Nesting: The nursery

(This was written back in November but I'm just now posting... sorry for the SUPER delay... but I had a baby... so, pretty good excuse, huh?)

 

Isn't it oh so cute?!!

Actually, this is just Reed's Baby Shower cake from the Tucson shower.  It was delicious and precious!  We had such a wonderful time and are so thankful to our friends and family that came out to celebrate Reed with us.  One of the things that was a blessing about having a shower at our house was all the projects that we had been avoiding for the last 5 years finally got accomplished...quickly.  We had two old nasty dingy sheds removed, a new shed built, and the entire house painted.  Then we put together Reed's room!  

We decided to go with a nautical theme for the nursery.  Brian's whole family are avid sailors so it just made sense... well, that or airplanes.  :)  Our good friends B&M helped me figure out what furniture I needed as well as what items to register for.  I am so thankful for friends who have had babies before me that can emphasize the dos and don't as well as the wants and needs.  We bought all of our furniture from Babies R Us.  My plan for all of this stuff is to last Reed until he is 18 and can take it with him when he moves out! :)
Don't you love how I plan for his future already? :)

The lighting wasn't that great with my iphone photos but you at least get the idea.  The bookshelf will be completely full once my parents arrive with the gifts we received in Dallas.  I can't wait to be able to read to Reed... as I know my mom feels the same way! :)  The bedding is all from Pottery Barn Kids (thanks B&M!!)  and the adorable sail boat mobile is also from PBK!  The clutter on the book shelf will go away at some point once I figure out how I want everything organized.  I figured that I need to pick my priorities in life right now and I figured Reed will care less about how that book shelf looks for a long while.














 His changing table and awesome decoration... remember, nautical theme... and nautical terms (thank you DMc)!
My goal is to do cloth diapering.  Most of my friends have done this with much success so I have been soliciting their advice a ton over the last several months.  I am excited to start the process with a real baby to figure it all out and I am looking forward to it.  Who would have known I would get so excited over diapers and a child going to the bathroom?    Either way, here are the pictures... love the room (I'm supposed to be biased, right?)!

On another note about nesting -- Brian set up the car seat base in the car so we are ready to roll.  I packed my bag this weekend too so I am feeling more and more like there is nothing more for me to do but wait for Reed to decide to arrive.  I do want to point out, that bag has stuff for me, Reed and Brian in it.... so it is not just me acting like I'm moving out for a weekend!!  Happy nesting :)

Some people call it nesting....

...I just call it another weekend of staying busy.

This past weekend I decided that I wanted to make a bunch of recipes and freeze everything so we could have a ton of food prepped for when Reed arrives.   Brian means well and all but helping around the kitchen is not one of his strong suits.  Now... if I wanted anything off the grill every day of the week then we would be good to go.  :)  

I didn't take any pictures because I was focused... and lets be honest... the blogs that I pulled these from do a lot better job with pictures than I could.  :)  

On another note, lets talk about how much I love Pinterest.  Every single one of these recipes that have a link  with it are from Pinterest.  The only changes that I would have made to any of the recipes would have involved adding extra flax seed to any of the baked goods to add a little more fiber.  

Pumpkin streusel loaf (I made 12 mini loaves):

http://www.bakingdom.com/2011/09/pumpkin-bread-streusel-topping.html

Pumpkin Choc Chip loaf (I made 2 3x7 loaves and 3 mini loaves):

http://javacupcake.com/2012/09/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-bread/

Choc Peanut Butter Balls (I made 4 dozen):

http://www.highheelsandgrills.com/2012/08/chocolate-peanut-butter-balls.html

Mexican Dorito Casserole (I made 2 2qt dishes that are now in the freezer):

http://www.jamhands.net/2008/12/mexican-chicken-casserole.html

Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup (I made about 24 servings of this.  4 gl freezer bags full and 2 qt freezer bags full):

http://lindseysluscious.blogspot.com/2012/02/chilis-chicken-enchilada-soupin-crock.html

Baked Ravioli (I made a 13x9 dish of beef ravioli & a 13x9 dish of cheese ravioli):

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/baked-ravioli/

 No Boil Freezer Manicotti (I made 2 8x8 pans of this):

http://www.5dollardinners.com/no-boil-freezer-manicotti-guest-post/

Autumn Crunch (I filled 3 gallon size freezer bags of this):

http://noragriffin.typepad.com/ndg/2009/09/three-things.html


Santa Fe Nachos (I made 1 freezer gallon bag)
www.homemaking911.com/?dl_id=48

This recipe is from 'From the Freezer to the Slow Cooker - Homemaking 911'. There is a PDF attached which is where I found the recipe.  I'm looking forward to trying this one out.  She has a ton of great recipes in the PDF but this is the only one I have tried so far.  

Peanut butter choc chip flax seed cookies (I made about 3 dozen of these)
http://southernfood.about.com/od/chocchipcookies/r/blbb329.htm

I added 1/2 a cup of flax seed and only used 1 cup of flour.  At the end when I was adding the chocolate chips, I also tossed in 1/2 a cup of chopped pistachios and 1/2 a cup of chopped walnuts.  YUMMY!

Bob's Red Mill Flax Seed muffins
http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes_detail.php?rid=781
This recipe I found on the back of a Bob's Reed Mill ground flax seed package several years ago.  Brian and I eat these for breakfast just about every morning.  I made 2 full batches of the recipe which yielded about 60 mini and regular size muffins.  I tend to leave out a small container and then freeze the rest.  There is a lot of flax and grain in these and no sugar (except for brown sugar).


Aunt Billie's Baked Pineapple
Absolutely delicious recipe that I made for our Thanksgiving potluck at work.  We made this in London last year for Christmas and now Tucson for Thanksgiving.  This recipe sure is making its rounds across the globe!

Pecan Pie

My mom gave me this recipe years ago but I have no idea where it actually came from.  I will tell you, I always feel good about baking items and taking them to work because there are always compliments that follow.  I will be making another Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving Day at the Dycus residence.

These are the key things that I spent all weekend prepping.  I feel like I accomplished a lot!  We also made some beef vegetable stew, ground turkey with taco seasoning and shredded chicken that could be frozen and used in recipes later down the road.

I would have loved to brag that everything I did was Paleo or Gluten Free but I didn't have the energy to spend the time doing that research.  I just went with recipes that I saw on Pinterest that looked appealing and easy enough to prep.  Now that my fridge is back down to close to empty and my freezers are organized a little bit better I might try to make a couple more recipes.  We'll see how I feel in the next couple of weeks.  However, if you do have a recommendation for yummy recipes, I'm all ears.  

Oh Baby Baby

So the count down is getting closer!  We are both in awe that Reed will be here in just a few short weeks. What a journey this has continued to be. Brian and I will tell you we feel mighty blessed.  The whole pregnancy has been quite simple.  Besides the whole 'normal' side effects, nothing funky has happened.  

(Left) 32 weeks

(Right) 36 weeks

It is absolutely amazing how quickly he is growing.  Let me just tell you though... I am so thankful to live in a place where in late November it is still in the 70s so I do not have to buy winter preggo people clothes for my last month of carrying Reed.  

Reed however has decided over the last three weeks to lodge his precious tootsies in my rib cage... or at least that is what I am assuming he is doing.  When whatever is in my ribs isn't there, I feel great.  We are walking every morning (for the most part) and still trying not to eat junk galore.  That can be a challenge at times.  All in all, life is good, we are good and we are eagerly awaiting our little guy!

So... two months later

Well, the last two months have been quite a journey so I apologize for not keeping up with recipes and the on-goings of the Goode-Wick fam! :)  We found out several weeks ago that we are expecting our first baby in December and are beyond excited.  Now, with that being said, I am not eating Paleo at this time.  The last thing I have wanted to see/cook/smell/eat is meat.  So, needless to say, not meat and continuing to eat Paleo do not really go together.  :)

I have been working on getting outside every single day and doing some sort of exercise.  I also sit on a pilate ball at work which I have been doing for a couple of years now.  So far I am still healthy and the baby is growing just fine. 

This is me towards the end of May (please ignore the sexy sweat stains)... I'm 17 weeks now so my pooch currently looks more like a gut then a baby belly.  :) 
I really have nothing to complain about though. 

I've also had some wonderful people give/send me baby things (which I always appreciate).  Its been sweet but sort of crazy starting to see baby things around our house. 

Our first onesie from Lyndsey Goode of NYC:

My co-worker Roxanne was being extra generous and gave me a Coach diaper bag that her sister bought her when she had her son.  Since he was a little older when she received it it really didn't get much use.  I was absolutely willing to take it off her hands. 

We find out in about two weeks what the gender of our little blueberry is and are eagerly awaiting that day! 

So for now, you are not going to be seeing a lot of recipes on this site until my taste buds come back to me.  :) 

Vitamix Lime Sherbert

My family loves the great State Fair of TX. We have no shame in this fact. I have flown back to TX just to be able to attend the fair with the fam.  Growing up in the FB all the kids got off from school for Fair Day.  We took full advantage of this day every year.  My parents would go to the ticket line and stock up on tickets for our family of 6 so we could enjoy all of the joys of the different foods that are offered.  We went to the fair this last year right after church on Sunday so I was hungry.  We went straight to the Fletchers Corny Dog line.   

B is slowly loving to appreciate the fair.  He may not love it, but he can appreciate it.  The last time I came to town I left B in Tucson so I could enjoy the fair on my own.  My mom wanted to make sure B had a trinket so she bought him the world-famous Big Tex bobble head.  B has his sitting proudly on his work desk! 

My dad knows how to navigate the fair and get to the key places we want to go.  We always spend a bulk of our day hanging out with our Vita-Mix friends. 

LIME SHERBERT

½ CUP INTERNATIONAL DELIGHT SUGAR FREE FRENCH VANILLA CREAMER

½ CUP MINUTEMAID LIMEADE ALL NATURAL JUICE CONCENTRATE

1 TSP. VANILLA EXTRACT

1 TABLESPOON OF HONEY

1 THIN SLICE LIME WITH ZEST

¼ CUP DRY FAT MILK OR PROTEIN POWDER

ICE (THE MORE ICE THE THICKER THE ICECREAM)

SQUASH AND SPINACH FOR LIME SHERBERT

Paleo spaghetti & meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs, an American staple!  And let me tell you... this was GOOD!  I actually prepped the meatballs this morning and put them in the crockpot to cook all day while at work.  I love the idea of the crockpot because I really don't have to do much prep when I get home from a long day at work.  I found the initial recipe that I pretty much followed here.  I did not follow the recipe perfectly but it still tasted good!

I used:

2 lb lean ground turkey

2 stalks celery

2 whole carrots

1/4 white "sweet" onion

3 garlic cloves (minced)

2 eggs

1/4 cup Almond Meal

1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp Black Pepper
Dash of Cayenne Pepper
Dash of Sea Salt

I used a chopper to mince up the celery, carrots and onions.  I dumped it into the KitchenAid with the rest of the ingredients and mixed it all up (see left picture).  From the recipe that I followed, there was WAY too much meat (see right picture) left over so that will be used for either more meatballs later or another recipe.  As you can see below.  I used about 1/3 of the whole recipe and filled the crockpot about two deep with meatballs. 

The sauce was absolutely delicious!  I used one 14.5 oz can of Organic Diced & Fire Roasted tomatoes as well as a 6 oz can of Organic tomato paste.  I added about 1/2 TBSP of dried basil and about 5 pieces of garlic minced (I really like garlic!) and mixed everything together.  I added about 1 cup of water to thin out the sauce mixture.  If you only use the diced tomatoes and paste, the sauce is quite thick.  It would have been perfect if I could have baked the meatballs and added the sauce on top later.  However, I wanted a thinner sauce to work well in the crock pot for a long day.

The sauce was added to the top of the meatballs and I cooked everything on "warm" for about 10-11 hours.  When I got home, I spaghetti-ized 3 zucchini and 1 yellow squash.  Once those were all prepped  I placed them in a microwave safe bowl and nuked them for 3 minutes.  Make sure to drain all the water out of the bowl before you serve the noodles.  As you can tell from the picture below, I did not drain the water well enough and it was a little watery.  B drained the liquid from the plate and enjoyed the rest of his meal!  This was such a satisfying meal and will be made again in our home.

Breakfast Bars & Fruit and Nut bars

Today was a day of baking.  B wanted more Fruit N' Nut bars and I found another recipe for breakfast bars so I decided to make both.  They use some of the same ingredients so it wasn't too crazy and hectic to do.  Also, I love being in the kitchen making and trying new things so this was nice for me. 

From the Breakfast Bars:

I found these at Elana's Pantry.  If you haven't checked out this site before go now!  It's great and has wonderful recipes. 

For the ingredients, I used:
1 ¼ cup blanched almond flour
 ¼ teaspoon sea salt
 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
 ¼ cup EVOO oil (because that's all I had on hand... the original recipe called for Grapeseed oil)
 ¼ cup agave nectar
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
 ½ cup pumpkin seeds
 ½ cup sunflower seeds
 ¼ cup almond slivers
 ¼ cup cranraisins (the original recipe called for raisins but I don't like them)

I combined the almond flour, salt and baking soda in a small bowl

Then I added the oil, agave and vanilla in the Kitchen Aid mixer. 

Add the  dry ingredients into the wet ingredients
Mix in coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almond slivers and raisins
The recipe called for a 8x8 inch Pyrex baking dish but I don't have one so I used a 5 x 7 baking dish

Press the dough into the baking dish, I just used a spatula to even it all out in the pan.
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes

My goodness this smells so GOOD!!!  They were still a little warm when I cut them so they feel a part but still will be a delicious snack throughout the week.

The Fruit N' Nut Bars (Coconut Cherry Bars). 
Again, I found these at EveryDay Paleo which is a great recourse through the journey of Paleo. 

Recipe calls for:
1 cup raw almonds
½ cup raw pecans
12 Medjool dates
1 cup dried cherries (unsweetened)
2 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 cup finely shredded coconut flakes (unsweetened)
¼ teaspoon salt

This time around I soaked my dates in pomegranate juice overnight to add a little more flavor.  I only own a mini chopper so I have to do all of this in parts which is simple enough.  I first chop the almonds.  Then the pecans with the salt.  I pour both into the Kitchen Aid mixer and stir lightly to mix.  I then have to chop of the dates after draining the pomegranate juice.  This turns into a thick gummy texture.  Add to the Kitchen Aid but do not mix.  Do the same with the dried cherries (I used cranraisins since I didn't have cherries on hand and these works just fine) with the 2 tbsp on coconut oil.  Once chopped, add to the Kitchen Aid mixer.  Dump in the 1/2 cup of coconut flakes and the Kitchen Aid do its magic.

Once mixed, grab a cookie sheet or just place some saran wrap on the counter top.  Dump the mixture onto the saran wrap and add another layer on top.  This allows you to roll it out without getting all sticky.  I put mine in the fridge for about 30 minutes to harden a smidgen but this is not mandatory.  Cut it up and enjoy!  They aren't the prettiest looking things ever but the are mighty tasty and filling... which is all that it's about, right?!