Feeding myself

Before I was pregnant, I was a runner. Now here's a secret for you: the real reason I was a runner is because I hate dieting. I would rather run 4 miles every day than turn down the cookie or brownie or ice cream that was offered to me. I loved being able to come home late from work and make a quick dinner of tortellini with parmesan cheese. No green leafy veggies? No problem! I was exercising enough to keep the extra pounds from piling up.

Current life is a bit different. I am trying to grow a baby with the best possible chance of good health that I can. Now, I know my parents' generation was always told that they could just eat whatever they want while pregnant and the baby would extract what it needs, but I find myself believing more in the modern, holistic view that there is no way my baby is extracting green leafy vegetables if all I'm eating is brownies. Plus, many people in my parents' generation gained 70 pounds and had 10 pound babies, neither of which is particularly appealing to me. So I've been dieting.

Now, this is not a low calorie diet by any means. My main objectives are:

-Avoid: simple sugars, simple carbs
-Consume: whole grains, calcium, protein, vegetables, fruit

Doesn't seem that hard, right? Wrong. For me, this is one of the hardest things I've ever done. I find it nearly impossible to consume enough calories without supplementing with junk food. Also, the kind of foods in the "consume" category tend to take much more time and effort to prepare.

Which leads me to exhibit A: Autumn Harvest Red Lentil Soup

I know what you're thinking - Oh, Judy is practicing making baby food already! Nope, this is what Dan and I actually ate for dinner last night. It had 16 ingredients! Including one I had never bought before and didn't recognize at the store (parsnip). The recipe is from a cookbook called "The Healthy Hedonist," and tasted surprisingly good considering you basically just cook a whole bunch of weird vegetables together and call it soup.

So, this is a fair warning to all of you: beware if you get invited to our house for dinner over the next couple months! You might want to bring dessert - after all, I wouldn't be so rude as to turn down something from a guest!