..and baby makes 5!

That's right, we're expecting baby #3!

We found out on our 4 year wedding anniversary, December 16th! We are very excited and apparently Peytonn has no problem telling people that mommy has a baby in her belly. Even before I knew I was pregnant!! Such a smart kid! :)

Everyone keeps asking me if we are hoping for a girl. We were praying for a baby and we'll take whatever God gives us.  This pregnancy already feels different than the last two. The heartburn has hit hard, even before I knew I was pregnant. It is pretty much constant, even in the morning before I eat or drink anything. I've tried over the counter stuff and the next step is calling the doc. Nothing has even helped so far.  I am wondering if there are certain foods you can avoid to help with it or if its just going to be everything. Hmmm.....any suggestions?

A few recipes

I love finding new recipes and trying them out at home. Today I am going to share two recipes that I recently tried and the family really enjoyed them.

The first recipe is Ground Beef Stroganoff. I got this recipe from Mommy's Kitchen when she posted her December meal plan. The beef stroganoff that I remember was basically Hamburger Helper (gag!) and I pretty much have never been a fan of Hamburger Helper. I was reluctant to try this recipe because it does use ground beef, but it had some pretty good reviews. I thought I would give it a whirl.

Ground Beef Stroganoff
1 - lb. hamburger
1 - can cream of mushroom soup
1 - packet brown gravy mix
4 oz - sour cream
2 - tbsp. chopped onion
salt & pepper (to taste)
1 - small can sliced mushrooms
Egg noodles, rice or mashed potatoes

Brown & cook hamburger with chopped onion, salt and pepper. While the meat is browning, Start the noodles, rice or mashed potatoes to cook. Drain off any grease from the hamburger. Add cream of mushroom soup, gravy mix (prepared accord. to packet directions) mix together and simmer over low heat about 10-15 minutes. Add mushrooms and the sour cream mix until thoroughly blended. Serve over cooked noodles, mashed potatoes or rice.

*I did make some substitutions/changes according to our tastes and what I had available. Instead of canned cream of mushroom soup, I had some homemade in the freezer. I pulled that out and used about 2 cups of homemade cream of mushroom soup. (trust me, it tastes sooooo much better!) I also didn't have a packet of gravy mix, so I just added some beef base to the mixture and it tasted great! I left out the sliced mushrooms because my cream of mushroom soup had pieces of mushroom already in it. I also added a bit more than 4oz of sour cream. I didn't measure it, but maybe about 6-8oz if I had to guess. We like ours creamy. I also threw in about 1/2 cup of frozen peas to the mixture and let it heat thoroughly. I served mine over no yolk egg noodles. 

The kids and hubby really enjoyed this. As for me, I thought it was much better than Hamburger Helper and was a quick and easy dinner that pleased everyone.

The next recipe I am going to share is from a cookbook. The cookbook comes from a local hospital's Labor & Delivery Unit. This was shared by my friend Kim, it's titled Mom's Famous Lasagna.  I made this for the first time on a week night when a friend and her two boys were coming over to play and eat dinner with us. We all really enjoyed it and I think it's my favorite lasagna recipe that I have found so far. I am making it again for dinner tonight.

Mom's Famous Lasagna

1 lb ground beef

1 packet spaghetti sauce mix

1 can (14oz) petite diced tomatoes

1 can (8oz) tomato sauce

2 cloves minced garlic

1 egg

1 cup cottage cheese

2 pkgs sliced mozzarella cheese

8 lasagna noodles

Brown ground beef in a skillet and drain off fat. Add the packet of spaghetti mix, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and garlic. Simmer for 40 minutes covered. (I did not do this the first time I made it and it still tasted great!) Meanwhile, cook 8 lasagna noodles as directed on box. Mix together the egg and cottage cheese in a small bowl.  After the tomato sauce has completely simmered, place a small amount of sauce on the bottom of the 9x13 pan. (just enough to keep the noodles from sticking to the pan) Place 4 noodles on the bottom of the baking pan, followed by 1/3 of the remaining tomato sauce, then half of the sliced cheese, then half of the cottage cheese mixture. Repeat the next layer beginning with the last 4 lasagna noodles, then sauce, then mozzarella cheese, and finally the cottage cheese mixture. Top lasagna with remaining sauce. Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes. 

We had this entire lasagna eaten in 24 hours. That doesn't happen often! This time, I am simmering the sauce for the 40 minutes. I am also adding some onion, green pepper, and mushrooms for a chunky veggie sauce. I also added a bit more than 1cup of the cottage cheese. We like the cheese mixture. I really recommend that you try this recipe. It is so good and a crowd pleaser!

Faaaantastic

Would be the word I would use to sum up our meal yesterday. Everything came together perfect, we ate on time, and the turkey was nice and juicy.  Everyone raved over the pecan pie, the layered salad, the turkey, the spicy sweet potatoes, and the cornflake potatoes were the best I had ever made! Now we have about 100lbs of leftover to consume. (Ok, maybe not that much, but it seems like it!)

Last night after all of our guests departed, I went and played Bingo with my friend Ginger. My husband called me old and said I needed to trade my vehicle in for a Lincoln Town Car. I gave him the look of death and went and had fun! Ginger won $150 with one Bingo! I was not that lucky, but I did have fun and would like to do it again. When I left the Bingo place, Toys 'R Us was already packed at 10:20 at night! Hubby had to work today so I didn't dare go shopping. I did venture out to Target around 10am and yeah it was busy, but I really just needed milk. I thought I might browse around but 20 minutes into our adventure, Peytonn had his first melt down and then proceeded to scream through the store. I left our cart in the middle of the aisle and walked out. Without my milk!

I stopped at Meijer (considerably less busy than Target!) to get milk. I get the boys inside and realize Bennett took his sock and shoe off of one foot in the car. Nice! I grab my milk and head back out to the car. The boys are whiny and so I did the unthinkable! I got them both junior chocolate milkshakes from Steak N Shake. Silence!!!!!!!! Ahhhh, it was fantastic! We ate lunch when we got home and then we all laid down for naps. Mommy definitely needed a nap!

Note to self, no more Christmas shopping with children in tow. Bad idea!!

Thanksgiving Menu

We are hosting Thanksgiving again this year and I have been trying to come up with our menu. I think I may have it done and now I just need to make out my grocery list. (nothing like waiting until the last minute, you know!) Here is the menu so far (I am linking the recipes I am using that are online):

Turkey (still deciding if I want to try brining it this year, if so, I have linked to the recipe)
Cornbread stuffing (I made this recipe last year and everyone loved it!)

Green bean Casserole (trying out a new recipe for this. Just a bit different)

Spicy Sweet Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes
Yeast Rolls (I prefer Rhoades)
Deviled Eggs (my MIL is making these)
Cornflake Potatoes (this is my favorite from my childhood. This recipe is similar to mine. However, I top it with crushed cornflakes and some melted butter.)

Layered Salad (its always good to have something cold and crispy. Love this salad!)

Pumpkin Cream Pie (A little something different)

Pecan Pie

I plan to make some dishes ahead of time and then they are ready to go Thanksgiving Day. I plan to have my guests bring some appetizer dishes. It should be a yummy day!!

Italian Beef sandwiches

Tonight we are having Italian Beef sandwiches. The recipe is super easy and tastes really good. I put mine into the crockpot and allow it to cook all day while I am at work. Its so nice to walk into the house after work and smell dinner and have it ready for you.  

Italian Beef

1 beef roast (you can make this whatever size will feed your family)

2 cups beef broth (or water)

1 large jar of pepperocini peppers (I buy two jars, one jar of the whole peppers and one jar of the slices to put on top of the sandwiches)

choice of seasonings

slices of cheese (we like provolone or mozzarella)

Place the beef roast in the crockpot and pour the beef broth over the roast.  Sprinkle on your choice of seasonings, I used some season salt, smoked paprika, and pepper. Pour a jar of pepperocini peppers (I used the whole peppers) into the crockpot, juice and all.  Cover and set on low to cook all day or on high to cook for 4-6 hours. 

Once cooked, shred the beef and return it to the juice.  Place meat on hoagie roll of your choice, top with a slice of cheese and sliced pepperocini if desired.  We also will toast ours after the cheese is on. 

These are so tasty and just plain easy! As you all know, I just adore Pioneer Woman. She also has a recipe that is almost exactly like mine. The only difference is that she adds a package of Italian Seasonings to hers. I prefer to add my own seasonings because I don't enjoy mine too salty. On her website, she calls these sandwiches Drip Beef, Two Ways and has two different recipes to prepare these.

Family Pictures

I had an old friend of mine from school who is a photographer take our family pictures yesterday. She did such an amazing job!! She was great with the kids and has a really great eye for pictures. She posted two sneak peeks on Facebook last night and I am in absolute LOVE with them! I cannot wait to see the rest of the photos!

You can find her on Facebook here: Studio Rebekah Photography

Or she also has a website and blog here: Studio Rebekah

The grand debate

So, hubby and I have been debating on whether or not to move the boys into the same room.  We only have a 3 bedroom house and no basement, which means we are stuffed to the gills in our storage space right now.  It would be nice to have that extra room for storage and possibly in the future, a third baby.

My question to those of you who may have children that share a bedroom is, how does it work out if they have different sleeping habits? My concern is that it's going to be a party for Bennett and Peytonn won't get any sleep.  Bennett is very much a solo sleeper and is very easily distracted by others in the room while he is trying to fall asleep. 

We would not be getting bunk beds because frankly I don't trust either of them with anything elevated off the ground very far.  Neither one of their beds are on the bed frames for that reason. We simply have the mattress on the box spring on the floor.  It has worked out fine thus far and the kids are able to get in and out of their beds by themselves. 

So, any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated!