Food and the plague

Oh my gosh, y'all. You don't even know how sick we have been. Like I mean sick, sick. Sister says we caught the "bunga bunga". Viral Bronchitis, Costochondritis, Sinusitis, and other "itises". Lots of coughing fits, sticking our heads over bowls of steaming essential oil water, missed work, and lying around. Lots of lying around.

 

 

It's been all but miserable and a blessing at the same time. I had time to rest and time to reflect, time to read and grow spiritually. With suffering comes much opportunity for growth. I grew a lot.

Before the plague invaded our home (and, knock on wood, spared the two youngest members of the family) I spent several days making lists and doing research. More importantly I made lists involving food and did research on how to cook said food for the next several weeks. Then I cleaned out my fridge and pantry and took my typed and printed lists to Trader Joe's and went to work on Mission Pantry Restock. I spent a lot of money. I won't tell you how much, but it was a lot. I even gave myself a panic attack at check-out, but I was $2 under on the budget and we had been saving accordingly for this shopping trip. I brought home 17 full size paper bags of food and unloaded it, put it away and then stepped back and said wowza.

 

 

 

 

We were officially stocked and I was really excited about my healthy meal plan. But with a kitchen full of food, comes lots of time standing on your feet. I had a meal plan for lunches and dinners and I soon realized that a meal plan requires cooking. All the time. I kind of didn't think about how long it would take to slave away over some of these planned meals, even soups require chopping and layering flavors and baking bread and it takes awhile. But I did it, even when I could hardly stand because the cartilages around my lungs and ribs were screaming in pain. I made the meals and I felt proud of myself and happy that I was doing my family proud.

 

It's really important to me, maybe one of the most important things, to make sure that what we are putting in our bodies is healthy. I do a lot of research and I investigate the brands that I buy. Food is medicine, and we have to be careful, especially in our culture that values processed junk over healthy, unmodified food to make sure we are making wise choices. It is important for auto-immune disorders in our family and for food allergies and sensitivities. It is a blessing to spend my time preparing food that is well balanced and it's a blessing that I was able to fill up our kitchen with things that will feed our bodies and minds. I rested on gratitude each day of my sickness. Sometimes we are able to make choices that matter and that feels really good.

So without further ado, I bring you pictures of food. Uh, funny enough I was only inspired to snap pictures of food these last few weeks. See, I really do feel proud after preparing a meal, enough to warrant a photo.  Food > Pics of children = Apparently! Bon Appetit!

 

 

Chicken Noodle Soup with a dollop of sour cream

 

 

Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Pasta with lemon, butter and parm cheese

 

 



Potato Soup with Spinach and Turkey Bacon

 

 

Chicken and rice soup

 

Peeling potatoes but look I discovered a quick and easy disposal method for kitchen scraps. This summer we are going to start composting!

 

 

Ground turkey shepherd's pie. Yum!

 

Pork Sausage soup with red beans and kale.
 

 

Turkey bacon, fried egg, avocado and spinach sandwich on gluten free bun.

 

 

Hard boiling a dozen eggs for quick snacks and breakfasts.
 

 

 Gluten Free Blueberry power muffins with almond streusel.

 

 Okay I take that back. One pic of a kid.

 

Get in my belly!



And this last minute addition, a pic sent over to my phone from my husband who is at home with the kiddos while I work...

"KacyDillas" were a "Dinner Success"!!!!

There you have it friends. Have a fun-filled and food-filled week. xoxo

A case of the Mondays..no way!

 

Happy President's Day. Today we did not talk about or learn about presidents, unfortunately, but we did enjoy our day off with a Playdoh date at home. I'm just going to be honest with you; I don't really like Playdoh,  especially after the hubs and I spent a couple hours Sunday cleaning and organizing our main living area. When I think back on all the times I have brought the Playdoh out (I'm ashamed to admit I can count them on two hands), it is normally because I feel guilty for depriving my children of childhood memories that involve little bits of colorful clay, impossible not to mix in with other colors, pressed into the carpet under the kitchen table (hmm...side note...maybe I shouldn't have a rug under our kitchen table.) Anyway, today was one of those "I feel guilty for neglecting you to clean up and organize your toys yesterday so I am going to let you destroy my hard work by bringing out the messiest yet most coveted toy on the planet and this will prove my love for you." It was a success!

 

Coley decided to hang in his undies all day and this is a totally normal occurrence around here. He strips down into his knickers pretty much the minute he gets home from school and would rather live this way than be bothered with clothing, aside from a cape. He will rock the cape. And it always reminds me of this popular meme that I discovered on Facebook recently.    

 

Coley is just one awesome kid and I respect his style. It will be incredibly interesting to see how this specific character trait develops as he gets older!  

 

 

One could not commence Playdoh time without 3D glasses.

 

 

*****

We followed up our Playdoh party with a dance party. These boys really know how to break it down, no inhibitions!

*****

I was pretty proud of lunch and that my 4 year old ate everything on his plate. Recently he went through a "I will only eat mac 'n cheese for every meal or Cinnamon Toast Crunch and if you try and add anything healthy to it, I would rather not eat but cry that I am hungry for an hour" stage. He has been doing better and I think soup is the reason and he must be going through a growth spurt. This kid is opposed to healthy food unless you put it all in soup. Which I do, several times per week. So we ate leftover soup and gluten free bagels with cream cheese, garlic powder, fresh spinach leaves and shredded cheese on top. Broiled for five minutes, served with apple slices.

*****

 

A long time ago I bought the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman after several friends recommended it to me. It is written by a marriage counselor who took 12 years of notes on the differences couples faced and found there are five main areas, or "love languages" we each speak or understand and this is the way we are most comfortable expressing our love and having love expressed back to us. So I asked Justin if he would be interested in taking an online quiz to determine which "love language" he falls into. Not surprisingly, we each fell into the category we assumed we would before even taking the quiz. I am kind of ashamed of mine: Acts of Service. The description below says it all.

 

 

 

I was wondering why yesterday I felt so happy and loving towards my man.  He took it upon himself during chore time to organize and declutter a bunch of stuff in our family room and help get the house clean because he knows it helps me going into the week.  We are going to read the book to learn more about  how we can fill up each other's "love tanks." Ya, hubby had fun with that one.

 

And on that note, wishing you all a wonderful week! I'm going to report back about J. and I and how we are doing speaking each other's love languages :)

Love

 

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

"Where there is love, there is life" -Mahatma Gandhi

 

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

-Mother Teresa

"A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love."  -Max Muller

 

 

 "Don’t run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along." Romans 13:8

"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do...but how much love we put in that action." -Mother Teresa
 

****

Love begins at home. I have been reminded of that so much lately, this simple yet profound truth that what we cultivate at home will have an impact on the world.

 

I only need to look at my children to know this. I am raising little people who shine their spirits into the world and they make a difference.

 

Youthful, passionate, thirsting for knowledge and discovery, loving and honest, my boys bring me a world which I have long forgotten and struggle to remember. A world where the smallest and simplest of things fill up the heart if you only let it.

 

 A banner on the fireplace with hearts that they painted, proudly and with joy.

 

 

We look at the banner and it reminds us not that we need pretty things to make us happy, but that we need what it represents: the togetherness a mama and her children experience in the act of letting go of the day's worries and making time and space for painting; bright watercolors hitting white pages...transformation. Love manifested.

 

 

 

Ever since becoming a mama, Valentine's Day has been one of my favorite holidays aside from birthdays because I am filled up when I can shower my children with love. For $5 in supplies I transformed their breakfast area into a love pit-stop. A place to find happiness before heading out into the world. I heard their squeals all the way upstairs when they came bounding down for the day.

 

"It REALLY IS VALENTINE's DAY!!!" my 4-year old shouted to his brother.  

 

Heart shaped sandwiches packed in the lunchbox, bags of handmade valentines lovingly tucked in backpacks and dressed all in red, I squeezed my boys extra hard this morning and told them that I love them every day just this much, but today is special because they will see people all around them celebrating love, too, and that is a REALLY cool thing to see. I told them to tell their teachers and bus drivers thank you for loving them and I put them on the bus with tears of joy. I was filled up with love by 8 am.

 

  

 

 

The saying that goes something like "if you want to experience love, then love someone else" or "if you want to feel happy, make someone else happy first" is imprinted in my heart. I want to make others happy. I want to stop thinking so much about how life is affecting ME, and I want to reach out and give someone else something that THEY need.

 

You can start right at home or right wherever you are. You can give the best of yourself to your family and friends, colleagues or strangers FIRST and not expect anything in return.   Daily grace is here right now within reach, and there is always the choice to love.

 

I choose love.

 

Happy Valentine's Day. You are loved!!