Long time no see

This summer has been rough! Husband home, kids home, work busy, etc.
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I've got a little bit of a break right now--hubby and son are at Boy Scout Camp. Son left with his troupe on Monday, and hubby left yesterday morning. Just me and daughter.
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I've felt kind of bad for daughter this week--I've been really busy with work and she keeps coming over to me and asking when I'll be done. I have to tell her I'm not sure. I guess I never realized how much she and her brother entertain each other. I kind of made it up to her yesterday--I took her out to dinner.
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I'm also having some lifestyle issues right now. It's easy to live a vegan lifestyle, but eating that way--not so easy. I have been just craving dairy--ice cream and cheese, mostly. I know what it is; it's stress. I am fighting getting back into that lifestyle that had me so fat. I used to eat when I was stressed, eat when I was happy, eat when I was with friends, eat when I was alone, etc. I've made successful alternatives for most of my eating triggers, but stress it so hard for me.
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And the thing is that even when I am eating something I'd rather not eat, I'm almost nauseous thinking about it but I keep on eating. When I have time, I've been trying to do some reading--stuff that got me motivated toward this lifestyle in the first place. The problem is that I haven't had much time lately.
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Lack of time and a feeling like I've had people looking over my shoulder is why I haven't been blogging lately. Today, with just daughter and I home and her watching a show, I feel like I have a moment.
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Oh, my garden! We had a ton of really good broccoli. Our cauliflower was buggy and gross so it got chucked. Our cabbages have been huge and wonderful. I need to go get the first of our zukes today (none at all and now I have 6 I can harvest). The tomatoes are just starting to ripen--we've had just a few and when they go, I'm going to have a million all at once. I have one yellow squish (yes, we call them squish at my house) I can harvest. My cukes are still a ways off.
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We've been eating in waves--all broccoli, all cabbage, and next is going to be all zucchini. When the tomatoes go, I want to dehydrate a bunch. We also had a bunch of cherries--We ate a ton, I made a cherry cobbler, and I put up like 6 quarts of them. I could have done like that many again, but they got wormy--gross.
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Well, that's my life right now. I need to get back to work.
Ciao for now.

Reliving my vaca--a little bit at a time

Here are the kids out in the ocean on the beach at Newport, CA. Son was a little freaked out about the seaweed. But they had a great time. We walked up the pier and back and then played in the ocean for about an hour and a half and then had dinner at Rockin' Baja Lobster. Here are my kids in the stockade--they really got in trouble at Legoland and I had to lock them up.

And speaking of Legoland, I thought the bathroom signs were really cute. Little Lego people that had to go potty.

Well that's enough vaca for today--coming tomorrow (maybe): Disney crowds and pirate's treasure.

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For lunch today, I made a broccoli and kale salad (garden kale) with nut cheese mixed in. Son said it was good, but he didn't eat very much of it.

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Last night dinner was sauteed veggies with olives, mushrooms, and a can of diced tomatoes served over whole wheat pasta. CCV mentioned yesterday about putting vinegar in stuff, so I put a bit in the veggies and it really added something. I make a pasta with capers and marinated artichoke hearts in it and the vinegar in my regular veggies gave them a similar flair.

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Today, daughter is over at a friend's house and hubby is helping another friend out with some work on his place. So it's just son and I. I could get used to this (although it is better with both kids in school and hubby working).
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Also, I have exercised 2 days in a row. (Yeah Me!) And my relationship with food is getting back to where it needs to be. (Yeah Me, again!) I just need to keep going.

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Well, back to work.

Ciao for now.

We're Back--a little bug eyed and big eared, but back

We made it and we had a wonderful time! We did Disneyland, California Adventure, LegoLand and Newport Beach. This is a pic of the kids after we saw the 4-D show, "It's Tough to be a Bug". They have their bug eyes on and their ears on--so cute.
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There were a lot of people in Disneyland! I have never seen that many people there! So Sunday and Monday were a bit frustrating because of that, but the rest of the time was good.
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In Newport, we walked out onto the pier and there were people fishing all over. The kids were really interested when one guy brought up a sand shark. So another guy showed us a sand shark he had on a rope swimming around under the Pier. It was disgusting--the rope was like through the poor shark's nose and he was just swimming around down there. It kind of made me nauseous. We did have fun at the beach, though.
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I didn't stay vegan while gone, but did stay vegetarian. I had some items made with milk and eggs but I'm not going to beat myself up for it--overall, the world is still a better place for the choices I make. I eat the way I eat as a choice and I made the choice to change it up a bit for vacation. (I actually had planned on eating better while gone, but got frustrated at the lack of choices since we had to eat out for every meal.)
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Saturday, lunch was at a Mexican place and there was a rolled up tortilla left over. So on Sunday, we gave the dried up old tortilla to Little Girl. She was so proud of that silly tortilla! She carried it around in her mouth all day Sunday and until it got too soggy to stay together on Monday. It was like "I got a tortilla from Disneyland!". Silly dog.
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Well, I ought to get back to work.
Ciao for now.

Vacation Countdown

We leave in T minus 5 days............

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We are going to do California this year. We have our motel reservation, our Disneyland tickets, and 2 of our Legoland tickets.

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I'm a little concerned about eating on the trip--a lot of salads, is my guess. I was craving some ice cream here a while back and, after my last episode with dairy, I decided to "test" myself. Sure enough, I had dairy and just over a day later, I was stuck in the bathroom. So I am going to have to be really careful about dairy while we're gone. The problem is that so often, dairy and eggs are hidden in things that you wouldn't think they'd be in. And I just won't eat meat--yuck. I told hubby that we may need to find a grocery store and keep things like banana, apples, and baby carrots in the motel room.

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At the top is a picture from our last trip--2 years ago. I was better than 100 pounds heavier in that picture than I am now. I am really looking forward to not having my feet hurt this time. Last time, I was literally crying one day because my feet and legs hurt so bad; and on the way home, my feet swelled up so bad that I could hardly get my sandals on, let alone any shoes.
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This is a picture of my kids taken on that trip. They have sure grown!

Son actually started a summer job today. He's on the "Bug Crew". They monitor and count and transplant bugs that kill noxious weeds. Today is training in the morning and then they spend the afternoon in a field making sure that they can actually identify the plants and bugs that they'll be working with. He is an alternate on the team, but the lady told me that often, the alternates work more than the regulars because they cover absences for vacations, summer camps, illness, etc. He's really excited. And it's nice because his best friend is on the crew, too.

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Well, I'm back to work. I have to get stuff done this week so I don't come home to an even bigger pile--my job is one of those where the work just waits for me if I don't get it done.

Ciao for now.

Proud Mama Post

I haven't been good at posting. There seems to have been a lot going on and when I've had the time to post, I haven't had the inclination (due to feeling like people were looking over my shoulder. Anyway, here's a summary of life since last post--"proud mommy bragging" alert! The kids had their piano recital--there is a picture of them with their trophies. The trophy was for getting 3 consecutive "Superior" ratings at the annual Jr. Music Festival competition. Both kids got one. They played really good at the recital. They could have been better, but considering the fact that they had to prep their songs without the aid of a piano teacher I think they did great. (We had to quit piano lessons after hubby got laid off a couple of month's ago, but their teacher didn't want them to miss out on the recital so she gave them their songs and included them anyway--that was so nice of her!)
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Daughter was invited to join the "Magnet Classroom" for 4th and 5th grades. They did 3rd grade GT (gifted and talented) testing throughout the district--both public an private schools--and out of those tested, 26 were invited to attend the magnet classroom next year. This is a specialized class that caters more to the individual kids. They don't necessarily follow district curriculum and they go a lot deeper into some areas. The kids are also helped to advance in their individual strength areas. I am really excited for her! I think she will do really well.
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Son got the "presidential award for educational excellence" at his 6th grade graduation. The criteria were to have gotten all "A"s in elementary school, gotten "advanced" and a certain percentile in the ISAT tests, and gotten certain scores in the DWA and DMA tests. (There was something else, but I don't know what it was.) There were only 2 kids that got it and son was one of them. I am really proud of him as well.
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I warned you that this was a "Proud Mama Post" and that I was going to be shamelessly bragging on them.
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School's out for summer, now. Yesterday was their last day. Since I work from home and hubby is not working, they will be home this summer--I'll let you know how my sanity fares with 2 kids and 1 husband home with me all summer. (So far, I don't think it's going to be an easy summer.......)
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Well, I am going to get back to work now.
Ciao for now.

Yesterday got away from me

But I'm here now. Not much happening--work is going to get busy soon, but until then..........
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So I'm taking a few minutes to blog.
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Tonight is the kids' piano recital--it's a jazzy, swinging kind of theme. Daughter is playing "Heart and Soul" (I fell in love with you; heart and soul; just like a fool would do; madly; that little kiss you stole--it got me heart and soul.) Son is playing a piece called "Surfboard Boogie" (sorry, no words for me to sing). Daughter's still a little rough on her piece but son has his down pat. Her piece is actually harder than his. I think he chickened out a little--after we had to quit formal lessons, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to do a harder song on his own so he switched to an easier song. Daughter actually switched up to a harder song just because she liked the song. (Son is doing daughter's original song.)
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Let's see, what else is going on.......well, for one thing, hubby really, really, really needs to get a job. He's starting to drive me nuts.
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Also, daughter was invited to do the "magnet classroom" for the next two years. They choose certain kids based upon teacher recommendations and tested them for the Gifted & Talented program and out of those that are tested, a certain number of them are also invited to be in the magnet classroom. It is basically just a non-traditional classroom where the kids are catered to more--the math is on the computer at their own pace; science is all lab; reading/language is done using novels instead of the textbooks, art is done every day, etc.
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It worked out that only 26 kids (out of 7 public schools with 3 to 4 third grade classes each and a number of private schools) were selected. So it really is an honor. I think it will be really good for her, but I was kind of concerned about her being separated from other kids. When I was a kid, I was in GT and was pulled out 2 days a week. I felt like I was ostracized--"the smart kid"--and never really felt like I fit in. I voiced my concern and a dad, whose older child had been in the first magnet classroom, spoke up and talked about how his daughter had just blossomed in the program. That made me feel better.
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Daughter decided she did want to do it (I think I would have pushed if she hadn't). She is shy and didn't want to leave her friends because she has a hard time making new friends. But I assured her that she can still get together with her two main friends so she decided she was OK. She will have to change schools, but the school where the magnet class is held is actually closer to our house than her current school is. And when she found out that the school mascot over there is the mustang, that sealed the deal (she loves horses.)
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They just started this two years ago so son missed it. His experience with the GT program was less than stellar. In fact, he says that he's glad he's done with GT now--they had an online computer group that met sporadically and had assignments that weren't much different than what he was doing in class. He was doing the same math program that daughter will be doing (he tested 'end of 7th grade' even though he's actually just finishing 6th grade). But he was put up a grade in math in 4th grade just to keep him from getting bored--not as part of GT.
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Last night for dinner, I spiral cut some butternut squash and put tomatoes and zucchini hummus on it--so good.
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Well, that's all I can think of.....
Ciao for now

Yesterday's food and weekend wrap-up

Yesterday's food:
I started with Strawberry Ice-cream (frozen strawberries, soy protein powder, and 2 dates. I added just enough water for the Vita-mix to be able to blend it into ice-cream.) I made 4 servings so we all had it. Lunch was a salad of spinach, carrot, and fresh picked parsley. The dressing was zucchini hummus that was diluted with some apple cider vinegar to which I added some salt, pepper, and paprika.

Dinner was brown rice and a sauteed veggie mix that tasted like a cooked Cole slaw. (Cabbage, carrot, celery sauteed in a bit of coconut oil. I then added salt, pepper, ginger, paprika. It still didn't taste like I wanted it to so I added some agave and some apple cider vinegar and cooked it down. It was really good.)

I don't have a picture of dessert, but son made another recipe from Ani's Raw Desserts--Blueberry cobbler. Except that we didn't have blueberries, we only had blackberries and only canned and not nearly as many as the recipe called for. So he quartered the recipe and made 4 mini cobblers in dessert cups. It was really good.

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Now the weekend wrap-up. We went to Salt Lake for the weekend Saturday we did Lagoon (Corn on the cob was the only thing there I cared to eat) from 10-3 and then went the hotel and then to Sages for dinner.

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At Sages, they had a special going on--one of two appetizers (carrot pate or corn chowder), one of two pasta dishes (mushroom stroganoff or pesto pasta), and one of two desserts (Brownie sundae or tiramisu). Hubby had one combo and I had the other. The special was the same price as just the pasta. I noticed they had scaled down the portion size from the last time hubby had pasta, but that was a good thing--it meant we were able to eat everything and be full but not stuffed.

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Excellent. I would recommend that restaurant to anyone. It is located in Salt Lake two blocks back toward the capitol from Trolley Square and one block back toward the freeway. I don't know the exact address, but that's how I find it.

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Then we wandered the Gateway and then went back to our hotel. Sunday morning was a bit rainy. We went and rode the trolley from the Energy Solutions arena up to the University and back. It was still raining so we decided to wait a while before heading back to Lagoon. We saw a Whole Foods Market (it was right between Trolley Square and Sages) and I had never been in one before (we don't have one here) so hubby took us there.

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I like Whole Foods! I wouldn't be able to shop there much, though. It was quite expensive. I'm too frugal (I have to be in order to make ends meet).

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Then we had lunch at Noodle and Co.--it was right by Whole Foods. It was good. I had a dish that had rice noodles with veggies and a spicy peanut sauce. I would eat there again for a fast-food type meal.

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The rain was slowing down by then so we headed back to Lagoon. We still got some light showers, but we had a ball. I had some french fries when the others had snacks.

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Then we headed back home. By the time we ate I was hungry and crabby as heck. Daughter burst into tears when they didn't have the drink she wanted and son complained the whole time how slow they were. We had waited way too long to eat and my kids and I are all quite adversely affected by hunger. The reason we were so long in eating is that we decided to head up the road to a Mexican place--when we got to it, it was closed and then we couldn't really find anything.

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We ended up doing Denny's. I had a dinner salad w/ vinaigrette on the side and grits (no butter or milk) and some of the grapes that came with daughter's meal. I complained about it to the family (just because I was hungry and tired and grumpy), but it was OK. Daughter and son both perked right up after they ate. I was beginning to think we were going to have to get son a second meal, but he finally slowed down after eating all of his dinner and half of hubby's. (How would it be to have the metabolism of a 12 year old boy?)

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Then we came the rest of the way home and got here about 10:15. We emptied the car and went to bed.

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Yesterday, we slept in and then had breakfast and goofed off. Then mowed the grass and had lunch. Then went to visit the cemeteries. Then came home for a while, had dinner, and went to the grocery store. Then came home for dessert, and got ready for bed.

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Yesterday at the cemetery daughter really was into talking about the baby I lost prior to son being conceived. Both kids are sure that child was a girl. Daughter was concerned that we hadn't buried that child so there was no grave we could visit. And in fact, until son was about 5, he used to talk about having met his big sister up in heaven prior to coming down to be with us. Maybe that child was a girl and maybe my kids did know her before coming to be with us. It gives me the chills to think about, but it's also nice.

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Well, this has gone on quite a ways. I need to get to work.

Hope everyone had a great weekend,

Ciao for now

Kids cooking

So I told you we got Ani Phyo's dessert book via UPS today. The recipe son wanted to make was the Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake minus the raspberries.
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Here's the recipe
Here's the cakes. Here's son pitting dates for the frosting. (One for the frosting; one for me.)

Son hard at work at the food processor.

Ta-Da!!While son was slaving away over a hot food processor, daughter and I were having a tea party. (Sorry for the poor lighting.)

Poor grades update

I heard back from daughter's teacher. Daughter has made up the missing assignments, they just haven't been posted yet. Whew!
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She also told me that if it looks like there are any issues after she gets them entered, she'll let me know.
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Again--Whew!

Scoliosis and poor grades.......

Last night was son's physical for scouts and school athletics. Ever since I was a kid, a bunch of health care professionals have gotten together in the spring to run mass doctor's appointments. The kids check in and then go through a series of stations (height/weight, pulse/blood pressure, vision, physician exam, and physical therapist exam). They do it assembly line-ish so the kids go through one station and get their results recorded and then get in line for the next station.
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Mind you, these physicals are only for the basically healthy youth. They are low-cost ($15 dollars and nothing is submitted to insurance--in fact, the only records are the school/scout physical forms that the clinic takes a copy of). But, all that being said, it seemed to be rather thorough. I think the doctor took more time with son that his regular doc took at his last regular visit. And the physical therapist took a good piece of time with us, too. (You never get your joints and backs checked like that at a regular visit.)
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So the physical therapist noticed something with Wyatt's back so he closed the door, had son take off his shirt and re-examined him. It turns out that son has a slight scoliosis--side-to-side curvature of the spine. Apparently, it's not uncommon in boys that are just getting ready to hit growth spurts. So he showed me the curve (it was obvious once I knew what to look for), and how I could recognize the symptoms that went along with it and what to watch for to see if it was progressing.
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If he grows out of it after a growth spurt--no problem. If it stays the same--no problem (apparently, it's mild enough that it wouldn't need treated even if it remained at that level forever). If it progresses, they would want to do something (back brace or surgery maybe). And if it starts progressing, they would want to know as soon as possible because it's much easier to treat when mild than when it is more progressed.
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So, I'll be watching son's back like a hawk. (The funny thing is that he had a regular well-child visit just a few months back and the doc didn't notice his back--I'm not sure the doc even looked at his back.)
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Other kid now, I went online and checked daughter's grades. I usually don't do that, but I was checking on something for son and figured I might as well look. The work she has brought home has all been very good and I haven't heard anything from her teacher, so I had no reason to even suspect there were any problems. She has an F in Reading and a low C in Language! Both grades are due to missing assignments. All of the rest of her assignments are in and have excellent scores--she averages a high A in both areas based upon the grades that are there.
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Now if a third grader had all As in the work turned in, but had an F for the subject, wouldn't you question it? Well I did. I e-mailed her teacher and if I don't hear back today, I'm calling in. I know a third grader is getting to where she can be more responsible, but still--she's only in third grade. And as a parent, I am a little upset that I wasn't notified. I'm hoping that it's an error--maybe the teacher isn't keeping up at putting the grades in the system so it shows zeros for the assignments not entered or something like that.
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I feel bad because I freaked out a bit and had daughter crying this morning before she went to school. I tried to calm her down by letting her know that we would get it figured out.
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So that's where my mind is. I need to get it back to something else.
Ciao for now.

Wednesday

Well, I didn't get back to post again yesterday. But oh, well. Life comes before blogging.
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Yesterday, I ended up having the rest of the sweet potato mash and an apple for a snack. And then had the sauteed veggie dinner at Sakura (salad w/o dressing, sauteed zuke/onion/mushroom, some steamed white rice, a few sips of mushroom broth soup.) I tried the soup, but didn't have much--even though it was supposed to be an onion and mushroom based soup, it tasted a bit like a beef broth so I didn't finish it.
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Today, I started with a banana/kale/almond smooth, then had a sandwich for lunch (avocado, spouts, bocca burger on dehydrator bread), then for a snack a few minutes ago, I had some asparagus spears.
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When I go to get the kids I'll probably have an apple. Then, for dinner, I'm making a veggie lo mien.
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Daughter saw a play with her class on Friday. It scared her so bad that she hardly ate all weekend. Now I know that she can stand to decrease her intake, but she was not eating enough to sustain a mouse! She is starting to eat a little better now, but still not eating much. It blows me away how freaked out she got! The premise of the story was that an old lady found a hairy toe and took it home and made a soup out of it; the owner of the toe came to get it back. Daughter has been freaked out about things in her food.
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White rice has pretty much been her mainstay these last few days because she can spread out the grains and see that there is nothing in there but rice. I know that's not a healthy diet, but it beats eating nothing.
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I e-mailed daughter's teacher and if she doesn't get back to feeling better, we're going to have her talk to the school counselor to see if there is anything else bugging her.
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Hubby has been home most of the day today. He actually dusted and vacuumed--I really didn't feel like cleaning plus, I was (supposed to be) working (it was pretty quiet today). When he's home I don't get much done. When he's not here and I'm not busy, I exercise, or play my violin, or read, or whatever. I don't do anything when he's here. He did go to the job service this morning and he had a doctor's appointment this after noon (he's there now) so it's not like he didn't have a reason for being here.
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Well, that's pretty much all that's going on.
Ciao for now.

Mother's day weekend re-cap

Son was in a track meet on Saturday. It was his first time running against other people--one of those kind where we signed him up at the Parks & Rec department and then he showed up and ran when they called his events. He came in next to last on both races, but I thought he did great anyway. It's hard to know what to expect when you've never done it before.
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The farmer's market opened Saturday so we went there as well. We didn't get much--just some jam, but we go pretty much every Saturday when they're open.
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We also went out to dinner on Saturday night. I decided that I would rather have a nice Mother's Day dinner on Saturday night than go to the brunch buffet that we usually do on Sunday morning (not much there I care to eat since changing the way I eat). So we went to Prasai--excellent Thai food.
Sunday morning, I nipped the tops off my mint plants and had mint tea--that's it above. Very nice.
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Daughter made me a card, a magnet, and a key chain. Son made me the Lego creation, below. Look hard--it says "I [heart] MOM" vertically. I thought it was very creative!

Then, in the evening, we went over to my folks for strawberry shortcake. I brought Soyatoo whipped topping. I just had strawberries with the whipped topping on them. I couldn't find the packaging on the cakes (Mom got them at Costco) but I'm pretty sure they would have had eggs in them at least.

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Well, that was my Mother's Day. I hope every mother had a great day.

Ciao for now.

Not much happening, today

It seems like I've been quite busy today, but there really hasn't been much going on. It's been one of those days when you spend all day picking up all the little bits and pieces that got let go or ignored or piled up. So even though I've been going steady, it really doesn't seem like it.
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I guess that's better than going crazy and not getting anywhere.
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Tattoo feels better today. It's still a bit swollen, but not as sore as yesterday. (It is still quite sore, though. Don't get me wrong.) I hate pain, but I guess it's worth it.
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So today's food so far has been:
Banana, mystery green, and almond smoothie
spiralized zucchini, red bell pepper, tomato and nut cheese salad
1 piece dehydrator bread w/ peanut butter (not raw, I know, but I wanted it)
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I'll probably have an apple and carrot for a snack when I go get the kids and then a salad bar for dinner.
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Tonight is daughter's last soccer game. After the game, their coach is taking them out for pizza. Hubby, son and I are going too; we'll let daughter be with her friends and we'll sit at another table and eat. I'm guessing I'll just have the salad bar.
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And did you ask what a "mystery green" was? While son was at scouts last night, we went to the store. The spinach looked awful, the kale looked awful, I didn't want cabbage. But there, in a box were bundles of these really big nice leaves. I don't know what they were (collard greens or mustard greens, maybe) but they looked good so I got some. They were really good in the smoothie this morning. They added kind of a fresh, earthy flavor. Hopefully they'll have them again with a sign on them so I know what I'm getting next time.
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Well the pup is trying to entice me to play with her squeaky toy with her and I've got to get a couple more things done before I go get kiddos from school.
Ciao for now.

Totally out of Greens!

So I am totally out of greens for my green smoothie breakfast! In the fridge I have a few carrots, some broccoli, two zukes, and some celery. Oh and some wheat grass--I'll tell you about that in a few.

So I did a smoothie with the wheat grass, 2 little carrots, some almonds, and some frozen strawberries. It was good!
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I made some nut cheese on Monday and have some tomato sauce left over from dinner, so for lunch I'm going to spiralize a zuke and top it with tomato sauce and a dollop of nut cheese.
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Snacks will be fruits and veg, like usual. And dinner is going to be broccoli and I don't know what (hubby is doing deer steak, mashed, and gravy for him and the kids--yuck).
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So I took another pic of my new tattoo this morning--I did it in the light from the kitchen window so it's a better pic than yesterday's. I love it!

My forearm feels like it has a bruised road-rash and it's a little swollen. I'm not complaining, though. (I don't think you get to complain when the 'owie' is self imposed, do you?) I'm just anxious for it to heal.
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On to wheat grass--I have been sprouting wheat for my dehydrator breads and was talking to son about it and we ate some wheat sprouts, etc. he wanted to try wheat grass. So he took some of my sprouted grains and planted them in shallow dishes and grew his own wheat grass. It is a lot sweeter than I thought it would be. (Hubby shrugged and said "it tastes like grass". And I thought, "and how is it that you know what grass tastes like?".) So son ate some last night and again this morning and I put the rest in my smoothie. (He spaced the grains so far apart that 3 dishes only yielded a small handful of grass.)
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Soccer is almost over. Daughter has one more game on Thursday and son has one more game on Friday. Then it can get nice here. (I think somebody upstairs has the soccer schedule and makes sure it is always windy and/or rainy and cold for each game.)
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Well, I'm back to work now.
Ciao for now.

Friday again.......

OK, doesn't that salad look just yummy? Zucchini cut with my spiral slicer on a bed of spinach. Over that is a tomato sauce (tomatoes, Italian seasoning, yellow bell pepper) and a dollop of "cheese" sauce (almonds, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, garlic, onion, turmeric, water). All of it raw.
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I thought it was just perfect; in fact, that was dinner last night and it was so good I had it for lunch again today. Of course, I laid it out all pretty but I mixed it all together before I actually ate it. Son at his and half of his dad's. No surprise that hubby and daughter didn't eat it very well.
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By the side of the plate is piece of dehydrator bread (2 cups sprouted wheat, a date, a bit of salt, a handful of almonds, a handful of flax seeds, and a bit of water--all processed into a dough in the food processor and then spread into rounds on the silpat sheets and dehydrated at 105 for 10 hours, flipped partway through).
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I told you I was going to try to eat more raw. Tuesday was one meal cooked, the rest raw; ditto for Wednesday and yesterday. Maybe I'm imagining things, but I think I do feel better--not as heavy after eating.
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I have been having raw soups--yummy. Here are a couple of the combinations I've had lately:
--cauliflower, garlic, 1/3 an avocado, water, salt & pepper
--cauliflower, a few almonds, water, salt & pepper
--zuke, carrot, ginger, chili powder, 1/3 avocado
I just put everything in the Vita-mix and blend until just slightly warm. These have all been really good. The avocado or almonds make it creamy and I don't add very much water so it's really thick, too.
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I've also been doing green smoothies more. Usually banana, spinach, ice & water, and one of the following--almonds, oats, quinoa. I really like those, too.
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I had a class in Boise Wednesday and went up there on Tuesday night. Met a good friend up there--I always enjoy that. I wish I could take more classes up there just for that. My cooked meals on Tuesday and Wednesday were with her.
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Tuesday we ate at Mazzah Mediterranean--I had falafel, dolmas, and tabbouleh--really good. It was like a Mediterranean fast food place so that's the kind of atmosphere it had.
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Wednesday for lunch we ate at PF Chang's--I had Buddha's delight (I think that's what it was called--5 spice tofu and veggies w/ brown rice)--excellent!
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I'm reading a new book--Living Cuisine: The Art and Spirit of Raw Foods by Renee Underkoffler. It is like half cookbook, half reference book. I'm in a section now that gives all sorts of detail about all the different types of produce there are. For instance, we got some little round fruits at the Asian market last weekend called "longans". I found out how they grow and that they are related to the lychee, and when they are available, etc. This book has a lot of information that ranges from what modern farming methods are doing to our environment to how to cut and store the foods you buy. It has preparation method descriptions and kitchen set-up information. I am really pleased with this book!
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As a mom, I really put my foot in my mouth Tuesday night. Daughter had a paper in her hand and came up and asked me "Mom, what is "sex"?". OK, hubby was there, but son was off somewhere so I decided I could start THE TALK. I got as far as "when a man and a woman love each other..." when she interrupted me with a strange look on her face and a loud "HUH?" She held the paper out to me, pointing to a box on it and said "it says 'Sex: F'." So now hubby almost falls off the chair laughing and I have to pull myself together--Oh, "gender". So I went on to tell her that it just meant whether the paper was talking about a boy or girl--F for female and M for male.
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OOPS.
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I think that's all I can think of.
Ciao for now.

Savory oatmeal, family upset, and sleepwalking

Good morning all.
Here a while back CCV posted asking about savory oatmeal. Yesterday lunch was leftovers; this was what I had in the fridge--stir-fried teriyaki veggies, spaghetti squash, oatmeal. Not enough of any one thing for a meal so I warmed up the veggies and squash together, then warmed up the oatmeal, then poured the veggies over the oatmeal. It reminded me of teriyaki veggies over polenta. I'll easily do it again if I have leftovers, but not to cook for a meal for my family--they don't like polenta, so I'm sure they wouldn't like oatmeal like that. (My family is uber-picky.)
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Next topic.
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Speaking of picky--I made a bean loaf (vegan lunch box blog) and steamed cauliflower for dinner last night. It turned out really good. But no one would eat the loaf! Hubby had a few bites and then went into the kitchen and put his piece in the dog dish. Son ate about half and daughter ate 2 bites..
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I blew up. At hubby mostly. I told them all the I shouldn't even care if they all get fat, get diabetes and high blood pressure, have heart attacks and die. I ought to just quit cooking for them and let them fend for themselves.
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Then a bit later, hubby was trying to be cute and I told him to knock it off because I was madder at him than anyone else. I expect it out of the kids--they are just kids--I would expect better out of him. He obviously doesn't give a rat's ass that he is fat, has diabetes and high blood pressure, and is heading right for a heart attack, but he needs to care that he is sending daughter there, too.
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It's one thing to eat like crap if you truly don't know any better, but he does. And our most important job in life is to raise our babies to be healthy, happy, productive members of this planet. He needs to get on board and help me with that job. It's child abuse to intentionally make your kids sick. That's what we are doing if we don't feed them healthy food. We are guilty of child abuse! I think I'll put it to hubby that way. Surely, even if he doesn't care about himself, he would care about his daughter........
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OK, rant done--next topic.
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Last night I made date balls. Hubby wanted some (don't ask me why I did anything for him last night, but I did). I used the basic recipe for "donut holes" by Ani Phyo but more or less just winged it--dates, coconut, and almonds in the food processor. Then I decided I wanted chocolate so I added a spoon of cocoa powder. Then I rolled them into balls and rolled them in coconut. YUMMY! Son, hubby and I all liked them--daughter didn't even try, of course.
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Next topic.
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In the middle of the night last night, son came and woke me up. "Mom, I woke up to go to the bathroom and when I went back to bed, my blankets were gone." So I went with him and, sure enough, his blankets were gone! The weren't on the bed or the floor or under the bed or on the bunk. So I started looking around the house. The were on the love seat in the living room! He just couldn't understand how they could have gotten there. I have a pretty good guess--I think he was sleepwalking. Pretty funny.
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I have a class in Boise tomorrow so I probably won't post (unless I do it from my phone). That's all I have.
Ciao for now.

Good Monday Morning

Good Morning,
We got quite a bit done Saturday. We froze through son's soccer game, then daughter and I got our hair cut (she goes shorter every time), then we came home for lunch, then we went to 3 different nurseries and came home and started on the garden.
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We planted all of our cooler weather crops. So far, our garden has cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts (I had never done any of those before). We planted our onion sets. We planted some strawberry starts we got from a neighbor. We planted an apple tree and a cherry tree to replace the peach and cherry trees that died. And we planted a couple of blackberry starts. We also planted zucchini along side the house--it's protected there so we don't need to worry about it and this way it'll get an earlier start.
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We also have seeds for pumpkin (both carving and eating), butternut squash, yellow squash, and beets. I'm going to plant the beets this afternoon. Also this afternoon, we're going out to my aunt's to get more strawberry starts and some raspberry starts.
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We are going to have the biggest garden I think we've ever had and I am so excited. (I hope I can maintain the excitement when it's 100 degrees out and I'm having to weed it........)
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Yesterday, I took the kids for a bike ride. It was daughter's first time riding on a road with traffic. She did really good (other than the fact that she rides a lot slower than son and I do). But we were like 2/3 through our ride and she got a flat tire. We have these nasty goat-head burrs that grow around here. Even though they are considered a "noxious weed" and the city is supposed to make people control them, they are still everywhere--the city doesn't do anything about it. So anyway, we had to walk our bikes from there. She was really bummed and insisted that it was OK, she could ride like that. I had to let her know that she'd ruin the rims on her wheels and then she wouldn't have a bike to ride if she rode like that. It ended up that both of her tires were flat--the back one just hadn't gone flat as fast as the front one did. So we got an OK bike ride and a good walk. (I let son ride on ahead so he could tell hubby what had happened and why we were taking so long.)
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Books--I bought Kristen Suzanne's Raw the Easy Way. It's a good book. I'd like to incorporate more raw foods into my diet. I love green smoothies and most of the raw recipes I've tried. Son loves her "Sweet Potato Mash" from her Easy Raw Holidays book. I also think I'd be healthier. I still feel like I have to fuss so much to maintain my weight. I feel better and don't have nearly so much trouble with my weight when I'm eating more raw foods. So I'm going to try to incorporate more--probably breakfast, lunch, and snacks. And then I'll try for raw sides along with dinner. We'll see how it goes.
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Well, I think that's about all.
Ciao for now.

I'm back

It has been a long time since I blogged--a lot going on! Unemployed hubby, issues at work, family stuff, etc. I get "too busy" to do this, but I forget the sense of catharsis that comes from letting it all out. Honestly, when am I really "too busy" to take a few minutes for myself? If I get that way, I need to re-prioritize my life. If I don't take care of myself, I can't take care of the people in my life.
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So in a couple of ways, hubby's unemployment has been a good thing for us. Number one is that we are being forced to re-connect as a family. We were so busy running all the time that we really didn't spend any family time. Now, with our schedules cleared up a bit (and cable cancelled), we have more family time.
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And, with no excuses, we are getting things done around here. We cleaned out the back yard (a little bit anyway) and took 2,300 pounds of scrap iron to the recycle yard--didn't get much money for it, but it was better than a kick in the pants. We got the part of the roof that leaks re-roofed. Yeah, it cost money for the roofing, but it needed to be done really badly. We have a really big garden spot this year and it's all ready to go. Hopefully, we'll be planting our cool weather crops this weekend.
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Hubby's unemployment has been hard in other ways, though. We HAVE to have insurance. Unemployment take home is a little bit less than his after insurance take home was before. It is cheaper to get individual policies than to go through my employment so that's what we did. Even after cutting all the extras out of our budget (music lessons, karate, cable, cell phone extras, housekeeping, etc.) we are going to be around $200 down each month after paying for insurance. We'll still do OK--that was our "play money" for dinners out and occasional weekend trips. If, however, he doesn't get a job before unemployment runs out, then we'll be hurting.
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Had Easter over at my mom's. We did a BBQ. I took my own burger (an "Amy's" 1/4 pound vegan patty) and no one even commented. I also took a veggie plate with a nut cheese dip and blondies. My brother and his family didn't even taste the dip or the blondies. Mom and Dad both commented that the blondies were good, but only just tasted the dip. Mom got out the ranch dressing and everyone dipped in that instead. It hurts my feelings, but oh well. I commented to hubby that my family runs and hides when I cook. Although it's funny, my folks love my vegan chocolate cake and my homemade bread.
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Oh well, enough family complaining. The kids are doing good. Son is raising money for scout camp. His troop is doing a spaghetti feed. Son has sold enough tickets to pay his way. They are trying to get each kid to sell enough tickets for camp plus some extra for food, etc. (anybody want to buy a ticket?)
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Daughter is home sick today. She has been in the bathroom puking at least 6 times already. Poor baby. There's nothing worse than throwing up in my book.
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Work has been crazy. Today is finally kind of slow and I don't mind at all.
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That's all I know of for sure.
Ciao for now.

Sloppy Joes on Biscuits

If last night's post seemed a little stilted, that's because it was. Sorry. Hubby came and started looking over my shoulder (I hate that) so I quit typing, minimized the screen and asked him not to. He got hot and asked what I was typing that he couldn't read. I told him that I was fine with him reading it, but my blog is kind of like my journal and I wouldn't want him to read my journal--or at least not read it over my shoulder.
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He harrumphed off. So I kept typing. I don't think he'd care about anything I typed, and,even if he did, I don't think he could find my blog to read it even if I put a shortcut to it on my desktop. So anyway, I'm blogging at lunch time today instead of with him around to avoid any of that.
Above is a pic of half a multi-grain biscuit (I had already eaten the other half when I decided to take the pic) and my sloppy joe stuff from last night. The Recipes follow:
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Multi-grain biscuits
1/2 cup flour
1 TBSP Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup wheat
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup brown rice
2 TBSP flax seeds
coconut oil (1/2 cup-approx)
soy milk (1 1/4 cup approx)
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Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl. put all of the grains in the vita-mix and blend until they are flour. Put that in the bowl, add the flax seeds and stir. Cut in the coconut oil until the mixture is crumbly. Add enough soy milk to make a sticky dough (don't over mix--just with a fork until it comes together). Drop by spoon fulls onto a baking stone and cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. (sorry for the imprecise measurements, I make my biscuits more by feel than by measurements.)
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TVP Sloppy Joes
1 Cup TVP granules
1 Cup water
1 tsp Better than Bullion-Veggie
1 can store brand sloppy joe sauce
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This is so easy--bring the water and bullion to a boil and take off of the heat. Stir in the TVP and let it set for a few minutes to absorb the liquid. Stir in the sauce and put back on the stove on low until it is as warm as you'd like it. (Be sure to check the ingredients of the Sloppy Joe sauce because I'm not sure they all are vegan.)
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The rest of the family wanted to save their biscuits for jelly so had their sloppy joes on bread. I had mine on a biscuit. Even hubby liked the sloppy joes! (Of course he said he likes them better with hamburger, but I expected that--he likes everything better when it can gum up his arteries.)
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So, what's going on in my life? Not a whole lot. Just work and ferry the kids to an fro. We have a school thing called "strut your stuff" tonight. Next week is Spring Break and we are going to take a 5-day vacation to the Grand Canyon. And that's about all.
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Daughter decided she was big enough for a bra this weekend. So we took her and got her one (she already had some sports bras, but she thought she was big enough for a real "cup-size" bra). She is now the proud owner of a striped "A" cup bra. It's a front hook because she couldn't seem to figure out the back hook in the dressing room. I keep having to remind her she can't be snapping and unsnapping her bra in public. Oh well, she will get it figured out. I just hope we're still a long way from the next monument of growing up female.
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Well, I guess I had better go now.
Ciao for now.

Girl Scout Cookie Sale, Chocolate Pie, Magic Bullet and more

Saturday, daughter manned a Girl Scout Cookie booth. Anyone want to buy a cookie? Daughter did well, but I'm glad the cookie sales are over.
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Both kids did well in their piano festival, too. They each got 49 out of 50 with a "Superior" rating. Daughter had some memory baubles in her piece that cost her a point, and I can't remember why son lost his point. But I was proud of them.
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Sunday, the kids and I made a "chocolate cheesecake" (I think I got the recipe off vegcooking.com). We made it for a birthday dessert since my folks were coming over. It was really soupy when I pulled it out of the oven so I was afraid we were going to have chocolate syrup in a graham cracker crust, but it firmed up as it cooled. It was really good--it would have been better if I had gotten some Soyatoo whipped topping at the store. No one could believe it was Tofu.
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Hubby went ahead and got me a Magic Bullet blender--mom had said she'd chip in. She said that they couldn't afford to get it for me right now so they'd split the cost with hubby, instead. So when they got there, mom changed her tune and said that, instead, they were going to take our family out to the tepanyaki restaurant for my birthday. I appreciate it, but I can promise that will cost more than my Magic Bullet did. Also, I am glad we weren't depending on the money they were going to chip in or we'd be SOL.
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I exercised today and Saturday but took Sunday off. I am doing well.
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And, by the way, the Magic Bullet is getting a work out. Everyone had their own smoothies last night. Kids each had a smoothie this morning. I had blended banana quinoa for breakfast and asparagus soup for lunch. And hubby and kids each had a smoothie this afternoon.
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Dinner tonight was home made multi-grain biscuits, TVP sloppy joes, and asparagus. It was pretty good. (Especially the biscuits)
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Well, that's a fast wrap up.
I think hubby wants to go to WalMart as soon as son gets done with his homework, so
Ciao for now.