Category Archives: Pregnancy & Parenting

Nursing Mommy’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake

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Cupcake is 2+ months old & growing like a weed! It’s very satisfying to look at her double chin & chunky legs & know that I did that.

Thankfully breastfeeding is going very well with little intervention from me, but every now & then I’ll drink some Mother’s Milk tea or malta to ‘help’ my supply. I haven’t actually had any supply issues, but eating yummy galactagogues can’t hurt.

What’s a galactagogue, you ask?

Milk

Do galactagogues really work? It’s debatable. I am not a doctor or a lactation expert, so please consult a professional if you are having any issues breastfeeding. The list of foods classified as galactagogues is long & includes lots of healthy & delicious foods. A lot of very common foods are on it, so there’s a good chance any breastfeeding mom is already consuming at least some.

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I’ve also been drinking this shake from time to time. It’s a nice treat between meals. This shake has ground flax seed & puffed wheat, two of the aforementioned galactagogues. Ground flax is not just good for lactation – it’s full of omega 3 & fiber. I’ve been putting it into all sorts of things from drinks to baked goods & even pizza. The shake also has peanut butter for protein & a packet of chocolate Carnation Breakfast Essentials. I’ve made similar shake recipes with cocoa powder instead, but the Carnation stuff is much tastier & full of vitamins. Now, this isn’t exactly a health food. I called it a shake instead of a smoothie for a reason! I used sweetened puffed wheat & regular Carnation stuff, but you can use unsweetened puffed wheat & no-sugar-added Carnation to cut down on the sugar.

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One packet of the breakfast powder makes 2 servings of this shake, so I either share with my husband or blend everything but the ice together & save half in the fridge to blend later.

Is this shake going to help with breastfeeding? I can’t say for sure, but I can tell you it is tasty & fun!

Nursing Mommy’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake

Makes 2 servings
  • 2 Tb Peanut Butter
  • 2 Tb Flax Seed
  • 1 cup Puffed Wheat
  • 1 packet Chocolate Carnation Breakfast Essentials
  • 1 cup milk
  • ice
  1. Blend all ingredients except ice together for a few minutes.
  2. Add ice, blend until desired consistency.

 

Even though I’m posting more intermittently than ever, I was touched to see this:

100 followers

Thank you for all the follows ❤

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Pregnant Tiramisu

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I have been pretty good this pregnancy about following the guidelines of what not to eat. Not too paranoid, but definitely avoiding the basics.

No alcohol. No cold cuts. No sushi. Limited caffeine. Nothing with raw eggs.

Raw eggs is one that seems straight forward, but isn’t. Meringue frosting? Raw egg whites. Homemade mayonnaise dressings? Probably has raw eggs. Tiramisu? RAW EGGS.

I had never made tiramisu before, but earlier in my pregnancy I had a hankering for it & looked up some recipes to see if I could substitute the obvious non-pregnancy friendly ingredients out. I was surprised when nearly every recipe called for raw egg yolks, & some also use the raw egg whites!

I figured tiramisu was just one more thing I’d have to add to my  ‘No’ list. Until I came across this post by Lily from Little Sweet Baker. She did it! An amazing egg-free tiramisu recipe! With a few substitutions, baby & I could enjoy tiramisu after all!

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Not only is this recipe safe for pregnancy, it’s also amazingly simple – which is great since pregnancy brain is in full swing around here. To make the tiramisu truly pregnancy friendly I used decaf espresso & omitted the liquor. My husband & I switched to decaf espresso when we found out about the baby, so that was no issue. I also increased the amount of vanilla extract a little to ‘make up’ for the liquor taste.

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I ended up making this recipe several weeks ago when we had some friends over to watch a football game & it was a big hit! One of my friends is really sensitive to caffeine & was grateful for a decaf tiramisu recipe. So it’s not just pregnancy friendly!

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Serve with a decaf cappuccino & have yourself an (almost) authentic Italian night!

Pregnant Tiramisu

  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 1 cup mascarpone, softened
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cups decaf espresso, cooled
  • lady fingers
  • cocoa powder for dusting
  1. Using an electric mixer, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix the mascarpone, sugar, and vanilla extract.. Add mixture to whipped cream and beat again until smooth.
  3. Dip each lady finger into the cooled espresso. Do not soak too long or they will get soggy. Line a 9×9 square baking dish with a layer of dipped lady fingers.
  4. Spread half of the cream mixture over the lady fingers. Repeat another layer of lady fingers & cream. Chill for a minimum of 4 hours, best if overnight.
  5. Dust with cocoa powder before serving. (If you do this before chilling the tiramisu, like I accidentally did, it will still be delicious! Just a little less pretty.)

Celebration Week!

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This week is full of celebrations!

So many birthdays this week. Several of my friends have birthdays around this time.

My cat turned 11!

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My niece turned 4!

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& I’m 28!

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However, these are not the biggest celebrations of the week.

The biggest celebration is on Friday, the 40th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment!

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For almost a year now I’ve been working with Secular Pro Life on a special project, #HelloHyde.

Enacted in 1976, the Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding of abortion through Medicaid. It has received BIPARTISAN support every year since. This election year, it is under attack.

We are putting faces to the statistics thrown around by both sides. The abortion lobby says that the Hyde amendment oppresses poor women.

1-in-9

We say that 1 in 9 of these people would not be alive if it weren’t for the Hyde amendment.

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So what the abortion lobby really mean is that 2.13 million people would have been killed if it weren’t for the Hyde Amendment.

My parents immigrated to the US from Communist Cuba while my mom was pregnant with me. My mom was never going to abort me, but if Medicaid did cover abortions, how many women in similar low income/limited resources situations would feel pressured to ‘take the easy way out’? Would someone have tried to talk my parents, poor immigrants without a penny to their name, into aborting me for free?

Abortion affects many generations. My niece & I are both Medicaid Kids, & I am currently pregnant, though not using Medicaid. Just because our parents were experiencing hardship around the time we were born, doesn’t mean we didn’t deserve the right to life.

How is repealing the Hyde Amendment NOT socioeconomic discrimination?

The Hyde Amendment shows women that might be facing less-than-desirable pregnancies that they CAN do it, & there are programs that can help.

Thank you to the Charlotte Lozier Institute  & Dr. Michael New for their study. The data was also broken up by state. Here’s Florida’s number:

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Find your state meme on Facebook.

We also have a YouTube video to share.

On Friday, September 30, we will be having a tweet fest. We encourage Medicaid kids to share their picture with the name tag found on hellohyde.org. We encourage anyone who’s not a Medicaid kid to retweet as much as they can & share the graphics.

See you at the party on Twitter! Happy 40th birthday, Hyde!

What’s next now that the anniversary has passed? Read here for the next phase of our mission!

Pregnancy Announcements

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It has been FAR too long since I posted something, but I have a very good reason:

I’m pregnant!

(you may have guessed this from the title)

I’m about 10 weeks along, & while I made the announcement on social media a few weeks ago, I just have not had the energy to come blog about it.

First trimester fatigue is REAL, y’all. I recently saw it described as having not slept in 5 days, having the flu, and being hungover at the same time. Too true.

Anyway, I finally mustered up the energy to share the happy news 🙂

Below are some cute pregnancy announcements!

Cake

My mom’s birthday was a week after we found out, so we waited to tell my parents with cake!

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Pink & blue baby decorations, pink & blue cake, with blackberry filling!

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Best birthday cake a grandma could ask for!

T-shirts

That same night, we went over to my in law’s to tell them the good news. This time with shirts!

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It took my father-in law a little while to notice, but my mother & sister in law got it right away!

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Perfect for Mrs. Dessert Monster 🙂

We also used this picture to announce on social media.

Doggy!

I really have been away from this blog for too long – we got a dog! We adopted her from a rescue in Alabama while we were up there for Memorial Day weekend visiting my mother-in-law’s side of the family.

Her name is Dove, after the chocolates!

I had seen other pictures like this online & decided to make one of my own 🙂

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She’s going to be a great guard dog & companion to the baby!

Kitchen Fun

Finally, I could not resist putting together this cute little announcement!

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I love my Lodge cast iron pans. Look how cute the tiny one is!

We are so excited about this amazing blessing!

According to my Ovia pregnancy app, here’s how big the baby is right now:

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Hopefully in a couple more weeks I’ll have my energy back & will start posting on a regular basis – I have over a dozen recipes saved in my drafts!