Monday, January 30, 2012

More Leafy Greens

Today was my first prenatal appt with my home birth midwives.

I am 11 weeks 5 days and we still have a heartbeat.  Just 1 week and 2 days until we graduate from first trimester to 2nd trimester.

As we approach the last of my first pregnancy milestones, 12 weeks, the day I started spotting, the beginning of the end of Baby A, I am feeling elated that we still have a heartbeat just 2 days away from this milestone, but also wary that we are now approaching brand new territory.

Everything up to this point has been a repeat.  I didn't know that Baby A had died in week 9 at the time so I made it all the way up to 12 weeks thinking everything was just hunky dory.  I've literally done my first trimester twice in the last 7 months.  Understandably I feel like I've been in my first trimester for a long time.

But here we are, ready to surpass 12 weeks with solid evidence that Baby B is still alive and I must admit I feel a certain amount of relief.

That all consuming worry has released it's hold and I have dared to make prenatal appts all the way through March.  I won't calculate how far along in my pregnancy I may be at the end of March, but the appts have been made.  We've even started to talk about the future with baby included.  Not the maybe future baby but THIS baby.

I'm nowhere near needing maternity wear, you'll see on Wednesday what I've got going on is not worthy of maternity clothes just yet.  And I'm also nowhere near buying furniture or decorating a nursery.  When does this become crucial by the way?  If I wait until like 30 weeks, which is honestly when I'm planning on it, will that be too late?

In other news, I apparently need to eat more leafy greens.  Things like lettuce, kale, swiss chard, spinach, etc.

I hate salad and honestly am not a huge leafy green fan, thus the absence of them in my diet, but if I gotta do it, I gotta do it.


So, help me out ladies anyone have any delicious recipes for leafy greens?  

16 comments:

  1. I love fried Kale - and there is a great recipe for Kale and Potato Enchiladas by Veganomicon (a great book)(http://epicureanvegan.com/2011/04/28/potato-and-kale-enchiladas/). BBC Good food is a great online recipe collection that I use a lot!

    I'm a veggie so I love me some veggies! My cravings lately seem to be salads - i was totally thinking i'd have the icecream/chocolate cravings but nope - salads and fruit!

    I'm so happy that the end of the first tri is here for you, I know how hard it is getting past those milestones, the first u/s we had after the 10 week mark I cried afterwards from relief. I still hold my breath as we wait to see/hear the HB - I think it will be something we always do. It get easier though as you progress - it's not always on your mind, and yes you begin to think about your life with the LO.

    I still haven't bought any items, I'm planning on doing the nursery around March (so 25 weeks?) that way I can still help with things and take my time.

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  2. YEAH to your status! YEAH to you almost being in the 2nd trimester. It's amazing to me how quickly people's pregnancies tend to go when it's not mine! I can't believe you're already almost in your 2nd trimester. To you, I know, it feels like it's moving slowly. But to the rest of us living vicariously through you, you're chugging along at a great and fast pace!

    So, leafy green recipes. I have one great one for you that is one of my fav recipes ever.

    Rainbow chard (regular chard of course also works)
    Saute 2 cloves garlic and about a teaspoon (although I put more) of red chili flakes for 2 to 3 minutes
    Cut off chard stalks and chop leaves up
    Put them in the sauted garlic mix
    Saute on medium heat for 5 minutes
    Flip and saute another 5 minutes
    Add about a tablespoon of water if leaves are looking too dry through saute process
    Enjoy!

    Also, I used to hate salads but have been eating a shit ton of them lately. Have you tried spicing them up with fun things like pieces of cheese and a hard boiled egg. I also sometimes add warm pieces of boiled potato. I also add radishes because they're high in folic acid and because I LOVE THEM. And, if you haven't tried it, Annie's Goddess (original) dressing is amazing.

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    Replies
    1. I tried this chard recipe, YUM! I can incorporate it in as a side a few times a week and it's perfect!

      Thank you!

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  3. Yay for your first midwife appointment! We aren't going to get furniture for awhile either but Baby Bargains suggests checking with the store to see how long delivery takes since it can take 10-12 weeks.

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  4. I normally love my greens but for some reason since I have been pregnant I can't stand them. Just the thought of them makes my toes curl up with revulsion. Not good!! Tonight I am making a stirfry to get some inot me but still just thinking about it makes me go yuck. This is coming from a girl who after a hangover would have a bowl of broccoli!!!

    I haven't bought hardly anything. I think I want to wait and see what we have first. Once we get through the 20w scan I think that is when I will start buying real things. But oh god the choices are doing my head in!

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  5. Girl. Collard greens are the bomb! Sautee them with olive oil balsalmic vinegar, cranberries and then top with walnutz or pinenuts. Its a delicious warm salad. Or check out my blog post "the skinny" and see how you can blend greens into your smoothies in the morning with oj and frozen fruit, almond milk or soy milk. Good luck! Its seems this is the real thing this time!!!

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  6. If you hate greens, stick a bunch in a smoothie with some berries and bananas and yogurt... you will hardly SEE them, let alone taste them!!

    Congratulations!!

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  7. regarding the nursery. You dont even need to finish it before birth. Barrett has spent a grand total of like 2 hours in his since birth...he sleeps in our room either in bed with us or in the pack n play next to the bed. He eats every 2 to 3 hours even at night so I would just die if I had to walk to his room to get him every time. We don't have a changing station in his room because we are granola hippie types who use cloth diapers and I use warm water on a washcloth as wipes rather than wipes from the store. As such, we change him on the counter in the bathroom. When he gets too big for the counter, we will end up on the floor. I am much too attached to using water to move him into his room for changes, like, ever. So with that, we worked so hard on getting a nursery, a crib, ect and he is in there never. And I don't foresee that changing in the near future...but then again, maybe baby B will be a better sleeper than Bear?

    And regarding greens...spinach in fruit smoothies, spinach in scrambled eggs.

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  8. I don't have much in the way of leafy recipes, but I do love artichokes and spinach, apple, walnut salad with raspberry vinegrette.

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  9. My smoothie recipe: water, large handful of spinach- blend in blender till smooth- couple spoonfuls of plain greek yogurt and a scoop of the vanilla protein powder from Costco. It is really good tasting and has the veggies plus protein!!
    I wouldn't feel rushed about starting the nursery at all- you have plenty of time and like Kenzie said, the little one usually doesn't even spend much time in there anyway!

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  10. Glad you are doing so well! How about spinach and canelli beans with garlic and any other veggies you want. It's really good and easy.

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  11. It is really good to use in salads and also useful in making food. It is good for health so very necessary in food.

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  12. I've heard (haven't made them) kale chips are fantastic. And I agree with everyone else who said try them in a green smoothie! I love to make sauteed spinach with some garlic and balsamic vinegar as a side. Enjoy!

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  13. Yay for getting to 12 weeks! It's a good feeling, right?! Hope that all continues to go well.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing!

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  14. Check this out:

    http://iowagirleats.com/2012/01/04/my-top-secret-diet-weapon/

    Obviously it's not a diet weapon for you, and you could throw in some extra protein or something. Almost 12 weeks already! Wow!

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