2015 MARCH-MALLOWS... Due in March 2015!! Come join us!

[MrsKChicago]

A zoo membership sounds fun! I've been thinking what museum I might want a membership for this year - I wouldn't mind something climate controlled! We do have a free zoo, too, so hopefully I can talk SIL into joining me - she has a membership to the pay zoo, but that one is harder to get to.

What are you planning to cook? I need to do another batch of freezer meals, maybe some mac and cheese and some rice dishes.

I just called the doula we were assigned, and we're going to meet her on Sunday morning. I hope we like her, it's a bit of a gamble being assigned one instead of interviewing to pick one.

 

[LilFooshFoosh]

Hi all! I'll be really glad to finish up the last 12 days of work... very glad I had the forethought to have my last 2 weeks be every other day as full work weeks are totally draining me right now

I have been keeping up with reading, just not posting.

GL with the mummy groups! I tried one in my area when DS was small but it was one I had to basically apply to get into and they didn't get back to me until I was almost back to work! One tip that it took me a long time to figure out: when you or your kid make a friend exchange names... it sounds ridiculous but I met I don't know how many people but always had to call them so-and-so's mom/dad! I got the kid's name but not the parent's. I know it wasn't just me too because no one asked my name.

GL with the doula Mrsk, I hope you get on well.

We love our zoo membership! It is really nice to have something to do as a family that everyone likes and doesn'the cost us anything (after the initial purchase).

 

[mommasquirrel]

I plan on prepping ingredients for the following:
Crock Pot freezer bags-
Garden Veg Soup -2 batches just all veggies and 2 more with ground beef
Mexican Chicken Soup-2 batches
Mostly Meat Chili-2 batches made with beef
Turkey soup with veggies-2 batches
Beefy potato soup-2 batches
Black bean and corn chili with ground beef-2 batches
balsamic roast beef with veggies-crock pot-2 batches
Casserole Dishes
Cheezy Beef and Veggies-2 small trays
Lasagna-2 small trays and 1 large tray
Chicken enchiladas-2 small trays
Spicy Turkey cheese-2 small trays
Vegetarian Sweet potato enchiladas- 2 small trays
Swedish meatballs-2 small trays

I am thinking about making quiches as well but I don't know how well they will freeze.

 

[MrsKChicago]

I think quiche is supposed to freeze well. What's in the cheezy beef and vegetable casserole? I'm having trouble finding appealing options with vegetables cooked in, we usually do them on the side.

 

[mommasquirrel]

I think quiche is supposed to freeze well. What's in the cheezy beef and vegetable casserole? I'm having trouble finding appealing options with vegetables cooked in, we usually do them on the side.

cooked ground beef or turkey, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, green beans, and whatever veggies you like. 2 heaping cups of shredded cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream and seasoning-i just sprinkle oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Mix everything together put into casserole dish, top with more cheese. bake at 350 for roughly 25 minutes, remove aluminum foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes until nice and bubbly..

It's super cheezy. =)

It's low carb, high protein and keeps you feeling full. DH loves it more than me. I have a side of cottage cheese and fresh fruit with it. you could add spinach and carrots, although the carrots would still have a lot of crunch left in them. I personally love crunchy veggies.

 

[MrsKChicago]

I may throw together a batch and see how it goes over. Since we're not low-carbing, I could toss in a little rice or some potatoes or something, too. I like my vegetables a little crunchy, too, that's why they never end up cooked into casseroles. Do you use pre-cooked vegetables, or raw? I bet I could could go full Midwestern and add ranch powder...

 

[mommasquirrel]

I use raw veggies, I utterly hate soggy veggies. It was super hard for me to eat sauteed asparagus until i made them for myself and they stay nice and crunchy. DH is finally getting used to it as well and now will complain if he gets soggy broccoli when we eat out. lol, I am defin rubbing off on him for my food habits.

OMG I am craving an all veggie omelet right now. smothered in cheese. ok, that's it...raiding the fridge.

 

[LilFooshFoosh]

DH's family cooks broccoli until it can't be picked up with a fork...

Also, the first Thanksgiving I spent with his family they had one of those frozen, pre-stuffed, boneless turkey roast things (not appealing to me in the least, but they didn't know how to cook a turkey without totally drying it out) and as a side there was what I thought was a small bowl of sliced beets... it turned out to be a can of cranberry jelly that they had sliced! So not the typical turkey dinner I was used to, but then my mum may have spoiled me. DH is a LOT better with foods now, when we met he told me he didn't like most vegetables, and *gasp* didn't like onion or garlic!!! Saying that to me, someone with Lithuanian heritage, was practically blasphemous. He will eat almost anything I put in front of him now. That whole "whose cooking is better your mom's or your wife's" I win hands down. lol

His mum likes to boil or steam brussel sprouts with the bacon... she boils/steams the bacon blahhhhhhh

hahahahahahaha

 

[mommasquirrel]

lilfoosh: When I first dated my DH he was convinced he was some gourmand cook of some type. Unfortunately for him, I was a super foodie that loved throwing dinner parties with 5-6 courses and with flavor. When asked what his favorite dish is, he says hands down my lasagna. Although, I haven't really cooked a good meal since I was 5 weeks pregnant, he always mentions it when he is really tired. Now he is the main person who cooks. I am going to surprise him with all these freezer meals and I can just see him jumping up and down screaming YAY!! when we make the first lasagna. Funny, how food can affect a man.
His mother's cooking..I've heard stories about burnt offerings to the gods and meals so bad that they killed several dogs over the years. =(
SO I have to say, I think I had a huge impact on his taste buds when we met..and who doesn't like garlic or onions? OMG..they are the seasoning of the gods.
I was raised in an Asian community and my mom's husband was from Laos so we had lots of different foods growing up. I had rice at every meal and chili on everything. I still love soy sauce, fish sauce and more... Maybe that's why I love so much different things. Anyhow, my DH was in japan for several years and loves different things as well. I just can't wait to make my kid all these awesome dishes. I hope baby is not a picky person.
OK, nap time again. Ohh for people not on FB, one of our ladies is in L&D and we should see a new marchmallow baby arriving soon.

 

[bucherwurm]

Totally stalking FB today for baby news!
Can't believe that that is going to be all of us soon! Like seriously, I know I am growing a person, but baby also has to come out and then we have to keep baby alive!

 

[DrMum]

Who is in labor?!! I need to know now!! Haha! Now I don't feel liberated, I feel left out!!

I love hearing about everyone's background, heritage and food. Man we could throw a good dinner party if we were all nearer!

My background is scottish, but my mom is South African and my grandparents Irish. So my family eat a real hotch potch of international flavours. And now we live in canada we do even more confused cooking! I find it really interesting the way our sons palate is evolving with northern American favour preferences over british or European flavours.. Eg as kids we would have considered the best sweeties or candies to be the strawberry or raspberry ones in a packet, but he will preferentially go to cherry or grape. That probably sounds like a weird observation and makes me sound like a mum who feeds my kid crap all day.... I'm honestly not. I'm mrs organic vegetables all the rest of the time haha!

 

[missfrick]

This morning was awesome (and horrible) all at once! I had McDo for breakfast (which I am never awake to do!) and had 1/2 a hash brown, an egg muffin, and pancakes! Those darn pancakes are so good!!!

 

[MrsKChicago]

I'm so glad DH cooks. We were both raised by single mothers, so we both learned young. Both our moms are Lithuanian, so we both have a strong Lithuanian influence, but with plenty of plain old American mixed in (which tends to translate to a broad mix of ethnic foods moreso than hamburgers in my case). His mom is a good cook, but from what I recall (I haven't seen her in 8 years or so...), she relies a lot of packaged stuff - Pasta Roni, etc. Which makes sense if you consider that she spent most of adulthood raising a kid on her own. Her meatloaf recipe is killer, though. It's the only meatloaf I'll eat, and DH has given out the recipe a few times and always gets great feedback. We had a very sad house when I went through two trimesters of meat aversion.

My mom... She can cook if she doesn't try to get creative. Unfortunately, she tries to get creative. She once put sauerkraut in meatloaf because she was craving cabbage rolls. I can't even tell you how disgusting it was, and I love sauerkraut. Blech. Vomit. I wish she'd just made cabbage rolls, her cabbage rolls are great. I think my brother and I learned to cook as a defense mechanism

Foosh, I'm a bad Lithuanian Garlic is my favorite thing ever, but I'm picky about onion. I love the flavor, but I hate the chunks. I mince it up as small as I can when I cook. I'm dreaming of an appetizer at our favorite Lithuanian restaurant now. It's called Bread Hill and I'm pretty sure someone invented it while stoned (if this is actually a thing in Lithuania, I'm moving). It's a big Jenga tower of fried bread strips, covered in a cheesy sauce that's so full of garlic it would kill a vampire just thinking about it. Oh, it's so amazing. I need Bread Hill...

I'm so hungry now...

DrMum, it's BMcDonald89 who's in labor. I don't think she posts on the forum much. She's been pretty miserable, so hopefully she feels a lot better after the baby arrives.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's never awake for McDonalds breakfast... I'm a bad adult

 

[frenchie35]

Lol! You guys talking about inlaws and ideas about food. I think DH's whole family feared for his culinary safety when they heard he was marrying an American! They have finally figured out that I don't make hamburgers everyday and love it when I make tex-mex when they come over. However DH's parents hate garlic: when they mention that something has garlic in it, it's like saying it's been compromised or poisoned in some way. DH hadn't had anything with garlic until he studied abroad in the UK. He loves it now, so we just have to nod a long when the in-laws go on an anti-garlic tirade. Now to go make some pasta with lotsa pesto!

 

[MrsKChicago]

They don't like garlic? Is that even legal in France??

 

[bucherwurm]

So I've been washing baby clothes and putting them away in the closet and dresser, which is actually more difficult than it sounds. I know where I like my clothes, but babies have such different stuff! But I'm figuring it out.
So I was going through some other stuff I have collected and started wondering, where is everything else supposed to go? I have one bottle (planning on getting more), so where do they go? Pacifiers, rattles, teethers... the list seems to go on. But where is the best place to put it? Right now everything I have is still in it's package and just on a shelf in the closet. Any suggestions?

BTW, I like garlic, but am picky about onion. I don't like knowing it's there. If I make something that calls for onion, I never put as much in as is called for and I cut it as small as possible, no matter what the recipe says for size.

 

[mummy_smurf2b]

Ouch think I over did it today all my bones are aching from all the walkin but it hasn't helped that iv not really been that active through the pregnancy so that's the longest iv walked and that was about 25min each way lol I now officially have a house though I have a date for moving all my stuff in (a week tomorrow) and I'm hoping I can some how get carpets in before then and I don't see it happening lol I was really suprised at how big the bedrooms was it's great I attached a pic of my daughter stood outside it hehe it seems so surreal it being mine, my first ever house

 

[MrsKChicago]

Hmm, good question. I think I'll probably clear him a shelf in a kitchen cabinet for bottles and other feeding stuff, or maybe put a little basket on the counter. Rattles and teethers and other little toys will have a basket or something in the nursery, or maybe split between the nursery and a box on the coffee table. I have to figure out how to keep them accessible to us and not accessible to dogs.

 

[MrsKChicago]

So exciting, Mummy Smurf! There's nothing like having your own little house

 

[HopefulInNL]

I cleared out a cabinet in the kitchen for bottles...but like MrsK said, now the challenge is making sure the dog doesn't confuse all the baby rattles, teethers and nuks for his toys! I was going through a bunch of my shower gifts and a little rattle fell on the ground and he had it in the other room in just under a second!