Renn Faire Privateer Gone Mom.
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Monday, July 8, 2013

A Week of One


This week Cabin Girl and Cabin Boy #1 are staying with family across the state, so it's just Cabin Boy #2 with the Captain and I.

Just CB2.  

It is so weird.  

It's quiet.  It's less messy.  It's more manageable.  

And my awesome brain decided a while ago that, during this week, I would get shit done.

But, I'm vetoing that decision now that we're here.

Because CB2 has never had the one-on-one time his siblings had.  CG was an only child for over 3 years.  CB1 had solo time with me for 2 years while CG was in preschool a few hours most of the week.

 
So this week, I am devoting myself to focusing on this one child.

Listening to this one pair of feet pitter-patter.

Feeding this one demanding mouth.

Snuggling this one warm body.

Playing with this one curious mind.

Burbling this one soft belly.


Naptimes and bedtimes have been rough already.  He doesn't know what to think about big brother not being in the room with him at night.  And there have been a few times he's asked for sissy, not quite understanding what I mean when I say she's not here.


For now though, he's enjoying the choice movie spot on the couch, without having to fight for it.



Saturday, June 22, 2013

Returning to GF/Paleo: Days 2 and 3

Welcome back!  If you missed the first 2 posts of the series, you can see them here and here.

Day 1 was rough.  I felt like I was hungry all day long.  I need to start eating more raw veggies to fill up, but if they don't sound good, I can't eat them, or I get nauseous and won't be able to eat anything for quite a while, which is not okay with me.

I want to take a minute to talk about meat.  I'll be honest and say I don't concern myself with the fat content of most meat I purchase.  We eat a lot of uncured bacon, and we've been eating quite a bit of the 1/4 + 1/8 of the organic, grass-fed beef that's in our freezer.  Chicken is something we used to eat a ton of, but only have once or twice a week at this point.  Firstly, because of the cost.  And secondly, because it's so much more convenient to cook the beef we already have.

That being said, if I spot a deal, I SNAP IT UP!  Thankfully, we have a flex budget every paycheck that allows us to go beyond our usual cash grocery budget if need be.  I went shopping yesterday to round out a few things we needed for the coming week and scored a huge deal on free-range, organic chicken.  It was nearing its expiration date, but since we keep it in the freezer until the day we use it, I'm not worried about it going bad.  I grabbed 5 packs of chicken breasts, 6 packs of thighs, and a whole chicken, each pack marked down around 30%.  I also found some uncured breakfast sausage links, which are a rare treat for us, and a package of uncured spicy Italian sausage that will be perfect for the next time I make zuppa, also with a 30ish% mark down.  If you really want to be on top of great meat deals, ask the department what day/time they mark the discounts, that way you can be there for first pick.

All that out of the way, here's what I ate on Day 2.  I'm still including how often I'm drinking water, to give you a good idea of just how much you can get in during the day.  I keep my handy-dandy Dirty Girl water bottle with a straw-like spout with me at all times, so it's easy to just sip on it all day long.

Water
Scrambled eggs with broccoli and bacon
Coffee with coconut creamer
Water
Banana
Water
Greek yogurt with chocolate chips and pecans
Water
Chicken with sliced cucumbers (I kept one of those packs of chicken thighs out of the freezer to bake for a late lunch.  It was perfect!  The cucumbers, however, just tasted like chemicals, despite being organic, washed, and peeled.  Very disappointing.)
Water
Carrot
Water
Gf pizza (I used Bob's Red Mill GF Pizza Mix.  For sauce I just used some organic crushed tomatoes and seasoned it myself with red pepper flakes, garlic, and oregano.  Topped the kids' with cheese, uncured pepperoni and black olives while Captain and I had cheese, uncured pepperoni, spinach, mushrooms, pickled jalapenos, and black olives.)
Water
After dinner we scooted off to a ping-pong social with Captain's work friends.  We had Pirate Booty and some GF cookies for a snack.  With water, of course.


Here we are at the end of Day 3.  It was an odd day, since I spent half of it out of the house, but with a little preparation I was able to still make good choices!

As usual, I started the morning off with water and then my coffee with creamer.  I packed myself an apple, a bag of mixed nuts (almonds, walnuts, and macadamia), a to-go cup of chocolate almond milk, and a banana, then my local bestie picked me up and we headed to the Dirty Dash!

I had the apple and nuts before the race, for carbs and fat, but stopped drinking water about 40 minutes before the run.  There was no chance of me trail-stopping for a pee break.

Apparently, that's my "Look strong" face.  Yeah.
My dad's response to this picture was that we needed to go play outside.  What a funny guy.
Immediately after we finished I grabbed some water and a banana.  I rinsed off a teeny-tiny bit, then we headed over to grab a smoked turkey leg (They gave me 2!  What, did they think I needed the extra calories or something?) and I drank my almond milk before playing get-changed-without-anyone-seeing-my-goodies in the woods.  I think we were successful. 

On the way home I had water, my banana and a GF Cliff bar that they were handing out at the Dash.  Here's what I've had since cleaning off 3 layers of mud:

Water
Yogurt with chocolate chips and walnuts
Water and a 3 hour nap.
A carrot (and the first ripe pea from my garden!)
Water
Dinner: Grilled flank steak, mashed sweet potatoes (with butter and a touch of coconut sugar), roasted beets, and green salad with some dressing. With, you guessed it, water to drink.
Now I'm sitting/laying (it's really hard to type while laying on your left side, btw) in bed, trying to discourage contractions!  Whee!!  I do plan on sneaking down for a cookie, or maybe a piece of super dark chocolate once the kids go to bed.

Tomorrow is Sunday, which is Captain's day to sleep in, so I'll be making one of our favorite grain-free pancake recipes tomorrow and hitting the Farmer's Market for some local produce!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Monsanto and a Plea

I'm sure that recently I've annoyed the crap out of quite a few friends by spamming social network feeds with news about The Monsanto Protection Act being signed into law under the House Agricultural Appropriations Bill.  There are so many things I wish we could have had the chance to do, but it was done so quietly, amidst the fervor of the Supreme Court discussions of Equal Rights for people of the LGBT community, that not enough people were aware in time to stop it.

I am dismayed.  As I'm growing spiritually, mentally, and physically, taking better control over what goes into the bodies of my family, becoming more aware of our impact on the environment and the creatures that use it along with us, I am finding myself more and more frustrated with the state of our nation's food system (education system, political system... those are a completely different post). 


BUT, now is not the time to sit back and lament.  The phrase "Vote with your wallet" has never been more relevant.  What you buy MATTERS.  Every time you buy a product that has been Genetically Modified, or sprayed with commercial chemicals, you're essentially saying that "This is OK.  This is something I am comfortable giving to my family/putting into my body."

IT IS NOT OKAY.  And we need to make our voices heard.  I've included two lists: the first includes the companies that use Monsanto products (alphabetized from the graphic below).  The second is a list of seed companies that use GM or Monsanto seeds.  Copy and print these lists to take with you when you go shopping.  It will take some work and adjusting, but it's better than the alternative!




Additionally, it is time to speak up.  If you care, take the time to contact your local representative.  Sign a petition for GMO labeling.  Share this information with anyone you can.  Now that Monsanto is above judicial reproach our only defense is the knowledge we use and pass on to keep each other safe. 





Without further ado:

Companies that use Monsanto/GM products:

Aunt Jemima

Aurora Foods

Banquet

Best Foods

Betty Crocker

Bisquick

Cadbury/Shweppes

Campbells

Capri-Sun

Carnation

Chef Boyardee

Coca Cola

ConAgra

Delicious Brand Cookies

Duncan Hines

Famous Amos

Frito-Lay/Pepsi

General Mills

Green Giant

Healthy Choice

Heinz

Hellmans

Hershey's Nestle

Holsum

Hormel

Hungry Jack

Hunts

Interstate Bakeries

Jiffy

KC Masterpiece

Keebler/Flowers Industries

Kelloggs

Kid Cuisine

Knorr

Kool-Aid

Kraft/Phillip Morris

Lean Cuisine

Lipton

Lowa Linda

Marie Callenders

Minute Made

Morningstar

Ms. Butterworths

Nabisco

Nature Valley

Ocean Spray

Ore-Ida

Orville Redenbacher

Peppridge Farms

Pepsi

Pillsbury

Pop Secret

Post Cereals

Power Bar Brand

Prego Pasta Sauce

Pringles

Procter and Gamble

Quaker

Ragu Sauce

Rice-a-Roni/Pasta Roni

Smart Ones

Stouffers

Tombstone Pizza

Totinos

Uncle Bens

Unilever

V-8


Monsanto/GM seeds  (copied from HERE):
**some companies with Safe Seed pledges are on the list, because, though their seeds are non-GMO, they are supplied by GMO profiting companies.
 
American Meadows
Anderson’s Seed & Garden, Inc
Audubon Workshop
Ball Horticultural Company
Breck’s Bulbs
Bunton Seed
Burpee

Cook’s Garden
Corona Seeds
DeBruyn Seed Company, Inc.
Dege Garden Center
Dixondale Farms/The Onion Patch
Earl May Seed
Early’s Farm & Garden Centre
E & R Seed Co
El Seed
Farmer Seed & Nursery
Flower of the Month Club
Ferry Morse Fukuda Seed Store
Gardens Alive
Germania Seed Co
Garden Trends, Inc.d/b/a Harris Seeds
Germania Seed Company
Grimes Horticulture
H.F. Michell Company
HPS
Jungs
Lindenberg Seeds
McClure and Zimmerman Quality Bulb Brokers
Meyer Seed Co of Baltimore, Inc
Mountain Valley Seed
Ontario Seed
Ornamental Edibles
Osborne
Otis S. Twilley Seed Co., Inc.
Park Seed
Park Bulbs
Park’s Countryside Garden
P. L. Rohrer & Bro., Inc.
Pinetree
R.H. Shumway
Rocky Mountain Seed Co
Roots and Rhizomes
Rupp
Seeds for the World
Seminova
Seymour’s Selected Seeds
Snow
Southern States Cooperative, Incorporated
Stokes
Spring Hill Nurseries
Totally Tomato
T&T Seeds
Tomato Growers Supply
The Page Seed Company
The Vermont Bean Seed Company
Tomato Growers Supply Company
Vesey’s Seeds
Vis Seed Company, Inc.
Wayside Gardens
Willhite Seed Co.
William Dam Seeds