Maybe a baby in 2017

[Lyndzie]

Heather's chocolate chip cookies for the win! What I like about them is that they are a cookie, but because they don't have the fat (aside from the chips, and I omitted the salt) they don't trigger the pleasure trap for me. Sure, I did have quite a few, but then I stopped.

Even more exciting: I FELT THE BABY KICKING! Apparently a decent amount of cookies will make the baby dance a jig. My husband had on a documentary about Jim Carrey playing Andy Kauffman in a recent movie. I wouldn't watch the actual movie, but really liked the behind the scenes footage and commentary. Jim seems like a pretty brilliant guy, and his character portrayal was excellent. Anyways, I sat down to watch the end of the movie and next thing you know something small and mighty is wiggling like crazy. It was so great.

Here is the cookie recipe:

HEATHER'S OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1 c applesauce
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
---
1 3/4 c flour
1 tbsp egg replacer
1 tsp salt (I omitted)
1 tsp baking soda
---
1 c oats
1 1/2 c chocolate chips (non-dairy, of course)

1. In a small bowl, mix together first four (wet) ingredients.
2. In a large bowl, mix together next four (dry) ingredients.
3. Mix wet into dry.
4. Fold in oats and chips. Bake at 350ºF for 10-12 min.

NOTES: The recipe said it would make 4 dozen, but I only got 3 dozen. I baked them for 12 minutes, but will slightly underbake them next time at only 10 min. Bake on parchment, and allow to cool completely before removing. The first two dozen I cooked on my silicon baking sheets, and they stuck terribly, to the point I'm just throwing the baking sheets away. The recipe is in the March 2013 newsletter: https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2013nl/mar/recipes.htm

[SilverDollar123]

Oh,how exciting on feeling the baby kicking! Congrats! I'm enjoying your pregnancy journey. RAS

[Lyndzie]

Today is 15 weeks pregnant, fetus is 4" long, the size of a large apple.

I just finished watching a Dr. Barnard lecture on YouTube, and it has totally struck a cord.

I don't think I'm alone when I admit that I'm not on plan all the time, especially since getting pregnant. Dealing with the nausea was challenging, and my bloodwork numbers were so good that it was easy to make excuses for poor eating habits (as weird as that sounds). Then the holidays hit, and those are hard to navigate, so I gave myself until next Tuesday to eat whatever, then back to business. It's not to say I'm not eating well at all, I'm still having compliant breakfasts, making homemade soups and bread, it's just that cookies and candies and other exceptions are happening daily, too.

Well, I just watched this video on the cheese trap by Dr. Neil Barnard, and it has totally ruined dairy for me. It's like when I found out what they do with male baby chicks in egg hatcheries, it just solidified my egg avoidance. Since I come to this way of eating for the health benefits, but I don't have any major health issues *yet*, exceptions happen. So, the speech was good, and mostly focused on how bad cheese is for you, and its addictive nature, but he included just a few minutes to outline how the dairy process works, from artificial insemination to birth, and IT TOTALLY GOT TO ME. It's not overly graphic, yet includes just the right balance of information and shock to be effective. After I write this, I am getting up off the couch and throwing ALL the candy and cookies away. Gone. Just gone.

Here is the link in case you are in search of just a little motivation to stay on track. It's not like those awful slaughterhouse clips, don't worry, but how they run these industries like this just boggles my mind. https://youtu.be/h6jeZ-5A9E4

In pregnancy related news, today I set my appointment for my anatomy ultrasound, on January 8th. We're just checking to make sure everything is where it should be, but keeping the gender a secret. Yay!

Now to go throw out those cookies...

[Lyndzie]

Jeff posted a link to this great thread in another forum about elitism and people's judgmental attitudes about others who don't eat only non-GMO/organic/locally grown/etc fruits and veggies. I have had multiple well-meaning friends respond in shock and concern that I don't only shop at Whole Foods and only eat organic produce. For one, I have a finite amount of resources, and our grocery bill is higher than I'd like already. Also, as Jeff pointed out, the majority of people's health problems are from lack of produce in the diet, not GMO's, or, God forbid, using a microwave. (I will admit that I do make an effort to avoid GMO corn and soy, but this is personal preference, and most sweet corn and tofu that I've come across is non-GMO certified anyway.).

Most of my grocery shopping is done at Aldi, with other supplemental shopping done at a handful of other stores (the international grocery, for one), or Target, because Aldi's toilet paper just does not cut it, so while I'm there I might as well pick up a few other things.

On a separate note, went to my dad's house today while he did some holiday baking, and my sister showed up. I had emailed her the Dr. Barnard lecture, and we were talking about what information it covers, and my dad just happened to be in the room, and was shocked that cheese was considered bad for health. I had not realized up until this point how far down the rabbit hole he is, but he still drinks milk as a beverage daily, so I should not have been surprised that he thought it was a health food. I did not want to come across as "one of those people," so I mentioned that the lecture stated that cheese is a good source of saturated fat and cholesterol, but lacking fiber and phytonutrients, but still tastes amazing, and I can't argue with that. I also admitted that the pictures of cheese in the first half of the lecture only stimulated my appetite, instead of grossing me out, which is true. But the animal husbandry stuff, well, EEEEWWWWWWWW.

Since watching the lecture, I've done a great job of avoiding animal products simply by thinking of artificially inseminating cows. It's harder to connect foods that don't look like dairy products, such as biscotti and scones, but it can be done.

Yesterday I ate at home all meals, which makes controlling for oil and salt much easier, but tonight we got dinner at Chipotle, which uses oil in their beans and rice. Vegan, yes, but not completely oil free. It got me wondering: how many people McDougall and completely, 100%, non-negociable avoid oil, and how many people just do their best, especially in restaurants. It probably has a bit to do with what a person is trying to accomplish, and I'm trying to get back to better eating by first, avoid all animal products, then second, get rid of oil. I might need to make exceptions for meals out of the house at the moment as far as the oil goes, and just focus on priority #1 for the time being. At home, of course, is no oil, it's just when not home that is tricky. I'm thinking about making a lentil loaf and baked potatoes to take for Christmas dinner, because otherwise I'm not sure what I'll eat.

In baby related news, today is the first day I've felt the baby kick a ton. It's been going on since this afternoon. I'm thinking of naming it Wiggle Monster.

[Lyndzie]

Today is the beginning of week 16. Fetus is 4 1/2” long, roughly the length if an avocado.

We had our usual busy Christmas, starting at 10:30 on xmas eve with my in-laws, then another party that night (we didn’t get home til 9:30!), followed by presents at home on Christmas morning, then off to my mom’s for dinner. Then yesterday I hosted my mom’s side of the family for spaghetti dinner. It’s been a lot of family time.

Somewhere in the festivities on xmas eve with the roughly 70 people (not kidding - 4 generations of a huge catholic family really adds up!), I got sick. Bronchitis is my guess. The cough started late Christmas, then progressively got worse yesterday, and today I’m stuck in bed. Thankfully my husband took care if the girls this morning, and my mom took them this afternoon so I could rest. Hopefully I’ll be on the upswing tomorrow.

Hope every who celebrated had a wonderful holiday!

[SilverDollar123]

Just read this. Hoping you get better soon! Happy New Year! A baby in 2018! RAS

[Lyndzie]

Happy 2018!

Well, I (obviously) did not have a baby in 2017, but I got one started, which is good enough for me! We have all been terribly sick the past week. I got it first, then one-by-one the rest of us caught it. My 5 year old only had one day of slowing down, and a little bit of a runny nose. The 3 year old got wiped out, my husband was hit hard, too, and I was absolutely annihilated. It's been a week, and I'm not 100% yet. I think this caught is going to linger for a while.

Food choices have been rough when feeling sick. I wish I had better resolve under these circumstances. I'm trying to remember that this is a life long journey for me, and not got too down on myself for the poor choices. Healthy new year's food is underway, with the collard greens cooked, and black eyed peas in the instant pot.

It is an incredibly cold 0 degrees F here today, with a windchill of (currently) -16F. It doesn't always get that cold here, but does some winters. I'm feeling incredibly grateful for the slippers I got for Christmas, and that we have a working furnace.

This morning we made banana nut muffins so that we could run the oven and at the same time use up the ridiculous amount of old bananas that had accumulated on the kitchen counter. I found this great recipe online that is so bare-bones, it's perfect for tweaking. My changes are at the end.

FAT FREE BANANA BREAD (from GeniusKitchen.com)
5 ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c water
2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Mash bananas with sugar and vanilla. Mix in water. Stir in remaining ingredients until just combined (do not over mix). Bake at 350F for 1 hour (20 minutes for muffins).

MY CHANGES: used almond milk for water. Used half whole wheat, half all purpose flour. Added 1/2 chopped walnuts. In part of the batter, added chocolate chips for the kiddos. Made 12 muffins. It is really sweet, so next time I will try using 1/3 c sugar and 1/3 c brown sugar (2/3 c total), but otherwise I'm really happy with it.

[Lyndzie]

A couple more things to add for today:
Dinner was a win! Hoppin' John on brown rice and cabbage. I ate it, and so did the kids. We made banana ice cream with pine apple and a splash of orange juice for dessert. It was so delicious, but terribly cold, and it's so cold outside right now, brrrr. I'm excited to have a good breakfast tomorrow.

Also, I really love Ethiopian food, so while I was sick I searched the forum for recipes, and came across a great McDougall newsletter from August 2012 that is devoted to Ethiopian cuisine, including a oil-free niter kebbeh (a seasoned butter used in most dishes). https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2012nl/sep/recipes.htm I can pick up the injera from my local restaurant, but it would be great to make the dishes without oil. I love the cabbage, the split chickpeas, the collard greens and the carrots and green beans. And the potatoes. So, really, all of it.

I've been trying to really stock up my pantry, and was so grateful for that while we've been sick. When people had the weather emergencies over the summer, I started to think about what we would need to have on hand, and we could scrounge something together, though I probably would need more canned beans, and I have mostly dried. Having the dried goods on hand has been great for meal planning, because it's just a matter of figuring out what veggies to put with it.

[Lyndzie]

Tomorrow is 17 weeks pregnant. Fetus is about 5 inches long, roughly the size of a turnip (whatever that means. Seriously, I've seen turnips all sizes. Why not rutabaga? Or onion?)

Today was a success. Hash browns with mustard for breakfast, salad bar at Whole Foods for lunch, some super dark chocolate for afternoon snack, then dinner was a version of the "Three Sisters" (sweet potato, corn and black beans). I topped mine with tomatillo salsa, and left it plain for the girls. Both kids ate it up, especially with a name like Three Sisters, which made them giggle. It's all about the marketing, right? Both last night and tonight I served them dinner with the individual components side-by-side, and that seemed to help with their enthusiasm also. Tomorrow night will probably be left overs or noodles and sauce, depending on my whims.

I have a batch of my favorite homemade ketchup cooking on the stove. I've needed to make another batch of a while, and finally am getting around to making it. I even picked up a bottle of ketchup at the store, but that is so sickeningly sweet! And, I came up with a slogan for my ketchup: "Ketchup that really actually counts as a vegetable." Chock full of tomatoes, spices, and a few dates, it really is a whole food, SOS-free option that is delicious and totally counts as a veg.

We have another WFBP pitch in this weekend. I'm going to make soy milk yogurt in the instant pot with mixed berry coulis and possibly try my hand at the vegan deviled eggs again. Both are pretty simple, and the girls are so excited to go!

[Birdy]

Hi Lyndzie,
I enjoy reading your blog and glad all of your family is over the flu. We had that at our house and where I work. Not fun.

Today I read your early beginning posts where you said you did not plan to take supplements during your pregnancy unless medically indicated. I believe Dr. McDougall recommends a B12 supplement for women who are pregnant or lactating. Just wondering if you decided to include this or a daily multivitamin?

[Lyndzie]

Hi Birdy! I do take a B-12 supplement, as recommended by everyone. Funny thing, I had my B-12 tested before I got pregnant, and it was right in the middle of the normal range, but my husband's bloodwork recently came back that he was on the low side, and he eats tons of meat. Go figure, right? I did a consult with Jeff over the summer to make sure I was hitting all my bases nutritionally so that I did not need to supplement, and also had pre-pregnancy bloodwork to check the most important nutrients, all which came back stellar. I will admit, this pregnancy has been a bumpy road in food choices, but every day I am working on making better choices and getting to the 95% compliance (I can usually do two good meals, but seem to keep having wild cards. At least breaskfast and lunch are in the right direction).

Yesterday marked 18 weeks. Fetus is roughly 5.5 inches long, and 7 ounces, the size of a bell pepper.

I was suppose to have the anatomy ultrasound on Monday, but was going to a new doctor, and when I got there I found out there were insurance issues and it wouldn't be covered, so instead I had to go home and make a bazillion phone calls to iron out the details. Why does insurance have to be so confusing!?!? I vote for single payer system, because this is just not working.

The WFPB pitch in last weekend was great. The hostess is an RN, and she did a wonderful presentation on the benefits of WFPB eating. She had a couple great slides from studies that really illustrate the positive changes that happen when people eat better. I especially liked the graphic of how arteries opened up over time when eating WFBP (it was an Ornish study, I believe), but that when people followed standard care, which included following the AHA healthy eating guidelines and medications, their arteries continued to close up. It was a real eye opener.

In other news, our pipes froze last Saturday, and we didn't not have running water for four days. It took that long to figure out where the problem was, and it turned out the water meter outside had frozen. The experience was enlightening, because I realized how NOT prepared for emergencies we are. I have tons of dried beans and noodles on hand, but if I have no water to cook them it, it's all for naught. Also, I don't have enough canned vegetables that can simply be warmed up and eaten. I need to go to the store and stock up on those items. Kroger has the best selection I've found of NSA canned tomato products for cheap, and Walmart has a couple varieties of NSA canned beans at a really good price. I'm trying to figure out what veggies would be good, green beans and corn are the only ones that we eat with any regularity, but that doesn't seem sufficient. Hopefully we would have a working oven still, and could bake potatoes, but then the challenge would be cleaning the dishes.

We used a minimum of 6 gallons of water a day, and that included drinking water, flushing the toilet once (it was gross), and the most basic of hygiene. We also would need 2 gallons of water for washing dishes. If we were expecting true emergency weather, I would have 10 gallons per day, plus we need hand sanitizer and baby wipes. We own a generator, so that would help with small amounts of power, but nothing major.

MY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS LIST (family of 4)
20-30 gallons of water
10 cans of beans (black, chickpea, pinto)
10 cans NSA diced tomatoes
6 cans NSA green beans
6 cans NSA corn
2 boxes quick cook brown rice
2 lbs unsalted nuts
1 box raisins
1 container oats
10 lbs potatoes
Apples, bananas, oranges (or in season fruit that is shelf stable)
Baby wipes
Hand sanitizer
Paper plates, bowls
Plastic spoons and forks

We ended up hanging out at my mom's house, but in a true emergency where travel isn't safe, we would have been ok, but not as comfortable. I made a curry that just rocked my world. It is rich because it has coconut milk in it, but oh so tasty. Best served with a hefty amount of sriracha.

CHICKPEA ND CAULIFLOWER CURRY
1 diced onion
Chopped garlic
Minced ginger
3 tbsp red curry paste (might want more, it was very mild)
1 head cauliflower florets
2 cans chickpeas
1 can lite coconut milk
1 can NSA diced tomatoes
A handful of frozen peas

Saute onion until softened. Add in garlic, ginger and curry paste, cook for 1 min. Add in remaining ingredients, except peas. Add a little water if you need more liquid, and simmer until cauliflower is cooked through. Add peas at the end. Serve over rice with sriracha on the side. Enjoy!

[Lyndzie]

I’ve been reading through old Jeff Novick posts from when the forum began, and there are some great posts about toddler nutrition. It’s such a nerve racking time as a parent, when weaning to solid foods, trying to figure out what is the right thing to do, epecially when pediatricians are all about milk.

I found this thread to be especially helpful.
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8659#p63206

[Lyndzie]

Today is 19 weeks, the fetus is 6 inches long, from head to rump, roughly the size of an heirloom tomato.

Tonight's dinner was a WIN. Dr. McDougall always talks about the simple dinner of mashed potatoes and corn, so I decided to do a variation of that for the kids. It was sweet potatoes, broccoli (with a sprinkle of soy sauce) and corn. They gobbled it up and asked for seconds! EVEN THE BROCCOLI!!

I read this book called Bringing Up Bebe about an American parenting in France back when I was pregnant with my first. I liked it because I had studied abroad in Paris, and could relate to the cultural differences. One thing that was stressed in the book is the difference between how food is introduced to children in America versus France. The French really focus on developing a broad palate in children at a very early age, and so I have let that information influence what I feed my children. I enjoy a wide variety of foods and flavors, and wanted to instill that appreciation in my kids as well. I have taken them to multiple different ethnic restaurants to expose them to different cuisines and cultures, from Korean bibimbap to Ethiopean injera and lentil wot.

My oldest is totally game for new foods and flavors. Today we tried persimmons for the first time, and while she wasn't a big fan, she did take a bite. My other daughter, though, is the opposite. She likes very plain foods, and would probably eat just crackers and dried mango if I'd let her. For instance, today she had shredded wheat with almond milk on two separate occasions, and this isn't the frosted kind, it's the really, really dry stuff. She also likes a dish we call "cold oatmeal," which is just oats, raisins and almond milk, not cooked.

Well, I guess my days of slaving in the kitchen over exciting dishes is over. Or, I just don't have to share anymore. I made this great ratatouille a few nights ago that no one except me liked. It's wonderful, but if I can just feed them potatoes and frozen veggies, then why spend the time, money and effort?

As I reread this post, I realize that it sounds like I am really down, but I'm not. I need to focus on the healthy foods they enjoy, and go from there.

[SilverDollar123]

Good Morning Lyndzie! No you don't sound down to me. Mashed potatoes & corn broccoli is one of
my favorite things to eat! & if you are feeling lazy Orida (sp) sells potatoes already frozen & cooked just add water mash eat!
A little on the salty side but ok by me. AND just think you are already almost 1/2 way thru a baby in 2018!! Yeah!

Enjoy the day..NC had snow yesterday. 6inches by me....that means disaster in these neck of the woods! RAS

[Lyndzie]

Hi Ras! According to the app on my phone, only 146 days to go. I'm feeling good about being halfway done. Also, I want to figure out how to post pictures on here. What's the point of having a journal about a baby without baby pictures? That's on my to do list.

I've been struggling with finding something to drink since it's been so friggin' cold this past month or so, and am so glad I got an electric kettle for Christmas, because I am using it constantly. We have super hard water here, so I've been getting gallons of RO water so there isn't a bunch of build up in the kettle, and picked up a few different teas, which I ran by my midwife to make sure that none of the herbs were contra-indicated for pregnancy. I tried the raspberry leaf tea for a couple days, which is suppose to tone the uterus, and that was no joke. Had my first Braxton-Hicks and it was intense, so putting that stuff back on the shelf until the last few weeks of pregnancy. Aside from the Traditional Medicinals Ginger tea that helped me through the first trimester nausea, I also have Numi Rooibos Chia that I highly recommend - it tastes just like the tea they serve at the Ethiopean restaurant, and not like the Indian-style chia that is most common. I picked up Trader Joe's decaf Irish breakfast, but I find it to be too tannic for my tastes.

But to get to the point, I finally tried slices of lemon in hot water, and it's great. I'm guzzling the stuff. It's one of those things you want to kick yourself over, because you should have tried it forever ago and finally got around it and it's way better than you ever imagined (probably a lot like the time between finding out about plant-based eating and finally implementing it. It's so good! Just do it!).

I've been listening to the podcast that PCRM puts out that is called The Exam Room. Every episode starts with an inspiring story of someone who went plant-based and had great leaps forward in their health, followed by an expert talking about some aspect of health and it's connection to diet. I've really enjoyed after the kids go to bed and I finish up my "work" for the day, usually dishes and/or folding laundry. Then I have a few minutes to myself before bed and starting the whole thing over again tomorrow.

In other news, today we took the girls to see Disney on Ice, and I was totally blown away by the whole thing. The performance was exceptional, and perfect for kids. My mom got tickets for us to go for Christmas, and it was a blast. I also managed not to eat anything there, which cost a ridiculous amount and was not healthy anyway.

Also, I have been avoiding all sugar and flour products (except pasta) because they seem to trigger cravings for me, but today I managed to get myself into a craving by eating too much salad. Yes, that's right, too much salad had me in a tizzy trying to track down some chocolate. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on, but I realized that it was the cram circuit that Doug Lisle had talked about in that awesome lecture. He said that people can have a conditioned response to overeating, which leads them to wanting more food, and that is exactly what happened! I made a big salad, and added beans to it, but that made it a little too filling. I was full, but there was some left, and I didn't want to waste it, so I finished it (it's just veggies, right? Very low cal stuff.) and next thing you know I'm raiding the cabinets trying to figure out how to make chocolate chia pudding with dates (it was disgusting). On the plus side, because the pudding was inedible, I was over the craving at that point and could move forward, but man that was no good at all. Next time I'm throwing the lettuce away, that was not worth it.

A few nights ago I made a fettuccini Alfredo from the Minimalist Baker website. I tweaked the recipe to my tastes, but it's a really good jumping off point if you are craving something a little richer. Because the sauce is so rich, though, the dish really needs to be about half veggies. I made mine with broccoli and sundried tomatoes. This is another dish that the girls gave a thumbs down to, but I'm glad to have the recipe in case I want to change things up and have something that sticks to the ribs a little more. I think it would also be good with mushrooms and asparagus.

Ok, enough rambling for today. Best to you all! Stay warm out there.