Convenient comfort

As the weather turns colder and baby's once tentative flutters evolve to full-on forty yard field goal kicks, I have found myself in need of some culinary comfort.
At the same time, I want to lay by the fireplace with my feet up for as long as possible. So, I take shortcuts.

The greatest gift the modern supermarket has provided the sometimes lazy home cook is, in my opinion, the rotisserie chicken. Hours of cook time are slashed, there's no handling of raw chicken, and one bird can provide for several make ahead meals--very important for those "I need food, NOW" moments of pregnancy.
I like to remove the breasts to slice on top of greens for a lunch with some nice, lean protein, or to shred and make chicken salad or quesadilla filler. Then, I pick the carcass clean. All the meat I pull off goes into one of my favorite, wholesome comfort food meals: chicken corn chowder.

Chicken Corn Chowder
serves 6

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced small
1 red bell pepper, diced small
1 1/2 cups medium diced carrots
2 Tbs cold butter
3 Tbs all purpose flour
1 quart low sodium chicken stock
3 cups large diced Yukon Gold potatoes
2-3 cups shredded chicken
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup heavy cream
dash hot pepper sauce (Tabasco, Texas Pete's...whatever you like)
dash Worcestershire sauce
salt and black pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, red bell pepper, and carrots and saute until softened, 5 minutes. Add the butter to the pan and stir until melted. Add the flour and stir vigorously to coat vegetables, stir and cook 2 minutes. Add stock, scraping the bottom of the pot to release any of the flour mixture which may have stuck. Bring to a boil.
Add potatoes, chicken and corn. Return to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir in heavy cream. Season to taste with hot sauce, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Thin with additional stock or water if necessary.
Serve with hot biscuits or crusty bread.

Feeding the kid in me

Lately I have been craving foods that I would normally eschew for the ten and under set: fish sticks, boxed mac and cheese, applesauce...

I'm not sure of the biological relevance of such a craving; maybe there is something my growing baby finds useful in bright orange dehydrated cheese. Most likely not. I like to think it has something to do with revisiting my own childhood in preparation for creating a new one for my little peanut: a kind of culinary nostalgia akin to unpacking and cooing over your own outmoded baby clothes.

So while I'm revisiting my developing years, and attempting to keep my developing baby well nourished, I'll try to sneak in as much wholesomeness as my juvenile self will tolerate.

Dinner tonight will be Tomato Soup (actually, Bisque, but don't tell the kids) and Grilled Cheese (on multi-grain bread.)

Tomato Bisque
serves 4

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained with liquid reserved
1 Tbs dried basil leaves
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup heavy cream
salt and black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add onion and garlic, stirring often until softened and fragrant. Add tomato liquid.

In a large bowl, use hands to crush tomatoes and release juices. Add tomatoes and juices to pot.
Turn heat to high and add basil, red pepper and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to low. Simmer 30 minutes to 1 hour (the longer the simmer, the more concentrated the tomato flavor.)
Remove from heat and blend with an immersion or stick blender until smooth.
Alternatively, you can blend in batches in a tabletop blender, making sure to do so carefully and vent for steam release.
Return to low heat and stir in heavy cream. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. If it's too thick for your liking, slowly stir in warm water until it's the proper consistency--it should be hearty, but not 'eat with a fork' hearty.

Serve with crusty bread or grilled cheese sandwiches.

Popcorn!

At about 18 weeks, I started to wake up in the morning with some funny feelings in my belly. These first movements are often described romantically as "flutterings."  I though it felt more like baby was popping popcorn in utero.
Which got me thinking, naturally, about popcorn:

What a fabulous preggo snack.  It's a low calorie, low fat whole grain with antioxidants, B vitamins, and trace minerals like iron, calcium, and magnesium. It's a great source of fiber, which us Preggos can never seem to get enough of (and is way more fun than eating those wafers that threaten to suffocate you or drinking lumpy, psyllium filled orange juice.)

The healthiest way to eat it, at 30 calories and a gram of fiber per cup, is air-popped and plain.  Cooking the kernels in oil and buttering, even lightly, adds a significant amount of calories and fat.

If, like me, you like to eat food that has flavor, we can compromise. Air-pop the popcorn, and sprinkle it with grated low-fat cheese, or garlic powder, or onion powder, or cinnamon and sugar. Raid your spice cabinet for flavoring ideas--you're pregnant, you can get away with almost anything (like spritzing it with vinegar...hey, it's better than drinking pickle juice!)

Here's an easy way to air-pop. You'll need:

a paper lunch sack
3 Tbs popcorn kernels
a microwave

Place the kernels in the sack and fold the top of the sack over about 3/4 of an inch. Fold it over a second time. Place the sack on it's bottom in the microwave, and microwave on full power 1-3 minutes, depending on the strength of your microwave. The tried and true method of stopping the microwave when there are 3 seconds between pops works well here. Without any oil it can burn quickly so pay close attention. Sprinkle your seasonings right in the bag and give it a shake. Makes about 4 cups popcorn.

Mocktail hour

As a pregnant lady in the beginning of my second trimester, I tend to get slightly overwhelmed by the negative. For instance, my abdomen is being stretched at an alarming and painful rate and I haven't slept through the night in months. Instead of focusing on the miracle of life, bundle of joy and all that jazz, I wind up crying (literally, crying) over the fact that none of my tops cover my belly (which at this point doesn't look pregnant, but rather like I ate a dozen Krispy Kreme for breakfast...every day...for a month.)

In these moments, when I've passed over the border into crazy-town-Preggo land, I like to mix myself a drink.

The ritual of making myself a delicious beverage and sitting down to enjoy it calms and satisfies me, even though said beverage doesn't contain two shots of bourbon, which is my traditional pre-Preggo means of relaxation. I keep the fridge stocked with mixers--orange, pineapple, cranberry and grapefruit juice, club soda, ginger ale and various other fruit sodas or drink mixes that catch my fancy. My fridge is half full of assorted beverages.

I usually have one 'mocktail' a day: measuring the ingredients, mixing, pouring it into a fancy glass and garnishing make it a special indulgence (any more than one and I'll start to feel guilty about the sugar.) I savor my 'mocktail' hour; I want it to be a time during the day when I can put my feet up and just enjoy.

If I relax enough, I can forget about my Krispy Kreme belly and look forward to meeting the little peanut inside.

Simulated Sangria

1/4 cup orange Juice
1/4 cup pineapple Juice
1/2 cup Sparkling Pomegranate Juice
(available at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods-- can be substituted with 1/4 cup pomegranate juice and 1/4 cup seltzer.)
Fruit slices (lemon, orange, lime)

Mix juices in a measuring cup. Fill a large goblet or wine glass with ice and pour mixture over. Garnish with fruit slices.







Ginger Punch

1/2 cup ginger beer or good quality ginger ale
2 Tbs real maple syrup
2 Tbs pineapple juice
2 Tbs fresh lime juice
lime wedge
candied ginger (optional)

Vigorously shake liquid ingredients and pour over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wedge and candied ginger.

Grapefruit Mock-tini

1/4 cup cranberry juice
1/4 cup grapefruit soda
1/2 cup ruby red grapefruit juice
1 tsp maraschino cherry juice
maraschino cherry

In a cocktail shaker, shake liquid ingredients with ice. Pour over a maraschino cherry in a chilled martini glass.