Thursday, March 28, 2013

Community Class - Powdered Milk


I went to my community class tonight and learned so much. Seriously! I learned so much.  The class is a local community classed sponsored by Food $ense. I found out about it in the paper and they have it once a month and each month is on a different topic. It is open to anyone who wants to come and it is totally FREE - which is always a good thing. Mine is held at the local -ATC school, but there is one close by at the community center and another that is held in a grocery store and one in a senior center.  Contact your local Community Agent and find out when and where your classes are. 

The class was based on local input: Things You Can Make With Powdered Milk. I went because I have a few cases of the stuff in food storage, and because I really enjoy getting out. These classes are always really fun (like Girl's Night except it could be Foodies' Night). And I ended up learning so much.

The instructors shared recipes on how to make Yogurt, Pudding and S.O.S. Mix (Soup or Sauce Mix). They covered how to properly store these items and mix them; this is important to know.

GoHere and find out where you can attend classes in your area. They are timely and well taught and informative. Grab a friend and go. You won't regret it; I promise.

The Fluffy Bread Ordeal


I am pretty frustrated with the whole grain situation here in my little corner of the world. I looked at each of my three local grocery stores last month for any type of "flour" that wasn't wheat. All I found was a tiny, and I do mean tiny, bag of rice flour on the gluten free corner of the cereal aisle. I was pretty disappointed. 


This month I have looked for Barley. I checked all three stores again, and I found one box of instant barley and that was it.  Not a single bag of regular barley—the type I’d add to soups or cook in a normal way. I am frustrated by this!


While on the subject of griping about whole grains: The other day we were bread shopping at a different store than we normally buy our bread. We had stopped to pick up milk and baby food, and so we stopped on the bread aisle to pick that up instead of making a special trip. It would have been comical, if it wasn't so frustrating. 


When we first for married we were different types of bread people, my kids had always eaten "brown bread" or wheat bread. My husband's kids were "Wonder Kids" meaning they ate the fluffiest of the white bread. We have had a hard time mixing the two. My kids don't like the "sticky" white bread, and his kids don't like the "scratchy" wheat bread. Oy Vey! It is the little things that will drive you crazy, isn't it?
So my husband picked out a loaf of brown bread and I said, "Be sure it says whole grain.” He replied, "It does, it says whole wheat," and I got the opportunity to teach a little bit and explain that whole wheat does NOT mean whole grain. We ended up buying a fluffy white bread that was 30% whole grain. And I ended up secretly resolving that I was not going to run out of bread and be forced to buy what I had already decided against. I wasn't going to wean my family off it all over again!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Be good to yourself.


I have been doing some interesting reading on simplifying and focusing on what is important.

I seem to go in waves of doing too much and then trying to decide what is most important and what has become life clutter. I seem to start most projects and voyages with the best of intentions that this new thing is going to make my life better or easier or more meaningful. Most end up just being life clutter, because while it would be nice to eat homemade whole grain bread hot out of the oven each morning for breakfast, that just isn't going to happen around here. Although I do know someone who has done this faithfully for years and swears that it is the key to her happiness.

I came across this list of ways to be gentle with yourself. I want to share it with you. But perhaps just take a few to try. Although they are all good ideas and each may work work for someone, you can't stress yourself out trying to relax. Just pick one or two that sound especially nice to you and try and do them.

I am going to try the walking as much as you can. I am going to get out and walk those blocks to pick my son up from school, I am going to park in the parking lot as far away as I can, and when I have 15 minutes I am going to close this computer screen and head around my block. I put the stroller on the porch and the front carrier in the car so I wouldn't have any excuses.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Getting to Know you


Getting to know all about me
Like singing with the King of Siam

"Getting to know all about you.
Getting to like you
Hoping that you like me."

Welcome to my getting to know you, I like lots of things: food, writing, knitting, decorating and yoga.

The things I do are take care of my kids. We are a 4+3 family ranging in ages from 14 years to 11 months.

I keep the Food $ense Mommy blog
I named it Snappily Ever After
Like a princess in a fairytale,
I want a happy ending.
I am also want forest creatures
to do my chores.

I am passionate about what Food Sense teaches - Because I have had to live it before.

I am passionate about what we teach
because I love my family.
I deal with all the big food issues our own clients can face.
A small grocery budget
Wanting to provide healthy and nutritious food.
How do I prepare that kind of food? My skill level is Red Ranger - hot pocket level. We have picky eaters, kids who prefer food endorsed by cartoons and adults that prefer food endorsed by the coke a cola company.

But what I love most about my job is the trying. Trying one thing a day, making one choice that is a better way to live. You won't be changing your whole world today, probably not even tomorrow, but after you have a few tomorrows behind you - then you are changing.

Last week for the first time, I picked out a mango, I cut and peeled a mango, and I made something with it. And that something turned out good and 4 of my 5 kids ate it.

I have made muffins with quinoa twice, and my family devoured them twice.




Saturday, March 23, 2013

Freezing Bananas

I was at the grocery store on Thursday night and they had these brown bananas marked way way down. In a frugal fit / frenzy I snapped them right up to take home and bake up. The thing is; I was at the grocery store at 8:30pm and the next day I was busy for most of the day. When in the world was I going to find time to make banana bread?  
And so I decided to freeze the bananas and use them next week.  This is shockingly easy and I am stunned that I haven't done it before.  You can freeze bananas lots ways 1. right in the peel 2. just out of the peel 3. out of the peel sliced and 4. out of the peel mashed.  I went for the last option since I am sure I am going to use mine for banana bread, but if you are a smoothie maker, sliced might be the way to go. I would probably only freeze mine right in the peel if I was completely out of time to do anything but open my freezer door and put them. (Now that I have said that - I am sure I will happen upon and occasion that I will be just that busy)


I put my bananas into the freeze bag roughly sliced, then I seal it up tight and mash them with my hands. Then I let a little bit of air out of the bag and mash more - more air out ... mash more banana. 

 How easy and lovely is that!? And now, for 1/2 the cost of yellow bananas and none of the guilt, I am ready to bake me some banana bread.  I have heard you can do lots of other things besides smoothies and baking, There is even a quick fake "ice cream".  Check it out!

Mangos!

March's Fruit in Season is Mango.
I don't know how much you know about mango, but I know next to nothing. I know my kids love to eat them and if I don't hide the bag of dried mango they will eat the entire thing.  Here is what you need to know to be able to pick out a good one at the store.  Take the time to read through it, if you don't know; you don't want to pick out a bad one and ruin the experience for the first time.   Here are two ways to peel a mango. I feel like I really butchered mine, and that I left a lot of fruit on the stone and on the peel. I will use a vegetable peeler next time. 



I decided to make this mango recipe. The Mango Lime Bean Salad. Here are all my gorgeous ingredients in my bowl. It was too pretty not to take a picture of it. 


We ate in inside a chicken wrap and it was So delicious. My husband doesn't like beans and he loved it, I have never eaten a mango and I loved it.  I scooped some chunks onto the baby's highchair try and she really really loved it. (but I did pick out the onions for her.)  This was even more amazing the next day - and I love how there was do "dressing" to make. 

Highly recommend this one to ALL!  Mango Lime Bean Salad.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

I was browsing Pinterest the other day and came across a good looking recipe for Banana Quinoa muffins. As I have told you before, we like us some banana bread here, so I thought I might try them out, since the Crunchy Banana muffins were such a wild success.

But I didn't save the recipe and then I couldn't find the one that I was remembering and I came across Pumpkin Quinoa muffins - that sounded even better! So I decided today that I was going to make those.  The recipe is adapted from This recipe originally.  But honestly, both recipes were a little "fancy" and overly complicated for me.






So here is what I did:

First: I cooked the Quinoa, It was early in the day and early into the cooking, so I was feeling creative and spry and I put cinnamon in my water to make it extra yummy.

Just cook yours according to the water / grain ratio on the package, it will most likely be 1 cup water to 1/2 cup quinoa. I added a liberal shake of cinnamon because I like my pumpkin goodies to be full of spice.

Second: I started to mix my dry ingredients. The original recipe calls for "Whole Wheat Pastry Flour"  I don't know who has the time to find that and then the money to purchase a whole wheat flour specifically for pastries (although I am sure it is useful and delicious). I used my regular old flour mixture which is 1/2 unbleached all purpose flour to 1/2 Whole Wheat flour.

I have seen a few recipes that call for a flax mix as an egg substitute and that seemed complicated and unnecessary. I don't mind eggs in my baked goods.

Then: The baby decided she was done with her breakfast and ready to get out of her highchair. Baking for the internet had lost its appeal. My camera on my phone was taking horrible photos and I was frustrated that I don't have a big beautiful cooking blog kitchen.  I threw the rest of the ingredients in the bowl.  I didn't make buttermilk, I didn't add any seeds - I added chocolate chips instead. Mini ones - because I am "fancy" like that.


They turned out GREAT! Seriously, L was chomping at the bit staring into the oven counting the seconds until the kitchen timer beeped. He ate them hot out of them oven and declared them the most delicious things ever. And that was high praise indeed. He adores the store bought pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, so much in fact that he got a package of them for his birthday.

Here is my altered recipe:  ( Which I doubled!)

SERVINGS

Makes 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups quinoa, cooked and drained (remember I cooked mine with cinnamon in the water)
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin - Not pumpkin pie filling
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Chocolate Chips!

PREPARATION
Bake at 375 for 15-17 minutes depending on how full you filled your muffin tins (which I know you greased)













Bringing the Casserole Back


I have a confession to make: I love casseroles. I didn't make very good ones, and therefore, I didn't make them at all. But I love hearty, warm casseroles.



Casseroles are a comfort food for me; they are filled with lots of happy memories, and also filled with great flavors and yummy things.  My grandma made casseroles, and she would always bring one down to our family. I remember how much we loved to pick off the toppings while we were setting the table and getting ready to eat. I remember the warning to “be careful--the dish is hot” and having to place a trivet on the table so it wouldn't burn the plastic table cloth. (Did I just confess too much there?)

My mom didn't make casseroles, and so I don’t remember her ever teaching me how to make them. When I first got married, I got a church cookbook as a gift, and it had recipes for strange and delicious casseroles galore. It was like I had been given the secret Indiana Jones diary, and I was about to find the Holy Grail of noodles, rice and sauce. 

Somewhere along the way I stopped making them. I am not sure why. But just like Justin Timberlake, I am Bringing Sexy Back, and by Sexy, I mean Casserole!!

I got a handout from my Food $ense Menu Planning Class. (Side note: contact the person on this list closest to you and find out when your local classes are—you will NOT regret it.) So I got my handout for Create a Casserole, and I have been experimenting away.  I have even tried things not on the list–quinoa was a success, as was the barley! I told my kids it was “special rice.” They adore rice. I have only used canned chicken, canned tuna, and beans as the proteins because I wanted it to be as easy as possible, and I am trying to create a list of pantry meals that I can make quick and fast. This requires I use things I know I have on hand.


I think I will establish a weekly “Casserole Night.” I like feeding my family healthy, yummy food, but I also really like knowing I am creating memories for them and giving us moments together; and all because of noodles, rice and sauce. And “be careful—the dish is hot!”



Tuesday, March 19, 2013

I Salute You!





I may be showing my age here a little but do you remember the song that started "For those about to rock, we salute you"?


Well, my husband has been trying to lose some weight. In fact, we have a strange assortment of weight loss stories here in our family. I have a son who doesn't weight more than he should, but he has a round belly and lives a relatively sedentary life. I have a son who is active; he rides his bike to and from school; he plays soccer and practices daily; and he is a chubby little kid. I just finished nursing and weaned the 10 month old baby, and I am still carrying all the weight I gained when I first got pregnant..... 14 years ago!


What does this have to do with Food $ense you wonder? Because what you put in your body matters! My husband has been going to the gym for three weeks. He jumped back into exercise with both feet and has been working really hard. We have changed some family activities to include more active ones—we go to the park, go swimming, take walks, and perform spring yard work. But over the last three weeks my husband has not only not lost weight, he has gained over 10 pounds. Shhhh, I will tell you why... Because he assumes that now that he is working out, he can eat whatever he wants: girl scout cookies, cake, fried pickles, licorice, potato chips, and that just isn't so.


Now I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I paid attention in class, and I do want to take the best care of my family, so here is what I think and a few things I know. Junk food is not food; it is junk! And your body is going to treat it like the garbage it is. It isn't fuel, and it isn't nutrition, and it isn't nourishing in any way. Processed and prepared foods are also not food. Our bodies were made to be the machine that processes our food. If you buy something that has ingredients in it that you don't recognize or you can’t pronounce, then the work has already been done and your body is going to turn that Hot Pocket into giant jeans pockets on the back of your rear end.


I admire people who work out. All those moms with marathon stickers on the back of their SUVs—I salute you! That is amazing! But face it, that isn't most of us. I am currently in-training to chase a new crawler and hope some day to wash the Mount Everest that is my laundry. But I have been learning, and bodies need good food to function.



Wednesday, March 13, 2013

One whale bite at a time.


Do you remember the Shel Silverstien poem about the girl who ate the whale – or the joke about how you eat a whale? "One Bite at a Time" 






Have you heard of tiny Melinda Mae,
Who ate a monstrous whale?
She thought she could,
She said she would,
So she started in right at the tail.
And everyone said,”You’re much too small,”
But that didn't bother Melinda at all,
She took little bites and she chewed very slow,
Just like a good girl should…
…and in eighty-nine years she ate that whale
Because she said she would!


I will confess, I am addicted to self-help. I love the books, blogs, videos and programs. I certainly don’t have any of them mastered, but I am a very firm believer in every / any little bit helps.

Here is a motivational quote from one of my email lists -

"If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito." Betty Reese

Think of this in terms of your get healthy efforts - every little change you make: food choice, temptation resistance, exercise, getting more sleep - no matter how small it may seem at the time or how long it may take to see results it all affects and benefits the change you're seeking and will show results in the end. Stay with it! Every little bit counts!

The basket of laundry that you did today, it may be one of many; it makes a difference in the lives of your family. The walk around the block, may not be training for a marathon or even a 5k, but you got your body moving and you were breathing in the fresh air and you felt the sunshine.

So often, we are discouraged because there is just too much to accomplish, there is too much information out there to learn, or too many changes to be made, and we are overwhelmed and give up before we begin. But really that is the best change to make – To Begin!

When I decided that I wanted my family to eat better, I was so overwhelmed. I didn't know anything about nutrition and I didn't have a ton of money to spend and I hardly knew where to begin. I knew I wasn't going to have the kids cheering me on to throw away their giant bags of sugar cereal and I was very intimidated by all the cooking that I was going to need to do.

But I decided to just take one step a week, I would choose one habit a week that I would “better”. Whether that meant giving something up, or adding something it depended on the change. And we aren’t a poster family healthy living, but I am making changes because I love my family and I want the best for them.

And so I began - -

Week 1 – No more “sugar” cereal.  It had to be whole grain and less than 10 grams of sugar per serving (This led to lots more people wanting oatmeal for breakfast)

Week 2 – Buy Whole Grain bread with no more than 5 ingredients on the label.  (I was lucky enough that my local grocery bakes their own bread daily – and it is cheaper than any of the national brands!)

Week 3 – Add a green salad with every dinner.

Week 4 – Add a piece of fruit to every breakfast

Week 5 – No one sits during commercials – you exercise or do a chore. 

This was over a year ago that we started these changes, and I am happy to report that I am still taking small bites into this giant whale and by golly darn it, I am going to eat it!  I hope I finish before I am 89, but if I don’t well then I will know in my heart that eat of those bites made this life more worth my living.

Lazy Girl Fitness - Share

I have been looking for this for a while. Ever since last month's work challenge on fitness.  I looked for it in the blogosphere and couldn't find it, but last night on pinterest I stumbled across it.

Here is the Pin

And here is her Actual Blog

I love her ideas, I have time to be active during the commercials or give my laundry basket a few extra hefts before I put it down.




Monday, March 11, 2013

Snack Bag Party


I have noticed my family eats a lot more vegetables when they are conveniently available. However, I don’t like to buy the “convenience packages.” Those words are just big, red flags to me indicating higher prices for the same product. But my kids always want the tiny bags of carrots or the apple slices packed into little plastic containers.  I want them to eat good food, but who can afford to pay that mark up?

Enter the “snack bag.” I actually really enjoy making these. I will stand in the kitchen and listen to something that makes me happy—perhaps an old movie or some music—and chop and wash and slice away.  It doesn’t take all that long, and I get to add all sorts of delicious things.  Instead of the regular carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower—why not try something new?

Some things I really enjoy eating raw and are kinda suprising:
Yams
Jicama
Blanched Green Beans
Zuchini
Button Mushrooms
Asparagas

My kids think radishes are an awesome addition, but sadly, they give me heartburn something fierce.

You can stick just about anything that is in season or on sale in these little bags: bell peppers, green onions, grape tomatoes in any color.


For the most part I attempt to get my family to eat vegetables without the Ranch dressing in the bottle. But if you have Ranch eaters, try making your own dressing. You can buy a seasoning packet and mix it with some Greek yogurt, or try some dill and garlic mixed into a container of plain yogurt. Some other favorites here are our house are hummus (YUM!), salsa (because my kids will eat anything with salsa on it), homemade guacamole, spreadable light cheese. And you can mix just about anything with plain yogurt (Greek yogurt or strained yogurt cheese—like taco seasoning or your favorite herbs from the garden.




Part of getting your family to eat healthy – and eating healthy yourself is making it easier than grabbing a bag of Doritos or that handful of potato chips.  When you open your fridge, those lovely little sacks of snackable veggies will be smiling back at you – and just like Yo Gabba Gabba!, they will want to go to the “party in your tummy--So yummy! So yummy!”

Beans.. Beans... (sing along with me!)



This month one of the food spotlights at Food$ense is Legumes, or "Le'Guuuuumes," or beans. We ain't fancy around here

My local extension held a class on beans and made brownies with beans in them.  They were so good. LIKE- slap your Momma! good. And I consider myself at least a AAA league brownie taster.  I might not be in the majors, but I am better than most.  The hardest part is getting the bean puree smooth. Seriously, don't ruin brownies for everyone in your family by spoiling the secret and giving them a chunk of bean. They will not appreciate your attempt at sneaky nutrition as a good enough excuse for your betrayal. Blend, blend, blend!! 


And I need to share with you the ultimate bean-y goodness that I could eat everyday for lunch - and also snacks - but no one in my family appreciates me eating that many... eh  "musical fruits," Cowboy Caviar  seems to be the most popular name for it, but THIS one... is the one you want to make. The first recipe is not nearly as good and not as good for you at all!  I love this recipe because I can dump any beans that I want to into it. On Thursday I used: black beans, chick peas, black-eyed peas and kidney beans. I also sometimes use bell peppers and sometimes not - depending on how fresh they are - same with the avocado (but truth be told, the avocado makes it!). Just dress it with a little vinegar and lime, I even leave out the oil most times. This has got to be the best stuff alive. I will eat it with a handful of chips and then I realize the chips are just slowing me down and eat the stuff plain with a fork.  I always be sure I make enough to run some to my mom and sister at work, too. I believe sometimes they will mention that it sounds good, just so I will crave it and make us all some.  I made a huge bowl of it for the family party. We fed 30+ people, and then entire dish including two bags of chips was under 8.00$.  Not too shabby. 
  • If you are going to buy the tortilla chips labeled as Healthy, be sure to Read Your Label! - and be prepared to pay more. 
  • Whole Grain
  • Low Salt
  • Baked
  • Try Matzo Bread - or a Whole Grain cracker
  • Bake your own! This looks easy and so good, but I haven't tried it  




I wish I could report that I ate "healthy" chips with mine, but sadly, I don't. I eat cheap chips - so I try and break the chips into tiny pieces and eat mostly dip. - How is that for "Snappily reasoning".  But for those of you interested in that option I have some suggestions. 





Sunday, March 10, 2013

Playful Parenting


Since it is the weekend, and since I tend to have a busy brain, I have been thinking—thinking about how I like to spend time with my kids.

I like to play with my kids. My husband and I, we both do. He loves to play sports and jump on the trampoline and teach them skateboard tricks. I like to listen to music with my kids, and read the same books, and play video games, and build with Legos.

There used to be a time (quite a while ago) where I could hold my own in video gaming against them, but those days are long past. The teams get divided and the four year old gets picked before me. Granted, he is a much better player than I am. The boys always reassure me that I am still loved, even if I made the team lose.

My favorite thing to do with my kids is play Legos. We love those building blocks at our house. We have oodles and oodles of them. I love to sit down with my kids and talk and create. They tell me about things they are interested in and what is going on in their lives. They confide in me about what is important to them, or what is worrying them. I get to give them positive feedback on what they are making, as well as on their ideas and life in general. Sitting around the Lego buckets is the sacred sweat lodge of our family. 

Plus, I really think they like me to play because my main job is to dig through the buckets and find specific pieces. I use my considerable mom-can-find-stuff skills so I am very good at it.

Take a day or two to observe how your kids play; what do they like to do? Then join in. Let them play their way until you find an opening to gently teach or bond with them. You don't have to make yourself their friend and throw out your standards, but you can be a playful parent. 

Think of how amazing it would have if your mom had understood anything about how to evolve a Pokemon or how cool it was the first time you legitimately scored on her in soccer. Dance around, sing some of their songs. Make up news words and now your family has a special secret bond...(Sing to Taylor Swift)  And you all know, "that we are never ever ever ordering.... bacon flavor!"

Saturday, March 9, 2013

The Roast Beast


Some time ago our family was given a very large roast beef. It is just fine at our house to accept all yummy, and some not so yummy, foods regardless of the peculiar story associated with it.



So we have this enormous, precooked roast beef slab, and we finally thawed it and decided to eat it. We did it on a weekend with all the hungry mouths here, and that was a brilliant move on my part.

Saturday:  club sandwiches with pickle spears
Sunday: French dip
Monday: beef fajitas 
Tuesday: roast beef on rolls with melted cheese and dipped in ranch or BBQ sauce
Wednesday:  French toast (we needed a break)
Thursday:   my mom's birthday party so we had Mexican food
Friday:  BBQ beef sandwiches

After the dinner clean up, I was done. I could not face another meal of roast beef! But, I couldn't waste all this high quality meat. And then genius struck; my 10 year old says, I wish that bag of meat was a bag of jerky.

Jerky! The holy grail of hungry teens and preteen boys everywhere. I rushed to Google, and I called my dad for advice. He was especially proud in that moment. And I put those left-left-way-left over roast beef strips in my oven and turned it down to 170, and after roughly 3 1/2 to 4 hours, I did indeed have jerky. 

I am the hero of the day for creating the ultimate man food. I didn't have to throw it away and I didn't have to invent another meal that included roast beef slices. 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Today is International Women's Day. If you are a woman, stop and take a moment today and be amazed at ALL that you do!  There are lots of issues that still need to be addressed and lots of injustices in the world. If you can, devote some time and attention to those.

But I want you to stop for a minute and be in awe of all that you have done today. I bet you fed someone, and you were probably the reason that same someone had clean clothes to wear. I bet you wiped a tear and made someone smile. I bet you will still give someone comfort when it is bedtime and your kiss will be the last thing that someone wants to feel before they close their eyes and go to sleep.

We are amazing as women and we are changing the world, one smile and kiss and helping hand at a time.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

My Mom's birthday


The cake is a wild success!

Super Grump



It is hard at times with all the social media outlets available to us to not become a big public complainer. The economy is hard and money is tight, jobs are stressful and kids are tough to raise. We are bombarded with images of people who have brand news cars and huge houses, who wear designer clothes and who's kitchen sparkle and probably smell lemon fresh all the time.
It is easy to blow up twitter with tweets of how frustrated I am with my kids, or how angry I am at the inconsiderate drivers on the road. I am intrigued by how easy it is to be miserable - and how much misery really does love company.
There is a fine line to walk when putting parts of your life out there for the world to read and see and examine. I want to share real emotions with you, but I also don't want the majority of those emotions be when I am frustrated. (And there are days when I am frustrated a lot!) 

The other side of the line is portraying myself as some kind of supermom. We all know who those women are. They go to the gym early and teach the class there, they come home and make their kids steel cut oatmeal that they soaked the night before - and their kids are so perfect they don't even want butter or sugar in their oatmeal - they want fresh cut fruit (which supermom also remembered to buy). She decorates for every holidays and sends themed treats to school with catchy sayings on them made with scrapbook paper.
So this blog and online presence is an experiment for me, I used to blog daily and was quite prolific in writing, but due to some big life changes I have taken an almost three year break. I love sharing, I love thinking that perhaps there is some mom out there that says, "yup, that is the way it is - and I can try again tomorrow too".  

For all the reality we have on tv, there really isn't a lot of Real reality.  I don't get to swap my life with another mom and come home to appreciate my own mcmansion. I don't get to be a Real Housewife of Nowhere in Particular and have my closet filmed and women everywhere swoon with envy.  If my closet ever made it onto tv there would be some swooning, but not with jealousy.
I have the same life as you do, and it is both a beautiful life and the hardest thing I have ever done. I fight the big battles and the little ones too. And hopefully I rejoice in the big victories and the little ones.  I try to laugh everyday and with a little luck I only cry sometimes and that makes it a pretty good life. 

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Phone Yoga - Pho-GA!


I love my phone! I use it for just about everything. I use it first thing in the morning when the phone alarm wakes me up, to the beeps that remind me throughout the day to change my laundry and take my vitamins. I look up recipes, read blogs, email family and friends, take pictures of my kids, and listen to my music. I use it to read books and have books read to me. My kids play games on it (so do I). I follow the news, check the weather, and even watch movies and tv shows. But I have recently discovered the one use that has made me fall in love with my phone all over again. It is a daily Yoga app, and I got it for free in my phone's App Store.
Last summer shortly after I had the baby I found a community yoga class. I was shocked to find it since the area where I live in is much more rural than urban. I immediately dragged my sister to class with me, and we fell in love with it. My sister was a yoga fan from her time in a large west coast city, and I had always been jealous that she was able to attend a real yoga class.
Now I am not a big fan of being "athletic:" I don't like the feeling of sweat, I do not enjoy competition, and I don't like being in a big stinky gym where I am uncomfortable in my own skin—my own skin in lycra spandex! But yoga was different. We had a great instructor who taught us that yoga was about the practice and loving our bodies and being grateful for what they could do, not what they could not do. I love the peace and the quiet and the strength. I think I enjoyed the way it made me feel mentally more than the way it made me feel physically. I certainly didn't start to have a supermodel body.
But the end of summer rolled around and soccer started. Wouldn't you know it—practice and games were on the same night as my yoga class. Then it got to be dark sooner, and I didn't want to go out, and then I was out of the habit, and before I knew it, I no longer missed attending my Yoga class.
Which brings me to the discovery of the Yoga app on my phone. I was browsing a while back in the App store, and listed under one of the categories of recommend apps was this Daily Yoga app. Well, I downloaded it immediately because I should be able to reap all the benefits just by having it on my phone... right?  It has honestly sat there for months and never been opened. I have good intentions because I haven't deleted it when I go through and delete all the games my kids download onto my phone, but I had yet to use it.  Then a few days ago, I decided I would explore it—now mind you, I wasn't about to USE it, I was just going to look at it a little. There were lots of programs that I could download and access: ones for relaxation, or weight loss, or back pain. So I downloaded a few of them. I even picked one and started to listen to it. (Isn't that ridiculous, I sat on the couch and listened to it, instead of doing it!)
But Monday it was sunny outside, and after the rain and the long winter it just feels good to be alive. I decided I would get out my yoga app and use it. I chose the 14 minute sun salutation because I figured I could sacrifice 14 minutes of my day to exercise. At first it was a little goofy, my son giggled at the words the instructor was using, "delight in your breathing.” I giggled, too. And the cat came and tried to take a nap on my yoga mat right in the middle of my downward dog. My preschooler tried to do some of the moves, but it wasn't bouncy enough for him and so he left.
But after I finished my 14 minute practice and as I lay there on my mat, I meditated (was thinking) about how truly beautiful it all was. My body is strong and useful; I can do so many things to provide for my family and help others with it. How joyful I was surrounded by the people that I love and who love me. How grateful I was for the sunshine and the coming springtime and to be alive and breathing.
And then, when I was done, I set a reminder on my phone: "Do Yoga! - Remember how much you love how you feel after." 
** For those of you interested in "free yoga," all major phone markets have free apps, as well as all major tablet markets. If you are on a computer, YouTube has some wonderful ones also. 



Monday, March 4, 2013

Hurry Summer


I made the kids a surprise summer treat today.



 I took the orange juice from yesterday, and put it in the popsicle maker that I dug out of the very very back of the kitchen cabinet. They thought they were so fun and yummy. We haven't had Popsicles since the weather turned cold. And they were all very impressed that they were good for them. I have a can of mango nectar in the pantry that I haven't known what to do with, I am going to make it into Popsicles.




 Hurry summer, so they can slurp and suck and drip outside!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Cooking Mistakes

I won't even tell you how many of these I have been doing. Let's just say that if it was a quiz in a magazine I would have had to be using fingers and toes to add up my score.

17 Basic Cooking Mistakes and how to fix them - from Real Simple.

Friday, March 1, 2013

A Place at the Table.



http://www.takepart.com/place-at-the-table

50 million people in the U.S.-one in four children-don’t know where their next meal is coming from, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans. Directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush examine this issue through the lens of three people who are struggling with food insecurity: Barbie, a single Philadelphia mother who grew up in poverty and is trying to provide a better life for her two kids; Rosie, a Colorado fifth-grader who often has to depend on friends and neighbors to feed her and has trouble concentrating in school; and Tremonica, a Mississippi second-grader whose asthma and health issues are exacerbated by the largely empty calories her hardworking mother can afford.

Opens March 1st in theaters nationwide, on iTunes and On Demand everywhere