Pregnancy 13 Weeks

I am 13 weeks into my second pregnancy and finally feel like a human being again. It is funny prior to this pregnancy whenever anyone asked me about being pregnant I raved about how wonderful my first pregnancy was. I would say it was like a dream, I did mention my morning sickness during the first three months but it was a small bump in the road. Now that I am pregnant again I remember that small bump in the road was more like a road closed sign! My morning sickness is like a 13 week hangover that you don't recover from, I do no vomit I just feel terrible all day long. Another pesky symptom that I quickly forgot about was how tired  a person is during pregnancy. As I approach my second trimester I hope that lifts but every pregnancy is different or at least that is what I am told.

Who: Me and my baby bump

What: Most days I feel good!  No more lying around all day.

Where: Week 13

When: August 24, 2012

Why: I just go back from my last OBGYN appointment everything was great and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time! So it is time to start documenting my belly progress.

During my last pregnancy I took weekly pictures of myself but I did not add the week in the picture which has made putting my belly book together difficult. For this pregnancy it is my goal to take weekly photos with the number in the photo so the belly book will be easy to put together. 

Birth Announcement

This is the birth announcement that I created after spending many mindless hours on Pinterest. I love how it turned out the only bummer is after I created the announcement my MD changed my due date to March 1, 2013 but I am going to pretend the due date is Feb 28, 2013:)

Mom's Zucchini Lasagna

One of the worst meals I remember from childhood was my mother's zucchini lasagna. Not because the meal was bad, I honestly don't even remember what it tasted like. On the other hand my father was not a fan of this meal and therefore it haunted my mother as the "worst" meal she ever cooked.

When I was looking for ways to get rid of the abundance of zucchini I had from out garden the famous zucchini lasagna came to mind. I decided the my family need to experience this meal! I am so glad that i decided to try this recipe because it was delicious.

Mom's Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients

• 2 large zucchini
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 small green bell pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce (I used a jar of sauce)
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 tablespoons basil
• 1 tablespoon  oregano
• 1 egg
• 1 (15 ounce) container low-fat ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons  parsley
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced ( I skipped these)
• 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a deep 9x13 inch baking pan.

Slice zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices. Sprinkle slices lightly with salt; set aside to drain in a colander. ( This was not easy to do any suggestions?)

To prepare the meat sauce, cook and stir ground beef and black pepper in a large skillet over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Add in green pepper and onion; cook and stir until meat is no longer pink. Stir in tomato paste, tomato sauce, wine, basil, and oregano, adding a small amount of hot water if sauce is too thick. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, stir egg, ricotta, and parsley together in a bowl until well combined.

To assemble lasagna, spread 1/2 of the meat sauce into the bottom of prepared pan. Then layer 1/2 the zucchini slices, 1/2 the ricotta mixture, 1/2 of the spinach, followed by all of the mushrooms, then 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Repeat by layering the remaining meat sauce, zucchini slices, ricotta mixture, spinach and mozzarella. Spread Parmesan cheese evenly over the top; cover with foil.

Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil; raise oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

This is the lasagna that I made to freeze because we loved the recipe!

Aunt Debbie's Zucchini Bread

My husband I try our hand every year at planting a small garden. Each year we are somewhat successful, this year we did get a bundle of zucchini before the plant died! We gave a bunch of it to our neighbor who made some zucchini bread that our 16 month old son just loved, so I decided to try my hand at making zucchini bread.

Zucchini bread is very easy to make but don't be fooled you really don't use that much zucchini to make the bread!  But it is delicious.

Here is the recipe that I got from my Aunt Debbie so I have named it : Aunt Debbie's Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1 cup of vegetable oil
2 cups of sugar
3 tsp cinnamon ( I only used 2 tsp)
3 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes

Stir eggs, oil, vanilla, zucchini in one bowl. Then stir sugar, cinnamon, flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in another bowl. Then slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Then grease and flour to loaf pans and pour half of the mixture in each pan.

Bread is done when you insert a toothpick in the middle of the pan and it comes out dry.

Blueberry Cupcakes

I got some fresh blueberries from my parents and was going to make some blueberry muffins until I saw this recipe on Pinterest. 

Blueberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Yields about 18 cupcakes

Blueberry Cupcakes
1/4 cup (1/2 stick )  butter, room temperature
3/4 cup  granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup  vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (I used 2 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line a cupcake pan with baking cups.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Gradually add in the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the milk, stirring until batter is uniform and smooth. Stir in the blueberries.

Fill baking cups about 2/3 full (or a little less) and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack, and allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups  powdered sugar (I used a lot more than 3 cups)

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the salt and vanilla. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar. If frosting is too soft, add more powdered sugar until it reaches a spreadable consistency. Likewise, if the frosting is too stiff, add more milk until it reaches a spreadable consistency.

Before serving, pipe or spread frosting on top of cooled cupcakes and decorate with a few fresh blueberries, if desired. If cupcakes will sit out more than a day, keep refrigerated in an airtight to help preserve the cupcakes. Serve at room temperature.

I was unsure about using my fresh blueberries in cupcakes rather than muffins but these were a big hit in our house.