Baby Belly: 35 Weeks

What?!  35 weeks?!  I'm pretty sure this means I've officially entered into countdown mode, no?  Holy mother.

Here's the growing belly:

Any gender guesses based on how Baby is sitting?

Here, I'll pan out:

This is what I see when I look down now:

I'm pretty sure I put shoes on.

Oh, there they are.

Anyone else ELATED that it's Friday?

Champagne & Mushroom Risotto

I said sporadic, not absent.  I could post three one day and none for a week.  You never know what you'll get.  :o)

The Kid is back at school and The Girl is down for a nap, so I was forced to take a break from working on that room.  Before I go start on the sink full of dishes, I wanted to share this recipe.

I had no intention of posting this dinner.  I didn't take any pictures while I was cooking.  Then I tasted the risotto in the pan when it was almost finished.  Then I knew, it must be shared with the world.  Okay, a bit dramatic, but it was really, really good.

I had an open bottle of Champagne from NYE left in the fridge, so when I saw this recipe, I was all over it.  It came from a blog I read on a regular basis.  Click here for the recipe.

I didn't have any dried mushrooms, so I had to skip that part and just use the fresh.  I also had open containers of both chicken and beef stock in the fridge, so I mixed the two, rather than just using chicken.  Other than that, I stuck to the recipe. 

To go with it, I made Chicken Paillard, Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Pears, and mixed greens with pecans, oil and vinegar.  Deeeeelicious dinner.

Here it is on my plate:

Off to those dishes....

15-Minute Sticky Buns

It wasn't my intention to go all MIA after NYE, but real life took over.  Well, I made real life my #1 priority is more like it.  I still feel like the list of to-do's before Baby gets here is miles long and I just need to work on getting them done without additional distractions. 

I plugged away at the Christmas decorations for one solid day.  All but the tree are packed in their boxes and back in the attic.  I've yet to dig out all the "everyday" items, but I did work on that a bit more today.  I also spent an entire day and a half reorganizing the closet in the Shared Room.  There are a few things left to do with that, but at least it's at the point where it will be functional for both of them.  The Dad has one last thing to do on the bed project, then The Kid can make the official move.  Once that's done, I can focus on getting his old room ready for Baby.  Phew, that made me tired just typing it. 

It's hard for me not to post our meals.  I get excited about food - if you hadn't noticed - and it takes serious willpower not to put together a post after dinner, like I normally do.  Instead, I've been hangin' out with the fam and just trying to slowly plug away at some of the things I'd like to get done. 

So, my posting may be a bit sporadic for awhile.  As well as my reading, commenting and replying.  I love, love, love taking time to sit down and look at all your projects and see what you're whippin' up in the kitchen.  And just reading about your lives in general.  It's like the newest Better Homes magazine coming in the mail, but daily.  BUT, for my own sanity, I've gotta get some of the major projects crossed off my list so I can breathe.  I'll never be the kind of person who can sit down and relax and not think about what I could be doing, but at least I can get my house in order so I'm not a complete basket case a week before Baby comes.  Well, LOL, one can pretend I won't be anyway.

My plan was to post these breakfast treats right after we devoured them on New Years Day.  For those of you who actually read the first four paragraphs, you know why I didn't.  For those of you scrolling for pictures and a recipe and could care less about the crazy chick who made them, now's the time to start reading.

My mom made these all the time when we were kids.  They were mentioned over the holidays at some family gathering, so I had them on the brain.  There's no "recipe", but here's what you need to get started:

15-Minute Sticky Buns 

1 tube of biscuits - any brand, any style
Butter (about 1/2 stick - 4 Tbsp)
Brown Sugar (about 1/4 cup)
Cinnamon 
Chopped Nuts

Heat your oven according to the package.  

Put your butter in a round or square baking pan.  

Put the pan in the oven to melt the butter.  Cutting the butter into smaller pieces will help it move along faster.

Pull the pan out of the oven and sprinkle in the cinnamon, sugar and nuts.

At this point, you can add some raisins or dried fruit if you'd like.

You could also use additional spices.

Place the raw biscuits on top of all the goodies.

Stick everybody in the oven and bake according to the package directions.

Mine took about 15 minutes.

Place a plate on top of the biscuits and flip.

Voila.

Your sticky buns have arrived.

Now, if you want to take it to the next level (and why wouldn't you?), mix up some powdered sugar with water, milk, or orange juice, until you get a pourable consistency, and you've got yourself some icing for your sticky buns.

I will warn you, these are horribly good.

Like, make up a story about how they're not good the next day so you can finish off the pan, good.

Here's mine my first one on my plate:

Here are first bite comments from the people in my house:

The Girl:  I'm probably gonna wanna eat another one after this one.

The Kid:  Mmmmmm, uh-huh, me too.

The Dad:  Wow, these are pretty darned good.

The Mom:  Why am I not making these once a week!?

Man, oh man, why do I not have a tube of biscuits in this house right now?!