...with St. Patty's Day at the Zoo!

The weather here has started getting nicer (FINALLY!)...although I am not getting my hopes up that it will actually stick around for awhile. I'd be kidding myself if I thought that little groundhog was right when he predicted that spring was just around the corner this year!
Today is St. Patrick's Day and the weather has been great so far. Sunny here and there, but warm....like 52 degrees warm.
I decided to take Elena to the zoo today so she could run around and breath in some fresh air! The last time I took her to the zoo was in the fall and while we had a good time then, I think I enjoyed it more than she did, because she wasn't quite sure what the zoo was all about at that age. Now that she knows her animals and what noise they make, she is much more interactive at the zoo and excited to see the next animal around the corner.

The girl impressed me today by identifying the animals that up until now she has only seen pictures of in her books. She was pointing and making animal noises all day. I think she really enjoyed the lions today as they were pacing back and forth against the glass window and Elena was standing right up next to it. A couple of times she backed away because she must have felt they were too close, but she just roared at them!
She also was able to see the red panda (which looks nothing like a regular panda) which apparently is rare for it to be out because it does not like warm weather. The red panda was cute and cuddly looking and Elena kept saying "I see it, I see it". Then when he hid under a log she said "where'd he go"?


We spent 2 hours at the zoo and 5 seconds after putting her back in the car to head home, she was sound asleep!

Ya know, maybe I will give the groundhog a little credit...we do have spring bulbs appearing from the ground already!!!

..with the slacker mommy.

Ugh. I'm talking about myself. Being slacker mommy is not a good feeling. It's hard keeping up with a toddler and trying to get ready for another baby all at the same time. My days are spent occupying Elena and it leaves little time for me to get ready for Baby Boy. My goal every day is to work on his nursery while she naps, but what can I say, I find myself lying down to nap as well.
I am 32 weeks pregnant. That leaves 8 weeks to finish preparations for this little guy.
The only thing the little guy has going for him so far is one styling wardrobe...thanks to my mother and I's shopping habits. Yeah, talk about priorities, huh? I find myself picking up cute little outfits for him whenever I am out running the usual errands...groceries, Target, etc.


I am really behind on the nursery. But I apparently am the only one who is concerned about the nursery not being ready. Getting the furniture involves driving an hour each way, and lifting heavy pieces into the back of our car, which I cannot do (I can drive, just not lift furniture!) Add to that the fact that we have had things going on most weekends that have kept us from making the trip to pick up the nursery furniture. We still need an infant carseat, but it is going to be a gift from a relative, so we are still waiting on that.

I haven't been able to work on decorations because I have no idea what the placement of the furniture will be in the room. Once I can see it set up with my own eyes, then I will have a better idea of how I want to decorate, etc. I will say though, I have decided that I will make a fabric art piece like I did with Elena's room and I have already purchased the fabric and I happen to have the canvas for it already too. So that's progress! I do have new sheets for the crib, a new changing pad cover and I have even washed some of the newborn diapers! See, so I'm not a total dud!
Have I mentioned what the theme of Baby Boy's nursery will be? Hmmmm? Well, the walls will stay blue. Colors will be black, white and yellow. Here's a hint...it's a bird....that starts with the letter "P". Here's a quick peek at the fabric for the wall art ~


Once some progress has been made on the nursery, I fully intend to provide a photographic tour in the blog ;)

In addition to getting the nursery ready I have still been working on freezer meals. I must say, this is the one area I have not slacked! I have a total of 20 "meals" prepared and in the freezer. Okay, so they are NOT a full meal by any means. They are the meat part of the meal. I stocked up on fresh chicken when it was on sale and from there I broke down the packages into portions for our family. I marinated the various cuts of meat and labeled them for what I intend them to be used for.
Here's a partial list of what is in the freezer already:
3 teriyaki meatloafs (meatloaves?)
2 whole chickens, butterflied and seasoned for baking
cubed and marinated chicken breasts for kabobs on the grill
cubed chicken for making orange chicken
marinated chicken breasts for grilling (I made about 3 different marinades)
marinated chicken thighs
strips of seasoned chicken breasts for fajitas
plain chicken breasts for whatever we are in the mood for

As you can see, these "meals" aren't cooked already. I just hope that by marinating them ahead of time I am taking out some of the mystery of "what should we have for dinner tonight?".

Next on my list is to buy some various cuts of pork and beef and do the same thing.

Oh, and decorate the nursery ;)

...with the freezable scones.

As mentioned in my last post, I have been on the lookout for recipes that freeze well, cook/reheat well and STILL taste good! I think I found one. No, I KNOW I found one.
Meet chocolate chip scone, dear reader:




I made these babies a few weeks ago and they were gone in 2.5 days. I made another batch just a few days ago...they are that good!
Since these scones weren't something I had made before, I wanted to be sure they would reheat well and taste yummy. I mean, there's nothing worse than preparing all this food ahead of time only to have it taste like dog poo when it comes time to cook/reheat and eat it...right??? So this was essentially a taste test. A taste test that I plan to give all the freezable food recipes I find. If they pass, then I will make them and freeze them for my maternity leave!
These particular scones are frozen unbaked, and when you are ready to eat you just preheat the oven and cook them from their frozen state. Easy. Now, admittedly, I cooked half the batch right away (and ate them) and froze the other half. Then I waited a few days and cooked the rest of the scones from their frozen state to make sure they passed the test. Let's just say they passed with flying colors. The second complete batch I made was for my freezer stash. Whether this batch makes it to my maternity leave still has yet to be determined. They may just jump into the oven one day and then into my belly ;)

I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs: Annie's Eats
She has other scone recipes as well, a few of which I am going to try out soon!

Here's the recipe to share!

Chocolate Chip Scones
Ingredients:

1½ cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. butter, melted
Additional sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; stir to combine. Toss in the chocolate chips and stir to blend. Add the heavy cream to the flour mixture, stirring just until a dough forms and the dry ingredients are incorporated. Knead the dough very briefly with well floured hands to ensure even mixing.

Using a large dough scoop (or a large spoon), drop rounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with additional sugar (if using). Bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. Makes about 8.