Whoops

Um, whoops. I just opened my iPhoto and realized that I didn't take many exciting pictures this weekend.

For example, exhibit A:

This was part of one of my breakfasts. Woo hoo, right? Actually, I decided to photograph it because it did seem so pretty and nutritious.

As far as other breakfasts go, yesterday David and I had pancakes. It's becoming a Sunday ritual, only recently I've started making them instead of waiting for David to do it. He usually sleeps later, so sometimes I'll make pancakes and leave them warming for him. Yesterday, however, he woke up just as they were finishing cooking, so we ate together.

Side-by-side Apple computers, reading the daily news, and eating our multigrain pancakes. Can you say "yuppie?"

And yes, that is Nikki's Coconut Butter. I am, obviously, _not_ that Nikki, but I did recently decide to try this coconut butter that all the famous bloggers talk about. My review? It's good. It's not going to change my life though. There's a tiny part of me that is still skeptical about a product that contains like 50% of my daily saturated fat, and I don't care what you say about "long chain" / "short chain" fatty acids or any of that.

Despite these rather mundane photos and events, I did take a picture of something interesting that happened at work. See, when people adopt cats we put their cats in a cardboard carrier to take home. Unfortunately I ran into a cat that really, really doesn't like being cooped up, and this happened:

Yah. A cat really did claw and bite and tear its way out of that box. And it took less than thirty seconds to do it too!! I was honestly scared about what that cat would do once it got out, since it was pretty terrifying watching it tear out of there. If you've ever seen Jurassic Park, then just imagine those velociraptors tearing out of a cage. It was like that. And that is why I have a dog and not a cat. (Among other reasons.)

In other news, it's hot here today. And it will be hot for a number of days this week. Sigh. I'm off to possibly nap before we run some errands and go to a friend's house for dinner. Will produce pictures of said dinner tomorrow, I swear:-)

*Isn't it funny that the box says "Cats are angels with whiskers" and a vicious f-ing feline tore through it?

Some Eats

My eats as of late have been pretty tasty. I can't say why for sure, but I think it has something to do with me having gotten my ass into the kitchen recently. It's strange, really, how I go through phases with cooking. Sometimes I really enjoy being in the kitchen, following (or not following) recipes, coordinating all the different phases of a meal, etc. And other times I really feel like the last thing I want to do is even bother putting rice into the rice cooker.

But, anyway:-)

This was lunch yesterday, leftover from our anniversary dinner on Sunday evening.

That's spicy seitan burritos, in case you're new to the blog. They are David's specialty.

I also made another pesto/mozz/tomato sandwich for lunch today.

Heaven on a plate. I have to make more pesto, asap. The only downside, of course, is the garlic. I can't imagine having pesto without garlic, but man, I really don't enjoy feeling garlic-y all day after eating pesto. Granted I ate about a half a cup of pesto between this sandwich and the spoon I took to the pesto bowl. But still, it sure would be nice if the pesto could taste just as delicious but retain less of the garlic aftereffects.

I suppose it's only a problem during the day, though. We ate pesto pasta for dinner last night and the garlic effects were pretty minimal since we went to bed just a few hours after eating.

I threw in some roasted zucchini as well as some fresh "Early Girl" tomatoes. These are small tomatoes but so good and sweet. David said this was the best pasta dish I've ever made, and I think I'd agree. Of course, it's all because of the pesto. Like I said, I need more basil to make more pesto!

After dinner last night we took a walk with Haruki and ran into our neighbor Barb. She gave us some homemade banana bread. David scarfed his slice on our walk, but I save mine until today:

It was good, though a bit too nutty for my tastes. It got me excited to make pumpkin bread for fall though...

And with that I'm off. We're having friends over for dinner tonight so there are a few things I need to prepare. David is currently in the future baby room using some kind of drill. #Makesmenervous

*What is your policy regarding garlic? Do you just eat it and deal with the breath, or do you avoid it in certain circumstances?

Pesto Madness

So all you peeps with gardens are probably on to this already, but a garden = basil, which = all the pesto you could ever want! I'm a pretty lucky girl because my friend Liz has a garden and recently she bestowed upon me some of the basil that she's been reaping from her garden. In other words, I get to reap the benefits while someone else does all the work! It's a real win-win in my book. I Googled a really simple pesto recipe and this was the result:

OMG it smelled so fresh and delicious after I made it. It still does too, but it was particularly good on a chip out of the food processor. The last time I made arugula pesto it turned out a bit "off," so I was especially glad that this batch turned out.

In addition to giving me the basil, my friend Liz also regaled me with tips about what to do with pesto, including an idea for a margherita sandwich with uber-fresh tomatoes, lots of pesto, and fresh mozzarella. Since my friend Shannon was coming over for lunch yesterday I decided to give it a whirl. This was the result:

Seriously. This was good. I put it on Pepita bread from Whole Foods, sprinkled it with salt and pepper, and drizzled a tiny bit of olive oil on it. It's true what they say about fresh simple foods being the best, isn't it? It's hard to imagine that three years ago I wouldn't have touched this plate with a ten-foot pole because it had olive oil and cheese on it.

After hanging out with Shannon yesterday I went to get my teeth cleaned. If you know anything about pregnancy and dental health then you know that dentist = ouch. Apparently bacteria in your mouth just thrive when your body is being pumped full of estrogen and progesterone. Great for me. At least it will get better and go back to normal after baby.

For dinner David and I met our friends Adam and Michaela at Native Foods, where we haven't dined in quite some time. I had the Bangkok Curry bowl, which was pretty good but not exceptional.

What can I say, though? I'm a sucker for anything with tofu too.

*Is there an ingredient that you can't resist on a menu--even if it's accompanied by other ingredients that aren't your favorite?

Anniversary Weekend

Guess who came to visit at the shelter this weekend! A little baby Samoyed. Isn't he cute? Every time he walked his little ears flopped up and down. It was pretty much the pinnacle of cuteness.

Hmm. I probably should've ended the post with that picture, since it's definitely also the pinnacle of the post's cuteness.

My next tidbit from the weekend is definitely less cute.

This is a bunch of free stuff that I got for volunteering this weekend at the BStrong Bike Ride for Cancer. Not including the kale from Alfalfa's, of course. That I got just to make sure that I had some greens in me for part of lunch. (Since the second part of lunch was mostly margherita pizza.) I even got a free t-shirt for volunteering, which is pretty great since I got it in my current size and I now have a workout t-shirt that isn't awkwardly snug around my belly:-)

After volunteering I went home to pick up David so we could meet my family for dinner. It's been awhile since we were all together, so it was pretty nice to catch up. I ordered a tilapia dish that I neglected to photograph. BUT! I did photograph the second half of it when I ate it for lunch on Sunday:

With leftover kale, naturally.

Also of note food-wise this weekend? These pancakes:

Which don't actually look very good, do they? Oh well. Put enough almond butter on anything and I'd find it tasty.

And finally, these guys:

Those are carrot cake cupcakes from Tee and Cakes. I picked them up on Saturday afternoon since Sunday was our first wedding anniversary!! Seriously. If you live anywhere near Boulder you really have to order yourself a small carrot cake. Just like a 4" cake. It's so worth it.

We didn't do much on our anniversary, but because we just spent the day together, alone, it was pretty nice. We took Haruki on a long hike, gave her a bath, made and ate dinner together, and took care of a few pre-baby things. We talked about our first year of marriage, including things that we had learned during it. I'm just glad that the pregnancy hormones dealt us a good day so I didn't have to punch David in the face or hate his guts _at all_ yesterday:-)

*What do you do on your anniversary, if you have one?

Wednesday, err, Sunday

Yah, it's my Sunday. That means I'm soaking up all the laziness before going to work tomorrow. I was supposed to have a play date with a friend who just had a baby, but because her son is sick we canceled. So, after Bootcamp and a doctor appointment I promptly came home to relax, take a quick (like twenty minute) nap, and maybe watch a few episodes of Orange is the New Black. Even though I realize that I'll be exhausted and crazy busy with baby for most of it, I'm still excited that Fall TV shows will be starting soon. This includes football! I haven't had TV and cable during football season since, like, 2007, so I'm pretty pumped that this year I can watch as many games as I want. Scratch that. I just realized that I did have cable for most of last year's football season. Liar.

Anyhow, given that I've done basically nothing today, I don't have much to share aside from the snack plate that I made after eating lunch.

That would be half a piece of the mediocre banana bread I made yesterday, along with grapes and a small piece of white and milk chocolate. Yes, I said white and milk chocolate, i.e. so full of sugar and fat that they practically don't have room for the freaking cacao. For some reason I got a hankering for it recently and have since been having a square or two a day. It's only fair since I can't fully bend over and tie my shoes anymore, right?

And...that's about all I have to write about. And...I guess that answers my question about why I only have four blog readers:-)

*What do you do on those days when you've got nada to write about?

Nester

I'm not sure why, but Tuesday seems to be the day that I write about pregnancy-related stuff. Today's topic, my friends, is nesting.

I think I'm doing it. It all started last week when I realized how close we are to actually having a baby. Once that realization hit I started to think about all the little spots or nooks around the house that are filled with crap that we don't use, don't want, etc. Our house is really nice, but it's not exactly chock full of storage space, either. So starting a new baby off--especially since babies have so much crap associated with their care--in a house that is filled with crap that David and I should've tossed a long time ago seemed unwise. The problem is that I let myself feel too overwhelmed by the number of places in the house that I need to go through and reorganize. So last week, when this realization hit, I decided that I'd try to clean out and organize one or two small areas a week. Last week, I picked up all the donated maternity clothes I'd been given (which were on the floor of my closet), sorted them, and took the rest to a donation site. Whew!

This morning I started in on the kitchen. First I organized our drawer full of bars, teas, and chocolates. Then I moved on to the larger food cabinets, where I found things that I really shouldn't have purchased in the first place. Really, cleaning out the cabinets was a wake-up call that I need to lessen the frequency with which I decide to try a new food or new item.

Anyhow, cleaning out the food cabinets led to a lot of crumbs on the floor, which led to wiping out the refrigerator, which led to wiping the counter tops, which led to sweeping the stairs, which led to vacuuming the downstairs and entryway. All before ten-thirty, when I had to leave for my BodyPump class.

And, before I forget to mention it, last night I made dinner! Tofu and broccoli, to be exact:

And I even started pinning dinner recipes on Pinterest!

And this morning I also made banana bread!!!

Unfortunately it's only okay. It's whole wheat, with applesauce instead of butter, and maple syrup instead of brown sugar. I guess I should've been expecting something less delicious than the banana bread my grandmother made, which we could've just as accurately called butter bread.

So, peeps, the moral of the story is that I'm nesting the shit out of this week! I'm also getting kicked in the ribs by this baby. So, I guess you can't have everything. The end.

*Do you have a good, semi-healthy banana bread recipe you use? (Ummm, share?)

Eats and Sights

Hey friends. It's Monday. Again.

Either I'm tired or I'm losing the ability to speak and think, since I can't really think of much to write about. The weekend was pretty good, though uneventful. I kicked it off with some oatmeal, which I've been enjoying a few times a week lately.

This was a berry/banana oatmeal, and I have to say that I think straight up banana is the best. It was lucky that I ate a good breakfast before my shift on Thursday, since I felt like crap for most of the day. My left contact was causing me a lot of pain, and even though one of the veterinary technicians gave me this syringe of saline

I just couldn't get my eye to stop hurting. (Until I got home and threw that contact lens away.) I took a picture just because it was cool that working in an animal shelter/kind of medical facility had a perk that I never would've expected.

In other news, we got a lot of puppies last week, and thus the entire weekend was pretty busy. Lots of these guys went home with new families:

After a long day at work on Friday I came home to eat dinner on the deck with David. Sigh. Not too shabby a view.

And, since I know of at least one reader who wants to see more baby bump, here's how my belly is looking these days:

And yes, I pretty much live all day waiting for the moment when I can get home and put on a tank top and boxer short pajama bottoms. Don't you? Only eight more weeks until I can finally stop thinking about what shirts this belly will fit into!

As for recent pregnant eats, I'm eating a lot of fruit these days. I mean, I've always liked fruit, but for some reason the heat + pregnancy has made me a fruit eating monster. And then sometimes I just eat super random stuff, like cottage cheese, beans, and brown rice tortilla chips.

All while reading blogs, of course:-)

*Is anyone else getting excited for Pinterest holiday season food porn? Heh. No?