"honey will you make me blueberry muffins for my birthday?"

Happy Birthday to my Amazing Wonderful Husband. 

I love you!

Here we are celebrating his 27th birthday in 2005.  I will let you do the math :)

last year in 2011 with our BFF Paxton

And 2012, The Happy Family. 

We took Amelia to her first Rays game today.  She's already seen her cousin Wyatt play baseball and her cousin Molly play softball too, so she's pretty well versed on the rules of the game, so she decided to sleep through most of this one, but still got to chat with lots of nice people.  Fun to see what a baby will do to even the most macho man sometimes  We had fun  :)    

To Die For Blueberry Muffins  from allrecipes

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
3/4 c white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 c milk
1 c fresh blueberries
1/2 c white sugar
1/3 c flour
1/4 c butter, cubed
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease muffin cups
Combine 1 1/2 c flour, 3/4 c sugar, salt and baking powder.  Place vegetable oil into a 1 c measuring cup.  Add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup.  Mix this with flour mixture.  Fold in blueberries.  Fill muffin cups right to the top and sprinkle wit crumb topping mixture.
To Make Crumb Topping:  Mix together 1/2 c sugar, 1/3 c flour, 1/4 c butter and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.  Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
Bake for 20-25 minutes in preheated oven

Food

Becoming mom has changed the way I eat.  I can't just hop in the car and pick up Thai food every day anymore.  And I no longer have time to buy a variety of fresh ingredients for a recipe and spend time preparing a nice dinner in the kitchen to serve hot and fresh.  I shop, prep, cook and eat all around her schedule now, not mine.  It is important that I do this well because I am exclusively breastfeeding so essentially all her nourishment comes from me and what I eat.  I have to make sure that not only do I eat enough even though I don't have much time, but that I eat enough of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff.  I will swear to my grave that part of the reason she's so stinking cute is because of all the snickerdoodles I ate when I was pregnant with her.  But now that I see her and actually watch her belly grow instead of mine I have more motivation to snack on healthy things like cheese and fruit.  Don't get me wrong, I still indulge a lot, after all, I am supposed to eat 600 calories above a typical prepregnancy diet.  The key is balance. 
Amelia was born 2 days after Christmas so 2011 was the last year we celebrated as a couple and not as a family of 3.  I was huge and uncomfortable, but still had an amazing holiday shared with family and with all the excitement of what was and is to some.  Brian and I received the best gifts for expectant parents from everyone in our family. Among lots of other things we got a camcorder to record her milestones, and an iPad to store those videos.  We got worlds largest bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee which kept Brian functioning during those first few weeks when he had to do all the housework and diapering while I recovered from surgery.  And I got the best gift of all for a new mom, a crock pot.  (Insert here the heavens opening up, a chorus of angels, and light shining down on my amazing new kitchen gadget!!)  The crock pot has become my lifeline.  Brian broke it out first, on New Years Day, and made black eyed peas .  I've since made pork tenderloin and lots of other delicious meals, at my convenience.  I just kind of search recipes and pick my favorite parts of them based on what I have handy, and see what I come up with.  I've made stroganoff, chicken chili, london broil, beef stew and lots of other stuff.  But my favorite is the best breakfast ever, from my new favorite blog, The Yummy Life.  I put this in the crock pot before bed and wake up to a delicious healthy breakfast.  The leftovers (if there are any) go in the refrigerator and I have a delicious healthy snack for later.  If possible it's even better warmed up with a little milk in the microwave. 
So anyway, from time to time I will put on here some of the dinners I manage to prepare that are the best successes, but for now it's time to go feed my beautiful little girl.  This morning she will have steel cut oats and a delicious orange with her milk.

Spinach and Orzo Salad

I made my mom hungry when I told her about this salad.  I made baby back ribs last night and served them with this salad, that I adapted from allrecipes.com 

Spinach and Orzo Salad

8-16 ounces uncooked orzo pasta  (the recipe called for 16, I used 8.  That way it's more spinach) 

9 ounce bag fresh baby spinach leaves, finely chopped

8 ounces crumbled feta cheese

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 cup pine nuts

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4-1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 

 (Since the original recipe called for 16 ounces of orzo and 1/2 cup oil and vinegar and I used 8 orzo, I could have cut it back a little on the O&V but I used the whole 1/2 cup of each and although it was strong it was delicious)

Cook orzo according to directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water.  Transfer to large bowl and stir in spinach, feta, onion, pine nuts, basil, and white pepper.  Toss with oil and vinegar.  Refrigerate and serve cold. 

This makes a ton.  We had dinner and lunch today.  Delicious as a side dish and would also be good with shrimp or chicken to make a main course. 

Mom's Apple Squares

I have been MIA for a long time here but wanted to stop by and leave a recipe for my mom's Apple Squares that I loved when I was a kid.  Still do.  Have to have them every fall.  I made them last night and realized that the paper recipe is getting old and ratty and might not survive too much longer, so I better get this down where it will be immortalized. 

Mom's Apple Squares

2 cups flour

1 cup Bisquick

2 cups sugar (I use 1 1/2 and it's plenty)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup Crisco (I use 1/2 and it's plenty)

3 eggs

4 cups diced apples (I usually bake with Granny Smiths, however since I grew up near orchards in NY, for this recipe I am a Macintosh loyalist.  I've never strayed here, but other varieties may be good also)

1 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup walnuts

Mix all ingredients.  Grease and flour a 9x13" pan.  Pour mixture in.  Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees.  Voila!

Sunday Supper

It is looking like Tampa might host a tropical storm this coming weekend, and though we will be in Cleveland Fri - Sun for a wedding, I thought it would be a good idea to stock up with some food just in case we get stuck here.  We don't really need all canned stuff because we are lucky enough to have a generator in case we lose power.  But I still want to have a lot of protein around the house, being pregnant and all.  We have a few 5 gallon jugs of water on hand at all times so we're all good there.  Lots of cans of beans and beef jerky.  Nuts, dried fruit, and "healthier" chips and snacky things.  Of course protein bars which are a staple in my diet.  I love the Atkins ones, the Zone bars, and I'm currently eating my way through some Snackwells and some crunchy Cliff bars that were on sale and they're pretty good. 
I also decided to be a good wife and make dinner instead of the Publix sub that I am really craving.  I got my new Cooking Light magazine in the mail yesterday.  After I browsed the first few pages and everything looked good, I decided to open to a random page and cook the closest recipe.  Ended up making
 Baja Pork Stir Fry
It was quite delicious!  Unfortunately I somehow forgot a red onion at the store, which is odd because I lovelovelove onions.  But I added a whole jalapeno instead of half, and about a cup of extra green red and yellow peppers to sub the onion.  Besides that I followed it to a tee. 

poor cell phone shot

My plate!  Yum yum.

I'll make some brown rice for the husband to have with it, or I'll just have him bring a serving home with him from work tonight if he calls before he leaves.