Spring Break

Let's just be honest, this is a much better view than what we normally get around here:

I know. It always leaves us saying, "Do we really have to leave?!"

Cody and I took a big step this past week and took one of our couple friends to spend 4 days at my grandparent's house in Ruidosa, NM. I'll go ahead and tell you that after that many days together, 12+ hours in the car and many new friendship lines crossed, we still all like each other!

Meet Josh & Sarah!

Sarah and I are actually only a week apart in due dates and we're having a lot of fun going through our pregnancies together. As you can imagine, when two pregnant ladies go on vacation together, there's LOTS of eating involved! If you ever end up in Ruidosa, some must eat places on our list include: brunch at the Inn Of The Mountain Gods, Casa Blanca for mexican food, The Log Cabin for breakfast, Lincoln County Grill for burgers, and Cafe Rio for pizza. Seriously, you can't go wrong at any of these places!

In between eating, we did a little bit of shopping, some movie watching at the house,

lots of relaxing,

Super Mario playing for the boys

and even a day of skiing for them.

I can't even begin to tell you everything we laughed about over the weekend, but one of them definitely had to include this:

Yep. Cody splitting his ski pants on the first run of the day! It was even funnier when he told us about waiting in line for the lift and reaching around to dig out ice from his britches, only then to realize that a family was standing behind him and staring the whole time!

We had the best time and certainly can't wait till we can go back again. We couldn't stop talking about how different our next trip together will be: two babies will certainly make it a little more interesting!

And, just in case you don't believe me about all of the eating we did, I give you:

The Great Belly Off!

Thanks again for letting us use the house Bamps & Bami!

...

Suffering a Spring Break coma from too much food and fun with good friends. Hopefully will recover soon enough to blog about it...

Pretty.

People, I achieved a culinary first tonight!


I successfully made my first PRETTY bundt cake!

See?



In all of my years of baking, I have not been able to conquer the bundt cake and have been forced to serve pieced together patchiness with lots of icing to cover up my multitude of cooking mistakes. {see here for proof}

Tonight though, my cake is perfect. I would like to thank Baker's Joy and my mom's encouragement to just be patient. All of my test recipes finally paid off and I have achieved bundt perfection.

Now to see if I can resist digging in and eating!

Cheese & Green Chile Enchiladas

Over the past several years, I've found several great deals on cooking magazines. Like, $3 for a year long subscription of about 6 different magazines. Despite the fact that I have so many magazines coming in, I don't really use them as often as I should. That all changed this week when I finally cracked open the March edition of Everyday with Rachael Ray. There were about 6 recipes that I marked right off the bat that I wanted to try, all of which not only looked delicious, but also easy! {a cooking must for me!}

Here's a snapshot of the recipe:

I started by chopping half of an onion and sauteing it in a small skillet with the garlic. The recipe didn't call for this, but Cody isn't a big fan of raw onions and I didn't think they would cook long enough in the oven. While those were sauteing, I mixed the green chilies, sour cream, accidentally more cumin than the recipe called for, and then the onion/garlic mixture.



Add the cheese, (use a bigger bowl than you'll think you need!) put a nice portion in a tortilla, (I used flour even though it called for corn) wrap tortilla and place in 9x13, then cover with leftover cheese mixture. Bake for 15 minutes at 425.



Originally I planned on adding chicken in with the cheese mixture, but Cody wasn't supposed to get home till late Thursday night so I really planned on just eating a Lean Cuisine meal by myself. Once he said he wasn't stopping for dinner on the road and would eat at home, it was too late for me to thaw chicken to include. Chicken would be good in it, but Cody and I definitely enjoyed it just as much without.   Even better, had I not stopped mid-recipe to wash mud off of a certain rugrat's paws during preparing the recipe, this really would have only taken me about 10 minutes tops to put together. Serve with a simple salad and chips and you have an easy, delicious meal!

14 Weeks - Hello Second Trimester!

{internet, say hello to my husband's messy side of the room (mine is conveniently cropped out!) and super poor quality photo. it's all I got though!}

Size of Baby: According to Baby Center, Ten can now squint, frown, grimace, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to our 3D sono though, we know T is already doing that! Such a brainiac!} Thanks to brain impulses, T's facial muscles are getting a workout as the tiny features form one expression after another.

Symptoms:
- Had a one day where I really could have gone to bed at 6:15, coupled with some major hunger that strikes right at 5:00, but other than that, feeling good! I actually had the energy to clean this weekend and Kota didn't know how to act around me. When your dog thinks it's odd that you're cleaning, you know it's been WAY TOO LONG!

Cravings/Aversions: I wanted Taco Bell so bad this week. I truly could taste it. Cody was sweet and said, "Well, at least it's a cheap craving!" I resisted though. {barely.}

Maternity Clothes: Today was my first official day to sport the Belly Band to work. So, while I'm technically still in my normal clothes, I'm definitely using some help to still fit into them :) As comfortable as the band is, I've been self conscious all day long. I'm just worried my pants are going to slip down! {Though, I certainly hope I would notice that happening!}

Sleep: Sleeping fine. Still having lots of bathroom breaks! Now that I'm entering my 2nd trimester, I'm having to give up sleeping on my back, which is probably the hardest adjustment I'm facing right now!

Highlights Of This Week:
-We did have a check up yesterday. Apparently, when you're a normal patient, you don't get sonograms every time. Huh, who knew? :) When they showed up to the room, Cody was like, "Where's the machine?!?" We did get to hear a nice strong heart beat though. And, as much as I love seeing T every week, it's nice to just be Abby Normal (name that reference people!)

Funniest Dream Of This Week:
- I have had several dreams where I have long hair that I have to fix/ pull back. As much as I love my short hair, it has been slightly disappointing when I've woken up in the mornings!
-I had a dream this week where Cody and I were about to go somewhere and I needed to put on my makeup before we left. I grabbed my MAC powder container and I can vividly remember that my powder was actually like broken up chip pieces of the Cheddar and Sour Cream Chips. (which I really did buy at the store this week!) I would rub my hand on the chips and then rub it on my face. The whole time I was telling Cody that it looked fine, but he informed me that I had an orange glow to me. Ha!

Looking forward to:
- Knowing that our Spring Break is just a few short work days away, and then we'll be on vacation! Woo hoo!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Betty Crocker Fail

Last week I learned quite an important lesson: follow the recipe.


Yeah, at 27 years old, you would think that I knew that already. And for the most part, I do. But wouldn't you know, the one time I don't, I really messed up!


If only I could blame the fail on pinterest!

Here's the recipe I found via Pinterest:  Slow Cooker PParmesan Honey Pork Roast

Source: sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com via Abby on Pinterest

which links to this website.


Here's what they say the recipe is:

1 (2-3 pound) boneless pork roast
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup honey
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp dried basil
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place roast in slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the cheese, honey, soy sauce, basil, garlic, oil and salt; pour over pork. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160°.
Remove meat to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice roast; serve with gravy (I also made mashed potatoes and the gravy was delicious on them!).


People, it is imperative that you follow the cooking suggestion! Unfortunately, I was a total goober who put this recipe on in the morning before I left for work that day and ended up cooking my already small pork roast for 10 hours. Yikes, I know. The meat was actually salvageable and I went ahead and made the gravy like she suggests. {foreshadowing: BIG MISTAKE} I made 2 wraps for Cody and I and then encouraged him to get some sauce to put on it.

Yep. The meat was ok, but the gravy held all of that burnt, way overcooked flavor. And because I told Cody to put it ON our wraps instead of using it as a dipping sauce, we were forced to suffer through it. Live and learn. I will definitely try this recipe again but will pay a little more attention to how long I cook the meat for!


Anybody else every totally messed up a recipe by overcooking it?