Secret Pregnancy Sin...

I am 100% sure every pregnant woman has been unable to do everything people say they should. There is just something they can't give up, or even begin to do. Some women it's cigarettes. Others it's sweets. I can't give up lunch meat. They say it is so bad for you because of nitrates and listeria. Pre-packaged lunch meats often contain high levels of a preservative called sodium nitrate.  There have been few studies related to the effect of sodium nitrates on pregnancy, but some experts suggest that nitrates may cause problems during pregnancy. The biggest concern with lunch meats during pregnancy is the risk of listeria.  Listeria is a bacteria that can be found in deli meats as well as vegetables and processed foods.  This bacteria can cause an illness known as Listeriosis, which can cause any number of problems during pregnancy. I am very aware of these risks...but it's just so good! There is just something about the cold sandwich. I love refrigerated wheat bread with mayo and a slice or two of  honey ham, or smoked turkey lunch meats. Now I don't eat it everyday in fact the the last time I had such a sandwich, before today, was maybe three months ago. I had one everyday for a week. I added spinach and tomato to them though. Today it's just the bread, mayo, and lean turkey. I call it a sin because I don't even have the excuse that it was already in the house, for hubby. I went to the store and bought me some lunch meat. Mmm, mmm, mmm!! It is sooo good.


Yesterday, something kind of cool happened. Have you read pregnancy stories of the mom-to-be being told what she is carrying by a complete stranger? I always thought that was weird and the strangers just wanted to show off, but I still wanted it to happen to me, ha ha ha! Well, it did! I was at church, sitting in the foyer with my mom and two younger brothers and only sister. The Spanish ward was mingling after their Sunday service. Maybe about half an hour into sitting there a lady from the Spanish ward came up to me and started speaking in Spanish and pointing to my belly. I don't speak Spanish very well so I politely said, "I'm sorry...?" She said, "It's a boy" Unfortunately for her, I already knew that. In fact I know I am having TWO boys. So I told her. She looked offended and said, "mm, no" and walked away. I thought it was hilarious, and interesting. My mom started telling me stories of that happening to other women she knew. Most of them were wrong. Oh, well. It's still fun for me.


Also, yesterday, Andrew got off of work at 6 pm instead of his usual 9 pm. So he rented a movie from Redbox. We sat on the floor and watched Centurion and ate chicken tortilla soup leftovers. Chicken tortilla soup has become an obsession of Andrews and mine this month. I have been growing tired of the same recipes over and over again so I went looking for new ones. I started out asking for the recipes my mom would make that I missed and had enjoyed. Well, one day we were at the hospital visiting Andrews mom, when I got really hungry. We went down to the cafeteria. The special of the day was Tortilla soup. At that point I remembered when my mom had had surgery, some women form church brought dinners for us. One lady brought chicken tortilla soup. It was delicious. So was the hospitals. I got on Facebook when we got home and asked everyone if they had a recipe for the soup, or even the recipe of the lady from church. Someone did! I had never made soup before so it was kind of difficult to follow the vague directions, but it came out phenomenal! A huge success. We ate the whole pot that night. So, I decided I needed to learn how to make more of it so it would last more than one night. I have not managed much of a difference yet. This is a bowl from the first night we ate it, and here is the recipe:

2 whole chicken breasts
2 cubes or 2 tablespoons Knorr calde de polle chicken bouillon
1 can diced tomato with green chiles
2 cubes cons-mate (tomato/chicken bouillon
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes
1 can cream of chicken


Boil chicken. Add bouillon. Add tomatoes. Serve with avocado, sour cream and tortilla strips.

Now a healthier version - I add only one chicken bouillon and one tomato bouillon. Less salt/sodium. Hubby and I don't like cooked tomato that much so we also only add the can of diced tomato with green chiles. Canned food items have lots of sodium. Too much sodium is very unhealthy. We add more chicken, 3 or 4 of Tyson boneless frozen chicken breast. You can use fresher chicken too, of course. I did once. 

O.K. well I really need a nap. Maybe I will write more tonight.