This morning I had an appointment with my midwife. She got baby’s heartbeat right away and then we got to hear four sweet little hiccups. Everything is good though. Baby and I both seem like pregnancy agrees with us!!
Recipe Books
Written by andrea on March 5th, 2009I really enjoy reading and owning recipe books, but I’ve discovered that they are not practical instruments for usage. I’ve got about 5 square feet of shelf space devoted to recipe books in our pantry and that is were they sit. There are zillions of great recipes I’ve never tried because going through recipes when I’m making up our weekly menu plan is tedious.
So I want to go through each book and pick out recipes that have ingredients we enjoy and seem to be something I would actually make. But what to do with those recipes after I’ve done this is my dilemma. Do I copy them into a computer file? Do I type them up and reprint them onto index cards? I’m undecided as to whether to have them available on a computer screen or on paper. I do have a computer in the kitchen and have accessed online recipes using them directly from the screen so I’m not opposed to this format. Having them in a binder or on index cards also is perfectly acceptable to me. But what is the most efficient and effective way to make these recipes more useful and available to me?
In the end, I’m not going to get rid of all my recipe books. There are a few to which I hold no attachment and will get rid of as soon as I’m gone through them and decided what to do with the recipes I like. Other books I will keep readily available in the kitchen, but the remainders are going into storage to free up space. Oh, and I forgot to mention the billion or so loose recipes of every shape and size imaginable that I’ve collected over the years.
I’m kind of leaning toward a paper format for organizing these, mostly because I’m still sentimentally attached to paper unlike some folks from the generation behind me. Paper is still easier for me to perouse versus a computer, but a computer can organize all those recipes in all sorts of useful ways. Argh! I’m not convincing myself of an organizational plan here. Any ideas from anyone??
First Weekend Boiling Sap
Written by andrea on March 5th, 2009Last weekend Dave finally got to use his brand new evaporator. He boiled some 100 gallons of sap from the first week’s run. This week really didn’t look like the sap was going to run at all, which would have meant another weekend of boiling lost, but the temperatures are warming up so we might have some sap by Saturday or Sunday.
Dave’s used an amazing 3/4 of a mile of tubing for sap between his parent’s woods and three friend’s woods. That’s not a very impressive number for the big producers, but it is a HUGE number for us and it meant a whole LOT of work over the winter for Dave and his Dad.
Dave’ Dad took some nice photos last weekend and I’ll ask Dave to put them on here for everyone to see later maybe this evening.
Our Little Peanut at 18 1/2 Weeks
Written by andrea on February 26th, 2009
Well, here he/she is! Approximately 10 ounces and looking pretty good, from what the perinatologist was able to tell. The heart was beating 138x/min, which is also pretty great. Baby was moving around so much that the ultrasound tech had to chase him/her all over the place. According to my mother, I was also rather active while in the womb. So those folks that think they can guess boy or girl by movement amounts might be in error. This kiddo is keeping us guessing all the way!
I’m only still occasionally feeling the baby move. But we’re heading now into week 20 (half-way point) and movement I can feel regularly should start picking up quickly. Baby is making me soooooooo hungry at times now. I wake up in the middle of the night barely able to resist the urge to go downstairs for food.
I bought a baby boy and a baby girl outfit to take with us to the hospital to use as “coming home” outfits. They are so cute. The girl outfit is a little summer dress with short sleeves and a cute little matching bloomer. The boy outfit is a polo onsies and overall shorts with a little embroidered frog on the pant leg.
Next Monday I have the 20 week appointment with my midwife! Hard to believe we are to the half-way point.
On My Mind
Written by andrea on February 26th, 2009Yesterday was the first anniversary of the passing of a dear friend’s sister. So all day yesterday and today I’ve been thinking about and praying for my friend and her family.
God, please bless all those who knew and loved Jennifer with your peace this week as they look back on her life and memory.
Busy Errand Day
Written by andrea on February 26th, 2009Today I have tons of running around to do. Dave & I have our “level 2” ultrasound today at 10:45. “Level 2” ultrasound is just a fancy term for a more detailed ultrasound they like to do on pregnant gals over 35.. We’ll get to see just how this little babe of ours is doing today, which will be just cool beans. We aren’t going to find out if we’re having a boy or a girl though. Hopefully, we’ll have a better picture than we did from the 8 week ultrasound where babe just looked like a little gummie bear.
After the ultrasound, I’m going to lunch with Dave. Then I have to go to Tractor Supply for all these giant containers we’ve ordered to hold maple sap at different locations until it can be collected and boiled. And of course, since it’s Thursday I’ve got my usual grocery store and butcher shop runs to do.
This week when I came up with the menu I have two meals, meatloaf & chili, which I’m doubling so the extra can go in the freezer for future use. I want to have maybe 3 weeks of dinners packed away in the freezer before the baby is born. That’s only 21 meals so that is very do-able.
Going to Try Making Soft Pretzels
Written by andrea on February 23rd, 2009Later this week, Wednesday specifically, I am going to make my first batch of homemade soft pretzels. The Food Netwrok’s Alton Brown made soft pretzels on one of his shows so I found that recipe and plan to give it a try. One difficulty I have during winter is making bread because you have to have a warm area to let bread dough rise. Well, Dave & I keep our home pretty chilly during the winter and finding a warm location for rising bread dough can be hard. But I’m going to give pretzels a try!
Nothing Much Going On
Written by andrea on February 23rd, 2009I haven’t written for a while, but there is nothing going on. Our weekends are filled with all things maple syrup and my weekdays have been pretty slow. This weekend Dave tapped all the maples at his parent’s house and one other location we’re using. The sap won’t begin to flow though until Thursday when it warms up. We won’t be boiling sap this weekend yet, but the next we certainly will. This coming weekend we’ll probably tap the trees at the other 2 locations we are using.
Today I’m hanging out here at the house doing some cleaning and laundry.
So like I said, nothing much going on. Which is actually pretty okay with me!
Thursday-Wednesday Menu
Written by andrea on February 12th, 2009My favorite local grocery store’s sales start on Thursdays. So I’ve started shopping on Thursdays because sale items tend to run low if I wait for another day. Thus the reason my menu planning goes from Thursday through to the next Wednesday evening. I also like to have a baked good on hand for snacking and this week I’m going to make zucchini bread.
Breakfast Mondays – Thursdays is generally cold or hot cereal, milk and OJ or other 100% juice. Occasionally, I will make scrambled eggs or some other hot breakfast. Fridays we go to McDonald’s drive-thru because we both go into Springfield early for the day. Dave to go to work and me to hang out with my sister-in-law so I can help her. Saturdays & Sundays I make a hot breakfast.
Lunches Mondays-Thursday for Dave I make a PB& J sandwich, pack a little bag of chips/pretzels, some baked yummy of some sort, carrot and/or small fruit. I just make due for lunch with whatever we have for leftovers or maybe canned soup. Saturdays & Sundays we don’t generally eat lunch because we’ve had a big breakfast.
So dinners are the only thing I’ve really got to plan. Below is this week’s dinner menu.
Tonight: pork chops, spinach artichoke dip spread on toasted French Bread (new recipe…will post if it tastes good), small salad.
Friday: Spaghetti with Italian sausage & mushrooms, small salad and any leftover spinach artichoke dip
Saturday: baked potatoes with fixins’ (broccoli, diced ham, sour cream, grated cheese, butter)
Sunday: baked chicken, chicken flavored rice, broccoli or corn (a veggie from the freezer)
Monday: Tacos with fixins’ (sour cream, cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes)
Tuesday: Clam chowder and grilled cheese (this is using Snow’s canned clam chowder, homemade chowder is nice, but costs a small fortune to make).
Wednesday: quiche (eggs, diced ham or sausage, minced broccoli, cheese…this stuff is really yummy)
Now, I’m hoping to get all the ingredients I need and stock pile a few boxes of cereal which is on sale (and I have a coupon) for $60-$65. I have to go to two grocery stores and the butcher shop to do this…I’ll post my success or failure when I get back.