Life: weekend & menu planning

Friday: Sofia had her first little Gym experience (recap soon)

Saturday: gift hunting for a 2-years old boy since we’re invited to his birthday party

It was not an easy endeavor (so many toys out there!!!) but I finally decided with a train kind of thing. Hope he likes it

Groceries

New products: whole chicken. I’ve never roasted a whole chicken at home. I always liked roasted chicken when eating out, so why not try to make at home.

last week I bought some steel oats from the bulk section, since I liked it so much, I got this one from Tj’s.

Another flavor of the Irene’s biscotti. This one is coffee amaretto which I couldn’t taste much the amaretto. I think like the cranberry one more.

Mary’s gone crackers. Nice as dipper for cottage cheese with some maple syrup.

I realized that crunchiness is what I look for in snacks. Either savory or sweet, it MUST be crunchy!

someone was entertained while mom put away all the groceries 😉

Sunday: food preparation for the week

1.5 hrs later

lunch:

Mom’s

Mine:

soooo delicious!!!!! Definitely will make it again.

At the birthday party: Sofia and Valentina (birthday boy’s little sister)

There were a lot of kids!!!

For the first time in life I had fun being surrounded by sooo many kids.

Dinner: sautéed sugar snap pea with purple cabbage

fresh bamboo sautéed with chinese pickles

 

served with oatmeal with celery

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Menu planning:

Breakfast: steel cuts with berries, protein powder, almond milk, cottage cheese and PB.

Lunch: salad (greens, tomato, cucumber, homemade roasted bell pepper, mushroom, eggs, tofu, avocado), dressing (olive oil, apple cider, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper, curry powder)

Snack: pumpkin chia pudding + frozen blueberries + rice crisp

Dinners:

• Monday: roasted chicken, mashed cheesy cauliflower
• Tuesday/Thursday: Kale goat cheese frittata, roasted cauliflower, quinoa
• Wednesday: above dinner
• Friday: stir-fry corn noodles with chicken sausage, bok choy and black fungus

Q: Where are you going on vacation this summer? I’m planning for our summer vacation. Since Sofia is still so young, I don’t want to take long flights so the original idea of going to China is out. Cancun seems a good candidate: nonstop short flight, well-developed tourism, relaxing and beautiful beaches. I’m looking for an all-inclusive resort so we don’t have to worry about anything. If you’ve been in Cancun, any tip on where to go, where did you book it, and what to do/see?

Journal: first day as “single” mom

okay, I’m not a real “single” mom because I have the most wonderful husband in the world who loves me and Sofia with all his soul. However, he had to leave us for a couple of months. It’s sad, I know… very sad, but that’s life and we know that this short separation (as many that we’ve been through already) only makes us closer to each other. So, yes, for now I’m a “single” mom, fortunately my mom is staying to help out. Three generations together for a happy life! 😉 Being positive is so important ALL the Time!!!

So, Star and his parents left yesterday morning. After feeding Sofia at 4 AM, I pumped to have some milk in case I don’t return before her next feeding

checking her out on the monitor. Love her sleepy face!

When I returned, she was still sleeping but just as she noticed my return, she woke up and requested “breakfast”. After feeding her and put her into sleep, I made breakfast. I’ve been wanting to try Tina’s two ingredients pancake for a while, so I finally made it. I used 1 banana, 1/4 cup pumpkin, 1 egg and 1 egg white. Whip all together and cook.

Top it with Almond Butter with Vanilla, accompanied by a earl gray tea with almond milk, latest favorite morning drink

unfortunately it didn’t came out so pretty. more practice is needed. Although I didn’t use any sweetener, I still find it a bit too sweet. Maybe next time I’ll use half a banana and more pumpkin.

The morning was spent in the nursery reading the six book about sleep

this one is recommended by a co-worker who has two sons and her second sons started to sleep through the night at 4 months! So far I like it a lot, maybe the best book I’ve read about baby sleep.

Then she woke up, diaper change is on call. Look these cute feet…

I’ve decided to make my meals more interesting… there are so many food combos that I want to try, so I told my mom I’ll prepare my own meals from now on whenever I can.

I made stuffed pepper

sautee 1/4 chopped onion with 1/2 cup of celery and 1 minced garlic, add 1/2 tbsp of tomato paste, cook 5 min, add grounded chicken breast and 1/2 cup of diced tomato. S+P and cook for 5 min until chicken is cooked. Stuff the pepper, wrap it with foil and bake at 350F for 30 min. Ready to eat! 🙂

Paired it with some steamed kabocha

while my mom and I ate, Sofia took a nap at the bouncer

so peacefully despite all the noise at the kitchen

Mom took a nap while I looked after Sofia who took some short naps and more nursing sessions.

Afternoon snack: Chia latte + almond orange tea cake

After I took the pic, I add 1 tbsp of almond butter. Delicious!

Just before sunset, we went out for a 30 min walk. At first, she started to fuzz and we were going to turn back, but then she passed out for a good 20 min nap.

and we saw few deers in our yard

After bathing her, “dinner” time. Look how much I’m leaking these days…

while I nursed Sofia, mom prepared dinner for me. The usual suspect because they ingredients were going bad, so I “let” mom cook for me again. 🙂

finished them all + a steamed corn (mandatory! ;))

I went to bed in the basement around 9:30PM while mom took care of Sofia. We’re rotating night shifts, I sleep from 9ish to 3AM, and after that mom sleeps until the next morning. This way we can both get solid 5-6 hrs. The first night worked well for mom, but I couldn’t sleep well…. I kept watching clock afraid that I’ll miss the 3AM alarm. I guess I’m adjusting to the absence of Star. Hopefully we get used to this new setting soon. 🙂

Q: What’s your favorite fall recipe?

Since I’ll be staying at home until mid-January and that I want to record the first few months of life with Sofia, I’ll try to write more journal-like posts! 🙂

Food: new breakfast combo

I didn’t post any pic of food last week because I was getting bored with what I was eating. I hope my appetite comes back soon, otherwise I might need to shut down this blog 😉 Isn’t it supposed to be a food blog? I guess not since I got pregnancy, when my mind and appetite is everywhere but in food. 🙂

But let’s recap a bit. I’ve been enjoying these two breakfast combo

#1 fried egg, toasts, goat cheese covered by blueberries (from Tj’s), fruit and decaf latte with almond milk

#2: the same but with turkey breast (leftover from the baby shower)

the combo of goat cheese and turkey breast is surprisingly beyond DELICIOUS!!! I need to get more of it!

some dinner combos: oatmeal with celery with

chicken drum cooked with soy sauce, ginger and green onions.

sauteed spinach with garlic

a rainbow stew of spinach, summer squash, tofu and tomato

Corn is back!!! I brought it back because I was having some constipation issues. For some reason, having 1 corn per day regulates “things”!

wintermelon, tomato and dry shrimp soup

sauteed romaine, kale and mushroom with tamari and garlic

and Star has been loving this combo: sautéed bok choy and red sauced spicy whole tilapia

He can eat 2/3 of the fish in one meal!!! 🙂

Now that my mom arrived, she will be in charge of the cooking. I told her that she can decide on what to have for dinner. I want to be surprised! 😉

Q: do you prefer someone else prepares the food for you? or do you prefer cooking it yourself? I used to enjoy prepare meals by myself everyday, but lately I just don’t know what I want to eat, so I need someone else to decide it for me.