Recipe Wednesday - Slow Cooker BBQ

With fall and cooler weather upon us I'm searching for any and every warm, slow cooker meal that I can find. And what defines fall more than barbecue!?!? Nothing! To me that just screams football season! I found a really great slow cooker barbecue recipe in our local hospital foundation's cookbook. I was a little unsure because I've never cooked that much pork before but it turned out so tender and really good!

Slow Cooker Barbecue
2 to 3 pounds boneless pork
1/3 cup Ketchup
1/3 cup Vinegar
1/3 cup Pineapple Juice
1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons pepper sauce
2 (4 ounce) jars baby food peaches

Trim excess fat from pork. Pack tightly into slow cooker. Combine ketchup, vinegar, pineapple juice, brown sugar, pepper sauce, and peaches in blender container. Process until smooth. Pour sauce over pork. Chill, covered, overnight. Cook on High for 8 to 10 hours or until pork is cooked through.

*Note: I cooked this on high in my slow cooker for 8 hours and it was perfect!

Sunday Afternoon with KayKay and GrandDavid

On our way home Sunday we stopped in our home town for a tea for one of my good friends growing up who is getting married in a few weeks. Charlotte and Jason enjoyed spending some time with his parents while Mom and I went to the tea.

Charlotte is great at pushing up now. She does it almost as soon as she rolls over. She can scoot like that too!

GrandDavid bought Charlotte a pink glove and softball so that she can be like her Daddy! We're all curious to see if she really turns out to be left handed. Right now she points, grabs, holds the spoon and toys with her left hand. Is this something all babies do or is it indicative of whether she'll be right or left handed??

Go Rebels!

Since our best friends, Kelly and Tripp, went to Ole Miss and are huge Rebel fans we are trying to teach Charlotte that we cheer for the other teams in the SEC when they don't play us and we cheer for Ole Miss against other SEC teams as long as they aren't playing us. Now, please don't try and take this to the extreme by giving our child clothes, shakers, rattles, etc with other teams logo's on them because believe me, she won't be wearing/shaking anything with a team's logo other than the Crimson Tide on it, but we can still teach her to be a good sport! :)

So last week when Ole Miss played South Carolina we went to see Kelly, Tripp, and Caroline for the first half of the game. This was our first play time together where Charlotte was really awake and she couldn't keep her eyes off of Caroline! It was so cute! And Caroline really enjoyed playing with Charlotte, i.e. touching her feet! :) We hope that they'll grow up to be the best of friends! We're trying our hardest to make that happen with family trips together and lots of fun outings!

Charlotte's thinking, "Well, at least this team is red too! You don't expect me to actually cheer FOR teams that wear orange do you?!?!"
These two (well, three!) are going to be trouble one of these days in the very near future!

What IS this stuff?!?!?

Last week we started rice cereal. Well, we tried it once. Our doctor told us that if she was pushing against the spoon with her tongue that she probably wasn't ready and to try again in a week or two. So we haven't tried again since this one time but we'll reintroduce it maybe at the end of this week and see if she likes it any better. She did really well though! She didn't spit much out, she just didn't know what to make of it!

Before the cereal. This was the first time she had been in her high chair. She was a little unsure about the whole thing.

First bite! "Mom! What IS this stuff?!?!"

"I'm not sure what to do with this!"

"Why are you still making me eat this?!?!"

"I would much rather have you leave me alone so that I can bang my spoon on the tray of my high chair! That is much more fun than eating that stuff!"

Catch Up

So, today I'm playing catch up. With dishes. With laundry. With the messiness that is our house. With the blog. Things have been a little crazy around here recently. We went back to Tuscaloosa last weekend and while it was super fun being gone two weekends in a row (really we've been gone the last four!) makes it easy to fall behind on things. To add to that I've agreed to help out my former employer by working extremely part time on one project that they really needed help with. It's only a few hours a week but now that I'm trying to fit that in during nap time too things are getting crazy!

So while Charlotte plays I'm going to try and get caught up on the blog. Sorry for the long time between posts!!

Recipe Wednesday - Sesame Salmon and Hunan Noodles

A few years ago my parents went to Colorado and my Mom brought me back Colorado Collage which is the cookbook from the Junior League of Denver. I LOVE collecting Junior League cookbooks from around the country because their recipes are always so good! This cookbook has intimidated me though because all of the recipes sound so sophisticated and are so different than the staples that we make in the South. But a few weeks ago I endeavored to try something. For the past month or so I've been working at finding new recipes in the myriad of cookbooks that I own and so I found this recipe in the Colorado cookbook. Let me tell you, it was a good recipe! There are a few things that I would change the next time I made it (which I'll note at the bottom) but all together a very good (and pretty healthy!) meal!

Sesame Salmon and Hunan Noodles
Serves 4

6-8 ounces dried oriental-style noodles
4 T Sesame Oil, divided
1/2 c Soy Sauce, divided
2 T Rice Wine Vinegar
1 T Sugar
1 T Hot Chili Oil
1 T plus 1 t peeled, minced fresh ginger root, divided
2 T sliced Green Onions
1/3 c Fresh Peas, cut into thirds
1/3 c Shredded Carrots
1/3 c Sliced Fresh Mushrooms
1/3 c Thinly Sliced Red Bell Pepper
3-4 T Fresh Lemon Juice
Freshly Ground Pepper
4 4-ounce Salmon Filet's

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain well, place in a large bowl and toss with 2 T of the Sesame oil. In a small bow, combine 1/4 c of the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, hot chili oil, and 1 t of the ginger. Stir until well blended and add to noodles. Toss to blend. Add green onions, peas, carrots, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Toss and chill 2 hours.

In a shallow glass dish, combine lemon juice, remaining 1/4 c soy sauce, remaining 2 T sesame oil, remaining 1 T ginger and pepper to taste. Add salmon and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill 2 hours. Preheat grill to medium-high. Grill salmon, discarding marinade, 4-5 minutes per side. Serve salmon on noodle mixture. Serve immediately or chill and serve cold.

*Note: I couldn't find 'Rice' Wine vinegar in the grocery store and so I used the 'Wine Vinegar' that was with all of the oriental fixings.
*Note: I couldn't find Hot Chili Oil and so I substituted 1/2 teaspoon of Chili Sauce with Garlic
*Note: I decided to saute the vegetables in olive oil before putting in the pasta, but that's just a personal preference.
*Note: Jason preferred the pasta to be served immediately while still warm. It was ok with the pasta cold but I agree that it would probably be better all hot. And we definitely served it while the salmon was fresh off of the grill!

Calling all Mommies!

After our trip last week where our SUV was packed to the gills with stuff for us and for Charlotte we decided that we need to invest in an umbrella stroller to use when we're traveling. So I've been researching them but from reading the user comments there is no stroller that everyone is happy with (understandably so). But because of this I thought that I'd ask if any of you have opinions or experience on which would be the best kind of buy. I'd like to buy one that has a reclining option (at least part ways) since Charlotte isn't sitting up by herself yet. Some of the ones that I'm thinking about are the Chicco Liteway, the Maclaren Volo, the Britax Blink, the Maclaren Triumph, and the Chicco Capri. Please help me out! Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Four Months!

Charlotte Lee! You have grown so much this month! Yesterday, you promised me that you wouldn't grow up so I'm going to hold you to that, ok?!? :) I feel like you have gotten so much bigger in this past month and you are doing so much. I'm sure that I will love every stage that you're in but this one is so much fun!

We took you to the doctor this afternoon and you have grown a lot! You are now 12 pounds and 9 ounces (29th percentile) and 23 3/4 inches long (35th percentile). But your head circumference is now 41 1/4 cm which is the 61st percentile!! You are definitely one smart little girl! :) Like last time we hated seeing you hurting from your shots but now you're playing on your activity gym like normal so hopefully you don't feel too bad!

Here are some things that you are doing/have done this month:

You love having us sing to you! It's the easiest way to get you grinning these days. We sing "Pop Goes the Weasel" and the "ABC's" the most but really any song will get you smiling!

You laughed for the first time time this month and we got your first genuine giggle.

You found your feet this month! You still love your hands -- grabbing things, sticking them in your mouth -- but you found your feet and now you grab them all the time! I'm sure it won't be long until they go in your mouth also.

Had your 3 month pictures taken! We got some precious shots!

You are sitting up assisted these days. You got in your Bumbo and enjoyed sitting and looking around and you can sit up on the couch (in the corner or just up against the cushions) for a little while before you fall over.

You got to swim for the first time! Daddy and I took you swimming in Atlanta and you were a little unsure of the water at first but soon started splashing Daddy!

You had your first game day! We didn't go to the Virginia Tech game but you enjoyed pre-gaming and meeting all of Memma and Papa G's University friends!

You had your first stay in a hotel room. You slept in your small pack and play and we realized you were probably too big for it. We tried again last weekend but we're taking the big one to Tuscaloosa this week. You slept really good. We were so proud of how well you did!

You went to your first Braves game! The Braves are one of your Daddy's greatest loves and he loved getting to take you to a game! You took in all the sights and sounds and then took a nap!

We got you a jumperoo and you started to love it! You now jump in it and squeal in delight. You grab the cat and cow that hang down and pull on them. You don't quite have the tummy control to sit up and play with the things down low but I bet you get there by your next birthday!

You spent your first night away from both of us! KayKay and Grandavid were so nice to come and keep you while we went to Tuscaloosa for the first home game. They said that you did a really great job! I know that they loved taking care of you!

You went to your first football game! It quit raining long enough for us to get to the game and you loved meeting everyone and cheering for the Tide! You would start to fuss if we didn't have you facing the field so that you could watch the game (seriously!). You are already an Alabama fan through and through!

You are also a great sleeper! You usually sleep between 10 and 11 hours at night which is wonderful for us! You have become a good napper too and usually take two two hour naps and then one or two one hour naps during the day.

You enjoy having Noggin on while you are playing on your activity gym or in your jumper. You won't watch it for long periods of time but you like to watch a minute or two occasionally.

You are quite a talker! We will have "conversations" with you and you just keep talking and talking! We can't wait until we can understand what you're trying to tell us!

We love you so much Charlotte! You are such a blessing to us and the rest of your family. We are thankful that you are our little girl!

Twitter

In case anyone noticed I removed my Twitter feed from the sidebar. Apparently Blogger has something wrong with it and is putting this one user's tweets into a lot of people's twitter feeds on their blogs. I saw that it wasn't happening just to me. So, until it can be resolved I'm removing the feed because the tweets that are getting put on the blog aren't appropriate. If you want to check out my real twitter feed you can go to my Twitter page.

And, I apologize in case any of you saw the other person's tweets earlier. Thanks!

Holiday Slim Down Week 8 Weigh In

In case you've just joined recently I'm participating in Natalie's Holiday Slim Down. The goal is to lose 15 pounds in 15 weeks. Natalie had a little boy the same day that I had Charlotte so we're in the same boat of trying to lose the baby weight and trying to get back into pre-baby clothes before the holiday season. This week is the Week 8 weigh in and so far I'm down 6 pounds total. Not quite one pound a week but still a pretty good loss if you ask me.

I weighed this morning and was still sitting at the same weight. To me this was an achievement because football season has started and with it comes lots of snacking over the weekend. I tried to limit my snacking this weekend which helped but still, I'm glad that I haven't back tracked. I think it helped this week that I started Jillian's 30 Day Shred last week. I did the workout Tuesday through Friday last week and am planning on continuing it this afternoon. I'm also thinking that I might have lost some fat but the increase in muscle mass from those workouts might have offset them.

Anyway, regardless of the numbers I'm feeling really good. I can pretty much wear all of my pre-pregnancy pants even though a few are still a little tight in the waist. I'm pretty close to my pre-pregnancy weight but I still feel pretty far from my pre-pregnancy shape. But I guess that's where the 30 day shred is going to help a lot. Overall, I'm feeling a lot healthier due to the choices I'm making (no carbonation or caffeine, occasional spurts of no sweets, exercising) and that is really important! Here's to keeping it up!

UA vs North Texas part 2

There will be lots and lots of pictures in this post because we had so much fun yesterday! Charlotte was such a trooper and lasted through the 3rd quarter of the game. She did take a nap while Memma held her and got lots of oooohs and aaaahs. She was pretty overwhelmed in the crowd on our way to the game, but thankfully she was out of most of the really loud crowd during the game so she handled it pretty well.

Hanging out watching the game. I LOVE her dress and am so excited that she got to wear it. It's from The Trendy Tot. I'm eyeing the elephant poncho to get her for next year when the games get cooler!

Napping on Memma

Charlotte loved seeing Miss Julia at the game! She is so excited that Miss Julia and Mr Lydon are getting married on her birthday next year! Charlotte knows that Miss Julia will be a beautiful bride!

Charlotte loves standing up now and during the game was no exception. She loved watching the field but here she was trying to keep talking about the wedding with me and Julia!

Cheering with Papa G!

This was about when we left. At that point she was tired and hot and ready to get home.

Since our game was at 11:20 we got back from the game and still had hours and hours of quality football watching to do! By the end of the day Charlotte was a little tired of football but she enjoyed getting to spend so much time with Memma, Papa G, and Uncle Charlie. She can't wait for her next football game weekend!

Post bath Charlotte put on her cute elephant onesie from Monkey Tots.

See, isn't she adorable?!?!

Charlotte loved playing with Uncle Charlie!

This was her reaction to Florida winning. Although she didn't really want Tennessee to win either so it wasn't too much of a disappointment! :)

Overall we had a fantastic weekend! Thanks Memma and Papa G for letting us stay with you and for taking us to the game! It was fun to have so many people there as part of Charlotte's first game day experience. We are looking forward to may more!

UA vs North Texas part 1

This weekend we took Charlotte down to Tuscaloosa for her first game weekend. It was a little hairy getting down to Tuscaloosa on Friday night since the weather was horrendous, but we made it unscathed and enjoyed a relaxing evening where Charlotte got to enjoy not being in the carseat.

Here she is playing with her Daddy and her gloworm. Charlotte LOVES her gloworm! I'm not sure if it's because it lights up or because it sings but it is one of her favorite toys. Thank you Sam for giving her such a fun gift when she was born!


Just smiling with Daddy! I think she was so relieved to not be all scrunched up in a carseat that she enjoyed her time playing on the floor.

When we woke up Saturday morning it was raining cats and dogs so we stayed inside hoping it would stop before the game started. Charlotte enjoyed watching Noggin with Memma and Papa G!

Nothing like The Wonderpets to get Charlotte excited!

Coming up next...more from our trip to Tuscaloosa!

Rain Rain Go Away!

We have had a good week despite the persistent rain. It seems like it's never going to stop! Hopefully by game time it will. But we had a good week hanging around the house and being lazy. I can't believe that my baby is going to be four months old on Tuesday! I've got to get to work on my four month post because so much has happened this month!

I just thought I'd share some sweet pictures that we took on Thursday night.

Charlotte fell asleep while watching tv with Daddy. We didn't notice until she was already asleep and then I wanted a picture because she looked so sweet.


Looking over Daddy's shoulder after her bath. I was taking pictures of the hair on the back of her head because it was sticking out but this one was so sweet. Isn't she precious?!?!


I hope you are dry where you are and enjoying this gameday Saturday! Roll Tide!

Recipe Wednesday - Baked Corn with Sour Cream

This is one of my absolute favorite side dishes. It is so good and fairly easy to make! It is always a big hit when I take it to gathering's and Jason always gets excited when I say that I'm making it! The only thing is that it doesn't make a ton so if you're planning on taking this for a pot luck or for a lot of people I'd double the recipe. The recipe says that is yields 8 servings but in my experience people take really large servings because it's so good! This is another recipe from Cotton Country.

Baked Corn with Sour Cream
Yields 8 servings

6 strips Bacon
2 T Chopped Onion
2 T Butter
2 T Flour
1/2 t Salt
1 c Sour Cream
2 12-ounce cans Shoe Peg Corn
1 T chopped parsley (optional)

1. Cook and crumble bacon.
2. Cook onion in butter, blend in flour and salt.
3. Add sour cream gradually, stirring to keep smooth.
4. Bring just to a boil and add corn. Cook until heated through.
5. Fold in half of bacon and pour in greased baking dish.
6. Garnish with parsley and remaining bacon.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

The Shred

Oh, Jillian Michaels, how I dislike you!

So, I did it. I started the 30 Day Shred today. And, oh me, I definitely feel shredded right now! As if someone has gone into my body and literally torn it apart. Ok, it's not that bad....yet! But I was a little unsteady just now coming downstairs after putting Charlotte down for her nap so I'm not real optimistic about how the morning is going to look. That, my friends, is a very intense workout! I'm going to try it again tomorrow and hopefully I'll be a big enough person to keep trying it after that. At one point she said that if you were on your 5th or 6th workout wasn't it amazing how much more stamina you had. I sure hope so because my stamina can't get any lower!

But on a happier note, look at this little cutie! She is sitting up on the couch like a big girl in the first picture and loving her jumperoo in the second. She's still not really sure about the jumper but it liking it more and more each day. It will be fun to see her start to get excited when she jumps! Right now, it still kind of scares her.

I guess since it's naptime I should go do something productive like laundry or dishes. But, then again, I did The Shred during the first naptime and we just got back from Target and Bed Bath and Beyond. So maybe I deserve to go and watch the DesignStar finale??? :) We'll see!

Holiday Slim Down

Well, last week Natalie gave herself a break and a week off from weighing in and offered to let us do the same. I didn't take it last week, but I'm going to this week because I'm pretty sure that it was a BAD week! I had someone ask me if I have any tips since, so far, I've done so good. I'll give you my tips and point out that this week I didn't follow these very well at all!

1 - No soft drinks. I was falling asleep Saturday afternoon before the game and had a little bit of Dr. Pepper. I also had a sprite earlier in the week because I didn't feel so great. Both not good ideas. Those drinks are 100 calories that you consume without even thinking about it! And the drinks don't fill you up like 100 calories of fruit would!

2 - Walk 3 times a week. I think we might have done this but if we did we didn't walk for long each time. I think it's finally time to break out the Shred with Jillian today. I'll let you know how it goes.

3 - Drink more water. I did pretty good on this over the weekend but during the week I have a hard time sticking to this.

4 - Limit (or preferably eliminate) sweets. Even 100 calorie packs have 100 calories. The week before I barely ate any sweets and this week, while I ate less than usual, I still ate some. Today I'm back to the no sweets rule which is helped by the fact that I haven't gone to the grocery store and we don't have any! :) If your self determination doesn't work remove the temptation all together!

Overall those four things have been working with me so far but I'm not feeling like last week was a good week. Too many chips and Publix Ranch Sour Cream Dip (to die for!) this weekend and I had another cupcake this week. This week I'm eliminating snacking and if I'm starving after 30 minutes I'll eat some fruit instead of some other type of snack. I'm going to drink extra water and skip the sweets. And I'm going to start the 30 minute Shred since I think it's going to rain all week and walking is out.

First Home Game

We made it!

Yesterday Jason and I left Charlotte at home with his parents and we went down to Tuscaloosa for the first home football game. I was sure that Charlotte would be fine (she's a great baby and in very good hands) but I was a little worried about Jason and me! But, we survived and made it home this morning to a happy, if sleepy (it was almost nap time), baby.

We had a really fun trip and enjoyed spending time with my parents and brother! Although the game started a little slow we won big in the end and had a good time!

Before kickoff
We met Leigh and Justin on The Quad before the game!

Mom and Dad after the game

Dad and Charlie mid-game


Thanks Mom and Dad for treating us to such a great weekend! And thanks Kay and David for keeping Charlotte! While we missed her, it was really nice to be baby-free for a few hours. And it was especially nice to get to ride in the front seat of the car to and from Tuscaloosa and feel like an adult again! However, we are really looking forward to our next game in Tuscaloosa when Charlotte will be with us!

September 11

I was in Dr. Davis' Chamber Choir class when the Twin Towers were hit. I heard the news when I left class walking to Mrs. Black's AP English class. I saw the first footage on the tv in Mrs. Daniels' class. Just like our parents remember where they were when they found out that John F Kennedy had been shot, we will always remember where we were when we found out about the terrorist attack on our country.

I wasn't planning on doing a tribute today. I haven't been to New York since the towers fell and I haven't seen Ground Zero. While I am a huge proponent of the War on Terror and the need to rid the world of the horrible terrorists that would kill so many innocent people, I don't have a real personal story about the attacks and so I wasn't going to share.

But just now in my Google Reader I saw a blog post by Mary Katherine Ham of The Weekly Standard and I felt the need to share that post with you as well as the link to Project 2,996. Project 2,996 is a project devoted to honoring each of the men and women that died on September 11, 2001 in the terrorist attacks against our country. It is an amazing site full of posts written by amazing people who are honoring the men and women who lost their lives because they went to work that day or were out running errands. I wanted to share because those people and their families deserve to be remembered by us. They deserve the tribute and the honor. Just like the men and women serving our country today deserve to be thanked for protecting us, these families deserve to be remembered because they made a sacrifice too, albeit one that they didn't choose to make.

Go and read some of the tributes of these fallen Americans. I promise you that you will be touched. That you will remember how precious your family and loved ones are. And than you will be thankful for all that has happened to try and prevent this from happening again. May God bless us all and God bless America.

Crazy Hair!

Charlotte LOVES to scoot up in her activity gym until her head is up against the pillows on the couch and then she squirms around. Then, her hair ends up looking like this! I thought these were so funny so I thought I'd share! Hope your week is going well!

Recipe Wednesday - Burgundy Pork Tenderloin

This is another guest post by my friend Brittanie! She sends me the yummiest recipes! Enjoy!

Burgundy Pork Tenderloin

2 lbs Pork Tenderloin (a pkg usually comes with two 1 lb tenderloins)
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Ground Black Pepper
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
Mushrooms, whatever kind you like, cut up how ever you like
2 cups Red Wine
1 (maybe 2 depending on if it thickens or not) packets dry Brown Gravy Mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place pork in a 9x13 inch baking dish, and sprinkle meat with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Top with onion and mushroom, and pour wine over all.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
4. When done baking, remove meat from baking dish and place on a serving platter. Pour gravy mix into baking dish with wine and cooking juices, and stir until thickened. Slice meat. And cover with gravy.

** Notes: When the meat was done I took it out of the baking dish and put it in some aluminum foil while I mixed the gravy. Then I cut up the meat and put it back in the baking dish. Also, I used two packets of gravy mix and it never thickened, I might not have done it right, but it was still really good!

Atlanta Trip part 2

The quest for the perfect game attire for Charlotte began almost as soon as we found out we were having a little girl. Well, actually before then since we bought a game day outfit for a boy and for a girl when we found out we were pregnant! Anyway, Charlotte has a closet full of cute game day clothes whether they are crimson or have elephants. She has tons of clothes in general that are elephants like the onesie I blogged her "Roll Tide" post in. But I didn't think about having to decide which outfit she was going to where when!

For this first game Charlotte and I planned to stay back at the hotel. In Atlanta the transportation to and from the Georgia Dome to Buckhead is not the most pleasant and even though we had a form of transportation that would have been very nice, we didn't want to have Charlotte's first game experience where we couldn't really leave by ourselves whenever we want. In Tuscaloosa it will be easy for Charlotte and I to go home during the game while Jason stays to watch but in Atlanta, not so much. But even though we were planning on staying at the hotel there was still a pre-game buffet that we were invited to and we wanted Charlotte to be game ready!

So I debated between putting her in her elephant Trendy Tot dress that I bought back last spring and her blue elephant smocked dress. I figured that she needs to be in crimson for her first actual game and for this game she could just go with elephants so I chose this little dress. And I love the mini-photo shoot that we did before we left the room! Thank goodness for a hotel with cool chairs and pillows!

Isn't she just the cutest thing!!?!? And the dress with her pink elephants is just too cute!

After Charlotte's photo shoot we went to my parents room and we took some family pictures...

Too bad Dad was the one taking them and not in the picture! Also, too bad that Charlotte was too mesmerized by the tv to look at the camera! :)

We all enjoyed meeting everyone at the pre-game festivities and then Charlotte and I went back to our room and everyone else went to the game. Charlotte was a trooper and stayed up and watched the first half with me. She started smiling when I moved her arm to do the "Rolllll Tideeeee Roll!" for kickoff!

Overall, it was a great weekend and we enjoyed every minute of it! We learned that Charlotte can do pretty good in hotels. That she doesn't mind large crowds at sporting events. That she likes to swim and splash her Daddy in the face. And that she loves the Crimson Tide!