Nov 6 Daily Check In Thread

[Surfacing]

Hello Lovely Mamas,

I went to Value Village this morning and came home with a TRUCKLOAD of stuff. A couple of maternity tops, and gaggles of books. There were some old midwifery textbooks there that I snatched up. I want to become a midwife some day so this reading will keep me feeling connected.

Now I'm starving for lunch and will take a nap after. So lucky to be home from work right now b/c I've been sick. Next week I'll be around less...

Oh yeah, due to the early pregnancy fatigue, dh suggested I do a bulk batch of cooking (a la Once A Month Cooking) so we can just grab from the freezer and eat. I did this with friends preparing for the postpartum last time and IT WAS AMAZING. We had food for a month, easily, in the freezer. Anybody planning to do something like that?

How is your day going?

[christinep1976]

i cook all the time, and freeze a lot anyways, so i'll definitely be planning to do so before baby comes...probably shooting for the end of the 2nd trimester. my husband and i moved from my hometown just a few months ago, so we don't have the same family/friend network in our new home that we had in our old. that makes me a little sad, just because i know i'd have lots more help at home. regardless, my friends will all make trips to see us, and i go home a lot still (though that 6-7h drive may be much less appealing when baby arrives!)

surfacing, hope you get to feeling better - though bummer that means heading back to work

i am just trying to get work done myself, but so preoccupied with all things baby, that i am not doing a very good job so far! i work full time, but most of the time i can work from home, so that is nice (though i am way too easily distracted)

[*KaiMom*]

I make a 2 week menu ahead of time. This makes cooking for my easy because I just look on the menu and I don't stand in the kitchen looking in the fridge for an hour. It also cuts down on us eating out. I'm a SAHM so I feel gulity when I don't cook. Freezing meals is a great idea though. I know I did this for after our last was born but I'm sure it would help for pregnancy fatigue (which I get a lot of).

[ScarletBegonias]

we just stocked our freezer with a boatload of tri-tip , so i won't be doing much freezing for awhile.

i usually make a big pot of soup a couple times a week and we'll eat that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

i've been making lots of breads and roasted squashes lately. mmmmm, fall is my favorite season!

[christinep1976]

kaimom - i also menu plan, though once/week instead of every two. i also (for health reasons) try to avoid eating out unless it's planned.

scarlet - i LOVE fall too for roasted veggies, and soups, etc. i long to be a better yeast bread baker though, have not had a lot of luck in that dept.

[Surfacing]

What's tri-tip? Squash at this time of year is Mmmmmm

Scarlet is your partner a big meat eater?

ETA - Err, just to weigh in, usually I cook ahead for the week on the weekends. But these days with the pregnancy fatigue and sickness we've pretty much gone through the stash.

[Blanca78]

I love the idea of cooking a bunch of stuff ahead of time so I don't have to do anything for a while after the baby comes. We have a tiny freezer, though, so it will take some planning! I love planning out menus and having a bunch of meal ideas ready so I don't have to go to the store.

[EKSmith]

Hey ladies - I added my self to the role call, after a BFP yesterday!

I do a lot of make ahead cooking too - if I'm browning chicken breasts on Monday, and need some on Thursday, I double up.....Sunday's are soup day - I make a big pot and let it simmer all day - then we eat it throughout the week. For things like tomato sauces, pasta dishes, etc - I make double what we'll need and freeze half.

I've been so tired the last couple of days...just getting my dishes done each night uses almost all of my energy! I'm definitely looking to simplify things in the next few weeks - before sickness will probably start creeping in.

Anyone have any good online resources for once a month cooking?

[wavybrains]

I cooked a big pot of kale and white bean soup last night and froze half. I didn't really freeze before DD was born, because I hate frozen leftovers, but I wish I had, so I'm doing more now, and trying to remember to take things out to defrost (it's the microwaving and stirring and accidentally biting into frozen bits that I hate). We have a lot of meat in the freezer, and I'm doing a grocery run and will feed the pantry and freezer some more tomorrow. I'm gluten-free, so if I don't cook, we pretty much starve.

I don't feel particularly pregnant right now other than really crampy and irritable--it still feels more like PMS than pregnant, but that's how it was with DD too. I'm really hoping to get an early ultrasound in December because I am going to be in some serious need of reassurance.

I alternate between feeling like I want to tell everyone (am resisting the urge) or feeling like "OMG!!! TWO?????? Are we NUTS??????????????"

[Surfacing]

Welcome EKSmith!

Wavybrains

Originally Posted by wavybrains

I'm doing more now, and trying to remember to take things out to defrost (it's the microwaving and stirring and accidentally biting into frozen bits that I hate).

We defrost in the microwave just enough so that the frozen food comes away from the sides, and then transfer it to a pot on the stove. We heat the rest on the stove top. It takes longer than going the mile in the microwave, but tastes soooo much better somehow. And with a pot you can stir and eyeball, look and see where the frozen chunks are, break them up with the wooden spoon...

[wavybrains]

We defrost in the microwave just enough so that the frozen food comes away from the sides, and then transfer it to a pot on the stove. We heat the rest on the stove top. It takes longer than going the mile in the microwave, but tastes soooo much better somehow. And with a pot you can stir and eyeball, look and see where the frozen chunks are, break them up with the wooden spoon..

Doesn't this result in things getting TOO cooked? Back in graduate school, I did freeze more, and this was always the dilemma. Like the soup I made last night--it was AMAZING, but if I boiled it a second time, the kale would get all gross, I think. And if it was a noodle dish, the noodles might disintegrate? Regardless, I am going to persevere, because for the first three months of DD's life we ate Amy's Frozen Gluten Free Pizza, Chicken browned in a pan with frozen vegetables tossed in on top, Gluten Free Mac and Cheese from a box, and many, many, meals that were worse than that!

[Terrilein]

checking in a day late, but hey, time zone differences!
The fatigue is killing me at the moment. The house looks like a wreck and my back hurts from lounging around so much and not getting my usual exercise. I did go out and do a little nordic walking yesterday, but not half as far as I usually go. I'll have to make up for it this weekend.
I used to OAMC and plan my menus for the whole month. I've got a decent size freezer and usually make good use of it. I fell off the band wagon though and really need to get back on it. We saved a lot of money - and time - by OAMCing. And actually, I did more prep-cook OAMCing than preparing actual meals so that I had a little more flexibility if I needed/wanted to prepare something else that wasn't on the menu.

[homew/two]

Originally Posted by christinep1976

kaimom - i long to be a better yeast bread baker though, have not had a lot of luck in that dept.

I have this great new bread recipe that is going around the internet. I haven't made it yet but my mom has a bunch. I don't have the recipe with me here but will post later. Basically you mix a simple bread dough but with very little yeast (like 1/4 t) mix it and leave in warm place over night. Next day you fold it 4 times -instead of kneading- put in dutch oven (heavy iron pot with lid) and into HOT -like 500 degree- oven for 30 min. No kneading, no waiting between risings and tastes great