Brewmaster

way back before christmas (i know i know it's june and i'm posting something from christmas, but bear with me), husband decided to brew his own beer. he's pretty cool like that.

it took a little bit of time (okay a lot of time), some really big pots, a few funky smells and a lot of patience, but he did it! he successfully brewed his own caribou slobber ale from a home brew kit i had bought him the christmas before (hey, sometimes it takes us a while to get around to things in our house ;0p).

i begged and begged him to write a little post about the process, but he's kinda busy with full time school, full time work and preparing to be a full time papa. he did however, let me take photos of the super long (and crazy cool) process which i thought i'd share with you below!

for those of you interested in home brewing, i don't have any words of wisdom, advice or how-to's, but i do have a link to the kit we purchased in case you want to check it out for yourself! 

Ham, Spinach & Cheddar Quiche

you guys. moving sucks. i mean, moving can be exciting and fun and it's always nice to have a fresh start, but the whole packing boxes, loading them into a truck, driving across the state(s) and then unloading and unpacking, well, it really sucks. add in being 7 months preggo, and let's just say i'm not a fan. but we're done. for now at least. until we move again in (hopefully 4 to 5 weeks - hello first time home buyers!).

but enough about that...this is what i really meant to say...

hi friends! remember back here how i told you we had a TON of leftover easter ham? well, this recipe is another way i found to use up the leftover ham.

it's also super easy and a quick weeknite meal, which is preferable in our house this week as we pack up our lives to move back to the 'kane. ;0)

similar to the calzone post, i think quiches are great because you can throw together any combo that sounds good! one of my favorite is a roasted corn and broccoli cheddar quiche as well as a bacon, onion and gruyere quiche. yummy! i'm drooling just thinking of the combos.

also very much like the calzone post, i didn't post exact measurements because you can throw in as little or as much of a particular ingredient depending on your preference, size of a pie crust/pan, etc.

i started with 4 eggs  mixed together with a little milk (about 1/4 cup), then i tossed in a baggy full of the leftover easter ham, a few generous handfuls of spinach (feel free to be generous with spinach because it always shrinks down when you cook it!), some red onion and lots and lots of cheddar cheese! i love cheese!!

if it looks like you need a little extra egg or milk to cover up all the ingredients, feel free to toss one more in there, but make sure you don't overflow your pie crust! if i think i need a little more egg, i'll pour the existing mixture into the pie crust, see how much room i have left, mix up an egg in a bowl and then pour it in till the mixture just reaches the top of the pie crust.

i mixed everything together and poured it into a frozen (read: store-bought) pie crust and baked it in a 350 degree heated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the eggs set in the middle.

this is a great as dinner with a simple side salad and makes great leftovers for breakfast or lunch the next day!

enjoy!

A Baby Shower for Bebe Alexander

this past weekend, baby boy alexander and i felt so loved when some friends of ours threw a parisian themed baby shower. everything was planned so perfectly and in so much detail. it was beautiful and we definitely felt very loved and very spoiled.

here are some beautiful photos from the day taken by Jennifer DeBarros of Jennifer DeBarros Photography!

 lincoln james alexander...we can't wait to meet our bouncing bebe boy!

 one of my best girlfriends and i are both having boys 3 weeks apart! 

 my mama, my sisters and my niece! (all the "burns" ladies)

 the awesome lavendar bath salts given away as party favors (i may have taken a few extra ;0))

thank you, thank you, thank you to our wonderful hosts stella and bernadette and to everyone who came and made the day so special! bebe alexander is so loved already!

bumpdate: 25 weeks

how far along: 25 weeks...beginning of my 7th month!

estimated due date: august 16, 2014

size of baby: baby "a" is the size of a zucchini

sleep: sometimes i sleep well, sometimes i don't. it is what it is.

this picture is from a few weeks ago (maybe the 23 week mark)

total weight gain: 14 lbs...ew!

symptoms: my back and hips hurt like woah! but walking helps. and my feet are pretty swollen  by the end of the day. it's a real pleasure, really. but you win some you lose some ;0)

movement:yup! finally! it's still not super consistent, but baby boy likes to play around in my belly right after i eat lunch and usually about the time i'm ready for bed. no painful kicks and jabs yet, just some tummy tickles and flutters.

maternity clothes: full on maternity clothes. loving them.

go to eats: i guess i've already told you how much i love fruit. i still do ;0) my sweet tooth has picked up in intensity and i'm trying to curb that beast...especially because i just learned chocolate = heartburn. sad day. i've only been hit with the heart burn beast 3x so far, and each time it was immediately after consuming my favorite sweet ever :0(

best moment of the week: baby boy is starting to move pretty regularly! loving his little flutters and kicks!

gender: bouncing baby BOY!

how adorable is this nautical onesie and baby shoes my coworker got baby boy alexander!

what i wish people knew: no. you. may. not. touch. my stomach. i don't care if you're my mom, best friend, or a perfect stranger. you wouldn't walk up to a non-pregnant lady and touch her belly. why is it ok now to completely invade a person's personal space and touch her? yes, i know there's a baby in there. it's still my body and you have to touch my body before you will ever touch the baby. oh. and don't make me feel bad about it either. until you've been pregnant you don't get to comment. at. all. thank. you. very. much.

what i'm looking forward to: meeting the little guy and getting to see what he looks like! 

milestones: little man is continuing to grow. his fingerprints have formed and he continues to pack on those pounds (or ounces ;0p). 

Ham & Green Pepper Calzones

hi friends! it's been a while since i've posted a recipe post hasn't it? life has just been so much fun lately getting ready for baby boy alexander and our big move back to spokane, that cooking and photographing recipes sort of fell on the back burner.

the next few weeks as we get through the move will continue to be a little crazy, but eventually i'll get my cooking mojo back ;0)

in the meantime, here's a super quick and super easy recipe for a homemade calzone. the pictures aren't the greatest, but i'm a pretty firm believer that the recipes that taste the best, photograph the worst ;0)

we had a TON of ham leftover from easter a few weeks ago. so much so that i was worried i was going to have to throw a lot of it away, and i hate throwing food away...but i did a quick internet search and learned that you can actually freeze it for up to two months and still use it. so that's just what i did. i chopped it up, put it into individual serving size baggies and stored a bunch in my freezer.

i took a baggy out of the freezer and placed it in the fridge to slowly defrost (note: all my research told me that you need defrost the ham slowly in the fridge, no microwaving and no leaving it out on the counter to bring it up to room temp). 

then i stopped by my local grocery store to pick up some pre-made pizza dough, sauce, cheese, green peppers and a jalapeno. i divided the dough in half (one baggy of dough is the perfect amount for two large calzones), rolled it out into two "circular" shapes, topped one half of each rolled out circle of dough with marinara sauce, shredded cheese, ham, green peppers and jalapenos.

then i folded the untopped side of dough over the toppings, pinched the two sides to seal up the calzone, and popped them in the oven at 415 degrees for about 15 minutes.

they came out slightly browned, oozing with cheese and so stinking good and rather "rustic" looking dontcha think. and you better believe this pregnant lady finished her entire calzone all on her own. baby likey ;0)

i'm not posting ingredient measurements because i think pizza and calzones are best made when you eyeball the ingredients. some people like LOTS of cheese on their pizza, other's like a little....same thing with the veggies and your protein of choice. you could also easily adapt this to your pizza toppings of choice instead of using ham and green peppers! get wild with your bad cooking self;0)

Nursery Inspiration

even though we're in the middle of moving (and moving in with my parents nonetheless - thanks mom and dad!), you better believe that i've been scheming about little man's nursery.

husband and i are hopeful that we'll be able to buy a house before the little guy arrives. we've got the down payment in the bank and an eye on a few houses. we're meeting with a realtor, and if all goes smoothly, we'll be closing (and fingers crossed moving in!) to our very first home we own before the arrival of little man.

i already have a theme for my little buddy's room and here are some of the "pinterest inspired" photos i've been using to put together his room.

i'm going with a nautical theme...with most of the room being decked out in navy and white, and some rustic nautical rope accent pieces as well as burnt orange for the accent color. i've already picked up some awesome pieces thanks to target and home goods and can't wait to put everthing together.

first up is the wall color. i love these dark navy walls with the wainscoting half way up. if everything goes as planned, little man's room will be a dark navy with white wainscoting. i've also already found an awesome burnt orange striped run similar to the one you see in the photo below from Walmart of all places!

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we're planning on rocking all white furniture, including the crib (which was generously given to us by my mamma) as well as a white dresser/changing table we'll be picking up from ikea and a white end table. here's my inspiration for the furniture:

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my awesome mother-in-law bought us an amazing glider and ottoman that is identical to this one from land of nod. we got ours from babies r us and purchased it in a tumbleweed color (think the same color as a nautical rope).

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finally the accent pieces! husband can be pretty artsy when he wants to and so he wants paint a bunch of artwork for the little guy. we've been collecting inspiration from these pieces found on pinterset via etsy and we'll probably do most of the artwork in a burnt orange to match the rug.

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husband also wants to make the mobile, and i'm loving these sailboats as a mobile! we'll see if he can accomplish it...i have 100% faith in him ;0) (of course they'll have to be done according to our color scheme! - i am after all, my mother's daughter)

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so far the items i've purchased include this lamp with this lampshade, these bookends, this pillow and an awesome giant rope anchor from home goods, which i couldn't find online, so i guess you'll have to wait and see what it looks like till i do a room reveal!

i've got my eye on this rug, and we're planning on purchasing this dresser from ikea as well as either this end table or this one...we're still on the fence on that one ;0)

things are coming together!