The Good, Bad, and Yucky

Yesterday we had a beef roast which I put in the crock pot with a packet of brown gravy and a packet of ranch dressing mix. I mixed the two with a bit of water. Yes, there are a bunch of carbs in the "sauce" but that's ok because we don't eat the sauce. As a side dish I made garlic mash cauliflower and it was... well... cauliflower. I tried everything I could think of to make it taste less cauliflower-ish and I failed. Hard. I added garlic, salt, pepper, cream, sour cream, butter, rosemary, all to no avail. Ok, Cauliflower, you win. Andy straight up refused to eat it and I gave it the old College Try, but it was yucky. Truly yucky.
Cauliflower:1 Stacie:0

Tonight we had Balsamic Mustard Chicken. I used this recipe

Ingredients

• 8 boneless chicken thighs;
• 1 tbsp. Dijon or homemade mustard;
• 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar;
• 1/2 cup of olive oil;
• 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice;
• 2 tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced;
• 1 garlic clove, minced;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

  Preparation

• In a bowl, combine the mustard, balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary, lemon juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Slowly pour the olive oil in with the mixture while whisking.
• Place the chicken in a marinating container (glass or plastic; don’t use metal) and pour the mustard balsamic marinade on top. Place in the refrigerator or leave on the counter, covered, and marinate for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat your oven to 375 F.
• Transfer the chicken to a baking dish and empty the remaining sauce on top.

• Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until the chicken is cooked.

 http://paleoleap.com/mustard-balsamic-baked-chicken/

And Holy Moley, it was good! I used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs simply because that's what we had. I typically cut my chicken breasts in half so they cook faster, like in half the time, faster.

As a side dish we had bacon green beans. They were delish too!
We winged it on that one. We cut up a few pieces of bacon, cooked them up, added a bag of French cut frozen green beans, saute them around a while. Then add a tiny bit of sugar free maple syrup. So good!

Creamy Cheesy Chicken

I used this recipe, but I doubled it so we will have lunches:

Ingredients

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used boneless skinless strips)

4 oz softened cream cheese

2 tablespoons softened butter

2 tablespoons whole cream 

1 tablespoon minced onion (I omitted this simply because I didn't have any)

1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2 cup of shredded cheese (I used cheddar and I used more than 1/2 a cup)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a 9x9 inch (we used 9x13) baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and place your chicken in without overlapping. 

2. Mix the cream cheese, butter, cream, onion, and spices and spread the mixture evenly over the chicken. 

3. Spread the cheese on top and bake for about 45 minutes or until chicken is done. Let it rest and cool a bit after taking it from the oven. 

 http://www.sugarfreelikeme.com/2013/12/creamy-cheesy-chicken.html

It was super amazing! Andy was seriously impressed! Ours was a little runny because we used frozen chicken but it didn't bother us at all. Instead of inced onion I used garlic powder because we didn't have minced onion and we are garlic fans.
For our side dish we had spaghetti squash with spaghetti sauce. My sweet friend, Megan, made spaghetti sauce over the summer and, holy guacamole, it's awesome.
To make spaghetti squash you cut that sucker in half and clean out the seeds and pulp with a spoon. Then you place the halves in the microwave with damp paper towels laid on top. I microwave for 12 minutes and then let them sit for a bit in the microwave. If you look at the squash and it has started to separate then it is time to "shred" it. Be careful! That stuff is crazy hot when you take it out of the microwave.  Then mix it with your sauce and put a little Parmesan cheese on top! 
This is definitely a do again! 

Low Carb Lovelies

Happy New Year! 2013 was a big year at the Wolf household. But with a new year comes new ideas. I know everyone makes resolutions to lose weight but we aren't really looking to just lose weight. We are looking to feel better. Andy and I did Atkins/low carb high protein in 2012 and it was the best we've ever felt. We had more energy, we slept better, we were happier, etc. But after finding out I was pregnant we just went a little food crazy, which we are paying for now. After doing a bit of research I have come to the conclusion that I might be a little gluten intolerant. Which explains why I felt so darn good after we cut out all gluten. The whole 4-5 months we were low carb-ing life, I didn't have one headache/migraine; my skin cleared up of PK, acne, and eczema; I actually felt rested when I woke up in the morning (instead of taking an hour to actually get out of bed), my stomach never felt upset, and I honestly was never hungry. It was truly amazing.
In any case, we are dying to feel better again. So low carb here we come! I will be posting my weekly menus here along with the recipes I will be using. I may let you know if we lose weight or not and I will stay accountable here. If I cheat, you will know. If I make great progress, you will know.

Here is this week's menu:
Sunday: Creamy Cheesy Chicken with saucy spaghetti squash
Monday: Roast with Mashed Garlic Cauliflower
Tuesday: Mustard Balsamic Chicken with Bacon Green Beans
Wednesday: Grilled Chicken with Spaghetti (squash) and Pesto Cream Sauce
Thursday: Baked Fish and zucchini mix
Friday: Steak and spaghetti squash au graten
Saturday: Shredded Chicken Taco lettuce wraps
Sunday: Cheeseburger Pie

I will check in later this week!

So Big

We have officially hit 2 months! But since I suck and forgot to post his 1 month photos here they are...

At 5 weeks Carter weighed in at a whooping 12 lbs 5 oz! What a big nugget!

Now for our 2 months...

How cute is this guy?! He weighs in at 14 lbs. 6 oz.and is 24.5 inches long. He can roll tummy to back and has started grasping his toys. He loves his play mat and his changing table. His absolute favorite toy is the ceiling fan. He can not keep a pacifier in his mouth at night, boo. He coos and "talks". He can smile and almost giggle. He wears 3-6 month clothes. We are planning on moving him to his own bed this weekend, we will see how it goes.
I think we will keep him :)

Smiles

Carter smiled at me for the first time! Not like smiling in his sleep or a weird almost smile because of gas, a real smile. He was laying in his crib and I came in to put his pacifier back in his mouth. When I leaned over and he saw me he SMILED!

A sleep smile :)

That Moment..

I just had that earth shattering, life altering, heart wrenching moment when I realized that this sweet baby is the best thing I've ever done. A moment of utter clarity where I can step away from being exhausted or worried about him not eating enough or being concerned about my house being a mess and realize that I've witnessed and been a part of a miracle. And this miracle is mine.

Crazy Up In Here

Well, hello there! Let me catch you up on what's happening around here...

Baby had their own plan and didn't come until 5 days past my due date. I was so uncomfortable but I could deal with it until it was 107 degrees outside. That was a special kind of torture. I will write a whole post with the birth story and pictures and everything. Until then, meet Carter Dean Wolf born 6/28/2013 at 3:35pm weighing 8 pounds 9 oz and 20 inches long. He's amazing.