Saturday, June 14, 2014

Cacio E Pepe : Cheese and Pepper Pasta

Cacio e pepe is one of our favorite dishes. It's a traditional Roman style pasta, and translates to "cheese and pepper." The ingredients are simple, but using the highest quality of those ingredients yields the best results. I've made this pasta with inexpensive ingredients from Walmart, and I've made this with high-quality ingredients from Whole Foods. Because there are so few ingredients in this dish, you can definitely taste a difference when you use the higher quality...it's so worth it!

So here is how it's made...


Ingredients:
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup of Parmesan
1/4 cup of Romano or Asiago
1 lb of Linguini Pasta
Black Pepper corns (freshly ground) to Taste
Salt to Taste
1/4-1/2 cup of Reserve Pasta Water

Directions:
1. Boil Pasta
2. While boiling pasta, in a deep skillet, melt butter along with a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper.
3. Drain pasta, reserving at least 1/2 cup of the water.
4. Add pasta to the skillet and stir, mixing well with butter and pepper.
5. Add 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, and 1/4 cup of Romano (or Asiago). Stir and mix well on low-medium heat.
6. Add more reserved pasta water to loosen sauce if needed and to make the mixture more creamy.
7. Top with salt, remaining cheese, and additional pepper.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

June Bugs

June is one of my favorite months. I just love the feel of summer, without the 1000 degree Oklahoma heat. We have been taking full advantage of the few sunny days we have had so far (it has been rather rainy over the last few weeks), and going to the pool as much as possible. Zoe loves to go swimming...she is still such a little water baby. We have to watch her super close, because she loves to jump of the sides of the pool!

This past month, we had the doctor appointment for Zoe's eye. For those
that don't know, she has a spot on her eye where her lens is attached to her iris- her pupil has a small triangle missing from the round circle it should be.  It's something she was born with. They checked on everything, and said her vision has actually improved from the last time, and that she falls in the realm of "normal vision." They also said
that everything was tracking and moving normally. We will need to go back each year, because as she grows, the spot may begin to cause some friction and problems.

We also had a lip tie and tongue tie correction this month. Zoe had a tongue tie correction when she was born, but the doctor failed to mention that it must be stretched or it would grow right back. I only wish we would have known about the lip and tongue tie sooner, because it can cause some major issues with breast feeding (something I really struggled with). It's possible that a revision would have allowed us to continue feeding past the 6 month mark. Since having the correction, however, I definitely notice a difference in her speech, and her teeth have already moved together a bit.

As for me, we FINALLY finished the kitchen project this last month. See my previous blog post for pictures! We want to do the back yard as soon as possible. I have also been working hard on improving my photography. I just love taking pictures, and getting to know new people through my hobby. I've been staying busy getting to know the manual settings on my camera, and working in a new photo editing program (Light Room). Check out my website and facebook page for some of my work! :-)

Here is what's new with Z this month:

Favorite Thing to Do: She loves to read books. Or more accurately, the same book over and over.
Favorite Food: She still loves sushi and fruit. We have had to get creative with home meal options, because we have had to almost completely cut cheese from her diet.
New This Month: She now knows almost all her body parts. Her favorite is her "bobo" (belly button), which she points to constantly! She's really good at saying "nose" and "eyes."
Growth: She still looks so small to me. She is in mostly 18 month clothes, but the pants are still a little big!
Sleep: She is doing really well, but we have yet to break the binky. I'm planning to do it in September after we get back from Andrew's sister's wedding.
Speaking: Her speech has really improved over the last month. Her pronunciation and her word count have both improved. One of her favorite "new" words is "thank you!"She also says "go!" when we stop at a light or stop sign. She also sings "go" when I sing her "Let It Go" from Frozen.
Movement: She is a swimmer! She lays on her belly in the pool and kicks her feet!
Behavior: I love that she is getting more helpful (like putting things in the trash). In the last two weeks, she has learned the word "no" so she has been saying that when you try to offer her something she doesn't want. I hope it doesn't become a problem, but as of now, she at least says it in a nice "tone."