Great Grains Crunchy Pecan Cereal

Have you tried Post Great Grains Crunchy Pecan cereal? If not, may I suggest you drop everything and run to the store to grab a box? Ok, you're right. That's a bit extreme. You can wait until you finish reading this blog post first.

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This cereal is perfect. It's crunchy and filling. It has a bunch of different textures with the pecans, multi-grain clusters and flakes. Sure, it may not be the healthiest breakfast choice, but I eat well overall (despite what my travel posts might lead you to believe). I guess you could file this under the non-compensated product endorsement category. I love it that much. 

What about you? What's your cereal of choice?

16 Weeks!

This week I am feeling much better than last week. Being pregnant meant I couldn't take any medicine, so my cough lingered much longer than I would have liked. On the plus side, I think I've really "popped" this week--I'm starting to actually look pregnant. I love it!

Dan and I also got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time today! It was so exciting! The baby is doing great and his/her heartbeat nice and strong.

How far along? 16 weeks (4 months!)

Maternity clothes? Not yet, but probably soon. My pants are leaving marks on my stomach

Stretch marks? No

Sleep? Pretty bad for the first half of the week. My cough kept me (and Dan) up at night

Best moment of the week: Hearing the heartbeat for the first time

Miss anything? No, I'm doing OK this week

Movement: I think I may have felt something!

Food cravings:  Reeses Pieces, which is sad because they don't have them in the UK

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Have you started to show yet? I think so

Gender: We don't know yet

Belly Button in or out? Half in, half out...this is getting serious

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy

Looking forward to: Finding out the gender soon

I Can Finally Check the Chairs Off My List

Way back in September I brought you my kitchen design dilemma. I still love my purple kitchen chairs, but they don't fit in well with my other cherry wood chairs. Since I have four of the wood chairs and only two of the purple chairs, the purple ones have to go. Don't worry, they won't be gone forever. I'll find another spot for them someday.

Current kitchen chairs

New kitchen chairs

Though it took me months and months, I finally recovered the wooden chairs! Well, two of them at least. I completely underestimated how much fabric I would need for this project--I only had enough for two chairs. Oops! More fabric is on the way, so all four chair should be done soon.

I used the same process I did when I reupholstered the purple chairs. Fortunately the cushions were in excellent condition. I laid out the fabric and wrapped the cushion like a present, making sure the corners were nice and tight. Dan helped me staple the fabric in place. It required all four hands to get it taut.

 

I really love this fabric against the cherry wood chair and the gray table. It even works with our crazy kitchen back-splash. I'm calling this project a success!

Homemade Salmon Jerky: Take 1

My friend Deanna got a dehydrator for Christmas and was debating what to make first. I threw out the idea of making salmon jerky. I first had it at Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle and loved it! It's sweet and peppery with a chewy texture. Trust me, it's much better than it sounds. Some people call it salmon candy.

I had a really hard time finding a recipe for salmon jerky though. There are tons of sites for making beef jerky--but salmon, not so much. I used a modified version of Alton Brown's recipe, but truthfully I'm not thrilled with the results. Here's what I did and what I'm going to change for next time.

Salmon Jerky
Recipe adapted slightly from here
Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pounds fresh salmon fillets, skin and bones removed
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (I left this out, but might add it back in next time)

Directions:

1. Place salmon fillets in freezer for 30 minutes (this makes them easier to slice)
2. Mix soy sauce, molasses, lemon juice, pepper and liquid smoke together in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Remove salmon from the freezer and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices length-wise. Then, slice the lengths in 3-4 inch long pieces.
4. Place salmon in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and pour marinade over salmon. Seal bag and refrigerate 3-4 hours.
5. Strain salmon well in colander. Pat salmon dry with paper towels. Lay salmon slices on dehydrator tray in rows, making sure pieces are not touching.
6. Place trays in dehydrator and cook until salmon is dry and chewy but not crunchy.

The recipe I used said that it should only take 3-4 hours to cook. Ha! It took 13 hours! 

Salmon Jerky

I'm not totally pleased with the final result. It tastes good, but I want it sweeter, more pepper flavored, and chewier. The salmon pieces were way too thick, so next time I'll slice them almost sashimi-thin. I'm going to add brown sugar to the marinade and more pepper and lemon juice. I'm also going to let the salmon marinade overnight. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Update:
Salmon Jerky Take 2

15 Weeks!

This week was mostly spent at home on the couch. As soon as we returned from France, Dan and I both fell ill. He had a cold and I had a sore throat. Neither was very pleasant. At least we were able to curl up by the fire, watch movies and get some rest. I'm still not 100%, but hopefully week 16 will be better.

How far along? 15 weeks

Maternity clothes? Not yet, but my pants are getting kind of tight

Stretch marks? No

Sleep? Terrible this week because of my cold

Best moment of the week: Kissing my wonderful husband at midnight on New Year's Eve

Miss anything? Still runny eggs

Movement: No

Food cravings:  Not really

Anything making you queasy or sick: My stupid cold

Have you started to show yet? Maybe?

Gender: We don't know yet

Belly Button in or out? In, but barely...it's not going to make it much longer

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy

Looking forward to: Hearing the heartbeat next week!

Happy 2013!

I hope you and your loved ones are enjoying the first day of 2013. Dan made me banana waffles for breakfast, so we're off to a great start.

Last night we brought in the new year in Ripon with some friends. It was such a lovely, low-key evening.

 Celebrating with a non-alcoholic beer; photo courtesy of Nick

Ripon is an old cathedral town. Even today the church plays a large role in the community.  It was really cool to see the whole town come together at the last minute for an evening service at the cathedral and a candle light procession to the town square.

Ripon Cathedral

It started around 11 pm and people just started pouring in from everywhere. By midnight the square was packed. By 12:15, it was empty again. It was a very different experience than I'm used to, but it was really nice.

And there were fireworks!

I hope your New Year's Eve was just as memorable.

Happy New Year!

2012 has been an incredible year for Dan and me. We've seen a lot of the world; celebrated huge birthdays, the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee; achieved personal fitness and blog milestones; and...oh yeah, found out we were expecting. If 2013 is half as good as 2012 was, we're in for a treat. Happy New Year to my friends, old and new; near and far. I hope this year brings you everything you want and more!

Some of My Top Moments in 2012 (in no particular order):

Trip to Egypt

Dan's 30th Birthday Party

My 30th Birthday

Our Baltic Cruise

Making a Denim Pouf

Running my First 5K

Hosting Thanksgiving

Announcing Our Pregnancy