Saturday, March 22, 2008
April 18th!!
We've scheduled THE ultrasound for Friday April 18th. So check back in a month to find out whether baby Gotlieb #3 is a boy or a GIRL!!! I'm 15 weeks now and feeling good. Baby is doing well.
Mmwaa! baby brother
Cal regularly wants to lavish attention and love on Ben. Ben enjoys the attention. Cal is all ready for a new baby brother or sister...not so much for Ben. He doesn't like mommy to give hugs to anyone but him! Ben'll have a lot to learn when the new baby gets here.In other news, we've started to eat our "frozen dinners" and they're very good! Huge success all around for the OAMC. For those of you who asked, I bought 3 different OAM cookbooks but I used all the recipes from The Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook and like I said, so far, so good!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Uh oh! Ow! Ow! Ow!
So Ben totally thinks he's a superstar already. If this kid isn't made to be a celebrity then I don't know who is...hahaha...
To explain the title of this post, Uh oh! and ow! are among Ben's favorite and ONLY words these days. He learned Ow! from me after he'd pull my hair and I'd say "Ow, Ben! No!". So now he'll frequently pull his own hair while saying Ow! repeatedly. He thinks it's funny and does this everywhere. I can only imagine what other people are thinking as we cruise through a store.
This is his newest trick - opening the door! So far I've only witnessed him do it once and open a bathroom door not the one to the garage as shown here!
To explain the title of this post, Uh oh! and ow! are among Ben's favorite and ONLY words these days. He learned Ow! from me after he'd pull my hair and I'd say "Ow, Ben! No!". So now he'll frequently pull his own hair while saying Ow! repeatedly. He thinks it's funny and does this everywhere. I can only imagine what other people are thinking as we cruise through a store.
This is his newest trick - opening the door! So far I've only witnessed him do it once and open a bathroom door not the one to the garage as shown here!Monday, March 10, 2008
Food, Glorious, Food....
And all frozen!! Sunday was the big cooking day - Here is the menu that I planned to prepare and freeze for a month's worth of food. Read on and I'll tell you what actually got cooked and all the insane details of a very, very long day.
THE MENU:
Turkey Tetrazzini (2)
Moroccan Stew (2)
Tortellini Chicken Cacciatore (3)
Chicken Divan Soup (2)
Spanish Chicken and Olives (3)
Lemon Chicken (3)
Chicken Potato Pie (2)
Spinach Pie (4)
Swiss Steak (2)
Spaghetti and Meatballs (2)
TOTAL: 25 meals!
Impressive, I know. I'll say before I start my big, long diatribe...totally worth it! I recommend this to anyone!!!
So for those of you who are curious to know how I got started, well let me tell you. I've been pondering this once-a-month cooking thing since January because I need more time and I hate that I spend lots of time preparing meals but at the same time, I can't live with the thought of sacrificing healthy dinners. This whole process does have a "start up fee". If you want to do this you MUST buy an extra freezer. Unless you don't have a single thing in the one in your kitchen it's not going to work without it! I bought a small, 15 cubic feet chest that's down in the basement that cost around $150. Then I spent about $75 on various cookware. For those of you who had a well endowed wedding registry or already have a fully stocked kitchen, you probably don't need too much. But I bought a couple extra cutting boards to cut down on washing them, two 5-quart skillets with covers which I have to say was a savior, I used them all day!! I also bought a couple extra sets of measuring cups and spoons which were definitely needed otherwise you're washing them every 5 seconds! My big food shopping day was Thursday night after the boys were in bed and I spent $155. Again, for those of you who've been cooking in the same kitchen for awhile you probably already have a whole array of spices. Sadly, when we moved I had to leave all mine behind so buying 6 or 7 spices adds up at $4.99 a pop!
Anyways, 12 hours (with a one hour break), 2 pounds of beef, 2 pounds of turkey, 9 pounds of chicken, 5 dirty dish towels, and lots of dirty dishes later, I made 21 meals on Sunday!! I didn't get to the Swiss Steak or Spaghetti and Meatballs but I cooked them today along with a baked ziti and sundried tomato and parmesan bread which I froze too! So technically I now have 26 meals frozen. You'd think we would have eaten one of those meals tonight but we didn't. We're going to try the Lemon Chicken tomorrow...so then we'll really see how well this all works out!
The experience: I woke up at the normal 7am time on Sunday and immediately thought, OH S#@T! Daylight's savings time, it's 8 o'clock! I had hoped to be cooking by 8am but nope, just getting up with two boys STILL sleeping. Bad omen? Maybe I should have given up right then but I motored on. Quick breakfast and in the kitchen. Couldn't get much done until daddy got out the door with the boys at 8:45am. Yes, my children can be dressed, fed, and in a car in 45 mins and that's the truth! Daddy took them on an ALL morning adventure to Chuck E Cheese....more on that later :)
By 1:30pm, I only had 3 recipes made and I was thinking uh oh, this is next to impossible. Now for anyone who's ever seen me crack an egg to use in cooking, you know that I'm anal retentive about getting out every last little white stringy gross thing so you can imagine how long it took me to trim all that freakin' meat! All the nasty fat and bloody parts has to come off even if I take good chicken with it!! I will say, it was beyond thrilling when I finally put my first one in the freezer, the Turkey Tetrazzini. There was a loud "YES!" complete with arm pump and all. So there was some encouragement there. The Turkey Tetrazzini and the Moroccan Stew also were NOT recipes from the OAM cookbook so that may be why they took a little longer too. They were the first two recipes I made.
Now the books say, "Oh do this and this and then make a cup of coffee, sit down, and relax". Ummm...are you kidding me? No, don't kid yourself, if you want to get this stuff made, there's no break taking. I ate my lunch standing up as I was cooking and I only sat down ONCE all day to eat a quick dinner - take out, of course, at least I followed that advice! It was definitely a crazy day. Exhaustion doesn't even begin to describe how I felt at 8:45pm when I finally finished. My whole body ached, my hands were raw and sore from the 8 million dishes I washed, which by the way, easily takes up at least an hour of the whole day, just washing dishes and counter space in between the cooking!! Again, I guess if you aren't as psyscho as I am about kitchen and food safety then maybe you won't need to immediately wash cutting boards, knifes, other cooking utensils, counters, or your hands after they touch raw meat but I HAVE to.
It's GREAT to know that I have all those meals just waiting for me in the freezer. Almost so I good I don't want to use them, I just want to keep them in there forever, but I guess that misses the point! Ahhh...once a Jackson pack-rat, always a Jackson pack-rat at least I resist the urge the most in the family!!
Here's a picture of my Moroccan Stew sitting in an ice bath. They recommend this to cool the food faster and it does cool it much faster than the refrigerator would, believe me. This is a must-do if you ever try this.
Also, it is a MUST if you have children, for them NOT to be in the house most of the day. Daddy did an exceptional job keeping them at bay. Like I said they arrived at Chuck E for the 9am opening, the first ones there! And they stayed to eat lunch, only arriving home for naps at 1pm. Ben was so completely wiped out from his 3 1/2 hour play time at Chuck E that he slept for 3 straight hours no prob! Cal was a little messed up from daylight's savings time so his nap wasn't so great, if at all. Then the boys got to go to the library in the afternoon and back home for a bath and dinner.
THE MENU:
Turkey Tetrazzini (2)
Moroccan Stew (2)
Tortellini Chicken Cacciatore (3)
Chicken Divan Soup (2)
Spanish Chicken and Olives (3)
Lemon Chicken (3)
Chicken Potato Pie (2)
Spinach Pie (4)
Swiss Steak (2)
Spaghetti and Meatballs (2)
TOTAL: 25 meals!
Impressive, I know. I'll say before I start my big, long diatribe...totally worth it! I recommend this to anyone!!!
So for those of you who are curious to know how I got started, well let me tell you. I've been pondering this once-a-month cooking thing since January because I need more time and I hate that I spend lots of time preparing meals but at the same time, I can't live with the thought of sacrificing healthy dinners. This whole process does have a "start up fee". If you want to do this you MUST buy an extra freezer. Unless you don't have a single thing in the one in your kitchen it's not going to work without it! I bought a small, 15 cubic feet chest that's down in the basement that cost around $150. Then I spent about $75 on various cookware. For those of you who had a well endowed wedding registry or already have a fully stocked kitchen, you probably don't need too much. But I bought a couple extra cutting boards to cut down on washing them, two 5-quart skillets with covers which I have to say was a savior, I used them all day!! I also bought a couple extra sets of measuring cups and spoons which were definitely needed otherwise you're washing them every 5 seconds! My big food shopping day was Thursday night after the boys were in bed and I spent $155. Again, for those of you who've been cooking in the same kitchen for awhile you probably already have a whole array of spices. Sadly, when we moved I had to leave all mine behind so buying 6 or 7 spices adds up at $4.99 a pop!
Anyways, 12 hours (with a one hour break), 2 pounds of beef, 2 pounds of turkey, 9 pounds of chicken, 5 dirty dish towels, and lots of dirty dishes later, I made 21 meals on Sunday!! I didn't get to the Swiss Steak or Spaghetti and Meatballs but I cooked them today along with a baked ziti and sundried tomato and parmesan bread which I froze too! So technically I now have 26 meals frozen. You'd think we would have eaten one of those meals tonight but we didn't. We're going to try the Lemon Chicken tomorrow...so then we'll really see how well this all works out!
The experience: I woke up at the normal 7am time on Sunday and immediately thought, OH S#@T! Daylight's savings time, it's 8 o'clock! I had hoped to be cooking by 8am but nope, just getting up with two boys STILL sleeping. Bad omen? Maybe I should have given up right then but I motored on. Quick breakfast and in the kitchen. Couldn't get much done until daddy got out the door with the boys at 8:45am. Yes, my children can be dressed, fed, and in a car in 45 mins and that's the truth! Daddy took them on an ALL morning adventure to Chuck E Cheese....more on that later :)
By 1:30pm, I only had 3 recipes made and I was thinking uh oh, this is next to impossible. Now for anyone who's ever seen me crack an egg to use in cooking, you know that I'm anal retentive about getting out every last little white stringy gross thing so you can imagine how long it took me to trim all that freakin' meat! All the nasty fat and bloody parts has to come off even if I take good chicken with it!! I will say, it was beyond thrilling when I finally put my first one in the freezer, the Turkey Tetrazzini. There was a loud "YES!" complete with arm pump and all. So there was some encouragement there. The Turkey Tetrazzini and the Moroccan Stew also were NOT recipes from the OAM cookbook so that may be why they took a little longer too. They were the first two recipes I made.
Now the books say, "Oh do this and this and then make a cup of coffee, sit down, and relax". Ummm...are you kidding me? No, don't kid yourself, if you want to get this stuff made, there's no break taking. I ate my lunch standing up as I was cooking and I only sat down ONCE all day to eat a quick dinner - take out, of course, at least I followed that advice! It was definitely a crazy day. Exhaustion doesn't even begin to describe how I felt at 8:45pm when I finally finished. My whole body ached, my hands were raw and sore from the 8 million dishes I washed, which by the way, easily takes up at least an hour of the whole day, just washing dishes and counter space in between the cooking!! Again, I guess if you aren't as psyscho as I am about kitchen and food safety then maybe you won't need to immediately wash cutting boards, knifes, other cooking utensils, counters, or your hands after they touch raw meat but I HAVE to.
It's GREAT to know that I have all those meals just waiting for me in the freezer. Almost so I good I don't want to use them, I just want to keep them in there forever, but I guess that misses the point! Ahhh...once a Jackson pack-rat, always a Jackson pack-rat at least I resist the urge the most in the family!!
Here's a picture of my Moroccan Stew sitting in an ice bath. They recommend this to cool the food faster and it does cool it much faster than the refrigerator would, believe me. This is a must-do if you ever try this.
Also, it is a MUST if you have children, for them NOT to be in the house most of the day. Daddy did an exceptional job keeping them at bay. Like I said they arrived at Chuck E for the 9am opening, the first ones there! And they stayed to eat lunch, only arriving home for naps at 1pm. Ben was so completely wiped out from his 3 1/2 hour play time at Chuck E that he slept for 3 straight hours no prob! Cal was a little messed up from daylight's savings time so his nap wasn't so great, if at all. Then the boys got to go to the library in the afternoon and back home for a bath and dinner.So that's that! Again, I definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a time-saving solution to prepping meals!! The hardest part was getting the stuff into the freezer bags, sometimes very messy. It might be fun to do with a friend but I found that would make it harder for me. More mess, you'd need a lot of space, and you'd have to agree on the cooking menu. But you'd have someone to talk to all day and you wouldn't have to chop up 3 bags of onions all on your own like I did!! It's also a money saver. If you don't count all the start up stuff like the cost of the freezer and cookware and just go on food alone...I spent about $6 per meal and that's to feed a 4-person family!! Not bad!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
New and improved
Here are the latest updates we've done to the house. It's looking so much better already!
In the living room we added the light/fan in the middle plus eight recessed lights (you can see four here). Plus we bought this new area rug that makes the whole room more comfy! Even the kids want to be in there now :)
The kitchen was just painted this lovely shade of plum! Kind of reminds me of the bridesmaid dresses at my wedding...hehe
The dining room just got this new furniture along with mirror and flowers :) Oh and in the pic below you can see the new light fixture we had installed. Before it was this huge hanging chandalier which was ugly. Now the room looks twice as big since the light is right up on the ceiling and the ceiling seems higher! Very cool. The new table is marble so no need to worry about the kids ruining it!!!
In the living room we added the light/fan in the middle plus eight recessed lights (you can see four here). Plus we bought this new area rug that makes the whole room more comfy! Even the kids want to be in there now :)
The kitchen was just painted this lovely shade of plum! Kind of reminds me of the bridesmaid dresses at my wedding...hehe
The dining room just got this new furniture along with mirror and flowers :) Oh and in the pic below you can see the new light fixture we had installed. Before it was this huge hanging chandalier which was ugly. Now the room looks twice as big since the light is right up on the ceiling and the ceiling seems higher! Very cool. The new table is marble so no need to worry about the kids ruining it!!!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Cal's a star!!!
Hahaha...can you even find him?!? He's the little head being cut off at the top. At least his name got in the caption though! Right below him is his friend Calvin - imagine that, someone else named Cal. They love each other :) Anyways, this is from one of Cal's Rumble Tumble gym classes. This pic was in the Portsmouth Herald.
Here she is!
Ok, ok - NO I do not know that the baby is a girl yet. This ultrasound was done last Tuesday, Feb 26th at almost 11 weeks. For me, I was confirming I wasn't having twins and for the OB, she was confirming my due date. So I'm not having twins (thank goodness!) and my due date is still September 12th. Too early to tell if it's a girl or boy, but I asked just in case. True to every ultrasound I've ever had, the baby's hand is up near her face. I was told too early to actually be sucking her thumb, but I'm sure she's got it up there good and ready the second it's possible!
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