my brain can't think of a title so deal with it.

Deceptively Delicious FAIL.  This morning, I used steamed, pureed cauliflower in a Jessica Seinfeld recipe for peanut butter and banana muffins.  Sounds delicious, right?  Oh my goodness.  They were bearable right out of the oven- Henry had half of one- but I came home this afternoon and after one bite I couldn't have forced myself to finish it if I had wanted to.  Matt actually thinks they are good, which only tells me one thing... they must really be healthy.  (I must admit that the recipe called for an egg, which I didn't have, so Google told me to use mayo instead. Sick out. I still think it's the cauliflower that makes them disgusting though.)  This recipe was neither deceptive or delicious.

How bad would it be?  Would it be wrong if I just hid all of the toys that have a gazillion parts - even though Henry LOVES them - so that I don't have to get my pregnant self down on my hands and knees to fish them out from underneath the couch, the table, the bed, etc.?  I mean, Henry loves himself some mega blocks, but I seriously find blocks hiding in every corner of the house!  If mean mom emerges, she might hide all toys that have removable pieces.

Foot in Mouth.  In the 18 month update, I mentioned that I don't really have to chase Henry all day. Maybe that's because until this week, he never actually RAN.  Today at Target, he ran away from me, and he ran FAST!  Pregnant mommy chasing toddler = laughable.

I am beyond exhausted, so this post is over.

the name of the game this week...

...is getting rid of all of the groceries that are about to go bad in my pantry and fridge without actually throwing them away. Soooooo, I am steaming a bunch of veggies (to puree and sneak into Henry's spaghetti sauce... oh and I guess I will eat some of them too), making "rice krispie" treats out of cheerios and lucky charms, and giving watermelon to homeless people on the corner.

I went grocery happy at the store last week, forgetting that 1- there are only two adults in my household and 2- those two adults like to eat out.  I also made the mistake of buying things that I thought would go well in phantom recipes.  In other words, I thought I would use them to cook, but I had no recipes in mind, nor did I try to find any- well I guess I'm doing that now in mass.

I can't tell you how many times since about Tuesday that I have Googled, "What should I do with [insert perishable food items] that are about to go bad."  What would we do without Google?

Dinner tonight should be interesting.  I have quite the assortment of things just sitting out on the counter that must get cooked or eaten.

Why am I posting this?  Good question.  Just thought I'd let you into the daily life of the Gibsons.

Just an update: The "chance of rain" that the weatherman predicted last week has totally disappeared, further supporting my theory that it's better just not to look at the forecast.  Okay, since I basically burned the marshmallows for the treats, I should probably stop "talking" now.

Valentine's Schmalentines

I was originally planning on writing a post to make fun of Valentine's Day.... until we had our best Valentine's celebration yet. I've detailed the date in easy-to-read bullet points for you. Enjoy!

• We celebrated on Friday the 13th. Good decision on our part.
• Matt brought home a purse I had mentioned to him and also a dozen roses. Go Matt! Unfortunately, he did not address me as his "bride" in the card. I'm happy to report that he did get the pajama gram and teddy bear memo and that his mom did not pick out the purse.
  
• On the way to the restaurant, Matt realized that he left his wedding ring on our bathroom counter. Oops. Sadly for both of us, I have chub-chub fingers and Matt has skeleton fingers, so he was able to wear my Aggie Ring (backwards) on his ring finger.
• We went to Perry's Steakhouse. We took advantage of valet parking to avoid any hassle. (Unfortunately, we have learned the hard way that trying to find free parking downtown on the weekend will stress both of us out and cause an argument, ruining the 1st half of our dinner.)
• We are both admittedly high culture virgins. Somehow we can pull it off when we are with my Dad, but not alone. For example, when we arrived at our table, I waited for Matt to pull out my chair, and he didn't catch on, so I just sat down. After the hostess left, he got really embarrassed because he realized he probably should have done that. Believe me, it was awkward.
  
• We didn't order the $1500 bottle of wine this time. Bummer, right? We did get a Sonoma County Merlot (don't remember the name) for those of you who find it interesting (ahem, Dad). We like to pretend we know what we are talking about and guess the flavors in the wine. Matt actually guessed correctly the last time we played the game. This time he guessed hickory. Nope, sorry babe - oak, plum, and vanilla. Good try though.
• I seriously considered ordering the $85 filet mignon from the special cow (obviously the terminology they used was much fancier than this). But, to be perfectly honest, I was only doing it so that I could blog about it, and Matt had already gone all out with the flowers and the gift, so I decided to stick with the regular filet. Matt got the 3 Peppercorn NY Strip. I'm going to go ahead and say that mine was better.
• About halfway through the dinner I made eye-contact with a very familiar looking man. After much speculation, Matt managed to sneak a peek and confirmed that it was in fact Rick Perry! Perhaps you have heard of him? I'm going to venture out and say that he knew we recognized him.
• We spent the rest of our dinner talking about what we would to say the governor if we were to take the opportunity. (That requires its own separate blog post, which may or may not follow.) Of course neither of us actually did talk to him, and I was disappointed that I didn't have my Who's Who letter to show him.
  
• Mmmm. We had creme brulee (my favorite) for dessert, and then we left.
• I officially woke up feeling 9 months pregnant (happy valentine's day to me), so I guess you could say we ate well.

Finally, Happy Valentine's Day to you! Please, share your special stories!

the sixth love language

All this time I thought Matt's love language was acts of service. While that's partly true, I realized today that his love language is actually... food!!

Yes, he appreciates when I do the laundry or clean the bathroom, but he LOVES when I cook. And he LOVES when I bring him lunch at the office, and he LOVES going out to eat.

So although you can't tell by the way his jeans fit, Matt's love language is officially FOOD.

Acts of service and words of affirmation are a close 2nd & 3rd.

MAKI - Create Your Own Sushi Rolls!!

Matt and I have been meaning to tell you guys about this sushi place we've recently discovered that we love!

Sometimes we go in there and it's busy, but a lot of times there has been know one else in there, and well... quite selfishly, we want this place to succeed.

One, it's good. Two, it's affordable. Three, I don't even have to use soy sauce. Basically, you get custom-made sushi rolls w/ fresh ingredients! I saw someone else call it the Chipotle of sushi, but I think that is a disservice. Same concept, but it's better than Chipotle. :)

It's located in the Arbor Walk shopping center at MoPac and Cap of Texas Hwy. Here's the website.

My favorite part is that after you pay the guy at the checkout counter (who is also the guy that started it) says, "Thanks for rolling with us."

Check it out!

(BTW, New York trip details coming soon.)