meal menu for last week and this week

Don't judge... I go with the flow and make a meal menu whenever we go shopping. This last week we went shopping on Thursday, so that's the day I start with.

Thursday: Cantonese Dinner - My favorite recipe! It's so easy, and fast, and it's always good!
Friday: Skorthalia - It's a Greek appetizer my friend made for me this week, and I thought it'd be fun to see what Jonathan thought. It has toast on the bottom, super garlic-y potatoes, a beet, and a balsamic vinaigrette on top. The one she served me was better than what I made for Jonathan. He said it wasn't the best thing he's ever had, but it was a nice switch-up from our regular flavor profile. I agree.
Saturday: lefovers
Sunday: Sweet and Sour chicken - also a favorite of mine
Monday: leftovers
Tuesday: Baked potatoes... that was what was on the menu, but I didn't want baked potatoes, so I cut them up and put some seasonings on them and then baked them, so they were closer to crispy baked steak fries. The recipe I found I didn't really love, but I know what I'll do next time to make it better.
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Leftovers (Actually I went to the temple yesterday with the Relief Society, and I didn't get home till late, so Jonathan fended for himself, and I had a bowl of cereal)
Friday: Roasted Tomato Basil Soup - Copycat recipe for Corner Bakery and Cafe. We stopped there on our way home from the temple and I had that and LOVED it! So I'm making it again tonight.
Saturday: Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff (From my recipe treasure chest) (I was going to do the casserole that night, but crock pot recipes are better for general conference... especially Saturday night General Conference.)
Sunday: Leftovers (again, easy for General Conference)
Monday: Beans and Rice
Tuesday, and Wednesday: Leftovers.

I was talking to a friend from the ward that was telling me about a vegetable stand that has  SUPER good prices for tomatoes and Acorn squash among other things (HALLELUJAH!). Stay tuned for the acorn squash soup recipe next week.

Recipe treasure chest

As I was making my meal menu for the week I decided that I wanted to make a soup and a casserole this week because it's going to be a cold week. I started looking online (where I always look) and I found a link for a chicken and rice casserole recipe. Then I remembered that I had one given to me at a recipe exchange my married ward did in Provo. I found the envelope that it was in and I found a treasure chest of yummy, easy recipes that I still haven't tried! In the same envelope was all the recipes from my bridal shower that I had requested from ladies in my home ward! I'm so excited to try all of these recipes!

Boy, oh boy!!

Boy, oh boy! It's a girl!!!! Jonathan and I were both right! I can't wait to start making super cute girly stuff!!!

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow!

Ok guys. Tomorrow is the day!!! We find out the gender! I should have done this last week, because not everyone is a blog-a-holic like me, and they don't check the blog every day. But for those of you who happen to check it before I post about the gender tomorrow, feel free to comment about your guesses. Is this baby a boy or a girl?

I can't say you will get anything besides bragging rights. But those are always fun to get!

I'll post what some members of my family have already guessed

Mom Watterson: Girl
Amy Millar: Girl
Tacy Olson (cousin): Boy
Me: I'm in the air, but I'm going to guess girl. I was going to guess boy just so that if it was a boy I wouldn't be too let down (even though I would seriously be so happy if it was a boy), but I can't get baby girl thoughts out of my mind. So the guess is girl. I also can usually go by where the mom carries the baby, but since I'm still not really showing, that doesn't work for my guess... someday, someday I'll be showing.
Jonathan: (yes, I finally got him to make a guess. He's the type that he doesn't like to guess/suspect something if he has no control over it. Also, if he doesn't have any control over it, he'll guess the thing that has the most probability to be right, but since this is seriously 50/50 it was a hard choice for him.) Girl

What do you guys think?

Exercising

I started exercising again last week. (After I had a full 24 hours of no blood) and I feel so wonderful! I really missed exercising in the morning. I didn't realize how much I did, till I started back up again. I just feel so good afterwards.
That's all

Feast of the Hunters Moon

This last Saturday we went to a festival that is the talk of the town (seriously). It was really really fun! It was a reenactment of life at an eighteenth century trading post in New France. There were people dressed up as French people, and Indians (pardon the expression) and then there were random Scottish performers. I'm not sure why, but it was cool. They also had a TON of booths set up around this camp where vendors sold stuff from that time period (or rather, replicas,) and they had awesome food, and craftsmen there doing demos of different time period things. Here's a smattering of pictures for you to enjoy.

[caption id="attachment_177" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Here's the Scottish band marching in the background. It was fun to have random "home made" music in the background of the festival the entire day.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_178" align="aligncenter" width="640"] This is our attempt of getting a picture of both of us, with the band in the background.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_179" align="aligncenter" width="640"] That one's a bit better[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_180" align="aligncenter" width="640"] You can't see it, but there's a blacksmith in the background.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_181" align="aligncenter" width="640"] There, now you can see him[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_182" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The first food of the day, Stew. I don't remember what the name of it was, but it was just a basic stew. It was pretty good.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_183" align="aligncenter" width="640"] MMMM[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_184" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The boy scouts making and serving the stew. (With Jonathan on the side blinking... oops) All the food was cooked over an open flame, pretty true to the time period. I can't imagine cooking that much stew, that's a big pot![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_185" align="aligncenter" width="640"] This is me grinding corn into flour. That wouldn't have been the easiest job.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_186" align="aligncenter" width="640"] They had a shooting competition. He's loading up his gun.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_187" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Bang![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_188" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Jonathan wanted to try on a three point hat, but they only had child size ones. So with some prodding, he tried it on anyway.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_189" align="aligncenter" width="640"] SO COOL!!! There were a lot of women weaving. I wanted to try, I was pretty fascinated.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_190" align="aligncenter" width="640"] This couple made these instruments, and he was showing off what it can do. He was good![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_191" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Making table legs.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_192" align="aligncenter" width="640"] OH MY HECK! This blew my mind. She is making lace. All of the wooden pegs are different bobbins. She broke it down for me, how to do it, and it literally blew my mind. She said a professional could whip out a whopping inch of lace in an hour. No wonder lace was so expensive back in the day. Heck, it's still expensive.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_193" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Close up.[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_195" align="aligncenter" width="640"] pork chop. By FAR the best thing we had there. It was sooo good![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_196" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Apple Fritter. MMM. It was a good way to end the day.[/caption]

We also didn't get a picture of the fry bread we had. It was also quite yummy, and lemonade, which was a bit of a rip off, because they filled the cup (literally, it was full) of ice, and then poured the lemonade in, so there was about two sips worth. But it was quite yummy stuff.

We had a really fun time! Definitely the coolest thing we have done in Lafayette thus far.

Baby projects

I finished a couple baby projects in the last few weeks. Let me share some picture goodness with you.

[caption id="attachment_166" align="alignnone" width="300"] This is the first blanket I have ever successfully completed! I started when I was on self diagnosed bed rest for about a week. It was really fun to do. Oh, and no this is not an announcement that we are having a boy, I just happened to have those two colors of yarn, so I started with a blue one, and if I need to make a pink one, I won't mind at all.

This is the full blanket, it is straight on the left side, I just didn't straighten it before I took the picture.

It's my diaper bag! I'm so in love with it! oh, and if you look really closely, you can see my little belly poking out of my cardigan. I think I might have grown since my "pop" post

It has the capability to be a side bag, across the body bag, or a backpack! Love it! Seriously, I was so excited about it when it was coming together. I can't wait to fill it. Neither can Jonathan, it's super cute to see how excited he's getting. (We also tested the strap for Jonathan, it works for him too.)

These next few pictures are detail pictures. BAH! I love it!!! (Can you sense my excitement?)

Changing flap/pocket. The polka dot fabric are two big pockets for wipes and diapers. I'm also planning on making a changing pad to match, that will slide into the flap when it's closed.

Lots of pockets in the inside

A big pocket I added in the back. In the pattern, the backpack straps were also attached by D-rings, but I have heard that is uncomfortable to wear, so I made two straps, and the pocket is there for when I want to carry it with the shoulder strap, I can just tuck in the backpack straps in there. Also I can see myself using it for papers that I need easy access to, or books etc.[/caption]

 

Oh, and 4 days till we find out the gender. I. Can. Not. Wait.