On My Plate

I have tearing it up in the kitchen lately! I want to start putting some of our fave recipes on here so they don't get lost in never never land.

First up- Black Bean Cakes, adapted from chow.com

Now I'm not a huge breakfast person. I don't eat meat, am not a huge egg person, and I feel like something sweet in the morning just makes me even more hungry. My go-to breakfast is usually a fruit smoothie. Ocassionally though, I do get in the mood for something hearty in the AM. Enter black bean cakes.

For the black bean cakes:

• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs (I used panko, gotta go with what you got)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (raining and didn't want to go outside to get it so I omitted)
• 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1 chilli pepper (I grabbed on from our chilli plant, but you could use hot sauce)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal

Sauce:

• 1/4 cup nonfat greek yogurt (or can use sour cream
• 1/4 cup chunky salsa

Place beans, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, cilantro, onion, hot sauce, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Pulse until ingredients are incorporated and beans are broken down but some whole beans remain, about 15 pulses. Stop the processor and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula during processing.

Form 6 (3-inch) patties and dust each patty on both sides with cornmeal.

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until shimmering, about 2 minutes. Place 3 patties in the pan and fry until golden, about 3 to 5 minutes. Flip and repeat on the second side. Now I have a deep seeded fear of frying things so my handsome kitchen assistant steps in here to help me out. I think next time I am going to try baking.

 

Sohail likes an egg on top. I generally omit. Combine salsa and yogurt to make sauce to spoon on top.

Modest little lady?

As if an ordinary pregnancy doesn't bring enough emotional craziness enough, I have this way of really spicing things up.


We went for an ultrasound about two weeks ago. I go for monthly ultrasounds with the perinatologist and I really love that I get to see baby so much. Well I love it and hate it. I do get myself a little worked up on these visits, almost like I am preparing myself for bad news because that would be easier than going in thinking everything is cheery and being caught off guard if it isn't. I will never forget with Gabriel watching them take measurements at my 21 week ultrasound and seeing them smaller than 21 weeks. I said "Oh, he's a little guy" and the lady doing the ultrasound told me "yes, the Dr. will probably talk to you about that". I didn't think anything of it, actually I felt almost a little proud that I have always been a big girl but I was eating so well that my baby wasn't all blown up and oversized. What irony.

Anyway, I do look forward to seeing how little chum chum is doing, good or bad. I really watch as they look at the anatomy, I try to stay relaxed and focus getting a glimpse of the goods, but the eagle eyes really come out when they are taking measurements. And I have gotten pretty good about being able to follow everything as they go. So far this baby is measuring right on schedule, a little ahead. Thank God for the small things. If the he ever fell below the 50% mark (which obviously 1/2 of all babies do) I think I might stroke out.

So as we are going through the process and still haven't found out the sex of the baby yet and she says she's going to go get Dr. B to see if he can tell.  Well probably even outside of my previously mentioned over anxious state I know it is really never a good sign for the person doing the ultrasound to leave and go get the doc mid ultrasound. Long story short, there is an issue with the way the umbilical cord is inserted in the placenta. Normal insertion is in the center of the placenta, and mine is not. The doctor himself really tried for a good 1/2 hr to tell where/ how the card was inserted, and can see that it is not in the center of the placenta, but just couldn't see it where it was inserted.

The complications with cord insertion vary from baby could be fine or baby could be small because cord 'kinks up' and decreases nutrients from placenta to baby, to baby could need delivery via c-section at 35-36 weeks because going into labor would be dangerous. Right now we don't really know what the risks are because we can't see the cord insertion. BUT, my doctor kept reiterating that either way there is nothing to be done now. I am already getting monthly ultrasounds, and by the time we need to make any decision about what needs to happen re delivery, then we will know more about this little cord issue.

So, with that in mind, I am choosing to (try my hardest to) not think too much about what I cannot change and focus on the fact that baby is getting all it needs now, as a matter of fact little chum chum is quite a chunk. And this time I am so proud to have a big baby! He/she is above the 70% mark for size for his/her age and weighed 12 oz at 20 weeks. Just for a little perspective, that is normally the weight hit around the 21-22 week mark. No wonder I feel so big sometimes!

On the stubborn front, we still do not know the sex of this little one. Once again, legs crossed at the ankles is chum chum's position of choice, like sunning in a lounge chair at the beach. My big take away is this- baby is going to do his/her own thing, on his/her own timeline. I am sure this will be a definite test of patience, but there could be worse things. Especially if baby stays in beach mode. And, as Sohail pointed out, if it's a girl, at least she's modest.

20 Weeks

How far along? 20 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 0 lbs. I think I am getting pretty close to throwing something on the board. I definitely thought I was after making cookies with the M&M white chocolate candy corns. OMG good.
Maternity clothes? Dresses are standard attire for the sweatshop. Think I may need to get a new one or two to add to the rotation- I'm sick of wearing the same ones already. I am still sporting my white jeans, something tells me they will be ready for the burn pile in a few months. 
Sleep: This is pretty hit or miss. Some nights it's great, others not so great. What's sleep anyway? 
Best moment this week: Feeling the baby kick! We also had a pretty great weekend in Birmingham weekend. Just nice and low key.
Have you told family and friends: Yep, and now pretty much everyone at work knows. I think I look pretty pregnant now, and when we had cupcakes at work I mentioned something about getting gestational diabetes, so that probably cleared things up for anyone who thought this was tailgating tum tum.
Miss Anything? No, I really don't think so. I am looking forward to our little family growing. Maybe it's the holidays, but I am getting all inspirited about having our own little family traditions.  
Movement: I have been feeling movement for a little while, the fluttering type, but I felt a definite kick last night! So exciting! I was eating some mushrooms (so delicious, will try and post recipe), and I guess baby has a thing for them. 
Food cravings: Not really any now. The weather may not be warm but I am looking forward to when it is, so we have been have some yummy soups, and tomato and grilled cheese sandwiches lately. Just really good clean, hearty food sounds delish to me.
Anything making you queasy or sick: no
Have you started to show yet: Yes, I definitely think so. I think my bump is probably still less typical than the norm at this point because everything on the front has grown pretty proportionally, but either a bump or a serious tum tum is pretty clear in most things.
Gender prediction: I don't know? We try again this week and I do hope baby is cooperative. After feeling the kick I feel better that baby is feeling alright, so I am starting to lose my patience about not knowing the sex. At the midwife appointment two weeks ago, she said she thought boy. Stefanie says that if we don't find out soon and keep on with the boy assumption, then if it's a girl we may have to do a swap at the hospital. We will be like we can't take home a girl, we have blue things!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy. I think my mood has stabilized a little bit, but I can't lie about having a nasty blanket of anxiety hanging over thoughts in the back of my head. I think I will feel so much more relaxed once I reach 28 weeks, because I feel like if anything happens baby will be fine from there on.
Looking forward to: Again, ultrasound this week. I get myself a little worked up for these appointments, almost like I am bracing myself for bad news. After we leave with good news, I just feel like I need to puke to wind down, maybe do some shopping, and then I generally feel pretty happy afterwards.

All in all, I am can't say that I have loved this pregnancy. I have felt pretty emotional at times, and pretty ready to be done with it. I feel very guilty about that sometimes, like I am somehow cheating this baby. However, I have come to be OK with the idea that I don't have to love this time to be thankful for the experience, and that doesn't make me a bad person/mom. And no matter what, I am crazy in love with this baby already.