A Quick Recipe

So one of the things I want to do on this blog is prove that it's possible to make delicious food...for less!  We're still exploring the area around here trying to figure out where we'll do our shopping, but week 1 brought us to Market Basket.  And one of the meals I was most excited to make?  Lasagna!  For some reason, I have in my head that lasagna was a meal that was tough and/or time consuming to make.  Well this week, I proved myself wrong!  Here's a quick and easy way to make lasagna...all you need:

• Two 11x13 glass pans
• Two jars of Barilla traditional sauce (on sale, each jar for $0.89)
• Parmesan cheese (we already had this)
• Ricotta cheese (this was Market Basket brand, $1.39)
• 1 egg
• 1 box of Oven Ready Lasagna ($1 for a box...we only used 12 noodles
• 2 lbs ground beef (not pictured, 1 lb for $3.98)

 Brown the ground beef in a pan on medium-low until it's cooked almost all the way through...once you're at this point, add in your sauce.

Then pre-heat your oven to 350.

In a separate bowl, mix an entire package of ricotta with one egg, whisk, add about 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and set aside. 

Even though these are oven ready lasagna noodles, I still boiled them for about 5 minutes.  Once they're just a bit softer, place three noodles on the bottom of a pan, layer the ground beef on top. Then add the ricotta cheese blend, add more noodles and repeat.  It's not necessary, but on top you can add any left over sauce and about a cup of shredded cheese to get a nice, cheesy and bubbly layer on top.  Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350. 

 The above recipe makes enough for two trays of lasagna.  If you're only making one, cut everything in half and I would recommend using a smaller egg.

 Remove from the oven, let cool and enjoy!

Gross.

I mentioned in a couple of previous posts that we've been sick lately.  It all started almost three weeks ago when B came down sick on a Sunday.  He wasn't sick sick, but had a noticeable cough and runny nose and just seemed agitated.  By Monday night, I had a cough and a nasty headache and definitely understood why B had been fussy.  But by Tuesday...Eric had caught some real nasty version of whatever Brady and I had.  We all held on to what we had throughout the week and thought that maybe we'd be better after our weekend outside, we'd all have gotten a ton of fresh air and feel a whole lot better.  Well, I guess that's not quite how it works.  I think by the time we were driving home from New Hampshire, Eric was really feeling it.  He had a nasty cough...and what sounds like a chest cold.  I called B's doctors office about two weeks ago and they said from what I described, he just has a cold and to expect it to linger for another 2-3 weeks.  As long as he's not wheezing and it doesn't get any worse, he'll be fine.  Well, let me tell you about one night a couple weeks ago.  Are you squeamish? This is another warning.  Close this window.  Poor little man was coughing so much one night.  I tried to give him a bottle to calm him down and he inhaled....inhaled a few ounces really quickly.  And then started coughing again.  Coughing so much to get all the junk out of his throat that his gag reflex kicked in and he threw up.  Not only did he throw up.  He through up down my shirt.  Not on my shirt.  He actually managed to projectile vomit between my shirt and body.  And the worst part.  It happened again an hour or so later.  He had such a restless night and I felt so bad for our poor little bug.  He cried and screamed...I tried giving him water.  Eric grabbed large couch pillows from the living room for us so that I could hold him so that we could both sleep sitting up in hopes that everything in his throat wouldn't pile up like it did when he was lying flat.  We all had a restless night.  And of course, my little B-Man was up and ready to be at 'em at 5:05 this morning.  He had some breakfast, he had a bath, got dressed and was ready for daycare.  His daycare is about 7 minutes from the house.  When we got to daycare, I went around back to grab B-Man and his car seat and he was passed out cold.  I brought him inside....and he just stayed sleeping.  So cute.  But weeks of this:

Not so much fun!

Now, fast forward to our first weekend in our new house.  On Sunday, we went to Lowe's to grab some supplies to put up a runner in the back yard for Jack (until we can get a fence up).  Well, Lowe's is about 5 minutes away from us.  We pull into the parking lot and B-Man throws up alllllll over himself (did I mention I had just washed his car seat?  Because I had...) and I mean throw-up-you-can-tell-what-I-had-for-breakfast throw up.  Bleh.  So it was turn around and head home time.  He took a bath, and long story short, ended up getting sick again.  Felt horrible for the little man.  And then the next day, this Mama got whatever the little guy had.  And the next day? Yep...Eric had it.  So, needless to say, we've all been fighting a nasty stomach bug around these parts.  Once I got over the stomach bug, my cold was gone and I felt great...let's hope it's the same for all of us!

The real plunge

So this is a post I started writing last week and never published.  Then a couple of days ago, Eric looked at our little B-Man and said "I guess your mom's a retired blogger, bud!"  Anywho, about what I wrote last week...

I don't want to speak too soon...but I can't help myself!  Hopefully, one week from now, Eric, B and I will be living in our new home!  We're set to close on Monday afternoon and start the move on Tuesday.  Hopefully then I can get some actual content up on the our home section of this here blog.  The worst part of buying this house is that the previous owners smoked...inside.  Bleh.  So we're going to be doing some washing of the walls and eventually some painting.  I have a feeling it might take more than a coat or two in some places.  We're also going to get some carpet put down and we'll need to get a fence up in the backyard for Mr. Jack.  I'm so excited!!  If I'm missing over the next week or two, it's because we're busy moving and getting settled in.  We have only spent a night or two in our bed in the past 10 months....that's crazy!  I can't wait to have our own room, in our own house...and sleep in OUR bed again.

I'm sure you'll be seeing plenty of photos in the not-too-distant future.  I'm hoping to have a few great before and after's, as well!  EEK!

So it's true!  We finally have a home!  We took two days off from work last week, my mom came up and helped us move all of our stuff from our old house and another truck-load of stuff from our storage locker and then Eric's mom came and helped us unpack the second truck-load as well.  We had some dinner and then it was back to work!  My mom started washing walls while Eric and I just tried to organize a few things.  We spent the next day organizing and cleaning some more, getting TV/internet set up...and it's just been a whirlwind since then.  Our commute...is now amazing!  And our house...well we're working on it.  The whole house is pretty much an off-white color on the inside and the previous owners smoked, so part of the house just smells a little stale now.  But the good news...I'm super-excited to show before-and-after pictures!  This week it definitely started to feel like a real home.  Eric even put up our Halloween decorations...I think that's really what really did it.  Well, that and the fact that we've all had a stomach bug going around for a few days.  First B, then me...then Eric.  And I gotta say, staying at home sick...trying to sleep and keep an eye on an almost-1-year-old (what?!) who can walk and almost run now...well I guess there's nothing better than that to help make a new house really feel like home!  And then to see the babe and hubs doing pretty much the same thing the next day, well I think it's safe to say we're all getting comfy here!  Oh...and seeing Eric in the Pack & Play with B-Man...in our room...I think I made some comment about it to Eric's parents when we went to pick our pup up, but it's true...it melted my heart and the first thing I did was grab the camera.  Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen?!

Did I mention we have a climber on our hands?

So now, a few pictures of (the outside) of our new place!

 Our little driveway looking up to the neighbors' house

Home sweet home

More pictures to come later once we're all organized and settled in!

The plunge

This post is probably not what you think it's about.  Want to take a guess?  No?  Ok...a camera!  Eric and I have been talking about getting a nicer camera for a little while now we finally did it.  Last weekend we invested in a Nikon D7100.  I'm not going to write a review right now, mainly because I know how to use the automatic settings but focus on certain things...and much beyond that, I know nothing.  Hopefully over the next couple of weeks I'll learn some more.  You may have noticed in my last post that pictures looked much crisper and a little fancier.  I'm happy to say that these are all UNTOUCHED.  No editing, they are exactly as I took them.  Dear Nikon, I'm looking forward to getting to know you better!  More to come on my progress of learning about the camera and how to use it (the user manual and I are going to be spending some quality time together in the near future, I imagine).

And why would we invest in a fancy camera, you ask?  Well for a few reasons.  As much as this blog is just a little random space to get my thoughts and opinions out, it's also like a diary of Brady's life.  How cool would it be now to look back 10, 20 years and see what your parents were saying about you.  I know growing up my parents have a whole bunch of photos, but before things were digital, I feel like people took fewer pictures...more pictures came out blank and just had to be tossed.  Taking and printing pictures meant that you had to buy a photo album...and there's only so much space.  But these days?  I save all of my pictures online, and then take my favorites and put them here on this old little blog.  Along with commentary on what we were thinking, how we were feeling...when I cry because B is so stinkin' cute, when I cry because I'm so frustrated I don't know what to do.  When Eric and I have fabulous weekends/days and when we don't.  If we're going to invest in anything I think it should be a camera that gives us fabulous photos of what we're experiencing.  Don't worry, I'll be sharing more pics later in the week!

Weekend Recap

What a beautiful weekend!  Eric, B-Man and I packed up early on Saturday morning to head up to New Hampshire.  We were meeting some of Eric's friends from high school to do some hiking and some camping!  We were planning to camp in the White Mountains, but the original site we wanted to go to was closed (oh hi & thanks, Government shut down).  Luckily everyone else was up there before us and we found out just as we were crossing the border.  They were able to find a camp site that was a little further south and so we headed there.  We got there a little before everyone else, and a while before that I had realized that I forgot wipes for B (mother of the year?).  We found a nearby Hannaford, got some wipes and some snacks (ran over Eric's Achilles on the way to checkout....) and headed to the campsite.  We met up with Eric's friends, got to our campsite and started setting up the tent.  Side note: one of our wedding gifts was an 8 person tent (which we had registered for) from Eric's parents.  It is MUCH easier to set up when you have two people who can actually help one another set it up, rather than one hubby and a mama holding baby.  But, we did it!  We also had brought our air mattress, but didn't have the pump.  Luckily, our friends are innovative and found a way to blow up our air mattress through their full one...without using a pump for ours.  It was great!  Once we were set up, B-Man decided it was time to hang out in Uncle Aaron & Aunty Chris' tent.

We hung out for a bit and had a quick lunch...

We knew we were going to be going hiking, but what we didn't know was that we were really going to be hiking.  The couple of times Eric and I have previously gone camping, we've always gone hiking.  Err...."hiking."  We hike on trails near the campsite which are usually beautiful and we see some pretty trees, foliage, lakes, mountains...something of the sort.  Well, it turns out everyone we were with had a different definition of..."hiking."  They actually meant driving about 45 minutes north and trying to climb a mountain.  

When we started out I was worried.  I'm still not in great shape...but I was hurting after 5 minutes.  Luckily, after 5 minutes...everyone stopped because there were no trail markers and we weren't sure that we were going the right way. Long story short, we went back down and headed to the left to actually start the real hike. 

We lasted about 20 minutes.  And by "we" I really mean me and B.  Eric easily could have kept going (even carrying B!)...but B-Man entered melt down mode.  Don't believe me?  Take a look.  Beginning of the hike: 

Aaaaannndddd....20 minutes into the hike:

And me you ask?  Well I was just about dying...there is no way I could have kept up that pace with everyone.  Everyone stopped with us for a bit, but there was no calming B down so we told them to venture on without us but to be sure to come back down that same trail and catch us on the way down.  When we finally got the little man to calm down, he had a bottle and we took our time heading back down the trail.  Did I mention we got a new camera?  It's amazing!  More on that decision later, but taking our time heading down let us have some time to play with the camera, and Eric got some really good shots (during and after Brady's bottle)!

After we were done hiking it had gotten pretty windy.  Eric, B and I headed back to the car, thinking everyone would be down just after us.  I think it took them another hour to get down, but once they did, we headed off into town to grab a dinner.  It was a long wait in a loud bar, with dinner in a loud restaurant, a longer wait for food, and the food ended up being just alright.  Let me guess what you're thinking.  Our little man must have had an epic meltdown, right?  Wrong!  I'm not sure how, but B-Man was actually really good.  He was definitely getting a little fussy at the end, I mean that's a lot for such a little man to take in! We ended up outside for the last 5 minutes or so, just me and the B sitting on a bench while everyone finished up their dinner and settling the check.  Of course, we got in the car and about 20 seconds after a bottle was in his mouth, B fell asleep.  Once we got back to the campsite we let him sleep for a bit while we got a fire going.  Chris also had these great speakers and we listened to some country music around the camp fire.  B woke up after a bit and I had a headache setting in, so I ended up staying in the tent until morning.  We also bought B a snowman suit to keep him warm at night (we were, after all in the mountains of NH...in October) because we were worried he'd be cold.  Well he woke up shrieking at about 3:30 in the morning for exactly the opposite reason!  Poor little man was sweating up a storm.  We cooled him down, rocked him, Eric somehow made him a bottle in the middle of the night, and it was smooth sailing until 7 AM!  We packed up, had a morning fire to burn the last of the wood, and then headed out to a little diner to grab breakfast before calling it a trip.  Everyone else was going to go hiking, but after the first hiking attempt, we figured it was best if we just headed home.  Unfortunately (for Eric...) I slept most of the way home while he drove.  He was in pretty rough shape by the time we got home (he's been battling a nasty cold/cough all week) so once we got home we took the day to relax and recover....lots of lazing and snoozing!  All in all, it definitely went much better than I thought it would.  And makes me so excited for when B can actually walk around the tent and camp site, and sitting down and actually enjoying a S'more!  Next summer should be great!

Reception time!

Ok, just one more post full of pictures!  I have to show you pictures of our reception!  It was at a hotel in downtown Providence and very simple. We didn't spend extra money to have fancy chairs or chair covers, we hand wrote the seating cards and had a simple cake (which, by the way was red velvet.  Yes, even though our color was yellow, we went with red velvet...yum!) ...very basic with a touch of us!  Since our wedding color was yellow, we actually used lemons in the base of our flowers.  I loved our entire wedding day, but it was so nice to hear guests say that they could feel the love and had a great time...that's exactly what we were going for!

 Best Man/Maid of Honor speeches made us crack up...

 Cake Cutting

 So tough to cut the cake...

 We finally realized the first layer of our cake was styrofoam!

Dancing Tiiiime

  And to top it all off, we had this delicious desert on top of our cake

It was a beautiful day and I wouldn't change a thing!