Busy August

So sorry for the lack of posting. August is a very busy month for us, full of birthdays and party planning and baking and parks and everything else. Lachlann had a big birthday party with a Cars theme. I love going all out for the kids' birthday parties.. party planning is my thing, I guess. So I had all sorts of decorations to make, from Detour signs to Rte 66 signs to signs for all the party games we had. The party went over really well.. I'm still working on getting the pictures all together, but I'll post a link to the album when I'm ready. Lachlann's birthday present from us this year was a trip to Coco Keys waterpark. Doug took Colwyn and Lachlann, while I stayed at home with the littles. It was strange not getting to participate, but I couldn't see spending an extra $64 just so Fiona and I could go. The kids really enjoyed it, though.

I'm off to make baked oatmeal now. I've been off the dieting bandwagon for the last two weeks or so, and now it's time to get back on. I'm going through sugar withdrawal all over again.. ugh.

Lemon Quinoa with Asparagus and Feta

2 cups quinoa
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, minced
4 cups asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
8 ounces feta, crumbled
Juice of 1 lemon

Start quinoa cooking according to directions on package. Saute the shallot in a tablespoon of olive oil. When shallot is brown, add in asparagus and thyme. Cook asparagus until tender but still bright green, about 8-10 minutes. Halfway through cooking time, add about a tablespoon of water.

When the asparagus is done, remove the pan from heat and stir in cooked quinoa. Then add feta, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

This should make about 8 servings. Each serving is 6 points and has 11 grams of protein.

Kid Funnies

I thought I'd post some of our recent kid funnies, since I need a laugh.

Today, Lachlann cut his head open falling down the steps on our pool deck. I ended up taking him to our doctor's office to get checked out, and after the nurses gave him a once-over, we all stood around waiting for the doctor. Lachlann decided to try his hand at small talk, and said to the nurse, "Did you know that bulls like to attack red? If you have something red, you should use it in a bull fight."

Colwyn had a lot of mispronunciations when he was little, but most of them have disappeared. He's still in the habit of saying shushi and smarshmallows, though he can say them properly when asked.

Both boys like to make up words, and for the longest time, I had no clue where they came from. Star Wars related words - zigging (the lightning that the Emperor uses), augh (Force choking that Vader uses), and hooving. Hooving is when they play Lego Star Wars and switch from one guy to another guy. Well, I can explain augh and hoove - in Lego Star Wars, these are the approximate sounds the game makes.. when Vader chokes a guy, the guy says "Augh!" and when they switch characters, the game makes a sound like "Hoove." Leave it to my kids to turn augh and hoove into verbs, though.

Fiona has a lot of great mispronunciations. "Look-a-meem!" for "Look at me!" Baby soup for bathing suit. Just today she finally learned to say hummus instead of dummus, though she says it more like "Huh-huh-huh-huh-awmus." Oreos are no-e-os, and open is nopen.

Backyard Orchard

Last spring, we planted some fruit trees in our huge, unused side yard - two peaches and two apples. There's already a mature pear tree there, though it rarely fruits. Our baby trees haven't grown much, and I figured we were neglecting them more than was wise (we pretty much haven't touched them at all since we planted them). This is one of our peaches.. all the branches go off to the side of the trunk, and I can't figure out how to fix it. My poor lame peach tree.



So, I was completely shocked when my dad came up to me today after doing some weed-whacking in the yard, and said, "Do you know you have some peaches on your peach trees?"



I can't believe it! Aren't they just so gorgeous? I'm immensely proud of them, which is ridiculous since I didn't do a single thing to help them grow. But this tree has four peaches on it, and the other tree has one. They're teeny, and still hard as a rock, so I don't think they're ready to be picked yet. I wasn't expecting any fruit until next year, and I probably should have prevented the tree from fruiting this year if I'd noticed, but still.. I guess my baby trees are doing okay after all.

IKEA Fabric

When we were at IKEA a few weekends ago, I fell in love with this new fabric they had. It totally reminded me of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, a favorite story in our house. I bought two yards, intending to make some pillows for our dark brown leather couches.





They're very basic envelope pillow cases to go over pillow forms I bought at Walmart, of all places. Of course, it took me several weeks to find the time to get them done, but I finally managed it yesterday and the kids were thrilled and started playing with them immediately. Not quite what I had planned for them, but that's okay.

I also decided to frame a few pieces of the fabric to put in the playroom. You can see why it reminds me of the Three Billy Goats Gruff:

Day Two of Sugar Detox

Today's day two of going sugar-free. I've had some headaches in second half of the day, tons of cravings, and it almost feels like I'm mourning my Ben & Jerry's and peanut butter M&Ms. It's so, so hard.. and it feels like nobody around knows how difficult this is for me. Doug definitely doesn't, but he's still being very supportive. I know I'll feel great soon enough, and I'm crossing my fingers I can last that long. I haven't had any refined sugar. I have had a good deal of watermelon and a handful of Triscuits (with hummus). On a good note, I've discovered the joys of quinoa, which I think will be a new staple in our house, replacing couscous and rice in a lot of our meals.

I made baked oatmeal with apples and cinnamon, omitting the brown sugar.. and it's not so great. It's not bad, but I definitely have to force it down in the same way I had to force down stovetop oatmeal. That's not a new thing for me, so I can deal with it. I figure I'll alternate baked oatmeal and smoothies for breakfast.

Sugar Addiction

I've finally admitted to myself that I have a sugar addiction. I crave it all the time, regardless of my mood and/or the crappiness of my day. Even when I'm completely satiated, I want sweets.

Obviously, this has to stop. I've decided to cut out all refined sugar, eat only whole grains, and not a lot. I'm thinking brown rice 2-3 times a week, and maybe a whole wheat tortilla 2-3 times a week. I will still have my baked oatmeal in the mornings because maintaining my milk supply is paramount, but I'll omit the sugar from the recipe. I'm both dreading this and really excited about it.



For research, I check out some books from the library. The New Sugar Busters! Cut Sugar to Trim Fat, Sugar Busters! Quick & Easy Cookbook, and Potatoes Not Prozac: Solutions for Sugar Sensitivity. I also requested The Primal Blueprint, which I'm very excited about. I did some reading on the website that goes with this book, Mark's Daily Apple.

The only book I've started reading so far is Potatoes Not Prozac. I'm not depressed, just stressed, but I figure it can't hurt to read how to boost serotonin levels naturally, right? It's pretty interesting. I did skip the first few chapters, as I didn't think they were really relevant. But what I'm reading makes sense and I'm excited to implement some of her ideas into my life.

So I went to the store tonight and bought some new foods so I can have a no-sugar-added breakfast. I'm planning on a smoothie with Greek yogurt, frozen blueberries, and a tablespoon of coconut oil. Wish me luck.

If anyone has any tips on meals (specifically breakfast, or quick prep) that have no refined sugars and are low grain or grain free, let me know!