Mama Mondays - Healthy Mama Series

Good Morning Mamas!

I am so glad that you are joining us again this Monday! Today is an exciting one because I will be introducing another series as a part of Mama Mondays! This is something that I am really passionate about and something I have personally struggled with. Being a Healthy Mama!!!

I will be adding great tips, tricks, and recipes to help you throughout your pregnancy and again while breastfeeding! Tune in every 2nd Monday of the month!

Perhaps a little back story would help you understand why I care so much about healthy mamas!!!

When I was pregnant with Noah (He was a pleasant surprise FYI), I was waist deep in a very intensive Diagnostic Medical Sonography Degree. It required that I work 40 hr week at my clinical internship site (which was 45 minutes from home), and put in about 30 more hours of study, assignment time, just to stay afloat!! I was not an overachiever my any means! I was highly stressed and worn out! This did not make ideal conditions for a pregnancy. Once I started thinking about it, most moms now have to deal with less than ideal conditions while pregnant these days. So what can we do to make sure that we stay as healthy as possible? Let me tell you what I did.....

#1 Drink TONS of water!!!

While pregnant or nursing water is vital! You need plenty of water to keep you babies amniotic fluid at a good level as well as to clean the fluid. It is also very important for your own body. You are giving up so much to help that little one grow, your body needs the water to maintain its cells and critical functions, like the kidneys.

#2 Take some time for exercise!

I really loved to stretch while I was pregnant. You can find prenatal yoga and mediation videos everywhere!! This really helps to relieve some stress and help many fluids in your body to circulate much better!! Deep breaths and pamper those muscles!!! This can also help blood circulation and prevent varicose veins if done regularly.

#3 Plan to succeed!!! Plan Snacks & Meals!!!!

Make sure that you have a great eating plan. If you have a plan and take time to prepare your meals and snacks, you are giving yourself a head start. You are less likely to choose something that will will set you back. Healthy snacks and meals are essential to give your body the right fuel to keep you energized and grow that cute little baby! Here is some of my best advice....

Eat a really good breakfast! Make sure that you have a great protein source and that you add in some veggies!!! This gives you the best head start! MY favorite is to make an egg, veggie, and cheese omelet! Take your THRIVE Scrambled egg mix and create a "bed" for your favorite veggies and cheese. My favorite veggies are THRIVE Green Chile, THRIVE Asparagus, THRIVE Spinach, THRIVE Onions, and THRIVE Red and Green Bell peppers! I usually top it with just a little THRIVE Cheddar Cheese. Add some THRIVE Instant Milk and some THRIVE Quick Oatmeal to boost breast milk production!

Make sure that you plan some healthy snacks! One of my favorite snacks in the morning is an assortment of Yogurt bites and fruit and nuts! This ensures that you get a little protein! Add in any of your favorite THRIVE yogurt bites and favorite THRIVE fruits to some almonds and you are good to go! For a snack towards the afternoon (this is usually when most people begin to crave the sweets!) I love to add in something with a crunch! I LOVE the THRIVE Corn! It is almost like eating popcorn, but a little sweeter to satisfy my sweet tooth!

Make sure that your lunch is packed with good stuff! I love a great chicken salad with some fruit! Combine some of our THRIVE Superstars for a great lunch! Chicken, Onion, Celery, Apples or grapes, and some red or green bell peppers make an amazing chicken salad!

 

At dinner time it is important to pay attention to your balance between the carbs and proteins! You growing baby needs good proteins and veggies to carry you through the night. One of my favorite go to dinners is a stir fry! You get tons of protein and veggies in! Check back next Monday for my THRIVE Sizzle! Stir Fry recipe!!!

Last but not least, make sure that you are treating yourself! One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to be healthy is that they feel like you have to completely cut out all the "Bad" things! NOT!!! If you love ice cream....eat a little ice cream!! The trick is, only eat a true serving size!!

#4 Perhaps the most important, Get good Sleep!

Getting enough sleep is so important when pregnant or nursing and probably the hardest to come by! Try and help yourself by winding down about 30 minutes before bed by doing some stretches and rubbing your feet. Use some lotion and really try to calm yourself down.

 

Try to remember that in order to take care of your growing little ones, you have to take care of yourself! Once you start you will love it!!  

Light and Easy Alfredo Pasta

I had my beautiful niece, Lauren, visiting me from Virginia this summer (I miss her and so do my kids:( wiping away tears) and we did some cooking when she'd come over to my house a couple of times a week. Did I mention I miss her.. I wish I'd had money to buy a Cube-our deal to get her to stay and watch my children, forever... okay back on topic.


We were on a mission to make something that can bring so much comfort to the soul but that has a bad reputation for all of the grease puddles, healthier. I am delighted to tell you that we found a recipe that we LOVE that only has ½ T of oil. Some of the fat is made up in Parmesan Cheese, but its a much healthier fat- woohoo! Next step, BEG Shelf Reliance to start making Freeze Dried Garlic and Parsley, yum!
Not cooking with food storage? Skip down to the bottom.


Printable Recipe THRIVE recipe on page 1, non-THRIVE on page 2


Light and Easy Alfredo Sauce
Prep Time:25-35 minutes(depending on how long you leave it in the oven) Serves:6-8
Ingredients:
½ T Extra Virgin Olive Oil                     1 T THRIVE Chicken Bouillon
1 T garlic                                               3 T Flour
½ T THRIVE onions                           1 t salt
3 c water                                                ¼ t black pepper
5 T THRIVE Instant Milk powder      Dried Parsley
½ c grated Parmesan Cheese

1. Saute garlic garlic, onions, and EVOO until golden brown in large non-stick pan.
   
2. In a small saucepan, stir together water, milk powder, bouillon, flour, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth and thick.
   
3. Add milk mixture to the sauteed garlic mixture and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce is thick.
   
4. Stir in the Parmesan cheese then sprinkle with parsley and your done!
   

Want to make of meal of it? Let's do it!
This sauce works well with all sorts of noodles. We started with a campanelle noodle, but also tried egg noodles. If using store bought noodles, cook up a full package. If using THRIVE noodles, you have spaghetti, macaroni , and egg noodles to choose from.


Alfredo Pasta Casserole
Ingredients:
1 package of pasta or 6 c THRIVE egg noodles       1 c THRIVE FD Spinach or FD Broccoli
2 c THRIVE FD Chicken                                        1 recipe Light and Easy Alfredo Sauce
¼ c cold water                                                        1 c THRIVE FD Mozzerella Cheese

1. Begin boiling water to cook noodles.
   
2. Saute garlic garlic, onions, and EVOO until golden brown in large non-stick pan.
   
3. Add noodles to water to be boiled.
   
4. In another small saucepan, stir together water, milk powder, bouillon, flour, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth and thick.
   
5. Add milk mixture to the sauteed garlic mixture and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce is thick. Stir in the Parmesan cheese then sprinkle with parsley.
   
6. Place Mozzerella Cheese on a plate and spread the cheese flat. Pour ¼ c cold water on top of cheese and allow to soak up water. Place FD Spinach (or FD Broccoli) with FD Chicken in your 9x13 casserole dish.
   
7. Before draining your noodles, reserve 1 c water and pour it on your veggies and chicken. If there is a lot of excess water, you can add more veggie in. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water so they don't get too soft.
   
8. Pour your noodles in a 9x13 pan and mix around with the veggies and chicken. Coat noodle mixture evenly with Alfredo Sauce and stir. Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over the rest of your dish.
   
9. Cook at 350 about 10 minutes or until cheese is slightly melted and crisp.\
   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
   Don’t have THRIVE?  You can still make this dish, you’ll just need to make sure you have precooked chicken and veggies.
   Light and Easy Alfredo Sauce
   Ingredients:
   ½ T Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 T Chicken Bouillon
   1 T garlic 3 T Flour
   ½ T dried onions 1 t salt
   3 c milk ¼ t black pepper
   ½ c grated Parmesan Cheese Dried Parsley
   1. Saute garlic garlic, onions, and EVOO until golden brown in large non-stick pan.
   2. In a small saucepan, stir together milk, bouillon, flour, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth and thick.
   3. Add milk mixture to the sauteed garlic mixture and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce is thick.
   4. Stir in the Parmesan cheese then sprinkle with parsley and your done!
   
   This sauce works well with all sorts of noodles. We started with a campanelle noodle, but also tried egg noodles. If using store bought noodles, cook up a full package. If using THRIVE noodles I would use 1 lb of noodles which is about 6 cups, you can add more or less if you need to stretch it further or keep it more saucy.
   
   Alfredo Pasta Casserole
   Prep Time: 25-35 minutes (depending on how long you heat it in the oven) Serves 6-8
   Ingredients: 1 recipe Light and Easy Alfredo Sauce
   1 package of pasta or ½  c frozen Spinach, defrosted
   6 c any noodles 2 c Cooked Chicken
   ¼ c cold water 1 c shredded Mozzerella Cheese
   1. Begin boiling water to cook noodles.
   2. Saute garlic garlic, onions, and EVOO until golden brown in large non-stick pan.
   3. Add noodles to water to be boiled.
   4. In another small saucepan, stir together water, milk powder, bouillon, flour, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth and thick.
   5. Add milk mixture to the sauteed garlic mixture and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce is thick. Stir in the Parmesan cheese then sprinkle with parsley.
   6. Place Mozzarella Cheese on a plate and spread the cheese flat. Pour ¼ c cold water on top of cheese and allow to soak up water. Place FD Spinach (or FD Broccoli) with FD Chicken in your 9x13 casserole dish.
   7. Drain your noodlesand rinse with cold water so they don't get too soft.
   8. Pour your noodles in a 9x13 pan and mix around with the veggies and chicken. Coat noodle mixture evenly with Alfredo Sauce and stir. Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over the rest of your dish.
   9. Cook at 350 about 10 minutes or until cheese is slightly melted and crisp.
   
   
   
   
   I hope Lauren comes back next summer!

Doughn't you like Homemade Pizza?

I am a huge fan of homemade pizza and have a few recipes for the crust that I absolutely adore.  I received two this week that I haven't got to try yet, but here is one that is getting rave reviews...can't wait to try it out.

This is from Jamie at http://shelfrelianceswwashington.blogspot.com

Pizza Dough

My family has become spoiled!  I make home made pizza once a week.  I know your probably thinking pizza isn't very healthy.  I have made a healthier pizza that my fam LOVES!  I make a whole wheat crust and add veggies for the toppings.  I got this recipe from my fave blog www.everydayfoodstorage.net.  Here is a video showing how to make the dough.  Krystal is making bread sticks but also talks about how to make the dough into pizza.  One thing I do different from Krystal is I don't put butter on my cookie sheet (cut calories) I spray mine with pam instead.  I also don`t let my dough rise.  I just put it in the oven right away.

2 in 1 Pizza Dough & Bread Sticks

2 1/2 C. Medium Hot Water
5 tsp. SAF Instant Yeast*
2 Tbsp. THRIVE Sugar
Let the yeast rise.


Add

3 Tbsp. Oil
1 tsp. THRIVE Salt
6 C. THRIVE Flour (I do 100% whole wheat but you can use any variation of white or wheat flour)

Note:  This recipe will make 2 cookie sheets of pizza or 1 pizza and 1 bread stick.  Or you can 1/2 the recipe and just have 1 bread stick or pizza.  Any of the THRIVE ingredients can be exchanged for other brands.

Toppings:

Cheese, olives, THRIVE mushrooms, THRIVE mixed peppers, THRIVE oinions, THRIVE Spinach THRIVE sausage (FD or TVP), THRIVE ground beef, THRIVE ham & FD pineapple (Hawaiian pizza).  The sky is the limit as far as toppings go.  Several THRIVE ingredients will go perfect for toppings.

Put dough directly onto a pam sprayed cookie sheet or pizza pan.  Spread with your fingers.  No need to flour your counter or dirty your rolling pin!


Before I start making my dough I take a SMALL bowl and add a few Tbs of oil and several crushed/minced garlic cloves and mix it together.  When I take my pizza dough out of the oven to top it I brush on the oil mixture.  Bake 400 deg for about 7-10 minutes (for pizza) 10-12 minutes for bread sticks or until desired browning is accomplished for bread sticks.  Baking the dough prior to topping it for the pizza keeps the dough from being soggy.

 For pizza take out of oven and top with your fave toppings.  I top ours with cheese, mushrooms, olives, chopped peppers and sometimes broccoli.  Then put it back in the oven just to melt the cheese.

For bread sticks top them how ever you like.  We brush some butter or oil and garlic (like for the pizza) then add some cheese.   Cut into strips and enjoy