Finding Peace

It seems  like I'm always searching for something, a break from the constant chaos, a little bit of peace. 

I found it today when I wasn't looking for it at all.  My teen was napping on the couch.  The boys were building a race track in the basement.  I decided to make an organic vegetarian dinner for myself with more appetizing options for the kids and my husband. 

I measured and poured water and brown rice.  I rinsed red lentils until the water ran clear.  I ran my fingers through the bowl of tiny orange disks and pulled out a few pieces of debris.  I heated the water for the lentils, set the timer, and waited. 

The house was completely quiet except for the patter of cold rain on the kitchen window and the occasional grind of the sump pump. 

I felt completely relaxed and at peace and noticed it.  I was left with an overwhelming feeling that things are going to get easier. 

I wish I could hold onto this moment forever. 

I definitely need to cook more.

Weeds - Part 2

I meant to follow up here on my weeds post a week or so ago.  I meant to report what the person from the fancy pants garden store told me about my creeping charlie - she laughed and told me good luck.  Maybe I just need to accept this defect in my yard and spend my efforts working on what I can improve.  The nerd in me makes the analogy to Star Wars.  You shouldn't try to take on Darth Vader before you are capable of taking out a few storm troopers.  It's true.

I am so excited it will finally be warmer today.  My small person is in screaming mode this morning.  I keep whispering at him, but that just makes him angry.  I think the outside air is what he needs.  He needs to run and scream outside.  Me too.  We have been cooped up in this house forever.  I keep checking the outside temperature - it's 44 now, a little too cold for me still. 

This morning we will power clean and then dig up some weeds.  I can't wait to put out the chairs and beach umbrella in the back yard next to my garden.  It is my favorite place to write.  I am very excited about tidying up my garden.  I love it.  We mixed together flowers, vegetables in raised gardens lined with paver stones, and playground.  It's perfect.

Last year we bought a tiny little greenhouse but planted the seeds too late.  Not one sprouted.  I'm not sure if it was the timing, the soil we used, or the thing where we left the little things in full sun in the greenhouse despite the instructions on the package.  OK, I'm sure it was all of those things put together.  This year, I am going to do my very best to follow directions. 

When I cook, I sometimes start with directions but usually wing it in the end.  I am not patient with directions.  They make me nervous, like one wrong move makes you a failure even if it turns out OK.  My husband is a huge fan of my impromptu cooking and often tries to write down the recipe for me.  He often gets out a recipe card and asks me to tell him what I did exactly.  I always reply with imprecise measurements.  Some of this and a little of that.  He looks at me with that look and throws away the recipe card.  It doesn't matter anyway, I don't like following directions, even my own - for cooking at least.

Losing Weight With My Spouse - Healthy Family Meals

My husband and I came up with a weight loss compromise today that was really a hard time coming.  We both were in the best shape of our lives when we were dating just before we got married. We look so awesome and happy in our honeymoon picture. After we got married, we got out of shape - I blame comfort, happiness, baby weight gain, and injuries (and him a little but I'm sure that's mutual). We need each other's support but really have had a hard time agreeing on food choices that work for both of us.

Our compromise primarily involved dinner.  We agreed that the hardest part of staying on a reasonable diet is having to cook for the whole family - giving the kids what they need to eat while giving us healthy options without an excessive amount of effort.

We brainstormed and came up with several healthy, easy to make dinners for the whole family with easy substitutions (when needed) for us. The idea is that every dinner will have at least two of the following:  a vegetable side, a salad, and a fresh fruit.  We came up with some simple substitutions for us primarily for the entree - so the whole family will be eating basically the same meal.  Only our dish will be lower in calories and fat. 

We literally made a list and tacked it on the fridge and also typed up a grocery list so we can be sure to have the ingredients for these meals on hand week after week until we have our diets under control. 

Below is a partial list of the weekday dinners we came up with.  Obviously we can be more creative over the weekend when there's more time and less stress. 

The meals listed are for the kids with the adult substitutions in parentheses.  My kids love salad - even the toddler - I'm not sure if salads would be an option for all families.  I say give them what they like if it's healthy and present new foods too.  The drink for most of these is presumed to be skim milk for the kids and water or skim milk for the adults.

• Whole wheat pancakes made with egg whites with fresh apples, pears or blueberries mixed in.  This one is one of our family's favorites - no vegetables or substitutions for this one though. 
• Grilled hamburgers (Boca or turkey burgers) on whole wheat buns with salad and fruit.
• Chicken sandwiches (faux vegetarian chicken for adults- actually delicious and not as scary as it sounds) on whole wheat buns with salad and fruit. 
• Lean boneless pork chops baked with granny smith apples with a vegetable - no substitutions here - I will just exclude the butter that we normally add and maybe replace it with sugar-free applesauce so it isn't dry. This is great in the crock pot or oven.
• Chicken baked with fat free Italian dressing, salad and vegetable on the side - no substitutions, just portion control.  Up until now, I used full-fat dressing - there's no difference in taste that I can tell.
• Angel hair pasta (whole wheat for the adults) with salad and fruit, cheese optional for the kids.  I think the key here is cooking the regular pasta first, pulling it out and then throwing in the whole wheat pasta.  I haven't tried this yet but definitely don't have the patience to wait for two pots of water to boil.  Maybe the whole wheat needs to be cooked first....
• Meatballs (turkey or Boca for adults) with marinara sauce, salad and fruit.
• Canned soup (vegetarian chili for the adults), sandwiches (toast for adults), fruit.
• Tacos:  ground beef (ground turkey or ground boca for adults) with salad and fruit (cheese at a minimum or missing for adults).  For this one, we would likely use low sodium tortilla chips instead of taco shells for the adults.  I am going to miss cheese. 

With a list tacked on the refrigerator that can grow when we add to it, we are armed with options so we don't panic and go get the Indian or Mexican carry-out instead of being able to manage dinner on stressful weekday nights.  We intend to have a variety of frozen vegetables on hand that can be easily microwaved if we don't have fresh vegetables to steam or the time to cook them.  Simplicity is our ally here and our only hope.

I think this will really be a great way to model healthy eating behaviors for our kids.  I am so excited that my husband is excited too.