Life: busy week and low-key weekend

This past week was a busy but accomplished week. I finished the work I planned to do on  Thursday so Friday at work was pretty low key. I met with a friend for lunch and did some research on pension. I thought I was the only one among my friends who didn’t think about pension nor did any planning for that. It turned out that I was actually the first one who did research on that topic. All of them just put some extra $$ into the saving and called it pension planning. Sigh… I read a book, attended two seminars, read all the FAQ, materials about available options for us, a non-american non resident no-tax payer, a special group of people indeed.

Food-wise, I continued with macro dinners. My body enjoys simple food these days. Meat sounds gross to me so I didn’t force.

brown rice, tofu, cabbage-wakeme, seaweed salad, tahini-lemon sauce

lunch at Le Pain Quotidien: french lentil salad with chickpeas and avocado

Saturday: instead of pancake I made waffles

made with 1/4 cup buckwheat pancake mix, 1/4 cup pumpkin, 1 egg + 1 egg white, 1/4 cup almond milk. PB2 sauce and maple syrup.

Groceries haul from Tj’s and WF:

• organic kale x2 (obsessed with kale!)
• organic collard greens
• banana
• organic pear
• melon
• organic zucchini
• organic cherry tomato
• carrots

• chickpeas
• mushrooms
• organic eggs
• coconut creamer
• soy yogurt
• organic romaine
• almond milk

New product: Whole Rye Bread. I haven’t bought bread for a long time. I saw this bread a while ago and really wanted to try it. It’s a rather dense, rich, chewy bread, very filling. 

We went shopping and got a swim suit for Sofia. I have an upcoming training and I will bring mom and Sofia with me. The hotel has a heated pool, so Sofia will be entertained.

Sunday:

5:45 am Morning pumping session still in place. As much as I enjoy providing milk for Sofia, I don’t enjoy getting up so early EVERY SINGLE DAY!

maybe I should drop this pumping session because I’m still in surplus, at least 8 oz. per day. There’s not enough space in the mini freezers to store them anymore! Sigh… I should be grateful and not “complaining”. But you know… somedays you really want to sleep-in.

A savory breakfast: new bread toasted + poached egg + LC + mashed avocado

pilling up more avocado

Made baby food #1: aduki bean + banana

#2: kabocha + avocado + baby oatmeal

Made a dessert for me: aduki coconut mousse

the usual suspect for lunch

followed by a decaf cappuchino with almond milk while someone was playing by her own

then I fed her with golden liquid

no more milk-comma but still a bit sleepy

but wakes up right away when I put her down onto the new mat

I got her soft tiles to form this gigantic play mat

she’s really happy playing on it with all her toys!

A low-key weekend but enjoyable nonetheless.

Food: breakfast and lunch

Last week I’ve been specially careful on eating well and taking pics of the food because I’m approaching the 20 weeks mark (this Wednesday):shock:, and I need to get the nutrients delivered to the baby. I’ve started to track my food intake to make sure that I get enough protein, calcium and iron since they are super important for baby’s development, and because if I don’t remind myself, I’d miss these nutrients. I’m not vegetarian but my natural preference is toward vegetables and whole grains, therefore making sure to get 70-100g of protein everyday is a challenge. Fortunately, once I set up a target, I make sure to meet the target EVERYDAY!

For breakfast this week, I switched between two combos.

#1: kabocha waffle, kiwi and soy milk

#2: soy milk, kiwi and english muffin with poached egg, arugula and tomato sauce

Lunches at work

#1: curry potato

sauteed kale and roasted squash

I finished them all, which left me over stuffed

#2: roasted chicken thigh, spicy green rice (I think that was a peruvian day)

sauteed bok choy

#3: For days that I have seminar at lunch time, I’d bring a salad. Assorted veggies topped with egg/tofu/canned salmon

a bottle for the olive oil and balsamic, super convenient!

#4 rice vermilleci topped with veggies and shrimp

As afternoon snack, I tried some sweet potato chips, which were quite good, not so greasy and super crunchy.

Q: What’s the nutrient that you’re naturally deficient of? In my case, protein and iron because I’m not a big meat eater.

Food: two breakfast combos

I’ve been trying more sweet breakfast last week and I have to say, I enjoy both of these combos and plan to make them more often!

First, because they’re so pretty!!!! It’s a visual pleasure just looking at it.

blueberries pancakes with TJ’s european whole fat yogurt and strawberry preserves.

To made 5 mini pancakes, I use 1/4 cup of Bob’s Mill high fiber pancake/waffle mix, 2 egg whites (beaten) and 1/4 cup blueberries.

Scrumptious!!

The second combo is an old one. Last weekend we bought a new waffle maker because I missed this combo

waffle topped with aduki coconut mousse, served with homemade soy milk made with soy bean, millet and red dates.

To make the waffles I used 2/3 cup Bob’s Mill’s high fiber pancake/waffle mix, 3 egg whites (beaten), 1 cup homemade soy milk and 1/2 tbsp coconut oil. It makes four waffles. I had two and freeze the other two. I love toasted waffles!

Q: Do you prefer pancakes or waffles? What’s your favorite topping?