"So You Aren't Having Thanksgiving?"

Let me first say I am talking to myself here too.

Since we have gone vegan I have now been asked numerous times "so no Thanksgiving?" First off let me address this idea of Thanksgiving. It is a time to celebrate what we are thankful for right? And tell God, "Thanks"? Shouldn't we do that every day? I try my best (and so not do a great job at it) to be thankful each day for the blessings I have been given. How often do you leave the grocery store saying "thank you Lord for blessing our family with food today"?I definitely remember to at the beginning of the month, when we re stock our kitchen from the end of the month low.

If you take thankfulness out of the picture (since it should be a daily thing) that leaves a time to gather with family and eat. Well, holiday travel is quite costly, not to mention, the days prior to holidays and following are mandatory for Bobby to work. That knocks extended family off the board as most of them live pretty far away (think 12-17 hours).

So food-yes we still eat pretty great food too! Here is what we are planning for Thanksgiving, I am sure I will narrow down the list later as it is alot of food. All of the thing I a cooking are vegan too.

Appetizer:

Spinach Dip in a homemade bread bowl

Main Course:

Stuffed Buttercup Squash (it looks like a green pumpkin)

Sides:

Sweet Potato Casserole

Mashed Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Maple Glazed Acorn Squash

Cranberry Sauce (Homemade)

Dessert:

Pumpkin Cheesecake

and I am working up a recipe for Chocolate Cream Pie

See!? We still get to join in the gluttony of the day, while putting emphasis on being Thankful!

Instant Results & Black Bean-lette Tacos

I was so excited to see instant results over the last two days! First thing we noticed was after breakfast, we normally eat the recipe below with eggs instead of beans, and cheese on top-those are thee only difference in recipe-and feel weighed down after ward and my tummy feels yucky. Yucky in a way that has always been "normal" to me. We had more energy, I wasn't almost in tears wanting a nap, or falling asleep on the couch while feeding Addalene. My favorite change? Flatter belly!!! Instantly! I am used to my belly swelling up through the day and by the end of the day I look like I am expecting, that did not happen! When we woke up this morning-easier than we have in a long time-my belly already appeared smaller! Good bye belly, I wont miss you!

Black Bean-lette Tacos

Makes: alot, or about 9 tacos...maybe more

2 medium red potatoes chopped in 1/2 inch cubes

cooking oil (about 2 Tbl)

1 small yellow onion-chopped

1/3 cup corn -I use frozen

1 medium tomato chopped

1 can black beans -drained and rinsed or 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans

cilantro (optional)

cumin and salt to taste

corn tortillas (lard free)

In a saute pan put just enough oil to fry potatoes.* Begin browning potatoes and once they begin to brown toss in chopped onion. Stir frequently. After about 3 minutes add corn, once it thaws add chopped tomatoes. Once potatoes are thoroughly cooked add beans and cumin (about 1 tsp) and continue cooking and stirring until the beans are heated through. Heat up tortillas (for corn tortillas, wet them before putting them on a hot pan and then they wont fall apart as you eat them). Scoop in the filling and enjoy!

*If you prep ahead you can bake the potatoes with less oil.

Update* I forgot to mention that everyones sinuses have "suddenly" cleared up. Elijah, who almost constantly has a runny nose, has not had one in the last 24 hours! Bobby and I have noticed a difference as well, Chloe says she hasn't noticed a diference, but I cannot vouch for what she is eating at school.(she will be taking meals starting tomorrow-but she does have free will)

I Got A New Food-itude

After years of discussion on how food is supposed to be eaten, or more what is supposed to be eaten by humans, and then watching by accident a few documentaries about the subject, we have decided to eat more of a vegan diet. I would come out and say "we are vegan" however, that leads to a mental picture of someone who will force there animal rights belief on everyone who passes, and has a strong opinion of the use of leather ect. ect. We are in it from more of a health stand point. If you are interested the movies are "The Beautiful Truth" and "Change Your Food Change Your Life." After watching "Change" we decided to finish out the food we already had, then make the switch. But the next morning I could not bring myself to eat an egg. Then I started "Truth" and that was my breaking point. I knew tidbits of a lot of information on the subject of animal products and health, and these movies brought it all together for me.

So I have been asked quite a few times already "what will you eat?" So here is todays menu, keep in mind today was a crazy run around everywhere sort of day, and we will be having a load more veggies than we did today. At least it gives you an idea of what can be eaten with no time to cook.

Breakfast - Black bean-lette (bean omlette) tacos, which many people have asked or the recipe already so it will be posted soon.

Lunch-I kinda skipped it, I was still full but we munched on Sweet Potato Chips

Snacks-carrots, carrot juice and a plum (I meant to grab a handful of nuts on the way out and forgot)

Dinner-a large salad (lettuce tomato Catalina dressing and 1 TBL hemp seeds) and spaghetti (whole grain noodles 1/2 jar of sauce and a can of green beans)

Dessert-we are about to have herbal tea and sweet potatoes (maybe in the form of a rice pudding)

A few foods that surprised me while compiling a list of "normal" foods that are also vegan from PETA's website: Jello Instant Pudding in Pistachio, Vanilla and Lemon (only those flavors), Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, and Graham Crackers including Teddy Grahams!

Also, I was surprised to learn (from a few other sources)that fruits, vegetables, and grains contain all of the nutrients a person needs except for B12 which can be obtained either from eating fish twice a week, nutritional yeast or a supplement. This was surprising to me because I had heard so many arguments about how this diet would lead someone to be deficient in many nutrients.

So there you go, that is where I am at right now, and that is why I will be posting recipes that may seem a little strange. My fridge is stocked full of veggies, my cupboard with grains and lentils, and I am on a new adventure of creating and finding new recipes.

Wake up!

I had the pleasure of taking Chloe out for breakfast and hot chocolate before school yesterday. Whenever her school has a book fair, they do a free breakfast for parents and kids one day of the week, to encourage browsing (or buying really). However, the breakfast is a nasty 400+ calorie pre-packaged muffin that has been microwaved, and an oj. So whenever these events happen she is treated to donuts and kolaches, and if I take her a Starbucks as well. She was so happy and we had fun chatting and making a long list of book we want. I want Lady Bug Girl, Olivia, and Fancy Nancy. She wants chapter books :) So I wet home and the kids were still asleep. Bobby had to leave to do some hair, so I changed back to my pj's. As I laid down and my head was 6 inches from the pillow, Elijah popped in "Hey mom, get up! Get up!"

"Okay, okay since you have such a sweet little voice I will get up!"

Fast forward 14 hours.

Addie is asleep in bed and we are locking up, cleaning up, and brushing teeth. Elijah runs to me in the kitchen. "Mom, 'urry up, 'um 'ear, hurry! Look, Addie's up!"

"What? Addie is up?"

"Yeah!"

Followed by Bobby's voice coming from the other room, "now tell mommy why Addie is awake!!!"

Me-"Elijah did you wake her up?"

Elijah proudly, "YES!"

Then she didn't go back to sleep or many many hours, and then it was only for a short period of time.

Thank you Elijah for waking everyone up so sweetly!

Cause he is so darned cute!

Elijah is always giving me something to talk about! Today he was standing on his potty washing his hands when he peed in his diaper. Apparently it was a lot, because his diaper had been dry and it leaked. Right into the potty, so I praised him and treated him for going in the potty...what else could I do I couldn't explain the stipulations of pottying in the toilet when he was looking at me with those big hazel eyes!

Addalene started fussing yesterday morning. Elijah ran in from the other room shouting "I got it, I got it!" Dropped on to the floor beside her wrapped his arm around her and started saying "ts ok Addie tso K, gott choo!" and kissed her sweetly on her face.

At each Halloween event we did, he didn't want to dress up. He had just thrown his pirate hat and sword on the ground when Chloe and I decided to demonstrate for him how to trick or treat. He saw me hand Chloe candy and ran up and said "pleeeeeease!" I told him, "no I only give candy to trick or treaters candy, who are wearing their costume." He ran back and put his costume on incredibly fast, and was back at my feet say "trick er treat!" He left it on after that.

He was pretty scared or masked characters this year, I suppose it is a good thing since it means he has learned the difference between reality and cartoon world.

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

On Todays Episode of "What Was I Thinking?"

(Cue theme song to any 60's family show) I decide it would be fun to pull out the cookie cutters and let the kids play with cookie dough...really I could stop here and and you could imagine the mess involved, but I will go on! So after their bath ("after"the second "What was I thinking? moment") which flooded the bathroom with a solid 1/2 inch of water. I made some ginger snap dough, lined the table with wax paper and sprinkled on flour. They each got a small mound of dough and a few shapes. Immediately they began laughing, having a great time, and getting straight to work. That would be about when Elijah decided to jump up from his seat to fetch the rolling pin, taking with him his wax paper, flour, and tiny pieces of dough. When he walked back to his spot and saw the demise of his dough he began rubbing it into the chair...the table...the carpet...and his freshly bathed body, all while singing "clean up clean up"! Meanwhile Addalene finally had fallen asleep and I was trying to lay her down without waking her up, so he kept at it. Lucky for him, it was an accident, I may have come unglued otherwise!

What Does Matthew McConaughey Have To Do With My Water And Twilight?

So I was thinking about our water and how it has higher than allowed levels of radioactivity in it. Which led me to thinking about the movie Sahara and how the people were dumping toxic waste into the peoples water? This led to thinking about who was in the movie, Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz. So I started wondering what happened to Matthew. Wasn’t he People Magazines hottest man alive at one point? So I pondered this and where he disappeared to and remembered that he became a father, not just a father, but a “babys daddy.” Now from what I gather from the wonder of the wide web, he is a great dad. But did he decide to stop acting or am I just not seeing the movies he is in? Best I can tell, once he became a baby daddy his audience of ladies, mostly middle aged women turned their backs on him. I would imagine that according to statistics somewhere between 40-50% of those ladies were single moms at one point, or had a single mom. So did he give the ultimate betrayal to his fans? Can women no longer look up to him? Is it like when team Edward switched to team Jacob because Edward left Bella, except for a few women who were like “he did it because he really loves her”-I’d bet that many of those girls have been in hurtful relationships before (sad but true?). Face it Jacob took better care of Bella and treated her right even when he knew he would get nothing in return. It is not about looks to me, I admire actors who are setting good examples for the public who watches every step. Like when Tom Cruise took his daughter and had a tea party at the American Girls Café.

So Matthew, if you want your fans back, tie the knot with your little lady! Who knows I could be wrong, maybe it is the lady who doesn’t want to commit…