In Anticipation for Spring (Photo Heavy)

I am craving… NEEDING Spring.

I thought it would be nice to share some past photographs of mine to showcase all the lovely spring flowers that should bloom shortly!

Pasta with Italian Sausage & Caesar Salad

This is such a tasty and filling meal and super affordable, especially if you can find the sausages on sale like we did!

Ingredients

• 1 medium red bell pepper, medium dice
• 5 lean turkey Italian turkey sausages, casings removed
• 1/2C low fat ricotta
• 29oz canned tomato puree
• 1 TBSP dried oregano
• 1/2C chopped fresh basil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 6C cooked whole wheat pasta

We love this dish because it is SO fast to prepare and cook!

Directions
Heat a skillet over high heat (non-stick or sprayed with a bit of olive oil cooking spray) and add your sausages. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break up the meat. You still want it to have fairly large bits. After 8-10minutes, add your diced red bell pepper with a pinch of kosher salt and cook for an additional five minutes.

In a separate pot over medium heat, add your garlic, canned tomato puree, oregano, salt, pepper, and ricotta. Cook this mixture for five minutes. Then add in your Italian sausage and red bell pepper mixture. Stir to combine.

In a bowl place 1C of the pasta and top with 1/2C of sauce.

The sauce makes 8 servings of 1/2C each, for those doing Weight Watchers, each serving of sauce is three points.

I also thought that a homemade Caesar salad would be super tasty as well!

Dressing Ingredients

• 1oz Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2C low fat buttermilk
• 3TBSP light sour cream
• 1tsp anchovy paste
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

This makes 15 servings (1 serving = 1TBSP) which is 0 points for Weight Watchers.

Salad Ingredients

• 4 pieces of light wheat toast, cubed
• 1/2oz Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 romaine heart, cut into bite sized pieces

The salad makes three servings!

Directions
In a small bowl, combine all of the dressing ingredients and whisk until everything is combined. Let sit for at least ten minutes to develop the flavor. In a separate larger bowl, add your salad ingredients and top with 4TBSP of dressing.

I hope everyone tries these recipes out and enjoys them!

Photos Galore! (Oh and I think I’m Depressed)

It’s amazing how much can happen in a single year.

I am having one heck of a time of it lately, emotionally anyway. I am really unsure of why. I know part of this feeling, this “what’s the point” or “I am never productive”, isn’t based in reality, and yet that doesn’t stop my brain from THINKING that way. This feeling only cropped up about 2 – 3 weeks ago or so.

Logically I know being stuck in the house, lack of outside time, limited adult contact (aside from the boyfriend), all contribute to this feeling. I’ve also been having a lot more PTSD issues when it comes to trying to deal with my failed VBAC (placenta abruption), sadly that is just going to take a lot of time to accept.

I’m sure getting my fertility back isn’t helping matters either.

It’s frustrating though, I am a lot more weepy, bitchy, and tired lately because of the emotional overload and I am just not sure how to rectify the situation.

The boys however are doing awesome. Daniel currently has a paper mache volcano drying and some rock crystals growing. Tristan is such a little chatterbox, it’s so adorable to have a “conversation” with him. I still have moments every day where I can’t believe I have TWO children. It’s so amazing to me. Daniel is always playing with his baby brother or carrying him. I can’t wait until the baby is able to chase his big brother around!

Keith pretty much forced me to go outside this morning and shoot some photos while Tristan is asleep.

I am really enjoying the D90 although I haven’t spent much time with it or played with any of the different features (compared to the D50). I do like the more intuitive controls, much better in low light situations, very low noise at high ISO’s… I am really happy with that purchase.

Lastly, when Keith ran to the store late last night, he bought me a small miniature rose plant! I can’t wait until it blooms further and grows so we can plant it outside!