ITS A.....................................

A GIRL!

Pick Your Own: Strawberry Festival

I went to Linvilla Orchard yesterday to enjoy the Strawberry Festival that was absolutely great! Pregnancy must be in season right along with the strawberries, because I saw plenty of fellow mama's to be out in the fields picking strawberries for our growing babies. Picking strawberries was fun but oh boy was it a workout. Bending with your knees everytime I wanted to go through the patches to pick juicy ripe red strawberries. I picked 10lbs, so you can imagine how many reps of squats I did yesterday. My midwife would be so proud. There was also plenty of children out helping along with their families too. There was also activities for the children who didn't pick which kept everyone busy. The farmers market had tons of tastes treats from the field that was fresh and reasonable too. Picking your own strawberries are much healthier than store-bought. Consumer reports says store bought strawberries have so many pesticide and fungicide residues on them, that they don't recommend you eat them! So it helps to not only help with the process of picking but you are also avoiding the consumption of large amounts of pesticides and fungicides that has an effect on you, your baby, and your family. Not to mention its nothing like picking your own fruits and vegtables and then coming home to prepare a meal that your own hands had a part of bringing home. Kids could appreciate that too! Try to visit your local pick your own in your area while the seasons for pickings is really just starting. Some produce can be pick all the way to October.

Today was a noodle bowl aka noodle soup. I wanted something spicy too, so I thought I was gonna just cook another one of my staples - Rice Noodle Soup Bowl from Trader Joes. To my recollection I was all out. I've learned while pregnant, always have a backup that is close (in tasting) to whatever it is you are craving. I realized I had some Maggi Dal Atta Noodles that I could be creative with. I like these noodles because they provide 5 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protien in a serving which is great! I don't use the season packets; one reason being they are full of sodium and I like to flavor to my liking. I made a coconut curry broth to go along with the noodles. Yumm-O as Rachel Ray would say. Here's the ingredients:

Dal Atta Noodles in a Coconut Curry Broth

1 pack of Maggi Dal Atta Noodles
1 clove of crush garlic
1/2 cup of coconut milk
3 cup of water
2 tablespoons of Dal Curry Seasoning
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon of asian chile paste (optional if you want a nice kick of spice)
Chopped green onion to garnish
Salt to taste

Add garlic, water, coconut milk, dal curry seasoning, cilantro and asian chile paste into a pot and bring to a boil on a medium - high heat. Once its starts to boil add noodles to pot and turn heat to low and cover pot. Let cook for 2 minutes and stir and turn off heat. Place the lid back on the pot and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Garnish with green onion and serve.

CHICKPEA & BASMATI RICE FALAFEL

Now that I am in my second trimester I can eat and cook too! YAY! Anywho, I had a taste for falafels after watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay:

I wasn't able to get to my falafel joint (the Falafel truck in Center City), so I had to do something and something fast. This baby was really wanting a good falafel. So I decided to do my own version of a crispy on the outside fluffy on the inside falafel. I had the ingredients and just needed the energy to do it.

After a couple of days of the chickpea craving not subsiding, I finally moved to my lab and got started. I had some basmati & wild rice left from a previous dinner. I then had an light bulb moment - put the rice mixture (which also had red peppers, onions and mushrooms in it too) into the chickpea mixture. Now the falafel mix I made was from scratch using the following ingredients:

1 medium onion
3 cloves of garlic
15 oz of organic chickpeas (drained)
1/4 cup of fresh organic parsley
1/4 cup of fresh organic cilantro
1 1/2 cup of toast bread crumbs (I made my own from some spelt bread I had left over)
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
1/2 cup of the rice mixture

Put everything in a food processor and pulse for about 20 seconds. If its not sticking add a little a teaspoon of flour followed by a 2 tablespoon of water. You want the consistency to firm and sticky enough to hold a form. Form into ball or patty and fry in 2 inches of oil.

Now traditionally falafels are made into balls and fried, but I made mines into patties so it was easier to put into a wheat tortilla or burger bun.

I topped my sandwich with organic tomato, fresh organic cilantro, and organic green onions with some mustard and garlic mayo*. Sooooooooo good


*Garlic Mayo
Mayo ( I use Veganaise)
2 cloves of fresh crushed garlic
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
pinch of salt.

Mix and and enjoy. You can always add more cayenne for more of a kick.