Surviving the First Trimester

As you can probably gather from my absence from this blog and instagram, the first trimester of this pregnancy was ROUGH on me. Both Max and I feel like this has been the worst I've felt in all 3 pregnancies but who really knows because I think we forget the really bad parts so we keep having more. Maybe? Anyways, this one has been rough. I've been tired and melancholy as the 2nd trimester has entered in but I was sick for what felt like forever! Like willing myself to not throw up every waking moment kind of sick. I gained a total of 1 pound in the whole first trimester and that was in the 13th week when I finally felt a little bit better. SO this is what I basically lived on since about 5 weeks pregnant until 16 weeks. It was a long bout of morning sickness but these where lifesavers to make things a little bit more tolerable.

1. Peppermint lifesavers: anytime I was driving I have one in my mouth
2. Saltine Crackers
3. Cashews and Macadamian Nuts: The salty protein helps a lot!
4. Cheddar Mozzarella Cheese Sticks: More protein!
5. Pacific coast ice tea: Helped with getting liquid in me and the caffeine helped me keep moving through the day
6. Sprouts instant Oatmeal: I would eat this right before bed to help me not be so hungry in the night or morning.
7. Starbucks stainless steel cup
8. Driving myself everywhere we went

If you are in the dredges of the first trimester, take heart! It's for a good purpose and it will come to an end at some point. It's different for everyone and can be very challenging!

Chinese Chicken Salad

One of my favorite lunches is Chinese Chicken Salad. When I was little and as I grew up, my mom and I would go shopping and every time we would go get lunch at Nordstroms Cafe. We would always get their Chinese Chicken Salad and it was so yummy. Now when I make it at home, I think about those memories of having lunch with my mom. Myy recipe isn't like Nordstrom's but just one that we've created over time. It's quick and simple and so so good!

Chinese Chicken Salad 

1 head of Romaine Lettuce (amount depending on the size salad you want. 1 small head per person)
1/4-1/2 cup celery, diced
1/4-1/2 cup cucumber, peeled and diced
Raman noodles, crushed into small pieces, sprinkle desired amount, save the rest
1 small can mandarin oranges
1/2-1 Chicken Breast, grilled or sautéed, cut in strips of cubed
1/4 cup toasted almonds

For Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

-The ingredients for salad part are for a single large serving of salad. The dressing is for multiple salads, great for saving.
-I put all the ingredients for dressing in a mason jar and shake to combine. Pour over salad and toss to coat all ingredients and enjoy!

Lunch....What to have for Lunch?

One question friends ask me often is what I do for lunch. When it was just Max and I and I was working, we'd both take leftovers because there always were some but now that we have more mouths to feed and I haven't added too much extra to my recipes, Max always gets first dibs on leftovers.  Since staying at home, I've struggled to really get myself to eat a good lunch. I want good food but I either need time to make it (which doesn't always happen) or I just can't think of anything that sounds good. The struggle is real let me tell you!!! Anyways, since being pregnant and starving and since the kids are in school 3 half days a week, I've had more time to think about lunch for myself and its a necessity that I eat a good one. I've come up with a list of options and thought I'd share them with you all.

What's for Lunch???

Taco Salad Chinese Chicken Salad Chicken Taco Salad

Apple, Pecan, Blue cheese and Dried Cherry Salad

Fall Chopped Salad

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Corn Chowder-make ahead and freeze in small portions Pastina Soup Chicken and Rice Soup-make ahead and freeze in small portions

Chicken and Noodles-make ahead and freeze in small portions

Split Pea Soup-make ahead and freeze in small portions

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Pasta with Spaghetti Sauce

Veggie Hash and Eggs

Greek Chicken Pasta Salad

Chicken Salad with Crasins

Tuna Salad

Egg Salad

Tortellini Primavera

Summer "Spaghetti"

Cheese and Crackers with Fruit or Veggies

Hummus and Tortilla chips and cut up Veggies

A variety of salads from my Salad Pinterest Board

Tips:

• If I make a pot of soup with lots of leftovers or a soup that only I like, which I usually half the recipe for anyways (Corn Chowder, Split Pea, etc) I package them into quart sized ziplock bags and freeze them laying down flat until frozen. Then I stack them in a plastic container in the freezer. Then when I feel like a certain thing, I just pull out the bag, place it in some water and let it defrost. You could also pull it out before you head to work and then heat it up there.
• Cut up some lettuce earlier in the week and put it in a bag with a damp paper towel. Then cut up some other veggies and put them in separate containers. Emily Ley calls it the Sunday Chop :) Too much liquid from all the veggies can make a mess but having stuff separately packaged will help you not have any soggy salads. You can do the same with some of your fruit.
• Buying frozen tortellini or ravioli and splitting them into single serving sizes (since they are normally packaged for families) then just cook up what you want and use a jared sauce you like or a frozen sauce you have on hand. Something else I do, is if I have left over veggies from the night before, I just toss the tortellini with the veggies, some olive oil, garlic salt and some parmesan and it's a great lunch. 
• If you have a salad you like to eat often and make a dressing for it you like, make extra and store in a mason jar that way you have a dressing already made on hand when you want it. I eat Chinese Chicken Salad often so I always have the dressing in a jar waiting for me.
• If making Tacos or grilling up some chicken breasts, I always take out a bit extra meat to plan for a lunch for myself. If you aren't sure when you will eat the meat, package it again (once cooked) in a single serving size and freeze it until you are ready to eat it. Slice up the chicken breast so that it defrosts faster and is already ready to put on a salad. I also do this if we have some leftover meat that has been sitting in the fridge a few days and no one seems to be eating it. Cut it up or slice it (steak, grilled chicken) and package for a salad another day.
• Keep some of your favorite cheeses on hand for a quick salad. I like feta and dry goat cheese on salads. I keep those on hand since they last awhile in the fridge and then I can throw a salad together with fruit or veggies we have from the garden or the store. Add some nuts and a vinaigrette and you have a great salad!

I hope this helps you get some ideas for lunch. It's always a challenge for me and I tend to forget myself when taking care of the kids but having these little short cuts have helped me a ton! It takes a little prep work at one point but then you are set for a while!
What do you have for lunch? Any ideas to share?

Being Planted by the great Orchardist

Being married to a home orchardist and gardener has taught me a lot over the last 1.5 years. My husbands new hobby of growing our own food has rubbed off onto me. One things that I've been fascinated by is the cycle of the tree and the job of the orchardist. When we received our first 35 fruit tree's, most of them came to us as "bare root trees." This means that the tree is not planted into a pot after they remove it from the ground but rather they are sent, once in their dormant state, to us with bare roots ready for our TLC. There are a lot of reasons I don't know or will pretend to share about why but the tree is bare of anything...a fresh, usually 2-3 year old tree. We receive these trees in the winter when they are in their dormant season because it's the best time to plant them, as to not shock the system of the tree. This dormant season is usually the time the orchardist does a "hard prune" to get the tree ready for the spring and he decides what branches are the best for producing the most fruit. The next season is when the tree breaks dormancy, a season known as "budding out". The tree "buds out" and pushes as many fruit bearing flowers out as it can as well as a few little leaves. This occurs every year in the spring, when the weather begins to get warm and we stop having freezing temperatures at night. In this season, the bees pollinate those flowers and that is what will eventually bring us fruit.

After the flowers start to fall off and hopefully were pollinated, the leaves push out to fill the tree called "leafing out". This is also the big long season of glory for the tree. It grows, sometimes super long branches (some of which are a bit crazy) and tries to get as much sunlight as it can to grow (remember photosynthesis from science class?). The tree then starts to produce fruit and grows in it's big sunny glory. During this season, the orchardist goes in and pulls off some of the fruit to produce better fruit on the branch, a thinning out. The orchardist also does a small summer prune to control some of the growth and to direct the path he wants the tree to grow in as well as does the big harvest when the fruit is ready! Then once the fall arrives and things begin to cool off. The tree drops it's leaves and goes into a season where they are getting ready to rest. In the season, the orchardist watches and waits for the tree to go completely dormant in preparation for the big prune. It's a quiet season for both involved, the trees and the orchardist but it's also a time of anticipation for the work ahead. Are you still with me? What in the world does this have to do with anything? Well, right after Christmas, I started the Life Lived Beautifully Planted study. It is a study about some of the disciplines of a Christian life. Each week, we study a new discipline of the Christian life and I just started week 3 and have been blessed by it.  Something God showed me through it and was working on my heart prior was the whole concept of our Christian walk in relation to a fruit tree. God has revealed so much of Himself to Maxwell and I through this new adventure of big gardening/orcharding. We are exactly like a fruit tree and God is the Orchardist. He does the hard pruning in our dormant times. This is what people often call their "dry" seasons but I'm starting to see them in a different light. It isn't a bad thing or a bad season, it's an amazing season that we must all go through in order to be ready for what He has ahead for us. We shouldn't feel down or depressed in this season, although at times I know we feel like we can't hear God or we don't feel close to Him but that is when we need to dig deep into the disciplines the Bible teaches us and get ready for what He is going to do.  I just came out of a dormant season due to this pregnancy. It was a time of quiet and rest and not much to share on here or instagram but now as I'm starting to "bud out" I am seeing the light of what He was teaching in that time.     One of my favorite quotes from the study is "to be a healthy tree, or in our case to be a righteous person, doesn't mean always performing at an optimal level and always bearing visible fruit for all to see." Just like the fruit tree's, we must go through the season of waiting and quiet, rest, then growth and production. "This is the God-ordained process that brings about optimal health." (Kara Holmes) We should not get frustrated by these seasons, or allow Satan to get into our heads and tells us we aren't growing and God isn't there. He is there, He has a plan and a purpose! He is the great Orchardist and He has a plan for our growth, for our fruit and for His harvest. Allow Him to work and in order to do this, we must plant ourselves in His presence through these disciplines (Bible study, meditation, prayer, worship, ect) and be ready for the seasons He has for us.  I'd highly recommend the Planted study. I'm only on week 3 and the things I have learn about the first 3 disciplines have been amazing! It's a very short study in terms of day to day but yet I find myself meditating on the truths throughout my days. (This is not a sponsored post, just something God has been teaching me and a tool He is using in my life!)

Meal Plan Monthly: January!!

Happy New Year everyone! 2015 ended with a slam of busy as it always does and on top of it all, I've just been exhausted. Pregnant with two little kids is exhausting :) On top of that, I didn't really get an appetite back until mid-December making it very hard to meal plan. So now I'm feeling more normal and food actually sounds good so I'm back here with another Meal Plan Monthly. I hope this helps in your planning and as always, I'd love to hear what you are having! Chicken Dishes: Chicken Marsala Crock Pot Whole Chicken Sweet and Sour Chicken Chicken Tortilla Soup Chicken Tacos Shake and Bake Chicken with Stuffings and cranberry sauce Chicken Parmesan Casserole (We dice the chicken instead of leaving it whole) Chicken Cacciatore Oven BBQ Chicken  Pork Dishes: Pork Chops with Pineapple fried rice Lasagna Soup(We have actually modified this recipe for our tastes using ground beef but it's good with the italian sausage if you like that.) Beef Dishes: Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes Sloppy Joes We do this recipe with ground beef and half it Teriyaki Flap Steak Ground Beef Nachos Chili and Cornbread Sweet and Sour Meatballs Beef Stroganoff Beef with Snowpeas   Happy Cooking!!

12 Days of Christmas 2015

Each year since Max and I have been married, we have celebrated Twelve Days of Christmas. When it was just the two of us, Twelve Days included both gifts and activities but as children entered in and our budget has changed, we now do 12 days of Christmas activities. Each year prior to this year, we have done the 12 days leading up to and including Christmas but this year, we are going to do Twelve Days spread out a bit and hope that we feel less rushed. Some days are more involved than others and things and plans change every year. This is just a guide for us to make sure we intentionally do the things we want to do. Spreading it out a bit will hopefully helps us not feel so crunched. So here is our plan in no particular order(we are giving ourselves flexibility this year :)):

1. Hanukkah Night: We've decided that it would be fun to celebrate Hanukkah one night to share with our kids about the tradition in the Old Testament. We do this by making a traditional Hankkah Dinner and dessert. We plan dradle and talk about why the Jewish people celebrate this holiday.
2. Christmas Bingo and Hot Chocolate Night
3. Santa Pancake: Breakfast for dinner…True story of St. Nick
4. Go see Christmas Lights and get Kettle Corn(The neighborhood we go to see lights at has a house that sells kettle corn, which is my favorite!!)
5. Mickey Mouse Gingerbread Cookie decorating night. Disneyland and Disney World sell a great gingerbread cookie mix at Christmas time. We don't have passes this year but we have friends who do and they picked some up for us!
6. Make paper snowflakes and have a snowball fight. We did this last year with jumbo marshmallows and it was sooooooo much fun! This year, we found some light up stuffed snowballs so we are going to try and do our fight with those in the "dark" (we have dimmable lights so we will use those.) 
7. Snowman Day: Snowman Pancakes, Snowman Pizza and Frosty the Snowman, Snowman Craft
8. Ice Skating at a local rink
9. Christmas at Sea World
10. Bethlehem Story: There is a local church who does an interactive walkthrough of the streets of Bethlehem. My in-laws took Aston last year and it made a big impression on him so we are all going to go this year. I'm super excited about it!!
11. Christmas Eve Night: we go to the Christmas Eve service at our church and then come home and wait for daddy. When daddy comes home (he works at our church so he has to get set up for the next services) he brings with him a special present: The Christmas Eve Box. It has new christmas PJ's, movie and popcorn. We started this tradition last year and it was a lot of fun. It was also a nice calm way to get ready for bed and for the next morning.
12. Possibly another church outreach in the area that has snow. In SoCal, you go looking for places with snow :) If we don't do this, we will do a movie night. 

We love this tradition and enjoy it so much more then trying to do something every day for the month of December. It's a busy month for us as it is for most so this is something fun we look forward to each year! What are some of your favorite Christmas Activities?
You can see what we've done in pervious years here.

Family Pictures and an Announcement.....

Last week in the midst of our family having the worst stomach bug, we had family pictures schedule with the amazing Brianna Venzke Photography. She shoot our last family pictures a year and a half ago and I just loved them. She has moved twice since then but is a traveling photographer who comes back to Souther California often so when I heard she was heading this way, I made sure to schedule our session. I just love how these turned out! And how well she captured our family.

 Our poor little lady felt so crummy the whole time and was just not her normal self.

But when she got to put on her princess Elsa dress she gave us a little glimpse of her normal self with daddy being silly :)

And announcing.....

We are thrilled to announce that Baby #3 will be joining us sometime in May. My due date is May 28th but this baby is already measuring a week ahead of schedule which is typical for my babies so we usually don't make it past 39 weeks. We will see what God has in store with this little one but we are all very excited!!

We waited to tell the kids we were expecting until we were taking pictures so that she could capture it. The week before Aston had mentioned that my stomach looked like it had a baby inside so we told him he was right.

Aston was so cute when it clicked. He looked at Brianna and said, "Mommy has a baby in her belly!!!!" It was the best!

Leia was very confused and tried to look for the baby :)

Showing them the ultrasound picture.

Leia was over taking pictures and we wanted to get a cute one of them holding the ultrasound picture. This is what we got.....Hilarious! Max calls this picture, "Game Over!"

This is really how Aston feels. He is so excited!!

All photos are by Brianna Venzke Photography. She's amazing! Go check her out!!