Monday Musings

I'm just going to put it out there...I don't have much going on today...we spent our weekend making a quick trip to Atlanta to see Hubby's grandma who had flown in from Illinois for his aunt's graduation for her Doctorate. She had never met our youngest son, so it was important for us to go. Surprisingly, the kids were pretty good for the car trips there and back.

Anyway....

Now that I'm out of the first trimester, my carb cravings have subsided a bit. I put on 10 lbs in the first trimester! Not sure how much of that I can attribute to bloat, but seriously...that has had me down in the dumps about this pregnancy. I've got two trimesters to go and I haven't even hit the biggest weight gain time. I'm hoping my body is just knowing what it needs and it just evens out in the end...hoping I'll still be close to what I was at the end of my 1st and 2nd pregnancies. Good news is that my weight has stayed the same for the last 3-4 weeks, so maybe the gain is tapering off for right now. I just seriously couldn't believe the scale even after all the gym sessions I'd put in and healthy choices I had been trying to make.

Now that carb cravings are not as much of an issue, it's easier to stick to my meal plan. For breakfast, I love to make a berry protein smoothie. Here's the recipe for you - as it's great for you pregnant or not {and it's been able to stave off my pregnancy hunger until well into mid-morning, when I then have something like string cheese to hold me over until lunch time}:

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3/4 c. skim milk

1 small banana

1 scoop whey or soy protein

1 tsp. chia seeds {I use Trader Joe's}

1/3 c./ea of blueberries, blackberries & raspberries

1-2 tbsp. nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt

Blend until smooth & enjoy!

Speaking of recipes...my new job has me getting off work a half hour later than my previous job, and of course the traffic getting home is heinous...plus, thanks to DST being over...it's full-on dark by the time I get to my kids at their daycare around 6-6:15. So let's just say getting dinner on the table the last few weeks has been a challenge. If I am not fully prepared with something...the poor little guys have been stuck with Mac-n-Cheese or chicken nuggets. They'll get veggies on the side and all, but still, it's just not my idea of a well-rounded, unprocessed meal. So I've been searching high and low for some great healthy, easy Crockpot meals to have ready to go when we walk in the door. Last night, I prepped all the ingredients for this lovely dish. {All I had to do this AM was put it in the Crockpot and turn it on.}

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I made it a bit healthier by substituting the bacon with turkey bacon, the Ranch mix with the low sodium version, the cream of potato with the 98% fat-free version and the cream cheese with the fat-free version. This just looked so yummy...I can't wait to indulge when I get home. It just seemed like a great fall meal too...and I bet the boys will just gobble it up. I doubled the recipe to fill our large Crockpot, so there will be leftovers for lunches {or dinner in a pinch!}

If y'all have any good sources for easy, healthy Crockpot meals, holla at yo' girl!

As for the rest of the week, I don't have much planned other than starting to pull out and go through Christmas decor. We will be out of town over Thanksgiving when I normally put up the tree, so I will probably make plans to get a lot of the decorating done this coming weekend. We also have our 6th wedding anniversary on Friday - Nana & Papa are taking the kids, so we are thinking of going downtown for a nice dinner...there are a few new places I've been dying to try so I'll see what I can manage for reservations!

Have a great week!

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