Week 28

     Week 28...we made it to the third trimester!!  WOOHOO!!  Besides being unbelievable hot ALL. THE. TIME, I actually feel like this pregnancy has gone by pretty quickly and I'm still feeling pretty good!  I am hoping as I start to get even more huge, that I will feel the same way about my third trimester as I am currently feeling about the past two.  Jury is still out.  I will keep you posted.
    This week was a bit of a stressful week.  As I posted before, I failed my 1 hour glucose test.  For those of you non-pregnancy people who have no need to bother with knowing of such things, it's a test they do in your pregnancy to see if you have developed gestational diabetes.  It goes away after your pregnancy but can lead to possible complications including having a really big baby.  If any of you know about what a giant baby David was when he was born, you can imagine my concern at being diagnosed with something that would make my chances of a humongous baby even higher than they already are!  Because I failed my 1 hour, I had to go in on Tuesday to retake my test and do the 3 hour test.  It wasn't very fun.  Kudos to all you pregnancy ladies out there who weren't able to take the 1 hour and had to just suffer through the 3 hour every time.  Let's just say, it wasn't a very fun way to spend half a day.  You feel pretty gross when you are done since you don't have anything to eat or drink since the day before except one unnaturally sugary drink they give you that morning to see how your body responds to sugar overload.  I did finally get the call a few days later that I passed the test!  I was so relieved!  Thank you, God!  It was a huge blessing to get those results.    
     In between my blood draws during my glucose test, I had another midwife appointment.  Baby is head down and everything is still looking good and right on track!  I'm very grateful for that, and am hoping he stays that way!   Here is week 28.

    This week, David and I decided to try something new.  I was inspired by my sister in law, Jennifer, to implement Meatless Mondays!  My goal is to find some really delicious meatless dishes that pass the husband test (trust me, if it's meatless, it takes a lot to pass the test), and are healthy!  This week, we tried a super yummy dish from The Live In Kitchen.  It is called Crispy Quinoa Bake and it's awesome.  David didn't even realize until I said something later, that it was meatless!  Success!  

     This is the recipe that I used, which I slightly adapted from the recipe at The Live In Kitchen.  Please excuse my lack of a mouth watering picture to accompany this recipe.  I know that's not very blogger-esque of me.  I'm still getting the hang of this whole blogging thing!  I will work on trying to remember to snap a juicy looking picture next time before my husband descends on our meal.  However, for now, take my word for it.  It's super yummy!!  

Crispy Quinoa Bake

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, uncooked

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup onion, diced (about 1 medium)

1//2 green pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cup zucchini, cubed (about 2 small)

1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 4 ounce can diced green chiles

1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

1 cup frozen corn

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 lime, juiced

Salt

Pepper

8 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

Place the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse throughly with cool water for at least two minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the quinoa and cook, stirring, for about one minute. The quinoa should begin to dry out and pop a bit. Add the chicken stock. Stir and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and peppers and cook, stirring occasionally until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and zucchini and cook 2 more minutes.

Fluff the quinoa with a fork and place it in a large bowl. Add onion mixture, beans, green chiles, tomatoes, corn, cumin, oregano, chili powder, lime juice, and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly and transfer to prepared baking dish. Bake 20-25 minutes, top with cheese, and bake 10 minutes more or until melted and just beginning to brown.