Sour Cream Noodle Bake

My mom rarely bought Hamburger Helper when I was a kid. But when she did, it was like a little treat reserved for when her and my dad would go on date nights and my brother was in charge of watching me. I loved it when it was just me and my brother. We would watch a movie we both were into - sometimes something scary - find fun ways of entertaining ourselves and he would always cook us dinner.

As an adult, I cannot eat those Helpers from the box anymore. The salt content has me gasping for air and it makes me wonder how I ever choked the stuff down. This here noodle bake is another story. To me, this tastes like a homemade version of the classic Hamburger Helper and it's so simple to prepare, probably even easier than the boxed version.

It's such an easy meal and it goes perfectly with a side salad. So, the next time you're tempted to buy Hamburger Helper, make this instead and be more satisfied without half the salt!

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

(Source: The Pioneer Woman)

1 lb ground beef

1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce

1/2 tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

8 oz egg noodles

1/2 cup sour cream- I used fat free

1 1/4 cup small curd cottage cheese- I used low fat

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground beef in a skillet over med-high heat. Drain fat and then add tomato sauce, salt and black pepper. Stir and simmer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Cook noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of fresh ground pepper. Add to noodles and stir.

To assemble, add half of the noodles to a greased 9x13 baking dish. Top with half of the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half of the grated cheese. Repeat noodles, meat, and cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Honey-Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry

When I was little, sometimes I would wander into the kitchen around the time my mom would make dinner, and when I saw that bright red wok sitting on the kitchen island, I knew what was for dinner - chicken stir-fry! When my mom made stir-fry, it wasn't just chicken, rice, and veggies. Sometimes she would make some yabisoka noodles to go with it, and I can remember, on an even rarer occasion, she made tofu with it. My brother and I teased her like crazy for that one. Tofu was not a typical protein in our home.

When I first began cooking, chicken stir-fry was a great dinner for my family. At the time, I took the grocery store's help and bough *gulp* the frozen pre-packaged stir-fry veggie mix. As I got more comfortable in the kitchen, the pre-packaged stuff was the first thing to go and was replaced by fresh vegetables. The flavor and brightness couldn't be beat.

This is one of our favorite, easy, and cheap go to dinners when I'm trying to cut a corner in our grocery shopping. If easy, cheap, and dare I forget to mention delicious hasn't sold you on this dinner yet, how about this - it's figure friendly, too. Does it get better than that?

Honey-Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry

Adapted from Taste of Home

Servings: approx 4

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Total Time: 30 min

Ingredients

1/4 cup honey

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp teriyaki marinade

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp ground ginger

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 TB oil ( we used olive oil)

1 bell pepper any color (not pictured)

1-2 carrots, peeled and cut into bite size pieces

1 head broccoli, cut into short florets

1 small zucchini cut into bite sized pieces

1 1/2 cups snow peas

1 can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained

4-6 cups hot cooked rice

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the honey, soy sauce, teriyaki, lemon juice, and ginger; set aside. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. 
2. In a large skillet or wok, stir-fry chicken in oil for 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned. Add vegetables and water chestnuts; sir-fry 3-4 minutes longer until vegetables are crisp-tender. 
3. Stir honey mixture and stir into cooked chicken mixture. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until heated through and chicken juices run clear. 
4. Serve with rice.

Nutrition

About 1 1/4 cup of chicken mixture and 1/2 cup of rice equals out to be around 420 calories per serving.

Tuesday's Tidings

1. So my rib fracture is worse. I think I pulled another muscle somehow yesterday. I am laid up in bed and watching movies. I'm watching, "The Help" for the 2nd time now. Next up, Twilight series!

2. Gracie has been such a big help to me. I'm grateful and yet sad at the same time if that makes sense. She is taking over making some lunches, getting breakfast ready, and even helping me get dressed. I don't want her doing these things because it truly shows how much she is growing up. But, I'm so grateful for the help.

3. I was watching, "The Help" last night and I got the biggest craving for fried chicken. I mean it's inevitable right, I mean they only mention fried chicken half of dozen times. What do you expect a preggo woman to do? Not get a craving?? So Josh was so sweet. He picked up fried chicken on the way home, made biscuit and picked up a cute little slaw salad and brought it to me on a tray in bed. I cried I was so touched. And then I yelped in pain because crying hurts to much.

4.  Today was my last day of antibiotics. I'm coughing less and less. I'm taking that as a sign I'm getting better. But I'm going to *knock on wood* just to be on the safe side.  My cough, that is, not the rib pain.

5. Josh and I watched "Thor" the other night. It was better than Prince of Persia, I will say that much.

6. Craiglist has come through again for me. I found the same exact bunk bed that Josh and I were going buy brand new for way way way less and it came with practically new mattresses too! Josh and his brother Jeff spent 4 hours putting it together this weekend and it is awesome! The girls love it.

7. As if a bunk bed wasn't cool enough, my dad helped Josh install our a/c unit for the bedroom too. I am one lucky girl! My mom cleaned my bathroom for me too. Now that is love!

8.  It's amazing how being pregnant effects my hot and cold temps. I am notoriously always cold. But I'm always so warm now. I kick the blankets off me at night and the ceiling fan is always going.  Anyone else have this problem?

9. I got to hear our little nuggets heartbeat on Friday at my Dr. Appt. It always amazes me. It's such a beautiful sound. I always feel like the poster child for being a pregnant woman while I'm laying down on the exam table listening to the heartbeat. As soon as that doppler finds the music, tears instantly spring to my eyes and I get all weepy. I can't help myself when I think of the beauty growing inside me.

10. Can you believe I never wanted children? It's amazing how love changes you.

Weekly Menu Fail

I had a fabulous menu all planned. I had been working on it all week. It was going to be a diverse and exciting menu of new dinners I had yet to make before. I was excited. Did you notice the key word there..."WAS" yeah, I was excited. Now...I'm hung up in bed with a rib fracture. Oh, lucky me!

How the heck did a rib fracture happen you may be wondering? Well, it's kind of a not so funny story. Unfortunately, I can't I defended the honor of anyone close to me or did any kind of heroine act. Nope, what happened to me was I just coughed, sneezed, and blew my nose to the point where my body said, nope...can't take this abuse any longer and decided to give out on me.

You may remember that I mentioned that I was suffering from this awful cough that's been going around. Thursday morning, (last week) I woke up fine and dandy coughing up a storm as usual. I got dressed and walked downstairs, reached for the cereal box and OUCH! I was suddenly overcome with this excruciating pain, so bad, I could cry! I thought it would go away, but I woke up the following morning and the pain was still there. So I did what any girl would do. I called my Mommy to whine and complain and it was her that suggested that maybe I pulled a muscle or cracked a rib and that if I was in so much pain, I should call my dr., so begrudgingly I did. I was able to see a very sweet midwife who told me that she thought it could be a fracture and gave me antibiotics to help get rid of the cough and Tylenol with Codeine so I could sleep at night. However, if this doesn't get better, they want to do an x-ray of my chest and lungs, UGH!!! REALLY?!

So I was told to take it easy and not do a whole lot because they don't want the rib or the cough aggravated because it could slow down the healing time. Josh is of course taking this to a whole new level. He's allowing me to lay in bed or walk around downstairs and do a few things around the house, but that's it. So...I'm laying in bed, writing this right now. I just finished my soap opera and the good news is, I actually finished my coffee without reheating my coffee once!!! And so far, I haven't had to many coughing fits. Dare I hope that my cough is slowly going away??

As far as the menu goes, Josh did all the grocery shopping yesterday and DID NOT follow my list at all. Instead, he picked up some things that would allow him to cook some easy dinners for the week. My hope is that next week, I will be back with a menu and functioning a little bit better and able to cook and bake.

XOXO
Chels

The Banzai Burger ( Our Version of Red Robin's)

The first time I had ever tasted Red Robin's Banzai Burger was back in December for my birthday when I got my freebie burger. Josh and I always split their burgers because it just proves to be too much food for both of us. But I'm the type of person who always, and I mean ALWAYS gets the same thing when I go to a restaurant I'm familiar with. Josh is my better half and as my better half, he is constantly pushing me to try and do new things...and sometimes that means pushing my taste buds in a direction they wouldn't normally go. It was love at first bite. It was probably the first time I wished I hadn't split my birthday burger with my man, because I could of easily devoured the second half of that burger.

Fast forward to several months later and bam! I'm pregnant, which means, "Hello Pregnancy Cravings!" Pregnancy cravings are a funny thing. Josh and I were driving to Ikea one afternoon and I was hinting to Josh about how much I was craving Red Robin's banzai burger. Granted, at the same time I was craving that burger, I was also gearing up to satisfy my other craving at the moment - Ikea's swedish meatballs! YUM. But, we're talking burgers, not meatballs.

My husband and father to be for the third time is an incredible man. He came home from running our afternoon full of errands and got started working on dinner and would not tell me what he was making. Eventually, I was able to figure it out, but Josh nailed it with this burger! He hit every component perfectly in this succulently layered burger.

As kind of a taste test, we made this burger for my parents on Memorial Day. Now my parents like burgers, but nothing huge or too fancy. They are pretty simple with their burgers. But to mine and Josh's surprise, my parents inhaled their burgers so fast and went on and on about how surprised they were that they liked it so much and actually ate all of it! To get my parents stamp of approval on one of our burgers, that's a huge compliment.

I guess you know what you're going to be making on your next cook out - this burger, right here!

Banzai Burger

Serves 4

1 lb ground beef (85/15)

1 can Dole pineapple slices

4 hamburger buns

4 slices medium cheddar cheese

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

1/4 cup teriyaki marinade

2 medium size tomatoes

Mayonnaise

In medium bowl, combine 1-3 tablespoons teriyaki marinade with thawed ground beef. Depending on the texture and moisture of the beef you have, you may need more or less. Start with one tablespoon, and work the sauce into the meat with your hands until the meet is juicy, but not soggy. Divide beef into four equal-size portions and form into balls. Set each ball on an individual sheet of burger paper, and form using a burger press (for best results). If you don't have burger paper or a burger press, you can form using your hands, but the burger press will produce the most consistent results. Set aside.

Open can of pineapple slices and drain juice. Reserve drained juice for basting burgers during grilling. Slice tomatoes to medium thickness and chop lettuce into small pieces.

Preheat grill to high heat, and then reduce to medium. Oil grill grate, and then place burgers directly onto grill. Depending on burger thickness, grill approximately four minutes per side, flipping once, or until an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees is met. Baste burgers with remaining teriyaki marinade and reserved pineapple juice periodically during grilling. In final two minutes of grilling, top each burger with a slice of cheddar cheese, and add pineapple slices to grilling surface. Grill pineapple one minute per side. For this recipe, I do not recommend grilling the buns (the cool, soft bun and cold, crunchy lettuce contrast nicely with the hot, juicy burger and grilled fruit).

Put mayonnaise on buns and serve immediately, building in this order: bottom bun, mayonnaise, burger, cheese, tomato, two pineapple slices, chilled lettuce, mayonnaise, top bun. Enjoy!

Pesto, Ricotta, and Grape Tomato Pizza

It has taken Josh and I a couple of years to really get comfortable making our own pizza dough. Now that we've perfected that recipe, it's time to play with flavors, and we love playing with pizza flavors. We really should post more of our pizza recipes because there have been so many, but by the time the pizza comes out of the oven for picture taking, the light is gone and our stomachs are growling. That's a very bad combination. But as luck would have it, we got our act together early enough to share this amazing pizza with all of you.

This pizza is glorious! Between the delicious pesto you top the pizza with to the browned mozzarella, your stomach is well aware it's in for a treat. You will find yourself watching the hands of the clock slowly tick by while you wait for this pizza to come out of the oven.

My only suggestion when making this pizza, that Tina (from My Life as a Mrs.) didn't do when she created it, is choosing which tomatoes to use. Maybe in her area of the world, the cherry tomatoes are small. In my area, they are huge. So when Josh sent me to the store to grab the cherry and not the grape, I was hesitant, but I went with it. I would suggest buying whatever tomato happens to be the smaller of the two, because the cherry tomatoes on our pizza are quite large. When I went to take bites of my pizza, I actually had to end up cutting the tomatoes in half, which really ruins the purpose of using a whole tomato on a pizza since it's supposed to pop in your mouth. These cherry tomatoes do indeed pop, but it's more of a pop than I bargained for, lol! Live and learn right? So now that I've prepared you properly for when you venture out to find the perfect small tomato to top this pizza with, you're set to go. Make this pizza. I promise, it's so good, it might make your heart stop, or at least skip a beat! ;)

Pesto, Ricotta, and Grape Tomato Pizza

Source: My Life as a Mrs. 

1lb pizza dough

1/3-1/2 cup pesto

8 ounces mozzarella, shredded

3-4 ounces ricotta cheese

1 cup grape tomatoes

flour for dusting

cornmeal, for the pizza stone

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees with the pizza stone in the oven. Roll dough out into a large circle, or two smaller circles if you have a smaller pizza stone. 

Sprinkle pre-heated pizza stone with cornmeal and carefully place pizza dough on the stone and par bake it for 4-6 minutes. Carefully remove the crust from the oven using a pizza peel. Spread pesto over the entire pizza crust in an even thin layer. Sprinkle with fresh mozzarella, and scoop the ricotta evenly over the cheese using a small cookie scoop or spoon. Evenly spread tomatoes on top. 

Bake at 425 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly and tomatoes have begun to burst (8-12 minutes). If the crust is getting to dark, turn the heat down to 400 degrees. Remove from oven and serve!

Tuesday's Tidings

1. I made it through the week with Grace gone camping. Eden and I had a lot of fun together and I tried really hard to make it a fun time even though her best friend was gone. On Friday, we did some Father's Day shopping combined with a Mommy/Daughter Date because has been begging me to take her one. So we split a cinnamon roll from Cinnabon and she got a Jamba Juice and she wouldn't share with me.

My sister in law says she looks like Gollum here. LOL, "My Precious!"

2.  While we were out Father's Day shopping I perused through the kitchen section of Target because I can't resist that section. I'm in love with these ramekins in that color. They had so many cute new kitchen things there and I wanted to buy it all. But, I was so good. I went to Target and ONLY bought the items that were on my list. I think this may of been the 1st time ever that I've done that, haha!

3. This is my last week of the 1st trimester. It's kind of sad to me. I feel like in the past, this time just dragged on by, but this pregnancy is going by way to fast. And so far, it's been so easy, that I'm loving every second of it. But...soon enough we will hopefully be finding out what this little baby cakes is!

4. Speaking of pregnancy, I've been building onto my maternity wardrobe. Even though I'm not wearing maternity clothes yet, I will be probably very soon and though I was pregnant with Eden in the summer, I didn't invest in to many pieces then because she was born in August. With me having to deal with the summer heat with out A/C throughout most of our house and going on vacation to Central Oregon in September...I've been needing some summer clothes. And I've been finding pieces here and there that are gently used or brand new with tags still on for almost nothing. I'm beyond thrilled. I actually love Maternity Clothes shopping and I love it even more when I don't have to spend much money!!!

5. My tomato plant is getting flowers! YAY!!!

6. I feel so dumb. I had no idea that last Sunday was the season finale of Mad Men. And I'm so mad too, because they take forever in getting the new season out to all of us. This season was excellent!!!

7. It's raining right now and I'm thrilled! The rain not only brings me some relief from my allergy attacks, but also it waters my plants so that I don't have to, bwhahaha!

8. Am I the only one who can't use a regular can opener?

9. So I've been using the same old mascara for way to long. Since, February I think. I finally bought a new one the other day and grr, I accidentally grabbed waterproof! Yeah, I had to figure that one out the hard way as I scrubbed my eye lashes to death to get the black stuff off. So annoying!

10. I adore craigslist!

Weekly Menu 6/18-6/24

I have to apologize for not posting last week. I had every intention of posting. In fact, I had several posts ready to go. I just never got around to it. You can blame it on my pregnancy hormones, this cough I'm STILL battling, and now...drum roll please....allergies have been thrown into the mix! I'm just a ball of fun right now.

Despite that fact that I'm still dealing with all of the above, I'm not going to let it get in the way this week. Grace is back home from her week of camping and Eden has her buddy back. So all is good in my world again. I have both my babes under my roof and that makes me a happy mommy, even if I look and feel miserable, I promise, there is happiness bursting inside me.

Last week, I had typed up our menu for the week. Would you believe we only ended up cooking one of those nights? Something came up every night and we were either given food or had the opportunity to be with family. So we only had one family dinner around the dinner table. I got a week off, so I'm not complaining, lol!

Monday

Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with rice

Tuesday

My mom's Lasagna with a garden salad and garlic bread

Wednesday

BLT's with fruit on the side

Thursday

Oriental Chicken Salad

Friday

Garlic Roast Chicken with Veggies and Potatoes

Saturday

Caprese Pizza

Sunday

Maybe leftovers or Josh will get inspired and make something :)

Desserts/Etc

Devils Food Cake Cookies

Cheese Blintzes

Weekly Menu 6/11-6/17

This is not my typical week in the kitchen. Grace has left today to go camping for the week with my parents and like I've said many times in the past, cooking without her, isn't fun. So Josh and I are trying to plan easy nights, because we don't want to make a ton of food. That being said, this week is also a little up and down. Josh has a dinner meeting Wednesday night, so it's just going to be me and Edie and I have no idea what to make or what my craving will be for that night.

I guess this should be preparing me for when Grace and Eden leave me to go camping for another week with my parents. Josh and I are already freaking out slightly about what we're going to do with ourselves. For 8 years, we've always has our babies with us, except for a few weeks here and there in the past when it was just Grace and Josh and I went on a few vacations without her. But we've never been without both kids for more than a night. I don't know what to do! I feel like I should be celebrating being childless for a week, but for me, it's kind of lonely. Other than going to the gym while it's still light out, I'm not sure what I'll do to occupy myself during the day. At least Josh has to go to work. I'm a stay at home mom...so where does that leave me? I guess I could go shopping one day. But, that's not to exciting, and because it's going to be full on summer when they are both gone, I can't do a lot of baking or cooking (unless it's a lot of no bake) because we don't have air conditioning...well except in our bedroom. I'm going to have to find some activities to keep myself entertained with I guess. Any suggestions? I don't want to do anything to fun because I know I'll just want to share it with Josh. Sooo, what's a pregnant girl to do with herself?

Monday

BBQ Chicken with corn on the cob and sweet potatoes

Tuesday

BLT's 

Wednesday

Josh is gone for dinner, soooo....

Thursday

Wraps of some kind

Friday

Panini's of some kind

Saturday

We will grill something...not sure what tho

Sunday

(Father's Day)

 I don't know what we're doing for dinner...I think hanging with our families

Desserts/etc

Father's Day Pies- not sure what kind yet..whatever Josh wants

Chocolate Chip Cookies for my dad

Rigatoni with Ricotta

I enjoyed watching the Rachael Ray Show episode with Giada where she cooked her homemade marinara sauce so much, that I had to make another recipe from the show, this time by Rachael herself. Rachael was modernizing a pasta recipe that her mom's family used to make and it looked so good, I was drooling the entire time. How can you go wrong with browned mozzarella, a tomato/white cheese sauce, and fresh basil? You can't!

This dish was devoured by my family. My girls kept telling me how good it was and that I should make it every night. Josh even loved it, despite the peas in it, which I really enjoyed. I was happy to see that there was enough for leftovers, which suited us well when it reheated beautifully, a life saver for Josh and I when we didn't want to cook later in the week.

If you're looking for a fresh modern twist on pasta - this is the dinner for you!

Rigatoni with Ricotta

Source: The Rachael Ray Show

2 TB evoo

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 32 oz can whole San Marzano Tomatoes ( I couldn't find these in my store, so I used whole tomatoes and added a tiny bit of sugar)

1 small onion, peeled and halved

a few leaves of torn basil

1 fresh bay leaf

salt and pepper

2 TB butter

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

3 TB fresh thyme, finely chopped

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1/4 cup mint, finely chopped

2 tsp lemon zest

1 ball fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded 

1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup frozen peas-unthawed

1 pound box rigatoni

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

In a saucepan, heat evoo over medium to medium-high heat. Add butter and melt. When it starts to foam, add garlic, stir a minutes and add tomatoes, mashing them up. Add onion, basil, and bay. Season with salt and pepper; simmer 30 minutes over low heat. Remove onion. Add butter to sauce to finish. 

Combine ricotta, salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, mint, lemon zest, half of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan. 

Salt pasta water. Boil rigatoni for about 7-8 minutes, under cooking it just a bit. Reserve 1 cup of starchy cooking water. Drain pasta and return to hot pot, stir in ricotta mixture, peas, and starchy cooking water to combine as needed. Transfer to a baking dish. 

Pour red sauce evenly over the top of pasta in baking dish, top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Bake until bubbly and cheese is browned, 15-18 minutes. 

Cherry Vanilla White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love to make cookies. I know I've talked about my mom always having freshly baked cookies in our house a million times, but it's true, she did. As much as I love to bake cookies, I don't always want them in my house, especially now that I'm pregnant. So what do I do when I want to bake, but not eat the whole jar of cookies? Give them away! So that's what I did. I set to work baking cookies for Josh's staff.

These cookies are such a flavor combo. Between the sweetness of the vanilla and chocolate chips and the tartness of the dried cherries, its a match made in heaven. Apparently, Josh's staff thought so too, because my dear hubby came home from work that evening with a thank you card signed by everyone thanking me for the cookies. I even got a request for a batch of peanut butter cookies next time. So I guess I've got some homework now, finding a delicious peanut butter cookie recipe that I have yet to make.

Cherry Vanilla White Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Source: Two Peas and their Pod)

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 (3.4 ounce) pkg vanilla instant pudding mix

2 large eggs

1 TB vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups dried cherries

2 cups white chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.

Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add in pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the dried cherries and white chocolate chips. 

Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slightly golden and set. Remove cookies from oven and let cool for about 2 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. 

Enjoy with a glass of cold milk!

Tuesday's Tidings

1. Last night, I slept on the couch. Not for the reasons you might think. My husband and I have a great marriage. But right now, we're both plagued with horrible coughs. Josh has a busy week this week and I was scared my coughing and restlessness would interfere with solid night's rest for him. So I went to the couch and tried to sleep. I say tried, because something possessed our cat last night to go insane and chase things, knock over Grace's vase with her birthday rose, spilling water all over the floor, and about a million other things. I feel like a zombie this morning. And to top it all, my dear hubby ended up sleeping pretty horrible too.

2. I haven't been to the gym in 10 days! UGH! I feel so awful about that! I like going to the gym because I feel so good afterwards and I like taking care of my body, and though I know nothing bad is going to happen because it hasn't worked out, it makes me mad, because now, with this awful cough and my sleepless nights I've been dealing with, I know I'm at risk at getting even more run down and going to the gym always compromises my immune system (which isn't that great to begin with). So...I'm looking into prenatal yoga dvd's. Does anyone have any good recommendations of some yoga/pilates prenatal dvd's that will get the heart rate up for the days when I can't make it to the gym? I would love suggestions.

3. I've started recording a new show on tv. It's called "Breaking Pointe," anyone heard about it? It about a ballet company in Salt Lake City and it's incredibly fascinating. Listening to the dancers talk about how serious they are about their passion, but also what they are willing to give up to help them become the best, only strengthens my position on quitting ballet all those years ago. I think when your working in that kind of industry, you have to choose what is more important. Dance or having a life outside of the bar...and for me, I needed my life.

4. It's June and we have had to turn the heat on in the house. It rained all night. Which means I got out of my evening allergy attack while watering my flowers. It's give and take ya know.

5. My current pregnancy craving is Honey Nut Cheerios with ice cold milk and granny smith apple slices with mozzarella cheese wrapped around them. It's so so good! I can't wait for my lunch and snack time so I can have more, lol!

6. When I first became pregnant with my oldest child, I was sick all the time. I couldn't cook in my kitchen (not that at the time I did a whole lot of cooking) without getting sick, especially when browning beef. Unfortunately, this is a pregnancy curse that has stuck with me ever since, even when I'm not pregnant. Last night, I had to brown some beef and I wanted to die. Now I remember why I rarely ever cook with it, lol!

7. Grace, my oldest, is going camping next week. I'm slightly jealous. My parents are fun people to camp with and the food they make isn't normal camping food. I mean they do the hot dogs thing, but my mom also cooks huge meals like Enchiladas and and lasagna because they have a 5th wheel. I adore my mom's cooking and I'm honestly jealous that my daughter gets to have it, lol! Isn't that a silly thing to be jealous of?

8. Last week I asked Josh how far he would travel to satisfy my pregnancy cravings. He said,"Oh about 10-15 miles away. Why, what are you craving?" I told him I was craving pizza. But not just any pizza. Pizza a Fetta from Cannon Beach, which is like almost 2 hours away. He just laughed at me. :(

9. I think I need to plan a trip to the beach, just for the day and just for that slice of pizza! Okay, maybe a whole box of pizza. Just for me.

10. I saw these cookies last night on pinterest and I cannot wait for Fall now! Who's with me!!

Weekly Menu 6/4-6/10

Well, my weekend went by fast. How about yours? We let Grace have her birthday slumber party on Saturday and the house was filled with girls! They played dress-up, played board games, barbies, grocery store, and watched movies and ate a lot of sweets. Sunday afternoon rolled around and we were all wiped out. So after church, the girls took a nap and Josh and I relaxed in bed with snacks and watched Grimm ( because we are wayy behind).
Unfortunately, Josh is also sick. He's caught this awful coughing virus that's going around like crazy. It's like a cold but with an intense cough that doesn't let up. I'm kind of scared he's going to cough up a lung soon. He's on antibiotics, but they don't seem to be helping much, so I think he'll be going back to the dr. this week. The girls have the cough as well, but allergies instead of a cold...and now it looks like I've got the cough too. I've been dealing with allergy symptoms as well, so I'm not sure if I have what Josh has. I certainly don't feel like he does. I'm still pretty functional, which is good, because two parents down for the count is no bueno.
I can't believe it's June! I feel like May just kind of hung on and never ended and I really felt like last week, despite it being a holiday weekend and Josh not working on Monday that the week was never join to end either. To me, it felt like May just wasn't ready to let, and even though summer is right around the corner, Spring is hanging on for dear life. Our forecast for the week is only predicting a few days without some rain this week, which bums me out. But thankfully, I planned my menu accordingly.

Monday

Sour Cream Noodle Bake with a side salad

Tuesday

Chicken Stir Fry with rice

Wednesday

Egg McMuffins with fresh fruit

Thursday

Leftover Night

Friday

Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with a side taco salad

Saturday

BBQ Chicken Drumsticks with baked potatoes and corn on the cob

Sunday

Homemade Pizza- Caprese style

Desserts and Other:

Devils Food Cake Cookies

Cheese Blintzes

Homemade Croutons