Mmmm Spinach Bars!

My mom brought these tasty bars over after Blaise was born. Makes a wonderful, high protein breakfast or a lovely brunch dish! Easy and quick to make!

Spinach Bars

3 eggs

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup skim milk

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

2 T melted butter

2 boxes frozen chopped spinach (10 oz. each), defrosted, squeezed dry

1 lb. Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded (I used 2% mozzarella, I'm sure you could do cheddar too)

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 c. diced red peppers (I used Trader Joe’s tri colored frozen ones and cut them up with kitchen scissors while partly frozen)

(I added sausage last time I made it, mushrooms would also be good!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk eggs, milk, salt, baking powder, butter, flour and several grinds of pepper in very large bowl. Add onions, spinach and cheese; mix well.

Spray a 9x13" glass baking dish. Spread spinach mixture into it. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is a nice shade of golden brown. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!

Eight Months!

Blaise is eight months old and he’s on the move!  He’s not crawling, per say, but he’s busy “scooting” around!  He pulls himself forward with his hands-dragging them across the floor. Drawers are one of his favorite destinations-pulling them in and out is so much fun! (I need to go buy some baby proof locks for them!) We feel bad when he works so hard to get somewhere and we have to remove the object from him (or him from the object!) i.e. the space heater, the plastic liner on his trashcan, shoes, or various cords.  If he’s not scooting around, he’s busy pulling up on things-the chairs in the kitchen, the stool, his exosaucer.   He also loves pushing the glider’s foot rest, pushing and climbing under his high chair (it has weels!) and climbing up on his jungle play mat.  I can’t imagine how much busier he will be in a few more months! We love his babbling, his mamas quickly joined his dadadas last month along with some nananas and other various baby lingo. He giggles at us all the time if we do something funny and especially things peek-a-boo (covering your face and saying “boo!”) is hilarious.  He's working on some teeth too-the bottom one has just popped through his gums! 

Having fun with the grocery bags!

Our sweet babe sporting his bear ears :) 

The rolling pin-a fun new toy!

Play time with grandma!

Fun times with daddy

Lovely 80 degree weather-we can't wait for more!

He loves the steering wheel!

Mmmmm peas (the smile's deceiving -he's actually not a big fan!) 

Hanging with some friends at the Zoo in the moby wrap!

Playing with Miss Elly and Cody

Look what I discovered! Oh boy! 

Mimi reading From Head to Toe

Chatting with Grandpa

Meet Baby Elliana Marie!

Yea! Blaise's new friend is finally here! Annie and Nathan's precious Elliana Marie was born Thursday, March 12, in the wee hours of the morning.  (I stayed up until 2:30 anxiously praying and waiting to hear the news-her kind sister was texting me updates!) What a beauty Elli is with her head full of dark hair and her sweet little features. We can't believe just eight months ago Blaise was that tiny; David and I don't remember him being so very small! 

Blaise was so excited to meet his new little buddy! 

The proud new parents (Elli weighed in at 8.4.) 

Both momma and baby and doing great! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annie’s Shower 

In February, we had a shower for Annie at my mom's house.

 Here are a few pics from the party! 

Adorable baby bump!

Annie with her family

Lots of adorable baby girl stuff!

Antonia & Blaise

Prayer for Annie, baby Elliana, and the birth. Christ answered the prayers for a full term pregnancy, natural birth, and healthy baby girl!!

White Texas Sheet Cake Cup Cakes

My mom made this sheet cake for Bri’s rehearsal dinner-delicious! Then Lyndsay brilliantly turned it into cupcakes. They are seriously better tasting then the Cupcakery! Must be the almond flavoring-absolutely divine!

2 1/4 c. flour

2 c. white sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 sticks butter

2 eggs

1/2 c. sour cream or buttermilk

1 tsp. almond extract

 Sift together flour, sugar, soda, and salt. Place butter in saucepan with 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Combine eggs and sour cream/buttermilk. Add to butter then pour in flour mixture, mix until blended. Pour into large cookie sheet with rim. (Or cup cake tins lined with paper.) Batter will be thin. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

 FROSTING:

Bring 1 stick butter and 1/4 c. buttermilk to a boil. Gradually add 4 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and mix well. Spread on cake while warm. After icing cake, sprinkle with one bag heath toffee chips. OR put into a mini zip lock bag and pipe onto cupcakes.

 Lyndsay told me she just “threw the icing on” yet hers looked fabulous.  It took me a bit to get the consistency right (you may need to add powered sugar) and to evenly pipe the icing on. I had to scrape off several cupcakes and redo them until I got the hang of it!  You can’t be in a hurry! :) 

Blaise's First Trip to the Beach!

In January, we were blessed by my parents with a wonderful winter's respite-a relaxing and refreshing vacation to warm & sunny Captiva Island off Florida's Gulf Coast.

The airplane ride was Blaise's first!  With so much excitement and stimulation, it was hard for him to go to sleep (it was his bedtime!) He cried for a bit then finally managed to nurse and fall asleep for about 45 minutes. Fortunately, the little boy next to us shared his glow worm with Blaise which made him smile and laugh- we were doing anything to keep him happy! The ride home was, thankfully, was much better.  

Blaise loved having his toes free! 

Ready for the beach! 

Walking to the beach- my grandparent's beach condo is in the background where we stayed. Thanks for sharing it with us, Grandmommy and Granddaddy! (They give a week to each of their six kids annually.)  (My mom is the paparazzi who took these shots! ;) 

Touching the ocean and sand for the first time-not quite sure what to think! By the end of the week we had to make sure he wasn't eating the sand! 

Loving the warm, sunshiny weather and having lots of fun! 

Napping on the beach with daddy! (We were not too eager to spend four hours each day inside for naps-daddy did a great job getting him to nap outside!) 

Blaise's first time in the pool! It was like a giant bath for him-the water was nice and warm too since the weather was in the mid 80's-gorgeous!  After a few days, he really enjoyed splashing and kicking. 

A Tasty Little Resturant

On Valentine's Day weekend, my parents took David and me out to a lovely cafe, Onesto Pizza & Trattoria. Located in South City, Onesto is nestled back in a quaint little ginger bread style neighborhood (one street over from my friend's house who recommended it to us!)   White twinkle lights welcomed us into the lively, family-friendly restaurant. While waiting for the meal, we enjoyed tasty pizza dough knots and a family bowl of the house spinach salad.  Our favorite entree was the award winning smoked chicken pizza with a "thin (but not too thin) crust...chicken smoked in-house, a rich, tangy barbecue sauce, roasted jalapeños, bacon, caramelized onion and cheddar and mozzarella cheeses" (River Front Times.)  The restaurant made the Post Dispatch's Top 10 New Restaurants of 2008 list. Onesto Pizza & Trattoria makes a memorable night out and is well worth the drive if you don't live nearby! (Well, maybe not for you out of state people! ;) 

For dessert (not that we were particularly hungry after our delicious meal!) we shared these rich expresso molten cakes from December's Cooking Light: 

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cakes

Ingredients

• 3.4  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
• 2/3  cup  unsweetened cocoa
• 5  teaspoons  instant espresso powder
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  baking powder
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  cup  unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3  cup  granulated sugar
• 2/3  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1  cup  egg substitute (I used 4 eggs)
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
• 1  (2.6-ounce) bar dark (71% cocoa) chocolate finely chopped (I used dark chocolate chips)
• 2  tablespoons  powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Sift together flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt.

2. Place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 1 minute. Add granulated and brown sugars, beating until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add egg substitute and vanilla, beating until well blended. Fold flour mixture into sugar mixture; fold in chocolate. Divide batter evenly among 10 (4-ounce) ramekins; arrange ramekins on a jelly-roll pan. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or up to 2 days.

3. Preheat oven to 350°.

4. Let ramekins stand at room temperature 10 minutes. Uncover and bake at 350° for 21 minutes or until cakes are puffy and slightly crusty on top. Sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar; serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

260 (28% from fat)

Fat:

8.2g (sat 4.5g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.2g)

Protein:

5.1g

Carbohydrate:

43.9g

Fiber:

1.8g

Cholesterol:

12mg

Iron:

2.3mg

Sodium:

189mg

Calcium:

63mg