More Mac `n` Cheese Please!!

I have a weakness for mac and cheese. I mean, pasta smothered with gooey cheese...come on! Who doesnt love it?!? In my `Cook Yourself Thin` cookbook, there isnt a recipe for mac and cheese. However, on the foodtv website, under Cook Yourself Thin show, I found just what I wanted. Yay! I guess its a little hard to make mac and cheese low cal. The smalll change in this recipe is using skim milk. It still comes out gooey and creamy. Per portion, it is 500 calories. Considering how much cheese is in here, thats not bad. Another successful dish. The best part, lots of leftovers. Guess what I`m having for lunch today??

Ni -xox-

Progress

Here are a few things that have beem going on. To follow up my last post, yesterday I put Luca in his crib to play while I was doing some cleaning. All of a sudden he started crying, but it sounded muffled. I thought that maybe he had put his blanky on his face (which he thinks is fun, until he realizes he cant take it off). I went to see, and to my suprise, he was face down. LOL! Poor baby. So my little Luca is officially a rolling baby (well he rolls one way, still working on rolling back over). Guess I have to be really careful now. Cant leave him alone on the sofa anymore. Not convenient, but thats ok.

Update on the eating situation. Luca is a little glutton. He gets sooooo excited when he sees his bowl of cereal and sits forward with his mouth open. The cutest thing is, every bite he has, follows with a `MMMMM`. Adorable!!! I guess he`s really loving his cereal now. Big change in 2 weeks. He has graduated from one tablespoon for breakfast, to 2 tablespoons for breakfast and 2 for supper. He still opens his mouth when he`s done. I think tomorrow I`ll add another tablespoon for breakfast. I cant believe how well he`s taken to his cereal. This week sometime, I`m going to make my own baby food. First on the menu, Peas. I already bought some mini peas. Cant wait to see his face. I think that it might take a while to get used to food food (not cereal). We`ll see, maybe he`ll love it. Who knows.

It`s already been two nights this week that Luca does his nights. Last night being the second time. I put him to bed at 9:30pm and he only woke up at 6:00am. To my suprise he ate and fell asleep again until 8:30am. It was awesome. I really welcomed the sleep. It felt so good not to have to sit up in bed 1-3 times during the night to feed. Awesome. I might be that he was awake from noon until 9:30pm with only a 30 minute nap. He was exhausted. Well, we`ll see if this continues, it`s really great. I wonder if the food is helping to keep him satisfied longer?? Or was it just because he hadnt napped all day??

Ni -xox-

Milestone

Yesterday was a milestone for my little baby. We were at my parents house and I was on the sofa with my grandma, with Luca in between us lying down. I wasnt paying attention because my grandma was playing with Luca. Next thing I know, I look down at him and he's on his belly. I asked my grandma if she turned him and she said No and that he did it on his own. Cute!!! It was the first time he turned over all by himself. To top it off, it's harder to turn from back to belly and thats what he did first. Good job baby! He doesnt really like tummy time, so once he turns over, he gets a little bit frustrated. Thats ok though, he's getting stronger, good stuff. Very exciting these milestones. Right now he's in the exersaucer and he's standing up tall and even turning himself all around so he could play with all the different toys. Its so amazing to watch him discover. What will he amaze me with next??

Ni -xox-

Let them Eat Cake!

I felt like baking today. So I put Luca in his high chair, dragged him into the kitchen with me and got out my cookbook. I`ve been meaning to make this recipe for some time now. It looked so good. I love cakes that are cakey.....I know that sounds stupid, I dont know how to explain. I guess what I mean is bready? Anyway. This recipe is called `Raspberry Lemon Tea Cake`. It doesnt have any fat in it. All it takes is low fat greek yogurt. They ask for 2%, but I used fat free. Also, I didnt have raspberries, but I did have frozen mixed berries. So thats what I used. It turned out yummy. Very nice to have with a coffee or tea (hence the `tea cake`). Yogurt based cakes are always very moist and this one is no exception. The best part is, for one slice it`s only 200 calories. Which is very good for a dessert. I would also recommend it for breakfast as it`s not too sweet. Another successful recipe. What will I venture on tomorrow?

Ni -xox-

A World of Jewels

For many years now, i`ve been wanting to start my own business. It hasn't been very successful. For a couple of years I started making jewelry. Of course when you think you`re so original, then you find out that everybody and his uncle is making jewelry. I even took professional pictures of my pieces. My jewelry was all made with sterling silver, swarovski beads and semi-precious stones. Even pearls that I bought myself in Hawaii. Anyway. Maybe I didnt try hard enough to market my stuff or maybe my prices were to high. Who knows. The idea isnt gone forever. I still have a box load of pieces I`ve made. One day maybe. Here are a couple of pictures from my collection.



Perfect for a Bride



Perfect for a Bridesmaid

So there it is. Leave me your thoughts.

Ni -xox-

Who needs a Recipe?....Not ME!

For christmas I got a slow cooker from my grandma. Fun! I really wanted one. My first recipe that I tried was chilli. I could say that it was OK. I found it a little bit dry.

Today I felt like having some chilli, only I decided too late to start my slow cooker. Thankfully I took out some ground veal from the freezer this morning. I went online for a recipe for some quick cooking chilli and couldnt really find anything that looked too exciting. I never really use recipes, except for lately because I`ve become bored of my same old meals everyday. So this evening I said forget trying to find a recipe, I could make one up. I scowered my fridge and found half an eggplant, onions, garlic and some mushrooms. Sounds good to me! My final recipe ended up being a roasted eggplant and mushroom, veal and beans chilli, on of a bed of polenta. I must say, it was AMAZING! So much better than the recipe that came with the slow cooker. I think next time I want come chilli, this one wins it hands down. It was so juicy and tasty. MMMMM!!!!! I wouldnt add or change anything. It was perfect and exactly what I felt like eating tonight. Dont you love when that happens. Its so disappointing when you make something you`re excited about and then you go taste it and it leaves something to be desired. Anyways! I feel like writing a cookbook. I think I just might do that. First recipe to go in.....my Chilli!!

Ni-xox-

Victory is Mine!!

This morning, Luca had a very successful feeding. The first bite that went in, he actually opened his mouth for, he made a yucky face as usual. After that though, he opened his mouth for almost every bite and actually chewed the food and didnt spit it all out....oh and no yucky faces anymore. I`m so happy. I guess he`s getting used to the texture in his mouth. I`m hoping that soon he`ll actually look excited when he sees his food. As excited as when he sees his milk. That will come in time. Baby steps. Today was a big step in the right direction. By this weekend, he will be tasting the last of the starter cereals. I already bought it. Then maybe next week we`ll start the adventure of veggies! Can`t wait to see his reaction. Oh and yesterday I bought him the cutest feeding bowl. It`s an owl of course. I couldn`t resist. They actually had the plate AND the insulated lunch bag. The only thing is, each piece was a little pricey so I opted out on the plate and lunchbag. I figured that he would use the bowl the most for now. But if anyone feels like buying Luca a gift, the plate and lunchbag are sold at Indigo in the kids section! heheh, just kidding!!

Ni -xox

And the food Journey continues...

Last night I had my brother and his family over for supper. For starters I made a roasted vegetable soup. It was yummy and very healthy. I cut up 2 onions, 2 zucchinis, half an eggplant, 4 carrots, a whole head of garlic, 2 yellow peppers, and 2 fresh tomatoes. I tossed them lightly in some olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano. Popped them in the oven for 45 minutes, then added water and pureed it. YUM!
For the main course, I took a recipe from my new favorite cookbook. The recipe: `Linguine with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes` was what I settled on. It was really good and very simple to make. The only thing is that I didn't have cherry tomatoes. I substituted with half a can of diced tomatoes that I drained the liquid from. It was a good substitution if you don't have fresh cherry tomatoes. It`s also a cheaper alternative, as we all know how expensive cherry tomatoes can get when they are not in season. All in all, it was a yummy supper that I would definately make again.

Ni -xox-

Creamy Corn Chowder

So i`m loving my `Cook Yourself Thinner` cookbook. On Sunday, I decided to make the creamy corn chowder. It`s supposed to be a little over 100 calories per bowl. Not bad! It takes one strip of bacon (yum). I used turkey bacon instead. A lot less fat. I used more than one strip though because it really renders NO fat to cook. Anyways. It turned out not bad. I wouldnt say it was the best, but it was ok. It wasnt as creamy as they said it would be. Nothing creamy was required in the recipe. No cream, or milk.....so I thought it was a little watery. If I were to make it again, I would probably stir in some milk or something.

Ni -xox-

Day 10- Oatmeal Cereal



Heinz Baby Cereal

Since Luca has made it very clear that he doesnt like Rice Cereal, I decided not to torture him anymore and switch to Oatmeal Cereal yesterday. The experience isnt MUCH better. He still makes faces but seems not to HATE it. After a few bites, he kinda gives in. This morning he ate half a bowlful. Which I think is pretty good. Of course a lot of it ended up on his bib, cheeks, lips, nose, forehead and sleeves! LOL! All good. I`m not going to stress over it. Eventually he`s gonna have to like SOMETHING right? Well, we`ll see what happens. I found a very nice menu planner for the first 30 days of baby eating. They test each cereal for 3 days. I obviously have passed three days with the rice, but its ok, I`m just going to use the planner as a guideline. Next venture in a couple of days will be Barley Cereal, and then we start veggies. First on the menu, Peas! (Yuck...i hate peas!).
Ni -xox-