Announcing the arrival of two new sous chefs!
February 08, 2016
The Holly Likes to Cook blog has been embarrassingly quiet over the past few months, and it's all down to two very special little projects I've been working on... The Vine twins!
Charlie and I are delighted to say that we are to become parents to a whole family in one fell swoop this summer. It's been a bumpy road to get to this point but we are hugely excited about what is to come and can't wait to meet the wiggly little bubs currently making themselves very at home in my tummy!
Whilst I had wonderful intentions of cooking wholesome, nourishing food; visions of a glowy kitchen, with me gracefully and elegantly steaming leafy green vegetables and baking salmon; preparing breakfast bowls of homemade sugar free granola to top organic yoghurt.... the reality proved to be a little different.
Far from the vitamin rich, folate full, healthy dinners I had dreamy visions of dining on, I became a serious convert to rocket popsicles (which proved ridiculous after a week when 'I' suddenly decided I couldn't stand the blue bit), hash browns (McDonalds or otherwise, I wasn't fussy, if you call 'not fussy' having a full on melt down when we ran out one morning... Charlie didn't know whether to laugh at me or take me to the ER), and PF Chang's chicken spring rolls from the freezer section at Stop and Shop. A well rounded healthy diet it was not.
Whilst I would have loved to have been writing about recipes and spending my (now work free thanks to my *ahem* vomit schedule) days baking and playing kitchens, it didn't seem either sanitary, or honestly given my diet and abilities, very interesting.
Here is an example of one of my recent recipes:
....
Super greasy Hash Browns with a side of Pedialyte and Rocket Popsicle
Ingredients:
2 frozen hashbrowns
One sachet of powdered pedialtye, *lemon only* (discard ALL grape products before they enter the house)
1 17oz bottle of fridge cold water, lukewarm water IS NOT ACCEPTABLE
1 Rocket popsicle (removal of the blue bit optional although highly recommended)
Method:
Wake up but don't move to much until you've figured out the chances of throwing up in your hair. Once likelihood of evacuation is ascertained and evaluated as a less than 40%, slowly remove oneself from bed- *TOP TIP* keep head at a 45 degree angle to limit onset of headrush induced cookie throwing.
Enter the kitchen and sit on the floor next to the freezer, the more time spent on the cold tiled floor the better I've found the end results.
Remove hash browns and ice lolly from freezer, immediately start eating popsicle, it is essential for the rest of the recipe. Hold breath and open fridge, remove bottle of water, close door and move away from fridge before resuming breathing.
Throw hash brown into oven on to any oven safe receptacle, foil will suffice if all the clean stuff is in the dishwasher and you can face holding your breath again to open it and dig one out.
Add Pedialtye to water and shake well, lumps are not good in any scenario right now.
Lie on floor eating popsicle, sipping pedialyte until hash browns are golden brown. Remove hash browns from oven and enjoy. Optimal enjoyment is in front of the TV watching New Girl, though if you can't move from the kitchen floor that's alright as well.
.....
Thankfully, after being hooked up to an at-home IV and some baby safe anti-nausea drugs, I'm coming out of the other side of my dire dietary desires and starting not just to tolerate real food but CRAVE it.
I even managed to whip up a Chicken and Mushroom Pie with my IV in tow the other day!
Here is hoping to resuming normal services shortly, and maybe even making some of those glowy, flowy, stylish pregnant lady recipes really soon!
** A HUGE thank you to the exceptionally talented Brittanny Taylor for our wonderful pregnancy announcement photos, check out more of her work here**
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