Mama's Gotta Eat

Gobble Gobble...but not excessively. We've all been there. We spent Thanksgiving with family and friends, eating to our heart's content, passing out on the couch, happily farting into the cushions, and never regretting a single bite of food...until the next day. You wake up in the morning and you already know you're going to need to wear something with an elastic band. You're already in over your head with your bloated, sodium-filled body, so you may as well just continue eating yourself into the average American's eight to ten pound holiday weight gain. So, to conquer your holiday eating woes, I put together a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack plan for enjoying leftovers without worry. Keep in mind that some are added ingredients, so add them to your shopping list prior to heading into the grocery store on Thanksgiving Wednesday so you don't have to double back! Breakfast: Whole Wheat Cranberry Pancakes (approx. 6 servings) - 1 & 1/4 cups Whole Whea

Today it is a freezing cold 89 degrees in Dallas, so I decided to warm up with my first autumnal-smelling dessert. If you know anything about fall and how it hasn't started until you've seen the annual October cover of Martha Stewart Living at the grocery store, then you know that autumnal desserts basically boil down to any of the following ingredients combined: Pumpkin, apple, caramel, and/or buttermilk. The recipe below contains all of the above ingredients (I'm lying a little, it's only pumpkin pie spice, not pumpkin). AND despite it's title, I did a bit of tweaking and lightened up the recipe. After eating a small bite bowl nearly 1/3 of the pan, I can say it tastes every bit as good as something with tons of butta butta buttaaaa in it. For those who want to get as fat as humanly possible, I applaud you, and have therefore put into parentheses the healthier option. Caramel Apple Bread Pudding Recipe: Ingredients: 5-6 cups French bread (I used 5 bottoms

Earlier this week, I asked my twitter and facebook followers to email me at mama@mamasgottaeat.com to ask any of their pregnancy or new mom questions, and I've gotten quite a few responses! I'm answering some of your Ask Mama questions this week and will post new answers every Thursday. As you'll see from these questions, NOTHING IS TOO GROSS FOR ME. One of the answers is specifically dedicated to my dear friend and new mama-to-be, Traci. Check her out at  www.mrsrocketman.com !  Q: I am about to have my first baby and, given my small frame, my doctor has suggested an episiotomy. Do you have any advice for me immediately following this procedure? I'm afraid it will be painful! A: I'm so glad you asked this! One of my mamas recently experienced this same issue. To clarify for the new mommies, an episiotimy is a surgical procedure, typically planned far in advance, to make the second stage of labor easier. If you want that in even more graphic terms, it's when

ATTENTION ALL MAMAS-TO-BE: I'm sure you're all indulging every last craving for ground beef and vanilla ice cream (a real craving from one of our mamas- and she's a former vegan), and that is, in my opinion, always the way to go. So what about working out and fitness? Obviously your workouts can't be what they once were before you were expecting a little one, but here's a little snack of information I wanted to share with you all. According to the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, pregnant women who continued to work on and utilize a total body strength routine at least 2 times per week increased the amount of weight they were able to lift by 36% in just 3 months! We already know that women are the strongest bipedal mammals on the planet, obviously, but now pregnant mamas can take comfort in the fact that they are all the more superhuman than they thought! The study also shows that strength training during pregnancy improves lumbar endurance and lower b

Today, I got a visit from my first Mama who literally gave birth to the brainchild behind this company. She brought D with her to come say hi and show off his newest kung fu moves. His name has been abbreviated to protect the innofant (innocent + infant = innofant). D is looking so handsome these days! His head smells like an angel, and his Mama and I had a great time watching him gurgle and make baby dinosaur noises. We got a little hungry, so I whipped up a light lunch using what I had in the fridge. Below is the recipe for a quick, delicious summer lunch and some ideas for spicing up the recipe. Watermelon Spinach Salad 1 cup Chopped Watermelon* 1/3 cup Shaved Parmesan 2 cups Spinach 1/4 cup Toasted Pine Nuts 1 tsp Basalmic Glaze 1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil  1/2 tsp Lemon Zest Toss the watermelon, parmesan, spinach, and pine nuts together in a big bowl. Drizzle with basalmic glaze and olive oil. Zest a smidge of a clean lemon on top of the salad, serve in little bowls,