BBQ Chicken Fajitas!

I've had a craving for fajitas for awhile now and tonight I finally got to make them! I didn't have a few ingredients so I did the best I could to substitute and turns out, they were even better.

Here's what I did:

For the chicken: marinate chicken breasts in lemon juice, lemon zest (secret ingredient), olive oil, crushed garlic, cumin, paprika, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Allow to sit while you cut up the veggies.

For the veggies: cut red and green peppers in half, remove seeds, throw in two whole jalapeno peppers (another secret ingredient, turns out roasted jalapenos are SO good!), thickly sliced zucchini and a whole onion cut in half. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.

BBQ everything on the grill for about 3-4 minutes each side. Meanwhile, mash an avocado and mix with lemon juice, one crushed garlic clove, minced onion and cilantro. In a separate bowl, cut up a fresh tomato (I didn't have salsa so this was my substitution), mix with cilantro and add the roasted jalapeno (cut up).

Once the veggies and chicken are done, slice up into thin slices, heat your tortillas and throw it all together! Deeleecious!

May 2-4 Weekend...

 

Here are a few pics from our long weekend. It came at the perfect time as I felt like I hadn't yet recovered from being back from LA. I did laundry, cleaned the house and we bbqd. We also spent a day visiting the mom's, first my mom in Scarborough with my niece and 17 pound nephew along with a surprise visit from my sister and then off to Thornhill to visit Gerwyn's mom. After two full back to back meals (can't go to mom's without eating!) we were stuffed. Monday I spent at the mall picking up a few more maternity items and then met up with some friends for Sally's birthday at Wah Sing. It was a craving I was looking forward to filling: soft shell crab fried rice, ginger and green onion lobster and spicy squid.

We ate, played with Ev and Stu's son Eric, and celebrated with Sally and Ron, not only was it Sally's 35th birthday on the 18th but she also just announced that they are expecting! Woo hoo! It may be two months later, but I'm still happy to add more members to the 2011 Mat Leave crew! Watch out for us and our strollers on a sidewalk near you...

Week 25 Update

 

I'm officially in my 6th month and now weigh 129 lbs. Total gained so far = 15 lbs. I'm supposed to be gaining a pound a week now which would put me on track to gain a total of 30 lbs for the entire pregnancy which is actually in the normal range. However with my recent habit of baking chocolate chip cookies every week, I have a feeling I may bypass that target sooner than later.

Baby is very active, so far on both ultrasounds and now my monthly appts, the doctor has had a hard time finding the heartbeat just because the baby won't sit still long enough for him to listen. I'm starting to get a little nervous about meeting this crazy baby but hopefully it will work out all of its energy in the womb and then be a very calm and docile little baby when it arrives. If only...

Hooray for Hollywood...

While in LA, we managed to squeeze in one day of sightseeing. Gerwyn's Auntie Lanie and Uncle Bernie were kind enough to show us around to all the highlights: Hollywood walk of fame (where we almost saw Jake Gyllenhal for his movie premiere,)the mansions of Beverly Hills and Sunset Blvd and plenty of food at Cheesecake Factory. YUM!

Begonia Family Time!

We're back from our whirlwind trip to LA! It was definitely a whirlwind, everything went by so fast, I met so many family members (turns out Gerwyn's family is similar in size to my own) and got to know many of them over the usual... lots of food. Unfortunately the occasion was a sad one. Gerwyn was a pallbearer for his Auntie Judy who passed away suddenly of a brain anneurysm. Family arrived from all over and everyone gathered to celebrate her life. The funeral itself was one of the most beautiful I had ever seen. The property was gorgeous, the flowers were abundant and the weather was surprisingly co-operative. Turns out this was the same funeral home that Michael Jackson's was held. I can see why, they did a superb job.

I've often heard my friends Mel and Sally talk about the big Filipino breakfasts, garlic fried rice, fried fish, adobo, pandesal and corned beef. This trip, I finally got to experience it. The entire meal was prepared by his uncles and there was enough to feed an army. I was stuffed!

Although it was a sad event which brought us together, I'm sure his aunt enjoyed seeing all the family gathered to honour her memory. Its amazing to see that even though they don't have the benefit of distance, they are just as close as any tight knit family and I felt their warmth as their welcomed me into the group. There were talks of a family cruise in the works so hopefully we will be seeing them again soon... possibly with one more Begonia to add to the mix.

Hot Dog!

One of my biggest cravings lately has been for a hot dog. When I first discovered I was pregnant, I remember going to the movie theatre and the smell and the sight of the hot dogs overwhelmed me. I bought one and it was incredibly satisfying. Ever since then, I've continued to crave hot dogs and with all the downtown street vendors on every corner, its been a very difficult craving to resist. But alas, everyone knows hot dogs are NOT healthy and who knows what kinds of animal by products and fillers they're made of. The last few months have been tough as far as this craving goes, I walk by hot dog carts longingly and have been VERY close to caving. When I told my friend Mel she promptly gave me a lecture on how bad they were and how I didn't need to be passing that to the baby. So I continued to suffer in silence.

Then one day, the clouds parted, the sun was shining and it was clearly my lucky day. I walked into Rowe Farms (the local organic butcher and grocery) on Queen Street near my house and lo and behold... HOT DOGS!! Not just any hot dogs, but all beef, non gmo, no added fillers and vegetable grain fed HOT DOGS! I almost jumped for joy right there in the store. I won't tell you how much they were but let's just say they only come in a package of 6 so the price didn't seem THAT crazy (although by this point, I would have paid just about anything...) and yesterday I finally got to indulge. Not only was it GOOD, but it was almost the BEST hot dog I've ever had!! I have to admit, the "healthy" hot dogs actually tasted WAY better than your average Shopsy's all beef grocery store wiener. These actually tasted like smoked beef and went perfectly with my all time favourite Vlasic garlic dill pickle. (Another recent discovery and pregnancy must-have.)

Now I'm down to 2. Just in time for my trip. I plan on eating one more later tonight and then savouring my last one tomorrow for lunch. Mmmmm hot dogs!

Breakfast with the highschool gang...

Today I met my highschool "lunch" girls for breakfast at Sunset Grill. I spent 5 years with these girls eating lunch every day in the cafeteria and gossiping and playing cards. Now, we're practically all married, Cybele lives in Germany and Leah lives in Prague. So it was a rare treat to have us all in the same place before everyone jet setted home. Cybele brought her husband Evgueni, Sandra brought her daughter Eliana and Leah brought her son Patrik. It was just like old times having lunch in the Caf again, minus the cards and with a few extra munchins. (Also minus the big bangs and thick coke bottle glasses... oh yeah, we were sooooo coool back then.)

Even though we don't get to catch up too often, its always like no time has passed. Looking forward to our next get together next time y'all are in town!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today we celebrated the first of 2 Mother's Day parties. After trying to resolve the ceiling issue with our builder, Gerwyn suprised me with my very first "mother's day card" and a gift certificate to a local maternity clothing store. We made a quick trip to the store so I could use my new gift and picked up a couple of items for our trip to LA next weekend.

After shopping, I got ready to meet my cousins Mark and Mer to head to Scarborough to celebrate with the fam. (Gerwyn had a stag to go to so unfortunately couldn't make it.) We arrived to a major power failure across the entire neighbourhood. Luckily my brother's house nearby still had power so my mom brought all the food to his house to finish cooking and then we carried everything over to my aunt's for the feast. Carol provided a deeleecious Lemon cake and my cousin Phil made peanut butter chocolate bars for dessert. There was even a special, rare appearance by my cousin John. Usually we only see him at Christmas but I guess Mother's Day is just as important an occasion (I'd have to agree with him) so I made sure to include TWO photos of him in this post.

With 3 kids to play with it was a party all around. And this Christmas, there will be two more to add to the group (my cousin Meredith also announced that she was pregnant with her 2nd due in November.) Our family is growing rapidly!

Tomorrow its off the Thornhill to celebrate with the mother in law. Happy Mother's Day to all the current and future mothers out there!!

Rain rain go away...

The last few days have provided quite the rainstorm, both outside and IN. Thursday night I walked right into a puddle in the 2nd floor north bedroom (soon to be baby's room). I immediately looked up and didn't see any signs of leakage so assumed that I spilled a glass of water and didn't notice. (My brain has definitely been in preggo mode lately.) Yesterday, during yet another heavy rainstorm, I walked into the bedroom to see a rainstorm of water INSIDE the house. It was coming from our ceiling vent (which made it a bit hard to see it the first time).

Although we were disappointed to see our brand new house experiencing a water leak, it was nice to know that it would be covered under warranty and eventually fixed. Better that it happened now within the warranty period than years from now when baby is settled into his/her room.

So for the next few days/weeks, we wil be under-going some major room construction, first step is to cut a hole into the ceiling the length of the room and find out where the water leak is coming from. Everyone cross your fingers and say a prayer that this will be a relatively stress free, painless experience.

L.A vs. NY?

I've often heard about the rivalry between Los Angeles and New York. Lucky for me, I'll get to see it for myself! In June, I'll be going to the Big Apple to visit Sooky with my friend Sally and now Gerwyn and I have just booked a spontaneous trip to LA. Well, not exactly spontaneous, unfortunately one of Gerwyn's aunts suddenly passed away from a heart attack and we'll be flying down for her funeral next weekend where G will be a pall bearer. Its an unfortunate occasion but I admit I am looking forward to meeting many of his family members who were not able to make it to our wedding. Gerwyn's dad has 5 siblings similar to my dad. I get the good fortune of being around my big family all the time, but for G, he only gets to see his many aunts, uncles and cousins on major occasions like these. It will be a quick visit, just Thursday to Tuesday but we'll be sure to pack it in with as many Begonias as we can. Plus catch a little sunshine too.

Date Night... at Agostino's

Tonight, my husband surprised me with an impromptu "date". We had to go to pick up his bike at Yonge and Eglinton and decided to stay in the area for dinner. Usually, we would grab a burger or sushi or sandwich, ie. something cheap and cheerful to tide us over. But tonight, someone actually stopped in front of a real sit down restaurant and suggested we go in. It was an Italian bistro called Agostino's and although no one else seemed to be in there, it was perfectly romantic for just the two of us. The inside reminded us of Barcelona and the food turned out to be pretty good. We shared mussels and each ordered a pasta. After dinner, I was SO full. Like unbelievably, uncomfortably full. The portions themselves weren't that big, but it had been so long since we'd been out for a "real" dinner, I felt the need to finish everything.

Its so easy to forget to spend some quality time with your partner and tonight, I'm glad we were reminded how important it is.

To tip or not to tip?

I'm going to apologize in advance for the length of this post but sometimes you just need to vent.

I've been needing a haircut for awhile so today I finally bit the bullet and made an appointment at my usual salon, Civello. The last time I went, I had a senior stylist who gave me a great haircut which I was very happy with. This time though, I only needed a trim and my senior stylist was on mat leave anyway so I decided to save a little money and go with someone "intermediate". Well, let's just say the experience was "interesting" to say the least.

The haircut itself, not so bad. I needed a trim, I got a trim. I did ask for sideswept bangs and I got straight across bangs that he just "swept" to the side but other than that, haircut... acceptable. Service on the other hand, left  a little to be desired. At Civello you get to choose an oil and then they massage your scalp with it. This is one of my favourite parts. I chose my oil and massage commenced. I thought, "hmmm... a little weak" but no big deal, its a 2 minute massage anyway. Then we went to wash my hair. First of all, he put on gloves. I thought "well, maybe he has dry hands and doesn't want to get them wet". But then when the water came on, it was burning hot which of course he could not feel with gloves. When I said "too hot" he apologized and then turned to the opposite direction... yes, too COLD! So I decided that too hot was better than too cold and so when he switched it back to the original temperature I just sucked it up and let it cause mild burns on my scalp. Then we moved onto the cut itself which begins with a brush on wet hair. Usually this process would involve slowly and carefully detangling wet hair. But not for my glove wearing stylist (who now took his gloves off, why he couldn't do it to test the water, I have no idea,) who decided to "power through" my hair with his massive brush and just rip out pieces while he "detangled". My head actually jerked to the side every time he tried to brush it. Again, he apologized but KEPT going.

Then we moved on to the blow dry. No gloves, yet again the temperature of the blow dryer was required to be scalding hot and HELD on my head. Again, I let out a little "shriek of pain" if you will, and again, I got an apology but NO CHANGE in temperature!!! Just when you think it can't get any worse, (I'm desperately trying to read my Marie Claire to keep me distracted from the pain,) "WHACK", his styling brush hits me in the face. Again, my head jerks back and he apologizes profusely. Now I'm thinking "WHO IS THIS GUY?" but the end is in sight so I just do my best to grin and bear it. The salon was rather dead at 3 in the afternoon so there weren't many people around. Next thing you know, my nostrils are accosted by the worst FART smell that I KNOW is not my own. So what does my "intermediate" stylist do? He says "oh you have a lot of hair stuck on your face, let me blow dry it off, close your eyes" and conveniently tries to "blow away" his fart! AS IF I didn't notice the turd smell rising up from your behind!!

I couldn't wait to get out of there, and 1.5 hours later, I finally did. However on the way out, when the receptionist asked "how was it?" I just couldn't bring myself to tell her how bad he was. And yes, I even gave a tip. Horrible I know, but I just couldn't be one of those people that walked out of there leaving nothing. Although I didn't leave as big a tip as usual and the receptionist looked a little surprised when I asked for "change".  He ended up giving me his card with the days and times he's in the salon. Normally, I would have burned the card right then and there, but as I was leaving, I realized I needed to keep it. So I know when NOT to go!!!

Venting over. The end.

Baby Update: Week 22

 

This is the start of week 22 so I thought I'd post some more updated pics. The smaller one (pink shirt) is from week 19 and the noticeably bigger one is from tonight after a big meal of leftovers. As you can see, my tank top barely covers the bulge. I'm slowly starting to feel like Humpty Dumpty... big in the middle with floppy arms and legs. So far, I've gained about 13 pounds and now I'll be gaining one pound a week. After this weekend's dinner and two helpings of dessert, I think I might be able to surpass that in a day.

WND! D&G edition...

Saturday Gerwyn and I hosted our first Wednesday Night Dinner (ok so they're not on Wednesdays anymore but we still call them WND). Luckily we got the bbq out just in time for the rain to stop and we were able to bbq our ribs and italian sausages. The ribs were from Tyler Florence's Ultimate Ribs recipe and turned out perfectly. Tender and crispy with a sweet and sticky bbq sauce. I also made a thai mango salad and served a great Costco Coleslaw (from the Moishe's restaurant in Montreal) to go with it. For dessert, I made a chocolate berry pavlova. Everything turned out great and we were left with plenty of leftovers for another impromptu dinner tonight with Mel and Norm and Gerwyn's friend Victor.
Looking forward to next month when its Mel and Norm's turn!