This week's menus

Here's what I'm planning on eating this week. I think I'll have three boys home this week. Woohoo! So they may be eating not what I'm having (like homemade donuts, pizza, tater tot casserole, etc.), but at least they will be getting the stuff out of my pantry and freezer that I should really not be eating. But I have to give a shout out to Josiah who has been home with me and been such a trooper in trying new recipes with me. You de man, Josiah!! :-)

Breakfasts this week are all going to be The Beauty.
My snack #1 this week are all fresh juices with some collagen added for protein. Stay tuned for a post featuring my handsome juice maker!
My snack #2 this week will be a spinach powder and greens smoothie. Remember, I'm eating out of my pantry. Michael got this spinach powder last year at a trade show. Gonna get rid of it! :-)

Here's the variable meals:
Tuesday- Tuscan Tomato soup, salad for lunch; Ranch chicken wings and super salad for dinner
Wednesday-turkey chili and crackers, carrots and apple for lunch; creamy mushroom pasta and broccoli for dinner
Thursday- left overs for lunch and we have a football banquet for dinner
Friday- loaded fotato soup (meaning it's made with cauliflower, not potatoes), salad and apple crisp for lunch, pot roast with onions, carrots and radishes (that cook like potatoes) for dinner.

There you go, mom. :-)

Getting moving...

As I continue on my 100 days toward health, and as I get stronger and my back pain gets more and more manageable one of the things I'm excited to add back into my regular routine is moving. Not moving house, just moving my body. When my accident happened, I was a mover and a shaker. Well, not much shaking, but moving yes. I was training for a 10K (that was scheduled for two weeks after my accident), so I had been walking 6 miles a day and I was also doing other things during the day. Obviously, that all came to an abrupt halt on September 10! I think one of the hardest things for me to accept during my recovery is that my body, at least up to this point, has NOT been in a position to move like it did. As a result, I've gained back all of the weight and lost all of the tone muscle that I worked hard to earn over the previous six month. And believe me, it's much easier to gain weight and lose muscle than it is to lose weight and gain muscle...much, much easier! In the past, when I've gained weight, I'll just start training for a half marathon, do P90X or something and get it done. Guess what, not this time! My back, hips and ankles now say "No way!" So what's a girl to do? Especially when my chiropractor and acupuncturist (yep, done that!) and spinal doctor all agree that sitting still is making me worse. Ok, let me get this straight, moving makes my back hurt, and not moving makes my back hurt. Hmmm...what do I do? I guess, just get up and move. 

So, here's what I've been doing and what I'll keep doing. 

1. Walking. Old faithful. Not even close to six miles at this point, but I'm going farther and farther each day. I'm up to about 2 miles. My goal for this week. Is at least 20 minutes, 5 times this week. Jackson and Joy keep me honest on this one. They get SO excited when I even look at my tennis shoes or even open the drawer where I keep my socks. So, because I feel sorry for them, I'll strap the shoes on and just get walking out the door. 

2. Riding the recumbent bike. We bought one of these after the accident and Jeffrey's ankle surgery. It's currently part of our living room decor. My plan is to ride it 2 miles at least, 5 times a week. 

3. THIS....

This is so.much.fun!! I loved doing this dance workout before my accident. Josiah and I actually did one together last week and I so loved it! It was so much fun to get back into the groove (literally!) of this workout, that doesn't feel like a workout. 

4. Holy Yoga. 

Stretching is something that seems to really be helping my back and hips. And really, that's what this workout is. It's not Eastern religious practice. (One of my boys recently said something like "Yeah, didn't you always teach us mom that if it's Eastern it's evil?!" Sweet boy, was that after I gave you the homeopathic remedy or after I got home from acupuncture? Come on! Obviously, we had a conversations of what I REALLY said!) But the thing I love about this set of videos is that it is very intentional about focusing on worship and relating the stretches to Biblical spiritual truths. And it helps! So, my goal is to do this video 3-5 times this week.

5. And finally (can't get my picture to load) T 25!! This is probably one of my all time favorite video exercise routines. I love that it's 25 minutes long! I love that it's pretty fun (but not like 'Cize!) and mostly I love that it works! Both times I've worked through the program, my massage therapist notices. Any workout that has your massage therapist saying "I can tell you've been working out!" is a program worth doing! (And it's not because I'm so sore, if that's what you were thinking.)

So, I'm starting over. I did one this week. It was such a delight! I know that may sound bizarre, but to be able to do something that I wasn't sure if I would be able to do again any time soon is such a relief. Of course, I had to modify. But I'll take it. My goal is to get through T25 week one over the next two weeks.

Anybody else wanting to move a little more? I'm learning, slowly but surely, that even doing little bits over a long time is worthwhile. Slow and steady wins the race!

A Peek in My Pantry

You KNOW you have it good when your husband and son take a Friday night to clean up your pantry. Look at it! Isn't it a beaut!! I wish I had remembered to take a "before" shot. Picture all of this, more stuff, chaos on the floor and mouse poop! GAG!! Let's take a moment to examine my lovely pantry and then I'll go into even more detail about how amazingly awesome my husband is!!

Yep, mice prompted this cleaning. Off and on over the last year we've battled those nasties. We've even put a bounty on their heads..$1/mouse. The boys love catching and killing them (read: taking the glue traps out to the trash and "finishing" the job if needed.) Who wouldn't pay $1/mouse to NOT have to carry a trap out??!! Well, in the last few weeks, we've (mostly ME!) noticed "evidence" of their presence in our pantry. We've trapped a few off and on, especially when the weather turns colder, but we never could seem to get them all because they never showed up on the traps, but still left behind their "calling cards". Once, a couple of weeks ago, I went to grab some spices and saw one running along the shelf I was headed toward. We made eye contact! BLECH!!! Personal victory: I didn't scream! But the battle went to the next level, let me tell you! 

So enter my knight in shining armor and his valiant side kick. We spent a couple of hours Friday evening taking food out of the pantry, cleaning boxes, wiping down shelves, finding what the creeps were eating and getting rid of it. Shocker: they didn't eat ANY of the roasted sea weed! :-) But the candied pecans were an obvious hit! When we reached the box with my Lily's chocolate bars in it, I said "Now, if they've gotten into my Lily's candy cane bars, I'm gonna kill them with my bare hands!" Josiah laughed..out loud! He said, "Mom, I think I just heard the mice laughing!" Clearly, he doesn't know how much I value those delicious (expensive!) stevia sweetened chocolate bars...only available during the holidays!! Thankfully, my bluff wasn't called. Lily's chocolate was all safe! 

After scrubbing my shelves and the floor, Michael placed four MORE glue traps (for a total of 8 in our pantry! We're serious, I'm telling you!). Next morning, four mice down! That's gross. I know. But better out than in, right?! Next morning, nothing, but there was poop. So Michael went into strategy mode. He moved the traps so that they mice would have to go full American Ninja Warrior mode to not be step on the traps! He told Josiah "These mice will NOT see 2017!" Gosh, I just love him!! Next morning, BIG mouse gone. 

This morning...all clear and no evidence of activity. Stay tuned, but I think Michael is right and they didn't make it to the new year. That makes it a happy 2017 already!! 

And in case you were wondering....

Trixie and Snowflake were unavailable for comment...hmmmmmm....

Food for thought...and our bellies

Check out this amazing Bible passage I read from Psalm 56: 8-13

"Thou has taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Thy bottle; Are they not in Thy book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord whose word I praise. In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? Thy vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to Thee. For Thou has delivered my souls from death, indeed my feet from stumbling, so that I may walk before God in the light of the living". 

What I love about this passage is that God has taken note of the times that I have wandered from what I wanted to do, saved the tears of frustration that I cried when I asked myself "WHY oh WHY did I do that AGAIN??!!", and through it all is FOR ME!!! The God of the universe is FOR ME!! He's cheering me on and has promised that when I call out that He is for me that in that day my enemies will turn back! I'm so grateful for that. I WILL give thank offerings to God! He has delivered my soul from death (and will continue to do that!) and I WILL walk before God in trust and in the light of the living. 

For the next 97 days, I'm completely convinced that the Lord has put on my heart for "the light of the living" to be this path of Trim Healthy Mama with 80-90% plant foods. I trust He is guiding my path and giving me ideas of what to eat. Giving Michael grace to deal with my struggles of "I just want to eat chips! I'm gonna do it. I'm mixing carbs and fats cause I can't take it any more!" Yes, this conversation happened...last night. A whopping 3 days into this! Keeping it real....Hello, my name is Jennie. I'm addicted to carbs... But seriously, I'm so grateful for a son and hubby that smile and say, "Tomorrow will you be glad you had that?" "Is there something I can fix for you?" Even when I do sound like Eyore. (And I've realized, as totally sorry as it is...caffeine makes me cranky. Even just a little. As I sat down "in my right mind" last night-after NOT eating chips, btw!- I realized I had a regular cup of coffee in the morning and then a glass of tea at lunch. Yep, that's all it took. By 5 in the afternoon, I was coming "off" the caffeine, which means either crying or screaming. Thankfully, since it was just two servings, it was the Eyore prevailed. If it had been 3 or 4, it tends to be more, shall we say...aggressive. I've learned that the hard way (just ask my boys!). So I don't do that much caffeine any more. But come on...1 cup of coffee and 1 glass of tea. Gotta respect those limits, and keep it to less than one. And I'm sure Michael is happy to go and buy me some more decaf coffee. 😉)

So, here's what my menus look like for the next couple of days (and photos from the last two).

Breakfasts: The Beauty

Lunch: I'm aiming for higher (healthy!) carbs, lower (healthy) fat meals for lunch. 

(This would be an E on Trim Healthy Mama)

Here's what Josiah and I had for the last three days. Yep, leftovers make for easy lunches. 

 This was sweet potatoes (left over from Christmas, which cost me $.50/package of six small ones for organic sweet potatoes!), organic black and kidney beans on salad with some guacamole salsa (which was free from HEB). All together, this meal probably cost me about $2. And it was delightfully delicious. Even Josiah thought so.

Yesterday, we made the quinoa salad from the THM cookbook. When I went to my pantry, this was the only quinoa I had.

 This was not my first choice because of the bulgar, which is wheat, which is gluten, which is NOT my friend. However, in the spirit of "use what you have", I used it thinking that the small amount of wheat probably would not be too bad. I think I was right. And the salad was beautiful...

and delicious...and enough for Josiah and I have to for lunch today. I used the last of the black/kidney beans, added an organic cucumber, tomato (which we got for 50% off) added some organic garlic, lemon juice and olive oil and cilantro...because EVERYTHING is better with cilantro!! All in all, (because the quinoa was free from Michael's work) this entire bowl  of salad (which is four meals) probably cost $4. And is packed with protein, healthy carbs, healthy fats, fiber and veggies. 

Back to the menu plan...

Lunches after today: taco salad (because tacos is what we "do" for new year's eve...so it won't fit the higher carb, low fat "E", but will be a higher fat, low carb "S"-because I'm eating guacamole and a lot of it!! 😁, Saturday will be turkey chili (E),Sunday is black eyed peas (It's new year's day, right?!) with sauerkraut and apple crisp.  and Monday will be chicken with wild rice soup (E) and a salad.

Dinners: I've made Thai on the Fly soup from the THM cookbook and had that for three dinners in a row. Yep, it's that good. and that easy. Tonight for dinner we are having turkey pot pie (but I'm not eating crust) and a salad, tomorrow night will be left overs and then fondue (it's also what we do for New Year's eve!), Saturday evening is cheeseburger pie from THM and a salad. Sunday will probably be some taco reruns. Monday is spaghetti and meatballs (I use konjac noodles instead of pasta) with brocooli or a salad. 

One of the MANY things I LOVE LOVE LOVE about Trim Healthy Mama is the ability to eat foods that taste good, and many that are similar to what I would have enjoyed full of bad fats and sugar. Case in point, I'll be joining my family for fondue! I'm just making the chocolate with Lily's chocolate (sweetened with stevia not sugar) and having strawberries and blueberries with an angel food cake that Josiah and I are making that is on the plan. It'll be delightful! And I just might enjoy it all with a creamy cup of (DECAF!) coffee.

My friends along my 100 day journey

I'm going to take the next couple of posts to introduce you to some of my "friends" that I'm partnering with on my journey over the next 100 days. 

This is my new favorite saying! In fact, I'm seriously thinking of printing a copy of it and taping it to my pantry door! Know who said it? Hippocrates...and if it was true in his day, it's certainly true in mine! I really believe that God made our bodies to respond to nutrition in our foods, the problem is not that foods can't help heal our bodies, it's that the choice of foods I'm making are the kinds of foods that do heal. That's why I'm on this journey. To put the good stuff in my body so that it can get down to the business of getting well.

In that spirit, here's a friend that I'm bringing along for probably almost all of the 100 days of my journey. My pal: green smoothie. You know those friends who are helpful, encouraging, make you want to be your best self...that's my smoothie! Is she the best tasting breakfast I've ever had? Nope, but clearly "best tasting" doesn't equate to "best friend", right?! But she tastes good.  Here's her photo (or a photo of what's in her)

See all that medicine! :-) This actually is a spin off of a recipe from Trim Healthy Mama called the "thin thick".  This beauty has okra (weird? but so helpful for healing my gut, regulating blood sugar, burning off fat and boosting metabolism-and you can't taste it at all!), collagen, gelatin (both great for healing my gut and making strong hair, nails and skin) , MCT oil (great for my thyroid and metabolism), fermented mushroom powder (another weird one, right? but it actually tastes great! super for healing my gut, helping battle stress and boosting immunity), supergreen food powder (loaded with green superfoods, plus probiotics and other great immune boosting, gut healing herbs and whole foods), matcha green tea powder (great for immunity, energy and metabolism), sunflower lecithin (great for brain health, nerve healing and gut healing), flax and chia seeds (great sources of healthy fats and fiber) and whey protein powder (my absolute favorite is Trim Healthy Mama Pristine protein. However, in the spirit of "use what I have", I know that there will be days coming when I'm out of the good stuff and have to use other things I have on had. Just as good nutritionally, just not as smooth and tasty.) . In just a couple short minutes, I've made (and cleaned up) a breakfast that is a nutritional powerhouse. In fact, I calculated it this morning and it has 39g of protein, 20g of fiber and 9g of super healthy fats. What a beauty! I think I'll start calling my smoothie "Beauty". Every bestie needs a nickname, right. And wouldn't YOU rather be called "Beauty" than "modified thin thick"??!!

So, while I'm hoping to often post what I'm eating for lunch or snack or dinner, just know, Beauty is joining me for breakfast for the next 99 days.

Coming tomorrow...my movement friends.

Of Plants and Provisions- The whole inflammatory story

Well, after almost 6 years, I'm blogging. I can't believe it's been six years. Like my sis said when I told her, "Well that just goes to show you how five years can pass in the blink of an eye!". So true! In the past six years, our family has joyfully walked through graduations, football championships, track meets, Redbird Community Church, hunting (well, they boys have, not me! 😄), Classical Conversations, so very many great memories. I wish I would have been blogging all these years, because even going back through these old blogs has been so enjoyable. But hey, can't go back. Just forward. It's been more joy than pain, and for that I'm so very grateful.

So what, you may ask, brings me back to blogging. Isn't it so 2009? Probably, but you are reading it, so maybe not as passe' as it may seem. The answer lies in a couple of things. First, half of my boys now no longer live at home. I want them to at least have a clue as to what is going on at home. Second, I really enjoy writing the blog (and reading it months and years later), which is kinda funny because I'm generally NOT a "journaling" kind of gal. I like having a creative outlet and a place to put thoughts and a way to stay in touch with family that's not here (that's kind of like #1). Thirdly, I'm needing some accountability on a new journey. I figure if I put it out there that I'm on this journey, at least the couple of people that read this blog will be holding me somewhat accountable.

And right now I'm hurting...physically. I was in an accident in September (being hit by a truck when I was walking along the road near my house) that left me with a severe concussion (all those symptoms are gone, praise GOD!), three herniated thoracic discs (in my middle back), constant lower back pain and on and off issues in my shoulder and ankles. As I'm journeying toward healing, I've tried SO.MANY.THINGS to help the pain and really there hasn't been any one thing that seems to help significantly (or any things put together). So in addition to the things I'm trying, I'm adding a pretty radical change in my diet. There is a lot of evidence around talking about how you can tamp the inflammation in your body by consuming anti-inflammatory foods and avoiding inflammatory ones. I've read about these things for years and have had seasons where I've done much better than others at following those guidelines. Having had bloodwork done recently, and knowing what I know about MY body, it's clear that inflammation is a problem. And I am hopeful that reducing inflammation in my body will significantly reduce the pain. Because they are connected! Bad news...the foods that most Americans generally LOVE and CRAVE are pretty inflammatory (think sugar, wheat, dairy, corn, caffeine). Good news, inflammation can be reduced in relatively short order by eliminating those foods. (Now if only it was as easy to execute as typing this!)

So as I've prayed for wisdom, I feel the Lord has given me the idea to go for the next 100 days eating a whole food 80-90% plant based diet following the general concepts of the Trim Healthy Mama plan. (Don't know THM? It's AMAZING! Check it out at www.trimhealthymama.com. In a nutshell, it's a plan using real, whole foods that balances you blood sugar (and thus improving your health) by eating every three-four hours not mixing carbs with fats. It's that simple.)

I'm also adding in some exercise as my back allows (It SO STINKS to have to pay attention to this! UGH!), aim for 100 oz of water every day, be diligent about taking my supplements, purposefully spending time reading and memorizing Scripture and walking through Caroline Leaf''s 21 day Brain Detox (www.drleaf.com) program to retrain by brain about regarding right thinking about food. 'Cuz we all know eating isn't always about the food, right? Can I get a witness?!

Oh, and I'm going to do this all on a budget. I have a lot of things on my plan currently in my pantry that I have purchased over the past year because I think I'll eat them. Have I eaten them? Um...no comment. Well, they ARE still in my pantry! But in the next 100 days, they'll be consumed because that is part of my journey. Use what I have. Bloom where I'm planted. Don't look around for what I don't have thinking THAT is what I need to be successful. I'm starting today. I've started today.

Tomorrow I'll be more specific with the "whats" of my 100 days. Then I'll post some more of my "whys". And of course, I'll post more fun family things too, for those who are more interested in seeing details of my crazy, wonderful life than my juice and smoothies.

Thanks for coming back! Here's to the next 100 days! I'm believe that I'll thank myself in 100 days for doing the hard work today.

Lessons learned from the ice storm

We had some crazy weather here a couple of weeks ago. The first really cold snap here in sunny south-central Texas. In fact, we had temps in the teens and days in a row when it didn't get above 25. Really cold for around here. We even had some frozen pipes! Yipes! They were insulated but since there are parts that are above ground where the pipes flow out of the well, they freeze! Live and learn. We started the morning with running water, though the flow was low. But by lunch time, nada. No water at all. We could hear the water TRYING to come through the pipes, but no go. But thankfully, we had about 15 gallons of bottled water on hand for emergencies. This fit the bill!! For 24 hours we had no water at all! Ever try to go 24 hours without the tap??!! I don't know how many times I turned it on by habit. Kinda like turning on a light switch when there's no electricity. I learned just how many things I do just by habit. In fact this cold snap taught or reinforced in me some really good lessons.

Lesson #1: Boys really will make ANYTHING into a gun! :-) Jeffrey found this icicle on a property nearby and thought he MUST have it, especially with the ski mask...think terrorist with an ice gun! :-)

Lesson #2: Being prepared really matters! I was sooooo thankful for the botttled water we had in store. We used it to wash dishes, drink and even flush the toilets a couple of times.

I was very thankful for these wipes to wash my face when we didn't have running water. I already knew that I really liked them, but now I know I'll never be without them!!

Lesson #3: Being organized and doing things promptly is as much a part of being prepared as having supplies. I was SOOOOO thankful that we (ahem, I mean Michael!) do laundry every day and that I'm getting in the habit (mostly) of cleaning dishes after each meal. Because of that, we had clean clothes and the kitchen was clean before we ran out of water. For us, that just makes the house seem more peaceful. When we ran out of water after lunch, I just had one pan to wash and a few plates to put in the dishwasher. It may seem wierd, but I didn't need the stress of a trashed kitchen and loads of laundry to do when it was already stressful enough to know that there was no water, and not know when it would come back on. Also, I've been getting in the habit of getting up first thing in the morning and exercising and showering and getting dressed. Maybe only homeschool moms can relate, but I must say that there have been many days where I just get up and get going on the day while still in my jammies or sweatshirt without doing those other things. Since I had already had my shower and was dressed and ready for the day, it wasn't such a big deal to not have water in the afternoon. I was already for our evening (which was Pappasitos for Jonathan and Jeremy's birthday) or for anything else I needed to do for that day.

Lesson #4: I'm thankful for indoor plumbing! It would have been REALLY COLD if I had been Ma Ingalls and had to go use the bathroom outside!

Lesson #5: I waste water. To wash some dishes in the late afternoon and early morning the next day, I boiled a gallon of water on the stove and used that to wash the few dishes that we had. I realized that I can get by on A LOT LESS water than I typically use to wash dishes. I've been trying to pay attention to how much I use when washing and cutting down.

Lesson #6 God gives wisdom. We were really asking for wisdom to know how to thaw those pipes!! Michael suggested using plywood to make a "teepee" around the pipes and then put a heater near the pipes to thaw. Only problem: no plywood! So we rummaged around the garage and found a "washers" game and a spare piece of countertop from our house in Bartlett (don't ask me why we still had that!! I guess for this day!). We made a triangle from the three pieces, covered it with blankets, put a shoplight inside to warm it up. About two hours later....success! Running water. Thankfully no broken pipes! Now we know what to do next time. (Which we actually had to do day before yesterday!)

Lesson #7 Chickens aren't crazy about snow! It was a hoot to watch the chickens walk around in the snow. They tended to stand on one foot at a time if they stood in the same place for long.

Lesson #8: Boys DO like snow! Even though we didn't have much, we did have some! And the boys enjoyed playing in it even though it did melt mostly by noon when the sun came out. Here's Jeffrey standing on the goat trough which was completely frozen.

Here's a video of Jeffrey destroying his ice "gun"!

All in all we're really enjoying the colder weather and taking notes of life lessons to learn along the way!