What Do You Eat? Day 3

Ugh.  It's been a tough couple days.  Last night the baby was up quite a bit, and finally at 6am I just brought her into my bed and let her nurse away to her heart's content.  Her heart desires a LOT of nursing lately.  With two molars coming in, she has very little interest in solid food, but her appetite doesn't match her lack of desire to eat.

As a result, I didn't actually get out of bed until an hour before I needed to be at the sing-a-long playdate I go to each Monday.  Oops.  Baby got a snack trap of multigrain Cheerios and I had two pieces of Dave's Killer bread toast with Earth Balance spread and my mom's homemade blackberry jelly.  12 grams of protein pretty easy.  That extra sleep I got by bringing the baby to bed seem to have allowed for a seemless transition away from coffee, which I have been wanting to do but haven't seen as a possibility.  I've actually been having headaches lately, and thought maybe a day without coffee would help.  I had no headache or stomach ache today, and no coffee.  We'll see how this continues.

Lunch was most of a yogurt (SoDelicious coconut yogurt in vanilla flavor) that I tried to feed the baby.  She ate some, but even non-solid solids don't interest her.  I also had leftover curry chickpeas and later a plum.

Dinner was a bit of a disconnect.  I just didn't know what I wanted.  I chopped up half an onion and some mushrooms and started to sautee them without a clear plan.  I had started beets roasting in the oven and didn't know what their final destination would be either.  I ended up slicing the beet greens and adding them to the pan along with some five spice.  I chopped up the roasted beets and tossed them with a mixture of tahini and hoisin sauce then put them over the hash of other veggies.  I cooked up a couple of the potatoes from the garden (just microwaved them) and topped them with Bragg's Liquid Aminos.  For some color and to try to entice the baby to eat, I opened a can of mandarine oranges and just put them cold on the plate.  Nothing fancy, but it was really tasty.  I will have leftover hoisin beets tomorrow in some form...  Not sure what yet.

I had a tall glass of chocolate soy milk and an almond joy cereal bar this eveing for a sweet treat.

What Do You Eat? Day 2

Today's breakfast was the same as yesterday.  Still loving those fresh raspberries from the garden.  I also did some more harvesting, and pulled up my first potatoes of the season as well this morning.  Violet and the dog ate all the snow peas, but that's okay.  I'll take a kid that loves snow peas.

For lunch I made a soup with the carrots from the garden and one of the potatoes.  I added fresh ginger, peanut butter and sriracha- spicy goodness!  I also made a sandwich with Yves salami and lightly crisped kale.  I used my favorite bread, Dave's Killer Bread Good Seed.  This bread is crazy good and made with only the best ingredients.

Dinner did not get a picture.  The poor baby is teething something fierce and it was all I could do to cook and eat dinner.
The menu was:
Roasted chickpeas with curry powder
Steamed artichoke with vegenaise
sauteed zucchini and onions

Desert was a yummy cereal bar I made with multigrain cheerios, brown rice syrup, almond butter, roasted almonds, melted down chocolate chips, and coconut flakes.  I call it my Almond Joy Cereal Bars.  I didn't measure anything, so I can't post a recipe, but I do have a picture (I ate way more than the tiny piece in the picture!).

What Do You Eat? Day 1

This is a true account of what I ate today, and will continue to be true accounts of what I eat.  I am only human, so I will admit that I might be eating better while I record than if I wasn't.

I started my morning with my homemade multigrain oatmeal.  I make my own blend from bulk grains.  I use oats, rye, kamut, barley, and spelt.  Two parts oats and one part all the rest.  I blended in almond butter and fresh raspberries from my garden, along with a splash of maple syrup.  I drank coffee with soy creamer and liquid stevia.  My one year old had the same cereal breakfast, but she had much more almond butter blended in to hers.

For lunch I got a special treat because we were in Girdwood for the Fungus Fair.  We went to Jack Sprat, one of my favorite restaurants.  I had never seen their brunch menu, but I was pleased with the chia muesli and yam fries without the aoli.  The little one liked the muesli, but hardly touched the fries (leaving way too many fries to me).  

I didn't get pictures, but if you look at the menu, the muesli is the stuff in a cup, and the yam fries are stacked all pretty.  The yam fries are always a favorite of mine, but I have to say I also liked the muesli a lot.  Homemade almond milk really makes a difference!  

I took some in a box and snacked while we did Fungus Fair stuff (mostly putting Violet in her Muddy Buddy rain suit and letting her go wild in the awesome park while it rained).

When we got home, I roasted eggplant and cooked brown basmati rice.  I added peas to the rice and mushed the eggplant with finely minced garlic, tahini, lemon juice, paprika, and salt and pepper.  I roasted some small sweet peppers and stuffed mushrooms with the eggplant mixture.  In my meat/cheese eating days, stuffed mushrooms were a favorite of mine, but eggplant stuffed mushrooms are a million times better!  Violet disagrees and only ate the rice and peas, but she was feeling yucky tonight, so don't trust her judegment. 

For desert I'm having this cowboy cookie from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.  I made a big batch to send to work with my husband and this one is just for me.  For those without THE book, it's a cookie with oats, toasted pecans, coconut, and chocolate chips.  It seems a bit fancy for a cowboy to me, but what do I know?

Girls Night

Tonight was just the girls (my daughter and I), so I made what I would consider "girly food."  I'm not sure why, but our dinner just struck me as very feminine.

Angel hair pasta tossed with nutritional yeast then topped with sauteed asparagus and garlic in olive oil.  I topped it all with lemon zest and juice and toasted almonds.

YUM!

Is that girl food?

My husband was in the land of manliness and ate a burger and fries, so maybe there is something to this gender specific food idea.

Travel Travel Family Family

Since my husband lost his job in May, we have been having family and travel time extreme.  I feel bad not keeping up with my bloggy blog, but I wouldn't trade the last few months for anything!  I have been cooking all our meals and loving a varied and cheap vegan diet.  It is amazing how "beans and rice" can be so many different things.  One night we'll have chickpea Indian food over brown basmati, and another we'll have spicy pintos over short grain brown rice.  We've also been enjoying cannelini beans and pasta or black bean salad on a summer evening.  These tight times have been a reminder that vegan eating is much more affordable than meat and milk.  My dried beans and case of soy milk don't spoil, and the farmer's market and CSA keep me in fresh veg.

I have so many blog posts in my head that I want to share, but I might have to do a miniseries because of a questions I kept getting while visiting family, "What do you eat?"  Many family members and friends want to accomodate us, but honestly just can't fathom what we eat.  Our diet is so varied that it's a hard question to answer.  We eat a huge variety of legumes, veggies, fruits, grains, and some processed products, so I never know how to answer that.  Many meat-eaters think we must eat like them, but with the meat replaced by something else (most imagine tofu), but we just don't eat that way often.  Vegetarians often rely so heavily on cheese and eggs that it's even harder for them to imagine our daily diet.

I plan on starting tomorrow morning and at least listing and hopefully photographing everything I eat for one week.

Naked Baby Party!

I started a parent's group on MeetUp.com that has turned out really great.  I was talking to one of the other moms in the group and telling her that I had some clothes that might fit her daughter, then I realized that we probably all had clothes that would fit one of the other kids in the group.  So today I hosted a "Naked Baby" party, inspired by the Naked Lady party concept.  I put out a lovely vegan spread of lemon blueberry muffins, oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and pecans, hummus with homemade rosemary foccacia and celery, homegrown tomatoes brought by another mom, cherries, plums, and "candy" (that means dates in our house).

We all brought boxes of clothes and everyone went home with something.  The leftovers are going to be sold to a local consignment shop to help pay the dues for our MeetUp group.  Overall, a great success.

The best part was probably having a house full of babies and toddlers.  My little Violet is almost one and already such a social little hostess.  She was in her room with the other babies showing them her toys, playing with all the new stuff that was out, and munching on good food.

I recommend joining or starting a MeetUp group for any parent of a young child.  It's a great way for the babies to interact, but it's also such a good opportunity for parents to get out of the house and spend time with their kids AND spend time with adults.  We have a weekly hiking group, Taiga Trekkers, Monday music at the zoo, and outdoor play group, and various other MeetUps to welcome all different interests.

What a joy for my little social butterfly to get out and have fun!

Swimming Baby!

I can't remember a time in my own life when I couldn't swim, and I have always felt a need to be close to water sources.  When I was deciding on a college, I chose mine for two water-based reasons.  First, I saw a poster for Humboldt State that featured a fountain in an open area with people sitting on the edge studying. The fountain was not pretty (I have since seen a documentary about it called "The World's Ugliest Fountain"), and it seemed like the kind of fountain you could get in and dance around without anyone minding.  This was essential to me, especially after I had attempted to dance in a fountain in Rome only to be yelled at by police.  So the fountain was the draw.  Then, when I went to visit, I took a tour.  I saw the fountain and it seemed to fit the bill.  I saw the campus and the town and everything about both fit my needs and personality perfectly, but I still wasn't sure.  Finally, I asked the tour guide for directions to the closest beach, about 5 minutes away.  As soon as my feet touched the water of the Pacific I knew I was home.  It was that simple for me.  

So, for me, it was important that my daughter be connected to water as well.  I swam in the lake while pregnant, and was kayaking as close as 5 days before I gave birth.  Sometimes I joke that I paddled her right out.  We had a home water birth, and the three of us bonded in the tub for a good half hour before she left that warm water.  She bathed with me the next day, and instantly loved being in water.  When she was old enough, we signed her up for swim classes, and it has been so amazing to see her fall in love with swimming.

As soon as she sees the pool, she starts smiling and waving her arms.  Once she's in the water it's all smiles and splashes.  And even when she goes under water, she smiles there too!  

I highly recommend swimming classes for infants.   One of my baby books says that they don't suggest swimming classes for infants and toddlers, but that seems silly to me.  You can't treat it like it will train a baby to swim on their own without supervision, but you can get water safety, skills, and comfort through classes early and often.  

I am including two videos of my daughter Violet swimming, and one of a child who is far more advanced using the ISR method.

Violet Swimming 1

Violet Swimming 2

ISR Method, taken from YouTube.  Our instructor doesn't teach this method, but I am interested in it and love the results seen in this video.