Baby Phat

Yesterday my baby turned 5 months old and I hopped on the scale and I am 3 pounds away from my wedding weight and the best part is I have only exercised a handful of times. I do do some squats and lunges here and there but it's usually just to make my little love laugh. I didn't think I'd see this number on the scale again let alone so soon after having a baby. I'm so excited to start working out again because Lord knows I need to pull things back into place. After seeing what my body has been through I have such a respect and appreciation for it. I really truly love my body.

Today's smoothie was hemp milk, oats, and apple, half a banana, spinach, kale, chard and agave. All organic, all bomb.

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Motherhood so far

I had a little coffee this evening so I'm overflowing with excitement and love asnd energy but it's 1am and I have nowhere to let it all out so I'm finishing posts in my draft folder and decided to compose this one.

My whole life the only thing I ever wanted to be was a mom. I had no career goals, no grand visions of riches, I just wanted to be a mom. And though it came with a great deal of heartache I got my wish and there is absolutely no feeling in the world like finally living your dream.  My baby is my dream. Not to say that he doesn't cry or scream or destroy diapers and cute onesies like all babies, because he does. But this little boy KNOWS me. Heart & soul, inside & out and as crazy as it sounds to say a newborn knows anything but but boobs and sleep, it's true.  Babies are all about energy, whatever you feel they'll magnify it and it's shaped me to be the best version of myself. Once I realized that he feels everything I made an effort to be more positive, more loving, more forgiving and it's made our little family so much better. My baby smiles more than he cries, he loves story time, he's king of snuggles. As I write this he's curled into my chest hugging me and it feels like all joyous parts of my pregnancy all over again. He wakes up in the morning laughing with his giant bright green-brown-gray-blue eyes and everything is right and perfect with the world.  I'm so blessed to live this life and to watch my husband step into the daddy role so effortlessly. God is good.

70+ lbs. lost in 20 weeks

My little bird is almost 5 months old and time has never felt faster in my life. It feels like just yesterday I was going in for a routine appointment and the nurses telling me I wasn't leaving and would be having my baby within 48 hours. I remember telling them I wasn't due for 7 more weeks and that I had plans to go to Homegoods that day. I clocked in on the scale at 199lbs. The most I've ever weighed and it looked like it. I had told my doctor on several occasions that I thought I had pre-eclampsia but she kept telling me I'd be bigger or my blood pressure would be higher. She never took into account that my health pre-pregnancy was so good that when it started going downhill my numbers just looked average. So by the time they realized something was wrong I had gone so far as to have developed HELLP Syndrome and my liver was shutting down. Myself and my little babe barely made it by the grace of God. For the first 3 weeks of his life he was in the NICU and being a teeny preemie they sent him home with formula to supplement with breastmilk. He was too small to breastfeed so I would have to pump and bottle feed him but luckily while he was in the NICU I got to stay at the hospital and the nurses set me up on a pumping schedule so we went home with a freezer full of frozen breastmilk, I thought we had it made. After 2 weeks I noticed he was having a really hard time pooping, really fussy and lots of gas. Doctors told me pooping is hard for babies sometimes, he was also spitting up a lot after every meal. These things were "normal" baby issues according to the doctor and Google but I wasn't buying it. I took him off of the formula and he started having less trouble pooping. Then I decided to cut dairy out of my diet assuming that was what was causing discomfort with the formula. After that the poop trouble went away and the cradle cap he was getting stopped spreading. He was still spitting up so next I cut out soy and saw the benefits of that and over 2 months we eliminated dairy, soy, eggs, corn, chicken, beef, fish, gluten, nuts, coconut & canola oil. 
12 weeks after he was born I had dropped the 60+ pounds I gained during pregnancy and almost 10 weeks later I've lost another 10 pounds and am smaller than I was when I got pregnant and I feel amazinggggg.  It was hard at first giving up all the foods I loved but I realized how rundown they made me feel. Now I've got more energy and my chunky baby is happy and thriving. 

My diet now consists of a ton of fruits and veggies, brown rice, the occasional gluten free treat, and the power combo of my prenatals and a spoonful of vinegar.

Quick kale & millet chili [V, GF, SF]

We've had a couple of cold nights and chili is always my go to. Having a tiny babe in my life I'm all about quick dishes with minimal clean up and this is just that.

Prep time: 10 mins  Cook time: 30

Ingredients:
●1 can pinto beans
●1 can black beans
●1 can kidney beans
●1 can garbanzo beans
●2 cloves of garlic, minced
●1 small onion, minced
●1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
●1 fresh jalapeño, diced
●3 cups of kale
●3/4 c. millet
●1tbs. smoked paprika
●1tsp. smoked salt (optional)

Sauté the garlic and onions in oil (we use grapesed) with the paprika and salt. Once the onions are translucent add in everything EXCEPT the kale & millet. Let it cook on medium high for 10 mins, once it starts boiling add in the millet and reduce the heat to medium low for another 10 minutes. Add your kale, turn the heat off and cover, letting it sit another 10. Serve it up with some avocado and tah dah, winning.

chocolate chip cookies [V, GF, SF]

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes 

Pandora station: Edith Pilaf

Preheat oven to 350°

2 1/4 c. Rice flour 

2/3 c. Applesauce

2 tsp. Baking powder

3/4 c. Sugar

3/4 c. Brown sugar

1tsp. Vanilla

1/2 c. Coconut butter

1/2 c. Coconut oil

1tsp. Xantham gum 

1tsp. Salt 

3/4 c. Enjoy Life allergen free chocolate chips

For non-vegan*

Replace applesauce with 2 eggs and coconut oil & butter with 1c. of butter

Cream together applesauce, vanilla, coconut oil, butter and salt. Add dry ingredients one at a time, mixing in between each ingredient. Spoon onto a silpat mat or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until edges brown. These are crunchy on the outside and so soft on the inside. They don't taste exactly like "real" chocolate chip cookies but dammit they're close. Grab a glass of hemp milk and get down. 

One pot pasta [V,GF, SF]

I've never attempted one pot pasta before because of all of the horror stories about the gluten making everything all mushy and meh but since we've switched to brown rice pasta I thought I'd give it a shot and I was not disappointed.

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins

Pandora station: Dean Martin Radio

●28 oz can of diced tomatoes 

●32oz brown rice rotini pasta

●4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

●1 medium onion, thinly sliced 

●2 c. Kale

●1 pkg. Sliced mushrooms 

●2c. Low sodium Vegetable broth 

●2tbs. Olive oil

●1tsp. Red pepper flakes

●1/2tsp. Dried oregano

●1/2tsp. Dried basil

●1/2tsp. Black pepper

●1/2tsp. Garlic powder

●1tsp. Himalayan salt

Grab yourself a sturdy pot toss in the pasta, garlic, onions, mushrooms, kale and tomatoes (with the juice). Pour on your broth, add your olive oil and spices, cover and boil. 

Once it's boiling turn it down to medium-low and give it a stir every few mins. It should be good to go after 10. I let mine sit for an extra 5 to soak up all the extra juices but gluten-free pasta is pretty delicate so keep an eye on it.