Craisin Chickpea and Tomato Salad

I went to a Fall Treats Party last week where a bunch of gals got together and everyone brought a dish and copies of the recipe to share. It was a great idea to do this in earlier in fall since once Thanksgiving and Christmas arrive, people get very busy with parties and events. This is the dish that I brought and it is a delicious side that can (and should) be made ahead of time! My friend Kelley brought it to a cookout at our house and I had to get the recipe from her which originally came from one of her students at UNCC.

Craisin Chickpea and Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

- 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, rinsed
- 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Lemon juice
- Fresh ground pepper
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
- Heaping handful of fresh basil
- 3/4 to 1 cup craisins
- 1/2 cup cashews

Take a serrated knife and slice tomatoes into thin discs. Note: a serrated knife allows for cleaner cuts when slicing tomatoes. Place in casserole dish or large tupperware (I use a 13 by 9 dish). Add chickpeas. Add balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt, a sprinkling of lemon juice and a healthy dose of pepper. Add in garlic and stir mixture well. Now add craisins and cashews. Cut basil into thin strips and add. Stir mixture, cover and place in refrigerator. Allow to marinate for at least half a day but a full day is best.


A friend said she does not normally like chickpeas because they can be hard and grainy but liked this dish. The chickpeas are soft and nicely flavored due to the marinating. Hope you enjoy!!

Breastfeeding Must Haves

I want to share what I felt were Must Haves for Breastfeeding. Definitely utilize the lactation consultant in the hospital while you are there to help you hands-on and see if your pediatrician office also has a LC, mine does and it was helpful to go see them after being home a week or so. Especially go if you are having any supply issues as there are many things that can help with that. I hope this is helpful to those of you wanting to breastfeed!

1. Nursing Bra - I have 4 or 5 of these Bravado Nursing Bras and they are wonderful and very comfortable even to sleep in. They are the only nursing bra I wear. They must be worn by lots of mamas with all the reviews/stars they have. My SIL uses this brand too.

2. Nursing Pads - you can go with Disposable Nursing Pads or Reusable Nursing Pads that you wash. It is nice to have the disposable ones early on when you go through multiple pairs a day but I've liked the reusable ones now that I'm down to just one pair a day. And they can just go in with whatever laundry you are doing.

3. Nursing Pillow - People usually either go with the My Brest Friend Pillow or the Boppy and I like the former because it felt more secure around me and supported the baby easier with 2 humps for baby's head (one for each nursing side). If you get a boppy too don't get rid of it though because it can be great for tummy time or for support when visitors are holding the baby...we have one for those reasons.

4. Gel soothies - In the midst of delivering early, I forgot all about these Gel soothies and about 1 week postpartum my SIL reminded me about them and had an extra unopened pair. They were amazing. You keep them in the fridge in between uses. I had 3 pairs of these and used them for about a month or so. You can use them for longer than it says if you wash them and take good care of them.

5. Vitamin D drops - If you are breastfeeding your baby needs vitamin D which is already present in formula as recommended by my lactation consultant and pediatrician. We use these and it is just one drop a day and there is enough in the dropper for a year.

6. Nipple cream - Breastfeeding causes sore nipples mostly in the beginning when you are trying to get a good latch and may have to unlatch/relatch several times, etc. I didn't like the smell of the lanolin they had in the hospital and I was so glad I had some Motherlove nipple cream once we got home. Plus it is all natural! You can also use coconut oil, which is what I use on my pump flanges.

7. Nursing cover - My mom made me two nursing covers as a gift but if you don't want to DIY, here's one with great reviews. It was nice in the beginning when I was in public and it was hard to get him to latch quickly etc. Nowadays I don't use one much and because he gets hot under there and doesn't seem to like it. I've learned how to be fairly discreet and if people don't want to see it they don't have to look :) The cover is still great if I need to pump in a public place.

8. Nursing wear - I don't think you have to go crazy with nursing wear but having this Undercover Mama tank was nice because I could use it under any shirt and not expose my stomach and back while nursing.. especially nice if it is cool where you are nursing. It's one layer so you don't have another bra in it like a lot of nursing tanks. I have a couple of Target ones but I don't love them... the bra part is tight compared to the rest of the tank. I have a few shirts and a dress from Milk Nursingwear also which make it easy to breastfeed with secretly placed openings. This is really the only way to breastfeed in a dress unless you have a very low v-neck dress and even then you would risk stretching it out. I do wish they had a bigger selection and colors of dresses since a dress used to be such a go-to outfit for me.

9.* Hands free pumping bra - If you are pumping at all you will want this bra. I wish I had brought it to the hospital with me. When you are exhausted and having to pump round the clock, it is nice to not have to hold the pump parts in place. And it really does adjust for difference sizes.

10.* Milk storage bags - Again if you are pumping, you will need a way to store the pumped milk in the freezer. We have not had any issues with these bags and store them in cardboard soda boxes (a pinterest idea). They have a double ziplock seal at the top.

A a few things that you do not need to purchase but are must haves: Water, snacks and above all PATIENCE!

It was frustrating and exhausting the first 3 or 4 weeks when our son didn't have the sucking reflex down due to his early arrival but we kept trying and trying and I kept pumping and we would give him pumped milk. And then he learned what to do and it was SO much easier to just nurse... it felt like forever at the time but looking back now it really wasn't. That being said, there are cases where breastfeeding can't happen, just doesn't work out or the stress is doing more harm that good. While I'm a strong believer in breastfeeding, there is no judgment of other moms that are not. Don't beat yourself up about it if it isn't what is best for your family or circumstances. Everyone has to do what is best for their family.



*I didn't go into must haves regarding what breast pump or bottles are best because that can really depend on what is available from your insurance (yes, you get a free pump through insurance) and if you want your bottles to also go with the pump and which bottles/nipples your baby prefers. It may be best to get a couple of types of bottles to see what works. I personally have the PISA by Medela and their bottles have worked out for us well so far but I do also have a couple other bottle types to try in the future. I like the option to use the same bottles for pumping and for whenever we feed pumped milk. Even if you are an exclusively nursing, I highly encourage pumping even just a little once a day so you have a freezer stash when you want to have a date night or in case of an emergency. Eric and I have been able to go on a few dates or I can go do something for a few hours and pump in the car when necessary and there is freezer milk for the baby.

Weekly Pregnancy Photos

In honor of this day last year when we found out we were pregnant, I wanted to share all my weekly pregnancy photos. It seriously does not feel like that was a whole year ago... time just flew by!

One week after finding out I started doing these weekly (so that's why it starts with 5 weeks pregnant) in the same spot in the room we made into the nursery. Part way through you can see that the wall got some samples on it and changed colors when we painted the nursery aqua in week 27. The aqua even looks totally different in different lighting. You might notice the last two photos are a little different... well I had planned on taking my traditional weekly photo at 35+1 day but I went into labor that day and never got the planned photo so that one will have to do. I had no clue when we took my photo with the Are You My Mother book that I'd have a baby in my arms a week and 2 days later. Also I wanted to at least round it out to an even 36 since I missed some weekly photos with my little boy coming early so I decided I could take a final one at the would-be 36 weeks mark and he could join me! He was just 5 days old then!

Big thanks to Eric for putting up with taking photos every single week! We just took them all with the phone since that was the easiest. I also had weekly photos taken wearing the same white shirt and black leggings which are neat to look at the difference but I like these since I'm wearing different outfits like some of my cute pregnancy dresses!

Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken and Vegetables

These days anything really easy for dinner gets extra points but when it is this delicious and easy, it's going to become a LaForce home staple. Like I've already made it twice in a 3 week time frame and we were out of town for almost one of those weeks haha. Just don't forget to put the potatoes in like I did the last time I made this... what can I say... mom brain is real.

Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken and Vegetables
serves 4, from Damn Delicious

Ingredients:

8 chicken thighs - bone in skin on or boneless skinless
16 oz red potatoes, halved or quartered
16 oz baby carrots
16 oz green beans,stems snapped
Note: these don't have to be exact, if you want to throw in a few more green beans or whatever go for it. this recipe is very flexible I've found. 

1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup ketchup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper


Mix together all ingredients below the Note starting with the soy sauce. Pour a little bit of the mixture on the bottom of your crock pot. Add chicken, potatoes, carrots and green beans. Pour rest of sauce mixture over top. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

If you use bone-in skin on chicken thighs you can take them out and broil them in the oven for 3-4 minutes skin side up right before serving to crisp up the skin but this is optional. I've used both kinds of chicken thighs and they are both delicious but the crisping up the bone-in skin on chicken is nice if you have the extra time.


You could add heat to this by upping the amount of crushed red pepper in the sauce.


Hope you enjoy!