cold snap

It has been so chilly this week! I much prefer this weather to the summer heat, and have been getting through it by layering up in boots and scarves and making a nest of my bed.

Highlights for this week was receiving a few parcels in the mail full of baby and mama things (peanut butter and jelly Larabars for a hospital-bag snack, breastfeeding supplies, a silicone teething necklace, a nursing bra, tiny baby nail clippers, reusable breast pads!) , and starting to pack away tiny little baby clothes in their designated crates. Thanks for washing them all, Mum! Shit is getting pretty real around here. My hospital bag is almost packed too, but I will tell you about that when it's done.

I am almost 32 weeks into my pregnancy which is super exciting, although I seem to have turned into a bit of a third-trimester sloth. Laying around eating, reading and watching DVDs has never been more tempting, and unfortunately I have been making some pretty crappy food choices. Time for a clean-up both for my sake and bub's.

The clean-up (which I am actually pretty excited about, because I have a lot of healthy snack and meal ideas for the week) began at the farmer's market this morning where I met Emma for coffee and bagel, then picked up a massive bushel of curly kale, green apples, celery, bagels for the freezer, organic sausage and vegetable rolls, and brown onions. I already have lots of carrots, pumpkin and broccoli in the fridge so I am pretty set for meal prep this week.

Winter smoothie for the win

Instead of devouring a packet (or two) of Tiny Teddies, Dunkaroos or ice creams (it's too cold for that anyway!), I made a delicious winter smoothie for my afternoon snack. It's a winter smoothie because it is warm from an extra-long blending in the Vitamix and it has plenty of nice spices to boot. Yum. I love pumpkin anything- roasted, made into chips, custard, added to a latte, baked into a pie...so this smoothie is good for that. Now I will go away and have pumpkin dreams.

Winter Pumpkin and Banana Smoothie

1 banana

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

2-3 big medjool dates

Handful almonds
1/4 cup oats

1 cup milk (I used organic full-cream, but you could use non-dairy too)

1 teaspoon maca powder

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Sprinkle of nutmeg

Knob of fresh ginger (tip of your thumb sized)

Pinch pink sea salt

3-4 drops liquid butterscotch stevia

Blend until the jug feels warm. Pour and enjoy! Just a warning, it did turn out pretty sweet so if you prefer a more savoury taste feel free to reduce the number of dates and skip the stevia altogether.