{34} Lately…

33weeks

Lately I’ve been…

reading  Caught up on some Health Magazine at the beach yesterday. Love their tips for healthy eating and exercise.

writing  Lots of e-mails, and catch up on blog posts before heading out to NASHVILLE on Thursday! if anybody has any good recommendations for while I’m out there, please let me know!

listening  The Coffee Shop (Ch. 31) on Sirius XM Radio. Puts Nico to sleep every time and he loves it.

thinking  That I need to get things together before this new baby arrives. I am 33 weeks today. Holy guacamole! I delivered at 38 weeks with my first babe, so it’s crazy to think that it’s less than 2 months before we will be a family of FOUR.

smelling  The yummy mocha that I treated myself to this morning.

watching  Finally saw the movie, Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon. The movie is based on the book by Cheryl Strayed with the same title. Being an outdoorsy person, I was a huge fan of the book as it depicted a woman hiking the Pacific Crest Trail for 3 months. I thought the movie did a decent job of portraying the book, but I definitely preferred the book over the movie. Although, I must say that is generally the case with me!

wishing  A very Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people in the world, Erin, who we spent the 4th of July weekend with at Seneca Lake. Her bday was yesterday, and I know it’s going to be an amazing year for her! Love you butt buddie!

hoping  For the internet to keep working. I have wasted a ton of time today hopping from cafe to cafe around the neighborhood and it’s like the internet is not working anywhere!?!?! What in the world is going on? Came back home and hoping it will stay on here so I can actually get some work done today!

wearing  Living in lots of dresses, maxis and flip flops on these hot summer days.  Whew!

loving  Speaking of these hot summer days, I actually love them…because that means BEACH TIME! Since we won’t be able to attend our family vacay to the OBX this year, I am going to try to soak up as much local beach time as possible this summer!

wanting  More space in my apartment! We are going to be doing lots of furniture rearranging in the next few weeks to make room for our new little roommate. Why do such tiny humans need so many things? lol.

needing  To finish planning Nico’s 2nd Birthday Party. We need to have it early this year, because his birthday is two days away from my due date. So I finally picked a date and ordered the cake. Now it’s time to figure out the food and decor. I seriously cannot believe he is going to be TWO.

feeling  SUPER excited for my upcoming trip to NASHVILLE for the Beachbody Coaches Summit! Excited to finally meet my team in person and for all the amazing events, workouts, and trainings that I get to be a part of. I’m sure it’s going to be an incredible experience that I will never forget.

craving  All the sleep I can get. Starting to get a little more tired again in this last trimester. Trying to get as much sleep as possible, because I know there are some all-nighters coming up in the near future again. Yikes!

clicking  On this adorable blog by Amaris, both mama and fashionista. Her outfits are chic yet casual, and her baby girl is sucha doll!

 Hope you all have a great week! I started off my morning with a Banana Chia Pudding breakfast, a Turbo Jam workout, and a walk around the neighborhood. Time to buckle down now and get crackin’.

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HAPPY MONDAY!

What have you been up to lately?

XO,

Gina

Chicken Mole Poblano

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Latin food is one of my favorite genres to both cook and eat, and this dish is on the top of my list.  I originally got this chicken mole poblano recipe from Top Chef Season 5 contestant, Carla Hall, when she was featured in Health Magazine.  I made it a few years ago and loved it, so I decided it was time to break this recipe out again this past week.  I’m not going to lie though, Carla would have been disappointed with the amount of “love” I put into this dish.  In the beginning of the week, I couldn’t wait to make it, and then reality set in.  I got home from work late, I was tired due to lack of sleep the night before, and the last thing I wanted to do was try to make a recipe I hadn’t done in three years.  I had planned on creating this post, but then I was in such a funk that I scrapped taking photos and glumly resumed my wifely/motherly duties with a sour look on my face.  I had promised my husband (and he was super excited) to make this delicious meal, but I just didn’t feel like it!  However, I knew it was the right thing to do to by making it.  You know those days when you really just don’t want to go to the gym or work out?  But then you do anyway…and you feel SO much better afterward???  Well, this is how cooking this meal went.  I really was not in the mood to cook in the beginning, and was super cranky about it (sorry dear husband).  But as I got into it, I started getting excited (more than likely because I was going to get to eat it)…and then after it was done, I was extremely proud of how it turned out.  I then rushed to grab the camera and take a photo of the final product.  I got back on board with doing a blog post about it, and wished I hadn’t been such a grouch in the beginning.  It’s amazing how making a little meal can uplift your spirits and shift your mood.  I’m still blaming certain mood swings on the hormones. 😉

As for this recipe, I think you will also find it delicious.  And it’s even better when you make it with a little love.  As usual, I made a few changes to my own liking (especially with the chicken – I tend to prefer white meat over dark), but for the most part, the sauce is the same.

Hope you enjoy!

What you need:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1.5 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

.5 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles

1 teaspoon tahini (I omitted this, because I couldn’t find it at the store)

3 oz dark chocolate chopped

1 tablespoon cilantro chopped

Carla used an already cooked rotisserie chicken, divided into 6 pieces and warmed – I used uncooked chicken breasts instead covered in cumin and cinnamon to taste and white cooking wine

1/2 avocado, pitted and sliced

1 tomato, diced

How to Make it Happen:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place uncooked chicken breasts covered in cumin, cinnamon, and white wine into a baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.  Bake the chicken for approximately 35 minutes (will depend on thickness of the chicken and how your oven cooks, so make sure to check it early to avoid overcooking!)

While the chicken is baking, heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.  Add onion and cook for 3 minutes or until translucent.  Add garlic, and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in cumin, cinnamon, sale, and pepper; cook for 1 minute.

Add canned diced tomatoes and chiles to saucepan, and simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir in tahini and chocolate until melted.  Stir in chopped cilantro.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.  Put sauce in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Spoon as much sauce as you like over the chicken.  Serve with avocado and tomato.

I also decided to serve it with some black beans and rice, which really completed the meal for me.  The cheese on top of the beans is cotija.

Happy to say, we blended everything all together to serve to our little guy as well, and he happily ate it as well!

Hope you are all having a great week!

XO,

Gina

{3} Lately…

lately3

Lately I’ve been…

reading  Just finished Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn this week.  Holy intensity!  I would definitely recommend.  Also read the December issue of Health magazine.  Hoping I actually listen to what I read and start eating a bit healthier and getting back into my work out ways.  I’ve been a slacker.  Back to the reading…trying to decide the next book to open…I think I am going to go back to the Harry Potter series now that I got the last four books from my sister-in-law.  Nothing like a little magic around Christmastime.

writing  Still writing my Christmas cards!  Luckily, I was able to get most of them out this week.  However, I miscounted how many I needed, so those of you at the beginning of the alphabet (I went backwards this year) might be a bit delayed!  Oops!

listening  Cazzette’s Beam Me Up.  Nothing like a little alien take-over causing a city to erupt in dancing.  This one’s for you Charles.

thinking  About the Christmas shopping that I still have left to do.

smelling  Christmas Cookie candle by Yankee Candle.  Also loving the Warm Woolen Mittens scent.

wishing  That my tummy would stop hurting!  Stayed home from work yesterday mehhh.

hoping  That the bridesmaid dress I pick up tomorrow for my cousin’s wedding fits me like a glove.  Naturally being of my short stature, I needed some alterations. 😉

wearing  Lots of layers.  Although it hasn’t been incredibly cold so far this winter, I am forever frozen, and layers are a must in this city.  Today I’m wearing black leggings with a blue tank.  Black and white sweater overtop, with another multicolored sweater wrap over that.  Topped off with my bright yellow winter coat and Steve Madden boots.

loving  That the sun is shining right now!  A lot better than the rain we have had as of late.  Also loving that we are having some visitors this weekend.  And a maid is coming to clean before they get here, so I don’t have to tear my hair out.  Loving loving loving.

wanting  World peace.  Yes, that would be nice.

needing  Constant reapplication of hand cream.  The cold weather seems to dry my hands up so quickly!  Right now I am using Simply Clean from ULTA.

feeling  You ever have one of those moments when you just want to cry and you don’t really know why?  Well that was me yesterday.  Maybe it was a combo of being sick, stressed, hormones, who knows.  But just broke down.  Sad panda!  For no obvious reason.  I think it was just one of those days.  Luckily, today I am in much better spirits, and looking forward to seeing friends this weekend.

clicking  Through all the advertising trades this morning for news in the ad world.

What have you been up to lately?

Happy Friday!

Love,

Gina

***I was inspired by Tina of Like Ordinary Life to create this post, and she was inspired by Lauren of siddathornton, who started The Sunday Currently.

 

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