Wednesday Recipe: Butternut Squash Pasta

I don't remember where I saw this recipe, but If I had to guess I would say the Rachel Ray Show because I watched all 6 months of my maternity leave (unemployment). Its actually really good...I would eat it with a little more spices added. It was easy but could be easier if you're not as retarded as I am when it comes to cutting up squash. I made it way harder than I had to I think. Anyways. Here goes.

Ingredients:
-1 butternut squash
- mini pasta
-cream cheese
-I also used some water and olive oil, which are not pictured

yep thats it.
Step 1: This step is really up to your own discretion, but I halved my squash to clean it out.

Step 2: This is how I went about cutting my squash...its not exactly the brightest way, I can admit that now. I went about it as a cantaloupe, thinking I'd be able to easily slice out the inside, yep...didn't happen. So...if you have an easier way, do that, and better yet, if your grocery store sells pre-cubed butternut squash, buy it.

Step 3: I added olive oil and water to my pot and then dropped in my squash cubes. It was reminiscent of making pureed baby food minus the olive oil.

Step 4: I actually did this at the same time as Step 3, which is why my pasta was a little over-cooked. Anyways, I've cooked mini pasta 3 times now and every time has amazed me. These little pastas suck up so much water, they are basically like rice. I set them aside after they are done and walk back over 5 minutes later to see that there is no more excess water left!

This is just a picture to see how your squash should be progressing....

Step 5: Use a potato masher once the squash is cooked to smooth out the "sauce"

Step 6: Add cream cheese. I used 3 little blobs. No measurements, just as much as I wanted...I didn't want to add too much. I figured if I wasn't happy with it I could add more.

Step 7: Add the mini pasta. This is what it looked like as a finished product.

Liv's Rating: Liv loves pasta and this recipe makes me happy because I feel like its healthier than just regular old pasta. Not the best picture, but I promise she liked it. She ate it for dinner tonight. I added a little ricotta cheese to it before I served it.

Etsy Model

I think I mentioned our four generation pictures that we had done. If you missed it, we had our pictures done here. They did an awesome job and if you're in the U.P. I would recommend them to you. They are so fast and efficient...no fussy babies. They are also really nice and one of them is a friend of mine :).

Anyways, back to the main point of my post. Liv was super happy that day, it may have been all the attention and fact that she is so used to a camera in her face. Either way, they asked if it was alright if they took some pictures of Liv with some goodies that an etsy seller had sent them in exchange for photos of babies modeling it (great idea hey?). I just got the link to one of the things Liv modeled :). I'm quite the proud mama right now.

some new tricks

I finallyyyy got Liv walking on video. She is so brave nowadays. As you will see, she is easily coaxed into letting go of whatever she's holding onto and taking a few steps towards what she wants. We have caught her doing this all by herself too...usually towards something she's not supposed to have. You will aslo see my favorite new trick of Liv's, saying 'mama'. And giving her big slobbery kisses! Enjoy :).

mother's day and weekend recap

Are weekend started with strategically planning our trip up to Marquette so that Liv would be napping for a good chunk of the ride. I have the drive to Marquette broken up into thirds...I did go to University there and have made more trips back and forth than I can count. This is how the trip goes: 1.) An hour to Newberry 2.) An hour to Munising 3.) 45 minutes from Munising to Marquette. This is how I see it in my mind as I'm driving and passing through each spot.

I had coffee in the morning because I woke up at 6:30am in order to get showered and ready before my mom left for work. I got myself ready, bathed Liv, fed her breakfast, finished packing, packed up the car with more stuff than one person should have to carry, got Liv dressed and fed her a bottle...all before 9am. So I'm driving and I'm tired...and thirsty, because despite all the coffee I inhaled I failed to drink any water. Oh btw, my chihua is in the car with us and she barks at EVERYTHING. She especially likes to bark if I go through a drive-through. But all I can think about is getting a large pop at mcdonalds (side note: if you have a baby and haven't discovered that mcdonalds drinks are $1 any size, you should...it beats hauling a baby into a gas station to get a stupid drink). I thought the risk was worth it because I was obsessing about getting a drink at this point. And as predicted, Lily barked, Liv woke up and the rest is history. That was one of the best tasting cokes I've ever had though :).

Despite being woken up from her nap, Liv was pretty dang well behaved...She slept a little more and when she did get fussy, we stopped in Munising had a diaper change and re-stocked her toys that she dropped while in her carseat. It was a busy weekend and I'm tired. I'm not sure I can do it two weekends in a row. Its crazy how dependent we are on "our" space. Auntie Dani's apartment is anything but baby proofed, so Liv was all over the place and we were both exhausted. I worked until 3am both nights to top it off. Saturday morning Dani watched Liv for me (which was amazing, thanks Dani!). Sunday we woke up at 6:40, got ready and left in order to make it to Mother's Day brunch with the family. Liv and I were both tired and grumpy by the time we got home. But I got my Mother's Day present that I asked for...a nap!

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day and weekend!

9 month pictures

I didn't have any "9 month" pictures to add to my post a few days ago. I have been in a slump this week and slacking. I need this month to go by a little faster, so that it can be the month that Pat is finished. I find myself being more and more impatient and I know that its annoying but I can't help myself. Eh. I'm trying to not complain about my situation, so I'll move on. We are heading back to Marquette tomorrow. I'm bringing Liv with me this time. So send us positive thoughts...because this could get interesting. Dani is going to help me out though so my goal for the end of the weekend is to not need to have an IV of coffee attached to me to make it home.

Some exciting news in my not so exciting post...I finally bought Liv a "highchair". Actually its not a highchair at all, but same purpose. If you saw my last post and the contraption Liv was sitting in, its called a "sassy seat" and belonged to my now 17 year old brother. Ya, its that old and it kind of scares me. So, I looked on Amazon and found this Chicco Hook-on Chair and this adorable placemat to go with it. I have been go and back and forth about buying a highchair for awhile because Pat and I don't know where we will be next year. I think this is the perfect compromise because I can easily pack it up and bring it wherever we go.

Now for the actual exciting news.....Liv started saying "ma ma ma ma". Now, I'm not claiming she is calling me mama, but the sound is there! It is like music to my ears!! I have just been waiting, enough of this dada shit, bring on the mamas!

Liv's little red ball...kind of looks like she's doing some ab exercises (thats the personal trainer in me ha).

pretty pink bow.

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

showing off her treasure

heyyyyy momm

Wednesday Recipe: Apple & Naner Baby Pancakes

I'm starting something new...I'm going to try to post one of my baby recipes that I made and Liv liked, or something I made up myself, every Wednesday. We will see how this goes, I may skip a week once in awhile, but who is going to reallyy care right? K, here goes.

What you'll need:
-pancake mix ( I used Hungry Jack Wheat Blends)
-unsweetened applesauce
-one banana
-formula

I always have pre-made formula in the refrigerator, but you could easily use water or make a little bit if need be.


Step 1: Add the dry ingredients, in my case 1 cup of pancake mix. The directions said to add 3/4 a cup of water, but I used formula instead. I didn't measure, I just added enough to make the batter into the consistency that I wanted. Next, I added the applesauce, about half a cup, and mashed up a banana and added that. I chose to mash the banana up because it went throughout the whole batter and Liv loves bananas.

Step 2: Put the batter into a heated skillet. I had melted butter on the pan. Then I waited...for the pancakes to bubble (my grandpa told me thats the key to making pancakes :)).

Step 3: Give baby some naners to snack on so she waits patiently...

Step 4: Flip pancakes.


Step 5: Cut and enjoy :) I dunno if anybody used to watch Jon and Kate plus 8, when it was good and they weren't all weird, but I learned on that show that using a pizza cutter is quite brilliant, so thats what I did.

Liv's Rating: LOVED them. She has had pancakes before, but not with the bananas, and this really made all the difference. I tried them and they were very banana tasting, which isn't really for me, but obviously Liv was all about it...case in point: the picture directly below.

9 months

Liv turned 9 months on Sunday. I haven't taken suitable "9 month pictures" of her because this girl is on the mooooove. She doesn't want to sit there and smile like she used to. Its definitley a chore that ends with me covered in sweat. Thats been the biggest change in the last month. Liv is into everything...absolutely everything, nothing and nobody are safe from hurricane Liv. She has mastered crawling and crawls to something, pulls herself up, and proceeds to give her mother a coronary. I am betting that she will be walking by 10 months.

She has 3 commands that she knows (i know i know, its like I train my dog, however I have the worst dog in the world, she won't come when called but you can bet she can sit, roll over, shake, and play dead!). I am off topic, but the point being, I like teaching tricks. She can patty cake (clap), give kisses, and wave on command. Thats about all she knows. She loves to chat, but nothing particular. Its kind of funny when Lily barks (which is all the time) and if you have ever been to my house I spend at least an hour of wasted time a day yelling at her...but when I yell, Liv yells. Who knows what she's yelling, but she feels as though she needs to contribute to the noise.

Food wise Liv is eating more chunks and finger foods. I still haven't gone through all of her purees that I made, so I just add chunks to them and it seems to work out pretty well. Some of Liv's favorite foods are pasta, yogurt, bananas, sweet potatoes, oatmeal with blueberries or apples and cinnamon, and chik'n patties (vegetarian patties). She likes most everything, but those, off the top of my head, are her favorites and I always know she'll eat them with a lot of enthusiasm. I just bought her a "self-feeding" spoon. Its quite weird looking, but Liv is trying it out so I guess we're on the way to her feeding herself (although this won't be happening anytime soon).

Liv is definitley a handful. I was reading her an "Olivia" book that we got from our friend Angela, and it was kind of ironic how similar this little piggy and Liv are. In the end Olivia's mother says "You know, you really wear me out. But I love you anyway", and that is exactly how I feel! She wears me out every day, but its fun and Liv is so happy and full of personality... its nice to see that. It makes me feel like I'm doing something right.

Her fav activity...she likes it even more if the remote is somewhere near...

Had to take a picture of the shoes, that I got at a consignment shop, for $5, woo!

Time out...gotta get this dolphin in my mouth

learned how to bend the knees :)

crawling away from mom and into trouble

happy girl

straight outta the bathtub

trying to reach something i'm sure