Monday, May 31, 2010

Eating Healthy-Learning the Lingo




On Friday I had my second meeting with the wonderful new nutritionist we have found to help our family with finding food solutions that will work for all of us: one vegetarian, one semi-vegetarian, 2 sugarholics, 2 protein-crazed body-builders, and one gluten-intolerant (yet pizza-loving) teen. Lisa (http://www.lisagroves.com) is that rare wellness expert who refrains from judgement and teaches with humor, samples, simple recipes, and viable suggestions. I am so excited to have the summer descending and the chance to experiment with new foods!

One thing that I've realized is that changing our shopping, cooking, and eating habits is a PROCESS. So far I have been successful with turning my family on to roasted root vegetables, and sweet potato fries. My double recipe of chili, though delicious, was deadly to olfactory senses Denver-wide. Now I know to rinse the beans after soaking, wait to add salt til the end (and cumin or fennel help too). Or try adding kombu or kelp seaweed... just be sure to take it out before serving or you'll scare off the entire family!

So, now I know, and will be cooking up a new batch of chili this week; but, having been brought up by depression-era parents, I can't bear the thought of just tossing the 3 huge rubbermaid containers of the first delicious, but dangerous, chili in my freezer. Perhaps I should drop-ship to Iraq as our own American-made WMD...or maybe one of you has a big gathering of in-laws coming up?

This weekend I tried out my new rice cooker for Lisa's yummy Quinoa & Pecan Salad with Dried Cranberries. How did I go through 21 years of cooking for kids without one? (Granted, we only had rice every other Thursday night as knew if the cleaning lady was not coming the next day, I would be screwed). Anyway, I share this delish summer recipe here. Quinoa is high in protein, expands when cooked and makes a great substitute for rice or couscous.

3 and a half cups water/ one and a half cups quinoa/1 bunch green onions-finely sliced/1/2 cup dried cranberries-diced/ one-third cup cilantro-finely chopped/three-quarters a cup celery-finely diced, three-quarters cup chopped pecans/1 T extra-virgin olive oil/2 T lemon juice/1 T rice wine vinegar/half T sesame oil/one-quarter t Celtic salt/one-eighth t ground pepper/pinch of cayenne.

Cook quinoa. Combine onions, cranberries, cilantro and celery in large salad bowl. Toast and add pecans. Add oil, juice, vinegar, sesame oil, s&p. Stir then add slightly cooled quinoa and set aside for an hour or more. Serve at room temp.

This hearty recipe makes 10 servings and has a zesty combination of textures and flavors. Plus it's loaded with fiber and nutrients. And get this, it's gluten-free, vegetarian, full of protein, and has sweet flavor from the cranberries. Something all 5 kids will eat! That is a miracle in itself. The perfect dish for a Memorial Day weekend picnic- and some leftovers for tomorrow... Hurray and many thanks to Lisa from the whole fam!
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Monday, May 24, 2010

Graduation! 3 down 2 to go...




My middle kiddo graduated on Friday. Must have been just last week that I took this photo of him when he was a super hero of some sort. He really is a super hero in my eyes despite the fact that he calls me Ma as if we were The Beverly Hillbillies. This is the same kid who refused my friendship on Facebook, and then took all the credit when I created MidChix.

He is one of those quietly caring people whose primary goal seems to be hiding those tender feelings from prying eyes-especially his family's. But I have had little glimpses of the real him. Fiercely loyal, painfully honest, fanatically informed. With a brain that computes quicker than his T3 calculator, he can intimidate with his command of numbers and concepts. But that same brain can empathize with the frustration of a three year old whose brain works in a unique and mysterious way. http://www.midchix.com/pg/pages/view/6012/

I am blessed to have him in my life...even if he would never let me say that to his face. So I'll whisper it here-don't tell though.

Speaking of family and friends.......
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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

I'm a Liar

They say that the first step to recovery is acknowledging that you have a problem. Maybe it's a result of my distant relationship to George Washington. True! He's my Great-great-great-great-great etc Uncle or some such thing. Actually, we're just related by marriage. His wife Martha Custis was related to my dad. Boy was I proud of that as a kid. ( Even though all my classmates would accuse me of lying). But I just thought of it as embellishing. And I still do. Oh come on, they're not big lies, just little ones that I tell when I'm worried that if I tell the truth someone will get mad. Like when I cancel a doctor's appointment and pretend I have a flat tire because the notion of fasting through my sacred coffee hour just didn't compute.

I never really thought much about the motivation for lying until my oldest daughter turned 13 and began to bend the truth in that way that 13 year-olds do. I was apopleptic the first time I caught her telling a whopper. Then I read Anthony Wolf's Get Out Of My Life, But First Could You Drive Cheryl And Me To The Mall? He sums up the lying phenomenon pretty succinctly; and of course, it makes total sense. Kids lie to stay out of trouble. Me too!

Even though I consider myself an extremely upright and solid citizen, in the past week I have told bald-faced lies to the Department of Motor Vehicles (really, can you blame me?), my new neighbor, the children's dentist, an overly-solicitous bank teller, and an inquisitive barista (see my blog post: Say it Again, Sam).

So when my ten year-old confirms that he brushed and flossed when I know darn well he left his toothbrush at his friend's house last Saturday night, I really can't take issue. I may be a liar, but I'll be damned if I'm a hypocrite!
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Monday, May 10, 2010

Nailed

Saturday night we were caught checking into our local Marriott. It had been a tough few months, with both of us in start-ups, children applying to college and middle school, a new dog, and several weeks of summer separation looming. Not to mention the fact that both of our moms arrive next week. So in the interest of "keeping the love alive" and under the pretext of "checking out the beds" (did you know Marriott sells beds?), we booked a night at a hotel not half a mile from our front door.

As P signed the credit card slip and I juggled the bag with the wine and a handful of Baby Bels, I heard a little giggle behind me. There were Betsy and John, dressed for the evening, and doing what most respectable couples do on a Saturday night, going to a party. They looked at us and laughed. We looked at them and blushed.

Oh well. We grinned and headed to the elevator and our 8th floor escape. When the doors opened on the second floor to disgorge some other riders, another couple who are good friends of ours happened to glance up from a Bar Mitzvah celebration inside the ballroom across the hall and spotted us before we could duck behind the elevator doors. My cell phone rang 8 seconds later. Caller ID: Jenny B. Busted again!

It may seem strange that the best we can manage is a hotel quickie a few blocks from home, but we've been using this strategy for over 15 years. With a husband who worked 80 hours a week (and golfed 10), 4 kids under the age of 6 including one with severe asthma, and a debilitating fear of flying, the only way to actually get away was to book a room in the next town. Although not nearly as exotic as Bali, Maui, or Capri, it's doable. All we had to throw in our bag was a change of clothes, bottle of wine (ok, two), corkscrew, apple, and deodorant. All told we were gone @ 16 hours...but it was just what the doctor ordered. Just bracing for the ribbing we'll get from our pals at the next soiree.

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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The Public Restroom

While it must have been a woman who conceived it, some misogynist bloke must have been charged with designing it. From my early years when Mom warned me to hover over the seat less I catch some nasty disease to today's automatic toilets that treat me to a bidet experience when they prematurely flush, I have long cringed at the necessity of urination off location!

When I was 30 weeks pregnant with my fourth baby (in five and a half years), I had the opposite of a religious experience in a stall at a rest stop along the Garden State Parkway. I tried to master the hover while holding my two year old (who was fascinated by the puddle from the leaky commode) and instructing the four and five year olds to not lean on our wobbly door - which was equally threatening to pop open or take down the entire row of attached stalls. It was half an hour later as I raced up the Parkway that I realized that effort of multi-tasking had nudged me into early labor.

I don't hover or squat anymore. I wipe the seat, curse under my breath the gal that did the hovering right before me, and muse that if we all sat, there would be no reason to wipe!

Another public restroom peeve is the paper. While I do often wonder why Charmin and the rest even produce the small roll-I mean is anyone ever going to not need more-I'd like to get my hands on that guy who came up with those gigantic rolls that are stacked on top of one another in a "cleverly" designed industrial strength paper holder. Problem is that the half-ply paper is so thin that it can't handle the weight of its own roll. Reminds me of the folks that are in wheelchairs not because their legs aren't working, but because they're so obese their legs can't hold them.

Both really bug me. Bigger is not always better.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Special Friends Day

Friday would have been my Dad's 80th birthday. It was weird to think about as April neared an end, as that's usually the time when I start rooting around for a good book, movie, or cd to send him. Unlike a lot of people, Dad would actually read or watch or listen to whatever I gave him. I talked to my mom last week as she was tearfully trying to decide what to do on his birthday and it struck me how hard holidays are when, no matter how mundane, the rest of the world is celebrating them whether you are or not. With the hoopla that has grown (thanks to Hallmark) with every holiday, it seems that there are monthly reminders of loss. As I reflected with relief on her getting through the birthday, suddenly I realized Fathers' Day would be right around the corner.

My across the street neighbor died pretty suddenly about 3 months ago. Although I never really knew her all that well, I've had the good fortune of recently getting to know one of her daughters. At 19, she's just two years younger than my oldest. No matter how independent my daughter is, I can't begin to imagine her devastation if she were to lose me. Tonight T is going to her boyfriend's prom. Her next-door-neighbor took her shopping for her dress and is going to be there to take photos. So that's good. But next week is Mother's Day. Now I've never been a big fan of Mother's Day, as my husband's favorite line is "But you're not my mother..." as he puts his clubs in the car. And although I cherish the burnt toast and cheerios that my kids have delivered to my bed over the years...the cold coffee just doesn't do it for me. To be perfectly honest, my idea of the perfect Mother's Day is having the kids and hubby disappear for several hours so I can take a brief break from motherhood. I'm not positive, but I think there's a majority of moms who might relish the same mode of celebration...

It was a Friday in April fifteen years ago that one of my dearest friends, the recently separated mother of two beautiful little boys, laid the legal paperwork out on the kitchen counter, scissored her image out of every photograph, told me she was going to Boston to visit a girlfriend, closed the garage door, and turned on her Volvo. It was Palm Sunday when Joe pulled into the driveway with the kids strapped in their car seats and opened the garage to get their bikes. I will never forget that week. And of course, neither will they.

Mother's Day dawned barely a month later... preceded by a week of mom-centered crafts and crayoning of cards at our kids' preschool. How horrific for those boys and the legions of other kids who are without a mom.

When a father of three from our school in Denver was killed in a car crash, the school had the forethought to re-imagine and rename their annual "Mothers Day" and "Fathers Day" events to "Parents and Special Friends Day". Maybe we should take a page from their book. If DayLight Savings Time can be changed, why can't Mothers and Fathers Day?

I have several friends who if asked about their families will declare "my friends are my family". Whether you are separated from your family by death, divorce, or dysfunction, that doesn't mean you aren't unconditionally loved by someone or lots of someones. How 'bout we just have a Friends' Day? Then everyone can celebrate.
Speaking of friends.......
MidChix Friending Contest
Beginning June 1st, the chick who has the most friends register and fill out their profile (this is how they let us know they heard about MidChix from you) and the chick with the most total friends as of September 1st 2010
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$250 Visa gift card!
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