For as long as we have lived in Indiana Jill and Quaid have highly recommended the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday’s. They particularly are fans of the fresh made Pumpernickel croutons. So, the other day after running some errands Ben and I and the boys decided to try out the salad bar and see what all the fuss is about. Well, let me just tell you I understand now. The croutons are REALLY good. So good, that I can’t stop craving them. I can’t get them out of my head. It’s bad…I even went to the grocery store and bought Pumpernickel bread so I can make them tonight. BUT, I looked up some copycat recipes, and funny enough they are not made out of Pumpernickel bread. They are actually made out of Dark Honey Wheat bread and they are deep fried. Here is the really simple recipe (slightly modified) taken from the RecipeZaar website:

Ruby Tuesday’s Croutons

SERVES 8 , 6 cups (change servings and units)
* 3 cups dark honey wheat bread, cubed
* garlic salt
* 2 cups oil (for deep frying)
Directions

1. Cut the loaf of bread into bit size cubes.
2. Deep fry for about 1 -2 minutes. They should come out semi soft.
3. As the croutons come out of the deep fryer, sprinkle with garlic salt.

YUM…I can’t wait to try this recipe and see how they turn out. Though, I think I will try to bake them rather than fry them.

Today is Jonah’s birthday. He is 3 years old!! It’s hard to believe 3 years have gone by already. He is getting so tall and looking so mature- losing his baby look. I am sure when the new baby comes Jonah will seem so big, but for now we can still treat him like our little goo-goo! I am not ready to let that go just yet.

This morning Elijah asked Jonah what he wants for his birthday, to which Jonah replied -three cakes. So three cakes it will be (or rather just a bunch of cupcakes) – my boys are easy to please ; ).

Earlier today Elijah keep himself very busy with drawing on the whiteboard. He finished with this little gem. Here is his drawing of the cast of

SpongeBob SquarePants

(From Left to Right: Plankton, SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs)

I thought he did a pretty good job!!

Last Friday Elijah came home from school looking like this…

(A few days before this the boys were playing a fun game of holding hands while alternating who got to jump up while the other dropped down, and Jonah knocked Elijah’s front tooth loose when his head hit Elijah’s mouth during mid-jump)

Before going to a Fall Festival later that evening Jonah assisted his big brother with knocking the tooth out. He accidentally kicked Elijah in the face while they were both sitting on the couch watching their favorite cartoon, Sponge Bob-Square Pants. So, Elijah now looks like this…

Today I met with Elijah’s 1st grade teacher for the anticipated Parent/Teacher conference to discuss his progress in school so far. It went very well! I am very proud of our boy! He is doing great in all areas, especially reading and writing. A momma likes to hear all the good things her baby is accomplishing.

I am glad I got to meet with his teacher, because my impression of her has now changed. In the beginning she seemed to be extremely hard on the children. Too hard. Some days Elijah would be very nervous to go to school for fear he was going to get in trouble for not doing or saying things right. Not too long ago he was in tears since he could not find a little apple book he made out of cut paper. He thought he had to return it to class and he was frantic searching the house. We never found the book, so I wrote his teacher a note hoping that would soften his punishment. He never got in trouble…but as any protective parent watching their son crying because he was scared what his teacher would do, I wasn’t sure if I liked his teacher very much.

Mrs. Perry admitted she was harder on the children in the beginning of the school year to establish the “rules”, but I think things are more relaxed now. Turns out she is very sweet and from her comments today, I can tell she is a very caring teacher.

Like many women during pregnancy I have had many cravings, but mine tend to last the whole pregnancy long.

When I was pregnant with Elijah I could not get enough tamales, Mexican food in general, slushies from Sonic or Water-n-Ice, and seafood (mainly crabmeat and shrimp). With Jonah I craved hummus, edamames, pizza, french fries, and banana bread (specifically Emma’s recipe). I know these sound really gross together, but I did not eat them all at one time. ; ) With this pregnancy I haven’t had as many cravings as before, but I have had two specific ones so far; Chinese potstickers and sweets (mostly cake, pies, and anything chocolate).

So, I have been trying my hand at some good old home cooking and have discovered some great recipes. My favorite so far are the Vegetarian potstickers (dumplings) and Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipes I pulled off of the Smitten Kitchen and Allrecipes websites.

Vegetarian Dumplings
Adapted from Alton Brown

1/2 pound firm tofu
1/2 cup coarsely grated carrots
1/2 cup shredded Napa cabbage
2 tablespoons finely chopped red pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
2 minced cloves garlic (Deb addition)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil (I replace 1 teaspoon with hot sesame oil — delicious)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
35 to 40 small wonton wrappers
1/3 cup chicken stock or water

Preheat the oven to 200°F.

Cut the tofu in half horizontally and lay between layers of paper towels. Place on a plate, top with another plate, and place a weight on top (a 14-ounce can of vegetables works well). Let stand 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, cut the tofu into 1/4-inch cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the carrots, cabbage, red pepper, scallions, ginger, cilantro, soy sauce, hoisin, sesame oil, egg, salt, and pepper. Lightly stir to combine.

To form the dumplings, remove 1 wonton wrapper from the package, covering the others with a damp cloth. Brush the edges of the wrapper lightly with water. Place 1/2 rounded teaspoon of the tofu mixture in the center of the wrapper. Shape as desired*. Set on a sheet pan and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat procedure until all of the filling is gone.

Heat a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat. Brush with vegetable oil once hot. Add 8 to 10 potstickers at a time to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, without touching. Once the 2 minutes are up, gently add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes.

I made a bunch of these and froze them. They keep really well in the freezer and are great for a quick meal/snack. I have since modified the Vegetable dumpling recipe and added ground chicken for Ben’s benefit since he is not a fan of tofu. Both turned out so good that I have not had the desire to go out to P.F. Chang’s for their overly priced but extremely delicious vegetarian and chicken ones.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

This week I am going to make chocolate cream pie and pumpkin pie. I will post the recipes if they turn out good!

I have really been neglecting our blog lately, but honestly I haven’t had the energy to do much more than trying to keep up with the daily tasks that demand my attention. So I am going to attempt to catch things up in the next few posts…

Last week I received positive confirmation via ultrasound that I am indeed pregnant. Our new addition should be arriving in mid-March 2010. I was in my 12th week when the ultrasound pictures shown below were captured. I am now currently in my 13th week and still have not gained the energy I once had and took for granted.

I must admit I have known for several weeks now and both Ben and I were stunned by this completely unexpected “development”. However, there was no denying it after many, many pregnancy tests, bouts of morning sickness, unpredictable moodiness, and complete lack of ability to complete normal daily functions without having to sit down (or lay down) and rest.

Elijah is beyond excited for another baby in the family. He is hoping for a baby sister. So far Jonah is indifferent, but we are sure he is not ready to give up the benefits of still being the “baby”. Though, he does kiss my belly when we ask him where the baby is. In turn he wants us to kiss his belly, because he thinks he has a baby in his belly too. We can’t fault a two year old for not knowing how things really work.

Yesterday marked the last day of Elijah’s first week of 1st grade. I’m sure as with most schools the Elementary school he is attending has been going pretty easy on the children for the first week; the workload in class is very light and he hasn’t had homework so far. So Elijah is thinking 1st grade is a breeze. However, we parents know it will only get harder as the year progresses. Only slightly harder I think since it is still only 1st grade, but for a 6 year old it may get challenging at times.

He was very happy to have a few of his kindergarten classmates join him in his 1st grade class. And he really likes his teacher Mrs. Perry. He said she talks calmly like Mrs. Young. I give Elementary teachers a lot of credit. They sure have an abundance of patience!

Here are some pictures of Elijah on the first day of 1st grade.

I'm leaving, on a school bus, don't know when I'll be back again!

Raiding mothers gum......always!

On Monday Elijah goes back to school. I am excited for him to start 1st grade and get back into a daily routine. Routines are good for all of us! His 1st grade teacher will be Mrs. Perry. I have heard really good things about her from my neighbor and from Elijah’s kindergarten teacher Mrs. Young. Although I wished at the end of the last school year Mrs. Young would have been his teacher again, I am happy he will get the opportunity to meet and get to know a new teacher.

The summer really flew by. Our summer started with a wonderful visit from Morgan – continuing with a family trip to San Diego (Sea World and beaches) and Arizona (visiting family and friends) – followed by a 10 day visit from Kenzie, Kaelyn, and Zack. We also spent a lot of late, late nights hanging out with our friends. You cannot beat the great Indiana summer nights of sitting around a fire-pit roasting marshmallows, eating smores, chatting, and occasionally spotting fireflies. The July fireworks (Indiana folk don’t just shoot off fireworks on the 4th; they last the whole month long) were great too.

As summer ends we have many new memories to reflect on and we look forward to the upcoming fall memories we will make.