Sew Half Crazy

4/30/2013

Thinking Ahead........

Heather 4/30/2013 0 Comments

Yay for being in the 2nd trimester. FINALLY.

I'm feeling more and more human, even if my sinuses are now bombarding me. Yay for Virginia! Stupid pollen state. Its so bad this year, that even the boys are asking for help blowing their noses. That's not only shocking, but scary as to the crisis their noses must be in. I, for one, am tired of washing shirts that from shoulder to hem have snot streaks down them.

I am not going to talk about snot streaks or sinuses today though. I'm starting to plan. We will be finding out the flavor of fetus in a few weeks, and with this impending news I've been thinking. About nurseries.

Now I'm not pulling for one flavor over the other. I want healthy. A girl would be a new challenge, but a boy, well a boy would be old hat, and I found the absolute perfect inspiration board and room for our guy, if he is a guy.

{source}

So some back story about why I love this so much. My dad is a rocket engineer, and one of his rockets just had a successful test flight out of Wallops Island. Yay! My boys love space. Dev is fascinated by the solar system and wants to be a meteorologist (who knows what they want to be in kindergarten?). Harrison has decided he just wants to go to space. That will probably change but he said it, so I'm going with it. Steve also likes it, but I secretly think its because he's hoping to sneak in some Star Wars stuff. :)

Visiting LemonDropLife also led me to LayBabyLay, a site I'd never heard of but am totally in love with now!

So here are the inspiration boards I like from LayBabyLay!

This is the same board that LemonDropLife used for her nursery. There are so many things I love here, but mostly I love the happy pop of yellow!

So for a girl, there are a couple of options. I want butterflies. I know. Its been done. A lot, but I like them and all their fluttery glory, but I also like glam, vintage, sparkly and shiny. All those things can go together right?

I love how happy this room is! I also love all the PINK!!!! If you guys remember the rest of my house, there's also a fair amount of orange in it, so obv I love orange too. I don't know that Steve is on board with this, but we're just brainstorming here.

Ok I'm not at all in love with the bunny theme here, but the bunny can get replaced with butterflies. I like the pops of color against a neutral, and seriously.....that dresser is amazing. Love that dresser, and guess who has 3, maybe 4 dressers hanging around her garage and house that are waiting for some love. Steve is so happy about that circumstance. :-/

So there are some of the ideas we're batting around right now. Like I said there are others, but there is a small child asking for hot chocolate and he's probably waited for me long enough to finish up this post. :)

Heather

4/11/2013

Adjusting

Heather 4/11/2013 0 Comments

So my last post shared that I'm now preggo. You know what the problem with that is? I'm competitive. With myself.

I think the problem is starting to become clearer. 6 weeks ago I was in the best shape of my life and headed for even better fitness and well being. I was able to consistently meet PRs and goals.

Fast forward to now. I'm almost 12 weeks pregnant and showing. My back has started hurting along with my round ligament and I just don't have the stamina I did. I get tired super easily and overheated. The internal body temp thing is completely whacked out and it's playing havoc with everything.

I need to keep reminding myself that I'm not at the level I was. I'm on a new level. A pregnant level and dammit anything I do exercise-wise is awesome and rocks. Even if it means a 16 minute mile (ack!)

So here I am, after my workout, sitting in the lounge area of the gym waiting for my mom to finish her class so I can scarf down whatever deliciousness the hubs has made because the 45 minute workout I just did has made me ravenous and I will not allow myself to go to 5 guys again and gobble up a little bacon cheeseburger like I did after Zumba. Even tho it was heavenly and delicious.

Ok so there's my check in. Oh and does anyone know why after an hour in the sun today my back looks like a freaking lobster? Cause a sunburn is just what I needed. :-/

4/08/2013

Life......

Heather 4/08/2013 1 Comments

So ya know, I had a plan.

I had a good plan. It was going to rock, because I was finally going to be not overweight or obese anymore. I was going to rock a bikini for the first time, since oh the hubs and I were dating.

It was going to be marvelous.

Then bammo! I'm talking to Mom and we start talking about monthly cycles and I start thinking.......Hmmmm, shouldn't mine have been here by now? Am I late? Crap, I hope I'm not late. Great now I have to run to the store. C R A P

So after this happened.

Which, coincidentally, is how I told my sister and the hubs. First words - Oh crap.

You see we weren't trying. Really was kind of rounding the "we're done with children" corner. Its never been easy for us to get pregnant. Its always taken work and then a lot of praying. This is my 6th pregnancy. Its my first pregnancy that's had a heartbeat without following a miscarriage. Its weird and took a bit of getting used to the fact that we're having another baby. We'd started donating all of our baby stuff. Like I said, we were rounding the corner.

So now all of my plans have changed. Obv I'm not dieting anymore, and I'm totally not eating as healthy as before, it is not my fault that Taco Bell makes me feel better, blame the baby. I'm also eating more, but luckily (?) the morning sickness was so bad that I did end up losing weight the first several weeks anyways. I've gained all of it back and then a pound or two, but I'm also trying to get back into my exercising.

Now that I'm feeling better again, its time to get this butt in gear and try and keep up exercising so I don't end up back where I was after small fry was born. Granted, I'm starting this pregnancy MUCH lighter than either of my other two pregnancies that went to term, but even still.....I am hoping not to have another heavy-weight baby like Devlin either. I gained a total of 17 pounds with Devlin, who was then slightly over 10 pounds, so really ending up only 7 pounds heavier than when I started was not bad. With Harrison it was better? I gained 6 pounds with him, and he ended up weighing 7 pounds, so right off the bat I was down a pound.

Not that I'm advocating anything here, but I'm going to be honest that I dislike being pregnant. From the fatigue, to the morning sickness and then a host of other fun things that all my mom-friends will commiserate with me on being pregnant sucks. There are cool parts. Feeling the baby move (at first, then it just becomes annoying), freaking out your husband or other children when the baby decides to roll over and them going WTH? Shopping for new baby is fun and nesting is fun, at least for me, but these first few months...No, thank you.

Oh here's a fun part about #3.....you show sooner. Joy. At least I can wear some of my fat clothes again and be completely comfortable while I chow down on my Taco Bell. Of course, I donated most of those clothes too. More shopping.

Well that's my post for today. Tomorrow I hit the gym again. I plan on going to the gym 3 days this week. I don't know what my plan is, but I imagine there'll be some jogging/walking on the treadmill and maybe I'll hit the weights. Don't know, but I'm going and that's half the battle.

See you guys later!

Well that was unintended......

Heather 4/08/2013 0 Comments

So its been a bit over a month since anything has been posted. Oooops.

Life has a way of getting in the way, or ya know, putting up a huge cinder block road block that says, "HEY! Pay attention to me!"

Well guess what life threw into our way?

Yep, that's a blueberry. Or a frog, depending on who you ask. :) Our new bundle is going to arrive sometime in October, which is also why absolutely squat has gotten done for the last several weeks. Yay for morning sickness. And fatigue! Can't forget that one.

Thankfully the first trimester is almost over and I'm starting to feel a smidgen better. We find out next month what flavor the berry is which should be interesting as everyone, absolutely everyone, is rooting for team pink.

What does this mean for the changes we just made to the boys' room? Well, unfortunately they're going to have to lose their playroom, but luckily the walk-in closet in their room is a reading nook right now, so after some toy editing there should be plenty of room for them and their toys. :)

Ok so that's my update, and hopefully I'll be sharing some more projects here soon, once I get them done. :)

Heather

3/09/2013

Quick Quickies

Heather 3/09/2013 0 Comments

Just a few little things I've tried recently to show off this week, nothing big. First up, home ground coffee...with a blender! Wait, what? How is that even possible? I don't know. I don't know much about blenders other than the fact that I'm capable of burning them out. That's why I was so excited when I looked on the website for my Ninja and saw that you can grind coffee beans with it!

*Be sure to check and see if your blender is capable of this. I don't know if I would have risked it if the official manual/website didn't state it was possible.

I was googling to find out if this was possible because I just happened to have a bag of whole bean coffee beans.

Three avocados is a non-profit coffee company some friends of ours (Josh Wilson and Wes Pickering)were supporting during a Christmas tour this past year. You can find Three Avocados website here.

All you have to do is fill up your single-serve cup to the fill line (my bag of coffee went right to the line perfectly), screw the blade-top on, and start buzzing. It takes some time, but no more than ten minutes. Oh, but the process is LOUD! This is a big mason jar pictured, and the ground coffee filled up about half of it. That's a lot of espresso!

Here you can see the grounds are really which is great because that means better espresso! I actually compared what my Ninja did to the coffee I had ground at Whole Foods, and my Ninja did a better job. Nice work, Ninja. :-)

It's no secret the people in my family love good coffee, so I'm extra pleased to say that Three Avocados not only helps people in need, but also makes bangin' coffee! Win!

Alright, next up is a quick and easy meal or snack that looks fancy, too. I got the idea for this from a Little Paris Kitchen episode, but I think you can take this concept and run with it.

Step 1: Flatten a piece of sandwich bread.

Step 2: Brush melted butter onto it.

Step 3: Line one muffin tin cup with the bread.

Step 4: Crack an egg into the bread-lined-cup.

Step 5: Top with cheese, bacon, or whatever you like.

Step 6: Bake at 350 for fifteen or so minutes, or until the yolk is done to your liking.

Step 7: Remove the "egg muffin" and enjoy!

I like my yolk a little runny so it oozes out when you cut into the muffin. Seriously easy.

Last but not least, want to know how to spruce up a boring salad? Top with a fried egg. I fried my egg in bacon fat because I'm fancy like that. I also make sure to leave my yolk runny because that kind of makes a dressing for the salad.

That's a real woman's salad.

That's all I have for this week, folks.

3/02/2013

Better Than Sushi

Heather 3/02/2013 0 Comments

I have a confession. I don't like sushi. I really want to like sushi; there's something inherently cool and hip about it. I've tried so, so many times to eat it and tell myself I like it, but the lie falls apart pretty quickly when my mouth rebels and says, "No, that wasn't nice. Don't do that again, please.". Boo, mouth. Boo. The biggest issue is the seaweed. Blech! To me, seaweed tastes like sweaty shoes. I don't actually know what a sweaty shoe tastes like, as I've cleverly avoided eating them during my time on this plane, but I imagine they taste like seaweed. Can I say it again? Blech!

Here's the issue, I like certain sushi fillings. Namely, crunchy shrimp rolls. What's not to like? Fried shrimp, cream cheese, avocado...wait, are some of those California roll ingredients? It doesn't matter! The point is, the filling of a lot of sushi is scrumptious, even if it is surrounded by sweaty-sneaker-weed. So what's a girl to do? Make her own!

Crunchy Shrimp Spring Rolls

*All of the proportions are up to you depending on your taste and how many rolls you are making. I have listed the amounts below based on what I did per one roll (i.e. 1/8 cup of cooked rice for one roll)

1 sheet of rice paper

1/8 cup cooked, sticky rice

4 shrimp, cooked, tails off and de-veined

Water for steaming (no more than a few teaspoons), plus more for the rice paper

1/8 slice avocado, diced

2 to 3 tsp cream cheese

2 to 3 tsp scallions

1/8 cup peanuts, chopped

A clean tea towel for rolling

Parchment paper or tinfoil for finished rolls

Dipping Sauce/Shrimp Cooking Liquid (optional)

*How much sauce you make is all dependent on how many shrimp/rolls you are making

3 parts low sodium soy sauce

1 part sesame oil

1/2 part Rice wine vinegar

Garlic powder to taste (I used more to add some heat)

Firstly, cook your shrimp all the way through. It's up to you whether or not you want to leave your shrimp plain or cook it in the dipping sauce outlined above. I have tried it both ways, and I personally think it's superior with the sauce. If you do choose to make the sauce, just be sure to make enough to both flavor the shrimp and have enough leftover for dipping. Also, if your shrimp are frozen like mine were, the water that ekes out as they thaw adds to the water used for steaming in the pot. If they are fresh, they won't eke out as much water, so be sure to take that into account. Put the water, shrimp, and all the dipping sauce ingredients (if using) into a pot. Heat on medium, stirring occasionally until the shrimp are cooked all the way through. Remove from the heat, pick out the shrimp, and set aside on a plate. If the dipping sauce is too watery, reduce further. Remember, the saltiness from the soy will increase the further you reduce the sauce! When you're satisfied with your sauce, pour it into a dipping vessel (I used a ramekin) and set aside.

While the shrimp is cooking, dice your avocado and mix with the cream cheese. Set this aside in a dish. Mix your scallions with the rice and set aside in another dish. Chop your peanuts and set aside. Fill a wide bowl or a plate with a shallow lip with lukewarm water. Make sure to have everything at hand and prepared before you begin assembly.

Once your assembly station is set up, take a single sheet of rice paper and dunk it into the plate of water for no more than five seconds (any longer and your rice paper will be too soggy - it will continue to absorb water after the dunk). Lay the rice paper flat out on your tea towel. Take your rice/scallion portion, form it into a cylindrical shape with your hands, and lay it into the upper third section of the rice paper. Place your shrimp neatly in one line on top of this mound, overlapping their edges slightly if necessary. Form your cream cheese/avocado mixture into a line long enough to cover the shrimp end to end. Top with your chopped peanuts, pressing them gently into the cream cheese to secure.

Then, very carefully and gently, take the edge of the rice paper and pull it up over your filling. Fold the sides in to secure and gently press down on the filling to fill out the sides. You want this to be a tight, long-ish package. Once that is done, roll the wrapper over and over until you reach the end. It will stick to the tea towel a bit, but be firm yet gentle with it, and you'll be fine. Once the roll is complete, set aside on a sheet of either tinfoil or parchment paper. When you place the next roll down, make sure the rolls do not touch! They will stick to each other. Repeat the assembly steps until all of your rolls are made.

I actually made this recipe twice in one week, as I wasn't completely happy with my results the first time - the shrimp needed more flavor, the avocado was under ripe and difficult to eat, etc. Second time around was perfect, so my pictures below are the best from both experiences.

The setup from attempt number two, as I had all of my ingredients right. The assembly station, however, was lacking. Please note the tea towel in the pictures below.

When you soak your rice paper wrappers, you only need to make it pliable, so no more than a few seconds in the water. It will continue to absorb the excess water after you pull it out.

You'll need to scooch your rice up further than what you see in this picture. I kind of rolled and pressed my rice towards my body to make the bed. Also, it's totally up to you which way you want to roll your rolls. I found rolling them away from me worked best, but the opposite might work best for you.

Sorry for the shoddy camera work on this one. My camera guy was free. ;-)

Ignore the fact that this one is not on the tea towel. Make sure to use a tea towel; you will be glad you did! You can see the filling getting built up and finished here.

*You may be asking, why peanuts? That's not a traditional sushi ingredient. No, but nuts are found in many other Asian dishes. Shrimp and cashews, for instance. Nuts are for the crunch because I don't think fried shrimp would work well in this application. Have you ever had cold fried food? No, thank you. You can use cashews or a different type of nut if you want, but I like peanuts for this.

I'm not going to lie, the folding takes some practice. This is the first roll I ever did. As you can see, it's a bit fat.

This is what you want the roll to look like, minus the tear (I left this sheet in the water too long).

As I said in the recipe, make sire your resting roll are all separated! See, no one is touching anyone else here.

So what about leftovers? So not a problem. Just wrap each roll individually in tinfoil and refrigerate. You can eat them later cold (the tinfoil keeps in the moisture), or zap them in the microwave for thirty seconds to one minute covered with a wet paper towel.

So how did they turn out? Magnificent! I could gorge myself on these. So many tastes and textures to experience...the tangy creaminess of the cream cheese, the buttery avocado, the salty crunch of the peanuts, the sweetness of the shrimp. Heaven! Dang, I gotta go make more right now. Here I go!

2/23/2013

The Soup That Mike Forgot

Heather 2/23/2013 0 Comments

I don't know how this happens. I'm not even sure it's ever happened to me, but have you ever had a meal, loved it, and then forgotten about it? Mike totally did that with this week's recipe, so I had to remind him how much he enjoyed it.

I found the recipe on Pinterest (of course), and the original link is here.

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Makes about 2 quarts (about 8 servings)

Crock Pot Version
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions
1 tsp dried oregano or 1 T fresh oregano
1 T dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil
4 cups chicken broth
½ bay leaf
½ cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup butter
2 cups half and half, warmed (or skim milk if you’re trying to cut some calories)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Add tomatoes, celery, carrots, chicken broth, onions, oregano, basil, and bay leaf to a large slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-7 hours, until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.

About 30 minutes before serving prepare a roux. Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and add flour. Stir constantly with a whisk for 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup. Add another 3 cups and stir until smooth. Add all back into the slow cooker. Stir and add the Parmesan cheese, warmed half and half, salt and pepper. Add additional basil and oregano if needed (the slow cooker does a number on spices and they get bland over time, so don’t be afraid to always season to taste at the end).

Cover and cook on LOW for another 30 minutes or so until ready to serve.

Stove-Top Version
3 cups diced tomatoes with juice (you can use canned)
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 Tbsp fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup finely diced onions
4 Tbsp fresh basil or 1 Tbsp dried
1/2 bay leaf
1/2 cup butter
2 cups half and half, warmed (if you want you can use whole milk, evaporated milk instead…or even skim if you want to skinny it up)
1 tsp salt

Heat oil in 4 quart soup pot. Add celery, onions and carrots. Saute 5 minutes. Add basil, oregano, bay leaf, tomatoes, and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender (15 minutes).

While soup simmers, prepare a roux. Melt butter over low heat, add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup. Add another 3 cups and stir until smooth. Add back into soup pot.

Simmer, stirring constantly, until soup begins to thicken. Add Parmesan cheese and whisk to blend. Stir warmed half and half, salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Personally, I did the crock pot version because there is no better feeling than knowing dinner is taking care of itself and then smelling that delicious goodness when you walk in after a long day of work. Crock pot meals are my jam!

Assemble the team! I actually started the night before so I wouldn't have to get up early to chop vegetables.

When everything was done, I just tipped it all into a bowl and covered with plastic to sit in the fridge overnight. I tend to chop my veggies a bit larger than a dice, as I like a chunkier, more rustic soup, but either way works well.

Next day, nearly everything goes into the pot to cook while I work. I actually came home at lunch to do this, but you could start it up in the morning.

And here's the soup after adding the roux. We're almost there!

Tadaa! To top it off, we toasted some extra hot dog buns we had on hand and rubbed them with garlic and butter to dip. Awwwwww yeeeeeeah...

And that's all there is to it. So easy and amazing. This soup is rustic and comforting and makes you feel good about even the worst day. Best of all, as soon as Mike took his first bite, he remembered it and why he loved it so much. I like to think he won't forget again. :-)

2/18/2013

What Cardio Looks Like

Heather 2/18/2013 0 Comments

So after I completed my first cardio 3-4 session, I decided to show the hubs what I looked like.

Yep, its blurry cause my hands were shaking, and that's a whole lot of red and sweat. This is before abs, during the cool down. I got more sweaty in the after bloom of working out, but I really enjoyed the challenge of the cardio in 3-4.

I do not like the push-ups in Sculpt 3-4. I'm still struggling with those. Push-up stands are in my future.

So that's my check-in. :)

Pampering Me!

Heather 2/18/2013 0 Comments

So I've got projects in the works, but nothing is quite done yet. So I figured I'd show off something I did for myself the other day!

My hands look rough but the manicure is pretty!!! I just used a nude colored base and then a sparkly blue, which is named 'Hottie', to top it off!

Heather

2/17/2013

Homemade Pasta

Heather 2/17/2013 0 Comments

That's right, I said it! Homemade pasta. As in, I made it...at home...myself. Okay, you get the point. Pretty amazing, right? Mike was not as impressed as I thought he should be. I told him that was because he was spoiled. Had I done this six years ago, he would have been all like, "No way! No one has ever done that ever! You must be magic!" Nah, none of that. Instead he just said, "Of course you did." Not really sure how to feel about this. Anyway, how did I do it? Especially gluten free? It's way easier than you would think. This is based on a recipe by Annalise Roberts.

GF Homemade Pasta

-*1 cup all-purpose GF flour (make sure to use a variety that doesn't have a binder such as xanthan gum or guar gum pre-included), more for rolling

-1/2 tsp xanthan gum

-2 large eggs (I ended up having to use 3)

*The GF flour recipe Annalise Roberts uses is 2 parts brown rice flour, 2/3 parts potato starch, and 1/3 part tapioca flour. Nothing else. That is what I use as well.

Combine the flour and xanthan gum the bowl of you mixer using the dough hook on low speed. Once those two are mixed, add the eggs, stir until just combined, and then beat on medium speed for two minutes until the dough forms a ball. Then divide in half, roll out, cut, and cook.

According to the book, your pasta, cut or uncut, can be left out on the counter (covered with a tea towel to prevent drying out) for up to two hours. It can also be run through a pasta machine.

See, there's my dough. Not too sticky, but it will leave some residue on your hands.

There's my dough all rolled out. Now, if you've actually done this before, which I hadn't, you might notice something wrong here. Yeah, that dough should be about half that thickness. Again, it was my first time. It's a learning process.

I don't have any fancy pasta cutters or anything and I didn't want to risk scratching my granite island-top, so I got creative with my cutting implements. Yup, a plastic knife. I don't care what anyone has to say about this because it worked and that's the only thing that matters.

See? Not bad, huh? Like I said, I know it's not perfect. My lines aren't straight, the dough is too thick, but it works! I'm getting better.

Me: "Mike! Look! I'm all done?"

Mike: "Already? I'm not ready to eat just yet.

All of this had really only taken me about 30 minutes. Good thing the recipe said it could be preserved in a tea towel for a while, so we did that.

When Mike was finally ready to eat, we cooked the pasta in boiling, salted water, which only took about 6 minutes at most. Meanwhile, we also browned up some sausages and zapped some jarred sauce...what? I freaking made the pasta from scratch! I can phone it in on the sauce if I want! Besides, it's really good sauce. Marinara from Trader Joe's. Haha, what did I say about the dough not being thin enough. You can see here how thick it got when it cooked. You can also see us struggling to mix everything without making a grand mess because I am really bad at judging volumetric proportions.

Tadaa! And there is the finished...oh, wait. I was too slow in taking the picture. It all got eaten up too fast. Oh well. :-)

I'm still working on learning to use the pasta machine I bought now. It's not quite as easy as using a microwave, but I'm learning. I'm really excited about this new culinary weapon, however, because I can now make flavored pasta. Do you get what I am saying? Cracked black pepper, garlic, tomato, spinach, herbs. As I have said many times before, I LOVE pasta, and I've just been given the secret-key-sword-password-power to this most happy-making of foods. Look out, world! I'm unstoppable!