It is officially time for maternity leave. “I’ll be back”. In the meantime, I have a few goodies to share out here in the blog-o-sphere until I come back. Enjoy!

The more I cooked the more I realized how many super specialized tools there are out there! Since I’m not a chef, but love to cook, I figured I’d share a few of the tools I love the most. I don’t use too many special things that can only serve one purpose. While blogging a dish it takes long enough to cook, makes notes, and photograph that searching for a very specific tool isn’t likely. I do have a few go-to items I think everyone can use.

Dutch Oven/Cast-Iron Skillet:
This one is a toss up of which you absolutely need. I love both. They get super hot and the stove-top to oven capability is sooo handy to finish dinner or keep something hot, or just to use fewer dishes! They’re heavy and sometimes pricey but worth it. I love the flavor (and iron intake benefit) of the cast iron skillet. I love that barely anything can burn in the dutch oven and the cover.

Meat Thermometer:
I swear by the basic $3 meat thermometer you can get from the grocery store or Bed Bath & Beyond. This takes the question mark out of cooking meat! I think this is a must-have. Especially for pork. I believe those who don’t like pork, only have had it overcooked. I think it’s one that’s hard to tell the done-ness but chicken is a great one too to avoid drying it out and ensuring it is cooked enough through the center. Don’t proceed without one.

Blender: 
I splurged on a Ninja for a blender/smoothies. I don’t use it daily, but quite often I use it weekly…at least monthly. I love this one I got. I wasn’t about to dish out $400+ bucks for a Blendtec but the Ninja hasn’t left me with any regrets. I have this blender & single serve attachments. I see it online for $120-ish. I got it at bed bath & beyond with a gift card, 20% off, $5 off, and a store credit. It is totally worth it. I make smoothies regularly so I love when they can be contained in 1 cup to mix, drink, then to go into the dishwasher.

Devil Oven Grabber:
This thing is awesome, and arguably one of my most used. I love this silly thing. It helps you to pull the oven/toaster oven rack out. I know, I know, you could do it without this. I use it with the toaster oven where I don’t normally need/keep an oven mit. This guy makes an appearance about 5x a week on average. It is made of silicone so he safely lives ontop of the toaster oven.

What do you grab in the kitchen first?

Woah. Happy almost-February. Mr. J and I are PARENTS. Woah! Crazy! Our babe is just the cutest. Seriously, he’s cuter than any other baby than I have ever seen. I’m allowed to say that…I think. I was due January 9th and our beautiful boy was born January 16th. It felt like we waited forever at the end and finally he was here. We’re just soaking up every move he makes and trying to get the hang of this parenting thing. We’ve been enjoying some freezer staples and capitalizing on leftovers. January didn’t involve many new ground-breaking recipes but was good practice to work through the freezer and figure out what’s around and what we have time for.

Now, the food, before I was a week overdue…
One of the fun things I kicked off the month with was a cornbread waffle that I put leftover chili onto. So fun. I’ll definitely do this again.

The sliders are arguably the most fun menu of January. Part of the fun was the spontaneity but what’s better than sliders, frappes, a fire roaring, and watching the ball drop until dozing off on the couch.

I improved Stuffed Shells with my fav freezer ingredient.

I made up my own Sweedish-ish meatballs. I liked how easy it was to add some flavors I don’t have all the time and would mess around with meatballs again.

Maybe Mr. J and I will be coordinated enough to whip up something fun for the Superbowl. We’ll see. I have a hankering for potato skins or mini layered Mexican dips, but it is all up to Baby T.  I’m really just in it for the snacks, but being one of the local teams does make it a bit more interesting.

2015 Goals: these pseudo-resolutions will likely be quite loose while Mr. J and I get our footing as parents.
year of the earring: was a little distraction for a good 15 minutes of by past-my-due-date impatience, purchased via Etsy.

make more salad dressings: ehh. making/eating salads might be the first step before thinking I’ll make my own dressing right now.
factor more time into how long every-day tasks/trips will take: this will prob be my goal for the rest of my life
recreate restaurant menu items:something funky on a waffle iron came from a restaurant idea!
be more adventurous with my reading selections: I did get back to my book just the other day but I’m not sure I love it. “All the Light We Cannot See”…reccomendations to stick with it?
use the crockpot more: ehh, not yet, but this seems doable for one-handed cooking/nap-time cooking
#seafoodsunday once a month: not really, but I made some shrimp tacos the other night…does it count if I don’t blog it?

It is officially time for maternity leave. “I’ll be back”. In the meantime, I have a few goodies to share out here in the blog-o-sphere until I come back. Enjoy!

I love trying new ingredients and I’m not always brand-loyal but realized I don’t usually specify those that I love so passionately. They’re not paying me to love ’em or anything (though after I proclaim my love they’re welcome to send the cash-ola my way…seriously, I’ll be your spokesperson).

Krazy Mixed Up Salt:
I hate the spelling, but love the stuff. I throw it in lots of things and look forward to finding it in my Christmas stocking each year. They also make Krazy Pepper which I use on occasion too. It is like Italian Seasoning of the salt world. My blood pressure is wayyy lower than the average so years ago my Cardiologist has had me upping my salt ratio and this is a great flavor mix to do just that. I use it in place of salt on pizza, popcorn, marinades, sauces, garlic bread, etc. Find it in the spice section of the grocery store. You’ll thank me later.

Pastene Kitchen Ready Tomatoes:
Being introduced to these tomatoes was the only good thing to come out of a pizza class I took once. I love the simplicity of the tomato flavor. It now is almost the only tomato product I use. This is my go-to for pizza sauce, on pasta, in chili, and the list goes on. Sometimes I drop in some basil or garlic, but the blank slate & fresh flavor is why I love it. This makes pizza taste way more traditionally Neapolitan since it tastes purely of tomatoes not sugary like some sauces. This contains: tomatoes, tomato puree, salt, & naturally derived citric acid. That’s it. Find it in near canned vegetables & tomato paste.

Better Than Bouillion:
I love this broth base better than bouillion cubes, bouillion powder, and prepared broth. I happily make broth whenever I can, but while cooking for 2, I rarely have enough chicken bones to keep myself stocked with broth. This tastes better than the other forms I’ve had and it is way more convenient. It comes in bases of: chicken; beef; vegetable; clam; mushroom; and a million others. Note: the label has some metal detailing on it so don’t microwave the jar to get the very last bit in it. Ka-pow! Learned that the hard way!

Frozen Creamed Spinach:
I use this all. the. time. It is so good as an instant sauce or added to pizza, pasta, baked potatoes, turned into dip…the list goes on. There is a bit of sodium in it, but other than that it isn’t the worst thing to be eating. It has 20% of your daily intake of sodium, in HALF the package. It is always more like 4 servings the way I use it, so there’s nothing to sweat about there. These little packages are great to keep around in the freezer for whenever.

Grated Parmesan:
Not the sawdust stuff. That has zero flavor and isn’t worth the calories of ingesting it. I think the difference is the anti-caking stuff added to it. Parmesan is supposed to be salty and crumbly and delicious. I could grate it myself, but sometimes the price is comparable to buy it grated(near the other cheeses, not next to boxed pasta & tomato sauce).

Portland Pie Company Pizza Dough:
Hands down, the best dough out there. My apologies to anyone not in New England but dough is ahhh-mazing. I can’t make it better than they do, so I only buy theirs. It comes in plain, beer, basil, or garlic. I thought the grocery store stopped carrying it but phew! I found it near the deli/prepared foods area, versus near the refrigerated pastas where it used to be. I keep about 3 in my freezer at all times, and it defrosts in the fridge while I’m at work.

Any brands or items you 100% standby or are go-tos for you?

I’m about ready to pop, this little babe is almost fully cooked. I have a few maternity leave posts prepped while I’m away from the blog, though I have no idea when I’ll be back at it. We’ll see!

I’ve felt really lucky throughout my pregnancy. I honestly was looking forward to seeing what kind of crazy food cravings I’d have but there really weren’t many. I wasn’t interested in certain soft things, like yogurt/avocado/oatmeal/etc that I normally eat all the time. I definitely craved cheetos. The beginning was rough with some sickness, thus, my hiatus. The end has been wearing on me. Ever since I hit 37-weeks, I’ve been excited and not wanting to rush nature, but ready to be onto the next phase. I’m uncomfortable, suffering lots of intense back-pain, and I’m not sleeping well. It definitely could be worse, but everything just seems hard to do. It feels like an aerobic feat to snooze my alarm or to put on socks and it is definitely weird that pregnancy becomes people’s open invitation to comment on my body.

Here’s what I’ve been loving lately:

Tis the season for desserts. I’ve happily been fully stocked with cookies, leftover cakes, a peanut butter cheesecake cookie pizza, slices of yule log, and leftover chocolate fondue turned into instant bark with heath & walnut bits.

These crackers are so good. They’re kind of having an identity crisis of being a pita chip & also trying being the most crisp cracker ever. Plus they cost wayyy less than a regular package of pita chips. They began their life with me as a dipper for spinach and artichoke dip for one Christmas celebration and have lived on nakedly because they’re just so good.

While keeping my caffeine intake in check, I’ve been having warm cider all fall to fool my brain into thinking it’s a warm bevvie like coffee. I didn’t realize it is available in the produce section this long!

Lot’s o’ flavored drinks. I think they’re helping me drink more fluids and distract me from the 1,000 bathroom breaks I make per day. I randomly wanted Diet Cranberry Sierra Mist. I don’t know that I’ve ever had regular Sierra Mist and I don’t love bubbles as much as the average person so this definitely came out of nowhere. Mr. J smartly bought me 2 bottles.

Clementines have been a race against the clock. I love them and can’t have just one at a time. I’m on crate #2 even though the acid is killing me by way of heartburn. I’m officially not a fan of the angry kid commercials whose parents aren’t keeping an adequate supply of clementines for them…what brats. #didIsaythat

Fun Finds online: 
If you love Friends, then you’ll love these best food Friends clips.
If you’ve been a server, then you should read & share this great op-ed piece for restaurant workers.
If you need a crowd-pleaser dip, Mr. J made a twist on this chicken ranch dip for one of the Christmases.
If you agree that we all need hot chocolate until spring, here are some spiced up hot chocolate ideas.

It is almost 2015 and the holidays have kept me busy and actually cooking less. This is the time of year many people cook and host more than usual. I’ve been working hard at not over complicating everything. I was wanting to try some new fun recipes but hosting isn’t the time for that, and I really enjoyed a slower paced holiday season.

I refused to let Pumpkin be relegated to November, so I kicked off December with Pumpkin Mac & Cheese with Gouda Brown Butter Sauce. I thankfully have some leftover sauce to relive this tasty dinner.

The biggest bust of the month was Zucchini Risotto Boats. They were just blah.

My favorite quickie dinner this month was calzone with chicken meatballs, creamed spinach, tomatoes, and cheese.

I messed around with a ham and fontina rolled up pasta idea I saw on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins & Dives, though I can’t find it and give credit where credit is due. They were fun and so darn cute.

In an effort to not push my boundaries too far, I whipped out a few freezer favs & quick meals this month like: BBQ Chicken Bubble Up Pizza; aranchini to pair with some pasta one night; broccoli & cheddar soup; bfast for dinner, grilled cheese w/ tomato soup; etc. 

Here are my goals which also wrap up for the year right now:
The Year of the Flower lived on! Mr. J got me poinsettias that are fun for festiveness to have a plant, though I guess our Christmas tree should count too. I also had a cheery mix from my baby shower.  Follow me on instagram for the latest and greatest. I neeeeeed to decide what next year will be the year-of-the-________, other than year of the baby!
send more mail – yes, I sent out all my baby shower thank you notes. No holiday cards this year, since January will include a baby announcement.
make some Pinterest pins a reality – Yup, I made this pin of nutella hot chocolate
try a spin class – um nope. I’m not adding in any super new exercises at this point. I have been trying not to over-do it. I’m watching my fitbit steps to be moving around a bit, but I waddle everywhere and I’m quite tired.
make more cocktails – umm no cocktails for me until January  but this nutella hot chocolate was just in the St. Nick of time.

Bump update:
It is almost time! I can’t believe it. I’m now 38 weeks out of 40-ish. I feel really good, but also kind of feel like a hippo. The final stretch has come out of nowhere! I’m glad I was super busy in October & November for work and then December was busy with the most perfect baby shower and holiday celebrations with both families. I loved celebrating Christmas with the C family at our house and then the R family. They were really lovely holidays that brought me to tears. It’ll never be the same. Now it is onward to baby-time!

I’ve had a ton of backpain and I’m trying to really hydrate. We wrapped up the supplies and I’ve read a few books. I think we’re as prepared as we can be. I’ve been very interested in desserts, which is quite fitting for this time of year. I’m kind of continuously hungry but don’t want to be packing on the unnecessary weight.

The next few weeks will be crazy but I’m excited. I need to finish getting a few little things ready. I have a crafty-wall art piece planned too! As much as I looooove holiday decor, I’m ready to switch over to full-out baby set up. I haven’t stocked up the freezer yet but I have a list and some ideas. It could be anytime so we’ll see what happens over the next few weeks. When I suddenly go MIA, you’ll know why!

Enjoy NYE! It has never been my holiday but I’ll live vicariously through your champagne!