Labor-inducing Foods

As I'm approaching the 39 week mark of this pregnancy, I've started to consider what measures I'd be willing to take to help speed things along a little. I don't know that I'd ever be desperate enough to try castor oil, but I've started to make a list of things that seem like they'd be both safe and appealing, in the face of desperation... or even just curiosity.

Lemon Drop Cupcakes

There's the bakery in Virginia that has it's own growing list of success stories with their labor-inducing Lemon Drop Cupcakes. Lemon cupcakes? Sounds delicious to me! Even if they don't do the trick. Here's a recipe I found, in case anyone else is interested in trying them out - Lemon Drop Cupcake Recipe.

Pizza

Have you heard of the Prego Pizza? Skipolini's Pizza has it's own legend going of a labor-inducing pizza. And, since this pizza place isn't too far from where we live, I might just have to convince Marc to take me out to a yummy pizza dinner one of these nights. Or maybe we'll just make our own and throw every topping we can think of on top, since that sounds like it's basically what it is.

Fresh Pineapple

When I was pregnant with Hugh I read somewhere that eating fresh pineapple would help soften/open the cervix and help induce labor. I admit that I ate a lot of pineapple in the weeks before he was born, but mostly because it was delicious. Here's a more detailed explanation of it's labor-inducing properties.

Spicy Food

Another thing I ate a lot of the week before Hugh was born was enchiladas, the spicier the better. Who knows if it helped or not, but I didn't mind having an excuse to eat good Mexican food.

And, here's a list of nine foods that claim to do the trick. I'm thinking the Eggplant Parmesan and the Chocolate Cake look pretty tempting.

I don't know... this week's menu is looking kind of exciting! Are there any other foods/recipes I should add to my list? Anything that has worked for you?

Food, Food, and More Food

We ate so good while we were in Italy! I'm still trying to figure out how I came home having lost weight... not that I would have cared if I had gained, because it would have all been worth it! That is my one rule while in Italy - Eat Everything Without Regrets. Actually, that's pretty much my motto for any kind of eating in any place. I love good food, I love eating good food, I love running so that I can eat all I want of good food. And, we had far more than our share of REALLY good food in our two weeks in Italy. Below are just a few pictures of some of the things we ate.

At the wedding, we started off taking pictures of the first few courses, but we got distracted by eating so much that we didn't get photos of every course.

This is the second course of appetizers. And eggplant something, prosciutto crudo, and a few other little things.


This was the first round of the primo piatto, which was a risotto with chicken. I love risotto!


This was the second round of the primo piatto - Ravioli.


The bottled water - natural and frizzante - and the wine.


This was one of the two or three meat dishes, with some sauteed vegetables on top. 

****

THE DAY AFTER THE WEDDING  

Lunch Feast out in the country

So, the day after the wedding, Debora's family all gathered out at their country home to celebrate with a huge lunch together. I took some serious notes while learning from Debora's mom how to make her version of Italian pizza crust and Scaccia (which is Sicily's way of saying Foccaccia). I haven't tried either recipe yet, but I'm so excited to.

Salvatore (Debora's dad) and cousin Simone working the BBQ and the huge wood-burning oven.




The final outcome... is your mouth watering?

Passover Meal

Tonight we enjoyed a Passover meal with my parents and Yui, a friend from Japan, who is visiting. The food was delicious and authentic (as far as we know), and enjoying it with family was wonderful. Included in our menu was: matzah (flatbread), haroset (fruit and nut mixture), roasted eggs, bitter herbs, lentil soup, bulgur and onion pilaf, cucumber salad, kalamata olives, cheese, cantaloupe, grapes, and grape juice. We sat on the floor and used the flatbread as our eating utensils. 

This week as we've been reading the events of the final week of the Savior's life, I've reflected again and again, trying to imagine what it might have been like to be there and where I would have stood. Would I have been waiting at the entrance of Jerusalem to welcome Christ? Would I also have laid down palm leaves?

Or at the Last Supper, also a Passover meal, surrounded by Christ and his chosen apostles, would I have understood the magnitude of what was about to happen? When He declared that one among them would betray him, would I have been as humble as John in asking, Is it I?

Or at the cross on that awful Friday afternoon, would I have stood with the other faithful women in the Savior's life? Would I have understood His promise of rising on the third day?

As Sunday morning, Easter morning, approaches I find myself wondering - would I have come eagerly to the empty tomb, anticipating His victory over death? Would I have believed that He would actually do what He prophesied He would do? And, would it have mattered to me?

And with all of these "would I have?" questions, I find these same questions wandering to the present tense...

Where do I stand today? 

Pizza Margherita

I've decided to share my most favorite pizza. It makes me a little nervous, actually. It looks so average that I'm afraid it won't be respected the way it deserves. Yes, it is simple... but that only adds to its magnificence. But, I have to warn that it'll ONLY turn out properly if you use the right ingredients. Just so you know... you've been forewarned. Even the slightest of alterations will completely mess it up. Just sayin'.

Pizza Margherita

1. Best Pizza Dough Recipe (previous post) - this dough recipe will make two 12" pizzas.

2. Homemade pizza sauce

3. Fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced NOT grated - you'll know it's fresh if it's packaged in water and says "Fresh Mozzarella" on the container. 

4. Real Parmesan - you'll know it's real if it DOESN'T come in a cylindrical green container with "Kraft" written on the outside and a strange powdery substance on the inside. If you're really serious, buy an actual wedge of parmigiano reggiano. Oh, so good!

5. Fresh basil

6. Pizza stone and cornmeal (if you have them)

DIRECTIONS: While the pizza stone is heating up in a 400 degree oven, stretch your dough as thin as possible and set aside. Prepare all other ingredients. When pizza stone is heated, pull it out of the oven. Sprinkle cornmeal on it, covering its surface. Carefully lay pizza dough on the cornmeal-covered stone, then start adding the ingredients on top of the dough - pizza sauce, mozzarella slices, light sprinkle of parmigiano, and the fresh basil (either as full leaves or chopped up, however you prefer). Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, give or take 5. (Sorry, I can't remember how long, exactly. The crust will be a light golden color when it's done.) It is seriously SO GOOD. 

Pizza Casserole

I have some thoughts swirling around chaotically in my mind, and there's nothing like making pizza to distract me further. I recently tried a new way of making pizza and it's already a favorite. It's your basic Pizza, only you make it in a casserole dish (like a 9x13 pyrex), so that the dough comes up the sides and creates a sort of deep dish pizza.

You're welcome to use your own dough recipe, but if you want to try a REALLY good recipe, check this one out. 

Best Pizza Dough (for ONE crust)

1/2 Tbsp. dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1 cup warm water

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and leave in a warm place for 15 minutes.

2. Mix the flour with the salt, then add flour mixture and olive oil alternately to the yeast mixture.

3. Turn the dough out to a floured surface and knead for 4-5 minutes or until smooth.

4. Return the dough to the bowl and cover. Leave it to rise for 30 minutes.

5. Knead the dough for 2 minutes, then stretch it out to your desired shape and size.

Okay, now back to the Pizza Casserole.

Spread your dough into a very well Pam-greased 9x13 dish, or other casserole-type dish that you prefer, making sure that the crust covers all the way up the sides of the dish. Next, top with your favorite pizza toppings. Some of my favorites on this pizza include: my homemade delicious pizza sauce, browned Italian sausage, red and green bell peppers, mushrooms, olives, slightly-cooked broccoli (Yes, I love BROCCOLI on my pizza), Mozzarella, and grated Parmesan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Buon Appetito!

The beauty of this recipe is that you just pile it all on. AND, with all those vegetables I only end up using about a half cup of cheese, making it that much more healthy than your average pizza.

Coming tomorrow: My All-Time Favorite "Old" Pizza. 

The Pioneer Woman

A couple of months ago my sister, Mandi, told me about a cooking website she had stumbled upon - The Pioneer Woman. I have since become a regular visitor and have been more motivated than usual in my meal preparations. I have simply rediscovered my love of being in the kitchen, and have loved trying new recipes. Her recipes have never disappointed. Try them yourself. I dare you.

So far, I've tried these recipes (and, LOVED them all): 

Mexican Lasagna

Pasta Primavera

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Blackberry Cobbler

Carmel Apple Pie

Apple Dumplings

And, while searching through her recipes, I've drooled on my laptop on more than one occasion.

You'll find that the Pioneer Woman includes her own, step-by-step photos, but here are a couple of my own, proof that I actually have tried some of the recipes listed above.

Carmel Apple Pie:

Blackberry Cobbler:

Bacon, really?

I don't know about anyone else, but even just looking at this maple doughnut with bacon on top makes me want to hurl. Who comes up with things like this?  

*gag*

We'll be continuing our Halloween tradition tonight of making homemade doughnuts... and we're really looking forward to sharing them with friends. You can rest assured that we won't be adding bacon as one of the ingredients.

Happy Halloween!

Chocolate and Ice Cream

One of our favorite things about this time of year is looking forward to combining two of our favorite things:

This:


And, this:


We just finished off the last of our peppermint ice cream and I'm 99% sure we won't find any in the stores at this point. I guess we'll have to settle for Mint Chocolate Chip in its place. There's nothing like a good cup of hot cocoa to wind down at the end of a long day. Love it, love it, love it!

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We had been planning on spending the holiday with Marc's family in Seattle, but plans changed at the last minute and we weren't able to make it. We were sad to not be able to spend this week with them... didn't get to go on a morning run with Calamity and didn't get to experience Carrot's Thanksgiving party that Martha Stewart would have been jealous of. We missed being with all of Marc's family, especially seeing all of our energetic nieces and nephews. Yeah, while we had a fabulous day yesterday, it really was quite boring compared to our usual huge family get together. We promise to make it up there... soon! :)

The worst part of not being with family this year was that rather than providing my pan of yummy yams, I had to provide everything (with Marc's help, of course). It wasn't the first time I've prepared a meal like this, but it was my first time cooking a turkey! In the past I've done other things like chicken breast stuffed with stuffing. But, I decided it was high time I learn how it's done. I was chatting with my little sister on Wednesday and asked her if she knew how to cook a turkey, fully expecting that since she's younger than me that there's no way she would already have learned to do it before me. Well, not only has she done it, she already has a "tried and true" recipe. So, then I really knew it was about time to learn. Plus, with the recipe came an emergency hotline, available all day, just for me! (Thanks, Mandi, you're the best!)

I was feeling quite overwhelmed with terminology like "gizzards" and "truss the turkey," and had asked Marc for moral support in the kitchen when I'd have to do those things. His response: "do I have to?" You see, my dear husband has an even more sensitive gag reflex than me. So, luckily I was wearing my Wonder Woman shirt (strategically). I took a deep breath and opened up that turkey, in true wonder woman fashion! Someone must have known that turkey would be coming to me, 'cause it was all cleaned out for me and I didn't even have to truss it! With all the anticipation and stress that went into making my first turkey, I was thrilled when it turned out great! It was juicy and filled the house with the most savory aroma!

Notice the "Wonder Woman" shirt! Honestly, every time I looked at my shirt, I thought about how blessed I am to be related to so many wonder women - my mom, my mother-in-law, my sisters, my sisters-in-law, and the list could go on and on - they all inspire me and bless my life so much! Thanks to them and their tutoring I'm not a complete failure in the kitchen!



Over all, it was a really nice day. I really enjoyed the process of putting together an elaborate feast for just the two of us. (Well, and Einstein and Watson were lucky enough to taste a little turkey, too. They didn't express any gratitude, but the ultra-fast movement of their licking tongues was really thanks enough.)


The thing I like the most about Thanksgiving is the reminder behind the celebration that we have much to be grateful for... because we really do! So, here's a combined "Top 5" blessings that Marc and I are grateful for: 5) a warm home, 4) the scriptures, 3) adoption, 2) family and friends, and 1) each other. And, just for fun, here are some other blessings that get honorable mention: foggy days, talents and hobbies, starry nights, socks, movies, hot cocoa with peppermint ice cream, toothpaste, chocolate, and (or course) Einstein and Watson. We really are so blessed!

You know, though, the overwhelming feeling I get around this time of year is wishing I could remember to be grateful for all of these things every other day of the year. So, as a closing thought, here's a quote from a really great talk about gratitude by Henry B. Eyring:

"[Y]ou could ask yourself, “How did God bless me today?” If you do that long enough and with faith, you will find yourself remembering blessings. And sometimes, you will have gifts brought to your mind which you failed to notice during the day, but which you will then know were a touch of God’s hand in your life."

Waffles for Dinner

So, I was chatting with a good friend the other day when she mentioned how yummy waffles are for dinner. I remember childhood memories of eating waffles for dinner every once in a while... and it was always such a treat! After our conversation, I could not stop thinking about waffles. So, yesterday when I went grocery shopping I made sure we had all the necessary toppings for a good waffle dinner - butter, syrup, strawberries and whip cream. Check this out:

(WARNING: The following videos may contain images that will be very irresistable to the salivary glands, and you will be in complete torture until you satisfy them with a delicious waffle dinner. View at your own discretion.)





They were even more delicious than what we could ever capture on camera. Seriously.

Traditions

I can't believe this week has gone by so fast! We've been busy with work and school and... other stuff, I guess. I don't really know where the week went. But, it has been a good week. The weather has been unseasonably warm - in the 80s! Yeah, the week before Halloween we have been wearing flip flops and t-shirts, opening the doors and windows to let the warm sunshine in. It has been beautiful!

We're looking forward to a fun-filled weekend, with lots of activities going on. We'll also be getting geared up for the traditions that come with celebrating Halloween in less than a week. For us that will include:

carving pumpkins

roasting pumpkin seeds

making pumpkin bread and cookies

breaking out the hot chocolate

(if the weather doesn't cool down, maybe we'll go with chocolate milk instead)

.

.

... and the best tradition of all....

.

.

.

.

making homemade doughnuts!

Growing up that was one of the most exciting traditions I looked forward to. We'd come home from trick-or-treating to find Mom and Dad busy in the kitchen together, making loads of doughnuts. Rather than eating candy, we'd enjoy a fresh, warm doughnut. Yeah, so maybe doughnuts aren't much better than candy... but, at least they're homemade and it's a once-a-year treat! Marc and I decided it was one of the traditions we wanted to carry on. It has been fun to play around and try new recipes and new glazes.

I asked Marc this morning what Halloween traditions his family had growing up, and he said I'd have to talk to his sisters. So, Calamity and Carrot, I'm counting on you to fill me in! Anybody else have any fun traditions for Halloween? We're always looking for new ideas of things to do. Please share!!

"Is someone going on a field trip?"

I just had to share this funny thing that happened to me last night. Thursday nights I have my Multicultural Pedagogy class. It goes from 4-9pm. *deep sigh* Usually it isn't too bad... but, yesterday was a different story. I've been coming down with the beginnings of a cold, and that mixed with my early morning wake up call of 5:30am was not a good combination. After being in class for only TWENTY minutes, I was fighting to stay awake and alert. My eyes were extra dry, so that was not helping at all.

When 5:45pm hit, Mrs. P decided to let us take a short dinner break {her eyes looked more blood shot than mine}. Usually I bring something to snack on, but I forgot to last night. So, I decided to make a quick trip out to grab something to eat. I couldn't stand the thought of fast food, so I stopped at the nearest grocery store. I only had about ten minutes to get in and out, so I was making a list in my head on the drive there of super power foods to get me through the next three hours. Here's what I picked out:

Almonds

Trail Mix (without M&Ms)

Braeburn Apples

Baby Carrots

Mandarin Orange Propel Water

At this point, I headed towards the deli area, to see if there was anything fast I could grab. But, I realized I wasn't in the mood for a sandwich as much I was in the mood for crackers and cheese. I was running out of time, so I rushed to the deli meat area and grabbed this:

It wasn't my top choice, but I had to hurry and that was the quickest thing to grab. So, I headed towards the check-out stand. I patiently waited in line until it was my turn. The cashier was Tina. She was very pleasant and we made some small talk while she checked my food through. Then, as she was handing my groceries back to me she said, in a slightly high-pitched, child-like voice:

"Is someone going on a field trip?"

*short pause* (I'm thinking, "field trip? what kind of question is that? where did that come from?" Then, I realize it was those dang Lunchables that made her think I had a child going on a field trip.)

Then, I proudly replied, "Nope."

Tina: "Oh, just some healthy snacks, huh?"

Me: "Yep."

LOL! So, the whole drive back to school I chuckled to myself as I ate my cheese, meat and crackers. I found myself thinking of field trips I went on as a child and how I never would have gotten Lunchables for a field trip. And, then I thought of future field trips I'll send my kids on and how they probably won't get Lunchables either. lol! But, it made for a funny moment.

The good news is that the almonds and the apple ended up being all I needed to get through the rest of class. Phew! One more week down!

Our Day in Oakland

As soon as I was done with seminary this morning, we headed down to Oakland to go to the temple. It usually takes between two and two and a half hours to drive down there, depending on traffic. The drive down was gorgeous! There was fog blanketing the entire valley, and that mixed with the colorful foilage was just breathtaking. There were vineyards and trees and entire hillsides in perfect autumn bloom!

By early afternoon, the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue. We couldn't leave without taking some photos. Here's one of my very handsome husband:

Isn't he SO HANDSOME?!!

Before heading back home, we were able to meet up with our good friends, Allison and Pedro, to have lunch at Zachary's. Pizza that's so good it can't be categorized with what is traditionally defined as "pizza." Does that make any sense? Well, just take my word for it... and try it if you ever get the chance.

The entire day was completely wonderful! We ended up spending most of the time in the car, driving to and from... but, we had so much fun talking and laughing! I absolutely loved our day together! It's a blessing that we have flexible schedules to get away in the middle of the week together. It was a terrific day... just what we needed!

"Quality you can taste"

We drove down to Sacramento this afternoon to pick up Megan's parents from the airport. On the way home we stopped to grab a bite to eat at our favorite burger joint, In-N-Out. Their menu is simple, their burgers are delicious, their fries actually taste healthy, and their milkshakes are thick and creamy. It's probably a good thing we don't have an In-N-Out closeby!

If you ever get a chance to visit one of their locations, we definitely recommend it.

- Marc