As Christmas approaches...

Tomorrow is my last day of maternity leave. My twelve weeks will be up. My first day back will be Christmas Eve day. Fortunately, it is a short day. Fortunately, I will still be able to go with my dad to the Christmas Eve service. Unfortunately, it'll be the first long stretch of time away from my children besides my work's Christmas party a few weekends back. I am dreading it. As much as I enjoy my work and being there, I want so much to be with my children. Tristan is growing up so fast. Melayna is getting so big and doing so much. Did I mention that she does mini crunches? She's lifting her head while lying on her back. It doesn't last long, but she's trying. She just wants to see the everything, especially her family.

Well, I probably won't have too much time to blog once I go back. But that's okay. I'll be busy spending the time I do have with the kiddos.

For Christmas, we started what looks like will be a new tradition last year. There isn't much family left. My dad, my mother-in-law, my brother, and us. Now, I have two uncles in town and Scott has one in California, but there are "situations" there that I'd rather not get too much into. Let's say that my uncles haven't always been the greatest and Scott's uncle was only recently found by his mother. So, our little family gets together at our place, albeit very small place (we only live in a two bedroom apartment), and I cook up a storm for a Christmas day brunch. We enjoy brunch and open gifts and just have a good time in general.

So, that is what the plan is. Instead of doing an all out dinner (since Thanksgiving was plenty), we do breakfast (or brunch or whatever you want to call it).

Here's what the menu will be (unless I change my mind):

• Holiday French Toast - I modified my usual French Toast recipe to include a few extra "holiday spices". The dipping batter is made up of eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. I also picked up a pretty neat trick from a friend: after you've cooked both sides on the skillet, put the slices (I use Texas Toast) on a baking sheet and put in the oven for about five minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Blueberry Muffins - made from scratch of course. I was going to do my Cinnamon Surprise Muffins but blueberries are on sale! They are very delicious when made with fresh blueberries.
• Easy Oven Skillet Frittata. I found the recipe in a Kraft Foods magazine. It can be found here. I did this last year and it was a hit with the family.
• Bacon, sausage, and fruit on the side (I'm thinking raspberries and pineapples for fruit)
• Pumpkin pie (I just love pumpkin pie, so I couldn't resist)
  
• And I'm thinking of making these Cinnamon Rolls from The Pioneer Woman's site. They look oh so scrumptious. Only thing is the recipe makes like seven pans (its meant for gift giving). I guess I'll have to do some giving, huh?
  

My family learned well last year. They know that they should come hungry....very hungry. I guess that is one thing I took after my mother. The ability to over cook any occasion. My friends loved sleeping over at our house because my mother never let them go home hungry....never. We'd wake up to the sweet aroma of pancakes or french toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, or whatever. I guess that is why breakfast is my favorite meal of the day!

This week...

My time spent planning this week's meals was very, very limited. I am feeling much worse than yesterday and got hardly any sleep. I think my initial suspicion of allergies is incorrect. My muscles are sore, my congestion has not yet let up, my nose keeps running, and my head is killing me. Signs of a cold and hopefully nothing worse.

This morning, I could barely move, but I mustered up enough energy to start a load of laundry, finish the dishes, clean up Tristan's room (for him to mess it up again - already), and do some straightening up. Afterwards, I was even more exhausted than when I woke up. Since Scott didn't have to leave until 1:00 to go to work, I asked him if I could sleep a bit and he look after Tristan. I slept for about an hour and a half. While still tired, it really helped. The main reason I didn't wait until Tristan's nap to sleep, too, is because Tristan hasn't really been napping. The last two days, he stayed in his room reading, singing, talking to himself, and probably playing quietly with toys. I couldn't count on him today, but of course, he slept for two hours today! We put him down after I got up. He came out of his room once, but after that not a peep. I took advantage of his nap to try and plan this week's menu. I, of course, got distracted at Ikea's 2009 online catalog. If I had the house (we rent an apartment) and the money, I would go nuts with their store. I absolutely love this bed for children. It is a mini bunkbed with the under side left open. I'd create a little alcove for my son to hideaway in. Maybe combined with a few other Ikea storage solutions, it can be his reading area. Put in a cushion or a bean bag, a reading lamp, some of his favorite stuff animals, and voila - it would be complete.

So, I got distracted. Anyway, here's what I have semi-planned:

Monday - Pan fried Tilapia with white rice
Tuesday - Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-up (it is a favorite of ours)
Wednesday - Mac N Cheese & Chicken - I've got an idea of how to spruce up a blah meal
Thursday - Cheeseburger and fries
Friday - Baked chicken & roasted red potatoes
Saturday - leftovers

Most of this week's meals don't require much forethought, besides defrosting the meat. Which is good. If I'm gonna be sick this week and only cook for essentially me and Tristan (Scott works nights), then I'm going to put in the least amount of effort possible (but still provide something healthy - or semi-healthy for me and my son).

Well, I'm off to make dinner. Tristan and I love eating fish and rice! Too bad I can only have it once a week. Here's a great dip for fish (it is pretty salty, but I love the combination of flavors) - soy sauce, lemon juice, and vinegar. Generally I put 1 part lemon juice, 1 part vinegar, 2 parts soy sauce. But you can change it to suit your taste. It makes a neat marinade, too.

Last week's recap

Okay, so I'm horrible at this. Sometimes I get so revved up and do multiple posts in one day. Other times, I'm lucky to get one in an week. I blame the pregnancy. Yeah, that's it.

Anyway, I never posted last week's menu - but honestly, I fell by the wayside and didn't have a good plan. Come to think of it, I think I missed out on the last two weeks. Should I even bother? Wow, how horrible am I? Well, the week before I remember following the game plan. Yes, I did go over budget, but there were a bunch of non-food items (diapers, wipes, mason jars, and so on) on the list, too. Food-wise, we were within that $65 budget. Last week, I decided to use the existing meats we had in our deep freezer. All of which was pork - pork loin roast, pork spare ribs, and diced pork. Our crock pot got plenty of use this week. We had a teriyaki pork roast one night with white rice, sesame ginger ribs in the crock pot, and fajita/burritos with the dice pork - cooked in the crock pot with green chili sauce and enchilada sauce. Tonight was freezer dinner night (after all that crock pot cooking - we were needing a break) - so we had boxed pizza.

Okay, so why the unplanned week? Scott started a new shift. His work redid all the shifts and he got the bottom end of the barrel. He now works evenings - 1:30pm - 10:00pm. I am a firm believer in sitting down for meal time as a family and now that is in shambles. Tristan I think is feeling it too because the first night, he threw a major fit getting ready for bed - which he doesn't normally do. Scott was barely getting used to his new shift when his mother called with some bad news. In search for her mother (who has been missing for a decade - long story), she found out that she had passed away five years ago. Being the only grandchild and fairly close to his grandma growing up, Scott took the news pretty hard. His work has been understanding and allowed him to take bereavement leave (despite how long ago she passed away). While I've lost two grandmothers before, I didn't know what to say or do. Either way, all I can do is love him, give him a hug if he needs one, and let him grieve how he needs to. So, due to all that has happened, we haven't truly gotten used to his new schedule. He's back to work tonight and due home in the next 30 minutes or so.

Alright, now the other bum news. My dad called me today to tell me of his visit with my grandmother (I had three grandmothers growing up - my dad's parents divorced at some point and my grandpa remarried - the one alive is my dad's mother). He told me that my grandmother wanted me and him to sign some documents. She has named my dad her attorney-in-fact and executor of her estate. I am his back-up. Why all of sudden draw up paperwork? Apparently, according to my dad, she isn't doing too well. I always joked that she'd be around forever. It never occurred to me that she'd die someday. But, knowing of her situation, she is pretty much ready for the good Lord to take her away. Long story, but let's just say my dad is the black sheep amongst him and his brothers - and by black sheep, he's the good one (well off, self-sustaining, and so on). I love my uncles, but they have unfortunately, taken advantage of mom's love for a very long time. I don't even know what will happen to them if and when my grandmother passes away. Regardless, my dad (and my grandmother) feels that her time will come soon (whether it be a week, a month, or longer, who knows). I will be happy for my grandmother as I know that she will feel more at ease without life's pains and troubles will no longer bother her. I will be sad, as she is my last living grandparent, and the only one that I have been able to visit more than the others (my mother's parents lived in the Philippines). She taught me how to make chicken dumpling soup. She tried to teach me how to crochet - I was too impatient. And despite being an odd ball in the family, she still loved me. I only hope that she gets to meet her newest great-grandchild before she leaves us.

Now the good stuff. I had an appointment last week and so far, so good. I have gained less than 10 pounds this pregnancy. My goal - 11 - 15 pounds. Not too shabby, I'd say. I am on the big side weighing 240lbs now. There I said it. I am not ashamed to say it. I am ashamed to say that I haven't done much in the past to control my weight. I'm paying for it big time with this pregnancy. Fortunately, I've stayed withing the prescribed limits (for now) and haven't gotten any of the conditions we initially worried about (pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, and so on). I hope that I keep a good attitude after having the baby and make a good effort to losing the weight. I'd like to get down to 175. I think that is reasonable. That's a 65lb drop from my current weight. With any luck, I'll lose most if not all the weight gained this pregnancy. If so, then I'll have only 55lbs to work off. Breastfeeding will help shed the pounds, too.

Well, that is about it. I'll have a menu plan, hopefully, tomorrow. I have to go shopping anyway, so I better have a plan - so that I can have a list. Wish me luck!

In the meantime, have a wonderful evening and Happy Labor Day! (I have the day off - I love having banker's hours)

Week 32 Pregnancy Update

This week I had another appointment. At my last appointment, I was told that she may be measuring a bit big - so this time I got another ultrasound. Dr. Christensen confirmed Dr. Rygiel's suspicion after measuring my belly and doing an ultrasound. She is measuring a bit on the big side, which means that she may come before my expected due date (October 5th). I'm half-and-half with this news. While it means that I'll see my little girl sooner, it is less time to get work done. On the bright side, she's got hair - Dr. Christensen pointed it out on the monitor when she was measuring her head. With 7 1/2 weeks to go, she'll probably have bunches of hair. It'll be a nice change from Tristan - he didn't have much and was practically bald most of his first year.

Besides my appointment, this week has been busy. I finally got back on board with weekly meal planning (I'll probably post it up weekly on this blog to keep myself in check - you can learn more about weekly meal planning at blog link in the bar to the right - I'm an Organizing Junkie). So, Monday night (I started late, so my weekly meal plan started Tuesday), we went shopping after dinner. This week's meals were tricky to plan because two of the days I had engagements to attend to in the evenings. So this is how it went:

Tuesday:
Pizza-dilla Margaritas (Rachael Ray recipe), tortilla chips, and salsa
This is a quick, tasty, meatless recipe. If you like quesadillas then this is a great recipe. It takes only a few minutes to prepare the tomato mixture and four minutes per quesadilla (total of 3 - 4 sliced up into pizza wedges). The basil and oregano really bring this recipe to life.

After dinner, I headed to our bi-monthly Toastmasters meeting. I wrote on this once, you can see my original post here. Since starting it has been a blast. I've done my first two speeches and numerous impromptu "table topics" speeches. I've been Toastmaster twice and evaluator twice. I thoroughly enjoy the structure of each meeting, the company (all from work), and the idea of improving my public speaking skills. Unfortunately, this is my last meeting until who knows when. Scott's schedule has been changed and he'll be working nights starting in about a week. This leaves me with no option for childcare. While I'll be missing out on the great meetings, I feel I already learned so much in my short stay.

Wednesday:
Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-up with Curly fries
This recipe is relatively quick and very, very easy. I got it from a Kraft recipe magazine that I get for free quarterly. There are a lot of great recipes I've tried and we've even tried our own variations. If you want the free quarterly magazine, just go to www.kraftfoods.com and click the sign up button in the upper right. When filling out your profile, you'll have the option of opting to receive the magazine. Great thing about getting the magazine is that you'll usually get some coupons for the products featured in recipes and such.

After dinner, I went to my friend, Rebecca's house. She's about a half hour drive away but it was totally worth it. She offered to do a baby shower for me and I'm so stoked about it. This was my first visit to her house and I have to say that I think it is absolutely gorgeous. I love her decor and there is so much room! I guess living in a two bedroom apartment, anything bigger would be much more impressive. Rebecca seemed to not think her house was that great, but I beg to differ. She keeps it so tidy. We sat at the kitchen table for a few hours chatting about stuff and planning the party. I found out that we have a few things in common - scrapbooking (but we haven't done it in a while), Guitar Hero (Yeah!!), and a need to keep things under certain control (she's probably more so than I - I just give up to easily). I didn't get home until 11:00pm! I'm usually asleep by this point.

Thursday:
Filipino Beef Steak served over white rice
This was a first for me, but a variant on something Scott came up with. Whenever steak is on sale, we usually stock up. Scott tried a simple marinade of Soy Sauce and minced garlic - which we absolutely love. When I came across this recipe, I had to do a double take. It uses the same ingredients, in addition to a few others. So, I thought, 'what the hey', let's try this. The lemon juice balances out the salty soy sauce and topping with onions just gave it that extra twist of flavor. I was going to make fried rice with it, but it recommended topping the rice with the sauce mixture. So, I'll do the fried rice tomorrow.

Friday:
Leftover smorgasborg.
This is to keep my sanity and have a night of no cooking, no pots and pans to scrub, and worry free night. This only works if you make enough for leftovers, though. Fortunately, we had enough. It is best to do this on a week day - towards the end of the week - so that when you get home relaxing can come immediately (hopefully).

Saturday/Sunday:
Tonight I will be making pork roast with roasted red potato wedges. Both new recipes that I am looking forward to. Tomorrow, is an unplanned night - good to have one of these because changes do happen - such as the fried rice. So, I'll make fried rice with something I can find in the freezer. Easy!

Tonight, I'll be planning out my meals for next week and preparing my grocery list for the week. I'm limiting myself to only $65! I hope this is doable. I've got some non-food stuff to buy - like wipes for Tristan.