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happy 1st blogiversary

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Jen

One year ago today, I wrote my very first blog post!  It was a very short post, but it was the start…

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Over the past year, I have had a great time blogging about everything from healthy eating to fitness apparel to my travels to my pregnancy.  It has been fun to get to know others in the blogging community who share similar interests.

I can’t wait to see what this next year holds. 🙂  Thank you for sticking with me and reading my blog!

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The past week, my meals have been very simple.

There has been a lot of this…

A lot of these…

And, a lot of these pumpkin muffins that I burnt to a crisp. 🙂

I love fall!

We did whip up one delicious dinner, however.

Lentil Almond Stir-fry.

This is one of my favorite meals.  It is so simple, but the flavors work together so so well.  I would make it every week…it’s that good!

The only change that I made, was the addition of radishes from our CSA.

And, to make a simple recipe even simpler, I used the pre-cooked Black Beluga Lentils from Trader Joe’s.

Topped with the delicious mint and yogurt sauce…this was a hit!

And, a slice of warm bread on the side.  Perfect. 🙂

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Filed under: Eating Laps, Recipes | Tagged: , , , , | 4 Comments »

allandale farm csa, the final week

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Jen

I can’t believe our CSA is over!!  It was an awesome experience and I loved picking up our produce at the farm each week, but…it was a pretty annoying drive to and from each week.

To me, it was worth it because we received fresh, locally grown produce each week and we were able to create meals and recipes from those.  I used to look through my cookbooks and decide what we were going to make during the week, then buy everything that I needed.  But, by just winging it instead, we have saved so much money!  Instead of just picking up what we need for a certain meal, we created a meal with what we had.  We used more pantry items and created delicious, simple dinners that would fit into anyone’s budget.

I’m sad to see it end, but hopefully we’ll find one closer next year!

Most items that we received this week will last for weeks ahead, such as squashes, onions and garlic.

Apples

Mesclun Mix

Mustard Greens

Carnival Squash

Acorn Squash

Carrots

Onions

Arugula

Radishes

Turnips

Garlic

And…a Carving Pumpkin!!

I can’t wait to carve a pumpkin (and roast the seeds) this weekend!!

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happy birthday to me!

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Jen

Yesterday was a big day for me – I turned the big 3-0!

Don’t mind the half eaten cake!  We forgot to snap photos before digging in. 🙂  It was delicious chocolate cake (my favorite!) from Party Favors!  Yum.

We celebrated with a low-key weekend with family.  It was great!

On Saturday morning, Brant took me out for breakfast to The Friendly Toast in Cambridge.

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I loved the atmosphere of this old school diner and the very extensive menu!

I started with a coconut hot chocolate.

And, ordered the Huevos Rancheros for my meal.  It was delicious!  A thick slice of anadama bread with avocado, poached eggs, melted cheddar and homemade salsa.

Brant ordered the Mexican Mash, which also looked great!  Mashed potatoes, eggs and sausage with cheddar chipotle toast.  Yum!

We will definitely be back for the laid back atmosphere, the great prices and the amazing milkshakes I heard about. 🙂

Filed under: Eating Laps, Restaurant Reviews | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

i’m pregnant, week 18

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Jen

Now that everyone knows that my husband and I are expanding our family and adding a little one to the bunch, I thought it would be fun for me to document my pregnancy on the blog.  This will mostly be for my own benefit, but hopefully some of you will enjoy it as well. 🙂

My plan is to recap every so often, just to give a little update, post some pictures and document my pregnancy.

It is crazy to me that I am already 18 weeks!  That first trimester did seem to drag a bit with feeling sick, but since then, it has flown by!  I have been feeling great!  I have more of an appetite and much more energy than those first few months.

Week 15 belly shot:

My belly is definitely growing…and my pants don’t fit!  At first, this was definitely hard for me to deal with, but now I feel great!

Week 17 belly shot:

With each doctor’s appointment, we get more and more excited.  Hearing the heartbeat, seeing the ultrasounds and talking about the next few months!

Sleeping the last week or so has already been a little harder.  I can no longer sleep on my stomach, so every time I move, I basically wake up.  I can’t imagine what it will be like in a few months. 🙂

I have been eating similar meal sizes, but seem to snack a bit more now.  My favorites this month have been oatmeal and chocolate milk!

As you’ve seen in my last few posts, I am eating a lot of protein and also making sure to get ample amounts of fats, carbs and other important nutrients.  The baby is growing!

I am almost halfway through! 🙂

Filed under: Eating Laps | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

getting enough protein

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Jen

I said before that I am more conscious about my protein intake now.  I don’t necessarily think that I am eating more protein, but I am just more conscious about getting it into every meal/snack that I eat these days.

Yesterday, I decided to roughly count up the protein that I was eating to give myself a better idea of how much I was really eating.  Well, apparently I have nothing to worry about!  Some days are definitely more protein filled than others, but I think it all evens out.

For breakfast, I was craving chocolate milk.  In fact, I think I have my first pregnancy craving, because all I want to eat/drink is chocolate milk!

Instead of having a glass of chocolate milk, I decided to make a chocolate smoothie for more of a filling breakfast.

In the mix:

  • 1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt
  • 3/4 cup 1% milk
  • 1 banana
  • 4 tbsp chocolate hemp protein powder
  • 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
  • 1.5 tbsp of peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp flax seeds
  • 1 tsp spirulina
  • handful of ice cubes

The chocolate hemp powder is very chocolately, so this was delicious!

Protein = about 30 grams

For lunch, I made up a tuna sandwich to bring with me to work.

Enjoyed along with an apple and a yogurt.

I love Siggi’s yogurt, but it is way to expensive for me to buy every week.  Luckily, it was on sale last week, so I picked up a few!

Protein = about 48 grams

Mid-afternoon, I was hungry!  So, I snacked on the only thing in my purse, a granola bar.

Protein = about 8 grams

Once home, I was more than ready for dinner, so we whipped up something super quick:

Veggie Burger with Sweet Potato Fries and a Salad

Yum!

Protein = about 30 grams

Seeing the numbers on paper really helped me realize that I am getting enough protein for this baby without even really thinking about it.  I guess I am doing ok!

Total Protein for the day = about 116 grams

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