Hi friends!
As you may have read in Monday’s blog post (<– includes a hilarious cake fail), I’m off to Maine this weekend for my future sister-in-law’s bachelorette weekend!
I leave tomorrow morning and will be coming back Monday night – I’m staying over on Sunday with a good friend of mine from college who happens to live nearby where we’ll be for the bachelorette festivities. What a nice coincidence!
Since I’ll be enjoying time with my friend on Monday, I won’t be sharing my weekend recap that day and instead have a fun recipe/easy meal ideas post ready for you guys.
To read all about my trip and how our baking competition goes, you’ll have to wait until Wednesday… although I’m sure I’ll share some previews on Instagram/Instagram stories. 😉
And now… for some random things I’m loving lately!
1) Meatloaf!
Fellow dietitian and friend Sarah and I had another fun recipe testing get together earlier this week, and this time our theme was meatloaf!
We tested:
- a vegetarian meatloaf with tofu, mushrooms, and lentils (Sarah is going to finish tweaking this and post the recipe soon on her blog – I’ll share a link when it’s live because it was yummy and Riese liked it too!)
- turkey dijon meatloaf bites (with dijon mustard instead of ketchup, and made in muffin tins)
- a standard beef meatloaf but with a fun twist: a spinach “swirl”
Have you guys ever tried to put a spinach swirl in meatloaf before?
It came out really well – we sauteed some of it, and then ended up not having enough so we added some extra raw chopped spinach, and both seemed to work fine.
To roll it, we put it on a silpat silicone baking mat, and then used that to help us roll it up.
It came out a little messy but it tased good!
If you want to give it a try, just use your favorite meatloaf recipe, flatten it out on a baking mat, put some chopped spinach on top, and then (carefully, ha) roll it up!
Bake on a baking sheet and enjoy. 🙂
I’ll share the turkey dijon meatloaf bites recipe soon… it was really good so I want to get some additional pictures and give it its own recipe post!
Stay tuned.
2) Kale chips
I made kale chips this week for the first time in ages because I had a ton of kale on hand to use up, and yum!
I forgot how delicious kale chips are.
Just coat the kale leaves in a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, then bake at 275 for 15 to 20 minutes, or until crisp.
I offered some of these to Riese (really small pieces since greens can be a little weird for toddlers without all their teeth to fully chew/swallow), and she was OBSESSED with them. Total win!
3) Run dates!
Heather and I enjoyed our run date over the weekend so much we decided to do it again super early on Wednesday morning!
I felt a bit sluggish on this one, but we had a great time chatting and the miles flew.
Sidenote – this was the first time I tried doing a workout before either feeding Riese or pumping (because I left early enough that I would be home before she woke up), and yeah… bad call.
I felt fine while out there, but later in the day I had some pain in my right breast that I think was the start of a clogged duct? Good times.
I think I headed the situation off with some heating pads, but we’ll see… fingers crossed.
Anyway, PSA for my breastfeeding mama readers: don’t wear a super tight sports bra when your breasts are full of milk. It’s a bad idea. You’re welcome.
(For those wondering, I am down to nursing 2 to 3 times a day now – first thing, before or after the morning nap, and then maybe once in the afternoon.
I was tempted to try to wean her fully before I left for the trip this weekend, but neither of us are ready to be done nursing yet, so I’m just letting her guide the situation and we’ve naturally been tapering down the number of feeds. Part of me really wants to be done – especially logistically – but then another big part of me feels really emotional when I think about not nursing her anymore. It’s legit the only time she will cuddle with me!)
Anyway…
4) The book “Year of Yes.”
I bought this book after my favorite podcast, By the Book, gave it rave reviews, and now I love it too.
Shonda’s writing style is so fun and engaging, but in between the entertaining, easy to read commentary, she does a lot of really insightful soul searching.
I especially love what she wrote about motherhood.
If you’re looking for a new read, check it out!
5) This blog post on How One Mom Became a School Food Champion.
What an incredible, inspiring example of the difference you can make in your community.
And that’s all I have for you guys today!
I’m enjoying my mommy day with Riese today, and then tonight I’ll be finishing packing all the warmest clothes I own and getting ready to head up north for the bachelorette festivities.
Have a fabulous weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday with some easy meal ideas!
And in the meantime… be sure to check Instagram to see how my cake comes out. 😉
