Garlic Scallops
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with candied nuts and dried cherries
*both my own recipes*

Scallops Ingredients - serves 2
Sea Scallops - 1lb (don't use bay scallops, they are cheaper but they are so small, you will over cook them almost 100% of the time, and who wants tough scallops?)
Garlic - 4 big cloves
Butter - ~2 TBSP, but maybe more

Mince your garlic and set aside.  Take a plate, place several paper towels down on it and set it next to the sink.  Open your scallops (buy fresh, from the sea food counter or market, not frozen, there is a difference....more than to your wallet).  Wash each individual scallop.  Some people will advise against this.  Scallops will absorb water, so be quick and never soak them.  Gently rub them under cold water to get any sand off.  Gritty scallops are the grossest.  Place them on the paper towels.  Once you are done washing them, put more paper towels on top and pat them down, firmly.  You want to get as much liquid out as possible - you have to do this even if you don't rinse them.  Scallops hold a lot of water, and if you don't get them out, they will steam, not sear.  Still taste ok, but it's not the texture we are going for here.  Change out the paper towels and do it again till no more water is coming out on the towels.  Heat a nice, heavy pan over medium heat.  Place your butter in it to melt.  I said 2 TBSP, but you might need more.  You want a think layer of butter on the bottom of the pan.  Rub your minced garlic on top of the scallops.  Place each scallop, garlic side up, in the pan.  Sprinkle with salt.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, and flip.  Sprinkle with salt.  Be careful your pan isn't too hot, you don't want to burn your garlic.  Cook another few minutes until each scallop feels completely firm.  Watch them closely, you don't want to over cook them.  Cooking scallops takes some practice, so don't be discouraged the first time.  Also, have a trial scallop.  If you think they are done, take one out and cut it open to try it.  See if it is done and you will know about the rest!

To lighten this up, use just enough olive oil, instead of butter, to cover the bottom of the pan and prevent the scallops from sticking.  It won't taste as decadent, but it will be friendlier to the diet too!

Brussels Sprouts Ingredients - serves 2 with a generous portion
Brussels Sprouts - 4 cups after being trimmed and cleaned
Olive Oil
Dried Cranberries - 1/2 cup
Candied Walnuts - 1/2 cup

Trim and clean your sprouts.  Cut them in half.  Lay them flat on a baking sheet and lightly spray with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix to coat.  Bake them at 350 F until they reach your desired tenderness.  About 20 minutes for small sprouts that are crispy.  About 45 mins for large sprouts that are soft.  Mix them up with a spatula a few times while cooking.  I like mine a little crisper, so I normally cook them about 20-25 mins.  Let them cool for about 5 minutes and add the cherries and nuts to the baking sheet.  Mix with a spatula.

Don't start cooking the scallops until your sprouts are out of the oven!!

Plate and enjoy!

OK, pre-preggo girl recipe.  No butter on the scallops, just a minimal spray of olive oil.  For the sprouts, I'd either nix the cherries and nuts totally or use 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of cherries and nuts - and I'd definitely swap the candied nuts for plain.  Pecans are a great substitution too!

Calories -
Scallops - 358/serving
Sprouts - 491/serving

Pre-preggo Calories -
Scallops - 286/serving
Sprouts - 106 (no nuts and cherries) or 236 (1 TBSP cherries and 1/8 cup plain, raw walnuts)

Pizza Night!

I make pizza a lot, like once a week a lot.  Pre-preggo girl made herself cauliflower crust pizza, but I'm enjoying this flour crust as much as I can right now!!!  Please excuse the burnt crust on the bottom pizza.  It's not picture worthy, for sure, but I think I was putting someone in a time out when my timer went off and this was the result.  At least it's a realistic expectation for those of you with kids!

I snagged my crust recipe from a magazine years ago.  It's on a tattered, thin piece of magazine paper and I pretty much know it by heart now...and it's the best.  If I could remember the magazine, I would plug it, but I can't.  I "think" it was Everyday Food, which isn't even published anymore, but not 100% sure.

My top pizza is the kid pizza...cause my picky eaters like cheese....that's it.  Ok, Jack will do pepperoni, but if one speck of pepperoni touches Emma's slice, it's all over....so we do cheese so the girl will consume more than 100 calories a day.  The bottom pizza is the adult pizza....I pretty much do a new combo every time we have pizza. I will list some topping combos that we love at the bottom for you!

Crust -
Pour 1 cup of warm (like really warm) water into a large bowl.  Add 1 tsp of sugar and whisk to dissolve the sugar.  Sprinkle 1 packet of yeast on the top (I like the special Pizza Yeast packets, but any yeast will work).  Let it sit until the yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes.  Add 1 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of olive oil.  Whisk it all together.  Add 2 1/4 cups of flour (bread flour or all purpose will work, white or wheat or a mix, your choice - wheat will make a denser, tougher crust, be warned) and mix with a wooden spoon until combines and dough forms a ball.  Now, I don't like lots of dirty dishes, so I knead it in the bowl.  Sprinkle some flour on top and on your hands and knead it (in the bowl or not) for about 2 minutes, but basically until it's all together in a nice, elastic-y ball.  Pick up your dough and spray the entire bowl with cooking spray or olive oil. Put the dough in the bowl and spray the top with spray/oil.  Cover tightly with saran wrap and place in a warm area to rise.  Either outside on a hot day/85+ degrees (out of direct sunlight) or on your stove, with the oven  turned on.  If you are using your stove, be sure the burners don't get too hot from the oven below or else you might cook the dough.  Let it rise until it's doubled in size, about 45 mins.  Punch it down and let it rise another 30 mins.  Divide the dough into two balls and stretch out onto your pizza stones.  If you don't have stones, and you make pizza, you need them.  THEY ARE THE BEST!  You can use a metal pizza pan or a pizza grill pan too, but you will get the best crust from a stone.  Ok, stretch the dough, don't roll it.  It takes some time and finesse to get it to the edges.  If it rips, that's fine, just smoosh some more dough over the rip.  No one sees that part any way.  Preheat your oven to 500 F and sprinkle your crusts with salt and pepper.  Grate some parmesan over the edges of the crust and bake until the crust is totally cooked, about 5 minutes....but it's best if you touch it to see if it's firm and crisp.  Cook the pizzas one at a time or you will end up with a pizza with a cooked top and raw bottom and one with a raw top and cooked bottom.  Ok, turn the oven to broil and start to top your pizzas!

Pizza Toppings (for the two I made)-

Cheese pizza - easy.  Spread a thin layer (or thick if you like-a the sauce) of jarred pasta sauce (I always use a garlic red sauce) onto the crust, leaving an edge to hold.  Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over the sauce.  Make sure you only use LOW MOISTURE shredded mozzarella.  Costco has the best low moisture, but you also get a 100 lb bag of cheese.  If you don't get low moisture, you will have little pools of cheese water on your pizza.  Doesn't ruin it, but it's a little gross to look at.  Shred a little parm on top.  Place under the broiler until the cheese is melted - about 2 minutes.

Pesto Chicken Pizza - Spread a thin layer of jarred or fresh pesto on the crust, leaving a spot to hold.  If it's not summer and I do not have my own basil to make pesto, I use Bertoli's in a plastic container.  Top with grilled chicken cut into strips (just grill it on the grill pan with salt and pepper, or buy the pre-cooked strips to save time), grape tomatoes cut in half (or sliced tomatoes, whatever you have), slices of fresh mozzarella (no shred for this, you want fresh), and a little shredded parm.  Word to the wise for the fresh mozzarella on pizza.  Take the mozzarella out of the container, cut it into slices and press it between paper towels for several minutes before putting it on the pizza.  Remember the cheese water?  Yeah, it's about 100x worse with fresh mozzarella.  Tomatoes will do the same thing...so be careful!  Put it under the broiler until the cheese is melted...preferably not when a toddler is going into a time out.

So, other combo's we like -
*Pesto, tomato, fresh mozzarella
*Feta (as the bottom layer - no sauce), grilled flank steak strips, strawberries, drizzled with balsamic - sounds weird, tastes A-MAZING
*BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, grilled pineapple, shredded mozzarella and shredded cheddar

For you working peeps - the crust is a little hard to make ahead...but it can be done.  Mix the ingredients, knead it, let it rise twice and spread it onto your pans.  Then, put it in the fridge.  It will shrink, like a lot.  Pull it out when you get home and set it in a warm place (like the top of the stove with the oven on) while you change clothes, walk the dog, get your other ingredients out, etc.  Try to let it sit at least 30-45 mins if you can.  It will start to puff up and "rise" a bit.  Once it's warm, you can re-stretch it out.  Then you can bake it.  There is always a chance, with yeasty dough, that this won't work, but it should most of the time.

I didn't enter calories for this one because there are no exact measurements and you can vary the toppings a lot.  I use myfitnesspal.com to get calorie counts, so head on over there and you can do your own pizza!

Grilled Mahi with Strawberry Mango Salsa served with Sautéed Garlic Green Beans - my own creation

Ingredients-
*This will give you 3 adult servings for the fish/salsa and 2 servings for the green beans.  My kids do fish, but will beg me for broccoli over other veggies....I could probably force Jack into green beans, but when I'm begged for broccoli, I normally cave.

Mahi filets (about 6 oz each) - 3
Strawberries - 1 cup, chopped
Mango - entire mango, peeled and chopped
Red Onion - 1/4 cup or less, chopped SUPER fine
Mint - 6 leaves, chopped
Lime Juice - juice of one lime
Olive Oil
Green Beans - 4 handfuls, washed and trimmed
Garlic - 4 cloves, minced
Parmesan Cheese

Make the salsa first....as early as you want.  I normally make it in the morning (or early afternoon) when my kids are most calm.  Combine the chopped strawberries, mango, red onion, mint and lime juice.  Stir it up and set aside.

Steam the green beans until they are crisp tender.  Heat about 2 TBSP of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium low heat.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute (be careful your pan isn't too hot, you do not want to burn your garlic...it will be yucky and bitter).  Add the green beans and sauté until they are tender, about 5 minutes. 

Heat the grill pan over medium heat.  Spray the pan with olive oil.  Add the fish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook until bottom half has turned white.  Flip fish carefully with a spatula, and sprinkle other side with salt and pepper.  Cook until fish is done and easily falls apart with a fork.  Fish is tricky....over cook and it's dry and gross.  Under cook and...well, you are re-cooking it in the middle of the meal.  Here is my trick (works best if you have kids that split a filet), after you have cooked it and the outside is totally white, wait about 2-3 minutes and then cut one filet (the kid's filet) in half.  If it's done, cool, remove them all.  If not, keep cooking till that one looks done and add 2 minutes more to cook the entire inside.  If you don't have kids, you can cut your own filet and try to make it look put back together when it's plated.  Cooking time will completely depend on the thickness of your filet.  Mine took about 10 minutes total....5 per side.

Plate the filet and top with 1/4 cup of your salsa.  You will end up with extra salsa, but it's yummy for lunch the next day.  Plate the green beans and shave about 1TBSP of parmesan over them.  YUM! And enjoy!

OK, pre-preggo girl...fish, I'd do the same, but I'd only use about 2 TBSP of salsa.  Green beans - steam all the way - no sautéing, no oil, no cheese.

Calories - 220 for fish and salsa, 150 for green beans = 370 total
Pre-preggo Calories -  189 for fish and salsa, 63 for green beans = 252 total

Well, it's been about 100 years since I blogged.  Or at least it feels like it.  In the last post I made, Emma's hair was super short and she was still drinking out of a bottle.  That was definitely 100 years ago!

I have had a lot of people ask for my recipes, so I thought I would post them on here. 
Sometimes I make things off of Pinterest, sometimes I use it as an inspiration to create my own, and sometimes it's just on a whim....whatever my craving for the day happens to be. 

I will give a bit of a disclaimer to those of you who are looking for my uber-healthy meals.....this pregnant girl is taking full advantage of the last time in her life where she can eat anything she wants.  So, I have been using *gasp* cheese and butter and dressings, oh my!  Everything is still pretty "healthy" but not nearly as clean as I ate before.  You won't see the 6 pack from these meals, but I will tell you what I would have done before...if you want to make it more clean.  I'm sure I will go back to the other lifestyle....so stay tuned in 20+ weeks....but for now, it's healthy-ish, but prego-yummy!


Grilled Shrimp Salad - this is my own creation

Can you get more summer than this?  It screams "Eat me on the deck with a chilled glass of wine (or water, if you're pg....which was so blah!)"  And it takes about 15 minutes from start to finish to make it!

Ingredients - serves 2 (cause my kids don't really do salads yet)
-raw baby spinach - 6 cups (or about the size of a small bag)
-frozen corn (thawed), or fresh if you have it - 1/2 cup
-red pepper, chopped (whole pepper)
-green pepper, chopped (whole pepper)
-cucumber, chopped (whole cucumber)
-grape tomatoes, cut in half (half of the pint)
-avocado, chopped (whole avocado)
-raw shrimp, 1 lb (any size you want, I recommend paying extra for shelled and de-veined)
-olive oil
-Old Bay
-dressing of choice, I used a store-bought light Champagne vinaigrette

Plate the spinach (3 cups per plate), top with half of the corn, red pepper, green pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, and avocado.  Heat a grill pan over medium heat.  Lightly spray the cold pan with olive oil or rub it on with a paper towel. Key here is only use enough to keep the shrimp from sticking.  De-tail your shrimp if need be and press them between a paper towel to remove any excess moisture....you want to grill the shrimp, not steam them.  Lay the shrimp onto the hot grill pan carefully.  Sprinkle Old Bay onto the shrimp.  When the part of the shrimp that touches the grill turns pink, flip them all individually.  Sprinkle the other side with Old Bay.  Cook until the shrimp are totally pink.  It's going to depend on your stove and pan, but it's about 3-4 minutes per side.  WATCH IT!  Do not over cook the shrimp!  You want them to be light and juicy....not tough and dry!  Put half the shrimp on each plate.  Top with 1-2 TBSP of dressing.

Here's a little tip....most people need a little fat with their salad to make it the complete "dish" they are looking for.  That fat can come from lots of places....bacon, cheese, dressing....but if you are trying to eat clean or lose weight, those are off limits.  Using the avocado will add the "creamy" and the "fat" taste that you crave to make the salad an appetizing meal, even if you skip the dressing.

Pre-preggo girl would have nixed the corn and the dressing and only used half the avocado and shrimp....but added about 1 cup more of spinach.

If you make the salad the way I did, it's about 575 calories/serving.  The serving is super filling though.  I couldn't finish mine and Matt was not hungry at all after he finished.  Pre-preggo girl calorie count - about 330 calories/serving.

Enjoy!

Falling into Fall

Before we begin, let's take a moment to thank the Hokies for pulling it out at the end yesterday...it was too close. Second weekend of October and already starting the heart attack games.

We had an amazing weekend! The air has started to turn crisp, fall activities have begun and to top it off, Daddy was home this weekend!

Jack and Emma decided to kick off the weekend with a celebratory milk break on Friday afternoon. I gave them both milks, went back to the kitchen to clean up, and when I came back, I found them sitting, feet to feet, just looking at each other and drinking their milk. As much as they bug each other, it sure is cute to see them share a moment like this!

On Saturday, we went to the Fall Harvest Festival at Hunt Club Farm in Virginia Beach. Hunt Club Farm is actually open year round with a petting farm, equine facilities and a dog and cat boarding kennel, but during October, it is transformed into a fall carnival wonderland. You can pet goats and bunnies, pick up chickens or watch them lay eggs, bounce in 5 different bounce castles, climb an 8 foot haystack, pose in front of a tractor, take a hayride, ride a pony, enjoy some fair food, and ride carnival rides. And we enjoyed every single one of those! Oh yeah, and don't forget the pumpkins! We got two.

Jack and Emma skipped naps because they fell asleep in the car on the way home from the farm, but Jack and Matt still had a nice, relaxing afternoon with a PB&J sandwich and DVRed Ni Hao Kai-lan.

Unfortunately, Matt had duty today, so we didn't get to continue our "Fun with Daddy" weekend into Sunday. We were looking for something interesting to do today, something we didn't have to drive very far to. So, we decided to head up the road about 1 mile to Gate 4 of Naval Station Norfolk and check out Ely Memorial Fly Park - most of the planes and helicopters have plaques in front of them as a memorial to pilots who lost their lives in similar aircrafts. We walked all around but Jack did say he was scared, so he wouldn't get very close. I can't blame him, those things are huge in person!

This one was Jack's favorite. It has a skull and crossbones on the tail and he called it the "pirate plane".

What else have I been up to this week? Trying to fill up my Etsy shop with holiday decor. I have a few Halloween things, working on some Thanksgiving and Christmas things, as well as my Pretty Burpies too! If you like what you see, let me know! I'm happy to custom make something as well! Here are a couple examples of some of the things I have been working on!

The Princess and the Boo Boo

Ok, so it doesn't have a ring to it like the Princess and the Pea...but I needed a title!


Yesterday we dropped Jack off at school and Emma and I headed out to do some errands before meeting up with friends for story time at a local baby boutique in Ghent. We met Melissa and Abigail at The Silver Rattle and listened to Beauty and the Beast. But, the best part - it was a musical. There were two characters that sang after the story - and one was Belle! She was sweet enough to stay after for pictures. Emma (still cranky from the tooth that will never come in) wasn't feelin' the princess pictures...but, I snapped one really fast. After story time, we went and got some delicious frozen yogurt with Abigail and Melissa, and hung out until it was time to go pick up Jack.

After naps, we ran around the back yard for a while and got "pizza" for dinner. Actually, it was Moe's....but Jack calls quesadillas pizza. After dinner and baths, Jack spotted a bandaid on my leg (Cars) and asked for one. We looked through them all and found the Lightening McQueen one. I asked him where he wanted it and he said on his boo-boo, pointing to his knee (however, there is actually no boo-boo there). After I put Emma to bed and came back into the living room, he asked me for another one, like the one I have (Finn McMissle). So we found that one and he put it on his other knee. Then, we had to look up the names of the racecar Cars on the bandaids, so we knew what to call them. After stories, Jack wanted to take the bandaids off, so I put them on the headboard of his bed so he could still see them. As I turned off the lights and said goodnight, Jack gave me a hug and said "Thank you Mommy, for Cars artwork on bed." So, he's either easily impressed, or will end up being a world famous modern artist :)


Here are just a couple other snapshots from the day...

Jack found the kitty ears for Emma's Halloween costume and they were a quick hit!
Emma loves the easel that Grammy brought down last weekend. Grammy added a new coat of chalkboard paint to an easel that my grandfather made for me when I was little. It's cool to see them love to play with something that I loved using so much too, when I was a kid!

Forts and Firsts

It's been nothing but rain here for 2 weeks. It hasn't been the constant pouring rain that the DC area had a couple weeks ago, but it's still soggy and gross out. So, we have colored, painted, splashed in puddles, chased Hokie in the rain, played with blocks and trains, watched movies...every inside activity I could come up with. So, on Saturday afternoon, with a fussy, teething baby and a toddler bursting with energy....we decided to build a fort. Jack wore himself out by carrying chairs around the kitchen, and then had a blast doing everything in the fort. He had his snack in there, colored in there, played cars in there, and even asked to eat his dinner in there...until Hokie came in too.

We also had a very exciting first this weekend! Emma has been cruising for quite a while, but she wouldn't take the leap from one piece of furniture to the other. Finally this weekend she started diving from tables to couches and on Sunday night, she took her first independent steps!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6roAd0Tgy0

We were lucky enough to have Grammy come visit us this weekend while Matt is underway. We loved having her here and miss her already!