Pasta Bean Soup recipe

Of all seasons, winter is my least favorite. For someone who gets cold in just a 73 degree house, weather down in the 50s is not my idea of fun. And I don't have much room to complain either, especially since my relatives in Utah got down in the negatives this winter. Bbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrr! I was meant to live in the south.

If you're anything like me, you do whatever you can to heat up your house and stay warm during the winter. And often, baking in the kitchen with that oven at a nice toasty 350, seems like a good way to go. In college, I'm sure I ate more cookies in the wintertime than any other time. Also, winter just happens to be an excuse for several eating holidays- Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, President's Day, Valentine's Day, MLK Jr Day. So all the more reason to indulge in the baked goods right?

Robin and I were discussing this issue one day and she told me the secret to her saving grace during winter- eating lots of soup. Soups that warm you from the minute they enter your mouth right down to your very soul. So I have taken her advice and tried a few varieties of soups this winter. I try using water-based or broth-based soups. Cream based soups are added fats, salts, and calories. I add plenty of vegetables. And I sit and read a book right next to the hot stove that is heating my soup and house. I stay warm and dinner gets made. Done. Oh and did I mention the irresistible smell that fills my house while it's cooking? Mmmmmmmhmmm

Here is one of my favorite soups this winter. I got the recipe from http://theitaliandishblog.com/imported-20090913150324/2010/1/2/sausage-and-bean-soup-with-pasta.html, however I made a few adjustments to make it slightly healthier. It has pasta and beans for your carbs, ground turkey for your protein, and lots and lots of veggies! Here is the recipe, altered by yours truly:

1 15-ounce can of cannellini, drained
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 medium onion, diced

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup celery, cut

3 tablespoons olive oil 
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes 
6 cups chicken broth (or 3 cups water / 3 cups chicken broth to lower the salt content)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper 

Spinach, cut

1 cup ditalini pasta, or any small pasta

Brown turkey, remove from the pot. Remove fat from the pot as well. Sautee carrots, celery, and onion in the pot with the olive oil for a few minutes. Add garlic and sautee for another minute. Add beans and all other ingredients except for the pasta. Cover and cook for an hour on low heat. After an hour, add the uncooked pasta and cut spinach. Cook for about another 20 minutes uncovered or until the pasta is soft and done.

Mmmm, just look at that goodness waiting to be eaten!

Folks, that is it! It's super hard to mess up a soup recipe. Basically, you're just adding ingredients until it looks good to you. This soup was so good and it made a huge pot, so we ate it the left overs for almost a week. It's the kind of soup that just fills you with warmth and yumminess, you can't get enough. Feel free to go back for seconds; it's mostly just vegetables in water! 

Exercising in the 1st trimester like a boss

Heeeeerrrrre it is! Part 2 of my 1st trimester post, focusing on exercise. I have done a lot of researching and reading on this particular topic. I am very concerned about this little baby, so I wanted to ensure what kinds of activities are safe to pursue in pregnancy. After many articles (which basically all said the same thing), there are basically 2 rules to exercising in pregnancy. 1) Whatever fitness level you were at before, you may maintain that level throughout pregnancy, if possible. 2) Walking, dancing and yoga are almost always safe in any trimester of pregnancy. The only exception would be an extreme maternal condition where you'd have to be on bedrest.

Walking:
Even if you've never exercised in your life before, this is something you can pick up easily in pregnancy. Most of you know that I am a runner. However, soon after I discovered I was pregnant, I developed a sharp pelvic pain while running. Normally I run through pain, but I panicked that something was wrong with the baby. So for the first month of being pregnant, I took up walking. An average person walks a 20 minute mile. Brisk walking is considered a mild-moderate exercise. Health experts recommend you get 2 1/2 hours of mild-moderate exercise per week. So my goal was to take a brisk 2 mile walk every day, which meant that I walked 12 miles a week. Holy cow, that seems like a lot! It generally took me about 35 minutes to walk 2 miles, for a total of 3 1/2 hours of exercise. It was pain (and sweat!) free. And it was something that I could do with Cage, since I pushed him in a stroller. I highly recommend walking to any pregnant woman. It is a cardio exercise that almost anyone can do and is perfect if you haven't exercised before. It was all the exercise I did for a month and I felt great doing it.

Dancing: 
Surprisingly, every article I researched suggested dancing as a safe form of exercise in pregnancy. Unless you are literally leaping across the ballroom, any kind of dance is recommended. And the only reason they don't want you leaping is because you could lose your balance, fall, and hurt the baby. Since I'm not much of a ballerina, that wasn't a hard rule for me to live by. I had decided at the beginning of this year that I needed to have a more rounded exercise regimen, so I took up ZUMBA. I've just been doing it at home, mostly following ZUMBA instructors on YouTube. It's a great workout and tons of fun. So I kept up the ZUMBA dancing once my pelvic pain subsided.

Yoga:
Do the phrases "sciatic nerve pain" and "round ligament pain" sound familiar to you? If not, that probably means you haven't been pregnant yet. And while I don't want to ruin the surprise for you, they are just some of the pregnancy pains you have to look forward to. I have both of these particular pains this pregnancy and yoga is the only thing that alleviates them. If you're thinking of taking up yoga, you'll want to get into a pre-natal yoga class. I guess regular yoga classes have some poses in them that could constrict blood flow to the baby (not necessarily good). Once again, this poor college student turned to YouTube and found a pre-natal yoga routine that I really enjoy. Sometimes the instructor is annoying with all her "dance with the baby" talk, but you deal with it. For the link to that yoga video, click here.

Running:
Because I've been running for a few years now, the doctor gave me the okay to keep up the routine. But actually I've been reading that you can begin to take up jogging in your first trimester, even if you hadn't been doing it before. Just take it slow and listen to your body. Now, my husband and I set up some personal limits to make sure that I didn't overdo it. I guess I'm the kind of person who has an over-doing it tendency? So the rule is that I can't run for more than 30 minutes or more than 3 miles. Like I said, that's just our personal rule and not necessarily one to live by. You decide what your body can handle.
As I stated before, I was having some pelvic pain that first month of pregnancy, so I quit cold turkey on the running until I hit pregnancy week 10. I cautiously starting running again and found that whatever weird pain I'd had before was gone. Even so, when I'm running now, I don't push myself to get a certain time or mileage. I run for 30 minutes and I run as fast as I feel like. Nowadays, I get anywhere from 2.5 to 3 miles in a 30 minute run. I'm not trying to beat a time here, just trying to stay in shape. And I think my body (and the baby!) will appreciate that.

My greatest obstacle for exercising this trimester was fatigue. I mean, this baby is sucking the energy from every part of me. It is really hard some days to get off the couch. But I thought about how in nursing school, we deal with chemo patients who are constantly exhausted from the treatment. But we have to tell them that the only way to cure the fatigue is to take a walk. And it works, it's just so hard to get up! But I consistently found an increase in my energy levels and my mood if I got off the couch to exercise. The other obstacle was morning sickness. But in talking to many other women, I find that morning sickness also has a routine it follows. Mine came every night at about 4:30. So I knew that if I wanted to exercise, it was going to have to be some time before then. Mornings worked out great for me. So figure out what your morning sickness schedule is and work around it. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

So in total, here is how a typical week of exercising goes for me:
Running: 2x/week
ZUMBA: 2x/week
Yoga: 1x/week
I also walk everywhere I can, especially if my destination is less than a mile away.

I also promised some pregnancy stat comparisons, so here goes:
Energy level:
       With Cage- hardly could stay awake during class
       Baby #2- Still tired often, but most days I don't even need a nap
Feeling:
       Cage- I described feeling "blah" most days
       Baby #2- I generally feel great and pretty happy
Bodily appearance:
       Cage- At this point, I looked like I did pre-pregnancy (except for the little belly)
       Baby #2- No swelling yet, looking like I did pre-pregnancy
Weight:
       Cage- At my 12 week appointment, had gained 10 lbs
       Baby #2- At my 12 week appointment, had gained 1.5 lbs

By the way, in case you were wondering how I remember Cage's pregnancy so easily, I kept a very accurate weekly journal with him. It's called "The Belly Book". :-) Go ahead, say it..."awwwwwww"

Here's what I looked like at the beginning of my 2nd trimester. Look at my little belly starting to poke out! I can't wait to meet this kid.

Eating in the 1st trimester like a boss

I cannot emphasize enough how happy I am my first trimester is OVER!!!! Ugh, it's such a pain because we didn't tell people we were pregnant until we were 12 weeks along. And I feel like those are the worst 12 weeks of pregnancy and the time you need help the most! With all the sickness, weakness, mood swings, fatigue, AND having to chase my incredibly energetic toddler around...well, you get the idea. It's not always a party.

But we're not here to talk about my crying spells or lack of energy...or are we? You better believe it, I have discovered that pretty much all pregnancy symptoms played a huge roll in how I maintained a healthy lifestyle. Because I have so much information to share about the 1st trimester, I've divided it into 2 posts- this one about diet, and the next one, which will be about exercise. My stats for this pregnancy will be listed at the end of the exercise post. Let's get started, I'm so excited to share what I've learned with you!

Morning sickness/food aversions
I figured I'd start off with the worst part of being pregnant and then get happier from there. I have to say that I have not vomited once with this baby (please don't hate me). However, I did get incredibly painful stomach-aches that would leave me helpless on the couch for hours. And they would usually result from a particular food I'd had that day. Also, food aversions tend to be burdensome in pregnancy. The smell of a certain food would make me feel like running to the bathroom and puking. Unfortunately, the food I came to hate most was vegetables. The thought of a salad in the house would make me want to head for the hills. Cooked green beans is another favorite in our house and I couldn't stand that either. I was so upset when I found out my body was rejecting food that I actually needed and was good for me. How could I maintain my healthy lifestyle if I couldn't get the nutrients I needed from vegetables?

Then I read an article stating that most pregnant women find they have an odd aversion to vegetables in the first trimester. Well, I was relieved to know that I wasn't alone in my veggie-dislike state. But that didn't solve my problem quite yet. The article suggested to invest in a vegetable juice, which I'm going to recommend. Something like V8 would be fine, just make sure it states on the label that a glass will give you one serving of vegetables. Normally, I don't drink juice, nor would I recommend it. There's a ton of added sugar, plus water is just generally better for you. However, I wasn't going to throw up juice, so the benefits strongly outweighed the costs there. Also, I found that my stomach could keep down carrots and didn't mind doing so. Needless to say, there have been loads of baby carrots in our fridge this pregnancy. Also, I still stick to my morning smoothies, where I throw in spinach. That was a life-saver because my stomach/nose/taste buds couldn't distinguish the veggie from all the other fruit in the smoothie.

 In pregnancy, you have to work with what your body gives you. Don't eat something you're just going to throw up (that's completely pointless because then you lose it in the toilet anyway). Find the healthy things your stomach will handle and work from there. Also, I found that by eating a lot of fruit, I was getting most of the nutrients I needed there, since veggies weren't going to work 100% of the time.

Water vs other drinks
I've always heard that if you have morning sickness, soda and other carbonated beverages will help settle your stomach. Well, I tried that. Not only did the carbonation NOT help, but I felt bloated and gassy. So I went back to drinking water instead. And surprise! Water settled my stomach way more than soda did! And there's no bloating, no feeling gassy, no indigestion. And did I mention water is so much healthier for you?! But I do have to admit that my water consumption has gone down since I became pregnant. Remember how my bladder was the size of a pea BEFORE this baby came along? Well, now it's even smaller. If I drink 2 liters of water a day, like previously done, I am in the bathroom every 15 minutes. I swear, I'm not exaggerating. You can ask Dave, it's the honest truth. So I am currently only drinking about 1 liter/day.

Cravings
I've read some articles (written by women who have clearly never been pregnant) that say to curb your cravings. "Control your cravings, don't get that ice cream" is what they say. But I know the truth. I know how when you have a true craving, your body will make you sick and miserable until you have it. I know how it feels to NEED that cupcake. Well, that's because with cravings, your body really is trying to tell you what it needs. Sometimes that is manifest in sweet or fatty foods, and sometimes it is manifest in a turkey sandwich. Here's how I handled it. If the food craving was healthy for me and baby, I ate it. Strawberries have been a particular favorite with this baby, so we buy in bulk. But, if it's something like brownies, I defer to my standard dessert rule which is: 2 desserts a week. I saved those desserts per week for a rainy day. Sometimes I would go almost a whole week without eating dessert, but then on a random Saturday, I would CRAVE chocolate chip cookies. It was worth not eating sweet treats on a day when I didn't need them, just so I could have it when my body screamed for it.

 Also, portion control is important with cravings. Often, you'll satisfy your craving with just as much with one cookie as you would with six. And cookie dough freezes quite well, so no need to worry about wasting the batch. :-) When you have a craving for a less-healthy food, ask yourself if it's a true craving or if you really can go without. Usually, when you want something sweet, you can satisfy yourself with yogurt, a smoothie, fruit, or a piece of toast. If you want something fatty and salty, try nuts, pretzels, or crackers and cheese. Try these options before resorting to use up one of your precious weekly desserts.

Extra calories

For my daily meals, I was still eating according to the my plate plan. However, I know that while pregnant, I should be consuming 200-300 more calories than I was before. So I found a slew of foods and snacks that would help me reach that goal. They're pretty darn tasty too! As I was grocery shopping this week, I snapped pictures of the snacks that I've been eating this pregnancy. Let me just say first that I hate calorie counting and food weighing/measuring. Even in pregnancy, I'm not doing it. But for the sake of being accurate, I have included the calories and amount for each of these foods. They are all 200-300 calories. 

3-4 apples or 1 apple sliced with peanut butter spread 

2 of these yogurts, or 1 with 1/4 cup of granola

1 of these

About 1/2 cup unpopped kernels (use little salt to flavor)

1/3 cup nuts

1/2 cup raisins

2 slices of whole grain bread or 1 slice with peanut butter spread

4 of these

2 oz (2 slices) of cheese with 4 crackers

2 granola bars

3/4 cup uncooked oats

That should be enough suggestions to get you started. Stay tuned for the exercise portion!

Setting goals (pregnancy version) like a boss

August 11, 2013. That's the day I'll be looking forward to all year, because that's the day Baby #2 is going to join our family! Happy happy day :-)

So if you've read the introduction to this blog, you know that my pregnancy with Cage wasn't so great. Not because of morning sickness, sciatic pain or the general "blah" feeling I had for 9 months. Because I gained 50 pounds and it didn't come off. Because I didn't really take care of myself while I was cookin' that little bun. So I determined that the next time I got pregnant, I would do everything in my power to do it right. To eat healthy, not stuff my face with extra brownies, and exercise (basically, everything I didn't do with Cage). Because I have to be healthy for not only the baby, but myself too! My hope is that because I have already implemented these virtues in my life, it will be easier for me to continue them for the next 9 months.

There is another reason I'm making these changes for pregnancy #2. When I got pregnancy with Cage, I blamed everything on my body. I truly believed that if my body was going to gain 50 lbs, there was nothing I could do about it. That's genetics and that's my body. I thought the same thing when my sister gained only 14 lbs her whole pregnancy and hated her for it. I scoffed and said, "Well, that's just her body." And while there is some truth to that theory, in the sense that everyone has different bodies that react differently to pregnancy and weight, I don't think it's entirely correct. *gasp* Did I just say I was wrong?! I think that to an extent, we can control our bodies in pregnancy. We have powers over certain elements that will keep us (and the baby!) healthy. So here's my new theory: That by maintaining a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy, we will not gain an excessive amount of weight and it will be easier to return to post-preggo weight afterwards.

So you guys now have a duty! To follow my pregnancy posts and judge for yourselves if my new theory ends up being right. If I'm wrong, you can totally rub it in my face (as much as is possible in cyberspace). We all know that a health plan requires goal setting at the beginning. So I'm going to use this post to set goals for my pregnancy (besides the goal of trying to have this baby in July, haha). Every trimester, I will compare Cage's pregnancy to my current one, to evaluate how my methods are doing. And then the hope is that you can use these same goals for your own maternal benefit. So here they are:

WEIGHT: Now, in pregnancy your weight goals are the exact opposite of what your previous weight goals were. To gain, not lose! It's a whole new mindset, one that's not easy to get use to (especially since women in our society base their self-esteem on what the bathroom scale tells them). So obviously, my goal here is to gain. But how much? Is all weight gain good or is there a point where it becomes excessive? I knew my 50 lb gain had been excessive, even while in denial. And it turns out that there is a goal for weight gain in pregnancy: For someone with a normal weight and BMI (19-25), you should gain 25-35 lbs. If you were underweight, 28-40 and overweight, 15-25. So by the end of my pregnancy, I should be in that 25-35 range. And remember, these are just general guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Like I said, my sister gained only 14 lbs and her little girl came out perfectly healthy!

BODILY APPEARANCE: I think as women, when we want to analyze how good we look, we start with the stomach. Is it nice and flat or do I need to run a little more? Obviously, that doesn't apply in pregnancy so I'm going to keep an eye on the other areas of my body. I remember with Cage that I was swollen everywhere! Particularly in my face, arms, and legs. So will a healthy lifestyle keep me from looking like a balloon? We'll find out!

DIET: My Cage pregnancy diet comprised of whatever the heck I wanted to eat. No rules, no limitations. I could eat whatever I want and as much of it as I want. You always hear about "eating for two". That is such a lie. During pregnancy, you are supposed to only eat an extra 200-300 calories per day. For crying out loud, I wish my doctor had told me that with Cage. I feel like so many pregnant women are under the misconception that you eat twice as much when you're pregnant and it's perfectly acceptable. So my diet goals are to eat that extra 200-300 cals, continue to eat according to the my plate plan, consuming plenty of produce.

EXERCISE: As I previously stated, my exercise regimen was non-existent with Cage. So my goal is to exercise 5-6 times a week this time around.

I'm putting a picture here of what I looked like at 8.5 months pregnant with Cage. I will take a similar picture at my 8.5 month mark with baby #2. Being healthy is not based on what you look like really, but how you feel and what you can do. But a picture does provide a nice comparison, so that's the reason I'm showing it. So we'll see if there is a difference in appearance this time and, if so, what it is. If you guys have any tips about staying healthy throughout a pregnancy, I would LOVE to hear your ideas.

8.5 months

Cut the salt like a boss

Today we are discussing a favorite add-in found on many American tables and countertops- salt. Most of us probably don't think twice when we add a pinch of salt here or a pinch of salt there. But are you having too much? If you are the "average eating American" according to the healthcare system, the answer is a frightening "Yes". Not only is the answer "yes", it's a "you're having incredibly way too much salt, double or more than you should have" kind of yes. But hey, you didn't know, right? And that's why I am here. To inform, assist, and point out those nasty salty culprits in the grocery store so they don't fool you again!

You all know my theme "Moderation in all things". So it shouldn't surprise you when I say, "Hey, you can and should have salt. Just limit it." So here's me getting all statistical on you.
Q: How much salt should you have every day?     A: 2,300 mg (or 2.3 g).
Q: Well, how much is that really?       A: 1 tsp of salt.
Q: Well, how much is the "average American" getting?      A: 7-15g.
Q: EXCUSE ME?!?! That can't be right, that's more than triple what's needed!    A: I wish I was lying.

Why are Americans eating so much salt in the diet? I believe a great part of it has to do with not knowing how to eat any differently and not realizing how much salt they actually have. So to help, I've gathered up the usual suspects. Together we are going to identify the salty criminals that infiltrate our grocery stores, kitchen cabinets, and eventually, our bodies.

Anybody surprise you? I didn't put french fries there because I thought that was a little obvious. And of course, you're all looking at the Ramen and saying, "Well, duh, Dana." But anything else?

Canned soups- Just because it's a "soup" doesn't mean that it's healthy. These are often sources of hidden salt. Just take a look at the label!
Frozen or in-a-box meals- Obviously we all knew that mac-n-cheese wasn't necessarily our friend, but this also goes for any of those meat helper meals, frozen dinners, and even things like the Rice-N-Sides. If you're thinking about buying these items, check the salt content. I usually don't buy these things at all (except for my emergency food storage). I know dinner is better off if I make it from scratch and not a box.
Things with the word "tomato" on it- Tomatoes are healthy. Tomato soups, pastes, and sauces...not so much. One time Dave and I had tomato soup as a side for dinner and he said, "Well, this is healthy, right? I mean, it's tomatoes." I nearly spit my soup out trying not to laugh so hard.
Processed, red meats- Not only are things full of fat, but full of salt, too.
Cheeses- Dairy is good for you, but a lot of it (especially processed cheeses, like Velveeta) are bound to add more salt than you need to your diet.
Canned vegetables- You'd be surprised but those nasty marketing people often neglect to show you how much salt they ADD to the veggies when they can them. I always get my canned vegetables "no salt added"

Back to our Q&A
Q: So how do I cut back on my salt intake?      A: Make a habit of looking at labels before you pick something up at the grocery store
Q: What should I look for on the labels?         A: Anything that has 140mg of salt per serving (or less) is considered to be a low-sodium food. Get those.
Q: Anything else I should look for on the labels?     A: Try to get things that say "salt-free" or "no salt added". Those are the safest bets. Pick them up every time.

In nursing, for those people who struggle knowing how to cut back on their salt, we suggest something called the DASH diet. The DASH diet is super simple. It's more fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free dairy products. It's less high sodium foods (the culprits above) and less adding a pinch of salt to dinner when it's either on the stove or on the table. And be careful with all seasonings in general- lots of them have a high amount of sodium. This diet often suggested for people with hypertension or heart failure, but I think if more people followed this diet, less people would end up with those conditions in the first place. It's all about fixing our habits BEFORE ending up in the hospital. I wish more people understood the seriousness and importance of that principle.

If you want more information about the DASH diet, this link is incredibly helpful: DASH

Boring scientific note: Here is why large amounts of sodium are harmful to your body. There is one general rule in physiology that never fails- where salt goes, water follows. When we eat most of the food we take in goes to our blood. To get all the waste filtered from the blood, it goes to the kidneys. There, the kidneys take all the small molecules from the blood and decides what should go back into the blood system, and what should go into our urine and get excreted. One of the things that nearly ALWAYS goes back into the blood (no matter how much we have) is sodium. And where sodium goes, water follows. So if you eat a lot of sodium, that salt and a bunch of water just got added back to your blood stream. Why is that bad? Well the added water increases your blood volume. The more blood your heart has to pump, the harder it works. That can lead to 2 things. 1) Because your heart is working harder, more pressure is needed to push all that extra blood around. It leads to high blood pressure or hypertension. You don't notice hypertension until you're in a doctors office or the hospital. Or 2) Because the heart works harder, it starts to get bigger. But bigger doesn't mean better. Your heart eventually gets so worn out pumping all that extra blood that it starts to pump less efficiently. This is heart failure. Unlike, hypertension, I can spot a heart failure patient a mile away. It's easy- they honestly look swollen, especially in the legs and abdomen. This is because their heart isn't pumping very well, so all the blood is piling up in the veins of the legs and abdomen. All that fluid is clearly visible from the outside. So, not to get all gloom and doom on everyone, but that is why cutting back on your salt intake is so important to your health (especially combined with a low-activity lifestyle).