A Little Bit of Summer on a Wintry Day

As I've stated previously, this winter has been particularly freezing (!) and dark and depressing for me. Spring and Summer cannot come soon enough, and I've ordered multiple seed catalogs in the mail so I can sit and drool over all of the lovely things I'll be growing when it warms up. But in the meantime, while it's still in single digits ( on a good day) and dark by 4:30 pm every day, I needed some kind of pick me up. So, with our dinner the other night, I made this recipe that is always refreshing on a hot afternoon. Sure, its not as good as veggies straight from the garden, especially those wonderful late July/ August tomatoes..but it'll do in a pinch.

Simple Italian Tomato-Cucumber Salad

5 Roma Tomatoes
2 Cucumbers
2 Sprigs Fresh Basil
5 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic
Sea Salt and Pepper, to taste


Cut tomatoes into wedges. Cut Cucumbers into 1/2 inch pieces ( or smaller if you like). Tear small pieces of fresh basil, and mince garlic clove. Add rest of ingredients, mix well. I think chilling for a few hours results in the best flavor, but can be served immediately as well.

At times I've experimented with what I've had on hand- anything from Italian dressing, to Balsamic vinigarette- but the original recipe so far has tasted the best.

Surprise!

Well, this came a bit sooner than expected (!) but yes, we are expecting. Hopefully we will have a sweet little boy or girl in early August. As of right now my husband and I are both committed to not finding out if we need to buy pink or blue, but I'm sure the temptation will be tough to resist as time goes on. The last month or so I've been pretty ill, with all day sickness and then a bug we both came down with, on top of that. As I'm nearing the close of the first trimester, I'm starting to feel more human again and have a little more energy. So here goes a wild ride, I'm sure..I'm quit excited, and thankful..and nervous!

Despite being a bit shocked with the news at first...we are both very grateful, because it has come to light that getting pregnant could have been very difficult. During a routine ultrasound last week, it was discovered that both of my ovaries are covered in cysts, and that I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS. For a lot of women who have this, ovulation happens rarely and conception is difficult. ( Think Jon & Kate Plus 8- Kate has this disease and that's why they went to fertility treatment) I'm a bit apprehensive to see what this will bring in the future, because PCOS raises one's risk of diabetes, heart disease and other ailments..and also increases chances of gestational diabetes. So, right now I'm trying to eat as heathily as I can, and stay very active. So despite maybe feeling a little unprepared as we've only been married 4 months..I know we're very blessed.

It's Been A While

Hello, everyone ! I think I've finally decided to re-enter the world of blogging after a much needed hiatus. The Christmas season came and went in a flurry, and now we're locked into the dead of winter. This morning when I woke up, it was -17 degrees. Normally I really like winter, but this year- I'm over it. Spring can't come soon enough.

Both of us have come down with various bugs and I think we're finally on the other side of it. I can't wait to jump back into reading the many lovely blogs out there and hopefully putting some good thoughts down.

A Few of My Favorite Things...

I awoke this morning to find...

So I thought this was worthy of a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, baked cinnamon apples and cinnamon rolls. My husband went outside to shovel, and when I went out to tell him breakfast was ready, I found this...


And this



I love the first snow of the year! After church I'm making some snow angels and a snowman to end all snowmen.

New Books in the Mail!

Today was a really good mail day...I received " Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler, MPH and " Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must Be Fixed To Put Women and Children First" by Marsden Wagner, M.D., M.S.

Both of these books have been recommended to me and I can't wait to dive in! Thanks to Netflix and their free movies online, I was also able to see ' The Business of Being Born'- which was quite the eye opener.

I wish I could say I was confident in the maternity system here in my area, but since working at the hospital..I cant say so. We have the highest C-Section rate in downstate Illinois- over 30%. We induce most people, also. The funny thing is, a few years ago, I wouldn't have given any of this a second thought. The turning point was when my SIL had our niece. She was induced and knew virtually nothing about anything they were doing to her- she just trusted the doctor. That concerned me a bit, because I'm nosey and want to know everything that's going on.

Little did I know that starting to read about what DOES go on ..would lead me to question so much.

Out of curiosity...what are your opinions of the maternity system in the USA? Doctor care, quality of care, time spent with patient during delivery, etc. Would you ever use a midwife, or a certified Nurse-Midwife? I'm not pregnant, but I want to be informed if/when we have children.

Frugal Diet Soup

I realize it's a bad time of year to go on a diet, with all of the holiday parties and food coming up, but what the heck. In an attempt to be more healthy overall, I'm overhauling the foods we eat around here. It's a challenge to do this on a budget, but I'm really interested in making some lifestyle changes.

I'm finding that replacing a meal a day with this soup has really helped me cut back on calories without feeling too deprived. Plus it's nice with the cold weather- I'm always in a soup mood.

Here's what I use:

3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
2 large carrots, finely chopped
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
Sea Salt
Pepper
1 can chicken broth
2 cans diced stewed tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 can green beans
1 can corn
1 small can mushrooms
1/4 head of cabbage
1 tbsp olive oil

I saute the carrots ,onion and celery in olive oil, with some sea salt and pepper. When they're tender, I add the chicken broth and other ingredients ( including the juice in the canned ingredients) On low heat, I let it all simmer until bubbling.

The nice thing with this recipe is pretty much any vegetable can be substituted- depending on whatever I have on hand. I make a huge batch and keep it in the fridge, and just re-heat for a quick meal. The calories are very low and paired with a few crackers and a tall glass of ice water,I find it to be quite satisfying. My husband isn't too much of a fan, since there isn't any meat- but I'm toying with a recipe that includes chicken.

I call it 'frugal soup' because the ingredients are inexpensive and most are in my cabinets on any given day. Plus its a good way to use up produce that otherwise might be forgotten in the depths of the fridge and go to waste.