This week

So this week has gone by fast. I have done some cooking recently, but this past weekend we went to Bossier City to visit friends and eat boiled crawfish. It was really good!








Last night, I fried some chicken tenders. They came out good, but were not as spicy as I wanted. Probably because I only had 1/2c hot sauce in my fridge. So I put more Tony Chachere's on the chicken as it fried. As a side dish, I made a box of Zatatarain's Red Beans and Rice. I added some smoked sausage to that. We all enjoyed it. The fried food (oil) made me a but queasy as the night rolled on, but it was good!




Last week, we had this "Drunkin Pork chops" with mashed potatoes. They were excellent. And yes all of the alcohol cooked out before I ate it. I cooked it a bit longer just to make sure.

We also had this Chicken Tikka Masala. I've made this before, but it is easy and a favorite. This time, I cooked plain white rice and then added 1/2 tsp Tumeric to the rice to give it the yellow color. It added the perfect flavor to the masala. I cooked some peas as a side dish, and mixed it all together. So good!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Being tired in the evening and still chasing around my almost 3 year old. Then Shawn broke bones in his foot this weekend, do now I am truly exhausted. He still does his fair share, but I don't have someone waiting on me when I'm nauseated. But I'm sure millions of other women manage just fine, so will I.

My secret...

Is that I am pregnant :-) I am currently 10 weeks along. It was so hard to keep a secret, especially since I found out when I was 8 dpo. But because of the miscarriage last time, I just wanted to hold on to my secret until I got an ultrasound. But, there he/she is!! I am elated!

This is a reason that I haven't posted lately about food, because I have had severe food aversions. I have been really nauseated since week 4, and then last week, I began throwing up every day. It was terrible. I didn't have that trouble with Jeanne, so I didn't know how to handle it. I could cook some days, but couldn't eat it. And whatever was in the fridge looked terrible when I packed my lunch the next day. So for a while, I mostly ate Ramen noodles and Chef Boyardee! This past week was better, then today was not a good day. I could tell as soon as I woke up if it would be good or bad.

I can't stop looking at the ultrasound. It is so amazing!! It makes it even harder to understand how someone could choose to end the life of a baby. So the fact that the government here in Arkansas has passed a law banning abortions after 12 weeks is definitely a step in the right direction (see report here).

I have tried to explain it to Jeanne, but I think it's too early too expect her to understand. Just the other day, she told a complete stranger, "I have a baby in my butt!" I was mortified!!!! I had to explain that Jeanne calls her belly button her butt, and no there is not a baby there... Ugh! Anyway, as I have been told, things happen a lot faster the second go round. At 10 weeks now, I measure the same as I did at 17 weeks with Jeanne. I was not ready to pull out maternity pants this fast! And bigger bras... Ouch!
Yes this picture is from the bathroom at work. Classy, I know.

Food, food, food!!

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have had nights of leftovers. But here are some recipes we have tried:

One night I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat. So I made these fish cakes, fried rice, and a baked potato. I doubled the fish cake recipe so that I have 20 fish cakes in the freezer for later. The fish cakes will be a great meal for Lent Fridays! I was able to use the wok I received for Christmas for the fried rice. I have used this same recipe and added mixed veggies before. I believe I warmed some mixed frozen veggies in the microwave to soften them, then put them with the rice. The baked potato is the kind you toss in the microwave. It speaks for itself!

Another night, I made chicken tenders. I didn't think to take a picture before we ate them all. I served them with steamed broccoli. Very yummy! It does take a while to prep the tenders, which is a slight downfall. But if you have someone to help dip, it goes faster. And the mustard sauce is awesome!

I made this taco lasagna the night before last. It is Shawn's favorite meals, and he would have it every week, even every night of the week, if he could. I very much enjoy it, but I don't think we need it that often!! Again, no picture of mine sorry. (picture courtesy of tasteofhome.com)

Tonight I made hamburgers. I used 1 lb ground beef and 1 lb ground deer meat, added an egg, 1/4 cup worchestershire, onions and bell peppers, garlic, bread crumbs, and seasonings. It was enough for 6 patties tonight and 6 for the freezer.

For dessert I made this easy king cake. It is so good! Being in Arkansas, I do miss good king cakes from south Louisiana, and I'm not willing to pay $50 to get one shipped up here. So I found this recipe last year and enjoyed it then. This is my first of the year, and I guarantee it's not the last! And no, the baby is not in the cake. ;-)

Secrets...

I have a secret. But I'm not ready to tell. I'm sure you will figure it out soon enough. But hush now! No one knows. :)

Biscuit treat and "Chocolate Chubbies"

So Saturday morning, I woke up at 6 to go to the grocery store. I like going that early because 1. No one else is there and 2. I can get back and not have missed Jeanne's morning. And, like predicted, as I am walking up the stairs with the groceries, I hear her coming out of her room saying, "Mommy I hungry."

So I fixed her some oatmeal, or "oatmilk" as she calls it, while I made this biscuit breakfast, otherwise called "Christmas Morning Treat." I very much enjoyed explaining to Jeanne the directions and measurements. As I was measuring 1/2 cup of syrup, I explained the 1 over 2. I then had a flashback to a morning when I was young and was at a good friend's house. We were trying to make blueberry muffins, but I misunderstood the fraction. We put WAY to much milk in the batter and did not get muffins. It was terrible!! That is such a great memory and story. I look forward to Jeanne having her own friend stories like that. My only change from the recipe is that I used Grands Jr. biscuits because they were cheaper. I used the brand name because I had a coupon that made them cheaper than the store brand. (I remembered to take a picture after I served my plate. Better late than never!"

Saturday afternoon, I made these "Chocolate Chubbies." As I read through some of the comments at the bottom, I was appalled at some peoples' nerve! This blogger was nice enough to share a recipe on her blog, and commenters were so rude. I didn't feel like making an account just to share my opinion of the commenters. I figured it was best I hold my tongue anyway. I burnt the bottoms of the first batch. Boo!

That night we ate at Copelands and I had the King Cake Cheesecake. It was fantabulous!! Of course we did eat the Spinach Artichoke Dip as an appetizer first. Then I ate the Crab Cake Shrimp Alfredo. So good! I then asked for the cheesecake and our waitress said she didn't think they had it yet. I said, "No, no. I called yesterday and was told y'all did have them. That's why we came." Sure enough, they had it. And it was a happy day!

Spaghetti!

So last night (Sunday night) I made a pot of spaghetti sauce for tonight (Monday). I made a double recipe so we could put some in the freezer. I don't have a written down recipe for this, but I can tell you how I did it.

I browned 1 lb of deer ground meat and 1 lb of ground beef. I seasoned the meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and basil. I can't tell you how much I put. I just added the seasonings. I then added 1 cup of sliced mushrooms and a 14.5 can of Italian diced tomatoes to the meat and cooked them down. After the mushrooms were tender, I added 2 cans of 29 oz tomato sauce and a small can of tomato paste. Again this was to make a double recipe. I cooked that on medium low for an hour. I added more of each of the seasonings and at least a tablespoon of sugar. The sugar helps to cut the acidity taste of the tomato sauce. I also threw in a sprinkle of paprika, parsley, and cracked peppercorn till I was pleased with it.

And it was good!! We ate it with a good mixed salad.  Shawn ate seconds, as  did I. Jeanne loves pasta, so of course she ate it up!

Oatmeal bake

Jeanne loves oatmeal. So on Sunday, I made this oatmeal bake. It was really good! I think I will add more sugar next time. I like oatmeal sweeter. Of course, I didn't add the chocolate chips because I used them all in the cookies yesterday. That may have helped with the sweetness. I did add some maple syrup for the second piece I tried.

Then that evening, we had a mule deer rice and gravy. I wish I could give you a recipe, but this is Shawn's from scratch cooking, with "a little of this" and "a lot of that." Basically, you brown whatever seasoned meat you want. When you think it is brown enough, brown it longer. This makes for a dark, more flavorful gravy. We usually brown any meat for almost an hour. Don't have the heat too high, or it will burn your meat.

After the meat is browned, remove it and add onions and bell peppers (we used the frozen seasoning blend).  Cook these this translucent. Stir often so they don't burn. Next is the tricky part. We have just recently started adding a little bit of flour and stirring it well till golden. This can go bad fast, so you can't leave the room. The flour helps to make the gravy thicker. Don't add too much, then you will have a stew. Then you add water to make the gravy. Put the meat back in and add enough meat to almost cover it. Cover the pot and let it cook. Check it every 30 minutes to turn the meat over and make sure the water isn't gone. Add seasonings to the gravy. Cook it for a few hours, until the meat is fork tender. Meaning, a fork will easily pull it apart. If the gravy isn't thick enough for you, at this point you can leave the cover off and boil off the water.  Add more seasoning to taste. It was quite wonderful. I made potato salad and green beans for side dishes. Sorry I don't have a picture for you!


When Jeanne woke up from her nap yesterday, she trudged down the hall pointing to her backside. I thought she had an accident , when she was actually showing me she had put on 6 pairs of pants on top of the pants she already had on! Such a silly goose. Then today, I pulled her hair up in a bun so she could eat breakfast. She then put her hand on her neck and exclaimed, "I lost my tail!!"! She cracks me up!