onesies!

i found this cool website that has some amazing onesies , way too expensive but so cute
http://www.theretrobaby.com/
i especially like the johnny cash one that says 'crawl the line' hehehe
Also, found this onesie in the mall one time and didn't buy it, wish i did though...
http://yahoo.shoptoit.ca/shop/product--catId_1002533__locale_en__productId_5712525.html
too cute.

Delish

Yesterday after church Jo-Ben, his friend James and their friend Garry met up at our house before heading out to 'frogs gap', a pond about 10 mins outside of town that freezes over in the winter, the guys go there to play hockey. Growing up in BC, I remember seeing pictures or commercials on TV of people skating outside but obviously with it usually only getting to be -10 at the coldest in the lower main land in the winter time there weren't any outdoor rinks or places outside to skate on... out here there is a small rink virtually on every block. I remember when we first moved out to Medicine Hat and drove around the cul de sacs where we lived in the winter time not being able to figure out what was at the end of all of those cat walks... they were rinks. I was so excited because to me that is SO Canadian and I never really got to experience that kinda thing in BC... mind you , I have never gone out to skate on one because its to dang cold out but I think its cool that they are there and that the boys like to go out and play on them! Anyways, the guys play drop in hockey on Sunday and Monday nights starting around 9pm at our local rink so yesterday afternoon they called up a bunch of friends and decided to have a pre game outdoor game. They left around 2 and said they would be back for dinner and I thought to myself how awesome it would be for them to have a big pot of hearty soup to slurp up when they came home all icy and cold. I get the Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine every month and love love love it so I recalled these two Italian soup recipes and figured I would use what I had on hand and combine the recipes... Here are the links to the two recipes that I used:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/light-italian-wedding-soup?autonomy_kw=itallian%20wedding%20soup&rsc=image_3
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/how-to-minestrone?autonomy_kw=minestrone&rsc=image_2
One is for an Italian wedding soup which has meatballs and the other is a classic minestrone soup. I sort of combined the two recipes and omitted some stuff... I didn't have any greens like Kale on hand or Cabbage so I just didn't add them, instead of Canalini beans I added Garbanzo Beans and I also added more potato than called for. I also used pre diced tomatoes and left them undrained. When it came to the meatballs I just used a box of frozen lean Italian meat balls... The soup turned out awesome and the boys devoured it. It reminded me of a spicier Italian version of borscht. Next time I might add more liquid because the left over soup is a little chunky... more like a 'stoup' as my good friend Rachel Ray would say... still good though. And as I was eating left overs for lunch today I was thinking about what a great way to get the guys to eat their veggies... it was PACKED full of hearty veg. Plus as it was simmering away I got to have a little nap... how great is a one pot delicious meal that you can just throw into a pot and let do its thing while you go have a nap? Love it.
Today I am lazing about the house, doing lots of laundry that piled up last week while I was sick and cleaning up the kitchen... today for dins we are having a slow cooker pot roast, again throw into a pot and forget about it meal... pregnant ladies dream come true :) I'm thinking this week I'm going to have to make a trip to Red Deer to get my roots touched up... they have gotten wayyyyy beyond the Sarah Jessica Parker stage,
...yup they ARE that bad...

will take new preggers pics once the hair looks half decent... cant BELIEVE the baby boy is coming in 66 (ish) days! wow.

How to save a potato or two... and a buck or two too!

Ok, I know, two posts in one day but I HAVE to *ahem* brag.

So a couple of nights ago in my fluish state I decided to make dinner but with being sick and all I didn't really want to do allot of work so I decided to make Chili in my slow cooker and bake up some potatoes and figured that would make the men in my life (Jo-Ben, his apprentice who is living with us, James, and a couple of our tenants downstairs that Jo-Ben invited up) happy.

So I browned some beef, opened a few cans and set the slow cooker. I made a potato per person and cut them in half length wise so that people could scoop their chili on top of the fluffy fleshy insides but when only one of the three guys from downstairs came up for dinner and only three out of four of us took a 1/2 potato each, I was left with quite a few baked potato halves.

Whats a girl to do? Well, the next night we had left over chili but it took me all of 15 mins to scoop out the flesh from the potatoes into a bowl, add in some seasoning and some herb and garlic cream cheese, scoop the mixture back into the potato shells and we had double stuffed potatoes. I thought I had done good reusing the leftovers to make something newish and again, the guys loved em.

Today I was watching Chef at Home (James says my stomach has a crush on that guy and I agree) He cooks allot like I do and I get so many great ideas from him. So, today I learned how to make gnocchi. If you have never had this rustic potato pasta you are missing out... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnocchi
Guarantied to satisfy every time. Basically the Chef at Home guy revealed that gnocchi is potato, eggs and flour. As I watched him make these little suckers I'm thinking wow! how easy is that! and I have been longing for gnocchi so many times because our silly super market doesn't stock them! AND I have all the stuff for them & what a great way to use up those left over left over potatoes!

Tonight for dinner I am proud to say that I used the left over potatoes AGAIN! I MADE MY FIRST GNOCCHI!!! And it truly was SO easy.

All you have to do is this:

1. Take your potato (I had three full potatoes, so 6 halves left over) and dump em into a bowl.


2. Add one egg per potato so I added three eggs!


3. Mix it up so that its as smooth as you can get it. At this point I would have seasoned it but since I had already done that when I made the baked potatoes into double stuffed potatoes I didn't add anything but the Chef at Home guy simply seasoned the mixture with salt, white pepper and nutmeg.


4. Add one cup of flour per potato to the mixture and gently combine, plop onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a ball.


5. Cut the ball into 4 sections, take each section and roll out like a snake. Then cut each snake into little bite sized pieces.


6. Take cut up gnocchi and plop them in batches into rapidly simmering water (I brought a pot of water up to a boil and then brought it down to medium) I cooked the pasta in 4 batches so as I was rolling and cutting each section of dough I would put them into the pot and as they cooked I would prepare the next batch. The great thing about this pasta is that it has its own little built in timer, the gnocchi rise to the top of the water when they are done so keep an eye on them and as they come up to the surface take them out with a big slotted spoon or spider strainer. I had a dish with some melted butter in it to put the cooked pasta in as soon as it was done.


And this was the result!Mmmmmm steaming hot, freshly cooked home made gnocchi. There are a variety of ways to sauce this pasta, really I think any sauce would work.

Here are some ideas:
with mushroom sauce: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/GNOCCHI-WITH-MUSHROOM-SAUCE-102460
with spicy tomato sauce: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/64/Potato_Gnocchi_with_Spicy_Tomato_Sauce46682.shtml
with pesto sauce:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1915,145168-247204,00.html
with thyme vinaigrette:
http://veganyumyum.com/index.php?s=peeler

Today on Chef at Home he had roasted a huge pan of cherry tomatoes, olives and onions and then gently tossed it all together. Heres a link to his sauce recipe: http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=9547
I have seen allot of chefs on cooking shows pair gnocchi up with a butter and fresh sage sauce. Tonight I simply took a big bowl full of the buttered pasta, sprinkled it with fresh flat leaf Italian parsley and freshly grated Assiago cheese. It was such a satisfying bowl of goodness and I will be making this again and again. What a GREAT way to use up left over potatoes, again :) I am pretty proud of myself and think that especially all you Mennos out there will be just as impressed... I know my Oma would be!

OH and the best part, I saved the shells from the double stuffed potato left overs and tomorrow I am going to make the boys loaded potato skins... QUADRUPLE DUTY POTATOES! HOORAY! Take that Rachel Ray and your double duty meals for a steal or whatever she calls them... this is one way to use up left overs over and over again that I think tops em all.

oh if i were to get married again...

...to the same man obviously, don't get me wrong, I'm not looking for a newer fancier model or anything (I love mine very much)... just thinking about the wedding itself. Its funny, Ive been married for 3 1/2 years now and it seems like forever ago. Looking back at pictures we look like babies with our hopeful smiles and nervous eyes and after meantly reviewing all we have been through together over the past few years it just seems like we have grown so incredibly much that August 20, 2005 seems like a long long time ago. The place that I find myself in my life right now is in anticipation... kind of in limbo. I am not working or going to school, don't have any big projects going on, am just kinda sitting and waiting for our baby boy to come into our life. Ive been comparing where I'm at to where most of my friends are at... my good friend Kristen is going to law school and planning her July wedding, our other friend Lise is working for a professional dance company which she has been working towards and going to school for since we graduated... NOT that I feel light years ahead of people my age or friends my age or anything like that... the stages of life are just really interesting. My husband is running his own truck right now and has hired a good friend of ours from Prince George to be his 'helper' to apprentice him. His name is James and he is living with us right now up till April when the baby comes and his wedding is here. His fiance Cori has come to visited for a week already in Jan and is coming again in Feb, shes 20 years old and all shes got on her mind is wedding so when she comes around that's what we talked about and think about surrounded by issues of every bridal magazine known to man with random wedding shows playing on the TV in the back ground. Its funny to me because that time in my life, as I said, seems like so long ago and I am in just such a different place in my life. Also, I am a bridesmaid in my friend Kristen's wedding this summer and I cant help but compare the 'bridal mentality' of Cori (20) and Kristen (25) Even though they are going through the similar situations the stages of life that they are in are even so different. So, I was thinking about the choices that I made for my wedding and how different they would be today because of how diferent I am today. I definitely wouldn't stress over the things that I stressed about or even talked about some of the things that I talked about (I must have sounded so silly sometimes... my husband can attest to that) Also, with the economy how it is these days I think I would have been allot more conscious about what things cost and what they are actually worth. I picked up the spring/summer 2009 Sears catalog at our local Tru Value (I know, I know, I live in a small town now OK!?) Anyways, I was flipping through and noticed that they do really pretty wedding attire... on page 132 of the catalog they show a flowy bridal gown and two different but very cohesive bridesmaids dresses that I would wear in a heartbeat AND the wedding dress (complete with accent broach and beautiful gathering) is going for 99.99 and the bridesmaids dresses (strapless or halter style in either yellow or aqua) for 79.99.... HELLO!!!! http://www.sears.ca/gp/browse.html/ref=sc_bb_l_1_396424011_4/181-0909504-1300631?ie=UTF8&node=667614011&no=396424011&searsBrand=core&me=A10FHFRJZ0GJG3 Now, mind you if my Mom would have presented me with this option when I was getting hitched I don't think I would have even cracked the catalog open for a peak but if I could do it all over again... dang.
Anyways, just thoughts on the stages of life and 'if onlys'...
In limbo, Amanda*

short update

The last few days have been BRUTAL... I have the flu and its been SO frustrating especially being pregnant, I feel like the baby sucks all of my energy from me in the first place and now being sick on top of that I am pretty much useless... I also found out this week that I don't have pregnancy diabetes but my blood test revealed that I do have anemia so I am on iron supplements. My Dr said that the main result of anemia is being tired so with the pregnancy, flu AND anemia Ive sort of been totally out of commission. We are also stuck in the Albertan deep freeze once again, we had a week of really mild weather when a Chinook came through, got up to +10 for a couple of days but we are back down well below freezing and are cooped up inside again :( Today I was watching Rachel Ray (don't usually watch that show because I personally find her SO annoying but I always tune in for the last 15 mins for her cooking segment and I like her fashion segments too) anyways, I learned a cool tip, she said not to throw away the rind off of a block of fresh parmesan but to save it and plop it into a pot of marinara sauce or a soup and there is no need to add salt! I think that it would add a really great nutty flavor as well as a saltiness. I have never thought of doing this but am going to try it next time I have a rind left over. Anyways, that's all for today, hope everyone is well... especially my friends and fam in BC, enjoy that beautiful BC weather!!!

cool kids room i saw on tv today!

Was watching Steven and Chris today which isn't my FAVORITE show out there but they do have segments that I really enjoy... its usually one of those shows that I watch while flipping back and forth to the food network (unless Giada is particularly annoying that day because she can be SOOOO annoying especially when she says cirten words with a really exaggerated Italian accent, blech) ANYWAYS, my favorite segment is Decor on a Dime with Deborah Nelson. Today she did a segment on a kids play room and she did the whole thing for under 170 bucks... and she had SO many good ideas. I love chalkboard paint and she used it in this room... she made a really cute area rug and a tepee using drop cloth AND made these really cool stool/storage containers out of milk crates with slipcovers. I don't have kids yet and don't need a play room or playroom ideas but gave me some great ideas for in a few years :) I especially think this would be a great idea for if you had a huge family room like the entire size of the basement or something and did this kids corner idea in like 1/3 of the room and had the other part of the room be the media/grownups area... you could even make a matching drop cloth curtain to separate the two areas... just some ideas!
Here's the link!
http://www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/2009/01/decor_on_a_dime_playroom_1.html

baby room ideas

mobile

cute craft idea

decals

Here are some pics of some of the things that I am putting up in the baby room... The top two pics are of a mobile that I have orderd from the states, its my big splurge in the room and I love it... its made of walnut so itll tie in with our floors which are also walnut. The third pic down is of a craft that I found on the internet that some people did by taking the mobile (which comes disasembled) and used the pieces as stenciles... they incorperated colors from their baby room and mounted it all in one of those picture frames with the different sized boxes in them... I really like this idea and I think I am going to try something simmilar with a frame that I have been perplexed what to do with. The last two pics are of some decals that I have also ordered from the states... I love decals but have never really had anywhere appropriate to use them in my house so have never gotten them but I think these will be perfect in the baby's room and the great part is they can stick to virtually anything and can eaisly go off and on so we can replace them or take them with us when we move and I think that they add some really cool visual intrest. The package comes with three branches and 15 birds so I can use them in different places around the room. Im so glad everyone is so excited about my ideas... I thought I would get booed for not doing sports theme or something like that. :)Also found this cute decal on another website... would be so sweet in a springtimey themed room with bunnies and sheep and stuff, I think its so funny :)

Update

I went to see my Dr today and heard the babes heart beat again... never gets old. :) His heart beat is 133 which my Dr said is normal and hes growing like hes supposed to and I'm growing like I'm supposed to so things are looking good. I have started doing up the nursery, Ive decided not to paint because the room is already a really nice milk chocolate brown color which I picked on purpose when we built the house so it would be gender neutral. The room is going to be very natural and organic feeling with blues, greens and browns. I didn't want it to be theamy or cartoony so no Winnie the Pooh or Trains, Planes and Automobiles boarder, crib set, etc. One of my aunts is making me an AMAZING quilt for the baby and I got to pick out about 10 different materials with her when I was out in BC in November from this really cool quilt shop... they are all really modern and beautiful rather than 'cute' and I cant WAIT to see the quilt. Before I left the Fraser Valley I went back to the shop and picked out three of my favorites and bought a couple of meters to make some pillow covers for on the chair in the room... as well, I made some curtain tie backs and did some cool things with covering mattes of some picture frames... I think its going to really tie in the quilt to the room without being too matchy matchy. We bought all of our furniture (crib, dresser/change table and wall shelf, baskets and hamper) from IKEA and I'm really happy with the over all look so far. I read somewhere that the average a person spends on a first time nursery was 6,000-8,000 dollars! EEEP! Personally I think that's crazy and I know that my furniture isn't 'top of the line designer stuff' and I have done allot of DIYs in the room but I think it is going to be do great when its all said and done. I am also incorporating birds into the motif of the room and am SO excited to get this bird mobile that I have ordered from the states... when the room is all put together I'll take some pics and post them but its a process :) ANYWAYS, alls good on the baby front as the the due date grows nearer and nearer. I will get Jo-Ben to take some new pics soon!

Baby Butternut Barkey

So, today I got my baby center bulletin telling me I'm 29 weeks along, less than 80 days! whoa. Well, the little write up told me that my baby probably weighs about the same as a butternut squash and since I had a butternut squash in my kitchen I got Jo-Ben to hold it to see how big our babe is... then I got this brilliant idea to dress it up and put it in the crib. It might be a little weird but I thought it was funny. Here are the pics:

Holding my "baby" Butternut... might just become a nickname for the actual baby. :)

83 more days, wow

preggo pics from this morning! 83 more days to go!

this picture looks funny to me because joben was bending his knees to take it... weird angle.

bare belly, mind the stuff on the floor...w e are currently setting up the baby room so we have ikea boxes EVERYWHERE :) should be done tonight!

AWWWWW i love you baby. notice the bandaid on my hand, i majorly burned myself n the oven taking something out the other night... preggo brain.

the little things

today I am thankfull that I have a husband who goes out in the cold to start my car :) what a guy.

My weird dog and the best worst "Mac and Cheese" ever

This is my pup Joey, I don't know why hes being SO weird today but I have found him in some very precarious sleeping positions today...

I was working on the computer and turned around to find Joey sleeping right behind me against the wall like this...




After cleaning the house this morning I found him sleeping on all of my couch cushions that I had just straightened... since he was spread across every cushion I'm thinking this one was on purpose to annoy me...




So, last night I made this Mac and Cheese dish from Martha Stewart's website... doesn't it look AMAZING?!




Yeah, looks good- tastes horrible... ok, maybe not horrible but overwhelming and disapointing would be the words I would use. Its made with a sauce made primarily of butternut squash and even with the two cups of cheese that I added (they only called for one) the squash was WAY to over powering... I didn't even have to tell Jo-Ben that there was something different or healthy about this dish, one forkful and he said "whats in this?" When that's the first thing that comes out of his mouth I know that the recipe isn't a winner... I honestly couldn't finish mine... I think it was the fact that it looks like amazing Mac and Cheese and what throws you off is the bright orange color from the butternut squash and you expect it (sadly) to taste like that bright orange powdery fake (delicious) cheese... and it doesn't. This WOULD be good as a side dish maybe even at Thanksgiving or for a Fall meal but it doesn't stand on its own especially when you are craving some not so good for you cheesy home made Mac and Cheese.

Oh well, ya cant win em all... I'm still going to post the link to the recipe. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/macaroni-and-cheese-with-butternut-squash?autonomy_kw=butternut%20squash%20macaroni%20and%20cheese&rsc=header_4

An AMAZING butternut squash recipe from the Martha Stewart website that I LOVE LOVE LOVE is Roasted Fall Vegetable Soup. DELISH. (especially with a dollop of sour cream!)

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/roasted-fall-vegetable-soup?autonomy_kw=roasted%20fall%20vegetable%20soup&rsc=header_2

So yeah, I still love you Martha and I still love you Butternut Squash (even though you both deceived me)

OH! also- if you do try the Roasted Fall Vegetable Soup you will be making the Roasted Fall Veggies so you should reserve some and make this pizza too!

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=746ead948aa0f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&backto=true

Both of these are faves of mine to make when the hubby is away, so easy to make and make for a very impressive lunch especially when you are having your favorite vegetarian friend over.

Doing well

Here is an email that I recieved from my Auntie Lorene today (my Uncle Herb's wife). We are so gratefull, relieved and overjoyed at the fact that hes recovering so well. There is still a long road ahead and we covet your prayers :)

Hello Everyone,

Just a note to let you know that is making a tremendous improvement from Yesterday.  He is out of the ICU into CCU and this afternoon they moved him to his own private room in the Neurological ward.
He is trying to show the nurses that he is in control and is pushing for his own way.  This doesn't last long because he gets tired so fast and goes to sleep quickly. 
His blood pressure is  good and he isn't getting morphine anymore to control it.
I'm so excited to see him improving that I could just jump for joy.
So far all the signs are good for a full recovery.
He is still in critical care and under complete bed rest which he is trying to fight.  He visits with us briefly and then sleeps which is the best thing for him now.
Thanks for all your calls and well wishes.  Our family won't forget it.
Adios for now, Lorene & Family

looking up

OK so I talked to my dad this morning and he told me that U Herb woke up very early this morning and there were nurses there to tell him to stay calm which he did, he talked and asked them where he was and what had happened and they explained it to him and told him why it was so important to stay calm, he had his eyes open and moved his hands but was not totally lucid and in and out of sleep, most likely because of all of the drugs he is on to help him stay comfortable. He is breathing on his own as well. The Dr's said that the first 30 hours are the most critical and so far he has done better than they expected. they did an MRI last night and said that everything in his brain looked good. They are now saying that the first aneurysm wasn't actually one at all, it was a blockage and the second aneurysm that they found was actually an aneurysm. They took care of everything while they were in there and say that things are looking good. He still has a long road of recovery and is by no means out of the woods on this but things are looking up. Will keep you posted. :) Keep praying.

Uncle Herb

My Dad went to see my Uncle Herb with my Grandpa... he said it was pretty rough as he just got out of surgery and he looked pretty awful. They said that he came out of surgery good, they did find another aneurysm which they took care of. They wont know what the surgery did until they give him an MRI. Right now he is on life support and totally sedated but stable.

Helpless

Found out this morning that my Uncle Herb (my Dad's brother) had suffered from a brain aneurysm. Has been a hard day, very stressful. I feel very helpless out here but so does everyone else at home. He had surgery this afternoon and they found another one, we are waiting to hear how the surgery went which they will be able to tell from an MRI scan. Apparently the chances at this point are 50/50 and chances that he will make a full recovery with no complications or side effects are very very slim. We are constantly praying and are consumed with our thoughts for my family. Please pray.