Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Pasta

Say whaaaaat? I'm back and I'm here to share with you one of sweet P's favorite dishes. The original recipe calls for a couple extra ingredients (and they definitely do add a little something special) but this slightly adjusted version is still delicious. It's quite mac n cheese-esque with a bit more substance. If you've ever brought home the pre-cut organic butternut squash and/or the goat cheese logs from Costco with the best intentions but realized you had no idea what to do with it/them, this is for you. You can substitute a 2 lb whole butternut squash for the pre-cut package but you won't get any extra credit for peeling and cutting it yourself.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs butternut squash, cubed
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1 lb penne pasta
• 1 cup goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup Parmesan

1. Season the squash with salt and pepper and toss in a good amount of olive oil. Roast at 425 degrees F for ~40 minutes* until the pieces are golden and cooked through. Set aside to cool.
2. While the squash is cooling, cook your pasta**. Reserve ~2 cups of the pasta water before draining. You'll need it for the sauce.
3. Put the goat cheese into a large bowl then top with the hot pasta and ~1 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss until the cheese has melted into a dreamy, creamy sauce. Add the butternut squash, toasted walnuts***, and Parmesan (reserving a little for garnish). Toss well and adjust seasoning if necessary. 
4. Enjoy!

* If you want to keep the squash pieces in tact, be more conservative with the roasting time. If you want the squash to break up and kind of melt into the sauce, let them roast a bit longer but be careful not to burn them. If you do, just add "charred" to the dish name and pretend it was intentional.

** Cook your pasta in salted water according to preference. If you're like me, you'll want it al dente. If you're like my mom, you'll want to cook your noodles until they're a mushy mess. To each her own.

***You can toast the walnuts in the oven at 350 degrees F for ~5 mins or you can also toast them in a dry saute pan over medium heat. Option C is to not toast them at all but toasted nuts are definitely tastier. 

Something Like a Jambalasta

 

 

Although my return to blogging didn't start off on the cheeriest of notes, let's see how long this revival lasts. Don't call it a comeback.

When I first started on my domestic journey, I was so scared to stray off the recipe path. I haven't graduated to wing-it-cum-laude yet but I'm getting better at replacing ingredients with what I have on hand. Below is a really versatile dish that was adapted from this one and it hasn't failed me yet. Here's what I used tonight but feel free to mix and match with what tickles your pickle palet.

Ingredients

 

1 lb. pasta

extra virgin olive oil

1/2 lb hot sausage, casing removed and diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large jalepeno pepper, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup beer

1 cup low sodium chicken stock

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

hot sauce

2 palmfuls fresh thyme leaves

3/4 lb chicken breast, diced

1 can of salmon (6 oz.)

milk

fat free greek yogurt



 

1. Cook pasta to al dente. I had some left over spiral macaroni noodles in the pantry but penne or even long pasta will be juuuust fine. Pasta is pasta is delicious.
2. While noodles cook, coat the bottom of a deep skillet with oil and heat over med-hi heat. Add the sausage and brown for a few minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, leaving behind all the glorious fat. I like to whisper, "I have big plans for you," into the pan to spice things up.
3. Add garlic, peppers, and onions to the pan. Season with salt and pepper then saute for ~5 mins or until they slightly soften. You don't want to cook them too long or they'll turn to mush by the end of the cooking process. Also, only keep the seeds and membranes of the jalepeno if you like things extra spicy like myself. Otherwise, remove them before chopping up the peppers and it should still give a nice kick.
4. Add flour to the pan, stir, then let the mixture cook for a couple minutes. 
5. Whisk in the beer and let the alcohol cook out for a couple more minutes. Wine works too but I think the dish turns out a little yummier with beer.
6. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, hot sauce, and thyme. You can use whatever hot sauce you desire but I stay loyal to my rooster with green top.
7. Bring sauce to bubble and add chicken and salmon. Original recipe calls for shrimp but I always have canned salmon from Costco in stock so that's what I use.
8. Cook until chicken is firm, ~7 minutes, unless salmonella is your thing.
9. Add a splash of milk and a few spoonfuls of non fat greek yogurt. I chose this combo to substitute heavy cream b/c I'd much rather have ice cream after dinner.
10. Add the pasta to the sauce and top with the crispy hot sausage.

 

I'd love to hear how it turned out for you (but only if it's good news).

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Still Alive

It's been so long since I've posted. I wouldn't be surprised if this little blog didn't make the end-of-Google-Reader-cut for most folks. S'okay. I really just wanted to write this while the details were still fresh in my mind. In the future, I may not want to remember the details but that's when the delete post option comes in handy.

This past Wednesday wound down like any other day. We fed the kids, bathed them, tucked them in after reading way more books than what was originally agreed upon. Matt and I ate dinner and talked about our day. Around 8 pm, Hew came downstairs, half asleep, complaining he was cold. Matt took him back up to his room and tucked him in extra tight as he inherited my tendencies to kick off all the covers in his sleep. Then around 10 pm, Hew got up again and came into our room while I was getting ready for bed. As I carried him back to his room, I  noticed he felt a little warm but he had complained about a stuffy nose that day so I dismissed it as the onset of a cold. "Probably from his kissing spree of random poles at the park," I said to Matt. He's a smoocher, that kid. About an hour later, Matt was on his way upstairs when he found Hew sitting on the steps. Matt scooped him up and was just about to scold him for getting up when he started shaking.

I was woken up by a hysterical husband who came charging into our room with our son in his arms. I watched in denial as the tiny body of my 3 year old convulsed and twitched. His mouth started to foam and his lips turned blue. I looked into his eyes searching for my sweet baby boy only to find a lifeless stare. While Matt frantically screamed, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM?! WHAT DO I DO?!" I reached for my cell and dialed 911. When the dispatcher asked, "What's your emergency?" my response was almost involuntary. "I think my son is having a seizure." When the paramedics came, they were a vision to me. I don't mean to be cheesy or cliche but those men in uniform were like knights in shining armor riding in on a white horse with flashing lights. It was then that the reality of it all finally sank in and I became the hysterical mother you see in movies.

Hew suffered a febrile seizure. It only lasted a couple minutes but it truly felt like an eternity. We stayed at the hospital overnight where they monitored his temperature to make sure it didn't creep back up. His strep test came back negative and chest x-rays looked great. The saint of an ER doc (he answered alllllll my type-A questions with nothing but kindness) thought that Hew developed an upper respiratory infection (hence the stuffy nose and red throat) which led to his fever. Even though it was low grade and Hew has had higher fevers before, it was the quick spike that led to the febrile seizure (a learning from one of my annoying questions). Hew was back to his usual happy, chatty self before we even left the hospital. Despite a warning that he wouldn't have much of an appetite in the coming days, my son asked for pancakes and bacon as soon as we got home and polished his plate. He doesn't even remember the ambulance ride.

I had read that seizures are not uncommon among young children when they develop a fever and that it's partly because their brains are growing and developing at such a rapid rate, but all logic and reason vanished when I witnessed it happening to my baby. That sight is branded into my brain and I see a vivid replay of it every time I close my eyes. I can only hope the image will fade away with time. I look forward to the day that I won't be scared to open my son's door in fear of the worst, that my heart won't stop every time my child gets a fever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken & Biscuits

This recipe caught my attention because it's the lazy man's chicken pot pie. Then I made it even lazier. Because when there are more Goldfish on the kitchen floor than in the box and the dirty dishes are starting to resemble a Jenga tower in the kitchen sink, corner-cutting is in order. Next time I think I'm going to cut the number of biscuits to 5 in order to achieve the optimal biscuit to chicken ratio.

  Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped to bite-size
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and chopped to bite-size
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1.5 cups milk
• 1/4 cup AP flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 can store bought biscuits (I recommend Pillsbury Grands and all their glorious, flaky layers)
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Butter or spray a large casserole dish and preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet, warm up a little extra virgin olive oil over med-hi heat.

Season the chicken with salt & pepper then brown in the pan for ~5 mins, stirring occasionally. Transfer the chicken and its juices to a bowl & set aside. 

Add a little more EVOO to the same pan and heat it over med-hi heat. Add the onions and carrots, season lightly with salt & pepper, and cook for a few minutes until they soften. Add the green beans, garlic, season lightly again, and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the milk. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour into the broth until its completely dissolved then add to the pan. Stir everything together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low and cook for a couple more minutes until everything starts to thicken. Add the chicken and its juices back to the pan along with the thyme. Stir to combine. At this point you can season with salt, pepper to taste if you need but I found that the previous layers of seasoning was enough. Spoon the mixture into the casserole dish and top with the biscuits. 

Bake for ~15 minutes or until the top of the biscuits are golden brown and scream to be eaten. 

Taco Tuesday

 

...but posting about it on a Wednesday. Tacos are one of my fav go-to meals at times when I'm feeling hyper-lazy. You like that oxymoron? Thought so. My only complaint used to be the heinous levels of sodium in pre-packaged taco seasoning (unless you happen to like water retention and cankles) until I came across this gem. The recipe below is scaled up to make a bigger batch because "sensible portions" are profane words in my household. Mix up all the ingredients in a bowl, store in an air tight container, and a Mexican fiesta will be no further than a pantry away.

• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tbl ground cumin
• 1 tbl + 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbl + 1 tsp pepper

Brown up your ground meat o' choice in a skillet, toss a few palmfuls of taco seasoning in, cut up some 'maters and 'ocados for topping, and you have dinner before Chopped gets to its dessert round.

 

Quick Takes rev 8

What's this, you ask? It's a long overdue blog post for which y'all have been clicking refresh on your readers over the last 4 months. And to make sure I don't go impressing anyone with originality or depth , I've put together a list of moments and thought bubbles from this past week that only I will find funny and am linking it up with one of the prettiest redheads I know, know of, cyber-stalk. That came out a smidgen creepier than I intended. Moving on...

~1~

Overheard on the elevator at work (names changed to protect the clueless):

Dilbert: "Yea so I always seem to fail in the Christmas gift department with my wife so this year, I decided to think completely out of the box."
Sherman: "What did you get her?"
Dilbert: "A welder."
Sherman: *silence*
Dilbert: "Well she's always bringing home these random things made of metal to decorate the house with so I figured this way, she can just make her own. She's really creative like that."

Um. Good luck with that Richard Suave.

~2~

Wednesday was a proud day in the history of my motherland. The first woman president was elected into office! Now, as with all things related to politics, there are folks who celebrate and folks who prefer the taste of hater-ade. Not everyone reacted with such enthusiasm like the hair flag lady. Putting all the partisan/platform issues aside, I'm still marveling at the fact that a country where open-mouthed kissing just barely made its way onto network television within the last decade or so elected a woman into power. I'm not equating risque TV to gender equality. I'm simply pointing out how conservative Korean society has remained even well into the 21st century. It's quite miraculous that South Korea has trailblazed past 'Muricka in female political leadership. Deh-han-ming-guk! Hwy-ting! (I clearly need to download Korean characters because that just looks ridiculous.)

~3~

After years of desparately clutching to pre-written instructions, I've made some progress in the be-adventurous-when-cooking department and whipped up these turkey balls on the fly for dinner with not a Food Network recipe in sight! They came out browned, flavorful, and moist which is the trifecta of meatball cooking (according to Food Network). I threw them in some marinara then poured it over spaghetti squash and proceded to eat 3 servings. It's ok because the 'noodles' are actually veggies and turkey meat has no calories. The bread in the meatballs don't count as carbs because you can't see them.

~4~

Top: Stage 1
Bottom: Stage 2

These pictures show the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Post-Partum Hair Loss. A year has passed and hope has finally been restored. A world free of brillo-pad hairline is a reality, at least until the next post partum diaster. I have until next Thursday to decide if I want to better camoflauge the quasi-bangs with a more blunt variety.

~5~

It's the end of the Jorts era. As I was loading up bags of clothes/toys destined for St. Vincent de Paul, I noticed Matt had made a few contributions. Surprised,  (since he's a clothes hoarder and would still have pants with leather pockets hanging in the closet if it wasn't (weren't?) for my obsessive auditing/purging of clothes), I took a closer look to make sure I wasn't mistaking a laundry pile as a donation pile. That's when I saw an all too familiar set of shorts with 'Sean John' embroidered on the side. I shed a tear and poured out a little coffee to show some respect.

~6~

H followed me into the water closet (yes, I could've just said 'bathroom' but I like to use overly-specific names for everyday things) to provide a soundtrack of "Gangnam Style" for me to go #1 to. He was in the middle of his rendition of the chorus when he made a revelation in human anatomy: 

"Heeeeeeeeey, it's a ladle. Oh-oh-oh-oh, oppa...Mommy, where does your pee come out of? Your butt?"

~7~

You may have to worry about keeping up with the Jones' but for me, it's the Griswold's. When it comes to Christmas lights, these neighbors don't play around. Let me break it down: on the right is a life-sized gingerbread house with a life-sized Santa mannequin inside looking out at you. What nightmares are made of, I tell you. On the roof is a giant manger scene complete with every farm animal known to man. (Although they clearly didn't get the memo that you're not supposed to put baby Jesus out until after Christmas. Don't mind me, I'm just being a Christmas decoration etiquette nazi.) To top it off, the tree of lights on the left is set to blink in sync with Christmas music blaring through speakers, also on their roof, for all of Sun Groves to jam to.

On that note, I hope everyone has a vurry murry Chrimp-mus. Until next time. I'll try to keep it less than 4 months but I'm making no promises.

Spesto

Jorts has no chicken consumption limit. He could seriously eat it all day, urryday. So in my neverending quest to find ways to jazz up his fowl of choice, I came across this delightful recipe. Not only is it queasy (quick & easy), it also helps use up my Costco-sized tub-o-spinach before it starts to resemble ectoplasm. Win/win.

Ingredients:
3 cups lightly packed baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 tbl lemon juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Throw the spinach, pine nuts, and lemon juice into a food processor and pulse until it comes together. With the machine running, slowly add the EVOO until the mixture gets nice and creamy. Lightly salt and pulse a couple more times to get the party started. Transfer the spinach to a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Spinach Pesto = Spesto

Don't go heavy on the salt the first time around because the cheese will also add savoriness. You can always add more salt at the end if you must. Now just slather this green goodness on some grilled chicken or dress up a ho-hum turkey sandwich. Enjoy!

Chosen

Aside from the occasional heart-to-heart-screen (?) on more serious matters, my Sunday drive blog mostly consists of hardly-enriching content (which leaves me in bewilderment that any of you are reading this). So to switch things up, here is a snippet from one of many incredible notes from our pastor in a recent church bulletin. Fingers crossed that this will help me meet the bare minimum quota for being a value-contributing member of the blogging community.

What does it mean to be chosen? I think at some level everyone wants to be chosen, to hear their name called. The worst place on the playground is in the place that is chosen last for a game, or not chosen at all. I was always skinny and un-athletic, left handed, so no gloves fit my hands...I know what it feels like to be chosen last. But I also know what it feels like to be chosen first! Long before God called me to be a priest he chose me, he picked me first. Not before you though. He chose me when I was created in my mother's womb. And he chose you first as well, in your mother's womb, before you even knew it. That fundamental choice is why we as Catholics are pro-life not because of scientific evidence, or ultrasounds, or any human reason. We choose life because God has chosen us first.

~ Fr. Dan

Now before you go into a frenzy, my intention of this post isn't to start a pro-life/pro-choice debate or to promote my religion over anyone else's. My list of flaws is neverending and I am the last person who could ever throw a stone. I just wanted to share something that made me feel one step closer to understanding my faith, in hopes that it does the same for even just one reader.

We'll be back to regularly scheduled programming (i.e. food, babies, incoherent ramblings) next post. Don't you worry.

Muffin top = bad; Cupcake top = good

I'm sure y'all have been brow furrowed worried about my absence from this-here blog (or....just Grace.)

"Did she pull a Dave Chappelle to escape the demands of being a working mom?"

"Did she run away to be a food truck roadie?"

"Did she get institutionalized after attempting to potty train a toddler who poops like a lumberjack?"

"Did she marry Kim Jong Un?"

As likely as the top 3 items are, the truth is: I've just been lazy. Or busy. Or lazy. Same-same. So to assure you that I'm alive and well, here's a cupcake recipe that is guaranteed to provide your daily recommended dose of antioxidants and protein. Claim may or may not be FDA approved.



dark chocolate & peanut butter cupcakes

For cupcakes:

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into a few pieces for easier melting later

1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli double chocolate chips from Costco)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup AP flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sour cream

For Frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tbl unslated butter, at room temp

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 tsp salt

1/3 heavy cream

1. Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a heatproof bowl and microwave at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds, until completely melted. The 30 second intervals are important because you don't want to burn the chocolate. You can also melt using a double boiler set up but I'm all about minimizing the amount of dirty dishes so I prefer the microwaver method. Set chocolate mixture aside to cool.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda and baking powder in a small bowl to combine and eliminate any lumps.
3. In another bowl, whisk eggs and sugar to combine. Add vanilla and salt then whisk some more until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift 1/3 of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Whisk in sour cream until combined then sift remaining flour mixture and whisk until batter is smooth and thick
4. Bake at 325F for 18-20 mins, until the tops of the cupcakes are set to touch. Cool completely before frosting.
5. For the frosting: set your electric mixture to med and cream together powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in a bowl. Add the heavy cream and beat on hi until frosting is fluffy, smooth, and you have to fight every urge to stick your face in it.

I had a little bit of batter leftover after filling my muffin pan so instead of dirtying a 2nd pan, I decided to break the don't-fill-more-than-2/3-of-the-cup-rule and distributed the remaining batter among the 12 cups. I know, I'm a rebel. The cupcakes still turned out tasty but they put the term 'muffin top' to shame.



Bombs of the Irish Car Version

In cupcake form.

These. Are. Amazing.

So much so that I give most of them away just so I don't gain my pregnancy weight back from eating all 2 dozen of them with a gallon of milk at my side. (That may or may not have happened in the past.)

Makes 24 cupcakes.

For the cupcakes:

12 oz. bottle of Guinness, extra stout

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1.5 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs, room temp

2/3 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. (FYI: I add a little bit of the chocolate mixture then mix before adding the rest to temper the eggs just in case the chocolate mixture is still a bit too warm.) Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake for about 17 minutes or until the cupcakes are set to the touch. Cool the cupcakes completely before filling & frosting.

For the ganache filling:
1.25 c bittersweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temp
3. Pour the chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then, using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center outward until smooth. Add the butter and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped.
4. Using the bottom of a large decorating tip, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes, going about two-thirds of the way down. Transfer the ganache to a piping bag with a wide tip (or a ziploc bag with a corner snipped off works just fine) and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

For the Bailey's frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

5. Using the whisk attachment of an electric hand mixer, whip the butter on med-hi for a few minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all the sugar is incorporated. Even though it takes a while, it's really important to add the sugar a few tablespoons at a time. If you add too much too quickly, your frosting will be grainy and you'll need A LOT more sugar to get your frosting to thicken up. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys and whip until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin, beat in 1 or 2 more spoonfuls of powdered sugar.
6. Using your favorite decorating tip or a spatula, frost the cupcakes and decorate however your heart desires. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container.

Note: The recipe above gave me enough frosting to decorate my cupcakes with those small starbursts you see in the pictures but if you want to frost them with super high swirls, you'll probably want to double it. I also had a bunch of ganache leftover so I used it to add more tiny starbursts. Wasting food, especially chocolate, is a mortal sin in my house.

Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker and Smitten Kitchen.

Look Who's Talking

  

"You'll never guess what comes after 3...
4! I know, crazy right?"





"Take a whiff of my new aftershave."



"What the heck just happened?"

"Listen bro, I love you and all but don't do that again. You almost messed up my 'do."



"It ain't easy lookin' this good."





"Oh yea? Well then GET OFF MY BUMBO!!!"



 And in matters of a pinch more importance than make-believe banter between a toddler and a 2 month old, articles like this one is one of the many reasons why I'm a huge fan of Jenn.

Have a stupendous weekend erryone!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made a few small tweaks to make this recipe a little more post-partum-weight-loss-obsession-friendly. Now I can't attest to whether my version is as tasty since I've never made the muffins following the original recipe but my doctored muffin definitely satisfies all 32 of my sweet teeth for about 65 calories less (and I prefer dark chocolate to milk any day). Hey, I said a little more figure friendly. I'm not a miracle worker. Unless someone invents a no-calorie but still comparably tasty substitute for flour and butter this is probably the best you're going to get.

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbl plus 2 tsp Splenda brown sugar
• 1/3 cup Splenda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted then cooled
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup 2% milk
• 1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

Just follow the original recipe using the above ingredients....or just scroll down if you're too lazy to click over.

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder and salt until there are no more brown sugar clumps and everything is evenly distributed.
2. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, milk and vanilla until well combined.
3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well.
4. Stir until the ingredients just come together but don't overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Evenly divide the batter into 12 lined muffin cups then bake at 400 degrees F for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes before eating no matter how tempted you are to devour right away or half your muffin will stay stuck to the paper liner.

Oh Happy Day

 

1. Excited aunt. Even more excited infant.
2. Three generations of Asian persuasion.
3. Let's play Button, Button, Who's Got the Camera Remote Button?
4. My church is better than yours because we get donuts for communion.

Our Sweet P got baptized this past Sunday. If our church looks like an elementary school cafeteria...that's because it is. It's actually a multi-purpose room and it's temporary while our church gets built. Not sure why I felt the need to explain that. I guess I didn't want anyone to think we worshipped hairnet wearing lunch ladies. Although I do remember the cafeteria pizza from my school days being heavenly delicious, plastic-y cheese and all.

Morning Shenanigans

Playing innocent when I caught her playing with her brother's "missing" dinosaurs.




 

She was enjoying my rendition of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" until...








I sneezed.



Photo shoot OVER.



Love

I love finding that perfect card. The one with a message in it that expresses how you feel so well that you could have written it yourself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometimes I add a word here, a caret there, when the card could still use a bit more personal flair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love spending the morning with the two most important women in my life to make homemade Korean deliciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eating the fruits of our labor is just icing on the kimbap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some Debbie Downers may complain that Valentine's Day is a silly made-up holiday to keep Hallmark in business but this year's V Day  reminded me of how incredibly blessed I am for all the love I have in my life.

How did you spend yours?

Sorry for the heavy dose of Provalone in this post but sometimes a girl gets the warm fuzzies inside and simply wants to share. :)

On an unrelated note, check out who's featured in this week's I Am KoreAm!
The grammatical errors were completely intentional.
Or I just hit send before I took the time to proofread my answers because I was a little overexcited.

Thighs

Do you not just want to smooch this thick baby goodness?

Rub a Dub Dub

In the spirit of getting clean, a few things I must confess:

• I laughed way too hard at this considering it's at the expense of an infant.
• While checking out at Sprouts, I may have forgotten to tell the chashier that the bag of grapes weighed far more before my son ate nearly half of it while I perused the avocados.
•  I ate all the peanut butter M&M's then blamed it on daddy when H asked for his post nap treat.
• I find myself being far too critical of my post partum body.
• Then I feel guilty for stressing about something so trivial when I have countless blessings to focus on.
• I started off finishing the little bit of Annie's mac & cheese that H didn't finish for lunch and ended up with a pot just short of licked clean.

Now that that's off my chest, I'm off to enjoy my first bottle glass of wine since giving birth. With my luck, Sweet P will wake up after my first sip.

Love Story

Linking up to this super mom (She's a SAHM by day, RN by night. When does she sleep, you ask? I don't know either.) for some VD fun. Can't wait to see if folks find my blog through THAT search phrase.

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We met 5.5 years ago, got engaged 4 years ago and got hitched 3 years ago.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

You can read about it in this post. Be warned, our love story pretty much rivals that of The Notebook.

Our first anni

3. If married, how long have you been married?

Oops, guess I jumped the gun on question numero uno.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We had a big fat Korean wedding at our parish, St. Mary's. Seriously though, the yellow to white ratio was something like 3:1. More fat and Korean than big because we only had ~50 guests.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another?

Boo, Booba, Boobakins



San Diego 2007
Please excuse my side-boob



6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

He's the eternal optimist, he's one of the best daddies I have ever seen and he gives a mean calf rub. When you have monster asian calves like I do, that last one is GOLD.

First Family Vaca

7. Tell us how he proposed?

During V-day dinner back in 2008, our desert came out with a ring pop in it. He had no idea what kind of ring I wanted to he played it safe with the edible kind. Note: I don't have truck driver wrists despite what you see in the picture below. Must've been a weird angle. Swear.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

He's a Godiva and lillies kind of guy but will eat the Godiva before I get a chance to.

Our Save the Date

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

I would love the former but with 2 kids, the latter is more realistic.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

Travel the country and hit up all the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives joints. We're huge foodies if you can't tell by my blog.

Obligatory honeymoon smooching pic

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

Have dinner at the restaurant where he proposed. It's sort of a tradition because we've been doing it every VD.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

I'm a sucker for jewelry. And none of that Macy's crap either. I'm worth it.

Maternity shoot while preggo with Sweet P

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

One of the most impactful things I learned during marriage prep was that true love is doing whatever it takes to get your spouse to heaven.

Marinate on that.

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.