IN SICKNESS AND IN FOOD.

Ah, to feel almost human again. Yesterday was the first time I had left the house (besides my quick trip to Urgent Care) and worn clothes/makeup in over a week. I was so excited to leave the house! Even though we only ventured to the grocery store, I wanted to wear my prom dress and curl my hair! Being trapped at home that long isn't fun.This sickness barged into our house like a freight train and knocked us all down, me twice. We have gone through 5 boxes of tissues and a copious amount of over the counter meds. I however didn't really get to take part in the med intake since im with child and all, which is probably why it lasted twice as long for me! The coughing fits were the worst for me. Being knocked up you tend to lose some um..bladder control so when I would cough I would have to do an oh so lovely crotch grab to avoid peeing myself. When I was in the thick of this sickness the coughing was also giving me contractions so naturally when I would cough I wanted to grab my stomach. If I grabbed my stomach I couldn't do the crotch grab which would result in me peeing myself. Pretty I know. If this is too much for you, get over it. It happens. Then the sinus headache was in full swing so I would want to grab my head...which again...well you get the drift. It was like trying to pat your head, rub your tummy and do a little dance at the same time while drunk... (because I was so dizzy) just not always possible!

*Side note, Urgent Care is a big fat JOKE. I have only gone one other time in life and I hope to never go again. That is 2 hours of my life I will never get back. Besides, its impossible to cough and crotch grab in a waiting room without looking like a freak. The dr asked me how far along I was. I said 28 weeks. His english wasn't all that great, no biggie. But then in his thick accent he said "ahhh so you drue in Sreptember din?" Um no dude, try June. Your a doctor.... pregnancy is roughly 40 weeks. Im 28....40-28 is 12. 12 weeks is 3 months, and since it's March, 3 months from now is June. I wasn't expecting world class service at Urgent Care but simple math would have been nice. It reminded me of the time Aaron and I were playing the Battle of the Sexes card game when I was pregnant with Kaelyn. The question was- How long is pregnancy? A.) 25 weeks B.) 40 weeks C.) 72 weeks. Aaron answered C. He will deny this until the day he dies but he picked that answer and since I was hormonal I wanted to cry at the simple thought of being knocked up that long. Men.*

I knew we were sick, no question about it. When my lovely sister stopped by one of the days to bring me some Pho ,which I am convinced saved my life....I realized it was probably obvious from outer space that we were under the weather. When I opened the door she jumped back. JUMPED BACK!!!! I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head! She dropped the soup and ran. When I closed the door I was half laughing and said Aaron, did you see how she jumped back like I was a freak or something??? He said well....your hair is kinda wild right now. I took one look in the mirror and quickly realized why she almost shit her pants when she looked at me.

The only upside to being sick was the quality time I got to spend with Kaelyn. She isn't much of a cuddle bug so I took full advantage when she was sick! We watched movies...correction movie. Toy Story 3, think we watched it a dozen times within a few days. I also got to experience some new parenting firsts during this time. Fever delusions..... Kaelyn has had fevers before but this time when they would spike she would get down right delusional. It was the strangest thing. Shortly after she would break into a sweat and come back to earth. I hope this was the worst we will see in 2012 on the sickness front. Then again, it's only March.

While I have your attention I wanted to share some tasty recipes with ya...... Just a few. I know just reading about our recent sickness may not want you to go right into food talk but I am feeling better and down to chow!

Not to toot my own horn but I make some banana bread that is kinda down right A-mazing. I found a recipe online and have tweaked it over time enough that I can call it my own.  Here's what you need-

*3.5-4.5 RIPE mashed bananas. If they are small use 4.5, large 3.5. This isn't a must. If you don't want to waste the other half of banana put it in too.
*1 cup sugar
*2 cups flour
*1 egg
*1 tsp baking soda
*1/2 tsp salt
*1/4 cup softened butter
* 1 glob of yogurt, yes glob. I never measure but if I had to guess id say it's anywhere between 1/4 to 1/2 cup. You can use any flavor you like. This last time (for the loaves pictured below) I used Strawberry Vanilla. In the past I have also used plain, strawberry banana and some pineapple mango mix.
*Pinch or two of brown sugar

Cream together softened butter and sugar. Add in egg and mix in mashed bananas and yogurt. Stir in flour, salt, and baking soda. At this point I sometimes add a TINY amount of vanilla extract but it's not a must.
Pour into a lightly greased loaf pan and sprinkle that pinch of brown sugar over the top. You really don't need much of the brown sugar. I only use this to give it a little sweet crunch on the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. Let sit in the pan for about 10 minutes after removing from oven, then transfer to plate or cooling rack. *TIP- this bread is best if you wrap after its cooled down and don't eat until next day. It seems to be more moist the second day. (Ugh moist is my all time most hated word, but I have no other way to describe the bread so I must use it.) In the end you should end up with something like the picture below!

YUMO!!!!!

Next up, Cheesy Olive Bread. Thanks to the Pioneer woman. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/olive_cheese_br/
I made this last night. I have no taste buds right now but Aaron said it was really good. You MUST love olives in order to like this one though. It has a very strong olive flavor. If olives aren't your thing find another cheesy bread. I pretty much stuck to the recipe but added a tiny but of grated garlic and did a mixture of cheddar and hot pepper cheese because thats all I had in the fridge. I think next time I make it I will be sure to have working taste buds so I can actually know that it was good. :)

Chicken Tortilla Soup- This was GREAT! I did a few things different. Didn't add the cornmeal or tortillas. Just used chips. The great thing about this recipe is you can pretty much add any veggie you have on hand. Clean out yo fridge ladies! Thats what I love most about soups.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/01/chicken-tortilla-soup/

Chicken Enchiladas- I usually make a sour cream type enchilada but baby wanted red sauce one day so this is what I tried. Of course I did a few things different. Anytime something calls for sour cream I swap it out for plain yogurt instead. You can't tell the difference...we can't anyway and its much healthier. I also only used 1/2 the amount of the condensed chicken soup and just used a bit more yogurt in its place. Didn't have any olives so we skipped that as well. They turned out pretty good.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/angelas-awesome-enchiladas/detail.aspx

Our wonderful neighbor also brought me some amazing avocado salsa a few weeks ago for no reason other than she is great! She also tossed in a bag of Juanitas chips. I sat there like a chunky prego and ate it until i was almost sick. It's THAT good. Also it's something about those chips...they keep me eating until I physically can't take another bite. If you haven't tried them you must, they put Tostitos to shame! Once I snag that recipe I will be sure and share!

Happy Spring people!!!!