{ It's November }

Late last week, my laptop keyboard was finally replaced, so now I have a computer and internet when Mike isn't home. The enforced technology fast made me realize how much time I fritter away on the computer when I should be doing other things. As inconvenient as it was to have to zip through checking my email and all the little blogs/sites I like to browse regularly--on Mike's laptop, in ten or fifteen minutes between putting Lainie down for the night and going to bed myself--it was also refreshing. I could just do life during the day. No getting sucked into the interwebs.

But I am really glad to be able to blog again, and download approximately 647 photos off of my camera.

I'm making a point of not saying anything about the elections. Political conversations make me want to crawl out of my skin. The End.

It's amazing how much I can accomplish when (a) I get up at a decent hour, and (b) I spend time with Jesus early in the day. Lately Lainie has been waking up twice at night to eat, instead of just once, which makes it sooooo easy to sleep in until she wakes up. This morning she woke up to eat at 6:30, and instead of going to bed after she fell asleep, I took a shower. Read Acts 10. Spent time with Jesus. Picked up clutter. Made this amazingly delicious Paleo jambalaya. Made this amazingly delicious Italian sausage/chard/lemon lasagna. And washed the dishes, all before Lainie woke up at 10:30. Yes, I am proud of myself. Note to self: pride is a sin...

Speaking of Lainie, Little Miss Boo has her first cold. She is really stuffed up and sneezes continually. She hates having her nose suctioned, which is unfortunate for both of us because I've done it at least half a dozen times already today. She's still happy and sweet as ever, even when she can barely breathe through her nose--poor baby!

Let's see. What else happened while I was away?

I got a haircut. Postpartum hair loss is brutal and two-foot-long brown hairs everywhere drove me bananas. I refuse to believe it's a "mom chop," because isn't the purpose of that so the baby can't grab your hair? Lainie can definitely still reach my hair. I unwrap strands from her fingers on an almost hourly basis.

 

:: before ::

 

:: after ::

 

As you can see, we also went on a date. Fancy dinner out with our friends Lisa and Daniel. It was nice to dress up, enjoy a great meal in a classy restaurant--I had pear and gorgonzola ravioli--and not worry too much about Lainie. I don't think a mama ever gets to the point where she doesn't worry at all, does she?

 

And yes, my skin is vampire white by nature.

 

In spite of the fact that I have made pie crust approximately once before in my life, I agreed to make four pies for Lisa and Daniel's wedding rehearsal dinner last week: Chocolate pecan, pumpkin, apple, and strawberry rhubarb. In spite of my gross lacl of pie-making experience, they turned out quite well.

 

 

Though Elaina is still a teensy weensy thing by any estimation, she has put on weight. Look at these photos of her getting a bath--the first one was taken on October 10, the second on November 2:

 

 

She's plumping out a little! :-)

 

Tempted as I am to ramble on, I probably don't have much time left before Lainie wakes from her nap, and I haven't brushed my teeth yet today. I'm gonna go do that. Later!





{ Balsamic Berry Quinoa Salad }

A few months ago, I started dipping my toes in the strange-yet-wonderful world of couponing. I still have a lot to learn, but that's another story. My point is that, as a result of the couponing websites I've visited, I sometimes get really random emails, most of which I delete without opening. Last week, I happened to open an email from Unilever, and inside was a recipe for balsamic berry quinoa salad. I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, and this one looked quite tasty, so I made it...and ate the entire batch in two days. Goodness gracious, it was delicious! I simply have to share it.

Balsamic Berry Quinoa Salad

source

Serves 6

~ 2 cups water

~ 1 cup quinoa

~ 6 Tbsp. Wish-Bone Light Balsamic Basil Vinaigrette Dressing

~ 1 large cucumber, seeded and diced

~ 1 cup strawberries {quartered} or raspberries

~ 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced

~ 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion, rinsed with cold water

Bring water to a boil over high heat in 2-quart saucepan. Stir in quinoa, then return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook covered for 12 minutes or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff, then let stand covered 15 minutes. Combine hot quinoa with remaining ingredients in serving bowl. Chill, if desired.

I should confess: The salad I made had some key differences from this one. First, in my haste I burned the quinoa. Second, I used a balsamic vinaigrette dressing we already had, rather than buying a specific brand {and I only used 5 Tbsp, not 6}. I didn't seed the cucumber. At the grocery store, my box of raspberries sprang open and scattered on the floor as I was in the checkout line, so I ended up using frozen raspberries I had at home. And finally, I forgot to rinse the onion. Also, I think it's a scant 6 servings...but this is also a pregnant lady talking. I'm definitely at least doubling it the next time.

End result: Scrumptious. Darn it, I'm getting hungry again!!

Try it! I think you'll like it!

via



{ Turkey Sloppy Joes }

Yippee skippee--it's still snowing!!

After taking a break for the night, fluffy white flakes have been coming down steadily all morning. There are a couple inches on the ground here, with more predicted for tomorrow. The local school district is closed today, and kids are out sledding on the golf course behind our condo complex. It's just dreamy. {Especially since I have nowhere else I have to be, and we're good on groceries for the rest of the week.} This morning, in an unexpected burst of baker-ism--brought on, I think, by the enforced domesticity of the snow and no car--I spontaneously made raspberry muffins, and last night, I curled up on the couch and did some knitting while listening to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer from Books Should Be Free. I only recently discovered this treasure trove of thousands of free audiobooks--what an amazing resource! I'm not a fast reader, and if I can do something like knit or iron or clean the bathroom while someone reads to me, I'm on it! Unfortunately I think that's the only way I'm going to make significant progress on the list of books I want to consume.

This snowy, housebound weather has me thinking of warm, cozy foods: freshly baked muffins, hot tea, sloppy joes...and I have the perfect sloppy joes recipe to share with you. Recently my mom gave me a gift subscription to Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine. It's the second time she's done so, and I am continuing to find it a treasure trove of great recipes. Since I've been nauseous for the better part of the last ten weeks, especially with any kind of food preparation, and especially especially with meat, I'm on the lookout for easy recipes with a lot of protein. Did you know that a pregnant woman is supposed to consume at least 90 grams of protein per day, and that poor protein intake may be linked to development of toxemia and pre-eclampsia? Yikes! So I was really happy to find this recipe for turkey sloppy joes that looked easy and delicious. And let me tell you--it definitely is! Tangy, with a bit of a bite, and slightly sweet, this is much more flavorful than I expected sloppy joes to be.

Turkey Sloppy Joes

source

Serves 8

~ 1 lb lean ground turkey

~ 1 small onion, chopped

~ 1/2 cup chopped celery

~ 1/4 cup chopped green pepper

~ 1 can {10 3/4 oz} reduced-sodium condensed tomato soup, undiluted

~ 1/2 cup ketchup

~ 2 Tbsp. prepared mustard

~ 1 Tbsp. brown sugar

~ 1/4 tsp. pepper

~ 8 hamburger buns, split

In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, cook the turkey, onion, celery and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the soup, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar and pepper. Transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Serve on buns.

 The only modification I made was to use an entire bell pepper {red, since it was much cheaper than green}. The extra veggie content didn't deter even Mike from wolfing down his dinner. I hope you all enjoy these sloppy joes as much as we are!