Just for fun, this is a "Day-in-the-Life" of yours truly, typical of a Tuesday or a Thursday, when N is at daycare. We begin after midnight on Tuesday, May 31...
12:15am
Finally into bed after one last nursing session with AC.
3:30am
Up to take an ibuprofin--splitting headache.
4:25am
AC fidgeting and smacking; up to change her diaper and nurse her.
7:00am
Dogs are barking for breakfast, N shouts from his crib, "Up Daddy, up Daddy, up Daddy," over and over. I go back to sleep.
8:00am
My alarm goes off. I put on my slippers, go to N's room, lay out his jeans, tee shirt, and socks, then pad downstairs to the kitchen on the main floor. I see D and N on the lower level--N watching Dragon Tailz (sp?), D working on his 'puter. I put N's lunch (blueberry yogurt, applesauce, raspberry cereal bar) into his lunchbag and hang it on the front door knob. I eat a raspberry bear claw and drink some water. N runs upstairs to see me. I take him back up the stairs to his room to dress him while D gets dressed for work. I pack N's blanket and sheet for naptime into a bag, we play a while, then they leave together at about 8:30. BACK TO BED, I think, optimistically.
8:45am
In bed, trying to sleep. Waldo is scratching furiously on his crate door and won't stop. I get up, go down to the den, let him out for water and to be loose in the den. He won't go outside, though. Back to bed...
9:00am
AC stirs and smacks; I change her diaper and nurse her. Will I ever get a nap? Back into her bassinet when we're done.
9:30am
Aaaaah, NOW I get to take a nap.
11:00am
AC stirs and smacks; I nurse her and lay in bed with her until about noon, when I do a few yoga stretches.
Noon
Out of bed, wash face, dress, put AC into bassinet to nap. Down to kitchen to eat leftover tabbouleh from last night's dinner, and a raspberry bear claw. I have a glass of o.j., cranberry juice, and water in 1/3s; take my vitamin. Then I make three cups of decaf, drink one. Check emails, plan the rest of the day, look at my blog, use "next blog" feature to read more, look at a few on the Blogging Mommies site index, do Google search on track-backs. I read up a little more on statistics on the Blogger site, and decide to use Site Meter to track my traffic for free. Blogger recommends them, so they must be sound. Drink more decaf.
1:30pm
I let the dogs outside, and try to vaccuum the den carpet, but the durn vaccuum is NOT picking anything up. I imagine it is the thick ropes of hair tying up the beater brush, but I'm just too pissed off to look "under the hood" at the moment. I just cleaned the confounded thing two weeks ago. I vow to have D do it tonight. I straighten up the kitchen table, my "hot spot," and start the baby laundry.
2:00pm
Put on makeup and read a little of my Elizabeth George book, Deception on His Mind. Check the mail, read it, file/recycle it. There's a gift for AC from friends in Atlanta - two onesies from The Gap. I look at the Kohl's and Target web sites for yoga pants - I start class in a few weeks and have nothing to wear.
2:30pm
I add the tag for Site Meter to the bottom of my site, and start checking in. Obsessively. More decaf. Now it is time to play Spongebob Squarepants Collapse. I go to the 9th level and then quit to check my blog again.
2:50pm
Nurse hungry AC and browse internet.
3:15pm
Drive to the library, put AC into Baby Bjorn, return one book, put three more on hold (the first three Elizabeth George mysteries), check out three DVDs (M*A*S*H, Mister Roberts, and The Magnificent Seven), and photocopy my yoga registration form. Back to car, drive to daycare, pick up N.
4:45pm
Home from daycare pickup. N is watches 15 minutes of Maya and Miguel, dogs are outside, AC is in her bouncy seat beside me.
5:00pm
Show's over, N and I play ball and blocks in the living room after he comes into the kitchen and threatens to hit AC with his toy car. AC begins to fuss, so I nurse her in the LR while N plays and reads. When I'm done nursing, I put AC back in her bouncy seat and take N outside to blow bubbles, "BIG bubbles," he wants. We stay out quite a while, water the plants, watch a shiny aquamarine beetle, dig in the dirt, play ball with Rocket, and of course blow LOTS of bubbles, BIG bubbles. I check on AC throughout the hour.
6:00pm
Inside, I make N store-brand macaroni and cheese (appallingly orange, yes), mixed vegetables, bananas, and applejuice cut with a little water. He willingly gets into his high chair, chanting "'garoni and jeezh, Mommy, 'garoni and jeezh, Mommy." He eats while I eat a hastily assembled barbecue tempeh pita. I call D to bring us some Chinese takeout--tofu vegetables.
7:00pm
N watches part of his Thomas the Tank Engine DVD while I nibble on his remaining mac & cheese, veg, and bananas while cleaning up the kitchen. D shows up with the Chinese, and we eat as N runs like a madman around the main floor. Eventually, he crashes into a kitchen cabinet and gets a huge bump on his head, which he won't let us put ice on.
7:45pm
I take N up to his bed and he insists on getting in the crib with no story time. I leave. He cries for Daddy. I think his head bump is giving him a hard time.
8:00pm
Daddy goes up to N, who's still crying. Sits with him in the rocker, N asks to be put in the crib again, D leaves, N cries again. This repeats one more time fifteen minutes later, and finally, N is asleep for good. Before that, though, I hear him say to D, "Juice, Mommy. I huwt. Thank you!" I'm in the kitchen, eating my Chinese and watching AC bat at the hanging toys on her bouncy seat. D comes back down, we eat, chat, look at the newspaper.
8:45pm
Nurse AC; D's mom calls. Bad news: D's brother and his wife are separating. We are bummed and talk about this after the call. D does the dishes and I nurse AC two more times when she acts like she isn't satisfied. I lie on the couch with her on my chest for a while.
9:30pm
Look at the intarweb, eat some cottage cheese and peaches for dessert (out of raspberry bear claws, dammit). Put sleeping AC in the bassinet.
10:00pm
D and I watch the BBC reality show, SPY. It's the penultimate episode. I eat a sugar-free fudgesicle.
11:00pm
Up to the kitchen to finish this daily log, which I will post in a minute. Then I will go upstairs to the bedroom, get ready for bed, and read more Deception on his Mind.
11:15pm
Holy crap, this is long! Excitement two doors down: looooong horn honks and screaming voices. "I want my paperwork!" shouts a man. "Get in the car. GET IN THE CAR," screams a woman. Another man says, "Call 911." The woman says, "Get in the car and lock the doors." AAAAACK! The car has driven away. I wonder if the cops are yet to arrive. Gotta stop this journal somewhere, so this be the spot.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Friday, May 27, 2005
Random Thoughts (Highly Original Title)
There are reasons people use that as a blog entry title, because it fits, and because they are too lazy to think of something more creative (read "witty"). I only have so much energy in a day, and most times it is shunted into areas other than "wit." Usually the areas of "children" and "laundry" receive most of my energy. [came back later to add that the previous statement is not entirely true: SpongeBob Squarepants Collapse takes a fair portion of my precious energy]
Anyhoo--and there, again, is a highly original idiom in the world of blogs (resisting that "-sphere" term as long as I can)--here's some stuff from today:
I let N watch television for a little over an hour this morning. And he had already watched some with his dad before he left for work. Sesame Street and some Boohbah, but they are pretty innocuous. He doesn't sit glued the whole time, too; he moves around the den, playing the piano a little, re-arranging the dogs' bowls some, pushing his trains every once in a while. I feel like a schlub, but I just needed some time to nurse AC and read the 'net. One day of so much T.V. won't hurt a 22mo, will it? Can you tell I need someone to absolve me?
The rhubarb cobbler I made last night was too good. No, I'm not bragging, I'm lamenting. I am still eating it today, and eating it. I even donated half the dish to our neighbors for their dessert last night. It is such a wonderful combination of sweet and sour, mushy and crunchy, that I can't stop picking at it. The casserole dish is on the stove, with a fork sticking in it that I use to take a bite as I walk by. And a "walk by" is always planned, since the damn stove is in a dead-end in our kitchen.
What's for dinner tonight? I think it's barbecued tempeh (or tofu, can't decide) on burger buns, barley and corn salad (already marinating in the fridge), and--you guessed it--Chinese greens. I have to start whittling away at the big bag before Wednesday when we will most certainly get more.
I weighed myself this a.m. and the scale shouted 154 at me. Baaaaah. I guess it was the cobbler talking. I'm back to the ab focus now, trying to be aware during my everyday activities of staying upright and firm in my transverse ab muscles. I still have that damn diastasis problem I have to call the doctor about. I thought it was supposed to improve a few weeks after childbirth. My ab muscles are still more than two fingers apart, so I'm not supposed to do any floor work (crunches, etc.).
I spent WAY too much time this morning reading other blogs, a hobby I developed over the past few days. I did find one whose author sounds a lot like me, if only from the necessarily limited view one gets of a writer from her weblog. It is called Millennium Hippies.
Kids are both a-nap, so I will commence to gettin' my chores done, in between bites of cobbler of course. My folks arrive in six days to deliver their old car to us; they just bought a replacement. They are giving us their 1996 Camry, in pristine condition (Dad is anal about car maintenance). Now D can sell his 1994 Accord, which has a big old rusty dent in the right front quarterpanel and some internal repair work on the horizon. Good riddance.
Anyhoo--and there, again, is a highly original idiom in the world of blogs (resisting that "-sphere" term as long as I can)--here's some stuff from today:
I let N watch television for a little over an hour this morning. And he had already watched some with his dad before he left for work. Sesame Street and some Boohbah, but they are pretty innocuous. He doesn't sit glued the whole time, too; he moves around the den, playing the piano a little, re-arranging the dogs' bowls some, pushing his trains every once in a while. I feel like a schlub, but I just needed some time to nurse AC and read the 'net. One day of so much T.V. won't hurt a 22mo, will it? Can you tell I need someone to absolve me?
The rhubarb cobbler I made last night was too good. No, I'm not bragging, I'm lamenting. I am still eating it today, and eating it. I even donated half the dish to our neighbors for their dessert last night. It is such a wonderful combination of sweet and sour, mushy and crunchy, that I can't stop picking at it. The casserole dish is on the stove, with a fork sticking in it that I use to take a bite as I walk by. And a "walk by" is always planned, since the damn stove is in a dead-end in our kitchen.
What's for dinner tonight? I think it's barbecued tempeh (or tofu, can't decide) on burger buns, barley and corn salad (already marinating in the fridge), and--you guessed it--Chinese greens. I have to start whittling away at the big bag before Wednesday when we will most certainly get more.
I weighed myself this a.m. and the scale shouted 154 at me. Baaaaah. I guess it was the cobbler talking. I'm back to the ab focus now, trying to be aware during my everyday activities of staying upright and firm in my transverse ab muscles. I still have that damn diastasis problem I have to call the doctor about. I thought it was supposed to improve a few weeks after childbirth. My ab muscles are still more than two fingers apart, so I'm not supposed to do any floor work (crunches, etc.).
I spent WAY too much time this morning reading other blogs, a hobby I developed over the past few days. I did find one whose author sounds a lot like me, if only from the necessarily limited view one gets of a writer from her weblog. It is called Millennium Hippies.
Kids are both a-nap, so I will commence to gettin' my chores done, in between bites of cobbler of course. My folks arrive in six days to deliver their old car to us; they just bought a replacement. They are giving us their 1996 Camry, in pristine condition (Dad is anal about car maintenance). Now D can sell his 1994 Accord, which has a big old rusty dent in the right front quarterpanel and some internal repair work on the horizon. Good riddance.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
This Week's Box o' Health
The box from the organic farm contains:
lots of rhubarb
huge bag of spinach (half of which we ate, steamed, last night)
huger bag of Chinese greens
large bunch of green onions
a spring garlic bulb/stalk
French breakfast radishes (the long kind)
NO MESCLUN! grrrrrrrr
I chopped up the rhubarb today and am at the moment waiting while my rhubarb cobbler bakes away in the oven. The recipe is a simple one for a 9x13 pan (half it for a 9 or 8" square pan).
Four cups rhubarb, sliced thin
2 cups sugar
2 cups Bisquick
2 cups milk
2 sticks butter
ground cinnamon (opt.)
Preheat to 375. Chop your rhubarb and add the sugar to it to macerate for 15 minutes before assembling the cobbler. Melt the butter in the pan in the oven while it preheats (DON'T let it burn). When the butter is melted, add the Bisquick and milk, stir to mix. Then spoon the rhubarb/sugar mixture over the top (it'll sink). Sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon if you want. Bake for around 45 minutes, or until it looks brown and done. You can substitute any berries for the rhubarb (or divide it half and half with strawberries, for ex.).
Don't rightly know what to do with all the greens this week, as I blew my wad last week with various stir fries and steamings. I think D is already sick of greens and it's only one week into the farm season! I guess I'll look for some creative noodle or rice dishes with Chinese greens worked in. Maybe a spinach salad with the remaining 1/2 bag of that.
So, my diet is going very well, thanks to the healthy meals I'm making to use our produce. Still not exercising as I'd like, but that will come as the rain diminishes and the weather warms. Haven't weighed myself lately; I'll try to remember tomorrow morning.
lots of rhubarb
huge bag of spinach (half of which we ate, steamed, last night)
huger bag of Chinese greens
large bunch of green onions
a spring garlic bulb/stalk
French breakfast radishes (the long kind)
NO MESCLUN! grrrrrrrr
I chopped up the rhubarb today and am at the moment waiting while my rhubarb cobbler bakes away in the oven. The recipe is a simple one for a 9x13 pan (half it for a 9 or 8" square pan).
Four cups rhubarb, sliced thin
2 cups sugar
2 cups Bisquick
2 cups milk
2 sticks butter
ground cinnamon (opt.)
Preheat to 375. Chop your rhubarb and add the sugar to it to macerate for 15 minutes before assembling the cobbler. Melt the butter in the pan in the oven while it preheats (DON'T let it burn). When the butter is melted, add the Bisquick and milk, stir to mix. Then spoon the rhubarb/sugar mixture over the top (it'll sink). Sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon if you want. Bake for around 45 minutes, or until it looks brown and done. You can substitute any berries for the rhubarb (or divide it half and half with strawberries, for ex.).
Don't rightly know what to do with all the greens this week, as I blew my wad last week with various stir fries and steamings. I think D is already sick of greens and it's only one week into the farm season! I guess I'll look for some creative noodle or rice dishes with Chinese greens worked in. Maybe a spinach salad with the remaining 1/2 bag of that.
So, my diet is going very well, thanks to the healthy meals I'm making to use our produce. Still not exercising as I'd like, but that will come as the rain diminishes and the weather warms. Haven't weighed myself lately; I'll try to remember tomorrow morning.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Forty Schmorty
No fair double-teaming me.
It was great for forty years just having the regular under-eye creases that follow the line of the lower rim. I swear to God, though, that as soon as my fortieth birthday passed, I got these NEW wrinkles that go against the grain of the old ones. They are these tiny, crepey (I am so sad to write that word) folds perpendicular to my eye rim. How did they know it was time to come? If they'd asked me, I would've told them to hang out in the cafe a little longer while I enjoyed my peace. Now I can't wear concealer under my eyes anymore, because it gradually gets caught up in those little rivulets and looks...well...like I'm trying not to look old. Give me a break - I'm just trying not to look like I have a newborn and a toddler. May I just live in peace for a little longer before my entire face becomes riddled with lines?
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Why, Oh Why?
Why is it necessary to put a medalion on a 1 lb. bag of supermarket carrots that reads, "All Natural!" Oh, really? Until reading your package, I had formerly assumed that carrots contained metal shavings and recycled transistors, and that their growth was fed by the Sunday night Nielsen television ratings. So, of course, I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole! THANK YOU for setting me straight. Now that I know they are NATURAL, I will buy them immediately.
A frustrating aside, carrots are one of the most polluted crops in our country. Next time, buy organic.
A frustrating aside, carrots are one of the most polluted crops in our country. Next time, buy organic.
CNN.com - Woman arrested with 2 children in trunk - May 24, 2005
CNN.com - Woman arrested with 2 children in trunk - May 24, 2005
Why the hell did they release this woman? Those children could've died from any number of things before reaching their destination. Too, everyone in the car (no one was wearing a seatbelt) could've died from a minor accident. *tsk tsk*
Dunlap was booked on suspicion of child cruelty and was released.
Why the hell did they release this woman? Those children could've died from any number of things before reaching their destination. Too, everyone in the car (no one was wearing a seatbelt) could've died from a minor accident. *tsk tsk*
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Saturday = Weekday
Today is Saturday. (I've weighed in at 151 for the past couple of days, by the way, and am eating really well.) Even though it is the weekend, it feels just like a weekday, because D is in New York City for the day. Color me jealous.
If I weren't the sole food source for my seven-week old, I'd be there too, believe you me. D's there to see Spamalot with his forty-something coworkers/fellow MP fans.
I'm having a fine day, though, considering. It is beautiful outside, after a cold and rainy day yesterday. AC has slept all morning, and will be ready to nurse again soon. We should probably nap together after that. It IS Saturday, after all. N just went down for his daily crib nap. I'm aiming for us to take a stroll around the neighborhood this afternoon.
Sometime in between feeding the kiddos, though, I've got to plan next week's menus so I can get to the grocery store tomorrow. So far, all I have is Sunday's main dish: fried tofu and bok choy in black bean sauce, over brown rice. Of the brassica greens that came from the farm Wednesday, all I have left are two heads of baby bok choi, and several small bunches of collards and kale. We had the chard last night; I sauteed it with garlic in soybean oil and let it steam for about 10 minutes to cook the stems well. I added some sliced baby portabellas and some white beans, then let it cook another ten minutes under the lid. Two nights ago we had some random greens--tat soi, broccoli rabe, and maybe sorrel--stir fried with some shoyu. We're still working on the big bag of mesclun and small bag of arugula, too, which I whip into our nightly dinner salad. We shall be green around the edges before next week's farm shipment (which will probably contain...more greens).
I checked out a nice-looking cookbook from the library: Meredith McCarty's Fresh from a Vegetarian Kitchen. It has lots of information about macrobiotics in it, and a section on making bread from a starter (sans yeast). I hope to get a few nights' menus from this book.
You might remember that I vowed to institute a macrobiotic night once a week to put us on a more healthy path. Well, I've become so enamored of this healthy style of cooking and eating that I'm working whole foods, minimally or not seasoned, into all our meals from now on. It just seems the right thing to do (sorry I unintentionally channeled Wilfred Brimley *shudder*).
If I weren't the sole food source for my seven-week old, I'd be there too, believe you me. D's there to see Spamalot with his forty-something coworkers/fellow MP fans.
I'm having a fine day, though, considering. It is beautiful outside, after a cold and rainy day yesterday. AC has slept all morning, and will be ready to nurse again soon. We should probably nap together after that. It IS Saturday, after all. N just went down for his daily crib nap. I'm aiming for us to take a stroll around the neighborhood this afternoon.
Sometime in between feeding the kiddos, though, I've got to plan next week's menus so I can get to the grocery store tomorrow. So far, all I have is Sunday's main dish: fried tofu and bok choy in black bean sauce, over brown rice. Of the brassica greens that came from the farm Wednesday, all I have left are two heads of baby bok choi, and several small bunches of collards and kale. We had the chard last night; I sauteed it with garlic in soybean oil and let it steam for about 10 minutes to cook the stems well. I added some sliced baby portabellas and some white beans, then let it cook another ten minutes under the lid. Two nights ago we had some random greens--tat soi, broccoli rabe, and maybe sorrel--stir fried with some shoyu. We're still working on the big bag of mesclun and small bag of arugula, too, which I whip into our nightly dinner salad. We shall be green around the edges before next week's farm shipment (which will probably contain...more greens).
I checked out a nice-looking cookbook from the library: Meredith McCarty's Fresh from a Vegetarian Kitchen. It has lots of information about macrobiotics in it, and a section on making bread from a starter (sans yeast). I hope to get a few nights' menus from this book.
You might remember that I vowed to institute a macrobiotic night once a week to put us on a more healthy path. Well, I've become so enamored of this healthy style of cooking and eating that I'm working whole foods, minimally or not seasoned, into all our meals from now on. It just seems the right thing to do (sorry I unintentionally channeled Wilfred Brimley *shudder*).
Thursday, May 19, 2005
There Is No Wagon
Truer words hain't ne'er been spoken, and today were emailed to me courtesy of none other than Marla Cilly, aka FLYlady.
So y'all and me, we'll chill out, okay?
So y'all and me, we'll chill out, okay?
My Measurements, Week 3
It is the end of week 3 of the trying-to-exercise-more-and-stop-eating-so-much diet plan. I started at 153, with 32 1/4" waist and 39 1/2" hips.
Today, I am still sporting a 32 1/4" waist and now my hips are 40". I'm scared to weigh myself, frankly. Can the thickness of my underpants be adding 1/2" to my hips? No, they're not polarfleece. (I think that should be trademarked, by the way.) I'm keeping up with my abdominal exercises (the ones from Fit Pregnancy mentioned in "Getting Busy," 4/29/05).
Peanut butter and apricot jelly on whole wheat for breakfast this morning, and just now a big bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and maple syrup for lunch openers. I wouldn't have done the oatmeal thing except that I'm trying to learn how to replicate the maple & brown sugar oatmeal packets that N eats for breakfast. So far, I haven't done a very good job, but I couldn't bring myself to add more salt and more sugar to my attempt--it was just too depressing! I'm working through this because A) I don't want to keep spending big money on pre-packaged breakfasts, and B) we can make it better and healthier here at home. Once I hit on it (shown by N's desire to eat my version), I plan on gradually reducing the sugar and salt content and using healthier sweeteners (maple syrup and brown rice syrup, probably). I'm also going to start making it with half milk and half water, while previously he's been having it made with milk only. At 22 months, he still drinks whole milk, but he gets a ton of it elsewhere so less in the oatmeal is no big deal.
Today, I am still sporting a 32 1/4" waist and now my hips are 40". I'm scared to weigh myself, frankly. Can the thickness of my underpants be adding 1/2" to my hips? No, they're not polarfleece. (I think that should be trademarked, by the way.) I'm keeping up with my abdominal exercises (the ones from Fit Pregnancy mentioned in "Getting Busy," 4/29/05).
Peanut butter and apricot jelly on whole wheat for breakfast this morning, and just now a big bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and maple syrup for lunch openers. I wouldn't have done the oatmeal thing except that I'm trying to learn how to replicate the maple & brown sugar oatmeal packets that N eats for breakfast. So far, I haven't done a very good job, but I couldn't bring myself to add more salt and more sugar to my attempt--it was just too depressing! I'm working through this because A) I don't want to keep spending big money on pre-packaged breakfasts, and B) we can make it better and healthier here at home. Once I hit on it (shown by N's desire to eat my version), I plan on gradually reducing the sugar and salt content and using healthier sweeteners (maple syrup and brown rice syrup, probably). I'm also going to start making it with half milk and half water, while previously he's been having it made with milk only. At 22 months, he still drinks whole milk, but he gets a ton of it elsewhere so less in the oatmeal is no big deal.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Trade-Offs
The other day I noted that we order spring water for drinking and making coffee. But it is bottled in plastic jugs. Am I trading our questionably safe Delaware water for plastics-poisoned spring water?
Now here's another: we subscribe to an organic Amish farm in PA. But I have to drive 25 minutes each way to pick up our weekly box. Am I negating the home-grown, organic health of the produce by my consumption of fuel and creation of greenhouse gas?
I'll get over it. Today was our first shipment from the farm. In our box were two blocks of their artisanal cheese, a bunch of radishes, a bunch of green onions, a big bunch of asparagus, a huge bag of Chinese greens and chards, a small bag of arugula, and a large bag of baby mesclun. So, what's for dinner? Salad with a little of everything in it, along with some grape tomatoes, black olives, and a hunk of albacore tuna on top. I'm roasting the asparagus in the oven as I type, with some E.V. olive oil and kosher salt. I'm saving the Chinese greens and chards for another night.
Bon apetit. Gotta go shake the asparagus.
Now here's another: we subscribe to an organic Amish farm in PA. But I have to drive 25 minutes each way to pick up our weekly box. Am I negating the home-grown, organic health of the produce by my consumption of fuel and creation of greenhouse gas?
I'll get over it. Today was our first shipment from the farm. In our box were two blocks of their artisanal cheese, a bunch of radishes, a bunch of green onions, a big bunch of asparagus, a huge bag of Chinese greens and chards, a small bag of arugula, and a large bag of baby mesclun. So, what's for dinner? Salad with a little of everything in it, along with some grape tomatoes, black olives, and a hunk of albacore tuna on top. I'm roasting the asparagus in the oven as I type, with some E.V. olive oil and kosher salt. I'm saving the Chinese greens and chards for another night.
Bon apetit. Gotta go shake the asparagus.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
CNN.com - Study: Kudzu helps curb binge drinking - May 17, 2005
Funny how this appeared today. Kudzu root, or kuzu, is a traditional ingredient in Eastern diets and hence in macrobiotic cooking. Apparently it can be pretty useful if there are only a couple beers in the fridge but you want to get blasted. CNN.com - Study: Kudzu helps curb binge drinking - May 17, 2005
Lukas was not certain why but speculated that kudzu increases blood alcohol levels and speeds up its effects. More simply put, the subjects needed fewer beers to feel drunk.
Alternate Routes
Sunday night's macrobiotic dinner (see menu and shopping info on May 14 blog) was a success, for more reasons than just the healthy food. Through my research, I learned that macrobiotic food needs to be cooked and served in natural containers (glass, ceramic, wood, etc.). As well, it should be cooked according to the season you're in (e.g., boiled or raw for summer) and the microwave should be avoided. Although I've decided I will never be a hard-core adherent to the macrobiotic diet, I can see the merit in so much of its recommendations, especially the avoidance of plastics.
As I looked around my kitchen for suitable containers for serving the dinner and ultimately storing the leftovers, I realized just how much plastic is in our lives. This article at the Ecology Center summarizes the range of plastic materials and its purported effects on humans: "Adverse Health Effects of Plastic". My husband and I feel we are avoiding long-term health problems by not drinking Delaware's tap water, but here I sit staring at a 5 gallon plastic jug of Wissahickon mountain spring water sitting on our cooler. What am I trading for what?
I'm trying to be extra-conscious now of what is in my home environment, and--gall-durn-it--there are loads of plastic toys in this house. This will take some thinking about, especially as I shop and make decisions about adding more unnatural things to our lives.
Macrobiotic living, I have found, involves creating and then maintaining a yin-yang balance in one's life in order to stay healthy and live consciously. It was developed by a Japanese fellow, and can be in tune with Buddhist principles. However, it is my conclusion that I don't need to follow the diet strictly to benefit from it. Basically, it espouses that eating things in their most "whole" state is the most healthful. For example, white sugar, white flour, and white rice are eschewed in favor of barley malt syrup, whole wheat flour, and brown rice. I predict that no nutritionist would quibble with the above assertion; it just seems common sense now that we know what we know about what processing does to foods.
Since the diet is Japanese in origin, many of the recommended flavorings are traditional Japanese condiments, such as miso, shoyu, gomashio, and umeboshi plums. BUT, the philosophy of the diet is to eat locally and in season, and goodness knows that no one makes umeboshi plums 'round Delaware, much less ferments natural soy sauces. So, I'm thinking that the basic idea behind the diet is sound, but the ingredient list is a bit too "out of town" for me. I plan to collect more whole food ingredients from the U.S., and hopefully from the mid-Atlantic, as I find the money and the time. We already have signed up for another year with a fairly local CSA to provide us with organic produce and dairy every Wednesday (starts tomorrow--hooray!). The brown rice syrup sweetener I bought from our health food store around the corner is made in northern California by Lunberg Family Farms, but I do not know of a closer supplier of that natural sweetener. I'm not sure what the macrobiotic take on honey is, but that is made near and far. I would also think that pure maple syrup would be acceptable as a natural sweetener, and I know I can get some from makers more local than CA.
As I looked around my kitchen for suitable containers for serving the dinner and ultimately storing the leftovers, I realized just how much plastic is in our lives. This article at the Ecology Center summarizes the range of plastic materials and its purported effects on humans: "Adverse Health Effects of Plastic". My husband and I feel we are avoiding long-term health problems by not drinking Delaware's tap water, but here I sit staring at a 5 gallon plastic jug of Wissahickon mountain spring water sitting on our cooler. What am I trading for what?
I'm trying to be extra-conscious now of what is in my home environment, and--gall-durn-it--there are loads of plastic toys in this house. This will take some thinking about, especially as I shop and make decisions about adding more unnatural things to our lives.
Macrobiotic living, I have found, involves creating and then maintaining a yin-yang balance in one's life in order to stay healthy and live consciously. It was developed by a Japanese fellow, and can be in tune with Buddhist principles. However, it is my conclusion that I don't need to follow the diet strictly to benefit from it. Basically, it espouses that eating things in their most "whole" state is the most healthful. For example, white sugar, white flour, and white rice are eschewed in favor of barley malt syrup, whole wheat flour, and brown rice. I predict that no nutritionist would quibble with the above assertion; it just seems common sense now that we know what we know about what processing does to foods.
Since the diet is Japanese in origin, many of the recommended flavorings are traditional Japanese condiments, such as miso, shoyu, gomashio, and umeboshi plums. BUT, the philosophy of the diet is to eat locally and in season, and goodness knows that no one makes umeboshi plums 'round Delaware, much less ferments natural soy sauces. So, I'm thinking that the basic idea behind the diet is sound, but the ingredient list is a bit too "out of town" for me. I plan to collect more whole food ingredients from the U.S., and hopefully from the mid-Atlantic, as I find the money and the time. We already have signed up for another year with a fairly local CSA to provide us with organic produce and dairy every Wednesday (starts tomorrow--hooray!). The brown rice syrup sweetener I bought from our health food store around the corner is made in northern California by Lunberg Family Farms, but I do not know of a closer supplier of that natural sweetener. I'm not sure what the macrobiotic take on honey is, but that is made near and far. I would also think that pure maple syrup would be acceptable as a natural sweetener, and I know I can get some from makers more local than CA.
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Buying Macrobiotic
Took a shopping trip to the health food and the regular grocery store today to get ingredients for our first macrobiotic dinner, planned for tomorrow night. Here's the menu:
- Miso soup with carrot and cauliflower
- Pressure cooked brown rice (I don't own a pressure cooker)
- Aduki beans with onion and carrots
- Baked carrots and sweet potato
- Boiled kale
- Cucumber, watermelon, and blueberry salad
It's a fairly ordinary menu, so a good one to start us with, I guess. The great thing is that after I was done shopping at the health food store, I was feeling so healthy that I made some good choices at the grocery store. Rather, I avoided some bad choices.
Here's what I needed to buy to bring my pantry up to speed, followed by the prices:
- Eden brand organic shoyu soy sauce, 10 fl. oz. for $4.60
- Edward & Sons Miso-cup savory soup with seaweed mix, 8 svgs (2.5oz) for $5.50 (I should've bought barley miso to make my own broth, but the instant soup packets were too enticing)
- Eden organic canned aduki beans, 15oz for $1.85 (the dried beans in a bag priced out about the same when I figured the cooked yield)
- Eden kombu "sea vegetable" 2.1 oz. at $5.49
- Lundberg organic brown rice syrup, 1lb 5oz for $6.15
- Eden organic Kukicha twig tea, 16 bags for $3.20
- Baycliff Co. "Sushi Chef" mirin sweetened sake, 10oz for $4.29
- A bunch of kale for $.98 (not organic)
- Two parsnips for $1.01
I found the mirin, parsnips, and kale at the regular grocery, and the rest of the stuff at the health food store. As I perused the Eden Foods web site, I noticed how much cheaper their merchandise is when ordered directly from the source. However, I don't know how much shipping would cost; maybe the cost would be the same either way. Anyway, it's good to support my local health food store, right?
- Miso soup with carrot and cauliflower
- Pressure cooked brown rice (I don't own a pressure cooker)
- Aduki beans with onion and carrots
- Baked carrots and sweet potato
- Boiled kale
- Cucumber, watermelon, and blueberry salad
It's a fairly ordinary menu, so a good one to start us with, I guess. The great thing is that after I was done shopping at the health food store, I was feeling so healthy that I made some good choices at the grocery store. Rather, I avoided some bad choices.
Here's what I needed to buy to bring my pantry up to speed, followed by the prices:
- Eden brand organic shoyu soy sauce, 10 fl. oz. for $4.60
- Edward & Sons Miso-cup savory soup with seaweed mix, 8 svgs (2.5oz) for $5.50 (I should've bought barley miso to make my own broth, but the instant soup packets were too enticing)
- Eden organic canned aduki beans, 15oz for $1.85 (the dried beans in a bag priced out about the same when I figured the cooked yield)
- Eden kombu "sea vegetable" 2.1 oz. at $5.49
- Lundberg organic brown rice syrup, 1lb 5oz for $6.15
- Eden organic Kukicha twig tea, 16 bags for $3.20
- Baycliff Co. "Sushi Chef" mirin sweetened sake, 10oz for $4.29
- A bunch of kale for $.98 (not organic)
- Two parsnips for $1.01
I found the mirin, parsnips, and kale at the regular grocery, and the rest of the stuff at the health food store. As I perused the Eden Foods web site, I noticed how much cheaper their merchandise is when ordered directly from the source. However, I don't know how much shipping would cost; maybe the cost would be the same either way. Anyway, it's good to support my local health food store, right?
Friday, May 13, 2005
Can't...stop...eating...
My in-laws left two days ago after visiting with us for one week. We ate high on the hog every day, and unfortunately for me, lots of junk is still in the house. So, I've been pecking away at the chips, pretzels, and honey-roasted peanuts for the last couple of days as I sit at the computer and try to remember all the things I should be up and doing while the kids nap. I'd better just throw the junk away and go about my business. I'm back up to 152, by the way.
I still haven't instituted a macrobiotic day (or even meal) in my house yet. I just read one doctor's diet recommendations for curing rhinitis (part of N's panoply of problems), and not only does it forego nightshade vegetables, but also berries, nuts, and APPLES. Half of N's diet is now applesauce and apple juice. Perhaps there is something to that. The doctor's diet allows tropical fruits, though, while the macrobiotic diet does not. For now I guess the easiest course is to keep the tomatoes out of N's diet (diaper rash and eczema are somewhat better but still around after 1.5 weeks of no tomato products), and now eliminate the berries and nuts (almond butter is the only nut product he eats). That means his daycare lunch bag will need an overhaul: no more strawberry jelly/almond butter sandwiches. For now, we'll keep the applesauce. Too, no more raspberry, strawberry, or blueberry cereal bars for snack. Apple is the only filling choice left.
To the garden!
I still haven't instituted a macrobiotic day (or even meal) in my house yet. I just read one doctor's diet recommendations for curing rhinitis (part of N's panoply of problems), and not only does it forego nightshade vegetables, but also berries, nuts, and APPLES. Half of N's diet is now applesauce and apple juice. Perhaps there is something to that. The doctor's diet allows tropical fruits, though, while the macrobiotic diet does not. For now I guess the easiest course is to keep the tomatoes out of N's diet (diaper rash and eczema are somewhat better but still around after 1.5 weeks of no tomato products), and now eliminate the berries and nuts (almond butter is the only nut product he eats). That means his daycare lunch bag will need an overhaul: no more strawberry jelly/almond butter sandwiches. For now, we'll keep the applesauce. Too, no more raspberry, strawberry, or blueberry cereal bars for snack. Apple is the only filling choice left.
To the garden!
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Please Weez Me
I missed the Weezer concert last night in Philly. We had tried to get tickets when they were first offered, but the show sold out in about ten seconds. At the last minute, I had the opportunity to go by myself with some of my husband's coworkers, whom I don't know. However, his parents were in town and it was their last night with us before returning to Florida, my 22-month-old boy had been sick and whiny for about four days, and I was afraid of being away too long from my 6-week-old daughter. So, I didn't go. I've wanted to see Weezer in concert for as long as I've known the band, and this was my best chance EVER. But I just couldn't do it. Does this mean I'm all grown up now? Or just stupid?
Here's the write-up and setlist (scroll down to May 10): http://www.weezer.com/news/.
To his credit, my sweet husband didn't take the ticket and run. He came home from work and enjoyed the company of his parents and our two kids.
Here's the write-up and setlist (scroll down to May 10): http://www.weezer.com/news/.
To his credit, my sweet husband didn't take the ticket and run. He came home from work and enjoyed the company of his parents and our two kids.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
My Measurements, Week 2
Well, no waist or hip measurements today, but I made ya look! Durrrrrr... I do have a weight measurement, and I am at 150 this morning (loss of three in one week). I don't think it's anything I'm doing significant in terms of diet and exercise, except cutting out the sweets and breads, to some extent. I think some of it has to do just with the pregnancy weight naturally falling away as I'm breastfeeding and chasing a toddler around in circles. And, yes, he does run with scissors, when he can get his hands on him. While we're on the toddler, his rashiness isn't subsiding, three days into the no-tomato diet. But, we'll stick it out the full two weeks. He had diaper rash from hell today; maybe the tomatoes from Monday are still in there working their magic as they slowly parade to the exit???
Monday, May 02, 2005
Macrobiotic-curious
I'm trying to get healthier and trim a little tub. My husband is trying to do the same and avoid his hereditary destiny of diverticulitis, heart disease, and diabetes. And it turns out the boy (22 months old) has eczema, has had eczema since he was a few months old. So, I wonder if an appropriate diet could be found for him. The nurse at the pediatrician's office suggested we cut out citrus/acid foods. Already done that, except for tomatoes. We will try that first, I suppose. Then she suggested we try to go wheat-free for two weeks and see if his symptoms subside. This is probably a good idea. I have read on the internet (bwah-ha-ha-ha) that some symptoms of wheat allergy/sensitivity are allergic rhinitis and eczema. But then again, all toddlers in daycare have some degree of runny nose and post-nasal drip like N, and plenty of them have eczema.
Long story short (gotta work on why I'm always saying that): we are going to look into a macrobiotic diet, modified so I can keep breastfeeding with gusto. For now, I'm just going to keep a food journal for N so I can correlate his diaper rashes, eczema outbreaks, and runny noses with his diet. Before we get with the macrobiotics, I need to find out if I absolutely have to eat what are politely called "sea vegetables."
We are subscribing to a CSA again this summer, the one we tried three summers ago. The supplying farm is certified organic, run by a wonderful Amish family in the Lancaster, PA area. So, I will have many organic vegetables, fruits, eggs, and dairy products at my disposal beginning in late May.
Herewith begins another project for Mary Louisa: the education of a macrobiot.
Long story short (gotta work on why I'm always saying that): we are going to look into a macrobiotic diet, modified so I can keep breastfeeding with gusto. For now, I'm just going to keep a food journal for N so I can correlate his diaper rashes, eczema outbreaks, and runny noses with his diet. Before we get with the macrobiotics, I need to find out if I absolutely have to eat what are politely called "sea vegetables."
We are subscribing to a CSA again this summer, the one we tried three summers ago. The supplying farm is certified organic, run by a wonderful Amish family in the Lancaster, PA area. So, I will have many organic vegetables, fruits, eggs, and dairy products at my disposal beginning in late May.
Herewith begins another project for Mary Louisa: the education of a macrobiot.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)