Grow.Make.Brew.Eat

Over the past few years it has become tradition in our house for Andy & I to make our own Thanksgiving dinner for just the two of us (a few days after enjoying family Thanksgiving). Each year we use new recipes and try new things. This year we did our family Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving day and then on Saturday whipped together our own Thanksgiving.  Andy bought a ridiculously large 8.5 lb turkey breast (basically both breasts, no wings or legs) from 640 Meats . It was huge and almost comical for just the two of us. But since we have been freezing a ton of meals for after the little guy arrives, this was perfect!  Andy injected some olive oil, put an apple inside for moisture... Threw the bird on the grill and rubbed with sage, rosemary, salt & pepper and a lemon-lime juice combo... The finished project looked like a giant heart to me.... Our side dish was Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pomegranate and Hazelnuts . The most complicated part of the

For Thanksgiving this year I was told "bring whatever you want." This left the options WIDE open. Andy & I started thinking of ideas instantly and decided on making some sort of mac & cheese. We searched for a good recipe but didn't find one that stood out...so we decided to create our own. Just one word: amazing. Here's what it included (roughly...we just sort of threw stuff together). Prep 1 box of whole wheat macaroni noodles (cook it up per directions)-set aside. Prep bacon-as many strips as you like. Baked in the oven (best way to cook bacon!) until nice and crisp and chop up. Mix in with your noodles in a casserole dish. 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped, sauteed in a sauce pan with olive oil melt 3 tbsp of butter add a tablespoon of flour to thicken add 1 cup of heavy cream add 1.5 cups skim milk add cheese...we used Laughing Cow blue cheese, Gruyere and white cheddar (a lot) melt it all together and mix into your noodles Bake, covered

Another yummy dinner in the books on Friday night. We have never cooked brussel sprouts at home and I have weirdly acquired a taste for them over the years. After setting up for this weekend's Rockford Charity Market, I came home and let the brussel sprout roasting begin. We cut the sprouts in half, tossed with a little olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and bread crumbs and roasted them in the oven for quite a long time. In the mean time we made a chipotle "aoli" to go with the sprouts, baked a few potatoes, sauteed some onions and mushrooms and there we had it...dinner. Add a little greek yogurt to the potatoes and we were set. Yum! Everything turned out great and our belly's were full afterward. We'll definitely make some sprouts again some time.

Haven't done one of these in a while. I'm growing-duh! 25 lbs gained...right on track. I think I (he) had a growth spurt last week. It really feels like a lot of weight to carry around. Hard to believe I used to really be 25 lbs heavier at one point years back. It definitely was distributed different then.  Also can't believe we're at 31 weeks already.  Not much longer to go. Everything is going great so far. And the little guy just keeps moving ALOT. We're getting things ready and feeling a bit more prepared/organized. Nursery is just about finished (blog to come later). And this weekend Andy went to Daddy Boot Camp at Swedes! I'm so proud of him. He volunteered to change a 5 month old's diaper in front of the whole class..and he said he was one of the only soon-to-be Dad's asking questions. He hopes to volunteer to be one of the Dad's who brings in their kids to a future class. He's gonna be such a good Dad...Good job Andy! Here's

I have searched and searched for a curtain to cover the closet in Baby E's new room. After all that searching I came up empty handed. Everything was too short, or not wide enough, or waaay to expensive. So I decided to get a little crafty. I purchased a twin size flat bed sheet ($10 @ Target ) and gathered up a few things from around the house (repurposed ribbon, scrap fabric, buttons and thread). Originally I was going to use the no sew hem tape that I've used a zillion times in other DIY projects, but I was feeling ambitious and thought I could get the sewing machine to cooperate (it's been acting up). Lucky for me it worked out.... P.S. you can see the re-upholstered rocking chair cushions that one of my patient's made for me. They are aewsome. He did a wonderful job!

Found this recipe in one of the Fall Food Network Magazines. The recipe was for a Butternut Squash, Manchego and Balsamic Onion Grilled Cheese .  We still have a few butternut squash from our garden this summer so we thought we should start putting them to good use. It is so nice to use what we have grown! Some adjustments that were made to the recipe included substituting mozarella for manchego (to make this dish a little more frugal), using less butter than called for and no butter on the bread, and in place of a country white bread I substituted our fave Natural Ovens Bakery Oat Nut Crunch . Next time we would try a bleu cheese or goat cheese to give it a little "stink". Overall it was a pretty "hands off" dish and tasted really great! Definitely making this one again.

I haven't posted anything since Saturday morning. The weekend was a blur. Saturday was our second baby shower. This one was hosted by my family for my family and some friends. I took a whopping 2 pictures...of Andy playing a game...My sister is sending me some pics and hopefully I'll have some from my Mom too...then I will post about the shower. In a nutshell it was wonderful. And I was completely exhausted after it was over. Sunday proved to be another exhausting day as my business, Curious Whatnots , had a booth at a local holiday market. Here are a few pics of the the set up for the day. We had a weird table that could be accessed from both sides so we had stuffs everywhere! I have two more shows scheduled right now, as I didn't want to overbook before the little guy arrives. Here's the upcoming schedule: Rockford Charity Market IV -Saturday, November 19th 10a-6p @ St. Rita's Wahl Hall (a portion of vendor sales will go to a charity of the