five things | from the week and a recipe

1. marlo has started this amazing thing where at night after i tell her that i love her, she'll declare to me, "i love you more, mama!" swooooon.

2. watch this episode of between two ferns with zach galifianakis and brad pitt. it is so, so good. side note: when i was pregnant with marlo, i developed bizarre crushes on ellen degeneres, tom selleck, and blake griffin. hormones, man. this time, it's zach galifianakis. my hormones are twisted jokester bitches.

3. last night, i felt little baby flutters for the first time. i felt them fairly early on with marlo (around 15 weeks, i think) and i'm almost at 14 weeks now so it's not too far off. it probably helps that i'm not mistaking them for gas this time around. needless to say, it was as amazing and unbelievable as it was when i first felt little baby mo somersault inside of me.

4. i bought baby some swaddles earlier this week when aden + anais was featured on gilt and man... let me tell you something that has never been truer: even though i'm keeping the things we buy baby to an absolute minimum this round (it is amazing to me how much we thought we needed with mo that we never actually used), there is something about tiny miniature baby things and picturing a squishy, sweet-smelling newborn wrapped up like a burrito that really gives me all the feelings. you guys. we're having another baby. ANOTHER BABY. makes my heart do a little pitter patter that sounds something like mo's feet running around barefoot on the hardwood floors.

5. yesterday, i was feeling pretty crummy. pregnancy is so grand and all that noise. it was also rainy out. aaannnnd i've also entered that part of my pregnancy where my decisions surrounding what i eat are based 100% on impulse and driven by an unbelievable unseen force that scares my husband. out of nowhere, i got a craving for coconut curry and chicken soup at the same time so i walked my hangry pregnant ass to the corner bodega and whipped it up the second i walked in through the door. a few people have asked for the recipe so, here it is. enjoy

what:

one red bell pepper, sliced thinly

half of a red onion, diced

one cup baby bella mushrooms, sliced

one can organic lite coconut milk

one-half can coconut cream (found this at TJ's)

four cups unsalted chicken stock

two cups shredded rotisserie chicken (you can substitute shrimp, too)

one bunch cilantro, divided in half

two scallions, light green and white parts chopped

one tbsp grated ginger

two tbsp red curry paste

one tsp toasted sesame oil

two cloves garlic, minced

zest and juice of two limes

one tbsp fish sauce (there is no substitution, sorry)

two tbsp canola or grapeseed oil

4 oz rice noodles

sliced jalapeño, optional

how:

over medium heat, add the onion, garlic, mushrooms, and ginger and cook for a few minutes in the grapeseed oil. next, add 3/4ths of the red pepper, leaving the rest for garnishing the soup, and cook for a few more minutes. next, add the curry paste, sesame oil, and fish sauce. cook for one minute until the sauce mixture coats the veggies and the aroma is noticeable. it should be pretty thick. 

add both coconut milks and chicken stock. bring to a boil and add the shredded chicken and rice noodles. cook according to directions on box (about three minutes). *if you were substituting shrimp, add the shrimp when you add the noodles and they'll cook at the same time. 

once the noodles are cooked, add a handful of chopped cilantro leaves, one scallion, and the zest and juice of the limes. portion into bowls and top with red bell peppers, cilantro, and green onion. i also add thinly sliced jalapeño to the top of mine since i keep the soup more on the mild side for little mo. 

makes enough for two days of lunches for both myself and marlo.

enjoy!!