My thoughts on food, fitness and life in Houston, TX
I’m not really a Halloween person, although I love watching the little kids dress up, I like passing out candy, and I like that tomorrow is November! But no decorations, costume parties or Halloween desserts here. Here are some fun foodie finds I’ve seen around the web. I wish I was creative enough to come up with these things, and as good a photographer as these pics! All found on TasteSpotting.
Well people, we are halfway there! Someone is taking up more room and had a growth spurt, because my belly is getting big. Like more than the look of eating a big Thanksgiving dinner, I look very round now. Babycenter says the baby is 10.5 ounces and the size of a banana from head to foot. For the first half, they measure crown to rump, and the second half is head to toe. One of my books says my uterus is the size of a cantaloupe! Very weird to think I have a banana inside a cantaloupe inside my stomach. Let’s just hope everything goes back into place eventually.
Babycenter says the baby is taking up space up to my belly button, which is about right, because I am loosing my belly button. So very weird. It also says I should have gained about ten pounds, which is probably about right too. It says I should plan to gain one pound a week until the end. Can’t lie that the weight gain thing is hard to grasp and I will be bigger than my husband by the end most likely.
The main changes this week are that I am feeling so much rounder. It is more noticeable to people, and my belly is really sticking out there. I am embracing the curves and find myself enjoying the look of snugger tops rather than very loose. Loose clothes have always made me feel schlumpy and big, and I am still wearing many of my pre-pregnancy workout tops.
Workout clothes have been very hard for me to find! I found two pair of long pants at Gap, but haven’t found any maternity exercise leggings, and only one maternity workout tank top, also at Gap. Not sure what I’m supposed to wear. Kind of disheartening that exercise clothes are hard to find! I am a believer in pregnancy fitness at whatever level you can do.
This weekend, we have a wedding, and I bought a Rosie Pope maternity cocktail dress to wear to at least some of the FIVE weddings we have before January 2 (four are out of town). I loved Rosie Pope’s show on Bravo, and bought a dress from her website online. It is a pretty dark purple color, but not exactly something I would have worn to a wedding before. It reminds me of an Orthodox Jewish dress–covering shoulders to the elbows, high above the bust, high in the back, and not revealing anywhere at all. Hopefully it’s plenty of material to get me though these weddings.
Other than that, still eating normal, exercising about 4-5 days on average per week, and sleeping good. Hoping it all continues!
I hope you’re not tired of pumpkin yet, I just opened another can for this recipe!
Over the weekend, I was looking for a classic pumpkin muffin recipe without any frills of added things like raisins or apples. Been there cooked that.
I looked on my favorite blogs, and then found a great one to try in Ellie Krieger’s cookbook, The Food You Crave. I used to watch her Food Network show and really like this cookbook for many different recipes.
Don’t be alarmed by a longer ingredient list. If you have a well-stocked pantry, you might have most of these ingredients. I actually only had to buy buttermilk. The four spices–cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, are classic Fall and Winter ones. You should buy them and keep them a while. Wait until I do gingerbread cookies again this year. It’s an undertaking (and when I made them last year, I told myself I’ll do this once per year!), but so cute in the end.
I was most surprised that Jeffrey LOVED these muffins. He told me he doesn’t like pumpkin things, but this week alone, he ate these muffins, and also this loaf that he said was great too. Look who is growing a new taste palate.
I thought these muffins were so fluffy, thick, and full. They were nice without an added crunch that I used to want, like raisins or nuts. Just all about the pumpkin and spices. They would be GREAT with cream cheese. I ate mine for breakfast two days with yogurt and fruit, ate one out of the oven (for the picture above), and then we froze the rest.
By Ellie Krieger, Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients
Instructions:
This Thursday marks the official 20 week mark of being pregnant. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been writing on Tuesdays about something pregnancy related, and then on Thursdays about the previous week. So today, I wanted to write about the first half or pregnancy.
(picture above–about 5 weeks pregnant, no one knew but us)
Picture above: 19 weeks.
Honestly, I have been very lucky, and the first half was just not that bad. My appetite made a major change, and my food choices were very different, I was very tired and light headed in the mornings, but I never got “sick,” and I generally felt well enough for normal activities.
August was the worst of the weeks, Weeks 8-12 for me, where I peaked at feeling not so great. While looking back, it seemed kind of miserable to feel so blah for so many days, it really wasn’t that bad while I was going through it! We did a lot of travel over the summer and I was lucky to not really be affected by sickness.
Starting to look more like a baby and less like a lazy gut maybe? 19 weeks side shot.
When the first trimester ended, I started to feel much better. After Week 12, we went public with our news, and I started to cook again. Ahhh things were improving. Around Week 14, I started to feel more normal in the mornings and even took some early morning walks outside. Within the last few weeks, I have felt GREAT in the mornings and during the day, and my exercise has returned to 4-5 days/week, which makes me happy. I am completely over the dizziness and nausea and feel pretty normal.
I am not sure when exactly I started to feel like I was getting bigger and really popping out, but I think it’s pretty obvious in most clothes now. However, some clothes make me look much bigger, and some can still disguise it well. I feel most popped out at the end of the day.
I am starting to feel some bubbles more frequently, and I’m sure those are movements. Can’t wait until they are more pronounced, but it’s just kind of like thumps right now.
I am luckily still sleeping really good, going to bed very early, and spending a lot of time researching and asking questions to friends. There is so much to learn!
Knocking on wood that the next 20 weeks are just as good as the first!
I think I lost 3 and gained 9 = +6, very happy with this but know it will increase rapidly!
Always happy to hear questions if you have any!
For a recent Sunday night dinner, eggs were on the menu. Instead of scrambling like we usually do, we made our first frittata. Last December, we bought a Le Creuset cast iron skillet at an outlet store in Florida. The thing probably weighs ten pounds, but we wanted to try the cast iron method of cooking meat, and on sale was a good way to try it.
Only special pans can go from the stovetop to oven, and Le Creuset makes their products special for that. Eggs are also a great food to start on the stove and finish in the oven.
The frittata turned out to be a fun way to eat vegetables and eggs in a pie shape. We loved it! So many ideas of how to alter the ingredients to make this again. I had mine with a little salad of lettuce and tomato and a bagel on the side. And we shared some bacon.
The best part was the leftovers for lunch! I ate it cold twice for lunch during the week with a salad.
We loved the potatoes and egg together, and bacon would have been great in the frittata too. Can’t wait to make more frittatas!
Makes 8 wedges
Ingredients:
Instructions:
This is a hearty and healthy vegetable soup. Rachael Ray coined a great word–a stoup–which is thicker than a soup but thinner than a stew. It’s a stoup. I roasted some sweet potatoes in the oven, and at the same time, started cooking the soup on the stove. The soup was a thick mix of sweet potatoes, onion, mushrooms, kale, and white beans with broth. It was a veggie-ful soup good when you are craving something clean and healthy.
I jazzed it up with guacamole and tortilla chips on top to make it kind of tortilla soup-like.
Ingredients:
To Prepare:
Have a nice weekend!
Welcome to Week 19! Almost in the 20s and almost halfway there. I am feeling great this week. Lots of energy, great weather outside, just feeling pretty normal, minus going to sleep by 9:30 p.m.
This week, we are the size of an heirloom tomato and about 8.5 ounces. Last week was a bell pepper, and that seems bigger than a tomato, but whatever. We’re into the mid-size vegetable phase.
One thing I noticed this week was that my appetite increased–I was starving for an afternoon snack a few days. We are definitely growing! I am feeling pretty big. I feel bubbles in my lower abdomen, which are probably little movements or kicks. Not quite sure, just feels like bubbles still. I kind of picture a little alien squirming around.
I know, wearing all black does no good for you. My sister has told me she doesn’t like the bad photos.
I did a few good workouts this weekend, it helps to have weekdays off for Jewish holidays we don’t observe. I went to Define three times and walked two times. That’s five days of workouts, and good for me!
I can still wear most work tops, cardigans, etc. and have switched to maternity work pants and jeans. I can still wear my Lululemon leggings and pants and hope to continue those for a while! I hope. For workout tops, I have five colors of the top pictured from Target, and that’s it for right now. I am liking the looser in the stomach fit for tops.
That’s about it for this week, just hoping I continue to feel good.
Besides pumpkin, the other flavor that makes me think of Fall is squash. I had a giant butternut squash and used half in a Yom Kippur dinner dish, and used half for this dish. I based if off of a Daily Garnish dish and then made it my own with what I had on hand.
My grain of choice was farro. I used 1.5 cups of uncooked farro and it made a huge bowl. Since I was the only one eating this, most was wasted unfortunately after a few days. I would cut this back a whole lot, even to have leftovers if it’s just for you! Farro is a chewy grain that I like when I want something different. You can use rice, quinoa, cous cous, millet, etc. Any grain will work.
I love the squash and cranberry combo, and it would also be great with an herb like parsley or a nut like slivered almonds. A really hearty salad. Serve atop mixed greens for a balanced lunch!
Squash and Farro Salad
For the dressing
Instructions
Hello friends! This is Lily the dog again, it has been so long since I’ve written! I had a slow weekend and wanted to write to you all. These posts take me forever to type. My mom and dad aren’t the only ones getting ready for a new addition to the family! I am getting ready too.
You see, I knew about this peanut long before you all. I was the one who broke the news to the world. I am the one who will be the big sister and teach this thing the ways of the world. I will teach it how to obey me–I am the boss. It will eat when I say, sleep all night long, and play when I want. I can’t wait for a lot of new toys to share. I think I can learn to share. I know it will be cute and new, but I hope you all don’t forget about me. I am pretty cute too. And I don’t pee inside anymore.
I am also working hard at training my parents some more. I keep them on their toes about feeding me, walking me, playing with me, and giving me cozy places for a nap. They sure are nice. I have gotten so mature. Did you know they used to put me in a crate at night? I can’t believe it. They also used to carry me up stairs because I was too little. My how I’ve grown. This is me snuggling with my dad. I let him practice hold me like a baby.
I am excited about this new addition, but I really hope I don’t lose any sleep. I really need my beauty rest. That is for sure. However, I want to help give the baby bottles and help my mom play with it. I think it will be fun. Just don’t forget about me! Did I mention that I love my dad? He is the best. I can’t believe he used to not like dogs!
Bye y’all! Love, Lily.
To read all of Lily’s posts, click here.
If you haven’t had you first bite of something pumpkin flavored this season, it’s about time! The first thing I made this year with pumpkin was my favorite loaf from last year. It’s a gingerbread loaf with pumpkin in the mix and pumpkin in the middle. I don’t think Jeffrey realized the amount of pumpkin in it because it tastes like gingerbread. He liked it too.
(pardon the lighting in some of these photos. I made it on a super rainy Sunday, and took a few inside photos on Sunday and then ate some, and then took more the next day on the patio, but a few slices got eaten!)
A very easy recipe to make, the time comes from the baking. I love the gingerbread flavors (just spices like nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and others), and I like the secret layer of pumpkin butter in the middle and on top.
This is a great loaf for breakfast or dessert. It’s got great spices and a strong Fall feeling flavor. Also cuts well to be frozen so I can enjoy it for a long time. Now what to do with the rest of the can of pumpkin?
Ingredients:
Wet ingredients:
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