Beyond Post-Prego Diet Food – Exploring CSA Produce

Some women are super cute pregnant. I don’t believe I was one of those women. I got huge! I gained 55 pounds and I can’t blame it all on Lil’ O, who was born at the large, but perfectly respectable weight of 8 pounds, 12 ounces. I’ve been dieting. I’ve been exercising. I’m super close to achieving my pre-prego weight, but not my pre-prego body. I’m coming to terms that all those cute clothes in my closet may not fit again, but I’m still eating right and working toward that magic number on the scale.

When I focus on healthy eating, there’s an interesting trend in our house. While dieting, I cook more. And, when I cook more, we eat more adventurously. Yet, despite my large arsenal of cookbooks and cooking magazines, I’ve been intrigued by the movement for more community-supported agriculture, or CSAs. Here’s how it works: For a regular fee, we get a weekly box of fresh, in-season produce from local growers. Simple, right? Wooed by the allure of trying new things, especially veggies, as I work to stick to my healthful eating resolution, we made the leap and joined.

A box of new produce each week can be a bit intimidating and time consuming – after all, we want to be sure we eat up all those delish veggies before they go bad and before we get another box. For now, we’re doing a three-week trial run leading up to Thanksgiving to see if we can keep up the veggie-loving pace.

Now, I’m honestly not sure if this is the best use of my time, but exploring new veggie options does have worthwhile merits, at least in theory: we’ll eat more veggies by exploring new flavors; by knowing more veggies, we’ll be able to introduce Lil’ O to more tastes; and, if I do this correctly, we’ll be eating more healthfully (and maybe I’ll finally lose that last little bit of weight). And, if it does turn out to be too much work or too time consuming, we’ve chosen our initial intro to be a week-by-week subscription, meaning we’re not locked in to a six-month or annual subscription and stuck paying for produce we potentially can’t finish each week. Hopefully, we can stay on this healthy eating band wagon, but we’ll see. And, if we don’t, I resolve not to feel guilty about it. We’ll still be eating our veggies; the dinner side dish repertoire may just be a bit more mundane. Not the end of the world.

If you’d like to follow along by checking out the recipes I’m finding to use up all this crazy, fresh and potentially obscure produce, check out my dedicated Pinterest board where I’m currently housing my recipe finds and noting any successes.



Ants on a Log!
Thanks to some celery in a recent produce box, I introduced Husby to this childhood classic.
Truly, somehow he'd never eaten these before! Glad I could fix that!

Eight Months!

Wow, my little guy is not so little anymore. It’s hard to recall just where the time has gone, but Lil’ O is now eight (and a half) months! He is such a blessing and joy. At eight months he’s still a chill, sweet, happy little dude, but some of his more favorite things lately, in addition to eating (wow, does he get eager for meal times!), have been bouncing and bopping, especially to music; crawling and exploring; verbalizing/yelling and trying out new sounds, and playing and chewing on toys. Chewing you ask? Oh, yes, teething is happening in full force - Lil' O has six teeth and is working on some more! 

Sigh, I remember when we would cuddle in the morning and he’d fall asleep in my arms. Now he’s more interested in exploring his world and asserting his independence. At every stage though, he brings such joy.

Weekend Warrior

Lately it seems like I’m confined to getting the bulk of my personal and/or home tasks done over the weekend. Sigh. I’d much rather get these things done bit by bit, but lately my weeks seem to be booked! There have been some fun things, like a recent, much-needed night out with some girlfriends and cooking all the fresh produce we get via our new weekly produce box, but largely I’ve been busy trying to keep up with work. Yeah, the masses call work a “day job,” but us PR gals are available around the clock, plus I’ve lately been needing the evening hours after Lil’ O goes to bed just to keep up with my work to do list. I’m not complaining, but it is making it more challenging to stay balanced and to do some of the things I like to do in my down time. For example, reading for fun is progressing at a snail’s pace; I barely had time to prep for the Bible study we were hosting and Husby was leading; and, as you may have noticed, I’ve not been good lately about keeping up with this blog. I have a post for last week half ready and had meant to finish and post it during the week. Clearly, the week escaped me and it never got to posted. So, immediately following this post, you can catch my musings on Lil’ O achieving the 8 month mark. He’s getting so big!

So, though weekend warrior is usually a term for weekend-only exercise, I’m expanding it to also include the caffeine-induced hyper drive necessary for working moms – or maybe parents everywhere – to keep up with the kiddos and get all the things done personally and around the house that slipped through the cracks during the week. I can't yet imagine what weekends will look like when I have more than just Lil' O and Husby to keep up with! My weekends lately include cooking breakfasts and such in prep for the weekly crazy, menu planning, grocery shopping, gardening (attempts), running sundry errands, laundry, attempting not to lose touch with friends, Saturday morning exercise (which is so far the only day I’m consistently exercising, sigh), and maybe some cleaning and whatever new baby task is needed for the week. (This week it was Husby installing new car seats and us starting to tackle baby proofing the house since Lil’ O is now crawling). Lil' O is napping, so I'm off! Bring on the caffeine!

I hope all the other parents and friends out there are having a more relaxed weekend, or that you're at least, like us, finding pockets of time for fun with family and friends. :)

Not to Do List

The past couple weeks have been crazy busy at work and the reason why I’ve been silent across social media, including here on this blog. Sorry to fall off the radar, but something had to give. It actually reminded me of some pearls of wisdom from a women’s church event a couple years ago where I had the privilege of hearing Shauna Niequist speak. She made the excellent point that we can only have it all when we decide what it is that we want and we don’t do all the other stuff. In other words, balance is a choice. Her “not to do” list included things like baking for the bake sale (she said she’d buy the cookies, thanks anyway). That thought that we can’t do everything, but by choosing what we won’t do, we get more of whatever we want, has stayed with me. And, since I am doing my best to prioritize time to do things like play with Lil’ O, spend time with Husby, experiment in the kitchen, write and hone my photography skills, below is my current list of what I’m NOT doing in order to make time for those more important things. Enjoy. 

• Cook every night – Husby actually does most of our weeknight cooking. Love that man!
• Pack creative lunches – Instead I tend to prep everything for the week on Sundays, or grab leftovers or a pre-prepared salad each morning before I leave with Lil’ O. Boring, but it’s effective.
• Make beautiful cakes or baked goods – When I bake, the goal is that it tastes good. Period.
• Work full time – Crazy weeks aside, I’m slated to work 35 hours/week and love the flexibility and additional time with Lil’ O that affords me. So grateful!
• Crafts – I love them, but rarely do crafts or DIY projects. Lately I’ve been more focused on taking pix of Lil’ O!
• Pick up Lil’ O from daycare – I am sometimes on deck to pick up our little man, but usually this goes to Husby since his work schedule more easily allows it.
• Watch sitcom TV – Husby and I watch some sitcoms together on DVD, but otherwise I’d rather read.
• Keep up with celebrity news – Honestly I don’t really care. I’d rather keep up on what my friends and family are up to.
• Go glam daily – Becoming a parent has helped me chill and not be as concerned with what others are thinking about my appearance. I still want to be pulled together, but sometimes it’s nice to forgo full makeup and opt for comfort.

I’m sure there’s more and that this list will and does change with the seasons, but for now that’s what I’m not doing in an attempt to spend more QT with my guys.

Working vs. Stay-at-Home Motherhood

There are some days and weeks when I honestly wonder if I’ve made the right choice by going back to work. I really enjoy my job and the people I work with, but I tend to question myself when the balancing gets tough. This is when I try to remind myself that I chose to go back to work, a luxury that I know not all moms enjoy. I also remind myself that maternity leave, during which time I was essentially a stay at home mom for a couple months, was no walk in the park. I was exhausted from "performing" for Lil’ O throughout the day; and, despite my best efforts, he had far less stimulation and socialization than he now enjoys at daycare. I was tired all the time and the return of daytime structure that going to work provides has been extremely refreshing for me. Still, sometimes I wonder…

So, to help shed light on what that alternate life might be like, I’ve turned to my good gal pal Ms. E, a stay at home mom (SAHM) with an adorable little guy born May of this year: Lil’ Sir. He’s Lil’ O’s best bud. All responses that follow are courtesy of Ms. E. (Thank you!)

Q: Please describe a typical weekday.

A: Lil' Sir is almost always up for the day between 6:00-6:30 a.m., regardless of whether he slept through the night (right now, he's generally up for a feeding once nightly). Since my husband Mr. B is up at 5:30 a.m. to get ready for work, he will get Lil' Sir, change his diaper, and bring him to me in bed before he leaves for work. Then Lil' Sir has breakfast while I play on my iPhone, and afterward we smile and coo at each other for a while until he gets bored and wants to go play. He kicks around on his activity mat while I pump and eat breakfast, and we watch the “Today” show until his first nap around 8:00 a.m. Lil' Sir usually takes four one-hour naps a day, and is up for two to three hours in between. He also nurses every two and a half to three hours during the day. In the late mornings, I do housework, take Lil' Sir out for a run with the stroller, shower, etc. I try to get out of the house for at least a couple hours every day, ideally more. Our activities include: errands, runs/walks, trips to the park, and a weekly playgroup at my church. We're home in the early afternoon for more housework, dinner prep, and hopefully a slightly longer nap (so that I can join in!). Throughout all of these possible activities, I am playing and interacting with Lil' Sir much of the time he is awake since he is uninterested in independent play for more than five to ten minutes at a time. In addition to his activity mat, we practice sitting up, play in his jumper, read books, dance and sing to music, and play with toys. Mr. B gets home around 5 p.m., and we will sometimes all go to the rec center together, so Mr. B can work out and Lil' Sir and I can sit by the pool and people-watch. Otherwise, I am getting dinner together while Mr. B and Lil' Sir hang out. We eat dinner and play together with Lil' Sir, and bath time is around 7:00-7:30 p.m. He is down for the night between 8:00-9:00 p.m. Then I might have a glass of wine, watch some TV with Mr. B, and get a few evening chores done before I'm in bed by 10:00 p.m.

Q: What’s your favorite part about being a SAHM?

A: There are lots of wonderful things about being a SAHM! I particularly enjoy our relaxing mornings together, when Lil' Sir is in a happy mood and we rarely have anywhere to be. I also love being "front and center" for everything he is learning, and being the point person to provide his window into the world. Because we are around each other so much, I feel like I'm able to closely observe him as a little person and get to know his personality. I'm looking forward to coming up with interesting ways to help him interact with the world around him as he gets older. Also, I get to witness almost 100 percent of his giggle fits and snuggle with him far more than anyone else. Since giggles and snuggles are the main payment for parenting, they’re very enjoyable for me.

Q: What’s your least favorite part of being a SAHM?

A: Getting the giggles and snuggles has a flip side – I also get almost all the dirty diapers and crying fits, which are not enjoyable in the least. I admit I've broken down in tears more than once during the day when Lil' Sir simply won't nap and I feel very isolated and lonely. All of my close friends with (or without) children also work, so I rarely get to see friends during the week aside from my church's playgroup (where most of the children are toddlers rather than infants, so I am partially isolated there as well). We've had to make a number of financial sacrifices to allow me to stay home, so there's not a lot of money for me to go out to lunch, take Lil' Sir to the zoo, etc. There are days when I am simply desperate to escape the house but can't think of anywhere to go where I wouldn't spend money, so I just stay home. The finances also limit the amount of "girls' nights out" and things that I can do to get a break from baby care. In the end, the good definitely outweighs the more challenging aspects – I hated my old job/career and can't imagine having to leave Lil' Sir at daycare so I could sit resentfully in an office that I despise.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do around town with Lil’ Sir?

A: The best things are the things he enjoys, and he certainly makes it known if he is not enjoying an activity. We tried to go to the "parent-friendly" movie showing a few times, and he screamed so loudly for so long the last time we attempted it that I swore it off for good! My son most enjoys freedom of movement and other people – so we have the most fun kicking around on a quilt at the park, or hanging out at church playgroup where he can see and interact with new people.

Q: How do you balance taking care of Lil’ Sir and having time for your husband?

A: That's definitely still a work in progress! Mr. B has a challenging, exhausting job, so he usually just wants to sit and relax as much as possible during the weekdays. That's hard to do with an attention-hungry infant around! Neither of us has family in town, so any kind of regular babysitting is out. We do have neighbors who are close friends, and are lucky enough that they will babysit for free once or twice a month so we can go to the movies, meet friends for dinner, etc., and we do the same with their toddler daughter. I also make an effort to talk to Mr. B about his work and other non-baby related topics so we can stay connected outside of our mutual adoration for our son.

Q: What do you do to keep balanced?

A: Also a work in progress. There a few little things I try to do now, since I'm unable, as stated previously, to get out and away from the baby very often. I love to read, so I make an effort to keep a book near where I am nursing or rocking Lil' Sir to sleep, so I can read while he is otherwise occupied. I also take him running with me when I can, another hobby that I enjoy from my pre-baby days. I recently moved my own bedtime back by about 30 minutes so I could implement "Wine O'Clock" after Lil' Sir is in bed, giving me the opportunity to sit quietly with a glass of wine and wind down from the day. I am strongly introverted, so interacting with my son all day leaves me very tired and drained by nighttime.

I hope this gives you a little insight into the perspective of one relatively new SAHM!

Lovely Ms. E with her Lil' Sir
Copyright: Pridmoria

UPDATE: Ms. E is now blogging over at Life Tossed Together. Check her out!