Trying new things...homemade baby food

So Carter is starting solids, or has been for a few weeks now. We made it through rice cereal and oatmeal and just a couple days ago started on veggies. I decided a while ago that I wanted to make my own baby food and it has been a breeze to make. So now, C has tried butternut squash and peas. It's super easy to make, just throw the roated/boiled veggies into a blender with some water, blend until smooth, pour into ice cube trays and viola! TOTALLY natural, fresh, organic babyfood for my little one!

No time for exercise? Got 3 minutes??!!

So I was really struggling finding time to workout at home when I didn't have time to pack up Carter and go to the gym. It seemed like every time I put on a DVD or tuned into Exercise TV for a sweat session, my little guy would start crying or wake up from his nap or need to be fed or changed. It was so frustrating, UNTIL I realized that I don't have to do 30 minutes or an hour consecutively! I can do little bits throughout the day and get back in shape just as fast!

For instance, I do traveling lunges for the 3 minutes that Carter's bottles are sanitizing in the microwave, then alternate 30 seconds push ups with 30 seconds dips for a total of 3 minutes while my oatmeal is cooking. Sound like a wimpy workout...try it and tell me what you think :) I also include a few jump squats when I let the dog out and am waiting for him to get back in. Any minute or two that I have where I'm are just standing around waiting for something, I'm making into a mini-workout. And it's working!

Recipe Review: 4 Cheese Veggie Lasagna

For under 300 calories, this lasagna, though a bit more time intensive then my prefered 30 minute or under prep time, is super tasty and a great way to get in 3-4 servings of veggies in one meal!! Here's the recipe from Cooking Light with an E.H. Fitness twist...some easy and even more healthy substitutions!


Serves 9

• 3 zucchini's sliced thin for "noodles"
• Cooking spray
• 3 cups chopped broccoli
• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrot
• 1 cup sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 cups skim milk
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (16-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
• 2 cups fat free cottage cheese
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced fat part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
• Freshly ground pepper (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a large pan coated with cooking spray over medium heat until hot. Add broccoli and next 4 ingredients (broccoli through garlic), and sauté 7 minutes. Set aside.

Place flour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 5 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Reserve 1/2 cup spinach mixture for top layer of casserole, and set aside.

Combine cottage cheese, mozzarella, and Swiss cheese; stir well. Spread 1/2 cup spinach mixture in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 1/3 of the zucchini slices over spinach mixture in dish; top with half of cottage cheese mixture, half of broccoli mixture, and half of remaining spinach mixture. Repeat layers, ending with zucchini. Spread reserved 1/2 cup spinach mixture over noodles; sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake at 375° for 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with pepper, if desired.

Sleep and weight loss/gain...what's a new mom to do?!

I have a fantastic baby. He's not colicky--I mean he cries, but not for hours and rarely during the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. Carter is, however, a non-napper...so he's up all day long and into the late night. But I'll tell you what, even with a happy baby and 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, I am totally exhausted. In fact, this week (week #9 of being a mommy) has been my most exhausting week ever. I will chalk this unfortunateness up to everything catching up to me...mommy-hood is not new and shiny anymore...it's great...but there is a lot of monotony to it, plus the holidays just ended and I'm starting work tomorrow. SOooooooooo, in all of that, this morning, I was squeezing myself into my pre-pregnancy jeans which now button, but not without muffin topping all of my lovely loose skin out everywhere. While looking in the mirror with disgust, I was reminded of the importance of sleep on weight loss and how we, as new moms, are almost destined to failure as we put our child's needs ahead of our own getting-back-into-prepregnancy-jeans-and-looking-good-in-them needs. Check out this staggering stat:

According to National Geographic when compared to the person who gets the average recommended amount of sleep (7-8 hours per night), the risk of obesity increases 23% when a person gets just 6 hours of sleep up to a whopping 73% when a person only gets 4 hours of sleep per night.

So what can a person do if they have problems falling asleep or staying asleep like some 50 to 70 million Americans do? Incorporating a few simple changes into your life (especially around bed time) can make a big difference in how easily you fall asleep and stay asleep.

So what's a girl to do? Get as much sleep as possible, plus eat healthy and get her butt moving! I'm off to take a nap!

New Years Resolution Time!

So this year, I have two things I'm going to start. My first New Years Resolution (NYR) is professional: to read one business or fitness/nutrition book a month. My second, is to cook something I've never made before once a week...most likely on Wednesdays :)

I don't have a book quite yet in mind for January, but I'm making Cooking Light's Kung Pao Chicken on Wednesday!

Wish me luck! :)

Strength training and recovery snack

I was able to make it to the gym for a quick 35 minute strength workout after a 40 minute super fast walk with Carter. The routine I did is below:

Warm up 5 minutes on elliptical/treadmill

Tri-sets:

Bar to floor push ups
Standing Lat Pulls
Weighted Traveling Lunges

Cardio

Overhead Press with kickout
One arm skull crusher
3 minute abs: scissor kicks, bicycles, double crunch

Cardio

I was super hungry after the gym so I made a super tasty 150 calorie, 8 grams of fiber, 13 grams of protein shake!

3/4 cup mixed berries
1/2 scoop pure whey protein powder
2 cups fresh spinach
1/3 cup carrots
Water and ice to preference

Now it's time to get ready to go out for the night! Hurray for
Babysitters! :)

Last spin before teaching...and tasty oatmeal!

So today was my last spin class as a
Participant before I head back to teaching Monday morning...eek! Spinning is the perfect exercise to get back in shape after having a baby though, so I'm super excited! Major calorie burn without high impact!

This morning's breakfast was delicious oatmeal with fruit...it will stick with me all morning, plus oatmeal has been shown to increase milk production...hurray for multitasking foods!