Thursday Thoughts #3

June 5, 2014September 17, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

How did people do bed rest before technology!? This edition of Thursday Thoughts are the general musings and ramblings of a blogger sentenced to the couch.

I told you in my last Thursday Thoughts post that I had a wonderful Idea for May’s Grapefruit & Wasabi Crazy Ingredient Challenge. Now that May 20^th has come and gone I will share with you my brainchild. I wanted to make a grapefruit sorbet and serve it with a wasabi-honey syrup. The latter would’ve been the tricky part and would probably have required a few test batches. Although I’m not a huge fan of grapefruit, in fact I plain don’t like it, the sorbet is still calling out to me. There’s a part of me that really wants to like grapefruit, but that desire hasn’t been transferred to my taste-buds yet. Once I’m off my current medication I might still give it a go – but I probably won’t be making the wasabi syrup as wasabi isn’t typically something I keep in my house – actually, it’s something I’ve never had in the house. Unless I take some the next time we eat sushi? Ha! Please go check out the recipes that my fellow CIC-ers came up with!

After a week-and-a-half away, Mom is back to keep me company and help out around the house while Stuart continues to go to work. Her first day back was get-ready-for-baby mode. As we’re moving in August I’m not setting up a nursery here so baby’s first “crib” will be either the pack n play or the rock n play, so Mom put those items together and set them up by my side of the bed. (When Stuart got home he said, “The kid isn’t even here yet and it’s already taking over the house.”) She also washed all of the baby clothes that we do have – which isn’t much. The beauty of not knowing the gender is that it prevents me from buying every cute item I see. The problem with not knowing the gender is that gender neutral clothes are very hard to find! After the laundry we did an inventory assessment and realized that only 3 newborn size onesies were not going to cut it. So we went to the internet and bought some more items!

Additionally, the local Kmart is being taken down by the new Walmart so a trip to see what was left was in order – we needed baby socks and the internet didn’t have newborn in neutral colors (and I found 3 pairs). The only newborn sized baby clothes they had (that were gender neutral) were from Disney Baby, and happened to be a 3 pk of Winnie-the-Pooh onesies. Oh darn! I absolutely love Winnie-the-Pooh, and while Stuart didn’t want a Pooh themed nursery I’ve managed to “sneak” a lot of Pooh into our baby registry – through bath towels and crib sheets. The first thing I ever purchased for our little one was a 3mo T-shirt from the Disney Store Outlet, it’s green and has Pooh on it and says “Rumbly in my Tumbly”.

I (well, Mom) made this smoothie. Instead of a blog post where I share the recipe with our adjustments I’ll just provide my review here. (Why? Because I didn’t take a picture) I was nervous about putting carrot in a smoothie. Not because I was worried about the flavor, I’ve enjoyed smoothies from Tropical Smoothie that have carrot in them, but I wasn’t convinced that my Ninja blender(which is awesome by the way) would really break up the carrot enough. After the first run through the blender the smoothie was too pulpy for my preference – but it wasn’t just because of the carrot, the pineapple creates pulp on its own anyway. So we put it back in the blender and added a little bit of yogurt. That did the trick!

And now for my complaint of the day: WordPress has changed the way a blogger adds new posts and sees the scheduled posts already created. I am not enjoying this change – it is not as user friendly. Today my plan is/was to schedule as many posts this month as I could muster. (Here’s to patience so I don’t toss my computer out the window.) Even though my due date isn’t until the end of the month, I also know to be prepared for my little one to decide it’s D-Day at any point!

Update: (I know it’s weird to do an update to this post before this post has even been posted.) I have been cleared to return to life as a real person! This means I can get back to quilting. 🙂

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Our Anniversary Souffle Date

May 29, 2014May 29, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 6 Comments

Today is our 4th anniversary!

We didn’t have any big plans for this year – Stuart is going off on a 30 hour adventure race tomorrow and a trip anywhere was going to be out of the question anyway being one month from my due date. We thought about taking the day off from work and going to the beach, but that idea became vetoed when I was placed on bed rest a month ago. (Turns out today’s weather forecast would’ve kept us inside regardless!) And I’m not making anything fancy from the couch.

So for this honorary blog post, I’m going to share with you a kitchen adventure we took for our 2nd anniversary. Making souffles!

I picked out a savory side dish to go with our salmon and he picked out dessert. And funnily enough, we ended up making each others dish. We didn’t plan it that way, but that’s just how the kitchen tango worked itself out.

My potato souffles were made in ramekins instead of the potato skins. If I remember correctly we struggled at removing the potato from the skin.

For dessert Stuart picked Orange Souffles that were made in the orange rinds! We didn’t puncture the rind on this recipe, and even had extra filling to do two ramekins in addition to the 6 oranges. We had a couple of blow outs but managed to save 3 beautifully souffleed desserts.

Thursday Thoughts #2

May 8, 2014May 8, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 11 Comments

This installment of Thursday Thoughts documents my latest (and first) escapade with hospitalization.

Some of my astute readers may have picked up on the fact that I am pregnant. If you haven’t, you’ve been caught as a “skip to recipe” blog reader! 😉 But that’s okay, I forgive you. This post is mostly written as a diary entry for me to remember this experience, and to more easily share with family.

On Tuesday April 29th (wk 31) I went to a standard doctor’s appointment. I was placed on a Non Stress Test (NST) to monitor baby’s heart rate and movement, along with my own uterine activity. It was determined that I had been experiencing contractions every 4 minutes. But this isn’t the first time. About a month ago (wk 26/27) I was having the same 4 minute contractions. But I don’t feel them, and have never been afraid that I was going into labor – I’ve heard labor hurts.

Last time I was sent to Labor & Delivery to be given an IV and some medications to prevent preterm labor. After an hour and a half my contractions stopped and I was released. Other than a strong reaction to one of the medications, it wasn’t too bad a visit. Except for the being poked by multiple needles part.

So, Tuesday I was being returned to L&D. Stuart was on a business trip. Really, I was expecting a repeat of my previous experience. I was mentally prepared for the IV. Unfortunately a test came back positive for a hormone that indicates preterm labor. And my contractions (which I still didn’t feel) weren’t stopping.

I got to the hospital at 445pm. By 8pm I’d been told I’d be there overnight – so my mom threw some things in the car and started driving on up (she stopped halfway to sleep around 1am). One of my best friends from Auburn, who also lives in the area, came by and hung out with me until 11pm. I’m so lucky to have friends who love me enough to drive to the hospital at 8pm just to keep me company.

In the morning I was informed that I needed to be transferred to a hospital with a NICU – just in case. But there was one problem. You may have heard about it on the news. The FL panhandle was hit by a storm that flooded Pensacola and parts of Destin – shutting down bridges and roads. And helicopters were grounded. My doctor was pretty calm when she told me that there was a chance my baby could be coming in the next day or two. I’d been given a steroid to advance lung development. But if my baby were to arrive and I hadn’t been able to be transferred then my newborn would have to be transferred without me! I wasn’t afraid of potential labor, I wasn’t afraid that my child wouldn’t survive, I was afraid that my baby would be lost! Maybe a slightly irrational fear, maybe not, but that’s what was going through my head.

My mom made it, through the weather, by 11am. And Stuart was able to coordinate a flight path back to the panhandle. I couldn’t know where to send him (I had no way of knowing if I could make it out to Pensacola!) but he was put on a flight to Panama City, arriving at 8pm, where he rented a car to get to wherever I might be by that point.

In the early evening I was transferred to another local hospital with a NICU. This was my first time on a stretcher and in an ambulance. The EMT guys were great and I was still all smiles.

And then I was provided the treatment from hell. Magnesium Sulfate. In keeping friends and family posted on my situation, everyone said, “I’m sorry.” And after being hooked up to the “mag”, I know why! I was told I’d be receiving mag through my IV for 24 hours. I was warned that side effects were pretty bad. The side effects were also pretty instant. My poor husband arrived after about 5 hours on the mag, so he did not receive a very happy “welcome home.”

The only benefit (other than the obvious good it was doing to prevent preterm labor) of the side effects was the amount of drowsiness I was experiencing. It’s the only thing that awarded me a little bit of sleep through the night. I had a blood pressure cuff on my right arm, an IV in my left hand, the NST around my abdomen, these strange things on my legs to prevent blood clots, and a catheter. I don’t know how I would have been able to get any sleep with so many tubes and wires if I weren’t so completely weak and drowsy.

The second day on the mag was even worse than the first. The weakness and drowsiness only amplified. By the 20 hour mark I was ready to figure out how to unhook myself! I could barely talk and couldn’t move. I was so weak that I couldn’t even straighten my leg without help from my mom and Stuart. Additionally, the mag makes you very hot. According to my visitors the hospital room was freezing, and I was still trying to throw blankets off of me! (If you know me but at all, you know I’m always cold. That’s enough to tell you I was “off.”) But the worst side effect that I experienced was a change in my vision. I already have horrendous eye sight, but on the mag it was even worse. It was as if I had been given the wrong glasses prescription. I couldn’t focus much on the the TV without serious squinting and concentration. And I couldn’t see my phone up close unless it were practically touching my nose.

Thankfully the medication worked enough that the doctor removed me from the mag an hour and a half early! It was a miracle moment. And within minutes I was able to talk again. Temperature regulation, eye sight, and strength took longer to return. But I was happily removed from all tubes and wires. It was a few hours before I felt strong enough walk to the restroom without help.

Another overnight stay at the hospital and an observational stint on the NST and I was discharged!

So I am now on bed rest and my mother is very generously doing the cooking and cleaning for me.

I created a schedule for May blog posts a couple weeks ago, and with my Mom’s help I’m able to stick to it pretty well. However, the prescription I was given to take daily to prevent contractions has the caveat to not eat or drink grapefruit or grapefruit juice so even though I have a wonderful idea for this month’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge (grapefruit + wasabi), I’ll have to sit it out. The most important dishes (Secret Recipe Club, Cinco de Mayo, and my #BundtBakers cake) are being accomplished though!

Thursday Thoughts #1

April 3, 2014April 2, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

As I’ve gotten more into the world of blogging – it’s hard to believe it’s been 10 months already! – I’ve been noticing that a fair amount of bloggers have a post once a week or so of random thoughts and observations. I can see the genius in this – food blogging can be stressful, especially if you try to post every day. That means you’re cooking something every day. And what if that photograph just doesn’t turn out? Or the recipe is an epic failure? Or – gasp! – you ordered take out!?

I don’t know if I’ll fully embark upon a series of “Thursday Thoughts” but I’m going to try one. Please comment and let me know what you think!

There are a few reasons why I’ve decided to do this.

1) I was really craving a root beer float last night. I didn’t have root beer but I did have some caffeine free Coca-Cola in the fridge and some vanilla ice cream in the freezer. And as I didn’t think a coke float really warranted it’s own blog post I thought it could be valid in a post about random things! I know, you’re probably thinking my Kahlua Coke Floats would be much more delicious, and probably closer resemble the sweetness of root beer. But – surprise dear readers who I don’t personally know! – I’m 27 weeks pregnant and as tempting as that Kahlua might be in some moments it will have to remain in the alcohol cabinet until the summer.

2) Last month, one of the blogs I’ve recently started following (How Sweet It Is) posed a question during her Real Life Wednesday series and I thought it’d be fun to respond to her with my own blog post. Jessica asked, “What’s your Passion?” Hers is writing. Maybe most people can answer that without hesitation and if you’re in that group I’m truly jealous. There are a lot of things I like – the obvious cooking and quilting, scrapbooking, TV – but I don’t know if I could tell you I’m passionate about anything in particular. While I am constantly thinking about food – I don’t know if it’s my passion. There are always 1-2 nights a week where the last thing I want to do is cook. I feel like a passion is something that totally consumes you, your every thought and your every desire to drop everything and go do it. Maybe I’m putting too much pressure on passions. Maybe I just haven’t found that one thing yet.

3) I actually enjoy writing about nothing. I’ll set down with a train of thought and by the end we’re off in Timbuktu. In high school I did community theater down town and I became really good friends with one of the other actors. We did a few shows together and when we weren’t we acted as pen pals during the year. He often told me that I should take a journalism class in college. I never did. Maybe he saw a passion in me I didn’t know I had? Paul passed away my freshman year of college in a motorcycle accident, but I know that were he still around he’d be my first blog follower and comment on every recipe. I think this post would make him very proud.

Plan Your Weekly Menu

September 1, 2013 ~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

I have found that the best way to cut back on your grocery bill is to go to the store prepared. If you plan a menu for the week, and create your list off of that you’ll put fewer impulse items in your cart!

If you want to take the money saving to the next level, check out your grocery’s circular. Find out what meat and produce is on sale first, and then find recipes for the week that utilize those foods. If you find a dish that you just have to have and it calls for a fresh herb you don’t have, for example, find other recipes that can use it too!

Top it all off with clipping coupons. But don’t be fooled – unless you’re committed to a specific brand – just because you have a coupon, doesn’t automatically make it cheaper.

I like to have variety in my weekly menu – Mexican Monday, Salad Night, seafood, pasta, red meat, chicken, pork, slow cooker. If Mexican Monday uses red meat, then that’s a 2-for-1 meal. (Chicken is the only exception; I’ve been guilty of 3 chicken nights in a row!)

To cut back on food waste, I never buy fresh seafood in advance. Whenever I do I’m jinxed and something unexpected comes up. I’m blessed by living in Florida that there’s a local fish market on my way home from work. I am not opposed to buying frozen seafood though, so that is always an option! (Except for shrimp, I’m slightly challenged when it comes to cooking previously frozen shrimp) I also always freeze my proteins when I get home and put it in the fridge the night before I plan to cook it.

When fall hits, life in the Everson household gets pretty busy – Stuart coaches youth soccer 2 nights a week and plays in an Ultimate Frisbee league one night a week, and I play in a bowling league one night a week. Sometimes we can just eat later than normal and sometimes I know that we’ll each be responsible for feeding ourselves. Late night dinners call for something quick or a feat of Slow Cooker Engineering.

Therefore, something to consider is your schedule. If you know that your son has football practice until 8 on Thursday and you’ll be driving thru McDonald’s, take that into account. Don’t plan and buy food for 7 meals if you know you’ll probably only cook 4. I always leave one day empty, just in case we opt to go out or we’re invited to a friend’s house for dinner.

I hope my grocery shopping ritual helps you to become more organized and better yet, saves you money!

Welcome to Sew You Think You Can Cook

July 9, 2013September 15, 2013 ~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

This first blog post will hopefully be the most boring post I will ever have the pleasure of making. It’s like going to your first day of high school when the teacher wants you to share a little bit about yourself. It’s supposed to be a fun ice breaker, but there is so much pressure behind the teacher’s seemingly simple request. It is your one chance to prove to your classmates that you’re cool.

So, this is me, proving to you, new reader, that I am just as cool as any other blogger out there! I want to be able to inspire a new favorite dinner or help you create a new family heirloom.

My name is Lauren Everson, Auburn grad and Air Force wife. I was born in Chicago and as such am an avid Chicago sports fan, but I am most definitely a Florida girl because at the age of 8 we moved to SWFL. In May of 2010 I graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and got married to (prepare for cheesy) the love of my life. We are currently stationed in the Florida panhandle, and I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect spot! With my parents 9 hours away and his 6, it’s as close as we can get to splitting the difference.

This blog will narrate the adventures I take with my multiple hobbies. My most common posts will be about cooking and quilting. But I also enjoy photography, travel, and as it’s only logical, scrapbooking. I also have a minor obsession with decorating for holidays and therefore, each holiday will be celebrated with its own post (or five)!

Just as we all know that first impression doesn’t define your entire four years of high school, I hope you come to find something that interests you and stay for what little bit of wit and humor I can muster.

Thank you, and War Eagle!