Seared Scallops with White Beans and Bacon

Seared Scallops with White Beans and Bacon
serves 4
recipe found in Women's Health, December 2011

Tasty seafood dish full of protein

2 strips bacon, chopped into small pieces

1/2 red onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 cans white beans (14 oz each), rinsed and drained

4 cups baby spinach

1 lb large sea scallops

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp butter

juice of 1 lemon

1. Heat a medium saucepan on low, and cook the bacon until it begins to crisp. Pour off some of the bacon fat and add the onion and garlic. Saute them until the onion is soft and translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the white beans and spinach; cook until the beans are hot and the spinach is wilted. Keep warm.

2. Heat a large cast-iron skillet or saute pan on medium high. Blot the scallops dry with a paper towel and season them on both sides with salt and pepper. Add the butter to the pan. After it melts, add the scallops. Sear them 2 to 3 minutes on each side until they're deeply caramelized.

3. Before serving, add the lemon juice to the beans, along with some salt and pepper. Divide the beans among four warm bowls or plates and top with scallops.

Karl's reaction: "It smells fishy in here. This is actually really good though, babe. The bacon makes this dish."

My take: I didn't want to spend $26 on 6 scallops so I instead bought a big bag of small frozen ones. They took a lot longer to cook than 2-3 minutes on each side. Maybe I did something wrong but this dish turned out really good. I would make again. Lots of flavor!

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Baby Showers, Day Care and More - Month 6

22 weeks!

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily. (www.babycenter.com)                 

Me at 22 weeks!

It’s been a great week. I’ve been feeling really good! I played my second to last volleyball game on Monday at 9:15 and wasn’t too tired the next day, and playing even cured my headache. Yay! I try to avoid taking any Tylenol at all anymore. I’ve been trying to get into the gym more than once a week but it is hard and I wonder how this is going to be once baby is born, unless I get up at 4 or 5  in the morning to workout… There’s always something going on, or because it’s so dark out when I get off work, I want to get home and hang out with Karl. But after my hefty weight gain last month, I know I need to make working out more of a priority.

My bump is clearly visible and I’m feeling our baby kick tons more, which really is such a cool feeling. I have noticed I’m going to the bathroom a lot more. My lower region just feels heavier, if that makes sense? I feel like the baby either sits on my left side, which feels like my skin is being painfully stretched or I feel like he/she sits on my bladder, adding lots of pressure down there.

My first shower invites have been sent out (and they are CUTE!). Super excited to hear that some of my greatest friends and awesome family will be coming (and I even missed some of these friends/family's showers!). I have the greatest support system, I swear. Anyway, I can’t wait. I have a total of three showers planned. All three are currently happening before baby is born. I’m totally okay with that. But a few people have voiced their opinion that I need to have a shower after the baby is born so I get better stuff since we aren’t finding out baby’s gender. ??? But to me, it's just mainly about getting cuter clothes...right?

But my thinking is what if we have a girl and she doesn’t like pink? Or what if we have a boy and he gets sick of all blue? And aren’t there items that are a little more important than clothes?? I just went for non-gender specific items and I love all the stuff we registered for. We are planning on having more than one, so the best advice I received was "get neutral colors when it comes to the bigger items like car seat, crib, stroller, pack n play, etc., because you never know what baby number two will be". It seems like babies grow out of the clothes so quickly… I think I’m going to stick to the three showers before.

I know everyone wants to meet baby (and they will!), but I also hear mom is pretty tired those first four weeks and the last thing I’ll want to do is get ready for a shower when I'm leaking, tired, nursing and bleeding. Plus, there’s going the be announcements to get out and the baptism to get ready for too! A shower after means organizing the nursery even more when more stuff comes in, and when I'm totally exhausted. Seems like more work to me...I don’t know?

My next battle is day care. More people voiced their opinion that I need to get my act together and get going. Hard to do when I’m not even holding our precious little bundle and it really makes me sick thinking about handing off our baby to someone even before he/she is born. Jeez! But if all goes well and baby is on time, April 16 will be the day I go on maternity leave. I plan on taking 12 weeks. That means I go back to my lovely job July 9.

Side view at 22 weeks!

The one day care I do trust is attached to our church. Since I worked at our church for four years when I first moved to Minnesota, I really became familiar with the Early Learning Center and the staff. I know they are awesome. I know they can be trusted. They are ranked super high and offer great values and tons of love. However, it’s not the most ideal location for us (meaning we have to cross the dreaded 169 Bloomington Ferry Bridge, which is usually backed up for miles) and it is VERY expensive. Like we’re talking another mortgage payment. How on earth do people afford day care???

In the meantime, I joined a Bible Study at my church and met this wonderful new friend. She has three beautiful children and I just felt like I needed to know her more. Soon we became friends on Facebook and she mentioned something about being a stay-at-home mom and loving life. I jokingly asked if she’d like to take on one more. And well… a nice little friendship was born! We met for hot chocolate and tea last night and she was super open and honest about motherhood and all the changes and even brought her youngest. I felt an instant connection with her and her strength and vision for life and her kids blew me away. She reminded me it's OK to have crazy thoughts right now. Sometimes I'll be at my desk at work and wonder what the heck I'm doing. Can I do this?

She also gets that kids need structure, consistency and discipline - something my mom keeps reminding me is very important. Soon we were talking about day care. She said she would love to watch our little one, but there was no pressure to go with her or to come up with an answer. All I know is I left feeling really good. Like God was working behind the scenes there. I swear such great things have come out of our church. So we’ll see!!!

And again, I get unsolicited advice in this area too...with people telling me their views on in-home versus a center. People will try to scare the daylights out of you. I already have HUGE trust issues from what happened to my best friend's baby. But I know I can't stop trusting everyone I come in contact with - life would be pretty hard then. Bottom line: there are pros and cons for both and everyone has different needs and wants and ideas on what they'd like their family structure to be. And I say, they can make their own decision on that. And I'm going to go with my gut on this one. 

Just really loving life! Oh, and I really need to get on those Christmas cards...

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Baby Thoughts, Nursery and Names - Entering Month 6

week 21

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.      

Last night Karl and I had this fabulous apple cheddar salad and about ten minutes later, Baby K was kicking like crazy as we were snuggled on the couch watching The Biggest Loser. I sure hope there wasn't arsenic or something in the apple dressing with all this bad talk about apple cider. But it was pretty awesome to feel baby go wild! I have noticed I'm feeling baby move more and more, which makes me smile.

Baby K's nursery is going to have a little Africa in it!

I feel like this Christmas is extra special because I have a little miracle growing inside of me. It's weird. I kind of don't even mind the weather. I mean, it's going to get down to 0 degrees tonight. I just feel happy...a lot. I look at things differently. Things that would worry me normally (buying Christmas presents, stressing about Christmas cards, etc.), just doesn't really matter right now. There are other things going on! If I get them done, I get them done, if not...oh well.

I do notice I'm tired a lot. My mom was worried over the weekend because I'm not normally a tired person. I'm the one with loads of energy wanting to go for a run or wanting to play volleyball for hours on end, but lately, I just want to nap. I think it's because I've been getting up at least 3-5 times a night to go to the bathroom. Then, I tend to get up every time I roll over, so that's another handful of times. To me, that sounds like someone with sleep apnea, ya know? So of course I should be tired. Not to mention I'm creating life - that can take a lot out of someone!

Another thing I've noticed is the weight gain. Dear Lord. I gained seven pounds in ONE month. I'm still in the same maternity jeans....so that's good, right? I kind of gigged at the doctor's but he looked at me and said, "YOU ARE PREGNANT. And trust me...you are one of the very few normal ones. And I'm serious."

His words didn't totally sink in until we walked out into the waiting area and two women from the Shakopee Women's Prison were sitting with their guards, very pregnant and big. So yes, things could be worse...

Our five month check up went great. Baby's heart was super fast this time. I keep thinking we're having a boy, but I don't know how many friends have told me they swore up and down they were having a boy and found out it was a girl! So, I can see that happening to us too. I really don't care. I just want HEALTHY, and a baby with personality!

Right now we're thinking of names. No, we're not doing anything weird like Apple, Owlie or Cockadoo. We're sticking with pretty traditional names. Those will be determined in April!

My mom and I worked on our shower invites for my first shower in Illinois!! She sent them out yesterday. They were so stinken cute. They reflect what the nursery is going to look like. We're turning one of our guest bedrooms into an African safari (now you know why there are animal pics pasted throughout this post) since two Christmases ago my family and I flew out to visit my younger brother and sister in law in South Africa. What a trip of a lifetime. There'll be little lion cubs and giraffes and all that fun stuff!! I can't wait. Of course there will pictures after it's completed.

         

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20-week ultrasound - Month 5

week 20
You're at the halfway mark — congratulations! Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (The way your baby is measured changes now.) He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (although some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery). 

We are halfway!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!!! Better yet, Karl and I have the ultrasound today at 3:45 and it's FRIDAY!!! EVEN better, my parents and Karl's parents are coming to see Baby K too!!! My mom never had an ultrasound when she was pregnant with us and was never able to see us in action in her womb, so I thought this would be pretty fun for her.

I just can't wait to see Baby K. I feel him/her kicking around like crazy lately and I just want to see what's going on there.

(back writing on Monday, Dec. 5)

The ultrasound wasn't down at 3:45.
I know.

You should've felt my heart drop, or at least heard it... I almost cried when the woman at the front desk told me that they didn't have us down.
Here we were, totally excited, and both sets of parents were in the room waiting, and we were told...."sorry, you're not down."   

Say what!??!?! But, I told myself that we'd still get the ultrasound and maybe this just had to be this way. So we rescheduled for 8 p.m. that night. I grabbed my $5 Target gift card from St. Francis for all the scheduling mishap and instead we went to Dangerfields for Happy Hour and dinner. Then Karl and my mom did some wine tasting by the house and we were off to the hospital again. This time the place was dead - we were the last appointment of the day. I suppose this worked out in our benefit because the tech worked on me extra hard and spent over an hour getting pictures, video and 3-D pics.

But low and behold...darn Baby K wouldn't turn for us, so the tech made me get up and empty my bladder and then she made me flip on my side, turn over, back on my back, she tilted me upside down and then she moved the little Doppler thing over and around my belly trying to get Baby K to move!!!
Then...get this...little adorable Baby K yawned for us, like we were boring him/her.

The tech (Sam) said Baby K was the most stubborn baby she's had in a long time. Greeeaaat. Does this mean Baby K is going to be a May baby instead or something? Aries or Taurus? Oh boy, oh boy!
But finally....FINALLY Baby K moved and Sam was able to get a full on view of his/her adorable healthy face and he/she SMILED!!!!! He/she looks perfect with his/her 138 beats per minute healthy-looking, strong heart. And Sam said she knew immediately what we're having, but she didn't spill like we had asked her not to. She was good. Both grandpas were waiting to find out what the gender was, and I'm pretty sure my dad was willing to pay her off to find out!!! Not a word!

April 16th it is! In the meantime, check out this little cutie pie in action (the best video is too large to upload). I can't WAIT to meet him/her!!!! I personally think baby is a he.... :)
  

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Girlfriends' Guide to Baby Gear - Month 5

week 20

I think my friends on Facebook and Twitter were getting annoyed with me asking for the best strollers and baby products out there. Finally two friends suggested I go out and get The Girlfriend's Guide to Baby Gear by Vicki Iovine. So I did.

Okay, great advice. This book has been wonderful because after reading it, I realized there are many things I don't need. Plus, things I thought I needed that are totally not safe (i.e. a lot of borrowed items from family, friends, garage sales, etc.) and this book names off the really great products that have busy mom's talking.

For instance, I'm not a mom (yet). I have no clue how having a baby is going to add to my already crazy, busy life, but this book helps. It reminds you that most of the time you'll have maybe one hand free, so why get the crib that requires two? The book was written by moms who have already been there, done that.

For instance, I have a really hard time picking up packaged food right now in the baby food section thinking, "I'm going to feed our baby something that has a shelf life of a couple years???" I don't even make those types of packaged foods for Karl and myself to eat. So I was really excited to come across the site Kid Co Inc, thanks to the book. I will be purchasing this awesome Baby Food Mill for sure. And with luck, I realized they are sold in Edina at Amma Parenting Center! Will be checking out this store.

One other thing is a lot of people will offer to lend you their stuff, but there are always recalls. Tons and tons of recalls and big time safety issues. It's a MUST to buy a brand new car seat and crib. Though expensive, these are where a lot of injuries happen and you just don't mess around. Also, I read that most of the cribs sold at places most of us register at are kind of, uh, crap... Sure, the book was written in 2003, and maybe these stores have improved the quality of their products, but I'm not sure I want to risk it. I will need to venture out and focus on department stores or furniture stores and look for labels like, Child Craft, Legacy, Simmons, Sorelle, Morigeau-Lepine, Pali and Ragazzi. So that'll be our next project. Maybe I'll be taking grandma for a little shopping trip when she and grandpa are here next. :)

Things that I registered for that I should take off - (However, I'm really getting fed up with Target's website. This is the third time I can't get to our registry to make changes to it.)

• Car seat toy bar (dangerous)
• Any car seat head and seat padding (they test these things without the padding for a reason)
• Wipe warmer (kind of a waste)
• Powder (bad for baby's lungs)
• Jumper that hangs from door or ceiling (danger, danger) 

Items I really need to look into more:

• A big and small diaper bag (needs to be waterproof just in case something leaks or explodes - easy clean up. They suggest Lands End but I didn't find any I liked... or else www.babystyle.com, www.bellybasics.com or www.mobilemoms.com). And the cool part is the author lists everything that needs to be IN the diaper bag. Phew! I will say the "backpack" seems to be the clear winner. Frees up hands... Seems to be the common theme here...
• Umbrella stroller (for those quick trips...they are light and simple and Maclaren, Combi and Peg Perego are the way to go).
• Baby Bjorn (way better to carry baby in front than back).
• 4 side-snap shirts (yes, annoying because they slide up but baby doesn't like umbilical cord getting all rubbed on that first week or two by onesies).
• Graco Pack N Play with the bassinet and changing table (easy to travel with and easy to leave on another level of the house...good because we have three levels!)
• Bookshelf for all those awesome books coming!!
• Diaper Champ (or one that doesn't require you to go out and buy specific garbage bags. It gets expensive. The reviews I read about Diaper Champ aren't good, so I'm still stuck. But I read I will be changing over 100 diapers a week. OMG.) 
• And some sort of net laundry sack for delicates like socks and things that laundry machine will have no problem chewing up.

So love this book!!!! Did you read anything that helped you through your pregnancy?

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Triple Tomato Orzo

Triple Tomato Orzo
serves 4
recipe found in Health Magazine, May 2011 (recipe developed by Nadia G, host of Bitchin' Kitchen)

I used red bell peppers instead because they were on sale!

1 cup dried orzo
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small red onion, minced
1 red chile, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes
12 sun-dried tomatoes, minced
4 basil leaves, torn
1/4 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
6 kalamata olives, minced
1/4 cup minced parsley
4 large tomatoes
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

Preheat oven to 375°. Cook orzo until al dente; set aside.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Sauté garlic 1 minute. Add onion and red chile; sauté 6 minutes.

With clean hands, crush canned tomatoes; add to pan.

Add minced sun-dried tomatoes, basil leaves, brown sugar, sea salt, and pepper to pan; bring to a simmer. Cook until most of liquid is cooked off (25-30 minutes).

Add olives and parsley to pan; remove from heat. Add orzo to sauce, mixing well. Core tomatoes; stuff with orzo-and-sauce mixture. Top each tomato with 2 tablespoons mozzarella. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Karl's reaction: "Ohhhh, I like this a lot. This is really good babe."

My take: This was excellent. Will be making again...even with red bell peppers!!!

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Chicken Couscous

Chicken Couscous

serves 4
recipe found in Fitness Magazine, October 2011

Chicken Couscous

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup sliced almonds
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, fat trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
1 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 carrots, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained
1/2 lemon, zest peeled into 1/2-inch- thick strips, juice to taste
1/3 cup raisins
3/4 cup whole-wheat couscous
1/4 cup chopped parsley

1. Warm the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the almonds; toast until golden, 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a bowl.

2. Season the chicken with the salt and black pepper, add to pot and cook until browned, 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to a plate. Add the scallions, zucchini and carrots; cook 6 minutes. Mix in the cinnamon, cumin, coriander and turmeric; saute 1 minute.

3. Add the chicken stock, tomato, chickpeas, lemon zest and raisins; bring to a simmer. Return chicken to pot, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken and vegetables to a serving bowl. Season with lemon juice. Cover and keep warm.

4. Add the couscous to the liquid remaining in pot, cover and turn off heat. Let rest 5 minutes; fluff couscous with a fork. Serve chicken and vegetables over couscous, garnished with almonds and parsley.

Karl's reaction: "The house smells really good. This looks awesome. I wish there were more raisins in this. Wait...is there curry in here?" So my husband hates Indian food and curry. There was no curry in here but for some reason he thought it tasted too Indian. Sigh.

My take: I liked this. Seemed like there could be more juice to it though, but I'd make again (without Karl being around).

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