Hello there! Gosh, time feels like it is flying – the days feel slow sometimes (especially by the late afternoon when I’m tired and Riese is bored), but the weeks feel like they are going so quickly. How is it already Friday again?
We are gearing up for another weekend with zero plans… planning to do a few more house projects and such since with this cold weather there’s not much else to do!
I was hoping Riese’s new “big girl bed” that I mentioned in my 23 week pregnancy update would arrive this weekend, but it looks like now it’s backordered and should hopefully come in mid-February. The delivery keeps getting pushed back and back… hoping it doesn’t end up going even later so we can give Riese plenty of time to get used to her new bed before the baby is here!
It has been a cold week over here so we’ve been on a soup kick. Anyone else crushing soup lately? This was a really fast and easy one I threw together one day for lunch.
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I used two cans of chicken noodle soup, but then added a container of chicken bone broth and also added some chopped grilled chicken breast and chopped carrots and celery to the mix, too, to amp it up a bit. Plus a can of white beans that isn’t pictured!
It came out quite yummy and we’ve been enjoying having it on hand for lunches! If you want some recipes to try, check out my Easy Chili Recipes + Healthy Soups round up post for my best faves!
We also had some yummy sandwiches this week for lunch – this one had turkey (I steamed it in the microwave first per pregnancy recs, don’t worry), cheddar, pickles, mustard, guac, and arugula. Plus more pickles and some string beans on the side.
Check out my Healthy Sandwich Recipes post for some unique ideas if you’re tired of your normal routine, btw!
As for snacks, Riese and I made some muffins one day that we’ve been enjoying snacking on – we used the Simple Mills pumpkin muffin mix and made them with milk instead of water (tastier + more protein) and added walnuts and raisins. Yummy!
I have tons of muffin recipes on the blog (see also: 11 Healthy & Easy Muffin Recipes round up post), but sometimes using a box mix is just really nice and simple.
The big dinner highlight this week was enjoying Ina Garten’s Baked Rigatoni with Lamb Ragu!
My mom got her cookbook for Christmas and this was the first recipe she tried from it. It made a ton so she dropped off a whole pan’s worth that hadn’t been cooked yet for us to enjoy – thanks, mom! Wish we could have eaten it together (we aren’t seeing my parents right now to be extra cautious).
45 minutes in the oven later and our house smelled amaaaazing.
It was so good – super rich and savory with really great flavor. I’m excited because we have enough for one more round of leftovers! It was a bit fancy for Riese’s taste (she had a few bites of the noodles and a little ground lamb but wasn’t super into it), but that’s okay, more for me and Matt. 😉
The recipe is not a simple/quick one at all (I’d guess from the instructions it takes about 3 hours from start to finish) to make, so I don’t know that it’s one I’ll make myself during this phase of life where my free time is so limited, but it has been a really yummy treat! Give it a shot if you like cooking and find yourself with some time.
Another night I was craving sushi so we got Sushi Rock delivered. We just got their (cooked) eel rolls, plus some salmon and brown rice and edamame, and I cooked some string beans for us to have some veggies too!
I will leave you with a book rec! My mom gifted me this book, Nala’s World, for Christmas and it was a fun and quick read about a 30 year old Scottish man who sets out to bike around the globe and ends up adopting a stray kitten along the way.
It’s sweet and heartwarming and also will fill some of your wanderlust during these homebound times!
Have a nice weekend everyone, and I’ll see you back here on Monday!
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