Amazing Ziti

This is another delicious recipe and it doesn't take too long to make.

Amazing Ziti

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

2 cups shredded carrot (I left this out when I made it because I didn't have any on hand)

2 (10.75 oz) cans condensed tomato soup

8 oz dried cut ziti pasta (about 2.5 cups)

2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil

1 medium onion (chopped)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 medium bell pepper (chopped)

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (4 oz)

1 cup shredded Colby cheese (4 oz)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (1 oz)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook ground beef over medium heat and add shredded carrot, chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, fresh or dried basil, and garlic powder into meat mixture. Cook until meat is brown.

3. Drain off fat and stir in tomato soup.

4. Cook ziti according to package directions.

5. In a 4 quart Dutch oven pan pour in meat mixture, mozzarella cheese, and cooked ziti.

6. Sprinkle top with parmesan and Colby cheese. Bake for 35 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

I know I haven't posted any recipes lately. It's not that I haven't been trying new recipes because I have. I just haven't taken any photos of the recipes. So I figured I shouldn't post them. But I've decided to just go ahead and post some of these recipes. After all, it's not fair to deny you the deliciousness of some of these recipes just because I was too lazy to take any photos of the final product.

This first recipe is one of my favorites. Mainly because it's not only delicious, but it is SO easy! This is one of those recipes that you can easily keep all materials on hand and then when you are short on time for dinner, this is the perfect recipe to pull out. It literally takes about 20 minutes. Perfect! Plus, it makes plenty for left-overs.

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cans of Veg-All

2 cans of condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

2 cans of canned chicken meat

3 packages of PIllsbury Crescent Rolls

1 package (2 cups) of shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Mix the cream of chicken soup, drained cans of Veg-All, the canned chicken meat, and the milk in a large skillet over medium heat. Add a little salt and pepper to season. Once mixture starts to bubble take off of the heat.

3. Spray cooking spray on casserole dish or metal baking dish. Line the bottom and side of the dish with the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (usually takes 2 packages).

4. Pour mixture into the lined dish. Top mixture with cheddar cheese.

5. Cover the dish with the remaining Pillsbury Crescent Roll. Cook for approximately 15 minutes or until the crust on top looks golden brown.

See? That's all. It's so easy! I love this recipe!!

Baby Belly - 30 weeks

T. Bubba (a hilarious comedian - if you haven't heard him, trust me, you want to get his CD) has said that with your first child you have 3 scrapbooks filled with photos of baby. When the next child comes you have one scrapbook and, well, with the third child, the only photo you have the neighbor took. So is it sad that I have only one photo of Baby Daniell in utero . . . and this is our first child? Yah, I know it's sad. Especially since I'm a photographer. So I understand why I keep getting harassed to post more photos. I will try my best to be better at this. Today my friend - and fabulous newborn photographer - Beth Johnson and I went out to play. While we were shooting, she took a few photos of me and my humongous belly. But to satisfy the masses, I am going to post a few of the photos for you. Enjoy!!

(Sorry for the lack of clarity. Blogger just doesn't work very well!)

29 1/2 week survey

How far along? I will be 30 weeks on Monday. Officially in the third trimester and the 7th month. Wow. I'm officially at the point of going to the doctor every two weeks now.

Total weight gain/loss? I think I'm done talking about this one. I feel like a huge cow. :-( My doctor said I'm doing good - 15 pounds total from my first drs appointment. But the number on the scale does not make me happy. And yes, after this post, don't be expecting to get any more numbers on this subject.

Maternity clothes? I really don't know what this question is asking. Yes, I have maternity clothes. Yes, I am wearing maternity clothes. What else is there to say?

Stretch marks? Well I guess I'm still lucky in this area. None so far.

Sleep? I wake up at least once in the night to go to the bathroom. And then maybe another time or two to change positions. But I guess I can't complain that much. I'm not completely uncomfortable when I sleep (except for being hot). The main issue is that my hands seem to be going numb at night. I'll wake up and my hands will be tingling. Sometimes the right hand will do it while I'm putting on my makeup in the morning. But I don't notice it the rest of the day. Very weird. Doc says its normal and that, unfortunately, there's nothing really to be done about it.

Best moment this week? Finding out that I passed my glucose test! Yippee!! (doing the happy dance). This means no change in diet!!!!

Movement? Yes, I feel movement, but not as much as I was. I brought this up to the doctor at my appointment this week and he had me do another ultrasound because I guess less movement is a big deal. See there? I learned how to cheat the system and get yet another ultrasound!!! :-) Don't worry, that was not my intention. I really just hadn't felt baby during the times I normally do and the movement was really light. But all showed up ok in the u/s. Baby was moving and drinking in the amniotic fluid and looked really cute. Supposedly the placenta is next to my belly wall (not baby) so it may be "hiding" some of the movement from baby. On another note, baby has finally flipped and the head is down low and butt up high. So that hard pressure I feel occasionally as I sit a certain way is baby pushing his/her butt into my ribs. Thanks kid.

Food cravings? Basically everything someone mentions. Ugh. It sucks. I am still craving fruit - fruit has definitely been a theme this pregnancy. But for some reason lately I've been craving sweets (Starbursts, M&Ms, donuts, Sour Patch candy, ice cream, etc.). Not so good. I'm trying to balance out my candy intake with fruit intake. We'll see how it goes.

Labor signs? No. Although Teacher at our birthing class said that a lot of the pressure we feel now are actually small contractions. But no worries, nothing to go to the hospital for. By the way, when do I need to start having bags packed???

Belly button in or out? In. If you've kept up with my previous surveys you know the belly button is a matter of contention for me. I don't want to talk about it.

What I miss? It's football season. I think you know what I miss. That's right. A nice frosty beer in my Alabama koozie. Sigh. And call me crazy, but very recently I've actually wanted to work out. Yah, weird, I know. Maybe it's just because I'm feeling SO huge right now, but a part of me just wants to work out.

What I'm looking forward to? Having my chair come in!! I ordered it August 27 and they said it could be here in 4 weeks. Can't wait!

Milestone? I'm finally starting to look and feel pregnant. I think that's a milestone, right?

Bonus Question - Swelling? YES! I know, this is a question I just added. But I have definitely felt my feet swell and my hands as well. My wedding rings are very tight. :-( I'm sad to think there may be a time I won't be able to wear them if this swelling keeps up. Luckily, it seems I'm the only person who has noticed it. I guess it could be worse and I could actually LOOK like Violet from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

On a completely different note, a lot of people have asked me (or my mom) where I'm registered. So I thought I'd just mention it on here. Baby Daniell's loot is located at BabysRUs and also Amazon.com.

Ready, Set, Birth

Jeremy and I had our first birthing class last Monday night. This was something we debated about for awhile - do we take the class or not? We finally decided to just go for it. After all, I haven't really read much about this pregnancy. Scary huh? So right now, I'm totally unprepared for what's to come. I figured I needed some form of knowledge about what to expect when I enter that delivery room. Plus, I get a tour of the labor and delivery ward by signing up with the class. Extra perk.

So we show up for our class on Monday not knowing what to expect. First, our teacher is NOT what I was expecting. She's got this long hair (unusual for older women .... unless they are a hippy .... hmmmm) and she's so soft spoken. But she was highly recommended by two of my friends. So I keep an open mind. We sit down and start looking through our packet of information. What first caught my attention were the "affirmations." We received two sheets of paper: Affirmations for the Expectant Mother and Affirmations for the Expectant Father. There was definitely some corniness in there, but I still kept an open mind. I won't write out all of the affirmations but they were along the lines of: "Pregnancy is beautiful," "childbirth is a normal healthy event," and "my mate and I are the center of the childbearing experience." But the one that got me - and yes, I DID laugh out loud (I hope that doesn't get me kicked out) - was the one that said "I am able to flow with labor in perfect harmony with nature." Um, excuse me? Yah, right. As I'm shoving something the size of a watermelon out of my who-ha, I do not expect to be in perfect harmony. But heck, what do I know? I've never done this before. Oh and we had to fill out this information sheet. One of the questions asked how I feel about using drugs to help with the pain. My answer: BRING IT ON. Literally, that is what I wrote. I see no reason to lie. So that's about how the class started.

After the other classmates arrived - there are 7 other couples besides us - we went around and introduced ourselves. We are the "out of place" couple in that our baby isn't due until Dec. 1 and everyone else in the class is due early to mid November (and one woman is actually due the end of October). But come to find out that the hospital tour is done on the last class, so at least we know we'll be around to do that whereas some of these other ladies could easily go into labor before then! See? I'm always thinking ahead. Only two of the couples (we were one of them) don't know the sex of the baby. That was pretty cool.

We then split into groups of men and women to discuss the "changes" we've noticed with the pregnancy. The ladies' answers mainly were "we are always hot," "higher libido," "trouble sleeping," etc. The men's answers were more about dealing with our hormonal changes, worrying about the financial aspect, and sleeping less because we aren't sleeping well. It was sort of funny. But that was the fun part of the class. I enjoyed just sitting there with the other women talking about our pregnancy. It was reassuring to know that these other women felt a lot of what I'm feeling.

But after that it sort of went downhill. We sat while our teacher brought out photos of the female body showing us where baby is and how our insides get squished and manipulated as baby grows. Ok, so that part was actually quite fascinating. I mean, by week 34 or so your bladder has completely disappeared. Crazy! No wonder I have to pee all the time. I can't imagine how it will be in another month! But that part also scared the crap out of me - seeing the size of the baby compared to where baby is supposed to make his/her debut? Yah, scary.

Then teacher went over symptoms of pregnancy and what certain things mean and when we should go to the doctor. I guess that was helpful. The most helpful part to me was being told to take note of the time your water breaks and what color it is. I mean, who knew to take note of the color! But if it's green, well then that's bad news bears. I think the thought of green "stuff" coming out of my body convinced Jeremy that we may need to buy a waterproof mattress pad . . . and maybe even something for the couch. LOL Teacher is nice, but she loses her train of thought and therefore repeats herself A LOT. That's just annoying. But the most annoying thing of it all was when she decided to go over the above-mentioned affirmations. She literally read them word by word to us. Maybe it's just us, but at least Jeremy and I feel the same way on this: we can't stand when someone reads to us - when we have the paper right in front of us. We are all adults and, from the introductions, we are all educated. We don't need you to read to us like children. UGH!

Well luckily after that we went into our "relaxation exercises." For this first class we just both laid flat on the floor (interesting to me that she had us do this considering our doctors tell us NOT to lay flat on our back) and then we just did some breathing exercises to relax. I guess it worked. But there were times that I almost cracked up (and come to find out later that Jeremy did too). At one point Teacher starts talking about baby being all safe and comfortable in the amniotic fluid. Well all I could think about is this green fluid filled with baby's poop she had talked about earlier. I almost lost it right there. Jeremy confessed later that he almost started laughing when she was telling us to relax each and every toe: "Relax your big toe, now relax your second toe" and so on and so on. And he envisioned her saying "now relax your 6th toe." I have no clue why he thought this. He's weird. My weird husband. But as we were driving home and discussing all of this neither of us could quit laughing. We were cracking each other up. And it's then that we realized that we may not be able to look at each other in this class - or else we will start laughing .... and get kicked out.

So that was class 1. We'll see how the rest of them go.

What I learned last night

As I sat home alone last night finishing my book and then watching the Auburn-Mississippi State game and the Saints-Vikings game, I learned a few things. Here's what I learned (ok, so "learned" might not be the right word for them all) in no particular order:

1. I need another really good book to read. None of the books I currently have at home interest me right now.

2. Cowbells may be obnoxious, but not nearly as much as Boise State's ugly blue turf.

3. Someone needs to take Newton out before Iron Bowl because he just scares me.

4. Left over pizza is not nearly as tasty heated up in the microwave as it is a toaster oven.

5. However, Papa John's garlic dipping sauce IS just as tasty coming right out of the fridge as it is when it arrives in the piping hot pizza box.

6. Rice Krispies cereal gets soggy really fast.

7. Mississippi State's stadium is REALLY small.

8. I really wanted Mississippi State to win . . . and they didn't.

9. I really wanted the Saints to win . . . and they did.

10. The Favre-ster needs to retire already.

11. I hate Thursday, Sunday, or Monday night games that start at 8 p.m. or later - don't people realize I have to work the next day?!

12. ShootQ is very cool.

13. Baby Daniell is probably going to come out of the womb knowing phrases like "hold on to the damn ball" and "tackle him you f*!#ing idiot!"

14. Never leave a hungry pregnant woman alone until almost 10 p.m. Otherwise, Baby Daniell will also come out of the womb knowing how to say "learn how to use the damn phone!"

15. To others, I probably sound like a very hateful person, but I'm really not. I was just hungry . . . very hungry. And I L.O.V.E. my football.

Speaking of football. There are so many amazing games on tomorrow. Can I hear an Amen?! I am stoked!! Can I also hear a ROOOOLLLLLL TIDE?! Hmmmm, I wonder what new words Baby Daniell will learn tomorrow . . . .