Food Rules

This morning I read Michael Pollan's Food Rules during the one-hour of wait time during my glucose tolerance test. Fitting that I'm reading about how to stick to "real food" just after consuming an entire bottle of condensed liquid sugar. Again, drinking the stuff was not all that traumatic (I got the chilled lemon lime kind), BUT the sweetness did take me aback upon the first sip, the aftertaste made me cringe a little, and I've definitely felt a little off all day. Whereas last pregnancy I was like what's all the fuss about - this was delicious! I'm hoping this means I've been doing a better job this pregnancy of limiting my sugar intake. 

The other night, I was lazily sprawled out in our bed rubbing my belly to feel Zelie's kicks when Will told me I looked like sort of like this:

Fair assessment. So obviously I'm doing something right. 

Side note: Is it absolutely horrible that I just got a library card at the base library? I would always tell people while I was working (excuses, excuses) that my JOB is LITERALLY reading ALL DANG DAY, so reading for pleasure is not going to happen, aside from blogs, obviously, and the occasional book I would want to read enough to purchase. But I feel like a whole new world is opened up to me! Of course I am on the wait list for ALL the e-books (fine, five, because that's the limit), but I can't wait to dive into some books I wouldn't normally read because they aren't something I'd buy. And why am I not checking out physical books? Suffice it to say the physical trip to the library with little Will in tow for the card itself was enough excitement for me for a while. Maybe in a few weeks ;) 

Back to food: when I was working, we fell into eating lots of convenience foods just because I had no time/energy to cook. If it weren't for Will stepping up and cooking dinners several nights a week, it would have been pizza and fast food every night. (Though I am fairly certain that Will Breslin would be fine with Papa John's pizza every night.) Obviously, now I have a lot more time at home where I can prepare foods that require a little more cook time (even if prep time is minimal). Also, little Will is finally kinda sorta into sitting still with Nanny Netflix for 15-20 minutes at a time while I prep. Can't stop me now! 

Lately, I have been devouring Like Mother, Like Daughter (can you tell by the photo above?) and 100 Days of Real Food. I think they balance each other out, as the former focuses on the organization/budget/parenting side, while the latter really focuses on the healthfulness of meals. I've been swapping out whole grains for enriched grains and eating more plants. That said, if you know of a good, easy whole wheat bread recipe, do share! Some highs were easily swapping whole grains in a casserole we cook regularly (I'll post the recipe after I tweak it some more to be a bit healthier) and whole grain noodles in this chicken noodle soup we make regularly throughout the fall/winter.

A BIG low was when I tried to crockpot a chicken and it was a disaster - turned into basically a soupy pot of shredded chicken and bones, teensy tiny little bones - I'll be sticking with my oven next time (where I can cook two chickens at a time!), thank you. And I have a lot of work to do if I am going to convince Will to eat less meat when chicken at the commissary is so ridiculously cheap. I'll be working on it.