My Lunch as a Mommy

"Food" these days has taken on a new meaning. Thanks to breastfeeding, it's an extension of the past 9+ months -- what I eat affects the baby. I still haven't figured out if certain food items (highly acidic, super spicy, etc) make Hadley act/feel differently, but I do know that the evening I decided to *gasp* drink a cup of coffee made for a looooong night. What's equally as important with breastfeeding (or, really, for any new mom, in my opinion) is keeping up my caloric intake. Earlier, I felt my body's energy draaaaiiiiin if I didn't eat or drink enough; it's better these days, but still need to keep on top of how much I eat. Oh, and sure I'll occasionally grab a bowl of ice cream as one of my "snacks", but for the most part I'm trying to keep those 4-5 meals a day healthy. See? Extension of the previous 9 months, generally speaking.

So, I thought I'd share a cucumber dip (loosely, a tzatziki sauce) that I recently whipped up. We had been sent home from my mom's with leftover chicken and I thought this sauce would help us use it up in a healthy way. Plus, we had a buttload of cucumbers to use up. Unfortunately, I started mixing and chopping before I realized our plain Greek yogurt was expired. *wop wooooop* So, on a whim, I substituted cottage cheese, and whadya know? It worked just fine! Here's what I did...

Cucumber Sauce/Dip (Tzatziki)

Dice or shred 1/2 a cucumber (more or less, up to you! It's all relative, too, since homegrown cukes have been HUGE this summer), zest 1/2 a lemon, and mince a clove of garlic. Mix these together with ~ 1/2 cup cottage cheese (or plain yogurt), ~1/3 cup all-natural mayo, and (to taste) salt 'n pepper, oregano, dill, and the juice of the 1/2 lemon. Enjoy! Here's a look-see:

Sure, it doesn't look like much, but it's tasty. My favorite thing to do with it? Wraps!!! Whole wheat wraps up the nutrition factor, and there are things you can make with wraps that you couldn't do with plain ol' sandwich bread.

 

On  this particular day, the wrap was made with mesclun mix, all-natural deli turkey, shaved romano cheese and chopped apples. Oh, plus the cuke sauce and, of course, the whole wheat wrap...'cuz it ain't  a wrap unless it gets wrapped!

But, a wrapped sandwich does not a full meal make. So, here's the full Monty - wrap, small handful of pretzels (or, at least, I think it's small ;-)), a sliced apple, some Nutella and peanut butter (y'know...for dippin'), and a glass each o' water and juice. Yeah, I'm generally double-fistin' it these days.

 

It ain't good unless you've got a sweet, overweight kitty admiring your plate...and a stack of baby laundry to accompany the deliciousness.

I'll be doing my best to keep up the healthy factor upon returning to school this week. Since Dave and I have both been fighting a virus (mine admittedly more bearable than his; I blame the healthy-ish eating and prenatal vitamins I'm still downing), this is wicked important to have the energy (both mental and physical!) to make it through the first  "not with the baby 24/7" days. Plus, I haven't done the best job at stockpiling the ol' boob juice, so I'm trying to see if there's anything (food or otherwise) I can do to make pumping more successful. So far, I'm drinking Mother's Milk tea and have just discovered that oatmeal helps (generally whole grains, depending on what you read).

By the way, I'm truly sorry I haven't been posting more this summer. Seriously. I wouldn't apologize if I didn't feel badly about it -- it's not just guilt. Ideas for posts have popped up in my head (usually when I took a shower, strangely enough), and I've got a kazillion drafts of posts started. Truly, I'd like to try to post a touch more since a) it's kinda therapeutic, b) I enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences, c) hopefully folks get a kick out of what I write, and d) I can look back as Hads grows up to see the evolution of our family and remember the small, good times I may not otherwise recall. So, yes. I will try. :-)