The two days flew by and were absolutely wonderful.  My mother is so excited for her new grandson to make his entrance and will (hopefully) be back in July to welcome him into the world!

It was also great spending time with Rick.  I had a doughnut buddy for the week – he loves them as much as I do – and I introduced him to Psycho Donuts!

It was hard to say goodbye, but I feel good knowing that I will see them again very soon.  Living across the other side of the country from my momma is not easy.

A lot of people have asked us whether we have decided on a name.  We have, and I have been telling people openly what it is (it is not a secret).  Any guesses?

So…. 32 weeks.  According to Babycenter this week:  I am gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to Baby P. He will gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.  The clock is ticking!!

Baby P weighs about 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long.  For someone like me, who doesn’t have a very long torso, that’s a lot of baby to fit into a little space!  Baby P must be scrunched up into a little ball! 

My 32-week check in:

• Total weight gain:  26 pounds
• Stretch marks?  Nope.
• Sleep: I’ve been really lacking in the sleep department this week.  Between my late nights and early wakeup times, plus the heat and the difficulty that I am having getting comfortable – my hours of good sleep have been few and far between.
• Workouts: Another pretty good workout week!  But my workouts are getting much lower in intensity.  When you see stepmill or elliptical, it is usually pretty easy – enough to break a sweat, but definitely nowhere near the intensity I used to exercise at.
  • Saturday– 3 mile walk
  • Sunday – 20 min on the stepmill
  • Monday – 30 min elliptical, 10 min stationary bike
  • Tuesday– rest day
  • Wednesday – rest day
  • Thursday – rest day
  • Friday – 20 min on the stepmill, 20 min elliptical
• Food cravings: I’m still on doughnuts.   Particularly jelly-filled donuts, for some reason… I usually don’t like those that much but right now they are on the top of my list.  Weird, right?  I think I have eaten at least one donut every day this week.
• Aversions: I have had a weird aversion to my lunches this week.  Each evening I pack my lunch for the night before (as I usually do).  This week, by the time lunch rolled around I was hungry… for anything but the the lunch that I packed myself.  D’oh!
• Symptoms: Back soreness, heart burn, and just overall exhaustion.
• Best moment this week:  Spending time with my mother and giving her the chance to see my baby bump and feel Baby P kicking and bopping around.  Even though she is already a grandmother, she is so excited!
• Belly Button in or out? A little bit out, the same as last week.  Like I said, I think this is as “out” as it’s going to get.
• Wedding rings on or off? On, but a few times this week I had trouble getting them off.  I might have to make a decision soon to keep them off until after Baby P makes his arrival.

Each week we get a little closer and more prepared (or so we like to tell ourselves).  Tomorrow we have a breastfeeding class, which I am really looking forward to.  S… maybe not so much.  I might have to bribe him with some McDonalds

Speaking of childbirth preparation class, tonight was our class.  We officially graduated   And want to hear something scary?  One of the other couples in our class had their baby tonight.  When we were arriving for the class, the husband was just walking away from the auditorium.  The teacher told us that he had just informed her that his wife went in for her regular checkup today and she had preeclampsia so she was scheduled for a c-section at 8pm this evening.  That meant that by the time we were walking out of our class at 9:30, she already had a baby in her arms.  Crazy!!  This is all becoming so real.

According to Babycenter this week:  Baby P can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He’s probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby’s kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

So true!  He has been moving nonstop.  They say that when a baby is born they are just like they were in the womb.  I think we are going to have a very active baby!

Now Baby P measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds – about the size of four navel oranges.

Oh, and it says he is heading into a growth spurt.  I almost plotzed when I read that.  Heading into a growth spurt?  I feel like the last 4 weeks have been one huge growth spurt…  Here goes nothing!

My 31-week check in:

• Total weight gain:  About 25 pounds.  I’m not stressing about it, as I will discuss below.
• Stretch marks? None!
• Sleep: Just ok.  I go to bed early enough that I manage to get a decent number of hours of sleep per night, but I spend a lot of time waking up to go to the bathroom and trying to get comfortable.
• Workouts: Another pretty good workout week!  But my workouts are getting much lower in intensity.  When you see stepmill or elliptical, it is usually pretty easy – enough to break a sweat, but definitely nowhere near the intensity I used to exercise at. 
• Saturday– 3 mile walk
• Sunday – 20 min on the elliptical, 20 min on the stationary bike
• Monday – 20 min on the stepmill
• Tuesday– 30 min on the elliptical, 30 min walking on the treadmill
• Wednesday – rest day
• Thursday – 30 min on the elliptical, 15 min on the stationary bike
• Friday – 20 min on the stepmill
• Food cravings: Doughnuts.   On Tuesday of this week, somebody brought my favorite Psycho Donuts into work.  I ate 3 (!!!) of them – no joke – and since then I haven’t been able to think of anything but doughnuts!
• Aversions: Does the smell of my perfume count?  One day this week I put on perfume and realized after a few minutes that I really wished I hadn’t…
• Symptoms: Normal aches and pains, and my heartburn is back.  I finished the 14-day Prilosec cycle.  Those 14 days were wonderful… but now I am feeling the heartburn again.  I think it is less than before, but I am still chomping antacids regularly.
• Best moment this week: We bought cameras for the house – inside and out – so that we are able to monitor from afar (after the theft of our changing table).  We are going to use one of the internal cameras as our baby monitor, and it was so cool to get it set up in the baby’s room and aimed at the crib!
• Belly Button in or out? A little bit out, but I think this is as out as it goes.  I don’t think I will get a full-blown outie (although who knows… apparently Baby P is about to go through a growth spurt   )
• Wedding rings on or off? Still on, but the swelling is getting a little worse and I anticipate it to get even worse in the upcoming summer weeks.

As I mentioned before, my weight is up about 25 pounds or so from pre-pregnancy.  And my pre-pregnancy weight was already about 6-8 pounds more than my usual weight, due to all of the hormones and treatments we went through in order to get pregnant.

Pregnancy isn’t the easiest time for somebody who has had an eating disorder in the past.  I’ve gotten to the point in my pregnancy where people are regularly making comments along the lines of:

• You look like you are going to pop!
• Wow, every time I see you you are bigger and bigger!
• What exactly can you do at the gym when you are that big?

These comments don’t bother me at all – in fact, I kind of like them.  Getting bigger is what I am supposed to be doing because I have a healthy, growing boy inside of me!  And comments about how big I am to be going to the gym just make me proud because I am still making the effort to exercise even though it gets more and more difficult each day.  I’m surprised that they don’t bother me, though.  I really anticipated this weight gain to be difficult for me – but in fact it isn’t at all.

The recommended weight gain during a normal pregnancy is 25-35 pounds.  Seeing as how I am at 31 weeks (9 weeks to go) and should be averaging approximately 1 lb weight gain per week from here on out, my weight gain will be on the higher range of that spectrum – maybe even a little more.  But I’m a-ok with that. I’m listening to my body and eating when I am hungry.  And no, I don’t eat 3 psycho donuts every day   I make sure to give Baby P plenty of nutrients!!  The weight will come off sooner or later, but I do not plan to go crazy about it and rush that either.  My priorities have already begun to shift, and weight doesn’t feel like a big issue anymore.  And I love it!  I feel a sense of freedom and excitement that I have never felt before.  9 weeks (give or take…) to go!

One of my usual activities that I have been slacking on is making dinner.  I’ve been ok with breakfast and lunch – I guess because I wake up early and make them first thing before my exhaustion takes over.  Plus we tend to eat the same things for breakfast and lunch each day so I can make them pretty easily on autopilot.

Dinner is a bit of a different story.  There have been a lot of McDonalds meals and frozen pizzas in our household in the past couple of weeks months. 

That being said, I am determined to make as many home-cooked meals as I can in the upcoming weeks because lord knows it will be a luxury that I will likely not have in the first few weeks (at least) after Baby P is born.  Not that S is complaining… he would eat McDonalds every night for dinner if I could.  But I can hear his heart and clogged arteries calling out to me… begging…

SAVE ME!

Last night I made an easy recipe for scalloped potatoes.  I based it off of this recipe, with a few modifications.

I don’t really like potatoes that much, so I rarely eat them.  When I make them, it’s usually for S because he loves them.  But since I never really eat them, I don’t know anything about them – including which type of potato is the right type to buy when and to use for what kind of recipe.  I had big red potatoes (yes… that is their proper name…)  Actually I can’t remember what the actual name was but I wanted to clarify that they were big red ones because the red ones I have usually seen have been little red ones.

Anyhow… back to my scalloped potatoes.  This recipe was actually really easy to make, and I had all of the ingredients on hand.  My kind of dish!

I washed and sliced the potatoes.  I debated whether or not to peel them, and then decided not to (it was for the taste, not because I was just too lazy to do it.  I swear…)

Heated butter, flour, milk, salt and pepper, and then added the cheeses:

And began the layering.  Potato, cheesy mixture…

Another layer of potatoes…

Another cheesy layer…

And the final, REALLY cheesy layer.

Baked at 350 degrees for about 50 min.

S loved these.  I didn’t eat much, since I’m not really a potato fan.  But I did eat a lot of cheese off of the top and spooned some from out of the middle.  I AM a cheese fan

Best of all, there were lots of leftovers that I can give it to S for dinner this week.  Which means I don’t have to cook something new, and Ronald McDonald won’t see us for at least a few days.

I’ve already blogged about how I am a sweaty beast at the gym.  But man – before I got pregnant I had no idea.  Even though my workouts are wayyyyy less intense now that I am in my third trimester, the sweat beast is far beyond what I could have imagined without Baby P in my belly.  I feel bad for anybody who gets the machine after me – no wipe down is sufficient

Anyhow, while it’s clear that now I will wear anything that actually fits to the gym, I was never one to spend a lot of time, effort or money on my workout clothes.  Most of my workout shirts are tech tees from races, and I have about 10 pairs of the Nike Tempo shorts which are my favorite go-to bottoms for any workout.

As for my shoes, I have worn the same shoes for 8 years.  I get the Mizuno Wave Alchemy shoes every time.  I have completely flat feet with no arch whatsoever, so it took me a long time to find a pair of shoes that were comfortable for me to run and work out in.  So when I found the Wave Alchemy’s, I stuck with them.  If it ain’t broke, why fix it??

Well… one good reason is that I typically pay between 75-100 bucks a pop for them.  My previous pair is completely worn out – so much so that the color is worn off of the bottom.  The additional 20+ pounds I have gained so far in the pregnancy is not helping with the life of my shoes, either.  I pretty much have flattened those poor things and they are uncomfortable for me to even wear on the elliptical.

So this week I went on a mission to find a new pair of shoes that was comfortable but not too expensive – ones that could get me through the rest of the pregnancy and that I wouldn’t mind if they too were flattened by my sweaty beast self and my pregnant belly.

Enter my new kicks:

Pretty snazzy, right?  As much as I love my Mizunos, they are pretty boring – the typical white running sneaker.  But these puppies have style.

And I realized the first time that I put them on to head out for a walk that I totally underestimated the power of having clothes that you love when you are working out.   I was psyched to put them on that very day, and also the next day to head to the gym, and they have been a motivating factor for me to do something (even small) active almost every day since I got them.

Hopefully this enlightenment did not unleash the beast in me – the last thing I need to do right now is go spend a gazillion dollars on new, stylish workout gear!

In exciting foodie news of the week, my coworker brought in some of these cookies for me, homemade by his mother and mother-in-law!

He told me these are cookies that his family makes at Easter time.  They are supposed to represent the crown of thorns that Jesus wore.

The outside is a buttery, flaky cookie and the inside is…

dates!  I heart dates.

The cookie itself is not overly sweet, but the dates add sweetness and the powdered sugar on top is the perfect touch.  I officially love these cookies and want the recipe!

These reminded me of hamantashen and the fact that I haven’t baked those in a long time.  Purim might be over for the year, but I think I see some major baking in my future…

According to Babycenter, Baby P’s muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. Nutritional needs are also really important now as he is having increasing nutritional demands.  This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in baby’s hardening skeleton each day.  His bones are really soaking up the calcium now, so it’s important that I make a conscious effort to get enough (which isn’t an easy feat for someone who doesn’t drink milk.) 

This week Baby P weighs about 2 1/2 pounds and is a little bit over 15 inches long.  The size of a butternut squash! 

Last night we had our second childbirth class.  In it, we learned about the stages of labor, and methods to help us to remain calm and keep our adrenaline levels low during labor.  Adrenaline counteracts the effects of oxytocin, which is a hormone released during labor that facilitates birth.

Our teacher also emphasized the importance of nutrition.  During these last 11 weeks, I am focusing a lot on getting plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron since Baby P’s nutritional demands are growing.

My 29-week check in:

• Total weight gain: Babycenter says I should be gaining a pound a week from now until the end of the pregnancy.  I think I am on track so far…
• Stretch marks? None.  I have almost used all of my lotion that Stephen bought me to rub on my belly, so I will probably have to get some more.
• Sleep: I am singing Prilosec’s praises this week.  I have been taking it for 6 days now and my heartburn is pretty much nonexistent.
• Workouts: Things went pretty well on the workout front this week
  • Friday – rest day
  • Saturday– 5 mile walk – broken down into 2 x 2.5 mile walks
  • Sunday – 40 min on stationary bike
  • Monday – 20 min on the stepmill, 20 min on the elliptical
  • Tuesday– rest day
  • Wednesday – 20 min on the elliptical, 20 min on the stationary bike
  • Thursday – 20 min on the elliptical, 20 min on the stationary bike
  • Friday – 20 min on the elliptical, 20 min on the stationary bike
• Food cravings: Ice cream.  I can’t get enough… especially now that it is getting hot.
• Aversions: Nothing really.
• Symptoms: Now that my heartburn is gone, I am just having mild discomforts – sometimes in my back, sometimes in my legs, etc.  But it is not bad and I am so grateful that my major back pain is gone that I’m not complaining.
• Best moment this week: Finally getting our crib delivered, and the changing table inside and safe (on the second delivery!).  Can’t wait to set that up and have a real baby’s room!
• Belly Button in or out? A little bit out..
• Wedding rings on or off? Still on, although my fingers are starting to swell a little bit and the heat doesn’t help.

Now S and I are off to the Dolce Hayes Mansion for the night.  One of the (small) perks of having the mansion as our wedding venue is that we get a free night’s stay for our one year anniversary.  So we’re off for a little bit of rest and relaxation to celebrate!

Yesterday was S and my one year wedding anniversary.  I can’t believe it has already been a year… but at the same time, SO MUCH has happened during that time that I can’t even believe it has fit into a year.  Highlights include:

• Trips – our honeymoon to the Dominican Republic, a trip to Switzerland, Las Vegas, my two trips to Pittsburgh, a trip to Seattle…
• Excitement at work – new positions, reorganizations, office location changes, and a promotion for S!
• Home improvements – Ceiling fan, painting, a new couch, china cabinet, wine rack, bed and bedroom furniture, and finally WOOD FLOORING!
• Baby P – All the drama excitement leading up to the pregnancy, the completion of the first and second trimesters, and now our growing baby boy that we can’t wait to welcome into this world!  I just realized that I have never written about our experience getting pregnant and hope to type that all up in a future post.
• And much, much more that I am sure I am forgetting.

Surely such a action-packed year required a busy, action-packed day for a one-year anniversary, right?  Well, it did not disappoint.  I worked from home for three reasons: 

1. Because I had German class beginning at 4:30pm and didn’t want to have to leave work before 4 in order to get home in time. 
2. Because my mother told me that a delivery would be arriving that I would need to be home to receive.  I was excited for it all day, even though I didn’t know what it was
3. Because I needed to put the finishing touches on my gift for S.

I finished S’s gift during lunch.  Can you tell what it is?

I’ve seen this idea floating around in the interweb and decided to make it my own.  Getting inspiration from here and here, and pretending I am creative and artistic, I put together a framed map project showing where we grew up, met, married and live.  The end result: 

Not too shabby, right?  Since we met, married and live in a pretty small area (all in the Bay Area, CA) I wanted to also include “grew up” so that I could put a map of Switzerland and Pittsburgh in there to keep things interesting.

As for the gift from my mom – it arrived in the afternoon. 

An Edible Arrangement!  Yippee!  I have never gotten one before but have always waned one.  They are the perfect gift – beautiful, edible and healthy (she says as she proceeds to eat the chocolate-covered-strawberries out of the arrangement first).

So far so good, right?

After work, I had my German class.  About midway through my class, at 5:33pm (per the UPS tracking stamp online) a delivery arrived at the house.  It was the new changing table for Baby P that we ordered last week!  I was really excited.  I opened the door, saw the delivery, and realized it was too big and heavy for me to bring into the house by myself.  So I left it out there on the front porch, knowing that S would be coming home right around 6pm and would bring it inside.  I then went back to my German class, less than 10 feet from our front door.

When S came home at 6:10, the package was gone.  I was still in my class, but quietly asked S to bring in the box when he walked in the door.  He looked at me and asked, “What box?”  I thought he was joking, because the box was pretty much bigger than I was.  But no, he was serious.  In the less than 40 minutes between the time that the package was delivered and S came home, it was stolen off of our front porch.

I’d like to pause here to emphasize that we do NOT live in the ghetto, or even in a remotely bad area.  I have heard of petty thefts that have occurred, but nothing like this huge box off a front porch in broad daylight – while I was home.

I was so upset.  Actually, I initially thought that the large box was the crib (which was also scheduled to be delivered this week, and was from the same company.)  I was a little less hysterical when I found out that it was the changing table, because I had purchased the changing table myself (while my Grandmother had purchased the crib for us.)  But it was still a few hundred dollars, and it still SUCKED.

After we filed the police report and I cried for a little while, I wasn’t really in the mood to celebrate anymore.  We had planned to go out to a nice restaurant and enjoy our anniversary dinner but I really didn’t want to go anywhere.  S finally convinced me to at least go out somewhere else, we we headed to our favorite place – the Sonoma Chicken Coop.

By the end of our dinner, I was feeling better.  Especially after my husband pulled out an unexpected gift – a pair of diamond earrings!  Yes, I do have the best husband ever

When we got back home afterward, we finished our celebration with some of our wedding cake! 

I put it in the fridge to defrost earlier in the day, so it was ready to eat when we arrived back home.

Still frozen in this picture,

but the year-old cake tasted amazing.  Seriously!  I would have thought it was new.

It was a happy end to a roller-coaster day.

Oh, and this is where my ode to Amazon.com comes in.  I was already a HUGE fan – pretty much any time I am buying anything I look for it on Amazon first.  We had our wedding registry on Amazon, and now have our baby registry there.  I even have an Amazon credit card.  They have good prices and good deals, you can buy pretty much anything, but most of all they have amazing customer service (hear that, Active Schwaggle???)

I emailed them last night and explained that the package got stolen and we had filed a police report.  Today I woke up to their response that they were shipping us a new one, no questions asked.

I LOVE YOU, AMAZON.COM.  And don’t tell anybody, but we have been together longer than my husband and I have been

The crib and changing table are expected to arrive this week!  We still have a lot of planning to do, though.  There are a lot of things in our second bedroom, which is to be Baby P’s room, and we have to figure out where in the heck to put them!  Our house is too small!

A fast weekend is a sure sign of a good weekend, though.  Friday evening, S and I had our first Childbirthing class.  We are taking a 4-class series that is held at the hospital where Baby P will be born.  Truth be told, I wasn’t really looking forward to the class.  3 hours after work on a Friday night?  But it was actually pretty great.  I learned a lot of new things, and we also took a tour of the hospital and birthing ward.  I can’t believe how real this is now – in less than 12 short weeks (give or take) we will be there for the real thing.

Of course, by the time the class was over at 9:30pm I was falling asleep.  Waaaay past my third-trimester bedtime.

Saturday morning was German class, and then I met my friend Christi for brunch at Rock Bottom.  We went to the same Rock Bottom where I had my first date with S, so it holds a special place in my heart

After brunch, I set out to make blueberry muffins for brunch on Sunday.  S and I were going to my friend Wanda’s house for a brunch with her family, our family, and our friend Jana’s family. 

I went with this recipe with a few modifications and was happy to use the Trader Joe’s wild blueberries that I had in the freezer. 

On top, I sprinkled a mixture of sugar, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon to make a crunchy sugar topping.  That’s always my favorite part of muffins

They turned out swimmingly.

I ate one and a half…

gave a half to S…

And packed up the rest to take for brunch!

The brunch was a major success.  We had a great meal spread that Wanda put together:

• bagels and spreads
• fruit
• shrimp cocktail
• bacon and sausage
• avocado
• scrambled eggs with mushrooms, peppers and asparagus
• and of course blueberry muffins.

I ate my weight in bacon.  Why oh why do I never buy and make bacon at home?  I only ever get it when I eat out, and I always remember how much I love it.  Note to self:  BUY BACON!

The highlight of the day was seeing Wanda and Jana, though.  I love these women and don’t get to see them often enough because they live an hour away and are very busy with their families, jobs, etc.  (Wanda has twins, and Jana has a baby boy and a 12-year old son).  So when we get together it is always wonderful!

Jana’s baby boy, who is almost a year old now (oh how time flies…)

A great time was had by all.  I would happily have my weekends go so fast if they were all this great

According to Babycenter, this week Baby P weighs two and a quarter pounds and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels. He can blink his eyes, which now sport lashes. With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. He’s also developing billions of neurons in his brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

He is the size of a chinese cabbage!

My 28-week check in:

• Total weight gain: Another pound gained this week, for a total of 21-22 pounds.
• Stretch marks? None.  I might get lucky??
• Sleep: Same as last week.  I spend the nights flip flopping from left side to right side, and back again.  The worst thing right now is the heart burn, but I just bought some Prilosec which I will start tomorrow and it should (hopefully) help.
• Workouts: Things went pretty well on the workout front this week
• Saturday– 20 min stepmill, 20 min elliptical
• Sunday – 3 mile walk
• Monday –20 min stepmill, 20 min on stationary bike
• Tuesday– Rest
• Wednesday – 30 min stepmill, 15 min on the stationary bike
• Thursday – 25 min elliptical, 20 min walking on treadmill
• Food cravings: Meat and sweets.  And chex mix… particularly the cheddar flavor. 
• Aversions: Pumpkin and squash flavored things.  I thought I was over this aversion, but tried to eat a piece of pumpkin bread this week and feared it was going to come back up after just one bite.
• Symptoms: Heartburn is by far the biggest thing bothering me.
• Best moment this week: Stepmill, stepmill, stepmill!  Oh, and getting the results from my glucose tolerance test – looking good!  My iron level was too low, though, so I have started taking a supplement.
• Belly Button in or out? Still flat, but pushing out a teeny bit.
• Wedding rings on or off? On.

This week we also got a special package from Grandma!  My mother sent a bunch of cute baby things that she bought.  At first, I just saw a washcloth and towel on top and was already excited.

But then I saw all of the goodies underneath!  Can you believe she fit all of this in one box??

Looove these little nike socks.

And a ton of Calvin Klein gear – Baby P is going to be one stylish dude!

Some books,

Toys…

And this, which was the most meaningful to me:

This was MY toy when I was a baby!  It is a Cookie Monster piano that you can actually play.  It’s really old but still works.  And when you press the keys, Cookie Monster’s eyes spin around!!  I am so excited that I get to share this toy, that I played with, with my baby.  I can’t believe my mom kept it all of these years!

Thanks so much for all of the goodies, Grandma!!!

Every few weeks they have a sale on marinated meats.  For $5 each, you can get 20 oz of different kinds of chicken, pork, or beef.  I love picking up a few and trying the different flavors.  Plus, they are extremely quick, easy and foolproof – just stick them in to the oven for 15-20 min or so and you have yourself an awesome head start on dinner.

This week, I picked up the Chipotle & Mango chicken breasts (along with chicken cordon bleu for S).

Yesterday I proceeded to bake them and eat 3/4 of the container at once.  The sauce was delicious – full of flavor.

I was paying for it all night with my third-trimester heart burn.  But it was worth it.  Thank goodness for Tums!

The other menu item for yesterday was brownies.  A coworker of mine was recently diagnosed with diabetes and is now having to make some major diet and lifestyle changes.  He happens to have quite the sweet tooth – as I do – and is finding limiting his baked goods and candies to be the hardest part so far.  So I made it my mission to create for him a more healthy, diabetic-friendly brownie.

After scouring the internet for a while, I found this recipe.  At first, I was doubtful.  It had no flour, no sugar, no butter or oil… nada.  The only ingredient I recognized from my usual brownie recipes was chocolate chips.  I also wasn’t sure if my coworker was a big fan of nut butter.  I figured since it was one of the main ingredients, they must taste quite nut-buttery.  After not finding anything better, I decided to give it a try. 

I halved the recipe, in case it came out as a disaster.

First I mixed together the almond butter, egg, agave and vanilla.

Then I added in the cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.

Finally, I added in the chocolate chips.  Just a handful – I didn’t want to defeat the purpose of the otherwise sugar-free brownies.

I showed amazing self control and only had one spoonful of batter.  Raw eggs are too risky for Baby P

I poured the batter into a greased baking dish…

Ooohed and Ahhed…

And then into the oven it went.

I baked these for longer than the instructions said, because they didn’t seem to be done.  However, I think I overbaked them a little bit and would recommend following the instructions – I know I will next time

Nonetheless, the brownies came out fudgy, chewy and DELICIOUS!

Also, they did not taste strongly of nut butter as I expected.  Nor did they taste "healthy” or like they didn’t have any sugar or butter.   They tasted just like homemade brownies!

I was REALLY impressed with this recipe and will definitely be adding it into my regular rotation.  Finally a delicious homemade brownie recipe that tastes amazing but doesn’t make me feel quite so guilty. 

Half the pan made it to my coworker, who also enjoyed them.

Gluten-free Brownies (halved from Elena’s Pantry)

• ½ (16 ounce) jar creamy roasted almond butter
• 1 egg
• ½ cup + 2 tbsp agave nectar
• ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, blend almond butter until smooth
2. Blend in eggs, then blend in agave and vanilla
3. Blend in cocoa powder, salt and baking soda, then fold in chocolate chips
4. Grease a baking dish (I used a loaf pan for these)
5. Pour batter into dish
6. Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes

For example… my meat consumption.  I’ve always been a big meat eater and don’t think I could survive for very long as a vegetarian.  But during the pregnancy, my meat consumption has increased, or at least… changed.

I think part of the reason is because my eating habits in general have changed.  I can’t eat as much at one time as I used to eat, because I feel very full very quickly.  I guess because the baby is taking up room down there so there is less space for my stomach to fill with food, expand, and still feel comfortable.  However, I eat often.  I feel like no sooner am I done with a meal when I’m hungry again and am eating another one.  So overall I am actually eating a significantly larger amount of food in a day than I was before the pregnancy.

My go-to meal before I got pregnant was a huge bowl of vegetables and meat.  Whether it was a Hugh Jass salad or a stir fry, it had tons of nutrients and protein.  I would also dump eggs, cheese, nuts, and pretty much anything else I could find into the mix.  Now, I typically have a Hugh Jass for lunch but then don’t have the stomach for one for the rest of the day.

To cut down the size of my meals, I tend to cut down on the voluminous veggies (don’t worry… I still get more than my fair share of fruits and veggies every day!)  Which leaves me often eating… meat.  By itself.  I don’t see a problem

So when I got the opportunity to try Mrs. Paul’s and Van de Kamp’s ParchmentBake fish as a part of the Foodbuzz program, I was really excited!  Pre-grilled, 100% whole-fillet tilapia in a sauce, wrapped in parchment paper and cooked in the oven?  Yes please.

I picked up the Classic Grilled tilapia and the Garlic Butter flavor. 

The price for each box at my local Safeway was $3.95. At first, I didn’t think that was a bad price, for grilled tilapia.  However, I was surprised when I opened the box and found that each box only had 2 pieces of fish.  And small pieces of fish, I might add.  That’s $2 per 1/2 portion (for me) of tilapia.  I can get my regular tilapia fillets for much cheaper than that.

I was pretty excited once I popped these puppies into the oven, however.  They were all ready to go, in the parchment package, and I just let them bake for 10 minutes and they came out fresh and hot:

Tender and flaky fish, perfectly cooked.  I preferred the sauce on the Classic Grilled tilapia, but both were good. 

The overall verdict?  These were quick, convenient, and tasted great.  I would never eat less than 2 at a time, but appreciated the fact that they were small because they cooked quickly and it was easy for me to pop two in the oven at once. 

However, at $4 a box for two measly pieces of fish, you won’t see me buying these regularly unless I have coupons and/or they go on mega-sale.  It’s easy enough for me to make regular tilapia, so I won’t pay that much for simple convenience.

*Remind me that I said that when I have a screaming infant in my hands and am begging for $4 parchmentbake fish, thankyouverymuch.

By the way, that’s what I ate for my afternoon snack.  Fish.  By itself.  Yesterday it was chicken sausages, and tomorrow it will be chicken. 

Chances are slim that Baby P will come out as a vegetarian, that’s for sure.