Now enterting the 3rd trimester!

Only 12 weeks to go! Which seems like 3 months but it's really like 2.5.

Baby G is kicking and very active! He rolls around and responds to his (secret) name. My abs are getting quite a workout from growing a human.

I had some great doctor appointments these past couple days and learned a lot more helpful info about GD. Meeting with the actual OBGYN was the best. I've mostly been seeing residents and since my actual doctor (who I do love) is still on her own maternity leave, I got to finally meet with Dr. W. Who is fabulous! She will actually deliver Baby G and if needed, help with the c-section.

According to the doctor's office, I've only gained 12 pounds so far this pregnancy. And with the controlled diet I shouldn't see much weight gain above that. According to my own chart, and recent weight loss, I've gained 16. I'm cool with that. It's better then the projected 30 had. But I'm not worried - if I gain weight, I gain weight, the baby needs it.

My doctor will not let me go past my due date. So Baby G will make his grand appearance before September 7! If I am able to maintain my sugar levels, then I can go up to my due date. If it's too hard to control with diet, exercise, medication and/or insulin, they'll induce me between 38 and 39 weeks. If Baby G is too big, it'll be a scheduled c-section. I don't want that. I don't want to shove a baby outta my vajaja either, but the kid has to come out.

One of the hardest things about a GD diet and monitoring is that I test 2 hours after a meal. This isn't a huge deal after breakfast, but at lunch and dinner I'm not eating enough and am hungry an hour after eating. This isn't a big deal but I have to test at 2 hours after eating, and I don't want to throw off my numbers by eating more. Mostly, I'll think "Oh, I'm eating this and that" and forget to prep "that" until half hour after I'm done eating.

I had ice cream Thursday night! I was craving it and so we headed to the grocery store to check it out. I wound up picking out Edy's Slow Churned Smores. :) I've been craving Smores since we set up or fire pit and kept seeing the Smores kit at Sam's Club. But can't have them now. I can't imagine how many carbs are in a smore. I like the Smore ice cream bcause it's like Rocky Road where the nuts are replaced with graham cracker. It was a good treat and my fasting number the next morning was a-ok. I did eat a cheese stick right before the ice cream. I have to balance carbs and protein.

It's also recommended I eat around 1800 calories a day. I'm not sure if I should have like 2 cheese sticks with each meal to help me get there or steak with each meal. It's a juggling act.

As of today (Saturday), I've been following the GD diet for 10 days and have lost 5.6 pounds. It sounds like a *ton*, especially for a pregnant chick, but I honestly think it's kinda fake. I ate a lot of junk a few weeks ago that probably packed on some extra sodium and water weight. As long as the baby is growing well, my doctor won't be concerned with weight loss. As I learn how to eat more and hit my 1800 calorie mark, I shouldn't see much more weight loss. I think. I've read that I need around 2100 calories during my 3rd trimester if I am sedentary. Well now I have to walk 30-minutes almost every day, so I need more to make up those (minimal) calories burned. Remember though that the baby will get the nutrients he needs. He'll take it from my fat, bones, hair, nails, skins.... and I'm still taking my vitamins at night. My vitamin list - I take a prenatal, DHA, B-12, and a calcium. Hopefully Baby G is getting everything he needs from those.

 

I spend a lot more time building recipes in spark and making sure I'm within the carb limit. Grandma made my favorite dessert for lunch tomorrow. It's called "Meghan's Cherry Delight" and is the easiest thing to make. It's an angel food cake ripped into pieces, covered with instant vanilla pudding, and then once that is chilled, spread cherry pie filling on top. See picture. From the last time she made it, Father's Day 2008. (Thanks Facebook for dating things!)

 

While we don't want to tell Grandma that I have GD, mom tried to explain to her that with the family history of Type 2 Diabetes that the doctor has me watching my sugars. Then Grandma pulls out her "I made it with sugar free ingredients!" comments she always uses. The crazy thing I have learned (and that grandma has been told but doesn't listen to), is that Sugar Free or Fat Free or Low Fat things have MORE carbs and worse ingredients then just eating full-fat items. Check out the labels for yogurt and salad dressing the next time you are at the store!

 

So yea, tomorrow's desert - none for Meghan. :( And it's MY dessert. It's named after me! But it's ok. I can probably take home a small dish to eat before bed. And come baby day, grandma can make me another one. I've also added Olive Garden to a list of wants after the baby is born. I'm glad they post their nutritional info, it's a wake up call to not eat there!

 

Tonight's dinner is Tortellini Soup. I can eat 1/2 of a roll with it. And a movie with my honey. We got Gangster Squad (I think?) from Red Box.

After the movie - WHOA. Do not EAT while watching Gangster Squad. That's why I get for not knowing what all a movie was about before renting it. I got it, Mobsters, Mickey Cohen, some deaths expected. Movie was good overall. But no need to lie at the end. Cohen is a real mobster, but you can't change the end of to make the movie look better. That'd be like changing the end of Titanic from the ship sinking and 99% of the people dying to the engine catching fire and people were on board for days without working toilets. Ok, maybe Gangster Squad wasn't that drastic, but it might as well have been! It was good though. I like it. I laughed, I cried, I groaned... worth the $1.29.

Finally finished switching the nursery and office. Almost have the office completely cleaned and organized. Will post a picture later. Nursery isn't painted yet, so pictures of that will come way later. The main furniture is assembled and in there. Waiting on (to buy) my rocker/recliner from Weekends Only.

Happy Father's Day Sunday!

Follow Up - Nutrition of Tater Tot Casserole

So.... in regards to "not eating enough". I think it's true. I just made 6 more Tator Tot Casseroles and built the recipe in Spark to determine the nutrition value and most importantly, carb value. I was worried about how many carbs were in it and limiting those.

Here it is:

I based this on a few factors.

 

My bulk recipe makes six 8x8 casseroles. When Jason asks how much I want, I tell him "9 tots". As in, dish me out 9 tots and the layers under them.

 

I stuck with the "9 tots" because a serving of Tater Tots is 9.

 

Each casserole has 41 tots on top.

So each casserole has about 4.5 servings per casserole. We sometimes get 5, some people get 4 depending on how hungry they are.

 

As you can see, after all the ingredients are added up, most of the Carbs still come from the Tater Tots. The soup has some carbs and it should be another 4 carbs from the soup. (I must go check this.) Even thing, I'm still only getting 24 carbs for one serving. I do need to eat more. Maybe not all of it in Tater Tot Casserole (or extra Tater Tots), but adding other carbs, fruit, brown rice, ect to the meal.

 

And yes, maybe eating more of the casserole. It's full of protein and veggies so it isn't bad for you! :-)

 

On that note, I think lunch today will be salad and tater tots. :-)

What's in your fridge?

After a major clean out, this is what we have in our fridge & freezer. 

Top shelf - Bread, Apples, Bagels, Cool Whip, Salad (for dinner tonight), chopped onion.
Second Shelf - Eggs, Watermelon, Soda, Ground Turkey (behind the soda), Cheese in the drawer
Third Shelf - Questionable Margarine, Apple Juice, Garlic, Orange Juice, Leftover Tator Tot Casserole, and Strawberries.
Bottom Drawers - Butter and Juice
Door - Nothing.

Our sad freezer. :(

Ice, Texas Toast, Eggos, Asian Lettuce Wraps, Veggies, Chicken Sausage, and Sweet Potato Mac 'n Cheese. In the door are some popsicles, ice packs, and Fish Oil Vitamins.

The Asian Lettuce Wraps & Sweet Potato Mac 'n Cheese came from the potluck exchange last night.

Mom gave us a lasagna and it's in the oven. I also just made an Angel Food Cake so we can have strawberry shortcake.

I have to use the ground turkey and onion to make more Tator Tot Casseroles. Good news is I have a lot of room for them in the upstairs freezer.

Our downstairs freezer is full and it's good - it helped everything in the deep freeze remain frozen. Probably helped a little that the deep freeze is in the basement where it remained a little cooler.

Nailed It! My Butter Braid fail!

So wow... I had big hope for making my own Butter Braid. And it was a big ole pile of fail. As Jason and I were making it and it wasn't going well, he commented that I might have my own "Nailed It." I like to show him the Pinterest board of Nailed It have compiled. I never thought I would try something and fail so miserably at something that seemed fairly easy. But I did.

So here's what I've been craving.

Here's the recipe I found and picture of what I wanted mine to look like.

And here's how it turned out.

The recipe calls for 1 cup of brown sugar. The mixture was so thin I kept adding in more brown sugar - probably 2 cups. And I don't remember seeing it in the recipe, but honestly, you should let the mixture sit for alike an hour to really thicken up and cool. That could have been a good suggestion. The mixture still probably would have melted out during the cooking process. Can I try again? Eh, probably. Can I get it to turn out? Probably. Will I? Nope. I'd rather found some school age children selling Butter Braids and buy a dozen of the stupid $12 braids. Trust me, when I fail in the kitchen I don't like it. I throw some things away every once in a while. I've made some ok tasting but awful looking concoctions I couldn't continue to eat. I have made some awful tasting things too. It happens, but I don't like baking fails. Baking is supposed to be easy. It's chemistry. Butter Braids though? It's an ART. I'm not artsy. I'm scientific and would like to stick with something that's just measure, mix, pour, bake.

Sooo... the truth? That I didn't know? This weekend I was talking to my sister about it and she mentioned how she would use Puff Pastry. Uh, like totally, that's what the recipe calls for! And I'm like, isn't Phyllo Dough the same as Puff Pastry? Uh. No? It's not? Ohhhhhh.... that's probably what went wrong. 

Meat Snobs

Jason and I are meat snobs. We are. It's our vice. And it's not always pretty, especially for our budget. A little over a year ago while we were out to eat and enjoying a so-so steak dinner, we figured that buying good quality steak would be cheaper than going out to eat and paying $19.99 each for a so-so meal.

We love Omaha Steaks and Kansas City Steaks. It's crazy ridiculous. I keep my eye out for Omaha groupons and KC offers a lot of deals online. My favorite company of the two is the KC one. Why? Because shipping is $5 and quick. (Since it's coming from KC.) Omaha shipping, while sometimes having better overall costs to their price per pound, runs around $25 each order. Usually the Omaha groupons have a free shipping option. But the Omaha groupons (and a lot of Omaha packages) come with too many extras. Desserts that we don't need, hamburgers, hot dogs, side dishes.

 

I do love the Kansas City Hot Dogs. They have been some of the best hot dog's I've had. Aside from the Nathan's hot dogs at Sams Club. Seriously - do they cook those in crack? In fact, we went to Sams Club one Sunday mostly so I could get a hot dog. And they were sold out. This pregnant lady almost went postal. I might have cried a little. :(

One of my friends discovered an Crooked Creek Beef, an all natural beef farm near St. Louis and bought meat last year from them. They cows are raised drug, antibiotic, steroid, and hormone free or in other words, the old fashion way our ancestors and cavemen used to do it. Jason and I talked about it, and decided to go ahead and purchase a quarter-cow. It's 115 pounds of beef. We get to decide how it's processed and it'll be a mixture of t-bones, porterhouse, rib eye, sirloin, round steaks/roasts, chuck steak/roasts, sirloin/rump roasts, stew meat, and lean ground beef. And when it's processed (in the beginning of July), we'll probably be acquiring a new deep freeze. I plan to stock up the deep freeze with lots of casseroles for after the baby is born. We will very well the last half of this year!

Tater Tot Casserole

One of my other childhood favorite meals was Tater Tot Casserole. The best part of the casserole is the Tots!! :) It's really easy to make, and they make great casseroles to make ahead and freeze. I've handed them out before and my friends love them.

 

Note - I only know how to make this in bulk! The below makes 2 8x8 casserole size dishes and is based on measurements from store bought ingredients.
 

Turkey Tater Tot Casserole

• 2 lbs ground turkey (Sam's Club sells this quantity in 2.5 pounds, that's ok.)
• 1 packet of French Onion Soup
• 2-3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 white onion, diced ~ 1 cup or 6 diced ounces
• garlic, salt & pepper to taste
• 24 ounces frozen mixed veggies (corn, peas, green beans, carrots)
• 1 - 10 ounce can of Cream of XYZ soup. I prefer Cream of Mushroom but it doesn't matter.
• Lots of Tater Tots (Almost 2 pounds)

Brown/Cook the ground turkey, french onion soup (packet only, don't follow the directions), Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt & pepper. Once it's about half done, add the diced onion.

 

Once completely cooked, drain the mixture above. (I let it cool. At this point you could put it straight into a glass 9x13 or 2 glass 8x8s for dinner right away.)

 

In a bowl, mix together the mixed veggies & soup (do not add milk/water.)

 

In pan, spread the meat mixture evenly across the bottom. Spread the veggie & soup mixture on top of that. Cover with Tots.
 

Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes. Since the meat is already cooked, your end goal is cooked tater tots.

 

I usually chill the casseroles and then freeze. Make sure to defrost 24-hours ahead of time.

For the nutritional value - see this post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Notes - The ground turkey, french onion soup, and Worcestershire sauce can be replaced with ground beef. Since ground turkey does not have flavor, the soup & Worcestershire is used to flavor it. You could still use the the soup packet & Worcestershire to flavor ground beef.

 

If you grab the wrong bag of mixed veggies, be a good mom and pick out the lima beans.

 

I think my mom used to make this and throw it right in the oven. I know she froze some. I really only make this on a weekend (in bulk) and freeze some and cook one later that weekend.

 

Lots of dishes are created - I would recommend doing this bulk cooking on a rainy day when your husband isn't mowing the lawn. That way he can help clean up!

 

I made 6 of these today. Since I knew I would be making a lot of freezer meals this summer for after the baby is born, I purchased the Gladware 8x8s off Amazon. It's about $2/container. I was purchasing foil containers, but I don't like how the foil containers are super flimsy.

 

Today's recipe/cost included:

 

6-gladware containers ($2/each)

5-pounds ground turkey ($14.95 - SC)

2 packets French Onion Soup ($1.08 WM)

1 onion ($1.25/1.58 pounds)

72 ounces mixed veggies ($5.28 SC)

26 ounces Cream of Mushroom soup ($1.98 WM)

10 ounce Cream of Mushroom soup ($1.00 WM)

8 pounds Tater Tots ($6.98 SC)

 

SC = Sam's Club, WM = Walmart. I didn't use all 8 pounds of Tater Tots. Just under one pound each container. I'll estimate 6 pounds at $5.25.

 

Total cost for 6 casseroles = $44.52 or $7.42 each casserole or $5.42 without the fancy pants gladware container.  I didn't include the cost for garlic, salt & pepper, or Worcestershire sauce. I used 5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce  - one tablespoon per pound. If not made in bulk, the cost would go up. I think a pound of Tater Tots cost around $2 at the grocery store. I could have reduced cost by using non-name brand soup. I did use non-name brand veggies & french onion soup.

 

One of these is for a friend moving to town, one is our dinner, and the other 4 will be saved for a Potluck Pool Party Exchange in a couple weeks. I'll have to make a couple more at that time too.

Stuffed Peppers 2013

I don't stray far from some of my favorite dishes. Stuffed Peppers are a favorite  and easy. In fact, so easy, my husband can make them. By himself! We tag team it and make them together. It provides a good time to talk about our day. I chop the onion and cut the tops off the peppers while he starts browning the meat. He then cleans out the peppers while I drain the meat, add the onion & diced peppers, and seasonings. He'll blanch the peppers and line the pans with foil.... it's a good team effort to get dinner made.

I've already blogged about stuffed peppers before, and you can find the other recipe here. My other stuffed pepper recipe.

Here's tonight's recipe.

Stuffed Peppers in 2013

• 6 green bell peppers
• 1 pound ground beef
• chili powder, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic to taste
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup uncooked rice
• 1/2 cup water
• marinara sauce (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (optional)

The Peppers

Cut the tops off the green peppers. Dice the tops to add back to the mixture.

Clean out the peppers with a spoon. Don't puncture the bottom.

Place peppers in boiling water. Cook the pepper for 5-10 minutes to soften. If you skip this important step your pepper will still be raw after baking.

Drain peppers and place in foil lined pan. We use our loaf pans because the peppers stay upright.

 

The Stuffing

Start browning the beef. I like to add around a teaspoon of each of those seasonings listed above to flavor the meat.

Drain the meat and add the onion & chopped green pepper tops.

Add the Worcestershire sauce.

Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the rice, water, and diced tomatoes w/ juice. We prefer fire roasted.

Cover and let cook 10-15 minutes. Add a little more water if the rice is not covered with water.

Add the marinara sauce to the mixture. Stir well.

 

Stuff the peppers with the mixture and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. You can add the cheese to the top before baking, or mix the cheese into the mixture.

Enjoy :)

Mom's Carrot Casserole

Many many many years ago, I remember eating mom's carrot casserole. She didn't make it often, but when she did it was one of my favorites! (Along with Texas Potatoes, Chicken 'n Rice, and Lasagna.)

So maybe a year or so ago I thought I'd attempt it. It didn't turn out well. Instead of a smooth and creamy cheese & carrot mixture, it was like carrot, cheese, and sand. The carrots weren't mushy enough and were kinda gritty. Total fail. And big disappointment. My taste buds had much higher expectations and I totally let them down.

So tonight - attempt number two. Instead of using my Ninja to mush the carrots, I broke out my food processor. (Bridal Shower gift from Mom & Grandma!) Every girl should own one of these. It's a kitchen must have!

I already have high hopes for my carrot casserole. The cooked carrots & butter was a much smoother consistency. And I'm not sure what recipe I found online last time, but I know I didn't look for my mom's recipe.

Mom's Carrot Casserole
A Paula Dean approved recipe (because it has a stick of butter)

• 1lb carrots, peeled & sliced
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups grated cheese

Cook the carrots in boiling water until tender. Around 15-20 minutes.

In a food processor pulverize the carrots and butter together. Add eggs & milk until blended.

Add Cheese & mix by hand. (I dumped into another bowl and let it cool another 10 minutes so the cheese didn't automatically melt.)

 

Dump mixture into a grease casserole dish.

Back at 350 for 40 minutes.

ENJOY!! :)

 

I had to cook it a little longer and recommend 50-55 minutes. You want it to brown a little on the top.

St. Louis Arch Potatoes

When finding a recipe on pinterest, you're never sure how it will actually turn out. I found the recipe for Scalloped Hasselback Potatoes on pinterest and they looked good and not too complicated to make. I'm renaming them Arch potatoes because when making them they start to to curve and Jason commented that they look like an arch.

Here's the recipe:
4 Potatoes (I used Russets)
1 stick of Butter (Frozen)
Parmigiano-Reggiano hard cheese, Sliced thinly
Olive Oil
Cream/Milk
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Oven = 400 F

Note - Looking at the Pin or the other website helps a lot... the instructions posted have a lot of pictures. Read my tips below though!

Slice the potatoes, but not all the way through. It's recommend to use wooden spoons, I used rubber. With my sharp knife it wasn't the best idea. (My spoons have knicks now) The best trick I saw is to use wooden chopsticks! Those would be perfect and I will use them next time.

Slice the butter and cheese. Place the slices in the pre-sliced potato, alternative between the butter & cheese. The potato will start to curl, and be careful not to break it!

Place potatoes on a cutting board/plate/sink and drizzle with olive oil. I drizzled the EVOO when the potatoes were on the cookie sheet and it made a huge mess to clean up later. Sprinkle with salt/pepper/garlic/whatever spices you want.

Cook the potatoes for 45 minutes. Pull out and drizzle with cream or milk. (I used about 1/4 cup for 4 potatoes.) Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and put back in the oven for about 15 minutes. They were delicious!!

Oh Baby Baby Baby

There is a LOT of stuff you start learning about that is scary as the worst horror movie when you become pregnant.

So far, birthing the baby is the scariest thing by far. Or well, what happens to your body after birth.

Number 2? Paying for college.

Had someone told me before I got pregnant that I would need to make something called a Postpartum Padsicles, I would have figured out how to pay a surrogate or go the adoption route. In fact, when trying to teach teenagers to abstain, they should concentrate on explaining how horrific childbirth is and the months of havoc your body goes through after it's over with. I don't remember seeing that featured on 16 & Pregnant or Teen Moms.

Pinterest is an amazing resource of info. How did mom's do it before Pinterest?

Our first registry is available online! We registered at Cotton Babies for cloth diapers and a few other things. It's just a start there too... once we find out boy or girl we'll go back and add more diapers to the registry. We plan to register at Babies R Us and maybe on Amazon. There's a lot of things I have found that are just easier to add to a Amazon list then to find at BRU, ect.

So far things are better. I am still very tired. Exhausted. I am not feeling as sick, but still have some weird food aversions. Jason eats a lot of things that smell funny -- like chocolate covered pretzels. It's the weirdest thing too.

The things I hate the most about being pregnant is acne and being tired all the time. Like all the time. If I could take the next 9 months off and do nothing but sleep, I would. Unfortunately our budget couldn't handle that so I must work. I'd also wind up bored after a week or so... but a week off would be nice. Our budget could handle that... maybe my company will start furloughs this year? Ok, that would actually suck since we're on a budget to save and pay off debt before baby.

There's a lot of things I learned since Jason's mom died. Like how important an updated will is along with making sure all your beneficiaries are updated. And owning your home, and making sure someone is paying enough attention to pay your real estate taxes while everything is in probate. I can't wait to be over and done with all this silly lawyer stuff and the house. It's an added strain to try to figure it out. We also have to do our own will and name our children's guardians should we pass before they are 18. (Any takers for my future rugrats?)  And we'll name a different person to handle the trust. And we have to get to State Farm to get some more life insurance. While our agent is nice, she's a bit pushy with the insurance stuff. She calls once a month -- until you change your phone number. So I was able to get some quiet, until she got Jason's number.