Recipes, recipes...

Well, there seem to be two major themes in my blog postings. James and food. Well, mostly James, but I really love reading food blogs and think it would be fun to have a weekly recipe post, but I have to be realistic. It's just not going to happen. After my last food post a few months ago, a few people actually mentioned to me in person that they had tried the recipes! I was so surprised that somebody was actually paying attention! So the pattern seems to be that over the course of a few months I take photos of food that turns out great and then compile them all after I have a handful. So that's that. Here's my fourth or fifth 'food post'.

Bagels. I had seen a few recipes recently for homemade bagels and decided to give them a shot. The next day I told my friend Andrea I'd done so, and she responded with a skeptical facial expression, "Oh? How did that go for you?" Honestly, it had quite a few steps, including boiling the pre-baked dough, and they were delicious fresh out of the oven but were pretty chewy the days following. (But not bad toasted). I did try to make mine with whatever whole wheat I had on hand, instead of the fancy stuff it called for. I'll try them again. It was fun to put different toppings on them; cinnamon sugar, minced dried onion, poppyseeds, and kosher salt.

Granola Bars! I have been wanting to make granola bars for months now and finally got around to it. My goal was to find a recipe that was brimming with corn syrup. These are so good that I actually made them three times in two weeks. One of those times I postponed eating breakfast 'til I could whip up a batch. I cut them into huge squares and eat them warm with a glass of milk. There's something really wholesome-ish about them. Oatmeal, whole wheat flour....I add the 1/2 cup applesauce someone recommended to make them softer (it works) and omit any mix-ins, although I tried chocolate chips and craisins another time. I actually prefer them plain!

This is a stuffed pepper, sliced in half, to show the really yummy filling!! I got this recipe for Orzo Stuffed Peppers while working out at the Y. Yes, I watch the Food Net.work channel while working out. Seems counter-productive, right? It's usually torture. Well, Giada was making this and Andrea (who happened to be visiting our Y that day with us) and I looked at each other when we saw these and practically drooled on the eliptical machines. Bell peppers are expensive, but happened to be on sale, so I stuffed a few peppers and baked the rest of the pasta filling (peppers are usually stuffed with a rice mixture) in a baking dish and ate it for days to come. I will probably continue to make the filling because it's just that good! It has shredded zucchini, diced tomatoes, garlic, parmesean cheese, italian seasonings, and mint, of all things! Yum, yum, yum....

There just has to be Mexican food. I love Mexican food. For example, today for lunch Mark and I ate mostly fresh salsa and guacamole, in addition to a small salad. These are Creamy Baked Taquitos and they were awesome! The recipe comes from my new favorite food blog. I bookmark nearly every recipe these ladies post. I'm not kidding. The only complaint about these was that we gobbled almost all of them for dinner in one sitting! But they'd make great appetizers, too. And it's another great recipe to make with shredded chicken from one of those really cheap whole chickens that are always on sale! Oh, and when you roll these, definitely microwave each corn tortilla 20-30 seconds. They'll be piping hot, but if you don't, they'll crack before you get them into the oven! Can't wait to make 'em again!

Finally, this was dinner tonight. Jambalaya. You may notice, if you've actually read this far, that it's from the same site as the taquitos. This tastes like Cajun Fried Rice. Well, that's what it is, really. Green peppers, onions, garlic, minced smoked sausage and ham (really breakin' out of the chicken/ground beef routine for us) and tomato sauce, fried with some cooked rice and seasoned with Creole Seasoning. It was really good. Mark totally approved, too. If you live close and want to try some, let me know, because we'll be eating off of it for days!

And finally, a couple of bonus recipes I don't have photos for: Pizzookies. These are dangerously delicious. I mean dangerous. And too easy, especially if you buy the refrigerated cookie dough, which I recommend. Here's the recipe.

This is a Beef Enchilada Casserole-type-meal. It's called Beef Taco Bake. I made it for Andrea and Brian when they moved a few weeks back and she asked for the recipe. So there it is!

Trip to Chicago '09

Exactly one year ago, Mark and I visited my brother and his wife in Chicago. Last January, Mark won another trip to Chicago at his work winter event. After much debate and consideration, we decided to leave James in the care of his grandparents while we enjoyed a long weekend away--four nights, to be exact. Four nights was a long time to be away from our 9-month-old, but we would have been very limited with our schedule had he been along. And he actually did quite well with his grandparents. After two days, though, we were really missing him!

We just returned home yesterday afternoon with lots of stories to tell! It was a really fun trip and extra-special to have the opportunity to stay downtown, right off of Michigan Avenue, something we probably wouldn't ever have considered splurging on. We ate and ate and ate delicious food. I had Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Greek and Spanish food all within four days!

We were able to visit Navy Pier, the Field Museum, the John Hancock Tower, Grant Park for some free salsa and cha-cha lessons, and Chinatown while downtown.




The second half of our trip was just as exciting! We got to hang out with these two, Elizabeth and Joel. The boys went to a Cubs game (Joel claimed it was the best game he'd ever been to) while Elizabeth shopped and made dinner together. We all went to see the movie Up, which I highly recommend to everybody--GREAT movie!! We finished our trip with visiting Joel and Elizabeth's church, walking around a local festival and sampling some delicious food, and then eating a nice dinner at a fun Spanish Tapas restaurant.

The view from the John Hancock Tower, 96th floor, where we had drinks the night we arrived in Chicago. The most incredible view at night. I was thrilled when we were able to snatch a table right by the window to enjoy it!

The most unexpected event of our trip was having to buy a new breastpump as a "souvenir". Since I'm still in the process of weaning, I had taken ours along, only to find it broken when I tried to use it the day we arrived. It proved to be quite the adventure for us, as we actually bought two before we could get one that worked. If anybody plans to leave a baby they're nursing, I have tons of advice for you.

James didn't seem to be too terribly surprised when we showed up Monday afternoon. We creeped into the room where he had just woken up from a nap to see him grinning back at us. Mark took him 'swimming' in our backyard in the 95* plus heat.

We're glad to be home. More pictures to follow. I'll compile and post a slideshow in the next few days....

Just like his mommy...

Several times over the years my parents have told me about a funny little piggy face and noise I used to make when I was a toddler. So I thought it was pretty fun when James started crinkling up his nose and doing the same thing! Sometimes he does it when he's frustrated, other times when he is wrestling with Mark. He was in a pretty happy mood this particular morning, so I'm not sure what started it this time. I had the camera nearby so I could share it with you!

Who do people say he looks more like?

I get this question all the time: "who do people say James looks more like?" I think people ask that because maybe they can't tell themselves. Maybe he's a really good mix of the two of us? I've seen somebody else post baby photos of the parents before and thought it was a fun idea. So you can be the judge. My family looked at these pictures over the weekend and have a pretty good guess...

Lovin' the Summer Weather

Friday night our friends Ricky and Kristen (& Elianna, too) came to babysit for James so that Mark and I could go on a date. Thanks so much, guys! We don't get many pictures like this anymore. :) We went to hear our friends' band, Two Seconds Away, play in a competition. They did really awesome!

Then on Saturday we finished up making over our kitchen! Doesn't it look amazing? Ha, ha...just kidding. That's actually the kitchen area at the apartment complex where Mark's sister Jody works. It's a brand new place and looks like a resort. We stopped by to visit her before heading to the petting zoo with James. I thought it was an opportune time for a family picture.

One of those face cut-out photo thingies. It said "I'm a dairy farmer, strong and gentle". Mark grew up on a dairy farm so he was excited to show James the cow. Singular--only one cow, named Charlotte. We just missed the last milking of the day.

Mark said that Charlotte was the cleanest cow he's ever seen. I thought that was funny. I'm pretty much a city girl, but I could see what he meant. Charlotte was really well groomed.

Checking out the goats, James didn't act so much thrilled as totally mesmerized by the animals. We don't have pets and he's only been around two different dogs in his life. It was fun to watch him watch them.

Pulling Mark's hair out. Mark always asks me, 'Is he enjoying it?', as if it's worth it as long as James is having a good time. I think it's really sweet. But it may just make him bald if he keeps it up.

Sunday afternoon James and I had a picnic in the front yard and crawled around in the grass (another first) while Mark did more house projects. He's been working outside a lot lately!

Painting away!

Sunday evening we went to some friends' house for a BBQ with friends from church. James enjoyed their swing.

And then he has his first experience in a swimming pool! He was not so sure about the whole thing. I stuck my feet in and thought it was SUPER chilly. Poor little guy.

Here's Mark saying, "It's freezing in here!"

A picture of the three of us, to prove I really was there and involved in the whole process. My job was to warm him up in a cozy towel afterward!

I know I've asked this before, but does anybody know what I might be doing wrong with typing AROUND photos? I can't ever get the text to type alongside the photos--only above or beneath them. It's really annoying and, as you can tell, makes my posts three times as long as they need to be. Please let me know if you have a good solution or tip. Is there a setting I should be aware of when I upload photos? I've already discovered I need to upload them in the opposite order I want them to appear in the post. But this one...keeps stumping me!

Weekend "Back Home", Two Teeth, and Crawling Everywhere!

James started crawling the past two weeks and has picked up speed, leaving less time to blog during the day! My parents are out of town on a vacation for two weeks. Before they left my dad told me he was sure James would be all over the place by the time they returned. Okay, Dad...you were right. He's into everything! But more on the later.

First business is a couple of photos our friend Sarah Sorell took for us. Here's her website, in case you're interested in her photography. We visited her really cool "Un-Studio" for the photo shoot. She has all sorts of backgrounds, walls, and doors that she can wheel around as 'backdrops.' I think it's genius. Anyway, here are just two photo 'teasers' she sent us. I'll include a link to the rest when they're ready!

What a ham! I think he was maybe blowing raspberries at this point and she caught it.

Gotta love a baby in a red wagon, right?

Okay, next are a few photos from our weekend 'back home'. It was Mark's 10th year class reunion, which we attended Saturday night. But Friday night and all day Sunday we were just able to shoot the breeze, so to say. It was one of the most relaxing weekends we've had in a long time! Thanks, Dad and Mom!


Mark's dad is very much into bird watching, bird houses, bird feeders....you get the picture. It's fascinating to see the variety of beautiful birds that are drawn to all the feeders and houses in their yard. I know we saw Orioles, but that's the extent of my bird knowledge. I liked this picture of our nephew peering in to see if there were any eggs.

Class of '99--here are 11 of Marks' graduating class of 16 (plus one exchange student) . It was a nice time of catching up with friends. This was a really tight bunch. I believe all of these kids went to school K-12 together! My favorite part of the night was watching the prom video that one of his classmates had brought. It was a great slideshow of photos and videos from their school years.

Every Saturday morning Mark's dad takes his own father, Grandpa Lester, to breakfast at The Buzz Cafe. We try to make it when we can. James was up and at 'em early that day so we all joined Lester!

In the hammock, snuggling after naptime. Mark said James loved it and was able to lay with him for thirty minutes, which is amazing considering how active he has become recently!

Down the slide at the park

playing the piano with Grandma

And now we get to James' developmental update. It's amazing that all within one months' time James learned to sit on his own, push up on all fours, crawl/bunny hop, crawl slowly, and crawl with more speed! :) I really have to check on him about every 15 seconds if I'm not in the same room. I've thoroughly emptied the bottom shelves of our coffee table and end table, as he was snatching everything there. In the past week, he has started pulling up on things, too! It's all too soon, if you ask me, but there's no stopping him!

the side-ways-chair barricade worked well at the grandparents' to keep him out of magazines and in the living room...

learning how to open kitchen drawers...I plan to empty this one out and fill it with James' toys and baby-friendly kitchen items

trying out the 'side-ways-chair' barricade at our home--it's helped a lot!

One final announcement: a second tooth popped through last week. He's looking very nice with two teeth. He's also been upgraded to whole Cheer*os. I tried four times to upload a video of him eating his Os, but the computer just wasn't letting me. But who hasn't seen a baby eat Cheer*os?

That's all for now.