Month: August 2012

Categories
Food

{Make Ahead Meals} Veggie Stuffed Shells

We’ve received a couple different types of stuffed shells: Mexican style, cheese, spinach & these veggie stuffed ones. All were excellent, but since I have this recipe, on hand, I’ll share this one first. Beth found the recipe from makeaheadmeals.

Veggie Stuffed Pasta Shells
Ingredients
24 uncooked pasta shells
1 10 oz can vegetable broth
1 carrot, minced
1 potato, peeled & diced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 c part-skim ricotta cheese
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1/2 graded parmesan cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/4 c parmesan cheese
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook pasta according to directions. Rinse, drain & set aside to let cool.

In a big saucepan, boil broth. Add in carrots, potatoes, & onions. Cook for 3-4 mins or until veggies are tender. Drain veggies well. Combine with egg, ricotta, mozzarella, & parmesan cheese, & seasoning in a large bowl.

Fill each shell with cheese & veggie mixture.

Beth then put shells in a freezer safe bag, four at a time. She refrigerated until they were cold, then froze & brought them to us. To cook them, we placed the shells in a microwave safe bowl, topped with spaghetti sauce & parmesan cheese. We microwaved at 40% until thawed, topped with mozzarella then microwaved for an additional 1-3 minutes until it was hot.

If you wanted to cook the shells immediately {or want to bake thawed shells vs microwave the frozen shells}, add half the sauce to a baking dish. Place the shells in the dish in a single layer. Top with the cheeses. Bake on 350 for 20 mins covered then 15-20 mins uncovered. We did this Tuesday night & they were awesome. Enjoy!

Categories
Babies

Elusive Sleep

This could also be titled, will they ever use those nursery cribs?

Jason started back to work Monday. So last week I started freaking out getting nervous about them & I getting overnight sleep.

I guess I need to back up. Nights one & two home with us, Lucy ‘slept’ in a packnplay in our room. She’s a loud sleeper, we were nervous parents, no one really slept. When Zach came home that Sunday, we’d pulled out the rocknplays. And we quickly discovered why they’re so popular. Both napped & slept in them well. We set up our den like a no joke ‘war room’. Complete with changing table, coffee table turning baby catch all, TV & lamp on 24/7, kitchen & laundry room super close by. And that has worked. Really well for weeks. Until within last couple weeks when we realized L was sleeping better on us or stretched out over a boppy. So we pulled the barely used packnplay out of our room & added it into the war room. Lucy began napping & transitioned to sleeping there with Zach still in the rocknplay.

Slowly, we’ve tried to introduce Lucy to her crib. She’s last fifteen minutes here or there until one night last week she slept in her crib for four hours. I was thrilled thinking we’d turned a corner. Then she went a couple nights where my laying her in the crib might as well been a torture chamber. To save our sanity & give us a few extra minutes of sleep, back into the packnplay she went. She also began sleeping in longer stretches over night. Like last weekend three nights in a row of midnight to between 5 & 7 am while in packnplay. Proud momma right here.

Zach & his littler, reflux tummy hasn’t been able to go a five or six hour stretch. He’s still typically wanting to nurse every three to four hours overnight. But this week, I was feeling like we were doing him a disservice keeping him in the rocknplay while sister was all stretched out. Over the weekend, I placed both in the packnplay where they slept for three hours together, but their combined size had them both on the verge of rolling in the middle. So no more co-sleeping in the packnplay. Zach’s slept in the packnplay on his own a few times & within the past week, we’ve put him in his crib a few times with success too.

But long story short, they’re not in their cribs thus not under the video monitors thus I’m still ‘sleeping’ on the couch with them in the war room. Tell me, I’ll get to get back in bed eventually right?!

Categories
Everything Else Reading

Gone Girl

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was August’s book club selection. I just barely made Mays book club & missed June & July’s meetings. So even though I was just 32% finished {according to my kindle fire}, I packed up Lucy & my new super big diaper bag & made it to our book {& baby & life} discussion last Wednesday night.

Ever since, I’ve been reading Gone Girl every chance I had. Aka while nursing, holding a sleeping baby or the three minutes I’m not running around. And tonight, even though I kinda knew how it ended since I told my book club not to hold back, I was shocked when I read the end. Wow. I know why so many are talking about this book.

Gone Girl held my {hard to now keep} attention. Its definitely the most suspenseful book I’ve enjoyed in years. And I think I’d reread this just to get another perspective now that I know the full story.

Ive already recommended Gone Girl to my mom for her book club & would tell anyone ready to read something pretty intense that you cant put down.

Categories
Food Pregnancy

{Make Ahead Meals} Bean Burritos

Another great meal thanks to my sister in law. She found the recipe on allrecipes. These have been fabulous as a quickly microwaved lunch or dinner.

Ingredients
2 c uncooked brown rice
4 c water
4 cans black beans
2 cans pinto beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can diced tomatoes & green chiles
16 flour tortillas
1 lb shredded pepperjack cheese

Combine rice & water in saucepan & bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover & allow to simmer for 35-40 mins. When tender, remove from heat & allow rice to cool.

Strain & rinse the beans in colander; add the corn & diced tomatoes with green chiles. Toss to mix. Pour into bowl & mix with rice & cheese.

Divide mixture evenly among the tortillas & toll up. Wrap individually in plastic wrap & place in freezers safe bag. Freeze & reheat in microwave.

I topped with salsa & found pineapple salsa was my favorite.

Categories
Babies

Some days

Some days are good. Filled with snuggling, napping {us & the babies}, wonderful breastfeeding-good latches, good tandem, good pumping, waking up happy & going down easily. Yesterday was mostly one of those days.

Today has been different & more difficult. Looking back over last few months of posts, I feel I’m spewing sunshine. And some moments, minutes, hours, days are. Right now Lucy is happy in a bouncy seat & Zach is passed out in my arms.

Thirty minutes ago, no more like an hour plus because it took a while, Zach woke up screaming. Screamed through diaper changing & continued til he was nursing well. And no more than two minutes later, Lucy woke up from a good lil snooze starving. We tried placating her with the lamb wubbanub & hugs from aunt Sue but that didn’t last long.

Zach has realized that he prefers to nurse alone, cross cradle style. But that’d not always possible – welcome to the twin world of sharing & compromise brother. I switched him to tandem, added her on & cue screaming on both sides of me. Lucy was more interested suddenly in the lights from golf on TV & Zach & his reflux & tummy had decided this wasn’t what he wanted. Aunt Sue tried burping Z & I did what were calling the bait & switch {paci in his mouth pulled out quick & boob shoved in}. Those worked briefly.

I finally gave up on Z eating more this feeding. I gave him snuggles, his beloved orange hospital paci & Sue got him in a clean diaper. I was able then to capture Lucy’s attention long enough to switch her cross cradle & top her off.

By then, we were all frustrated, exhausted & maybe still a little hungry. But hugs all around were given, the babies calmed down & I gave myself grace knowing {hoping} that the next feeding would be better. I’m not willing to give up on fighting through the rough breastfeeding moments. The good breastfeeding moments make it worth while. And for now, the good ‘some days’ are out weighing the rough.

Whew! If you got through reading that, good for you.