I cook blog food.

Today was wonderful. It was the first weekend day in a while that we haven't been out and about visting family. We started off the day with a trip to the farmers market.

Ben got to make friends with my red potatoes...

Then I let my ADD run wild and ping-ponged around my house working on random to-dos. I FINALLY got my sense of accomplishment back. The reason I think this happened is because, (1) Ben is getting a bit more predictable. Therefore, I can really utilize his naptimes. (2) I realized I the amount that I can accomplish in a day is less than 1/4th of what I used to. I started setting realistic goals and ticking them off my list.

Todays goals were:

1. Sweep and mop the dining room

2. Sweep and mop the kitchen

3. Weed the garden

4. Cut out two sets of pieces for Katie's wedding garland (more on this to come!)

5. Fold and put away 2 loads of laundry

6. Write a blog post.

I actually crossed everything off!

The real meat of my post is about the two dishes I made tonight. I think I might make this a feature on the blog. I will cook a meal entirely of recipes from one blogger. This week Pioneer Woman posted two recipes that I could not get out of my head.

The first was Summer Stir-Fry. I think I couldn't get it out of my head because I had everything for it already in my fridge, aside from the corn... which I purchased this morning at the farrmer's market. Squee!

This was a light and refreshing summer meal that went great with my sauvignon blanc (pump and dump, baby). I used basil from my garden which added a great flavor. I don't think the hubs loved it, but I would definitely make it again. Especially if I was having the girls over.

The second PW recipe was Mystery Mocha. All I have to say about this is...

HOLY. HELL. MAKE . THIS. IMMEDIATELY.

It is a chocolate lava-type cake and it was super easy. If you have company coming over they will be super impressed! Greg forgave me for the 'light' dinner after he dug into this one.

Hope everyone is having a great summer weekend!!

Finding the time...

Right now I am really struggling to find the time to work out. Currently, I am 10lbs heavier than I was pre-bug. Losing those last stubborn pounds is certainly a goal of mine, but also I need the endorphines like no other. Sometimes I think working out is the only thing that keeps me from needing some serious anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication.


However, when I leave work, I want to drive straight home for a snuggle session, so getting to the gym is super hard. Monday I made myself go for a quickie 30 min workout. But the rest of the week I have had to get home for some reason or another. And not to be a whiney ass... but it is just too freakin' hot to workout outside in the evenings right now. For now, my goal is to workout 3 times a week. That feels so lame for a former 6 X week worker outter, but I have to start somewhere. Most likely, two of those workouts will be on the weekend days.


I think I will make a deal with myself (and with my husband). If I can stick to my workout and daily calorie goals for four weeks, then I will buy myself a pair of spin shoes. I love me some indoor cycling, and have had shoes on my wishlist for about 2 years. (p.s. It ticks me off that my road bike shoes won't fit on the spin bikes).


I already have them picked out.



Oh yeah. To counteract the fact that we aren't working out nearly as often as we used to, Greg and I BOTH started diligently counting calories. We can't indulge in all the little cheats we used to when we were burning them off with so much working out (though since I am breastfeeding, I have little more wiggle room). Having his support in this area is amazing. It is so cute when my buff husband who can eat his weight in burritos marvels about the amount of calories in 24 almonds!

If at first you don't succeed...

I am trying again here on the blogging. Unfortunately, I missed out on what would have been the most entertaining blog topics in the past few months. But honestly, Motherhood hit me like a ton of bricks. I think I was a little overconfident going into the whole ordeal. I thought I could do it all. Turns out... I can't. That realization sent me into somewhat of a tail spin.

I am getting back on the blogging bandwagon and it will help me resurface and realize that there is still a little bit of "me" left. Hopefully, I can fill in the gaps and do some retrospective blog topics on the birth day, postpartum bipolar disorder, and all the wonderful things that come along with being a Mommy.

For now... here is a recent pic of the boy, Benjamin Douglas Axelson. We call him Ben...or Bug, or Angel Pie, or Monkeyboy, or Pickle Toes.

I am promising to post twice a week from now on.

Happy Friday

I should be thinking about diapers, and breastfeeding, and freezing meals... but instead I am thinking about fabulous outfits, cocktails with my besties, and John Corbett (le sigh).

Click here if you can't see the whole width of the trialer. This looks over-the-top and insane. But a girl's gotta get away right?

Cookies

Not sure if this is a nesting thing, or a Melissa thing, but I have felt absolutely compelled to make cookies lately. So I decided on two Smitten Kitchen Recipes (what can I say, I am obsessed).

The first, I made are World Peace Cookies. I think I am going to name them "Health Care Reform Cookies" so they will be a little more specific and relevant. World Peace is just asking too much of these cookies. They definitely fulfilll the pregnancy chocolate craving, aren't too sweet, and taste awesome and crumbly with a glass of milk. Here's some pictures! Finally, I am getting better.

My potty humor got the best of me here...


The final product. Mine don't look quite as "shiny" as Deb's. I think my over cooks a bit hot, so they might've gotten overdone.


While the poop chocolate cookie logs chilled in the freezer, I washed out my mixing bowl and started on the dough for these amazing Key Lime Meltaways. In my opinion, these cookies have a bit more of a "wow" factor than the world peace cookes. They actually do what their moniker implies, which is meltaway in your mouth, and the lime taste is strong but tempered by the creaminess of the butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. My opinion may be biased right now though, because anything citrusy and tart makes me positively giddy in my elastic-waist jeans!

The texture of these cookies would also lend themselves to a pecan-sandy type of thing. Just sayin...

Love. Love. Love. How easy my Kitchen Aid + Chilled Dough Logs makes baking cookies.


After they're baked.


Final product.


So that's it for my baking. I also have plans to take PW's Lemon Crumb Squares over to my grandma's on Easter. I told you I can't get enough citrusy goodness!

Note: Before you start think I am a complete porker, please know these cookies were wrapped in gift bags and doled out to my doctor and nurses at my appointment yesterday. I only ate about 15. :)

The Bucket List

With the hospital bags packed and the nursery taken care of, I have found myself at loose ends.

A sane person would let themself rest before all the 2 am feedings and millions of diaper changes, but I don't really rest. Resting is stressful and for some reason stirs up alot of guilt within me. And as much as my husband likes to pretend that he likes to, he doesn't really rest either.

So last Thursday we went to the DMA to see the exhibit Through the Lens of Impressionism. It was really interesting to look at some early photography and compare it to the art going on at the time. We also stopped in on an an exhibit by Jacob Lawrence which documented the life of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who was basically the Haitian George Washington.

Note: An awesome wedding guest gave us a year-long membership to the DMA, and this is the third time we've used it so far. If you know a couple that would use the membership, this is definitely an awesome outside-the-box wedding gift idea!

Then on Saturday we fulfilled one of Greg's bucket list items and went to an FC Dallas game. Though it was windy, the sky was clear and the game was exciting. Dallas played Houston, which is a big rival and they tied which Greg was happy about (I think they were picked to lose).

And Sunday was spent outdoors as well. We planted a garden! Our backyard came equipped with a garden patch already, all it needed was a little TLC. We raked it out, re-lined the outside with new stones, tilled the soil, added new soil, and planted some tomato plants, cucumbers, bell peppers, and zucchini as well as every herb you can think of. I love working with my husband, making decisions and looking at our finished product. I can't wait to start cooking with some fresh veggies from my very own garden.


Also, when I went to the Dr. last, I had lost close to 3 lbs. Apparently this is common for the last few weeks of pregnancy b/c the baby is using up so much fuel. That puts me at an overall gain for the pregnancy of 26 pounds so far (how much of that was muscle turned to fat, I really don't like to think about). I decided to let myself truly enjoy these last few weeks without abandon because I know that after the little one arrives I will be back to my more typical fare in hopes of having some semblance of abs. So amongst all the adventures, we also threw in Twisted Root burgers and shakes, lemon-raspberry cheesecake, french toast from a greasy spoon diner we stumbled upon, and to top off the weekend a rootbeer float!!

This weekend will be filled with family activities and more eating. Maybe, I'll actually take some pictures.

This Song Makes Me Happy

This fun song, by one of my favorite singer/songwriters, has always made me smile, but it has appealled to me even more as I've been preparing for teaching my little ones about religion.

http://popup.lala.com/popup/432627052148886810

Can't wait to teach it to my son. Though he will be brought up Catholic, I hope I can instill in him the beauty and central theme of peace and self-sacrifice in all the world's religions.

Hope you're having a hippie-dippie Hump Day, too!