melted smoosh

we're taking a hiatus from the crockpot meals this week to focus on some meat-tastic dinners that satisfy nick's tastebuds and appeal to my cravings for protein, protein, protein! they're not diet friendly, but balanced with lighter meals throughout the week, i think they're worth the splurge. as always, remember that  these photos are linked directly back to the blogs from whence they came. i'm also linking up to  Taste and Tell 's weekly  round up !  meatball sub casserole from taste of home image credit from taste of home i've made several different meatball sub casseroles, some of which called for frozen meatballs. just, NO. these meatballs are so simple to make and so delicious. i confess to eating one right out of the oven before the rest get incorporated into the casserole. this dish is even better the next day when the sauce and cheese has had a change to soak into the crusty bread. (sadly, just looking at that marinara sauce gives me

        please excuse my t-rex arms. bump watch:  oh, it's growing! during my pure barre workout yesterday (which i adore!! it's the best of Pilates and gymnastic-style conditioning combined!) i could definitely feel more pressure in my lower abdomen while doing crunches. i'm looking foward to putting my new belly band to good use -- it looks like a tube top and is designed to be worn over your (unbuttoned) pants to help hold the pants up and provide a little extra support. and to top it all off, at our first appointment this morning, the midwife said my uterus felt more like 14 weeks' size than 10 weeks' size so obviously there's more going on than just flub! grow baby grow! sweet pea:  is two inches long, the size of a lime. which has been making me crave margaritas with a salted rim, and bud light lime (the only light beer i actually enjoy). the fingernails and toenails are starting to form. at this point, baby's head is just as big as the entir

there are just too many fantastic crock pot meals to squeeze into one week, so here's another round up of our favourites. whoever invented the crockpot should seriously get a prize. my Hamilton 6-quart is perfect for dinner, but at some point i'd love to add a mini-crockpot to my collection (the better to serve hot dips in, my dear!). as always, remember that  these photos are linked directly back to the blogs from whence they came. i'm also linking up to  Taste and Tell 's weekly  round up !  without further ado: cream cheese chicken from  food.com image credit from food.com this is super easy and super delicious. not the healthiest recipe in my repertoire by far, but it is the very definition of comfort food. i like to serve this over rice or buttered noodles. white chicken chili from taste of home image credit from taste of home this is a regular in our rotation -- i especially like the sweet crunch the corn adds to the rest of the flavor

           bump watch:  all the pants still fit, but it's becoming a (literal) stretch for some of them. it's a little bit amazing (and somewhat frightening) that even eating a small meal results in an instant food baby. i've heard this stage described as the "beer gut phase" of pregnancy. if only  there were a liter or two of spaten or dunkel to blame this on! sweet pea:  is an inch-and-a-half long, which bumps us up to prune-sized! elbows are now formed and those little legs have indentations where the knees will be. (incidentally, knee caps don't form until children are between two to five years old.) looking at the picture below, i can't believe how much changes in a week! looking a little less alien and a little more like a bebe! image credit from  What to Expect When You're Expecting best moment: this has nothing to do with sweet pea, but we got our itinerary for our upcoming trip to Europe! Nick is accompanying the men's glee clu

we moved into our house almost two years ago, and the furnishings and decor are still a work in progress. we do have a full dining room and bedroom suite, but the family room and living room furniture are a hodge podge of pieces from IKEA, college and auctions. last summer, nick did a fantastic job painting the living room and installing crown moulding, as well as putting in a gorgeous antique mantel and restoring the fireplace, but our couch left something to be desired.  not our actual couch, but you get the idea.  plus we had inherited a wicker love seat with green floral cushions from the previous owners, which has become the cats' favourite perch but just adds to the crazy-lady atmosphere.  ever since we moved, we've been looking for antique Queen Anne-style furniture to round out the look. and finally, earlier this week, Nick stumbled upon an auction with some great pieces at great prices. behold our new (to us!) living room set! we feel so grown-up. and maybe a li

this week we'll focus on some of my slow-cooker staples. there's nothing more wonderful than walking in the front door after a long day at work and immediately inhaling the savory aroma of dinner, ready , and scrumptiously flavorful from cooking all day. my disclaimer about food photography still stands --  these photos are linked directly back to the blogs from whence they came! i'm also linking up to  Taste and Tell 's weekly  round up !  here are some of our favourites: crockpot chicken tikka masala from table for two blog image credit from  w ikipedia when it strikes, the craving for Indian food (much like my unfortunate cravings for sour cream & onion chips) can't be assuaged by anything but the real thing. and this recipe certainly fits the bill. it couldn't be easier to put together in the morning, and unlike some crockpot chicken recipes, the meat stays tender even if it cooks for a full 9 hours. about half an hour before serving, i t

last night, our choir had a belated birthday celebration for Nick (our fearless conductor and my beloved husband). because of his passion for providing a beautiful, prayerful liturgy, he programs plenty of Latin motets and Gregorian chants. unfortunately, proper Latin pronunciation has been a stumbling block for some of us -- and proper church Latin pronunciation is still a stickler for me, after years of classical Wheelock's Latin where "c" always makes a hard "k" sound no matter what vowel might fall after it.  so it wasn't entirely inappropriate that his birthday cake had a little difficulty in saying what it wanted to say. we all had a good laugh and promptly dug into the delectable chocolatey goodness (with cream cheese frosting, no less!). and Nick graciously thanked us for our efforts, as imperfect as they often are. i now present to you: Cake Wrecks, Latin Edition .  a hint for the un-discerning eye: it's supposed to read "ad multos a

bump watch: oh, Lord, the bloat! we still have a full four weeks to go before baby itself moves up out of the pelvis, but i definitely have some oochio-poochio business going on (emphasis on the POOCH).      sweet pea:  is an entire inch long -- apparently the size of a green olive (that's a pretty big olive!). arms and legs are moving, and the liver, spleen, and gallbladder are forming. image credit from  What to Expect When You're Expecting best moment:  the sweet little footed outfit nick's mom bought that says "you are my sunshine" on the chest. i'd really like to decorate the nursery in soft greys and yellows and frame a print of the lyrics to "you are my sunshine" on the wall, and now baby will fit right in! :)  symptoms:  dare i say, a little of the fatigue has lifted? it's generally supposed to persist for the whole first trimester, but i'm not complaining about having the energy to actually clean and cook and read in th

and we're back with another round-up of culinary delights - this time all appetizers that are sure to get your mouths watering. my disclaimer about food photography still stands --  these photos are linked directly back to the blogs from whence they came! i'm also linking up to  Taste and Tell 's weekly   round up !  here are some of our favourites: s picy buffalo chicken beer dip from  plain chicken image credit from  Plain Chicken i've probably made this recipe ten times, between choir parties and football games. it's so quick and easy, and absolutely delicious! if i have leftover cooked or rotisserie chicken, i prefer to use that over the canned version. highly recommend!  s even layer salad from  allrecipes.com image credit from  a llrecipes.com so if you can get over the fact that it's 2013 and not 1982, this salad will knock your socks off. there's something about the crunch of the lettuce, the sweetness of the peas and tang of the chees

today has been rather hectic, with one patient presenting for a routine appointment hypoxic and needing to be set up with home oxygen and another who had a screaming toddler in tow (who was luckily appeased with some cookies and by the end of the visit was crawling up into my lap and telling me what color my shirt was). we were short staffed this afternoon too, so while the patients were a little less crazy, it was still a lot of running back and forth and trying to get things done in a timely fashion while not compromising patient care.  fast forward to my second-to-last patient of the day. he's a retired pastor in his eighties who is the spitting image of morgan freeman, complete with booming voice (and a proclivity for tacking on "...know what I'm saying?" to every sentence). he's always asking about kaiser and swapping stories about his own German shepherds that he had growing up. at the end of his visit, i told him i had electronically sent his medication r

haha - this face is called "i want to crawl into bed right now" - nick's sadly getting to see this one a lot bump watch: pants still fit no problem-o, and i think the little bit of fullness i'm noticing is more due to Easter feasting than baby.    sweet pea: is a whole half an inch long! that means we're moving on up to raspberry-sized. the little nose and eyelids are forming, and fingers and toes are starting to become distinct. heart is beating about 150 times per minute (can't wait to hear it in a few weeks!). image credit from  What to Expect When You're Expecting best moment: telling nick's extended family at Easter dinner, and some more members of my extended family over the phone. lots of excitement all around! nick's cousin is due with her first baby in just 10 days, so it's fun to think that they'll be growing up together.  symptoms: my penchant for buffalo chicken and curry came back to bite me last week wit