It's tough being a kid!

It's tough being a kid!

Peer pressure is alive and well, unfortunately.  No matter how hard we try to teach and encourage our kids to stand up for their beliefs, it can be hard for them not to cave in and follow the crowd.

Ten year old Denny is a vegetarian who loves the food his mother prepares.  When he came home from school though, he was always ravenous.  His mother prodded and learned that he wasn't eating at school.  When asked why, Denny finally admitted that the other kids made fun of his non-conventional lunches.  He told his mom that their lunches had "good" stuff, like packaged snacks and treats.  This wise mom realized a teaching moment when she saw it and they talked about what "good" food really is.  She reminded him about the things he'd learned about nutrition and health.  They talked about fitting in and standing for beliefs.  Denny felt relieved after their discussion and ready to eat with his friends at school.  He said if they don't know what he's eating, he'll offer to share so they can taste different things too.

Sometimes, we adults think that childhood is easy...it's not.

Thrifty Thursday - Sports Equipment

My triathletes!

Kids and sports.  It seems like they are always getting involved in something that requires uniforms, special shoes and equipment.  No worries!  Because kids grow quickly, there is a good possibility that you will be able to find what you need used but in good condition.  Parents often organize equipment exchanges where you can buy or trade needed equipment from kids who have outgrown theirs.  You can consider borrowing or buying equipment from friends whose kids are slightly older than yours . Thrift stores are another good place to find slightly used equipment.  I've bought dance shoes, ice skates, tennis racquets, racquetball racquets, ski equipment and outerwear, bowling balls, and bicycles, all in great shape and all at thrift stores.

Buying kids equipment used makes sense because you don't have to overly invest in a sport until your child decides he likes it or not.  It can be pretty frustrating to spend a lot of money outfitting your child with everything he needs to play a sport, only to find he changed his mind and wants to participate in something different.  If he loves it, then you can invest in quality equipment.

What's cooking? Wednesday - Chocolate Frosty, vegan style

Playing around with our new toy  :)

Last week my husband bought a new Vita-Mix blender and we've been experimenting with it, making smoothies and green drinks and stuff that I call glop  :)  We're trying not to use sugar, unhealthy fats or processed products in these experiments. 

I've been researching the internet for recipes that sound both palatable and healthy.  I found the following recipe on Pinterest and adapted it slightly.  The texture is really smooth and it's pretty good, although if I were cheating, I'd add some powdered sugar to sweeten it a bit more.

Chocolate Frosty
1 ripe banana, cut into 5-6 pieces
1/2 ripe avocado, cut into pieces
1 T. unsweetened cocoa
1/4 c. milk or milk substitute
2 c. crushed ice

Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Frosty made with banana, avocado, unsweetened cocoa, milk, crushed ice.  That's it!  Healthy and tasty!

Tidy Tuesday - A blanket chest

Finished blanket chest...holding two comforters, two throws and two blankets!

My family loves to cuddle up with blankets while sitting in the living room, watching tv or reading books.  This is all fine and dandy but it also means various blankets strewn all over the room. I needed a place to contain them.  And then I got an idea...we have two ottomans and really only use one.  What if I converted one of the ottomans into a blanket chest?  I could do that.

Before - worn out ottoman

Easy job...remove old base

Remove old supports...now side boards have no support.  Rescrew boards and position new base.

Interior needs restaining.  Done.  Let dry and fill with blankets!

The big food experiment

Sigh...the things we do for our husbands  :)  My dear husband (DH) watched a two hour documentary on getting healthy and losing weight by going on a juice fast and that led into research on juicing, smoothies, raw food, and fruits and veggies in general.  He wants to try it for two weeks.  Being the supportive wife that I am  :)  I watched the film and I'm going to do it with him (ok, maybe modified).  The program WAS compelling and we really don't eat enough fruit and veggies so I figure I should be able to do it for at least one week and then I'll reevaluate.  Sounds wacky to me.

In preparation for this adventure, I went through my cupboards and packed away all the products that had white sugar and/or flour in them (the cake mixes, cornbread mixes, cold cereal).  Out went all processed food.  Next was the refrigerator.  If I am going to stock up on fresh fruit and veggies, I need to have room in the refrigerator!  Out went the eggs, butter, condiments and leftovers.  I gave a big box of food to my daughter.  (and I told her that I may come and "visit" her for maybe a snack or two   :) )  I'm still not sure what to do with my beloved chocolate chips...I might get desperate!

A few of our Costco purchases for this experiment!

The kitchen ready, we went to Costco, Winco and Cash &Carry.  DH is not one to do things in moderation...he tends towards being extreme...so we ended up with far more food than we can possibly eat without it spoiling.  Luckily, most fruit can be chopped up and frozen.  The veggies?  We'll see.

This weekend, DH started playing around with the freshies and his new Vita-Mix blender.  I'll admit, the first green drink was so awful I could barely swallow the first sip.  I think it had large amounts of kale, a lemon, an apple and fresh ginger.  Ugghhh!  I took about 1/4 cup of the stuff, put it back in the blender and added a banana.  It tasted a little better after that but I'd omit the ginger.

Anyway, he got better at combinations and most of his drinks were actually pretty good.  I made some pretty good ones too  ;)

So, now we're at today Monday, Day 1.  Doing ok but missing my chocolate  :).

P.S. The documentary we watched was called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  The guy who made it has a website called (not surprisingly) fatsickandnearlydead.com

Labeling blog posts

Today I finally asked my super awesome son-in-law to show me how to organize my posts into categories.  He showed me how to turn on the Labels function and how to label each post so it will go into a particular category.  It was amazingly easy!  I feel stupid  :)  Now I have the daunting task of updating each and every post and assigning a label to it.  So far, I've completed approximately 1/4 of my posts (100 out of 359)  This is going to take a while...

The Three Most Important Things in your Life

If you were to name the three most important things in your life, what would they be?  Mine would be my family, my religion, and my health.

Now that you've identified them, do you make them a priority every day?  Do you let other things get in the way?  Of course, we all have mundane chores and obligations that take our time but what about the discretionary time?  Is the internet more important?  The TV or DVD?  Shopping?  Napping? Does our use of time show what is really important?  Scary thought!

To show that my family is truly important, I'd make time to connect with my husband and children (without multi-tasking) when THEY needed me.  I'd not only tell them I love them but I'd show it.

To show that my religion is truly important, I'd spend at least some time every day reading scriptures, praying and looking for ways to help those in need.

To show that my health is truly important, I'd cut down on the sugar and processed food and eat more fruits and veggies.  I'd make a daily walk or trip to the gym a priority.

Somehow, we have to find time for the things that are most important in our lives.