The One with the Recipe Roundup

**Liam's 6 month post is coming on Friday after we go to visit Dr. G. and get all his stats.**

In the meantime, I thought I would do a post about some of the recipes I have been trying lately.

I pin things all the time on Pinterest and never quite get around to making them.

Since going back to work, I find it's much easier to meal plan on Saturday evenings or Sunday mornings for the whole week.  That way, I know what groceries I need and what we will be having most nights.  It's made things slightly less hectic in our house.

So here's what I've been making lately.  I realized as I went to type this post that I took no pictures of anything I've made, but they more or less came out looking like the pictures from the sites I got them on.

White Chicken Enchiladas from Joyful Momma's Kitchen
This recipe is repinned all the time on Pinterest so I figured I'd give it a shot.  It was super yummy and easy to make.  I used chicken tenderloins instead of the rotisserie chicken and cooked them in a pan with some olive oil, cumin, garlic salt, and paprika.  When they were cooked, I shredded them up and mixed them with the cheese.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta from How Sweet Eats
This recipe had a little more prep work involved, but was definitely worth it.  You have to use freshly shredded cheese (as opposed to the bags of shredded stuff) to really keep the creamy consistency of the sauce.  I didn't use the gorgonzola (eww gross), but I did drizzle some ranch dressing over the top when it came out of the oven.  I also added a little more of the roux (flour and water) to make a thicker sauce.  Hubs was a big fan of this meal.

Marshmallow Resses Brownies from Inside BruCrew Life
These are probably the simplest jazzed up brownie recipe out there.  It was a great way to use up a bunch of my leftover Halloween candy.  These are definitely best eaten cold.

Antipasto Squares from Kevin and Amanda
I haven't actually made these yet, so I can't speak to their yumminess or ease, but they are tonight's dinner so I will keep you posted.  I think they look awesome so hopefully they are.

I have a few other recipes I'll be trying soon and posting about.  I promise to remember to take pictures of them!

And because I can't have a picture-less post...

This kid will be eating Mommy's cooking very soon.

Hope everyone is having a happy hump day!

The One with the Thursday Thoughts

Happy Pre-Friday!

During the summer, I started doing a Wednesday posts with random thoughts and ramblings about life, food, and everything in between.  I clearly stopped doing those and slacked on the blogging throughout the week mostly because of time constraints.  I'd like to get back into some sort of a blogging rhythm and I'm going to try a Thursday post that is similar to the ones I was doing on Wednesdays.  So, here goes nothing...

• My list of Pinterest projects grows exponentially every day.  I really want to stay home and cook all day long.
• I did make this Man-Pleasing Maple Mustard Chicken a few weeks ago and it was quite good.  It was pretty easy and didn't require much work.  I let it marinate overnight and I think that definitely helped intensify the flavor.

• These Marshmallow Reese's Brownies literally make my mouth water every time I look at them.  I have a package of the Reese's eggs in my freezer downstairs so I'm thinking these are going to need to be made very soon.

• I am beyond ready for spring weather all the time.  We had a brief taste of it for the past two days, but today it's chilly again and tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and raw.  I just want it to warm up and stay warm. 

• April vacation is next week and I can.not.wait.  I need a break from this classroom and teaching every day and I know the kids need it too.  Hubs is on vaca too and we are hoping to finish up some things around the house to get ready for the little man.  Hubs also needs to finish splitting and stacking his wood and there are some outside yardwork jobs that also need to get done.  

• I am hoping to make some freezer meals next week to make life easier once the baby arrives.  I have a few pinned that I want to try.  Anyone have any good ones that I should add to my list?

• I just went through my Style Board on Pinterest and every other thing is polka-dotted.  Obsession much?

• I have been trying to think of a relatively inexpensive push present Hubs can get for me.  He wants to get something but we don't want to break the bank here.  I am thinking something with the little man's initials or name...a necklace or bracelet maybe?  I was also thinking a right hand ring might work too.  Any good Etsy shops out there for something like this?

• We pulled our car seat out of the box yesterday and shit got real.  As I wrote on Instagram yesterday, #omgwearehavingababy

• I have to go pick the littles up from library in about 5 minutes and I just don't feel like walking down the hallway.

• My DVR is stressing me out right now.  I have so many shows that I need to watch and I cannot seem to find the time to sit down and watch them.  It seriously gives me agita.

Alright, I'm done rambling.  Off to walk to the library and send these kids home.

The One with the Double Post

I haven't been so great at keeping up with the daily posts for NaBloPoMo.  Call it life getting in the way.  Really I just fall asleep at 7:30 at night and don't have a free minute during the school day to get anything done.

Here is what I planned on writing about yesterday (warning, it's all food related)...

I am dying to make this Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn that I saw on Pinterest.  It has been pinned about a million times so it must be awesome.  I think it may be my after school snack today.

Original image from chef in training.

Speaking of Pinterest, I got scolded by a friend this weekend for my lack of organization on my Food and Drink board!  And it is a hot mess.  My plan for the day after Thanksgiving (because I'm not doing any Black Friday shopping this year) is to get it organized into different categories.  There are so many things I want to make but I get very overwhelmed when I look at it because there is so much going on there.

Uh and while I'm on the recipe discussion, make this Baked French Toast Casserole for Thanksgiving or Christmas morning.  It's uber-easy and oh so delicious.  Plus, it's a Paula Dean recipe which means it will clearly clog your arteries which obviously makes it taste fantastic!

And onto today's post...

I do admit to a lot of dream shopping online for this baby.

I mean, I just can't resist looking at bedding and nursery ideas and clothes and strollers and car seats.  

But I never thought Hubs would indulge.  That is until he saw this...

Original image from here.

Little background on why this toy is significant.  Hubs drives a blue Ford Raptor.  It's his dream vehicle that he worked very hard to get.  He custom designed it and we waited almost six months for it to come in.  It's pretty high on his list of important things.  

So, he sees this Power Wheels replica of his truck in the Walmart ad a few weeks ago and is insisting that we get it for our unborn child.  He is adamant that our child will love it no matter what.  I told him I'd think about it and maybe we could get a deal on it after Christmas.  

But I did have to laugh at his dream shopping for our baby.  It is pretty cute.

Hope everyone has a happy hump day!

The One with the Wednesday Ramblings

So I think I'm going to start a new weekly post that will just be random thoughts/ideas/ramblings about things that are going on with us and may or may not have anything to do with IF.  We'll see how it goes and hopefully it will become a regular post.

• I started reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I'm only a few chapters in and I'm definitely already hooked.  It's got suspense, wit, and some really interesting psychological observations.  I definitely recommend checking it out.

Original image from here.

• We had some people over this past weekend and I tried out some new recipes from Pinterest I had been looking forward to experimenting with.  Want to know what I made?  Okay, good, because I'm sharing anyway.
• I made this Loaded Baked Potato Salad.  Let me start out by saying that I loathe potato salad.  I find it completely disgusting.  That being said, this particular form of potato salad intrigued me and it's now my new go-to cookout recipe.  I ended up changing a few things.  I used a little more sour cream and mayo because it was too dry after it sat for a while.  I also added a little celery salt instead of regular salt.  It was a big hit!
• I decided we needed a second salad and did this Roasted Garlic Pasta Salad.  I pretty much followed the recipe, but would change a few things for next time.  It made a ton of salad, so I would definitely cut the recipe in half next time.  I refused to "roast" garlic in the microwave, so I spent the extra time doing it in the oven.  I think it could have used a little more ricotta.  I did put it some garlic powder because the garlic taste wasn't strong enough for me (but I put garlic in everything, so if that's not your thing, leave it out).

This was the only thing I remembered to snap a quick picture of before it got gobbled up!


• One last one.  I whipped up this Sun-Dried Tomato Spread.  OMG...it was fabulous!  Horrible for you, but fabulous!  Learned a few things on this one too.  Do not buy the sun-dried tomatoes in oil.  It made this yummy dip way too greasy, even for greasy-loving Hubs.  There is a ton of cheese in this dip, so you can definitely cut some out.  Also doesn't need as much cream cheese and mayo.  Next time, I'll probably use less of both.

• Can we talk about my obsession with Pinterest?  I mean, I know this is not news for anyone, but I could spend hours finding new recipes, projects, and clothes.  There's a pretty good chance I won't make, do, or buy most of the things I pin, but a girl can dream right?  Although I really am going to do this iPhone cuteness because it appears to just include printing and cutting which even I can handle at this point.

• I have managed to drag myself out of my funk from a few days ago.  I'm not being Negative Nancy or Positive Patsy.  I'm somewhere in between the two...we'll call her Realistic Reba.  This could really go either way and I have realized there's not a damn thing I can do about it.  I'm (im)patiently waiting for beta day and praying like crazy that we get good news.  If not, we will be okay and figure out what the next step is.  It is beyond my control at this point and even my type-A personality has realized it.

• This is what a full IVF calendar looks like.  And this only goes through last Saturday and doesn't even include this past week.

Remember when it looked like this?  Feels like ages ago.

• School starts next week.  Where the hell did summer go?!  My classroom is pretty much ready to go, but I'm going to head there for a little bit later this morning to sharpen some pencils and check my class list again...there will inevitably be a new kid or two that will cause me to have to re-alphabatize everything.  Grrrr!

• While I am mourning the loss of summer, my fall freak flag is just about ready to fly.  
• There's a good chance my next nail color will be this...

Original image from here.

• I am craving candy corn like crazy (despite my hatred for Halloween...more on that at some point in the future).  This Candy Corn Bark will be making an appearance in our house very soon.
• Oh and how could I forget about my favorite Starbucks winter drink?! But I refuse to pay their exorbitant prices for what amounts to a lot of water with some flavor thrown in, so I was ecstatic when I found this recipe on Pinterest (again with the Pinterest addiction).  It's for Caramel Apple Cider in the crock pot.  Sign me up!
• And we all know that fall is followed immediately by the start of the Christmas obsession.  I skip right over Halloween and Thanksgiving (aka the disgusting stuffing holiday) and move right to the ornaments and pine tree smell.  Can.not.wait.

• I leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from my Pinterest Board.

Original image from here.

Original image from here.

And one last one that is way too true...

Original image from here.

Off to sweat in my classroom for a bit.  

Happy Wednesday!