Pregnancy and Cooking

...are just two things that don't always mix!

I'm sorry for my absence, but I sure do hope that makes your heart fonder.  <3

Here's the skinny on what's been happening...

1.  I have had NO time to blog.  I started a crochet business called Made by Magissa and it boomed during the Fall.  A wonderful thing!  Just didn't leave much time for anything but crocheting and being a momma during what "free time" I have.  (I'm kinda okay with that.)

2.  I'm pregnant with Baby #2, a BOY this time!  He is due on May 16th and is currently the size of an ear of corn, to give you some perspective:

3.  This pregnancy has been tougher sickness-wise and cooking-wise, if you thought the last one was bad!  Though, that was mainly in the first trimester.  I'm happily sailing through the second trimester and have been doing lots of cooking to try to keep some of those inevitable pounds away (one of my New Year's resolutions).  I'm currently determined to add spinach back into my diet in the form of lots of yummy salads.  Stay tuned.

4.  I haven't forgotten about the blogging world!  I've been taking pictures of some things I've been making, just haven't posted.  Feast your eyes on these... can you guess which are pregnant cravings and which are attempts to be healthy?

I'll be honest, I don't remember what this is...

Seriously.  I've been sitting here looking at the picture and thinking about what it could have been.  Maybe a meatball sub?  Perhaps a cheeseburger attempt on a hot dog bun?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Pretty sure that's meat, cheese, and tomato at least... so... yeah.

Crockpot Maple Ham

This was sooooo easy to make.  Good, because I didn't want to be smelling everything!  Basically, you put a layer of carrots and sweet potato in the bottom of your crockpot... put a 1-1 1/2 pound ham on top of it... and pour some maple syrup over the whole thing.  It ends up cooking for about 6-8 hours, depending on whether you put it on low or high.  Yummy!

Yes, I know that wasn't pictured in the crockpot.  At least I remembered to take a picture as I portioned it out for my lovely hubby's lunches!

Mac & Cheese on a Stick

I did not make this.  I bought it at a Renn Faire.  It was A-MAZING.  Jealous?

Egg Salad Wrap

Just like it sounds... there are tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and spinach on there, too.  Maybe avocado?  I love all things avocado.  Guacamole, especially.  Mmmm... guacamole...

Enjoying my favorite!

Blueberry Oat Pancakes

You've seen the Oat Pancakes before.  Still an all-time favorite in our house.  We added blueberries because my daughter had been obsessed with "Curious George makes Pancakes" and wanted to add blueberries to them like he did in the book.  *heart melts*

My lovely helper!

Hot Cocoa Cookies

Mine were topped with peppermint marshmallows... just because it's what was in the pantry!  These were tasty, but got a little moist when covered up for too long.  I will say that I didn't add all the butter, but substituted applesauce for some of it instead.  That tends to make cookies a little more cake-y.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Recipe came DIRECTLY off the bag of Hershey's kisses.  Yum.  Yep, just yum.

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These were good, but also a little cake-y because of my butter substitution.  Don't worry, they still got eaten.

Soft Pudding Monster Cookies

BEST.  COOKIES.  EVER.  Pregnant me ate most of them.

Eggplant Parmesan

I cannot divulge my recipe, as it is from my wonderful uncle!  Come on over sometime, I'm itching for a reason to make this again.  Mmmm...

My helper, at it again!

Egg Salad on a Waffle

Haha, had to throw it in here... oh so good.  If there's hard-boiled eggs and waffles in my house, this is my go to lunch.  :-)

Okay, so I can explain all of the cookies like this... if you can't eat cookies when you're pregnant, when can you?

Happy Cooking, folks!  Hopefully I'll be back again before baby comes.  No promises.  ;-)

What's Your Favorite Food?

I'd like Friday night to be Pizza Night.  

It's funny, most of the time if you ask people what they're favorite food is, they say pizza.  (Is it your favorite food?)  I don't know if it's because they can't think of any other foods when they're asked the question or what.  I wouldn't say that pizza is my favorite food, but I sure do like it.  

Anybody else have a pizza line in high school and eat pizza every single day?  With tater tots?  Mmm.  *mouth waters*

*Side note: I was recently introduced to the idea of crab tots, which sound amazing.  I've never had them, but I may have to try them for the blog's sake.  Don't worry, I won't feed them to my shellfish-allergic husband.  

Back to PIZZA!  I made one tonight using a whole wheat pizza crust.  

 

Add chunky pizza sauce and pizza cheese... 

Add sliced up turkey bacon...

Add mushrooms for ME and ham for the hubs...

Um... a touch more cheese...

Cook!

Something kinda funny... I may have gotten that pizza pan from a delivery place years ago.  When they delivered the pizza, the pan was definitely still in the box.  Thank you for the pan whatever delivery place gave it to me with my pizza!  I hope I tipped you well!!!  

You know as well as I do that you can put anything on pizza.  That's why it's so amazing.  Lately I've been doing lots of English muffin pizzas for my little one.  It's a great way to keep the portion size smallish.  I think she kinda liked this pizza tonight though... she definitely ate all of the toppings right off it.  Can't say I blame her.

Oh!  ...and for your viewing pleasure... I present to you... *dun dun dun!* ...my favorite way to eat MY favorite food (and my lunch today)...

On Waffles!  ;-)

Surprised by my favorite food?  Shame on you.  

What's your favorite?  :-)

Best. Eggsalad. Ever.

Sorry friends!  I was almost too busy picking out paint colors to remember to blog.  Almost.  Here I am!  I have been de-wallpapering our basement from this terrible atlas wallpaper and looking forward to painting the walls something fabulous.  

I hope you didn't miss me too much... I mean, I haven't really given you much chance to miss me this week, have I?  I'm on a roll, but I can't promise anything over the weekend.  You just never know what will happen on the weekend.

For now, here's a picture of the best eggsalad in the world:

Alissa's Eggsalad

It certainly is not the best picture of an eggsalad sandwich, but I think that I've officially mastered eggsalad.  Should I reveal my secrets?  To you?  Hmm... mayhaps.

First, I will say that if you know me at all you know that my all-time favorite way to eat eggsalad is on a waffle.  A homemade Belgian waffle made with the Bisquick waffle mix.  That's normal, right?  I've made other kinds of waffles, but Bisquick is best.  Just my opinion.

I generally don't like anything crunchy in my eggsalad (or tuna, for that matter, but I did break that rule last night!).  Celery is not allowed near my eggsalad at all, so if you're a celery-lover, leave now.  I've also been trying to add veggies to everything I eat, so there might be fresh spinach and scallions on the sandwich, which breaks all kinds of Alissa-laws.

Anyway, you hard-boil some eggs.  I always put a pot of water on my stove and add the eggs right away.  Once it's boiling, I let the eggs sit in the boiling water for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, I turn off the heat and let them sit there until the water stops boiling.  I scoop them out with a big spoon and put them into a container in the fridge.  I NEVER have to worry about the eggs being hard to peel... and there's something nice about knowing how your eggs got hard-boiled *ahem ahem* (you know who you are).

Alissa's New Eggsalad Recipe
2 Hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1 t. Light Mayo
1 Laughing Cow cheese wedge (any kind, except blue cheese or swiss-yuck?)
Season with paprika, pepper, Old Bay, and ground mustard (or none of the above if you don't like them)

Put all of the above into a bowl and mix and then add to your waffle... er, sandwich.  Pita?  Flatbread?  Whatever.

Add tomato, avocado, spinach, scallions, etc. if you're feeling particularly adventurous.  It's really that easy.  Mmm... :-)

For dinner, I may have made some more Mexi-Rice Bowls, but with organic beef and a ton of grilled veggies.  I got compliments from both my dad and hubby.  Score!  Little did not seem at all interested.  She spit out the pearl onion, part of a red pepper, and the avocado I had her attempt to eat.  She did like the meat, though.  Baby likes meat.

Grilled Mushrooms, Red Onions, Red Bell Peppers, and Pearl Onions

Alissa's Beef Mexi-Bowl

So, brown rice, organic ground beef, avocado, fresh salsa, black olives, light sour cream, scallions, pearl onions, red onions, red bell peppers, and mushrooms.  Ahhhh-mazing.  

Have I convinced you to try it yet?  I love Mexican food.

Mish Mash!

Hi there!  It's been a while, I know.  I've been revamping my eating/cooking again... but this particular post might be a mish mash of things I've cooked recently.  To start us off, here's a picture of some cauliflower my lovely hubby bought at the store:

While it does seem to be very fun, it kind of scares me.  Is cauliflower ever supposed to be purple, yellow, or green?!  It just doesn't seem right.  Which brings me to my current ponderance.  I've been making baby food for the past few months and thinking about what I would want Olivia to eat vs. what Jim and I sometimes put in our own bodies.  I've been trying to educate myself on what to buy organicly... here's a list if you're interested.  There are other lists out there and it seems like there are different variations, too. 

The down side to buying organic food is the price... but I guess you have to think about what kinds of chemicals you're willing to put in your body. 

Anyway, enough about that for now.  Here are a few things I've made that you might enjoy!  :-)

Avocado Grilled Cheese

I actually found this idea on Pinterest.  I heart Pinterest!  It's just grilled cheese (grilled on my fabulous grill pan) with some avocado slices.  Amazing!  If you like avocado, that is.  That link under the picture will take you to not a ton of grilled cheese ideas.  Check 'em out. 

Shrimp Creole

Straight from the Bayou to your table.  Just kidding!  I actually found a box (yes, I know, this goes against everything I was just saying about being careful about what to put in your body) of creole rice mix that you could add chicken or shrimp to... so I did.  It was in my pantry from I don't know how long ago.  Someday I'm going to try to make one of these versions of Shrimp Creole... they just seem like they would be better than a boxed version (thought it was mighty tasty and lasted me all week long!). 

Crescent Roll Pizza

Ugh.  Okay, I shouldn't start off that way.  Jimmy really liked this!  A complete Alissa original recipe.  :-)  Haha.  I thought it was kind of a flop. 

I sprayed a cookie sheet with olive oil and then put down some crescent roll dough.  Next, I added some sauce, chopped cilantro, shallots, chunks of mozzarella, bits of taco meat (because I always seem to have leftover taco meat in the fridge), and mushrooms (only to my side).  I baked it in a 350 degree oven for eh, about 8 minutes because my oven cooks everything at the speed of light. 

Don't get me wrong, this probably would have been amazing as an actual pizza.  You know, on pizza dough.  It was weird on crescent roll dough.  Jimmy scarfed it down, though.  Hehe.  So, I guess it wasn't a total flop. 

That's all for now!  I've been making lots of different salads recently... all of them good!  I'm going through a little corn-on-the-cob phase.  Does anyone make it a special way that's yummy?  I'd love to have some new ideas!  :-)

How Do You Roll?

Ahh... summer break... I can cook again!  (Not that I haven't been cooking... I just haven't been cooking too many NEW things and/or blogging about them.)  It's actually been kind of nice to have a repetoire of go-to recipes to make. 

I do like to try new things, though. 

I found this particular recipe on Pinterest:

Peanut Butter Rollup

I imagine that you make it in a similar way to making a pizza... except that you don't bake this... and you don't roll up a pizza.  I did say similar, not the same.  I've never made a pizza.  Maybe I should try that sometime!  I did once get a pizza delivered to my house that was still on the pizza pan.  Weird, huh?  Have I mentioned that I love Pinterest?

Anyway, these rollups were really good!  I liked them a lot with the jelly, but I would say that if you use jelly you should eat them the same day you make them.  Otherwise the jelly makes everything soggy and starts leaking all over your refrigerator.  Trust me on that one.  They just aren't as good without the jelly, in my opinion, so just keep your timing in mind.  I made them with jelly and then they were fantastic the next morning... but the NEXT morning, they weren't as good.  Does that make sense? 

Why do I feel like I'm rambling tonight?  I think I used the word jelly way too many times!  It's been a long day.  :-)

Happy Father's Day, by the way!  (If you're a Dad, of course).  I made my hubby some waffles from scratch, which I've actually never done before.  I usually use Bisquick for waffles.  I just like how they taste.  These were alright... but just not up to the Bisquick fluffiness standard that I've set for myself. 

Waffles from scratch!

Below are two salads I made this week... the first is a little overloaded in that bowl.  Haha.  I should have done it on a plate for a better picture.

Alissa's Crazy Salad

Alissa's Crazy Salad
Spinach leaves
Cherry tomatoes
Mushrooms
Broccoli sprouts
Hardboiled egg
Tofu
Cauliflower
Avocado
Ranch-flavored almonds
...with a little drizzle of ranch dressing on top. 

It's actually really good... despite all of the randomness that's in it.  ;-) 

I made this salad tonight:

Alissa's Taco Salad

Alissa's Taco Salad
Blue corn chips
Spinach leaves
Mushrooms
Grated cheddar cheese
Seasoned ground beef
Fresh salsa (YUM!  I discovered it this week... so good.)
...and whatever else you want to add.  I added a dollop of taco sauce, sour cream, and guacamole right on top.  I would have added some black beans and corn if I'd had any in the house.  I looked.  ;-) 

Thank you readers, if you're out there, for sticking with me through 100 posts!  :-)

Until next time...

The Amazing Avocado!

So, I don't know how familiar you are with Pinterest... but it's been a small obsession of mine lately.  There are about a million things on there I'd like to be eating, making, crafting, sewing, doing, etc.  However, because it's literally impossible to do everything on Pinterest, they are bookmarked for later when I have some free time.  Oh wait.  ;-) 

Anyway, I found these Baked Avocado Fries via Pinterest.  I've been wanting to make them for at least two months, but haven't had free time that matched up with ripe avocados.  Avocados, for some reason, only have a short window of opportunity.  Whoa... I think I just learned a bit too much information about avocados and how they were named.  I'll let you read that little tidbit on your own.  This is a family-friendly blog! 

Hehe.  Bet you're curious!

Can I just tell you that it is not easy getting an avocado out of it's skin without breaking it?  Usually I just scoop it out and mash it up for guacamole.  This was a little trickier.

Flour, egg, bread crumbs!  Dip, dip, dip!

The above concoction is sour cream, parmesan cheese, lime juice, adobo seasoning, and cumin.  Tasty for dipping!

Baked Avocado Fries

I'm telling you... Pinterest could not make it easier.  You click on the picture of something delicious and it brings you directly to the recipe.  Love. 

By the way, these were really good and really filling!  They had a crunchy texture on the outside, but were smooth and buttery on the inside.  Mmm...

Valentine Nachos

Happy Valentine's Day! 

How about some nachos?

Hehe, hubby's fave!  I just threw a bunch of yummy things in a casserole dish to make a Mexican mess of yum.  Refried beans, black beans, corn, salsa, seasoned ground beef, and melty cheese.  Usually I season the taco meat with one of those McCormick seasoning packets, but I didn't have any.  So, I made my own seasoning:

Taco Seasoning
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Cumin
Onion Powder
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Oregano
Paprika
Salt & Pepper
...I didn't measure them, just threw a little of each on the meat.  It worked out pretty well!

Then I made some guacamole... but I didn't have any seasoning for that, either. 

Guacamole Seasoning
Cumin
Chopped Cilantro
Garlic
Lime Juice
Chopped Tomatoes
Chili Powder
Sour Cream

...again, just threw a little bit of everything in there.  Mmm... I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day, too!  :-)

Oh Garbanzo!

I just realized that this is my 51st blog entry!  That means that I've actually blogged 50 times?!  That's a little insane.  Insane maybe, but it sure has been scrumptious. 

I was lucky enough to have another snow day today... I wasn't nearly as lazy as yesterday.  Played some wordfeud with my brother, got some work done that's due tomorrow, watched some Ellen, and even Jazzercised tonight!  I heart Jazzercise.  <3

Anyway, in the midst of all that I made some more hummus.  Here it is in the food processor:

Alissa's Green Olive Hummus (1st attempt!)

Now, I've decided that I'm not going to give you the recipe until I perfect it.  I basically added a bunch of stuff in there today just to see how it would turn out.  Pretty good, but it could be better.  Wouldn't you rather have a recipe that's perfected?  Yep, I thought so. 

I also made Turkey Tetrazzini tonight for dinner.  Mmmm... and I may have made this, too:

Garbanzo and Avocado Salad (WW recipe)

Wow.  Just wow.  Oh glorious garbanzo beans!  This was soooooooooo fabulous.  Jimmy and I ate the whole bowl of it between us and barely touched the tetrazzini!  Can you believe that?!  Awesome.  I will definitely make this again.  The bright side?  We have leftover tetrazzini... which I personally think is even better than fresh tetrazzini.  Yum!

*Side note: For some reason, all of the recipes that I get out of this one WW magazine that I have I cannot find links for the recipes.  I'll give you the gist of what's included in the salad... I eyeballed the amounts based on what I had available and the fact that I wasn't making this for a small army. 

You need: 
-1/2 c. grape tomatoes, halved
-2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
-1 avocado, pitted and chopped
-1 small can of diced green chiles
-1/4 c. feta cheese
-1 clove garlic, chopped
-salt and pepper to taste
-2 T. fresh lemon juice

Throw it all in a bowl, stir, and eat!  Easy!  If you plan to save some of it for a later date, add the avocado separately so it doesn't brown.  You'll have to add new avocado when next you eat... that is, if there's any left!

Here's hoping for 50 more blogs of delicious food!  Thanks for reading, readers... if you're out there... :-)

Black Bean Burgers

Gotta love alliteration... and burgers!

Alright, so I must be on a vegetarian kick.  Not sure why... I think all the veggies just seem fresh and flavorful and light.  Quite honestly, I never knew there was so much that you could do with different kinds of vegetables.  There are still a lot of veggies I've never tried, so I'm hoping to keep expanding my knowledge and repetoire.  I see leeks in my future...

Tonight I made black bean burgers.  I don't know if you've ever eating a black bean burger... but there are some really horrible tasting black bean burgers at various restaurants (I'll keep names out of it!).  I think a lot of places try to offer healthy options and really just do a terrible job at it.  I'm sure there are probably some places that figure out how to make things healthier and still keep them delicious, but it's actually led us to not go to certain restaurants because all the healthy options suck.  I love a good burger too much.

On that note, these burgers were not suck.  They were yum:

Black Bean Burgers (WW recipe)

There they are cooking... 

Unfortunately, I cannot find a link for the exact WW recipe... so I'm going to tell you what I put into mine.  I'm estimating the amounts, so please keep that in mind.  Seriously, you know what you and your family like... feel free to change things up! 

Black Bean Burgers
-1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
-1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
-2 T. cilantro, chopped
-1 egg
-a clove of garlic, chopped
-1/4 c. green onions, chopped
-1/2 t. cumin
-1/2 t. chili powder
-salt (to taste)

Okay, so I rinsed, drained, and put the beans into a bowl.  Then I used my fancy potato masher to slightly mash up the beans.  Add the rest of the above ingredients to the bean mixture and create four patties.  Cook them in EVOO on med-high heat for about 3 minutes on each side.  Serve the burger on a whole wheat bun (if that's what you like!) on top of a lettuce leaf.  We added a little shredded cheese, salsa, and of course our household staple, guacamole, to our burgers.  Mmmm... success!

Cooking Date! :-)

Where to begin!  Just to warn and possibly excite you, there may be several posts on their way... I did a lot of cooking to bring 2010 to a close.  What a good food year it's been.  :-) 

My friend, Beth, and I had a cooking date last Thursday.  She came over and taught me some tricks.  She's modest, but she is quite the master chef!  I don't think I've ever eaten anything that she's made that wasn't delicious.  Several things I learned:

1.  Always use fresh citrus. 
2.  Always use fresh herbs. 
3.  Grill pans are awesome. 
4.  How to butterfly a shrimp. 

Now, you should know that I've never cooked shrimp before.  Mainly because hubby is allergic to shellfish!  ...but, I love shrimp.  Now I know how to butterfly it, grill it, and put it on a yummy salad.  Very tasty!

That's the shrimp prior to being cooked.  Deveining them was quite interesting... and a little gross.  So worth it though.  I don't think I've ever touched a shrimp that was not cooked.  Now I have!

THAT is a grill pan.  Just in case you didn't know.  You probably did know because I think I might be the only person who didn't know what a grill pan was until I googled it.  Yeah, I'm definitely still learning.



Shrimpies all cooked!  :-)

Southwestern-Style Shrimp Taco Salad

There were lots of leftover shrimp, so I made this salad again the following day when hubby was home.  Instead of shrimp, I added leftover ham to his salad and he raved about it.  This would work with just about any kind of meat!  Or, obviously, you could leave it just veggies.  Yummy.

Southwestern Ham Salad

After that, we made the best pot pies ever.  I say that because I've typically never been a fan of the pot pie.  To be fair, I also haven't had a pot pie in at least 15 years.  I remember hating them when I was little... as I did with most things that contained any kind of chicken.  I'm working on my hatred of chicken.  It's getting a little better now that I'm cooking more...

Anyway, we made turkey pot pies.  Here are some pics:

Turkey Pancetta Pot Pies

You can probably see the progression there without my explanation!  Soooo good.  Either that means I've been sleeping on pot pies all these years or this recipe is just that good.  You be the judge.  Sorry for the tease, I really will link the recipes soon!  :-)

I shall leave you with a picture of the largest box of baking soda in all the land.  When I pulled it out of my pantry, Beth may have laughed for a good five minutes at the absurdity of this box.  Hehe.  This is what happens when you send your hubby to the store for baking soda.  (Love you, Jim! <3)