Shrimp Feta, Baked Ziti with Ricotta and Ground Turkey, Father's Day, and Joseph's 10K

On the plate:  Linda's shrimp feta and Mario Batali's baked ziti with ricotta and ground turkey

Soundtrack to cook to:  Disney music from my computer library - Alexander is still talking about how much fun he had at Disney and wants to keep reliving it.


To make it completely official on the blog (by finally including photos of our Cletus the Fetus)- yes, we are excitedly expecting our second child (a boy!!) on October 26, 2012.  We found out that we were expecting on February 14, 2012 (Valentine's day) and were so overjoyed to receive such a wonderful Valentine's day present!  Unfortunately, this pregnancy has been very different from Alexander's pregnancy.  I was stricken with morning sickness (which was really 24/7 nausea...I don't know why they call it "morning" when it was really all day) from week 5 to week 20 of the pregnancy.  Thankfully, things are much better and I'm feeling back to normal.  Here's how we announced to friends and family as to the gender of our baby that's brewing: 

Proud big brother Alex announcing to the world that
he's going to have a baby brother!  (I bribed him with a
chocolate chip cookie so that he would give his best smile
for the picture.  Not my proudest moment as a parent, but
I thought the picture turned out really nice!)

The 3D ultrasound of our little boy with his
left hand by the side of his mouth saying,
"Hellooooooo out there!!"  :)

Alriggghhhht...here's a baby bump picture.  21 weeks!

Brookline had a Flag Day fair and parade on Father's Day
(June 17,  2012).  Alexander had a great time at the fair
and rode quite a few rides.  He's making the scrunchy
face because it was really sunny that day - I swear he had a fun time!

The little guy floating in the air!

Sliding down a giant slide with Daddy!

Jumping around on an inflatable giraffe.  This kiddo held

his own with the big kids!

Smiling and jumping around

On another fair ride with Daddy - these two had a lot of
fun together on the rides.

My boys in action!

Since I couldn't ride on any of the rides, I decided
that I would treat myself to a lemon shake-up drink -
one of my favorite things to get at a fair.  It was delectable!

Alexander enjoyed a few sips from the lemon shake-up
as well.  It was his first one and as you can tell, he didn't
want to give it back...they're just that good.

We had a lovely little family father's day celebration and the weather was absolutely perfect!  It's incredible to think that at this time next year, we'll have two little boys to make arts and crafts for their father.  

That next day, I was pretty pooped and have been trying my best to use ingredients that we have in the freezer and the refrigerator.  Joseph suggested that I make his mother's shrimp feta recipe.  It's a very easy recipe that you can whip up in less than 30 minutes...perfect for this pooped mama!  You'll need the following ingredients:

• 1 lb shrimp, deveined and no tails
• 4-6 plum tomatoes (I prefer them because I find them more firm and flavorful- I strongly dislike mushy tomatoes) cut into small chunks - I keep the seeds in because they help to make the sauce
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 3/4 cup feta cheese

Start heating up your pan with 1-2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
while you're chopping up the veggies.  Then add the garlic to infuse
the olive oil for a minute or so.  After that, add the onions and cook them
until they're almost translucent.

After that, throw in the tomatoes and shrimp.  Season them with salt (very little)
and pepper.  Cook until the shrimp turn pink.  Then add the feta cheese
and finish cooking until the feta cheese is completely melted.

We like to serve this over a bed of brown rice.  To get some greens
into this meal, I made a village salad of cucumber, onion, and tomato
with a little bit of feta cheese, sprinkle of oregano, and a balsamic vinaigrette.
It's delicious and ready in less than 30 minutes.  Plus, there's normally
leftovers for at least the next day's lunch!

The weather has been somewhat touch and go the past few weeks.  It's been either cold, rainy, or 94 degrees F outside (too hot for Alexander).  Thus, when it's not so great, we've been playing around inside the house, singing songs, reading books, etc.  I've really enjoyed this stage of Alexander's development, because as you heard from the previous post - he's quite the little crooner and entertainer.

The entertainer, hard at work. :)

Ahhhh!  Finally, a beautiful summer day!  I couldn't
find any parking around the gym, so I decided to take
Oscar on a nice long walk around Jamaica Pond that's right
by our house.  I absolutely LOOOOVE where we live - we're really very lucky.

Thankfully, on one of the incredibly hot summer days, Alexander had his P.E. class and he had an absolute blast.  I'm bummed that we won't have class for the next two weeks while the gym is closed, because Alexander loves it so much.  We'll just have to schedule some play dates and museum trips for those days missed, I suppose. :)  I love taking Alexander out and exposing him to new things!

Alexander swinging around like a little monkey.

Alexander wearing a pirate's hat while riding on the
pirate ship swing in his P.E. class.

Our little pirate in action.

Now that I'm not completely repulsed by the thought and sight of food (I seriously couldn't watch any of my favorite cooking shows - they made me that sick), I finally got to watch The Chew.  It's a fun little daytime talk show that is food centered.  I became immediately in love with Mario Batali's baked ziti recipe.  I loooooove baked ziti and couldn't wait to whip this little number up for my family.  

*Warning:  This recipe took me 1 hour and 35 minutes to make (from start to finish), and that's because I was running around the kitchen like a mad woman.  However, if I would have taken my time, it would have taken me about 2 hours.  There are many elements to this dish, which is why it takes so long.  Therefore, you may want to make this dish on the weekend when you have extra time.   

The recipe doesn't call for that many vegetables; however, I felt that it
would be nice to include as many vegetables as possible.  Thus, I added
1 pepper, 1 head of broccoli, and if I had the time, I would have added
mushrooms as well.
*In order to save a little bit of time, I began browning the ground turkey
(instead of Mario's pancetta) while I was cutting the veggies.

Mario made a bechamel sauce, and I had found a lighter bechamel
recipe that I chose to use instead.  It yields 3 cups, and the recipe calls for
2 cups, but I figured bechamel is so yummy...so what's a little extra in the dish going to hurt?
Here's the link:  Low-fat white sauce  :)

After the ground turkey has browned, add the vegetables into the
mix and cook them for about 8-10 minutes.  Then add the red wine
and tomato sauce.
*While these are cooking, make the bechamel sauce and start to
boil the pasta.  I only made 1 lb of pasta, even though the recipe
called for 1 1/2 lbs - I just felt like this was already SO much food
for this little family (and some leftovers for my sister) to handle.

Once the pasta is boiled, mix in the bechamel and some parmesan cheese.

Grease a casserole dish, then pour a layer of the cheesy pasta,
a few dollops of ricotta cheese ( I use fat free), then a layer of
the meat ragu.  Repeat until you run out of ingredients.

Bake uncovered for about 25 minutes and here's the end result!
It's a delicious and hearty pasta dish that was a huge crowd pleaser.
There were plenty of leftovers, plus a little leftover to give to
my sister and her boyfriend.  Delish!

In the spring, Joseph and I ran a 5K together.  It was something that I have always wanted to do, and really wanted to get into running (since I've never been a runner), but found out that I have patello femoral syndrome and had to do some physical therapy in order to get better.  After months of training, I finally got back to normal and wanted to try my hand at running again.  Then, I found out I was pregnant, but still wanted to run a 5K before I gave birth for the second time.  Joseph has always been a great runner, and wanted to accompany me on this little check off the bucket list for me (he's such a great husband!).

I was proud of myself for running the entire time,
got a better time than I had been training, AND
I was 12 weeks pregnant! :)  Thanks for cheering me on, hun!

Then, the same association hosted a 10K today (June 24, 2012) and Joseph and his friend Peter decided to run it together.  Since I'm 22 weeks pregnant, I opted to sit out and cheer the guys on with Alexander from the side lines.

Joseph before the race.

Joseph and Peter, chit-chatting before the race started.

Joseph and Peter chit-chatting while running, during the first few
minutes of the race.

Joseph crossing the finish line!!  

He always insists on making these funny faces while I'm taking pictures,
so I decided to include this little gem. :)

Congratulations Joseph!!  We're so proud of you!

After Joseph cooled off and cleaned up, we took Alexander and Oscar to Larz Anderson Park to play around since it was such a beautiful day.

Alexander sporting his shades and being proud about it. :)
He's got quite the mischievous smile. 

The little guy having fun and laughing up a storm
at the park.

I love his smile.

Okay, okay...one more picture of this cute guy. :)

Ahhhh!  I'm finally caught up to present day pictures and topics with this blog.  It's about time!  It's been a great 22 weeks thus far.  Let's see what the remaining 18 have to offer.  I can't wait to enjoy this summer with Alexander (since Joseph will be busy with his fourth year of medical school), although I'm definitely excited to celebrate this fall with our new little peanut!  Until next time...

Love and kisses,

Nikki