Saturday pictures!

Here are pictures from our fun day!

Getting so good at holding up his head!

Also getting very good at using his legs to push himself around.

Hi!

One Minute Long Tomato Sauce

(See post below)
1 can tomato sauce
1+ tsp oregano
1+ tsp basil
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
2 cloves garlic

sweet onion (optional)
green pepper (optional)
yellow squash (optional)

1/4 cup TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)
or
? tsp tomato paste (optional)
1 tsp corn starch

3 T basalmic vinegar (Yes, 3 tablespoons! Actually add even more! Like
a billion T, that'd be even better!)


Drain diced tomatoes. Heat tomato sauce and diced tomatoes on medium
heat  stirring occasionally. Add oregano, basil, hot pepper, and
garlic. Let it simmer for a while to reduce. Add chopped vegetables
(depending on planned use.)

To thicken:
Add TVP, wait.
-or-
Turn heat to low, stir in the tomato paste. Add the corn starch. When
cooking with corn starch, don't over heat. Keep heat at low-medium.
After adding the corn starch keep dish on heat for only one minute
longer. Always use a clean spoon when taste testing, enzymes from
saliva can disrupt the starch. Stir as little as possible. Add acids,
like vinegar, at the end after removing dish from heat.

Remove from heat and add the vinegar. Ready for use on pasta or pizza,
or just eat it like that because it is so amazingly good.

Also remember, all spices are 'to taste'. So add more!

Poppa's Classic Lasagna

Some of you have asked if we will raise Maddox as a vegetarian. Yes,
until he is old enough to choose. So you might wonder what kind of
meals we will have at our house. I know our split pea recipe has
already escaped into the wild. Grandpa Kirk asked for our lasagna
recipe when they were out visiting. So here it is:
Poppa's Classic Lasagna

lasagna noodles, "flat, no cook style" if possible.

"1 minute long tomato sauce", double recipe (see next post) - 2 cans
of tomato with or without veggies

1 box spinach, frozen is easiest
Some Vegetables: broccolli, asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash,
carrots, corn, or what have you. Frozen or raw, (basically some amount
of any veggies leftover in the refrigerator or freezer)

12 oz cottage cheese, no-fat
1 package tofu, soft
1 package (8/3s cup) shredded mozzarella cheese, low-fat
1? cup grated Parmesan or Feta cheese
4-5 tsp fennel seeds, ground

Prepare tomato sauce, as per recipe.  Boil noodles, if necessary.

Reserving a bit of mozzarella, mix cheeses and tofu together in a
large bowl. [Thaw then] add spinach, and veggies into the cheese
mixture. Stir in the fennel.

Only two noodle layers are needed. Spread tomato sauce on to the glass
baking pan, covering the bottom with a reasonable layer and at least
wetting the sides a bit. Add noodle layer. Cover noodles with
vegetable-cheese.  Add noodle layer. Add more sauce. On the top of the
tomato sauce, sprinkle a good dose of mozzarella cheese.

Cover with tinfoil. Bake for 45mins - 1 hour at 350ish. Uncover for a
bit and bake some more I suppose... you could eat it all raw so it
doesn't really matter.  Let it cool a while before cutting.

Saturday pictures!

Yes, I really am this cute.

Snuggly bed time!

Story time!  Clearly the fan is more interesting than 5 Little Monkeys.

3 month doctor appointment

Maddox had his 3 month doctors appointment today... here are his stats:

Length: 25.5 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 13lbs 12 oz (50-75th percentile)
Head circumference: 42cm (75th percentile)

"Long and lean" as the pediatrician likes to say.  He is so long... he barely fit on the pediatrician's lap while she was examining him.  Our tall baby.  :)

He also got two shots today.  One was the same 5 immunizations he got last time and the second was Hep B.  He was a trooper... cried out when she stuck him, but settled down pretty quickly after. 

All in all, baby boy is growing and developing quite nicely.  :)

Saturday pictures... on Sunday!

First, the we want to wish all the mommies we know a very happy Mother's Day!  And to our mommies (you know who you are), thank you both for being such wonderful, caring, supportive, and nurturing role models.  Neither of us would be the fantastic people we are today without you.  ;)  We love you both!!

And now, for the cuteness:

Out for a walk

Ready to go out for a walk

Playing... very serious playing

OMG laughing!!

Maddox laughed today!  He had giggled in his sleep before, but this was the first time he's laughed in response to us.  I've been anxiously awaiting his baby laugh because baby laughs are the best sound ever. 

So, the story behind his first laugh... I came home from school today and asked Luke about Maddox' poop (he sometimes strains and grunts... yeah, yeah, yeah, we're first time parents).  Maddox was sitting in his little bouncer, facing me, when I said "poop" and he got a huge grin on his face.  Like any other parent, I adore his smile, so I started saying "poop poop poop" hoping for more smiles.  What I got, instead, was a laugh.  I then went into "poop poop poop poop!" overdrive, taking full advantage of the situation to get as many giggles as I could out of him.  The camera was nearby, so I was able to get it on video.  Enjoy the giggles!!! And disregard my excessive use of the word "poop".