3 words: funnel cake balls

--> Just in case any of my super sweet, extra affirming readers think that I have gone off the deep end of worry over my weight or that I am actually really following through with the giving up of all sweets to manage my weight, fear not. I cannot and will not (unless it it’s a serious health issue or something) completely give up sweet things. I certainly do not care that much about how much weight I gain that I would forfeit such a joyous thing as sugar during such a trying time as pregnancy. I've mostly been reacting out of an irrational fear of my Doctor and not out of any extra insecurities over being too chubby. 

So when my pallet had a sudden urge to experience the glorious taste of funnel cake the other day, I gladly conceded. However, it really did not turn out to be the funnel cake experience I had in mind, but rather more of a "funnel cake ball" experience. Either way, deep fried dough+lots o'powdered sugar=happy toddlers and pregnant lady.

I found this recipe using the Google and it was pretty good.

2 issues occurred during the making that I would be aware of if you are going to give it a go:

UNO: The batter was much thicker than I thought it was going to be so when I put it in a gallon bag like it told me to (I didn't have a funnel lying around), I cut the hole waaaaaaay to big which meant that I couldn't squeeze anything smaller than a large ball of dough into the the oil. So it wasn't so much the swirly funnel cake that you expect to see, but actually just deep fried dough balls.
So: cut the hole in your bag small, or use a tiny funnel so that you can end up with something resembling this beauty to the right.

yeah, not so much

DOS: It turns out that our lone "deep skillet" that I used to fry the batter is made with that lovely black calphalon substance, which started coming off all over the deep fried goodness due to the hot hot oil. I am fine eating all sorts of foods of which I am not totally sure of the origin or meats where the cows may be fed questionable things, chickens who are given hormones and what not, but I draw the line at black substances that come off of pans which is not even edible. Once I realized this was happening I just had to be sure the balls weren't touching the bottom of the pan, but next time I will probs just use a pan not made of this questionable substance.

So in the end mother and children were content to enjoy a few deep fried dough balls a piece as the rest were thrown out half blackened by remnants of our pan. Still, we were happy.

**I feel I should let all readers know that previously talked of Dr. Mean Pants was very nice and affirming of my weight gain today, she still made sure to say I want to keep it minimal so as to not produce a mammoth baby, but still she was sweet. 

Happy Monday.

Midnight Musings

I thought this 7 quick takes up in the middle of the night last night. Most of my better instincts are telling me not to actually post it, but I think I will just go with it and see where it takes me.

I am a terrible sleeper. How old am I, 2? No I am 27 and I just suck at sleeping, I always have. I will wake at the tiniest noise and then be awake in bed, unable to fall back asleep for hours. I also stink at napping, but we'll save that for another day, or never, whatev. So needless to say that an already bad sleeper and pregnancy, the mother of all sleep disruptions do. not. mix.

Here are some things I thouight up last night that would make my life a whole lot easier both now, while pregnant, and during non-pregnant times as well.

1.

A bed side toilet.  I think this would be splendid, only I don't think Mike would really appreciate it. A new topic for discussion for us.

2.

I will one-up number one and say that an at-home catheter would be even better, no need to move at all. I googled this, but I will leave out pictures for you squeamish ones. I don't know if this is even possible. Grace, can you ask Simon?

3.

An at-home incubator. Or really, just a Relaxman. After Jen's post on scorpions and the need to be totally confined during sleep, I think I am convinced. Only I don't know how comfortable these things are or if Mike would fork out the thousands of dollars for it. But I figure we could put this down in our basement, then I would never be awoken by any child/snoring husband/air conditioner noises/etc... ever again, what else could be worth thousands of dollars I ask you? Yeah, that's what I thought. 

4.

Middle of the night dinner buffet. It really needs to be a buffet because you never know what I want at 4 a.m., but I am almost always STARVING in the middle of the night and having to spread peanut butter on bread at that hour is just inconvenient, you know? This way the food is all ready, it's set out for me, and there are options. That is the key people, I need options. This one looks good:

I'll take it.

5.

Some sort of contraption that flips you from side to side when you need to move would be great. Sort of like a hammock in your bed, and you press a button and it flips you to whatever side you need to go to. Yeah, I don't really know how this would ever work, it's a real stretch.

6.

Some sort of over the bed, button activated, misting system with chloroform. Mike may be a little uncomfortable about this, but we could hang a tarp between us in case he is worried.

It would be quick and not leave me feeling droggy in the morning. Perfect!

7.

Or I could just offer it up like any really holy person and so many great saints who voluntarily gave up sleep in the spirit of mortification... to easy. 

So,  this is just some food for thought. 

Any other ideas would be most welcome. 

Go visit Jen and others for quick takes that will undoubtedly be a much better use of your time.

Happy Friday!

Dear vanilla cream sandwhich cookies,

If that is your real name.
You can go back to the bowels of whatever soul sucking calorie filled hole you came from and stop ruining any attempt at healthy eating that I am lying and saying I am doing.
I think I have eaten 10 of you today, that is not ok. But it feels so right.
I was wrong. Don't go away. Stay by my side and never leave,
I love you.
Love,
Ana

creeeeepy

Sunday brunch, a must

foooood

A month or so ago I started to make food in advance for us to eat after Mass on Sunday.
You see, Sunday morning/late morning/afternoon is always insane and all too frequently I end up with a migraine and ready to pass out from fatigue and famine.

I would wake up with the girls, take care of them as usual, but then have to hap to getting them ready for Mass, getting myself ready, feeding them, laying B down for naps time it just so so that she wakes up right before we leave for Mass so she is such a basket case. Then there is the task of gathering things to make them happy at Mass: juice cups, "mass" books and toys aka anything that mentions Jesus or anything religious at all. Finding their lost shoes, jackets, hats, tights- then loading them into the car and trying not to be the family that is always late, blah, blah, blah... Sundays are hard, they are hard for everyone with kids. I do not think I cherished those days of old when I could spend 45 minutes piking the cutest outfit, curling my hair, doing perfect makeup eating a good breakfast and then being so dumb and irresponsible with my money that I would happily go out to brunch and have someone else make me some food. ahhhh those were the days.

I always forget to eat breakfast and then we would get to the end of Mass and all of us are starving and we get home and there is no food. I usually go to the store on Mondays so Sundays are generally our most depleted day food wise, so then I would be hungry and angry. Hangry, you might say.

So a month or so ago I began preparing all the stuff for some sort of quiche the day or week before and either freezing or refrigerating the ingredients. Then I put it all together and bake it Sunday morning while the girls eat. I just use ready-made pie crusts and cook some sausage early in the week, separate it freezer bags and freeze it, I usually can get 3 quiches out of one tube of sausage. I also use bacon and ham sometimes, but Mike's fav is generally sausage. You could cut up any vegis you would want to use early in the week and freeze them and even shred all of your cheese at once and separate it into bags to use. I just find that there are tons of opportunities the other days of the week and never any on Sunday to actually do these things, so it eliminates the stress of the day that is supposed to be "restful". This way we can promptly inhale it immediately upon arriving home from Mass and all parties are happy and full... especially me.

and this one

You are probably more resourceful and a better SAHM than me and you have already figured this brilliant little idea out, but it has revolutionized our Sundays. 

The amount of peace that food brings me is, I am sure, disordered, but nonetheless, Sundays are a happier, holier day. Now I only have my kids to blame for my utter distraction during Mass since I am no longer scheming the whole time about what random food stuffs we could throw together to call it a Sunday brunch. Because, let's be honest, Sunday brunch is a must.

Snow blogging

Alright neighbor Greg, you win. I will never again attempt to nap as you have apparently memorized our nap schedules and will only run your unbelievably loud snow blower during this time- you must know that I am behind on blogging. I am flattered, I didn't even know you followed me! But for real, I think you should get the muffler on that thing checked. Enough.

So Mike and I sometimes act like chubby college girls and make ridiculously fattening desserts at night for fun and then eat all of it over the course of the next few days. 

Sometimes meaning almost never, but we did last night and this has resulted in me eating death by chocolate for breakfast and lunch today. Needless to say this is not helping with our post-Christmas weight loss endeavors. I think we are going to work on perfecting this one though, because it is pretty awesome.

our finished product

I think we'll use devils food cake with chocolate chips for the cake layer next time and I only had light whipped cream, which was a mistake because it's "death by chocolate" and anything "light" just doesn't fit in there.

I had a lovely long morning break today and went on a little excursion to the mall with a friend to hunt for boots (thank you Hannah). I found these and words can't express the shame I feel for buying anything with the brand name "Jessica Simpson". But they were cute and soooo comfy. I may return them though on principle, we'll see.

 What do we think?

Weekend update and a host of new favorite recipes

We have been pretty busy here with Mike's weekend birthday celebration and finishing up all of my shopping for the girls and Mike for Saint Nicholas day. We will be giving the girls their gifts from us tomorrow in honor of Saint Nicholas since we realize that we will most likely not be at our own home on Christmas morning for a very long time, or until we live in the same town as our families and then we can be at our home and theirs for Christmas.

Friday was packed full of seeing friends at a play group- which is a real rarity these days- and making this pretty fantastic broccoli tuna casserole (as far a tuna casseroles go) and which was great for sneaking extra vegis in for the kids, which we can always use (as the girls generally live on a hearty diet of cereal and cheese). Here's the recipe-

1 box of tri-color rotini noodles (cooked and drained)
6 ounces velveeta cheese
1 can cream of broccoli soup
2 cups cooked frozen or fresh broccoli
2 cans tuna
seasoned salt or salt and pepper to taste
a bit of shredded cheddar cheese to sprinkle on the top
Italian flavored bread crumbs

NOT my casserole, but you need a picture to inspire you

Mix first 5 ingredients together and then sprinkle with cheddar and bread crumbs. Pop in oven preheated to 350 for 20-25 minutes, take out, let cool and enjoy.

I threw a little birthday/Christmas party Saturday night and made a few recipes found on pinterest, or course and it was pretty amazing.

This cheesy bread pleased the crowd greatly:

Then there's the smores dip that was a definitely Ana pleaser. There is still a tablespoon or 2 left over in the fridge that I refuse to throw away and am waiting until the girls go down for a nap so that I can lick the container clean:

it most certainly was a decadent as it looks

 I made some double chocolate cookies for Mike because he wanted double chocolate cookies "just like the kind at kroger" and while I do not think they measured up to those, they were pretty great. And some deep dark chocolate cookies for a friend with an allergy to gluten since they are flourless and they were also incredible- especially right when you take them out of the oven, I would recommend eating as many as you can right away.

Sunday was spent making "German pancakes" for Mike (otherwise known as crepes), his favorite meal- sauerkraut and kielbasa with mashed potatoes, and baking him a double chocolate cake since there is NO WAY he got enough chocolate the day before. This is my favorite picture of the cake:

I saw that Naomi had an extra slice of cake on her plate after I had turned my back for a second and then I looked at the cake and realized she had hacked off her own piece- at least she is learning independence.

Licking the mixer thingies after making some homemade white icing.

So that was our weekend, much more exciting then normal and I am looking forward to some intense gift wrapping this evening in anticipation of a "very-princess Saint Nicholas day" tomorrow.

I hope that your weekend was lovely and that Monday is not punching you in the face, like it pretty much did to me today,

Cheers,
Ana

Sabbath Bread

If I were not married to the most incredible stud of man ever, I think I would be married to my bread machine (or Aldi's- if you could marry appliances or grocery chains) but since I am already married I just settle for using my bread machine ALL the time. I absolutely love it and if there's one thing that we registered for at our wedding that I would recommend to every bride-to-be to register for it is one of these:

It will change your life, or your money back.

I used to make these little sweeties on Sunday and my husband's first reaction was "did you make these from scratch?" We could have been on a super cheesy infomercial for real.


You seriously do not have to do anything but put a hair of forethought into the making process since  a loaf of bread take about 3 hours- so if dinner's a t 6 you need to be thinking about it at 3- I am often not thinking about dinner until 5:55. in the ingredients and people think that you are some sort of domestic goddess when they taste the finished product. Ok with dinner rolls you do have to form them into balls and put them on a pan to let them rise a bit more in their shape, but that is IT. it is the best way to fake being a good cook that I have come up with in my 3 years of marriage.

Anyways, This is not actually a post about bread machines or bread machine recipes, but rather a post for a recipe for some bread sans bread machine.

It is not yeast bread but it comes out tasting as good as home made yeast bread from scratch made by hand or by a bread machine. 

I use especially when I have not put enough forethought into my cooking and don't get the ingredient's into the bread maker in time, so in other words on lots of days. 

I keep on losing the recipe even thought I have written down twice on a recipe card and so it is currently written in dry erase marker on a board that Naomi likes to color on. So before I lose it again and am left with a breadless dinner (God forbid!) Here is a recipe for "Sabbath Bread" (I have no idea why this is its name, but it will make you feel holy just eating it):

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 cups wine (and several cups for the mom making it)
3 tbsp oil

Mix together and bake @ 350 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. 

 
Holy baking,
Ana

Sweet Sunday

In contrast to my usually whinny, overly dramatic semi sarcastic tone on here, I figured I would share what a wonderful day today was.

We have been feeling like something was really wrong with our children, like perhaps we would need to look into some intervention that might involve a priest and Holy water (what? I'm not sarcastic). I decided yesterday to blame daylight savings, but we were so fed up with them last night that we had them in pj's and ready for bed by 6:30 and they were asleep by 7. Ridiculous, totally melting down, total basket cases. I was getting worried, but then today they seemed to turn a corner. They slept a little bit longer than their minimum 10 hr night stretch and took a little longer than their minimum 1/2 hour nap (for the 2 yr old) and minimum 1 hour nap for the 1 yr old (they have basically only been sleeping the very minimum amount, hence the basket case-ness). 

Beezie (Bernadette) is still feeling like c r a p, and acting at times like she just isn't going to make it. This meant that we were not going to take her to Mass with us lest those Mass-going worrywarts think that her little hack was going to infect them. Soooo, that meant that Mike took Naomi to 9 a.m. Mass while the sick chick slept and I got to go to 11 o'clock BY MYSELF and it felt like this:

 

Seriously amazing

So the rest of the day followed suit and was wonderful, thank you God and my dear husband. Our Fatty McFattster Brunch was incredible, the cinnamon roll pancakes were the best ever and I think Mike cried tears of joy while eating the sausage quiche. I will probably finish the pancakes this evening because that's how I roll. So just in case you were concerned that was incapable of positivity, worry not. Sunday rules.

Ana

Weekend madness:

I think when I was in college Saturdays were a real favorite, but since getting married and bearing children they always seem to be filled with more stress and disappointment than I can handle- it is the same amount of stress that is usually present but I still go into the weekend thinking that there will be some rest or break from the weekly routine and then I get there and it is the same exact stuff. Let's blame it on getting married so quickly out of college or something, although even the working world women generally gets some sort of rest from the weekly grind on her Saturday, either way there is some weird expectation for Saturdays that I am pretty sure will never be met (until one day far far away when Mike gets a normal job and does not have to slave away all Saturday... does that exist?). Am I being too negative? always.
Sundays are spectacular, it is the one day of the week that Mike takes off and I can count on working out AND napping, plus there is lots of sitting, o glorious glorious sitting, while Mike "plays with" or watches football with the girls. I don't care what he is doing as long as I can sit.

So our Saturday looked a little bit like this:

My first attempt at making them happy...

sleep deprived gingerbread house construction

resulting in this

And also resulting in nothing but anger since the whole idea of a house made of ginger bread and candy that you're not supposed to eat is completely backwards and torture for children. Also the only emotion conjured as a rusult of giving Bernadette candy is anger at the fact that at some point the candy is gone. Many tears shed.

So my next attempt at keeping them (and especially myself by this point) sane and happy was a trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up materials to make these little puppies: swatch portraits for our "school room" which is basically our basement play area but it feels so much more important if I call it a school room. If it actually ever lives up to that name without me being sent to an asylum we will call life a huge success.

I will post pictures of the finished hanging  product when we have the basement all decorated- I plan on posting before and after pictures to highlight the awesomeness that is my husband and my dad for finishing what was once a dank hole and making it into what is now the party basement- sit on the edge of your seats for those pictures.

Now I must attend to the screaming child who resfuses to sleep. Can I just say that sick babies are the worst? Nothing is more sad or pathetic or altogether difficult to deal with.

Once she is sleeping I will be making these to eat with our sausage & cheese quiche (cue Homer Simpson deep throat gargle) I am trying to fatten the family up for the winter- fewer layers to wear.

Happy Sunday eating!!!

Ana