I ate breakfast with my husband!

Kind of. He ate his at the table while I was in the kitchen rushing to get him snacks and a lunch. Back when I first started this little blog I had this goal to eat breakfast everyday as a family. It didn't happen. Just like the maternity pictures. I promise the Thai take out posts won't fade into oblivion.

Back to eating breakfast. I've been learning so much lately. More about food and health. I had noticed that a lot of people in the "natural" community were gluten or grain free (or at least limiting grains) and not just forced into it because of allergies, but by choice. I thought it was insane. Of course, I asked why and started searching. Wasn't bread a staple since Biblical times...Jesus ate bread!? I already knew the modern white, refined flours, sugars, etc weren't good food choices. I hated wheat bread as a kid. Even the stuff that isn't really true multi-grain bread. I thought that by baking my own bread I was doing better, using half all purpose white flour and half wheat. Nope. I don't want to get into it here too much. There are plenty of sources for educating yourselves about it.

So, our next baby step was to continue reducing refined foods, this time focusing on narrowing it down more and more. I had done things like replaced our pasta with whole wheat kind thinking you know, that was a good move. Maybe it was for the time being, but it is also currently out and not on the approved grocery list. Stella and I still eat jasmine rice almost daily at breakfast, and I don't know when or if that will change. I hate brown rice. I just don't enjoy it. I would rather not eat rice. Baby steps.

What do we eat? First of all every day is different and not perfect. During this change there have still been the last minute runs up to a fast food joint. We live right in town and it is so easy to let the day slip away and realize at 7:45 that I am hungry and exhausted (what a way to refuel and nourish ourselves, huh?!) I also made spaghetti with meat sauce the other night. I used regular pasta that I had left in the pantry. Better than Wendy's!

We eat eggs for breakfast. Jasmine rice. Chicken. Beef. Fish Vegetable Stir fry. Fruit. Peanut butter. Ezekial bread. (info here)We still use flour tortillas. They are just so convienent. It doesn't sound very fun. Most days it isn't. I've been searcing all of my cookbooks and food magazines for meals that are grain free or that I can make grain free. Then of course there is the ever-inspiring blogland. Nourished Kitchen and Elana's Pantry are two of my favorites right now. Thai cooking, THANK GOD, involves mostly meat and vegetables. The rice is always optional.

I feel one of my main responsibilities as a wife and mother right now is to provide wholesome meals for my family. There is an extreme amount of guilt I let myself feel when it doesn't happen and I've let it slow me down for to long. This morning I woke up at 4:45 AM after falling asleep praying for guidance on practical ways I can be a better wife. Cameron rarely eats breakfast and will often skip lunch.  He works at least 45-60 hours a week and never expects me to make meals for him. He rarely stops to get something at a restuarant or drive thru the days he misses lunch (which is a usually a result of one of us forgetting to pack left overs)  This makes me feel like such a failure. He had to leave by 5:30, so I whipped up a quick breakfast.

Our breakfast this morning was:
1 pastured egg cooked in coconut oil
1 slice of cinnamon raisin Ezekial Bread with butter
1 small glass of raw milk
1 teaspoon of cod liver oil (Omega-3's)

It was a small success that I'm feeling really good about. I wish you could have seen the exchange of looks when I put the teaspoon of cod liver oil in his face. "What's that?" "Cod liver oil" Blank stare. "It's not as bad as think it will be." Gulp! Another blank stare. :-)

The problem is....I really enjoy baking. I mean, my life dream is to own a bakery/boutique. So this just sucks. I am not very happy about it, but I try to focus on all of the deliscious foods that are still good for my body. Butter, coconut oil (I'm obsessed with this stuff) meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables.

I also plan on venturing into traditional bread making (using sprouted flour), fermenting foods, and learning to make indulgent desserts with better ingredients. I know it will be challenging and fun in it's own way, but have I mentioned how old it gets having to fight to eat right???? When everything you thought was okay is not okay. I know it's silly to whine and cry over not being able to make pasta the way my grandparents (dad's side) showed me. I have the chance to change my family's health. If I'm going to live long, I want to live.

 My body is a gift from God, a temple, a vessel to lead others to love. I am my husband's helper. My daughter and son are also gifts given to me to nourish and grow, so they can do the same. And I will take good care of us.

Sunset in paradise.

Finding a balance

This crunchy mama is getting tired of going to the grocery store.
I got out of habit ordering from my produce buying club during the holidays (where I get my milk, eggs, and produce) so I have been doing a lot more shopping at Publix. Sometimes I just feel so defeated. I know I would save so much time and money if I just ordered a portion of a grass fed cow and organic grains in bulk, but needing the money up front makes it impossible right now. I get so mad when I'm trying to decide what to buy. Why isn't beef, that was raised the way God intended, available and affordable for everyone buy?

I'm going to admit it here - Buying local and choosing the right food for my family is not always easy. There are systems that are making it easier: buying clubs, co-ops, CSA's are popping up and making organic, locally raised meat, dairy, and produce more accessible and in some cases affordable. Some days I just envy the ignorant.

We started baby step 3 of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University this month.(save 6 months living expenses) This is what is making it so difficult. I'm trying to feed my family naturally on a very small amount of money. We started budgeting again and when I set the monthly grocery budget I made it really low to challenge ourselves. I'm finding it impossible to meet. I've cut out everything I can think of. I thought about doing coupons but many of the coupons are for prepackage  items I refuse to have in our diet. There are a few I can use but nothing like the $100 of groceries for $20 stories I see.

I see the extra money we spend on better ingredients as health insurance and an investment in the future existence of natural foods, so I know I should just increase my food budget and order the bulk items I know will save us money in the long run. Every day without fast food, soda, and other junk is a good day, but we have to maintain the next level at some point. While I'm grocery shopping it's like I have a mini Dave Ramsey on one shoulder and a natural food advocate on the other bickering at me; each one trying to get their way. I need to find a way to make them friends and respect each other.

Ravioli and Tradition

Every year on Thanksgiving I remember making fresh pasta with my grandparents. My grandmother would spend all day tending to the sauce and my grandpa was in charge of the pasta. The most fun was catching the strands of dough which was usually where my "help" came into play. I've always daydreamed about making pasta with my own family and that day is finally here! We made ricotta filled ravioli today. Stella isn't quite ready for dough catching, but here she is turning the crank. She'll be a pasta making pro in no time!

Baby Spinach Harvest!

I made calzones for dinner tonight. The recipe called for 10 ounces of spinach, but the bag I bought was only 6 and I had just about 4 ounces ready for picking in my garden. I finally got to harvest something besides herbs! I did a raw taste test and the garden spinach had 5 times more flavor than the store bought. Plus, it was organic! The recipe came from this months Everyday Food Magazine which is a Martha publication. My favorite thing about the magazine is the "Grocery Bag" section. It's a menu plan for weeknight dinners. There are 5 simple, wholesome, adaptable recipes that come with a shopping list. I had over half of the ingredients, so I ended up only spending $40 on groceries for this week. The recipes usually serve four, but we still had leftovers most nights, so lunches were also covered (with the help of a piece of fruit.) A subscription to EDF would be a great investment or gift. I do a jig  in front of the mailbox every month when the new issue arrives.

Healthful Cranberry Granola

I've been browsing for a wholesome granola recipe for a few weeks now and slowly accumulating ingredients I didn't have. I couldn't find ONE recipe that had me completely had me sold, so I took a few of the runner-ups and adapted my own to suit my taste and make it as healthful as possible. Here you go....

Healthful Cranberry Granola

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup flax seed meal

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sunflower seeds

3/4 cup slivered almonds

1 cup dried cranberries

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/3 cup applesauce

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup water

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 

2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together wet ingredients and pour over dry ingredients. Mix together until evenly blended.  Spread onto two greased, large baking pans.

2. Bake1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes. Cool completely. Store in an air-tight container.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Although, there aren't as many clusters as I'd like, so I think I'll add some maple syrup next time. I was worried about using applesauce in place of oil, but I can't stop eating it. I might be able to get away with cutting the sugar down to 1/4 cup. Oh, if you just so happen to be allergic to honey, you can substitute with pure maple syrup. ;-)

New Year's Resolution

I have an endless list of to-do's and plenty of weight to lose, but the resolution I'm going to give the most attention is to eat breakfast at the table with my husband and daughter every morning. I tested a recipe this morning I came across on my favorite food blog, A Veggie Venture. I made the Stove Top Oatmeal with Whipped Banana. I've never been a big oatmeal fan unless it was the packaged fruity kind, so if you're not fond of or used to plain oatmeal - be warned. Next time I will add a little honey or agave nectar.

Pumpkin Galore!

One morning at a La Leche League meeting, a woman brought cookies in that looked  delicious. My friend's daughter was eating one and once I smelled hers I knew I had to taste one. It was the best cookie I had ever eaten! I asked her what she put in them and she said, "Pumpkin, cranberries and oatmeal." So I came home, googled it and came across these Pumpkin-Cranberry Oatmeal cookies on an amazing food blog called Sugarcrafter that featured these cookies and has step by step pictures for every recipe! It worked out perfect because I had a bag of Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats sitting around I needed to use up. I have made the cookies three  times already! I will probably never get back to my pre-pregnancy weight thanks to these guys.

Two notes about her recipe:
I added an additional 1/4 cup of pumpkin
They come out best if you chill the dough overnight

To use the remaining pumpkin from the can I bought, I made the Pumpkin Blondies from her blog which have been a huge hit with everyone. I left out the coconut and cut the cloves and nutmeg in half to suit my preferences.