I am always looking for new recipes that are easy to make, since my schedule no longer allows for me to spend hours making a delicious meal. One of my "go-to" recipes is grilled cheese. It is cheesy and yummy, and I can whip it up in less than 5 minutes. However, I am getting super bored with plain, old grilled cheese...so I went looking for new ideas.
I found this grilled cheese recipe from Tyler Florence via the Food Network, and boy is it ever yummy! I made it just as published, only I used store bought pesto sauce. Then, I had a brilliant idea. Let's add AVOCADO! Avocados are one of my favorite foods ever, so I decided to throw some on the next time that I made them. Amazing.
So here is my recipe (modified from Tyler's):
Ingredients:
2 slices of your favorite bread (I used just generic multi-grain bread)
1 large slice of fresh mozzarella cheese
slices of tomato
slices of avocado
pesto sauce (you can make it on your own, but I just bought premade stuff from the grocery store)
small amount of olive oil
Assemble sandwich by smearing insides of bread slices with pesto sauce (you can use as much or as little as you want). Arrange a layer of sliced tomato. Layer the mozzarella over the top, and then place avocado pieces over the top of that. Place another piece of bread on top to make the sandwich. Drizzle olive oil over skillet's surface and place sandwich on the hot skillet or panini press. Turn after 2 to 3 minutes. The sandwich is ready when golden brown and mozzarella has melted around the edges.
It is sooo delicious. Enjoy!!!!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
1 and DONE!
I absolutely love my daughter, don't get me wrong, but I honestly have no desire to have another kid. One is more than enough for me. After having a baby, people apparently find it necessary to ask me when we are planning on having another one (like it is any of their business in the first place), and I can say with certainty that I have no intention of having baby #2. I said the same thing before I had my daughter, and people kept telling me that I would change my mind after I had the first one. Unfortunately, it just reinforced the fact that I am not having another baby.
As I have said in my previous post, my daughter is pretty much perfect. She slept through the night at 5 weeks. She is always happy and so easy to entertain. So why do I only want one little bundle of joy?
Well, there are many reasons actually. First and foremost, I absolutely loathe being pregnant. It was the most uncomfortable, miserable, worst 9 months of my life. There was nothing at all that I liked about being pregnant. Nothing. I could tell you all the things I hated, but that's a whole other blog post. I just can't ever imagine myself willingly going though that again...yuck. I also know that if there was a next time, we would probably not get lucky again with a baby that was an amazing sleeper. As I have said before, I absolutely love my sleep. I cannot function without at least 8 hours, especially when I work a full time job. I don't gamble, and I am not willing to gamble on my precious sleep. Also, I am not such a huge fan of the infant stage (as I have found out), and, lastly, I am just getting ready to start my career after a long, long time in school. I love the fact that I work, and I am excited to get my career up and running. I just don't think I have the time and energy for another baby.
I'd rather spend all my extra time spoiling the wonderful one that I have already. :)
As I have said in my previous post, my daughter is pretty much perfect. She slept through the night at 5 weeks. She is always happy and so easy to entertain. So why do I only want one little bundle of joy?
Well, there are many reasons actually. First and foremost, I absolutely loathe being pregnant. It was the most uncomfortable, miserable, worst 9 months of my life. There was nothing at all that I liked about being pregnant. Nothing. I could tell you all the things I hated, but that's a whole other blog post. I just can't ever imagine myself willingly going though that again...yuck. I also know that if there was a next time, we would probably not get lucky again with a baby that was an amazing sleeper. As I have said before, I absolutely love my sleep. I cannot function without at least 8 hours, especially when I work a full time job. I don't gamble, and I am not willing to gamble on my precious sleep. Also, I am not such a huge fan of the infant stage (as I have found out), and, lastly, I am just getting ready to start my career after a long, long time in school. I love the fact that I work, and I am excited to get my career up and running. I just don't think I have the time and energy for another baby.
I'd rather spend all my extra time spoiling the wonderful one that I have already. :)
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Sleep "Indulged" Mommy
I think it's pretty typical for new moms to get the question, "how are you coping with the lack of sleep?" or "how has he/she been sleeping so far?" Sometimes you even get sarcasm with comments like "I bet you haven't been sleeping well (with a laugh)."
I have been on the receiving end of these questions for over a year now, and, to be honest, I still get them quite frequently. My response, however, usually astonishes people. Not because I say something extremely witty, but because my daughter sleeps well.
Now, I don't mean she sleeps well NOW...I mean she has ALWAYS slept well. When she was first born, I called my mom religiously because I thought I was doing something wrong. This little girl loved her sleep, and wasn't interested in much else.
By 5 weeks, she was sleeping through the night entirely...approximately 7-9 hours straight per night. At 3 months she was sleeping 12 hours per night with a 3 hour nap during the day. When she was 6 months old she was still sleeping 12 hours straight per night and 4 hours during the day. When she turned 1 year old just recently, she was sleeping a total of 13-14 hours per night with one 3 hour nap during the day. Yes, that is right...I put her to bed at 6pm (if she is up much later than that, she is not a happy girl) and she wakes up on her own around 8am.
I have done absolutely nothing extra to help her sleep better. I don't have any special skills or magic tricks. I simply lay her in her crib and Ta-da! She sleeps well, which means that I sleep well. Anyone who knows me, knows that I need at least 8 hours of sleep...so my daughter's passion for sleep is a huge blessing for me.
So, when I answer people's questions about "how are you coping with the lack of sleep?" or "how has he/she been sleeping so far?" I just have to laugh.
I have been on the receiving end of these questions for over a year now, and, to be honest, I still get them quite frequently. My response, however, usually astonishes people. Not because I say something extremely witty, but because my daughter sleeps well.
Now, I don't mean she sleeps well NOW...I mean she has ALWAYS slept well. When she was first born, I called my mom religiously because I thought I was doing something wrong. This little girl loved her sleep, and wasn't interested in much else.
By 5 weeks, she was sleeping through the night entirely...approximately 7-9 hours straight per night. At 3 months she was sleeping 12 hours per night with a 3 hour nap during the day. When she was 6 months old she was still sleeping 12 hours straight per night and 4 hours during the day. When she turned 1 year old just recently, she was sleeping a total of 13-14 hours per night with one 3 hour nap during the day. Yes, that is right...I put her to bed at 6pm (if she is up much later than that, she is not a happy girl) and she wakes up on her own around 8am.
I have done absolutely nothing extra to help her sleep better. I don't have any special skills or magic tricks. I simply lay her in her crib and Ta-da! She sleeps well, which means that I sleep well. Anyone who knows me, knows that I need at least 8 hours of sleep...so my daughter's passion for sleep is a huge blessing for me.
So, when I answer people's questions about "how are you coping with the lack of sleep?" or "how has he/she been sleeping so far?" I just have to laugh.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Control Freak
I am a planner by nature. I LOVE lists and calendars. I live by schedules. I have to have plans set in stone, and I like to know what is going to happen long before it happens. I hate being spontaneous...in fact, not having control of what is going on freaks me out and literally makes me ill to my stomach. This is why job hunting is so very difficult for me.
I will be finishing my Ph.D. in November, and after countless applications submitted, I still have yet to find a job. This leaves approximately 1-2 months before I have to find something else. Which means (you guessed it)...the unknown. My worst nightmare. I have absolutely no control over this situation whatsoever.
As I sat in church on Sunday morning, I was reminded that God is in control. Not me. I live my life so that I can control everything down to the tiny, little details, but what I've realized is that I don't often allow room for God to "plan" in my life. So instead of freaking out and stressing over the unknown, I am going to let God take care of me. Even if this means that I won't have a job at the end of the year, I am comforted by the fact that God WILL provide for me and my family.
I will be finishing my Ph.D. in November, and after countless applications submitted, I still have yet to find a job. This leaves approximately 1-2 months before I have to find something else. Which means (you guessed it)...the unknown. My worst nightmare. I have absolutely no control over this situation whatsoever.
As I sat in church on Sunday morning, I was reminded that God is in control. Not me. I live my life so that I can control everything down to the tiny, little details, but what I've realized is that I don't often allow room for God to "plan" in my life. So instead of freaking out and stressing over the unknown, I am going to let God take care of me. Even if this means that I won't have a job at the end of the year, I am comforted by the fact that God WILL provide for me and my family.
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