Eat Your Veggies

You may know that I have done the Whole30 before. I wrote a little about the tears and blessing that it was on a separate blog, that honestly didn't get too many posts but you can read the about it here: Whole30 Journey

While that taught me a TON about clean eating and making simple swaps that stuck for my family, I am a little older, a little thicker (hello quarantine furlough from my job which happens to be the gym) and I have a little more time on my hands since my kids can now both wipe their own butts & make their own lunch. And they even usually wash their hands between the two without being reminded. So, this translates to WHY DON'T WE GO PLANT BASED FOR A SHORT PERIOD AND SEE WHAT THAT DOES. There is always subtext.

I admittedly have a bit of an obsession with produce. I love all the colors and choices and I find the process of washing, cutting & packing up everything to be very relaxing. I missed my calling as a prep cook in Hell's Kitchen. Gimme a knife and some fresh fruits & veggies and let me at it. Now, don't take that to mean that I do food prepping for the week or anything. I just like to chop things up and they all look so pretty organized in my fridge. And, of course, it makes it so much easier to use those & eat them when they're ready to go.

My biggest challenge with going into a plant based diet, aside from the 3 cavemen I live with who haven't had a meal without meat like EVER, is the protein side of things. I was really surprised by the amount of protein in some plants! The top 10 highest protein packed vegetarian options are:

1. Edamame
2. Lentils
3. Pinto Beans
4. Chickpeas
5. Mung Beans
6. Fava Beans
7. Lima Beans
8. Green Peas
9. Quinoa
10. Wild Rice

So, most of this list is either a legume, or a grain. I have a problem with quinoa where I eat it until I hate myself, because I love it in place of rice (which we did for dinner tonight with our chili and rice that Gage requested) and well, the high protein and fiber content usually make me wish I had shown more restraint.

If these are a little outside your usual eating habits, broccoli & spinach are two common green veggies that you probably eat more often, and you can rest assured you're getting a good dose of vitamins & protein in 100g servings of those.

I am taking my supplements to ensure the gaps in our daily nutrition is covered for the days I choose cupcakes as a treat, and I also have a vegan protein shake option for breakfast or lunches if I need the simplest meal that I can trust helps me stay within my guidelines. But, eating whole foods, mostly vegetables is honestly going to make just about everyone feel good.

No one ever felt worse after veggies, though there may have been emotional trauma - hello to my crying children when we made them eat a cherry tomato earlier this year. These kids GAGGED like I gave them dirt to eat. It was bizarre and I honestly couldn't help but laugh because it was so crazy to me to see them react like that. They are usually super good about eating vegetables on their plates, even if begrudgingly. They also cried when we had sauteed zucchini last week, but whatever. Once a week or so I make this giant pot of veggie & chicken soup and they eat that just fine.

So, starting Sunday, we are accepting the 10 day plant based eating challenge at our house. I will likely give the guys some meat options every other day, because getting your loved ones on board can certainly be a challenge. But, since I am the one who cooks the meals, they're basically at my mercy.

**I feel like it is important to note that I am not being flippant by posting about a plant based diet challenge while the world seems to be literally burning. I believe change MUST happen. Hatred and racism MUST stop. My heart hurts for the black people in our nation who are mourning the loss of another man, on top of the daily challenges they face because of racism. I stand with my brothers and sisters and speak against racism on every level - whether its a casual "joke" or outright racist comments, or the systemic racism that oppresses them. As a Christ follower, I am called to stand with the marginalized and speak up when their voices fall on deaf ears. And, this small platform is a place I can say: THIS CANNOT GO ON.

A Little Bit Hippie, A Little Bit Pirate - My Homeschool Type

Just like every other parent with school aged kids right now, we are doing homeschooling. Except really the better name is "Crisis Schooling" because the way we are working here at my house may lean a bit more towards traditional homeschooling but it certainly wasn't by choice. Curtis came home from work and as he walked in the door asked "What's all the yelling for?" and my reply was basically "This is my school, don't question my methods." Truthfully, I am not against the idea of school at home at all.

I actually chose to switch over to homeschooling about 1/2 way through my junior year of high school. As a younger child, I had friends at church whose parents chose to homeschool them and my own mother considered it here and there. We always liked the idea of less structured schooling but we never really wanted to do commit to it. Anyway, I met some new friends in high school that were homeschooled and after not really enjoying the first half of my junior year, I decided to homeschool for the 2nd half. I did have to finish my Science and Math for the year and I wasn't exactly keen on finishing them on my own - and if I am being completely honest I would not have been able to self study Physics and Algebra 2 without some guidance. My parents were able to enroll me part time at a private christian high school so I could take Math and Science from a qualified educator and I completed the rest of my work on my own. I also was able to work part time without having an overload of school work to do for the entire evening.

So, when we switched to eLearning after spring break and the stay at home orders I was mentally OK with the idea. I mean, I felt bad for my kids because they would not be returning back to see their friends and they were immediately stuck with me as their teacher. But, I wasn't overwhelmed by it. I have neurotypical children who don't have any special allowances for support at school. It was definitely the best situation I could ask for given I wasn't asked.

However, I do have 2 boys with fairly different learning and studying habits. After just a couple of days my older son was navigating his Google classroom assignments and online work on his own. He is a rule follower and likes to have things completed and off his plate. So, he self manages most of his work that's assigned. Obviously he gets help as needed from me.  He is quite a bit like me in that sense. Little brother though - Lord help me is like his daddy. Doesn't get invested into the work if it doesn't interest him. He also requires that we take him allllllllllllll the way to the finish line with his work. You can't leave him to do it himself, because he will likely end up staring out the window or on the floor petting a dog. He's a little bit like me in that sense. I can certainly get distracted by the outdoors or by fluffy dogs who need pats.

Now, my older son gets his work done and is constantly giving verbal updates as he completes tasks. This upsets the younger one. He doesn't like knowing he has more left to do than his brother. He chooses his subjects in order of what he wants to work on first, and he usually leaves the writing & reading for last. He was working on a little writing assignment where he was collecting text evidence for an opinion essay. He had ONE more to find and write down - but I just kept having to repeat myself and he would stare at me and the paper and finally I slammed my palm down on the Captain Underpants book and yelled "READ THE !^$%@ BOOK AND WRITE SOMETHING DOWN!" I felt like the pirate captain with a crew threatening mutiny. They nearly had to walk the plank.

Let's just say that we had to take breaks & adjust to each kids style of learning. But, the huge takeaway for us is actually that the boys are now interested in doing legit home school. and my hippie heart is SO down for that. I love having more time freedom & letting them learn more about the things that interest them. A basic curriculum with freedom to pursue the things they genuinely love to know more about. I have a flexible work schedule with my job at Orangetheory working as a personal trainer & Curtis has his own business so we can adjust his schedule as needed for short trips or for more time at home as a family.

I am not sure what the fall school semester will look like. I don't think anyone is 100% certain at this stage. I do know that there is talk of extending the school year by adding longer breaks into the year and allowing wiggle room in the case of a resurgence of COVID-19. I like the idea of knowing what we will be doing so I can plan. I am a bit of a free spirited hippie but I also like to know what is coming. So, the idea of doing a home school year and being able to PLAN ahead gives me some peace of mind.

Have you ever homeschooled prior to the pandemic? What was your reasoning? Would you now consider homeschooling after your experience over the last two months?

A Veggie Extravaganza

I have always loved the process of cutting up fruit and vegetables. I find it very therapeutic and I  love all the pretty colors. I received a delivery from  5G Farms on Tuesday & decided it was perfect time for a good vegetable rich soup. I promise you that my kids ate every kind of veggie that was in this because it all tasted so good! This is my first semi step-by-step recipe post like this, but cooking is very much a loose science for me as long as you follow some basic helpful rules. On the other hand, when you're baking, that is an exact science! Without further ado, we shall get started!

Step 1 in cooking is knowing that FLAVOR is important during the entire process. I started with 1/2 a large onion, 2 tbsp of minced garlic (I use the kind in water, not in oil) and 1/2 stick of butter. Saute

that goodness and everyone in your house will be like "OMG! What are you making?!"- They're called aromatics for a reason. 

Next I chopped veggies. Baby red potatoes were just peeled a bit to remove some of the skin. I like the skin, but they needed a little pruning. And yes, those are yellow & purple carrots. Also pictured:

Snap peas that I cut in half later. Rainbow Swiss chard! These are gorgeous and for this recipe, I just cut the stems and chopped them up. I saved the leaves for something else. I love to eat asparagus but I rarely make it right. I bypassed my usual failure by using it in my soup instead. Bonus tip: trim the ends of your asparagus & place them in water like you would flowers until you're ready to cook them. They stay fresh that way!

Look how pretty those carrots are! You should throw these in when you'e sauteing your onions to get them softening from the beginning. Carrots take the longest to cook. Added the Swiss chard to saute as well here. I would say I used approximately 1 to 1.5 cups of each vegetable - this is for my family of 4 and leaves leftovers. And these leftovers taste even better than the first dinner!

Potatoes don't take long. I added them along with the peas & asparagus once I had the broth going.
My go to is about 4-5 cups of liquid. I LOVE to use Bullion cubes (1 per each cup of water & a bonus one for flavor) or even go straight for broth if I have it. I prefer to use bone broth which has the most goodness in it when I buy broth from the store. I was out of both of those things, so I used water and LOTS of seasoning. I measure seasoning with my heart.

I forgot to mention, I added salt & pepper during the saute stage as well, so I had salted butter plus the seasonings to build the flavor through out the process. Honestly, you can use whatever you want, just be sure to taste test the broth before you let everything simmer so you know if you need more flavor at that stage. Also, I like to throw turmeric into every soup I make because of it's anti-inflammatory properties.

Now, we have quite a few cans of chicken (thanks to Costco & Sams memberships) so I decided to throw a couple of cans in towards the end. This is great if you don't have fresh chicken or you need to use up some of the pantry goods. You can leave it out entirely if you don't eat meat.

 Total cook time is approximately 40 minutes. I sauteed the onions, garlic, carrots & Swiss chard for about 10 minutes. I added the liquid & seasonings to start the broth and added the rest of my veggies at that point. I let it cook on medium low heat for about 30 minutes and I added the chicken about 5 minutes before the end of cooking time.

Here is the final product in my bowl! It was so good that the kids ate everything I asked them to eat & even commented that the veggies didn't taste like veggies and my older son asked if we could have the vegetables cooked like this every time. I call that a success.

Getting Rid of the Fear

I have a lot of self doubt. I assume most people question themselves from time to time. I have tried a few times to start little businesses over the years. I have even sold little girl's dresses when I don't have daughters. I asked my neighbor a few houses down if her little girl could model them in exchange for some dresses - because I was willing to do whatever it took to make it a success.

BUT. A REALLY BIG, GIANT BUT. When it comes to something I am really capable of - SELF DOUBT rears its ugly head.

I've been in the fitness industry since 2005. I have attended hundreds of hours of trainings. I have taught 1000s of classes. I have studied a lot of cool, dorky science-y things about the body, how it works, how we use energy (burn calories), how we eat & how our body uses it as fuel.

HOWEVER:

I have never really leveraged my experience to grow my own platform like I have wanted. Part of that is simply because I am more of a dreamer, a visionary. I have great ideas & places I want to take them, but a hard time creating a vehicle to get to the place where they come into fruition. A larger part of the reason is Fear. Taking something that's personal to you and offering it to others, asking them to invest or pay a fee for it - you risk feeling rejected on a personal level. We say: "Here's this heart project, this thing I have poured myself into. Do you think it's valuable to you?" And it's not going to be valuable to everyone. It's not going to resonate with every person you show it to. But the sharing, the showing, the asking, it's the risk. The risk of rejection. Of people not taking you seriously. Of feeling like whatever you have offered - if it's rejected, its a personal rejection.

Truthfully, when I examine that for like 1.3 seconds,I know that's a lie. That's fear. That is self doubt. It's not a personal rejection. If someone tries to sell me something, or show me a program or give me a recommendation, and I don't think it's for me, it doesn't mean I don't like them or see value in THEM. I love it when people are like "Hey you wanna try this lipstick? You like these shirts I made? You want to order this shampoo I love?" Because sometimes my answer is YES. I am like HECK YEAH I want that delicious smelling moisturizer.

So, I want to share myself. Health & Wellness. Fitness. Nutrition. Things I am knowledgeable about. Things I am passionate about. Things that I can make a living from sharing. A product that's beneficial. A program that helps. An accountability that gets you to your goals. Don't worry. I have other things to write about too. Like those Tequila with every meal recipes. Hold on for the next one because I promise I am not ONLY about fitness and nutrition.