Menu Plan Monday 2/27

Still here... 40 weeks and 2 days... meaning 2 days overdue.  I went to the doctor today for a non-stress test to see if the baby is still doing OK in there, because sometimes when one is past their due date, conditions start to deteriorate and the baby stops thriving.  In my case, both the little guy and I are doing great.  So great that my doctor couldn't write me a note to stop working because she had no medical reason to do so.  So PRAISE GOD for our health.  However, if this test was for the mama's stress, I might have failed it after hearing I needed to return to work tomorrow.  I am generally up from 3am-5am, which is not cool when you get up at 5 for work, and I've been having back pain from standing all day.  But my blood pressure looks good and I feel pretty good, so back to work I go... until I have NST #2 on Thursday! 

I do have an induction scheduled for Sunday evening/Monday morning, but I'm really praying he comes before that.  Would you please pray for that? Merci :-) 

I'm doing all I can to make him come out on his own.  I am not really a fan of this whole "nesting" business.  I am not a cleaner in general, so I wondered if I would ever have the urge... and the answer: not yet.  I like to organize though... and cook... so I figure since I spent a good 6 or so weeks working like crazy at school organizing and planning to be gone for maternity leave, that may have been my way of nesting.  I honestly don't care if my kitchen floors are clean.  My husband is the one who does a lot of the cleaning, so perhaps that is why?  I however, have been very concerned about making sure we have enough food and household products to last us for awhile... because you know, we live oh so far from the store?? (hah.)

Perhaps I nested today by cooking?  I made chicken salad for lunches tomorrow, a casserole for dinner tonight and then I used the rest of the cake mix from my funfetti rice krispie treats to make these cookies: 

"ghetto" Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies

(used yellow cake mix & added sprinkles to the batter... et voila, "funfetti"). 

Oh, and we got a new camera... I don't really know how to work it yet, but I still think the pics came out ok! 

 I made my own icing though, using the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Buttercream frosting recipe.  I cut it way down, using 1/4 cup butter, 1 1/2 cups or so of powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp of vanilla and about 4 Tbsp milk.    

Here's what we are tentatively eating this week (hoping the little guy will show up!)

 It's a fiesta at our house... lots of SPICY Mexican food to try to get this little man to come out!

Sunday: Tacos & Mexican Rice, chips & salsa

Monday: Green Chile Chicken Casserole, salad

Tuesday: leftover tacos

Wednesday: leftover casserole

Thursday: more leftovers or omelettes (mine will be with salsa to make it spicy)

Friday:  Ravioli, Salad & Garlic bread

Saturday: frozen pizza

39 weeks and waiting :-)

I love a good three-day weekend. While I wouldn't have been upset if baby Miller decided to come super early, it has been SO nice having these past two weekends to hang out, just the two of us.  We had a great weekend of dates, spending more money than normal since we know we will be in our house for at least the next few months.

Friday night, we had dinner at Lola's, a little hole in the wall Italian restaurant Grant's coworkers recommended.  It good- but I think I still like Mezzo at Creekside and they are comparable in price.  We then went and saw Gahanna Community Theatre's production of Mame, which was ok.  Not my favorite show ever, but we love supporting GCT and the local arts :-)

Saturday, we slept in (ok, more like I woke up at 6:45 and chose to stay in bed for an hour). Grant made me banana pancakes for breakfast, and then we headed out to have a coffee date (used a gift card). I got a half caf latte, which is my current pregnancy guilty pleasure.  

During our coffee date, I was reading Isaiah, and I come across this verse: "Woe to those... who say 'Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it...'" (Isaiah 5:19a)  Ouch.  Definitely not the verse you want to read when you are 39 weeks pregnant, wanting to meet your little one!! Anyways, it was a good perspective changer, so I am going to continue to pray for patience and just trust that as always, God's timing is perfect.  Even if I go a week past my due date :-)  Five different people have told me I have dropped based on the picture Grant put on facebook... and I definitely feel like he is verrry low... but it could still be awhile.  

again, I'm a whale.  or "large and in charge," as I say at school.

We followed our coffee date by a lunch date... and then saw "The Iron Lady," the movie about Margaret Thatcher (thanks Laura for the AMC gift card!).  It was definitely a good film (though I don't need to see it again) but was also sad as it showed her struggle with dementia.  I cried at one point (darn pregnancy emotions) because I felt sorry for her husband and kids because she was so busy working all of the time.  I admire her though, as a woman in politics, and think a lot of what she said was ahead of her time... my favorite quote was: "It used to be about trying to do something. Now it's about trying to be someone."... so true about politics today.  We walked around Easton afterwards & then came home for frozen pizza and caught up on The Office and Modern Family...and ate some ice cream.   I did have contractions every 10 minutes for a few hours, but they weren't painful and they were only in my stomach... but then they stopped.  And clearly, I'm still pregnant.  

Anyways, thanks GLM for a wonderful weekend of dates!! ILY :) 

Menu Plan Monday 2/20, Tortellini & Italian Sausage Soup Recipe

Happy President's Day :-) I love having a Monday off.   I went to jazzercise, then Target (honored the presidents by spending some money), then spent some time reading/journaling at Starbucks inside of Target, crossed a few things off of my to-do list... I just keep thinking how easy it is to just do what I need/want to do and how in a matter of days my needs/wants will not be coming first. 

Thanks to Pinterest and my inability to get a dessert out of my mind once I've decided I want it, I made these Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats yesterday: 

Here's our menu plan this week:

Sunday: Tortellini & Italian Sausage Soup (see below for recipe)

Monday: Chicken and Rice bake, green beans

Tuesday: I have a (free!) breastfeeding class at the pediatrician's office... so if Grant & I are going to eat together, it will be dollar menu date night between 5:30 and 5:50pm :-/ 

Wednesday: Ravioli, garlic bread & veggie

Thursday: Parent-teacher conferences... I won't even get home until after 8pm... sigh...

Friday: pork tenderloin, pierogies & green beans

Saturday: Baby's Due Date!! If he hasn't arrived, we are going out.

Tortellini & Italian Sausage Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium sized onion, diced

1/2 cup green pepper, diced

1/2 tsp kosher salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

 1 lb Italian Sausage

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp sage

1/4- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tsp parsley 

1/2 tsp sugar 

1/4 tsp black pepper

8 cups chicken broth

1 10oz package frozen spinach, thawed. 

1 bag dried or frozen tortellini (I used the tri-colored dried kind from Trader Joes)

Parmesan cheese 

In large soup pot, heat olive oil.  Add onions, green pepper and salt.  Saute until softened.  Add sausage and cook until browned.  Remove from pan and let mixture drain on paper towel-lined plate.  Meanwhile, using the same pot, add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, sage, red pepper flakes, parsley, sugar and black pepper.  Stir in frozen spinach.  Add 8 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook according to directions on the package.  When tortellini is almost done, add the Italian sausage back into the pot.  Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese on top. 

Note: this soup absorbs a lot of the liquid so you may want to add extra broth before reheating the leftovers. 

for more menu planning ideas, head to www.orgjunkie.com

38.5 weeks!!

Well, I fully intended to write an update a few weeks ago... but then weeks 28-35 went really fast and like I wrote in my previous post, I have been at school ALL the time and we have had super busy weekends.  However... I am FINALLY ready for my maternity sub to take over at school.  Lesson plans are done/typed/posted to my website from now until spring break, all materials are in their appropriate binders... I have created a ridiculously organized binder of helpful materials for her... so come on baby boy!!!!

freaking huge... this was also taken later on in the day, whereas most of our weekly pics are in the morning... and I "grow" throughout the day.  I'm hungry, ok?!?

How far along? 38 weeks and 4 days... he could come at any time!!

Total weight gain/loss: right where I "should be," in the 25 lb range, based on my pre-pregnancy weight.  I will say that I have definitely been enjoying my desserts since I passed that glucose test.  But I am still going to jazzercise, so hopefully that is balancing it out. 
Maternity clothes? You know it.  Same outfits all the time.  I wish someone would have warned me this winter would be ridiculously warm, because I have pretty much been teaching in the same short-sleeved shirts throughout most of it.  (With the exception of yesterday, which was actually cold.)

Stretch marks? On my belly, sigh :-(

Sleep: Waking up every night between 2:30 and 3:45... sometimes a few other times.  Sometimes I fall back asleep, and sometimes, well... let's just say more of you need to post stuff on facebook and pinterest in the middle of the night!  

Best moment(s) this week: Grant getting me a pint of Haagen Daas Caramel Cone ice cream (one of my favorites), going to meet the pediatrician and finding out they are moving 2 miles closer to our house in June, and finishing my lesson plans from now until the week after spring break!  Oh... and our Valentine's Day date! 

Movement: He's still very active... it's a little freaky because you can see random limbs poke out of my stomach

Food cravings: Three weeks ago, the baby wanted cinnamon gumdrop hearts... the past two weeks- fruits and vegetables.  Also... last week, I wanted ice cream on Sunday and Banana Muffins on Thursday.   

Gender: Boy.

Labor Signs: I told the doctor today I have been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions...she informed me since I'm past 37 weeks, these are actually contractions.  Awesome.  

Belly Button in or out? Still in.  It does poke out a little, but it has not turned out.

Wedding rings on or off? On

What I miss: Wine... and fully caffeinated drinks from Starbucks!

What I am looking forward to: meeting him!!!!!

Weekly Wisdom: The long hours I put in at school the past month were TOTALLY worth it.  It feels amazing to know I can leave my job in the hands of another awesome, capable French teacher who is still in need of a job. 

Milestones: Hospital bags are packed, car seat installed, nursery is ready, met the pediatrician... but other than the contractions, no signs of labor yet.

Menu Plan Monday 2/13

It really is weird making a menu plan on a Saturday wondering if you will actually end up eating the things you put on the menu.  We waste very little food in our house because of menu planning, but that is usually because we follow what is on the plan.  Therefore, with this little man scheduled to make his appearance any day now, I am planning meals with as few ingredients as possible that would perish if we couldn't make them for awhile.  I am 38 weeks and 4 days today... still hoping he will decide to make an early appearance just like his momma did.  (Ok, this is mostly because parent-teacher conferences are next Thursday (2/23) afternoon & evening, after a full day of teaching and that makes for a 14 hour work day... which will NOT be fun when I am 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant. So preferably, he will show up before then... or winter will finally hit us full force and give us a nice blizzard.)

Here's what we are eating: 

Sunday: white chicken chili (used 1 tbsp cumin, only 2 cans of beans, extra chicken, forgot to buy chilis or jalapenos, reduced cayenne to 1/4 tsp) & cornbread

Monday:potstickers, TJs Harvest Blends Israeli couscous, egg rolls

Tuesday: Manicotti Alla Romana (left out the ground beef, used cottage cheese instead of ricotta, milk instead of half & half... still was delish) ,green beans, garlic bread

Wednesday: Western omelettes, hashbrowns & fruit

Thursday: leftover manicotti

Friday: Chicken & rice bake, green beans

Saturday: either a frozen pizza or we will have another date night out... perhaps something spicy, followed by a nice car ride on a bumpy road??

sidenote for Katie about the manicotti: this time I soaked the noodles in hot water in a pan while I made the filling and it worked well/still were easier to stuff then they are when they are fully cooked.  However...I think the best way is still to make sure you have a good layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan and then just stuff them uncooked and make sure you cover the pan tightly with foil.

Menu Plan 1/30-2/10 & Banana Oat Muffin Recipe

The game plan for the past two weeks (and probably the next two-three as well): plan meals that do not "have" to be made... in other words, meals using ingredients that will be good for a few days or can be frozen.  Also... meals that can easily be prepared by my wonderful husband, since I have been working late, going to the doctor every week and also trying to go to my 4:30-5:30 jazzercise class a few days a week, which puts me home at 6pm.  

So we've been eating...

the "easy stuff": 

- French toast & fruit

- Grilled cheese (with the addition of some raspberry preserves on the top... thank you to Grant's coworker Tom for sharing a delicious family tradition!) and tomato soup

- Chicken sandwiches & mac & cheese

- Linguine and meatballs

- Black bean veggie burgers

- whole wheat penne with some evoo and the artichoke tapenade from TJs

- pizza & carrots

the "more" complicated stuff: 

- our favorite potato & ham soup (minus the celery)

- tacos and mexican rice with homemade tortillas, because I intended to have tacos as taco salad but we didn't have enough lettuce :-/.  You MUST try making homemade tortillas.  If you have kids, it could be a fun/easy cooking project b/c the ingredients are simple and you have to roll them out super thin... and they still taste good even if they are not perfect circles.  I wanted to use whole wheat flour... but a certain man of the house (not the one growing inside me) said he'd prefer white flour.  Seriously though, these are sooooo soft, chewy and amazingly warm... I might decide never to buy them again.  How cheap is flour+water+salt+olive oil?!?

- Banana Oat Muffins (see recipe below)... as I was driving home from jazzercise, I had the thought "I want a banana muffin NOW." So of course, after we had dinner, I made these.  I LOVE nuts, but my husband is pickier about them... well, turns out he likes them on banana muffins, so I threw some on the tops.  Délicieux. Thursday night has to be the best night ever to bake something... I took one to school Friday morning and enjoyed it with my coffee before I started my first period class, got to enjoy one this morning with my cup of coffee.. and I'll have another one tomorrow morning before church. Yum. 

Banana Oat Muffins (modified from all recipes)

•  3/4 cup all-purpose flour
•  3/4 cup wheat flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 mashed bananas
• walnuts (optional)

Mix dry ingredients (flours, oats, sugar, baking powder & soda & salt) in a large bowl.  In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients (egg, milk, oil, vanilla, bananas).  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine thoroughly.  Spoon batter into 12 lined muffin cups.  Sprinkle walnuts on top if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for 17-20 minutes.  

School: Maternity leave & ridiculousness

Having a blog through google is interesting... I can see how many "hits" it gets... but with only four of you being committed "followers," I know there are only 4 of you who get a notification when you log on to blogger that this page has been updated.  Other than you four, and my friends who tell me they read my blog, I really have no clue who the people are that read this.  Nice to meet you though :-) Anyways, I have not forgotten about this blog.  So for the three of you that told me to update this, here you go:

I have been MIA for the past two weeks on blog-world because well, I have been working 11 hour days at school and then usually another 2-3 hours at home.  Leaving the house at 6AM, getting home at 6pm.  Sound like fun? Not so much.  I miss my husband, I miss cooking delicious meals and I don't remember what it's like not to be working on school stuff. (Remember, we go to bed at 9, so when you finish dinner after 7, that doesn't leave much time before it's time to get ready for the next day.)

Anyways, I am FINALLY done with 6 weeks of lesson plans!!! Praise God.  I worked until 6pm last night (so glad my school neighbor Kim was there to keep me company!) and though there are some finishing touches, I am pretty much ready for my maternity-leave sub. 

This process has been so difficult because I usually plan ahead by a week or two, not two months ahead. I truly believe it is important to cater the pace of my lessons to the progress of the students... but when you are going to be gone for 6-8 weeks, you need something... So needless to say, it has been a struggle planning for all four of my "preps."  We have a brand new curriculum in French 1 this year so I have to make everything from scratch, which is a lot of work... and in a language class, you typically do at least 4-5 different "activities" each day (which could include presentation of content and practice)... but you also need to try to hit all four "areas"- reading, writing, speaking and listening... 

Why do I have to change activities so often? Oh, that's because teaching high school these days is actually like teaching elementary school.  Seriously.  The average attention span (especially of freshmen) is probably about 3-5 minutes long.


Let me just share a few moments of my week, all from French 1 (which is mostly freshmen): 


student: "How do you say __inappropriate word__ in French?" me: "I will not tell you that.  See if it's in the dictionary."  student: "It's in here!!!!!!" It says "taboo!" You are a "taboo!" me: "Ummm no.  Taboo means it is not socially acceptable to use that word... that is just the dictionary telling you that... the real definition would be the word after the word taboo." student: "Oh... hmmm... what?" 

me: Sit down. Keep your hands and feet to yourself." 

me: "Yes, that answer is correct, however you did not need to add the English word 'butt hole' underneath your answer..."

me: "___, put away the ipod." "____, stop texting." "____, put away the cell phone." "____, put away the ipad." "___, take out the ear bud." (latest trend: leaving one ear bud in apparently makes you super cool.)

student: "___ is taking a video on his ipad." me: walks over to student, says nothing, pushes buttons to stop recording, open video and put video in trash.  Student's mouth drops open. me: "what, think I don't know how to use an ipad?" student: "what if I wanted that video?" me: "for what?" student: "ummm for my funeral, so I could remember what high school was like?" me: "seriously?"  

student: "Can I touch your belly real quick?"

me: "Where is your packet for this unit?" student: "Oh, I'm just writing everything down on the one from the last unit." Because that makes sense... 

Comments from my upperclassmen:

"Do you want me to fill up your water bottle?"

"Let me get that marker you dropped on the floor."

"Can I help you pass out papers?"

"How are you feeling? How is the baby?"

"Seriously, I want to babysit for you."

"Are you so excited to have a baby?" 

Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the life of a high school teacher :-)