Healthy Pregnancy

[Dr. Tal]

So what are everyone's plans for dinner tonight?

I am thinking of making some homemade wholegrain pasta (maybe ravioli with a roasted or chargrilled vegetable filling) with a tomato sauce. I'm pretty sure I have tomatoes, mushrooms, capsicum and onions at home in the fridge for the sauce and I have a never ending supply of fresh herbs from my garden...yum yum!

[Cupcake]

Sounds good Tal, you put my cooking skills to shame haha. Im so drained DP will either cook or we will buy something that im sure wont be healthy ... i plan on going to bed ASAP.

I had stuff out for dinner but now CBF

[Dr. Tal]

I'll try to remember to post the recipe for the pasta tomorrow (after I decide how to make it )

DH bought me a pasta making machine a couple of years ago for Christmas and I keep meaning to use it, but then I never do. I found it AGAIN on the weekend when I was cleaning and purposly left it out on the counter with all the pasta ingredients so I make something with it...finally!

[Kirsten]

Dr Tal, when you get a good wholemeal pasta recipe please can I have it, I haven't found one that works really well. We make our own pasta a lot, but have had trouble with a good wholemeal recipe.

We had a split yellow pea, potato, pumpkin dahl (made in the thermomix of course) and basmati rice. I ground & roasted the spices from seeds

[Cherished]

at tasting food going in and out I am so loving this thread 3 cheers for cherished Hip hip - HOORAY, hip hip HOORAY hip hip HOORAY!

Awwwww thanks honey!!!!! I just love warm fuzzies!

Dr. Tal so wish most of my herbs didn't die I really need to plant some more cause we just loved them and used them all the time. For din dins tonight we are having vegies, garlic bread and I am having a vegetarian schnitzel, dh doesn't like them so he's having a vegie pastie.

belfie holly molly hon that sounds like a horrible spew story

AFM I REALLY REALLY REALLY need to get walking this weekend! I was also thinking about making my own pasta cause i need to cut out wheat again as it's giving me eczema So now on my list of things to get in teh mothers day sales are a wok, food processor and a pasta maker! heheheh

[Dr. Tal]

Kirsten - The pasta recipe I usually use is pretty simple
Ingredients
450 g wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil

Method
Stir the flour and salt together in a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
Break in the eggs and add the oil.
Gradually draw in the flour and work together to make a dough.
Knead well until dough becomes shiny and is no longer sticky.
Wrap in cling film or foil and leave to rest for 1 hour.

The most important part, I find, is to make sure you work the dough enough. Sometimes it can take up to 30 minutes until I am satisfied that it's been properly worked. If you don't kneed it enough, that's when I find the pasta does not work (gets soggy, falls apart)

Then comes the rolling part, and again it's all about how much you roll it. I have a pasta machine, so that makes it easier. I'll roll the dough through the first setting, click it down, roll it through that setting. Fold the dough in half or quarters. Put the machine back up to the first setting and roll it through again. I'll do that half a dozen to a dozen times. You'll feel the dough change. It gets almost a silky consistency. Don't be afraid to dust the dough with more flour at this point if it sticks to the machine at all. It's not like normal dough where you have to worry about it becoming leathery if you work it too much or add too much extra flour. Once it feels like silk THEN I'll roll it out properly.

When you start to roll it out properly lightly dust both sides of your sheet after each time you pass it through the machine.

Cherished - I keep forgetting to answer your question from ages ago about a food processor. I don't actually have a proper one. I need to get one though. I just use one of those food wand thingos. I've only ever really used it for soup, so that seems to work well. For pesto and things like that I actually still use the old mortor and pestle

[Kirsten]

1/2 hour of kneading? Holy Moly, I will put it in the thermomix and be done with it in about 30 seconds (if I had some wheat or it was a market day I could go buy some - then I could make my own wholemeal flour - I love freshly ground flour...mmmmmm)

I have a pasta machine too, yay for pasta machines!! DP is half italian and has been making pasta for ever, we just haven't found a decent wholemeal pasta recipe, I'll be giving this one a burl for sure Thank you!

The big difference with this one is that you rest the dough, do you rest it in the fridge or just on the bench?

You are a champion, thanks Dr Tal

Mmmm pasta, now I'm inspired to make some for dinner, although feel a bit blergh today....so we'll see how I go

Cherished: you have quite a list there for the sales good luck!

[JLeigh29]

Loving all the vomit talk ladies! It's kinda been on my mind lately as I'm pretty certain I'll spend a good part of my labour driving the ol' porcelain bus! I have been craving things like eggs, curries and baked beans lately and every time I mention it, DH looks at me sideways and reminds me that there's a good chance it's gonna come out again in a very public way, from one end or the other! (And Belfie, that leads into the poo talk too, lol!) The midwives suggest you eat 'plain food that's easy to digest'; any suggestions?

Dr Tal - Banana smoothies are definitely a winner both ways! Do you always put egg in your pasta?

Hi and keep up the great work!

[Dr. Tal]

I forgot to tell you what I put in my pasta last night

I went with a roasted veggie mix. I had this cooking in the oven while I made my pasta.

Roasted Veggie Mix Ingredients
1 sweet potato
Approx 250 g Kent pumpkin
3 small onions
2 large carrots
2 cloves of garlic
¼ c olive oil
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
A dash of salt
A dash of pepper
3 sprigs of thyme (I used three different varieties, but that’s only because I’m a freak with a thyme garden of about a gazillion varieties, last night I used the normal thyme, BBQ thyme and tabor thyme)
1 sage leaf
A small bunch of mushroom herb

Method
Put the oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper into a large bowl. Then I mashed the herbs and garlic in my trusty old mortor and pestle and added that to the oil. Gave that a bit of a mix.

Chop the veggies up into largish pieces (to a size where they cook through in about 30 minutes). Put into bowl and toss with oil mix.

Place veggies into a lined baking tray (I usually use baking paper).

Cook at 180 degrees for approximately 30-40 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool the put all the veggies (and oil and all the yummy crunchy herby bits) back into the original oil bowl. Mash with a potato masher (could probably use a food processor too).

Cut pasta sheet into rectangles about 10cm X 5cm. Place a ‘dollop’ of veggie mix in the middle of each rectangle. Wet edges of rectangle and fold in half pressing to secure the edges.

Then you can cook the pasta straight away or freeze for later use…or both!


Kirsten - hehehe made it big and a different colour so you'd notice it down here at the bottom

yeah, about half an hour give or take. It seems to be different each time I do it. Sometimes I wonder if the humidity of the day has anything to do with it. I had a friend who's mother was from Sicly and she taught me how to make pasta. She did it all by hand....even the rolling

I rest the dough in the fridge. But you have to make sure it's completely wrapped up, or it goes crusty around the edges and doesn't roll properly.

[Dr. Tal]

JLeigh - Yeah, I've always put egg in it. That having been said I imagine there are some non-egg recipes (for those who are vegan) but I don't know any I imagine the recipe (and need to kneed the dough) would would be similar.

about your DH reminding you that the food you eat is likely to come out in a very public way!

As for plain food that's easy to digest. hmmmm.....I don't know if it's easy to digest, but I've REALLY been enjoying my oatmeal of late! It's fairly plain assuming you don't add any maple syrup to it like I always seem to HAVE to

[Cherished]

For pesto and things like that I actually still use the old mortor and pestle

Yes I have one of those that cost around $80 and we never use it... but it looks REALLY good on the kitchen bench Your pasta looks so amazing and healthy!

Kirsten I also forgot to add that I would love a sewing machine and ummmm somethign else that my baby brain can't remember right now Your thermomix and 30 second pasta sounds so great! I'll be making spelt pasta when I get into it cause I dont' do the wheat thing and if I'm gonna make it myself I may aswell use Spelt flour. our juicer actually makes pasta but we have never used it. I forgot about that, maybe i should try that out before buying a pasta maker

JLeigh plain food sounds like a good idea I have no ideas though! maybe stick to regular stuff like pastas, salads, vegie bakes, casserols and stirfrys with rice.

[Kirsten]

JLeigh: ah the joys of vomiting during labour! I had a bit of a puke on a towel on the floor of the delivery suite, I was crawling around looking for a spot to get comfy - like a dog and puked but only the once, the pooing is waaaay worse here comes some more poo talk. I can't believe you're so close - it's so exciting - I LOVED my labour! It was totally amazing!

Easily digested food - things that are well cooked are easy to digest, like nanna boiled veggeis The night I went into labour I ate a bean and lentil curry - might have been why the vomit the next day was yellow - ahhh mystery solved!

Dr Tal: that sounds delicious yum yum (drooling face), I love the old italian nonna's who do it all by hand, DP's Nonna does that, although not so much anymore, she's 85 now.

Cherished: ahhh sewing machine, I have an old crap one, I want a new one, and I also want a room that I can sew in, an art studio would do I will squeeze the machine in there. I've been learning how to knit stuff at DS's playgroup, it's awesome, I am a rabbit knitting maniac, and I have even learnt how to make little felt chickens. I am such a mum!

AFM : well I feel gross today so a good sign, I nearly puked today twice, once at DS's music class and once when wiping DS's bum - holy moly, the stench hit me and I almost had to puke in the bath....GROSS. (howzat for poo and vomit talk in the once sentence )

[fuzzy]

ok so I am trying to catch up after not reading posts for a few days. You have all been busy!! so much vomit talk.

And ok, at the risk of sounding extremely stupid (i am new to this pregnancy thing!) - what is a GD test? I think I know enough about how it makes you feel now.. but whats the test for?

[Kirsten]

Fuzzy: the GD test is the test for gestational diabetes, you have it at about 26 weeks from memory - Ammaki can confirm this

You drink a high glucose drink and then an hour later have a blood test to see what your body does with the sugar.

And there are no stupid questions, pregnancy (NOT TO MENTION BABIES) doesn't come with a manual

[luna moth]

cherished I have a pasta maker you can use while you decide if it's for you! I have not found a decent non-egg pasta recipe, so ours has not been used for over a year.

Sorry have been off with the fairies! We had a bunch of guests on the weekend, so was flat out with that! We had a great time though, and managed to eat well, in addition to knocking over a 20km bike ride, on my fixie! (so it's more like 30km on a freewheel)

Our dinner tonight was stirfried tempeh, capsicum and gai lan with rice noodles. It was pretty good.

I ate two lunches today I had some leftover couscous and pomegranate salad, and leftover minestrone. I thought I'd take both and see which one I felt like at lunch time. Well, I had the salad, and it was great, but I wanted more, so I had the minestrone as well! If I still haven't gained weight by next week, then something is WRONG!

Couscous and pomegranate salad
2 cups couscous
2 cups boiling water
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup sultanas
1/2 cup smashed pistachios
1/2 cup chopped coriander
1 pomegranate, seeds only
3 sweet potatoes, cubed and roasted
big handful of baby spinach.

Put your couscous in a bowl with pistachios and cumin seeds. Add the boiling water and stand.
Chuck everything else in together and toss (I construct it a little bit artistically, but do it however)

[belfie]

haven't much time to post, but just wanted to pop in & nod approvingly at all the chatter about vomit & poo!! Did another good walk today and cooked chicken satay noodles nom nom nom. Bit fatty with the peanuts but ah well. Am trying to be kinda good. Think I could do a little better... bring on tomorrow.

[Dr. Tal]

Audax - I'm definitely going to be trying your salad on the weekend. I LOVE pomegranites! They've got to be my favourite fruit. As soon as we moved into our house the very first plant I planted was a pomegranite tree. It's had a couple blooms on it this year, so I am hoping that next year it will fruit for me. I also have a dwarf one in a pot so :crossfigers: between the two of them I should be set for pomegranites once they start to fruit.

Fuzzy - Pretty sure they have everyone do the GD (gestational diabetes test) between 26 and 28 weeks. I've also seen it referred to as the GCT (Glucose challenge test). Try not to worry too much about it making you sick. I've had M/S since day one, so I vomit at the drop of a hat. Most of the people I know who had it found it too sweet, but it didn't make them feel sick.

Belfie - for the walking. Considering how sick you were just recently I think you're doing pretty good.

Cherished - about the mortar and pestle looking really good on your kitchen bench. You crack me up.

[Cupcake]

Fuzzy: the GD test is the test for gestational diabetes, you have it at about 26 weeks from memory - Ammaki can confirm this

Also called the Glucose Challenge Test i think...and i had mine at 27 weeks

I have been very quiet in here becasue i do not belong here with the crap ive eaten in the past few days!