White Chicken Chili w/ Froyo weekend & Austin Birth Awards

I have been such a perfect angel for most of this cycle, no alcohol being had and eating lots of warming foods.  It was a rainy weekend, so we kicked it off with a big pot of homemade white chicken chili. I loooove this recipe...


Organic Ingredients:
-2 (15 oz.) cans cannelini beans
-2 boneless chicken breasts
-2 cups chicken broth
-1 can diced tomatoes
-1 cup frozen sweet corn
-4 oz. can chopped green chilies
-1 tsp. chipotle chili pepper
-1 tsp. ground cumin
-¼ tsp. garlic powder
-¼ tsp. salt
-sour cream for garnish
-chopped green onions for garnish
**Use Eden's Organic canned products. They're BPA free!

Step 1: Grill 2 large chicken breasts. I recommend sprinkling them with some chipotle chili pepper, sea salt, and black pepper. Cut into bite size cubes.

Step 2: Pour both cans of beans into a colander in the sink, rinse well with water, and allow to drain.

Step 3: In a large pot, add rinsed and drained beans, chicken, diced tomatoes, frozen corn, green chilies, chipotle chili pepper, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and broth.

Step 4: Heat on high and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally. Makes 6 servings.

Top each bowl off with green onions for a nice crunch. I highly recommend also including the sour cream garnish. It balances the spicy smoky flavors of this chili perfectly!

Such a healthy and yummy dinner. However, sometimes no matter how good my eating intentions are, I just have to live a little before I lose my mind. I have never been shy about my one weakness when it comes to healthy eating, and that is ICE CREAM! Nothing, and I mean nothing, tastes better after a spicy bowl of chili than something cold and sweet. Conveniently, they just built a Froyo across the street from us too. It is quite literally going to erase any waistline I have remaining.

Dulce de Leche frozen yogurt w/ peanut butter cups, heath bar, mini choc chips and caramel syrup. BAD girl!

In my defense, I only ate half on Saturday. Sunday entailed a repeat of the chili/Froyo routine. I'm hoping the hot bowl of chili cancelled out the coldness of the ice cream, so that my uterus stayed nice and warm despite the free for all in my belly.  I am under orders from my acupuncturist to keep things all warm and cozy inside, especially during the 2WW. Speaking of acupuncturists, I thought I'd share some good news about mine.

Every year here in Austin, they have something called the Austin Birth Awards. It's like the "People's Choice Awards for Pregnancy." They recognize Austin area birth professionals that are going out of their way to provide quality care for the women of Austin.  Basically, professionals are nominated by patients and then a poll is taken to award the best professionals in many different categories; doula, midwife, ob/gyn, etc. A result of the yearly poll is a list of the best referrals for pregnancy care in Austin, selected and voted on by real people to determine the best and brightest mother-friendly birth professionals the city has to offer. Over 5,000 people voted this year, and it just so happens that my acupuncturist won Best Acupuncturist! Check her out...

 

Low and behold, my new Reproductive Endocrinologist won as well. Yay! Here is the man with the plan...



Now you can all put a name with the face that is all up in my lady parts all the time. lol  Really though, there are a lot of practitioners here in Austin, and I think awards like this, chosen by the people, can speak volumes to the satisfaction of other clients out there.  Infertility is never a fun journey, but I feel confident that I'm working with the best people I possibly can, and that alone is such a blessing! No, it's not like they won the Nobel Peace Prize, but it's just nice to see my own feelings confirmed via thousands of other people's opinions as well. It's also nice to live in a community that places so much attention on women's healthcare, and values holistic approaches in addition to Westernized treatment. 

As for this cycle, I'm 10 dpo today and the 2 Week Wait is dragging on a bit for me. I'm trying not to analyze every little symptom as usual, and that includes my Boob-O-Meter. As much as I've become tuned into my body, it's almost a curse sometimes. It's easy to start analyzing and self doubting if I see symptoms or lack thereof. Despite the fact that my boobs have gone down in size and soreness since 8 dpo, I'm remaining hopeful. There is no telling what's going on in there. God is in control, and I have A LOT to be thankful for. I'm really trying to focus on the possibilities instead of the what-if's.

As cliche as it may sound, I'm too blessed to be stressed! Well, at least until Friday, the big testing day. At that point, I may be taking another trip to Froyo to drown out my sorrows. Please keep us in your prayers. The last thing we need is another failed cycle, or another trip to Froyo!