Farmers' Market Lasagna
I realize it has been forever since I posted a recipe on my blog. I can’t even blame it on the boys, it has been since last November since I posted a dinner recipe. The one hobby I love, and can somewhat still find time for, is cook. I have not baked since bringing the boys home, but I blame the heat more than them. They might be filling up the majority of my time now (loving it), but Matt and I still have to eat.
Here is a fairly healthy recipe from Parents magazine. I adapted it so I can use my crock pot instead of the oven (its already hot enough here, don’t need to heat up the kitchen). Its also meat free, so if you are looking to go meatless one or two nights a week this is a great option.
Farmers’ Market Lasagna
1 zucchini, chopped
1 red sweet pepper, chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrot
3 cups of spinach
1 jar (26 0z) pasta sauce
6 regular lasagna noodles, broken in half (uncooked) (When using the crock pot just break the noodles apart more so you can make it fit more to the shape of your crock pot.)
1/2 carton (15oz) part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1. Prep the veggies Put zucchini, pepper, and carrots in a bowl and pour in 2 tbs. water. Cover and microwave on high for 2 minutes; drain. Stir in spinach. Heat pasta sauce, covered, on high for 2 minutes. (I skipped all this microwaving, seemed like an unnecessary step if you ask me)
2. Pile it in Layer 1/2 cup sauce, 4 noodles, half the veggies, half the ricotta, 1 cup sauce, and 1/3 cup mozzarella. Stack on 4 more noodles remaining veggies and ricotta, 1/3 cup mozzarella, 4 noodles, and rest of sauce.
3. Cover with cheese Preheat the oven to 350°F. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and cover the dish tightly with foil. Bake for 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing.
Instead of baking for an hour, I cooked it in the crock pot on low for 2.5 hours. I can prepare it during nap time and it is done by dinner time. Perfect!
10 months!
I cannot believe Noah and Ezra are 10 months old. We have known their faces for 7 months and held them in our arms for 3 months. It is amazing how much they have grown since we first laid eyes on them and even more amazing how their personalities are really starting to shine.
Ezra is very independent, giggly, and pretty easy going. If he gets upset, or bonks his head, he only needs a little consoling, and he’s back to wanting to play. Standing up in the tub is a new issue. I guess he figures what better place to try and crawl and walk than in a few inches of water.
Noah is super snuggly, loving, and talkative. Lots of DADADADAs all day long. He needs a lot of attention, and will get fussy if he feels you are not watching his every move. This has started to improve over the last few weeks, but it’s still tough to multitask with him, but that’s okay because his snuggling is so sweet.
Ezra is getting around fairly well now. He goes all over the living room, luckily he can’t get anywhere else on his own yet, as soon as he hits the tile he starts spinning his wheels. We have caught Noah crawling in his crib, but outside of that he could care less about moving, he would much rather be in mommy’s lap.
Noah finally started to laugh out loud this month, usually just Ezra can get him to do it, apparently we aren’t as funny as his brother.
They can both stand for short periods of time hanging on to something and longer if it is one of us holding them up. Ezra is trying to pull-up on stuff but has not managed to do it yet.
They both now give hugs and Noah gives kisses by licking your cheek, he learned that from Taffi.
They both still love to eat and are gaining weight nicely. Ezra really likes cereal and puffs, Noah is more of a fruit eater. Noah seriously loves apple juice, Ezra could care less for any liquid besides formula, I think he will be my milk drinker.
They also love to play with their cousin Abby.
A couple more months and the three of them are really going to be tearing up the place!
Our little mover!
Ezra Crawls from matt adams on Vimeo.
Night Weaning
I am going to start off this post by saying I am the luckiest woman alive. When we first came home we took turns getting up with the boys for night feedings, but I was increasingly having difficulty falling back asleep after my turn, so Matt took over ALL night feedings. Seriously lucky girl! The other night I got up and start to feed Ezra and Matt noticed I had done this, came into the nursery and said, “What are you doing go back to bed.” I know I am lucky and my husband is AMAZING. Sorry I just had to brag and properly thank my husband before I got to the purpose of this post. Thank you honey for being the most amazing and wonderful husband and daddy!
Noah has slept through the night on a few occasions, I think he would sleep through the night almost every night if Ezra didn’t wake him up. Ezra’s crying doesn’t always wake him up, but sometimes it does. Ezra wakes up every night for a feeding without fail. We are considering night weaning in the 10th month by slowly watering down the formula. I go back and forth on this because he is obviously hungry, but then I think if Noah can do it so can he. I know every baby is different, but I still wonder. He is getting plenty to eat during the day, if you can’t tell by his pictures, he is nice and round. 🙂
Anyway my question is to all the experienced parents out there. Did you night wean or let it happen naturally? If you night weaned at what age? Do you have any regrets about night weaning?
I would love to hear from everyone. I am just gathering data so we can make an informed decision! We love hearing from experienced parents.
Wordless Wednesday – 9.9.09
Labor Day Weekend
I must say it was so nice having a three day weekend. Having an extra day of daddy help was just what I needed! We had time for some fun activities plus plenty of relaxing and even a few chores.
We ran our first 5k as a family.
Daddy and the boys at the start
Sprinting at the finish
I finished my first 5k!
Then off to the Grandparents’ house for breakfast.
Our first wagon ride!
On Sunday we went back to Grandma and Grandpa’s for lunch and playing with Abby.
Swimming
Bubbles
After lunch was nap-time and chore time.
Carter helping Matt put together shelves for the playroom
Monday was full of playing, chores, and reading.
Wrestling!
I am in TROUBLE!
Oh man! I am going to have a little busy body on my hands in no time. Ezra has been working on his crawling, mostly going backwards occasionally forward or sideways. Well yesterday morning I had him on the floor of the nursery while changing Noah and this is what I saw when I was done:
See that face? That says pure joy that he got into something! He was so happy with himself, all giggly and cute. I guess we’ll be using the long three day weekend to begin baby proofing!
Wordless Wednesday
Diaper Debate Results are in
The winner is boy or unisex! So glad to know I was right. 🙂 Thanks for everyone who helped settle this debate in our house. I am pretty sure Matt’s mind isn’t changed, but that’s okay.
Now does anyone care to guess who’s chubby thighs those are?
9 months!
Wow I cannot believe another month has passed by already. Time is flying by.
They are changing so much and their personalities are coming out more every day. Ezra laughs at everything, he is super giggly and ticklish. Noah makes tons of different faces which always get a laugh out of mommy and daddy. They have a favorite saying, “dadadadada.” Yep all day long every day “dadadada,” hopefully momma comes soon!
Ezra is seriously considering crawling but isn’t quite there yet. He rolls around quite a bit. Noah just sits there and watches him. We know Noah can move and rollover, because that is all he does in his sleep, but for the waking hours he is very sedentary. They both now love the jumper and love to watch each other jump!
One of their favorite activities is playing banging the piano. Seriously they love it! It almost always helps when they are cranky.
They also love playing in the water, doesn’t matter if it is the pool or in the bathtub it is so much fun.
They eat a ton! If you can’t tell by the above pictures, they are filling out nicely. 😉 Currently they are working on finger foods. They have each gotten a couple pieces to their months, but most of them end up in the dogs’ tummies!
Diaper Debate
The diaper pictured above is currently causing a debate in our house. One of us thinks it is girlie and the other thinks it is unisex. I won’t say who thinks what. I am asking you the reader to end this debate. Please let us know what you think, girlie or unisex?
Wordless Wednesday
9 month check-up
The boys turn 9 months later this week, so we went to the doctor for their check-up today. She was very impressed with how much they have grown and changed in the past 7 weeks. She thought they were attaching nicely and were very healthy. She was very happy to see how much Ezra has caught up with Noah in the weight department. They didn’t have any shots today. The doctor wanted to give them the one for pneumonia but they were all out. Lucky boys. 🙂
Current stats – Noah weighs 18 pounds 2 ounces, somewhere around 25 inches long (I didn’t write down either of their heights, sorry) he was in the 25th percentile in weight and 5th in height and head circumference. Ezra weights 17 pounds 6 ounces, somewhere around 23 inches long, he was in the 10th percentile for weight and 5th for height and head circumference.