I’m still alive!  In fact, not only am I’m alive BUT I’m finally feeling better.  Cue the choir (Halleleujah!).  I mean, I’m still pregnant which means that I’m hobbling around exhausted most of the time, but I’m functioning and not teetering on the brink of survival.  I count that as a victory.

I’ve re-entered society again and am starting to see friends, run errands, and even cook a few times in the last week.  Also, my two year-old rediscovered the Bumbo.

Blog

As far as the blog goes, I’ve decided (as you can tell) to drop this on the priority scale in my life right now.  It’s actually been really good for me.  My focus is surviving the process of growing another human, being a good mother to Landon and partner for Rod, and focusing on school.  I don’t think I have any extra energy for anything else right now.  It’s been a good lesson for me in letting things go.  The blog is usually such a great source of purpose and an outlet for me but it’s turned into a rather large stress (or source of guilt) and that isn’t what I need right now, so I’ve decided to let the guilt go for not “accomplishing” this portion of  my former “goals” and it’s made me much happier.

I hope to pop on here from time to time with family, pregnancy, and school updates but I have no set “health blogging” agenda in the near future.  I hope to pick things up again in the next few months and will still be responding to emails and comment inquiries (please be patient if I don’t get back *right* away, I promise I will respond), as I do love the communication forum of blogs.

School

The last two weeks have been great, now that I have been well enough to really enjoy it.  I have LOVED this program.  I feel like I’m doing what I am meant to be doing in life…if that makes sense.  More so than I ever felt with even my passion for dance or acting.  I love the work and the potential that it has to really help people, so I am very excited for the future.  In fact, studying all the dietary theories (the school covers 100 different theories) has been very freeing for me.  I think I’ve become so much more open-minded about nutrition health than I was before and I absolutely love the holistic approach of the program (it’s more than just about the food we are eating).

Pregnancy

I’ve decided to include a little chronicling of the bump.  I love other blogs that do this, and I have literally 2 pics of me being pregnant with Landon, so I’m doing my best to take a picture regardless of how weird my body feels to me.

14 Weeks

“Hot dog” body is on the way out and the baby bump is on the way in…It’s a pretty impressive bump for being at the stage in pregnancy where most women aren’t showing yet. This was very exciting to me during my first pregnancy, (couldn’t wait to get the bump) but now that I’ve been through this rodeo once before (and the 50lbs I packed on with PML), I know what a brood mare I am at the end so I’m just trying to have a good attitude about what is to come.

I also busted out the sexy maternity wear at 13 weeks.  I remember trying to fit into my “regular” clothes for as long as possible the first time around. This time I couldn’t wait to get that stretchy fabric around my midsection.  Ugly, but comfortable.  At least it goes nicely with the sheet of acne on my face and the upper lip that has ceased to be waxed for a few months.  I wish I was kidding.

We visited my mom in Denver this week, I was still sick and enjoyed laying around someone else’s house for a change. Thanks mom.   Landon was obsessed with the vintage “United” hat from the 80s that I used to wear (my mom used to work for the airlines). Every time a gust of freezing wind would come blasting by us he would yell, “Oh mom! Chilly!  I need my hat!” which was pretty much every time we went outside.  Can I tell you how much I love 2?!

A few recent phrases: The other day he was going number 2 in his diaper and he yelled to me, “Hey Mom! This one is going to be a big one.” Literally.  He said that.  (It’s time for potty-training.)  Then, we were driving in the car somewhere and he yelled, “Mom! Mom! I love my family.”  When we were leaving Target he requested that we eat lunch at “Mi Potlays” (a.k.a. Chipotle’s) and then today we went to go see Rod at work for a minute and as we were walking in the building he said, “I’m so happy mama! I get to see my daddy at work!”  This age has it’s challenges but I swear I love that PML more now than ever.

16 Weeks

Yes! Showers and make-up are happening again. I really turned a corner this week.  Kind of a badly back-lit phone pic, but you can see that I have a belly that pops far beyond what would be normal for 16 weeks…but at least I had a maternity dress that made me feel cute.  (It’s the little things…)

Since I haven’t been cooking the last three months, Landon has become quite the exceptional lunch date.

We’re still working on table manners, but he totally understands the concept of “waiting our turn” until the food comes.

17weeks

Apparently clothes make a pretty big difference because I don’t think I look quite as pregnant here.  But I’m getting really excited about finding out the gender in 3 weeks (almost half way there!)

I also had my first round of green juice this week which made me feel a little bit more like the old Hilary.  My friend Lela got me hooked on this last fall and so we got a juicer for Christmas.  This is a really basic, sweet green juice made from 2 green apples, 3 stalks of celery, a cup of spinach, and a one inch knob of ginger.

On with the stats.

• Total weight gained: 8 lbs. I’m eating so much healthier than I was in the first trimester (and so much less than my first pregnancy) so I’m actually really pleased with the weight gain.  I was up about 20 lbs by now, last pregnancy. 
  

• Workouts: Heh…Well, let’s just say that now that I’ve had 11 solid weeks of laying flat on my back for the better part of the day, even pre-natal yoga wipes me out.  I’m hoping that since the nausea is starting to get better I can add some walking and more pre-natal yoga to the routine.   I think my wish of being one of those cute, fit, zumba-ing pregnant moms is probably not going to be coming true.

• Medicine: Still taking at least one Zophran a day.  I think this is why I’m feeling better than I did with Landon at this point (I didn’t take any medicine with Landon).  I still feel pretty nauseous at night and when I don’t take the drug I always throw up, but I am definitely starting to turn a corner.  Thank the pregnancy gods.

• Cravings: Oranges, Top Ramen, miso soup, berries, and meat. I have found that on the days where I don’t eat meat I almost always feel super nauseous.   You better believe that I’m have a little with nearly every meal.   Totally opposite to my nearly vegetarian pre-pregnancy diet.  Weird.

• Aversions:  Food prep in general is hit and miss.  Although I am starting to cook more lately.

• Weird Pregnancy Symptoms:  Worst acne ever!  Occasional pregnancy insomnia.  This never happened with Landon, but this has been going on for weeks with this pregnancy.  So weird.
  

• Emotions:  I’m definitely less emotional than I was a few weeks ago.  Also, I’m so in love with my little family.  I mean, I always love them, but I feel like lately I’m constantly thinking about how lucky I am and how much I love them.  Hormones or gratitude?

• New Habit: Still following politics, only I’m finding it more and more annoying.  Also, I’m obsessed with “House Hunters International” on HGTV. Obsessed!  Rod calls it clean “mom porn.”  I say it helps me to successfully fulfill my wanderlust (since we won’t be going anywhere very far away for at least a year or two).

• Gender guessing:  Only 3 weeks away til our 20 week sonogram!  We definitely aren’t waiting to find out.  I have zero patience.  I’ve been thinking it’s a girl since before I became pregnant.  I guess I have a 50/50 chance.  If it’s a little boy, that would be great too, but I’d love to have one of each.  This pregnancy is going by SO much faster than my first.

Goal for Next Week:  Stay positive.  It’s all about simplifying for me right now.  And maybe actually do some kind of exercise.

Thanks to all the congratulatory comments and FB posts on my pregnancy announcement as well as all the kind support you guys offered in response to my sickness.  Whether it’s from old friends, blog friends, family, etc it made me feel very loved and was a shining light in the middle of my dark cave of carsickness. From the bottom of my increasingly hormonal, emotional heart, I thank you.

On with the stats.

12 weeks: (from BabyCenter)  This week “(your baby) looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

Week 12

(I don’t wear make up anymore whilst puking…or taking photos it seems)

• Total weight gained:  Minus 1 pound.  This fluctuates depending on how bad the night before was but when I went in for my appt today, the doc said I’ve lost a pound from when I started this whole thing.  Obviously, I’ve been sick. However,this is actually kind of surprising because my body looks COMPLETELY different (And I had gained 15 lbs with Landon by this point).  The baby must be eating my muscles or something because I am in that favorite pregnancy phase that I like to refer to as the “Is that a pork burrito (enchilada style) or is she pregnant?”…also known as “hot dog body.”  Hot dog body is the tubular shape my body takes when I don’t have a bump yet but I have an impressive bloat and no waist.  It’s very sexy. (see above)

• Workouts: I did pre-natal yoga  (Shiva Rea DVD) once, and I felt amazing.  In fact, I ask myself (out loud) daily, why I don’t do this more often.

• Medicine: Zophran.  A complete game-changer for me (which didn’t work for my pregnancy with Landon).  I’m still throwing up usually once a night, but has made it so I can eat food other than McD and has taken some of the nauseous edge off.  God bless modern medicine.  I am having some side effects that I won’t mention (you can google if you’re really curious) but it seems to be worth it and has made me somewhat functional.

• Cravings: Won ton soup, Oranges, Chicken, Lemon Yoplait Yogurt

• Aversions: Kind of depends on the moment.  I can’t look at raw meat.  I still eat out for most meals (not all fast food) just because preparing food kind of makes me a little ill.

• Emotions: Still a total sap.  Today I cried 4 times before 9:30 am…for reasons like a “Today Show” segment, a country music song about some guy and his kid growing up to be just like him, a nostalgic thought.

• New Habit: Goodbye Scrabble, hello Politics.  I obsessively read 3 different news Apps throughout the day about the Republican Primary…It’s weird.

• Milestones: I felt the baby move all day yesterday.  ALL DAY.  I think I was 16 weeks when I really noticed PML.  I thought it was indigestion at first but then it just kept fluttering in the same spot for hours and it was confirmed in my ultrasound this morning when the baby was moving all over and I was feeling exactly what I was watching.  Yay! It’s really in there.

• Maternity Clothes:  Not yet, but probably this week I’ll be getting out the elastic-waisted stuff.  I’m not one to try to squeeze into my old stuff to the point of discomfort.  I’m definitely feeling my pants fit tighter around the waste and wanting to wear sweat pants more often.

• Goal for Next Week:  Catch up on school.  I’m about 3 weeks behind which is kind of a bummer. I’m gonna try to get into a regular practice of Pre-Natal yoga.  I’m hoping that now that I’m close to the 2nd trimester (is it this week or next week?) that my nausea will start to decrease and I can start to rejoin the human race.

Can you believe 2012 is right around the corner?  Yay or nay on resolutions? 

This is kind of a big one that will explain a lot about the “extra emotions” I’ve been feeling lately.

Yay!  We’re gonna have another little Z baby to add to the family!  I’m not quite out of the first trimester (I’ll be 10 weeks on Saturday), but I can’t keep it a cyber secret any longer…and I’m feeling good about letting the universe know so here is a big blog welcome to the 4th member of the family.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am right in the middle of pure Hell.  Don’t get me wrong, we are THRILLED beyond thrilled to have another baby.  We really wanted this and had been trying for several months so it’s a VERY good thing that we are extremely grateful for.  The Hell I am speaking of is the consistent worship of the porcelain God night after night, after blasted night.  I started puking multiple times a day before I even hit 6 weeks (which was even earlier than it started with PML) and during my last pregnancy, the perpetual carsickness and consistent loss of lunch and dinner lasted until I hit the 20 week mark.  (not to mention the 50 lbs I put on by the end of the pregnancy).

(Thumbs down for puke)

Needless to say, the second time around has been a little more difficult emotionally, just because I know the physical challenge ahead.  As well as “survival mode” turning me into a shadow of myself.  Luckily, I know this time is a season of my life and that it will end eventually, hopefully gifted me with a beautiful bundle of joy. I know that there are those mom’s out there who have had it as bad as me or worse, and I have to say, that actually makes me feel better because I keep reminding myself that I can get through this because other people have.  So, there’s that.

I also look at PML’s baby pics a lot.  It’s gets me really excited for another squishy, smiling, sack of flour baby.

Let’s talk about the fun stuff shall we?

It was so nice to see the little one today just to verify that I haven’t been suffering from 5 weeks of a terrible stomach bug and that there is, in fact, a wee babe in there worth all this sickness.

A couple of observations:

1. This baby was very still and had a good strong heart beat.  We were almost finished with the ultrasound and the baby hadn’t moved yet, and then suddenly he/she wiggled it’s arms and legs and it looked like it waved to us.  I actually waved at the screen, before I could catch myself and logically think, “Duh! The baby is in your body, not on the screen.”  This must be how Landon feel’s when I Skype him (He’s been with his grandma in Denver for a few days, while I lay on the floor and feel sorry for myself) and he wants me to hold him but I tell him that I’m in the computer and that I can’t give him a little hug.

2. When we went to PML’s 9/10 week ultrasound he was literally doing barrel rolls the entire ultrasound.  The doctor was having a hard time getting a picture of him because he was such a mover and shaker.  Kind of typical of his personality now, so I wonder if the ultrasound today is any indication that I am going to get a more calm second child.  I could be down with that.

Let’s talk health for a moment:

Ahem. (cough) So, this is kind of a health blog, right?  Umm, well I’d love to be the picture of pregnant health but actually I am surviving on McDonald’s, Coke, and Toaster Strudel’s at the moment.  I couldn’t keep down veggies if I wanted too.  How anti-evolutionary is that?  Everything I’ve ever read about the first trimester is about how important nutrition is, etc but I literally CANT eat healthy or I will probably puke so much I would be in the hospital.  I think “Natural Selection” is trying to weed my strand of genes out of the Human race.  It’s kind of a conundrum.

Advice please, if you have any?  What worked for you? (I know about ginger and it doesnt work for me anymore)

body shot from 7 wks, haven’t taken one this week yet. Obviously, any bump is pure bloat. lol.

Week 9

• Total weight gained:  2 lbs
• Workouts:  I ran a 5k on Thanksgiving and haven’t done a THING since.  I’m gonna bust out my prenatal yoga DVD this week to see if it helps my sickies.
• Cravings:  This is disgusting and embarrassing but McD’s Sausage McMuffin’s with Egg, Cheeseburgers, Coke. (I would NEVER eat that crap normally)…
• Aversions: Everything.  I can’t even look at food on blogs anymore.  So sad.
• Emotions: I cry at EVERYTHING. Yesterday it was because of these amazing break dancing kids on Ellen.  Then because of the protesting of Putin in Russia (!?!)   Seriously.  It’s kind of comical because I am not much of a crier in non-preganant land, but it’s like 20 times a day.  I remember being more of a witch when I was preg with Landon, this time I’m really tender.
• New Habit:  Cellphone Tetris and Scrabble.  It used to be Angry Birds, but I find that actually stresses me out and makes the nausea worse.
• Doctor Status:  I found a Dr I love but I HATE (yes, strong word) the receptionist.  She is the Devil.  It might be enough for me to leave the doc, but we’ll see.
• Baby Items Purchased:  Zip.  Already have stuff from #1, gonna wait to see what we are having (no way do I have the patience to wait) and then *maybe* get to stock up on girly baby things.
• Goal for Next Week:  Pre-Natal yoga.  Maybe try to keep the house clean (not totally committing to that…)

In other news, I cut 7 inches off my hair!

I still feel like I don’t look like myself, but the hair is SO MUCH more healthy.  It needed to happen.

And just in case this post wasn’t long enough for you, I am leaving you with some pics of Landon.  You tell me, is it Rushmore Academy or hipster toddler?

Phrases like “tender mercies,” rub me the wrong way.

(Bare with me here…) I’m sure it’s used in religious/secular cultures other than mine (LDS) and I’m sure the colloquialism started back long before I was around, but I started to notice it used by General Authorities in General Conference talks about a decade ago and now every Relief Society President, Visiting Teacher, random church member uses it to describe a moment when life sucks and then God throws you a bone.  Not a bad phrase, just totally overused…kind of like saying phrases like “knowing with every fiber of my being” and “beyond a shadow of a doubt,” along with expecting the Elder’s Quorum to organize and provide moving services for church members….(cough) Not exactly doctrine just weird things we do and say…I digress.

Unfortunately, “tender mercy” is the phrase that comes to mind when I think about what happened to me yesterday.  So poo-poo on me, I guess.  I can’t seem to come up with another phrase. (apparently my Mormon cultural heritage is too emblazoned on my psyche)

So here’s the thing…I’ve been having a rough go at it for a few weeks.

I think the whole nature of having a blog lends itself to being a bit of an emotional exhibitionist, which I’m cool with, but I have a very weak filter.  So when things are rough, I tend to not blog quite as much so that I don’t spew forth too much negativity or emotionally charged drivel into cyberspace.  But my deep-seated desire to keep it real is also pecking at me like an annoying wild chicken. (You know, those darn annoying wild chickens that are always showing up in strangest of places…)

Heh.

Anyway, today the sun came out.  Literally.  Its been a claustrophobic week of heavy fog and an unusually pungent dairy aroma in these parts.  Good news, Visalia is cheap and pretty.  Bad news, there are 20 dairies within 5 miles of my house.  Along with the other things going on (that I can talk about in a few weeks) I was slipping into a fairly negative place.

Now for that “tender mercy:”

So as I was saying, the sun came out, which was part of it.  It’s amazing what good sunshine will do for a person.  And, when mom is under the weather, PML watches WAY too much TV.  So I decided it was time for a trip to the library, Landon needed some new books before his brain rotted away from too much Dora the Explorer.  We headed downtown to our local library.  When we arrived, Landon was thrilled to see the wide hallways to sprint through and vaulted ceilings to hear his triumphant shrieking echo.  After me shushing his belted yell of gibberish for the 20th time, one librarian was getting a little annoyed and I could tell that her subtle look of disdain she shot when I brought my drink into the library (followed by the nasally staccato command  of “ma’am, you cant bring that in here”) had now turned into a bulldozer of judgement.  Beep, beep. Clearly she has never had a two year-old (or she has, but has deleted that portion of memory from her mind as only the occasional cold, un-empathetic, post-menopausal woman does…).  So I took that as my cue to rush him to the children’s section.

Once we were there, I was greeted by the warmest “Hello!” and chatty optimism of librarian number two.  She had just set up a very thoughtful display of Christmas books intertwined with twinkly lights and garland and made sure to point out that there were also beautiful Hanukkah and Kwanzaa books as well because, as she said, ” I don’t want anyone to feel left out.”

Me being in an already fragile, emotionally heightened state was probably visibly touched by this.   This is exactly the woman who should be in charge of the children’s books at the public library.

She was charmed by Landon’s tornado of enthusiasm for every book he grabbed off the shelf and yelled,”Oh mom! Firetruck!” “Oh wow PUPPY!” followed by the flippant toss of disregard for the book he loved seconds before.  Two year old’s work fast. I could hardly keep up with him.  After picking up 20 or so books, I took Landon down to the Christmas section.

The sweet librarian offered to set him up on a kiddie computer so he could play a coloring game while I picked out my favorite Christmas books for him.  While I marveled at the beautiful Christmas books, I experienced the warm nostalgia of the excitement I felt when my mom used to take us to the library to pick out books.  Staring at illustrations of “A Christmas Carol” and “The Polar Express,” I was in some warp zone between 1st grade girl and mom.   I was excited to revisit these magical stories of my youth and even more excited to share them with my son.

“Mom! I colored the puppy!” Landon yelled followed by applause for himself (we believe in lots of visible encouragement in our house).

Now I just needed to get “The Great Gatsby” for book club and get out of there.  I was not sophisticated enough to use the search function on the library computers, so I asked for a little help and the librarian quickly found the book and excitedly said, “Oh great!  It’s here!  You know what, why don’t you just stay here with him and I will go get it.”

Now, I am really choked up.  (heightened emotional state)  I had just had the thought of how disruptive it was going to be to drag Landon away from the computer to go to the adult section where everyone was quiet, and I think she realized what a pain that would be for me, too.

When she returned, smiling, she said, “Great news!  It looks like you are the first person to get to read this particular book.”  Strangely, I felt the way I imagine Landon feels when someone gives him a sticker.  “I also found this other book that complements the time period that I thought you might enjoy, and since you can check out 30 books I thought you might want to take it.”

I think the combination of this woman’s kindness, mixed with her clear happiness with her job and excitement for books, mixed with my excitement for sharing books with Landon, mixed with all the crap I’d been going through this last week, came together like the Matrix; where time stops for a second and water droplets are just suspended in space, and Keanu Reeves is in a half back-bend with a contorted expression on his face, and then somewhere in my mind’s eye, God dribbled a basketball over to me and said, “Girl, I got you.”

Tender mercy alert.

And even though I’m still going through what I’m going through, I felt a little better.  And that was enough.

(This post was written yesterday)

November 16th is a big freaking deal around here.  For two reasons.

#1–The Prime Minister officially entered the “terrible two’s” today.  (Even though he’s been showing signs that we might have already been experiencing something of that “terrible” sort mixed in with all the cuteness for a while now).  Turn back the clock two years and I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when I was 7 days over my due date and had to go in to the hospital to be induced on November 15th.  The drugs they gave me didn’t work and so my labor didn’t start until 8-9pm on the 15th and the little buddy arrived at 5:47 am on November 16th–which leads me to…

#2–Four years ago today, we decided we’d take the plunge together and start this whole family business for ourselves.  So yeah, two kind of big events for us. (This is the first year where I think we are really starting to look different from those people in the picture.  Maybe it’s having a 2 year-old.)

*photo by Nicole Hill Gerulat

I’m grateful for both of these great guys in my life.  And since I’m sure no one wants to see a monthly chronicle of our marriage, I will leave you with some of my favorite PML pics from his two years here on Earth.  I will warn you, it might make you baby hungry…I know I am.

Brand new baby…

Landon 6 weeks

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months photo by Mimi Karsh Narducci

Landon 6 months photo by Aaron Draper

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months by Aaron Draper

13 months

14 months

15 months

16 months

(For dance geeks…contra-check!)

17 months

18 months

19 months

20 months

21 months

22 months

Same day–still makes me want to cry…thank you Rod for suggesting we use a “1″ WITH THE CLIPPERS! (sigh…)

23 months

24 months

Oh boy that haircut really made him grow up.

A few milestones: (which I realize are probably going to sound very braggy…I apologize)

• He talks in sentences.
• If he really wants to get my attention, he calls me “Hilary.”
• He demands that Rod kisses me every time he leaves for work. (or else he cries)
• He’s very reasonable, as long I explain things to him in detail (and he’s not in a full blown tantrum).
• He has a puzzle of his name and knows all the letters. (not in order, yet)
• He yells really loud in public bathrooms so he can hear his echo.  All the strangers lo-oove that.
• He’s big into “helping.” He helps with the dishes, making eggs in the morning, and putting on his clothes and seat-belt and then usually cheers or high-fives afterwards.
• He says “thank you” always. (high kick!)  And if he wants something really bad (like fruit snacks or a toy) it’s usually “Please, thank you, you’re welcome” all at once.
• His friends are really important to him.  He would rather be hanging out with Luke, Noah, Diego, or Colton over almost anything else.
• He loves samples at Costco (who doesn’t?)
• Going to football games this fall was his favorite thing to do.  He would always yell “Go DOWNY!” or “B-Y-U” anytime anyone did anything, even though we never went to a BYU game.
• He sings songs and knows the words to so many it usually surprises me.
• Loves his tumbling class, Little Einsteins, Leap Frog, trains, trucks, cars, football, dancing, and will usually try to do sun salutations with me anytime I do yoga.  I think I’m on track for a Renaissance man.  I just need to work on his foreign language skills…(jk)…

As for our celebrating…that’s for another post…this one has been a monster.  Thanks for indulging me.

As I mentioned before, I’ve been trying to eat extra healthy before the holiday gluttony begins.  To update you on how that little “cleanse” is going…it’s going ok.  I did have a few chocolate chip cookies and indulged with some treats that Annie made over the weekend, but for the most part as long as I’m home, I’m doing pretty well.  I’ve definitely curbed the candy addiction for now.  I just have an appetite to boot.

I wanted to have something filling and “comfort” food-esque, so I came up with the idea of a gluten-free/vegan Butternut Squash Dal accompanied with millet and broccoli.  It’s savory, creamy, and filling.  You can imagine the thrill of excitement I felt from the males in my life when I announced that this was the dish for dinner.  Suprisingly, they both ate it and didn’t complain.  I consider that a victory.

I decided it would be nice for the blog about halfway in to preparing it… so I don’t have pics of the first few steps…(oh, and please forgive the blurry iPhone photography…)

Butternut Squash Dal (Gluten Free/Vegan)

Print this Recipe!

(Serves 4-6) Prep time 10 minutes. Cook time 4 hours.

Ingredients

• 1 cup red lentils
• 1/2 cup green lentils
• 1 1/2 cups cubed butternut squash (about 1″ cubes)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1-2 tbsp coconut or olive oil

In a pan on medium heat, saute onion, garlic and red bell pepper in oil for 5 minutes, until edges of onions begin to brown.  Then add saute mixture to crock-pot.

Rinse lentils and add lentils and broth to the vegetable mixture in the crock-pot.

Next, add a can of coconut milk.

Oops, don’t forget the butternut squash…

Cook on high for 2 hours, stirring occasionally (not absolutely necessary if you have to leave to run errands or whatever…).  Then turn it down to low and cook for a remaining 2-3 hours.

Cooking Tip: (This part is going to sound crazy).  Once mixture is cooked, turn off crock-pot and add the frozen peas.  The Dal is usually at an ungodly temperature and the peas will help to cool it down slightly while the already hot mixture will cook the peas…but not beyond recognition.  I also don’t add salt to my Dal until I serve it.  I find that I use less than I otherwise would.

Add the Dal over cooked millet, quinoa, or brown rice.  Sprinkle with fresh parsley, Herbamare, and cayenne pepper (if you want a kick).

And since this kind of dish is always better on day 2–make enough for leftovers.  I used Caitlin’s method for freezing brown rice to freeze my millet in the zipper baggies.

Do you like Dal?  Or is this kind of thing totally out of your comfort zone?  What are your cooking tips for healthy comfort food?

Remember that LA trip I took a few weeks ago and then didn’t blog about it?  Here is one blog-worthy moment I almost forgot to post (Sorry about blurry  Iphone pics…)

I was staying in my friends Mimi and Mike’s guest room in Hermosa Beach.  Rod and I attended their beautiful Palm Springs wedding last May.  I love weddings, and this was probably the most gorgeous wedding I’d ever been too.

Well, it looks like Destination Weddings Magazine thought so, too.  I was staying with Mimi when her magazine copy came in the mail.  It was kind of a “Sex and the City” moment (one of the more recent seasons, like when Charlotte got her announcement in NYTimes…only Mimi wasn’t nitpicking, of course.)

Two page spread!  We were definitely freaking out about that.

Oh, Bridemaids baby!

These two really are a gorgeous couple (on the inside and outside).

And look who was waiting for me when I got back from work at 2:30 am one night.  That’s right, Indiana Jones and Luke Skywalker with their weapons drawn, welcoming me back from my long work day.  (Shout out to Mike)

Ah, memories

Guess who’s turning 2 this week?

My little buddy is definitely a little boy now.

Landon and I both woke up a little sick with a head cold this morning.  Drat.  However, it’s been a nice day of snuggling and laundry.

We cannot get enough of these…

He would seriously eat 20 if I would let him.  (One of these days I’m going to get some pictures on my walls…)

I’ve been trying to prepare good “refrigerator” meals this week.  It’s just easier to eat healthy when I plan ahead and always have good “leftovers” on hand.  Soups are always better the next day so I made some Potato Corn Chowder last night and am chowing down today.  Potatoes, leeks, garlic, onions, celery, thyme, and lots of corn straight off the cob.

Tonight I am going to prepare some lentils in the crock-pot and some millet or quinoa (I haven’t decided yet…how adventurous of me, I know).

Random side note:  pomegranate’s are totally not worth the effort.  I know, I know, they are delicious, full of nutrients and a “superfood.”  But, SERIOUSLY, it takes 15 minutes to get the seeds out of one little pomegranate, by the end I’ve undoubtedly stained my shirt with the juices, and it only yields about a half of a cup of seeds.

But it sure is pretty.

Am I missing some quick way to do this?  Does anyone know how to gut a pomegranate in under 3 minutes?  I’d love to do a tutorial on this with some inside info.

Health Tip: Use Sunday night as a time to meal plan…you will feel so much better about your trip to the grocery store on Monday with a roster of meals in front of you.  Hit up the Recipe Page to try out some new ones. (I highly recommend the Harvest Soup).

I’ve been doing a bit of a cleanse since I overdosed on sugar during Halloween. My goal is to have 60% of my plate veggies with the rest split between adequate protein, carbs, and good fats.  I’m also limiting dessert to the occasional square of dark chocolate/piece of fruit for the next week and then I’ll renegotiate.  I usually eat a lot of veggies, but I also get in ruts where I eat a lot of sweets too…

So far the day looks like this:

Breakfast

Before I ate the scramble I drank 12-16 ounces of water.

Then I downed a zucchini, onion, and green bell pepper scramble topped with Herbamare, nutritional yeast, black pepper, and the new love of my life…goat cheese.  Usually dairy is something to avoid when cleansing, but goat cheese is very mild on the system so I decided to go for it this morning. Really good.  Print this recipe.

Lunch

For lunch I had leftovers from my Peruvian Quinoa Soup with some fresh avocado (a bacon avocado that can be eaten with the skin on…the farmer’s market lady told me this, hopefully she’s right).

So far so good. I’ve also been drinking coconut water kefir and find that works wonders for digestion.  Meal planning and chopping veggies ahead of time has been essential for me, so that it’s easier to throw some veggies in a pan and cook it up if I’m in a hurry.

It’s helped to have my little Family Farm Fresh basket delivering fresh produce to the door.  PML thinks its really fun too, even though he looks rather bewildered in this photo.

Time to clean the house…oh joy!

Question:  What do you do to cleanse?  How often?

I saw this little challenge on that new, amazing vortex of social networking craftiness called Pinterest.  Since we’re already a week into November…I’m a little behind. I’ve been having a hard time getting back into the swing of blogging since the whole LA trip a few weeks ago.  Those crazy momentum shifts.  I used to always notice that growing up, after a school break or a vacation, things seemed slightly different.  Now that I’ve started nutrition school, I’m spending nap time doing homework.  It’s been a bit of an adjustment, a good one that I am grateful for, but still, an adjustment.  I’m still trying to find the pace of blogging that is authentic to me.  You know, not just blogging because “I HAVE to blog today” to meet whatever self-inflicted deadline I’ve set for myself.   So, I’m still figuring that out.  Bear with me.

On to a few simple things I am grateful for:

Amtrak.  Not because I use this mode of transit often, but because Landon had one of the biggest moments of his life when we decided to head up to Modesto early for the Friday night football game and Rod decided to take the train to save on gas and so we could ride home together.  We went to the platform early so we could see the train arrive and PML hasn’t stopped talking about it since.

He was sad to see the train drive away.  As the train sounded the familiar “choo-choo” and started chugging away, Landon stood on the edge of the yellow “do not cross” line, pushed onto his tippy-toes, and with his arms straight and belly button forward yelled “All Aboard!!!” with the same gusto that Jack in “Titanic” yelled, “I’m the King of the World!”  Followed by his sweet toddler, quiet voice, “Bye, choo choo train.”

It’s also been a little chilly in the Central Valley.  I love Fall here because it’s cold enough for soup and hot chocolate, but I don’t have to break out the parka.  I’ve finally sent the candy to the freezer (thanks for the idea Alycia) and to work with the husband (thanks Kady) and so I’m doing my post-Halloween healthy food cleanse.  This is the Peruvian Quinoa Soup from Body Ecology.  I broke that book out a few days ago when I made Harvest Soup and have been cooking my way through the recipes again.  Such a good book.

Have you ever heard of the Eastern idea that your food is infused with the energy of the person who prepared it?  If you are negative then that goes into the food, or visa versa.  With this idea, you could see the importance of mindfulness while you cook (and also the reason to avoid packaged food).  I doubt this is scientifically proven, but I like the idea.  When I made this massive soup today and chopped a thousand veggies for it, I tried to think loving thoughts about myself, my food, my family and all the reasons I was fortunate to prepare it.  Obviously, I’m not perfect and this isn’t something I’m usually conscious about when I cook ,but I noticed I enjoyed the experience and now I’m THAT much more excited to eat the soup.  Thoughts?