An easy, fantastical soup!

Because it's fall in the world of my dear readers, I thought it would be appropriate to share a recipe I came upon during my fall, which was earlier this year. I was perusing Pinterest when I first saw it, and the title was intriguing: lasagna soup. I love lasagna, but my dairy intolerance keeps me from sampling more than a bite or two (or five) from Todd's helping.

I was probably skeptical when I read through the recipe, wondering where the "catch" was. I mean, could it really be a dairy-free soup that actually tasted like lasagna?

The truth: yes it could.

This recipe is easy, delicious, and possesses that rare gift of living up to its name. It really does taste like a classic lasagna! I don't follow the recipe perfectly...for example, we don't do peppers and I buy two cans of whole tomatoes and blend them to liquid instead of doing anything diced. I don't like chunky vegetables in my soup. Also, why on earth go to the trouble of breaking up lasagna noodles? I throw in a couple handfuls of bow tie pasta and we're quite happy with the outcome. I add some extra water sometimes, but that just depends on how thick/thin you prefer your soup.

Here's an opinion: If you don't have any basil (either fresh or dried) then just wait to make it until you do. I think it "makes" this soup.

I sprinkle Todd's serving with cheese and leave mine without and we both feel like we've eaten a real lasagna dinner :) Easier to make than a real lasagna (unless you're doing Stouffers, and who doesn't do Stouffers? I'll rephrase: easier than homemade lasagna), fewer calories, and it hits that it's-fall-so-I-want-soup craving.

Need I say more?  Go check it out here!

And no, this is not my picture. I got it from the link with the recipe. My soup is not quite this picturesque :)

http://thedeenbros.com/index.php/recipes/recipe_detail/bobbys_lighter_tastes_like_lasagna_soup/

The Wednesday Stork: Week 18

It's been a pretty regular week around here...nothing too exciting to report, especially compared to the "big news" of last week :)

Weeks: 18  

Weight gain so far: 6 pounds. That's up 2.5 pounds in ONE week! Yikes...I hope somebody (and not me) was just going through a growth spurt, because that's a rate I certainly can't afford to keep up!   

Wearing maternity clothes? No, and the fact that I still don't have any is starting to scare me. 

Got any prego stretch marks? Not that I know of. I had some stretch marks anyway, but I don't think I have any new ones.  

How am I sleeping? The past few days have been great! I have been falling asleep no problem, getting up for a bathroom break and falling back asleep, and then waking up around 6am and just relaxing in bed until 7. I cannot complain :) 

Feeling anything in there? I'm going to go with yes. Not all the time, and it's certainly subtle, but I'm going with yes. And, just because I read/heard a lot of different things described to me, I'll give you my take on what it feels like: at this point, it's like I'm being gently flicked on the inside. That's why I call the movements "flickers." :)  

Aversions or cravings? Chinese: no. 

What’s the gender? Boy. 

Any labor signs? Nope. 

How pregnant do I feel? I feel like I should be sticking out to "here" sometimes, but there's still not a whole lot to see. Todd was commenting today how I didn't even look pregnant. Also, I've been having a little more heartburn than usual but nothing severe. 

Belly button status: Hanging "in" there ;)

Still sporting my wedding rings? So far, so good!

And that's the week in review! I haven't forgotten that I said I'd post a picture when things got...interesting. I'm just waiting to look pregnant. I find myself in that awkward, chubby phase for now, but I don't expect it to last indefinitely :) 

The Wednesday Stork: Week 17

Before we get in to our usual chat I have a couple things to cover: first the results of our Bow Tie vs. Hair Bow poll, and second our Dr. appointment/anatomy scan that happened yesterday.

While it looked like Hair Bow would take it at first, Bow Tie began to steadily and then quickly take over! I was so surprised to see how most of the early votes seemed to be for girl and then suddenly it switched to boy. Yesterday morning though, things seemed to have almost evened out. Bow Tie was in the lead with 52% of the votes, leaving Hair Bow with 48%.

And, the people have spoken. It is, in fact a boy :)

Ok, so the votes had nothing to do with the outcome, but I think it's funny how it turned out to be accurate...not that there was ever more or less than a 50% chance that either gender would win, but whatever.

As soon as the doctor told us the baby's heart rate, I was almost sure it was a boy. At our first appointment (9w6d) the heart rate was 159, but I didn't read anything into it that early on. But yesterday when the doctor reported that the heart rate was 148 I was like, "oh...that's a boy." I wish I would have said it out loud so Todd would have proof that I really did think it.

It didn't take but another minute or so for the doctor to "think it was a little boy" and by the end of the ultrasound she was completely convinced. I'll take her word for it. Apparently we were shown the evidence as well, but I'm really bad at deciphering ultrasound images. I did, however, see a very clear wave :) That was sweet of him. I think he did that just before he flipped around (the kid was really going at it in there) and showed off his impressive spine. His heart has all four chambers (good sign) and the doctor thought everything looked ok!

Oh, and this is how we dressed for our anatomy scan, and it wasn't even intentional. We were total dorks on accident. I had to have a picture...this kind of thing should be photographically documented and publicly shared.

 Now we can get on to the stats :)

Weeks: 17. At our appointment yesterday I was showing 17 weeks exactly, but the Dr. said that would change a little every time so I'm just sticking with the usual Wednesday week change.  

Weight gain so far: Today it's 3.5 pounds. I do a lot of fluctuating.  

Wearing maternity clothes? No, though I did start doing the hair tie trick on my jeans and shorts this week. It's really so comfortable, I'm not sure why everyone doesn't do it. Who doesn't want a little more tummy space in their pants? 

Got any prego stretch marks? No. 

How am I sleeping? I can usually fall asleep without trouble, but staying asleep is another story. 

What do I miss? Sleeping through the night, as indicated by the above.  

Feeling anything in there? I can't be sure it's a baby, but I have occasionally been able to feel these slight little...flickers, for lack of a better word, when I sit or lie down. I think that just started happening 3 or 4 days ago and now I try to pay attention to them. Perhaps I'll know something more definitive next week :) 

Aversions or cravings? I still don't want to think about or look at oriental food. I don't even want to type it, or read it after typing it.  

What’s the gender? He's a boy. 

Any labor signs? Thankfully, no. 

How pregnant do I feel? Not very, I guess. I still feel heaviest when lying on my back and getting up in the morning, but to look at the belly you wouldn't know it was inhabited. You'd probably think I just needed to lay off sweets, or something ;) 

Belly button status: Holding strong with an in. 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yes. I test periodically to make sure they're still doing ok.

We can now begin calling Pippy by his name, and I didn't really expect it to be so bittersweet; I got rather attached to his cute little genderless nickname. But Todd has had no problem switching over to the more permanent moniker and has been faithfully calling him Ty :) It still sounds strange to say it out loud, but I guess I'll get used to it. Ty is still not the "real" name, but it's what he will go by. His official name is Todd Allen Overbeek III, but I convinced Todd to let us call him Ty, claiming it stood for "Todd the younger." It worked, and Ty he is!

Biscuit Success!

I'm a Pillsbury/Cracker Barrel-kind of-biscuit girl, and before I moved to Africa I don't know that I ever seriously considered making my own. But, they don't sell those convenient little refrigerator tubes here (you know the ones: you have to peel slowly and wait for the inevitable explosion that nearly gives you a heart attack every time) and it will be a long time before I see another Cracker Barrel.

My first (and I think only) attempt at homemade biscuits several months ago turned out in little, not-fluffy things that I would sooner call a crumpet. I've never had a crumpet but I imagine they are something like that first batch of biscuits. We ate them, and while they weren't horrible, they were a far cry from my biscuit goals. I assumed biscuits were too difficult for a non-perfectionist like me to get "just right." I found another recipe online and pinned it to my Pinterest Breads/Breakfast board, a tribute to what I assumed would probably always be a dry, crumbly and not-very-delicious pipe dream.
Well. That was all before today.

My friend and kindred spirit raved a couple weeks ago about a batch of biscuits she'd made that had turned out wonderfully. Words like "fluffy" and "flakey" were used and they were enough to lure me back onto the biscuit bandwagon. I asked her to send me the recipe, and today I finally got up the nerve to make them.

And let me just say, it can be done!

If you've never made biscuits before, this recipe does a good job of stressing what I consider to be the most important factor: don't overdo your dough! Old hat to the seasoned biscuit baker, but valuable information to the novice. I also put my butter in the freezer for a few hours, just to make sure it was good and cold. Whether or not that helped I know not, but I doubt it hurt anything. My friend suggested that butter temp was important so, I froze it.

I followed the recipe in accordance with the instructions for using a food processor. I don't think my food processor is very good, but after I added the buttermilk (I made mine with milk and vinegar, another well-known tip if you're familiar with baking) things started to come together—literally. I think my chunks of butter were too big, so they didn't blend in very well. In the future I'll try to cut those smaller. Oh, and I didn't have a biscuit cutter so I used a coffee mug. They turned out bigger than I would have liked but that's just a matter of preference.

Another trick to biscuits, which I first read on a Paula Deen recipe, is to have them touch in the pan while baking. I think this definitely makes a difference. I didn't have a round pan big enough to bake all the biscuits so I used a 9x13 glass baking dish, which turned out to be a bit too large. Naturally, not all biscuits were able to touch other biscuits on every side, but those that were seemed to rise better.

I'm so pleased with the texture of these! They were just as fluffy as any Cracker Barrel biscuit and tasted fabulous with honey and butter, which is my favorite way to eat them :) (Another favorite is with Cracker Barrel apple butter, but believe it or not, I didn't have any of that on hand) As a side note, I don't think I added the full amount of salt and in the future will measure to make sure I get the whole teaspoon in. I think it could have used more than I eyeballed.

Here's a link to the recipe my friend and I used, and I highly recommend you give it a try! It was fast, easy, and most importantly, successful! I also threw in a picture of one of the biscuits from my batch. It's not beautiful, or anything...but somehow, that didn't seem to matter :)

Jacaranda City in the Spring

Todd and I went driving around our little patch of Pretoria this morning with the express intention of getting some pictures of the jacaranda trees! These are abundant, vibrant purple trees that have bloomed all over the city. In fact, Pretoria's nickname is "the jacaranda city."

The blooms are such a terrific shade of purple that they almost look neon laying on the pavement. The jacarandas have made such a nice, spring-ish addition to our busy city roads :)

Todd and I miss not being at home to see what the trees are doing there...our little corner of Tennessee is practically known for its beautiful fall colors. But the spring color here is proving to be just as lovely!

Enjoy!

The Wednesday Stork: Week 16

I think I told Todd a few weeks ago that Pippy would never make it to 16 weeks...it was just so far away, the day would simply never come. Pregnancy felt (and still feels, at times) like an endless wait for something to happen. 

But, surprise surprise, here we are! 

Weeks: 16 today...finally ;) 

Weight gain so far: Let's go with 3 pounds. This time last week I thought I'd gained aout 3.5 pounds, but then I had a rather drastic drop and have slowly been creeping back upwards. I forgot to weigh in this morning but for the last few days I've been hovering at roughly a 3 pound increase. 

Wearing maternity clothes? No, and knowing that I have none to wear even if I wanted to makes me nervous. I guess it's a good thing there isn't much of a bump yet, and that I rarely leave the house! 

Got any prego stretch marks? Nope. 

How am I sleeping? I guess I'm sleeping ok. I am beginning to be less comfortable on my back and not much more comfortable on my side. Bless Todd, he went out this week with a plan to buy me a Tempurpedic side-sleeping pillow and body pillow as a present. However, when he got to the store, he found they don't carry either :( It was so sweet of him to think of doing that for me! Although, it may have something to do with the fact that I've asked him if he'll sell me his side-sleeping pillow. I used to think that thing wasn't very comfortable but now that I'm almost forced to sleep on my side, I've come around. 

What do I miss? La Carreta. That has little to do with being pregnant and lots to do with being an ex-pat ;) 

Feeling anything in there? I'm beginning to wonder how I'll know when it's a baby and not a gas bubble or rumbling stomach. So far I'd have to say that no, I don't think I've felt it. 

Aversions or cravings? I crave lots of things that I just can't get here. Again, that's not really a pregnancy issue. 

What’s the gender? We're currently accepting votes...the majority seem to think it's a girl. I will still hold to my original guess of boy. We're hoping Pip cooperates at our ultrasound next week. 

Any labor signs? Negative. 

How pregnant do I feel? Less and less and more and more, if that makes any sense. I have had a mostly good week with very little nausea in the evenings, so I hope the lingering sick feeling will check the calendar and realize that its day is past. Anyway, that's the "less and less" part. In the more and more category, I feel like I'm getting more of a belly, though it's still not very visible. It just feels big and heavy at times, especially when I'm lying on my back, or when I first get up in the morning. I debated whether to start measuring it.  

Belly button status: In. Definitely in. 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yes. Hope to keep them as long as I can!

That wraps it up for 16 weeks! If you haven't already, don't forget to vote here for which you think we should have on hand for Pip: bow ties or hair bows??

Boy or Girl?

Place Your Vote Below

Produce Paradise

I love produce, and here in South Africa we're coming in to the most glorious produce season! After a *short* winter of mostly apples and bananas, I now load up my grocery cart with peaches, strawberries, tangerines, watermelon, and whatever else looks tasty.

Oh, and I buy the odd vegetable but that's not important.

Today Todd emailed me with an offer to go grocery shopping after he left work if I would send him a list (I LOVE when he does that :) ). I was so happy when I opened the bag filled with produce and lined it all out on the counter to admire. It's magic waiting to be eaten.

In addition to the fact that the stuff flat tastes good, it's crazy cheap too. Back home produce is not nearly as affordable, and I'm convinced that's why people don't eat as much of it. That stuff's expensive! Especially things like fresh berries. Fresh berries are a joke to buy in store. Last summer I was buying little tubs of blueberries and raspberries about once a week and rationing them on my salads. I probably paid $4 or $5 a piece for them. Yikes. (disclaimer: you don't really see blueberries here...I asked a friend about them and she told me of a store that sometimes carries them. I have found  "canned" blueberries for making muffins and I still pay about $4 for them. I have not, as yet, either seen or asked about raspberries).

While I won't list everything we got with its respective price, I will share what I consider to be the best value (though it's all a great value!).

You'll have to forgive me; I don't know exactly how big this is, but those are Todd's hands holding what I consider to be a really big tray of strawberries! There's not a weight on the package or I'd tell you what it is. Just take my word that that is a bunch of strawberries. And the price for such a huge pile of delicious? About $2.50! It looks like it's going to be a week of strawberry-topped oatmeal for me :) 

I knew I had lips: a review of Revlon balm stains

I'm a diehard chapstick-er. I apply multiple times most days and that's usually good enough, but sometimes I catch my face in the mirror and think, "where are my lips?"

Well, I may not think that exactly, but almost. I suppose my lips have always been dull and while I do occasionally don a pinky gloss for church, I consider lipgloss otherwise too "dressy" for my normal life.  Plus, I don't really like the way it feels. I don't like having to paint it on carefully with a wand, all the time knowing that the first drink I take will undo everything anyway.

And it looks so...glossy. That's a given, I know, but I don't really want to walk around with a set of reflectors on my face. What I need is something that goes on like a chapstick, that feels like a chapstick, but livens like a lipstick. Subtle, natural-looking, and definitely not reflective. Yes. That's what I need.

Needless to say, I had nothing like that. I knew I could always go buy a lipstick, but that's still not q-u-i-t-e what I wanted. Don't they make tinted chapsticks? The better question is, do they sell the ones they do make in Africa?

I was in Clicks (think the South African version of CVS or Walgreens) a couple weeks ago and decided I'd try to find something that would perk my lips up a little, regardless of what it was. I browsed the makeup section, not really knowing what I was doing (I'm not a big makeup wearer), and came across a set of Revlon...somethings that I decided to try. I call them "somethings" because I couldn't find anything on the packaging that gave any indication of what it was. Whatever they were, though, they were selling in packets of two, BOGO. At that rate, I figured they were about as good as anything else I could find, even if they did end up being lipglosses.

I bought them and left them sitting in the bag for several days, not overly excited to try them out. Cheap or not, they were lipgloss and that wasn't going to cut it. I'd be able to add some variety to my Sunday church lips, but the rest of the week would see me just as bland and colorless as ever.

You can imagine my surprise when I did finally open the package and uncapped the first tube. I was expecting to see a wand attached to the lid but when it popped off and revealed what looked like a jumbo crayon tip, I was ecstatic! I read the tube and saw that what I had once believed to be lipgloss was actually a balm stain! Are you kidding me? I tried it on and was thrilled with the way it went on like a balm but left my lips with a beautifully colored stain. Such a perfectly named product :)

I have tried both colors on my lips and while Honey is my favorite, Smitten is a nice color too. It's a bit more bold, though, so I would apply carefully. I still try to put a little chapstick or plain lip balm on first, and then the stains glide on easily. I typically apply in front of a mirror, much as you would with a lipstick, to make sure I don't end up looking like a clown. I'm thrilled with the longevity of these things; I found Honey to generally be good for several hours of subtle color, even through eating. It will obviously dull with time and wear but since I'm only going for subtlety I don't mind that much.

If you want color without gloss, Revlon's balm stains are they way to go! I give them a 5 out of 5 :)

Honey is the light pink and Smitten the dark. 

Here's a swatch for both: Honey on top and Smitten on the bottom. 

The Wednesday Stork: Week 15

Welcome to The Wednesday Stork! Wednesdays are the day I switch weeks, and today marks a whopping 15! This means I hit the second trimester *pause for angel chorus* last week, and that was a big milestone...mentally, anyway. 

I’ve seen posts like this on a couple of different blogs, so I took/modeled the items below from the template others have used. Usually, a belly shot accompanies an entry like this but...I’m lazy and don’t feel like lugging out and setting up the camera on the tripod. That and there isn’t much to see. I have a bit of a pot belly but nothing terribly baby-bumpish yet. When it gets more interesting, I’ll put something up :) 

Without further ado...

Weeks: 15 today! Woohoo!

Weight gain so far: About 3.5 pounds, or 1.6 kgs, if you’re in ZA. I’m hoping this is in the normal vicinity.

Wearing maternity clothes? I bought a pair of elastic-waisted shorts from a department store here. They’re not maternity (they were with the swim suits, actually), but they do they job. My others were just feeling kind of tight. I’ve gone through my closet and found the things that I think I can make work with a slight belly, but if things get serious, I’m in trouble. Maternity clothes are SO HARD to find here. Thankfully, my mom *hi mom* has been on the lookout back in America, picking up all kinds of summer maternity and a couple maxi dresses on clearance! The downside is...they won’t make it to me for a couple more months. 

Got any preggo stretch marks? I should think not.

How am I sleeping? Oh, I sleep pretty ok. I’m a back sleeper and that is getting less and less comfortable. I have to make a bathroom run at least once during the night, but I’ve had a micro bladder since I was about 8 years old. Nothing new there. 

What do I miss? Deli meat. Lunch time options are limited. 

Feeling anything in there? It’s a bit early to feel the baby moving, but I’m on the alert :) According to my sources, I can expect to notice things happening between 16 and 20 weeks.

Aversions or cravings? Oh dear, those come and go. 

What’s the gender? We are a house divided: Todd says girl, I say boy. 

Any labor signs? That’d be a no. 

How pregnant do I feel? As fantastic as a Beauty and Beast moment would have been, I did not go through any magical, dramatically-lit transformations as I exited the first trimester and emerged in the second. I’m still lacking in the energy department but I can usually get some stuff done in the mornings. I try to take about a 40-minutes walk Monday-Friday, and come back whipped! I get out before it gets too hot, but even at 8 a.m., that South African sun is killer! I have mostly nausea-free mornings and early afternoons, but almost always feel bleh in the evenings. 

Belly button status: It’s a major inny, but I keep my eye on it :) 

Still sporting my wedding rings? Yes...If it were winter I would be optimistic about keeping them on the whole pregnancy, but in this heat and lack of air conditioning, I’m not holding my breath.