Preparation is Key

Hey there - how's your morning going?  Halfway to the weekend! 

We've been catching up on life the last two days after our awesome week away.  We flew to the East Coast and hopped around New England for Tripp's first vacation.  First we stopped in NYC for a Yankees/Red Sox game, made our way to CT to see my extended family and attend my Aunt's wedding, then drove up the coast to Maine so that I could eat my body weight in lobster over 3 days.  Amazing.  Lobster and steamed clams, lobster benedict (with avocado!!), lobster rolls....don't mind if I do. :-)

Coming home from a week away always entails one of my least favorite things: an empty fridge.  What to do....

I like to have a good selection of grab & go stuff ready, especially now that we have our little man.  I don't always have time/energy to cook or I might be busy when Patrick is hungry and he can't doesn't like to cook haha. 

This week:

beets, quinoa and lentils

kale salad (kale, red cabbage, shredded carrots, red onion and sesame seeds with a homemade dressing: 2 oz olive oil, 1 oz sesame oil, 1 oz apple cider vinegar, 1 oz maple syrup, 1 tsp ground ginger)

grilled chicken breast and grilled veggies

I'm on a total eggplant and zucchini kick right now.  I'll usually toss those in olive oil and sea salt, along with whatever random veggies come in our box for the week and grill away. 

I eat a lot of salads, too, so prepping all of that stuff makes my life way easier.  Kale salad is easy to make ahead of time because it doesn't wilt like lettuce.  If you don't like kale, tear and wash your lettuce and store it in a wet paper towel in a ziploc bag, cut your veggies ahead and just throw everything together.  Its normally better to wait and cut fresh fruits and vegetables right when you need them since they start oxidizing as soon as they are exposed - but if it means the difference between eating healthy and not, I say chop away!

Having foods ready to grab when you don't have a lot of time to prep something healthy is a huge key to success when it comes to eating well.  When I make dinner, I try to make enough so that we have leftovers to heat up the next day as well - minus fish.  Fishy leftovers are gross.

Off for a morning run while Daddy feeds the baby!  Have a lovely day everyone!

xo
Shaina

Summer Salads

Hey there!  How is everyone's Monday going so far?  This is one that I hope lasts as long as possible....Tripp gets his first round of shots tomorrow.  Womp wooooomp.

When my cousin was here from Hawai'i a few weeks ago, she made a DELISH quinoa salad that I decided to replicate last night.  Hers was prettier because she used red quinoa, but I already had a bunch of this stuff and it was still amazing nonetheless:

1 C dry quinoa
1 C vegetable broth
1 C water
1 mango, cubed
1.5 C dried cranberries
1.5 C sliced or slivered dry roasted almonds
1.5 C shelled edamame
1/2  medium red onion
1/4 C fresh lime juice
1/4 C balsamic vinegar

Put rinsed quinoa in a saucepan with 1 C water and 1 C vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer until the quinoa just starts to stick to the pan (approx 30 minutes).  Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.  (You can also use the brown rice setting on a rice cooker if you have one.  I don't...but my birthday is coming up.  *wink wink*)

While the quinoa is cooking, dice 1/2 of a medium red onion and mix with edamame, cranberries, mango and almonds in a large bowl.  Add the cooked quinoa and mix well.  For the dressing, add the lime juice and balsamic vinegar.  Mix well and enjoy!

This makes a pretty big batch that you can keep in the fridge for the week and have it ready to put on top of greens or just enjoy by itself. 

Karla also made an amazing kale salad that I was pretty excited about because even my Mom liked it!  Mom has always been intimidated by kale...we're bringing her over to the green side slowly but surely. :-)  She was so excited to find this recipe and send it to me today.  She's bringing it to a friend's house for dinner tonight - big step!  I haven't tried it yet, but it looks awesome. 

This recipe serves one, but can be made in a bigger batch.  Kale salads are awesome to make in large quantities because it doesn't wilt like regular lettuce, so you can have a grab-and-go salad already made for days!  (If you make this one ahead of time, add the avocado when you're actually ready to eat it.)

6-8 ounces of kale
6-8 dried apricots
1/3 C cooked beans (I would probably use pinto or kidney beans...black beans & kale don't mesh for me)
1/4 C sliced or slivered dry roasted almonds
8-10 flakes of Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 avocado, cubed
salt and pepper

Fold a piece of kale in half lengthwise and use your fingers to tear out the tough inner stem. Repeat with the other leaves of kale (you can save the stems to use in stir-fries, sauces, or soups). Tear all the leaves into bite-sized pieces and put them in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Cut the apricots into little bits and add them to the bowl with the kale, along with the beans, almonds and cheese. Whisk together the oil and vinegar.  Pour the vinaigrette and a pinch of salt over the salad and use your fingers to toss and rub everything together. Transfer the salad to a bowl and add the avocado (or enjoy straight out of the mixing bowl as I can frequently be found doing). 

I didn't get around to my test kitchen last night for the veggie burger experiment because I hurt my back.  No idea what happened, but my lower back is super tight.  There was no moment where I turned and just felt it happen, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with lifting weights and not having my ab strength completely back yet.  I'm also lifting a chunker these days:

His forearm rolls are becoming pretty impressive.  Hooray for mama's milk!

I'm taking it easy today to nurse my back...maybe get a massage?  Have a fantastic Monday!

xo
Shaina

Something that made me laugh hysterically last night (but it could also have been the nightcap of Bailey's that I was drinking haha):

It's Been Awhile

Hey there - happy hump day!  We needed a little breather last week - wedding, baby shower, family gatherings and much needed naps - but we're back!  This post is coming to you from America's Finest City. :-)  Google it. 

Patrick had to come down for a class on base this week, so Tripp & I decided to join him, hang out and breathe in some of the fresh ocean air that I miss.  The view from his pack 'n play:

Poor kid.

Yesterday, we enjoyed lunch al fresco at Burger Lounge while Daddy was in class.  It was the veggie burger of my DREAMS:

It doesn't look like much but it was fanfreakingtastic.  Quinoa, lots of veggies, a little cheese....yes please.

I feel like every restaurant's veggie burgers are so different....along with all the frozen varieties you can get at the grocery store.  It inspired me to try and make my own at home next week.  This could be a great experiment that rocks my world on the first try....or a work in progress for the next 6 months.  We'll see! 

I love experimenting in the kitchen.  Usually, I will see a recipe on one of a few blogs I stalk read and get inspiration from that.  I tend to not follow recipes exactly, but instead I give it my own little twist.  Its been a while since I came up with a new recipe that was entirely my own, though, and I'm excited to give you a few new ones. 

SO - let's hear it.  What recipes would you like?  Do you have a favorite dish but feel guilty every time you eat it because it has an entire day's worth of calories?  A favorite snack that you always have but you're hungry 20 minutes afterward because it lacks staying power?  Let me know!  I'd love to compile a list to start working on. 

In the meantime, here are some recipes I've recently come across that you may enjoy.  I haven't tried all of them, but they're from reputable sources. ;-)

For the sweet tooth:

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Crazy Woman Chocolate Blender Pudding 
Black Bean Brownies

Breakfast:

Quinoa Granola
Vegan Cinnamon Buns
Baked Oatmeal

Snacks:

Amazeballs
my homemade protein bars
Avocado Fries

Lunch/Dinner/leftover schmorgesborg:

Quinoa Broccoli Casserole  <--- I'm scary excited to make this next week
Falafel
Low Yolk Egg Salad

We're off to enjoy the sunshine!  Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone. :-)

xo
Shaina

Bruffins

Hey hey!  How was your weekend?  My sister flew in last week, my Aunt & her beau are here for a few days and Tripp made an appearance at his first lingerie party for Colleen's shower so we've been doing the family thang. 

I had a little cookstravaganza on Thursday afternoon to prep some food.  Must have grab-and-go things on hand these days.  I brought back an old-but-not-forgotten breakfast favorite:

Breakfast muffins! (or as my Mom likes to call them: Bruffins)

You can really do whatever you want with them; mine are different every time.  This time I chopped some broccolette, mushrooms, green onions and veggie sausage.  Fill a muffin pan with the ingredients and pour egg whites over top until the muffin cups are full.  Bake at 350 for 10ish minutes until the egg whites are set.

Grab a couple on the way out the door!  How easy is that?!

Some more recent eats:

grilled portabella mushroom, sauteed chard, roasted golden beets and a sweet potato with cinnamon

lunch salad with greens, cucumber, artichoke, avocado, chickpeas, olive oil & balsamic vinegar

lingerie luncheon: fresh fruit, tomato/mozzarella/basil skewers, quinoa salad and I'm totally stealing this shrimp-ceviche-in-an-avocado idea!

I actually didn't end up eating a cupcake at the shower but how cute are these?!

Little man is sleeping so Mama's going to squeeze in a workout.  Have a lovely afternoon!

xo Shaina

Body by Tripp: 1 Month

I got the green light for exercise yesterday!! Woohoo! Time for the burn. I was excited to strap these babies on last night for the first time in a long time.  

I only ran a mile, but I felt like I could have done another at the end.  I don't want to increase my mileage too fast and get hurt, so I only did 1 and came back for some jump roping, squats & lunges (body weight only) and some ab work.

Meet my personal trainer:

He looks harmless, but he keeps me on a strict schedule and gets really angry with me if I don't do what he wants.  He's got abs of steel - here he's demonstrating leg lifts without putting his hands under his butt.  I can't even do that right now. ;-)

I'm definitely going to have to take it slow - my endurance and muscle strength are not anywhere near what they used to be - but I'm still excited!  Muscle memory is a fantastic thing and I'm hopeful that I'll be back up to my crazy circuit workouts in no time. 

the day before Tripp was born - 38 weeks & up 39.5 pounds

home from the hospital! 2 days post-delivery

1 week post-delivery

4 weeks post-delivery, down 22 pounds (1 lb of which might have been from my haircut)

I'm pretty happy with the way things are going so far.  Does the ridiculous, girly, impatient part of me want to be back in my skinny jeans already?  Of course.  Does the other, more mature and realistic part of me realize that 3 months is a more likely timeline?  Yes. 

I have about 17 pounds to go before I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Some of that my body might hold on to while I'm still breastfeeding and that's okay.  Whatever Tripp needs. :-)  Some women hang on to about 10 pounds or so while breastfeeding, others are smaller than their pre-pregnancy size at the 2 or 3 month mark.  Who knows!  I'm just glad to be able to work out again.  Besides the fact that it will get me back in shape, it's such a big part of who I am and gives me so much more energy - which proooobably has something to do with my being overwhelmed earlier this week.  I have a feeling I'll be much more like myself once I get back into a regular workout routine. 

Some things I didn't expect:

-laying on my stomach to feel soooo gooood.  But don't try it the day your milk comes in.  Bad timing.  Painful.
-for 20 pounds to fall off in about 10 days, and then slam into the worst plateau EVER.  Talk about frustrating. We're starting to move again though.
-to rival Dolly Parton the day the milk man came.  Yikes.  Thank God that goes away a few days later.  Out. Of. Control.  I think Patrick was scared haha.
-I never got the dark line down the middle of my stomach...until after Tripp was born.  Weird. Its really faint, so I'm wondering if it was always there but I couldn't see it because my skin was stretched so tight.  One of my maternity nurses said it could take up to a year to go away!
-NO STRETCH MARKS!!  I honestly thought I'd get some - my belly was SO tight I thought it was just going to rip open by the end.  I'd like to thank my Mom for those genes and whoever decided that putting coconut oil in a jar and selling it would be a good idea.  Lather up ladies!  (I have no idea if it helped...but I'm certainly not willing to go without it next time and test the theory.)
-By the end of my pregnancy, I was housing half a pizza...and salad, dessert + a snack an hour later.  Even with my stomach squished by the human taking up my entire torso, I was able to eat a ton.  I was a little nervous about that after he was born.  Luckily, my appetite went back to normal pretty quickly and my pre-pregnancy portions are satisfying me.  Whew.

That's enough about me...how about a dinner recipe?  Isn't it awesome how exercising just makes you want to eat healthier?!  I love that.  After my workout sesh last night, I wanted something really healthy/not too heavy for dinner and really needed to unload some produce from the fridge.  What we ended up with took literally 15 minutes to throw together...who doesn't like that??

I still had a lot of bok choy from our delivery this week, so stir fry is what came to mind.  I cut 1 yellow onion, 1 red bell pepper, 2 sweet chiles and 1 bunch of brocollette and tossed that into the skillet with some olive oil.  Once those started to get soft, I added 1 clove of chopped garlic, about 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped ginger and some Tamari (gluten free soy sauce).  I have no idea how much...measuring is overrated sometimes. :-)  Once the sauce coated everything, I added some frozen shrimp and the chopped bok choy & cooked until the shrimp were hot and the bok choy was wilted. 

You could serve this over brown rice, but I wasn't feeling something that filling.  I wasn't in the mood for a full blown salad either, so I cut some tomatoes and drizzled them with olive oil. 

We're definitely going outside to enjoy the beautiful weather today.  Maybe we'll see how Tripp likes the jogger on the way to the Farmer's Market tonight.

Have a lovely weekend!  xo Shaina

Slowing Down

Happy Hump Day!  I've got a little pep in my step this morning.  Tripp ate at 9:30 and was asleep by 10 last night...and then didn't wake up again until 3!  Thank youuuuu little boy.  I decided to stay up after feeding him at 6am to get some laundry done and put away our special delivery.

In this week's box: romaine lettuce, carrots, broccolette, 2 avocados, 2 green bell peppers, golden beets, 5 plums, 1 honeydew melon, baby bok choy and garlic.  Definitely doing a stir fry with some shrimp this week. 

Last night, I decided (after realizing how precious my time is over the last few days) that the slow cooker and I are going to become best friends.  If anyone has any good vegetarian - or not, I'm good at subbing - recipes, feel free to send them my way!

First experiment: thai cocunut curry.  I use the term experiment because I literally just threw a bunch of stuff in there and said a little prayer as I walked away.  Isn't that how some of the best stuff is made?  :-)

I used 1 can of organic light coconut milk, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon + a little extra thai green curry paste and 1 tablespoon brown sugar.  *Most curry recipes use fish sauce - I'm not so much a fan, so I skipped that part.* I whisked that together and poured it in the crockpot.  Then I threw in 1 eggplant (cubed), 1 package of extra firm tofu (pressed dry and cubed), 1 green and 1 red bell pepper cut into big chunks, 1 clove of garlic (finely chopped) and a bunch of baby bok choy.  Turn the crockpot on high for 3 1/2 hours and walk away.  I'm a fan of that part. 

Verdict: my kitchen smelled amazing this morning, but next time I would use twice as much liquid.  Its delish, but I like it more coconutty.  I'll throw another batch of the coconut milk/soy sauce/curry paste mixture in there, heat it up and serve over brown rice for dinner tonight.  Boom...done. 

I'm off to get my hair done today!  Its been a looooong time and these roots need some serious love.  I'll be enjoying my (hopefully) last day of the "you're not allowed to work out" phase.  Be ready for some workouts to make their way back into the blog! 

xo
Shaina

Back in the Kitchen

When we came home from the hospital on Saturday, I wondered if I would ever be interested in cooking again.  Actually, I wondered if I would ever be interested in anything other than staring at Tripp haha.  It does change quickly, but those first few days I got absolutely NADA accomplished.  I'm back in the kitchen....but dinner hasn't been until 9pm.  Something to work on.  Baby steps right?

Recent eats:

his & hers dinner: grilled mahi, pineapple, asparagus, sweet potato and salad

1 whole egg + 2 egg whites scrambled with beans, fresh cherries from the box, toast & half caff coffee (for my 5am wakeup yesterday)

smoothie: banana, mango, chocolate chips, spinach, cinnamon, peanut butter, flax seed, almond milk

breakfast cookie dough cereal a la Fitnessista ..... I had the original version made with sunflower seed butter and strawberries

AND I made the rapini last night!

I'm not really a follow-the-recipe kind of girl.  After checking out a few different ways to prepare the broccoli rabe rapini, I just decided to wing it when we needed a quick dinner last night.

I carmelized a yellow onion and set that aside.  In the same pan, I added some olive oil, crushed red pepper, garlic and white wine.

I gave that a couple of minutes, then wilted the greens in there and added the onions back in to mix the flavors.

Put that on top of some pasta with olive oil and grated cheese (I used a cheddar/gruyere block I found at TJs this week) and dinner is served!

I'm off to see what kind of trouble Tripp and I can get into while Daddy works today. 

Birth story will be up on Monday....promise! Have a fantastic weekend. xo Shaina

What's In The Box?

Happy Wednesday everyone!  How is your day going?  We've had a pretty good day so far.  We got everyone (including Daddy!) dressed, fed and out the door for a walk to REI by 10am...and I even showered.  Win! 

Its definitely an experience learning how to time everything just right so we make sure we're somewhere I can feed Tripp on time but we still get stuff done.  Of course he decided he wanted a little pick-me-up snack 2 minutes before we planned to walk out the door. :-)  Adapt and overcome right?

Our produce delivery was dropped off at 2am when I was nursing.  I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve when I went downstairs to bring the box in and open it up haha.  This week:

1 yellow onion, 1 lb assorted potatoes, 3 apples, 3 oranges, 1 lb red cherries (!! - I freaking LOVE cherries), 1 bunch of carrots, 1 bundle of spinach (smoothies anyone?), 3 heads of assorted lettuce and 2 bunches of broccoli rabe rapini (new to me!).  


I've never had rapini before, so I had to do a little research to see exactly what I had on my hands.  I've been looking up some yummy ways to prepare it and I'm pretty excited:

-pasta dishes 
-steamed 
-braised 
-sauteed with carmelized onions

My Mom is here this afternoon to have baby snuggle time so that Patrick and I can get stuff done on our ever-growing to do list that has been neglected since last week.  

Have a fantastic afternoon! xo Shaina

38 weeks....

...still baking and hanging a little lower (and mama's tired).   

We actually had somewhat of a false alarm on Monday.  My blood pressure has been a little iffy, so when I woke up with fat feet and a headache, the doctor wanted some blood work done.  Off to L&D we went....after buzzing around the house cleaning, packing our bags (just in case) and getting some food together for Patrick.  We checked in, they hooked me up to the monitor, watched my BP, and drew some blood.  Everything ended up being fine so we went home a couple of hours later.  At one point, the nurse said "oh yeah, your contractions are about 5 minutes apart."  What?!  I thought that was gas haha.  Since then, they've gotten a little more noticeable, but nothing crazy yet.  Just waiting....  I promise you will know when its the real deal. :-)

Last night, we had the fam over for dinner.  I threw together a veggie lasagna - easy way to feed a crowd.  Dinner guests contributed the salad, garlic bread and dessert so we had a yummy feast.  Lasagna can be a looooong process, but if you're good at multi-tasking, its not too bad.  First, I prepped all my veggies and doctored up some sauce:

lasagna layers: sauteed chopped spinach, sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, sauteed zuccini, roasted peppers (bake at 400 for 40 minutes and then throw in a ziploc baggy so the steam helps peel the skin off - a little trick I learned from my Grandma)

and the "ricotta cheese" :-)  it was actually tofu.  Throw a package of drained firm tofu into the food processor with some garlic, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and the chopped stems from the mushrooms and pulse until it has the consistency of ricotta.  A great way to add some protein to a veggie dish!
After all the ingredients were ready, I set up my assembly line:

layered the lasagna and baked at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, until the cheese started to brown.  After I threw it in the oven, I realized I forgot something....

sad.  No peppers.  It was still yummy though, and we have leftovers in the freezer. 

(I forgot to take a picture of my plate before the food disappeared.)

While we were all sitting around the table, our produce delivery came - 12 hours early?!  Our delivery guy is so cute - he's this 60ish year old man and he's so nice.  I think I'm going to start making him some treats.  He dropped off our amazing box for the week, and then came back 2 minutes later with goodies that he said were for the baby!

Fresh juice anyone?

In the box this week: 1 lemon, 1 avocado, 4 peaches, 1 package blueberries, 1 bunch broccoli, 1 bunch turnips, 1 bunch carrots, 1lb mixed lettuce, 1 lb assorted potatoes, 1 lb zuccini and a bundle of parsley!  I think a big pot of vegetable soup is in our near future. 

We're relaxing today.  Have a fantastic Wednesday everyone! xo Shaina

What's in the Box?

Special delivery to the Anderson house this morning!

We're only on week #2 of produce delivery and I'm loving it.  Its like Christmas morning every Wednesday; we never know what's going to be in there.  This week:

3 apples, 1 grapefruit, 2 oranges, 2 avocados, 1 pint of strawberries, 2 BIG ears of white corn, 1 bunch of broccoli, 1 bunch white baby turnips, 1 bundle of spinach, 1 head of green leaf lettuce and....more rhubarb!  Haha oh no....good thing they send recipes with your box.  I'll make some rhubarb turnovers and give them away. :-)  All of this - local, organic and delivered to my door for $31.50 a week?!  Yes please.

Last week's box had 2 lbs of rhubarb in the haul...what does one do with that?! 

My first thought was Strawberry Rhubarb pie - something my Mom used to make often when I was a child.  I'm actually not a big pie person anymore - more of a pie *filling* person. ;-)  I browsed some recipes and decided on a crumble-looking thing from Betty Crocker (read: NOT healthy, but sometimes necessary). 

Ingredients:

Crust & Topping

-1 c butter or margargine, softened
-1 c packed brown sugar
-1 t vanilla
-2 c whole wheat flour
-1.5 c quick cook oats
-2/3 c chopped nuts (optional)
-1/2 t baking soda
-1/4 t salt

Filling

-2 cups turbinado sugar
-2/3 c whole wheat flour
-2 t milk of choice
-4 eggs (or egg replacer equivalent)
-4 cups sliced strawberries
-4 cups sliced rhubarb

1. Heat oven to 375. 
2. In a medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and vanilla.  Stir in 2 cups of the flour, oats, nuts, baking soda and salt until crumbly. .
3. Reserve 2 cups of this mixture for the topping.  Press the remaining mixture into an ungreased 15x10x1-inch pan.  (I didn't have this size so mine was just extra thick.)

4. In a large bowl, mix turbinado sugar, 2/3 c flour, milk and eggs with a spoon until smooth.  Fold in the strawberries and rhubarb.
5. Spoon the filling onto the crust.  Sprinkle with reserved crumb topping.
6. Bake 40-50 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the middle is set.  Cool slightly - about 30 minutes.
7. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream or plain - it was delish by itself.  Store covered in the refrigerator.

I actually had a little bit of an epiphany yesterday, which in turn took away my guilt about said unhealthy dessert.  I feel like my relationship with food and looking a certain way was a little unhealthy before I got pregnant.  Often times, we ladies have a skewed body image and the reflection we see in the mirror isn't what everyone else sees when they look at us.  Case in point: I saw a picture of myself from Feb 2011 yesterday and it kind of shocked me.  I never realized I was that small.  It wasn't unhealthy small (close), but I love my body so much more right now than I ever have...maybe minus the swollen ankles.

I haven't even gone through the most amazing part of this pregnancy yet, but I am already so amazed at what my body has been capable of - housing, feeding and protecting our sweet baby until s/he is ready to come out and greet the world.  I will be forever grateful to my body and am okay with however it looks after this is all said and done - within reason of course.  My focus is on being healthy and active so that I can take the best care of our family possible.

37 weeks - full term today!! :-)



(Its so nice to not have to take my own picture every week now.  Its the little things haha.)

Have a lovely Wednesday everyone! xo Shaina

source