Anouchka Talks

The arrival of my second trimester has brought with it a renewed sense of energy.  While I still find plenty of things to complain about (a talent I've always had), I am delighted to no longer be "tossing my cookies."  Speaking of cookies, how about this for a natural segue? Today I made two kinds of cookies:  peanut butter chocolate chunk and maple oatmeal raisin. Peanut butter chocolate chunk (left) and maple oatmeal raisin (right) Tell me, what better activity is there than cranking your oven up to 350 degrees on a humid, Midwestern summer evening? Both of these are adaptations of recipes I found on Pinterest.  The peanut butter chocolate chunk/chip may very well be my new favorite in the whole wide world.  (One suggestion that I believe to be an improvement on the original recipe is to cut the sugar in half, especially if you're using the Splenda brown sugar blend as I did.)  However, the maple oatmeal raisin "cookie nuggets" aren't too b

Disclaimer:   Dearest reader, please don't misunderstand my intentions in this post.  I'm not about to make this blog all about pregnancy and eventually a baby that, for the most part, you could care less about.  However, as  Anouchka Talks  is a rather egocentric blog, I am going to continue to talk about my life.  Right now I'm getting fat... ...and I want to gripe about it. oOo KNOCKED UP MOOD COMPLAINTS It's no secret:  Sometimes pregnant women get emotional.  This, of course, is not limited solely to crying inappropriately over Taco Bell commercials, but is also evident in mood swings and overall crabbyness. I am not a crier.  I am a grouch. I don't particularly subscribe to the school of thought that pregnant women should get to treat other people like dirt because we feel fat and/or icky.  Furthermore, I don't believe that all mood swings are a result of hormone changes.  Whatever happened to just plain having a bad day?  Still, sudden