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Making burgers

Grass fed ground meat from Slankers Grass fed meat. She made the patty. Then ate a bunch. Hope loves it to.

Getting kids involved in cooking process gives them ownership in the meal.

Coffee date

Decaf with heavy cream

Milk shake remedy

Hope woke up with a fever. Trying to pump her full of super food. This milk shake has:
Strawberries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Bananas
Flax seed
Cashews
Almonds
Almond milk
Yogurt (full fat plain)
Water

Breakfast

Haelyn -- buckwheat pancakes with butter
Hope -- sliced bananas with cinnamon and ground walnuts

Yogurt

Not part skim milk. No added sugar.

Full fat. Cream top. Organic. Plain. Girls love it.

Smoothie

Fresh banana, frozen strawberries, unsweetened almond milk, full fat plain yogurt, ground flax. Hope chugs this like a champ. H loves it too. #vitamix

Yummy dinner

Eggs. Broccoli. Strawberries.

Dinner darlings

Breakfast

Haelyn is having "nut nut cereal". Hope having oatmeal with walnuts, flaxseed and blueberries.

Nut Nut Cereal

Grind up a handful of walnuts in pictured grinder. Cover with flax meal. Sprinkle of cinnamon. Pour little bit of almond milk in. That's it. H loves it. Variations could include any other nut (walnuts grind easiest) or berries. Serve warm or cold.

Natures Cough Medicine

We prefer local as it has other benefits, but this did the job. It was part of our "medicine" routine during a week of coughs and sniffles.

Don't leave Natural Grocers without it!

Yogurt Yumminess

If you're going for the least processed and the yummiest choice for yogurt,this is your purchase. Add some fruit, nuts, honey and or oats and you're set!

Sometimes you loose...

Sometimes they eat what I put in front of them and sometimes they don't! Gah! Doesn't that look like the perfect lunch of almond butter sandwiches, oranges and applesauce??!!?? Oh well...

Olive You

Coconut Water

Who needs juice when you have a boxed coconut water? Hope discovered this little snack all on her own!!

I like to ate ate ate...

Tonight I wanted dessert and Haelyn kept asking for a cookie.I scoured our fridge and pantry and stood there with a bag of apples. That's it in this house. A bag of apples, when all we want is DESSERT! Wishing I had the time, patience, skill, and a vegan recipe for apple pie an idea hit me. This is monumental BTW. I never have cooking ideas. Ever.

Anyway, I peeled and chopped some apples. Sprinkled cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and honey on top. Baked in foil bowl loosely closed at 350 for 15 minutes. I also added a teaspoon of water so they would be nice and soft!

Let's just say she stopped asking for a cookie, and my apple pie craving was gone. Try it...you might like it, and there's NO sugar!!! Even better!!!

Buckwheat pancakes

Buckwheat flour (wheat and gluten free), banana, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, hemp protein, flax seed, water. Topped with local honey.

Snack

Banana, blueberries, romaine, flax seed, carob powder, almond milk in a food processor. Banana and berries were frozen. Like I've cream.

Sweet Potato "Fries"

Sweet potato "fries" were a hit! A little coconut oil, cut sweet potato, and Mrs. Dash! Heat oven to 425. Cook for 25 minutes.

Mama may or may not have taken a few when they weren't looking.

Other items: strawberries, grapes, avocado

SNACKED TO THE GILLS

When you're driving alone with two babes, snacks are a must! Almonds, cashews, carrot sticks, pumpkin seeds, strawberries, bananas, grapes, apples, and applesauce. Most of the fruit was gone when we got there. A few nuts and raisins too. These girls can EAT!!

Picky Picker

Today wasn't a very creative menu day. This mama who has been under the weather all week just wasn't feelin' it. The girls had almond butter on toast and cantaloupe. I called them for lunch. No one came. I said I have a "fun new way to eat your lunch"....pause...rustle...squeals...and around the corner came some hungry babes. So, grab some toothpicks and tell them, "don't be so picky, pick away"!!! :)

Ezekiel Pasta!!!

As you know we love Ezekiel breads, wraps, and pockets. Now we can add to the list PASTA!!! Yum! Yum!

Recovery Pudding

With school back in full force and more germs to be exposed to we had to break out the humidifier, Vicks, and a little "Recovery Pudding". Hope had the yucks last week and I'm following in her foot steps this week.

The pudding is amazing. In a food processor place banana, frozen mixed berries, handful of spinach, walnuts, and flax. Process and enjoy.

Veggie Hobo Meal

Growing up my mom used to get chicken or ground beef, carrots, and potatoes and make what we called "Hobo Meals". I loved them! Mark and I often made them when we were still doing a lot of meat. Plus, they are SUPER easy!! Last night, in efforts to use some of the yummy veggies we got from our friends, I made a Veggie "Hobo Meal". I used carrots, potatoes, red bell pepper,  green bell pepper, and okra with some onion soup mix and Mrs. Dash original. Heat oven to 350, place veggies/seasoning on foil square, add a tablespoon of water, and crumple it into a foil bowl (veggies are fully covered). Cook for 30 minutes. You could serve over rice or quinoa OR go HOBO style and eat as is right out of the foil.

If you go camping, this is a great meal for that. It cooks really well over open flame!!

Haelyn was already set on having beans and cantelope for dinner, but Hope was a huge fan. I made two sets so they can both have some tonight.

Mama "snack"

This isn't something the girls eat or drink, but in order for me to function Mama needs her coffee. I have gone from mostly cream and sugar with a dab of coffee, to only cream and coffee, to my newest much healthier option coffee with a little agave nectar and coconut creamer. Today I tried a light roast with some pumpkin pie spice. I drank it black!! Woooohoooo! I should say I drank it blonde, but I'm pretty sure that's as black coffee as this girl will get. So, I'll say "I drank it black"! I will still have my agave and coconut creamer because it's delicious, but don't need to have it with every cup!!

"Cheese" is a hit

Both girls loved this. Tried it tonight. Tofu based "cheese". All ingredients pictured on left were put in food processor. Will put on crackers, wraps, bread, etc...

Recipe is from Scott Jurek's Eat and Run.

Breakfast request

"Broccoli and eggs please, da!"
("da" gives the Christmas-Story-dad-look-when-randy-is-eating-his-meatloaf look). They ate every last bite.

The 3yo Power Card

Last night I prepared a pita with beans and spinach, broccoli, apples and tomatoes for the girls. Hope ate every last bite. H played picky. She likes to use that power card sometimes. I told her she needed to eat her healthy dinner, to which she asked if she ate all her broccoli could she have a drink like Daddy. I hated to break it to her that her Daddy puts beets and kale in his drink. Ha! After she ate the broccoli we made a smoothie for dessert. It had frozen strawberries, oranges, bananas, flax, walnuts and a little bit of almond milk in it.

We are on the same journey!

I have a colleague that had a dream about me the other night. She said that I reamed her for putting cheese on her sons plate. (Insert dream music) We were at a dinner of some kind where other faculty members and their families were invited. We were all filling our plates and then I let in on her and told her how unhealthy cheese is for her kid. I mean I'm definitely not afraid of confrontation, but I would NEVER NEVER do this. Ever. (For the record, my colleague knows I would never do this!)

For many reasons...

1) I LOVE cheese. I don't consume it on a daily basis, but I LOVE cheese. It tastes great.
2) My girls are allowed to have cheese on occasion.
3) People make their own choices for their own children and I respect that just as I hope people respect the choices I make for my girls.

I want everyone to know that we in no way know everything there is to know about health and wellness. We are seriously learning more and more as we go. This a journey we started just before Haelyn was born. We have educated ourselves in many ways by reading, watching documentaries, personal experiences, and talking with health professionals of all kinds.

Here are some choices we make on a routine basis.
1) Very Limited/No animal products.
Mostly because of the little to no nutritional benefits of such products and because animals are not treated humanely. Watch Food Inc. or go to this link www.walmartcruelty.com/ (there are many many others) for a little conviction. There are places, very few, that go about the process in a humane way. We are not animal rights activists or anything.

The no meat thing is a pretty big deal to us. There is a segment in Food Inc. that tugs at my heart every time I watch it. The first time I saw it I thought, "what are the odds that someone you know will ever get e coli"? Then, in October of 2010 my very own hubby consumed some of a roasted chicken from HEB and spent 4 days in the hospital with salmonella, c diff colitis, staph infection, and an unidentified strand of e coli. It was a very very scary time. He was ultra contagious, and I had to put on a mask and gloves to go in his room (I was 8 months pregnant with Hope). The nurse told me if he had been an elderly person or a child he would have probably died. Such a scary time for us. When I think back to it or talk about it I get a huge lump in my throat.

2) Very Limited/No processed foods and drink
This includes eating out, especially "fast food". We are going for high nutrients and getting the most from what we eat. The processing and preservatives take away from that.

3) Lots of fruits and veggies
For obvious reasons.

Now, as a disclaimer, so you won't be shocked when you see it...we still eat out. I will still have a burger from a place like BeeHive or Perinis. Mark and the girls will not, but I will. We like pizza, we like Mexican food, and we like ice cream. My girls are "allowed" to have those foods on a very very limited basis. Note the subtitle of this blog. We by no means expect anyone to do what we are doing in our family.

We are on the same journey of figuring out life, raising kids, being healthy, and honoring God while doing all of those things!! So...put a little cheese on the plate...it's no big deal!

Veggie Tales

My friend Hollie made some squash yummy-ness and shared with me. While I was eating it Hopey couldn't get enough. I decided I better learn to cook some squash for my girl.

Last night I threw one yellow squash and a zucchini in a small skillet with water covering the bottom. I put in some Mrs. Dash original and let it simmer in the water on medium for 10 minutes (covered). The sauce is puréed tomatoes and spinach. I topped with olives.

Hope loved it. Haelyn liked it.

The most amazing part of this is that MOMMY cooked it. Daddy is the actual cook in our house.

Pizza Night

We all LOVE pizza on occasion in this house! It's a fun treat and home made is so yummy! Haelyn helped purée the sauce (tomatoes, spinach, Mrs. Dash tomato basil seasoning) and grate the cheese (organic mozzarella) and place olives on top. Hope watched and ate the toppings as we worked! Smart girl!

Lunch

Black beans, pumpkin seeds, avocado, spinach all blended up. And some orange and broccoli.

Note from Mom: Even though it looks like she's forcing the bite, she talked about how yummy those beans were as soon as I got home!! Good job on lunch Dad!

What a goose!

Hopey loves couscous!! What a goosegoose!!

Improvising

Super Mom forgot a spoon/knife to make the girls an almond butter wrap in the car on the way to Arlington. Both were, of course, begging for lunch about 30 minutes away from Grandmama and Bear's house. If you have ever traveled with a 3yo and 19mo, you know how to do whatever you can to make 'em happy in the car!! I grabbed some raw broccoli and the almond butter tub and dipped away. I figured they would just lick the almond butter off. NOPE!!!! They ate the raw broccoli too!!! My girls love "brocci", but only steamed. When I told Mark they ate the raw broccoli he said, "my life is complete". What a goof! It was exciting though!!

Prophet Pockets

Ezekiel Bread: Prophet Pockets

We switched to all Ezekiel brand breads this last spring. The Baldridge's told us about the prophet pockets. It's a nice change to the bread and flats we frequent.

Today the girls had an almond butter and honey pocket, strawberries, and nuts for lunch!

At the big table.

"Daddy, I'm COLD!!!"

You eat frozen mangos, you end up in a blanket.

SAUCE ON THE SIDE

Sometimes getting the good stuff in their little growing bodies is all about presentation. Instead of putting the sauce (puréed tomatoes, spinach and tomato basil Mrs. Dash) on top of the veggie pasta and watching it go untouched, I put it on the side. Both girls dipped away!!

"ALMY MILK"

Our girls drink almond milk and water. That's it. Nothing else. Haelyn will occasionally drink juice at school, and she had some at a birthday party a few weeks ago. They will both drink a juice that Mark makes every now and then. 

Let me just say it was really hard to give up serving my babies cow's milk. I fought it for a long time...like tears and pleading with my knowledgeable husband. After reading excerpts from The China Study and some other articles for myself (I'm a little lot stubborn...I like to do my own research), we started the weaning process with Haelyn. It wasn't always pretty and she could definitely tell the difference at first, but she made the change. Hope went from breast milk at age one, to 4 weeks of cow's milk, and cold turkey to almond. She wasn't two, but our pedi said it was fine. She was fine. They were fine. I was fine. And to make matters better...both girls started to express more interest in diverse foods after giving up the ole moo milk. Win win in this Mama's book.

Dinner

Beans (w/ avocado and spinach blended in)
Frozen mangos
Green beans (canned, no salt)
Almond milk

More oatmeal

Tahini and Carrots

O is for Oatmeal

This morning, and most mornings, my girls chose oatmeal.

We have been buying the bulk quick oats. I make the oatmeal with one part water and one part almond milk. Mark makes with just water and adds cinnamon and flaxseed to it. The almond milk takes away the clumps and sticky texture. The girls could care less which way it's made. They LOVE oatmeal.

Honey is one of HBug's faves. Local honey is also good for potential allergies.
"A spoonful of honey keeps the sneezies away".

They also had a sippy cup of almond milk, and Hope had a "nannie" (banana).

"Crackers"

 

We used to get regular crackers that were wheat, oil and salt. Good that they were only three ingredients, but 2 of the 3 weren't ideal...not terrible, but not ideal.

So a few weeks ago, I figured out that shredded wheat looks a lot like "mini crackers". We call them that, the girls call them that, so that's what they are in our house.

You can see on the ingredients list just two: wheat and vitamin E. So we cut out the oil and salt, the girls love them, and they last a heck of a lot longer than the other kind!!

We use these as a snack between meals or before bed.

Dinner at ACU

We cooked black beans in crock pot all day. Nothing else in pot except a little Mrs. Dash seasoning.
They love beans when they're mixed with spinach and avocado (food processor).
Then we had grapes, Ezekial pita pockets, and cooked broccoli (frozen, organic, boiled).
Jenn also made homemade salsa.

They had blue corn chips, salsa, apple sauce and grapes for snack before bed, too.

Crazy Hope