Recipes of the week:

First, a quick review of the Spaghetti with Quick Meat Sauce. We had it for lunch yesterday. While it was extremely easy to make, we were only MEH about it. I'll be going back to our two "old faithful" recipes - Grandma D's and my Mother-in-Law's.

I've got two new recipes this week.

The first one comes from Hannaford's Organic & Natural magazine. You can pick these up for free, next to their Fresh magazine. It's for Savory Grilled Shrimp. I can't find it online so I'm going to share it here.

Savory Grilled Shrimp

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced

1 1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

24 large shrimp, shell on

Lemon wedges

1) Combine oil, lemon juice, garlic, Old Bay seasoning and salt and pepper to taste in shallow dish. Set aside.

2) Using kitchen scissors, snip down the center of each shrimp's back, removing the vein if possible. Leave shell on. Add shrimp to marinade mixture. Refrigerate, covered, for 3 hours.

3) Remove shrimp from marinade. Grill for about 3 minutes per side or until done.

4) Serve with lemon wedges. Peel and eat.

I'll be pairing it with a salad T's coworker (ST) gave him the recipe for. I have no idea what she calls this, but I think it sounds mighty tasty.

Pear and Gorgonzola Salad (ST)

Greens or spinach

Pears (T said to use Bosque)

Walnuts (toasted if you have time)

Craisins

Gorgonzola cheese

For the dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tsp sugar

salt and pepper

Tell me that doesn't sound tasty?!

Enjoy your kitchens!

Image is from Real Simple Magazine.

Sew Fun Sunday:

My first Sew Fun Sunday was a bust for two reasons. First, we were on the road all morning to go pick up our new chickens .


Second:






I was beyond overwhelmed. I couldn't figure out the pattern. Nothing made sense.


After about 15 minutes of looking at it over and over and over and over again, I finally realized what my problem was. I bought the WRONG SIZE. Monkey is not a size 6, 7 or an 8. Heck, she's barely a size 2!


Lesson learned? Pattern packets don't come universal for all of the sizes listed on the back chart (Yes, I felt like an idiot). Oh no. Make sure you have sizes you need!


So a trip to JoAnn's was in order. Unfortunately, they didn't have the smaller version of this pattern. I found another I thought was cute and brought it home, but haven't touched it yet.


I do have a sewing project to share! My GFT is getting married in September. She asked me to help her learn how to sew. She hasn't used a sewing machine since Home Economics (High School or Grammar School, T? HA!) and had yet to use hers. So she brought it over, I looked over the manual (it's not the same as mine) and gave her a quick lesson. Then, I sat back and oversaw the labor while minding Monkey and keeping her grubby paws off of the nice fabric.


GFT now has two adorable ring bearer pillows.




We do still need to "gift wrap" them with a colored bow, but we don't have the fabric for it yet. We'll be using the fabric from bridesmaid dresses that need to be hemmed for those of us that are SHORT SHORT SHORT. I'll be using the hemming from my dress to make the sash on Monkey's. It saved us some money for not having to buy extra fabric - and kept something out of a landfill since they'd just toss the cut fabric for the hems anyways.


So, I didn't really do much sewing (I did help stuff and started to hand stitch one closed!), but I did use a sewing machine, albeit briefly.


I also now have a few projects lined up. I'm looking forward to this!

A happy birthday wish and PSA:

First, I want to wish my Grandma D a very happy birthday today. :-) I wish I could be there to bake her a cake. Alas, I send good wishes instead.

Second, I have a public service announcement. Today, the United States Postal Service is having their annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive. So don't forget to leave non-perishable goods in your mailbox for your mail carrier today!

Sorry - no sweet treat today. I'm missing a few ingredients - and the sweet tooth. Maybe I'll feel like it tomorrow.

Enjoy your day!

Review of this week's recipes:

Yet another week of new tastings has past.

The Spinach and Ricotta with Shells went very well with burgers on the grill. It was also a cinch to make. Alas, it's best fresh - and it makes a lot (and by a lot, I mean way too many leftovers). I'll be cutting it in half next time. Yes, there will be a next time.

The Marsala Chicken-and-Mushroom Casserole was so unbelievably good (T went for seconds so I know he loved it, too). I don't think I'll make chicken Marsala the right way very often from here on. Not only was the casserole much easier to make, but there was also much less of a mess!

Last but not least, the Spaghetti with Quick Meat Sauce was extremely easy to make. It smelled really good, too. However, last minute dinner plans changed when my parents arrived in town (for only the night) early enough for us to join them out for dinner, so we haven't tried the sauce yet. I tossed the whole thing into the refrigerator and we'll try it reheated at some point this weekend.

I have renewed energy in the kitchen. Maybe it was the fails last week that had me so discouraged, but I did enjoy being in the kitchen this week. I guess we all have our slumps, right?

Enjoy!

First two images are from Every Day with Rachael Ray. Third image is from Real Simple Magazine.

Oh, baby baby!

We took another side view picture last week, just to show my new girth. This is at 30 weeks pregnant. I guess I should mention that I was barefoot, in my front yard WITH a baby on my hip! 'Cause I'm a redneck woman... Ok. Sorry. The song gets stuck in my head when I see this picture.



This week, I went for another ultra sound. While pregnant for Monkey, I didn't have one after the "big" one at 20 weeks. Then, with about a month to go, I found out she was breech and was devastated because I'd need a c-section. (The surgery scared the hell out of me - I'll admit it).

So when my OB suggested an ultra sound to verify all was well, I agreed.

All IS well. New Bean is at an estimated weight of over 3 pounds. And, most importantly, he is HEAD DOWN! Barring any unforeseen complications, I should be a go for an attempted VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). This makes me extremely happy. The thought of having to have surgery again freaks me out - terribly. Not to mention wondering how I'd manage a 3 week recovery (that's how long I was off my feet for Monkey) with a newborn AND toddler? I don't want to think about it.

Without further ado - New Bean!

Unfortunately, we couldn't get a clear enough shot to count the little toes (the arrow is pointing to the bottom of the heels, for those of you who can't make out ultra sound pictures):

But look at that adorable face! All puckered up and ready for kisses:

We're now at 9 weeks and counting. YAY!