tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72801807647742626232024-03-13T09:05:44.748-07:00The Feminist HousewifeRachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-46787264798578351222014-09-18T08:13:00.000-07:002014-11-24T09:08:16.811-08:00Quinn at Six Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Quinn is six weeks old already! Everyone told us that life went very quickly with a new baby, and that babies grow up so fast, but we didn't entirely believe them. We've been focusing on just taking each day as it comes, but the days have passed very quickly. And now our baby is six weeks (and three days) old!<br />
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Six weeks doesn't seem like a terribly massive milestone, but it hit me the other day that he's already halfway to being three months old. And that means it isn't too long until he'll be fitting into his 3-6 month clothing--which right now, looks enormous.<br />
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That said, Quinn has already grown out of most of his newborn clothing. All of his newborn vests and sleepsuits are packed away, and we're on the verge of doing the same with his tops and trousers. At the moment, he seems to be putting on about a pound every fortnight, making him 10lbs 3oz at his last check on Tuesday. And although it's incredibly difficult to get a baby to stay still long enough to measure his height, he's gained about 6cm since he was born, putting him at 58cm.<br />
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It's really strange looking at pictures of newborn Quinn, since he's changed so much since then. In addition to stretching out and chunking up, his hair is definitely lighter, and it has a sort of auburn/blonde tint to it. I'm convinced his eyes are a little lighter as well (they were almost navy blue when he was born) but it'll be a while before we know exactly what colour they end up.<br />
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As well as growing out (really, you should see his little belly) and up, Quinn has been making some exciting (well, to us) developments in terms of movement. If you lie him on your chest he can lift his head up for a few seconds at a time; we've tried lying him on his belly on his playmat to see if he'll enjoy doing the same thing there, but he's not such a big fan of the "tummy time" every leaflet and website insists is essential to his development. He prefers to practice lifting his head when he's lying on us, not a mat.<br />
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Quinn doesn't like being carried or held like a baby, except when he's feeding or very sleepy. His favourite positions are sitting up on our laps, facing out so he can see everything, or lying along your forearm, with his head at the crook of your elbow. I really need to get a picture of this as it's impossible to explain, but we call it "Flying Baby" as we often walk around the room holding him like this when he's being fussy.<br />
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Talking of being fussy, Quinn has graduated from the stage where he's happy to just sit in your lap and be played with (allowing for much time in which mummy can eat her lunch, watch TV, read books or just rest) and now prefers to be walked around the house during the times when he's not feeding, sleeping or playing with his toys. He will still last about 20 minutes just sitting up on your lap (and it's entirely possible to type emails around him, honest) but this baby likes to be on the move.<br />
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Quinn has started to figure out how to hit the toys hanging from his bouncy seat and playmat, but he'll only play with them for 5-10 minutes at a time before he gets upset. We've determined that the reasons for him becoming upset are generally due to him a) forgetting how to hit the toys, b) deciding that he wants to hit one that he can see but is entirely out of his reach and not understanding why he can't hit it, or c) focusing on something that is not attached to his mat or chair in any way (for example, a door handle on the cabinet next to him, or the ceiling light) and getting similarly frustrated that he can't reach it. If you move him to reach said object, he will get even more upset because he <i>must do it himself. </i>When he does get upset about his inability to reach said toy/doorhandle/ceiling light, he lets out the saddest little noises that aren't entirely cries, and honestly sound like he's arguing with his toys. And then it takes a while to calm him down again after he's argued with his toys. But still, it's worth it to see the concentration on his little face as he reaches up to hit one of them. Sometimes we just sit and watch him.<br />
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Aside from hitting his toys, Quinn also likes being tickled--unless he's upset, in which case he <i>hates </i>it. He doesn't laugh yet, but he smiles <i>a lot</i>, and I think he tries to laugh as he makes some very amusing noises.<br />
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He's become a very smiley baby, and sometimes we discover that he's woken up from a nap and is just looking at the patterns on his moses basket and smiling at them. Better than that, he's started obviously smiling at us, as if he's happy to see us. Sometimes he still smiles at entirely random things (like a blank wall, or a lamp) but we're definitely getting deliberate smiles now, which is fun.<br />
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Other things Quinn likes? He likes to look at anything shiny or reflective, including a picture of a penguin that we have propped up on his changing table. We put it there temporarily, but it provides an excellent distraction when he's being changed. He doesn't mind his nappy being changed, but he hates having anything pulled over his head, or getting his arms in and out of tops.<br />
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Quinn likes being carried around in his carrier, although he often screams when he's being strapped into it. He's undecided about his pram--he'll spend some time looking around himself quite merrily, then go to sleep, and as long as he stays asleep, he's happy. On several occasions, however, he has woken up and decided he no longer wants to be in the pram (a good twenty minute walk from home) and he'll just scream all the way home, no matter how quickly we walk. Sometimes his unhappiness isn't even because he's hungry--he just doesn't want to be lying down any longer.<br />
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Quinn loves bath time, perhaps because we have a <a href="http://www.tummytub.co.uk/about.html">Tummy Tub</a> that allows him to sit up and look at things. After all, that is one of his favourite activities! He hates being taken out of the bath, naturally.<br />
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Quinn does not like being undressed, but if you catch him in a good mood, he won't make too much fuss. If you wake him up in a strange location and take all of his clothes off and lay him on a set of scales or press a stethoscope on to his chest, he'll probably scream and pee everywhere. So far, Quinn has peed on every item of clothing possible, several changing mats, two sets of scales, a muslin, two walls, a couple of towels, the living room carpet, and a medical student. And us, of course, but that's a given. He's quite prolific at this hobby.<br />
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We've recently discovered that music seems to calm Quinn, to the extent that we played some Apocalyptica to him the other day and he stopped crying for a full four minutes. (I tried this in the pram the other day and it did not work, so it's a bit hit and miss). Mostly we just sing nonsense songs to him.<br />
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I'd like to say that Quinn has a routine now, but every time I verbalise that thought, he changes his routine. For the most part, Quinn goes to sleep in his basket sometime between 9-11pm each night after I've fed him. Typically he wakes up once, around 5am, and comes into our bed to feed, before falling asleep again. He then usually feeds around the time Simon leaves for work, about 8am, but he doesn't always go back to sleep again. He normally has a morning nap of about 30 minutes sometime between 10 and 12 which allows me to shower, get dressed and do a couple of chores. He's usually pretty alert until the afternoon, where he often goes down for a longer nap, lasting between 1-2 hours, any time between 1 and 5pm. Unless he's skipped his afternoon nap, he'll normally be awake all evening until bedtime.<br />
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Given that I've used the words typically, normally and usually a lot in that paragraph, Quinn isn't exactly predictable. He's had days where he's refused to nap for more than 15 minutes, or days when he's stayed awake for seven hours straight. If I take him out in the pram or the carrier, he'll often stay asleep the entire time he's in that, resulting in a nap at a really odd time of day. On days like today, his afternoon nap has only lasted 30 minutes.<br />
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A woman from our antenatal class told me that her baby feeds every three hours, on the dot. It made me realise that I really don't know how often Quinn feeds. Maybe every two hours? Sometimes it feels like it's more frequent than that, maybe because I don't get much done between feeds. He typically feeds less at night (unless he's gone to bed early, or not fed much that evening, or he's just being fussy), and I guess he feeds for 30 minutes at a time? He's growing, so I figure whatever he's doing, it's working for him.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-60562459744100658622014-08-22T08:39:00.000-07:002014-11-24T09:07:58.052-08:00Quinn's First Two Weeks<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasYxZ-guKByNMak4SfxhSbKWYILLuX4qS28Ym3CQ36HOn2ay5pjIpI-RlhVIYkHXIP5hSWf50or0za6I0Kiw9_NF3Icc_Qlc_K7D37NuHrcOhfADDW1gyJSjoA8bx3BovdYZ3EWjlhxAb/s1600/IMG_0698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasYxZ-guKByNMak4SfxhSbKWYILLuX4qS28Ym3CQ36HOn2ay5pjIpI-RlhVIYkHXIP5hSWf50or0za6I0Kiw9_NF3Icc_Qlc_K7D37NuHrcOhfADDW1gyJSjoA8bx3BovdYZ3EWjlhxAb/s1600/IMG_0698.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Finally home approx. 36 hours after Quinn was born, and all very tired.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Daddy somehow found the energy to make dinner, and thus we entered the continuing saga of "How to eat left-handed while nursing a baby (because he will want fed as soon as dinner is ready)."</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">To begin with, he slept all the time, anywhere. You could cuddle him or take pictures and he'd stay asleep.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">He hated getting dressed, or even having his nappy changed. It was honestly a shock the first time he didn't cry when we laid him on the changing mat.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">We ended up co-sleeping a lot in the early weeks.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A LOT.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">But he would nap in his bed during the day. Sometimes for a couple of hours!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdefVWsKU1sLtm9oeXtoJQ3rwF0Akdt94rsHaw3YhtQo1Tutld2wjpvh8YNDZyYxrOvJ_uEN-8VVoU7R_ut7MTUKzvUkQxxgqb8NnqpZDioLwiSoeUFXe6Ir8hsErmKZpvMRLiQVVd1H54/s1600/IMG_0746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdefVWsKU1sLtm9oeXtoJQ3rwF0Akdt94rsHaw3YhtQo1Tutld2wjpvh8YNDZyYxrOvJ_uEN-8VVoU7R_ut7MTUKzvUkQxxgqb8NnqpZDioLwiSoeUFXe6Ir8hsErmKZpvMRLiQVVd1H54/s1600/IMG_0746.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">But sometimes he just prefers to sleep on us.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31e3mL2ZRXf-4Gq2mPdMocwa2ThCHPjK0wdra5E8pXVqHHYSJYG6jpYBxwb5IRysX-xE9NmAs6KcsxyZ2kDWObZTjg0vvsZZY591s4UHLqNvSFTRzsO5nPJ21kEWjjqXGa-V21Ean3-X2/s1600/IMG_0762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31e3mL2ZRXf-4Gq2mPdMocwa2ThCHPjK0wdra5E8pXVqHHYSJYG6jpYBxwb5IRysX-xE9NmAs6KcsxyZ2kDWObZTjg0vvsZZY591s4UHLqNvSFTRzsO5nPJ21kEWjjqXGa-V21Ean3-X2/s1600/IMG_0762.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Then he hit two weeks and suddenly became very alert. No longer would Quinn lie happily on your lap--he had to be sitting up and looking at everything!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">[Note: I wrote this post when Quinn was 3.5 months old, but I thought it would be better to have all of Quinn's photos in chronological order, hence this blog post being stuck back in August.]</span></div>
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Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-52930798442009135242014-08-22T04:59:00.003-07:002014-08-22T04:59:53.710-07:00Quinn Elijah Brand<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Quinn Elijah Brand was born at 1:37am on Monday the 4th of August, weighing 7lbs and 4oz. Here are just a few photographs from his first day with us.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6QfAUTUQLphyphenhyphenlVM7U2sS2kChydLvpGayBVCsg7Vm62bbvMYZfN_N6YyaaELrMXRAEjZ_GfiR3jdd6OhMiyXQ25cnlU5Fs3CKww6yH2sX2LhlWukvDIF-ik8yfHiLzCEJpJhuYL-sfD9i3/s1600/IMG_0662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6QfAUTUQLphyphenhyphenlVM7U2sS2kChydLvpGayBVCsg7Vm62bbvMYZfN_N6YyaaELrMXRAEjZ_GfiR3jdd6OhMiyXQ25cnlU5Fs3CKww6yH2sX2LhlWukvDIF-ik8yfHiLzCEJpJhuYL-sfD9i3/s1600/IMG_0662.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nQIqahf4sw3ONWdylSO3m4pIwQLH9PIJw_ojGukljJI_iRdkEe95v_IESNoQS6fVRvWyrF-2att7k2Y0CSXSr_ZctNLpOAKjFSSyQNPp6otIUlvyf-WC-ztKi0TcCg6hg-gsRyB3L0Hs/s1600/IMG_0670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nQIqahf4sw3ONWdylSO3m4pIwQLH9PIJw_ojGukljJI_iRdkEe95v_IESNoQS6fVRvWyrF-2att7k2Y0CSXSr_ZctNLpOAKjFSSyQNPp6otIUlvyf-WC-ztKi0TcCg6hg-gsRyB3L0Hs/s1600/IMG_0670.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And one last bump photo, taken at 40 weeks & 1 day. Contrary to what everyone said, my bump did not suddenly get huge in the last few weeks...in fact, it was still measuring 35cms when we went to the hospital to be induced. But in spite of all the worries about Quinn being too small or not developing properly, he has been perfectly healthy and happy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Although he is extremely cute, Quinn doesn't allow his mummy much time on the computer, so further updates on our labour and Quinn's first few weeks may be a little delayed. But we promise we are taking plenty of photographs!</span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-84778858325896119362014-07-22T01:52:00.003-07:002014-07-22T01:52:51.060-07:0038 Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLcGMnqOvEkpnVFrHiOs6JeeVfsggqHioMHjSvMhJwB5KUZwci9tzGGm5-nJtwtp-4uSq6DHXOCCTRake4HTr7EokmDQMtsdW9ipQpUSVog83zlj-23Gm8BFUyBhVjqB95xPTSUy0UoYgx/s1600/IMG_0643.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLcGMnqOvEkpnVFrHiOs6JeeVfsggqHioMHjSvMhJwB5KUZwci9tzGGm5-nJtwtp-4uSq6DHXOCCTRake4HTr7EokmDQMtsdW9ipQpUSVog83zlj-23Gm8BFUyBhVjqB95xPTSUy0UoYgx/s1600/IMG_0643.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcFZJFgw0N6T-VtKfj0BFO6Wi0aY7VuExUkfexrn5F9G0viB9fT47vwOaQR_y0jqkefSDSmqN5aiOlWc-pb5XcaXNTE52hCRRd8oYmzxHxtZSOnmHz2ifn8tT2wX4BuBvz0OsQVseS19J/s1600/IMG_0645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcFZJFgw0N6T-VtKfj0BFO6Wi0aY7VuExUkfexrn5F9G0viB9fT47vwOaQR_y0jqkefSDSmqN5aiOlWc-pb5XcaXNTE52hCRRd8oYmzxHxtZSOnmHz2ifn8tT2wX4BuBvz0OsQVseS19J/s1600/IMG_0645.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We took these photographs on Saturday because I'd been having contractions on and off for about 24 hours, and we were wondering if this might be our last opportunity to take some bump pictures. Sadly, it's Tuesday and the baby has not yet arrived, so here's an update on our pregnancy so far since, well, we're still pregnant!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>How far along?</b> 38 weeks & 4 days</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Total weight gain/loss:</b> Still 21lbs in total. I think I should be within the 25-30lb range by the end of my pregnancy, and I guess I'm technically already there if you count the 7lbs I gained and lost in the first 20 weeks when I was really sick. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Maternity clothes?</b> Since the baby has dropped, I'm starting to hang out of a lot of the tops that fitted me a couple of weeks ago. It's too warm to wear some of my maternity clothes (especially my jeans), so I'm pretty much rotating a few outfits that are suitable for summer and don't show of my belly too much.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Stretch marks?</b> Still none! </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Sleep:</b> It could be worse, I guess, but it's not great. I'm having to sleep with a pillow under my bump to stop it from being too uncomfortable, and it's an effort to roll over in bed. The last couple of nights I've woken up feeling nauseas several times, so it might be time to start taking my antisickness pills again, to see if it helps me get a better night's sleep.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Best moment this week: </b>Contractions! Although we're a little disappointed that the baby hasn't made an appearance yet, we're definitely in the final stretch now. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Movement:</b> The baby has been a lot more active this weekend, so all is good on that front. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Cravings/Aversions: </b>I've been craving sugary/sweet stuff again, which may just be my body's way of trying to keep its energy up. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Gender guesses: </b>We've still only let it slip once, which is crazy. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Labor Signs: </b>Ooh, plenty. We had regular contractions on and off for about 48 hours, including a couple of hours on Sunday morning where I was getting them every five minutes, lasting 40 seconds each time. We really thought we were in labour, but then the contractions trailed off. I've also been having more backache, some nausea and headaches, and needing to pee constantly because the baby is sitting so low. Although it's exciting to feel like we're on our way to actually having this baby, it's also frustrating that I spent this weekend feeling drained from contractions and then it didn't actually go anywhere. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>What I miss: </b>Having more than three outfits to choose from, being able to stay out in the sun without overheating within 20 minutes, putting on shoes without feeling like it's an olympic event, and being able to get things out of the cupboard under the sink without falling on my butt. (Which, incidentally, did not happen in a charity shop last week when I squatted down and reached for a book and overbalanced myself. I also did not just sit on the floor and try to make it look like I had intended to sit down to look through this particular volume. Nope). </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>What I am looking forward to: </b>The baby finally arriving! It could still be a few more weeks, but we're hoping it's a bit sooner than that.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Weekly Wisdom:</b> If you've had, say, four or five false starts of pretty serious contractions in one weekend, it is totally acceptable to buy Tesco Finest cheesecake to cheer yourself up--especially if it's discounted. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Milestones: </b>Contractions have started! And also stopped. But still, we know what they're like now, and we definitely know how to use the stopwatch on my phone, so the practice run was useful for something. </span></span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-3013696815196938482014-07-21T01:00:00.000-07:002014-07-22T01:34:39.142-07:00Recent Meals #7<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGL4QxDw7JbiXntGYCGZRc8m29pP1UhLJktabwTlZEQG3GyncQcx8Fm0KJL6q5p5gRz6WZB2ixANc1JT8JbaYU8Dcn50uGcf7ivFw-mn3SpVjwJfUCOs_6_wJNSCmAT5Kv95ESFf7fHCOm/s1600/11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGL4QxDw7JbiXntGYCGZRc8m29pP1UhLJktabwTlZEQG3GyncQcx8Fm0KJL6q5p5gRz6WZB2ixANc1JT8JbaYU8Dcn50uGcf7ivFw-mn3SpVjwJfUCOs_6_wJNSCmAT5Kv95ESFf7fHCOm/s1600/11.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Fragrant Fish Tagine</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1511713/fragrant-fish-tagine">BBC Good Food</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Simon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We reduce the quantities to make it suit two people, and fit into our small tagine. We also use smoked river cobbler fillets instead of tilapia, regular olives instead of pimento-stuffed, and sweet potatoes instead of regular. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Well, you need to own a tagine, which isn't a typical item in everyone's kitchen. Other than that, it's not terribly complicated.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Verdict: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This is one of Simon's favourite recipes, and I really enjoy it as well. We used to make it with unsmoked river cobbler, until we were substituted smoked river cobbler in one of our Asda deliveries last year. We decided to go ahead and make the meal with smoked fish and it added a wonderful element to the dish. It might not be the most photogenic meal, but it does taste good.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1HOqCLBvSf1C2i3gvpcgJI0Wz-xX4a_gJl979iww0YvU7MYBWqTnszWNrg6AGT2bWRf94ppQM7pKEbdEEc6_kAB8_EsJOURnzt2nhiGoZpoFo_I7jaGPZXmq4VR4QEbNgOmZXW0o4BZl/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1HOqCLBvSf1C2i3gvpcgJI0Wz-xX4a_gJl979iww0YvU7MYBWqTnszWNrg6AGT2bWRf94ppQM7pKEbdEEc6_kAB8_EsJOURnzt2nhiGoZpoFo_I7jaGPZXmq4VR4QEbNgOmZXW0o4BZl/s1600/016.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bacon Fried Rice</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://dineanddish.net/2013/08/two-dilemmas-recipe-bacon-fried-rice/">Dine & Dish</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We reduced the quantities slightly as we were just serving the two of us, and added bird's eye chillies. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We used regular carrots instead of baby ones, and less bacon (and we cooked it ourselves--I've no idea if you can even get precooked bacon in the UK). </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Next time we'd probably use three eggs, as we like our fried rice to be more eggy than this. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> This may well have been my first attempt at making egg-fried rice and I found it surprisingly easy. It's not terribly complicated, and a good way to use up leftover vegetables. </span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Verdict: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">We love regular egg-fried rice, so this meal was a hit for us. We'll definitely be making it again. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1CaUtZUrKISByAthYkIZ3gcAsQvUHn_9J-Fn_riYqEVov-QawxWXqCX4ee1g7GwJEAhAIylwkaQwGBCswW7wH_guYvqGwIqYRVQ_rsl8JfVqNuVDZvEn7hqtkEDIZqTf1nclnipAke_J/s1600/043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1CaUtZUrKISByAthYkIZ3gcAsQvUHn_9J-Fn_riYqEVov-QawxWXqCX4ee1g7GwJEAhAIylwkaQwGBCswW7wH_guYvqGwIqYRVQ_rsl8JfVqNuVDZvEn7hqtkEDIZqTf1nclnipAke_J/s1600/043.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mexican Red Lentil Stew</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2010/01/recipe-for-mexican-red-lentil-stew-with.html"><span id="goog_2117031019"></span>Kalyn's Kitchen<span id="goog_2117031020"></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> Tesco must sell magic lentils as we never need to soak ours--we just simmer this stew until the lentils have softened. We use fresh chillies instead of chilli powder, regular tinned tomatoes instead of roasted, and either Chipotle or Habanero Tabasco instead of Green Tabasco. We usually add in at least 1 tsp of smoked paprika to make up for the lack of roasted tomatoes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Pretty easy. Chop up some vegetables, chuck everything in and let it simmer. This recipe doesn't require a lot of effort, and it's cheap. </span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Verdict: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">We make this recipe a lot, and it's definitely become one of our favourites. It's always nice to discover a relatively cheap recipe that's packed full of so much flavour.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLiddVRkCGeWWMq2EkDAuqDrMQbFzSH3rjCuhPTwNViyXIXBCQ5MfjJ3Q0hdD1EhNvGcvR_r65-Uu9BJNYzWNoo6KPeiWN0ghG5muu4XAXOByGnpESCe5XN0z3cBKrdm1u6HJYCc-eh5j/s1600/048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLiddVRkCGeWWMq2EkDAuqDrMQbFzSH3rjCuhPTwNViyXIXBCQ5MfjJ3Q0hdD1EhNvGcvR_r65-Uu9BJNYzWNoo6KPeiWN0ghG5muu4XAXOByGnpESCe5XN0z3cBKrdm1u6HJYCc-eh5j/s1600/048.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Smoky Sweet Potato Burgers with Roasted Garlic Cream and Avocado</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/09/smoky-sweet-potato-burgers-with-roasted-garlic-cream-and-avocado/">How Sweet Eats</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It: </b>Simon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We serve these on regular white burger buns, but I think we may use more cumin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Onion powder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Not overly easy--there's a lot of preparation involved, starting with roasting the garlic and sweet potato, then making the burger patties and the sauce, then finally griddling the burgers. The recipe calls for a skillet, but trust me--griddled burgers are the best.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Verdict: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This is one of our all-time favourite recipes, and I think the only reason you haven't seen a photo of this one yet is because we always start eating before we remember to take a picture. We often serve this when we're entertaining guests because it's cheap (no meat!) but packs a lot of flavour, and the burgers look surprisingly glamorous and colourful for, well, burgers. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSq-l03LZgcPN9cIpjeeAJhXI4Y0p7ZW0JuBzmpMYMKe5YRFO_OY-ul7kqBxALaBQ19JbHI43mSde0Fn0tARFzAZC2wIPV5-32HGkjOqMa-SFTbAcWR1nAUrGFtVOc1QKx0TnR7cIq89ZR/s1600/082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSq-l03LZgcPN9cIpjeeAJhXI4Y0p7ZW0JuBzmpMYMKe5YRFO_OY-ul7kqBxALaBQ19JbHI43mSde0Fn0tARFzAZC2wIPV5-32HGkjOqMa-SFTbAcWR1nAUrGFtVOc1QKx0TnR7cIq89ZR/s1600/082.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Spicy Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayonnaise</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/06/spicy-black-bean-burgers-with-chipotle.html">Skinny Taste</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It: </b>Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used precooked black beans and white buns. I don't think we froze these for quite two hours, but they turned out fine. Also, we griddled them instead of grilling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Relatively easy. You have to make sure there isn't any excess liquid on the beans, and food process the vegetables, and remember to prepare these a couple of hours before you're ready to eat, so it's not something that can be just thrown together, but it also doesn't require any particularly unusual ingredients or multi-tasking.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Verdict: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">I'm honestly not sure why this recipe sat on my Pinterest board for so long, because it's definitely our kind of meal. We really liked these burgers, and the only thing holding us back from making them again is that we need to buy more chipotles in abodo from <a href="http://www.lupepintos.com/">Lupe Pintos</a>.</span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-37515658148295107282014-07-18T01:00:00.000-07:002014-07-18T01:00:02.527-07:00Recipe: Cheese & Bacon Meat Loaf<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When Simon and I first met, I wasn't terribly proficient at cooking. In fact, the one thing I felt confident about making was lasagna--which I completely and utterly ruined on the first time I attempted to cook it for Simon. Simon loved to cook, and had a terrible habit of taking over in the kitchen because he was convinced he could prepare something better or quicker than I could. It took him a while to relinquish control and let me chop onions the way I preferred, and just as long for me to start finding recipes that appealed to me and develop my own love of cooking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This meatloaf was one of the first things I made for Simon after we moved in together in our third year of university, and in spite of how simple it is (I don't change a lot from the original recipe) it quickly became one of his favourite meals. I can nearly master his favourite roast potatoes (courtesy of <a href="http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/fruit-and-vegetables/how-to-roast-potatoes.html">Delia Smith</a>) and we've served this meal with a variety of side dishes: green salad, roast asparagus, and braised cabbage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm fairly certain I first came across this recipe on AllRecipes.com when I was searching for Amish-inspired meals, since I'd come across some appealing dishes in some Amish novels I'd read. I'm not sure how authentically Amish it is, but it's a great comfort meal and incredibly easy to make. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipymNX-oGqbRY7tufqJKepsEbGyE8G2Byr7Uwb3dE_HKDCtT9CXEiA-RMyd_I-SLli4OoAGok8D8UEHyy3m8LUmgnlo0lnayCs56lv5Vxe02our3_SYzcXxtEAx_Uzt5FJU7AAsoUViTSn/s1600/9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipymNX-oGqbRY7tufqJKepsEbGyE8G2Byr7Uwb3dE_HKDCtT9CXEiA-RMyd_I-SLli4OoAGok8D8UEHyy3m8LUmgnlo0lnayCs56lv5Vxe02our3_SYzcXxtEAx_Uzt5FJU7AAsoUViTSn/s1600/9.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Adapted from <a href="http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/swiss-cheese-meat-loaf">Taste of Home</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Serves: </b>3-4</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Prep. Time: </b>15 minutes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Cook Time: </b>35 minutes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 slices of bacon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">500g of minced beef</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 small onion, finely chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8 Ritz crackers (or similar), crushed</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">100g of Emmental or Gouda, cubed</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp of dried sage</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 egg, lightly beaten</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Salt and pepper, dependent on personal taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Directions</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Fry or grill the bacon until cooked but not crisp, then drain on paper towels before breaking into pieces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl, making sure that the egg coats as much of the mixture as possible. Keep a few pieces of cheese aside to place on top of the meatloaf.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. Transfer meatloaf mixture into a loaf tin and top with bacon. Cook in oven for 30 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Top the meatloaf with the remaining cheese and cook for a further 5 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6. Serve with roasted potatoes and your preferred vegetable side. Salads, asparagus and cabbage work well!</span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-41578587216540386312014-07-17T01:32:00.000-07:002014-07-17T01:32:37.044-07:00Recipe: Sweet Potato, Chorizo & Kale Enchiladas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's no secret that we love enchiladas, or sweet potatoes, or chorizo. So when I spotted a recipe for sweet potato and chorizo enchiladas on Pinterest, I knew that we had to try it. Given how simple the original recipe was, I played around with the ingredients a fair bit and came up with something that suited our tastes. Other than waiting for the sweet potato to soften, this is a relatively quick and easy recipe to throw together. Enjoy!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCal_K2I5-t0uR7arMWomJ2Sr1tL5aNh7u0V7T1xZdj5PCrhSBFVhLJKCbitagjk3qgPUeosbTvFxtpSqDdj1iNbiW4E_wmvaAbj4W1zAojCZMcAiBsl1ZX2UAZSOJ3QOBI8AkDvKOYmo/s1600/075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCal_K2I5-t0uR7arMWomJ2Sr1tL5aNh7u0V7T1xZdj5PCrhSBFVhLJKCbitagjk3qgPUeosbTvFxtpSqDdj1iNbiW4E_wmvaAbj4W1zAojCZMcAiBsl1ZX2UAZSOJ3QOBI8AkDvKOYmo/s1600/075.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Adapted from </span><a href="http://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/02/chorizo-sweet-potato-enchiladas/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Budget Bytes</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Serves: </b>2-4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Prep. Time: </b>20-30 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Cook Time: </b>20 minutes</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 garlic cloves, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 bird's eye chillies, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Approx. 450g of sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into half-inch cubes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 tsp of chilli flakes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp of smoked paprika</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp of cumin, ground</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 spicy chorizo sausage, chopped into rings, then halved</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A few handfuls of kale, stems removed and chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4 large flour tortillas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One portion of your favourite enchilada sauce (we like <a href="http://www.thefauxmartha.com/2011/11/03/tomato-jalapeno-enchilada-sauce/">this one</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Grated extra mature cheddar cheese</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Directions</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F. In a large frying pan, fry the garlic and chillies until they become fragrant. Add the sweet potato and spices and cook until the potato softens. Add the chorizo and cook until it starts to brown, then toss in the kale and cook it until it wilts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. Pour a little of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish and spread it around until it covers the base evenly. Fill each tortilla with a quarter of the sweet potato mixture and roll tightly so that nothing escapes when placed in the enchilada dish. Once all four enchiladas are in the dish, cover them with the remaining sauce and as much grated cheese as suits your taste.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. Cook in oven for 20 minutes, and serve with your favourite toppings: spring onions, fresh coriander, sour cream, etc.</span>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-91080681691009660172014-07-09T00:42:00.001-07:002014-07-09T00:42:03.054-07:0036 Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadoUlaymmrFyWPc3tSpLAyYX_qbd3lG95O5f0CuGtWi_ThfvqriTpeSyw4lFh6PZn3V-QBsm1TKuyw7mWLUP39I-MIZk1a0UzMMsjsTMiiJaQvhYcOUMuwLhw1xBd-yjnbIb3P7Rf5KoQ/s1600/IMG_0575.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadoUlaymmrFyWPc3tSpLAyYX_qbd3lG95O5f0CuGtWi_ThfvqriTpeSyw4lFh6PZn3V-QBsm1TKuyw7mWLUP39I-MIZk1a0UzMMsjsTMiiJaQvhYcOUMuwLhw1xBd-yjnbIb3P7Rf5KoQ/s1600/IMG_0575.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmDs9d2DHK3At_LH7IVG3o2tws6wbT1Vlx6324oUB_2M3K5n7I1wY8q9_4RiEhivBFcm0xOrYtb3g8pOQOOJOHr-3XIScG6yghMJSbjW1STBUH4rgjS5vBnI3TxC7mD_TEwVffMI-hKGG/s1600/IMG_0578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmDs9d2DHK3At_LH7IVG3o2tws6wbT1Vlx6324oUB_2M3K5n7I1wY8q9_4RiEhivBFcm0xOrYtb3g8pOQOOJOHr-3XIScG6yghMJSbjW1STBUH4rgjS5vBnI3TxC7mD_TEwVffMI-hKGG/s1600/IMG_0578.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We haven't done one of these in a while, and we're definitely glad to be entering the final month of our pregnancy! The last month was rather eventful--as well as finishing up our antenatal classes and gathering up most of our newborn/home birth supplies, I also took a nasty tumble and scraped my knees in a rather dramatic way, and then came down with a cold that jump-started my morning sickness. If you thought morning sickness at 8, 14 or 20 weeks was bad, it's even worse at 34 weeks. I'm very grateful for Cyclizine Hydrochloride and Peptac Liquid for allowing me to get through the day without puking, and actually get some sleep at night. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Everyone keeps commenting on how I don't look particularly big, and as of my last midwife appointment, my bump was still measuring two weeks less than it should have, but trust me--I feel pretty big. This is the biggest I've ever been, after all! There are some days where I have tons of energy and get all of the housework done with little extra effort, and others where just standing at the sink washing dishes hurts my back and I don't really want to move. I feel like I'm constantly flipping back and forth between the extremes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We technically have just under four weeks left until our due date, but since only 5% of babies are born on their due dates, we're trying not to think of a specific day on which to expect the baby. Since we're having a home birth, we've been given a four week window in which the NHS will provide midwives to attend us at home (otherwise we'll have to go to the birthing centre or hospital), so we're just imagining that the baby will arrive within that period of time. Depending on how huge and uncomfortable I'm feeling, I may start guzzling raspberry leaf tea at 38 weeks, or I may feel brave enough to wait until we go overdue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We've had some lovely weather lately, and I've been trying to enjoy it, but Monday and Tuesday of last week were just a bit too much for me. Apparently it was only 21C on Tuesday, but it felt a lot worse than that--I was wearing a cotton sundress and dripping with sweat after just hanging out the washing. Normally I'd be outside all day long when the weather is this nice, but the heat tends to set off my Braxton Hicks, and as huge and uncomfortable as I sometimes feel, I'd rather not go into labour just yet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also, our baby officially dropped as soon as we hit 36 weeks! I had a different midwife for my appointment on Monday, and she didn't believe that it could have dropped already as I was only measuring 34 weeks (my normal midwife has pretty much accepted that I'm always going to measure a bit less than average) but there is definitely more space to breathe, and the baby's head is officially making its way down. Pretty exciting! Even if it does mean that I need to pee even more than usual ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>How far along?</b> 36 weeks & 5 days</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Total weight gain/loss:</b> 21lbs. Apparently 25-30lbs is average for my pre-pregnancy BMI, so I'm happy with this. A few people have cheerfully told me that I'll balloon in the last few weeks, so we'll see if that happens. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Maternity clothes? </b>I'm down to a pretty limited wardrobe--lots of loose skirts and dresses, plus a few long tops and my two pairs of maternity jeans. This is more to do with the heat than my size, to be honest. I can still fit into a dress that has an age 13-14 label on it, so I'm kind of giving up on paying attention to clothing sizes right now.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Stretch marks?</b> Still none! I'm not sure if this is genetic (my mum never got stretch marks with her first pregnancy) or because I've always kept my skin really hydrated with lots of body butter. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Sleep: </b>I've had one night last week where I slept for seven hours straight, which was downright miraculous. Because I'm getting occasional nausea (even with my antisickness pills) I sometimes wake up during the night feeling sick (generally because the baby is lying in a really awkward position). And I can't sleep past 8am because I always need to pee. Honestly, I can't predict how well I'm going to sleep right now. It's all over the place.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Best moment this week: </b>Getting seven hours of uninterrupted sleep, and spending most of the day shopping with one of my friends. Just the fact that I managed to spend over half the day in town without getting too tired or uncomfortable was exciting for me! </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Movement:</b> They're mostly still on a usual schedule (first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and sometimes around lunchtime) but it's hard to predict how strong the movements are going to be. Sometimes I barely notice them because I've got used to them, and then other times the baby gives some really sharp kicks. At the moment, most of the movements feel more like the baby is elbowing me than kicking me.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Cravings/Aversions: </b>I've been craving sweet stuff a lot lately, and for the most part (except when I'm feeling nauseas or have heartburn) I'm eating more than usual. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Gender guesses: </b>We're still finding that everyone is pretty split in their guesses, and I think we've still managed to avoid letting the truth slip. Impressive!</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Labor Signs: </b>I think I must be getting used to Braxton Hicks now as I'm not noticing them as much. I can pretty much guarantee that I'll have them if I walk anywhere when it's relatively hot. And the baby dropping is a sign that we're definitely on our way, but that can happen up to four weeks before the baby's born, so it might still be a while.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Belly Button in or out?</b> Still in. I don't think it's ever going to pop. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>What I miss: </b>A lot of things! Uninterrupted sleep, being able to carry or reach for things without toppling over, being able to put on my shoes without major effort, and alcohol!</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>What I am looking forward to: </b>This might sound kind of lame, but I'm looking forward to going shopping with my mum this weekend and finally getting fitted for nursing bras. I've changed bras three times so far in my pregnancy, and the cheapy, ugly, non-wired ones I picked up at Tesco (2 for £9) six weeks ago are starting to feel really uncomfortable. Mothercare has some really pretty stuff, so I'm going to treat myself to something attractive but practical. We also have a couple of final things to pick up for the baby, and then we'll be sorted :)</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Weekly Wisdom:</b> It's okay to feel ginormous even when everyone keeps telling you how small you are. They aren't carrying around an extra 1.5st on their front.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Milestones: </b>We're into the final month! The third trimester has gone by really, really fast (in spite of dramatic bruises and morning sickness). I'm not sure if we feel ready, but we're nearly there :)</span></span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-29009956742372367092014-06-27T01:00:00.000-07:002014-07-03T01:53:34.458-07:00Recipe: Slow Cooker Pinto Bean & Chorizo Stew<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Although this recipe works best with pinto beans, you could substitute your favourite kind of beans (haricot, cannellini, kidney, etc) if you can't get hold of pinto beans. Tesco sometimes sells canned pinto beans, but we often buy a bag of dried beans and cook them in our slow cooker before freezing them in 2 cup portions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you use beans that you've already prepared (either by slow cooking or soaking overnight) you'll probably want to reduce the cooking time so the beans don't disintegrate. Canned beans tend to be firmer and need more time to cook.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGlQBQ2tXfz90lUkqb6SCRS7t0CYlaMXwOTMBdpQ-Tr5hz8gyXZ5eoU1Wo2NauRB-VTuk6e0q9LCGgc-7UACM-_Lr7dGQibd668IWjA497_6DLfsAUID-mFUgNns7Ar6RyL4nA7ssuhHu/s1600/131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGlQBQ2tXfz90lUkqb6SCRS7t0CYlaMXwOTMBdpQ-Tr5hz8gyXZ5eoU1Wo2NauRB-VTuk6e0q9LCGgc-7UACM-_Lr7dGQibd668IWjA497_6DLfsAUID-mFUgNns7Ar6RyL4nA7ssuhHu/s1600/131.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Adapted from <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-pinto-bean-bonanza/">AllRecipes</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Serves:</b> 4-6</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Prep. Time:</b> 15 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Cook. Time:</b> 3-5 hours on High, 5-7 on Low</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled into powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 (300g) cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed (or 6 cups of precooked pinto beans)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 spicy chorizo sausage, chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 (500g) carton of passata</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 onion, chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 cloves of garlic, chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tbsps of cider vinegar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tbsps of pickled jalapeno peppers, including juice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tbsps of white sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tsps of smoked paprika</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tsps of chilli flakes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp of cumin, ground</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Salt and pepper to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 bell pepper, chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4 spring onions, chopped</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Directions</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Place all of the ingredients, except pepper and spring onion, in the slow cooker and mix until thoroughly combined. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If the passata doesn't completely cover the ingredients, fill one of the pinto bean cans with water and add to the slow cooker. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2. Cook on High for 5-7 hours or on Low for 9-10 hours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. About five minutes before serving, stir in the pepper and spring onions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Once the pepper and spring onions have started to soften (you still want them to have some crunch), serve on top of cous cous. </span>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-7394740751983311272014-06-26T01:00:00.000-07:002014-06-26T01:00:03.764-07:00Recipe: Slow Cooker Taco Soup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We used our slow cooker a lot when we were students, but we've not had the opportunity to put it to such good use since moving to Edinburgh. A slow cooker is great for feeding a crowd or preparing freezer meals, but since we just have a tiny ice box in our current flat, we have limited space for freezing leftovers. Still, this is one of our favourite comfort meals to make in the slow cooker, and it's relatively easy to throw together, even if the ingredient list does look pretty extensive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can adjust this recipe to suit your taste--it works well as a vegetarian meal if you remove the mince and add more beans or corn, and if you find it difficult to get hold of pinto beans, haricot or cannellini make a good substitute. This isn't a very spicy meal, but you can skip the chillies and some of the spices if you really can't handle the heat.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqLWbxz6dQhKlvbavXzDep6631URnCv8AgVdavi3JzV4BZfHKUqtQjtO1E0Zb_Z_Byvmm_7iLZopt_mZKGIQ1_qiUNprFlFm8a0foHsoSm9UM2d5uih33PvCTLq_kK9JzT6hyCoXLFJJC/s1600/146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqLWbxz6dQhKlvbavXzDep6631URnCv8AgVdavi3JzV4BZfHKUqtQjtO1E0Zb_Z_Byvmm_7iLZopt_mZKGIQ1_qiUNprFlFm8a0foHsoSm9UM2d5uih33PvCTLq_kK9JzT6hyCoXLFJJC/s1600/146.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Adapted from <a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/original-taco-soup-crockpot-recipe.html">A Year of Slow Cooking</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Serves: </b>4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Prep. Time: </b>15 minutes </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Cook Time: </b>3-5 hours on High, or 6-7 on Low</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Soup</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 garlic cloves, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 onions, chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 bird's eye chillies, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">500g of minced beef</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp of paprika</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 1/2 tsps of cumin, ground</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/4 tsp of chilli flakes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tsps of dried chives</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/4 tsp of dried oregano</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/4 tsp of dried dill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp of celery seed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp of dried parsley</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Salt and pepper, to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 (410g) cans of kidney beans, drained and rinsed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 (300g) cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups of precooked pinto beans)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 (400g) cans of chopped tomatoes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 (326g) can of sweetcorn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 can of cold water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbsp of lime juice</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>For Serving</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shredded mozzarella cheese</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sour cream</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Guacamole</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tortilla chips</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fresh coriander</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Directions</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Preheat slow cooker. Fry the chopped garlic, onion and chillies in oil until they start to brown. Add the mince and cook until completely brown. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. Add mince mixture to slow cooker. Sprinkle all of the spices and herbs on top of the mince mixture, including salt and pepper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. Add the beans, tomatoes and corn to the slow cooker. Fill one of the tomato or kidney bean cans with cold tap water and add to mixture. Add balsamic vinegar and lime juice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Stir contents of slow cooker until mixed through evenly and c</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ook for 3-5 hours on High or 6-7 on Low.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. Serve topped with grated mozzarella cheese, sour cream, guacamole, tortilla chips and fresh coriander.</span>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-69958843213452340222014-06-25T01:00:00.000-07:002014-06-25T01:00:06.536-07:00Recipe: Spicy Black Bean Soup with Avocado Sauce<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was planning to post the link to this recipe in one of our Recent Meal posts, only to realise that we deviate from the original recipe a fair bit. We love black beans, Mexican food and anything spicy--and this recipe is definitely spicy. If you find regular chillies a bit too hot, this probably isn't one for you, as it really isn't the same without the scotch bonnet. But unlike a lot of our recipes, this one is pretty quick to make. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkd1WUiKW-ydnXZsxdqlJpaWdq-KEeXdjufjZ0mTb4pchVV06qCYlGjO0vWMpi1S_tHY8jCa4YQ7yusTq7wOBr0W-fuBtG8LjFxg0I6sGd6TIiRlqShSN-872-m-Hp-70t88XxbKbbN61W/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkd1WUiKW-ydnXZsxdqlJpaWdq-KEeXdjufjZ0mTb4pchVV06qCYlGjO0vWMpi1S_tHY8jCa4YQ7yusTq7wOBr0W-fuBtG8LjFxg0I6sGd6TIiRlqShSN-872-m-Hp-70t88XxbKbbN61W/s1600/015.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Adapted from <a href="http://www.okiedokieartichokie.me/2011/07/spicy-black-bean-soup-with-aji-amarillo-and-avocado-lime-cream-sauce/">Okie Dokie Artichokie</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Serves: </b>2</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Prep. Time: </b>10 minutes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Cook Time: </b>10 minutes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Soup</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 red onion, chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 spring onions, chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 garlic cloves, finely chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (preferably red)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 teaspoons of cumin, ground</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 teaspoons of chilli flakes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 teaspoons of ancho chilli powder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Salt and pepper, to taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 cups of cooked black beans</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 cup of vegetable stock</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Avocado Sauce</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 avocado, ripe</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 cup of fresh coriander, finely chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 lime, juiced</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 cup of single cream</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A sprinkling of paprika</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Salt and pepper, to taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>To Serve</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Feta cheese, crumbled</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lime wedges</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fresh coriander</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Directions</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. In a medium saucepan, fry the onions, garlic, chilli, spices, salt and pepper until the red onion turns soft and translucent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. Add the black beans and stir to combine. After 30 seconds, add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil before reducing to a simmer. Cook until the beans are hot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. While the soup is simmering, mash up avocado with a fork, and mix with cream, coriander, lime juice, paprika, salt and pepper. If you prefer a completely smooth sauce, you could make it in a food processor, but we prefer our sauce a little chunky.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Remove soup from the heat and blend with a hand-held blender until it has the desired texture. We prefer our soup to still have some chunks in it, but you can make it completely smooth if you prefer. If you don't have a hand-held blender, you could transfer the soup to a standing blender.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. Top each bowl of soup with avocado sauce, crumbled feta cheese and fresh coriander, and serve with hot rolls and lime wedges. </span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-3148271309622421732014-06-24T02:05:00.002-07:002014-06-24T02:05:54.093-07:00Recent Meals #6<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfgI1ZeK_iiLT4KL0caycMY70HSr69qhzebatEhjsPjrUU28Nyb0EWMFOwX6a5y1edRw-jJENOwqr5Nyr8-QSoSu83xY7jSnFRGM_ocA9d6uOzO0i_QtXXKC67umGt1Q1DHVudzMDpewj/s1600/6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfgI1ZeK_iiLT4KL0caycMY70HSr69qhzebatEhjsPjrUU28Nyb0EWMFOwX6a5y1edRw-jJENOwqr5Nyr8-QSoSu83xY7jSnFRGM_ocA9d6uOzO0i_QtXXKC67umGt1Q1DHVudzMDpewj/s1600/6.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Breakfast Tacos with Spicy Green Onion and Cheddar Scrambled Eggs</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://heatherchristo.com/cooks/2014/03/27/breakfast-tacos-with-spicy-green-onion-and-cheddar-scrambled-eggs/">Heather Christo</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Simon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used less eggs, pickled jalapeno slices, more black beans, a whole avocado and instead of pico de gaillo we just used some leftover red onion and tomatoes that we had on hand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> If you're comfortable with multi-tasking, this recipe is relatively easy--you just need to make sure you have the eggs, beans and tortillas ready at the same time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We loved this! We're big fans of black beans, avocado and eggs, so this was a perfect combination of flavours for us. Simon prefers savoury to sweet for breakfast, so it's always fun to discover a new recipe that both of us enjoy.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJShgO5R1eH8o3i46aGfofO4YAobo8qUX1MgmAxFWMfJM4uaSdOPl2CM6DAIUJippMZQx_L-ME5F9_CrdvvNilzP5KuezFOlIA2-dsHgS50VrT4KHpwE2NhG6mOdv19jG4ixqvBstLGvFC/s1600/072.JPG" height="240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ca Kho Tieu (Vietnamese Sweet and Spicy Fish)</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJShgO5R1eH8o3i46aGfofO4YAobo8qUX1MgmAxFWMfJM4uaSdOPl2CM6DAIUJippMZQx_L-ME5F9_CrdvvNilzP5KuezFOlIA2-dsHgS50VrT4KHpwE2NhG6mOdv19jG4ixqvBstLGvFC/s1600/072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.riceandwheat.com/2011/02/ca-kho-tieu-vietnamese-sweet-and-spicy-fish/">Rice and Wheat</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Simon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We added garlic and carrots, used green chillies instead of red, and added more shallots.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> This isn't the easiest recipe out there, but it doesn't include a lot of ingredients, so it's worth a shot if it appeals to you. Follow the instructions in order and you can't go wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This is one of our favourite date night recipes, and I think this was the meal that made me realise how much I love shallots. If you need a new fish recipe and like Asian-style food, definitely give this a shot. We always make this with river cobbler, which is the cheapest white fish we can find, and it just happens to actually be Vietnamese!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZg3LvJKztdT4mrGBpA6ExOgkYdZ_qZOmXhRk0gQKCl820T1-vO6cBTvkCItlA-f6ATMMvwCA95S6u3LFl7_wfpGGs9H70hEgsUzxQDLddKqYhI44o1J8vJwtGXDTKQHw55UXB41jsDaK/s1600/090.JPG" height="240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mexican Tortilla Pizza</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZg3LvJKztdT4mrGBpA6ExOgkYdZ_qZOmXhRk0gQKCl820T1-vO6cBTvkCItlA-f6ATMMvwCA95S6u3LFl7_wfpGGs9H70hEgsUzxQDLddKqYhI44o1J8vJwtGXDTKQHw55UXB41jsDaK/s1600/090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.honeywhatscooking.com/2011/05/mexican-tortilla-pizza.html">Honey, What's Cooking?</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We make our own salsa and refried beans, more tomato, pickled jalapeno rather than fresh, plain rather than whole-wheat tortillas, and extra mature cheddar rather than mexican blend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Onion and taco seasoning (although we added plenty of spices into our salsa and refried beans)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> This isn't a complicated recipe (especially if you opt to use premade salsa and beans), as long as you have the patience to prepare each individual pizza. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This is one of our favourite comfort food meals, and if we haven't had time to do a grocery shop, we often have the ingredients on hand to just throw this together. It might not look fancy, but it had a great combination of textures and flavours. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IA4y6BawMAXFPyzfg200sX5k3CTCQ3kCvEZoD7CatN5o_n9ud3wtAToajjQkB9QHwcuO1bOmronN0jAzg0mreJFAl_4FQ6kP_NVThJSIvfodLdx2MaqVo1M6UUEdEjIPdbrPVOpLg8YM/s1600/100.JPG" height="240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Puerto Rican Chicken</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5IA4y6BawMAXFPyzfg200sX5k3CTCQ3kCvEZoD7CatN5o_n9ud3wtAToajjQkB9QHwcuO1bOmronN0jAzg0mreJFAl_4FQ6kP_NVThJSIvfodLdx2MaqVo1M6UUEdEjIPdbrPVOpLg8YM/s1600/100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This one is from Levi Roots' <a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/levi+roots/caribbean+food+made+easy/6565352/?gclid=CPjc1PaMkr8CFSXmwgodYEcAEw">Caribbean Food Made Easy</a>, but the recipe can also be found <a href="http://peckishism.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/hot-and-kickin-puerto-rican-chicken.html">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used red sweet peppers rather than bell, and less olives. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> This one needs a while to cook, but once it's in the oven you don't have to do anything except add the olives for the final 15 minutes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This is another of our favourite recipes, and it's a great way to use chicken thighs (which are typically a lot cheaper than breasts). Colourful and a wonderful blend of flavours!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk2wOwRbFUKoqSvw3nG_V9-YakMwVZzNW3jCVXqhIe-qSfrIK52NlMYYdaarjCfutn3s43anXa45F1sQ2L41XUsD5ZeaXyqgHEbtM4t7ovBwO5TZMHrQU54o6R0CTsVgrSRCKWzJkkhp0N/s1600/104.JPG" height="240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Easy Grilled Maple Dijon Salmon with Spicy Sweet Potato Chips and Salad</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk2wOwRbFUKoqSvw3nG_V9-YakMwVZzNW3jCVXqhIe-qSfrIK52NlMYYdaarjCfutn3s43anXa45F1sQ2L41XUsD5ZeaXyqgHEbtM4t7ovBwO5TZMHrQU54o6R0CTsVgrSRCKWzJkkhp0N/s1600/104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/07/easy-grilled-maple-dijon-salmon-with-bacon/">How Sweet Eats</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used a smaller amount of salmon, and I had to add in a little wholegrain mustard as we didn't have quite enough dijon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Super easy, especially if you already have cooked bacon. Mix the ingredients together, spread on salmon and grill. I chose to make sweet potato chips as a side, but you could make a quicker side dish to save time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>I don't think we've ever found a How Sweet Eats salmon <a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/04/30-minute-crispy-salmon-with-creamy-basil-noodles/">recipe</a> <a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/06/grilled-blueberry-bbq-salmon/">that</a> <a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/02/broiled-salmon-and-roasted-garlic-cream-noodles-with-crispy-cauliflower-toasted-pine-nuts/">we</a> <a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/11/pan-crisped-salmon-with-light-dijon-cream-and-garlic-butter-breadcrumbs/">don't</a> <a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/03/toasted-sesame-ginger-salmon/">like</a>, and this one is no exception. Since we always have maple syrup and dijon mustard on hand, I imagine we'll make this again when we have leftover bacon that we need to use up. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBiJmgDGRTh4UaPtdoo9NMU5OA7CZRzZV_DRsdouN96uazxEfakG7wfMj6hyphenhyphen5vqwdPsrpITbz9_H2HDmnmI2A9rmELJ0pElGeXUKYea8ykR4OC-11yNDicaLbFvHMvZmZVP2IoOf9I9ie/s1600/117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBiJmgDGRTh4UaPtdoo9NMU5OA7CZRzZV_DRsdouN96uazxEfakG7wfMj6hyphenhyphen5vqwdPsrpITbz9_H2HDmnmI2A9rmELJ0pElGeXUKYea8ykR4OC-11yNDicaLbFvHMvZmZVP2IoOf9I9ie/s1600/117.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bacon & Corn Griddle Pancakes</span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/02/16/bacon-and-corn-griddle-cakes/">Recipe Girl</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used less bacon, regular onion, and extra mature cheddar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Other than cooking the bacon beforehand, this isn't any more complicated than any other pancake recipe out there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This is one of our favourite breakfast recipes, and the one that convinced us to always cook our pancakes in a griddle pan. Once you've tried it, there's no going back! The combination of bacon, sweetcorn and maple syrup is a great mesh of sweet and savoury flavours. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pesto Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Asparagus</span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://damndelicious.net/2012/07/21/pesto-pasta-with-sun-dried-tomatoes-and-roasted/">Damn Delicious</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed: </b>We used fusilli rather than shell pasta, and mozzarella balls instead of cubes, and adjusted the amounts for serving two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It? </b>Super easy, especially if you use premade pesto and prechopped/balled mozzarella. You can cook the asparagus and pasta at the same time, then throw it all together while quickly frying the eggs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We'll definitely be doing this one again. It's always a pleasure to find a flavoursome recipe that's also quick to make. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sun-Dried Tomato Fish with Roasted Potatoes, Corn and Greens</span></td></tr>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://bevcooks.com/2014/04/sun-dried-tomato-cod-with-roasted-potatoes-and-greens/">Bev Cooks</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed: </b>We substituted a few things to make this recipe cheaper/easier: river cobbler for cod, new potatoes for pee-wee, tinned sweetcorn for fresh, and used chives for a garnish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It? </b>Probably not the easiest, since it involves a lot of multi-tasking to cook the fish, potatoes and vegetables at the same time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict:</b> We really liked this one. We have a tendency to cook the same fish recipes over and over (especially when it comes to white fish), so we'll probably be adding this to our rotation. We don't tend to eat a lot of potatoes, but we loved the ones in this recipe.</span></div>
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Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-42939256101305877052014-06-04T00:35:00.000-07:002014-06-04T00:35:49.061-07:0031 Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAcgPkxg9Lg4lq21Lq_CKG0dY1PTFN5ZozGEIwPzjiGZgtMl1YfE5CI6nWtvCyzxTJ8eERYB79PoOwErczF1yvY0S8miXugqerWpuhyphenhyphen1-s6npMe8T0KCo2_XbmUEnMOm7L5j-JYqiS9Qg/s1600/IMG_0395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAcgPkxg9Lg4lq21Lq_CKG0dY1PTFN5ZozGEIwPzjiGZgtMl1YfE5CI6nWtvCyzxTJ8eERYB79PoOwErczF1yvY0S8miXugqerWpuhyphenhyphen1-s6npMe8T0KCo2_XbmUEnMOm7L5j-JYqiS9Qg/s1600/IMG_0395.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCwPTvWqP_mzDRgI95RZ8xjhTTfUMCIVfOY3HXTw2l3KpSDxxh3GHgcSnC9xosZ8bdlYwUsQTB5DwOwtygw3C_jtxPACrFBRJzW4ntHTsWYaM4eCCb9hUgD68e15mg1iVeCcqwnm7gMGM/s1600/IMG_0394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCwPTvWqP_mzDRgI95RZ8xjhTTfUMCIVfOY3HXTw2l3KpSDxxh3GHgcSnC9xosZ8bdlYwUsQTB5DwOwtygw3C_jtxPACrFBRJzW4ntHTsWYaM4eCCb9hUgD68e15mg1iVeCcqwnm7gMGM/s1600/IMG_0394.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>How far along?</b> 31 weeks & 5 days</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Total weight gain/loss:</b> Some of my friends said that their weight gain pretty much doubled in the final trimester, and I think that's going to happen to me as I seem to have put on a total of 17lbs now! Which amounts to 8lbs in the last three weeks, I think? It definitely makes sense, given how rapidly my bump is growing. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Maternity clothes? </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Still half and half, surprisingly enough. Anything long and elasticated still fits. I'm amazed that all of my nightdresses (satin, ranging between sizes 8-12) still fit. Those things stretch in a surprising manner. I'm determined not to buy any new maternity things unless I can wear them after the baby is born and nurse in them, since it came to my attention this week that most of my maternity tops and dresses are entirely impractical for breast-feeding.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Stretch marks?</b> Still none! </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Sleep: </b>I'm definitely needing more and more of it, but I'm sleeping pretty well. Simon said that I occasionally make weird noises in my sleep and wake him up, and apparently I snored last night. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Best moment this week: </b>I don't think anything particularly astounding happened this week. We're just chugging along, trying to prepare for the baby's arrival. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Movement:</b> My midwife told me that the baby's movements are meant to become less noticeable in the third trimester (more like rocking motions than kicks) but so far I'm still getting lots of kicks and punches! The baby is still small enough that it can reposition itself several times in one hour--sometimes its head will be right below my ribs, and then off to the side, and then down the bottom. Its also had hiccups a few times this week. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Cravings/Aversions: </b>I flip between craving salty and sweet snacks on a daily basis, and I've definitely been eating more chocolate than usual. In general, I'm just more hungry than usual, which I'm taking as a good sign. I've never had a massive appetite, but this baby needs the extra calories.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Gender guesses: </b>We've still managed to keep it a secret from most people, which even we're surprised by! It's still fun hearing everyone's guesses. Word of advice: We both really like the colour purple, so if we buy something purple for the baby, it's really not an indication of its gender. It's just our favourite colour. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Labor Signs: </b>None, but I'm having Braxton Hicks more often, especially whenever I walk somewhere. It's not too annoying, thankfully. I didn't actually realise I'd been having them until the midwife described them (far better than any book or website I'd perused) at our first antenatal class, and I was like, "Oh, <i>that's </i>what Braxton Hicks feels like? I've been having those for weeks!" </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Belly Button in or out?</b> Still in. Simon is convinced that it's about to pop, but it's held on pretty well so far.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>What I miss: </b>Being able to bend over without the baby kicking me in protest. It's not very patient of mummy's need to shave her legs, tie her shoelaces or pick up anything she's dropped on the floor.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>What I am looking forward to: </b>Getting our changing table! We've received a huge amount of baby clothes (especially since some friends have a five-month-old and gave us all the things their baby had grown out of) and I'm looking forward to being able to put everything away into drawers, rather than having a pile of bags in the corner of our study. I think we'll feel more ready once everything is organised. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Weekly Wisdom:</b> It's okay if you want to throttle everyone who says "Wow, you're huge!" In fact, you should probably just get a T-shirt made up that says, "Yes, I know I'm huge, you don't have to remind me."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Milestones: </b>I don't think we've hit any particular milestones this week, but people have started commenting on my bump, which was a long time in coming. It genuinely took until 29 weeks before anyone who didn't already know I was expecting asked about my pregnancy. So far it's just been our upstairs neighbour (who very politely asked me if I was "with child") and one of the cashiers in Tesco, but it still seems like an achievement!</span>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-72615876979275761232014-06-02T00:21:00.000-07:002014-06-02T00:21:47.067-07:00Recent Meals #5<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhxp1hlmcLEztRQLS39YHQQpP4sguZ-hBmbWI2ABpVYLqXKuTbNbpeAcrcM3Nr4EWYPD3CGyou_tjReWaAAtYjiqBDDa1OaB4FKtp3bXSG-Pp38nb2r303y64i3sJWxnXtrrnMnv0WKGe/s1600/3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhxp1hlmcLEztRQLS39YHQQpP4sguZ-hBmbWI2ABpVYLqXKuTbNbpeAcrcM3Nr4EWYPD3CGyou_tjReWaAAtYjiqBDDa1OaB4FKtp3bXSG-Pp38nb2r303y64i3sJWxnXtrrnMnv0WKGe/s1600/3.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lemon & Lime Pound Cake</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2014/04/lemon-lime-pound-cake/">The Pioneer Woman</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel, although Simon helped with some of the zesting</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used very slightly less sugar (as we ran out), Sprite instead of 7-Up (cheaper) and instead of using water in the glaze, we used even more lemon and lime juice!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> We tried to dry the zest, but it didn't look very appetising, so we just used fresh zest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> This was my first attempt at using a bundt pan and it turned out really well. I'd definitely recommend using an electric mixer for this recipe (it doesn't have to be a stand-mixer--I have a little hand one), but as long as you have a mixer, the correct pan and the patience to zest a lot of fruit, you're good to go!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This cake is really, really good. I made it for our Easter service at church and although there were leftovers (more for us!) everyone seemed to love it. It feels rather heavy when you're carrying it, but it doesn't taste dense at all. Highly recommended. We just need another excuse to make it...</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Asian Chicken Noodle Broth</span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This one is from Jamie Oliver's <i>Ministry of Food</i>, but can also be found online <a href="http://goop.com/recipes/lunch/asianchicken-noodle">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used mange tout instead of snow peas, a mixture of poppy and sesame seeds, more chilli (duh) and we happened to have green bird's eye chillies on hand, and added garlic. This recipe talks about "rice sticks" (which I don't think is the same wording as the recipe in the book) but we used rice noodles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Not super easy, since there's a lot of steps and you have to flip back and forth between different tasks. But it doesn't take a long time either, so if you're good at multi-tasking and want a quick recipe, this one is definitely for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We eat a lot of Asian food, so this suited us perfectly. It has a great mixture of textures and flavours with all the different vegetables, nuts and seeds. If you like strong flavours, you'll like this. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Thai Chicken Pizza</span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">How Sweet Eats at <a href="http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/12/thai-chicken-pizza/">Tasty Kitchen</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Both of us</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used more shallots and zucchini, and just cooked it on a pizza tray rather than a pizza stone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> We didn't need the cornmeal with the pizza tray, and we skipped the basil. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Pretty easy, especially if you already have cooked chicken on hand. It's basically just chopping up vegetables and sprinkling them on the pizza dough. You can even cheat and use premade dough! We make ours using <a href="http://www.acouplecooks.com/2012/01/pizza-doughstand-mixer-method/">this recipe</a>, but with a hand-mixer rather than a stand-mixer, which really gives your arm a good workout. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We love this pizza. Whenever we have a pizza night, Simon always requests it, and no matter what we pair it with, this one always comes out as our favourite. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjypcwczy4GU50Jv0H-nNa8aEVqkbVY114Dir2gJVgbAqhC8cYI4NP7eQWOEiQSMei3fHreY-pRqoS27i7u048bkHnOY7OjhBJM9NRT5lfltCQg0gLg3wyKvJlpw8536p3PW3i5xBeM56_n/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjypcwczy4GU50Jv0H-nNa8aEVqkbVY114Dir2gJVgbAqhC8cYI4NP7eQWOEiQSMei3fHreY-pRqoS27i7u048bkHnOY7OjhBJM9NRT5lfltCQg0gLg3wyKvJlpw8536p3PW3i5xBeM56_n/s1600/026.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese, and Prosciutto Pizza</span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.handletheheat.com/2013/07/caramelized-onion-goat-cheese-and-prosciutto-pizza.html">Handle the Heat</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Both of us</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We substituted goat's cheese for feta as we already had some in the fridge, used more prosciutto, and added some tomatoes that needed to be used up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Even easier than the other pizza, since you don't have to cook the meat beforehand. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This one was really good, even if the Thai pizza is still our favourite. The flavours went well together, and the tomatoes were a good addition. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGcC-nGCmFs9bkYrYhYAzO9G9MeitGnTfZCjgjo49F0WqgmMN2kML54hmsQjZ-hcbTKRAnMnuOU88Sip83eGzAeDGcbqfTRM-Qyadqs81A5uj7DmuUXOymQelOE7SZxPvec8wjSejWnup/s1600/034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGcC-nGCmFs9bkYrYhYAzO9G9MeitGnTfZCjgjo49F0WqgmMN2kML54hmsQjZ-hcbTKRAnMnuOU88Sip83eGzAeDGcbqfTRM-Qyadqs81A5uj7DmuUXOymQelOE7SZxPvec8wjSejWnup/s1600/034.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Macaroni & Cauliflower Cheese Bake</span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.handletheheat.com/2013/07/caramelized-onion-goat-cheese-and-prosciutto-pizza.html">T</a>his is another one from Jamie Oliver's <i>Ministry of Food</i>, which can also be found <a href="http://www.culinate.com/books/collections/all_books/jamies_food_revolution/macaroni_and_cauliflower_cheese_bake">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> We played around with the quantities in this recipe--a whole cauliflower, slightly less pasta, slightly more crème fraiche, slightly less cheese. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Pretty easy. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We've found that we don't actually have a bowl large enough to sit on top of the pan we cook the pasta and cauliflower in, so we just had a separate saucepan of hot water which we cooked the sauce over. In theory, this recipe sounds like it saves space on the hob, but not for us. It's still easy to make, even if it's not as practical as it sounds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This isn't as flavoursome or exciting as some recipes we've made, but it's a nice, quick recipe. And who doesn't like cauliflower and macaroni cheese? It goes well with a green salad and some garlic bread, and we always have plenty leftover for lunch the next day. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Chicken Mole, Veg & Rice</span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This one is from <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1405367822/sr=1-1/qid=1398159293/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1398159293&seller=&sr=1-1">The Slow Cook Book</a>, and you should be able to view the recipe if you click on page 250 <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-RbwXzSNrbsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=mole&f=false">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Simon</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b> </b>This is a meal we had sitting in our freezer for a while, so I can't completely remember what we changed. I know we used chicken rather than turkey, and I imagine that we used fresh chillies rather than chilli powder, and we probably added larger quantities of spices. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing that I can recall</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Unlike some slow cooker recipes, you need to cook this one partially on the stove before transferring it to the slow cooker, so it's not as simple as it might appear. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We pulled this out the freezer on an evening when we were supposed to be going out, but I was too tired. Fortunately, it reheated well, and we had some veggies in the fridge to serve with it. Previously we've served this with different salsas and it's worked well. This is a rich, flavoursome meal, even if it's not one of our favourite Mexican dishes. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">BBQ Beef Beet Burgers with Avocado Feta Cheese Smash</span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.runningtothekitchen.com/2014/04/bbq-beef-beet-burgers/">Running to the Kitchen</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel, although Simon helped towards the end</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b> </b>We substituted a combination of dried rosemary, thyme and oregano for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Herbes de Provence, ground up some linseed in our pestle and mortar instead of using ready-ground flaxseed, and used feta rather than goat's cheese as we already had some in the fridge.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Lettuce. It seemed a waste to buy a whole lettuce just to top a couple of burgers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> You can buy pre-grated beetroot, which will definitely make the preparation time quicker. Otherwise, this is a pretty easy recipe--mix the ingredients together, make into patties and fry the burgers. The avocado topping is super easy to prepare as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We always love trying new burger recipes, and this one was a hit! We served it with onion rings (from the freezer) and extra BBQ sauce. Definitely one to make again. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Blackened Chicken & Strawberry Salad</span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://cherryonmysundae.com/2014/03/blackened-chicken-and-strawberry-salad.html">Cherry on My Sundae</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">We reduced the quantities a little as we were just cooking this for the two of us. Next time I'll probably half the quantity of the vinaigrette that I make as we had tons left over. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Onion powder</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">vinaigrette takes a while to prepare, but the rest of the recipe is super easy!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Verdict: </b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">We served this with couscous mixed with more cranberries, some raisins and extra lemon juice, and it worked really well! Even if it took a while to make the vinaigrette, it was worth the time as the whole meal was super tasty. We don't make salads very often, but I think we'll have this one again sometime. Also, if you do make extra sauce, you can totally serve the leftovers over ice-cream ;)</span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-1594723438145299842014-05-10T13:42:00.000-07:002014-05-10T13:42:26.969-07:0028 Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the last few weeks I have been informed by several people that my bump is "neat". As far as I can tell, what they mean by this is that I still have a defined waistline, I haven't put on weight anywhere except my bump (and my boobs, but most people are too polite to comment on that) and my bump is all in the front. You still can't see it from behind. I'm convinced it's more obvious from the left side than the right, but maybe that's just me? Either way, there is definitely a bump, but somehow I still fit into this age 13-14 dress from Asda. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">More importantly, we're officially into the third trimester! Now is the time for antenatal classes, slightly more midwife appointments (all of them rather unexciting, since there's not much to discuss with a ridiculously low risk pregnancy like ours, thankfully!), ordering our pram and deciding on a birth plan. Simon's ideas on what to include in our birth plan? "Having a baby." Anything we definitely don't want to happen at the birth? "Not having a baby." As you can see, we're making fantastic progress on that item on our to-do list.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>How far along?</b> 28 weeks & 1 day</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Total weight gain/loss:</b> Still at 9lbs, so I haven't gained anything in the last couple of weeks, but I haven't lost anything either! </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Maternity clothes? </b>I'm still managing to fit into some of my old clothes--mostly long tops and elasticated skirts and loose dresses--but I love my maternity jeans. So comfy!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Stretch marks?</b> Still none! Given the rate that my bump seems to be growing at, I'm rather surprised.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Sleep: </b>I'm not as tired as I have been the last couple of weeks, but I'm having weird dreams and can't seem to sleep in past 7:30am. Either the baby's movements are waking me up, or it's my bladder. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Best moment this week: </b>Reaching the third trimester! It's exciting and scary at the same time. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Movement:</b> The baby has actually been a little quieter the last few days, but its movements are pretty consistent, and sometimes we can actually see my belly moving. There was one day when I was having horrible backache, and then we saw the baby very obviously kick right below my ribcage, so its position explained why I'd been in so much pain! And then it moved around and kicked at my side. According to my midwife, the movements will change over the next month as the baby has less room to move, and I think I'll miss the usual activity!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Cravings/Aversions: </b>I've really been craving chocolate lately, and the other day I was in the mood for pizza. I guess that counts?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Gender guesses: </b>A lot of people have told us they think it's a girl. It's fun listening to everyone's guesses, and we're honestly surprised we've managed to keep it a secret this long ;)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Labor Signs: </b>None, although I have been researching Braxton Hicks so I know what to look out for, especially given how bad my backache has been recently. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Belly Button in or out?</b> Still in. I'm starting to think it's never going to pop. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>What I miss: </b>Wine. I've not had a glass of wine since September, when we first started trying to get pregnant, and I'm finally starting to properly miss it. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>What I am looking forward to: </b>Our baby shower tomorrow! Some friends from church are throwing us a very low-key baby shower, and we're really excited about it :)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Weekly Wisdom:</b> Just smile and nod whenever anyone tells you that you barely look pregnant, even though you feel as big as a house and struggle to lean over to put your socks on in the morning. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Milestones: </b>We've reached the third trimester! Which means I'm flip-flopping between being excited that our baby will be here soon, and freaking out that we're not organised enough. Simon is being incredibly patient and, naturally, not worrying at all.</span>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-17802713113098989162014-05-06T04:41:00.000-07:002014-05-06T04:41:15.691-07:00Recipe: Sloppy Joes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of our favourite places in Edinburgh is the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GamesHubEdinburgh">Games Hub</a>; a cafe on Lauriston Place where you can pay £2.50 to stay as long as you want, and play as many board games as possible. They serve very reasonably priced food, from standards like toasties and wraps, to their soup and dish of the day. Their dish of the day is often Sloppy Joes, which is where I was first introduced to this meal. After having it a couple of times at the Games Hub, I determined to figure out how to make it myself, but struggled to find a recipe that I completely liked the look of. I ended up combining several recipes I found online, so I'm afraid I can't credit this one to any one source in particular.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This recipe contains a lot of vinegar and mustard, so if you don't like that much of a tang in your food, you might want to cut down on the quantities of those. You can add more brown sugar to off-set the vinegar if you do find you use too much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We usually top our Sloppy Joes with extra mature cheddar cheese (which is the standard cheese that you can always find in our fridge), but on this occasion we used Velveeta. Ages ago, I asked a Texan friend what Velveeta was, since I'd seen it mentioned in a couple of recipes. Recently she posted us a box so we could try it. It's basically like a big block of the individual cheese slices you typically put on top of burgers, which my family always referred to as "plastic cheese". It actually works really well with Sloppy Joes!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sloppy Joes</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Serves:</b> 4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Prep. Time:</b> 10 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Cook. Time:</b> 10-15 minutes</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 bird's eye chillies, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 onion, chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 pepper, deseeded and chopped (bell or sweet)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 ribs of celery, chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">500g of minced beef</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 (500g) carton of passata</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 (400g) can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/4 cup of ketchup</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1.5 tbsp of brown sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbsp of white vinegar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbsp of cider vinegar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tsp of dijon mustard</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp of American mustard</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp of cayenne pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Salt and pepper to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8 burger buns (two per person)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheese of choice, sliced</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Directions</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Heat some oil in a large saucepan and fry the garlic, chillies, onion, pepper and celery until the onion and celery starts to soften and turn translucent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. Add the mince and cook until browned.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. Add the passata and kidney beans and stir until combined. Then add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, vinegars, mustards, cayenne pepper and any seasoning you desire before stirring the mixture again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Simmer until the sauce and beans are hot. While the mixture simmers, toast your burger buns--either in the toaster or under the grill. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. On a grill-safe plate, top each half of the burger bun with some of the sloppy joe mixture, before adding some cheese. Place under the grill until the cheese melts and begins to bubble.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6. Serve with hot sauce, if desired! </span>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-59640156230804007252014-05-02T01:36:00.002-07:002014-05-02T01:44:37.068-07:00Recipe: Black Bean & Sweetcorn Quesadillas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is a relatively quick and easy recipe, but the scotch bonnet makes it very hot, so this isn't for those who wince when they eat anything containing chilli powder. And I say "very hot" in terms of most normal people's heat rating--honestly, this is just standard hot for us ;) We try to use red scotch bonnets as they're the hottest, followed by yellow, then green.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sadly, black beans aren't terribly popular in the UK. You can buy cans of them in Morrisons and most health food shops (Real Foods, Holland & Barrett, etc) but they tend to be relatively expensive. If you know you like them, it's more cost-effective to buy a big bag of dried black beans (found in most supermarkets and any health food store) and either soak them overnight or cook them in the slow cooker, before freezing them in reasonable portions (we tend to go for two cups per bag). </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Black Bean & Sweetcorn Quesadillas</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Adapted from a <i>Cooking Light</i> recipe found at <a href="http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-quesadillas-with-corn-salsa-10000000592357/">MyRecipes</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Serves: </b>2 (with leftovers or second helpings)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Prep. Time:</b> 5 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Cook. Time:</b> 10 minutes</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded and finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 pepper, deseeded and chopped (bell or sweet)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 (400g) can of chopped tomatoes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 cups of cooked black beans</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 (326g) can of sweetcorn, drained</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbsp of lime juice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp of cumin, finely ground</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp of paprika (smoked or ordinary)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Salt and pepper to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 cup of fresh coriander, finely chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">100g of Mexicana cheese, grated</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4-8 large flour tortillas (depending on how full you fill your quesadillas)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Directions</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Heat some oil in a medium-sized saucepan and fry the garlic, scotch bonnet and pepper for a few minutes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. Add the chopped tomatoes, black beans and sweetcorn, then the vinegar, lime juice and dried spices, as well as any salt and pepper you desire. Stir to combine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. Bring the mixture up to boil, before reducing to a simmer and adding the chopped coriander. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Heat a very small amount of oil to a large frying pan. Once the oil is able to run about the pan like water, quickly fry a tortilla on both sides. Remove this tortilla from the pan and replace with a second one. Once you've fried it on one side, flip it over and top it with some of the black bean mixture and cheese. Once the tortilla appears to be cooked on the base side, top with the other tortilla and transfer (carefully) to a plate. Assemble the other quesadillas similarly. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. Cut into quarters with a pizza cutter and serve with sour cream, salsa and lime wedges, if desired. </span>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-59887755185866627032014-04-30T01:02:00.000-07:002014-04-30T01:02:21.240-07:0026 Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMTjhqtQKLARzejJj_6ATCkQNQ_MJkDKagJx6ltcTULgUG8e3yEWuBnHl9SN2GBWBGhHAyUbSHZPeG2HPq5hJpbZLayJNqByt8d6g4X__FpxIIwlrw51pk6_JF-ng7Pt17D8-yJfzk5XD/s1600/IMG_0203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMTjhqtQKLARzejJj_6ATCkQNQ_MJkDKagJx6ltcTULgUG8e3yEWuBnHl9SN2GBWBGhHAyUbSHZPeG2HPq5hJpbZLayJNqByt8d6g4X__FpxIIwlrw51pk6_JF-ng7Pt17D8-yJfzk5XD/s1600/IMG_0203.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_KetWdcvhZ9d9tw9BfiJJFag4-SKSTyVFtXQY7YhZZb-2zxmI_ABJVk5jDLjxsVJhgGMD1dgc54Qp3VEPZvBXDiMHTznNUmSAO8Cn1_p-D3iBjckhJb64WPKAtAHd3E98l1QrmosNOaw/s1600/IMG_0204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_KetWdcvhZ9d9tw9BfiJJFag4-SKSTyVFtXQY7YhZZb-2zxmI_ABJVk5jDLjxsVJhgGMD1dgc54Qp3VEPZvBXDiMHTznNUmSAO8Cn1_p-D3iBjckhJb64WPKAtAHd3E98l1QrmosNOaw/s1600/IMG_0204.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>How far along?</b> 26 weeks & 5 days</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Total weight gain/loss:</b> 9lbs! Probably still less that I'm supposed to have gained, but I haven't lost any weight in a long time, so I'm happy.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Maternity clothes? </b>It's about half and half. I have two pairs of maternity jeans and several new long tops/dresses, but some of them are just larger sizes than I normally wear. I'm still able to wear some of my longer tops and elasticated skirts. The one in this picture, for example, I usually wear on my waist, but I expanded the waist-band and it fits just under my bump. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Stretch marks?</b> Surprisingly, none! My bump has grown a lot lately and I keep looking for them, but none have appeared so far.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Sleep: </b>Sometimes broken (I think the baby's movements are starting to wake me up during the night) and I'm obviously needing more sleep as I fell asleep on the sofa at 8pm on Monday and 9.30pm last night, both times with the lights on and a film playing. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Best moment this week: </b>I don't think anything particularly major happened this week, besides my bump getting bigger and the baby moving around even more than usual. We did get our Moses basket last week, which was exciting!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Movement:</b> We can almost time the baby's movements now--it's always very active first thing in the morning, then between 7-9 every night. If I've been moving around or doing a lot of walking during the day, it'll suddenly get very active as soon as we get into bed. And if I'm ever sitting or lying down for a period of time during the day it makes its presence known :) And it still loves bath time!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Cravings/Aversions: </b>I want to say that I've been craving sweet things more this week, but maybe that's because we have lots of Easter chocolate sitting around ;)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Gender guesses: </b>We're not telling! ;)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Labor Signs: </b>None, although Simon had a dream about the labour last night and apparently it was super easy and the baby "popped out" (his words) before the midwife got here. He seemed quite comforted by this dream, but I was a little more disconcerted. I think I'd prefer to have a midwife on hand. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Belly Button in or out?</b> Still in. I kept thinking for ages that it was going to pop, but it hasn't. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>What I miss: </b>Being able to bend over without overbalancing myself. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>What I am looking forward to: </b>Reaching the end of the second trimester! We only have a week and a bit left to go. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Weekly Wisdom:</b> Since you're supposed to be getting an extra 200 calories a day when you're pregnant, you're totally allowed to eat as much Easter chocolate as you like. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Milestones: </b>We got our Moses basket last week (although it's still at my parents' house until closer to our due date) and my bump suddenly got a lot bigger in the last couple of days. I'd kind of got used to the size it was and kept thinking, "Huh, it's not really that big, to be honest" and then WHAM, it feels like it tripled in size in two days! So hopefully this will stop people from saying "Oh, you're barely showing!" </span>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-54092607217174293032014-04-28T01:06:00.000-07:002014-04-28T02:33:30.420-07:00Recent Meals #4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had originally planned to include a couple of other recipes here, but I realised that we actually deviate so much from the original recipes that we might as well write our own for you. So keep your eyes peeled for some semi-original recipes on the blog in the next week or so!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj176FLJgPnvGK2QgnAGCX8_r1OnqrcZOYELCWT57YnWW2aIF3unZ-l7LXnUxZDChCDtjkVrfyRhrGcxciTi59PJim7Cvp9ikvkSNZEeHuoklE1f0xNIYP5g3c60rxmorusqbQ_RR4DrDOX/s1600/2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj176FLJgPnvGK2QgnAGCX8_r1OnqrcZOYELCWT57YnWW2aIF3unZ-l7LXnUxZDChCDtjkVrfyRhrGcxciTi59PJim7Cvp9ikvkSNZEeHuoklE1f0xNIYP5g3c60rxmorusqbQ_RR4DrDOX/s1600/2.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Baked Camembert Pasta</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/honey-glazed-ham-slow-cooker-recipe.html" style="color: #7d181e; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;">T</a>his one comes from Jamie Oliver's<i> </i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jamies-Ministry-Food-Anyone-Learn/dp/0718148622">Ministry of Food</a><i> </i>cookbook, but you can also find it <a href="http://www.noobcook.com/baked-camembert-pasta/">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used more garlic and spinach and less parmesan (well, technically grana padano), and spirali rather than rigatoni. Basically, adapt it to your taste! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Super easy. Stick the cheese in the oven, boil the pasta, drain it and then add the spinach, then pour the cheese on top. I don't think it's possible to mess this up!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This isn't one we do a lot as it isn't exactly the healthiest, but we both really like it. It's one of those quick meals that looks and tastes a lot fancier than it actually is. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bean, Corn & Tortilla Salad</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoCv-Pd39ePPWBlA_c0AAMP5JMPRugtoWMKi_cy-icwihyF3d8uDxt5DMT7_S5L75e3tp59SB9RUtz7JmWXq7Q79JVuavTcO40E1StRNqwmeGLurjz1poGu7ufd-oRygC1qkrdJmbd4x3/s1600/4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/341237/bean-corn-and-tortilla-salad">Martha Stewart</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel prepared most of the ingredients, and Simon helped assemble</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We have to use dried pinto beans that we cook in the slow cooker, since you can't get tinned pinto beans in many supermarkets here. We used tinned rather than frozen sweetcorn (more flavour), little gem rather than romaine lettuce (cheaper), and extra mature cheddar rather than pepper jack. We also made our own salsa. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> This recipe involves a fair bit of chopping, but not a lot of "real cooking", so it's relatively easy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This is one of our favourites, and Simon often requests it. It's got a great mixture of flavour and textures, and is pretty filling. Simon likes his covered in Sriracha hot sauce.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Chili Salsa & Saffron Black Bean Rice</span></td></tr>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-enchiladas-with-roasted-tomatillo-chile-salsa-recipe.html">The Food Network</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel made most of it, although Simon assisted with the rice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> Since our tomatillos came out of a can, we didn't roast them. Instead of fresh jalapenos we threw in some bird's eye chillies and some chopped, jarred jalapenos. We cooked the chicken ourselves, and used less as we were just feeding the two of us. We used extra mature cheddar instead of monterery jack. I cooked the black beans in the slow cooker with just a bay leaf, as that's what I usually do, and we used saffron instead of turmeric in the rice because, hey, we own saffron! We decided to mix the beans in with the rice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> We opted not to serve this with guacamole as we had plenty of other toppings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">How Easy Is It?</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> This recipe is relatively time consuming--especially if you make the side dishes--and involves some multi-tasking, so it's definitely not a beginner's recipe. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This probably isn't going to be one of our favourite enchilada recipes, but we did really like it. It was the first time either of us had eaten a salsa verde-style sauce and we both really enjoyed it. Definitely one to make again even if it takes a while to prepare.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sweetcorn & Spring Onion Waffles</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTrSsAFI2XFDJMl3aD3F4Hg4nNuxHxyKeeaV4FsmFIUuygka849wQK4baPJWcpCslZqrlwVck6pKsSqGPlbpuaeazM08ba0hfjy8wEs7HrJG2YXBCNBqbY72eAzvLS6i4gnwR4yZih5SSi/s1600/077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.thesugarhit.com/2014/04/corn-scallion-belgian-waffles.html">The Sugar Hit</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed: </b>We used tinned sweetcorn rather than an ear of corn as it was cheaper, and added some tomatoes and lime juice to serve as we had them on hand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> We technically skipped the pico de gallo, even if we did top these with tomatoes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">How Easy Is It?</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> As long as you get up early enough to let the mixture rise for an hour, this is pretty easy! I'm always cautious about using yeast as I mucked up my first recipe involving yeast, but we didn't have any trouble with this one. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>I'm always on the look out for savoury breakfast recipes, since Simon doesn't have much of a sweet-tooth. Whenever I prepare our Saturday breakfasts I usually make pancakes or waffles, and Simon typically goes for something involving eggs, so this combines our two styles! We both really liked this one, and we'll probably be making it again. </span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-54244325643646082152014-04-22T03:06:00.000-07:002014-04-22T03:06:50.471-07:00Recent Meals #3<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Simon and I seem to have become famous in our church for our cooking, which is kind of amusing for me as I didn't learn how to cook anything fancier than pasta until I was in my third year of university. Simon has always loved to cook, and I think having someone who was excited to learn new recipes (and to cook for) encouraged me to become interested in cooking. This year is the first where I've done most of the cooking, since I'm at home all day. Up until now, Simon tended to take over in the kitchen, and it took him a long time to stop criticising how I chopped garlic and just enjoy whatever I cooked for him. Anyone who met me in my first year of university--when I lived off filled pasta and frozen chicken kievs--would find my current cooking goddess persona a little laughable. I don't even think I knew how to boil an egg until I left home in 2009. A lot has changed in five years!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Slow Cooked Honey Glazed Gammon, Sweet Potato Wedges & Salad</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/honey-glazed-ham-slow-cooker-recipe.html">A Year of Slow Cooking</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used gammon rather than ham, and probably a lot less than this recipe called for since we were just feeding the two of us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Super easy, as most slow cooker meals are! Melt the butter, dump all the ingredients in the slow cooker and occasionally turn the gammon/ham over to make sure it's cooking evenly. We make our own sweet potato wedges (peel the potatoes, chop into chunks, coat in oil, salt & pepper and dried herbs and stick in the oven for 20 minutes at 200) and used a pre-made salad (there are some things I cheat at!), but you could serve this with whatever sides you like.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We don't make this recipe very often, but we do really like it. The gammon ends up with a fantastic blend of flavours, and the colours look amazing on the plate. It's a great meal for a day when you don't have much time to spend in the kitchen. I think we need to make this more often--especially as it seems like an easy one to make when there's a small baby around ;)</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Crispy Salmon with Creamy Garlic Spaghetti & Roasted Asparagus</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/04/30-minute-crispy-salmon-with-creamy-basil-noodles/">How Sweet Eats</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel, although Simon helped towards the end</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used olive oil rather than coconut, regular spaghetti rather than whole wheat, semi-skimmed rather than skimmed milk, and single cream rather than half-and-half. We also added some smoked paprika, cayenne pepper and brown sugar to the top of the salmon, kind of like in <a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/02/broiled-salmon-and-roasted-garlic-cream-noodles-with-crispy-cauliflower-toasted-pine-nuts/">this</a> recipe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> While the ingredients are pretty standard, this recipe does require some multi-tasking (especially if you decide to roast some vegetables with it, as we did--cut the ends off the asparagus, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper and stick them in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180). I think the hardest thing about this recipe is getting the timings right so you don't end up with cold spaghetti or burnt salmon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We did really like this recipe, but we probably prefer <a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/02/broiled-salmon-and-roasted-garlic-cream-noodles-with-crispy-cauliflower-toasted-pine-nuts/">this</a> one, also from How Sweet Eats, which is very similar, but a bit more flavoursome. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sweet Potato Breakfast Biscuits with Poached Eggs, Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Jam</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/08/sweet-potato-breakfast-biscuits/">How Sweet Eats</a> (Can you guess what our favourite food website is?)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel made the biscuits and Simon poached the eggs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> We used very slightly less sweet potato than called for (it's hard to gauge how much you'll get out of it before you've roasted the potato) and semi-skimmed milk.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> We opted not to serve these with bacon as we were in possession of a jar of <a href="http://www.bacon-jam.co.uk/">bacon jam</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> If you know how to make biscuits (or even scones) this is pretty easy to make. The only downside is that you need to remember to roast the sweet potato beforehand, so it's not a quick breakfast recipe unless you've roasted the sweet potato the day before. Since I can't seem to sleep in after 8am any more, I stuck the potato in the oven as soon as I woke up and then went back to bed to read while Simon slept.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We loved these! As expected, since we're big fans of sweet potatoes. We sometimes throw together biscuits for breakfast at the weekend, and since we usually have a couple of sweet potatoes on hand these won't be much more effort to make. We'll definitely be having these again. You don't even have to use fancy toppings--these taste good just with raspberry jam. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Jamaican Corn Stew with Sweet Potato Biscuits</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This one actually comes from a real, live cookbook, called <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1405367822/sr=1-1/qid=1398159293/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1398159293&seller=&sr=1-1">The Slow Cook Book</a>. You can view the recipe on Google Books <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-RbwXzSNrbsC&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=jamaican+corn+stew+the+slow+cook+book&source=bl&ots=96VFQPJnjM&sig=Rr9SOyhe_ANWkwQ6Mbxn8waUubE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QzhWU8ekA8aM7QaY_IAw&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=jamaican%20corn%20stew&f=false">here</a>, if you click on page 126. This is an excellent slow cooker book, and it includes instructions on how to adapt each recipe for stove/oven cooking as well, which is what we did in this instance.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Simon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> We used tinned sweetcorn rather than cobs, sweet peppers rather than bell peppers, and red lentils rather than split peas. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> As with most slow cooker recipes, this one is pretty easy. It involves a fair bit of chopping, and you need to fry a few things before adding them to the slow cooker (or you can keep them on the stove if you're cooking it using the traditional method) but you make it all in one pot, which is always a plus!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This is one of Simon's favourite recipes, and I really like it as well. It's one for those who like their food spicy, since scotch bonnets (especially red ones) are genuinely very hot. We usually serve this with biscuits, and it works perfectly with the sweet potato breakfast biscuits above. We've found that it's easier to make this with tinned sweetcorn (of the Tesco Everyday Value variety--and no, I'm not kidding, it's actually really good) than corn on the cob. Corn on the cob can be pretty pricey, and it's awkward to cut the corn off the cob slices in your bowl. Tinned sweetcorn might not look as pretty, but it's just as tasty.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Butternut Squash & Kale Quesadillas</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/01/butternut-squash-kale-quesadillas/">The Pioneer Woman</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It: </b>Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> We adapted this to suit what we were able to get or had on hand--one whole small squash, chili flakes, prechopped kale (don't shoot me; it's all they sell in Tesco), large tortillas and extra mature cheddar cheese. Also, I have no idea what Kosher salt is or where you get it, so just assume for every recipe that mentions it that we're using sea salt. I don't know if it makes a difference.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> Quesadillas in general aren't complicated, but chopping a butternut squash can be time-consuming and frustrating--especially if you have a fear of large knifes like me. I kid you not, I know how to cut a squash with a paring knife. As a side note, The Pioneer Woman's method of making quesadillas is the best I've come across (no flipping!) and is the one we now use for every quesadilla recipe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We've made this recipe several times now, whenever we have leftover squash and/or kale, and we really like it. You can't go wrong in our house with quesadillas, and squash is always super cheap and filling. We usually serve this with homemade salsa and sour cream. </span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-27926887847247570942014-04-16T02:02:00.001-07:002014-04-16T02:08:23.843-07:0024 Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We've gotten a little lazy about posting regular pregnancy updates. I think this is partially because we've been doing more lately, now that I have slightly more energy and haven't been throwing up. Plus, we're now at the stage where our baby is really active and I'm not feeling the need to constantly look up its new developments each week. It helps that we ended up having three foetal anomaly scans (as the baby was in the wrong position for the first two) so I'm absolutely certain that the baby is doing fine. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Instead of the usual post, I thought I'd share some things I've learned so far in my pregnancy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>1. Hair & Nails: </b>Everyone tells you that being pregnant will make your hair luscious and shiny and your nails beautiful, but I've not experienced this. I already have pretty shiny hair, and it's still shiny--but also very, very tangled. My nails seem to be breaking a lot more easily than usual, too. Either this one is an old wives' tale, or my nails and hair have hit their peak and started to go downhill. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>2. Emotions:</b> Although I do tend to cry more than usual at any film, book or TV show that deals with parenting or children (even if the children in question are closer to my age than our baby's) I've not been as emotional as I anticipated. I've heard plenty of stories about pregnant women crying at the drop of a hat, but I think I've had one emotional day every fortnight, which is a lot less than before I got pregnant! Pregnancy seems to have completely off-set my Seasonal Affective Disorder this year, which I am so thankful for.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>3. Cravings: </b>People keep asking me if I'm having cravings. Occasionally I think, "Hmm, I'd like to eat X", but it ends up being more, "I'll plan this meal for next week" rather than, "Simon, you must go out and buy this for me <i>immediately</i>." When I get hungry, I tend to switch between wanting to eat something sweet or savoury, but that's the closest I've got to having cravings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>4. Caffeine: </b>The current "Avoid this if you're pregnant" craze seems to be fixated on caffeine, and maybe women who are addicted to Starbucks will have issues with this, but it's not been a big deal for me. I drink tea (which contains a lot less caffeine than coffee) and I'm a big fan of herbal tea, so keeping my caffeine consumption within my self-imposed four-cups-a-day limit has been pretty easy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>5. Energy:</b> Apparently I'm meant to have tons of energy right now, because I'm in the second trimester, but my energy levels are seriously fluctuating. Some days I can stay out at a friend's house all evening and not get back until 11pm and feel fine, but on others my energy droops the minute Simon gets home from work and I fall asleep on the sofa at 8pm. I really can't predict it, so I'm just trying to get as much done before 5pm as I can. If we cancel plans unexpectedly, we're not being rude--I'm probably half-asleep. And seriously, if you invite us to an event that doesn't start until 9pm we will laugh at you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>6. Sleep:</b> Talking of sleep, everybody keeps recommending fancy, expensive pillows that will take up half the bed. Aside from two weeks right at the start of the second trimester, I haven't needed any extra pillow support. I've read warnings about not sleeping on your back, but since I'm normally a side-sleeper this hasn't been an issue--plus, sleeping on my back is just uncomfortable right now, so I wake up if I lie in that position for too long. The biggest problem with the no-back-sleeping rule? I can't lie on the grass to read in the sun. My neighbours must think I'm loopy for bringing a bean-bag out on to the front lawn, but it works. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>7. Reading:</b> After reading four pregnancy books, I kind of got burned out. Although I read a <i>lot, </i>I'm not actually much of a non-fiction reader. I made a big list of pregnancy and parenting books that were available within the Edinburgh library system, but in the end if I only read four. By the time I finished the fourth one, I felt like all the information was getting repetitive. I'm not saying I know everything about pregnancy, but I don't feel so worried that I want to constantly look things up. Here's what I ended up reading:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>What to Expect When You're Expecting </i>(4th edition) by Heidi Murkoff & Sharon Mazel -- This one is great for looking up specific issues and ailments in the extensive index, and for finding out what your baby and body will be experiencing each week or month. The information on midwife/doctor's appointments is absolutely useless if you're in the UK (even in the UK edition, bizarrely), and I skipped the healthy eating/exercise section as it's overwhelming. As long as you eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and do some walking, you'll be fine. The labour section is brief compared to other books, but honest. Some people said this book made them worried about everything, but personally I like being able to look things up and feeling relieved when I find that X or Y is perfectly normal. It's not one to read from cover-to-cover--and perhaps reading about all the possible ailments and complications all at once could be scary.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The Christian Mama's Guide to Having a Baby</i> by Erin McPherson -- I got this free on my Kindle a couple of years ago, and while the title is cheesy and some parts are completely irrelevant to a non-US audience, I actually really enjoyed it. I appreciated the down-to-earth honesty of the author, who talked about her own mistakes and worries during her pregnancy rather than lecturing on how you should do things. I read this book before my morning sickness really kicked in, and there's a massive section on morning sickness that I probably would have appreciated more towards the end of the first trimester. This book is pretty patronising towards husbands, which I didn't love, but aside from that it was an encouraging read.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Expecting Better</i> by Emily Oster -- If I had to recommend one book for every pregnant woman to read, it would be this one. After reading and hearing conflicting information on whether alcohol/caffeine/fish/lunch-meat/etc is safe to consume while pregnant, I really appreciated Oster's approach to figuring out the facts behind the warnings pregnant women are given. Oster examines medical research in various situations--everything from sleeping on your back to drinking coffee to common painkillers--and lays out all the evidence to help the reader make an informed decision. This was the book that stopped me from constantly worrying about my caffeine intake. If you're wondering about the risks of Listeria or something similar, read this book rather than randomly Googling--it'll be a lot less frightening. The parts of this book that related to midwife/doctor's appointments and labour were very American, and the chapter on home births was much briefer than I would have liked, so those are the main downfalls of this otherwise helpful book.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The Babymoon Experience </i>by Caroline Deacon -- I picked this book up at the library because I came to collect another one that I'd ordered and the librarian couldn't locate it. I wanted to read something to do with pregnancy, and this was on the shelf. I have really mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I appreciated that the author encouraged women not to feel the need to rush back into normal life after having a baby, and to take time our to bond with their baby and recuperate. But I also felt she was a little extreme, suggesting that you sequester yourself in your bedroom in your nightclothes for 2-6 weeks post-delivery. The chapters on labour, recovery and breastfeeding were fantastic and very informative and encouraging, but the tone was rather patronising (and like McPherson's book, rather dismissive of husbands) and she seemed very biased towards certain issues, like co-sleeping and non-medical pain relief. This one is worth reading for the chapters on labour, etc, but some of the other information (diet and exercise, for example) is nearly identical to <i>What to Expect</i>, except the tone is worse.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>8. Movement: </b>After being told by every book, website and person on the planet that first-time mums don't feel their baby's movements until at least 18 weeks, if not 22--I felt movements at 15, and Simon was able to feel then at 16. The movements were pretty inconsistent to begin with, and while they nearly always came in the evening, I didn't feel them every day initially. In the last week or so we've been consistently feeling them every morning at 7am and every evening at 8pm, so the baby is obviously in a routine. I'm starting to feel them more in the middle of the day as well, especially if I'm sitting or lying down. The baby tends to be quite active when I'm in the bath (which is where Simon was first able to feel it) but I'm not sure if this is specifically linked to the water, or because I take baths in the evening when the baby usually moves around.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>9. Herbal Remedies: </b>I might not be going to completely down the route of replacing my medicine cabinet with herbal remedies, but I did invest in a couple of essential oils early in the second trimester and they've come in handy. I occasionally get tension headaches, which could only be eased by ibuprofen pre-pregnancy (and ibuprofen is one of the painkillers that everyone agrees is to be avoided during pregnancy), and I've found that a drop of lavender oil mixed with a mixer oil (like grapeseed) then rubbed on my forehead is very effective at easing headaches. Simon actually tried this recently when he was feeling ill, and he also found it relaxing. I've also been using peppermint oil with a mixer for backaches. Honestly, I'm not sure if the peppermint oil itself is helpful, or just using some sort of massage oil, but my backaches aren't as bad as they used to be. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>10. Pregnancy Talk: </b>There are some points where I just get bored of talking about pregnancy and the baby. It's not that I'm not excited, but sometimes it feels like it's the only thing people want to talk about when I'm around. My entire identity doesn't revolve upon my pregnancy, and sometimes it's just nice to talk about something else for a change. It's so refreshing to talk about books or cooking or anything other than "Yep, I'm still having a baby, and it's still kicking me and making me feel nauseas." Seriously, it's totally okay to ask me for my favourite pancake recipe or what my opinion is on Season 5 of <i>Castle</i>. I won't be offended if you don't mention the baby straight away.</span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-4051862518488463732014-04-03T06:17:00.000-07:002014-04-03T06:17:34.603-07:00Recent Meals #2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Simon has been having a lot of fun photographing our recent meals with his new camera, so here are some more recipes we'd like to share. Three new discoveries and two old favourites!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnle0eWWGqpc6kCUrapoKsSXKj7FyKb0iU8iDZWzdrh2D8PR2HPoJSaYj22vryRMy99bDjYqiGDIeuJ2M0Ro7a-PPnufp95tGJNa1ecwfOBkcV5E9seUQXlzv8KP8rJUz1fxIlN1k6DASK/s1600/050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnle0eWWGqpc6kCUrapoKsSXKj7FyKb0iU8iDZWzdrh2D8PR2HPoJSaYj22vryRMy99bDjYqiGDIeuJ2M0Ro7a-PPnufp95tGJNa1ecwfOBkcV5E9seUQXlzv8KP8rJUz1fxIlN1k6DASK/s1600/050.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Falafel with Tahini Sauce & Pita Bread</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.justataste.com/2011/08/homemade-falafel-with-tahini-sauce/">Just a Taste</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> I prepared most of it, and Simon fried the falafel right at the end. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> Nothing major: we used chilli flakes rather than powder, sunflower oil rather than canola, and bottled lemon juice rather than fresh. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">How Easy Is It?</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> Relatively easy, if you have a large enough food processor. I made the mistake of trying to mix everything together in our small food processor and ended up having to move it all to the larger one, which took up extra time. You do have to let the mixture chill for a while, so don't forget to factor that into preparation time!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We really liked this, and it's a relatively quick, cheap and easy meal. We'll definitely be making this again. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGMx3JIJctPBM_085N-75Tp-eFSh1dECOI7vUJBCHdgBJ1-l8glW5OH5dFT1ylJ0C9PfpOYHLCAB7-1zDvwvRqYkXC9CvLkv-mS-b2x7IZ5uppzgf9zR55zYu-DtTZ6V3fgAiR-5LT7Dd/s1600/053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGMx3JIJctPBM_085N-75Tp-eFSh1dECOI7vUJBCHdgBJ1-l8glW5OH5dFT1ylJ0C9PfpOYHLCAB7-1zDvwvRqYkXC9CvLkv-mS-b2x7IZ5uppzgf9zR55zYu-DtTZ6V3fgAiR-5LT7Dd/s1600/053.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sweet Potato Risotto with Bacon</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/12/roasted-sweet-potato-risotto/">How Sweet Eats</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> I actually prepare the sweet potato according to the instructions in The Pioneer Woman's </span></span><a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/01/butternut-squash-risotto/">Butternut Squash Risotto</a><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">. So instead of roasting then puréeing the sweet potato, I cube it and fry it. I used more sweet potatoes and shallots, substituted grana padano for parmesan, and just used two slices of bacon.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Brown butter, sage and rosemary (although I used lots of parsley to make up for it!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">How Easy Is It?</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> Risotto takes a while to make, so this isn't a quick meal, but it isn't that complicated. However you decide to prepare the sweet potatoes, I don't think you can get this recipe wrong as you'll know when the rice is ready when it stops being crunchy ;)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Verdict: </b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This is one of our favourite comfort meals and we probably make it at least once a month. You can skip the bacon, just use stock rather than wine, or substitute other root vegetables or herbs. It's versatile. But not the prettiest thing to photograph, we've discovered. </span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Crispy Zucchini Grilled Cheese with Dijon Horseradish Aioli & Garlicky Avocado Grilled Cheese with Tomato Pesto</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is actually two recipes, so I'll share their details separately.</span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/06/crispy-zucchini-grilled-cheese-with-dijon-horseradish-aioli/">How Sweet Eats</a> for the Zucchini Grilled Cheese</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Both of us</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> We used white bread, unseasoned breadcrumbs, bottled lemon juice and we happened to have chilli wholegrain mustard so we used that.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Garlic powder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">How Easy Is It?</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> We made a few silly mistakes--initially forgot the flour in the zucchini coating, tried to heat up the aioli as I'm not meant to be eating raw eggs--and since we were making two recipes at once, I can imagine it's easy to make such mistakes when you're multi-tasking in a small kitchen. Make sure you have plenty of space, and plenty of mixing bowls! And do not try to heat up the aioli. The oil will separate from the rest of the sauce.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Verdict: </b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">In spite of our mistakes, this was really tasty. Next time we have a grilled cheese night we'll probably just stick to one type of sandwich and make double portions as we really have limited space in our kitchen (one and a half counters). </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://www.foodiecrush.com/2014/03/garlicky-avocado-grilled-cheese-with-tomato-pesto/">Foodie Crush</a> for the Avocado Grilled Cheese</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Both of us</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> We finely chopped shallots and garlic instead of using powder, used unsalted butter, white bread, and happened to have chilli red pesto on hand. Also, I've never seen provolone cheese in any Scottish supermarket, so we used a combination of mozzarella and brie (because we had the latter leftover from another meal). </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">How Easy Is It?</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> This is a lot easier than the previous recipe; the only thing you need to prepare is the butter mixture. Tip: room-temperature butter is not soft in cold, Scottish kitchens but if you put some in a bowl and leave it on the radiator, it'll soften enough to spread.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Verdict: </b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This was really good as well, and we can't actually decide which recipe we prefer. We recommend both!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Pescado a la Veracruzana (Mexican Fish Veracruz-Style)</span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Source: </b><a href="http://www.whats4eats.com/fish/pescado-a-la-veracruzana-recipe" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Whats4Eats</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Simon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> Substituted tinned tomatoes for fresh and added some fresh coriander that we had in the fridge. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">How Easy Is It? </b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This isn't a super quick recipe, but most of the ingredients tend to be ones we have in our kitchen, so it's easy in terms of our usual cooking. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Verdict: </b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">This is another favourite recipe that we come back to often as we love the combination of strong flavours. We make this with river cobbler fillets, which you can get ridiculously cheap at fish counters in most supermarkets (usually around £1 a fillet). </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElnh0JkCkNr2ZZ7hc8wMzRNVTy5SeSVDzCrs-LqWowjRRnyYdCh6SVUAMosEnp_JZgFnnb5hSUZPpdDXmfvHi1ppbi78u3QNW_ehVhHlY80LyPxkChS15vNsZomH2G2GLFyNYw6wqyFMj/s1600/070.JPG" height="240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Indian-Spiced Squash Soup</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://www.acouplecooks.com/2013/03/indian-spiced-squash-soup-with-crispy-quinoa/">A Couple of Cooks</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What We Changed:</b><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> We added more shallots, some garlic and cut down on the quantity of squash and stock as we were just making this for the two of us. We kept the spices the same, of course ;)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b>We skipped the quinoa topping, although it does look good!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">How Easy Is It? </b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">As far as soups go, this is pretty easy, but make sure you leave plenty of time to cook the squash and puree it. Mine took longer to cook than I expected. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Verdict: </b><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">We really liked it, and Simon was surprised that it was so spicy despite not having any chillies in it. Squash is always so cheap, and the combination of squash and coconut milk doesn't make this soup too sweet, especially with all the spices. We ate this with naan bread, which worked perfectly. </span></span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-24680208185095324782014-03-28T02:26:00.004-07:002014-04-22T03:19:58.276-07:00Recent Meals #1<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Besides bump photographs, I've found that my most popular Facebook posts generally relate to food in some way. As such, I thought it would be fun to start sharing our recent food adventures, and how successful they were. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Broiled salmon and roasted garlic cream noodles with crispy cauliflower and toasted pine nuts</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Source:</b> <a href="http://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/02/broiled-salmon-and-roasted-garlic-cream-noodles-with-crispy-cauliflower-toasted-pine-nuts/">How Sweet Eats</a> (Simon and I are slightly addicted to this website)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It:</b> Rachel, although Simon helped with the salmon at the end, when he got home from work</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed:</b> We used regular spaghetti instead of whole-wheat, grana padano instead of parmesan (cheaper!), and since half-and-half is hard to get in the UK, we used 1/4 cup of semi-skimmed milk and 1/4 cup of single cream.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted:</b> Onion powder. We either use real onions or we don't.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It?</b> This recipe isn't overly time-consuming, but it does require a lot of multi-tasking, since you need to roast the cauliflower and garlic, grill the salmon, as well as cooking the spaghetti, pine nuts and sauce on three separate rings on the hob. It can be managed in a small kitchen, if you don't get stressed out by doing multiple things at once, and if you clean up as you cook.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This meal is definitely worth the time and effort! We loved the combination of flavours and textures, and we'll probably be stealing some aspects of it for other dishes, like the salmon coating and roasting cauliflower, which I'd never thought to do before. We highly recommend it. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Korean Stir Fried Rice</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Source: </b>This recipe used to be on Jamie Oliver's website but disappeared recently, but you can find it <a href="http://food.uk.msn.com/food/jamies-money-saving-meals-did-the-costs-add-up?page=3">here</a>. You don't have to follow the brands stated on this website.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It: </b>Simon</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed: </b>We used less eggs, and we'd recommend using Sriracha chilli sauce rather than sweet chilli.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It? </b>You need to cook the brisket beforehand (we did it overnight in the slow cooker and used half of it for another meal) so you do need to plan ahead, unless you happen to have leftover brisket already in your fridge. Otherwise, it's not terribly complicated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>I'm not a big fan of mushrooms, but we both really liked this meal. We nearly always serve our egg fried rice with fish of some sort, so this made a nice change. It's definitely a good way to use up leftover brisket. I think Simon probably liked this more than me. Unlike a lot of recipes that claim to make four portions, this one really did, so we had the leftovers later in the week.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfH9D38-35x3L62leuGL0ijs9bTNEn2aB_wPugWNPBplXF1m6TKV59MmV8UPjJxR-MQln7wNW4CTgJqHwayefb2EY3SWKBfAueUr_Bv52LdEBWnzHPIQvaQUgB60uExBd_BvoZqpzCgNiJ/s1600/IMG_0036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfH9D38-35x3L62leuGL0ijs9bTNEn2aB_wPugWNPBplXF1m6TKV59MmV8UPjJxR-MQln7wNW4CTgJqHwayefb2EY3SWKBfAueUr_Bv52LdEBWnzHPIQvaQUgB60uExBd_BvoZqpzCgNiJ/s1600/IMG_0036.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cullen Skink</span></td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Source: </b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Simon made this recipe up, but it's pretty similar to this one <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/899633/cullen-skink">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It: </b>Simon</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed: </b>We used smoked river cobbler rather than haddock (cheaper!), lots more parsley than recommended, as well as thyme, tarragon, cornflour, some tinned sweetcorn and garlic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>I don't think we used as much water as this recipe suggests.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It? </b>It's a reasonably simple recipe, especially if you make a lot of soups.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This is one of Simon's favourite comfort meals, and I really liked it as well. It's very filling with the thickness of the soup and all the potatoes. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5M1h-7GFh790fZS3YZuvl80ETEzD6_9YDkVs8SUUC_ZQ6cmUq4Y2lnZJwio42GX3_oPOST8FCL9ScSPD5UcHyuh0Jg_l-yvT4n8RRNmL2BQjmGqYAU7Ke8HdjbWya_9NITzt2W0W2MMss/s1600/IMG_0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5M1h-7GFh790fZS3YZuvl80ETEzD6_9YDkVs8SUUC_ZQ6cmUq4Y2lnZJwio42GX3_oPOST8FCL9ScSPD5UcHyuh0Jg_l-yvT4n8RRNmL2BQjmGqYAU7Ke8HdjbWya_9NITzt2W0W2MMss/s1600/IMG_0027.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Spicy Chimichurri Burgers</span></td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Source: </b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.simplyscratch.com/2013/07/spicy-chimichuri-burgers.html">Simply Scratch</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It: </b>Rachel, although Simon came home in time to cook the burgers and insisted on doing that part. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed: </b>We used a full (but not particularly big) onion in the burgers instead of half, three bird's eye chillies instead of one serrano, cheddar instead of pepper jack, and only 500g of minced beef (but we were only serving two people--you might want to use more if you're feeding more people).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>We decided not to have avocado on our burgers as we were using avocado in something else the next day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It? </b>You need a food processor for making the chimichurri, but otherwise it's just a case of throwing together the burger mixture and cooking the burgers. We used our griddle pan, but you could also cook them under the grill or fry them in a frying pan. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>Excellent! We've done a lot of veggie burgers recently, so it was nice to have something more traditional, although the chimichurri sauce definitely jazzed them up. We served these with corn on the cob (wrapped in foil and roasted for ten minutes) and onion rings (from the freezer--we don't do everything from scratch!)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4layigf3IjLLU-5_p1o_dpqLrszJXq710fIpxVwdXpWwk1KaL-HWFfc4Y6mPPU286swrLZaD97RCbZledOzGV2PS1t7dSiRvSA-odJPOxDhcwke0sT8KhoNiRhA0Y2iykIQTyPAnIivQ/s1600/IMG_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4layigf3IjLLU-5_p1o_dpqLrszJXq710fIpxVwdXpWwk1KaL-HWFfc4Y6mPPU286swrLZaD97RCbZledOzGV2PS1t7dSiRvSA-odJPOxDhcwke0sT8KhoNiRhA0Y2iykIQTyPAnIivQ/s1600/IMG_0014.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas</span></td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Source: </b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/11/butternut-squash-and-black-bean.html">Skinny Taste</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It: </b>Rachel</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed: </b>We used <a href="http://www.thefauxmartha.com/2011/11/03/tomato-jalapeno-enchilada-sauce/">this</a> enchilada sauce (without the stock), three bird's eye chillies instead of a jalapeno, regular tinned tomatoes instead of Rotel, plain tortillas rather than whole-wheat, and our black beans were ones that came dried in a bag and I cooked in the slow cooker (tinned black beans are expensive and hard find in the UK). You can follow the low-fat recommendations in this recipe, but if we start using low-fat cheese you should probably assume we've been replaced with cyborgs--we used extra mature cheddar, and probably less than this recipe recommends. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Nothing</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It? </b>It takes a while to cook the butternut squash, but you don't need to watch it constantly, so you can put it on to cook while you wash dishes, etc. And chopping a butternut squash can be challenging! But otherwise, if you're used to making enchiladas, this should be pretty easy. You can even cheat and buy prechopped squash or a jarred enchilada sauce to cut down on prep. time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We love enchiladas (especially vegetarian ones) as they're cheap, filling, easy to prepare and make good leftovers, and this will definitely be going on our list to make again. Squash is one of the few vegetables that grows in Britain over the winter, and it's fun to find creative things to cook with it. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMeFWanpU3kJNojkvBbMdbjb9es5Ib10uZKchuDaELOrvwR5YUNx0xPmzM8-qNHlrg6DxNaKy7Ib-OBe7Qs5OF3I1_sW0PMjvxK4WIGLTSVoE3DEmX9m03c50U-mzIZVWCxoLypFXOzPGK/s1600/IMG_0029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMeFWanpU3kJNojkvBbMdbjb9es5Ib10uZKchuDaELOrvwR5YUNx0xPmzM8-qNHlrg6DxNaKy7Ib-OBe7Qs5OF3I1_sW0PMjvxK4WIGLTSVoE3DEmX9m03c50U-mzIZVWCxoLypFXOzPGK/s1600/IMG_0029.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sweet Potato, Cauliflower and Spinach Curry</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Source: </b>Simon made this recipe up, but Jamie Oliver actually has a similar one on his <a href="http://www.jamieoliver.com/magazine/recipes-view.php?title=curried-cauliflower-potatoes-chickpeas-a">website</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It: </b>Simon</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed: </b>Compared to Jamie's recipe, we used sweet potatoes rather than regular, and more chillies. We also added in spring onions. Simon reckons we at least doubled the spices.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>We skipped the chickpeas, and served it with naan (Tesco Finest, not our own) rather than yoghurt and lime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It? </b>It might take a while to chop up the veggies and cook them, but otherwise this is an easy curry--you can pretty much throw together leftover vegetables that you have sitting in your fridge. You could easily use regular potatoes instead of sweet, or kale instead of spinach, etc. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>This was a really nice curry. I'm not sure why, but we always seem to gravitate towards meaty curries, so we need to make stuff like this more often. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Baked Pasta with Roasted Peppers and Zucchini</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Source: </b><a href="http://www.fussfreecooking.com/recipe-categories/meat-recipes/baked-pasta-with-roasted-peppers-and-zucchini-giveaway/">Fuss Free Cooking</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Who Cooked It: </b>Rachel</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Changed: </b>We didn't use an entire head of garlic (maybe six cloves), and we used spirali pasta as that's what was on hand. Instead of mixed Italian herbs, I used a combination of different dried herbs. We probably used less cheese (cheddar and grana padano).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What We Omitted: </b>Cannellini beans and parsley. We aren't a big fan of herbs as a garnish (it seems kind of a waste), so they either go in the recipe or they aren't used.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How Easy Is It? </b>This is another one that you need a food processor for, and it does take a while to grate the courgette, but it's a pretty simple pasta dish that you can "hide" all sorts of vegetables in--I've added grated carrots in the past, when I've had them on hand. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict: </b>We've actually made this one several times already, and Simon often requests it, which is funny as he claimed he wasn't a fan of pasta when I met him. It's a relatively simple, easy meal for the end of the week when you don't want to buy too many ingredients, and it can be served with a salad and some garlic bread to make it go further. </span></div>
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Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-4592296708726506462014-03-26T01:40:00.000-07:002014-03-26T01:40:37.112-07:0021 Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8bEOmXx-b4JKjKYklUv1FuS64k7tRzdu419XxTMOrY34TfcwgN_bbbNAmUvMzMSL_iKgi0COrFM_jkmWJHIdwOJoyY4dDdCiSASaz5MA-A5B5ftqVxLLgmXD4mI1EU9ODsh7imTlze93/s1600/IMG_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8bEOmXx-b4JKjKYklUv1FuS64k7tRzdu419XxTMOrY34TfcwgN_bbbNAmUvMzMSL_iKgi0COrFM_jkmWJHIdwOJoyY4dDdCiSASaz5MA-A5B5ftqVxLLgmXD4mI1EU9ODsh7imTlze93/s1600/IMG_0046.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iZoPJ7dSRCY4O2PA8CvVNz_5V8x2F3A8crhNDV6Iv3qEEi_F2ADyXJCR7wzXihaomQOqQjPzYHjqe3o863l0RCBnCxqVHrxngNMVzeCe2gr0sKTGZVSjgDUY9ZMuBgg52ObuQ4sYMzN8/s1600/IMG_0048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iZoPJ7dSRCY4O2PA8CvVNz_5V8x2F3A8crhNDV6Iv3qEEi_F2ADyXJCR7wzXihaomQOqQjPzYHjqe3o863l0RCBnCxqVHrxngNMVzeCe2gr0sKTGZVSjgDUY9ZMuBgg52ObuQ4sYMzN8/s1600/IMG_0048.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">How far along?</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> 21 weeks & 5 days</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Total weight gain/loss:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> I've actually gained 5lbs! Finally. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Maternity clothes? </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Definitely. I only have a few tops that still cover my stomach, so I think it's time to invest in some maternity tops.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Stretch marks?</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> None</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Sleep: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Better this week, but I'm struggling to go out in the evenings as I start to feel drained about 6pm every night. I can stay awake, but I don't really feel like doing much.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Best moment this week: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Technically this happened last week, but since I didn't do a blog post, I think I can count this here ;) Our best moment was definitely</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> getting to see our baby again at our 20-week ultrasound! It was really exciting to see it moving around (not doing somersaults like last time, but it was kicking its feet) and seeing how it was growing. It sounds weird, but it's pretty cool getting to see its bones and heart valves and stuff like that. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><b>Movement:</b> The baby i</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">s getting more and more active, and I actually got worried that it was being too active at one point, but apparently that's not something to be concerned about ;) Sometimes it kicks me quite hard, and at least twice we've felt it having hiccups. Pretty exciting!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Cravings/Aversions: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">I've been craving sweet things this week, which is actually good as we still have tons of Christmas chocolate left ;)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Gender guesses: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">You guys can keep guessing, but we already know! ;)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Labor Signs: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">None, although I did have a dream about going into labour last night</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">, so clearly it's been on my mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Belly Button in or out?</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> Still in, but I don't think it'll stay that way for much longer.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What I miss: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Having more than two pairs of jeans to choose between ;)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">What I am looking forward to: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Buying baby things! I've managed to hold off buying too many baby things until now (everything we've got so far can literally fit into a plastic carrier bag) but now that we're more than halfway there I'm starting to peruse the clearance rack in the Baby section of Tesco for tiny t-shirts ;)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Weekly Wisdom:</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"> It is totally acceptable to delegate floor sweeping to your husband so you don't hurt your back. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Milestones: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">Over the last two weeks, we've had a lot! </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">20-week ultrasound, hearing the baby's heartbeat, buying some baby clothes together, finding out the sex of the baby, deciding on a name, and my bump has officially got to the stage where nothing I wear will hide it. A pretty exciting couple of weeks, all in all :)</span></span>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280180764774262623.post-87507939020415548562014-03-22T08:47:00.000-07:002014-03-22T08:48:06.934-07:00Balanced Challenge: Day 11: A Few Important Thoughts that Will Transform Your Schedule<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.triciagoyer.com/join-the-balanced-challenge/"><img border="0" src="http://www.triciagoyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/balancedchallenge-button2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In today's challenge, Tricia talks about different issues you can consider and ponder that can alter your schedule, and hopefully make your life more enjoyable and your work more effective! I really liked the suggestions she gave. Here are where my thoughts took me:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>1. Take time to ponder where you’re falling short.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the moment, I'm not having any trouble tackling my housework. There might be a few on-going tasks that get left to the end of my to-do list, but these are usually "I'll do these when I get to them" tasks like cleaning the windowsills or washing our chair-covers, not essential tasks like laundry or cooking. I think I'm doing pretty well in this area of my life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, I do find myself getting too wrapped up in housework (even non-essential housework) and pushing my writing to the side. When I was battling morning sickness, I allowed myself to do this, as I just couldn't focus on anything non-essential, but now that my health is a lot better, I'd like to make more of an effort with my writing. I think I need to schedule time each day for writing, and I'm trying to set aside 3-4pm each day for this.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I also need to be more effective with my editing work for The Christian Manifesto. I used to schedule an hour for this as well (at different points in my life this has been at different times: when I was a student, I used to answer emails, etc, between 8-9am, and when we graduated I moved this to directly after lunch, 1-2pm). I need to pick an hour that suits me and stick to it, rather than getting distracted by emails later in the day when I should be writing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>2. Take time to build teamwork in your family.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm learning to accept that even if I am a housewife, that doesn't mean that I need to do <i>all </i>the housework. There are some things Simon has always done, like emptying bins, but I'm learning to ask for help in other areas on the occasions where I'm too tired or nauseas to do something. And also to delegate tasks that I just can't manage any more; bending over to sweep the kitchen floor is getting uncomfortable. I need to remember that asking for help doesn't mean that I'm failing in my role as a housewife.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>3. Take time to prioritize.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is definitely something I've been working on a lot lately. Yesterday I even highlighted several items on my to-do list that I know I really want to achieve this weekend, which means the rest can wait until Monday. Prioritising makes life so much more manageable and lists seem a lot less overwhelming. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>4. Take time to praise.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There's always something to praise God for and be thankful for, even if you're having a bad day. Even just starting your prayers by thanking God for one, small thing can make such a difference. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Right now, I'm thankful that Tricia took the time out of her busy life to write <i>Balanced</i>. I've been really blessed by this book, and I think I read it at the perfect time in my life. I'm sure I'll gain even more wisdom if I come back to read it when I our little one arrives and I'm balancing even more. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I truly appreciated the concluding chapter of<i> Balanced</i>. Tricia writes:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>"Balance isn't the ultimate goal. A quest for balance leads to frustration and exhaustion. I never have a day when I achieve the perfect balance of work, family, God, and friends. It's impossible. There are always interruptions. If we are working with real-life people, we cannot schedule our time as if we were simply sitting at the computer all day."</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Honestly, I think I need to write those words on a sheet of paper and stick it to my desk. Balance doesn't mean perfection, and I'd hate to ever view my husband or children as interrupting my life. If anything, they are welcome interruptions. I feel truly blessed that I can work from home, even if it means I don't have a traditional 9-5 schedule. In fact, on nice days like today, being able to leave my desk to hang up the washing outside is definitely a nice distraction, because I get to enjoy the wonderful weather ;) And I definitely don't feel left out because I don't have to put on a suit and sit on a crowded bus for half an hour every morning! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you're a work-at-home mum, or you're thinking about becoming one, I definitely recommend <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00HHDF788/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=goodreads_uk-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00HHDF788&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2">Balanced</a>. As a writer, I particularly appreciated Tricia's advice on that topic, and reading this book has encouraged me to get stuck back into my writing after several months of pushing it to the side. I might not have the perfect, efficient schedule for approaching my writing, but I'm determined to try.</span><br />
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<em style="background-color: white; color: #6e4319; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">This post is part of the </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #6e4319; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">Balanced </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #6e4319; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">challenge with Tricia Goyer—and <a href="http://www.triciagoyer.com/join-the-balanced-challenge/" style="color: #deaa44; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><strong>you can join</strong></a>, too!</em>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17485137285511905907noreply@blogger.com0