Beauty School Dropout

Las Fallas: Ninots 26
Originally uploaded by janettduarte

Ever since I first stumbled onto the Flylady site back in 2004 (it was 3 days before taking the bar exam - do you think I procrastinating much?), I have been a big fan of meal planning.  I can't say my house is much cleaner, but at least I usually have enough food in the house to cook 3-4 healthy dinners a week.  Since there are just two of us (for at least a little bit longer!) this is usually enough to get us through the week with leftovers and evening meetings, etc. taking up the slack for the other nights.  I really like to cook, but the big benefits of meal planning for me are saving money and eating healthier than I could in a restaurant.

Several blogs I read regularly post their meal plans for the week - I think it might be nice to be able to look back and see what I've done in the past to get ideas on those weeks when I'm completely drawing a blank.  It's also a convenient way to share recipes with my sister (we sometimes work on our meal plans together over the phone on Sunday afternoons). 

Sunday:  Two-Bean Tamale Pie, side salad
Monday:  Turkey kebabs & cabbage slaw (Jan/Feb 2010 Everyday Food magazine), hummus & pita bread
Tuesday:  Dinner with Awesomers (our church life group)
Wednesday:  Leftover Tamale Pie 
Thursday: Turkey & slaw wraps (leftovers from Monday)
Friday:  Paella in honor of Las Fallas* (personal recipe, but I'll take some pictures and see if my husband will write up the recipe on his blog)
Saturday: Out to eat for my birthday? 

*I was planning to be in Spain for the Las Fallas festival this year - 10 years after the first time I was there during college study abroad - but obviously the baby had other plans!  (The picture at the top of the post is one of the paper-mache statues that is burned on the night of March 19th as the culmination of the festival.  There's a lot more to it than that, but it's certainly the most memorable part!)

We'll see how much of this week's menu plan I actually get to make... I am coming into the home stretch for my due date - March 22!

A new month... my due-date month... how did we get here already?  Baby is still doing well and at this early date (3 weeks until due date) doesn't seem to be in any particular hurry to go anywhere.  Which is fine with me, because I have closets to clean!  (My nesting instinct kicked in big time last weekend, and I found myself awake before 6am on Saturday cleaning out closets.  Yes, I am insane, but my closets look amazing!)

Baby Shower Sock Monkey
Originally uploaded by kerner

It's baby shower time!

Two baby showers within the span of 8 days (the first one was yesterday)... sooner or later when people ask me the inevitable "Are you ready for this baby?" question, I guess I'm going to have to start saying yes.

After all, can I really have a baby until he has his very own handmade sock money?

This weekend, my mom, sister, and two aunts threw a family baby shower and invited all my female relatives. It was quite a bit more laid back than most showers I've been to, which was just fine by me. We had a great lunch and some delicious cake (I snuck a taste of the cake without any frosting), then my sister quizzed the rest of us with her baby knowledge quiz. (My grandmother declared that if babies REALLY weren't supposed to have cow's milk before 1 year, then her oldest son (out of 7 total) would have died. She may be prone to exaggeration, but she and my grandpa made their living as dairy farmers, so I guess it's a bit of a sensitive subject.)

After that, of course - the presents! My family royally spoiled us with both practical and adorable gits - we got lots of baby Mizzou gear and a few of the higher price-tag items I was hoping not to have to buy for myself, like a jogging stroller and a baby monitor.

Family Baby Shower
Originally uploaded by kerner

Kitchen Remodel?
Originally uploaded by kerner

And I do mean crafty in both senses of the word!

Some people in my house are beginning to suspect the kitchen layout design was really just a ruse to acquire an extra-large space for basting quilts. I choose to exercise my right to remain silent when such accusations are made.

Regardless, I am making excellent progress on the quilt for baby Kerner. I've got the quilt top and back basted together by hand and I may even start quilting tonight. (That depends on how long I procrastinate taking the dog to get her nails trimmed. We shall see.)

34 Weeks
Originally uploaded by kerner

How far along? 34 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss: I haven't had a dr's appointment since last time, so no weight update

Maternity clothes? Yep, I broke out the REALLY big ones this week. I shall call this shirt the "salmon gumball."

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep: Still good, no change from last week.

Best moment this week: Matt finally getting to feel some good kicks! He could just be kicking away, and as soon as I tell Matt to put his hand on my belly, it completely stops. I've been telling him he's just really good at getting the baby to calm down - which we will be thankful for once the baby arrives!

Movement: Pretty active - I am feeling lots of kicks above my belly button. Sometimes I have to ask Matt to ask his child to remove his foot from mama's gall bladder - ouchie!

Food cravings: Nothing new - my current fav is hot chocolate made with skim milk and Ghiradelli chocolate mix. Yum!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? Still half-in, half-out. When I was at the pool last weekend, a lady I know "mentioned" that my belly button was starting to pop out... but I think it's only noticeable in a wet swimsuit.

What I miss: Wearing normal clothes.

What I am looking forward to: (This is sort of the same as last time, oh well.) We're have the big meeting with our doula tonight after dinner - I am really looking forward to talking through our birth plans and hoping she can ease some fears for me.

Cheater's Pulled Pork
Originally uploaded by kerner

As I am getting closer to the big Birth Day, I am starting to think about things I can do to make my life easier once the little one has arrived. One of those things is preparing some meals in advance that I can pull out of the freezer and bake.

Another sanity-saver (even without a baby around) is making meals in the crockpot. I actually love it so much I have them in two different sizes. Since I think things cook better in the crockpot when they're almost completely submerged in liquid, the small one is nice to keep the portion size relatively small (since at the moment I'm only cooking for two).

Without further adieu, here is my original recipe for Cheater's Pulled Pork. I call it this because it's so easy - it's loosely based on a recipe from my mom, but considerably scaled back in terms of ingredients.

In your crockpot, stir to combine:
- 1 bottle of beer (pretty much anything works, but you might want to avoid the fruity stuff like raspberry or apricot beer)
- 4 shakes of BBQ rub/seasoning (substitute taco seasoning if you must)
- 2 shakes of thyme
- 1 4 oz. can of diced green chiles

Add a 1-2 lb. pork loin, fat trimmed off (as best you can), cut into pieces so it will be submerged in the liquid as much as possible. (I cut mine into 4 long strips.  It really doesn't matter because you're going to shred it when it's done anyway.) (You could double the seasonings and liquid ingredients to make a larger quantity of pork.)

(Usually I'm putting this together the night before so I stow the crock in my fridge)

Crucial next step once you're ready to cook: Take the crock out of the fridge and put it back in the crockpot. Don't forget to plug it in! (I find that leaving the cooking part of the crockpot sitting out on my counter is a good reminder... but I'm not going to lie and tell you I've never forgotten it before.)

Cook on low all day 6-9 hours. Remove meat from liquid, shred with 2 forks (it should pretty much just fall apart), and serve on toasted bread or buns with your favorite BBQ sauce.  (If you don't have a favorite, I recommend a sweet & spicy Kansas City-style sauce... not that I'm prejudiced or anything!)

Do you have any favorite freezer or crock-pot meals you'd like to share with a nesting mama-to-be?  Leave it in the comments!

Olyvia's Quilt - before & after
Originally uploaded by kerner

Momma reports that one-month-old Olyvia likes her quilt.

I hope this photo is not a sign of things to come (as far as sticking out her tongue for pictures)!