Revelations from Living

We've had a very interesting last week.

1. We took a family vacation to Harrisburg.  Okay, its not Disney, but it was a lovely time.  We went to celebrate the 1st birthday of my cousin's daughter, Lily, and decided to stay for a mini vacation.

The kids think that hotels are just about the coolest things ever.  We went swimming, ate Vietnamese food and then hit the State Museum and the Capitol building.

P and J on the big pig

Q, our little Cabbage Patch Doll

During the tour of the Capitol, Logan asked, "why is there so much gold in this room?"  What a great question!  It was hard for him to understand that the reason was simply that we had tons of money, so that's how they decided to spend it.

My boy, L, humoring his father by riding on a snail

It really was a great couple of days.

2. Since focusing on our nutrition, I've noticed a couple of things:
    a. The baby is constipated.  Well, I think that all the kids are.
    b. The W's are gassier than normal.  Stinky!  This is despite our bean sprouting because, let's face it, you can't sprout every bean you eat.  Sometimes, you just don't plan appropriately.
    c. When meat is near my children, they become a pack of hungry wolves.  J never really was a meat-lover, but you wouldn't know that lately.
    d. It is too difficult to eat out being a vegan, especially when the only "non-meat" option is tofu.  Hello, endocrine system.  Want some mutations?  That can't be the only option.
   
    This got me interested in reading more about veganism, which is essentially was a plant-strong diet is.  I read about an 11 month old breastfed baby that died because of a lack of nutrients...her mother was vegan.  I read about how to ensure that vegans get the proper nutrition.  At the State Museum, I read about the diets of man, from the earliest man until now.  I read a lot!  And, I could read more, if I wanted.  Then, a friend sent me a more in-depth review of the Forks Over Knives movie, with several rebuttal points.  Intriguing.

What I've realized is that I am happy to cut the meat in our diets.  It makes financial sense.  It makes sense our strain on the environment.  It makes sense to be kinder to animals.  BUT, meat is not evil.  The way we treat our foods is evil, i.e. hormones, pesticides, added sugar, overly processing, tons of added fats.

I am still going to continue this focus on nutrition.  I will continue to ensure that we eat as few processed food items as possible.  I will continue to sprout our legumes.  I will continue to offer days with no animal products. I will, however, make meals with meats (fish is key) and eggs.  The portions aren't going to be crazy large, though, like they are in many homes.  A deck of cards each.  That's it!  I'm thinking, pesca-tarian with occasional other meats.  My hubby will be thrilled, if he ever reads this.

3. C is a KLUTZ.  That's right!  Several days ago, J was jumping over her (a game) and then fell on her arm.  Fast forward 2 days later and while trying to get a doll from the floor, she fell off of my bed and re-injured her arm.  She has a huge black bruise from her wrist, about 3 inches up her arm.  She continues to hit it and cry.  She falls all the time and bumps into people all the time.  She's a wreck, but we love her.

My stylin' girl, C.  She is so much fun!

4. Never use your children in a lie. Okay, this one is obvious, or so you'd think.  On Valentine's Day, I went to lunch at Wegman's and I really wanted to put C in the babysitting room.  She'll be 3 in less than a month and she's been potty trained for nearly a year.  So, I put her in the room and filled out the card with a fictitious birthday (come on, you know you've done the same, so don't judge me!).  J was all, "mom, C is 3 now?!"  I said, "C can go in the babysitting room with you."  On and on go C and J about how C is 3.  That afternoon, they told L that C can go in the babysitting room at Wegman's, to which he corrected them.  Three days, I had to listen to C talk about how she is 3.  Eeek!  Seriously, this girl can talk for an hour, non-stop.  I told the girls that I made a mistake.  Now, C keeps talking to me about her birthday. Better get on that!

Lentils

Lentils are a legume that is fairly new to me.  I've eaten them only a few times before, in Indian food.  They are known as daal, and in the dishes I've tried, they were extremely tasty.   A few weeks ago, I tried to make lentils a meat replacement in shepards' pie.  Not good!  Not because they weren't good, but because the recipe I tried stunk.  I actually didn't even attempt to serve it to P because I knew he would hate it.

This weekend, I decided to sprout the remaining bag of lentils, which really took less than 24 hours.  Its so super easy to do, really.  You should give it a try!  Briefly, soak the lentils overnight, drain and let sit, moist for 12 hours.  If not sprouted yet, rinse and let sit for another 12 hours. Anyway, I found a great site about lentils that had a few recipes that I decided to give a try.

Tonight's dinner: Middle Eastern Lentil Soup
Ingredients:
2 cups of sprouted lentils
1 onion, diced
1 box (4 cups) veggie broth
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp ground cumin
scant 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp pink salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Directions:
I didn't have time to mess around with doing it the prescribed way, so this is what I did:  In a pot, saute one diced onion in some water.  After the onion is transparent, add the spices and saute for a minute.  Add broth, bell pepper and lentils, cover and bring to a boil.  Drop to a simmer for 20 minutes or less, until the lentils are soft.  Add the lemon juice, parsley and yogurt.  Serve with a dollop of yogurt, if desired.

P and L had 2 bowls.  And the girls?  Well, they ate it...even though all my kids despise red bell peppers.  Oh, and I mean despise!  This recipe is another keeper, but I will have to double the recipe because I only had a small bowl, since there wasn't enough.

With the rest of the lentils, I made the lentils and rice.
Ingredients:
2 cups of brown rice, soaked and drained
7 cups water
2 onions, diced
3 cups sprouted lentils
2 tsp pink salt
2 Tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
2 Tbsp curry powder
2 tsp oregano
4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
4 bay leaves
Directions:
Saute the onion in a little water until transparent, then add the spices and saute for about a minute.  Add water, rice and lentils, bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce to a simmer until rice cooks, about an hour.

The recipe, as recorded, has too much salt and garlic, so I reduced the amounts in the above ingredient list.

The kids aren't loving the texture of the lentils, but they are nutritious and a quite easy legume to cook up (read: it takes 20 minute to cook, not 2 hours).  And, more importantly, they ate them :-)

Menu Planning

I've been really sucking on the food front this past week or so, and I think I've got it figured out.  I need to plan out our menus.  This new way of eating isn't like the old way, where you can open the cabinet or refrigerator and 20 minutes later have dinner heading to the table.  It is a pain in the butt.

Tonight, we had the funniest dinner.  In the freezer, I had a tupperware bowl of alphabet soup in a tomato base (carrots, celery, onion, spinach, pasta, tomato sauce, basil, garlic and oregano).  In the refrigerator, I had a spiced pumpkin soup with quinoa (pumpkin, onion, curry, cumin, nutmeg, garlic, quinoa, salt and pepper).  Neither dishes were totally well received.  Okay, the kids were fans of the ABC soup, and I thought the pumpkin soup was okay.  But, let's be honest, they were both kind of just blah.  I guess that's what happens when you don't add fat to the meal.

The biggest problem is the uncertainty of it all.  What to make?  Will it be well received?  Ugh!

And, because I don't have a menu planned out, I don't know what to buy.  My goal is to reduce our grocery bill and get back on track with healthy eating.  

I've seen a variety of menu planning boards on pinterest: here, here and here.  My goal this next week: to make my own board.

I've already listed my menu items to include on the board.  So far, I have:

veggie burgers (any kind, like beet-y burgers, Morgan's Veggie Burgers, or these Veggie Burger Buns with a portabello mushroom as the meat)

sweet potato and quinoa chili

soup (yellow split-pea/lentil soup, African kale/sweet potato soup, carrot soup, Marakesh stew, curried lentil with cauliflower, roasted beet)

rice and beans (Almost Chipotle, Cuban rice and black beans, Cafe Rio)

bean and veggie burritos...I really want to try this Mexican Slaw in them

homemade pizza

Spaghetti

quinoa and veggie salad type thing (Heather's, Superfood salad, Tabbouleh)

I've decided to keep it simple for now.  After we get this down a bit better than we have it now, I'll start adding one new menu item a week.  Who knows?!  It'll probably be spring then and time to change up the menu.  Grrr!

wwYOUd?

Did you see last week's What Would You Do? on ABC?  They had a really interesting bit about veganism / food preferences.  Essentially, a vegan mom and her child go out to eat when she has to step away from the table.  Now, all alone, the child is offered meat by the couple at the next table.  This couple seems extremely consumed by their concern that the child is not receiving enough protein in her diet, so they order her a hot dog.  wwYOUd?

It made me think about the conversations P and I have been having about how sacred people's food/diet choices are to them.  Have you ever noticed that people are way passionate about their diet choices?  Whether its vegetarian, vegan, paleo, carnivorous, boxed/convenience food, etc..., people get extremely upset and offended if you don't agree with them. *Okay, here's the disclosure:  This is obviously a broad generalization, as I am friends with several people with conflicting diet choices with whom I am able to have very good conversations around food.  This is more of a generalized comment on the population as a whole.* I know that one of my brothers seemed very upset when he found out that we were reducing our meat consumption. "I am a carnivore!  Why would God give us canine teeth if he didn't want us to eat meat?!"  Of course, I have a response, but there comes a time in one's life that you realize that there are some people you just don't argue with because frankly, you will never agree.  My brother is one of these people.  Come to think of it, most of my siblings are like this.

My dad and niece

We must have gotten this temperament from our father.

But, I digress...Anyway...I was happy to see that most people stepped in to stop the meat pushers, but what bugged me is the fact that I can envision people doing this in real life; trying to convince your child that your diet choices are not healthy.

Now, I say that, but we do this slightly, with trying to convince others to eat fewer processed and high fat and sugar foods.  So, where do we draw the line?  When is it that you think it is appropriate to step in and comment to a child or their parent about their family food choice.  Now, this doesn't mean to ask questions for understanding. This means to tell them that they are wrong and force your opinions upon them.

Oh, and another really thought-provoking thing I saw on TV.  I LOVE it!  Click the link and let me know what you think.

Set Backs

Last week was not successful on the food, weight loss or exercise fronts.

Exercise? What's that?!  Besides the 3.7 miles I ran with Paul a week ago, Sunday, I've been pretty sedentary.  I wish I could blame it on something, but I can't. I was just tired or stressed or busy or had a sick kid.  I'm sure I could have but, I just didn't make it a priority.  I had these grandiose plans of getting to bed by 10, up at 5 to start laundry and do at least 30 minutes on the treadmill.  Then, MWF's I was going to take a weight class at the gym.  No dice.

Weight Loss?  Not a complete failure, but I didn't lose a single pound.  Though, I didn't gain any either.  I guess that part's a plus.

Food?  Okay, seriously, I think this part has to do with most of my melancholy, blah feeling this past week.  The first few days, I was doing okay, but then, stress and life got in the way and it was easier to fall back into old habits than to make a healthy plant-strong meal.  My mom bought Chinese food on Thursday, P bought hot dogs, soda and chips that same day which resulted in having those items on Friday because I was busy attending to some other things (like my sick boy).

And then, last night, I made my family a beef soup because a. I had organic beef in the freezer still, and b. I know that they had a hankering for some meat.  Me? I ate a salad.  I have to say that a little piece of me was cringing as I saw my family eating meat, but I must remember that I want my kids to have a healthy relationship with food.  And a little meat won't kill them, especially when its organic beef instead of hot dogs.  Right?

I'm in a new mindset today, feeling rejuvenated and motivated.  I'm hoping to get some work done this morning and then hit the gym for a 4 pm class, but only after making sure dinner is ready to be prepared when we walk back in the door.  Well, that's the plan.  Let's see what life throws at us.

Hey Doc...

...did you leave your brain at home?  You wrote a prescription for the wrong medication and fed me conflicting information.  Hello?!

Okay, I'm no doctor, BUT I am an educated mother.  Meaning, you told me that my child has vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), so I researched it and have paid close attention to everything you've ever said.

Yesterday, my mom and I took C (along with Q) down to St. Christopher's Children's Hospital for her urology appointment.  She had a kidney ultrasound and a VCUG (voiding cystourethrogram) in the morning and saw the specialist right afterward.  

She did amazingly well during her ultrasound, especially compared to December 2010, when she last had one.  At that point, they couldn't even read the test because she squirmed hysterically the entire time.  This time, with the help of the iPad, she was much calmer.  Hysterical? Yes, but only for the first 1/2 of the test.

The iPad was useless during the VCUG, though.  During the procedure, they catheterized C, and then took pictures of her kidneys, bladder and ureters.  I could see the second the dye became detectable, that she still had grade 4 reflux.  It was such a bummer, as we were really hoping for some signs of improvement.  Nonetheless, it is what it is.

This is Grade IV reflux.  The white ball at the bottom is the bladder, the tubes extending from it, the ureters.  At the top of the ureters, you can see that the urine flows into the kidney, the flowery area.

Previously, the Doctor said that if there was no improvement at this point, that we should move forward with surgery.  I definitely have prepared myself for the potential for that.  What I didn't prepare for was the Urologist saying, "Her kidneys have gotten larger, and there's been no improvement with the reflux.  She's still young.  Let's give it another year and see what happens."  


----screeeeechhhhh--- HOLD THE PHONE!

Let's just say that was not what I was expecting.  What happened to "there's a 60% chance that kids with grade 4 reflux will have to have it surgically corrected.  Since we haven't seen any improvement at this point [12/2010], I am going to assume that we won't.  But, she is still young.  Let's give it 15 months, recheck, and if there is still no improvement, I would recommend surgery?!"  


AND...her kidneys have increased in size.  Let's just say, that's not good. The medical term is hydronephrosis.  In essence, as a result of the urine coming back into the kidneys, they have been scarred and damaged.  This decreases their efficacy and could cause problems down the road for her.  Currently, her blood pressure is 110 over 64.  For an adult, that is great. For a 2/3 year old, it is too high.  Now, could her bp be up because of the stress of being in the hospital? Yes.  But, I must note that while the nurse was taking her bp, she was calm and had a smile on her face.  They also don't take bp readings on children this young at their primary care provider appointments.  So, we really have nothing which to compare her bp reading.  But, the fact of the matter is that high blood pressure is a result of damage to the kidneys, so we should be cautious.  An appointment with a pediatric nephrologist was suggested.


That's when I told him that I'd rather not wait.  C will be starting preschool next year.  I don't want her to have to miss it for surgery and doctor appointments.  She is terrified by the doctor already.  There is no way that I want to prolong this for her.  Each additional appointment with her urologist results in another catheterization which causes her pain and fear.  Every time she has a fever, she gets catheterized.  This is just really no fun for anyone, especially a toddler.  Her medication has to be specially made, so I don't carry it around (don't want to lose it). This means that she can't spend the night at grandma's house or her friend's house unless I've planned it out and brought her medication along.  The medicine is not cheap.  And, let's not even touch the cost of health insurance.  We selected our current plan based on surgery this year. Let' just say that it isn't cheap.


What do we get for waiting?  An extremely slight chance that the defect will self-correct.  In 2010, he said that it was less than 10% that it would. Of course, I don't want to see my girl suffer and undergo surgery, but I don't want to put off the inevitable and make it more of a memory than it should be.  I think that at this point, she probably wouldn't remember it at all.  I'd much rather her have little to no memory, than to be traumatized further.


Next step?  C will have a DMSA renal scan towards the end of March to assess the scarring on her kidneys.  She's had this test once before and it wasn't pretty.  2 hours prior to the procedure, they inject radioactive dye into a vein.  Then, the patient has to lie extremely still on a thin board as they have a device take pictures of the kidneys, from both top and bottom.  C did not do well with this, so much so, that they had to take a huge cloth and wrap her entire body to the table.  She was horrified.  This time, they are going to sedate her.  The sedation is at my request.  Since they have to tap a vein anyway, why not give her some peace at the same time.  I must admit that I am a bit nervous about how her body will react to the sedation (it isn't 100% safe, you know), but I think its best for her.  Regardless, we can always change our mind about the sedation, if we deem it to be too risky, or if she seems willing to cooperate during the test.

The previous DMSA scan showed some scarring or a growth abnormality or nothing to be worried about. Don't you just love when the results are so definitive?! [this is where a sarcastic font would come in great use].  I'm feeling that this one will probably show more definitive scarring since we haven't seen improvement in the reflux, and we've seen the high blood pressure.  Fingers are crossed, though, that it shows nothing.


After the scan, C will have another appointment with her Urologist to discuss the particulars of the surgery.  We are hoping that our scrappy little girl can come through all of this with a smile on her face. I know that either way, our scrappy little girl will come through all of this with a smile on her face.  Let's just hope that the Doctor shows up, on the same page!

Beans, beans, the magical protein...

Beans, beans, the magical fruit. The more you eat 'em, the more you toot!  Heck yes!  That is so true!  Well, that's unless you sprout your beans.

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten this menu planning thing down, so thrice this week, I had to open my emergency cans of beans, instead of using sprouted beans.  Not to worry, all you downwind from us.  Today, I cooked 2 bags of sprouted beans, so we should be good going forward.  correction: The chickpeas burnt because all the water burned off.  Poop!

Here's 3 recipes we tried this week. 

Black Bean, Sweet Potato, Quinoa Chili  adapted from With Style & Grace

This is not the first quinoa and black bean chili we've tried, but this was the best!  Next time, I'll add some additional veggies, like carrots, celery, zucchini, and the like.  Here's what I threw in the pot.

Ingredients:

2 small onions, diced and saute'd in a little water

2 cans of black beans

2 cans of diced tomatoes

4 cloves of chopped garlic

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

2 large sweet potatoes, in bite size chunks

8 cups of water

1 cup of quinoa, soaked for 4-5 hours and rinsed

2 Tbsp ground coriander

2 Tbsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

Bring all of this to a boil, reduce to medium low heat and cook for about 30 minutes, until the sweet potato is done.  Serve with fresh cilantro and a bottle of hot sauce, if you'd like.

This is going to be our new go-to chili!

Spinach-Coconut Chickpea Fritters   adapted from the family kitchen

These are a quick and easy meal, served with leftover soup.  The men of the house enjoyed them immensely, though us girls liked them just fine.  It could be the nutritional yeast that confused my palette.  Next time, I think I'll reduce or omit it, and add some additional spices.

Ingredients:

1 can Great Northern Beans, drained, rinsed and mashed with a fork

1 can Chickpeas, drained, rinsed and slightly mashed with a fork

1 bag of Olivia's Organic Spinach, (just because I don't know amount), wilted/cut (about 1 1/2 cups)

3/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs + extra to coat

1 tsp maple syrup

2 Tbsp coconut milk, the white part on the top of the can when you open it

1/4 tsp pink sea salt, or whatever salt you have

pepper, to taste

1 tsp garlic powder

Combine all the ingredients, form into patties (I got 13), press into additional bread crumbs. Put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, flipping 1/2 way through.

Super Mac-n-Cheese

Now, this is not vegan, but this was a quick and easy lunch with protein and veggies for my favorite little girls.  This is what happens when you decide to cook lunch instead of choosing sandwiches, and need a quick fix.  All 3 of my girls loved it!

Ingredients:

1 box Annie's Organic White Cheddar and Shells 

handful of baby carrots, chopped

handful of frozen broccoli, chopped

3/4 cup your favorite sprouted bean (I'd go with a soft one, not a chickpea)

sprinkle of garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

splash of your choice of milk (almond, soy, cow)

Boil the pasta, veggies and beans.  When cooked, add other ingredients, stir and let your kids enjoy! 

Side note:  The photos are from the web since I didn't take pics.  Just wanted to call that out!

The Monster Within

We all have a little bit of a monster, right?  When the kids act up.  When the spouse is just not getting it.  And when you smell, or worse yet, you taste sugar!  

No need to read that again.  You saw it right the first time.  I have a sugar-craving monster inside of me.  I'm okay until the stress hits or I see it or taste it.  Just one itsy bitsy little taste sends me into a sugar-eating nightmare.  

It becomes all I think about.  Its like a drug. My whole being is now focused on the attainment of sugar.  Where is it?  How can I get it? What can I make with it? How much can I get?  How quickly?  How many different flavors?  Why has it been so long since I had the last bite?

Everything in moderation. I can hear you thinking it.  Don't deprive yourself.  That's not the problem.  I've done it all.  I swear, the sugar triggers something and out comes that monster...with vengeance!  

That monster spends the rest of the day searching for the next hit.  

This is you.

This is you on sugar!

Yesterday, I had it bad.  And I. Mean. Bad. I think its the stress of C's appointment with her urologist tomorrow.  We are hoping for the news that her anatomy has self-corrected, but if it hasn't, I'm just hoping to move forwards quickly with the surgery.  That way, it can be a distant memory as quickly as possible, with little to no impact on her park time, come the spring.

Today, instead of resorting to donuts or chocolate, I opted for a healthier sweet treat when L requested oatmeal cookies.  He had a couple during his 100th day of School celebration and thought it would be nice for the girls to have some, too.  Now, that's a sweet boy!

Muffiny-Oatmeal Cookies
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups hot water
1 tsp cinnamon
2 shakes of ground allspice
1 shake of ground nutmeg
2 shakes of pink sea salt
3 packets of Truvia
1 mashed ripe banana (mine was rather large)
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup raisins

Mix the oats, spices, salt, Truvia and coconut.  Add the water and let it sit while you mash the banana, just so that the water has time to penetrate the oats.  Add the banana and raisins.  If you need to add more water, do so, so that there is a nice consistency.  You don't want them to be overly moist or overly dry.  Bake at 375, turning and flattening about 10 minutes into cooking.  Cook another 8-10 minutes.

I wish I could give real baking times, but my oven sucks, for the lack of a better word.

The results: These were extremely moist. I don't even think that needed the Truvia for sweetness, but I was a little worried that they may not have.  The bananas make them very moist and fluffy.  These reminded me a really soft granola cookie.  I think next time, I'll shape them into squares or rectangles, kind of like bars.  The kids loved them, but weren't overly keen on the raisins.   It satisfied the sweet tooth, and I'm pretty sure that with a few chocolate chips, they'd satisfy that craving, too!  Definitely a keeper!

Good night, little monster!  Its time for you to settle down and mellow out.  I've got another 18 pounds to drop.  Leave!

Nom. Nom. Nom. Nom.  Me go right after me finish ALL these COOKIES!!!

How Rigorous should we go?

This past week has been met with a lot of questions about our diet...oh, and must I not forget...success, too.  That's right.  I am now down 9 pounds, to date without really working hard on the exercise front, and frankly, just staying away from animal products.  I must admit, I've had more than my share of sugar and crap, thanks to parties and stress.

Each time we've gone to a get-together, I've been asked about what we're eating these days.  People have been more than willing to try to accommodate our family's new plant-strong lifestyle.  Its much appreciated.  I must say though, I've been really lax about it when we are outside of the home.   Too funny, but L's teacher thinks this makes me the coolest mom.  Not really.  Its part laziness, part not wanting to be confrontational, part not wanting to be a hassle to our family and friends and lastly, not wanting to burden my children with always having to think about food.

What's that mean?  Let's see if I can make that a little more simple.  When we are out, I want my kids to be able to choose whatever they want to eat.  If L and J are at school, I don't want them to feel as if they can't have the same foods that the rest of their classmates are having.  I don't want them to have to explain to other kids that they don't eat meat or drink milk.  This is a decision they can make themselves as they grow.  I don't want my kids to feel uncomfortable, or my friends and family, when it comes time to eat.  Food is already such a stressor for people; why should we make it even more so?!

I've read tons of literature on healthy eating and seen tons of documentaries.  All you can really be certain of is that nothing is the definite right way to go.  Many people say veganism is unhealthy.  Many people say that consuming meat is unhealthy.  Dairy is unhealthy. Others say consuming grains and legumes is unhealthy.  Wow!  That sounds to me as if there really is nothing that is healthy to eat.  Right?  Confused yet?  I know I am.

Here's how our family has decided to proceed and tackle the each food groups.

Dairy: P and the kids still consume milk in tea.  I use almond milk which has more calcium and equal vitamin D as cow's milk.  We sometimes consume cheese, like when we are out (read: pizza) or when a dish that I've cooked really needs it.  I still have some butter, and yes, we've buttered our bread for toast twice since our new way of eating.  Oh, let's not forget the occasional ice cream. hee hee

Legumes and Grains: We are sprouting our grains and legumes in our to increase their nutritional value and their digestibility.  This requires a lot of planning, which I'm not great with, so when I don't plan properly, we eat unsprouted beans and grains.  Oops.  I've got to get better with that.

Nuts:  (Before you read this part, get all your giggles out.  Okay.  Done?  Continue)  We've started soaking our nuts over night, and then drying them in the oven to more easily digest them.  The kids and I love our nuts.  They are great as snacks, on salads, or ground up with dates and some coconut as a treat.

Animal Flesh:  We have not purchased nor consumed meat in our home since we have started our plant-strong approach to eating.  Now, that being said, P has been on business trips and ordered steak.  L has ordered hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken at school.  Every Sunday, the kids consume meat and eggs at my grandparents' house for brunch.  Tonight, they had pepperoni pizza, chicken wings and dairy based dips at my brother's Superbowl party.  Last night, pizza and hoagies at a birthday party.

Processed foods:  We stay away from processed foods as much as possible.  What's that mean?  We don't really buy anything that's already made in a box.  That being said, I will buy a couple boxes of organic cereal this week, just in case I don't have oatmeal made for breakfast or stuff for a green smoothie.  With this class of foods, I will add tofu and all non-animal animal products (vegan cheese, tofu, vegan meat).  I'm pretty certain that God didn't create those things, so why should we eat them?!

Soy:  This goes for soy milk, tofu, edamame and any other soy products.  If its not organic, I'm not purchasing it.  That's it.  Non-organic soy is not healthy, especially for developing reproductive systems.  Hmmm...Monsanto, maybe you should stop poisoning your consumers!  You can read about the dangers of soy here or here or just do your own Google search for dangers of soy.  Organic soy, especially when fermented, and served in small condiment sizes are safe.  So, occasionally, I will offer soy to my family, in organic form only.

Eggs: I'd say that we consume eggs once or twice a week, typically on Sundays and in baked goods.  Eggs are hidden quite well, and frankly, I don't have the time, energy or inclination to search for them.  Who does? Sheesh.  We've got lives to live.

Fruits and Veggies: These are always available to my kids, and they typically choose to snack on fruit.  We try to eat as many as possible, though some of us are more successful than others.

Healthy Fats: There is a big debate about healthy fats.  Some say that no fats are healthy, some say you need healthy fats to live and lose weight.  One argument made is that there was a big fat free push several years back, and as a result, our culture got fatter.  To the arguer, this means that fat free is bad.  Let's look at this a different way.  During the fat free fad, the items that went fat free were mostly processed foods to which extra sugar was added to make up for the lack of taste. We know that processed foods and excess sugar contribute to weight gain, so we can not be certain that the fat free diet caused the weight gain.  The Engine 2 Diet pushes no fats, or very little.  For my family, especially with an infant, toddler, preschooler and kindergartner that don't have weight problems, we feel that healthy fat is fine and don't shy away from it.  We offer avocado, nuts (preferably pre-soaked), coconut milk and unsweetened coconut.

In a nutshell, at home, we are striving to stay away from meat, increase our veggies and fruits, sprout our legumes and grains, soak our nuts, reduce our dairy and in general, stay away from as much sugar as possible.  Outside of our home, we have decided to just allow our kids to make their own decisions. As far as the adults?  P chooses meat occasionally.  I have only eaten meat once, out of desperation and sheer starvation.  We have just resolved to try to make healthy decisions, but indulge when it is appropriate and in the appropriate manner.  

Let me be honest here.  If you invite me over and have baked goods, I'm going to try some.  Okay, I've said it!  The sweet tooth reigns supreme.  But, if you come to my house, you shouldn't be surprised not to find those same items here.  Instead, we will be more than happy to offer you our fruit, veggies, legumes, nuts and grains.

Dinner FAIL

Boy, oh Boy!  It really bites when you plan a dinner out, and then 2 minutes before serving it, you taste it and BLAAHHH--CK...it's disgusting.  That is just what happened to me tonight.

The other day, whilst rearranging my kitchen (I moved the pots and pans to the closet and the food to the lazy susan- best. move. ever.), I came across a box of chocolate chamomile celestial seasonings tea.  On the inside cover, there was a recipe for chamomile cauliflower soup.  I'm adventurous.  It's a vegan recipe.  I have all the ingredients.  How could it get more perfect?

I'll tell you...it could taste good.  Here's the recipe, in a nutshell:
With 3 cups of water and 6 tea bags, make tea for 5 minutes.  Cook a head of cauliflower in it.  In another pan, saute 2 ribs of celery and 1/4 cup of onion until they're soft.  Blend all the veggies with about a cup of tea.

It tastes like tea with a thick texture.  I called each of the kids in so that they could taste it, to see how we could make it better.  We added salt and pepper.  Still blah.  Then, I got this idea. P is British.  He loves tea with sugar and milk in it.  How about giving that a try?  I added 3 packets of Truvia and some almond milk.  I thought that just might make it palatable to the kids.

I pulled the freshly baked bread from the oven and dipped it in the soup.  All 4 of my walking family dipped the bread in the soup.  All 4 turned their noses up.  C said, "ummm...no.  I no yike that. Its yuck."

I guess that there will be some mistakes and fails when it comes to finding yummy plant-strong food to feed my family.  I just hate that it costs me time and money.  Blah!

Dinner?  Kids: raw carrots and pb&j  mommy: panini with hummus, cucumber, arugula, spring mix, tomatoes, mustard, avocado  P: well, he got full off of our freshly baked cinnamon raisin bread

Lunch: we just snacked today on fruit...bananas and clementines

Breakfast: P and all the kids: Organic Toasted O's with almond milk and a touch of maple syrup mixed in, me and the girls: 1/2 sprouted wheat English Muffin with pb&j on it

Let's hope tomorrow's meal is much better than tonight's.  It shouldn't be too hard to surpass Yuck-o!  Maybe cheese-less homemade pizza or vegan meatloaf.

Chance run ins...

Wednesday can be summed up in 1 phrase: chance run ins.  It was a very frazzling day. One that made me want to jump off a cliff and shove ice cream and chips down my throat as fast as I could.  Yes, I'm an emotional eater, and I know it.

I had to do 2 big errands with 5 kids that seemed to be more interested in running around than behaving.  Then, while L was in time out, he laid down on his bed and broke the frames to his glasses.  Let's just say, this momma was not happy.

But, some good things came out of yesterday: peace and a healthy dinner.

1. My buddy is no longer at my gym. Instead, she's gone back to the Y.  C is destroyed because she doesn't get to play with Grace anymore.  I'm sad because I won't see as much of my wonderful friend.  In my mopey mood, I went to the arc trainer, thinking I'd just blah through my workout.  That's when I met this lovely woman next to me.  We struck up conversation about weight loss, losing our motivation to workout, and then, suffering a loss.  She told me about her guilt associated with the death of her mother and the sadness that grips her heart.  I shared the loss of my brother with her, and how I, too, was blanketed in guilt.  If you've suffered a loss, you know what I'm talking about.  The "what-if's," the "I should've' s," and the "if only's."

I revisited my journey of healing, one that I am still on, and shared with her the things that helped me, including T.A.P.S. and have a network of friends that understand.  I shared with her things that my friend, Karen shared with me.  After all, I think it was her words that helped me to focus on healing.

It was nice to be able to share with the lady next to me and to be able to listen to her, to be her shoulder for that 30 minutes.  It helped to make me feel a little grounded, well, at least until the boys were picked up from school...eek!

2. My other chance run in was not so much by chance, as I guess it could have been expected.  After returning from the pharmacy and Sam's club, I decided to pull dinner out of the freezer.  I have been putting large quantity leftovers in the fridge for a couple of weeks now, but never quite figured out how/when I was going to use them.  After being so frazzled, I figured now was as good a time as any.  So, I pulled out some veggie patties and potato leek soup and threw them on the counter to defrost.  Then, all heck broke loose, glasses broke, J had to go to dance, and the other 3 kids and I had to try to get L's glasses fixed (unsuccessfully).  I was just about to break down and get Chinese or a cheese-less pizza when a friend refocused me.

While picking J up from dance, Melissa says, "What's for dinner tonight? I saw your blog.  Its quite an undertaking.  At least your kids are pretty good eaters, they eat a lot of different things."  Okay, I'm paraphrasing, but you get it.  I didn't have it in me to say, "well, I suck, I'm going to feed my kids fast food tonight, and there's no way I'm blogging about that!"  It reminded me that I did pull dinner out; a healthy, plant-strong meal that would cost me no extra $$ this evening.  SO glad I ran into her.  I'm even happier she asked!  Thanks, Melissa!

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Today's meals~
Breakfast: oatmeal with bananas and cinnamon
Lunch: whole wheat panini with hummus, arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, spring mix and spicy mustard for me, pb&J and carrots for the kids
Dinner: veggie burgers, potato/leek soup for everyone (even little Q), plus a green salad for me