His future's so bright...

That he's got to wear shades!! They are a bit girly, a hand-me-down from cousin Lillian, but adorable nonetheless.

Butternut Nut

Fans of the Pioneer Woman have heard of her affection for butternut squash. While I have yet to try her recipe, last fall I began to experiment with the wonderful winter squash.

This recipe is from the Robin Miller cookbook Robin to the Rescue- very delicious.

If you have never cooked with butternut squash before, I will warn you the skin is VERY thick. I usually cut off the top and bottom portions, then cut again where the squash begins to taper. Then I either peel with a peeler or knife - use caution...Having to peel is the only discouraging thing about cooking with butternuts. Sorry - no pics of the peeling process.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Cumin and Coriander

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash - peeled and cubed (about 3 lbs)

1 T olive oil

1 t ground cumin

1 t ground coriander

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

2 T chopped cilantro - I use about 1 T dry

1 T lime juice

Preheat oven to 400 F

Combine squash, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper - stir to coat. Transfer to a baking sheet and roast about 25 minutes or until tender.

Transfer to a serving bowl, add cilantro and lime juice. Season with salt, if desired, toss and serve.

This is soooo good, even Trace likes it! I usually serve with chicken or pork.

Now and Then

Well...Nathan is officially the big three months today!!!

He has come a long way, baby!!

Sweet Treat: Black and White Cupcakes

Does anyone remember the Black and White cookie episode from Seinfeld? What about Sex and the City - you know, the cookie is so good that Carrie forgot to have kids??

This isn't a cookie - but it is delicious and different. I made these for the clinic staff this Valentine's Day.

Ingredients for 12 cupcakes:

Cream Cheese Layer:

8 oz cream cheese softened

1/4 c sugar

1 large egg

Cake Layer:

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 c sugar

1/4 c plus 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 c water

1/3 c vegetable oil

1 large egg

1 t vanilla

1/2 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F, line 12 muffin cups with the liner of your choice.

Prepare cream cheese layer: In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in sugar and egg until well blended.

Prepare cake layer: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, beat the water, oil, egg, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and mix until just blended. Stir in 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups half full of cake mixture. Using the remaining cake batter and all of the cream cheese mixture, spoon equal amounts on top - creating a half chocolate-half cheesecake layer. Sprinkle the tops with chocolate chips.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until tester is inserted and comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Stages of Tummy Time

Tummy time begins with a look of, "Oh, Mom, not again..."

Then we get into the groove...Maybe this isn't so bad after all.

And now we are really digging this!

Then the feeling changes.

So, I decide to remove the Boppy and see what happens...

Oops, not a good idea.

At which point, I help him roll over and tummy time ends.

Twelve Weeks

Nathan's twelve week "birthday" was yesterday!! His first morning at the clinic was yesterday and did great. He spent some time napping in the pack and play and his Grammy and Aunt Heather babysat and showed him off to clients while mommy and daddy worked. I forgot the camera, so there are no pictures.

When we got home we did some yard work and he went for his first 4-wheeler ride, this is a close-up, you can't really see the 4-wheeler.

The guys in bed.

He is growing every day. He is 13 lbs and moving into 3-6 month clothes and up to size 2 diapers. He is sleeping in his crib, and making it almost through the night.

Here he is before church this morning, taking a little siesta.

Weekend Update

Nathan's Ganne (my mom) was in town this past weekend for some babysitting fun. This was her first visit since Christmas and she could not believe how much he had grown. They read, went for a walk, and did some sleeping too.

Ganne brought a new coat for Nathan - an adorable pea coat for this winter!

Ganne discovered that Nathan LOVES to look at the calender - he stared at it for about 5 minutes.

Ganne also took care of me and Trace, cooking and helping around the house. Nathan's Grammy and Granddad came over for lunch on Sunday, Nathan, of course, slept through most of their visit. It was a great weekend.

Food for Thought: Chicken Broccoli Casserole

This week's recipe is from Trisha Yearwood's Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen. I love this cookbook, it was a gift from my mom for Trace's and my anniversary. Besides having beautiful pictures, there are some good recipes in here. This particular casserole has become a favorite.

Ingredients:

2 c cooked rice

3 c cooked, chopped broccoli

1 c sour cream

1/2 c mayonnaise

1 T lemon juice

1 10 oz can condensed cream of chicken soup

10 oz grated cheddar cheese

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

Preheat oven to 350 . Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Spread the rice on the bottom layer in the baking dish. Make a second layer with the broccoli.

In a large bowl, mix the sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, soup, half of the cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, and chicken. Pour this mixture over the broccoli and top with remaining cheddar. Bake for 40 minutes.

Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.