Good News!

Levi went to see the nutritionist yesterday and he gained a little over a pound and grew an inch! His weight went from the 5th percentile to the 25th! Yay :)  

The nutritionist said to pretty much keep doing what we're doing; he's gaining well and is active and happy. I feel SO much better.

Here's yesterday's lunch:

Levi's lunch - clementine, baby carrots, milk, leftover pizza

Sophie's lunch - blueberries, shredded baby carrots, leftover pizza (cut up), sippy with milk

Haircut!

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday to Me!

Levi's favorite: cheddar, turkey, and pickle sandwich on GF bread 

Breakfast of champions: shredded potatoes with eggs, green peppers and onions, raisins, strawberries, and milk

Red Velvet cupcakes from Sprinkles

GF pizza from Mellow Mushroom

Bleh

I've been on a cooking strike. Had to bake, though, we were out of bread =/    We've been surviving on leftovers, sandwiches, oatmeal, and cereal. The kids don't mind at all.

For dinner today I did make Adobo Chicken and it was soooo good! We ate it over some steamed rice with a side of veggies and it was truly delish after some time at the gym.

I started Weight Watchers today. Sigh. I HAVE to lose 10-12 pounds. I'm just not looking forward to counting points and watching every.single.thing I eat. I've done Weight Watchers before and the first week is always the hardest, so I know I just have to push through...and find more snack options!

Low point snacks I love:
- frozen grapes
- rice crakers
- fruit (it's FREE!)
- cucumbers with lime and chile
- hummus with veggies
- banana smoothie
- fat free greek yogurt with berries and a drizzle of honey
- chips with salsa

and my FAVORITE:

Blueberry Slush
Fill a 6 oz cup a little more than half full with frozen blueberries. Pour light vanilla soymilk over the blueberries to cover them. Stir with a spoon until slushy. Enjoy!

Arroz con Gandules

It's what's for dinner :)

Most of you probably know I spent a majority of my childhood in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. Arroz con gandules was a dish we ate quite frequently while living there, and every time I make it I'm reminded of some wonderful happy times.

Funny related story.

When we first moved to Puerto Rico and tried arroz con gandules my mom immediately asked for the recipe. Well, the lady who gave it to us said it was her family's "secret recipe", but she'd give it to us anyway. Well, when we got a can of Goya gandules to make the rice, we noticed that the recipe in the back of the can was....the exact same "secret recipe" the lady had given us. LoL. Over the years we have, of course, tweaked it slightly, but the idea is basically the same.

Arroz con Gandules (adapted from Goya)

1 Tbs. olive oil
2 slices turkey bacon*
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can Goya Gandules, undrained
1 packet Sazon Goya con Culantro y Achiote
1/2 cup tomato sauce
3 cups water
2 cups rice**
1/4 cup sliced green olives (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon, onions, and peppers; cook 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add rice and cook 1 to 2 minutes until toasted, stirring frequently. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and leave covered for another 20 minutes. Fluff rice and enjoy!

*To make this a vegetarian dish, simply omit turkey bacon or replace it with a vegetarian bacon.
**I use parboiled rice and find it works the best in this recipe.

Happy birthday, mom!

I didn't cook a thing today :)  Well, I assembled some crepes, but I don't think that counts - I made the actual crepes yesterday. This is the recipe I always use and they're always wonderful. Anyway, we filled them with nutella, applesauce, and sliced bananas...sounds weird but they were soooo good!

For lunch we went to BJ's to celebrate my mom's birthday. We go there a lot because they have really great gluten free pizza that Levi loves. Also the gluten free Pizookie. Omg. Pretty sure I go just for that.

Then for dinner we just had leftovers. Ta-dah! Easiest day ever :)

Yummy crepes:

Sophie's crepe :)

Potato Rolls

Yes, they were so good they deserve to title my post. I used this recipe and they turned out AMAZING! Soft, chewy, and absolutely beautiful! Here they are fresh from the oven:

We ate them with homemade chicken noodle soup. Levi is coming down with whatever bug I just got over, so I thought it would be appropriate :)

Levi helping me make the soup

Focused

Chicken Noodle Soup
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
8 cups water
1 bay leaf
2 chicken breasts
6 oz. noodles (approx.)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stockpot, heat a bit of olive oil and brown onion, celery, and carrots. When veggies are tender, add water, bay leaf and two chicken breasts (I used frozen this time). Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until chicken is fully cooked; about 30 minutes. Remove chicken breasts and shred with two forks. Return chicken to pot and bring broth to a slow boil. Add noodles, cover and simmer about 20 minutes until noodles are cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Basic, easy recipe :)

Let's Do This!

Ok, these past few months have been pretty terrible. Lots of different things to deal with (more on that here), and basically blogging was the last thing on my mind. However, I think it's time for an update.

Two weeks ago we went in for Levi's 3 year appointment and things did NOT go well :(    To be fair, he was barely getting over some nasty stomach bug and he hadn't eaten much (if anything!) in well over 4 days. He was well hydrated, though. Anyway, so he only weighed in at 27.2 pounds, landing him somewhere between the 5-10%. Boo.  It's quite unfortunate that he got sick right before his appointment because I'm quite certain he was well over 30 pounds. Oh well.

Naturally, his pediatrician freaked out (rightly so) and referred him to a GI specialist and a nutritionist. Ugh. To make matters worse, apparently Eva didn't gain enough weight either (but she's in the 40%) so she was referred to the GI specialist as well. AND when she checked her throat it looked pretty red, so she had her checked for strep and tested positive! AAHH!!

All in all, a horrible appointment. I honestly just wanted to sit down and cry. Fortunately, I have an incredibly level-headed and supportive pediatrician mother who came over after work and completely made me feel better. We'd just take things one step at a time and both kids would be fine.

Turns out she was right. I weighed Levi yesterday and he's 29.6 pounds (that's almost 3 pounds in just 2 weeks!) AND he's 39.5 inches tall; he grew over an inch! Eva is over her strep (never once showing any symptoms) and she has gained weight as well :)  Great way to start the new year!

Here are a few pictures of Levi right after his Dr. appointment:

My poor little guy. He's filled out CONSIDERABLY since then. I had to let out 2 buttons from each side of his jeans :)

Happy, healthy boy eating a pickle on Christmas morning.

And here's the Gluten Free Monkey Bread I made Christmas morning:

It was amazing! If you haven't tried Better Batter you absolutely HAVE to! It's the most amazing substitute for wheat all-purpose flour. You can buy it here. 

Monkey Bread

1 recipe Super Versatile Bread Dough

1 Cup cinnamon sugar

For syrup:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a bundt pan and set aside. 

With well-greased hands, make small balls of dough and roll them in the cinnamon sugar. I actually used a very small ice cream scoop (well greased) to make sure all the little balls were even. Drop them around the bundt pan until all the dough is used up. 

Cover pan with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free place. Let rise until doubled in size, approximately 40 minutes. 

Mix brown sugar with butter and pour evenly over the top of the risen bread dough. Cover with aluminum foil, and bake for approximately 40 minutes. 

When done, allow it to cool for a few minutes before inverting on a platter. Enjoy warm!