Midweek with a cold!

Grrrr - somehow, I have suddenly come down with a cold. It started yesterday with a sneezing fit - I thought I was hitting my allergy season full throttle, but my stuffy nose is still sticking with me. Alas, I'm going to stick it out, get enough sleep, and make sure I eat more fruits. Usually, I give it a couple of days, and it'll go away with some TLC. And for TLC... here's what I've been eating the last couple of days.

(Piglet has been moving around and kicking - it's exciting to feel the movement!)

Monday - fruits during the day, apple, pear, clementine, banana. And, I had some little pineapple pastry treats from Dad this past weekend when I visited him - he, in turn, had gotten these treats from his recent trip to Taiwan. Lunchtime, I had a cobb salad - trying to make sure I'm eating a good variety of foods, and having some raw vegetables or fruits at each meal. Evening, I served up a green lettuce salad with pomegranates and beef noodle soup (also from Dad's kitchen). We also enjoyed a Taiwanese engagement pastry, one of Hubby and my favorite treats from Taiwan.

The beef noodle soup is, actually, pretty easy to make, as Dad told me:

Dad's Beef Noodle Soup
Coarsely chopped tomatoes, chopped onion, beef (I think Dad uses stewing beef). Season the beef with salt, pepper, and Chinese spicy bean sauce, and set aside for 15 minutes. Add all ingredients with cold water, enough for the amount of soup you'd like to have (the ingredients should comprise half of the total volume). Bring to a simmer, and skim off any scum that comes to the surface. Add soy sauce, salt, pepper, red chili peppers, and a touch of sugar. Simmer slowly until ready to serve - I think he simmers it for about an hour. Season to taste.

In the mean time, blanch some Napa cabbage, and cook up some pasta (he uses Chinese egg noodles, but fettucini would work just as well) until al dente.

To serve, divide up the pasta and Napa cabbage for individual servings in individual bowls, and ladle on the beef soup.


This is a great noodle soup for our onslaught of cold weather days!

As for yesterday, I had back-to-back meetings (again!), from morning through the afternoon. I enjoyed a banana and a pear in the morning. Lunchtime, I had myself a ham sandwich with cucumbers. And in the afternoon, I had an apple and a clementine. After my evening yoga class, I brought home some sandwiches from Cosi for dinner - a tomato/mozzarella/basil and a chicken pesto sandwich, for Hubby and me.

And today, another day of back-to-back meetings. I enjoyed some cereal this morning, as well as a banana. On my way to my first meeting of the morning, I had a pear. Lunchtime, I stopped by a Bob Evan's, all because it really was just too tempting - but I was good! I ordered a BLT&E - bacon/lettuce/tomato and egg sandwich, with a side of fresh fruits. In the afternoon, on my way back, I enjoyed an Asian apple pear. Back at the office, I had some pomegranate while I caught up with everything from the day and from the week. And this evening, we decided to just get some Indian take-out - chicken kabob, with a side of chole (chickpeas w/spicy tomato sauce) and some raita (cucumber yogurt). Yummy dinner, and now, just relaxation. And blog catchup.

This week has just been endless meetings so far, day in and day out! Whew, running around can be exhausting. Luckily, I've kept a supply of my fruits with me, so between meetings, I've enjoyed some healthy snacks and kept my hunger in check.

So far, despite the back pain, the pregnancy has been survivable. And so long as I can keep my weight gain steady, instead of spiking suddenly over such short periods of time, I'm hoping I'll be able to endure the rest of the pregnancy. Over the hump, looking forward to Thursday!