Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!

When I was browsing the myrecipes website (where Cooking Light recipes reside), I came across Dr. Suess-inspired recipes. I'll have to keep these in mind for when Benjamin is older!

Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish

A few weeks ago, I made a Cooking Light recipe for Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish. Josh and I really liked it, and felt a lot better after eating than we do after consuming fried catfish! I just paired it with some cajun-spiced, cheesy baked smashed potatoes.



This weekend we didn't use an egg wash first, and it turned out pretty well - one less step!

Nachos

If you make Chicken Feta Pasta with half of a rotisserie chicken, what do you do with the other half? Well, on a lazy Friday night, I made nachos!



Nachos

"Sturdy" corn tortilla chips
Lemon pepper rotisserie chicken (1/2 of one)
Refried beans, one can
Salt
Pepper
Salsa Verde
Cayenne Pepper
Monterrey Jack Cheese
Cheddar Cheese

1. Heat the refried beans in a saucepan on low heat with salt, the pepper and cayenne pepper.
2. Chop up the chicken.
3. Mix the chicken, cayenne pepper and some salsa verde. If the chicken was cold, heat the mixture up until it is warm.
4. On a microwave safe plate, layer chips, a bit of cheese, the chicken mixture, the bean mixture and more cheese.
5. Heat in a microwave on 50% heat until the cheese is slightly melted. Enjoy!

Chicken Feta Pasta

One of our big dinner time-savers is to use rotisserie chicken. This pasta dish can be made in the time it takes to boil water and cook pasta - and an added bonus: it makes two meals worth!



Chicken Feta Pasta

whole wheat pasta, 1 box
salt
pepper
minced garlic
crushed red pepper
chicken broth, a few ounces
italian seasoning
1/2 of a rotisserie chicken, preferably lemon pepper
feta cheese
sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
artichokes, chopped roughly

1. Cook whole wheat pasta per package instructions. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Heat a few ounces of chicken broth and season with spices and garlic.
3. Combine everything and put in the preheated oven for about 3 minutes.
4. Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day from Benjamin!

Ben's First Food

Yesterday, Josh and I took Ben and the dogs over to my parents' house. Ben got to try rice cereal for the first time while we were there! He definitely was ready and got the spoon concept after a couple attempts!





Later on, he played with his Opa Peter...



and as always, couldn't resist putting his hands in his mouth.



Finally he was ready for a quick nap!



But not for long - soon he was bright-eyed again!



Ben even stayed up to skype with his Aunt Alicia, while his Oma Angie held him.



A few hours after we got home, Ben got a fever. Hopefully he'll get better today. If not, Josh will be taking him to the doctor's office tomorrow. Poor little guy! At least when Josh and I get sick, we know what's going on - I can't say the same for Benjamin!

February already?

This year is going by very quickly. Ben is now about 4.5 months old!

At his 4 month check-up, we were told he is doing well - over 90% in weight and 14% for height! (Evidently similar to how Josh was as a baby...)

At he gets bigger, he spends more and more time on the floor!