Nuts, Grains, And Lost Marbles

This is Mark's new breakfast. It's probably the healthiest cereal in the world, and has already worked wonders for him. He sprinkles some cinammon on top, and calls it good. Not sure that I'm ready to jump on this bandwagon, but I'll let you know it if I ever decide to. These small packets are just to start out with to see if it helps him at all. I've already been scouting out bulk prices and have found most of this at either Haggen's or the Food Co-Op. Still working on hunting down the hemp seed.

Juice art. The green -or kiwi's- would only show up without the flash. I thought it looked cool enough to take a dark picture of. I believe this was oranges, mango, kiwi's, and carrot's. It was tart, but we drank it and the girls actually enjoyed it. They had fun drinking it together at their little table.

So I hadn't made bread in a while, and was a bit scared to at first. We've been eating so light, I was worried that bread would do me in. I snuck into Mark's cereal box and stole some raisens and roasted flax seeds. It gave the bread a nice flavor and tasted good with the vegetable soup and rice.

Veggie soup...yes, again. This time I added some fresh broccoli and garlic. I had more beef broth than chicken broth so I used both of them together and it came out well, had nice blending flavor. This pot is so big, sometimes I wish I had one smaller than this, but larger than my largest sauce pan. Spoiled.

Speaking of blending. This was my "lunch". Dry roasted peanuts (no salt), banana's, chocolate frozen yogurt, milk, a heavy scoop of protein powder, and of course ice. A full blender makes enough smoothie or shake for all 4 of us to have an appropriate serving. Again, I think the girls are liking these little juice and smoothie surprises. They giggle and laugh, and make a mess or two, then giggle some more. Then they pitter patter over to me and look up with the messiest little smiles asking for more. Makes me want to bake them a cupcake.

Today was my day at the preschool. Dealing with other peoples kids can be a challenge. Some are just brats, and some are so sweet. I've been toying around with some fundraising idea's lately, and feel I have come up with some good ideas, but haven't completly crossed the line toward's obligating myself. Baking a bunch of my most complicated cakes would require me to spend no less than 3 days in the kitchen - without a babysitter - to pull it off.

I've also been thinking about making a ton of chocolates. Liquor laced chocolates, butterscotch chocolates, hazelnut chocolates, peanut butter chocolates. It's far less time consuming, I can make ahead and freeze no problem since they have to be cool anyways. I could take my time to really perfect them all, and the stress - would be eliminated. I kinda don't like this fundraising thing.

Today's Take

While out today with my girls, I stocked up on a few extra fruit items for the juicer and blender (for smoothies). We fly through banana's already and have been using them for smoothies so I bought some more, just to ensure I didn't run out. Also found some good pears, a mango, and grapefruits.

I also came to the realization that I would have to change my grocery shopping schedule to accomadate for the constant flow of very fresh fruits and veggies. That will also take some adjusting as I spent a long time perfectly timing when I run out of staple items - so I only had to endure the sometimes 4 hour shopping trip just once every 2 weeks. It will be worth it in the end but will take some getting used to. I think I have a strong love-hate relationship with grocery shopping.

Being a mom has been difficult lately. Learning to let go, but wanting to hold on, is harder than I ever thought it could be. I've let go of Mia being a baby, and then a toddler, and accepted that she's now in preschool. I see her forming friendships at school and I know what's around the corner. Sleepover's, school 5 days a week, sports, teachers, a coach or two, friends parents - and then as I was browsing Pinterest, I found that perfect saying to match how I felt. "It's been lovely but I have to scream now!" Perfect.

I have this urge to re-arrange the house, mainly just the girls stuff. I still would like to update Mia's room. I came to the harsh reality just today in fact, that I would soon not be able to change Isabel on her changing table. She's just getting too big for it. I suppose I should figure out how to utilize it into a bookshelf or something. Before I know it, she's going to be in a big girl bed. It's been lovely but I have to scream now!

I'm excited to be moving forward in this direction, but it scares me at the same time. My parents will never fully understand how much I appreciated the freedom I was given as a child. I wonder if I'll be that strong as a mother as time goes on. I only see myself as the overprotective, ready to pounce, eyeballing every strangers every move, type of mother that desperatly needs to learn how to give my girls the freedom I had, but still be myself, as well as a protective, loving parent. Is there really a middle ground? I need to find it.

The Juicer

Today I started juicing. I don't plan on getting obsessive over it, but would like to do it at least once a day. My husband was up with me this morning (not normal) so I thought it would be a good time to start. I started with basics and juiced apples, oranges, and carrots.

Here we go! It takes a lot to make a little. I remember that from the last time we juiced.

Breakfast. It really wasn't bad, the apples definitly helped with the flavor. I will say it didn't go well with my morning coffee, but luckily I was in a hurry to get Mia to preschool and head down to the Food Co-Op. Today was 4% Friday, so our preschool recieved 4% of the Skagit Valley Food Co-Op's total sales for the day. So I went down and contributed some bucks, talked to customers and promoted. It was fun, different, and should be pretty successful! Yay!

Dinner. Chicken, avocado, tomato, cucumber, spinach, arugula, seasonings and a bit of Italian dressing. Did good for my 60% uncooked! I did make a pot of Miso, since I stocked up on fresh Miso from the co-op, and I made some sweet potato mash.

Oh and I almost forgot! For lunch I made a protein smoothie. Bananas, chocolate syrup, chocolate frozen yogurt, ice, and a scoop of protein powder. It was yummy! Sort of craving a burger, but I'm good. Tomorrow I shall experiement with kiwi's. Goodnight!

The Last 2 Weeks

For those that don't know, the past 2 weeks have been crazy, scary, and full of anxiety. My husband was admitted into the hospital after going to the walk-in clinic with sharp stomach pains. He was there for 3 days. After running a bunch of tests including a CT scan, he was diagnosed with a severe case of diverticulitis, and a few things on the side.

As a result, he has been on more meds than we can keep track of, it's terrible, and terrible on him. I now have to change my whole thinking of food. He has been on a special bland, soft food diet and it's been hard to come up with things. Last night I did make a good vegetable soup with some jasmin rice that was actually really good, easily digestable, and something I would make again just because it was good.

We were never food junkies, but we weren't health nuts either. We were in the middle. We always stayed away from processed foods and made things from scratch, so I'd say 90% of the time, we knew exactly where our food came from. No packets, no premade, crap.

Now I have to step this up a notch. I have been thinking about how I could go about this without freaking out or starving myself. So here it is:

60% uncooked fruits and veggies.

30% breads, pastas, and any cooked deliciousness that we would enjoy.

10% proteins - preferably chicken and fish before red meat, and an occasional sweet treat and any fats.

Part of me is excited, part of me is dreading, and part of me wants to see how many vegetables I can put in my shopping cart next week. Instead of the regular 2 bags worth, I expect to see 5-6 bags of fresh fruits and veggies. Now, I also have a juicer, but that's a whole other post.

Good Lunch

Our lunch went well! I didn't get a picture of everything, but did get some. I infused garlic and fresh sprigs of rosemary in some good oil the night before. The flavor of it the next day was amazing! I finally got to use this cute little jar.

I made ciabatta strata bread to go with the oil for dipping, and it also went with the baked tomato and feta that was drizzled in the flavorful oil and littered with fresh chiffonade basil. Bread came out good, here it is rising for the 3rd time.

The night before instead of doing something like cleaning - Mia and I baked a batch of good ol' oatmeal cookies. Just for fun.


The fish. This is the Steelhead that I made, I kept it simple by bathing it in lemon juice, sprinkled with sea salt and pepper, a descent amount of dill and a couple chunks of cold butter. Stick in oven of 400 for 15 minutes and this practically melts in your mouth.

I have no proof of dessert. But really, I made Banana mousse with butterscotch sauce drizzled on the dish and on top and then I grated semi-sweet chocolate for a garnish. It was a great lunch and we all had a good time. My husband laughed when I asked him what he wanted for dinner.

Use The Avocado

My breakfast. BLTA with cheese. Now I'm craving another one.

Dinner. This heap is a lot bigger than it looks. I had these wrap size tortillas that are just huge so I filled them well. There's a huge pile of greens, topped with fresh vegetables, lime juice, cilantro, chicken and then we later drizzled salsa verde sauce all over the top. We rolled it the best we could and dug in. I'm getting better at serving 50% uncooked vegetables for dinner.

So tomorrow I get to make this nice big lunch, and I'm excited to put some of my dinner party recipes to work. I plan on making baked tomato and feta cheese, 2 loaves of ciabatta strata bread to go with it, jasmin rice with butter and pepper, baked Steelhead, a green salad, and banana mouse with butterscotch ripple for dessert. I will be infusing oil for dipping the bread in, although I'm not sure with what, it's too easy to not experiment with.

I will be starting all my preperations today including cleaning, thawing my fish, infusing oil, making bread, and making the dessert - which can be refridgerated until needed, and setting the table. When I wake up tomorrow, I will have just a few things to do - the fish, rice, salad, and doing my best to keep the girls from tearing up any clean rooms and staying presentable. Need coffee!

Heartfelt And Hearty

I've always felt that the best kitchen utinsel you could ever have, would be the wooden spoon. They don't melt, but do occasionally burn - only adding character. They also never fail to properly mix your bread dough before digging in with your bare hands.


With pie dough, I use the pastry blender. With bread dough - always use a wooden spoon to cut your butter.

I let this dough rise about 30 minutes too long. When you have to play with tu-tu's and playdough, you have to play with tu-tu's and playdough. It still came out good.

Vension and sweet potato stew. I was a bit nervous making this with sweet potatoes, but it came out really good. I didn't get a before picture of it nicely dished up, and nearly forgot to get this picture before packing up the last serving. I ended up just doing it on the stove, taking only 2 hours. This house definitly had some smells going on - fresh baking bread and sweet potatoes - definitly something to remember. I think the sweet pots went better with a stew over the usual red's that I use. This was a success!

So I still have like 3 huge sweet potatoes, the 2 I used went pretty far. I might make a simple mash and still wonder what they would taste like paired with Steelhead. I managed to finish all the laundry except a few quick loads, and today plan on packing the 2 large boxes I filled just from Isabels closet and dresser of clothes she's outgrown and baby stuff no longer needed, and placing them in the shed. Very small tear over here!

I have also reignited the desire to completly re-do Mia's room. I had big plans last spring and never got around to it and we ended up renovating a house instead. She needs a big girl bedroom and cool things hanging from the ceiling. Spring is fast approaching and with this mild winter weather, I fully expect it to be a warm one. Can't wait, this winter is already a waste of time.