Friday Confessional

I confess...

1. I had a HUGE chocolate glazed donut this morning. There goes my healthy eating. **UPDATE: Make that 2 donuts : /

2. Although I don't plan to nurse Gracie longer than a year, I am seriously considering pumping and dumping for...oh say the rest of my life! Seriously, It's like no-work cardio. It's crazy how many calories it takes from you. I really am joking, that's not really something I would do, but don't think it hasn't crossed my mind.

3. I have no idea what planking is or why everyone is doing it.

4. I blog from work. Really hope nobody from work reads this

5. I thrive on chaos and insane schedules. My husband is about to kill me!

6. I LOVE going grocery shopping. Am I the only weird one?

Head over to Dandelion Wishes for Friday Confessional! I hope y'all have a great weekend!

Creamy Artichoke Lasagna

Happy Monday!!! Last week I tried a new recipe that I found on Pinterest.  I was a little nervous at first because it sounded a little weird, but it turned out AMAZING!

 This isn't the actual recipe I found, I altered it a bit to make it even easier to make.  With everything going on during the day, I just don't have the time to cut and soak and season artichokes and what not.  Here is the recipe I used: 

Ingredients

• 2    jars quartered artichoke hearts
• 9    dried lasagna noodles
• 3  Tbsp.  olive oil (any cooking oil works)
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 4  tsp minced garlic
• 1  15-oz. carton  ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 1  cup  finely shredded Parmesan cheese (4 oz.)
• 1/3 cup dried basil
• 1  Tbsp.  salt
• 1/6 cup sugar
• 1  cup  vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/4  cup  all-purpose flour
• 2  cups  half-and-half or light cream
• 1  cup  shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Rinse with cold water; drain again. In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add artichokes, mushrooms, and half of the garlic. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until artichokes are tender, stirring frequently. Transfer to the large bowl. Stir in ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese, 1/2 of the basil, and the cottage cheese.


2. For sauce: In a small bowl or glass measure, combine broth and flour. In the large saucepan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the remaining garlic; cook and stir until garlic is tender but not brown. Stir in flour mixture and half-and-half. Add in salt and sugar. (the original recipe did not call for either one but I thought it was too bland so I added sugar.  Much better!) Cook and stir until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in the remaining basil.
 
3. In a small bowl, combine mozzarella cheese and the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

4. To assemble, spread about 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of an ungreased 3-quart shallow baking dish. Layer three of the cooked noodles in the dish. Spread with one-third of the artichoke mixture and one-third of the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella mixture. Repeat layering noodles, artichoke mixture, sauce, and mozzarella mixture two more times.

5. Bake, uncovered, for 35 to 40 minutes until edges are bubbly and top is lightly browned. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Makes 12 servings.

Enjoy! Let me know if you make this and how it turns out!

Our Life Lately in Pictures

Here is the rundown of the last 8 weeks! 

Gracie helped celebrate her cousin Layla's 1st Birthday Party in May!

 

Here I am with the Birthday Girl!

 

Gracie Celebrated her first Memorial Day!

 

She went to her friend Hayden's 1st birthday party over Memorial Day Weekend.  It was a swim party so she got to show off her new bathing suit and matching bow!

 

 She turned 3 months old and had per pictures taken!

 These are some pics of her at 3 months as well, they are just random shots, but I think they're precious!

 

 

Gracie was dedicated to the Lord at church on June 5th and we had a big lunch with friends and family to celebrate after lunch.  This is the bracelet she wore, I just love it! Sadly, I didn't get a good pic of her dress, but it was cute too!

 

I will post a 4th of July recap soon!

It's the Simple Things...

I'm joining Jesslyn Amber for her link up party today. I love the message!

"Let's forget the hustle and bustle.
Let's put away our troubles and worries.
Let's be thankful for our life.
And the simple things.

* I appreciate my wonderful husband. Seriously y'all... he is awesome and even makes dinner most nights.

* I appreciate my awesome momma and mother-in-law. They take care of Gracie while I'm at work and give her lots of hugs and kisses from me.

* I appreciate the beef chimichanga I had for lunch. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I haven't had one in a while and it was dang good.

* I appreciate that we have NOTHING to do this weekend and I can lay by the pool and play with my baby all.weekend.long.

* I appreciate that my car AC gets super cold. I really appreciate it since it's like 9000 degrees here!

* I appreciate that my dog is getting groomed at the doggy salon today. Seriously, she was nasty looking.

* I appreciate that I have a baby that likes to go to bed at 7:00 or 7:30 so that I can spend time with my hubby.

Hello??? Is anyone out there???

I have been such a bad blogger y'all!! I feel like out of my 296 readers that Google says I have, there are probably only about 2 of you still out there! And I don't blame you one bit.  Honestly, ever since returning to work I have been so, so exhausted and just didn't have the energy to post anything interesting.  It was a pretty difficult adjustment for me and some days it still is.  But, I have been praying for a sense of peace about the whole working situation because there is no way around it right now.  And I can honestly say that God was faithful and provided me with the content feeling that I prayed so hard for. Or maybe it was just that my post-pregnancy hormones died down, who knows?

So what has being a working momma been like for me, you ask? Ever since my daughter was born, I’ve fought hard to keep a good work/home balance.  I use the word "balance" loosely because I feel like that indicates some kind of happy equilibrium and that is definitely what I don't have going here.  At first, I worked harder than ever to avoid the mommy-track by keeping focused at work.  Then at home, I tried to become “Mother of the Year” by making every meal, baking birthday cupcakes from scratch, and keeping a tidy home (alright, I utterly failed on that last one).  It didn't take me long to suffer from balance burnout.  I realize now that although I do have to work harder at everything I did before baby to maintain the same standard level of before baby (does that make sense?), I don't have to put so much on my plate and act like I have it together all the time.  I was the only one who set unrealistic expectations for myself. 

So now, although I remain focused at work, climbing the career ladder is no longer my path.  I am out of there at 4:30 sharp, get in my car to head home to Gracie and my husband, and don't think about work again until I walk in the doors the next morning. As far as stuff at home goes, sometimes the laundry has to wait until tomorrow or the next day, or the NEXT day, and sometimes my husband just has to fend for himself for dinner because I am busy holding my baby (who hates to be held like a baby, more on THAT later).

So that's about all I have for now.  Tomorrow (hopefully) I will do a picture post of what we have been up to the last few weeks! 

Does anyone have any good tips on how to survive being a working mom, or just how to avoid the guilt??

Until then!