The True Story of What Was

Two Monks!

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Jenn

No matter how many there are of something, if you ask M how many, she says two. And she says it in a super cute way that typing just can’t convey. So, I’d been prepping her that today we were going to see some monks. And so she said, “TWO MONKS” when we saw them. Let me back up. When we first arrived in the sanctuary she said “Daddy bass,” since last time we were there, Daddy was playing the bass. That was at least a month ago. Stuff like that reminds me that she’s no longer a baby! Back to the monks. Our Unitarian Church is hosting Tibetan Buddhist Monks from the Gaden Jangtse Monastery in South India. The Tsawa Monks are on a “peace tour” of the United States to raise awareness about Tibetan Buddhism and culture. Today they offered a blessing of the children and some chanting during our regular service. It was great, except that M was totally full of it, and, after behaving for the blessing, just wanted to run around. I did get her to settle down in time to hear the chanting at the end.

Overall our weekend was nice and relaxing with no plans beyond music class and the monk visit. We all napped for 3 hours of Saturday and all had insomnia in some form or another on Saturday night. Photo below is Izzie and M trying to get me and R up from our nap.

Since I last posted I’ve tackled a few more recipes from Whole Food Kitchen. We tried Orange Balsamic Chicken, Honey Ginger Baked Salmon, Caramel Apple Oats, Lemon and Garlic White Bean Pasta, Strawberry Banana Oat Muffins and Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas with homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas. The class is now over, but I’ve just scratched the surface of the recipes. Looking forward to teaching yoga and heading to Upstate New York for my cousin’s wedding in the next few weeks.

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This Too Shall Pass

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Jenn

“I am convinced that staying relaxed and compassionate with myself, in the face of a mountain of vegetables or a mountain of worry over my son’s picky eating, is among the very best things I can do for my family.”
– Lisa Moussalli of Frog Bottom Farm

M’s latest thing is to say “My Mommy,” “My Turn,” “My” this and “my” that. And not in a nice tone. I have to remind myself that at one point she threw up every time she ate. I was convinced she would be the first grader gagging on her peanut butter sandwich and spewing all over the cafeteria table that she’d be sitting at all alone because no one would sit with that kid that always gags on her lunch. And that hardly ever happens anymore. Then, when she started talking, one of her first phrases was “not nice.” – also not in a pleasant tone. This was the catch phrase used at daycare and then at home when she’d through her food off her tray. It seemed to work and then she started saying it to others – the dog, the other kids, a stranger on the street who drops change by accident. Cute at first, and then just something I wished would go away. I am not opposed to raising a rule follower like myself, but a snitch? Maybe not ideal. And now, the super possessive attitude. Again, I think it’s just the age. Bigger kids, bigger problems. Looking forward to seeing what’s next and then looking back and laughing about how silly this was.

Posted in Miss M., Motherhood, Whole Food Eating | 1 Comment

Granola is my new favorite condiment.

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Jenn

We had an awesome weekend without too many plans – just the way I like them! I think it felt extra relaxing because we’d just come off a great week which included lunches in the park, take your dog to work day and school vacation week for R. This week we’re back to the grind in a major way with R working 5 out of 7 nights, but we’ll relish some girl time. Maybe we’ll try out the new Pinkberry in town?

We ate well this weekend, trying several new recipes from Whole Food Kitchen and had some great friends over for brunch and playing! We made wheatberry salad, crock pot oats and apples, huevos rancheros, black bean fiesta and casserole, and blue fairy tea. I’ve decided homemade granola is pretty much the perfect food!

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Daddy’s “LeLe”

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Jenn

On Monday, the weather was in the low 90s and we enjoyed some nice porch time with friends. That night, they sent us home with a borrowed ukulele. M is loving it – It’s just her size! She calls it Daddy’s LeLe (lay-lay). We also finally hung up Ryan’s acoustic guitar and bass guitar. She had a blast playing the acoustic guitar, but unfortunately was not allowed to play the bass guitar.

I just finished reading the book club book for April. I love the feeling of completing a book. Even more than that, I love the excitement of deciding which book I’ll dive in to next. I’ve got a book of short stories that I’m reading slowly, as it’s part of an ongoing discussion that happens over a few essays a week or so. No hurry there. Lots of time to savor those. I saw the Girl with Dragon Tattoo in December and it rekindled me motivation to read the second and third of the Millennium Series. I finished the first book in 2009 and just finished the second last month. I think I’ll dive in to the final book now. It’s too bad they have to be so LONG! Books should never be over 500 pages in my opinion. Usually I aim to read one book in between each of the monthly (or so) book club books. We’ve been reading some good ones lately!

Since I’ve last posted about Whole Food Kitchen cooking, we’ve tried Carrot Sesame Spice Cookies, Carrot Ginger Soup, Hearty and Warm Grain Salad (with wheat berries) and Blender Banana Oat Pancakes.

Posted in Cooking, Miss M., Reading, Whole Food Eating | 3 Comments

I love you

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Jenn

Yesterday I took this little girl to the vet – she has an itchy tummy. She’s now on an antibiotic, new food (fish and sweet potato), fish oil and benedryl. Hopefully this combination will help break the cycle of itch she’s been plagued with for the past month or so.

Then there’s this one. She’s exploring boundaries big time, but looking super cute while doing so. And to top that off, she’s now saying “I love you” and adding a little “Mommy” or “Daddy” at the end for good measure. She’s not saying it when she’s doing something bad, she’s saying it when she really means it, or at least when we say it – like when we leave or hang up the phone. It sounds like “all-lub-do” or something like that, but it’s so adorable. She’s also saying Grandma and Grandpa all of a sudden without a lot of pressing from us. It sounds more like “gee-ma” or “gee-pa,” but it’s so sweet. I can’t believe how fast she’s using new words. She’s going to be repeating our phrases in no time and then we’re going to be in deep doo-doo (oh, no, I’ve got to stop using that one!).

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Not Just Cooking

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Jenn

When you’re cooking, you’re not just cooking, you’re not just working on food . . . you’re also working on yourself, you’re working on other people.
~ Edward Espe Brown

In my Whole Food Kitchen workshop she talks a lot about the struggles of getting kids to eat these foods when they are used to others. I’m glad that I am doing things like this now, so that M will grow up with food like this. Just like yoga training, I am starting to get worried about Whole Food Kitchen ending. I want to continue to embrace these lifestyle changes, but will I be able to do so without being guided weekly and monthly? And don’t be fooled, I might be making changes in our lifestyle, but this photo above is M eating her favorite breakfast, a frozen (whole grain) pancake.

Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it.
~ Michael Pollan, Food Rules

M continues to develop her vocabulary. Just in the last week or two she has begun stringing multiple words together. She’s saying something that kind of sounds like, and means, I love you. She says “sorry mommy,” “bye-bye daddy,” “Izzie outside,” and much more! This week her new words include blueberries, strawberries, bananas, crib and more. It seems these days you tell her a word once, she repeats it once and then she’s got it! It’s really amazing how quick she’s learning. It’s really terrifying how quick she’s learning. It puts a lot of pressure on us as parents to teach her the right thing the first time around. For instance, this morning she started playing a cute game of hide and seek with my closet doors, saying bye bye mommy every time she shut them. But I remember that some of the things she does now that we don’t dig are things we thought were cute and allowed her to do when she was smaller and less rough and destructive.

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Easter Weekend

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Jenn

This Easter we took a super quick one night trip up to New Hampshire and managed to squeeze in lots of activities. We even made it home by dinner time on Sunday – not that we were hungry!

First we celebrated Evelyn’s fourth birthday with my family and their friends.

After staying over and sleeping all night, we looked for Easter eggs in the kitchen.

After breakfast, we drove to Ryan’s aunt and uncle’s house for Easter dinner and enjoyed playing with their new baby ducks.

We even played a little game of basketball after dinner.

It was a great weekend filled with lots of family and good food. We are lucky to have family only a few hours away.

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Protected: House Photos

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Jenn

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Weekend Whole Food Kitchen

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Jenn

I tackled three new recipes from Whole Food Kitchen this weekend, in addition to making my second batch of the easy, delicious granola. On Friday night, I made the banana nut cream with berries. It was good, but different. Not exactly whipped cream, but it was good. I used frozen berries, and I’d use fresh next time. I have this thing against cold fruit. I really prefer it to be room temperature. Next up were the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (made with the aforementioned granola). These are so yummy, but I’ve got to do a better job of smooshing them down next time. These crumble as soon as you cut them, so they aren’t exactly bars.

Saturday night R put on a beautiful recital at our local Unitarian Church. I took M, even though it started at bedtime. We got there a little early and she did a bunch of running around in the sanctuary and then settled right in once the music started. She is such a champ. She stayed awake through the whole thing and was pretty quiet, all tucked in to the Ergo on my front. Her outbursts were mostly limited to things like, “Daddy, Bass!” I did end up standing at the back the whole time, as she got antsy anytime I sat down. It was kind of nice to have a nice full room view and see everyone enjoying the beautiful music. Here’s a nice video of one of the pieces he performed.

And finally we had a lovely Sunday morning breakfast of sauteed bok choy with a fried egg. I skimped on the garlic. I should know there’s hardly ever too much garlic, but I am always conservative with it. It was fun to try bok choy, and we have a lot leftover, so we’ll be eating it all week. I ended the weekend with a book club brunch this morning and I’m off to the Whole Food Kitchen Nourishment Circle tonight. Life is good!

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Pea and Parsley Pesto

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Jenn

Thursday night I tried the Pea and Parsley Pesto with Pasta from Whole Food Kitchen. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite recipe so far, but it was pretty good. It’s nice and light and healthy feeling though. It was even better leftover for lunch and was super easy to make. We also added some french bread and garlic, oregano and olive oil goat cheese from a local farmers’ market. My friend Kate just talked me in to signing up for the 30-day vegan workshop. I’m excited and nervous about it. I know it will be quite a challenge for this cheese lover.

M has been showing some frustration towards Izzie lately and has been yelling “No!” at her a lot and swatting her away. This concerns me as I want my child to be compassionate and loving towards animal like her parents. I know this is just a phase and she’s just treating Izzie like she’d treat a sibling, but it still makes me sad. I was super happy to see this when I peeked around the corner from the kitchen to the living room. I think M was reading Izzie a book.

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