Barefoot. Pregnant. In the Kitchen.

I'd like to throw out the negative connotation associated with this phrase and share with you some of my thoughts on food. 

Food as it relates to being barefoot:

I am barefoot or in flip flops practically year round but summer is an especially barefoot time around here. Food in the summer conjures up mouth watering ideas of sweet corn on the cob, fresh salads, juicy ribs for all you carnivores out there, eating out on the porch and sucking down on melting popsicles. One of my favorite summertime recipes is from my friend Chelsea. She called this concoction The Yumminess. It is one of Mike's favorite desserts as it includes chocolate in more than one form and berries.

The Yumminess is a trifle in which you layer one 9x13" pan of brownies cut into bite sized pieces, one large package of chocolate pudding, berries (whatever is in season, mixed or just one type, the frozen mixed berries work nicely) and a container of Cool Whip in that order. Simply use half of each ingredient for the first four layers, then repeat for the next four. 

What are some of your favorite summer time recipes? Leave me a comment if you decide to post one.

Food as it relates to being pregnant:

I have never had any of those 'I have to have that food right now' cravings, but there have deffinitly been foods this pregnancy that I have eaten in much higher quantities than at any other time in my life. Gummies - I started out with a 5 lb. bag of sour worms. In my defense they aren't ALL gone. Another big 'craving' is baked potatoes. I seem to plan baked potatoes into our menu at least every other week and then I make sure to cook enough to have leftovers for the next few lunches. If you crave foods that your body needs then this one is spot on. As is common with pregnancy, I am anemic and after some research I found out that potato skins are actually really high in iron, who knew?

Thirdly, Sunny Delight! I am sure that more than half of my total life's intake of the syrupy sweet sunny delight has been in the last 5 months. I keep thinking I won't buy any more, but as soon as my stock runs dry the stores seem to have it on their 10 for $10 sale. Who could resist such a buy?

After Easter we stocked up on chocolate (those bags of hershey's bliss eggs were $1). Anyway we just ran out last week. Mike, Annabelle and I have each eaten at least 3 pieces of chocolate every day from Easter until last week. My only pondering now is: Is this kid going to fit into this chocolate loving family:

Only time will tell.

Food as it relates to being in the kitchen:

Did you know that it is REALLY hot in Arizona already? Today was the first day in probably two weeks that it didn't hit 100 degrees. So being in the kitchen isn't really one of my favorite past times lately - and  I know - it is only going to get worse. BUT I have decided to spend one day in the kitchen next week making some dinners that I can freeze and pull out after this baby comes and I don't have the energy or air conditioning to keep up with making nutritious meals. So I am asking for help. What is your best 'freezer' recipe? I make soups and spaghetti sauce to freeze but I know there are some other dishes out there that freeze well. What are they? For some reason casseroles come to mind but I don't have any good casseroles in my cooking repitior. So if you have a recipe for a dinner that freezes really well let me know, put a link in comments, post it on your own blog or shoot me an email at mikebsherwood@gmail.com

Thanks!