tasty tuesday's: Crockpot Peach Chipotle Chicken

This is not a paleo recipe.

I know, I know...

but I'll just be honest and say that laziness has gotten the best of me lately.

So I've been cooking mostly primal/gluten free recipes in the crockpot because...well, I'm just tired.

This recipe was particularly delicious so I thought I'd share it with you all! I found it on pinterest, (obvi!) and the original creator of this recipe was Heidi over at thefrugalgirls.com.

I did change a couple of things, but it's mostly the same and super easy and cheap!

What you need:

- 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breast 

*I used thighs and they were awesome*

- 1 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipotle BBQ sauce

- 1 jar of Smucker's Peach preserves (18 oz)

*the first ingredient in smucker's is high fructose corn syrup, so i used Polaner's Peach preserves. I got two jars at 10 oz and used both jars*

I used two of these! 

What you do:

- Cook the chicken on high for 3 hours (I only did about 2.5 hrs because thighs are smaller than breast)

- Drain the juices from the crockpot

*Do this step! It makes for a thicker sauce*

- Mix together BBQ sauce and preserves and then pour it over the chicken.

- Let them keep cooking on high together for about 30 more minutes.

After that you're done!

Easy, right?

I was unsure of what to pair with it because I had no clue what kind of flavor to expect, so we just ate it over rice.

It was scrumptious! And reheated so well for lunch the next couple of days. 

She has a few more pairings that look good, so definitely head over there and check it out...

they look so yummy and easy!

I'll be trying the Orange Chicken next! :)

xoxo, 

Heather

I'm having a c-section. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

It doesn't take long for you to figure this out about me...

I like natural things.

Especially natural birth.

If we get even close to the topic of childbearing, my opinion is usually made known. I try not to be harsh with it, 

but quiet I certainly am not. 

So what's up with the title of this post then? 

Well, because it's true.

I'm having a c-section.

I'm scheduling a c-section, actually.

You see, for as long as I have been an advocate for natural birth, I have also been an advocate of the idea 

"intervention is great when necessary". 

I have had two emergency c-sections and 

a natural, vaginal birth.

First section was after a long 68 hour labor...baby Linc wasn't getting into a good position, there was thick meconium and I honestly was too exhausted to be coherent. 

Second section was after a normal amount of labor, but we didn't know the cord was wrapped around baby Quinn's neck three times...so when I was about 8cm and he was heading down the birth canal his heart rate dropped.

REALLY dropped.

And it didn't come back up. 

This is not something you mess with. So we literally hauled ass to the OR and got him out of there. Thankfully, there was no damage done to Quinn.

Third go at it, Cora did great. Vaginal birth. Completely natural. She was in a wonky position at first, but we did a few home remedies and she turned head down no problem.

Here's what I think:

1. I should have gone with a midwife from the get go. I think if I had known Lincoln was in a weird position we could have done something to turn him like we did with Cora. 

2. Since I didn't go to a midwife, once in the position I was in with Lincoln, the c-section became necessary.

3. Quinn was a necessary c-section no doubt. 

4. However necessary the sections were, they were very traumatizing for me. And although their health was great, as they showed in their APGAR scores, I think it must have been traumatizing to the boys to some degree psychologically.

So here's where the whole 

"planning a c-section" comes in.

Mack is plain old not turning head down. On a good day he stays frank breech the whole day. Most days he flip flops back and forth between breech (sometimes with his feet behind him, I can feel it...ouch) and transverse...or the un-technical term...sideways. 

Head on one side, feet on the other. 

Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you definitely can't push a baby out of your hooha that is sideways.

If he's frank breech, it's a possibility. 

(Presenting butt first with feet completely out of the way)

Any other combination though is highly unlikely.

Now, if you've met Quinn for more than 30 seconds you know that child is cray cray. 

He's rambunctious, and loud, and FUN.

Well, I'm here to tell you he's been like that since day one.

He had been my most active baby, up until this guy. 

Quinn was so active I could have SWORN I had two babies in there. But no, just one baby who was out of his mind.

Mack doesn't just give him a run for his money...

he freaking takes. the. cake. 

Quinn moved maybe a third of what Mack has done. 

And STILL does. 

Quinn definitely started to slow down and "run out of room", so to speak, towards the end.

Not Mack. He's still going strong.

Constantly moving.

So given my history with active babies, I am pretty confident that Mack will be all tangled up in that cord of his. 

We recently went to an ultrasound to confirm his position and the only pieces of cord they could find to look at were all right by his face and neck. 

Awesome. (not actually awesome)

Also, I have an anterior placenta, which isn't a bad thing, but you just don't know if it's in his way. He may not be able to get his fat head around it and go down. 

So I met with my awesome OB and here's the facts we both came to:

1. We have a history of cords being wrapped.

2. His cord was most visible in his neck region. Not good.

3. The anterior placenta could potentially cause a problem.

4. He has tons of fluid to move around in. 

(not too much, but enough)

5. When he is transverse/sideways, his movements slow down greatly. I feel his limbs/feet/hands the most when he's breech. Which leads us to believe he could be losing slack when he moves sideways and his movements become sluggish.

So given these facts, this is why WE (Graham and I) chose to schedule a c-section...I am in no hurry to repeat what happened at Quinn's delivery. He was a "surprise",

(not knowing the gender that is)

so I woke up in an empty recovery room, all by myself, having no idea what just happened. 

The surgery was done so quickly they didn't give me an epidural, I had general anesthesia, so I woke up, alone, in a daze, I had no idea how long I had been asleep for or if my baby was still alive or been born unscathed without any brain damage. And if they did survive, I didn't know if it was a boy or girl. Also, I was highly tolerant to the pain meds they had been giving me while I was still unconscious so I woke up in CRAZY amounts of pain. Finally a nurse came in to check on me and I told her I needed pain meds...she said I had been having them for hours. She ended up having to give me morphine before I could be transferred to a real recovery room and meet my baby. She also didn't mention anything about my baby and just said she'd let my husband come see me. So I thought for sure it was bad news. I got the news we had a healthy boy from Graham, 

 hours after Quinn was born.

Just to sum that up for you:

SHITTY. 

REAAAAAALY SHITTY.

Here's what's awesome about my OB now and scheduling a

 c-section...

family centered c-sections and getting to choose when it all goes down.

Yeah, Mack could go head down maybe, or he could be in the perfect frank breech position when I go into labor, but there is NO guarantee that he'll stay that way, or have enough cord slack to come out. Plus, Dr. Bootstaylor says he's a huge supporter of breech births, but the mom has to be in it mentally 100%. 

Honestly, I'm not. 

After the year and a half that I've had...I'm totally expecting something to go wrong. Especially if I try for a vaginal birth at this point. 

What's important to me is those moments right after the baby is born. Being together, and conscious, and happy.

Dr. Bootstaylor is the only OB in Atlanta that practices 

Family Centered C-sections.

I'm not strapped to the table, and when it comes time for him to bring the baby out they drop the drape so I can see him being born (much like a vaginal delivery), the midwife will help pull my gown down a little bit, take the baby from the doctor, and bring him straight to me. He stays on my chest, in my arms, for the rest of the time! So once he's on my chest they pull the drape back up, dim the lights, and we get to be together until it's time to transfer me to recovery. Always staying together. There are no warmers, or nurseries, or nurses taking him away. Graham doesn't have to leave my side either to chase after where ever they usually end up taking them. Another upside to this is Dr. Bootstaylor really takes his time. He schedules them further apart so he can go slowly and do his best to work some of the fluid out of the baby's lungs while he's bringing them out...something that naturally occurs by the baby going through the birth canal. He also milks the cord before cutting it so the baby keeps as much of their blood as possible.

Here's a video if you'd like to get more details about it:

So basically, as close to a "normal" birth as you can get, 

without it actually being normal.

Now, I know for some this still isn't enough.

It's not the real thing.

It's not the same as a natural, vaginal birth.

But you know what?

I'm good with it.

I'm just dealing with facts.

I still don't think it's right to schedule c-sections unnecessarily, but when there are so many questions and so many doubts...I had to ask myself, 

"At what point is a vaginal birth still worth it?"

And amazingly enough, my OB and midwives asked the same thing. Instead of forcing him down, maybe we should ask ourselves why he's not.

Baby's are smart, and often try to tell us things 

as best they can.

He has enough fluid and room, he's been encouraged in all the ways we know how 

(introversion, moxibustion, laying on left side, etc etc etc)

so now the questions were "Why?" and "Is it worth it?"

And because the practice I have chosen is amazing at supporting mothers, the choice was left to us.

The parents.

We were given all the facts and advice and evidence, and then given a voice to say what we wanted.

So we decided that the most important thing to us was a non-traumatizing delivery, followed by constant contact with our baby.

So we have chosen 41wks and 1day.

October 4, 2013.

That's the day our Mack comes.

If I go into labor before that we will just move the surgery up to then, but let's be honest...I'm not gonna go into labor before then. haha 

We all know this.

I am honestly thrilled.

I feel so much less anxiety and stress.

I'm just excited now. Which is exactly how it should be.

A mother's last few weeks should be a good, positive healthy kind of anxious.

"When will it be? Do I have everything I need?"

Not negative thoughts and terrifying worries.

I am so thankful to my team of midwives and our obstetrician. They have been so supportive and encouraging.

It's very weird to know the day and time my baby is coming, but man, 

it's gonna be awesome. 

xoxo, Heather

tasty tuesday's: Chicken -without the noodles- Soup

I posted this on my facebook page the other day when I made it, but wanted to share it again on here in case anyone missed it.

This is my favorite, "go to" soup.

It's so warm and savory and nourishing it's just too good not to share. Plus it's pretty simple to make and doesn't use any crazy ingredients.

It's a little more time consuming than a lot of other recipes I post, 

but man oh man...it's totally worth it.

I've been feeling under the weather the last few days with an unfortunate summer cold, but this soup seriously works wonders.

I found it via pinterest, but the recipe comes from a website called SlimPalate.

The author and cook behind the site is a teenage boy who's been losing weight the healthy way. He's super inspiring and such an amazing creator of food. You can follow his recipe there, just click on the link or click here.

Here's a picture of the delicious soup I made...

try not to drool on your computer ;)

xoxo,

Heather

lately.

So, I've been in sort of a funk.

Stuck.

I feel like I've had so much going on in my brain and I've tried so many times to sit down and write that I've lost count, but it just comes out all jumbled up and rambling on.

This post might come off that way as well, but I have been feeling the urge to try and write again.

Despite my crazy, jumbly up brain.

There has definitely been a lot going on lately...

Quinn's birthday is coming up on the 11th, but we celebrated early at the lake over Labor Day Weekend.

I'm that mom who HAS to give her kids a party...but I'm just so tired and uncomfortable that the thought of planning one was exhausting. So I took the easy route and just did it up big while we were already down there with family.

I just bought generic decorations at the party store, so all I had to really put any effort into was his shirt and the cupcakes...

which were both the easiest things ever! 

High fives for me! But the best part is

I think he really enjoyed it and felt special.

He wanted a "Mike Wazowski Monster Party":)

Sibling Love :)

We have a new tradition too of going to the mall for play and lunch and going on the Merry Go 'Round for birthdays. Plus we'll let him pick where we eat dinner that night,

 (he'll most likely pick Chick-fil-a because he's original like that) 

so I'm not too worried about him feeling "forgotten about" in the midst of all this baby drama.

Speaking of baby drama...

I got a stubborn baby boy in here who's 

not turning head down.

At 37 weeks and roughly 8lbs 

this isn't the most ideal situation to be in...

We're doing everything we can at home to encourage him to turn and we meet with our OB on Thursday to kind of 

talk about our options. 

It's hard to birth a baby the natural way if their head is in your side so...

who knows what's going to happen.

Overall, I'm ok with it all. 

I'm much more go with the flow this time around than I have been in the past. If there's anything I can do to avoid a 

c-section and medicine, trust me I'll do it, but at this point it kinda feels out of my hands.

I've been stressing, and working, and trying so hard to turn him down and I just realized the other day it's ultimately up to him. There's some crazy reason why he hasn't turned and I'm ok with that. Baby's are way smarter than we give them credit for. So I'm just going to try and trust him, and make the best, most educated decisions I can...probably while crying the whole time because my hormones are crazy out of control, but ya know...I'll be sobbing happy tears I guess.

I'm really looking forward to fall...

I usually go through a phase like this every year, but this year the longing is for reals. For. REALS.

I'm just ready for cooler weather, annnnd most of all not being pregnant. It's no secret this pregnancy has been hard, and I feel like there's still so much of it to come (not knowing what the heck this baby is going to do or how he will make his way into this crazy world), so I'm just taking it day by day and look forward to when he finally gets here and we can enjoy pumpkin-y things, chubby newborn legs, trick or treating, and so much more this season has to offer us...

We bought our first baby pumpkins at the farmers market...

unbelievably cute. :)

I'll be trying to update more, and you know of course I'll post when he comes and a birth story and all of that jazz...thanks for being patient with me friends. :) 


xoxo,
Heather