SWEETS

Banana-Mango Smoothie

June 9, 2014

On my Farmer’s Market trip this weekend, I spoke with a nutritionist who recommended this smoothie for my particular moment in the pregnancy, since it’s extremely high in calcium (and right now is when the baby’s skeletal structure is developing, so calcium is extra important).

I mean, I didn’t really need any more information after I heard “there is mango in it,” but the calcium is a nice bonus (and good for non-pregnant people too, obviously – did you know that 80% of women don’t get enough calcium from their regular diet? True story).

SWEETS

Watermelon Lime Mocktail (Or Cocktail)

June 3, 2014

Being pregnant makes me way more inventive when it comes to my drink menu. I always like the idea of serving a "specialty drink" at a party, but usually it sounds like way too much of a pain to make, and I end up just setting out some beer and wine, having a few cans of soda on hand for anyone who wants something non-alcoholic, and calling it a day.

But I'm kind of sick of ginger ale and was feeling like something a little more fruity and summery, and so when I had a few friends over on Sunday afternoon I decided to make a drink (adapted from a recipe I spotted in US Weekly) that would work for equally well as a cocktail and as a mocktail (and for the kids).

SWEETS

Mango & Greek Yogurt Smoothie

May 16, 2014

I have a major mango problem lately.

I cannot stop eating them. As cravings go, though, this is a pretty stellar one to have, since mangos are full of amazing things like antioxidants, fiber, Vitamins C and E, and folic acid. (They're especially good for your skin: Vitamin A helps to maintain a healthy complexion; antioxidants protect against free radicals; beta carotene makes your skin glow.)

And now my son is obsessed with them, too. The other night I showed him how to cut up a mango, and remembered my grandfather - who ate a mango after dinner almost every night of his life - showing me the same thing when I was a little girl, and got teary about it.

Eat

Microwave S’Mores

May 13, 2014

We've had our fire pit (which I managed to sorrrrt of reassemble post-tree-collision so that it functions while I figure out whether or not to buy a new one) for two years now, and have never made s'mores. This felt like something we needed to fix.

The only problem: as a city girl who genuinely loves camping but is completely at a loss when it comes to edible things and campfires (my hamburgers, without fail, end up being flipped right into the coals)…I'm not very good at making them. I basically just burn the marshmallows and call it a day. On the positive side, however, s'mores are good even when they're not especially good.

Entertaining

Fresh Mint Lemonade

April 24, 2014

When I first moved to LA, I found an apartment right off of the Sunset Strip and a job at an upscale-ish pizza place called Cheebo (the phonetic spelling of the Italian word for "food"). It wasn't too bad of a job - the food was pretty reasonably priced and lunchtime-focused, which meant that tips were only okay, but I liked my coworkers and really liked the staff meal that we got at the end of every shift. The part of it that I hated was when my manager asked me to work the brunch shift, because the brunch shift involved fresh-squeezed orange juice…and you know what's a major pain to make?

Fresh-squeezed orange juice. If you have never done this, let me tell you: you have no idea how many pieces of fruit it takes to make your teeny, tiny four-dollar glass of Vitamin C.

I think working at Cheebo gave me a bit of juice-making PTSD, because never since have I been enamored of the idea of fresh-squeezing my own anythings…but pregnancy does weird stuff, like make you all of a sudden need fresh lemonade RIGHT NOW.

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