Morning Madness

How working moms manage to get themselves  and multiple kids out the door by 7 AM or so is beyond me.  I struggle to leave by 8:40 to drop Erik off at preschool with all of us dressed, showered (me), and fed.

This morning was extra adventurous.  The kids slept in until 7:00 AM which is great but put us behind "schedule."  Breakfast went fine but went I told the kids to get dressed Lainey was not interested.  So I went to help.  When I took her PJs off she threw a massive fit insisting she wanted to do it herself.  I put her PJs high up on the counter.  She ran and got a kitchen stool and climbed up to get them back.  I took them away again and made a short attempt to get her dressed.  She was kicking and flailing and screaming which made getting her dressed impossible.  It was already 8 AM at this point and I was still in my PJs so I took her upstairs and put her and her clothes in her room (locked).  I hate doing this but when she gets in these moods you can not rationalize with her and I knew I would have trouble being patient with her since we were running behind.

Once Lainey was contained I took the boys upstairs so I could shower.  Erik tried entertaining Carson but no matter what he did Carson wanted in the shower too.  (He always does.)  So, halfway through the shower he crawled in next to me. 

After I got out I went and checked on Lainey.  She was fully dressed and cooperative.  I went back to my bathroom, finished blow drying my hair and got dressed.

At this point I told Erik and Lainey to go downstairs and get their shoes on so we could leave.  Erik was hiding under my bed for some unknown reason.  He got out after a minute or two but had a comforter over his head acting like a monster (or so I thought).  I reminded him to go downstairs and get ready for school.

He headed downstairs and I took Carson into his room to get him dressed.  I then headed down to round up the other two. Lainey had her shoes on already but Erik was hiding face flat up against the wall in the shoe closet.

I asked him, "What are you doing?"  He wouldn't respond but Lainey informed me excitedly that, "Erik is a TIGER!"  Great.  I had him turn around and discovered that he had been under my bed applying tiger stripes all over his face with my mascara.

I had him get in the car, stripes and all, and handed him a wipe. We headed to school.

He was still fully striped 10 minutes later when we pulled into school.  I helped him get the mascara off but before he got out of the van I told him that he would have to remember not to "Roar" at the other kids too much today since he was a tiger.

He looked mortified and embarrassed.  Haha!!  He got out of the van with his hands over his face peeking through his fingers.   I did quickly reassure him that I was able to get all of the stripes off of his face so no one else would know he had been a tiger this morning.  He was quite relieved.

Always an adventure with small kids in the house!

Food Challenge Week 11: Eat Local Foods

We already do this as much as we can.  It is difficult in the winter but I do still buy local beef and honey.  My chicken farmer's hens are taking a break from egg laying so I have had to buy regular grocery store eggs recently.  Hopefully, they will start producing again soon. 

I want to update you on the last two weeks.  We cut all added sugar out for weeks 9 and 10 and then additionally cut out unrefined oils during week 10.

I fully anticipated missing sugar but it wasn't too bad.  I did cheat by eating about 1/2-1 serving of really dark chocolate a day (5g of sugar per serving) but that was it.  It didn't bother me to skip the sugar.  In fact, it made me aware that certain foods that either come with sugar or we usually add sugar to them - (crackers, oatmeal, homemade spaghetti sauce) are not any worse without sugar.

I also realized how frequently I am offered sugary items that I often eat mindlessly.  Even if you ignore the calories these extra "treats" are really not adding any satisfaction to my day.  We went to two birthday parties and church twice during these weeks.  So all four of those times Victor and I refrained from eating the standard cake and cookies offered.  Neither of us felt deprived and overall found we felt healthier and proud of making good choices.

Now, onto the oils!  This I found VERY hard to give up completely.  I was still able to use olive oil at home so I didn't miss anything from our day to day cooking.  I did miss crackers though! Probably more than the kids.  There are NO crackers available in our store with unrefined oils.

Triscuits offers a 100% whole grain cracker with only 3 ingredients (whole wheat, salt, and soybean oil).  It doesn't fit the oil rule but I am adding them back into our diet as they were missed.

So all in all I think both Victor and I found it harder to cut out unhealthy oils than it was to cut out added sugar.  Not what I would have expected.

I am planning to continue to eliminate added sugars/sweeteners and unrefined oils for the most part (making an exception for occasional desserts and triscuits!).

I would encourage anyone reading this to try eliminating oils and sweeteners from you diet for a week or two.  It is pretty eye opening!

Oh Dear!

 

Lainey and Tyler both went home from the park at least partially disrobed today.

We were supervising them, from a distance.

I was across the playground because I was pushing Caron in the swing.

By the time I realized that Lainey was actually in the mud, rather than next to it, it was too late.

She was stuck in place so when she tried to move she fell over, into the mud.

Her shoe came off which Erik promptly rescued with a stick (didn't rescue the sister though).

She was covered in mud from her elbows to her toes.

I stripped her down to her shirt and undies and headed home quickly.

This is the first time she has actually stomped through the mud.

When I asked her what happened she told me,

"Tyler threw my helmet in the mud.  It got dirty so I had to rescue it."

I am not sure how true that it is as she was holding her helmet when I found her.

It doesn't matter really although I find it kind of humorous that they may have been having a bit of a tiff.  I guess muddy shoes is what you get when you hang out with boys all day!  

She was a bit sad when she fell in the mud but recovered very quickly and then seemed to 

think it was fun.  Oh dear!

Best Buds!

I am so glad that Lainey now has her own best buddy.  I know she is only two but I have been feeling guilty because by the time Erik was 2.5 years old we were well established with a wonderful group of friends.  We met weekly as a group plus Erik spent one on one time with the kids outside of the group.  So, he had lots of friends.  As the 2nd child Lainey has spent more time playing with Erik's friends than her own. Thankfully, both kids have become great friends with our next door neighbors.  Erik and James have common interests in dirt, guns, and Tae Kwon Do.  Lainey and Tyler are equal combos of sweet and sass.  They seem to enjoy each other quite a bit and have funny sense of humor with each other.  I love seeing sweet Lainey playing independently with her own friend.  Cute, sweet little girl!

Here are a few photos of the pair....

Current Kid Stats

I took the kids to a new pediatrician today.  She is a double board certified internist/pediatrician so our whole family can see her.  I have had some issues with our current pediatrician.  He is very kind and experienced but he tends to overmedicate, orders a surplus of lab tests ($$$), and he never washes his hands.

Anyway, with the exception of colds the kids are all currently healthy but here are there stats....

ERIK:
43 inches (85%)
40 pounds (70%)

I KNEW Erik had grown a ton since this summer.  I am shocked at how high he is on the growth charts though - he usually hangs out around the 50th percentile.

LAINEY:
37.5 inches (87%)
29 pounds (50%)

CARSON:
29 inches (56%)
21 pounds (40%)

Carson still isn't babbling and I am concerned.  I mentioned it to her and she said if there in no significant improvement in the next month then she will send him for a hearing screen and birth to 3 referral.  Hopefully that kiddo starts jabbering soon!

I really like the new pediatrician.  She is very new but seems friendly, smart, timely, and well put together.  Hopefully, this will be the start of a long patient-doctor relationship.

Food Challenge Week 10: No refined oils!

Well, we survived week 1 with no sugar or sweeteners!  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

We did "cheat" twice, or let the kids cheat I should say.  Erik and Lainey filled their chore charts up this week and both happened to pick "Ice cream with Mom" out of the prize jar so I felt we needed to honor their hard work and took them out for ice cream.  (Victor took them since they earned their prizes on Wednesday and I was sick.)  Neither Victor nor I ate ice cream though. 

I also let them have 1/2 of a cupcake at a birthday party today.  Neither Victor nor I ate a cupcake either (I stayed home from this too due to the pneumonia.).

I had had a kind of cheat and bought some 83% dark chocolate to have as a sweet thing this week.  It was an excellent alternative to the normal desserts I would be eating even though there are 5g of sugar per serving.

Eliminating sugar from your diet does severely limit what processed foods you can buy.  There are only one or two options for cereal or crackers that fit the first nine week rules.  Even these things are going to be off limits this week.

Cutting out all refined oils is next to impossible.  I already use olive oil for most of my cooking at home but I think all processed foods are made with some type of refined oil so any snacks this week will have to be completely home made.

We are going to cut out sugar and sweeteners for one more week in addition to the oils just because I want the sugar load we are used to to become a bit more distant memory.  This will be a tough week I think.  I hope my kids don't whine about no crackers too much!


Here’s an easy checklist of oils to avoid:

• Vegetable Oil
• Organic Vegetable Oil
• Soybean Oil
• Corn Oil
• Canola Oil
• Organic Canola Oil
• Grape Seed Oil
• Hydrogenated Oils
• Margarine
• Any oil that is labeled as refined, hydrogenated, partially-hydrogenated

For more info about this weeks challenge go here.

Wish us luck!

What Does It Mean To Be Old??

One of my neighbors asked her 5 year old daughter this and her answer was......

"When things get squishy that didn't used to be squishy." 

 As a mom of 3 small kids I definitely fit this definition and therefore must be old!  Ha!

I then asked Erik what happens when things/you get old?

He said, "Things get rusty."  

Okay, good answer.  I then asked him if he knew anyone that was old.

His response, "Grandpa Miin." 

Oh okay.  Are Grandma and Papa old Erik??

"Not Grandma, just Papa." 

Sorry Dad and Grandpa Miin!! 

Notable Moment - Lainey

I have pneumonia.  Super crappy since I was supposed to be flying to California tomorrow and now can't.  Of course, there are worse things so I am moving on and looking forward to a trip rescheduled for the near future (hopefully)!

Anyway, Victor was kind and stayed home this morning despite a VERY busy week at work.  He took all three kids to Lainey's gymnastics class.  On the way there Lainey was belting out, "Old McDonald has a penis eieio!"   Hahaha!!  That girl cracks me up!!

Can You Guess What McDonald's Food Item This is???

 I thought it was ice cream. 

It is not!

Say hello to mechanically separated chicken. It’s what "all" fast-food chicken is made – things like chicken nuggets and patties. Also, the processed frozen chicken in the stores is made from it.
Basically, the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve — bones, eyes, guts, and all. it comes out looking like this.
There’s more: because it’s crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.
But, hey, at least it tastes good, right?

Origins:   Mechanically separated meat (MSM) and mechanically separated poultry (MSP) are terms used to refer to products created by mechanization which allows meat processors to recover edible meat tissue from the carcasses of animals. Prior to themid-20th century, a good deal of meat scraps and tissue from food animals such as cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys went to waste because
processors had no efficient means of separating it from the bones after the rest of the meat had been removed from carcasses. This recovery process was largely done manually (when it was undertaken at all) until the development of machines in the 1960s that automated the process, making it faster, cheaper, and higher-yielding.
Mechanically separated meat is a paste-like or batter-like meat product created by forcing unstripped bones under high pressure through a type of sieve to separate edible meat tissue (including tendons and muscle fiber) from the bones. Contrary to what is claimed above, the process does not involve the grinding up of entire animal carcasses (“bones, eyes, guts, and all”) into one large, amorphous glob of meat; it is a technique for removing what is left on the bones of a carcass after all other processing has been completed. (Also, although meat packing plants typically use anhydrous ammonia for refrigeration purposes, with ammonia leakages having on occasion caused contamination issues at such plants, and sometimes introduce additional ammonium hydroxide into meat as an antibacterial agent, poultry processors do not routinely “soak” MSP in ammonia.)
MSM is typically used in cheaper meat products (such as hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and frozen dinners) which need not retain the appearance, shape, or texture of “regular” meat. In order to satisfy consumer preferences, food producers may utilize additives in MSM-derived products in order to alter their color, taste, or texture. (Although McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets are typically offered as an example of a popular MSP-based food, since 2003 that product has been made with all white meat rather than MSP.)
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), mechanically separated poultry is safe to eat and may be used without restriction, however in commercial food products it must be labeled as such:
Mechanically separated poultry (MSP) is a paste-like and batter-like poultry product produced by forcing bones, with attached edible tissue, through a sieve or similar device under high pressure to separate bone from the edible tissue. Mechanically separated poultry has been used in poultry products since the late 1960′s. In 1995, a final rule on mechanically separated poultry said it was safe and could be used without restrictions. However, it must be labeled as “mechanically separated chicken or turkey” in the product’s ingredients statement. The final rule became effectiveNovember 4,1996. Hot dogs can contain any amount of mechanically separated chicken or turkey.
However, due to concerns over the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (commonly known as “mad cow disease”), the sale of MSM-derived beef products for human consumption in the U.S. was banned in 2004:
In 1982, a final rule published by FSIS (the Food Safety and Inspection Service) on mechanically separated meat said it was safe and established a standard of identity for the food product. Some restrictions were made on how much can be used and the type of products in which it can be used. These restrictions were based on concerns for limited intake of certain components in MSM, like calcium.
Due to FSIS regulations enacted in 2004 to protect consumers against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, mechanically separated beef is considered inedible and is prohibited for use as human food. It is not permitted in hot dogs or any other processed product.
Mechanically separated pork is permitted and must be labeled as “mechanically separated pork” in the ingredients statement. Hot dogs can contain no more than 20% mechanically separated pork.

I don't know how true this is but I wouldn't doubt it at all.  My source was from this blog.

Escape Artist Wanabe!

Cute baby in a sweater vest!

I dropped something!

Maybe I can get out this way?

Hmmm!  A shiny button!

Lainey wanted me to take a photo of her with a bench on her head.  Okay honey!

Notable Moments - Erik

I taught Erik how to play Uno today.  He did really well with it although we only used half the deck (red and yellow cards plus 1/2 of the wild cards).  During one game he was dealt 2-3 Wild cards and I didn't get any (we played with our cards laid out on the table).  I jokingly "whined" about him getting so many wild cards. 

My sweet boy immediately picked one of his Wild cards up, looked at me and said, "It's okay mom, you can have one of mine.  Then we will both have some."  Ahhh!!!

Erik has such a kind and gentle heart.  I love it and hope he never loses that tender side of him.  I did NOT take the wild card from him, although miss competitive might have contemplated it.  ;)

Notable Moments - Carson!

Carson took his first steps today!  It was only 2-3 at a time and Victor and I were bribing him with the phone but he did it 5-6 times so I think it officially counts as his first steps.  So fun!  He seemed to enjoy all the excited cheering from his adoring fans!

Food Challenge: Week 9

Week 9: No refined sweeteners – No refined or artificial sweeteners including (but not limited to): white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, sucanat, splenda, stevia, agave, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and cane juice. Foods and beverages can only be sweetened with a moderate amount of honey or maple syrup.

This is tougher than it sounds, and it sounds pretty tough!  Sugar or some kind of sweetener is found is almost all processed foods - even the organic salsa I buy.  This challenge really requires being pretty reliant on the home kitchen and with very limited processed foods.

I plan to cut all sugar out of our diets for 2 weeks and see how we do.  I don't plan to make this a permanent change but I do think it will be interesting to see how much this affects our day to day diets. 

Study On Moms and Blogging!

Study: Blogging makes new moms happy

I do love my blog. It's a place to record my kids childhoods and sort out my thoughts.
I guess I am not the only one who finds joy in recording the journey of parenting!

Carson - 10 Months

It seems like it has been quite a busy month! 

Christmas, New Years, a trip to WI, and travels for Victor confirms that this month was a busy one!

What has Carson been up to??

Eating:

He is eating solids 3x a day now (most days).

I don't make him anything special.  If he can eat a mashed up version of what we are having I give him that.  If he can't I usually have some "ice cubes" of pureed fruits and vegetables in the freezer for him.  He doesn't seem too picky about his food although the variety has been fairly limited at this point. 

He is still nursing about 6 times every day - one of those sessions is at night.

Sleep:

Carson goes to bed around 7:30, gets up just once around 10:30 or 11:00, nurses, and goes back to bed until 6:00 or 6:30.  

He takes 2 naps a day (if we are home) usually around 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM for 1-2 hours.

Scavenging crumbs

Activity:

Carson is close to walking but not there yet.  He cruises along everything and pushes anything he can find in order to walk around the house.  When he crawls he sometimes does a bear crawl, sometimes keep on leg straight, and sometimes crawls normally.

He will let go of things and stand alone for a few seconds at a time.  If you try to have him walk to you he will take 1 step and then nosedives to the floor.  If you fail to catch him he lands on his face (not that I would have any reason to know this).  It seems as though he doesn't realize he needs to move his feet and leans forward expecting to be caught or maybe thinks that is how you walk (since he leans forwards when "walking" around the house pushing whatever toy he has found to use as a walker)?  

The nosediving cracks me up.  We do always attempt to catch him but it makes both Victor and I chuckle. 

Poor baby pulled over a lamp and got "stabbed" in the forehead. The lamp is in the basement now.

Personality:

Carson definitely communicates when he is upset about something.  He pouts out his lip, shakes his fist, growls, and a cries in protest.  Thankfully, he is laid back about most things so far.

Things he hates.... getting his diaper changed, getting put in the car seat, having things taken away from him 

Things he loves.... playing peek-a-boo (he initiates this now which is so cute), doing "so-big" on cue, being chased, smashing block towers, baths, eating things (toys, food off the floor, sticks, paper, etc) off of the floor (errr!), playing in the dishwasher, pulling things out of the cupboards

Carson is pretty independent.  He will crawl off into the playroom and play on his own for quite sometime.  (Frequent checks for choking hazards of course). 

He does love playing with Erik and Lainey as well.  He has a "call and response" game with them -- he shrieks "Ahhhh" and expects them to shriek back.  They often do so it goes back and forth for a while. 

Aside from the "Ahhhh!" game he is fairly quiet.  He does NOT babble with consonants yet (with the exception of 2 isolated times we heard him say mama).  Victor, the kids, and I are all walking around like idiots babbling at him.    He should be babbling by now and if he doesn't start in a month or so I will likely call birth to three to get him evaluated for speech.  He otherwise seems very normal developmentally so I am not too worried.

One other "funny" thing I want to remember is that Carson bites.  He only bites at people when he is tired and wants to go to bed.  As soon as he starts trying to bite at my clothes I take him directly to bed.  I usually get him there before he starts chomping but it is a very consistent way that he communicates to me that he needs to sleep.  

Carson got his first mini-haircut today.  He did great - no tears and sat still.  I haven't taken a photo yet though!  Poor third kid.  You can't really tell as all she did was trim around his ears and shape up the back.  His long fluffy hair on top of his head is still intact. :)  He has really light brown hair - lightest of our three.  It will be neat to see what he looks like once he has a full head of hair.

We love this little boy completely! 

Chore/Behavior/Reward Charts

My kids overall behave pretty well but recently it seems as though they are testing us more than normal.  By this I mean, there is more back-talk and at time they ignore our requests.  So I find myself having to repeat things and manipulate the situations to get them to comply.  I really would prefer that they just immediately do what I ask with no complaints ever.  Ha!  While I know that isn't practical I do think they can improve.

So I made them both behavior charts.  Some of the things listed include....

1- Pick up toys
2- Get buckled into your car seat promptly (Lainey insists on doing her seat belt on her own but dawdles every time)
3- Go to the bathroom prior to leaving the house without complaining (or at least try)
4- Behave during bathtime
5- Please/thank you
6- Be kind to your siblings
7- Hold hands in the parking lot (Lainey!)
8- Get dressed quickly in the morning (Erik and Lainey) or ask politely for help (Lainey)

I also found these neat Dr. Seuss sticker charts with spots for 26 stickers.  They are for a classroom so there were 36 charts in the pack so we will be using behavior charts for quite sometime.

Once they get a sticker chart filled up they will get to pick a special "prize."   I put a bunch of note cards with fun things listed on them in the prize jar.  Some of the prizes are....  ice cream with mom, lunch with dad, stay up late and play games with mom and dad, make cookies with mom, break a board at Tae Kwon Do, get your nails painted at a salon, etc.

I was explaining the reward chart to Erik and Lainey while we were driving to gymnastics.  When we got out of the car I told Lainey I needed to hold her hand in the parking lot and if she did a good job she would get a sticker on her chart when we got home!

She looked up at me, defiantly flung her arm behind her back and said, "I am NOT a baby YET! I don't need to hold you hand.  I don't want a sticker!!"   Oh boy! I may be in trouble.

Erik, who doesn't really need to hold my hand as he generally stays right by my side, immediately found a way to make sure he was holding my hand making sure he would earn a sticker for his chart.

I know Lainey is pretty young to understand the whole prize concept but she is a smart cookie! I hope it clicks for her quickly.   If not, I know once Erik earns a prize and she still hasn't worked towards earning stickers she will be disappointed not to "win"  a prize too and will then get moving.  I hope she doesn't get disappointed.  Time will tell.

Food Challenge: Week 8

The challenge this week is to...."Stop Eating When You Are Full!" 

This is a great challenge. I love to eat, always have.  I love food and most certainly overeat at times.  So, this week I am going to ask myself BEFORE I stick food in my mouth, whether or not I am really hungry!! 

As a stay at home mom with 3 kids who are always hungry I feel like I am constantly surrounded by food.  So, while the snack choices in our house are healthy ones, I certainly don't need to snack all day long and it is easy, easy, easy to do that! 

Join us this week and let me know how it goes!

Blessings and Sorrows

The past 20 months I have had 2 people close to me deal with very, very difficult things.  While neither situation affected my life in a daily fashion, the situations have significantly changed me.  For the better, I hope! 

These trials have taught me to always be grateful.  It's easy to get focused on the small things that bother you.  I think that it is human nature to complain and worry. I think, unfortunately it often takes something big and bad to happen before most people realize how blessed they truly are!  I don't think I was ever a huge complainer but I know I took things for granted (still do sometimes) and whined/fretted/complained about things that really never mattered.  Held grudges for infractions that might have been "justified" but really weren't worth the energy and certainly weren't helping me or anyone in anyway. Living a life of gratitude today truly benefits not only yourself but those around you.  I am certainly not perfect at this but I am trying and hope that for those I love enduring (or having recently endured) a significant trial they will know my life is different because of them.  While I would do anything I possibly could to change their situations, I will always be more grateful for the small blessings each day holds.

That being said, these trials suck.  Big losses and lots of pain.  At times, it is hard not to be overwhelmed with sorrow and lose hope that things will be right again.  I didn't go to church last weekend because Carson wasn't feeling great and was napping when we needed to leave so Victor took the other two himself.  I almost skipped it again this week because Victor was out of town and I wanted to go to the gym and wasn't sure I could do both because the gym daycare is only open a few hours on Sundays. (My priorities are great, I know!)  I decided I could do both because Carson slept in late (after being awake quite a bit at night) so it wouldn't mess up his nap schedule too much.

Well, I am glad I went to church!  Our pastor closed the service by saying that although he had discussed the following verses last week he felt the need to focus on it again briefly as he thought that there might be people that had missed church (ahem) last week that needed to hear this particular passage. 

Here is the passage....

Psalm 33: 20-22

²⁰ We wait in hope for the LORD;
   he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
   for we trust in his holy name.
²² May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
   even as we put our hope in you. 

 

Don't you love when the pastor talks right to you?!!!

  I really needed reminded yesterday that while there are great trials in life there is HOPE.  

I will rest in that!

Thank you Daron and Feifei and Austin and Terri for displaying such courage, strength, 

and valor during times when most people wouldn't be able too.

I am learning how to live a grateful life from watching you!

 

So I leave those reading this with the challenge to embrace life today, be grateful for the blessings 

no matter how big the trial, and know that there is hope for better days!

Who's Who??

Can you tell which baby is Lainey and which baby is Carson??


Answer:  Carson is on top; Lainey is in the bottom photo

Food challenge: on the road

So I (Victor) am traveling for reserve duty this weekend, and keeping up with the food challenge is … challenging.  Two flights with a layover (about 7 hours total) and a three-hour time change make the rules (no fast foods, no fried foods, only whole grain flours, etc.) harder to follow, not just because of the rules themselves, but finding places and ways to stick to them.  I know it was next to impossible to find locally-grown meat while on travel, so that one went out the window.

The plane wasn’t too bad – I chose peanuts over pretzels and cookies, and had water or coffee to drink.  Coffee was required as I left the house about 3am to catch a 6am flight in DC to the west coast.

Thankfully, one of the benefits of the military is the commissary (the grocery store), where selection and prices are supposed to be bigger and lower respectively.  One of my first stops here was to the commissary – I got apples, whole grain crackers, cheese (from Green Bay), whole grain bread, natural peanut butter and jelly.  I also spent some time the pop tart aisle.  They fit in the rules, right?

Okay, so I maybe I didn’t get those.

The other challenge is social – I felt compelled to have lunch/dinner with other folks traveling this weekend as well, so I didn’t pack much more than snacks for the day.  For lunch Saturday, we went to the base golf course restaurant; I got a salad, even though the California Turkey Club with fries looked very appealing.  I think the salad was the only thing on the menu which fit into the rules.

And for dinner, about 40 of us went to a bar & grill-type of restaurant.  None of the appetizers fit into the rules.  About half of the salad choices fit into the rules, and only some of the entrees fit the rules.  I wanted something other than leaves, so I splurged for a NY strip with mashed potatoes and asparagus (yum!).

So overall, while it’s a bit of a challenge to weed out options while eating out, it can be done.

Notable Moments - Lainey

1) Lainey is quite competitive so I have used that to motivate her at times.  For a while she would race upstairs for nap time or race to the bathroom before we left the house even though those were things she didn't really want to do.  She wanted to be fastest no matter what!  Well, as of two weeks ago that technique no longer works.  I told her I was going to race her to the bathroom.  She looked up from what she was doing and said, "Okay, Good!" and went back to what she was doing.  Ha ha! 

2) This afternoon I was taking a shower.  Erik and Carson were napping.  Lainey was already awake so she was upstairs playing.  A few minutes into my shower she started lining up her babies outside of the shower.  She very excitedly told me, "Look Mommy, my babies are watching you!"  Great honey!

100% Whole Grain Recipes

Both of these are from the King Arthur Flour Website...

100% Whole Wheat Nut and Seed Bread

1 1/3 cups (10 5/8 ounces) lukewarm water
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) olive oil
5 tablespoons (3 3/4 ounces) honey, molasses or maple syrup
4 cups (16 ounces) King Arthur Premium Whole Wheat Flour or 100% White Whole Wheat flour
1 tablespoon King Arthur Whole-Grain Bread Improver, optional
1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) sunflower seeds, chopped*
1/4 cup (1 ounce) walnuts, chopped*
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

*A quick whirl in the food processor does the job nicely.

To prepare the dough: Combine all of the ingredients, and mix them till you have a shaggy dough. Let the dough rest, covered, for 20 minutes, then knead till fairly smooth. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for about 2 hours, or until it's puffy and nearly doubled in bulk.

Gently deflate the dough, shape it into a log, and place it in a lightly greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" bread pan. Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap (or a clear shower cap), and allow it to rise for about 2 hours, till it's crowned about 1" to 2" over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 40 to 45 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil for the final 20 minutes of baking. Yield: 1 loaf.

** I double the sunflower seeds and eliminate the nuts since Erik is allergic to them.
I also use butter instead of oil.**

I have made this bread a few times and it is great!

Crunchy Whole-Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup whole barley flour*
1 cup King Arthur whole wheat flour, Traditional or White Whole Wheat
2 2/3 cups (16 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

*Or substitute whole wheat flour for the barley flour. (That's what I do.)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, oil, sugars, vanilla, espresso powder, and salt till smooth. Beat in the vinegar, egg, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir in the barley flour and whole wheat flour, then the chocolate chips. The dough will appear oily, and because of the quantity of chocolate chips, it won't be completely cohesive; that's OK.

Drop the dough, by tablespoonfuls, onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until the cookies are an even golden brown. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Yield: 33 cookies.

 

I LOVE these cookies! 
I only use about 1.5 cups of chocolate chips.
I always use the Ghiradelli 60% cocoa large chocolate chips.
Yum!

Food Challenge Week 7: 100% Whole Grains

I anticipated that this might be the most difficult week as it really eliminates most conventional breads, crackers, pastas, cereals, and baked goods from your diet.  I was pleased to find that the whole wheat bread I usually buy is actually 100% whole grain.  Anticipating it might not be I made a couple loaves of bread as well.  I usually make bread 1x a month.  I am going to try to bump this to once a week as it certainly tastes better than the store bought stuff.

I have been buying brown rice, whole grain bread, and whole wheat pasta (check the labels carefully!!) for a while.  I have kind of waffled back and forth on crackers and cereal though.  We don't eat much cereal so switching to 100% whole grain is fine (1 box a week approximately).  Wheat thins just came out with a 100% whole grain, whole fat version which meets the "rules" from the past 7 weeks so I was happy about that.  They will get eliminated eventually during the challenge, hopefully I will be able to find something else that applies to all the rules as giving up crackers completely will be tough for our family.

Here are some tips from this blog regarding shopping for 100% whole wheat foods....


Tips

• If the front of a food package says it contains “whole-grains” or “whole-wheat” don’t be fooled…always verify by reading the ingredient label to see what a product is really made of. Packages often advertise that a product contains whole-grains even if it is only 20% whole-grain.
• If the ingredient list on a product contains any portion of “wheat” or “rice” then it is not 100% whole-grain. White flour is still technically made from the wheat plant (a refined version) so it is often labeled as “wheat.” It must say something like “whole-wheat” or “brown rice” to be a whole grain ingredient.
• Whether you are shopping at a supermarket or eating at a restaurant, most food products that are labeled as whole-grain are rarely 100% whole-grain. They often contain some percentage of refined grains as well.
• Since it is so hard to find 100% whole-grain foods it is best to avoid grains all together when you are out to eat at a restaurant (unless you can see the ingredient list yourself). Servers and other restaurant employees are often misinformed and will tell you the bread is “100% whole grain” when it is not.
• If a product is labeled as “multi-grain” it by no means guarantees those grains are whole-grains. It could be a bunch of different refined grains mixed together. Again, you must read the ingredient list to know for sure what’s in a food product.
• Finding good 100% whole-wheat sandwich bread is one of the biggest whole-grain challenges of them all. Some stores (like Earth Fare) bring in freshly made bread products from a local bakery. Other stores have a few decent options in their freezer section. Your best bet is to find a local bakery that makes their dough fresh daily (unlike grocery store bakeries that typically bake pre-mixed dough) or make it yourself!

Good luck!!!  

I am going to post 2 excellent whole grain recipes that I love in my next post!!

I should mention that we did well with the transition to full fat foods and didn't gain 

weight as a result.  The full fat/natural version of whole food do taste better and feel you 

up more so you snack less!

December Budget

We broke even this month based on federal salary.

Here is the breakdown....

Groceries: $699
Medical: $ 145 (I include contacts in the medical column so half the expense this month was from that)
Gas: $200

Xmas gifts - I thought I was about done with this in November but I was wrong.  I spent close to $400 on Christmas presents this month. 

Victor and I also went on a really nice date night and I went out with my girl friends twice this month.

Far from our $500 savings goal this month but considering how many Americans go into debt over Christmas I don't feel too bad.  I am going to do a one year budget wrap up soon. 

Christmas In WI!

We spent 4 nights at my parents house this week.  Kevin and Colin were home as well.  Daron and Feifei had planned to be there as well but of course had to cancel.  (We missed you guys a lot!)  I don't have any photos from the week as they are all on my mom and dad's camera still but here are some high's and low's from our trip....


Highs....

- Watching my kids relationships with their grandparents and uncles grow
- Driving the tractor and plowing the "snow"
- Playing in mom's classroom
- Reading Junie B Jones books to Erik (5 of them)
- Cheese Fondue
-Seeing "old" friends - some that I have known for almost 20 years
-Sending Erik to ride along to the farm by himself (I met him at the farm eventually but it was fun to send my sweet boy off with Dad to do one of my favorite childhood activities.)


Lows....

- NO sleep  (Carson was up every 2 hours and didn't like to go back to sleep quickly either); Erik and Lainey did pretty good but were up occasionally too just to add to the fun
-Missing Daron