As I mentioned earlier, I'm trying to cut out white sugar and white flour as much as possible while I'm pregnant, which has led me to look for recipes for healthy baked goods that taste reasonably good. Here are two recipes that I've been happy with so far.

Healthy Banana-Date Muffins

This is based very heavily on this recipe, but I made enough tweaks that I thought it would be easier to rewrite the recipe here than to list out my changes. These muffins are nice and moist. I like having one with a glass of milk for a morning snack.

1 1/2 cups (240g) whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (60g) wheat bran
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (75g) chopped dates
1/2 cup (70g) coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup (75g) mild molasses
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line two muffin tins with paper liners (recipe makes 16 muffins total; you can do this in two batches if you only have one muffin tin).

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, wheat bran, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in dates and walnuts to coat with flour mixture. Make a well in the middle of the mixture.

3. Microwave the milk and butter on medium power until the butter is melted. Whisk in the buttermilk, molasses, and vanilla extract.

4. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then slowly pour in the milk mixture, whisking as you do. Whisk in the mashed bananas. Pour this mixture into the well in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean (mine took 18 minutes). Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

Makes 16 muffins

Chewy Apricot-Almond Granola Bars

This recipe is based closely on a recipe from Jane Kinderlehrer's Smart Cookies, which has a whole chapter devoted to cookie recipes for pregnant ladies. I've tried a few other recipes from this chapter, but they turned out kind of weirdly textured. But I like these granola bars. They're very hearty, but they taste good (I mean, a brownie would taste better, but I'll take what I can get right now!). I like them crumbled over cottage cheese or milk, to add a little more protein.

1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp + 1 tsp mild molasses
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp peanut butter
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp dry milk powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup dried apricots, slivered
2 tbsp raisins

1. Toast the oats, sunflower seeds, and almonds on a cookie sheet in a 350F oven for 7-10 minutes, until dry and crisp.

2. In a saucepan over low heat, combine the egg, molasses, and peanut butter, and heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. [The original recipe has you heat just until combined, but I cooked the mixture a little longer because I was nervous about the raw egg]

3. Stir together the peanut butter mixture, oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and remaining ingredients.

4. Lightly oil an 8-inch square pan (or line with foil), and press the mixture into the pan. Chill for a couple hours until firm, and then cut into squares/bars. [I stored my bars in the fridge after cutting, but I'm not sure if that's strictly necessary.]

Thanks for your kind words about yesterday's post! Patches is back home, and she seems to be feeling like her normal self again. They still don't know what caused her problems yesterday, but she ate some food this morning and has kept it down, so they let her come home around 2pm. Her tummy is all shaved, so she looks a little scraggly, but she seems fine otherwise and is back to meowing for food and asking to go outside (sorry, kitty, not quite yet!). I'm hoping she just ate something bad yesterday, and now it's out of her system.

We're happy to have her back with us :) Also, pet insurance doesn't seem like such a bad idea anymore. We'll have to look into that...

Our poor kitty is staying overnight at the pet hospital tonight. When we got home from running errands this afternoon, she had thrown up outside, and then she came in and proceeded to throw up four more times in the span of two hours, which is not normal. So we took her to DoveLewis, since her normal vet was closed for the day.

They took x-rays to see if she had anything unusual in her intestines (string, etc.), but those came out inconclusive. So then they did an ultrasound, which showed no blockages. So at least she doesn't need surgery. But we still don't know what's wrong with her. They're keeping her overnight to try to control the vomiting and keep her from becoming dehydrated. They're also going to run some blood tests to try to figure out what's going on.

Poor kitty :( When we said goodnight, she was all doped up and wrapped in a towel. I cried in front of the vet's assistant, which made me feel kind of silly, since she's just going to spend the night there; not have surgery or anything. I just want her to be back to normal.

(Incidentally, I was really happy with the efficiency and friendliness of everybody at DoveLewis. I think Patches is in good hands)

Twenty-six weeks! Assuming all is going according to plan in there, the baby weighs about 2 pounds, and he can open his eyes. Good job, baby!

Hypnobirthing classes continue to go well. We've been practicing every day. I think it is getting easier for me to go into a relaxed state, though I tend to get a little too relaxed and drift off into sleep if I practice right after lunch. It's easier for me to stay awake when Patrick's reading to me, versus when I'm listening to the relaxation CD. We spent most of our class last night learning about comfort measures (like massage and relaxation cues) that Patrick can use to make labor and birth more comfortable for me. I'm all for that! Patrick liked it because there were very specific examples of small things he can do to keep me relaxed (as opposed to reading me the whole relaxation script). I'm so grateful that he has been open to trying hypnobirthing. I think it will make a big difference to have his full support when I'm in labor (and afterwards, of course!).

We also had our monthly checkup yesterday. Everything looked fine (yay!), though I have an ultrasound scheduled for 32 weeks to see if my placenta is still low. I'm trying not to worry about that, since there's nothing I can do about it. I've got some routine blood tests coming up in two weeks, including the glucose screening test. I was hoping I'd have the option of eating jelly beans for it, but it looks like we're going with Glucola. When I mentioned to my doctor how sugar has affected me recently, she said it sounds more like hypoglycemia than gestational diabetes. It'll be interesting to see what the test shows. In the meantime, I'm doing my best to avoid white sugar.

In crafty baby news, I've been putting off doing the more practical craft projects on my list (like sewing blinds for the nursery). Instead, I made baby legwarmers out of my much-loved Sock It To Me knee socks! They all developed holes in the toe area around the same time last month (after a year and a half of wear; not too bad!), and I was glad to be able to turn them into something useful.

I made the first pair (in pink) by following the linked tutorial exactly, and the cuffs seemed a little big for baby ankles. So I turned that pair into mitts for me using the information in Lee's tutorial about cutting a thumb slit and zig-zagging around it. Easy! I was kind of tempted to make the rest of the socks into mitts for me too, but I stuck with the original plan...

For the subsequent pairs of baby legwarmers, I made the cuff circumference a little bit smaller (by half an inch to an inch). For the argyle pair, I went even further and tapered part of the sock body and the cuff, like in this tutorial. So we have a range of legwarmer styles and sizes to choose from. Now we wait until we have a baby who's big enough to wear them! If they don't fit, it's no big loss, since I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of the socks already.

While doing meal planning this week, I tried to incorporate lots of whole grains and protein. First up, we had oven-roasted salmon with tangerine and ginger relish, brown rice, and peas. It was a fine meal, not super exciting.

Next up, we had breakfast for dinner: Swiss chard and ricotta salata egg bake (using overwintered chard from our garden and buttermilk instead of cream) and whole wheat yogurt waffles with blueberries (from Whole Grains Every Day Every Way). The egg dish was tasty, but the ricotta salata made it a bit too salty and rich for me. I had trouble eating a whole serving (so much protein!). The waffles were nice, especially considering that they were made with whole wheat flour and minimal sweeteners.

For my lunches this week, I made a batch of barley, beef, and mushroom soup (also from Whole Grains) and ate it with grilled cheese and salad. I'm not really a fan of beef and barley soup, but this seemed like a good way to make sure I was getting enough protein and iron. Not bad, and the grilled cheese sandwiches made me happy :)

Twenty-five weeks! Okay, twenty-five and a half--we've been having so much fun this weekend enjoying the beautiful early spring weather in Portland that this post got a little delayed. I'd forgotten how nice the sun is!

We had our second hypnobirthing class on Thursday. We spent a while talking about good nutrition--all pretty standard stuff (eating whole grains, vegetables, and lots of protein). One of the things the teacher emphasized was cutting out white sugar/flour as much as possible (including white rice, pasta, and potatoes), so I'm going to try doing that. I guess that means I won't be baking as much for the next few months. We'll see how long I can hold out...

This week, per the class schedule, Patrick has started reading the hypnobirthing relaxation script to me, in lieu of my listening to the relaxation CD. The teacher warned us that pets like to get in on the relaxation action, and she was right--as soon as we turn on the relaxing music and Patrick starts reading, Patches runs up, jumps on my lap, sniffs my face, and then settles in for some relaxation. It's kind of distracting, but nice. She seems to really enjoy it. I guess she likes Brian Eno.

I finished my first crafty baby project--sewing fitted crib sheets. I used this tutorial, but I made a 3/8-inch channel around the bottom and ran 1/4-inch elastic all the way around, as she suggests at the end of the tutorial. Despite my best measuring and cutting efforts, the sheets all fit on the mattress a little differently, but they should do the job. It's a forgiving project :) I made three flannel sheets and three in lightweight cotton, so we should be all set.

Not a lot to document on the dinner front this week. I made a swiss cheese and mushroom quiche (from the Moosewood cookbook), which was fine, but not very photogenic. This pasta with mascarpone, spinach, lemon, and pine nuts was more attractive. It was easy to make and tasted pretty good. I bet it would be good with spring peas.

For lunches this week, I once again made falafel and tabouleh (both from the Moosewood cookbook) and piled them on top of pita bread and salad greens. For the tabouleh, I used sundried tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes, and I added some toasted pine nuts. Tasty!

Although it still seems early to me, it appears that spring it on its way. We've got daffodils opening in the garden, and trees in our neighborhood are starting to bloom. Yay!

Patrick has been getting our garden ready for spring by harvesting our meager winter crop, which we're hoping to use in dinners this week. The only things left standing right now are our overwintered leeks, garlic, and onions. I'm not sure if we mounded enough dirt around the leeks to get usable stalks, but we'll find out soon enough!

In addition to enjoying nature, we've been exposing the baby to some cultural enrichment in utero. On Friday, we saw Das Rheingold, performed Baywatch style, at the Clinton Street Theater. You can read more about it here. It was pretty great :) We came early to play leitmotif bingo, and Patrick won a heart antenna headband, which I'm sure will come in handy in future costumed sporting events around town. Oh, and unlike the last time we saw Das Rheingold, we didn't fall asleep. This performance was a bit more engaging :)

Yesterday, we went with Star to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the Rose Garden. Patrick had seen them a couple times before when he was younger, but this was the first time for me and Star. They did some cool tricks, and it was fun seeing how excited all the kids in the audience were (there was a young man right behind us who was particularly enthusiastic, though he kept declaring loudly that he could do all those tricks too). But I was kind of surprised at how mean-spirited the Globetrotter ringleader was--he kept picking on a short guy on the other team--asking where his mama was and calling him a baby, and pulling down his pants. I wouldn't want my kid to see that and think it's cool to bully people who are different from them! What would have been better is if there was a short guy on the Globetrotters, and somebody on the opposing team was making fun of him, and then the short guy did some awesome basketball trick and put him in his place. But perhaps I'm overanalyzing things...

This morning was awesome. We took a nice long walk to Wild Abandon for brunch (excellent huevos rancheros!) and then returned home, enjoying our neighborhood along the way. So nice! I'm looking forward to taking many more springtime walks with Patrick in the coming months. It's such a nice way to pass the time.

Patrick had the foresight to bring along the camera. Here are a few of his pictures: (1) Wild crocuses, (2) chickens at Urban Farm Store, (3) me admiring spring blooms.