Thursday, March 17, 2016

Fonsee Feast

36 weeks along tomorrow, bay-bay, and we have been getting stuff donnnnnnnne. Our master bedroom redo is done-ish, and Mac’s big boy room is fully complete. My tendency is to leave a project 94% complete and move on to a new project, and such is the case with our bedroom. I still have to paint and hang the cabinet doors to our sink closet, but good enough for now. I really wish I had taken before pictures- imagine plain white walls with gnarly 70s yellowy-brown oak doors and trim. You know, like the rest of my house.






I went with a pale purply-blue for the walls and then various shades and patterns of blue for décor, plus gold accents. I am in loooooove. It’s so peaceful and pretty without being overly girly. The bench at the end of the bed was a Craigslist find that I spray painted and recovered. I already had the two lamps and painted those as well and got some new shades from Target. Wall art is from Kohl's and, yep,  painted that too. 

I am proud to say that we’ve managed to keep it clutter-free for going on 3 weeks. I’m trying to get better at having set rules for myself, one being that I will not allow myself to put “stuff” on the dresser. It always starts innocently enough- “Oh I’m just going to set this necklace here for me to wear tomorrow” and then before I know it I’ve got a heap o’ junk. I also picked up a tip from one of my patients that is genius. Instead of keeping several garbage cans around her home (including the bathroom), she only uses the kitchen garbage. Not only does that cut down on having to empty a bunch of little garbage cans, but it helps her be more active around the house. Blow your nose in the bathroom? Gotta walk down to the kitchen to pitch it. I’ve started adapting it too and I have to say it’s working for me.

We’ve also been loading up on tasty meals, sort of anticipating doing a bunch of frozen stuff once baby arrives. The freezer has been stocked with Trader Joe’s but in the meantime, I’m making things like fancy tacos. Why “fancy tacos?” ‘Cause when Mac pronounces “fon-see?” it is the cutest thing ever.

Fancy Tacos
-1- 1 ½ cups shredded pork (I had made a huge pork loin in the crockpot a few weeks ago- pork + broth + 8 hours on low + shred = done)
-2 teaspoons vegetable oil
-1 cup fresh corn (about 3 small ears worth), cut off the cob
-8 corn tortillas
-Pinch of chili powder
-Juice of 1/2 lime (or go ahead and use the whole thing if you’d like)
-1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco
-1/2 cup premade pico de gallo (just let the grocery store do the work here)
-1 avocado, peeled and sliced
-Salt and pepper to taste

In prep for baby, I’ve been bulk cooking shredded meat. If you haven’t tried this already, you need to. This works with any boneless skinless meat- try beef, chicken, or pork. Amount doesn’t matter at all- place the meat in the crockpot, add ~4 cups low sodium broth, and cook away until it’s nice and tender and shreddable- about 7-8 hours. I portion this into 1 ½ cup baggies and then I freeze. Makes it so easy to then whip up chicken quesadillas, BBQ beef sandwiches, and anything you could ever want for shredded meat.

For corn:
-Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil. Add corn. Saute for about 5 minutes- corn will brighten up and make occasional popping sounds. Remove from heat and stir in chili powder, lime juice, and if desired- salt and pepper. Pour in a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm.

-Wipe down the skillet and return to medium high heat. Heat up tortillas, working in batches. I like mine to have just a few browned spots on them for the slight toasty taste. We’re going to use two tortillas per taco, since corn tortillas are more breakable than flour.

-Assemble your tacos: start with pork (add salt and pepper here if you’d like), warmed corn, avocado, queso fresco, and pico.





Yum yum yum yum yum. Tastes infinity times more fresh than what you’d get at Baco Tell, or Jaco Tohn’s.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Cravings and such

Sometimes it is pure torture to be a dietitian. Something I would like to get straight from the start here is that I do not sit around craving celery, tofu, and skinless chicken. When I had a patient confess to me that she went to Olive Garden and ate fried calamari, whooooo, hello. Now my brain is all wanting fried crispy-chewy-salty-fatty goodness. UGH.



It’s not all bad though- when I take the time to cook a healthy dinner and pack leftovers to work, cravings die pretty quickly. Last night I whipped up something new- Greek style couscous. Not exactly an ocean treat, but really tasty and satisfying.

Greek style couscous (vegetarian)
-1 box whole wheat couscous
-Low sodium vegetable broth- the same amount of water that the box calls for (mine was 1 ¾ cups)
-1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
-1 cucumber, sliced and diced
-1 pint cherry tomatoes (I used yellow), cut into halves or quarters
-1 small red onion, diced
-1 can black olives (I left mine whole- I hate them, and this way they’re easier to pick out)
-Juice from two lemons
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1 teaspoon ground oregano
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-4 oz crumbled feta cheese

1.       Prepare couscous according to package directions, subbing veggie broth for the water. I think this adds a lot more flavor. Cover with foil and set aside.
2.       In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, chickpeas, and olives.
3.       In a small bowl (or Pyrex measuring cup), whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, and seasonings. Pour over veggies. Let marinate for a few minutes.
4.       Combine couscous with marinated veggie mix and stir in feta.
5.       Serve either slightly warm or at room temperature. I say that while I’m eating it cold out of the fridge as leftovers- still good.





Both Baby Guy and Baby Daddy ate this up. As is, the recipe yields 4 servings. Per serving: 480 calories, 60 g carbs, 21 g fat (most of it is heart healthy due to the olive oil), 17 g protein, and 10 g fiber. That is a LOT of gut filling, satisfied belly, keep ya regular fiber.

Who needs fried calamari anyway, right?