29 Weeks and Counting!

29 weeks and counting - we are down to the every other week visits to Dr. and things are still going great. I have some minor heartburn/acid indigestion and my boobs growing by the day and making my back kill but other then that I feel great! I can't believe it's just about September and in November he will be here! We are starting to get very excited and anxiously are awaiting his arrival!

Julia Ann Zielke

My brother Jason & his wife Maria have been blessed with the greatest gift - they welcomed a healthy, beautiful little girl into the world! Julia Ann Zielke was born today, August 24th at 5:54 PM. She weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz & is 19 inches long. I had the pleasure of viewing her shortly after birth in the nursery and it was so amazing - she totally knew my brothers voice, she was crying and stopped when he walked over to talk to her! I can't wait to go back tomorrow when I'll get to hold the little bundle of love!

Congratulations Jason & Maria - you guys are going to make wonderful parents!

Feeding the Birds!

AJ loves helping Mimi feed the birds - my mother and her bring their plate of stale bread out and throw the crumbs into the air. They then come in and watch from the kitchen window. AJ loves doing it and so does my mother - the birds apparently get upset when they are forgotten about! Even the cats and squirrels come to eat the bread - it must be yummy special bread. I have to admit that it is pretty cool see all the different birds come - there have been blue jays, robins & sparrows!

White Garden Pie!

Whole wheat pizza dough

1/2 cup rigotta cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 slice provolone cheese cut up

2 grate TBS Parmesean Reggiano

6 sliced cherry tomatoes (from my garden!)

parsley (from my garden!)

basil (from my garden)

6 steamed & cut up broccoil florettes

1 cloves grated garlic in about 2 TBS olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out your pizza dough on to a lightly greased (I used olive oil PAM) cookie sheet and brush the top with the garlic and oil. Top with the ricotta cheese then the tomatoes, broccoil, parsley, basil, and other cheeses. Bake in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until done. EXCELLENT! I was so happy to use all the stuff from my garden to make it - it made it extra special!

Pepperoni Calzones!

1 package whole wheat pizza dough

1 can of pizza sauce

1 bag shredded low fat mozzarella cheese

small container of low fat ricotta cheese

grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese

1 thick cut (about a 1/4-1/2 inch slice) of pepperoni from the deli counter

dried Italian seasoning

olive oil

garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lightly olive oil your baking pans. Cut up the pepperoni into small chunks and set aside. Cut the dough into 4 equal parts and roll each one out (use some flour if the dough is sticky) to make the best circle possible. Place each onto a baking pan and spread about 2 spoonfuls of pizza sauce on to them. Place about 4 - 6 spoons of ricotta on to half of the area and top with a quarter of the sliced pepperoni, a spoonful of Parmesan Reggiano, a handful of mozzarella and a few shakes of the Italian seasoning. Fold the half with only sauce on it on top of the the other half and seal by pressing the dough together. Poke two small holes into the top to release the steam while cooking. Lightly brush each with olive oil and shake some garlic powder over each. Cook about 15 minutes (or until each is lightly browned) and enjoy!

These came out great - we could have spent about 3 x's as much money on them if we ordered them from our local pizzeria and ours were better tasting and fun to make!!! Alex & AJ both helped make dinner tonight, we had so much fun - they are the two best sous chefs a girl could ask for!

Bikini Babe!

SMILE!

When you ask her to smile for a pic, this is what you get...

This is her posing in my sunglasses (but when asked who's sunglasses they are, she'll tell you "MINE"!).

Sausage Breakfast Burritos!

Tonight we had sausage breakfast burritos for dinner and they turned out great - I will make these again soon for sure.

whole wheat tortillas

6 eggs

1/4 cup milk

shredded mozz cheese

1/2 lb ground sweet sausage

peppers

onion

mushrooms

1/2 cup whipped cream cheese

tater tots

hot sauce & ketchup

Crumble and brown sausage in frying pan and then add onions mushrooms and peppers. Cook till vegetables are softened. Beat together the eggs with the milk and scramble in anther pan.

To assemble burritos - spread a layer of cream cheese down the middle of a tortilla and top with some mozz cheese. Top with some scrambled eggs, sausage mix, 4 tater tots and some hot sauce and/or ketchup to you liking! Roll it up and enjoy!

So tasty AND very quick and easy to make!

Swim Date at Juna's!

Juna & Fiona had Colleen, Shane, AJ & I over for a swim date at her house today - the kids really enjoyed playing in the sandbox and swimming together in the pool. For lunch I brought a salad, Colleen brought some fruit and Juna grilled us up some organic turkey dogs (very pleasantly surprised on how much I liked them - they just may be our new go to dog) and we had some of her yummy potato salad. After two days of swimming, when we got home AJ slept like a champ and I got a chance to use our new washing machine!

Swimming with the Cousins!

AJ & I had a great time at Michele's house swimming with the Markferding cousins - even Mimi was there to take a dip! Ashely leaves for college soon, so it was great to get to see her before she left! Michele filled our bellies with a awesome salad, pizza, veges and her homemade guacamole was so good! Jay and Maria even stopped for a dip and Maria brought her delish cake from her baby shower over to try! What a great day we all had! Thanks for having us Michele!!!

AJ & I had a great time at Michele's house swimming with the Markferding cousins - even Mimi was there to take a dip! Ashely leaves for college soon, so it was great to get to see her before she left! Michele filled our bellies with a awesome salad, pizza, veges and her homemade guacamole was so good! Jay and Maria even stopped for a dip and Maria brought her delish cake from her baby shower over to try! What a great day we all had! Thanks for having us Michele!!!