weekly bean update

monkeyandsquirrel September 15, 2011

24 weeks and moving right along! let me just preface this post by saying technically this weeks fruit baby should have been a papaya, but i was having a heck of a time finding a large papaya this time of year for some reason. so i saw on another fruit baby chart that little miss penny is also the size of a spaghetti squash... that i could easily find!

in addition, the updates will now be in 3 week increments from here on out. so this here squash is for weeks 21-24. i just can't believe how fast it's going now!

THE STATS...

HOW FAR ALONG- 24 weeks today! that's 6 months folks... WOOHOO!

SIZE OF BABY- 1.25lb and 12.5in (my squash is a little on the short side)

MATERNITY CLOTHES?- pants, for sure! i'm still lucky enough though to be able to wear a lot of my pre-preggo dresses thankfully, and now that it's getting on to cardigan weather i'm becoming much more of a happier camper too!

STRETCH MARKS?- nope! it's getting to the point though where i now knock on wood whenever i have to answer this question.

SLEEP?- sleep has been a bit of a bastard to me lately. i'm tossing and turning a whole lot more then i used to, but i always fall back to sleep rather quickly. it's definitely getting harder to stay comfortable though.

FEELING ANY MOVEMENTS?- oh yes indeed! penny has figured out the joys of kicking my bladder recently. so that's fun. all of a sudden i'll have the extreme urge to pee, and then just like that it passes. this little lady probably thinks she's quite funny in there!

ANY CRAVINGS?- nothing too strong... though the thought of an ice cream sundae is never far from my mind!

ANY FOOD AVERSIONS?- nope... and i even got over my broccoli aversion finally! i actually had some in a stir fry for lunch today. so glad that didn't stick around!

VISIBLE BUMP?- yup yup! now other people can tell that i'm actually pregnant too... not just fat :) that's certainly a good thing!

BELLY BUTTON. IN OR OUT?- still in, but it's getting quite stretched out as of lately

STILL WEARING RINGS?- still on!

BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- being able to now watch penny move from the outside. i'll just lay down and stare at my belly and watch her poke around in there. it's probably my favorite thing to do now. she's such an active little gal!

WORST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- being so very hungry last night, but too damn tired to do anything about it. i could hardly peel myself off the couch to make something to eat. evan kept offering to make something for me, but i couldn't think of a single thing i wanted. note to self... don't let yourself get to that extreme hunger point again. it does not make for a happy you!

bits & pieces...

monkeyandsquirrel September 13, 2011

just a few peeks at our weekend...

1- morning belly rubs for mirabelle

2- lunch

3- squirrel hanging in the sink

4- my current favorite sweet snack. trader joe's cat cookies!

5- afternoon walks with barkley

6- backyard sunset with my lady

7- HUGE pot-o-veggie soup!

8- cooling the pups in the creek after some serious dog park time

9- banana muffins for our bellies

10- sweetest doggies ever!

11- comfortable birth? yes please!

12- someone's always stealing my pregnancy pillow!

thanks to miss james for the bits & pieces idea... love it!

vegan ice cream cake

monkeyandsquirrel September 7, 2011

i've had some questions about the making of evan's vegan ice cream birthday cake, so i thought i would just go ahead and share the recipe here. it's really so super easy, it just takes a little bit of patience, and maybe a dash of restraint as it's pretty tough not eating the ice cream as you're making it!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED...

1- spring form cake pan

1- gallon of ice cream, or 2 half gallons if you'd like 2 different flavors

1- package of oreo cookies

1/2 cup vegan butter (i used earth balance)

1- bottle of magic shell, we used the reese's one cause it's super delicious!

1- large ziploc freezer bag

TO MAKE THE CRUST AND MIDDLE LAYER-

put all oreos into the ziploc bag and mash the heck out of them! you want a very crumbly consistency here. the crumbier the better! next melt the butter and dump it over the oreos in a large bowl. mix it all up so that everything is coated. there ya go, the crust is made!

THE ASSEMBLING-

take half of the oreo mixture and press it into the bottom of the spring form pan. try to get it as even as possible. finger tips work best here folks! now stick the pan in the freezer for about 30 mins to harden. while waiting on this, take your ice cream out of the freezer to soften. if you're using 2 different flavors you only need to take one out now.

remove pan from freezer and dump your first flavor of ice cream (or just half of the gallon if you're using a single flavor) over the oreos. spread out as evenly as possible and stick it back in the freezer. freeze for 45 mins to an hour.

remove pan from freezer and dump the rest of the oreo mixture in. spread evenly, and yup, you guessed it, stick it back in the freezer. this time for about 30-40 mins. take your second ice cream flavor out now to start softening.

remove pan from freezer, add your second flavor of ice cream (or the rest of your gallon), and spread evenly. put back in the freezer for 45 mins to an hour.

remove pan from freezer. run a knife all along the inside edge of your pan to release the ice cream from the sides. unlatch your spring form and remove it, while leaving the cake on the bottom piece. grab your bottle of magic shell and get messy! i dripped it all in one direction first, and then crossed in the other direction. i also made sure to get it to drip down the sides too. do this on a large piece of wax paper, or tin foil so that you won't care about it dripping everywhere. then stick it on back in the freezer!

freeze for at least another hour, a minimum of 2 hours is probably best though.

lastly, cut it up and enjoy the heck out of it!

side notes- if you're impatient like me, you can microwave your ice cream for a few seconds to soften it up. this makes for easier spreading if it hasn't softened enough sitting out. i used trader joe's cherry chocolate chip for the bottom layer, and vanilla on the top. this was a delicious combo! i've also done it with the cherry on the bottom and chocolate on the top and that was super yummer too!

evan's birthday bonanza!

monkeyandsquirrel September 6, 2011

evan and our friend steph have birthdays that are 2 days apart, so each year we throw a dual celebration in honor of two of the most fabulous people in the world! the party always has some sort of ridiculous, non-sensical theme, and this year was no different.

here are some pics from this years zombie/disney/superhero bash!

the day was started with a serious breakfast of tofu scramble & cinnamon rolls. we needed our energy!