Anthony Loves Stromboli!

I used my faithful favorite dough recipe for my base. I added basil. For fillers I stuffed my stromboli with smoked ham, grated mozzarella, bell pepper, onion, and garlic!

Pics of the Chef!

Etiquette On Talking To a Pregnant Lady

WHAT TO DO

1. Be positive. Ask her:

-What's new?
-How's life?

2. Treat her like a normal person. Remember she has a lot of great things going on in her life besides the pregnancy. Ask her:

-What have you been doing lately?

WHAT NOT TO DO

1. Don't be negative. Don't ask her:

-How's the weight gain?
-How many pounds have you gained?
-How's your weight?

She'll bring it up if she wants you to know. Besides, women generally do not discuss their weight. Be prepared to share your weight if you want to ask her her weight.

2. Don't be nosy. Don't ask:

-Midwife or hospital?
-Natural or Cesarean?
-Breastfeeding or formula?

She's sick of these questions.

3. Don't stereotype:

Just because she's pregnant doesn't mean that's all she wants to talk about. She might not be one of those pregnant ladies that likes to bemoan every tiny little pregnancy phenomenon. Maybe she's sick of talking about it. Maybe that's all anyone talks to her about. Maybe it's not that big of a deal to her. For you to try to make it a big deal makes you annoying. Back off. Go get pregnant yourself if you want to know so much about pregnancy. Or if you merely want to compare stories or worse yet horror stories, go read pregnancy stories online, but please, leave her out of it. She doesn't need the drama. Really.

Specialty Oatmeal

This morning my husband woke up first, made coffee and oatmeal. When I got up, he gave me the rest of his oatmeal. It looked like it was mainly oats and water, maybe a few honey-roasted peanuts. I reheated the leftover oatmeal, crumbled chocolate chip oatmeal cookies over it, sprinkled dried dates on it, and trickled a little milk over it. Delicious.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

This evening Anthony and I weren't really hungry for dinner because we had both had Baozi for snacks late in the afternoon. I had been seeing recipes for chocolate chip oatmeal cookies all over my kitchen lately from the oatmeal container to the flour bags to the brown sugar bag. I finally broke down and made them. My baby likes chocolate. She moves around a lot in my tummy when I eat chocolate. So I decided we both would like the cookies, all I had to do was talk Anthony into the idea. That was a little work because he likes to eat healthy, and he's concerned that I eat healthy before I go into labor. Well, he finally succumbed, I think after I told him the baby likes chocolate. The recipe I ended up using was the one on the side of my Baker's Corner All-Purpose Flour bag.

As I mixed the dough I wondered if I am the only one that does quality control on the brown sugar, trying it over and over because it is so good, and the chocolate chips. Maybe it's just a pregnancy thing. Of course that is my regular habit with the chocolate chips but it was a new one with the brown sugar.

The cookies turned out really well. I'm surprised we have so many left. I thought I was eating the dough continuously, and the cookies.

After I made them I had the audacity to look online for the health benefits of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies! I had to laugh out loud when I found an article talking about just that. The source was http://www.harvardcommonpress.com/the-health-benefits-of-oatmeal-chocolate-cookies/. I found it most amusing that the name Harvard was in the title. It reminded me of when we were in China this past summer and I was playing quite the lawyer with Anthony trying to convince him of the health benefits of ice cream such as calcium!

Homemade Dumplings with Balsamic and Fresh Ginger

Amazing. You can refer to my Chinese Dumplings and Baozi post from last night if you want the recipe for the dumplings. I just reheated some of the leftover dumplings from last night for a late lunch today. I doused them with balsamic vinegar and then sliced fresh ginger root on top of them. Outstanding!

Lunch

I wasn't hungry for lunch but I made a sandwich for Anthony. I sprayed a skillet with oil, dumped some minced garlic in it, put five slices of smoked lunch meat ham in it, and two slices of bread. I let it grill on high and sprinkled it all with cajun seasoning, turning them ever so often. I added a slice of yellow american cheese, chipotle ranch salad dressing, and lettuce to Anthony's sandwich. I washed some carrots, and cut the ends off of them for a side item. I helped Anthony eat the carrots:)

Chinese Dumplings & Baozi

Anthony and I watched a couple of YouTube videos last night on making dumplings because I wanted to find a good recipe for them. Here are the awesome videos we saw: video 1, and video 2. I reviewed the videos this morning before running to the store for a few items. I also checked out a similar recipe here.

When I returned from the store I set to work making my dumplings. I had leftover filling so I made baozi as well.

Dumplings Dough:

All-Purpose Flour

Hot Water

Filling:

Ground Beef

Green Bell Pepper

Sweet Onion

Garlic Cloves

Soy Sauce

Balsamic Vinegar

Vegetable Oil

Ground Ginger

Table Salt

Romaine Lettuce

Dipping Sauce:

Soy Sauce

Vegetable Oil

Garlic Cloves

Baozi Dough:

Self-Rising Flour

Hot Water

I sprayed the buns with oil so they wouldn't stick to the steamer.

I cut up a pineapple while the first batch was cooking.

Yum!

For breakfast in the morning . . .

Sandwich, Knot, and Bar

Today I sent along a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a garlic knot, and a chocolate chip protein bar for Anthony's lunch and snack pack. We have lots of breads and bagels in the freezer since I loaded up on groceries a couple weeks ago just in case I had the baby early. I just pulled a couple slices of bread from the freezer, stuck them in the toaster, then they were sandwich ready. Creamy peanut butter and red plum jelly completed Anthony's sandwich. I wasn't very hungry so I just had an apple with peanut butter for my lunch.

Italian

Tonight we had our neighbors over for dinner. I decided to make Italian. On the menu was Anthony's favorite, garlic knots! Also on the menu was Luigi Vitelli's Penne Rigate, my own special meat sauce with Reggano's Mushroom Pasta Sauce  as a base, and steamed vegetables. Can I just say, I love Italian food! Dinner was tremendous!

Shari's Meat Sauce

1 lb. Ground Beef

1/2 Sweet Onion

4 Garlic Cloves

Soy Sauce

Reggano Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Unfortunately, I'm not giving out my garlic knots recipe.