Thursday, March 29, 2012

Baby tartlets...the real kind!



Welcome to the newest spectrum member, Desmond Grey.
Posting might be sparse.
Just like sleep.

Born 3/25 at 855am, weighing in a 8lbs6ounces..

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Thirty Nine Weeks




Today I have made cereal and apple juice, it's time for a nap.  Not really...It's time for a nap but I'm sure everyone with a little one knows that the moment you close your eyes for 5 seconds is the moment you end up with a Van Gogh rendering on your walls...or floors..not that Indigo has ever ever done that...

I'm just putting this out there to the universe so I have to do it....I will make a tart today, I will make a tart today...I will take pictures before I eat it.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Indigo - still a singular child...with a sinfully lazy mom



At almost 39 weeks I have 3 jobs.

1.  Make sure the cable is working
2.  Make sure the cable is working and the couch doesn't move.
3.  Make sure the cable is working and the couch doesn't move while feeding my face.



Please forgive my lack of posts, and comments.
I would tell you I deserve a spanking, but the kid might fall out if you do that.



I super super promise you that I will make something disgustingly good over the weekend...whether it be the baby or something smothered in cheese (as long as I can get the camera out before I dig in)

10 days..let the countdown begin until sleep deprivation begins.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Chicken Salad Wraps




I was watching Intervention last night and there was an alcoholic named Sean on the show.  Every time I watch that show I can't wait for the last 4 minutes so I can finally catch a glimpse of a hopefully 3 month sober person, it's amazing how refreshed and happy they look...but Sean let me down by now going to rehab and so there was no pay off.

Boooooo Sean!



I will also confess that my husband was sucked into a Jersey Shore Marathon therefore I was forced to watch.  I feel sort of dirty for watching it for lets say maybe 4, 5 or maybe 12 hours...but being 37 weeks pregnant my main job is to make sure that the couch doesn't move and the cable doesn't quit working...so really only my husband should feel bad.



Speaking of feeling bad I also sort of maybe might have eaten all the frozen cookie dough out of the freezer.
Speaking of feeling bad I also sort of maybe might have eaten 2 Burger King Crispy Chicken Sandwiches.

Speaking of feeling bad, it makes me really sad that my butt now points south versus north..I like to call this "sad butt".  You get sad butt from lack of exercise and eating cookie dough and chicken sandwiches..dipped in ranch...twice.

Speaking of sad butt, this chicken salad will be a great addition to every ones figures!  Make it.



INGREDIENTS
Delightfully borrowed from Me
Serves a family of 4 all week
{Printable Recipe}

(4) Chicken Breasts
1 1/4 cups Mayonnaise
1 1/4 cups finely diced Celery
2 tbs freshly chopped Dill
1 tbs freshly chopped Parsley
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
Water or Stock for Poaching, if using water add in some Italian Herbs for flavor

For the wraps :
Spinach Wraps
Feta
Garden Veggie Salad Mix


DIRECTIONS

Place your 4 chicken breasts on the bottom of a large pot, submerge in stock or water.  Bring pot to a fast boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 12 minutes covered.  After 12 minutes of simmering remove from heat and let the chicken sit in the water for 15 minutes covered.  Remove chicken from liquid and allow to cool.



Once your chicken is at room temperature, chop into mini bite sized pieces.  Toss chicken with remaining ingredients in a large bowl and serve in wrap or on toasted bread...or heck on a spoon!

I assembled my families lunch by placing some Salad Mix, Feta, and Chicken Salad  in our Wraps.  Delish warm or cold!



Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Ice Cubes and Blue Cake






I just have to get this off my chest.

I like water. I like cold water. I like cold water filled with ice most of all. See you just learned something about me, but that’s not the whole post.

My work provides water. My work provides sorta kinda almost cool filtered water. My work does not provide an ice machine or maker to chill that sorta kinda almost cool filtered water







OK were almost to the point.

We have 3 ice cube trays in our work freezer. We have 3 ice cube trays in our work freezer that I fill constantly so we can all enjoy ice. We have 3 ice cube trays in our work freezer that I fill constantly so we can all enjoy ice…and hopefully I can get in on that ice joy too.







OK, here the actual point and rant.

Where’s my ice dude? I strolled in to the break room and opened the freezer, what do I find??? How about all 3 ice cube trays void of ice? How about the ice holder, void of ice? How about the ice cube trays void of ice ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD water to start making more ice?

Is it that hard? I’m not asking you to change out the toilet paper roll people nor am I asking you to refill the printer when you know it's out of paper...or un-jam it.... I’m asking all the users to participate in the normal office function of ice making, you know the important stuff.





I also left a very nice, slightly passive aggressive note on the refrigerator after I refilled the cube trays…it was tossed in the trash fairly soon…and guess what???? When I went to get more ice, all the trays were empty again.

That’s just rude.

Because my co-workers are making me blue, I want to feature a blue cake. Nothing special here except the addition of some food coloring for kick. I tried to make it look like waves, sort of like the ones I plan on making with my co-workers.

It’s super easy, just like filling the ice cube trays.

Rant over.







INGREDIENTS

Cake
Butter cream Frosting
Blue food dye

DIRECTIONS

Make cake. Make butter cream and add dye little by little so that you can have a wide variety of blue colored buttercream on your cake, spread on some light blue, spread on some dark blue etc... Eat. I would say chase it with some ice water but there is not a chance of there being any ice. Enjoy it with some luke warm water.





Saturday, March 3, 2012

Macaroni & Cheese with Buffalo Chicken




Sometimes parents are met with a stark reality about their kids.  Things that you might have to come to terms with while parenting include the following.

Yes my kid picks her nose.  Yes my kid picks her nose and then inspects it with her mouth.  Yes my kid does this in full view of other people.  Yes I have to say out loud "Indigo please don't eat your boogers".  I think this is a right of passage for any kid and parent.  Basically I am saying that most likely you were a nose picker once, so why not your offspring?



Another thing to come to grips with...Apple juice.  Let me just say it "My kid loves Apple juice and I give it to her freely because it makes her happy and then I don't have to listen to her ask for it 15,000 per day."  Phew glad to get that off my chest.  I also have learned that bribing with chocolates is  like basically a golden ticket for her to do my bidding....I might use this method a few times per day.



So I have one more and it's the one that is most shocking.  You have to come to terms with the fact that your kid is not perfect.  After trying to teach Indigo to recognize the numbers 1-5 for about a week now I have come to the conclusion that :

A.  She is not perfect
B.  I have a short fuse, and I'm not perfect
C.  I make cute puppets out of numbers

There, now don't be shocked when these things happen to you!




INGREDIENTS
{Printable Recipe}
2 cups Milk
2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup crumbled goat cheese
1/2 lb elbow pasta
2 chicken breasts
2 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup hot buffalo wing sauce (recommended: Frank’s Red Hot)
Salt & Pepper




DIRECTIONS

Place chicken breasts in bottom of a small, heavy-bottomed pot. They should fit in a single layer but fit quite snugly. Cover chicken with broth. Add the bay leaf.  Bring to a boil, then quickly reduce heat to low so that the water is barely at a simmer. Partly cover and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat completely, and allow chicken to remain in hot water for 15-20 minutes.  Shred Chicken and coat with Franks Red Hot Sauce.

Stir the milk and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir in the butter. When the sauce is thick, add the cheddar cheese and stir until the cheese has melted and the mixture is well blended.  Add in some salt & pepper to season a bit.

Place your cooked, drained pasta in a large bowl.  Pour cheese sauce over the pasta. Put serving sized portions of the pasta into bowls then toss in a little chicken for each bowl (minimal stirring).  The idea is to keep the buffalo flavor a little separated from the cheese sauce.  I find that if you have a whole cheese sauce that tastes "buffalo"  it's really overwhelming.  I prefer the chicken to be the only hot bites.  Crumble goat cheese over pasta.. Serve immediately.