Still chugging along. Feel better after an evening popsicle! Thank you guys so much for your words of encouragement. Makes me wonder if I should have just told you all along…but you never know (still don’t..)

I worked at the bakery till after dark, but luckily due to the weather I drove my auto, so I was home and dry in a few minutes.

I had a glass of milk as a snack. Trying to get in more protein and our protein options at the bakery are limited to almond butter and milk (and whole grain bread if you count that).

It actually tasted so refreshing!

Website is coming along.

Here is one of our recent ads in our local paper, Cville. A full page for Valentine’s! We have great success with these ads – people coming in all week and commenting on them. Note my photography : )

Dinner tonight came courtsey of Matt’s mom and his mom’s mom! Motherhood in da house. Karen, bless her, has been very helpful making us a few dinners. We had ravioli, meatloaf and mac and cheese this week. I’m having some trouble with eating, but I have very little desire to cook, so having something I can just bake off is so helpful. Raw ingredients are so unappealing! Thanks Karen!!

She made us Gran Bett’s Mac-A-Roni-And-Cheese! [Pronounced in a deep Southern accent!] It’s old fashioned and loaded with milk, eggs, cheese and butter. But boy did it taste good!

See those? Vegetable du jour!! I ate ‘em all! Roasted them along with the mac in the oven with a twist of lime juice and salt (seasonings would have been too much).

Matt and I just finished Season 2 of LOST. HOLY COW!!!! What is going on!?!

I enjoyed that popsicle after dinner. I think it made me feel the best I did all day! These are an all-fruit kind I found at WF.

Can’t believe it’s so late already – but again, we’ve been glued to the tube. I can’t wait for summertime when our evenings will be spent going on walks and playing outside.

Or will they!?

Today has not been as good as the rest of the days this past week in terms of nausea. I skipped my medicine at lunch (because I was out and went straight to the bakery) and started to feel it coming on by dinnertime. It’s rather remarkable to think about, really.

Our Great Harvest website was not designed by choice – one of the few franchise rules is that you have to use their website if you want to use Great or Harvest in your URL (to protect the company). I really, really don’t like our website! But the GREAT news is that GH recently switched partnering companies and that means a new site – with a lot more freedom! Not as much as building a site on WordPress would have been, but a big improvement in creativity and usability. So I spent the afternoon working on the new site.

And munching on apples! Also sipping hot tea. I have been so cold today! Matt buys apples for the employees to munch on as a healthy snack. I like that because it means I know I have healthy snacks at the bakery now too! [Nevermind the bite of scuffin that I also consumed..]

I walked back on home just as it was getting dark and pondered “what’s for dinner.” When I go grocery shopping I always make sure to have enough protein, carbs, veggies and garnishes, but I rarely actually plan the meals. I let my cravings of the day put them together for me. Tonight turned into shrimp + millet = shrimp n grits!

I made the millet in the rice cooker – BRILLIANT! It worked beautifully on the quick cooking setting. Like even more perfect than my stove-top versions. For flavor, we stirred in PIMENTO CHEESE! Let it melt in there. So good! If only I had some coconut milk and coconut butter – that’s my next millet meal!

On the side we sautéed some frozen/thawed shrimp along with a green pepper and some of the leftover black bean + corn dip from the Super Bowl (BTW, I always write “souper” now! Too many jokes on that!)

And now, ladies and gentlemen, you know why I have been putting yogurt on everything!! Not that I didn’t do it often before, but a savory meal just doesn’t seem complete without it now.

Planning a small bowl of ice cream later on. Ice cream is one of those things where I always use a tiny bowl and it really helps with portions. Half a cup in a regular cereal bowl is just not right!

Time for us to get lost!

Today was so fun! It felt like a field trip from my regular blog schedule! Thank you all again for all of your sweet words.

So here’s what was going on behind the scenes all day –

Breakfast

Cereal in da house!

A big base of greek yogurt topped with Morning O’s, grapes, blueberries, chia seeds, Cville Cluster crumbs and WF peanut butter.

And tea on the side. Did you notice all of my dessert teas disappeared? I didn’t run out – tea has just not been appealing. Or at least the kind I was so into before pregnancy. Now I’m into Earl Gray and Lipton and the occasional peppermint – like today. But that’s it. I don’t really have a taste for coffee either, but I’ve had a few (mostly decaf – except when I forgot to declare decaf to the barista!]

After breakfast I worked on post #2 and then headed to Pump Challenge.

Two exciting things happened there:

#1 my friend Lindsey, who happens to be 34 weeks pregnant, said she said me walking around the track before class started and noticed a pregnant belly and then looked at my face and saw it was me! Showing – bloat or not – indeed.

#2 I made a new friend. Hi Lara! She congratulated me on the news – had just read before class!

We did NOT get to hear Rihanna today, but I did do a killer set of chest flies that I imagine will have me sore tomorrow. I’ve been skipping out on abs since my 7.5 week cramping scare, so I left swiftly and came home.

Lunch

Breakfast kept me full for hours (and I was so busy reading comments!) that I didn’t eat lunch until about 1:30.

Burger time!

It wasn’t until after I finished my No Bull burger that I realized they are lentil based and I liked it! I guess I just can’t have lentil soup right now.

I topped the burger with some leftover pimento cheese from the super bowl and greens – more for photography than for appetite, but I ate them all! Served on a Great Harvest Virginia Potato Bun : )

On the side – fruit! My latest lunch side item. Fruit is delicious.

Grapes + grapefruit. So different, yet so alike.

This afternoon Karen came over with a surprise – two maternity outfits!! She said she got excited after reading my post this morning They are both stylish and cute – a tunic, leggings, a flowy shirt and some cropped khakis. For our San Diego trip in a few weeks! I don’t really need maternity clothes yet, but the pants are sure comfy and the shirts flattering.

Snack

I only did this because I can now Ice cream for a snack!

In all seriousness, there are much worse snack options than Breyers All Natural. With a simple ingredient list, 120 calories per half cup, and protein, fat and sugar amounts that are not unreasonable, I can think of much worse things to eat. Of course I can think of much better too, but that’s not my point Mix this with some milk to up the protein and “dilute” the density of the sugar + cream, and you have yourself a delicious calcium + protein rich snack.

Dinner

Dinner was both tasty and delicious!

I think I’ve mentioned before that I am just not a pasta person. I mean, it’s good, but I have much stronger emotions towards bread and oatmeal than I do pasta. But things have changed! Pasta almost always sounds good to me now – even with veggies involved. And of course with goat cheese!

I found this goat cheese pasta next to the goat cheese in Whole Foods. It had a big “local” tag on it and I found that it is from Silver Spring, Maryland. 6 minutes in a pot and dinner is served!

I added a cup of frozen edamame for more protein in the last 2 minutes of cooking, a nice side of herb salad for greenery (which I ate!) and of course a sprinkling of goat cheese, which melted nicely on top. Black pepper to taste!

The raviolis were great! Very pesto-y!

Note the giant bottle of sparkling water!! And the Izze-esque I had for cocktail hour.

I asked Matt to share his emotions of fatherhood with you all and this was the face he chose. I think there are elements of joy, pride and fear in there!

Or maybe he was just really excited to watch a few episodes of LOST after dinner!!

Because that’s where we’re headed now!

Fun times with Sara + Juan tonight!!! We went over to their house (our house!) to watch the game on their big TV.

But clearly the highlight was our spread of foods. I’m stuffed!

I made a bean, corn, tomato, jalapeno salad to take. Seasoned with Southwestern seasoning (so handy – coming to OpenSky this week), lime juice and salt.

AND I made Ashley’s Chocolate Greek Yogurt dip – probably the easiest, healthiest chocolate dessert there is.

Sara had her magical quartet of dips again (this time with pimento cheese!!)

Plus her famous salad.

Sara’s Whipped Balsamic Dressing

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tsp agave nectar (or maple syrup)
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste (a big pinch of each)
• Italian seasoning to taste (a big pinch)

This dressing can certainly be mixed by hand, but the KEY giving it the wonderful fluffy, creamy texture is using a Magic Bullet or blender to froth it together! Will keep in the fridge for 5-7 days (and will hold emulsion!)

We also had a tier of healthy foods

And pizza!!!!

Plus homemade guacamole and Great Harvest cookies.

I ate way too much in the first quarter and then nibbled on the desserts in the third. Still full! It was a good night for sprawling on the couch. Tomorrow I will eat less!

That was actually a really good football game!! I was nervous for both teams in the end.

I thought the commercials were pretty meh. What happened to the days when each one tried to top the next with humor, wit and surprise!? The days of the Bud-wize-er frogs? Those were the glory days. Tonight’s commercials were full of obvious humor with only a few clever twists. My favorite was the Bud Prohibition one. I love vintage themed commercials

And the polar bears!? I didn’t even understand them half the time.

Thought the halftime show was OK – Madonna was good (mostly at the end), but I would have liked a lot more diversity of artists and song styles. A big mash-up.

Going to chug water and get in my warm bed!

Very short post for you tonight because none of my photos turned out. Go read about chocolate instead!

The above photo actually did turn out though – because we went to a rockin’ dance party at our neighbors’ and that’s what it was like! Our neighbors are actually the coolest “adults” we have ever met. And so were all of their friends! Matt and I didn’t end up breakin’ it down, but we did make a bunch of new friends.

We nibbled on some amazing dips and crackers, guac and chips and grapes at the party.

For a light dinner before we left, we shared a big bowl of leftover salad –

And I tried the latest flavor of Siggi’s I picked up at Whole Foods today! Sadly it was not what I was hoping for. It’s very high in fat (coconut + 2% yogurt) so it’s pretty calorie dense despite being low in sugar (200 calories per container) but it was not the thick, creamy treat I was hoping for. Instead it was runny and tasted more like vanilla than coconut. Not worth the premium cost, but it was filling. Blueberries + chia seeds made it more fun.

Debating a LOST – or perhaps some Hunger Games before bed!

Firrrrrrrrrrst Friday!!!!!

That means we go downtown, check out some art, eat some cheese, drink some wine and play.

It was a gorgeous evening – cold enough for a winter jacket but warm enough to ditch the gloves.

I met up with Hillary and Matt [who walked from the bakery] and we went to our favorite gallery – Second Street – to find a new watercolor exhibit.

My favorite piece was this one [photograph permission granted]. The artist used masks on many of the pieces and the detail was almost photo-like.

Second Street always has amazing nibbles

We filled up on pimento cheese and veggies, and this incredible lemon goat cheese dip from Greenwood Grocery. Must replicate!

Plus some popcorn and cheese straws!

Our next stop was to The Garage, which is literally a tiny garage in the middle of downtown that opens up for art and music.

We gazed at glittering photographs

Sipped some vino

And nibbled grapes!

Hillary had never been to Positively 4th Street (informally known in our family as P4th now) so we took her there for the ambiance and local food

Beers around!

In the spirit of my crabcakes from Duners, I ordered the Crabcake Sandwich. Sadly, there was little lump meat between the buns – only the stringy stuff. Hope it wasn’t the lungs!! (And if you’ve had fresh crabs, you know what I mean!) The second half tasted better without the bun. Asparagus on the side was delicious! Does that mean it’s springtime?

I also spied Matt’s French fries and traded him an asparagus spear or two for a couple. Fair trade indeed!

Appetizers and dinner left me pretty full, but I wanted something sweet and ended up with a tiny little Bambino cone from Splendora’s full of Hazelnut. The PERFECT size for a tiny bit of sweet after dinner!

And I’ll end with this photo that Matt took that I found neat. I love how the focus is on the middle of the wallet.

Happy weekend!

Just as I was walking out the door to go to the bakery this afternoon, I thought “What’s for dinner?”

We had chicken sausage and No Bull Burgers, plus a handful of freezer + pantry foods we could use. But the chicken sausage caught my attention as being perishable and therefore high priority. And what goes well in a gumbo-ish dish? RICE!

60 seconds later, rice and water were in the cooker and the timer was set for 6pm. I’m really liking this thing more than I thought I would!

Convenience food at its finest. This made me so happy when I walked in the door to smell it nearly done!

To complete the 10 minute dinner, we simmered up a tomato-based sausage dish:

• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 diced chicken sausages
• 1 green pepper
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• Southwestern seasoning
• Red pepper flakes
• Cooked together for 10 minutes until thickened and bubbly.

Served over a bed of hot sticky brown rice

And garnished with none other than the world’s best sauce: yogurt [since this meal was mildly fiesta-like!]

And a sprinkling of cayenne and smoked paprika

Tasty!

We are chugging along through Lost Season II. Matt has a hilarious set of impressions of the characters – I will have to record him doing them. Tonight’s episode was another game changer. I would like to know why when they have encounters they don’t ASK MORE QUESTIONS!

My other evening entertainment – Catching Fire – is also getting quite good. There was a time in my life [mostly when I was in school full time both the first and second round] where I rarely watched TV or read books because any free time was spent reading nonfiction and writing papers. At the end of every semester I would cram in some fiction before the new one began. I swore to myself once my RD was finished, I would become a reader again. And I’ve kept my word. Every day I look forward to getting in bed at night with my book.

Flying there now!

The word fiesta is overused in the Mexican food world (by me all the time) so I feel like it doesn’t have much weight here.

BUT THIS WAS A FIESTA!

Hillary came over tonight because we wanted to watch LOST she had a new recipe to try. She had these wontons filled with a festive mixture last weekend and looked up the recipe. Coincidentally MamaPea made a very similar dish today!

Hillary’s version was super easy.

She started with Nasoya wontons and put them in mini muffin cups

Then we made a mixture of a can of black beans, about 4 ounces of grated cheddar, 1/2 a can of corn, a whole chopped tomato, a whole de-seeded and chopped jalapeno and some Southwestern spice seasoning. All mixed up.

Then we filled the cups –

And baked at 400* for 9 minutes. No more, no less!

SOOOO delicious!

So fun to eat!

Especially when I topped each one with a little guac and greek yogurt! Gah those garnishes make everything right.

We had roasted sweet potatoes on the side (400* for about 20 minutes tossed in olive oil, cinnamon, salt and cayenne)

And an array of salsas and chips – if we were still hungry! [We were – just a little]

After 2 episodes of LOST (Matt got home just in time!), Hillary brought out a papaya (themed appropriately for the tropical series!) and I brought out my neglected Cacao Bliss chocolate coconut butter and we had an amazing dessert!

Hillary tossed the papaya in lime juice first. I had never had it at home, and boy was this good! Very refreshing and pretty healthy on the dessert spectrum.

Headed up to bed – my next series [The Hunger Games Catching Fire] has lured me in as well. I’ve been reading an hour a night for the past 3 nights!

Matt’s coming home late, so Karen [my mother-in-law] and I buddied up this afternoon. First we went on a glorious hour-long walk in the nice weather [replacing the planned dark movie theater], then we dressed up and went out to dinner. Even though we all three go out together frequently, whenever one of us is busy, Matt and I always say to the other “You should go out with your mom/Karen while I’m gone!” It’s nice to have good company on a lonely night. Note that Matt also likes to go out with some guys and fill up on chicken wings and beer when I’m busy

Our restaurant of choice was Duner’s. In the year and a half I’ve lived here, this has been at the top of my restaurant list. Everyone is always saying “Have you eaten at Duner’s yet!?” It requires an automobile to get to though, so it’s taken me this long to get out! [Also they don’t take reservations, which makes weekend visits more challenging.] Thankfully we had no trouble getting a table on a Tuesday.

Can you judge a restaurant by its bread!? If so, we knew this dinner was off to a great start. There is nothing worse than cold bread in a basket (esp if it’s the dry kind that hurts your mouth) and this was hot AND doughy and delicious!

Also loved that house salads were included with our entrees. Makes the price tag more reasonable. And I just love multi-course meals. And the olives that came on this!

For my entrée, I had the crabcakes with mashed potatoes and cole slaw.

The crabcakes were AMAZING! My Maryland blood gave them four thumbs up. Perfectly lumpy with minimal additives inside.

The mashed reds were good too – an interesting combo with crab, but good nonetheless. I didn’t care for the onion-y slaw, but Karen loved it.

This meal was really filling, and I actually felt to full for dessert. More restaurants should offer a single chocolate truffle or spoon of ice cream for dessert.

Instead, we nibbled after dinner mints from my purse.

We were lucky to be invited to our friends Sara + Juan’s house for dinner tonight. We haven’t seen them since Christmas and we missed them!

What’s super cool is that we became friends because they rented our rental Craftsman after us, so tonight was like going home for dinner!

I offered to bring a pot of brown rice to go with Sara’s salmon + salad. Of course I had to jump at the chance to use the new rice cooker!

I didn’t know how long it would take to cook, but I put 2 cups of Lundburg Short Grain Brown Rice (my favorite of all kinds) in and set the time so it would be ready at 5:30. That timer feature is priceless! I saw that it had turned on around 3:45, so it definitely took ages to cook.

But when it finally sung a song to tell me it was ready, I checked the results. Perfect sticky brown rice!

I also made a batch of Mmmm Sauce to go with! Having it at Hillary’s last week hooked me on the sauce over rice. I rarely make sauces in my Vita-mix. I have a fear of contaminating my smoothie maker with garlic and oil. I washed it extra sudsy, but I’m still scared my next smoothie is going to taste like curry…

When we got to Sara + Juan’s, Sara had put out this lovely spread of pita chips and dips.

We could not keep from munching – I probably ate a full cup of that olive cream cheese spread in the front she got at whole foods. Soooo good! (And we were hungry!)

We tested out Sara + Juan’s 3D TV – cool stuff!!

We also sipped coconut drinks – I forgot the brand, but it was a coconut fizzy probiotic drink Sara got to whole foods as well. I have to hunt this down!

Dinner was excellent.

Salmon lightly poached in Dr. Pete’s Praline Mustard Glaze. Mmmmm!

Plus a goat cheese + walnut salad with Sara’s homemade Magic Bullet balsamic. I will get this recipe from her soon! Might have to contaminate the blender for that one too…

Unfortunately something was off in the Mmmm Sauce. It only gets two Mms. I think my almonds might have been stale, or perhaps the roasted garlic oil I used (a free sample) threw off my palate. Hillary’s was better! I blame the cook (ahem, me).

To end our night, Matt and I brought a smuggled Chocolate Bliss cookie from the bakery.  We only made 18 of these today in a test batch and they were sold in no time. Luckily Matt swiped one for us. It was INCREDIBLE!!!!!! Like a brownie batter cookie. I can’t wait to have it again! We’ll be making them everyday in February. I had my own cookie piece, but Matt and I shared some milk. Haven’t had cookies n milk in ages!

Tucked into our new house now (which we like for totally different reasons from our dear Craftsman)