Recipe Time

Quesadilla Casserole

I made this for dinner this past Sunday after my mother in law made it a couple weeks ago. It was delicious, and even Bjorn likes it and eats every bit of it (for those of you who don't know, he won't touch vegetables and beans, and this has corn and black beans in it). If you want you could add some jalapenos or crushed red pepper to add some spice. I added lots of fresh cilantro to mine.

Ingredients:
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp minced garlic (I used fresh garlic that I smashed in my garlic press)
1/2 tsp oregano
1lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cans (8oz each) tomato sauce
1 can (15oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can (4 1/2 oz) chopped green chiles, undrained
6 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used 4, and it was definitely not too cheesey)

Brown beef and onion in large skillet, drain.
Add tomato sauce, beans, corn, and green chiles; mix well.
Stir in all of the spices, and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes.
Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with no-stick cooking spray.
Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed.
Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese.
Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture, and cheese.
Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

I made chocolate cupcakes for dessert....I had high expectations for them because the cupcake and frosting recipe came out of a cook book I have that is exclusively full of cupcake recipes. Well I didn't think they were all that great. They looked better then they tasted.

The Olson Family

   
I've decided to start a blog to chronicle our first pregnancy!

A little background information on us...

Bjorn and I met when I was a senior in high school and he was in college. We both worked at the same grocery store. After I went away to college we kept in touch via instant messenger and Bjorn visited me at school as well. Bjorn from the very beginning had always been ready to be more than friends, and I wasn't.... finally after a year and a half I ended up asking out Bjorn (after he had asked me several times and I had said no). We dated for 4 years and then Bjorn asked me to marrying him on December 12th 2008, we got married the following year in May. Now today...after 5 months of marriage we decided (yes it was a decision, not an accident, for those who like to speculate!) we wanted to have a baby. I think we were okay with it being so early in our marriage because we had dated for so long and had already owned and lived in our house together for a full year. Now we are 19 weeks pregnant and due July 22nd.

We've had several ultrasounds already (lucky, lucky us!)...so far we've had them at: 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 12 weeks, 17 weeks, and 18 weeks. After the last two ultrasounds it looks like it's going to be a girl, but there are no certain guarantees yet. Next week we have a non-medical ultrasound on Wednesday and a medical one on Friday, so we are hoping that will seal the deal. We are happy either way with a girl or boy, we just want to know so we can start embracing the idea now. Although I'm not gonna lie, I definitely shopped the baby girl section at Baby Gap yesterday!

Baby 'O' at 12 weeks, 4 days.

Baby 'O' at 17 weeks, 5 days...already showing signs of inheriting Dad's long arms and legs.

Baby 'O' at 17 weeks, 5 days...the baby is sucking on its thumb.

Baby 'O' at 17 weeks, days....all cuddled up.

The bump at 19 weeks...I know it doesn't look that big to other people, but it feels HUGE to me. I can't even believe it's got 21 more weeks to grow...I am scared for my poor skin, it's already itchy!