Recently, the husband and I have gotten into Kale. Kale chips (which I need to learn to make on my own), steamed kale with garlic…and kale cooked with pasta. Kale, kale, kale – if you have any other kale recipes? Please pass them on, I’m still learning how to cook it and cook it well but man, this is one amazing green.

I saw a version of this recipe over on Going on Goals and was intrigued because of our recent discovery of the deliciousness of kale. We kind of did our own spin with it since Adam’s been all *trying* to be paleo and cutting out carbs (though I’m not sure Quinoa is paleo – we’ve been doing really good at cutting out most carbs) and also I thought some diced up apples would bring out the flavor of the apple sausage – I was right. It was a total win.

Apple Sausage & Kale with Quinoa
{inspired by}

• 1 package Apple Chicken Sausage (I get it from Trader Joes it’s apple/maple – delish!)
• 2 c. Quinoa
• 3-4 handfuls of Kale
• Juice from 1/4 a Lemon
• 1/4 cup chopped Onion
• 1/4 cup Water
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 apple diced (I used a Granny Smith)

Directions

Cook Quinoa as instructed. Feel free to replace with your favorite pasta. We tried it also with the orriccheti

Heat up olive oil and cook onions & garlic for 2-4 minutes

Slice sausage  and cook for 3-5 minutes, add diced apple and stir well (the Trader Joe’s stuff is pre-cooked so it doesn’t need long) add 1/3c. of water and 2 large handfuls of kale. Squeeze the juice from the lemon on top of kale and stir well so it’s all coated. Cover for about 2 minutes or until kale begins to look wilted. Add the second 2 handfuls of Kale and cover again for another minute or until the rest of kale looks slightly wilted.

Fill plate with Quinoa (1c is usually 1 serving) and top with generous serving of kale mixture. If using pasta, drain pasta and mix in pan with kale mixture.

Enjoy!

Last week, I wrote my first post over on DC Ladies about finding a play group.

I’m blessed that I’m beginning to actually make pals out of these ladies. I read a while ago an interesting blog post about dating as moms and the many stages of mom dating.

Here’s the thing, making friends as adults isn’t easy. Generally, you stay friends with pals from college (ME!), make friends from work, or other volunteer or social activities. I’ve made a great deal of pals from Junior League, a lot of people I knew in DC made friends from kickball or bocce.

But what happens after you’re married, settled and start having kids?

Well, it’s a new type of friend dating. No more are the 2 for 1 happy hours (Confession: I loved those man. Those were the good ole days. Although somehow a 2 for 1 happy hour that happened on a Wednesday involved me going to Clarendon after getting on the metro, catching the last train back to Pentagon City but in the midst of my transfer at Rosslyn having to EXIT the metro via the longest escalator ever because i had to pee and couldn’t wait the 25+ minutes til the next train and getting home. These were pre-husband days clearly. Gotta watch out for the 2 for 1 happy hours.) but now, it’s finding moms who have similar things they care about – i.e. cloth diapering. Or maybe you both go to My Gym or swim lessons or whatever it is…but then you have to get out of just the lessons/support group/play group and be friends who happen to be moms. Not just “mom friends” which sounds way more casual.

My mom friends are a nice mishmash of people who are around the same age, younger and older than me. Most of the babies in my playgroup are a couple months older than Ethan (or as little as mere hours/days), but the mom’s I’ve met are so funny, friendly and caring. All of us adore all the babies in the group. On Tuesday coffee dates, it’s guaranteed at least once that you’ll probably hold a baby that’s not yours, that there will be a lot of talk about boobs, nursing, and sleeping (or lack thereof). And it’s just…refreshing to have a group of people who are your age, going through the same ish and can talk about pretty much anything (I mean, if you’re talking about boobs for a couple hours a day at least once per week, you can pretty much talk about anything right?)

{Last weeks Wednesday playgroup. Ethan’s not quite ready for the playmat just yet. He shat on my lap to protest. You’ll get there buddy. You’ll get there.}

It’s nice though, because while I love and adore my other pals – be them college friends, post college gal pals, or league friends – it’s different to find mom’s that I’ve related to solely through my child and it’s nice to have the fact that we’re all new(ish) moms in common.

How did you make friends as a new parent? 

Short post for this AM, but if you get a chance be sure to send a shout out on twitter to the hubs – it’s his 31st birthday today!

May this year be as awesome and as fun as last. Of course I know it will be given the company we’ve been keeping. I love you now and always. Have a happy day my love!

So baby turned 8 weeks old yesterday. He’ll be two months on Wednesday (!!!) so expect my 2 month update late next week before our venture up to CT.

But since it’s Saturday and I’ve got nothing better going on here are a few baby pictures to enjoy your weekend with. Who doesn’t love a cute baby

As you can see, the 2 month update might be one full of a bunch of smiles. Bath time & bed time!

Onward ho! Happy Weeekend everyone!

In an attempt to re-engage my readership and because I have blogging ADD often and need new features (some that may stick, most don’t) to keep my blogging interest up. Not that my blogging interest is declining but this week has been a doozy with baby – he’s been especially active during the day like yesterday. I’m pretty sure he’s in the midst of a growth spurt. When he’s not being cute and cooing he wants to play on his mat. Or he wants to eat. And wants to do anything but nap or sleep and omg. I’m exhausted. 4am wakeups + no naptime = zombiemama. So blogging sometimes gets put on the backburner which is fine and good and I know all my fabulous readers will forgive me (but I blog for myself… or that’s what all of us bloggers tell ourselves but really we’re all a bit narcissistic right?) because i’ll put up a cute picture of him and all will be forgiven. I digress. Anyhow, onto our regularly scheduled post – if you have anything you want to ask me be it about parenting, or fitness, email me at heidi (at) legallyheidi (dot) com.

Q: So I have a working out question. I feel weird wondering this but music bores me on the treadmill. To tears. Songs just make things feel so much longer. Is this normal or do I just hate the treadmill?

A. You’re a freak. Kidding. I suppose it’s normal. *scratches head* maybe? I mean, it’s pretty common to hate the treadmill in general, but not liking music to me, just makes the treadmill that much worse. So not liking tunes on the treadmill? Is like torture to me. But there are runners out there who can run without tunes indoors and out (I haven’t met anyone indoors…) – miracle runners I tell you. I couldn’t do it.

What I would do is first, is take a look at your workouts. An inventory if you will. Are you doing anything “fun” on the treadmill? An interval workout? Hills? Or are you just a clock watcher. Watching the minutes tick by on the treadmill til you hit the mileage/time you were going for. I personally like to add some intervals to my dreadmill workouts to keep things interesting and make the time go by faster. I find it better if I say okay, I’m going to do 5- 1/4 or 1/2 mile intervals at x pace with a whatever rest period (1 minute, 1/4 mile…whatever) at a slower pace. Then I can count down – like Okay I did 2 intervals…only 3 more. I’m a by the numbers gal so these types of things help me.

Depending on the treadmill you’re working out on, I would turn on the TV and put your favorite show on. It’s guaranteed to be 30-60 minutes of awesome. Additionally, you can up the speed during the commercials and go easier during the show so you can focus. Add some incline to work up a sweat. I did that a couple weeks ago and it was a pretty baller 40 minute workout.

Check out one that I just kind of made up similar to what I did on my last workout – feel free to adjust speeds/incline as you see fit.  It’s a nice power walking/hills/touch of speed workout.

Additionally, you can modify for time (if you’re only for instance, watching a 30 minute show) and adjust speeds if need be.

Don’t want to watch a TV show? Don’t have a TV show in your gym? I ask you first, what the hell type of third world gym do you workout in. Second, try an e-book. Try a podcast. Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me is a great show on NPR. I’m not huge on podcasts but I know that that’s a good show and I know they have a podcast. Or at least I think they do.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, hell, I’ll scream it from mountain tops, the treadmill is a necessary evil. I avoid it at all costs, I’d rather go to a yoga class, sit on the bike, or go for a long walk than run my butt off on the treadmill (if running outside isn’t an option).

Don’t want a hilly workout, I pin a lot of amazing workouts from my favorite bloggers on pinterest. Therein lies the glory of the internets, if you’re ever feeling uninspired for a workout, or need a little extra motivation just search pinterest. There’s dozens of workouts (running, treadmill, strength…) and dozens of motivational images to just give you a kick in the rear when you really need it.

If you really, really find the treadmill especially awful? Try changing it up with the bike or just going for a walk outside with a friend if the weather is nice. Workouts can always use changing up – I’m pretty excited that I tried out a barre class the other day and got an amazing workout with muscles I haven’t worked in a while but I’ll write more about that later. The point is, there’s always room to change things up and if you’re finding your workouts are boring or are having a hard time motivating yourself to workout? Change it up! In the words of Sheryl Crow, a change will do you good.

Got a question about running, life, fitness, cooking or babies? Email me!

Today is (was. it’s late) my first Mother’s Day. It was really the perfect day.

For nine months, I was afraid of if I’d be a good mother. Would I be good enough? Would I know what to do? Would I be able to soothe my child? I prayed every day that I wouldn’t break him. Babies are so fragile!

Surprisingly, one thing I learned very quickly is that babies and mama’s just go together like peas and carrots. I know when Ethan is fussy, and can usually predict (pretty accurately) what his ish is. Most of the time, just picking him up will ease his worried cries which is always a wonder to me. I’m amazed that I’m able to do that so easily.

He’s just constantly amazing to me. That this little person, this little being, with his own personality that shows itself more and more each day – that’s as stubborn as his mama, as inquisitive as his daddy, and as happy-go-lucky and easy-going as both of them – is mine. All of this just…fascinates and amazes me. Every day.

The most amazing thing that I least expected is how selfless you become when you become a mama. The lack of sleep, putting aside everything else so he can be my number 1…it just doesn’t phase me. I was worried I’d be upset about not being able to go to my favorite yoga classes or go for a run regularly, or whatever but really, it doesn’t phase me. It doesn’t phase me that I didn’t get to go for my scheduled run this weekend or go get my Mothers Day pedicure. I’ve learned that it’s about balance, about teamwork with Adam to make things happen and work. We’re a team, united, to take care of this little guy. To give each other the time we need to be the best parents we can be.

How was my perfect first mother’s day?

For Mother’s Day, Ethan surprised us by sleeping from 11:30-6a, which is as close to 8 hours of sleep that I’ve gotten since March 22. Following our 6a feeding, we all stayed in bed til about 9ish (well Ethan went back down til about 8:30 for his 2nd breakfast). I called my mama, and I got my lovely gifts from the husband and son.

They treated me to this awesome book that was on my wish list and replaced my beloved elephant necklace that I lost at the hospital (I wore it through my entire pregnancy and was heartbroken when I couldn’t find it).

{Note the electrical tape. Ethan’s not good at wrapping presents yet. A for effort}

Later in the morning, we enjoyed brunch at Eggcellence where I enjoyed one of my favorite muffins – strawberry chocolate chip. If you go, tell Will I sent you there. He’s the best.

{Apparently, also only New Englanders toast their muffins? Is this true? I love a good warm muffin with melted butter on top. It’s one of my favorite things!}

After brunch, we came home so peanut could have his early lunch, after which, he and I enjoyed a nice nap – me on the couch, him in his swing.

Later, we headed over to the Towne Centre to hit up Bin201′s Blind Tasting (every Sunday!) and to check out to Charm City Run to look for new sneaks for me. I decided on the Saucony Kinvara (the Newton’s won’t be fully retired, but they’re hitting their limit, so they’ll be used sparingly now. The Kinvara4 had only aesthetic changes to it, so I picked the Kinvara3 linked above). I’m pretty excited to try them out, I tried them last year at a Fleet Feet fun run, but tried the wrong size so they were a bit painful but I loved that they were so lightweight and comfortable. Also, similar to the Newton’s they have a 4mm drop so adjusting to them should be relatively easy and I have a few weeks before Zooma to break them in. I loved, loved, LOVED my Newton’s BUT they were significantly more expensive and I had a couple gift certificates so my new Saucony’s were next to nothing. So win there!

After that, we popped over to Crofton/Waugh Chapel – there’s a new Elevation Burger opening up over there and they were offering free meals for mothers day/their grand opening tomorrow. Their food is amazing – all their beef is organic/grass fed and thus the quality for the price is amazing – it was a really nice way to end the day. Then I went to Old Navy to check out the baby sale and exchange a top I had picked up the other day.

We came home, we skyped with Adam’s parents – a wonderful mothers day gift for my lovely mother-in-law – and then gave baby his bath, and did his bedtime routine. He slept starting at 8p – we discovered the power of the super tight swaddle. Normally it’s been a bit looser but Adam’s been making it tighter and I account that to him sleeping for 6 hours Saturday night. Hopefully we’ll have a repeat tonight. Fingers crossed friends. Fingers. Crossed.

He’s such a gem. I’m so blessed to be so in love with not one amazing man in my life, but two. I have been blessed with the perfect family and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mama’s out there!

{ICYMI– check out my guest post over on FittritionLife about balancing healthiness and being a new mama}

A couple weeks ago we had an unfortunate incident in the kitchen on a Saturday night. It involved an oven being left on, thankfully no fires, and me sleeping on the couch. I guess that ish happens when you’re a sleep deprived parent. It wasn’t all hubs’ fault, but well…mostly it was. Poor guy was just running off too little sleep and wasn’t properly feeding himself.

Anyhow, I made a mexican version of these back when I was flying solo while hubs was off in Texas for military training and they’re a go to favorite of mine. We made them paleo friendly by eliminating the cheese but I prefer cheese with eggs under most circumstances so feel free to add them in yours. In fact, I encourage it. But I’m not the one trying to be all paleo and hardcore here.

This week, we made similar ones with egg whites, basil and tomatos. I’ve made them with beans, salsa and cheese, you could make them with broccoli and feta – the list goes on and on. They’d be great if you were hosting a brunch, if you had a mini muffin pan or if you need breakfast on the go. The great thing about this recipe is that it’s so versatile and adjustable so really, add in your favorite veggies, and go to town!

Bruschetta Egg Muffins

Ingredients

Small handful fresh basil leaves shredded
1/4 c. crushed tomatoes
6 eggs
6 pieces sliced turkey
(Adam added Old Bay to his – he’s addicted to Old Bay)

Directions

*Line a muffin pan with sliced turkey
*drop a spoonful of crushed tomatoes into turkey liners

Top with extra tomatoes and mix in a sprinkle of shredded basil leaves
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and poof….

Enjoy!

{If you’re looking for some good reading material – check out my guest post over on FittritionLife about balancing healthiness and being a new mama}

I’ve been an atrocious blogger this week. But I finished two blog posts for a couple of websites I’m guest blogging/contributing to, have had a number of play dates with other mamas and babies (well, two), fit in one treadmill run, had two Junior League events and Ethan is still sleeping for at most three and a half to four hours so my sleep is still way off whack – there have a been a few afternoon naps that were beyond necessary.

I’m not putting the pressure on myself to be a regular blogger here – I’ll move over posts around on my editorial calendar, and I’ll enjoy the tummy time with my little boy. I don’t feel bad about not blogging, but I do miss it. You know, it’s one of those things that I absolutely love, but I’ve always said when it starts to feel like a chore, it’s just…not worth it.

He’s a demanding kind of master. And hasn’t really wanted to sleep much after 4a. But spending more and more time with him has been worth the not blogging. I’ll get back to regular posting (M-F) when I can. I’ve got a few recipes and workouts up my sleeve for you all.

So I started my 10k training last week. I wasn’t expecting to be as…slow as I was? Or as sore as I was…but despite the hurdles I’m currently stumbling over to get myself back into shape, it felt really good just to be in the race again if you will.

I did 3 of my 4 scheduled workouts. Sunday’s 3 mile run got scratched when baby decided to not really sleep well/at all after 3:30a. Poor kid has super bad gassiness and just couldn’t get comfortable. Pretty sure hubs and I were alternating getting up every 10-30 minutes each. It was rough. Then we met up with a mama friend of mine at the barBayQ festival and after that? Ethan and I were both spent so no running was done. But that’s okay, because I still got in a few miles last week.

Monday was raining so I got started on the elliptical with a high resistance interval workout. It was okay, but I find the elliptical  to be, on the fun scale, lower than the dreadmill. It was boring but it did feel really good to work up a sweat again.

Tuesday I rested because it was rainy again so we didn’t do much. Whoops?

Wednesday I got in a run! Yay! I did 3/2 run/walk intervals that were originally on Monday’s workout plan with a nice walking warmup and cool down. I was out for just about 30 minutes and did just under three miles. Felt good to be moving but my hips ached and so did my lower back. To be expected given the elasticity of my joints still post-partum.

Thursday was another off day. I should have gotten in a strength workout but I didn’t. It’s okay though – I’m not pushing it all, I’m listening to my body.

Friday it was beautiful out, and I had a 3 miler on the schedule – 40 minutes later. I let myself walk when I was tired, and man, my boobs just hurt a lot more when I run – even after nursing Ethan before I went out.

Saturday was a bust since my dad came to town, and Sunday I was utterly exhausted since baby hasn’t been sleeping well due to excessive gassiness. The poor look of discomfort on his face when he keeps waking himself up is just heartbreaking. Regardless, was so tired, we ended up sleeping on and off till about 11.

But my Newton’s are just…super happy to be back out and hitting the pavement though this week I’m going to check out new sneaks. Considering the Saucony Kinvara, the New Balance Minimus, and of course…a new pair of Newton’s. But I have some gift cards to Charm City Run, so we’ll see what’s in store. All I know, is mama needs a new pair of shoes.

Lessons this week: Listen to my body. Don’t be afraid to walk it out. Nurse before running. Never underestimate the value of a good jog bra (I never had these problems before. They’re new to me…don’t judge). I can’t emphasize the importance of listening to my body – whether it’s walking or knowing when to skip a workout.

Also, I’m reevaluating whether or not speed workouts are valuable, I need to just focus on my endurance and based on this past week, I’m going to stick to just walk/running to get back into it and not worry about the speed workouts.

This week’s training schedule…

Monday: Run - 5 min slow warm up/ 5x 4 min run 1 min walk x 6 /5 min easy cool down
Tuesday: Walk or strength (optional)
Wednesday: Run - easy 30 minutes
Thursday: optional – strength/walk
Friday: Run 3 miles
Saturday: rest or yoga
Sunday: Run 4 miles

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from working out – whether starting a new program or getting back into an old one after an injury or pregnancy? 

My first mother’s day is coming up. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that but I’m kind of excited. It kind of makes up for the fact that my birthday was just…lonely since Hubs was away (many thanks to Liz for the birthday lunch and to Sarah for the birthday dinner on Saturday night). But that was a month ago almost (a month ago exactly on Mother’s Day. 30th birthday part 2? I think yes.) so now here we are, and can we just reflect on the fact for a moment that I’m a mama now?! It still amazes me every day when I look at Ethan that I grew him. That little being who amazes me every day with his sleepy, gummy grins was inside of me less than two months ago and now he’s smiling!? Yowza, time flies.

Here’s my mini-gift guide. Gifts that I would like, or would give. Thoughtful, funny, and practical gifts for the active, sentimental and feminine mama in all of us.

{I Just Want to Pee Alone | Locket Necklace | Run: Swiftly T | JCrew necklace |Lilly Pulitzer Tote | Stella & Dot Necklace | Philosophy Mother’s Day Set | Mommies First Box (not pictured)}

Realistically though, I’ll be quite content to just spend the day with Adam and Ethan in Annapolis.

What’s on your mother’s day wish list?

**I should note that I had the JCrew necklace but lost it at my stay at the hospital when Ethan was born