Yummy Stir Fry

I have never tried making a stir fry with the sauce and everything together and this was a really yummy recipe, it turned out great :)

Veggie Stir-Fry 

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons cornstarch 1/4 cup cold water 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 cup fresh or frozen broccoli florets 1 medium carrot, julienned (sliced lengthwise) 1/2 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 small zucchini, julienned Small can of sliced water chestnuts 6 large mushrooms, sliced 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic Hot cooked rice - You can also add sugar snap peas, peppers and whatever else you like :)

Directions:

1.

In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch, water and soy sauce until smooth; set aside. In a large skillet or wok, stir-fry the broccoli, carrot and onion in oil for 5 minutes. Add the, zucchini, mushrooms and garlic. Stir-fry until vegetables are tender. Stir soy sauce mixture; add to skillet. Cook and stir until thickened. Serve with rice.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 7/16/2011

Commitment to the gospel

     I just read President Uchtdorf's message in the Ensign "Brother, I'm committed." This article really stood out to me. He says "Commitment is a little like diving into the water. Either you are committed or you are not. Either you are moving forward or you are standing still. There’s no halfway. We all face moments of decision that change the rest of our lives. As members of the Church, we must ask ourselves, “Will I dive in or just stand at the edge? Will I step forward or merely test the temperature of the water with my toes?”
     This made me think about myself and how I am doing spiritually.  I remember when I was playing tennis competitively in school that it would take full commitment and practice every chance I could to improve and win matches. I would sweat it out on the court for hours during the week. If I could take that same dedication and commitment that I had to playing tennis and apply it to my spiritual life I have no doubt I would grow so much. Being committed to the gospel means you follow all the commandments with no hesitation; you magnify your calling; you diligently learn of the Savior. I really liked the article because it made me see that it is not enough to just call yourself a member of the church you really need to commit yourself to it and live the gospel every day of your lives. 

Brother, I'm Committed- President Uchdorf

Ultrasound :)

Here are the pictures of my ultrasound :) The technician said he has a big head in the 87th percentile haha and little femers only in the 8th percentile. So he is ahead on his head growth and a little behind with his legs. But she said that the baby is doing great :) He is apparently going to be a brainiac.  The pictures are a little funny because they are the 3-d kind; he looks like a little clay man, haha.

33 weeks pregnant!

      I can't believe I am 33 weeks pregnant. It feels like I have been pregnant forever, 9 months is so long! It is crazy to think that in about 7 more weeks we are going to have a new baby in the house. I am getting really excited for that. He moves all the time in my stomach and I just want to see him already, haha. On Monday I get to go have another ultrasound because the doctor really wants to see the anatomy of the baby and see how he is doing so that will be really fun :) I'm sure he looks a lot different now than he did when I got an ultrasound at 20 weeks.
     Brandon's school is going good for him but it is a lot of work all at once for him so he is worn out. He is also training for the Tough Mudder which is a serious physical fitness challenge with running through mud and all sorts of things. He got some guys in the medical program to start training with him to do it in December. I would do it with him but it looks pretty crazy, haha.
     The weather here has either been really rainy or super hot, so I have been staying inside most of the time. Its a good thing we have such a great apartment :) The only thing that drives me crazy is the ants that someone appear on the counters. I don't leave any food out and I spray the counters all the time but for some reason they keep appearing. There are definitely worse bugs to have than ants though, so I'm not complaining loudly about them. I'm also feeling pretty ready to take my DTR test so once I get the application in the mail, which should be really soon, I am going to go take it. I really hope I just pass it the first time, but I am so terrible at tests, so we will see. I have studied quite a bit for it though, so hopefully it will pay off. I really want to take it and get it over with before the baby comes and I don't have any time left to myself, haha. Other than that we don't have much going on for ourselves here. I really wish I could make some good friends here, but it is so hard. There are a few new people who just moved in the ward who speak English so I'm going to try super hard to get to know them better this week.

Inspiring thought

     I was reading the Ensign general conference talks today and was really impressed by President Eyring's talk to the young women about having a living testimony. Life seems to get so busy sometimes I forget to work on strengthening my own testimony and making sure to constantly build myself up spiritually. I really liked this part of his talk. "Testimony requires the nurturing by the prayer of faith, the hungering for the word of God in the scriptures, and the obedience to the truth we have received. There is danger in neglecting prayer. There is danger to our testimony in only casual study and reading of the scriptures." Sometimes I think a testimony of the gospel can be taken for granted and I'm grateful for this wake up call to remind me to keep nourishing my testimony so that it can stay strong instead of wither away. Alma chapter 32:38 also reminds us that "if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out." This just reminded me that I need to make sure my testimony is very strong so that when I am tested or given trials that I will be strong enough to handle those trials.
      It is different here in Miami because the gospel is not everywhere you look like it is in Utah. I'm not at BYU anymore where the spirit is so strong and it has been a new adjustment to get used to. It is easy to forget the spiritual things because they are not all around here, but I am really glad I get the opportunity to live here and learn to really appreciate and live the gospel without the many spiritual reminders I had in Utah. I miss that atmosphere but I also do appreciate the opportunity for spiritual growth here :)

A Living Testimony- President Henry B. Eyring

Birthing Class

This week I went to my first birthing class. It completely freaked me out! haha. I cannot believe there still isn't a better way for the baby to come out. In the class they went over all of the signs and stages of labor and what happens in each stage. The lady also talked a lot about how epidurals are not a good thing to get, but everybody else says I should definitely get one, so I don't know what to do about that yet. The instructor said that when you get an epidural it numbs your whole bottom half so you can't feel your contractions or the urge to push when it is time for the baby to come out which makes it hard to deliver the baby. That made sense to me but I don't have any clue how bad the pain will be and if I can handle it without the medicine. So that is what I have been thinking out recently trying to figure out what would be best for me. I just hope little Andrew decides to be a nice little baby and come out fast and easy, haha, I can always hope. I also didn't know that during the whole first stage of labor you just stay at home until the contractions get more constant and then you go to the hospital. That kind of scares me too because what if it all of a sudden gets going really fast and I don't have time to get to the hospital. I don't know. Brandon did use his connections at school to get me a doctor at Jackson Memorial though which is really great because it is only 5 minutes from our house instead of 30minutes minimum of the other hospital I would have been delivering at. I'm getting really ready to see my baby but I'm pretty nervous about the getting him here part. Mom's should definitely be treated like Queens for what they go through to get their kids here; if all kids understood what it took to get them here they would be more appreciative I'm sure. I know I have become more appreciative of what my mom went through to get me here :)

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo

I made chicken fettuccine Alfredo for dinner tonight. This is the best recipe ever! I don't even like Alfredo sauce but this recipe was really, really good! It makes a ton though so next time I will half the recipe for just me and Brandon. I even put a little chicken in it for Brandon and it was actually really good with all the seasonings and things. I've never really cooked chicken like that before, so I'm glad it turned out good :) The mushrooms are by far the yummiest part in the noodles though, they turned out great :)

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Ready In: 1 Hour

Servings: 8

 

Ingredients:

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into cubes 6 tablespoons butter, divided 4 cloves garlic, minced, divided 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning 1 pound fettuccini pasta 1 onion, diced 1 (8 ounce) package sliced mushrooms 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt 3/4 teaspoon ground white pepper 3 cups milk 1 cup half-and-half 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 8 ounces shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

1.	In a large skillet over medium heat combine chicken, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 cloves garlic, and Italian seasoning. Cook until chicken is no longer pink inside. Remove from skillet and set aside.
2.	Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3.	Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons butter in the skillet. Saute onion, 2 cloves garlic, and mushrooms until onions are transparent. Stir in flour, salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes. Slowly add milk and half-and-half, stirring until smooth and creamy. Stir in Parmesan and Colby-Monterey Jack cheeses; stir until cheese is melted. Stir in chicken mixture and sour cream. Serve over cooked fettuccini.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 7/8/2011

4th of July

For the 4th of July Brandon and I really wanted to go watch the fireworks over the ocean. We decided to go to Hollywood beach again because it has become one of our favorite beaches. So we set out early around 10 so we could get parking and stayed all day long at the beach. We bought a really cool beach tent from amazon that made staying at the beach all day much more comfortable and shady although we still got burned. There were a lot of people on the beach but having a tent gave us enough space to spread out a little on the beach. The hardest part of the day was just finding me things to eat because I get starving about every 1-2 hours! The fireworks show was really amazing over the ocean at night! I loved it and I think the baby did too because he kept jumping around in my stomach, haha  :)

Beach, baby decorating, school

       This past week we got to go up to Hollywood beach again which is always fun :) We took a boy from Brandon's young men's group because he has been dying to go to the beach too. Unfortunately we ran out of sun screen so we got pretty burned as usual, haha. Someday we are going to be tan. Brandon is in the middle of eating doritos and did not want a picture, haha, but we got him anyway.

       My new project is decorating the baby's room. We are super poor so we can't buy all the really cute baby decorations that are in the stores so I had to be a little creative. I decided I would try making some sort of jungle scene out of felt. I made leaves, a sun, and a banana tree. It's not professional at all but at least it's better than bare walls :) I want to add more colors of leaves and maybe some water or something to make it more interesting, but for now this is what it looks like.

        Brandon has also started medical school and is working hard already. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday he is gone from 9-4 and Tuesday, Thursday from 1-4. Brandon's group is kind of like my dietetics group that I was with for two years. There are about 50 or so people in his class and they are all in the same classes all day long. He also has to do lots of group projects with them as well. We got Brandon a metro pass so he rides the metro to and from school and it is super fast which is great. I'm still worried about how safe it is because of the area we live in, but he keeps telling me its perfectly safe. While Brandon is at school I have been working on studying to take my DTR exam, watching Wimbledon, exercising, and trying to come up with dinner. Things will be pretty quiet around here for me for another couple months and then our house will never be quiet again, haha. I'm getting really excited for the baby to come. I just want to see how cute he is already!

Yummy mixed berry pie with pie crust

I just made this pie last night for dessert. It is super delicious! I tried my own pie crust for the first time too but the bottom didn't work out because it needed to be baked a little bit first and I didn't do that so it didn't cook well, but the top crust worked well :)

3 Berry Pie- I used frozen berries

1 cup fresh strawberries, halved

1/2 cup white sugar

4 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups raspberries

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust

pie

In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar and cornstarch. Add strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries; gently toss until berries are coated. When using frozen fruit allow fruit mixture to stand for 15 to 30 minutes, or until fruit is partially thawed. Line a 9 inch pie plate with half of the pastry. Stir berry mixture, and transfer to the crust lined pie plate. Top with second crust, and seal and crimp the edge. To prevent overbrowning, cover the edge of the pie with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes when using fresh fruit, 50 minutes for frozen fruit. Remove foil. Bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Pie Crust

1 cup unsalted butter, chilled

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons white sugar

1/3 cup ice water

1. Combine flour and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Cut butter or margarine or butter and shortening into tablespoon pieces; add it to the flour and butter. Use the paddle beater to cut the butter and flour together. Alternatively, this can be done by hand with a pastry blender.
2. With the mixer on low speed , or while stirring the mixture with a fork, pour in the cold water. When the dough starts to clump, and before it turns into a ball, stop stirring.
3. Lightly knead dough in the bowl until it forms a ball. Divide dough into two parts. Flatten each part into a disk, and chill for about 30 minutes before rolling. 
4. Bake the bottom pie crust at 375 for about 15-20 minutes so that the bottom crust gets baked enough.
5. Flatten top crust out into pie dish. Melt some butter or use egg to slightly wet top crust and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar on top.