Meal Prep 101

You know I love organizing, so weekly meal prep takes that to another level. I tried "meal planning" where I would choose a few recipes to make for the week and shop for everything on the weekend, then cook as needed throughout the week. This was not very effective for me and I fell out of the routine quickly.

 I have always been fascinated by people who do meal prep where everything is cooked at once and ready in the fridge. After finding some Instagram inspiration I showed by husband, who to my great surprise said, "I'm in to help and do the shopping." Once I picked my jaw up off the floor I realized this could work on so many levels.

1. Getting to cook with Jeff, which I love, but he is so busy it rarely happens / it could be a weekly date activity (yep, we lead an exciting life I tell ya)
2. Healthy food ready at all times
3. More free time during the weekday evenings without having to cook and do dishes
4. An added bonus, it has to be a cost savings, with less eating out

I know this process will get easier as I figure out quantities and more efficient ways to do things. Some people put every item into individual containers ready to go for each meal, but for us, this was not necessary. I put snacks in individual containers ready to go and some lunches, but dinners could be in a big container to be plated as needed.

Here was my Instagram inspiration from https://www.instagram.com/ljadeparker/



Week 1

I don't prep breakfasts as this gives me a chance to be flexible and decide what I feel like on the day. Most often I make smoothies or oatmeal with berries.

Lunches & Dinners
- turkey meatloaf (Side note: I actually hated this recipe, but Jeff enjoyed it - ketchup & turkey *barf*)
- chicken kung pao
- slow cooker honey teriyaki chicken (to die for)
- sliced peppers and snap peas
- brown rice
- vegetable quinoa
- salad (romaine lettuce cut and washed with shredded carrots)

Snacks
- cut up pineapple & watermelon
- hard boiled eggs
- unicorn cookies
- apples and natural peanut butter (me)
- almonds (Jeff)

I would change up items for each meal, some days it was chicken on salad for lunch or chicken on quinoa for dinner. It was all there AND ready AND we ate it all!

Feelings after week one? LOVE this...but more cooked veggies next week.

Do you have any favourite make ahead recipes? 

IVF Update: Retrieval #1 is done!

I struggled for a long time with writing this post, and you can see from my lack of posting I disappeared from the blogosphere for a bit. In February I went dark, I had a lot ahead of me and I didn't want to talk about it at the time. It was a tough month pre-IVF and then March rolled around and suddenly this thing I waited for a year to start, was here. My survival was based on living in the moment and trying to semi ignore everything that was happening.

This was blog was supposed to be an outlet and fun hobby for me so I thought I would share when I was ready. I figured it would be easiest to answer some of the questions I received most often.

How did the shots make you feel?

I have to say with the anticipation of waiting over a year to start this process, once it started I thought "oh, this is it?" It was not as bad/life changing as I thought it was going to be. The worst part was the early morning ultrasounds, waking up at 6 am to spend 30 minutes having an internal ultrasound was not my favourite #thethingswedo. I stimmed for 11 days total,  as it went on I started to feel increasingly tired and a little nauseous, but it was nothing to complain about. By the end I was uncomfortable, but I did not swell up like I thought I would...this came after haha.

Throughout this process I was doing weekly acupuncture and I know this made a difference in reducing stress, helping with energy levels and decreasing the drug side effects. For anyone going through IVF I cannot recommend this enough.

What kind of shots did you take?

I started with 2 types of injections, Puregon and Luveris. I have been poked so many times in my life I am fine with needles, but injecting yourself for a prolonged time is much more difficult. My first night I was a champ, but it got harder as the days went on and I started bruising and feeling not as good. My husband did the Orgalutran shots (that I had to do at 7am) so I could stay sleeping and he would just stab my leg ... it doesn't sound romantic, but it was. You reach a new level in your relationship and appreciation for one another during this kind of experience. I only took the Orgalutran for 5 days before the retrieval and 5 days after. The final shot before the retrieval was a trigger shot and it hurt like a son of a gun and I had a 5-year-old meltdown about it, but I think it was not my fault #hormones #hormones #hormones

Were you able to exercise?

I had to take a break from Crossfit and running, but I was able to swim and walk. No high impact exercise is allowed because you can twist your ovaries, which are so swollen and large. I can also tell you that energy wise I would not have been wanting to go anyways. I took 3 weeks off Crossfit in total as the recovery took a little time as well.

How did you feel after your egg retrieval?

I felt okay, but it was a sliding scale to awful that day! I did not take the recommended ativan as I felt relaxed going into the procedure, I was just excited to get those eggs out. They reduced my anesthesia in half as they were worried about my blood pressure and it is conscious sedation anyways so I was quite with it, TOO with it. When I saw the giant needle I said "WAIT....give me ALL.THE.DRUGS!!" ... they didn't. I am so thankful my husband came in with me for the procedure as I felt a lot of it and it was painful as heck, so he was able to calm me down. I don't think it was supposed to be so painful, but it was.

After the retrieval, we went back to the hotel and I sat in bed, because standing hurt. As the day went on I started having more and more shooting pains. I had to measure all my input and output and measure my stomach to ensure I did not go into over-stimulation. Imagine my poor hubby running around the streets of downtown Toronto to find me measuring cups to pee in, the poor guy! Late that evening I was in the worst pain of my life so we decided to go to the hospital...2 days, lots of morphine later they discovered I had a large hematoma and after a day of monitoring to make sure it wasn't still bleeding I returned back to our hotel room.

How may eggs were retrieved?

10 eggs, 3 were mature, 2 fertilized and by day five we had only 1...thankfully day 6 brought us back to two! Our little fighter! We were obviously very disappointed with these numbers. We decided to send these 2 for genetic screening, instead of doing another round of IVF right away, so this way if we got one genetically sound embryo we could implant this summer.

Did you gain weight?

 
Yes, I gained 6-7 pounds but a week later I was down 10 so it all balanced out. The bloating took about 5-6 days post retrieval to normalize. I wish I had brought along larger pants or even maternity ones for those first post retrieval days. I was walking around with my jean unbuttoned and unzipped, thank god it was winter time and less noticeable. I was certainly a hot mess! Can I just say though, since there really not enough positives in this process, that for 5 days following the retrieval my boobs swelled into the most amazing rack ever! You would have thought I had implants and if I didn't have a pregnant looking belly this would have been a real treat haha

What happens now? 

We sent our 2 embryos for genetic screening and on Good Friday the Dr. called with the news that we have 1 genetically sound embryo. Due to the type of screening they had to do for us, we even know the sex which is crazy to me, but also exciting! We were sad that we only have one, although flip it around, we have ONE! and ONE reallly good embryo is all it takes to make baby jones! 

We are going to be doing a transfer in June or August depending on my cycle as the clinic closes in July. 3 years and still chasing the dangling carrot of pregnancy! Thankfully on to the next phase in this long process. 

Okay, now that I have updated y'all (my friends reading this are like really Alexandra... y'all? #toobad) I can get on to more important things..like my new weekly meal prep, I am obsessed!

Try it Tuesday: Strawberry, Pineapple & Mint Smoothie

I am constantly craving this insanely refreshing smoothie I concocted over the holidays and don't worry you can't taste the spinach so go ahead and add as much in as you want!

Ingredients
2 cups of fresh pineapple
1.5 cups of frozen strawberries
1 handful of mint leaves
2 large handfuls of spinach
splash of water (more if needed)
1 scoop of chia seeds
1 scoop of coconut oil

Directions
Blend and enjoy!

Tea Party Themed Baby Shower

Well this is long overdue, but better late than never!

This fall I helped to host a baby shower in honour of my sister Christina and niece/God Daughter, Emilia.

My sister has always LOVED tea parties. The women in my family are tea party obsessed, any chance my sister gets to go for high tea at a fancy hotel she does (okay, so do I). Earlier this year when I went to New York, my sister sent me on a mission to get the tea menu from the Plaza hotel.  I ended up getting the insides, but 2 visits and 3 asks later, this is all I was able to get. She was also after the pretty pink hardcover it sat it. I knew when it came to planning her baby shower that this tea party theme would be perfect! Thankfully, I also have a team of amazing women (my mom, aunts, and pseudo- aunts) that helped pull it all together.

We opted to hold the shower at a beautiful bed and breakfast where my sister and her husband spent their wedding night. It's a gorgeous character home called McVivcar Manor, and it was the perfect setting for this event.

I created the invitations through Paperless Post. It was easy, cost effective, efficient and not to mention beautiful. You can see we set the time for only two hours. We did this as a) nobody wants to give up an entire afternoon to go to a shower b) mama and baby are tired and the more efficient and less drawn out the event, the better!

I strongly believe that for a good event you need to have drinks and food ready as soon as people walk in so that is exactly what we did. For the menu we served a berries and cream, tea sandwiches, scones and jam and danties. You can see the full list in the menu/program I made below.

Instead of a guest book, I bought the hard cover book Eloise so it was also a keepsake. The guests signed their messages on different pages and we also chose a page at random for a door prize.

As I am one for efficiency and with only 2 hours, we also stayed away from doing a lot of games. We had a quiz on each place setting if people wanted to participate and for a little fun we had a basket of diapers that we asked people to fill out a funny or loving message to the parents. This was a real hoot, as some of the messages were hilarious; we read them out and gave prizes to the funniest ones.

It was a very lovely afternoon and Christina and Emilia loved it, although Emilia slept through most of it. Here are some pictures...

I LOVE this, I found the idea online and made it i PowerPoint. It sat at the entrance and now Mia has it in her room. 

The guest of honour...taking a little nap!

Grandma and her girls

My aunts, grandma, mom, sister, niece and cousin after the shower (ignore my mom's shoes haha)! Love these ladies so much!

Things I am loving lately: Winter Hygge favourites

Hygge: (Pronounced - Hoo-Ga) basically my life motto of being cozy, is now the center of a popular book called The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well. Hygge is Danish word mean enjoying warmth and friendship, and it is apparently the reason the Danish are the happiest people on earth. Nearly all of my winter favs center around it so here we go:

Beauty: Mascara pack from Shoppers (okay not so much this one for Hygge). I got this for Christmas from my mom. It is 8 of the most popular mascaras, you try the samples and then cash in a coupon for a full size of your favourite. Who doesn't love trying mascaras? If you are looking for a new one try this pack out!

TV: Currently watching on Netflix: The Good Wife and Jane the Virgin.
My friend Gen always has the best recommendations so when she said watch The Good Wife, I dove in. It's so entertaining (I know I am about 5 years behind on this trend) and Matt Czuchry is in it and I love him long time. I spent several days over the Christmas holidays curled up watching binging on a couple seasons. #worthit
Jane the Virgin was a random find,  it's very quirky but funny and cute. I would say it has a similar vibe to The Mindy Project, if it were a telenovela (Spanish soap); it's mindless fun.

Clothing: Eddie Bauer pants: If you live somewhere with a long, cold winter, you need a pair of these pants. They are fleece lined with a windbreaker outer layer. I throw them over my pants and stay cozy warm on my long walks with Finnegan. Every time I wear them, I think to myself "I freaking love these pants."

Book: The Year of Cozy My sister got me this book for Christmas, it's full of cute DIY's, recipes and homemade ideas. It is broken down by season so I am looking forward to trying a few of her winter ideas.
  

Body: Omnipae Pedi Perfect. It looks like it could be one of those overrated gimmicks, but let me and my butter soft feet tell you it is not! I love this thing and ain't nobody want to get cozy with someone with rough feet, so go get one!

Tea: Celestial Seasonings - Sleepytime Vanilla: This is my all-time favourite evening tea. I love chamomile and this tea takes it to the next level adding a little vanilla, it is perfection. I usually have a cup of this every night.
Also worth noting since it is in this pic, I am a huge fan of Dr. Oz's magaine (random I know) it is loaded with great information, recipes etc.

Wishing you a winter filled with lots of Hygge, so grab your favourite cup of cocoa, some cozy socks and enjoy a little happy, cozy time!  Do you have any fun winter favourites?

                                        

                                                

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday with your family and friends! I had a most enjoyable couple of weeks spent visiting, eating, and binge watching The Good Wife - it was glorious!

I took down our tree yesterday and it was a little depressing, the house always seems so bare afterwards. Jeff walked into our bathroom and yelled "what happened in here?" to which I replied "I just removed the Christmas" (whomp-whomp).  It was also depressing to realize it's time to stop holiday eating.  Anyone in need of dozens of peanut butter marshmallow squares or shortbread? *help me*

I have my goals and to do's for 2017, but this year I have boiled my New Years Resolution down to one...

Enjoy the moment!

By this I mean be present, don't always be looking ahead, really and truly appreciate what is happening at this very minute. Cheers to 2017, let's hope it is a year filled with good health, happiness, lots of fun and a few miracles! Here are some of my favourite holiday moments.

 

 

 

A Canadian Girl's Guide to NYC at Christmas: Tips for making your trip extra special!

I am super excited to be teaming up with Alex Inspired and an amazing group of Canadian bloggers for my first ever Blog Hop. Find the links to their blogs below my post and visit all of their pages for more holiday inspiration!

Have you watched Serendipity a hundred times while dreaming of skating at Rockefeller Centre?

Does the scene in Elf where they are trying to get Santa's sleigh to fly, make you want to be in Central Park, stat? 

Do you dream of the Rockettes kicking their way across the stage?

If you answered yes, then this is the post for you!

Earlier this year I visited NYC for the first time with my girlfriends for our 30th Birthdays, see post here. I.loved.every.minute.of.it. My husband, in an effort to make this year awesome (despite our baby troubles) surprised me by saying we would be going for the Christmas tree lighting! What this actually meant was that I would have to do all the planning, but hey, I am not complaining!

It was a dream trip, and many of my bucket list items were checked off! I know so many of my friends have always dreamed of NYC at Christmas, so I have compiled my top 4 tips for planning your NYC getaway.

1. BOOK EARLY & CHOOSE WISELY!

It's New York, things are not going to get any cheaper (especially with the exchange rate😂) so book as soon as you can!

Hotel: I booked our hotel 4 months ahead. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn on West 35. I highly recommend this location; it was across the street from Macy's, there was a subway station right outside the door and it was in the middle of everywhere (they don't call it midtown for nothing!) 
Don't feel like you need to stay in Times Square, I would actually say do not stay in Times Square - save the extra dollars it will cost you and explore a different area, you will go to Times Square anyways! I stayed in TS my first trip and preferred the Midtown location.

Flights: NYC has 3 airports, so choose carefully when booking your flight. If you choose the very large JFK you might be spending upwards of $80 to get downtown. LaGuardia (LGA) however, is the closest to midtown; it cost us about $30-$40  to get to our hotel (depending on traffic and time of day). There are airport shuttles that run about $15 as well, so it just depends what you want to do. See more details here. I would always choose LGA, if you can get a flight through there that works.

2. ACTIVITIES

Where do we start? This is the best part, you have to decide what are your MUSTS!

Mine were:

- Seeing the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular

- Carriage ride in Central Park

- Ice skating

- Macy's Santa Land

- Window Shopping on 5th Avenue

- Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Center

- Visiting the Chelsea Market and the Highline (Food Tour)

I feel like these may be everyone's musts, so let me start by sharing our itinerary and then I will give you some specific advice about each activity.

Day 1
11:00am Arrive in NYC at LGA, go to hotel and check in

1:00pm Visit Times Square, have lunch 

3:00pm Lion King

5:30pm Walk to Rockefeller Center and back to hotel to change for dinner

7:45pm Dinner at Chef's Club

9:00pm Quick wander through Macy's

Day 2
10:00am Food Tour of Chelsea Market/Highline (Trip highlight!)

3:00pm  Carriage ride in Central Park

4:00pm Stroll down 5th Avenue (to check out the window displays)

5:00pm Back to hotel to change

6:00pm Arrive at Rockettes (Trip highlight!)

9:00pm Visit Bar 65 at Top of the Rock (Amazing city views, while enjoying a drink). We did this instead of the Empire State Building.

Day 3

9:00am  Breakfast at Best Bagel and Coffee

9:30am  Shopping at Macy's and visit to Macy's Santa Land (only visit Santa Land right after it opens or just before close to save you from a giant line)

11:00am Visit the NY public Library

12:00pm Shopping in SOHO

2:00pm  Lunch at Gramercy Tavern
3:30pm More shopping!

6:00pm Back to hotel

7:30pm Dinner at Chelsea Market

9:00pm Wander through Bryant Park

Day 4

9:00am Visit Grand Central Station
10:00am Walk to Rockefeller Center - see Christmas tree set up

12:30-4:30pm American Museum of Natural History

4:30pm Stroll through Central Park

5:00pm Happy Hour at the Food Hall below the Plaza Hotel

6:30pm Dinner at Obao (Thai food)

8:00pm Billy Joel at Madison Square Gardens

10:30pm Rockefeller Centre to see the lit tree

11:30pm Max Brenner for hot chocolate

12:30am Late night pizza search

Fly home the next morning

Extra Tips
Booking a Broadway show. If you are going to book a show for the day you arrive, especially at this time of year, I recommend getting the ticket insurance. You will see the option for this as you are going through your ticket purchase online. This insurance will reimburse 100% of your ticket cost, if your flight gets delayed or canceled, or for a variety of other reasons.

When you get up at 4am in Canada and are at the Lion King in NYC at 3pm #hesexcited

Ice Skating. There are many options for going ice skating in NYC, I would say the top 3 are Rockefeller Center, Central Park or Bryant Park. All are great, it just depends on what you are looking for. Rockefeller Center is the most expensive place and also the busiest, the other two are a little less well known, but still offer a fun experience.  I actually think Central Park has the best view, as you see the skyline of buildings, while surrounded by all the beautiful trees. Strangely enough, we didn't end up skating because when we got to Central Park I felt like I would be doing it just to do it, so we skipped it, although I thoroughly enjoyed watching other people skate!

Rockefeller Center

Carriage Ride. It's not cheap, a 45 min tour costs $118 + tip, but when your feet are hurting and you need a bit of a break from walking, it was a little bit of heaven! We did it in the afternoon, but I imagine the evening would be beautiful as well! No need to book ahead, there are lines of carriages waiting when you get there.

Rockefeller Center's Christmas Tree Lighting. This was the entire reason for our trip timing and it almost didn't happen! Months after booking our flights and hotel, they changed the date. I only noticed because I was looking to see if they had released the concert details. Rockefeller Center's website didn't even acknowledge that they had done this, I found another website that confirmed it. When I called to complain they were rude and unhelpful. Luckily, my amazing boss let me extend my trip (and it only cost several hundred dollars to change flights and add an extra night at our hotel 😒).

Fortunately, the tree lives up the hype! It is the biggest, most beautiful tree I have ever seen, but the lighting event itself is not a MUST. The standing area is quite small and you have to be willing to be there for 6 + hours to get a good spot. The concert is on the rink level, so only a few people get down here (not even sure how). This year it poured rain the entire day and night and no one in the area was allowed an umbrella, so those who stayed got completely soaked. Jeff and I went to see Billy Joel instead (this was Jeff's bucket list and it was totally amazing) and we back after to see the tree. I held my umbrella down and had my own little reveal and it was incredible! I recommend booking your trip to be there after the tree is lit so you can enjoy it, but the lighting itself isn't as great as it might seem #tvmakeseverythingbetter

3. FOOD

Don't panic, but in NYC people book restaurant reservations a month early! This doesn't mean you can't get in later, it just means you may want to plan ahead for some places, depending on their popularity. Download the app Open Table, it's very easy and you can book everything through this, as well as see reviews. I was overwhelmed with work before our trip, so I only booked one ahead of time (Chef's Club) the rest we booked the day of, or just showed up at.

Food is one of the most fun parts of NYC as they literally have everything! You can spend as much or as little as you want on dining, from the highest end world famous restaurants, to the $1 pizza slices and hot dog carts. I would say have a few places booked or in mind that you want to try, but for the rest, explore, get lost, stumble on something and try it out! *It doesn't hurt to check TripAdvisor reviews.*

My Top 4 Food Picks:

Breakfast: The Best Bagel and Coffee

 It is quick, cheap and delicious!

Lunch/Dinner: Gramercy Tavern

I had a brussels sprout dish I will dream about and a Harvey Fitz Spitz  that was to die for! 

Dinner: Chef's Club

Sitting at the counter you get to watch the chefs as they prepare fresh, renowned dishes, with recipes on loan from world famous chefs. Excellent service and delightful dishes!

Dinner and a Show- Chef's Club

Any time of day: The Chelsea Market

Seemingly endless, beautiful novelty foods in a historical building, there is so much to see and try! Keep your eyes open for celebs like Rachel Ray picking up ingredients (Food Network is upstairs), Whoopi Goldberg getting our (I can say our because it's mine too) favourite grilled cheese or Hugh Jackman strolling back to his nearby home. I didn't see them, but I did see Damien Lewis casually eating his lunch. Make sure to visit Lucy's Whey for a life-changing grilled cheese - I had the aged cheddar and fig jam one *drools* just.do.it

#timessquareselfie

And that's it, friends! If you have any questions or want to share some of your NYC favs, comment below! Now, be sure to hop on over to explore some more holiday tips from these fabulous ladies!

Alex Inspired | Sunshine & Sugar | The Dream House Project | Glittering Ambition Lesley Metcalfe | The Lunchbox Season | Elizabeth Montilla Design | Once Upon a Maison | The Healthy Garage