Monday, April 14, 2014

Update

Hey my LG family, how have you all been? Been a while, what's cookin in your kitchens?

I've just been in the regular daily grind of things, with a few changes. Life is pretty damn busy, so I have to make concessions. That to me, meant making one big pot of soup for Jeff and I's lunch for the week, and relying on quick snacks like veggies and hummus/salsa with whole fruits or some fruit salad during the day. Its repetitious, but Id rather weekly monotony than running to the grocery store in front of my daycare to spend money on crap, and if Im feeling really out of whack with my prepared food, I go to said store and treat myself to any fruit that catches my eye. Weekly meals are usually crockpot, but with the nicer weather we're enjoying bbq-ing pretty much everything.

Im finding that Im adjusting well to this routine, and J's even on board with making healthier choices for us. For Lent I chose to give up sugars outside of fruits, so any other type of snacks but of the fresh variety really don't fit in my work day meals. Im finding that from the moment I wake up to supper time (around 6:00), my diet is mostly comprised of fresh and raw veggies/fruit with a vegetarian soup, as well as being GF 95% of the time. I also now drink my coffee with just a bit of milk, and wonder how the heck I ever drank it otherwise. I think once Lent is over I will continue this habit, indulging when there is a special occasion but otherwise staying mostly away from sugar. I really haven't missed it all that much (although it was terribly hard at first, I have to admit, sugar really is a drug we're addicted to).

I've mentioned what an inspiration my coworker is, in many aspects but she's very knowledgeable nutrition wise, and so its really inspired me to up my raw produce consumption and lower my gluten intake as well. I still enjoy bread and other gluten sources every once in awhile. Since we eat with the kids, its really awesome to be able to show them what we eat and answer their multiple questions about food and nutrition. There are some great discussions about good foods vs bad foods (or all the time foods vs sometimes foods). The kids, seeing us eat all these raw things, talk about what they eat and its really discouraging to hear that they have never seen a cucumber, or tried a carrot stick. So every day, the kitchen makes us a bowl of raw veggies to give to the kids. A month ago. literally none of my 16 kids knew or had tasted a pepper. Now, they all have their favorite color and get excited when the vegetable of the day is a cucumber. We tried fennel today, and more than one said it tasted like 'reglisse', which it does of course.

My mood and energy levels have completely transformed in the last 3 motnhs, Im feeling in love with life and all that it brings, and I am wayyyy willing to blame it on increasing my intake of real foods, and dumping the shit they sell us in pretty packaging.

Here are some shots I took over the last little while. <3


Asparagus with some roasted garlic
Frozen banana, handful of berries, and coconut milk makes delicious ice cream

Washing strawberries

Breakfast

Cukes and tomatoes with o.o., vinegar, herbs

sort of like a chicken pot pie thing

Roasted tomatoes, onions, and garlic for a roasted red pepper and tomato soup

5 comments:

  1. That chicken pot pie looks amazing! Recipe svp?

    It's getting close to exam time, and I need to find some recipes I can quickly and easily. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, ladies!

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    1. I used meat from a whole chicken I made before, threw it with some veggies (carrots, celery, onion, peas, corn, red pepper, and sweet potato) in a crockpot along with the sauce which I made from butter, a bit of flour, chicken broth, some milk, and seasonings. When I got home I put the mixture in individual glass containers and sprinkled some more seasonings, bread crumbs, and parmesan and in the oven, broil for about 10-15mns/.

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  2. wow! looks and sounds incredible. Also, the garlic on the asparagus looks more like a paste: how did you roast it?

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    Replies
    1. , Oven at 400F, peel away outer layer of skin, you cut the top of a whole head of garlic, so that all the little cloves are exposed, Pour a little olive oil on the head placed in a muffin tin (get your fingers in there to make sure its all coated), put in oven for about 35 mns!

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    2. I should add that these cloves were roasted along with a whole bunch of them and had been refrigerated for 3 days. It seriously tasted like garlic bacon, almost.

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