September 25, 2018 (Updated March 2, 2023)

Recent Eats + Exercise

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

19 comments
Hi guys! Popping in with some food and fitness highlights from the past few days. Let’s start with food – specifically BBQ!

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 Matt, Riese, our friend Shane, and I hit up Rockland’s BBQ on Saturday for a (super) early dinner and it was delicious. Besides the BBQ and baked beans, I really love their vinegar-y cucumber salad – super tangy! Next time I’m there I’m going to ask how they make it so I can recreate it at home and share it with you guys. 🙂 It was nice out on Saturday so before getting the BBQ, we played some tennis! We wanted to do something outdoorsy and so did our friend Shane, but Matt and I weren’t really feeling a hike since we just went hiking on Friday for my birthday. So, tennis it was! It worked out well because there are some courts right by a playground, so one of us hung out with Riese at the playground while the other person played tennis with Shane, and then we swapped. 🙂 We had to wait ages for a court because other people had the same idea, but it was a nice day so it was all good! Love this little nugget so much. 🙂 And yes, that’s dirt on her chin – she kept crawling off the blanket and trying to stuff grass and/or dirt into her mouth. As for Sunday, it was rainy alllllllll day – bummer! I went off to a yoga class – good day for some cozy indoor fitness. rainy day yoga I took advantage of afternoon naptime that day and threw together some peanut butter oatmeal bars to snack on this week. I was going to make balls, but I was too lazy to shape them into balls, so I just put it into a pie dish and figure I will cut out bars as needed. 🙂 If you want to make them, here’s the combination I did:
  • 2.5 cups rolled oats
  • 2 cups smooth peanut butter
  • 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
  • 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 3/4 cup dried fruit
  • pinch of salt
peanut butter bars oatmeal If you want more no bake snack ideas, here are a few faves from the archives: For dinner Sunday we roasted some asparagus that needed to be used, and picked up a rotisserie chicken, rice, and beans to go with it. Yummy! Riese LOVES chicken so she was really pumped about this. It was nice to have dinner all together – on weeknights we aren’t done with work in time to all have dinner together, which is a bummer. Leftover birthday tart for dessert once Riese went to bed. 🙂 I’m working on a baby/postpartum update post for Thursday – Riese is 10 months old now, ahhh! – if you have any specific questions/topics you want me to discuss, please let me know! 🙂 Have a great day guys!
- anne

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19 comments
  • Gen
    Happy belated birthday! Not related to this post, but I am taking my mom to DC for her first time and would live thoughts on what she must ABSOLUTELY see. We will be there Thursday through Monday at lunch - any food Rex’s also greatly appreciated! We are staying at The Darcy, so not far from the memorials and shush. Thanks!!
    Reply
    • Anne
      Oh fun! I have a bunch of DC recs on my FAQ page: https://www.fannetasticfood.com/faq/
      Reply
      • Gen
        Thanks!
        Reply
  • Stephanie
    This is a random reader request, but do you have an opinion on protein powders and kids? I see recipes for balls/bars with them included and I really hesitate to use them for my kids. I love the recipe you have above and am planning to try Irma out for them.
    Reply
    • Anne
      I don't think protein powder is necessary, especially for kids - I'd stick with balls/bars that don't include them, but that's just my opinion, and also assumes that your children get enough protein from other sources. :)
      Reply
      • Stephanie
        Thanks! I'm far more apt to try to find it in food. And I did not mean Irma above, that was an autocorrect!
        Reply
  • Ashley
    Love your blog! Thanks for sharing - Riese is adorable :) I'm a fellow working mom - to a 10 month old, too! I would love to hear a bit more about how you balance chores, errands, etc with work and parenting, time for exercise. As I read your post, I found myself envious of your seemingly low paced weekend. I feel like mine are packed with house chores, grocery trips, etc and I have little time to slow down and savor family time. Do you outsource some things? I'm finding it hard to "do it all". Thanks for your thoughts!
    Reply
    • Anne
      It's definitely hard to balance everything! I think this really depends on your specific situation -- I'm not going to discuss this in Thursday's post because it's so specific to us/our situation (and because I don't necessarily want to open the door for "must be nice" comments or comparison), but here is generally how we make it work since you asked. We outsource grocery shopping most weeks (we do Amazon Fresh for general groceries, and then also Blue Apron for dinners), although sometimes I'll go on my work days, or on one of my mom days, if we need something specific/from a different store. We also outsource house cleaning and have been doing that for many years... very worth it expense for us, although obviously I know not everyone can afford to do that and we are lucky to be able to do so. We do do a lot of house stuff on the weekends that I don't mention in weekend recap posts - tidying up, etc. - it's amazing how quickly the house descends into chaos with a baby around! For dinner and dishes, one person cooks dinner and the other person does the dishes. We are incredibly lucky that our nanny does laundry, and we'll put laundry away in the evenings after Riese goes to bed. For errands and exercise, Matt and I use a teamwork approach. Sometimes I'll try to sneak in errands during my work hours (again, I know not everyone can do this and I'm lucky), or we will either do some on the weekends with Riese in tow as a family, or trade off so one of us is home and the other is doing errands. Same with exercise - sometimes we will go together (family runs, walks, etc.), other times we will trade off. This weekend, Matt had a workout with his trainer on Saturday morning while I took Riese to a music class, we had our fun tennis adventure in the afternoon where we traded off, and then I went to yoga on Sunday while he enjoyed some time with Riese. Teamwork! So, yeah - I think it's really specific to your situation, but if you can afford to outsource even a tiny bit, that can help a lot, and for the rest, teamwork is key!
      Reply
      • Ashley
        Thank you for the reply! I appreciate you sharing how you guys make things work for you. The teamwork approach is key and I think my husband and I use similar techniques to get things done. Thanks!
        Reply
  • Anon
    I’m curious with how you manage the evening. We have a 9 month old. My husband and I talked trade off daycare pickup and everyone is usually home around 6. Then it feels like a mad rush to prep her dinner (puréed and some vegetables), feed her, bathe her, nurse her, and put her to bed between 7:30 and 8. During that time someone is usually trying to cook our dinner too which we sometimes manage to eat with her, but usually not in which case dinner gets pushed back really late.
    Reply
    • Anne
      I'll talk about the schedule we've fallen into some in Thursday's post! But basically, Matt gets home around 6:30, and usually by then I've started the bedtime routine. We don't do a bath every night, so that saves some time. Matt and I eat dinner after Riese goes to bed because right now it feels too chaotic to try to eat together... not enough time and Riese likes an earlier bedtime! So, one of us will do bedtime stuff with Riese (sometimes I'll nurse her first and then she'll have a bottle, or sometimes she'll just get a bottle, depending how nursing timing worked out during the day) and the other will make dinner. Riese usually goes to bed around 7 and we have dinner around 7:30/45 or so. I'd love to have a family dinner all together but it's just not realistic for us right now with work timing! I'm not sure what we're going to do about that in the future as she has less milk and more real food - we'll see!
      Reply
  • Beth
    I have a one month old and am seriously sleep deprived! I’d love any tips on how you got Riese to sleep well. Thanks!
    Reply
    • Anne
      Honestly I don't have any advice here - we just got lucky that she started naturally stretching out her sleeping as she got older. At one month, we were really sleep deprived, too... I feel you. Hang in there!
      Reply
    • Rachel
      One month out is so hard - you can’t compare your situation to a 10 month old. I barely slept for the first three months of my sons life. Things get a little better around three months and much better sleep wise around the 6 month mark (if you sleep train). Hang in there! It’s so hard but temporary.
      Reply
      • Anne
        So true - things change SO much, even just week by week!
        Reply
  • Meagan
    Is there anything you wish you had/hadn't done in your postpartum care leading up to this point?
    Reply
    • Anne
      Interesting question! I think the main thing is just being kinder to myself... I have a hard time with feeling guilty no matter what I'm doing. Working on it!
      Reply
  • Claudia W.
    Hi Anne, random question here. Is that rotisserie chicken from a Peruvian place? Just asking because I saw (maybe) it came with sauces that resembled the Aji Amarillo sauces you usually get at Peruvian Rotisserie places. I think it’s been too long since I had it. Just missing my Peruvian food.
    Reply
    • Anne
      It is! If you are local, our fave is Caribbean Grill on Lee Highway. I've heard El Pollo Rico is awesome too (also in Arlington)!
      Reply