Parmesan-Pepper Sweet Potato Fries

I used to think I wasn't a big sweet potato fan - but then I had these fries! Matt and I wanted a good snack, but one that wouldn't blow our diets, so I found these in the Biggest Loser cookbook. They are fan-tas-ic!!

And, even better - this recipe supposedly yields one serving, but I could easily eat only 1/2 of them and still feel satisfied!

1/2 pound sweet potatoes, cut into 1/4" sticks
1 tablespoon grated reduced-fat parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon EVOO
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
salt, to taste
pinch of cayenne
pinch of ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450*.

2. In a medium bowl, toss the potatoes, cheese, olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, salt and black pepper.

3. Place the potatoes in a single layer on a medium nonstick baking sheet. (I lined it with parchment paper to help the cleanup!) Bake for 8 minutes. Flip the potatoes and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the potatoes are browned in spots.


Per Serving:

249 calories
5g protein
49 g carbs (sorry, mother!)
4g fat
8mg cholesterol
7g fiber
238 mg sodium

Operation: Time Change, Day 1

Operation: Time Change
Day 1
0600 hours zulu

In the first night of Operation Time Change, I think Grant was going for a record of just how long his Momma could be awake in the middle of the night. *yawn* I think *I* woke him up, though. :/

His crib alarm went off at 3 am, so I bolted in there to find what I suspected: Grant was sound asleep, just so far at the top of the crib and in such a deep sleep that the monitor wasn't picking him up.

I had to reset the monitor, though, and although I tried to do it as quietly as possible, I think the clicking and the soft beep when it turns on woke him up a little. I went back to bed, heard him make some noise and thought, well, I could just feed him now since I'm already awake. (He usually awakens around 5am to eat). He was almost asleep when I went back into his room at 3:30 or so, and I should have just let him be.

But, I decided to feed him, and then put him back to bed around 3:50. Well, the feeding totally woke him up, and he was *playing* in his crib until 4:45 this morning. He obviously fell dead asleep, though, because right as I was about to go back to sleep at 5 this morning, his alarm went off again. (Which, BTW, is really unusual - his alarm hasn't gone off in at least a month, and then 3 times in one night!)

So, I went back to sleep around 5:15, and he awakened at 6:20 (7:20 to his little body) for the morning.

Needless to say, we're up early and I already have coffee started! For the night I had, I'm really not that tired, thankfully!

Operation: Time Change is for sure underway. I'll let you know how the next mission (read: night) goes. :)

(And, BTW, I don't think I used "zulu" above in the right context - I've just always thought it sounded so cool on military drama shows).

The Cutest Chicken Ever!

Wanted to show off our cutie-pie in his Halloween costume.

Monday Musings

1) It's a gorgeous day here and I just have to say for the umpteenth time that I love, love, love fall. I actually like winter, too - staying bundled up, drinking hot chocolate (and the seasonal Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks! ), walking in the snow - I love it!

2) I think I met a new friend today - at Meijer! When I go grocery shopping during the week, it's almost always either retirees or SAHMs shopping, and the other moms and I usually smile or comment on the other's cute child. Well, I chatted briefly (in the pasta aisle! ) with this girl, and then she ended up being behind me at the check-out. We discovered that her son is only 3 days older than Grant! She lives in the area, so we exchanged numbers and will hopefully get together soon. She was just super nice to chat with, and it was fun to have babies so close in age. And, she had cute jeans on. I told her such, and we chatted fashion for a bit.

3) Speaking of jeans, I got this fabulous pair of jeans from the Gap a couple of weeks ago when I was shopping with my SIL. They were a tad too long, though. I noticed that my dry cleaners does alterations, so for SIX DOLLARS they're hemming my jeans! I think that's SO worth it! I can pick them up tomorrow and I'm eager to see what they look like.

4) Tomorrow is baby-food making day in this household. I bought the book Superfoods at Babies R Us the other day, and I love it! Just gives lots of fun ideas for baby and toddler foods. Grant pretty much eats what we eat now, but he still needs his own foods for when he's hungry before we eat, or if we're having non-baby-friendly food. So, I'm excited to try out some new recipes for Grant. I tried a new one last week - Baby Tex Mex - and he LOVED it. :)

5) Church was AWESOME yesterday. Just awesome. Several new families came, and all of the signs and banners Matt had done looked just great.

6) I'll close with a couple pictures of Grant's new bath tub. :)

3.25

I just did 3.25 miles on the treadmill, which is the farthest I have ever run in my life! I did it in 40:40, which is a 12:30 min/mile. I know I'm s-l-o-w, but, hey, I'm on the treadmill!


And, here's a big You Can Do It! cheer for my father, who's just starting to use the treadmill! Go Dad Go! GOOOO DAD!

Dinner

Matt's leading a Bible Study at butler with a few college seniors who are involved with Campus Crusade, and we had them over for dinner tonight. It was fun, and made me reminiscent of our college days. One of the guys clearly needed a girlfriend to, ahem, smooth out his rough edges! They were all really nice, though - and I chuckled at the end of the evening - one of the guys told me I had a "lovely" house - I think his mom told him to always tell a woman that!

One more mom post -

I just learned a new word, and it totally applies to my mom. Sometimes when I'm talking to her, she'll give only half-replies, and I'll ask her if she's surfing the web, which she usually is.

So, she's a snurfer! A snurfer is someone who's surfing the web when they should be on the phone!

Do you snurf? I do, occasionally.

Missing My Mom!

My mother has been gone for the weekend, and I've realized just how often I need her for something. Probably 1/2 a dozen times over the past several days I've thought, "oh, I'll call my mom". Such as -

"Remind me how you smash a garlic clove?"
"Should I undercook pasta that will be added to soup?"
"How do I clean dog puke out of the carpet?"
"How do I cook a turkey in a turkey bag?"
"What's your chili recipe?"
"Should curtains be floor length or just window length?

Not surprisingly, a lot of my questions have to do with cooking. I would consider myself pretty comfortable in my kitchen, but often need reassurance or quick advice from my mother.

So, how in the world would I live with out my mom? Maybe I'd then have to look something up in a cookbook?

October 15th

October is Infant and Pregnancy Loss Remembrance Month, with the 15th being the special day of memorials. My heart is thinking and praying for all my friends who have lost babies - may you find hope and comfort in the ever-new mercies of our Lord.

I'm sure this is not entirely theologically accurate, but my heart pictures all of our babies playing up in heaven together - walking - crawling, perhaps - on those streets of gold, spared from the pain of this world.

The Pumpkin Patch!

We had a wonderful fall morning here in the midwest. And, isn't the midwest just a great place to live? I love, love, love fall! We went to a local pumpkin patch/apple orchard with some neighbors, and had a wonderful morning. We picked out pumpkins, tasted apples, drank warm cider, and ate an elephant ear. (Yeah, elephant ears aren't really related to the orchard, but who can resist a warm elephant ear? )

Here are some pictures - there are a lot, but it's my blog!

Balancing on the pumpkins -



Matt was excited about the old Massey Ferguson they were using for hay rides.













Don't you love his expression here?





Here's the wife of the couple that we went with - i think it's cute that Grant's looking at their youngest son. :)



I love this family picture!



Another cute, yet close-up, family shot! Matt took it himself, just holding his arm out.







And, Grant's hair after we took the hat off.

Some New Pictures...

On my birthday...



Grant's general reaction to peas...



Some cute ones from tonight...