17 weeks!

Omg, i'm working 3 jobs right now while I can to stack some cash. It's not too bad, and hopefully I get hired at the one place so I can quit the others. I took a picture of the bump that's starting to show and will take a pic every week to watch it grow. I just announced on facebook, let's see how many people notice or care....hahaha. It's so weird, I was nervous about announcing it to 470 people on there, which is a large number and I do know them all, but some not very well.  I'm getting to the point where I don't care what people think at ALL anymore hahaha!  Go hormones! I get home from work @ 4am, so I'm just getting to bed now, I hope this doesn't mess up the little babe's schedule. 

I have been learning so much about the birthing process and NOT wanting to have the baby in a hospital at all. I don't want them to cut the cord right away and I want to be naked and I want the baby to be placed on me right away. I wish we were still living in villages; where I would just know a midwife and she would help me deliver in my bedroom or in the stream.  I might have a waterbirth if I can, but there are ZERO midwifes in this area. There is a doula in State College, which is 30 miles away, but she seems flaky and never emails me back :/    Hope all of you are well. I am heading to sleep now, it's 630 am.  Much love.....................

Fullness......

I went to one of the two sushi places in Altoona tonight.  I made sure to get veggie sushi and cooked sushi, just in case the fish isn't good.....listeria concerns.  No one was available to go with me, so I went alone and got a lovely seaweed salad, miso soup, shrimp tempura roll, soft shell crab roll and avocado and asparagus rolls.  It was delicious, and I felt sooo full after eating came home and passed out for 3 hours!  I woke up at 10:30pm feeling so weird and still so full, now it's almost 2am and I still feel full yet hungry......  I don't know what to do, maybe i'll eat a cucumber and drink some prego tea.  I just don't like this feeling of being full and hungry. It's super intense. I'm just picturing eating potato salad now, but i'm so full!  hahahaha  I'm gonna go down and see what happens when i look at food........




  Much love <3

I am an oven.......

I have a baby in my womb!  

I am a little over 12 weeks and it still doesn't feel real to me! I'm feeling pretty good so far and hoping to stay active and not get too sluggish. I've been walking, but I'm gonna try and jog around and ride my bike more, but Altoona is not a very bike friendly town. It's hard to eat organic and fresh foods like I've been accustomed to in Colorado and Cali, but I'm makin it work.

If anyone is trying to get pregnant, I know exactly how it happened....well besides that....  I started taking Vitamineral Green and it LITERALLY nourishes your blood and heals your cells, which maybe you know that I had 1 ovary and endometriosis, but a month after I started taking this powder daily, I got pregnant....  I buy it off of Amazon every two months for about $50 and it has changed my life, beyond the fact that i got a baby in me...  If anyone wants to know more, feel free to ask me, it will change your life, whether you want to get pregs or not....hahaha.

I have a very part time job right now, which is ok and it is really hard for me to get a "real" job around here, but I'm gonna keep on truckin'.  


Thanks for coming here to read my updates, and I will try and keep you all posted on here rather than Facebook, since it feels really privacy invading over there.....   Also, please don't say anything on my facebook, I'm still keepin it on the dl, so I can get a job before I start really showing  :D


If you want to call me feel free anytime! Or you can text or message me on the Facebook.......    Much love <3   
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Here's the pic of the little guy, he/she is 5cm large here, and i was 11 weeks and 4 days.....

 

Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan    

 

  Oven @ 350°

  Prep time :: 20 min 

 Baking time ::  35-40 min ______________________________________________________________________________           

1 sliced         Large Eggplant ( ½ inch – 3/8 inch  slices)

~¼ cup          Salt –enough to coat eggplant and “sweat” away black bitter juices

3                     Eggs

¼ cup            Half + Half or cream or milk

2 cups           Breadcrumbs (Panko is my favorite)

1 teaspoon   Black Pepper

1 TBspoon    Dried Basil

1 TBspoon    Dried Oregano

2 cups            Freshly grated Parmigianno Regianno

10 ounces     Fresh Mozarella –sliced about ½ inch or less thick   .                                 . 

~ Coat sliced eggplant in salt and place in colander over bowl to collect black juice, let sit  about 20 minutes

~Rinse them in cool water to get salt off 

Egg Mixture + Breadcrumbs for frying eggplant

~ Whisk eggs + milk + pepper (no salt in the eggs) for dipping eggplant

~Then dip the eggplant in the breadcrumb mixture::

mix the breadcrumbs, basil, oregano, pinch of salt & pepper and some

(~ ½ cup) parmigianno regianno (my favorite parmesan, but any will do, regianno is just the best!)

~Fry in hot oil in frying pan, cook until browned 

_______________________________________________________________________

~~Cover the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of sauce, after frying eggplants, immediately place in a row in your baking dish.

~ throw a hint of parmigianno all over the eggplants in the baking dish, then place a slice of mozzarella on top of each eggplant slice.

 

~ spoon a bunch more sauce on top of the eggplant, but not fully covering them so some of the cheese will bubble, (((( or put sauce all over the eggplant and put the cheese on top of that.))))  you’ll know which is best, I change between both ways.  use as much or as little sauce as you like

~cover pan with foil and bake @ 350° for 35 minutes or more until bubbling.

<<optional>>   Take off foil and broil under broiler for a few minutes if you want cheese to get a little browned

Enjoy!!!

My favorite Italian comfort food.

This is my own recipe for a spaghetti sauce based on my Italian grandma's.  I changed it a bit, and its so great that i make it very often.  Its the best sauce i ever had, i can't even eat italian out anymore, nothing is as good as this.  Best spaghetti sauce ever!

   Rustic Italian Sauce (Organic, of course!)  

2 cans             28 oz Whole Peeled Tomatoes

10 cloves       Garlic (more or less)

¼ cup             Olive oil

2 chopped     medium white or yellow onions

2 Red Peppers (roasted under broiler and rotated until skin in blackened, then remove 

                              skin and chop into pieces)

8 oz                Crimini/baby bella mushrooms, or any other type (just not white buttons, they have little flavor)

1 ¼ cup        Dry Red Wine   (something you would drink)

3 TBspoon    Oregano

3 TBspoon    Basil   (fresh is best, but dried is good when crumbled with your fingers)

2 teaspoon   sugar

1-3 TBspoon Chili Pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you want the sauce)

1/3 cup           Parsley –fresh roughly chopped

~ First finely mince garlic and put into saucepan with the olive oil – no heat, just let it soak a bit while prepping the rest of ingredients

~Turn on very low heat and add onion and a pinch of salt and pepper until onions are translucent

~ Add the oregano and red chili flakes, stir until blended  (Basil will be added to sauce later)

~ Add mushrooms and another small pinch of salt and cook until they are fully cooked

 

~ Add the roasted red pepper and a small pinch of salt, stir and let cook for about 2 minutes 

 

~While mushrooms, pepper mixture is cooking squish the tomatoes in a bowl with your hand—until fully crushed

~When mushrooms are cooked and ready, Add tomatoes to the onion, pepper, mushroom mixture and stir until simmering

~ Turn heat to low and cover for 5 minutes or more

~Add basil to sauce and let simmer on very low another 5-10 minutes

~Now add the sugar , stir and taste

~ Taste to check out the flavors, add whatever else you think it needs (could be more basil, oregano, or chili flakes, but be careful with the flakes, they get spicier over time) 

~ If you add more spices, let simmer another 5-7 minutes.

~When you think its got great flavor, Add the wine

~Let simmer covered another 15-30 minutes,   stirring occasionally {{adding the wine is the final phase to push all the flavors together for the final simmering }}

~ you’ll be able to tell when it’s done, the color turns beautiful and the smell is amazing 

~When finished, turn off heat, add the parsley and give it a quick stir, so some parsley is floating on top

~ Let cool for a few minutes then put directly into the fridge for use tomorrow {{or try some on some pasta cooked al dente}}