It's official...

I have found a new cup holder :) I also must say, Red Dirt Coffee House is by far my favorite coffeehouse. Coffee and drinks are amazing with a Hawaiian flare you won't get anywhere else. Delicious food, and they start making my coffee when they see me walk in. I <3 them!

Sausage & Veggie Brown Rice Pasta

This dish turned out excellent. The broth was delicious, veggie mix was perfect, it was incredibly easy! I will definitely be making it again! My mom got the sausage from a local grocery store and it was fresh, I think that is what made all the difference in this dish, so if you have it available, get fresh sausage!! If you are looking for a similar recipe to this, I made a different Hot Italian Sausage dish back in January, it was also delicious and a bit of a change up from the below recipe.

1 pound spicy Italian sausage

1 pound mild Italian sausage (can do all spicy if you want)

2 -3 cups cut green beans

1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped small

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 teaspoons minced dehydrated onions

1 tablespoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 pint mushrooms, chopped

Brown Rice Pasta

Baby spinach

Chopped mozzarella cheese (optional)

Directions:

• Remove Italian sausage from casing and brown in a large pan.
• Add diced tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken stock, green beans, Swiss chard and seasonings and cook for about 15 - 20 minutes to let all the flavors incorporate and to let the Swiss chard cook down and green beans get softer.
• Cook pasta according to directions.
• Layer some pasta in a bowl, then cover with about a 1/4 cup of fresh baby spinach. Then cover with the sauce!
• You can also top with a few small chunks of mozzarella cheese, however if you are doing paleo, that is of course a no-no. 



Maternity Pictures!!

So in love with all of these photos! A HUGE thank you to Weston Neuschafer Photography for doing an amazing job, as always!!

Paleo Zucchini Banana Bread

Well the food challenge is over, but my family wants to keep going to some extent! My mom really wanted to make another zucchini bread so we had some healthy snack we could go to. However, we wanted to try a different one than the last time because although the guys loved it, my mom and I both thought it was a little too chocolatey :)  We got this recipe from a friend at the gym and make some of our own modifications/changes/additions. Here is the recipe we came up with and this yielded 2 loaves.

2 1/2 cups almond meal

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda 

4 eggs

4 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cup zucchini, grated

1 banana, mushed 

1 1/2 cups pecans (my moms idea and DEFINITELY a must!)

Directions: 

• Grate zucchini over a paper towel so that some of the liquid is soaked up
• Put dry ingredients (meal, baking soda, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts) in a bowl and stir
• Put all the wet ingredients in a blender, including the zucchini and banana, and pulse for about 10 seconds. 
• Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix thoroughly
• Put in a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes until the bread is firm to the touch in the middle. 
• Enjoy!!

Building our Home

Stopped by to see the progress on the house today. Although from first glance it didn't seem like a ton of stuff had been done, all the electrical is done, drywall has been delivered and all the windows. They are working on the back retaining wall too! Stephen's brother Chris was there with us this time, so we were actually able to get a picture together! This picture is us standing in sort of the dining room - looking towards where the kitchen will be. Chris is standing in what will be the living room :)

Our little place coming together - 32 weeks!!

Beautiful Baby Shower

This past weekend my friends and family all joined to celebrate Stephen & I and our little nugget! It was an absolutely gorgeous shower. My mom did an insane amount of work to get the house ready, make gorgeous decorations, and make it a day I will never forget. A special thank you to my friend Alyssa who helped with the preparations and Doreen who got us a very cute cake for the shower!

Here are a few pictures from the day. I really was overwhelmed with the love that everyone showed us. There were several times during the day I had to step back and just think how incredibly blessed Stephen and I are to have such loving friends and family.

Sign in table - including the AMAZING homemade diaper giraffes my mom made!!

Shower favors :)

Can't wait to read all the fun notes everyone left when we are changing diapers.

Cute cake!

So many blessings!

Of course you need a man zone for the men to congregate

Baby girls first proposal - Mason made a "Future Mrs. Lewis"
onesie... complete with a ring pop!

My amazing husband!

Beautiful, loving and generous mama!

Sisters!!!!

Peggy & Kyle <3

Mama and Pops!

Wonderful friend Alyssa

The Hubby's Lettuce Burgers

These were SO delicious! Just look at the spread Stephen had for our burger night! Of course, no buns required (or allowed) so we used butter lettuce to wrap these babies up. The sauteed jalapeno and mushrooms were an amazing addition. Not to mention the side dish of BBQ broccoli and asparagus.

Ground beef or turkey

1 lb bacon (1/2 for crumbled inside burgers, 1/2 for stacking on top)

mushrooms, sauteed with garlic and clarified butter

red onions

tomatoes

salsa

sauteed jalapenos

butter lettuce

mustard

avocado