Polenta Pie

Yesterday, I made some polenta pie. A recipe brought be none other than my favorite sis-in-law, Danielle! We made this last February when her and my mother in law were visiting, and it is delicious. Too bad Tyler isn't too fond of polenta! It is almost like I make a black bean casserole, but I layer that with tortilla (corn) and cheese in two layers... maybe next time I will do one of those.

Another great thing about it is that it makes one to freeze! I love having good ready made meals in the freezer... especially when you are about to have a baby. So here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 TB veg oil/olive oil
2 bunches scallions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans pinto beans, rinsed (I used kidney instead)
2 cans black beans, rinsed
1 can tomatoes, in juice
1 tube polenta
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 tsp tabasco
1 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded ( I used cheddar)

* add in other veggies too, at the beginning: peppers, onions, carrots, etc; all chopped
* I also added a can of pureed butternut squash, and it was SO good with this addition!

In large pan (cast iron works great, and gives extra iron) heat 1 T oil over medium heat, add white part of scallion and garlic (and extra veggies). Season w/ salt and peper. Cook until softened. Add beans, tomatoes w/juice and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil and mash 1/4 of beans (with potato masher?) to release starch. Reduce to simmer and cook until thickened; about 10-15 minutes.
Brush 2 deep pie plates (one for cooking, one for freezing) with remaining oil. Slice polenta crosswise into rounds, divide between plates. Top with bean mix then cheese. Bake at 400 degrees 15-20 minutes.
TO FREEZE: After topping with bean mixture, let this cool completely. Put cheese on, and then cover with foil. Freeze up to 3 months. Bake in foil covered pie plates at 400 degrees until warm in center (usually 70-80 min. Remove foil; bake until cheese is golden brown (about 15 more minutes).
Another option to freeze would be do everything above, then after it has been in the freezer for a little bit, take it out, and let unfreeze SLIGHTLY, then take out of pie plate (or whatever) and put in plastic bag. This is a tip I learned from somewhere on this vast internet, but I really have no clue where!? That way you aren't using up all your dishes for freezer stuff.
I think you can run hot water on bottom of dish to loosen it up too.

Picture a day 32-41

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Ayla helping in the kitchen with polenta pie (recipe maybe tomorrow?)

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Kiddoes acting like monkeys while reading Charlotte's Web and Steinbeck

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Prancing to Daddy

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Trying to be coy

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No, she is not biting, but kissing the belly... yes, I tried to hide the stretch marks in the B&W!

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my finished masterpiece

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Kids helping deflate the aerobed after a movie night/campout

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strumming the guitar

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Love this beautiful boy

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How did they happen?!

Colton, my boy

My boy gets bigger every time I look at him. He says he is going to be a great big brother (again) and I really agree with him. He is fantastic with Ayla for the most part, and really helps me out when I am watching the other 2. He is hard to resist with his big beautiful eyes, and I find it hard to believe that he is born of me and Tyler!

He is absolutely going to be smarter than me... his memory skills are outrageous! Yet, he helps his sister find matches and even points them out to us! Letters are also something he works with on a daily basis. Always asking what this spells and that spells. He is truly amazing. He also helps Tyler build train tracks, and I think this time next year, he will be able to build his own!

I love him more everyday, even when he wakes up and in his stupor sits on the stairs and pees all over. It just means he is 3. Actually 3 and 1/2! My boy.

Ayla and her quilt

Here is the finished product! How beautiful is it (the fabric) and I think I did a pretty good job. Not perfect, but perfect for my little Ayla. She loves it... was so excited to sleep under it tonight.

Laying on Colton's bed... we stuff Ayla's mattress under Colton's bed during the day to make more room.

Her new haircut! I finally cut the back of her hair! It was just so blond and pretty, and I couldn't bring myself to do it, but I saw that she had a lot of chin length hair, so decided to cut it like mine was when I was a tyke!

Strumming on a guitar

My sweet little cookie


We were at the Dr's (my favorite doctor ever!!) last week, and we were hearing the baby's heartbeat. Ayla lifted up her shirt, sucked her belly in and out, and said "My baby's moving!"

just a little clarification

My parents are coming in a couple weeks to be here for the birth of number 3. My dad informed me last night that my mom was bringing her own toilet paper. I laughed so hard! (This is our one small change for the month of February) I informed him that we, in fact, have toilet paper in every bathroom. And it is just our little family that is doing the experiment! For them to assume we were going to REQUIRE them to use the family cloths just baffles me!!! Along with the fact that people (I won't name names) think that it is pretty disgusting. Why are we so caught up on poop? It is what it is, and nothing more!
No guests that come over will be required to use cloth wipes.

That's all I wanted to clarify.

Even Tyler says he would try to go number 2 at work. I guess that is still saving TP, right?

update and 21-31 (for January)

(21:365)

quilt binding in progress(22:365)
Colton eating snow ice cream

(23:365)

Colton helping Tyler with the hammering needs in the house

(24:365)

Cats sleeping on the dryer (their only safe haven)

(25:365)

Kids playing out in the snow

(26:365)

Using the golf club as a snow scoop/shovel

(27:365)

Ayla in her outfit of choice over the past few days (seriously all day long)

(28: 365)

Helping cleaning out the fish tank (he got to scoop up fish!)

(29:365)

wondering around in the backyard

(30:365)

Big Brother (his shirt says) posing for the camera

(31:365)

Posing for the camera

Finally, here are some of the pictures for my month (year) of pictures a day. I plan on putting explanations on them sometime, so I can go back and remember what was going on!
I have been busy trying to get Ayla's quilt binding done, and it is a slow process, but turning out great! I absolutely love it.
But I did get distracted by making a reward chart for the kids. They have been horrible at going to bed (running around and screaming at the top of their lungs, unless we are sitting outside their door). So... I have devised a calendar of sorts, kind of like a felt board. They get stars when they go to bed without too much of a fuss, and unhappy faces when they don't. If they get more than one unhappy face a week, they don't get to go swimming (their favorite things as of late) on Saturdays. It worked last night... we will see if it continues.
I am still pregnant; although I have to say, that I am pretty itchy. And not just a little; all the time. And not just on the obvious areas of the belly and such; everywhere but the legs so far. Face, hands, back, shoulders, etc. I know my skin is stretching, so I am moisturizing - like 5 times a day. With everything under the sun. Eucerin, Cetaphil, Olive Oil, random lotions from my collection, Aveeno... massage oils.... nothing really helps for more than 5-10 minutes! But my liver enzymes are good (this is a cause for itchiness, I guess) and I probably don't have PUPPS (a form of extreme itchiness during pregnancy) ... so really I am just itchy, and I just have to deal with it for the next couple weeks!

Our February Change

Before we get to February, let's just note here that our January change was successful... at least in my mind!
We did lower our meat consumption, and by doing this have come to the conclusion that we can live on less meat, but it did take some getting used to for some people in our family. Not going to name any names!
One thing we have decided is that, besides our venison, we will be buying better quality meat when needed. I was watching Oprah the other day, and it was about our food choices. I think we already make pretty good whole food choices most of the time, but there is always room for improvement. We don't buy organic chicken or pork, because we buy in bulk at our local Costco for the convenience of it. But not everything needs to be convenient. The images of the chickens falling over under their own weight really stuck with me as wrong. So that is where our decision comes from, along with some book research I have done in the past (Micheal Pollan: The Omnivores Dilemma; Nina Planck: Real food-What to eat and why, to name a couple). If we stick to this frame of mind and make an effort to really buy local and organic than maybe we will reduce our meat consumption EVEN MORE!

Now on to the next challenge:

This one is going to be tough.... for Tyler.

We (I) have decided to try the family cloths for our February One Small Change. I know, I know, some people might have a problem with this just for sanitary reasons. But let me tell you... if we are willing to use cloth diapers and wipes on our babies, why wouldn't it be natural to use cloth wipes for ourselves? I myself already use cloth feminine pads when needed, the kids are wiped mostly with cloth wipes depending on which bathroom we are in (for some odd reason, we thought it was necessary to have 2.5 bathrooms (or somebody did!) but that is just more for me to clean!). So the biggest change is to have cloth wipes in every bathroom, along with a basket/bucket for the used wipes to go in.

I have to say that the reason Tyler is most skeptical and reluctant to do this is because we are getting the house ready to sell, and he is worried that the wipes will be a nuisance. I however know that it is all what we make of it. We will just have to dump used cloths in the diaper bin more often, and wash them every 3ish days... not too hard. But we will see.

Today, I contemplated changing our challenge to not using lights for the month (or using very sparingly)... Tyler was again skeptical! I thought this would be fun, mainly because candlelight makes your blemishes appear much less (ex: stretch marks!) and that is always a plus when you are 4ish weeks away from having a baby! We do try to unplug most of our appliances, or at least the little ones (coffee maker, toaster, grinder, etc) when not in use... but again, always room for improvement!

Later today I will add a picture or two, and catch up with my picture a day... I have 11 to do! Hope everyone has a great day, week, month!