Week 18! The start of my 5th Month!

Don't look now! Baby Fish has grown almost an inch, and gained almost two ounces!!!  Weighing in at almost 7 ounces, and right under 6 inches long!  Nerve cells are continuing to develop as are the blood vessels.  Guppy's kicks and punches are starting to feel less like bubbles and more distinctive, especially when Daddy puts his hand on my belly.  And Guppy can definitely hear things outside my belly.  I have been talking to him more and more, and fortunately the sounds he hears now will help prepare him when he is born.  So when Fergus barks baby is getting used to it...even if I'm not!

Photo from Pregnology

Sorry Betty, we're not gonna kick it old school.

I think fall is officially here to stay! Yeah! That means it's soup weather. My favorite soup is chicken and noodles. The thick homemade noodles are the star of this dish so JoMama and I are making homemade noodles!!!  JoMama made the chicken stock and chicken in her crock pot yesterday so we get to concentrate on the noodles.  

The only noodles JoMama and I have ever made are the one from the Betty Crocker cookbook.  

But the pasta roller set I own has a different recipe....

The biggest difference is the use of the full egg, and less salt in the new recipe, which is why we are not gonna kick it old school!  Waste not, want not.  We went to get Farm Fresh eggs from The Farm Wife's Table here in Smithville and when we got there the owner had just picked up three duck eggs...so we traded three of our chicken eggs for the duck eggs for our egg noodles!!!!  If you are local, or semi local visit her Facebook page and you too can get some farm fresh eggs!!!  Tho they probably won't be duck eggs they only have one duck and until today they didn't know the duck would lay!

Duck, duck, duck...chicken?

Cracking the eggs was a bit difficult, they have a much harder shell than chicken eggs...who knew!  They also have a different smell, you can tell they are egg-ier...gonna be yummy in the noodles!  At first the dough was very dry and crumbly....

And JoMama said she wanted to add more water, but I told her to wait and see the magic.  I have seen pasta made on Food Network.  After the initial mixing, and two minutes with the dough hook it was time for 1-2 minutes of hand kneading....It's a wrist breaker, but soo worth it, and much easier than Betty's recipe which is all by hand....no thank you!

And then time to let it rest for 20 minutes.

Once it's rested, cut into four sections and then it's time for the magic to happen!  The first attachment is the flat roller and you start with a 1 setting to knead the dough some more until it's pliable and has the right texture.  You will know when it does!

Then set to the second setting and continue...

You will want to cut the pieces in half before changing to a thinner setting.  Otherwise the pieces will get very long and unwieldy

Keep changing the setting on the roller to the thickness you want, then it's time to slice the sheets into the length you want the noodles to be....and then change out the roller for the pasta cutter!  

You can see we just let the noodles drop onto a towel we put underneath the machine, then spread them out a bit.

We did half of the noodles as thick noodles, and half as thin.

There were quite a few more thin noodles, as expected.  And it was so fun and easy we may never buy store bought noodles again!  These can be dried for an hour, then either refrigerated or frozen.  Or you can cook them up fresh.  They don't take as long to cook when they are fresh.  But as you can see it makes a LOT of noodles, so I have some in my freezer for the next time I'm ready to make soup....but part of it we are going to enjoy now in our home made chicken and noodle soup!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin overload!

I ended up with enough pumpkin to make two pies and still had some leftover!!!  My dogs will enjoy the bits of pumpkin mixed in their food over the next few days, and I really only made one pie...so what to do with the extra....I have one bag that will be destined for a Thanksgiving pie in a few weeks and I have one cup of puree that I have decided will become Pumpkin Pie Cookies

The recipe is simple!  Mix up the butter and sugar, then add the egg, pumpkin and vanilla...

Add the flour and spices and get it all mixed up and then after it's mixed, plop it on greased cookie sheets, or baking mats by the rounded table spoon and bake for 15-18 minutes

When the yummy cookies come out of the oven let them sit for 2 minutes.

Then move them to a wire rack to continue to cool!

Then you can glaze them with a little frosting drizzle!  It's part of the recipe so I guess I should do it!

Enjoy! And Happy Halloween!

Week 17!

The weeks are flying by!  And every day my little Guppy is moving more and more.  Not enough for the outside world to feel him but Mama can, especially when Dad puts his hand on my belly when I'm laying down!  This week Baby Fish is about the size of my hand at this point, and weighs over 5 ounces!  So before long anyone lucky enough to get to rub my belly may be able to feel him kick!  During this week my little one will start to develop the cute baby fat that everyone loves.

Pic from Pregnology

Continuing this week, limbs are growing longer and soon baby will be the proportions he will be at birth!  Still a while longer till we find out if Baby Fish is a boy or a girl, but we are getting closer!

Cold and rainy day, let's make pie!

It's 53° and rainy here today, perfect baking weather!  So while we were out and about today I picked up a nice sized pie pumpkin, or sugar pumpkin, so I could make some scratch pumpkin pie today!  Scratch refers to the filling, I cheated and bought a frozen crust...

Start off by cutting the pumpkin in half, removing the stem and all of the guts. I hang onto the seeds cause I love roasting them for a snack!

Then place them cut side down on a pan...

Cover with foil, and bake at 375° for an hour and a half!

While it was cooking I rinsed the pumpkin seeds...

The pumpkin is out of the oven and cooling

So I'm gonna roast the seeds while I wait for it to cool completely!  300° for 45 minutes stirring occasionally....and beg the hubbs to run to the store again, because while I was gathering the spices for the pie I realized I was OUT of Cloves AND Brown Sugar....how does this happen?!?!

It's time to scoop the flesh out of the skin and run it through a press, I have two options, a lever press or a, or a mortar and pestle type press (also known as a ricer).  Both will work, it's up to you and whatever you have on hand, and what you prefer!  You can also throw the cooked pumpkin in a food processor.  Ricing it just gives it a very smooth texture.

Then it's time to make pie!!!  I use a typical pumpkin pie recipe, like the one found on the can of Evaporated Milk....I'm sure I will "oops" the amounts of spices, cause I LOVE extra spices in my pie!!!  And I never follow a recipe exactly....

Mix it all together, pour into the pie shell...and I like to grind a bit of fresh cinnamon on top before I bake it...

Bake 425° for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350° and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes.  Then it needs to cool for 2 hours, oh the torture!!  I had enough to fill the deep dish pie crust, and some for a plain bowl...which is why I love my Fiesta dishes!  I can put it directly in the oven and bake in it!!!

ENJOY!!!  We know we will!!!

Week 16!

This week I have been thinking more and more about my infertility sisters.  I know waiting sucks and being able to write this blog every week and document the changes I'm going through makes me feel so blessed yet seems so unfair, and I wish with all of my might that everyone that wants a child, and a chance at a family could have one.

Check in after my check up!

Well today was my appointment with the Doctor!   Just a standard checkup, the once a month variety.   Everything looks great!  Baby's heart rate is steady at 143, my blood pressure is normal, no proteins in my system...

The Dr. said that even though I'm in the AMA (advanced maternal age) category, everything is measuring on track and there really isn't anything to worry about.  Our next appointment is in November and we will be doing the anatomy scan and will hopefully be able to determine the gender of baby Fish!  So get your guesses in now!!!

And here are some bump pics!

front view

side view