thinking
◼ about labor [duh]. by the way, in case anyone was wondering i am going to buck the trend in blogland and say that i am all for the epidural! i’ve seen many a birth and i have to say that the medicated ones appear to be FAR more pleasant. i’ll try to hold off and not ask for it TOO soon [as i do believe perhaps done too early, it has the potential to impede progress] but i am planning on getting one. the end.
[and i’m not cloth diapering either. i do feel a little guiltier about this choice, mainly for environmental reasons. maybe with the next baby if circumstances are different!]
◼ about post-partum running. i still have fantasties of workouts with the BOB even after reading about emily’s experiences with it. of note, these fantasies do not include moving swiftly and easily — i will happy just to be out there! i am also starting to seriously consider a treadmill for our apartment, but won’t pull the trigger on this until i know what our routines are like in a couple of months.
will running with this make my 39-week workouts seem easy?
enjoying
✰ a pretty relaxed work schedule. don’t get me wrong — i’m still INSANELY jealous of those women who get to start leave before labor begins. but since i’m doing research and the whole any-day-now thing makes starting new experiments pretty much impossible, life is pretty chill. i am working on a poster [for a conference i will attend at the end of june] and a lot of fellowship requirement loose-end types of things. i’m totally done with all call and clinic, including follow-up!
✰ the shins’ new album, port of morrow.
✰ cooking. because i know it’s going to be so much more challenging in the future, i really appreciate getting to prep food in a relaxed setting these days.
last night’s recipe was a hit with both of us: clean eating‘s chicken and fig linguine. we both felt it was worthy of serving even at a dinner party — the flavors of balsamic / fig / blue cheese / chicken were just fantastic, yet it really wasn’t hard to throw together. unfortunately there’s no link to it, but it was so tasty i want to share, so here’s the details:
ingredients:
12 oz whole-wheat linguine [or other noodle]
1 T olive oil
4 shallots, sliced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp sea salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/3 cups dried unsweetened mission figs, stemmed and chopped
12 oz cooked chicken breasts, chopped + warm
4 oz low-fat blue cheese, crumbled [i used full-fat]
3 T chopped basil [i used mint]
[note: while i’m putting their ingredient amounts on here, i have to admit that unless i am baking, i am MUCH more freestyle in the kitchen so i am sure i did not use these exact proportions. i just throw in some cheese and a handful of thyme until it looks reasonable. it’s a huge time-saver and that way i don’t have to wash any measuring cups or spoons!]
instructions
1. cook chicken breasts, if not already done
2. cook linguine — get water boiling and start on the rest while this is happening!
3. sauté shallots, thyme, salt and pepper in olive oil on medium heat until soft. increase heat to medium-high and add balsamic. simmer, letting it reduce [i probably let it reduce to about 1/2]. then, stir in broth and figs and simmer until liquid is reduced by half and figs are soft [about ~4 minutes for me]. remove from heat and set aside.
4. add shallot mixture to linguine and stir to combine. stir in chicken and then the blue cheese.
5. last minute, stir in 1/2 the basil [or mint]; use the other 1/2 to top individual servings.
6. enjoy!
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