Tẃas The Night Before School

T´was the night before school...

The backpacks were stacked by the front door with care

in hopes that the supplies were all surely there

By the way...

I should really list what we (or I) eat during the day.  We are certainly not 100% non-processed, whole food eaters.  We still eat like normal people!  (I think)  I'll list what I'll eat today to give you some perspective on how we make it work.

My breakfast:
scrambled eggs (ok, I didn't eat them today, but I should have...)
banana
coffee w/milk & 2 tbsp sugar

snack:
1 carrot cut into sticks
1 apple, sliced w/1 tbsp Simply Jiff peanut butter

Lunch:
Salad
1/2 C iceberg lettuce
1/2 C spinach
1 chicken breast, chopped (boneless, skinless, sauteed w/ pepper, salt & rosemary)
1 stick string cheese, cut into disks
sprinkle of bacos

Dressing
1 tbsp olive oil
1tsp balsamic vinegar
pinch:
thyme
kosher salt
red pepper flakes
onion flakes

Snack
1 stick string cheese
1 cup popcorn (from popper, not bagged)

Dinner
Thin crust mexican pizza:
crust from scratch
flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, other ingredients I cant remember now
black olives
green olives
black beans (prepared from dry beans)
iceberg lettuce
salsa
sour cream

To drink:
water & coffee (1 cup caff in the morning, 1 cup decaf in the evening)

Evening snack
popcorn from the popper at home or a bowl of cereal

See?  Nothing crazy here!  It just takes more prep work than buying the ready-made versions.

Goal 1: Done!

Dare I say it?  The goal that started this whole healthy eating overhaul thing has been attained!  Back in October, B's blood pressure was way too high.  So I took that as a challenge to get our family eating better.  We started with the low-sodium DASH diet.  That was a great start but it needed to be a lifestyle change for the changes to take effect in the long term.  So I decided we'd all cut out sodium as much as possible.  Now we don't bring the salt shaker to the table, I use (literally) a pinch of salt in recipes instead of the usual teaspoon, and I started using fresh and dried herbs to flavor our food.  I know that isnt a lot, but the salt really does add up.  The most pivotal piece of information on our quest to low-sodium eating was found in a diet article.  It suggested never buying a product that listed more than 5% in the daily sodium allowance column (per serving).  I was amazed at how sodium laden our foods were, even the ones we thought were healthy.  So now, 4 months later, we are living a low-sodium lifestyle.  We occasionally eat something that has 10% in the sodium column, but it is rare, and we make adjustments as needed.  (If we have a higher sodium lunch, we'll make sure dinner is lower, for example.)  When I tried to buy products with (actual, not label touting) low-sodium, I found it nearly impossible.  So thats how the whole-foods thing came along.  I started really reading labels and realized how truly awful most of the processed foods are. 
So that brings me to the next nutrition goal:  reducing sugar.  It seems like diabetes is the new normal for everyone.  I'm only mildly surprised when someone tells me they have been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes or are borderline diabetic.  Thats not right.  With diabetes on both sides of our family, our whole family is predisposed to the disease.  I had Graves disease as an adolescent which gives me a heightened risk.  We need to work NOW to avoid diabetes.  So we will.  It should be an easier feat now that we are on a whole food diet and the foods we eat are already more nutritionally friendly but there is definitely some sugar to eliminate!  Today I have no idea how I can live without sugar in my coffee, and I don't know how to pack a spill-proof drink for P that doesn't come in a pouch or box but I'll bet I can figure it out!  Hopefully 4 months from now I'll be writing about how we conquered the sugar habit too!

Scheduling Health

Challenge of the week:

Fitting the gym into our daily schedule. 

Its Wednesday and I've been to the gym twice this week.  Thats already an improvement!  I was going once a month, then once a week.  Now I'm up to twice in one week!  I hope to get there tonight.  I really would love to go in the morning before work but I just don't see that happening (yet).  My goal right now is to just get to the gym at some point during the day for at least 30 minutes.  P is still enjoying the Kids Club and I dont feel too guilty for leaving him there for 45 minutes.  I'd love it if I could go while he sleeps- either in the morning or the evening but I can't get there just yet.  So if I'm going to go after work, I have to fit in eating somewhere.  I'm usually starving when I get home and so is P.  Today I've decided it would be best to eat a small meal or big snack as soon as I get home, go to the gym and then eat another small meal or big snack.  So I need to revamp the meals to be small and quick.  Hmmm... more work to do!  Thats why this eating thing is a hobby! 

And it starts...

I planted the first seeds on Saturday!  I have 36 little peat pods in the window sill.  I started the grape tomatoes, cayenne peppers, jalapeno peppers, green beans, onion & carrots.  I learned last year that some of my crops needed a better root system before I planted the seedlings so this year, I am starting just a tiny bit early and will pot up the little seedlings before I put them in the garden.  Our spring wind is hard on the little ones.  Plus I get to start a little early!!  Each variety has only six plants which, compared to last year, seems like nothing, but I have many more crops this year so I'm trying to scale back a bit.  I'm also going to try to plant roots in the fall so I need to hold some seeds back.  (not that I have a problem with that... I think there are like a hundred in the onion and carrot packages)  Next week I'll plant another row of roots.  I'd like to stagger my planting over a few weeks to have a longer harvest time. 
Oh- and I've decided to add roma tomatoes back to the garden.  I realized that I can't make the sauces I want with the grape tomatoes.  So now I have how many varieties???

Week 3 Menu

Here is next week's menu:
(I've left out breakfasts this week because I alternate eggs and pancakes every other day... no imagination there yet!)

Sunday
Lunch
Roasted Chicken
Roasted potatoes & carrots

Dinner
Tacos

Monday
Lunch
Big Burritos
*Wrap in parchment for microwaving

Dinner
Broiled Tilapia w/lemon & fresh parsley
Sauteed Mushrooms
Salad
Cornbread

Tuesday
Lunch
B&A – Salad
Peyton – ‘lunchable’
(pepperoni, cheese slices, crackers, etc.)

Dinner
Cilantro Chx
Mac & Cheese
Salad

Wednesday
Lunch
Chx Quesadillas

Dinner
Pan sauteed tilaipa
Brown Rice
Stir-fried veg

Thursday
Lunch
B&A – salad
P - PB Sandwich

Dinner
Big Burritos

Friday
Lunch
Big Burritos
*Parchment

Dinner
Chicken Marsala
Italian Chopped Salad
Dessert

Saturday
Lunch
Pasta Salad

Dinner
Oven Fried Chicken
Smashed potatoes & gravy
Steamed green beans

Fried Zucchini

I know- fried is a bad word in the whole foods, healthy eating world, but this wasn't so bad! 

1 zucchini sliced into 1/8 in slices
4 tbsp olive oil
some milk (1/4 C maybe)
1/2 C canned bread crumbs
Seasonings to taste (I used premixed italian seasonings)

Heat the olive oil.

Mix the bread crumbs and seasonings

Dip the zucchini slices in the milk and then coat both sized with bread crumbs.  Brown both sices of zucchini in the olive oil and drain on a paper towel. 

I only used one zucchini but I wish I had used two.  Everyone except R liked these a lot.