Catching Up - Part 3 - Baby's First Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years

Thanksgiving was pretty normal. We went to Kissimme, ate dinner and hung out. It was really nothing fancy at all. We had lots of fun and ate lots of food. Bear did not want a single thing to do with any of the food though. He was just not into it at all.

Christmas was a three day thing for us.

On the 23rd we opened presents at our house (Bear, Anthony, and I). We bought bear a play house and Anthony's dad sent money and we were also able to get him loads of bath toys, a xylophone, and some sippy cups. He also got lots of blocks from my sister. Anthony got clothes and a George Foreman Grill, and a Game Stop Gift Card. I got lots of Bath and Body Works from my co-workers and sister. All in all it was a really great day.

On the 24th (Christmas Eve) we went to Anthony's Aunt's house to celebrate. We ate dinner, watched movies and hung out. At around 10 PM we opened gifts. Bear got some toys from them as well.

Then on the 25th, Christmas morning, we were still in Kissimmee as we had spent the night at Anthony's mom's house, we opened more gifts with Anthony's family. Bear got a walker from Anthony's mom and 3 Mickey Mouse DVDs from Anthony's brother and his girlfriend.

New Years, we celebrated at Anthony's cousin's house. We listened to music and ate all night long then at midnight we went outside and set off tons of fireworks. One bounced off the house and clipped my neck! I was ok but that could have been very bad had it been just an inch to the left or right. Other than that incident happening, we had a great time!

My Ever Changing Taste Buds

I am not a picky person by any means. Put it in front of me and I will eat it. Of course there are exceptions to this, things that I just CAN NOT tolerate eating, like organs or tea.

I have noticed that my taste buds are always changing though. I often crave food items that I do not like, take a few bites and then say to myself "UCKKKKK never again!" Sometimes on rare occasions I take a few bites and think to myself "ZOMG! why didn't I like this before?!" but this is very rare lol. In the past this has happened with peanut butter and chocolate both of which I used to dislike. Recently I started liking cheesecake as well! This is a big one because I used to HATE cheesecake and now I love it. My taste buds just decided one day that cheesecake is the best thing ever! I do not know if the fact that I'm pregnant has anything to do with it but I suppose it is possible. Anthony says its because I'm pregnant and Bear likes cheesecake :]

Now you may be wondering, what inspired me to write this blog post. I will admit this is a pretty random topic to post about. The reasoning behind this post: TURKEY!

Thanksgiving just past and lots of turkey was eaten by lots of people, myself included. I had turkey from two different houses, made by two different people, of two different cultures. The first was a Puerto Rican and the second was a Moroccan. Both turkeys were good and I ate my whole portion, they were both prepared the traditional way. A few days later however, I came to realize that turkey... is bland. It seems like a sad excuse for its much more tasty cousin the chicken. Or in case of turkey bacon, the pig. I have always liked turkey, but I have never preferred turkey. I don't think there was ever a time that I said to myself "Hey, I want to cook some turkey!" It just seems like it is generally bland and flavorless and gets dried out really easily. People really only cook turkey around the holidays as well, I wonder why... maybe because turkey just isn't that tasty. Or maybe because it takes like 9 hours.... lol. Never the less, I have had some very good turkey sandwiches and some killer roasted turkey, but like most foods I think that was just a situation where it was cooked and put together really well.

Now, I have added turkey to my list of things I would rather not eat. I do not despise it however, so if someone puts it in front of me, you bet I will still eat it. But I will not probably not be buying any turkey or cooking any for that matter either, other than the occasional turkey sandwich.

I wonder if my taste buds will change again by next Thanksgiving... HMMM :o

Muffin Tin Monday: Thanksgiving Leftovers

Ok, so I will admit, the only thing that was actually from Thanksgiving in the MTM was the turkey. I actually made the mashed potatoes and green beens when I made the muffin tin meal. :]

In this muffin tin meal: chopped turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and vanilla yogurt with sprinkles

I finally got my camera up and running! I was being lazy when taking the picture though because I didn't want the food to get cold ;p I think it is still better than my cell pics though.

P.S. These stars do not hold much, that's why there are so many. This was not that much food at all (for an adult) if would probably be a lot for a child though.

Click here for more information on MTM and Muffin Tin Meals.

Thanksgiving (and Baby Shower) Fun

As you all know, yesterday was Thanksgiving day. I hope everyone had a fun day with their family :]

My Thanksgiving was very different this year but different in a good way. First off, this was my first Thanksgiving with Anthony, and he is Puerto Rican so it was not the traditional American Thanksgiving I was used to. We had rice and beans, macaroni salad, and a yuca stuffed turkey! No mashed potatoes or green bean casserole here! It was very good though and we all enjoyed our selves and had fun.

His family also decided to throw us a baby shower on the same day, so instead of the typical Thanksgiving deserts, we had cake! lol it was perfect though.

I have a few (very crappy un-edited) cell phone pics to share. Man I REALLY need to get on that camera thing. I didn't get any Thanksgiving-ish pics but I got pics from the baby shower part of it. And of course I tried like hell to get Anthony to take a few pics with me but he down right refused as he never lets anyone take pictures of him.

Panda themed!

Diaper Cake.

The coolest cake in the whole world.

The cake with out the plastic (and with worst lighting).

Anthony... this was while we were still getting ready.

Charlie :]

I know WORST pic ever lol but this Charlie eating Thanksgiving (We gave him a whole plate, cuz yes we love our doggie!)

In other news, Anthony and I went to Wal-Mart this morning at 3AM to attempt to get a TV from the Black Friday add. The add clearly stated that they were NOT selling the TVs until 5AM. When we got there we were told that they were giving away tickets at 4PM YESTERDAY  and they all sold out then. Honestly, this makes NO sense to me, if the TVs were not going on sale until 5AM this morning how is it that they were all sold out at 4PM yesterday? I just started to hate Wal-Mart a little more :/

Roommate Update:

The day before Thanksgiving I got a text from one of my roommates stating that they got an apartment but will not be able to move out until mid-December! 2 weeks after I told them they needed to leave. On top of that, they also informed me that they will not be able to pay me until after they "get the money" currently they owe me around $250 and that will soon go up to $500 at the end of November. SIGH. So now I am stuck with them and my dirty house, and they are giving me NO money, AND I will now not be able to get my house ready for my baby unless I take time out of my vacation and stay at my house to clean when I was supposed to be in Kissimmee enjoyed the last days as a family of two.

"The Best Lemon Bars" Recipe

Happy Thanksgiving! I figured that Anthony and I would be super busy today and I would not get the time to write a post for today, so this is a post I actually wrote last week. And since it's Thursday, I decided to do a recipe with a mini review.

About a month ago my sister and I went to the flea market to pick up some green tomatoes to make fried green tomatoes (Those were FANTASTIC  one day I will post that recipe as well). While at the flea market, we had lots of fun, we even ate a huge smoked turkey leg, and it was absolutely beautiful outside. When were in the produce section buying the tomatoes I found a great deal for lemons and limes, and I have been wanting to make some lemon bars for a while, so I bought a few and headed home to look for a recipe.

I found one on allrecipes.com that looked pretty good and decided to give it a try and I am SO glad I did because these were the BEST lemon bars I have ever had! And I made them too, so it was a win win.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 lemons, squeezed (I doubled this amount when I made my bars)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

My lemon and lime bars.

When I made my bars, I cut this whole recipe in half, and made one half with lemons and one half with limes. I also added a few drops of yellow food coloring to the lemon bars and a few drops of green to the lime ones. I added a finishing touch of powdered sugar on top as well.

These turned out SUPER yummy. The lemon bars were very good they had perfect amount of tartness but were still sweet at the same time. The crust was a perfect consistency as well, good and buttery. 

The lime bars were yummy as well, but I think that the lime bars needed more lime, I doubled the amount of lime juice in mine, so I used two limes squeezed for just half the above recipe, I think because limes are smaller than lemons, this may be why more would be needed to create a bar that is as flavorful as the lemon. If I were to do it again, I would put three limes, squeezed in. When eating the lime bars alone they are great, but when eating them with the lemon bars, I could tell how much more flavor the lemon had.

I cant wait to make these again!

I am Thankful for:

I have been seeing a lot of people doing daily posts of what they are thankful for on Facebook and on their blogs.I wanted to do posts like these as well but  I started blogging right in the middle of the days so I decided instead of doing a post everyday, I would just do one large post the day before thanksgiving :]

I am not sure how many days everyone else is doing but I am going to go ahead and do 22 because thanksgiving is on the 22nd this year.

Here is what I am thankful for this holiday season:

1. My relationship with God- This has gotten me through all the hard times in my life with it I would have never made it.
2. My amazing boyfriend Anthony- He truly is the light of my life.
3. Our sweet baby Bear due in January - I am so happy to be pregnant and so in love with my baby all ready.
4. My job- In this economy, I am so thankful to have a job let alone a decent one!
5. My apartment - There are lots of people that have no home to live in, I could not imagine what that would be like.
6. My sister - My sister is my best friend and I am so glad to have her.
7. My dad - We don't really agree on everything all the time, but I don't know what I do without him.
8. Food - I know there are so many people that are hungry out there, and every time I eat I pray for God to bless them with food as well.
9. Vacation - I am so glad for the time off to spend with Anthony this holiday season
10. Being able to pay the bills - There was a time in my life that I was unsure if I could pay the bills, I may not have a ton of money now but I am just so glad I can pay all my bills without an issue.
11. Clean running water - Here in America we tend to take the small things like clean water for granted, could you image how life would be if you didn't have running water?
12. My dog - I love my new companion he surly does brighten my day.
13. My legs - I may not have a car, but God gave me two perfectly good legs to walk with.
14. Being able to go to the movies to see Life of Pi with Anthony- Once Bear is born I know we probably will not be able to do this for a few years so I am really glad we get to get out and do this before he's born.
15. Candy- I know kind of silly lol but I just LOVE candy! Thank you who ever came up with it! :]
16. My computer - Really I don't know what I do without it.
17. My Blog - This blog has given me something to do and something to look forward to everyday, that is not expensive. I am so glad that I decided to start a blog.
18. Central A/C - I have lived in houses with out this, and during the cold winter (I know FL doesn't get that cold but still!) with out central A/C it always seemed like my house would be the same temp. as it was outside and I would freeze! I am so glad I have central A/C now!
19. USPS - Since I can not drive, I rely on them to deliver all the things I buy! 
20. My shoes - I am so thankful for shoes, I cant help but feel bad for all the people out there that don't have shoes, their feet are probably all cut up :[
21. Netflix - My main source of entertainment, I would be so bored if Netflix was never invented.
22. Not being alone for Thanksgiving - This year I am spending Thanksgiving with Anthony and his family, and I am so thankful for that! I am also SOOOO glad Anthony was able to find someone to cover his shift at work for Thanksgiving day so we can be together :]

Black Friday Deals I Would Die to Get

While my sister and I were lounging around the house, we decided to look at all the Black Friday deals they are going to have going on. And oh how that was a BAD idea! There are so many great deals that I would just kill to have. And I need so many things for my apartment! Unfortunately,  I can't buy anything on Black Friday because I have to save my money up for rent while I am out of work on maternity leave. But hey!, I can still dream :]

Here is a list of the stuff that I would definitively be buying if I didn't have to save up all my money.

All these deals are going to be at Wal-Mart because that is like my all time favorite place (aside from Publix of course). :]

1. Emerson 50" LCD HDTV - $298
Currently I have a tiny little tube TV that is so ghetto that I can't even play games that have instructions pop on the bottom of the screen, because they are literally unreadable. I am actually working on convincing Anthony to let us buy just this one thing ;p I don't think he will go for it though lol.

2. Skylanders Giants Characters - $9.98
Anthony and I are into these little Skylanders, I do say they are quite addictive, once you start collecting them you just want them all! Now that the new Skylanders Giants game came out we have A LOT of catching up to do with our collection! These are normally around $14.00 a piece.

3. Wii U-Draw - $10.00
I have just always wanted one of these things, they just look way too cool. I believe they are normally about $26.

4. Xbox LIVE 3 month subscription card - $11.98
I have not had my Live account subscribed for quite some time, this is a great deal, I would definitely pick up a few of these if I had the money.

5. Video games for Xbox, Wii, and 3Ds - $10-25
There are LOTS of games that I have been dying to get and now (when I cant spend any money) they all go on sale. FIGURES! lol The add is too small to see what the particular games are but there are tons that I want so I am sure that at least a few of them are on sale.

6. The new Furby - $45.00
Ever since I seen that this came out, I got super exited ( I know, I know I'm too old for a Furby lol). One day I will get one. I believe these are normally selling for around $55.00

7. V-Tech Bouncing Colors Turtle - $15
This is just way too cute! I would LOVE to buy one for Bear and for $15, that's a steal!

8. Crock Pot 6-Quart Slow Cooker - $9.44
I see so many recipes that I want to try and then when I read the directions I realize that I can't make them because they require a Crock Pot. It would be awesome to be able to buy one of these!

9. Mr. Coffee Programmable 12-Cup Coffee Maker- $9.44
I actually do not own a coffee maker! With Anthony moving in soon, I'm sure this would definitely be something I would buy.

10. Eureka Maximum Upright Vacuum - $36
My current vacuum... well its a stick vacuum that my dad gave me that's like 5 years old and won't even pick up crumbs! I desperately need a new vacuum.

Oh if only if only!

My Sister is Broken! :O

My sister is broken! :O

Okay, not really ;p but she did have surgery yesterday morning. Since our annual Thanksgiving break vacation just started, I am planning on staying with her for the next four days then heading over to Kissimmee to be with Anthony and my sweet Charlie for the holidays.

My sister's surgery went well, all she had done was have her tonsils taken out so it wasn't a super big deal but big enough that she shouldn't be alone, so you know what that means? Lots of movies, crafts, Lego Batman, and ICE CREAM!

Flowers my little sister got for my older sister.

Largest soup collection I ever did see! She sure is stocked up :]

Today was also the annual Thanksgiving luncheon at work. Every year the whole IST department goes to my uncle's house (he happens to be the boss of all of IST), to eat and mingle then go home early and enjoy their 10 vacation days. I am NOT a social person and I HATE social events. So, I didn't enjoy going to this at all but of course I got dragged into it by my boss, my uncle and my dad (he also works in IST).

 Most people do not know that I am pregnant, I just feel odd telling people because they seem to not approve of it which really upsets me, especially because I am so excited. This was slightly annoying as I had to keep my hands over my belly to try to avoid confrontation from anyone. It worked, no one confronted me, but I can't help but think I saw lots of staring eyes. My dad and I ate a potluck lunch and then left and now we are officially on vacation just lazing around. Ahhh vacation. :]

All the mashed potatoes and soft stuff was gone from the luncheon before we got there because like always we were fashionably late. So I went to Wal-Mart afterwards and bought my sister a pumpkin pie.... so she can eat the orange part and I can eat the crust ;p