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.  ;-)

Veggies

As I've been cooking lots of baby food lately, I've been learning more about different vegetables.  Squash, sweet potatoes, peas... all good things for baby!  Good for us, too. 

A new goal of mine is to try to use the veggies I've been using to make baby food in other recipes. 

Grilled Zucchini with Mint Gremolata

I know, I didn't say that I'd used zucchini to make baby food yet... that's next on the list.  I actually did make this with yellow squash today, but forgot to take a picture!  We chowed down on it before I remembered... doh.  Oh, and I used my new grill pan to cook it.  :-)  Pretty exciting. 

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic

So, there it is.  A sweet potato recipe to which I am totally addicted!  I've made two batches in less than a week... I think I like it.  Just chop, add seasoning, and bake!  Mmm.

I have yet to make something with peas yet... I'll keep you posted.  However, I did make this soup yesterday:

Lentil Soup with Eggplant and Zucchini

...and onion and bell pepper and carrot and tomato and garlic and... well, I think that was everything I had to chop up.  My arm was pretty exhausted after all of that!  This is a WW recipe and made a GIANT pot of soup.  It's a good thing it was a hit with the hubby.  ;-)  We'll be eating all week!!!

Happy cooking, people.  I'll come back with more recipes/updates soon...

It smells delicious in here.

Spring forward!  Hey, at least it happens on a Sunday and not during the work week (for most of us).  I'm sorry if Sunday is part of your work week!  :-(  I mostly procrastinated today.  I've gotten pretty good at it, actually.  It kinda stinks when you're so busy that you start grasping every free minute you have to do absolutely nothing.  I won't know what to do with all my free time when summer comes around!

In between now and then, I'll be finishing up my Master's.  I know you know I've been taking two courses now and I'll be taking two more right at the end of the school year.  Sounds crazy, right?  ...but, at least I'll be finished!  :-)  Exhausted, but finished.  *whew*

Oooo, we watched Scott Pilgrim vs. The World last night.  Awesome movie!

Thanks for reading my rant.  Now I'll show you what I made today:

I used non-canned black beans in this recipe.  I was fascinated to watch them soak because they turned into what looked like a black soupy mess.  After an hour or two, you're supposed to add them to the crockpot.

...then I added the chicken...

...the salsa and chicken broth...

...the corn and mushrooms...

...and the cumin. 

Below is a picture of it 4 hours later.  It's still cooking.  In fact, it's supposed to cook until midnight!

Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup

I think I'll take it out before then, though, so I can sleep.  Yeah, so I'll let you know how the soup is tomorrow.  :-)  It smells soooo delicious in my house right now.  (*side note: If you click on that link, it will take you to the recipe that I got from an amazing crockpot site.  I think everything I've made from that site has been delicious.)  For dinner, we had pretty little salads and dared to try another sweet potato recipe.

Alissa's Pretty Little Salad :-)

Sweet Potato with Orange-Thyme Butter

Sweet potato... uh, I won't say it was bad because if you like baked sweet potatoes it might be a good recipe for you to try!  I, however, am officially declaring that I do NOT like baked sweet potatoes.  Ah well. 

Potato Battle!

Potato vs. Sweet Potato... who will win?

I got some advice about the sweet potatoes yesterday and thought I'd do a little experiment today.  You know, since we were blessed with another glorious snow day!  :-)  Anyway... I figured since I had some time and some potatoes, it was the perfect opportunity.

Peeling ease... Potato: 1, Sweet Potato: 0

 Slicing ease... Potato: 2, Sweet Potato: 0 (too curvy!)

Then, I started cooking the regular potato on my little grill.  They cooked.  And cooked.  And cooked some more.  And cooked.  ...and they weren't actually cooking.  Seriously, these were on for about 20 minutes and didn't actually get soft.  What's wrong with this picture?

Grill vs. Oven... who will win?

I started the regular potato fries on my grill before I put the sweet potato fries in the oven, but I ended up taking them out around the same time. 

Grill: 0, Oven: Yum!  +1

(I think the sweet potato fries should even get an extra point because they are orange.)

Oven-Baked Cumin-Scented Sweet Potato Fries

These were sooooooo much better than they were on my grill!  They were soft on the inside and crispy on the outside and yummy all over.  Grill fail.  However, now I am very full of all kinds of potato.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing... just the truth.  :-)  I think I'll have to make these again sometime!



Sweet Potato Fries

I have a new quest.  Find a way to make sweet potatoes taste good.  In general, I do not enjoy them.  I'd like to... but I don't.  I'm wondering if it's just because I don't like the dishes they are in with marshmallows (also not a fan), which typically is the way people prepare them, or if they just suck.  I'm hoping it's not the latter. 

Anyway, I made these today:

Cumin-Scented Sweet Potato Wedges (WW recipe)

 1.  Get some sweet potatoes.  Peel them.

 2.  Cut them each into 8 wedges.

 3.  Spray them with EVOO and add some cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper.

 4.  Grill them.

5.  Eat them.

I dipped them in light ranch, which is not good, but all we had in our fridge.  Never get light ranch.  If you're going to go for ranch, get the good stuff.  Just sayin'.  I'd say these were pretty good, but nowhere near the best fries ever (in my opinion).  Keep in mind that I'm not sure I even really like sweet potatoes.  I might try this recipe with regular potatoes and see how they are.  :-)  Maybe I'm on another quest, too.  Create the best fries ever.  Hmmm... maybe my quests will even coincide someday. 

Anybody have a good sweet potato recipe?