Week 26

Lettuce. Really? I’ve got to admit, I’m definitely confused by the idea that my baby is the size of a head of iceburg lettuce.  I mean, the graphic straight up says the kid is 13.6 – 14.8 inches long.  Your average head of lettuce isn’t more than 6 or 7, tops.  Maybe they did the circumference… and if so, that’s really not indicative of the size of the creature inside of me. A better gauge would be, “Your baby is about as long as the average laptop screen is wide (not the diagonal).  HEY, FREE SERVICES THAT HELP US ESTIMATE: DO BETTER. 🙂

It’s been a good week.  Baby’s still moving a bunch, and I’ve been feeling well, aside from heartburn. Only 2 weeks until our next ultrasound. 🙂  I’m looking forward to seeing him again.

I also read a blog post last night that made me laugh so hard that I was crying and almost peed a little. (What? I’m pregnant! It happens.) I figured I should share the love with you readers. Normally, I try to shy away from Mommy blogs because some of them can be really stress-filled and judgmental, but Beth’s humility and sense of humor really won me over.

On a less humorous note, I got the results of the gestational diabetes test on Wednesday, and the verdict is in — I’m not diabetic! (Thank the Lord.) No need for insulin, no need to cut carbs, which is pretty great.  They did find, however that my metabolism’s not optimal, so I’ve been instructed to eat small meals every 2-3 hours. It’s supposed to help with the damn-near constant heartburn and help regulate my blood sugar.

This way of eating is completely contrary to everything I’ve done my whole life. The biggest change in my life when I was 8 and in Weight Watchers was learning not to snack throughout the day. Apparently, the science behind that way of thinking has changed over the last 25 years. Because of that, I felt like I needed to do some research to find some easy, delicious meals that I could eat.

My requirements for recipes that made the cut were simple:

1. No specialty ingredients. Gotta be able to buy everything at the grocery store across the street.
2. It must be easy to make. I am too tired for anything that requires real effort.
3. It must look, based on my food knowledge, like it’d actually taste good.
4. It must be filling. There’s no point in making something that doesn’t fill me up.

This is what I found.

30+ meals that are 300 calories or less per serving

1. A green smoothie
2. 1 light multigrain English muffin (or whole wheat bagel-thin) w/ 1 tbsp cream cheese & 1 tbsp fruit spread
3. A cup of Greek yogurt w/ fruit & or honey (I’m currently in love with coffee flavored Fruyo.)
4. Apple w/ 1 tbsp. of nut butter (peanut, cashew, or almond)
5. A cup of oatmeal w/ fruit (Like Kathleen’s Quick Oats. Persian flavor is the best!)
6. 1 serving of whole wheat crackers w/ 1-2 oz of cheese
7. 1 pita w/ 2 tbsp of hummus (So yummy.)
8. A hot dog
9. 2 scrambled eggs w/ 2 slices of bacon
10. A can of soup. (Any flavor by Amy’s fits the bill.)
11. A grilled cheese sandwich: whole wheat bread, a little butter, & two 2% American cheese slices
12. A bowl of cereal and milk
    

    Yeah, I could eat this…

13. Crunchy Black Bean Tacos
14. Skinny Broccoli Cheese Soup
15. Broccolini and Chicken Sausage over Polenta
16. Chicken Tamale Pie
17. Creamy Chicken Quinoa Broccoli Casserole
18. Mustard & Herb Panko-Crusted Chicken Breasts
19. Red Velvet Crepes w/ Sweet Cream Cheese Filling
20. Baked Spicy Fries with Garlic Cheese Sauce
21. Healthy Fettuccine Alfredo
22. Skinny Lasagna Rolls
23. Philly Cheese Turkey Sloppy Joes
24. Chicken Thighs with Mustard Citrus Sauce
25. Slow Cooker Pepperoni & Chicken
26. Black Bean Cakes
27. Turkey & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
28. Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
29. White Chicken Chili
30. Creamy Thai Sweet Potatoes & Lentils
31. Skinny Veggie Lasagna
32. Chicken Apple Sausage Breakfast Sandwich
33. Seveche-style Shrimp & Avocado Tacos
34. and then there’s this entire collection on AllRecipes.

I think I’ll be able to survive. 🙂 I hope that these recipes are helpful for you too!

Daily Cute

And, because we all can use a good giggle, here is some Cute.