and telling him "no" to something.

Conner got to push the cutout of Mickey's head all by himself.

 

Mickey pumpkin complete with the lit candle.

 

How did they plan their faces to match expressions?



WHAT'S COOKING | DIY LARA BAR

Anyone like Lara Bars? Mmmm, me too.  Anyone like paying that much for one? Yeah, me neither.  Luckily, it's pretty easy to figure out how to make these bars just by looking at the nutritional facts and working backwards.  But you don't have to worry about spending the time doing that.  I've got that covered.

 

When I make these at home, I always call them "cookies" around Conner.  He thinks that's what they are, and he loves them.  For me, it's a quick way to get him a nut and fruit serving all in one.

 

The recipe is pretty simple which of course is another plus.

 

 

DIY Lara Bar - Peanut Butter Cookie

 

8 oz dried pitted dates

6 oz peanuts

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 Tbs water

 

Place your peanuts into a food processor and mix until the peanuts are broken into small chunks.  Don't overdo it.  We're not making peanut butter.  Place your dates and salt into the food processor next and blend the two together until the dates have broken down into small pieces. The mix will be crumbly.

 

This step is important to do slowly. As you pulse or run the mixture, slowly drizzle in your water.  You may not need a full tablespoon or you may need more.  You'll want to add water until the mixture goes from crumbly to starting to clump together.

 

For the next step, I like to use a meatloaf pan and line it with parchment paper.  Dump the mixture into the lined pan.  Spread it across the pan evenly and press it down tightly.  Cover and let it sit for an hour or so to let that added water rehydrate the dates and bind everything together.

35 WEEKS + 1 DAY

 

How far along?  35 Weeks + 1 Day.  Countdown is on at 34 days.
Total weight gain:  23+ pounds. This growth spurt just keeps going for this baby and me.  The baby is approximately 5 1/4 lbs and about 18" long now (according to Babycenter.com).
Maternity clothes?  yaaas. I love jeans, but everyday I have a less and less desire to wear them. 
Sleep:  Still a losing battle.  But, maybe the constant waking up is a good thing to start prepping my body for that hard first month+ where sleep becomes elusive.  I never had the luxury of resting or sleeping when Conner slept  because I had to use that time to pump or else the kid had no food, and Conner was a habitual 30 minute napper which made things even harder. Why does everyone tell you to sleep when the baby sleeps?  You're not fooling anyone that's been through this before.  I'm going into this with no expectation of rest since I have a 2 year old that insists he has my attention. So, there's that.
Best moment this week:  Sometimes friends with unexpected plans are the best.  Amy suggested a pedicure this past week since she had some time freed up, so I snuck out over my lunch break to enjoy that with her.  Talk about a mood lifter, and now I don't have to look at my toes anymore thinking if I should even attempt painting them myself. 

Oh, and I should mention that Joe got a nice buck with a great looking 8 point rack.  I'll spare the pictures in case anyone has a sensitive stomach.  You should have seen how happy that man looked (and how happy I looked because he was able to get us venison for the year before the baby comes. Now he can be around more at night come Nov/Dec).  But since it's a really beautiful buck for this area, we're planning to get it mounted.  
Cravings:  Caffeine.  I drink a 6oz coffee everyday, but I want that fake burst of energy that I get from caffeine all.day.long.
Symptoms:  Exhaustion and fatigue.  I mean, there's exhaustion and fatigue, and then there's exhaustion and fatigue. But I'm beyond both of those.  I feel like death warmed up.  It's not that I'm tired, I just feel like my body is so weak that I have to go sit down at least 3 times while I'm trying to prep/cook any meal or snack.  Honestly, I'll grab food out of the fridge and then have to go sit down right away.  Maybe it's time to get my iron levels checked.
Looking forward to:  I'm really getting anxious to be finished with this pregnancy and hold this baby.  But more immediately, I'm still looking forward to finishing the nursery.  I got all the baby clothes washed and started grabbing some baby gear out of the basement.  There's now a swing sitting in our living room waiting to be filled with a squishy little baby. 



WEEKEND WRAP UP | FULL OF FALL

Let's see, if we sum this weekend up in a few short words they'd be: trains, crunchy leaves, and croup.  Man, croup just had to cramp our fall style this weekend.

 

Saturday was a pretty easy going day to start out with.  After spending some time outside letting the chickens out (and chasing them), we came back inside to warm up.  Yes, it's that time of year when I get too cold after thirty minutes of being outside.  Call me weak, but in my defense, there were frozen snowflakes covering the porch so it really was cold.  I digress.  We broke out the train set in the morning and that little Conner spent hours watching that train go all around the track.  Hours, people. Hours. How does it even keep his attention that long? I mean he did take a few breaks here and there to run his Tonka truck around the house. 

 

There was nothing really exciting or out of the norm for our Saturday morning and early afternoon.  Right about 3:30 is where things took a little turn for us around here.  Conner woke up from his nap, and Joe and I could hear him struggling to breathe. Where did that come from? Shoes on.  Time to make a little run to the urgent care.  And how do these things only happen on the weekend after the normal doctor's office is closed?

 

In the end, they quickly pinpointed it to be croup and an ear infection in one of his ears.  Those darn ear infections. I can never tell when he has one since he never leads us on to them bothering him.  Anyway, they gave him a steroid shot and a breathing treatment.  I'm sure you can guess he didn't care for either.  Joe and I were impressed though because we were out the door after only 1 hour.  Talk about never being that lucky with timing at an urgent care.

 

Saturday Pics:

 

We are so grateful and blessed to be able to walk to the end of our driveway and have this as our view.  This right here is a perfect, crisp fall morning.

 

The yard only had a few leaves Friday night, and we woke up to this.

 

 We also woke up to pretty little snowflakes that I don't care to see until December.

 

 It was time to retire Conner's current diapers and move him up to the size large.  Look at that size difference.  I want this whole growing up thing to slow down.

 

Sunday was a little more fun.  We didn't want to take him anywhere to keep other kiddos safe even though the doctor said he'd probably be fine, so we had plenty of play time at home.  One thing we were told was to let him breathe cold air to help.  So we played with the train (again), and bundled up for some outside fun in the yard. 

 

Conner led the way to let the chickens out and then discovered that Daddy made one huge leaf pile in the backyard just for him to play in.  There was no explanation needed for what to do when you see a leaf pile, and that little boy wasted no time.  He jumped in that pile at full speed like he was jumping into a swimming pool.  Talk about having an awesome dad that will save all the leaves from the yard just to play in and then have to go back a clean up the mess again.

 

And of course, since we were in the backyard, we had to go on a hike through the woods.  Conner found every tree stump out there to climb and jump off of.  I, on the other hand, found bear scat.  I haven't seen any signs of bear since we first bought our house so I wasn't overly thrilled to see it close to the house.  I'd rather come across a cheetah than a bear.  I am not a fan.

 

Joe and I have been meaning to carve Conner's pumpkin with him that he picked out, but somehow these days fly by so fast that it's unfair.  We're looking forward to cutting open that top and letting that little boys dig his hands in and get dirty!

 

Sunday Pics:

Lately, this little thirsty bird has been trying to figure out how to drink from two cups at the same time.

 

 All of us still love the fact that he can sit in the dump truck bed.  We've had him sitting in there since he was 2 months old.

 

 Manly wrestling skills.  Conner's classic move is to get you into a bear hug and slobber all over your face while laughing.

 

The littlest family member just hanging out.

There can never be enough little kids and leaf pile pictures, am I right? (There's a lot more on my phone)

The hens enjoyed their own leaf piles.

I realized that Conner's not the only little bear in the woods after that unpleasant bear scat finding.

 

 

 



34 WEEKS + 3 DAYS

Little behind this week.

How far along?  34 Weeks + 3 Days. 
Total weight gain:  22 pounds. We definitely hit the third trimester growth spurt.
Maternity clothes?  Yeah... nothing's changed here except even maternity shirts are feeling shorter now.
Sleep:  It's becoming a downhill battle.  I have really broken up sleep now, but I guess it's going to be nothing like the broken sleep that's coming over the next couple of months, am I right? 
Best moment this week:  I don't know how to pick the best moment this week, so I'll just name them all - Conner's birthday party with family and friends, family visiting for the weekend, anniversary, pumpkin patch, taking Conner out for his birthday. 
Cravings:  Nope.
Symptoms:  The usual at this point - exhaustion, feeling huge, tons of Braxton Hicks, feeling incredibly slow these days, oh and heart burn's been back for an unwelcome visit.
Looking forward to:  Now that we don't anticipate having family visiting or any trips, I'm looking forward to setting up the nursery.  Washing and folding all those baby clothes I bought, putting the crib sheets back on, and make the decorations for the room.  Well, I doubt I'll accomplish all of that this week, but we'll get a good start on it.

We had yet another check up with the doctor last Friday.  Everything is still going great for this little peapod.  Fundal height was 33.5cm. Heartbeat was wonderful.  Blood pressure still low.  And of course, tons of movement.

CONNER'S 2ND BIRTHDAY | PART II

We officially have a two year old now.  As fast as I thought the first 12 months of Conner's life flew by, this past year seemed to be ten times faster.  We've had a blast with family this past weekend.  The day after his party we took full advantage of the best fall weather and hit up the pumpkin patch, pet some farm animals (Conner loved the sheep!) and went on a hayrack ride followed up with some Moomers ice cream.  Talk about an awesome Sunday with the fam.

 

 

 

Since today is Conner's birthday, Joe and I both took the day off to spend with Conner.  The weather's been drizzly and cool so we decided to spend the morning at the Great Lakes Children's Museum.  It was awesome! Conner loved playing with the different exhibits and we really only played with three different activities while we were there.  Which means there's still more to play with and discover the next time we visit.  And there's more.. I realized they have a year membership that you can get so I'm thinking we will definitely need to jump on board so we can hang out there throughout the winter and rainy summer days.

 

After that we hit up our favorite burger joint for lunch (Slabtown), skipped naptime, and opened birthday gifts.  (We're paying for the skipped nap now..)

 

TODDLER LIFE - 24 MONTHS

Toddler Talks
Conner's speech keeps growing and growing.  He said his cousin's name for the first time (Ben) which is actually the first real name he's said if we don't count words like "Mom", "Daddy" etc.  He's also starting to form more and more short sentences.  What's even better is that he identifies more and more things and makes connection between different objects.  When he sees anything baby related, he always calls it out as "baby".  Conversations are starting to grow!

Toddler Play
Conner is still in love with his Tonka dump truck.  Basically anything that has wheels has his love and attention.  This month he has really become obsessed with Mickey Mouse.  We only have Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Netflix so we watch that every night before we start the bedtime routine.  The same episode.  Every night.  He doesn't get tired of it but the two adults in this house do.  Netflix, please get more Clubhouse episodes on your list! 

He's also continues to love letting the chickens out to range and feeding them.  Of course the minute the chickens are out, he makes sure they get exercise by chasing them all over the backyard.  It amazes me that those birds aren't scared of him.  Other than that, we've been taking more adventure hikes through our woods.  Conner has grown to love hiking and exploring the woods.

Toddler Eats
We have successful days and not-so-successful days when it comes to eating.  Protein is still the hardest to get him to eat except for when it comes to hotdogs.  I've never seen a toddler love hotdogs as much as he does.  He's kind of a picky eater.  I've learned that he doesn't like it when different foods are mixed together like casseroles for example.  He does okay as long as the food items are kept separate.

He still loves his broccoli (steamed or raw), baby carrots, apples, avocado, yogurt, oatmeal and fruit smoothies.  Oh and basically anything with chocolate.  He's figured out that chocolate is pretty tasty for a little boy with a sweet tooth.
 
Toddler Sleep
Conner continues to be an awesome sleeper.  He's starting to sleep in a little later on the weekends instead of getting up between 5:30 and 6:30am.  There have even been days that he's slept in past 9am.  He does great at going to bed on his own.  Joe always has the most success with putting him to bed at night.

24 Month Photo Dump: