Lately I’m really having to sweet talk myself into cooking. It’s just seems SO MUCH EASIER to pick up something or go out to dinner. And Brian’s always cool with going out because it means he doesn’t have to clean the kitchen. Tonight I sucked it up and threw together a super fast recipe from Annie’s Eats: Mexican Lasagna.

I’ve made Mexican lasagna before, but it usually involves corn tortillas instead of pasta. This one uses the no-boil lasagna noodles, so the prep is really painless. Just stir together black beans, corn, cilantro, onions (I used finely diced yellow onions instead of the green onions called for in the recipe) and spices. I even used still-frozen corn kernels:

Then layer in a 9×9 dish with crushed tomatoes, noodles and cheese and bake.

The recipe called for hot sauce, but I left it out for Jack’s sake. Instead I topped my serving with Chipotle Tabasco, sour cream, avocado and more cilantro.

Good stuff and we have a lot leftover. I bet this would be great with shredded chicken added, too. I’m starting to think of freezer meal ideas for when the baby is born, and this might be a good option.

This morning I woke up to find Jack staring at me, literally 2 inches from my face. It scared the shit out of me.

OH- hey buddy… when did you get up?

“Monday.”

O-kay. And then he proceeded to immediately shove an open strawberry lip balm in my face and smear it ALL OVER my mouth/chin/nose. Chapstick attack. How’s that for a wake up call?

As soon as I had my coffee and scrubbed my face, we headed to the Arboretum for a picnic (or really… to wear Jack out).

How does he sit like this??

This picture just makes me laugh. Look how intense and attentive Chloe is at snack time. Jack is her new BFF… until the bowl is empty.

What??

He’s oblivious.

This afternoon our neighborhood playgroup held a combination “sprinkle”/playdate for baby girl. It was so sweet! We are incredibly lucky to have such amazing friends… and it’s crazy to think that we’re going to have a whole new playgroup of babies soon.

(There were a lot more kiddos, but I had to stop taking pics because Jack was being kind of a jerk and stealing toys.)

Okay, if you live in the area, I have the PERFECT family night out for you. First, dinner at the new Alligator Cafe in Casa Linda. You can sit on the patio and your toddler can scream and throw coins in the fountain and poke holes in the side of his styrofoam milk cup (yep) without really bothering anyone. I mean, anyone other than you. I can’t really help you there.

The food is good, too. I had half a muffaletta with a side of gumbo (alligator, crawfish and andouille):

After seeing Brian’s fries, I had to order a side for Jack and I to “share.”

Then afterward, walk next door to Monster Yogurt. How the heck have we not been here before? They have great yogurt, tons of toppings, free coffee… AND a play area.

We seriously could not get Jack out of this playground. He loved it.

On a more serious note: Our sweet friends Scott, Camille and Ellie Prewett are welcoming baby Adeline tomorrow morning. Adeline has a congenital heart defect which will necessitate that she be transferred to a different hospital very shortly after birth so that she may undergo the first of several surgeries. You can read more about Sweet Adeline on Camille & Scott’s blog. The Prewetts are an amazing family with an incredible faith and God obviously handpicked them for Adeline. We are SO excited to meet her and I would be grateful if you would send thoughts and prayers their way today and in the coming weeks.

Brian worked late tonight so this was my dinner date:

We had stimulating conversation about dipping your carrots in ketchup and why it’s not okay to smack the dog in the head with a whisk. (Yeah, that happened.)

Dinner was an old favorite- Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin.

I love this recipe because it’s simple, relatively healthy (let’s not talk sodium), delicious and makes the house smell amazing. I make it more of a “meal” by throwing a sliced onion, a bunch of baby carrots and some sliced mushrooms into the bottom of the slow cooker. Served over a big pile of yukon gold mashed potatoes (with the slow cooker juices… mmmm), it’s perfect.

I was all proud of Jack when he transitioned to the big boy bed because for the first month he wouldn’t get out of the bed by himself at all. I would come into his room in the morning and he would be sitting there just staring back at me, like he was still in the crib.

But then I started noticing toys in his bed in the morning. Toys that he was obviously getting out of bed, pulling off his toy shelf, and then climbing back into bed with.

And THEN Brian and I would be watching TV on the couch and all of a sudden hear, “A IS FOR ACROBATIC APE!!!!” over the monitor. Meaning Jack was “working” on his Leapfrog computer in bed. At midnight.

And now we’ve finally reached the stage where he is climbing out of the bed, walking out into the hallway, and announcing that he’s not sleeping. Like not “can’t” sleep… “WON’T” sleep.

The point being? I’m tired. This morning we were hearing him playing at 4:30… 6… then finally he shows up at our bedroom door at 7:30. I guess it’s good that he gets this out of his system before baby girl gets here, but really?? Tell me this gets better.

(I know, I’m obnoxious. But seriously?? Gorgeous.)

On Saturday we headed to Jack’s friend Ellie’s 2nd birthday party:

OMG, that tutu. I want one.

I think Jack spent the entire party on this swing. I can’t blame him, though- it looked pretty awesome.

Today was pretty low-key. We met my parents for brunch at Penne Pomodoro. Jack and I shared the breakfast pizza (sounds gross, but I swear it’s actually really good… Jack will back me up on that one).

My sweet mommy:

Then we headed over to my grandparents’ for a quick visit. We spent most of the afternoon getting boring stuff done around the house- washing baby clothes, cleaning out my car, dishes, etc.- while Jack napped. Not the most exciting day but it feels good to have been at least a little productive. I’ve had zero energy the past few weeks so I need to take advantage when it strikes.

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

Salads! Mista and Caprese.

(See that dollop of balsamic reduction? LOVE)

Pizza! Margherita, Luana and Bianca. Lovely ladies.

And for dessert: Smores calzone and zeppole. Not pictured because I was trying to stuff them into my mouth as quickly as possible.

Jack was super snuggly today. I don’t know why, but I’ll take it. He actually climbed into my lap today to watch TV, which NEVER HAPPENS.

Ooooh I love him.

Other excitement from today: Birchbox!!

It had a Gossip Girl theme this month, which basically means nothing to me. But I am happy with the full-size Stila sparkle liner. The perfume (Arquiste?) is nice, too.

Okay, off to bed I go…

Anyway, I settled on this recipe (despite drooling over the Gin & Tonic Cake- which I WILL make) because the ingredients were simple- butter, flour, sugar, cream cheese, eggs, vanilla- and it seemed to come together pretty quickly. The recipe said to bake at 300 for an hour and forty minutes, but I cranked it up to 325 and baked for about 70 minutes instead.

Voila.

I trimmed off the bottom (top?), which just might have been the best part… mmmm, caramelized cake scraps…

Verdict? Delicious!! Super light and moist. Pound cakes are hit or miss- a lot of times I find them just overly heavy, dry and crumbly. This is a winner.

I took it over to my parents’ house for dinner tonight and my mom said that it was the best pound cake she’s ever had. Of course, she’s my mom so maybe she has to say things like that? Brian keeps raving about it, too. Thinking this might make a good breakfast… or bedtime snack.

Success!

A few weeks ago I stumbled across a recipe for make-ahead, healthy Egg McMuffins. I’d been dying to try it because we’re in a breakfast rut. Every morning I eat Chobani topped with frozen cherries, chia seeds and Bear Naked Granola; every morning Brian eats a Clif Bar. Jack has his usual 10+ course meal of grapes, cheese, sausage, yogurt, blueberries, bread with Nutella, strawberries, whatever I’m eating at the time, cereal…

Anyway, I bought all of the ingredients for these McMuffins… and then realized that you need a jumbo muffin pan for baking the eggs. Which is surprisingly hard to find (checked Bed Bath & Beyond, Wal-Mart and Target). I ended up ordering this one off of Amazon:

So anyway, you bake the eggs for about 25 minutes (that’s pepper on top):

Then assemble the sandwiches: English muffin, Canadian bacon, cheese, egg.

Wrap and freeze. Then you can zap them in the microwave as needed:

I haven’t tried one yet, but I’ll let you know how they turn out. Healthier than the McD’s version, that’s for sure. Brian likes the Jimmy Dean D-Lights, but those are actually kind of pricey (and probably not all that healthy, either). I saved a couple of the baked eggs for Jack’s breakfasts, too- because Lord knows I’m not one to turn on the stove first thing in the AM.

1. A morning comprised of Little Gym (nonstop running), followed by a park playdate (nonstop running), followed by a Central Market trip (fun and free snacks galore) = 3+ HOUR NAP. I’d call that a magical combination.

2. It may seem like a good idea to put a jar of M&M’s in the bathroom with the promise that, “If you put tee tee in the potty, you get candy!!!”

However, this could lead to NO tee tee in the potty… instead you get a two year old who refuses to get off the damn potty and just go to bed.

Tonight I tried a recipe from the Amateur Gourmet: Baked Red Kidney Beans with Chorizo. I love Spanish chorizo, and you know how I feel about beans. The rest of the ingredients just sounded like an interesting combination: garlic, chili flakes, sherry, fresh mint. I showed Brian the recipe last night and he looked dubious…

Here’s the chorizo I used:

It comes together quickly- saute the onions and garlic, add the chorizo and let it “sweat” out some of its oil, then combine with beans, sherry, broth, mint and red pepper flakes. Bake for an hour:

So the top gets pretty caramelized, but judging from the original recipe I think that’s the goal. I served ours over brown basmati rice, topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt mixed with lemon juice.

LOVED IT. I think Brian thought it was a little spicy (Jack had veggie nuggets) but I thought it was perfect. I barely used any red pepper flakes, though the chorizo itself had a kick.

I need to think of more ways to wear Jack out tomorrow… that naptime was pretty glorious.

For our little date, we grabbed sushi at Blue Fish. Cali and PA rolls for the preggo. We also managed to catch a super late showing of The Hunger Games. OMG. I’ve read the books and was still squirming in my seat… that movie is intense.

Tonight I made a batch of the Pioneer Woman’s Cajun Chicken Pasta. I had a backlog of PW episodes on Tivo that I caught up on this weekend and that dish looked pretty amazing. The only changes I made were using a non-spicy cajun seasoning (Louisiana Spice) and left out the cayenne- to make it more toddler-friendly. I just added cayenne to my own plate later. Oh, and I threw in some mushrooms.

Good stuff. I usually shy away from cream-based pasta dishes (and cajun food, for that matter) but this one was awesome and not too rich. Even Jack liked it. We have a ton of leftovers, too.

So before we headed out on Saturday night, I asked Brian to snap a few belly pics.

34 WEEKS! (Hi, Chloe.)

Eeeeek. Getting pretty cramped in there.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Did anyone watch SNL this weekend?? Holy crap, this skit cracked me up. I’m halfway through book #2.

Moving on. Jack had Mother’s Day Out this morning and I planned on just running a few quick errands and then heading home to relax. However, I did not count on accidentally stumbling upon the grand opening of the Bloomingdales Outlet at Park Lane. And they were giving away coupons for $25 off a $50 purchase. How could I NOT go in? So an hour and a half later I walked out with a pair of Marc Jacobs sunglasses (for $25!!!) and a cute baby girl outfit. My current sunglasses are held together, literally, with Gorilla Glue, so I expected them to fall apart at any moment. I needed backups.

Jack and I had a fun afternoon. I’d been promising him a trip to the “train store” (Barnes & Noble) for a week so I finally made good on that offer. B&N has upped the ante and added a Lego table…

Then we headed next door to Yogurtland:

And THIS is what my car said when we got in to head back home…

Gross.

We topped off our afternoon o’ fun with a trip to the adorable neighborhood library. Jack LOVES it there. Mrs. K lets him scan his own books and talks to him like a grown up, which he adores… and I appreciate getting a break from Once Upon A Potty (which we read constantly, yet he still shows zero interest in actually using the potty himself- go figure).

Brian’s dad was in town on business today and took us to Cantina Laredo for dinner. Actually, we ended up there after trying both Goodfriends and Fuzzy’s first… what’s with the huge crowds on Thursday nights?

My Veracruz Enchiladas:

Hope everyone has a great weekend!