Month: June 2016

Baked Chicken Salsa

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Today I am sharing my own personal recipe and one of my husbands favorite.  This is what he is eating this week because I didn’t find a new recipe that I was/he was interested in.

Recipe for Baked Chicken Salsa:

Ingredients:

  •  Chicken Breasts, depends on how many you need. So like 1 for each person.
  • Jalapeno peppers.  Fresh is better.  You can use half of one for each chicken breasts.  Cut.
  • Shredded cheese
  • Salsa, I do store-bought

Recipe:

  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. Get out pan and foil.
  3. Put chicken breast on separate sheets of foil.
  4. Put cut jalapeno slices on top of chicken.
  5. Cover with salsa, about 1/2 cup.
  6. Cover with as much or as little shredded cheese.
  7. Fold foil so it encloses the chicken. Put foil packets in a pan.
  8. Cook in oven for 60 minutes.
  9.  Eat

Real simple and little to prepare.  Just do not start this when your family is starving as it takes 1 hour.

Non-craft picture:

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My husband added rice and it looks like he already ate part of it before he took the picture since the chicken breast was big.

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Beef Enchiladas

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This week i found a recipe for beef enchiladas and knew I had to make them for my husband.  He loves Tex-Mex (hello, we live in Houston) so I thought this would be nice for him.

Husbands rating: 5/5.  He loved them.  My son would not eat them though because they were spicy. My husband even ate the extra filling straight from the pan. My husbands microwaving tip: cook for 1 minute, cut in half and put the middles facing outwards and then microwave again for 1 minute.  He recommends 3 at a time. He said without the cutting in half, the ends will be really hot but not the middle.

Ease: 4/5. I couldn’t get the enchilada sauce the thicken.  Mine was soupyish which my husband said was fine.  Also, we got tortillas that kept ripping.  Again, husband said no big deal.

Changes: No cilantro, no garlic cloves as I was out and no oregano.

Recipe: You can find it here.

Picture: So my husband forgot to take them at work so this is the massacre of what is left.  Warning: not pretty.

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Marinated Fish Tacos

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This entry is really late and for that I am sorry.  Last week I decided to cook my husband fish tacos.  So we did not go grocery shopping until later Sunday which means I couldn’t cook them until Monday.  However, my husband was going out-of-town for work on Tuesday so I didn’t need to make them for Tuesday lunch.  He ate them on Wednesday but that is the only day because his work provided lunch on Thursday and we went on a lunch date Friday. I also do not have a picture because of all of this.

Husbands Rating: 3/5.  He felt like it was missing something. I told him the recipe maker suggested sour cream but he is not a sour cream fan.  He said maybe avocado.  He tried picante and didn’t like it.

Ease: 4/5.

Changes: We used Mahi Mahi and I did not add any cilantro.

Recipe: You can find it here.

Book and Movies in May

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I love to read and I love to watch movies/TV.  So I thought every month I would share with you the best I have read/seen in the month.  Now I am in a book club but we don’t always read what is hot right now.  I am also a mom who does not go out to the movies a lot so I mostly watch what is on Netflix.  Just warning you so that you don’t think this is going to tell you what is hot out right now.

Read

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes:

So my book club is reading this for June and I read it in May not knowing we would be reading it (we pick our books for the whole year in late May). I loved this book.  I loved the two main characters and I loved the sweet story.  I did cry so it is a tissue needing book. I tell all my friends that they need to read this book. This is by far the best book I have read in a while, most likely all of 2016.

Basically, Louisa Clarke needs a job to take care of her family.  She is hired as a caregiver to Will Traynor who is paralyzed. The story revolves around their relationship and what she does to try to cheer him up.

The other book I read in May was The Avaitor’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin.

Watched

This is a hard one because I do not remember what I watched. I think I was busy getting caught up on my shows before their finales came.

So I am going to say Cruel Intentions because this was one of my favorite movies in high school and Ryan Phillippe just looks so dreamy in it. I did watch this in May and I still enjoyed it like 15 year later.

Also Ruby Bridges. I rented this movie to go along with our Civil Rights Movement lesson in class.  My students had been state testing all week so it was a perfect way to end the week for them.  This movie is really cute.  My students were captivated from the start to the finish.  It is a Made for TV movie that Disney made in the 1990s. I never saw it when it was originally on but even though it is older, my students still loved it. Ruby is a real girl who was involved in desegregating schools in New Orleans. After the movie, my students wanted to know all about where the people are today.  It is hard to get 7th graders really invested in anything.

Stuffed Jalapeno Popper Bacon Cheeseburger

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My husband loves jalapenos, he loves bacon and he loves cheeseburgers so I knew I wanted to try this recipe for him.

Husbands rating: 5/5.  He said they turned out really good.

Ease: 1/5. Let me say that it would have probably been easier if I used a grill and not my stovetop and if my son did not wake up from his nap early and only wanted to be held. Since I did it on the stove, it was a lot of pans trying to get everything cooked and it took a lot longer than the recipe said.

Changes: I used my stovetop since I don’t know how to use a grill and it is hot outside. I was also not able to get all the skin off the jalapeno which I don’t think my husband noticed/cared.

Recipe: You can find it here.

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I am glad my husband does not care about visual appearance of what he is going to eat.

My Imperfect Son

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I know, I know, most moms say their children are perfect.  Well those moms are liars.  No one is perfect so deal with it. So one of the things that make my son imperfect is his skin. I had no skin problems growing up besides being somewhat dry and as a teen maybe one zit a year.  My skin is not sensitive but I am extremely freckled. My husbands skin past: ?.  I don’t think he remembers but he had no real issues as I would think he would remember that.

Our son had baby acne which I heard is very common but it was one of those things I had never heard of before giving birth.  When he turned about 8 months, I noticed he started developing really dry patchy spots like on his back.  I asked my mom what it was and while none of her children had it, she said it looked like eczema.  When he went for his 9 month appointment, it was eczema.  No big deal as when he gets a break out, just put some hydrocortisone cream(for one week only) and then use eczema lotion twice a day everyday. This has done a pretty good job at managing his eczema. So eczema is hereditary, but no one in my family had/has it.  That must mean it comes from my husband’s side. Anyway, no big deal about the eczema as lots of babies/people have it.  He has a mild case so there is a chance he will outgrow it.

Then comes this week. On Monday I take him to school and tell his teacher he has a breakout that just started.  After lunch on Monday I get a phone call to pick him up and he cannot return until he has a doctor note. My son is completely covered and is red.  His face is all swollen too.  So I take him to the doctor as to me it looks like an allergic reaction.  He went and saw the nurse on duty and then she brought in my doctor. They diagnosed him with EM minor or multiforme minor.  They said there is no rhyme or reason for him getting this. Some people get it as a response to certain meds and some people get it as a result of a virus.  My son has had a cough so they think his immune system is like haywire fighting the cold virus.  He does of an eczema flare-up too and she said people with eczema do get flare-ups when they are sick.  However, my son is not uncomfortable and not itchy.  She said he is not contagious but wanted me home with him on Tuesday just to make sure it was not getting worse.

On Tuesday the redness and swollenness had gone down and he was just left with bumpy skin. He is not on any meds as there is no cure.  She also said he could get it again depending on his immune system.  The nurse did tell me that when he turns 3, his immune system will change/become stronger, I kind of forgot her wording, but in any case meaning things that affects him now, might not in the future.

So my son has imperfect skin but I can deal with it because otherwise he is a goofy healthy boy.  Now if only we could get him to eat at home more and not just at school since he will not be there for 1.5 months.

Here is a pic of my polka dotted monkey from Monday: 20160606_142117

May recap

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May ended up being a pretty busy month professionally and socially.  It is the end of the school year so we have fun social activities with the students like a faculty vs student basketball game (which I got 2 3-point shots), awards and so on.  Socially we had a couple of events like a little pool party, couples baby shower, mothers day, brewery tour(with a baby hike group) and a birthday party.  We pretty much take a son wherever we go.  People know if they invite us, he is coming.

I ran three races in May too.  My husband pushed my son in two races. As a family we ran the Santo de Mayo 5K which was a very crowded race.  I started I guess in the middle (there was a couple thousand people) and I was still passing walkers at mile 3.  The streets were pretty narrow so my husband had trouble getting the stroller around people.  The after-party was really crowded and crazy.  My time was in pretty normal for me 26:50.

Our second race was Cinco de Mayo 5K. They had to change the location due to flooding so it was not as stroller friendly as the old location.  It usually is two loops on a huge empty road(it is a small race) but this time it was 2.5 loops.  One part has uneven sidewalk which is hard with a stroller.  This race always has a chance for me to place but it depends on my time and who else is running.  I ended up getting 3rd in my age group with 25:56 but my watch said more like 26:10. Not bad though and the age group prize is a margarita glass.

My last race was one I signed up for last-minute called Daisy Dash. I signed up on a Thursday, and came down sick on Friday, ran the race Saturday with a bad fever.  I felt horrible the entire race but finished in 26:35 and ended up getting 2nd in my age group (small race). I slept the rest of the day.  It was not smart to run with a fever and my body punished me for it.

The first picture is the award ceremony.  The second photo is me dying at mile 1.5.

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KT8A2696 2016 PEO Daisy Dash

Our son has been in swimming classes since March and in May we took him to an outsdie pool.  I was worried how he would react because the pool was cold while his swim class pool is inside and heated.  He still loved it.  This pool had little bubblers for the kids to play with and he loved those.  I think we will have fun on our summer vacation.

Burrito Bowl

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As I am learning how to cook, I find different recipes online.  My husband is my guinea pig because he will eat almost anything, even if it is bad.  This week I made a Burrito Bowl called Better than Chipotle DIY Chicken Bowl.

Husbands rating: 5/5.  His only problem, which was not with the recipe, is he likes to add hot sauce to almost everything and he needs new hot sauce.

Ease: 4/5. It was easy but it did need a lot of bowls.  One for the rice, slow cooker for the chicken, and one to make the salsa.  Along with not being a great cook, I also do not like cleaning.  I would have failed as a 1950s housewife.

Changes: I did not use coconut oil in the rice. I also did not use avocados just because I knew my husband would not cut them up at work.

Recipe: You can find it here.

Picture:

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One day I will remember to take a picture, until then my husband will continue at work.  The website has really nice photos.

3rd Trimester and Working Out

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Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a fitness expert, this is just my experience.  Every pregnancy is different so please check with your doctor first.  I always was honest with my doctor and told her everything I was doing fitness wise during my pregnancy.

Running

So I entered my third trimester right at the beginning of January 2015. I had a full marathon on the 18th, the Houston Marathon.  I double checked with my doctor that I was still good to go.

I knew I was getting slower the bigger I got so I was not expecting anything but finishing.  One of my friends ran with me until like mile 18 because her training was off too due to a nasty flu virus a few weeks beforehand.  At mile 18, I told her to leave me because I was going to walk.  I developed some nasty Charlie Horses in my calves and running was out of the question.  It was also getting pretty warm.  I drank at every water stop and drank plenty of Gatorade too.  I also had food on me.  I finished with plenty of time.  The spectators were great and encouraging. My friends were also awesome for waiting for me to get to certain places.  It was a great experience.

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This picture is mile 9 and I am 30ish weeks.

I kept running my whole pregnancy but after marathon, I backed down in mileage.  I ended up doing 2 more 5ks and then just short runs.  I also stopped running with my friends because I couldn’t keep up.

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This picture is at about 38ish weeks. I ran until 2 days before I gave birth. I found just listening to your body, having plenty of water/nutrition and walking when needed really helped.  Once I got super pregnant like the above photo, I would run only when my husband ran and he would know my whole route in case of emergency.  I also only ran in crowded areas. After my run, I would make sure to rest my feet.

Other workouts: 

I had to stop doing yoga in my 3rd trimester not because of my doctor but because it was too uncomfortable for me. Even my favorite poses were uncomfortable so I decided to stop.

I did Crossfit until 5 days before I gave birth.  By the end of my pregnancy, most things were modified.  I really miss pregnant burpees.  I would not even attempt to hang on the rope so I would lie on the ground and climb the rope with my feet planted and just raise my upper body.  I also had to go up in a band for dips and pull-ups because my body was just heavier for me to lift.  Overhead Squats were done with basically no weight because of balance issues.  I also stopped doing ab work for the most part. If we had a partner workout, I would only partner with my husband so that I wouldn’t ruin anyones workout.

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This picture was taken at like 35 weeks so you can tell I still liked to have fun.  I use to be a gymnast so I like doing things like this.  I really listened to my body and slowed down and lowered my weight selection.  I also would not do anything that I was not comfortable with.  My coaches understood.

 

All in all, I am glad I worked out my whole pregnancy.  It was easier for me to get back to working out after baby.  Some people say you recover quicker but since this was my first pregnancy, I do not have any prior experience with that.  Working out also gave me a place to keep my mind off of my anxieties. I slept better at night and felt great in the day. If I ever have another child, I plan on working out the whole pregnancy again as long as my doctor says I can.