my pregnancy eats!

i have had no desire to blog lately though i continue to take photos of food and continue to read other people's blogs! sigh!
but thought maybe i should start a post on things i love to eat while pregnant. i had braced myself for comments like "oh, you will crave eggs and steak" and whatever during this new phase of my life, but i haven't gotten those! (i must surround myself with great people! hehe) i did get one comment at work that was "you eat so many vegetables, your kid is going to come out only wanting to eat candy!" which i thought was a little ignorant even as a joke and i replied, "not if she doesn't know what that is!" but i think being vegan is becoming more and more common these days and in general, most people seem to want to eat more vegetables and real foods so i don't think vegan is as confusing to people anymore, maybe?
i still can't believe that i have someone growing inside me (and somehow the 3D ultrasound and the kicking hasn't helped me make the connection either!) and that i will get to meet her by the end of this year! i can't wait to introduce her to so many things and watch her explore and figure out what she likes!
anyways! typically i have had smoothies for breakfast but i can't say i have a routine for breakfast anymore. sometimes i have cereal or toast or even dinner leftovers! this morning, however i returned to a green smoothie!

this one (serving 2) contains:
- 1 quince
- 1 pear
- mini handful of baby kale
- about 2 shots of BrainOn
- about 1.5 cups filtered water
- about 1.5 cups frozen mango
- 1 frozen banana

i added my daily liquid iron supplement to it (i generally have my iron with orange juice during my work morning break) and i'm set! super yum.

i just finished roasting some butternut squash (and currently eating the roasted seeds that roast just a wee bit faster! yum!) for lunch.

at work, i almost ALWAYS have a salad. nothing different than pre-pregnancy. i never look forward to anything as much as salad! on days that i haven't felt like chopping somehow or market shopping, i hope that it's wednesday, thursday, or friday and that i can get to christina's food cart, culver city salads. her salads are glorious!

i got a cuppow dressing cup for mason jars which makes mason jar salads all that more exciting to eat out of. i have never minded so much having dressing on the salad during transport and pre-lunch but it's still fun to add it and mix it in at lunch.


 
 hemp seeds are always a great addition to salads!
 
 i was craving corn (organic, duh!) and added some tao cafe raw burger to the top of my salad and oh goodness, it was the most delicious thing ever!
  
a delicious garden-fresh potato salad my mom made for me this summer - all backyard or CSA box ingredients except the pickles. YUM!
 
yesterday, i bought some sprouted grain wraps (i eat gluten on occasion now, mostly out of curiosity, though it is always organic, whole and/or sprouted) and plopped some collard green, kale, red cabbage, and carrot on top and then drizzled a dressing that i generally have some version of on my salads lately: sprouted chickpea miso, apple cider vinegar, flax oil, nutritional yeast. SO YUMMY!

dinner is generally a warm grain and bean/legume with steamed veg. paul has been amazing at cooking up something for when i get home around 4:30. such a treat!

so basically with this growing a baby deal and being vegan, i feel extra justified in getting any and every veg and fruit (especially seasonal ones at the farmers market) and i continue buying/ingesting organic food. i am taking a prenatal vitamin and iron supplement daily, but other than that ritual, i'm just trying to eat as many different things as possible and the least processed foods as possible. which is not anything new for me.

(i love trying new-to-me things at the farmers market, like these "mini watermelons", er, sour mexican gherkins, which are really like sour bite-sized cucumbers! so refreshing!)
i can't get over how easy pregnancy has been and how awesome i feel and how excited i am about the little growing inside me! part of me wants her to stay inside as long as possible as i'm thinking this is going to be the easiest part. but i hope that paul and i will continue to celebrate and marvel in every step of her growing up.
and i'm confident we will.

the most perfect (and most easy) gluten-free pancakes!

after several fails to replicate a nice saturday morning pancake recipe with gluten-free substitutions, i was quite excited to try a mix given to me in amongst a whole basket of vegan, gluten-free treats! (yes, i do feel incredibly blessed and touched to receive such a perfect gift!)
the mix is by a company i hadn't seen before and i wonder if it's available only in the states for now? called the cravings place, i am convinced they make a wonderful product to have on hand for brownie emergencies and the like (yes, i have also tried the brownies and they were also ridiculously easy to make and delicious!). all of their products are made in a dedicated gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and nut-free facility and they package items containing sugars (ie the chocolate chunks in the brownies are not yet completely beet sugar-based, some products still have cane sugar) separately in the case you are avoiding sugar! most impressed.
the pancake/waffle/biscuit mix contains: whole grain brown rice flour, non-aluminum baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, bicarbonate of soda, non-GMO cornstarch, mono calcium phosphate), vanilla bean powder (vanilla beans, corn-based dextrose), sea salt, baking soda, and xanthan gum. it's not organic unfortunately but i appreciate very much that the corn is non-GMO. and i can't say pancakes are something i make more than once a year so i will forgive myself for the "conventional" production.
i was amazed by the simple, no-fail directions. basically: scoop some of the mix in a bowl and stir in cold water until smooth and desired thickness (ie more water for a thinner pancake) and let sit for a few minutes. i love a thick, fluffy pancake and so i kept my dough slightly runnier than a glop. and wow, they cooked up so fast and they were heavenly light, fluffy things! i put some bananas and farmers market maple syrup on top and finally, i have achieved some gf vegan pancake perfection!
 
now, next time i will have to try creating my own recipe!

day 20 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

today has been a wonderful day off. i was up early and feel so accomplished and it's barely mid-day now. yay!
for today's green drink, i blended 1 cup filtered water with almost a whole bunch of mint, my remaining kale, a bunch of red leaf lettuce and 2 apples. yep, i am still enjoying apples. (just not apple juice on its own! hehe)

and since i didn't mention it yesterday in my long post, i have to mention it today! on monday, i received my first grocery delivery from spud and it was so exciting! i am already excited to peruse online to figure out what to get next week. i LOVE that on the bill they print out (on the other side of their newsletter) how many kilometres your food travelled to get to you so you can keep track! though i really only find that accurate for produce. but that's so awesome just for that. (ie just because someone's warehouse is here in vancouver doesn't mean that the actual food stuffs were grown and processed here, like say coconut water).

one of our bins. the produce bin! 

i'm pretty proud that i have been eating more local (or at least north american) produce as of late. though today i put some bananas in the freezer and will probably add one to a smoothie tomorrow. but it feels soooo great to eat stuff that grows where i live! i hope someday i live in an apartment with green space for gardening or at least some south-facing light!

anyways... i used lots of mint today in my smoothie (which was super yummy) because i got an extra package of it FOR FREE since they were out of the basil i wanted (which was taken off my bill) and i wanted to get some organic lives chocolate macaroons but they were out so they substituted the lemon macaroons with a discount! ah, and their small (raw, organic) coconut waters on super special right now - about $3.50 each! (usually they are at least $5). LOVE IT.
i generally go get groceries (mostly produce) 3 times a week which gets annoying sometimes. i love that i can get the biggest trip out of the way (and delivered to me!) especially with annoying bulky things like toilet paper or heavy stuff! hurrah!
my friend phil told me about spud the other day and then i was curious as i have seen their trucks around. then he showed me that if i used his promo code, he would get a $25 credit and i would get the same but over 4 orders. and delivery is free in my area if i spend at least $35. no problem! especially having fun stuff like gluten-free bread (made almost entirely of quinoa and brown rice flour) from glutenell in their warehouse! yum! it was amazing having a "bread" again yesterday for the first time in what feels like forever. i liked it slightly toasted best, with garlic and avocado and raw sauerkraut. DROOL. hehe.