Starting Month 6
Check out the new belly shot we took last night. I need to put the one of me in the black spandex (yikes!) because it is CRAZY looking at it compared to that 9 week shot of me. I literally had a belly transplant in just four months! I'll try and get that one up once Photobucket quites giving me a hard time (our online photo storage place). Anyhow, as of last Friday my midwife said we entered month 6 of this pregnancy...which can be confusing since the pregnancy lasts 40 weeks...so it's more like a 10 month deal than the whole 9 month thing. But it's crazy, none the less, how time is flying.
Brighton's growing bigger and making his presence more know. I can see him re-adjusting himself now and moving around...not just his kicks. The other night I saw one side of my stomach rise up and just stay there then slowly go back down and ripple over, as if he was rolling over or had just pushed himself up against the outside of my stomach. Our midwife says he's still small enough to push himself back and forth against the walls and spin himself around...that gave us a humorous visual image to laugh about :0)
Did we ever share the name on here? I can't remember? Matthew Brighton Smith will be his full name. Matthew, after his sexy dad ;0) and Brighton, was a name Matt found after doing a reversed name search by meaning first for "one who is loved". Then it brings up all the names that coorelate. Especially after this kiddo's first "appearance" back in December and us freaking out initially, we really wanted a name that expressed our love for it and not only being loved by his earthly parents but his Heavenly Dad as well. We went back and forth on a lot of names, but when Matthew found Brighton, we were both sold. It's been fun to have a name to call him instead of Elpon the rapper (random nickname given by my dad...there's a story behind it...I'll share if you email me and ask...he's a goofball :0).
So that's the latest with the babe. Other news...
For some reason I've been an a cooking kick lately. Maybe it's because I was too pooped to plan meals over the past month with getting sick and all. Or maybe it's realizing that most evenings, from now on, I won't be able to spend an hour or two in the kitchen creating yummy food. So I guess I'm eating it up for the time being. One of my FAVORITE dishes, cannelloni, finally made an entrance into our kitchen this week. The normal recipe is a three hour production of three different homemade sauces, a filling, and the noodles. But I figured out a way to cut that time down and still make a pretty dang good dish. Here's the recipe if you're interested in trying it out:
EASY Cannelloni
Cannelloni:
1 pk. Cannelloni tubes or lasagna noodles (I use spelt or wheat)
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
1lb. ground beef
10 oz. spinach chopped
1 cont. low-fat cottage cheese
¼ tsp. Italian seasoning (or oregano, basil, parsley)
¼ c. grated parmesan
White Sauce:
1 ½ TBSP butter
1 ½ TBSP flour
1 1/2 c milk
¼ tsp. of both salt & pepper
1/3 c. grated parmesan
Topping:
1 jar spaghetti sauce (this is the easy part :0)
Directions:
1. Cook noodles as directed, then run under cool water, and set aside to be filled.
2. Brown meat and drain grease. Saute onion & garlic with dash of oliveoil. Add
spinach & sauté. Remove from heat. Add cottage cheese, seasonings, & parmesan.
3. Melt butter over low heat. Whisk in flour, then add milk increasing heat to high & bringing
to a boil, constantly stirring. Reduce to simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat & whisk in s/p
and parmesan.
4. Pour 1/2 of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of 9x13 dish. Stuff the cannelloni tubes or if using lasagna noodles, cut in half and roll spinach/beef stuffing inside. Place the noodles tightly side by side in the baking dish. Pour the remaining spaghetti sauce over the top of the noodles. Then pour the white sauce on top.
4. Cook at 425 for 20-25 min.
I just use one big saute skillet and wash it after I do the stuffing to make the white sauce. That keeps the dirty-pan sink level lower. These are good served with a baked sweet potato and garlic parm. green beans (Saute some garlic in a little olive oil and butter over medium heat, then add a pound of fresh green beans and a dash of white wine. Cook & stir for 10 min. while the cannelloni do their thing then toss with some SHREDDED parm cheese)
Tonight we're making my brother John's famous fish tacos with some homemade salsa. And then watch...next week we'll have peanut butter and jelly every night...ha, ha. These days I've gotta run with whatever fetish is happening cause most likely the energy & desire is shot after a couple days!
Brighton's growing bigger and making his presence more know. I can see him re-adjusting himself now and moving around...not just his kicks. The other night I saw one side of my stomach rise up and just stay there then slowly go back down and ripple over, as if he was rolling over or had just pushed himself up against the outside of my stomach. Our midwife says he's still small enough to push himself back and forth against the walls and spin himself around...that gave us a humorous visual image to laugh about :0)
Did we ever share the name on here? I can't remember? Matthew Brighton Smith will be his full name. Matthew, after his sexy dad ;0) and Brighton, was a name Matt found after doing a reversed name search by meaning first for "one who is loved". Then it brings up all the names that coorelate. Especially after this kiddo's first "appearance" back in December and us freaking out initially, we really wanted a name that expressed our love for it and not only being loved by his earthly parents but his Heavenly Dad as well. We went back and forth on a lot of names, but when Matthew found Brighton, we were both sold. It's been fun to have a name to call him instead of Elpon the rapper (random nickname given by my dad...there's a story behind it...I'll share if you email me and ask...he's a goofball :0).
So that's the latest with the babe. Other news...
For some reason I've been an a cooking kick lately. Maybe it's because I was too pooped to plan meals over the past month with getting sick and all. Or maybe it's realizing that most evenings, from now on, I won't be able to spend an hour or two in the kitchen creating yummy food. So I guess I'm eating it up for the time being. One of my FAVORITE dishes, cannelloni, finally made an entrance into our kitchen this week. The normal recipe is a three hour production of three different homemade sauces, a filling, and the noodles. But I figured out a way to cut that time down and still make a pretty dang good dish. Here's the recipe if you're interested in trying it out:
EASY Cannelloni
Cannelloni:
1 pk. Cannelloni tubes or lasagna noodles (I use spelt or wheat)
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
1lb. ground beef
10 oz. spinach chopped
1 cont. low-fat cottage cheese
¼ tsp. Italian seasoning (or oregano, basil, parsley)
¼ c. grated parmesan
White Sauce:
1 ½ TBSP butter
1 ½ TBSP flour
1 1/2 c milk
¼ tsp. of both salt & pepper
1/3 c. grated parmesan
Topping:
1 jar spaghetti sauce (this is the easy part :0)
Directions:
1. Cook noodles as directed, then run under cool water, and set aside to be filled.
2. Brown meat and drain grease. Saute onion & garlic with dash of oliveoil. Add
spinach & sauté. Remove from heat. Add cottage cheese, seasonings, & parmesan.
3. Melt butter over low heat. Whisk in flour, then add milk increasing heat to high & bringing
to a boil, constantly stirring. Reduce to simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat & whisk in s/p
and parmesan.
4. Pour 1/2 of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of 9x13 dish. Stuff the cannelloni tubes or if using lasagna noodles, cut in half and roll spinach/beef stuffing inside. Place the noodles tightly side by side in the baking dish. Pour the remaining spaghetti sauce over the top of the noodles. Then pour the white sauce on top.
4. Cook at 425 for 20-25 min.
I just use one big saute skillet and wash it after I do the stuffing to make the white sauce. That keeps the dirty-pan sink level lower. These are good served with a baked sweet potato and garlic parm. green beans (Saute some garlic in a little olive oil and butter over medium heat, then add a pound of fresh green beans and a dash of white wine. Cook & stir for 10 min. while the cannelloni do their thing then toss with some SHREDDED parm cheese)
Tonight we're making my brother John's famous fish tacos with some homemade salsa. And then watch...next week we'll have peanut butter and jelly every night...ha, ha. These days I've gotta run with whatever fetish is happening cause most likely the energy & desire is shot after a couple days!
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