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30 Days Hath September – Whole30 Reflections

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So, it’s September 30th.  this means a lot of things.

October is tomorrow, and Autumn is really, truly here.  I can really see this on my walks.  The trees are beautiful.  There’s a chill in the air.  The students are back on campus.  I’m drinking hot tea instead of iced.

It also means we’ve technically made it to the end of our first Whole30.  I say technically, because it has now been 30 days.  But, really, it’s just the beginning (and not really an ending).  It was a great experience, and we learned a lot about food, nutrition, our bodies, and what we’re capable of.  I lost six pounds in the 3 1/2 weeks, Jesse lost 14).

This past weekend, we had a couple birthday parties to attend, so we decided to relax the rules since we were almost done.  I ended up having a tiny portion of Yumm (locals will know that this means beans, brown rice, veggies and Yumm sauce).  I instantly – I mean instantly – got a stomach ache and it became a gut bomb for the rest of the day.  I was bloated and uncomfortable.  Jesse got instant heartburn.  Now, I always feel like Yumm is a healthy option, and I still think that it is (way better than fried foods, greasy meat, etc), so this surprised me.  I realized that ‘healthy’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘good for you.’  I’m not sure what it was that wasn’t good for me, but with the bloating and discomfort, I’m going to guess it was the beans.  Suffice it to say, after a day of discomfort, I went back to the Whole30 way of eating for the rest of the weekend.

On Monday I wanted to try something else, so I got one of my favorite pumpkin muffins from a local bakery.  I figured I had done really well, and deserved a treat on my walk.  I bought it, started eating it, anticipating it to be the best thing I had ever eaten.  I ate about half of the muffin, and was full and done.  I didn’t feel gross like on Saturday, but I just realized it wasn’t worth it, so I didn’t finish it.  I didn’t get any headaches or pains, so I’m going to assume that grains are okay for me to eat.

Since then, I’ve been back on the Whole30 plan.  From here on out, I’m going to stick to it, but not strictly.  I mean, if there’s something that looks good, and isn’t too unhealthy, I’ll have some of it.  During this past month, I’ve learned ways to snack healthier, choosing an apple or a few banana chips.  I’ve learned that I don’t need as much food as I previously thought.  I feel like I’ve slayed my sugar-beast.  At the parties this weekend, I could have had cupcakes, but didn’t, and truthfully, I didn’t really miss them.

I know that the Whole30 plan is crazy restrictive and overwhelming.  I get it.  There were days that were really difficult.  There were things I really wanted to eat.  But, I kept going.  It’s easier than counting calories or points.  It isn’t just some fad diet that has crazy things like tons of grapefruits or cabbage soup.  It really felt like everything I put in my body had a purpose and was making me feel healthier and more energetic.  I learned that a microwaved apple with cinnamon and nutmeg is a wonderful dessert, but that I didn’t always even need to have dessert.  I learned that if I was feeling a slump, some tea or a handful of cashews would do the trick.

Most of all, I learned that I’m strong.  My will is strong.  My body is strong.  Today, on my walk, I walked through a beautiful oak grove and couldn’t help taking a selfie.  When I looked at the photo on my phone, I thought I looked great.  My hair is just in a braid, and I’m not wearing makeup, but I still thought I looked great.  I know it’s only six pounds, but I feel like my face looks thinner.  And my skin is clearer, my hair is shinier, my eyes are brighter.  Usually, I’ll take 100 selfies and kind of like one of them.  Today I took about 20, and liked 10 of them.  I know it sounds silly, but to me, that is strength.

Whole30 – Halfway Point Reflections

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Jesse and I, along with some friends, have embarked upon a Whole30 journey.  I’ve been interested in Whole30 for a while, and when Elise did it, I decided to finally give it a try.  I mentioned it to Jesse, fully expecting him to poo poo the idea, but he was on board.  We planned to do it for September for a few reasons, mostly because we wouldn’t be missing any of the fun food holidays, and it’s a perfect time with the feeling of fresh starts that accompany Autumn.

The first few days were rough, I’m not going to lie.  I had headaches, and basically felt incredibly hungover.  I was grumpy and mean and unhappy.  It was crazy to me that going without certain foods was making me feel so bad.  It wasn’t that I missed the foods – it was that my body seemed to be rebelling against the new diet.  How had I become so addicted to such crap?  It really felt like I was going through withdrawals (though, I must admit that I don’t really know what that feels like…).

By the third or fourth day, I was feeling much better.  I was letting myself eat whenever I felt hungry, trying to keep the temptations to a minimum.  I figured that if I was never super hungry, I would never crave the things I couldn’t have.

We have been cooking lots of great recipes, and I don’t have any complaints about what we’re eating.  I don’t even miss the things that are forbidden.  Sure, sometimes I think that some chèvre or blue cheese would taste good, but everything is good and tasty enough without it.

I thought I would miss bread, but it’s the last thing I miss.  I realized that the bread isn’t what makes a sandwich taste good.  I’ve been eating tuna on salad and it’s just as good as on bread.  No, it’s better.  Last night we had people over for dinner and served bread with this amazing shepherd’s pie recipe.  I looked around the table and realized I wasn’t jealous of the people eating bread.  It just isn’t necessary.

One of the very best things I’ve learned is how to make my own mayonnaise.  It’s seriously so amazingly good, I’ll never go back.  It’s especially good knowing that the egg used to make it is under a day old.  I usually go out, grab an egg directly from the coop and make the mayo that way.  It has to be room temperature, so it’s perfect, and oh so fresh!

For the first week, I was snacking more, trying to keep the hangry away.  I would eat fruit, almond butter, and Lara bars almost every day.  Now, into my third week, I’ve noticed that I don’t need to snack as much.  If I need something, I grab an apple – another great reason to do Whole30 in September.

As of right now, I’m planning on starting to add back foods on October 1st.  I’m going to start with pumpkin beer.  Beyond that, I think I’ll wait until October 8th to add anything else back in (that’s when most of our friends will be done with their 30 days).  I’ll start with cheeses and see how I feel.  Then probably peas and other legumes.  Those are the only things I really feel like I miss, so I might just stop there for another 30 days or so.

If you’re thinking of trying Whole30 for yourself, I say go for it.  Give it at least a week before you even start to decide if you’ll continue.  The first days are hard, but worth it.

Having risen from the first week fog, Jesse put together some tips for our group that I’m going to share here, too:

I’ve been thinking of what I would do differently if we did this again…so I thought I’d share!

First off make/buy your sauces before you start, including:
-Mayo
-Ketchup/bbq sauce substitute
-Salad dressing
-Ranch

Make a plan for lunches when you won’t have leftovers. I often went out to eat when I didn’t bring something from home and this has been very difficult to find somewhere that has diet-approved stuff. Probably having a steady supply of salad stuff and protein on hand is a good place to start.

Figure out a good snack food. For us it’s mixed nuts (and I throw in raisins for dessert). Also have a decent supply of Lara bars for the emergencies (they’re expensive and pretty processed, but when it’s that or hangriness…)

Screw sticking to the “Whole30” only stuff! I’m eating fruit dammit! And I’m having a glass of apple juice when I want one! Even with a few raisins now and then, it’s still better than a bowl of ice cream.

To save you some time, I’ve looked at all the labels for some things and found these to be good:
-Sweet Creek Dill Pickles (Literally almost the only brand out of dozens)
-Applewood hot dogs (not that hot dogs should be considered healthy in any sense)
-Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

Coffee. Have plenty on hand and make sure it’s the good stuff that you don’t need to cut with cream and sugar. If you’re thinking of giving it up, wait. I tried the first day and was miserable, one thing at a time here folks.

Try not to think of the replacement things that you find as the originals. Any bbq sauce you make WILL NOT be as good as Stubb’s…it just won’t…BUT it still can be good if you just think of it as a sauce you put on your pulled pork, not a bbq sauce.

Try to limit going out or going to other people’s houses (if they aren’t doing the diet as well) for the first week. Watching Alma and Harriet eat corn on the cob, eat chips and salsa, and have dessert was tough, I can’t lie.

That’s all I can think of for now…I think I’ve already lost about three pounds of brain matter on this diet.

andthenthey whole30halfway1 andthenthey whole30halfway2These are a couple of our Whole30 meals… see, not too shabby!  Chicken nuggets with almond crust (way better than traditional!), sweet potato fries, broccoli and homemade ketchup and mayo.  Smoked pulled pork, sweet potato slider ‘buns,’ green beans, coleslaw.  Also, I don’t think I’ll ever figure out how to photograph food.

Canning All the Things

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And Then They Canning All the Things CansWe’ve had a garden pretty much since we moved into our house.  Some years have been better than others.  The last few have been pretty lean.  Mostly because I have either been pregnant or with a little baby for the past four summers.  To me, that made it very difficult to nurture something else – like a garden.  We’ve tried lots of different things.  This year, it was pretty small, but we focused on spring greens, a substantial herb garden, a sad little flower bed, and a couple tomato plants.  In the past we’ve tried to grow enough to can, but it never seems to all be ready at once.  This year, I just went out to a farm and bought enough produce to spend a week canning all the things.

The only photo I got of the canning progress... clearly I was busy. Sorry it's a blurry, grainy phone photo.
The only photo I got of the canning progress… clearly I was busy. Sorry it’s a blurry, grainy phone photo.

I bought a case of peaches, a case and a half of tomatoes, a huge bag of cucumbers, a bouquet of dill, and some amazing sweet onions.  With this bounty, I was able to make (and can) a ton of stuff that will hopefully get us through some of the darker months.

After a week of cooking, canning, burning myself, washing, sanitizing, cleaning, sweating, I have 35 jars of summer food to eat in the winter months.

And Then They Canning All the ThingsI know that it’s easy (and cheap) enough to just buy good tasting and good for us food at the grocery store.  Especially the way we are able to shop at our local market.  It might even be cheaper (and it’s certainly easier) than doing all the cooking and canning myself, but that’s not the point.  The point, to me, is that I know exactly what’s in our food.  I know exactly who made it, and when, and where.  It’s something I can do to provide healthy and tasty food for my family.

In the past I’ve canned tomatoes a few times, but that’s it.  Just plain old tomatoes.  Last year, I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and really wanted to try the recipes in the book.  I was especially intrigued by the three in a day recipe.  You basically begin with a tomato base that starts as barbecue sauce, can it, add some stuff that makes it into a sweet and sour sauce, can it, add some stuff that makes it into a chutney, and can it.

And Then They Canning Tomato SaucesThat was the first thing I did.  Unfortunately, I started too late in the day and lost steam when I got to the chutney stage.  It was late at night and I wasn’t thinking.  I ended up skipping the chutney and throwing the remaining sauce away.  The chutney was probably a good idea – I’m not sure we’d have eaten much chutney.  But the throwing out the remaining sauce?  As I was pouring it out it occurred to me that I should not be doing it.  Even if I was too tired to can anymore, I could have at least frozen it.  Or saved some to eat right away.  Ugh.  Live and learn.

  • 7 pints barbecue sauce
  • 7 pints sweet and sour sauce

Next up was the tomato sauce also from AVM.  I’m not sure I let this cook down enough before I canned it (hey, canning expert readers, is that okay?), there seems to be some water in the jars (you can see this in the above photo).  I suppose I can just cook down the sauce more when I’m using it if it’s too runny.  I also had three jars that didn’t seal, so I just stuck those in our freezer.  Oh, I also gave a quart to my friend Jane who came over to help entertain the kids during the canning process – thanks Jane!

  • 9 quarts tomato sauce

And Then They PicklesI found my great uncle Chet’s amazing pickle recipe at my mom’s house earlier this summer, so I had to make those.  As with many old family recipes, some of the directions were unclear, so I did my best to figure it out.  The biggest thing that didn’t make sense was his recipe called for canning in quart jars, but the canning book I have said that canning pickles in quart jars leads to soggy pickles, so I did it in pints.  Does anyone out there have an opinion on this?  Should I try quart jars next year?

  • 7 pints dill pickles

I decided to just straight up can the rest of the peaches.  I already used one jar (because it didn’t seal) to make a cobbler.  I know that in the dead of winter, that will taste amazing.  I can already imagine it on one of those dark, dreary, foggy nights when it feels like the whole world is void of color – popping one of those jars of summer open and making a sweet, bright dessert.

  • 5 quarts peaches
  • TOTAL: 35 jars of food!

And Then They Canning PeachesSo, I learned a lot about canning all the things, and I have some ideas of what I’ll do differently next year, but I’m going to hold off on final judgements until we’ve eaten all the fruits of my labor (hahaha… food pun!).

In closing, on the night of the wasted sauce, I didn’t get to bed until after midnight.  The next morning Harriet woke up bright and early, and I turned to her and said, “Harriet, you need to be quiet.  Mommy was up late preserving the bounty of the season for us to enjoy in the winter.”  Jesse cracked up.  It’s become one of those jokes.

What have you canned this summer?  What are some of your favorite canning recipes?  Do you like canning all the things?  Do you have any other ways you like to preserve the bounty of the season?

Baby Led Weaning: How To Do It and What You’ll Need

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And then They - Baby Led Weaning

Oh, the exciting time when your baby is old enough to sit up, interact with you, smile, laugh, and eat!  I’ll be honest with you.  I’m not really a baby person.  I like the little babies, sure, but I am always so excited for them to grow up a little and become more interactive and fun.  Six months is an amazing age – they are doing such fun things, and becoming more of an active part of the family.

In our family, we love dinnertime.  It is a time of day that we all gather and spend time together.  I remember long, lingering dinners growing up.  We sit at the table every night.  We light candles every night.  We use cloth place mats, and cloth napkins every night.  These are important to me

It is also important to me that my kids eat what we eat.  There are many reasons for this.  It’s nutritious, it broadens their palates, and most importantly, it’s easy.  I don’t need to cook three different dinners, and keep track of minute dietary details.  This leads us to Baby Led Weaning.

And Then They - Harriet BlueberriesFirst of all, I want to clear up a misconception.  The term weaning in this sense isn’t how Americans typically understand it (as in the taking away of something, like nursing, or bottles).  It means that you will start introducing foods to a baby’s diet, in addition to breast milk, or formula.  The baby should still be getting the huge majority of their food and nutrition from breast milk.

If you start your baby on pureed foods, you need a huge number of things:  food mill, food processor, jars, spoons, time, planning, processed baby food, money.  If you make your own purees, it is time consuming, messy, expensive.  If you buy pre-made baby food in jars, it’s also expensive, and you don’t really always know what’s in the jars.  You also always need to carry pureed food with you.

If you do Baby Led Weaning you need three things:

  1. A baby
  2. Food
  3. A sense of humor (and maybe a bib or two)

Seriously.  that’s all you need.  For real.

We did this with Alma, and she’s two now.  She’s the best eater I know.  She eats Thai food, Mexican food, vegetables, soups, and her favorite food is Sushi.  So, we are doing it again with Harriet.

And Then The - Alma Sweet PotatoI like to start with sweet potatoes, or yams, cut into French-fry shaped sticks, and roasted.  The shape is good for beginning eaters because it is easy to grasp and get to the mouth.  It’s important to only try one kind of food at a kind, and wait a couple days before trying the next, to make sure your baby doesn’t have a reaction.

We’ve been doing it for about a month with Harriet and she loves it.  Her favorite foods are roasted, then frozen cauliflower bites, blueberries, sweet potatoes, peas (so cute to see her pudgy little fingers pick up a pea and get it to her mouth), rice cakes, yogurt, applesauce, green beans, asparagus.

And Then They - Harriet EatingAnother plus to BLW is that it really encourages independence and fine motor skills.  Harriet can pick up a tiny pea, and get it to her mouth just fine.  She’s also getting pretty good at using a spoon to get applesauce from a bowl to her mouth.

It’s pretty amazing to see a little baby feeding herself.  She only has the beginnings of her two bottom teeth, but she can chew up all her food, work it around in her mouth, and swallow it, no problem.  It is so natural and instinctual (not like purees, if you ask me).

And Then They - 1 Harriet CauliflowerAnd Then They - 2 Harriet CauliflowerAnd Then They - 3 Harriet CauliflowerOne thing to be aware of is that babies will sometimes gag (this is the case in BLW, and with purees).  It is really important to understand that gagging is very different than choking.  Gagging is a sign that they are figuring it out, I see it as a sign of success when Harriet gags a little.  It teaches her how to keep the food in the right part of her mouth until she’s ready to swallow it.

One of my favorite parts of BLW is that we get to eat dinner as a family.  We each sit up at the table and eat.  Jesse and I get to enjoy our meals.  We’re not constantly focused on Harriet, trying to force feed her.  Harriet eats until she doesn’t want to eat anymore.

And Then They - Harriet CauliflowerI think it’s empowering.  Harriet gets to choose what she eats from what’s in front of her.  She gets to choose the pace in which she eats it.  She gets to choose when she’s had enough.

And Then They - Harriet popsicleShe’s a happy eater, so we’re a happy family!  Let me know if you have any fun baby feeding stories, or if you have any questions!  Cheers!

Summer List

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1.  Read 5 Books (at least).  Here’s what’s at the top of my list:

These are the five books I have on hold for my Nook through the public library.  Gotta love free reading! I’ve also just joined a book club, so we’ll see what that will bring me!

2.  Read Alma all her books.  I seem to be in a rut with Alma’s books.  She was given so many books when she was born and we haven’t gotten to many of them.  I tend to read a couple of my favorites over and over to her, but I’m sure she’d enjoy some variety.

3.  Sew 3 dresses + some.  I am making three dresses for a secret project, but I also want to try some of the many dresses I’ve pinned on Pinterest.

4. Do push-ups and sit-ups ALL.  THE.  TIME. Jesse and I tried to do 100 Pushups a couple summer ago, but I don’t think we made it.  Time for the second attempt.  I also want to do 10 minutes of ab work every other night.

5.  Take Alma to the coast.  Can it be true we still haven’t done this?  Terrible, I know.

6.  Write 4 letters.  I got this idea from Elizabeth and thought it was a lovely idea.  I’ve really been meaning to write more letters anyway.

7.  Swim ALL.  THE.  TIME.  Wherever I can, whenever I can.  I’m hoping to get to the pool a few times this summer, and to spend some time in a river or a lake.  I love swimming more than being on land.

8.  Hike a mountain.  Luckily I am surrounded.

9.  Try 10 new recipes.  Another Pinterest challenge.  I’m going to try to focus on using whole foods and cutting refined and processed ingredients.

10.  Blog whenever I do any of these things.  This might be the hardest of all.

Novruz Preparation – Making Plov and Dovga

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When I lived in Azerbaijan, I got to try a lot of the traditional foods.  I guested at a lot of people’s houses, but I have to say my host mother was the greatest cook of them all.  When we left, Jesse and I made sure we got some of Bibi’s recipes.  Two that I make every Novruz are her plov and her dovga.  Plov is a rice pilaf with chicken, dried fruit and saffron.  Dovga is a warm yogurt soup with greens.  Yum.

While I have to admit that my plov doesn’t hold a candle to Bibi’s, I think it gets better every year.  I think the key (that I have somewhat neglected in the past) is copious amounts of butter.  It just doesn’t get that true Azeri flavor if you skimp on the butter.  This year we used a lot, and it was much better!

While my plov doesn’t measure up, my dovga is awesome!  Dovga is one of the things that volunteers either loved or hated.  I hated it.  Until I tried Bibi’s.  Seriously, I could barely get dovga down most times, but when Bibi made it, I couldn’t get enough!  I don’t know what it was, but I’m so glad she shared her recipe with me!

Jesse also made cutlet, which you can see in the following photo.  This isn’t really a traditional Novruz food, but it’s an American pleaser since it’s just ground beef, lamb, herbs and onions pan fried in patties.  Good stuff!

Bibi’s Plov:

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1 – 2 hours

  • 4 Chicken pieces
  • 2 large onions, sliced
  • 1 pound white rice
  • chestnuts (I can never find this, and the canned ones are gross, so I leave chestnuts out)
  • 1/2 cup yellow raisins
  • Dried fruit: apricots, plums, etc
  • Butter – a couple sticks
  • Saffron 10-15 strands
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup yogurt

Prepare rice like normal.  While rice is cooking, prepare the chicken in a frying pan.  When rice is almost done,   strain, put in a bowl, add 2 ounces butter and set aside.  Mix eggs and yogurt in a bowl and spread on the bottom of a large pot.  Sprinkle with about a cup of the rice.  Pour chicken juices over the rice, arrange the chicken in a single layer.  Put onion slices over the chicken and top with remaining rice.  In a small bowl, dissolve the saffron in 2 tablespoons hot water.  Pour this over the rice.  Cut 1 or 2 sticks of butter over the rice.  Seal the pot tightly with a towel, put pot over low heat for 1-2 hours.  Add raisins and dried fruit 5-10 minutes before plov is done cooking.

Bibi’s Dovga:

Prep time/ cook time: 30 minutes

  • 1 quart plain yogurt
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 Tbs flour
  • 1/2 cup white rice
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 bunch Italian parsley
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro
  • 1/2 bunch spinach
  • 1 small bunch dill

Cut up greens and set aside.  In a small bowl, mix rice and egg.  In a large bowl mix yogurt, water and flour.  Add rice to yogurt mixture and put on stove.  Bring to a bowl, stirring constantly.  When rice is soft, add greens and keep stirring.  When greens are soft serve in small bowls or glasses, with or without spoons.

Oh my gosh, my mouth is watering!