We're expecting #3!!

Yes you read right, I am pregnant with baby #3!!

We found out May 13th with a HPT and I immediately started testing like crazy to make sure I REALLY was pregnant!

So yup pretty sure we are pregnant now!  My first OB appointment was this past Wednesday and at that point she thought I measured 7 weeks ( I was only 5w 4d by my calculations) So I had some blood work done and the next day we went to get an ultrasound to make sure what my DD would be.

The Dot measured in at 5 weeks which was perfect by my dates, however because it was still too early we did not see the heartbeat like we had with Henry's at 6w 1d.  So I went back Friday for more blood work and I am scheduled for yet another photo op (ultrasound) next Thursday.

So far I feel like a pin cushion that has been dragged through a bush backwards all night long.  So typical pregnancy for me :)

I am back!

And I scored very well in my Finals so the break from blogging was well worth while!  I have a whole bunch of recipes I want to post so I guess I will post them one at a time and intersperse some news and new things going on with us too.  Stay tuned, there's a lot that has been happening!!

2 weeks!

I apologize in advance if you are looking for my yummy recipes but I have a very hectic 2 weeks ahead of me.  I have 2 papers due and 2 finals to study for but I have a whole slew of recipes and posts I want to do too.  Be back in 2 weeks with a lot of pictures and recipes.

Oh and wish me luck!  I think I'm going to NEED it!

Buffalo Chicken Soup

Buffalo chicken soup

1 lb chicken Breast
2 Tbsp rice flour (You can use regular all-purpose flour if you are not making it GF)
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp butter
1 onion
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
4 c chicken broth
1/2 cup Frank's Hot Sauce
1 c Noodles (I use Schar Penne)
3/4 c blue cheese, crumbled (Optional)

· Dredge the chicken cubes in  flour, and season lightly with salt and pepper.
· Melt the butter in a big pot, and brown the chicken on all sides. 

- Remove the chicken from the pot and stir in the vegetables.
· Cook the vegetables over medium-low heat until softened.
· Add the chicken and stir in the chicken broth, hot sauce and noodles.
· Bring to a simmer and cook about fifteen minutes, until noodles are tender. Or you can cook the noodles to al dente in another pot drain and rinse.  I do this when Toby wants to take it to work and reheat.  All he has to do is heat the soup up and add the cold noodles.
· Serve with Bleu cheese if you like, I don't because I do not like Bleu cheese!

Henry is 1!

One year ago today we were blessed with the arrival of our second son after 6 years of TTC!

Happy 1st Birthday Henry!

I will post pics after Sunday when we do the cake!  Should be interesting seeing as he is most definitely tactilely defensive.

Homemade Granola Bars

As part of my plan for eating healthier now the weather is better I made homemade granola bars last night and this morning.  I did not use honey in my recipe because babies up to the age of 2yrs old can not take honey due to the possibility of botulism spores in the honey.

Again a very healthy and basic recipe, the butter probably makes it higher calorie than I would like but growing babies need fats to help their brains and nervous system grow so I am sticking with this one :)

Easy Granola Bars

½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons corn syrup (Or a mix of syrup and honey if you like)
2 1/3 cups quick cooking oats (I used 1 cup quick cook and 1 1/3 cups regular oats)

Grease an 8×8 pan.

Combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup in a pan and stir constantly over medium heat until butter melts, sugar dissolves, and mixture is smooth.

Remove from heat and add oats. Stir well until oats are well coated. 

At this point you can add a cup of any of these (Craisins, Raisins, Chocolate Chips) we like the craisins a lot!

Spread mixture into 8×8 or similar pan. Bake at 350 for 22 minutes. 

Cool 5 minutes and cut into bars. 

Cool for about 1 hour more in the pan and then remove bars from the pan.

At the time of publishing I have made 4 batches of granola, craisins, raisin, Choc chip and rocky road.

Banana Bread

Last night I baked a couple of loaves of Banana Bread which were not only gluten-free but also did not contain any milk which I fear Henry is allergic to.  I buy organic bananas when I see them at the grocery or pick them up when I goto Jungle Jim's.  However we can not eat a whole bunch before they go bad so I simply drop them in a ziploc bag and freeze them until I have enough for Banana Bread.  When I am ready to use them I just get them out and let them thaw on the counter for an hour or two.  This makes them really easy to squeeze out of the skin and no additional mashing is needed, I just add it to my mixture and stir.

I use the recipe below but last night I doubled it to make 2 loaves.  Feel free to substitute the Xanthan Gum and GF All-purpose Blend for regular AP flour if you don't have any Gluten allergies or you're baking for friends.  There are no nuts in this recipe so it is a relatively allergen friendly recipe; however adding a cup of chopped nuts or raisins in it is entirely optional and according to your own needs.

Enjoy!

Easy Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe

1/3 cup Oil
2/3 cup Brown sugar, packed
2 large Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups All-purpose gluten-free flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Mashed ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x5-inch non-stick loaf pan.

Cream together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl. Add flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder and cinnamon to egg mixture, alternating with bananas.

Beat until smooth. Batter will be somewhat soft. Transfer to pan.

Bake 9x5" loaf for 1 hour