We have a winner

Rainy days always relax me. I think the pressure is OFF for being outdoorsy and productive, so you can hunker down, wear pajama pants, and enjoy the day inside.

While Jack resisted his afternoon nap, I decided to try these energy bars. I wasn't in love with the earth balls and this recipe used a lot of the same basic ingredients, so I was skeptical.



To say they were good would be an understatement. Let's say this: they were GOOD in a sincere OMG way, not in a "pretty good for vegan" way.

I played around with her recipe a bit, and frankly I'm glad I'm writing this down so I can replicate it!

1 cup raw almonds
1 cup (plus 2 more) dates
2 dried apricots
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp raw pepitas
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp raw sunflower seeds
3 tbsp dried coconut
1 tbsp goji berries
1 tbsp dried cranberries
vegan chocolate chips, melted in a small saucepan with flax and hemp oils to make it spreadable

I ground the almonds to a fine powder, then added the dates and apricots until everything stuck together. Added in all the other ingredients and ground well. Spread it in a pan, covered with chocolate, and froze for 10 minutes. It was dense, chewy, sweet (but not overly sweet - I was worried about the dates), and delicious.

Slipping the vegan through

I try to volunteer for anything at Nate's school that keeps me from having to actually participate in the classroom. I help them with craft projects by prepping materials at home (peeling crayons, cutting out shapes, etc.) and I always volunteer to cook if they need food.

This week was "teacher appreciation" week and there was a luncheon on Wednesday. I offered to make my version of summer rolls, which is tasty and surprisingly vegan. I don't miss the shrimp at all!



They're rice paper with the traditional noodles, thick slices of avocado, cilantro, and chives. I served them with a bottled asian dipping sauce (I usually use a peanut sauce but the school is nut-free so that wasn't an option).

I love showing people that vegetarian / vegan food can be so delicious that you'll never miss the meat!

Big boy haircut

It was time. I didn't want to know it but I knew it.

Not the best pictures, but here's a few "before" shots:





Since Jack now runs crying each morning when he sees me coming towards him with a brush, I anticipated a disaster. I tried to take him to one of those kiddie-kuts kinda places since I thought the TVs might distract him but got insanely lost. I ended up just taking him to the Hair Cuttery and crossing my fingers. I apologized in advance for the crying.

He was perfect.



He flinched a little from the water



grinned at himself in the mirror



and got pinned up like a proper lady.



At one point he realized he was famished but couldn't find his hands. He was promptly hand-fed by one of his adoring Moms (Kari went along on the trip).



He zoned out as the cut went on



smiled at his new "look"



even tolerated the buzzer



and emerged a new man. With a huge muffin for good behavior.



The muffin was considered



nibbled



and judged to be acceptable.



I'm very proud of my little lawyer.

Lunchbox

A flash from the old days: Nate's lunch for tomorrow!



Sandwich is a ww tortilla spread with hummus and lettuce, sprinkled with wheat germ and flax seed, with a squirt of organic hemp oil for bonus omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.

Then (clockwise): chocolate cat's cookies from Trader Joes, baked sweet potatoes (canola oil), an earth ball, mandarin orange, dried peach, and teeny-tiny pickle.

Snacks for after school (one for each boy):



Organic watermelon, kiwi, raw almonds, goji berries, apple slices, dried peach slices, raw cashews, and a mandarin orange.

Yum.

Ice cream for dinner?

Sure!

Pulled a few cans of organic coconut milk out of the pantry and decided we'd make some ice cream. Needless to say, Nate and Jack were enthusiastic helpers.



I just used the coconut milk, cacao powder, sugar, and cinnamon. Set it to stir and waited for the results.



While the boys watched (and dipped in a finger once or twenty times for tastes), I made up some bowls. I put in raw almonds, raw walnuts, organic raisins, and a crushed-up oatmeal cookie.



(I love the irony of drinking my most favorite, guaranteed not-particularly-healthy, snack while I load my kiddos up with wholesome nutrition. But man do I love a cold Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi!):



Ice cream all ready to eat:



Dinner!

Upping the ante

So a few weeks ago I stumbled over this blog called Green and Crunchy and it was so inspiring. She is a super-healthy vegan home-schooling Mom to five little ones and she got me fired up about healthy eating!

I've been working on a small kitchen redo to give me more storage and counter space (I'll unveil before and after pics when it's done in a few weeks) and I'm using the smidge of extra space to implement some things I learned on her site.

Mostly, I'm working way more raw nuts and seeds into their diet, as well as flax (oil and seeds), wheat germ, goji berries, coconut milk, cacao powder, and a few other healthy add-ins, sometimes sneakily. Both boys have gotten a bit pickier, and initially balked when I started sprinkling "toppings" on top of everything I gave them. They're used to it now, but I'm still in the habit of using a small coffee-grinder to grind up an assortment of walnuts, almonds, cashews, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds into a powder and mixing it into whatever I can. It's fantastic!

So, a few meals from recent days:

From the upper-left: pickles (Nate's on a pickle kick right now), broccoli sauteed in canola oil with Soyaki on top, an apple salad with peanut butter and my nuts-and-seeds powder mixed in, banana-sushi (tortilla spread with pb, sprinkled with flax seeds, wheat germ, and cacao powder for a chocolate kick), and some leftover mac & cheese with the nuts-and-seeds powder mixed in and sunflower seeds visibly sprinkled over the top.

From the upper left: pear slices, a teeny-tiny pickle, sweet potatoes coated with flax and canola oils and minced garlic then baked, an "earth ball" (recipe below) and goji berries, tortollini covered in EVOO and some cheese sauce with the nuts-and-seeds mixture in and some sunflower seeds visibly sprinkled on top. These boys don't know how good they have it.

So, earth balls! Recipe here at Green and Crunchy. I made our first batch a few days ago and, frankly, it was a little much for me. Weird texture. But Stewart and Nate both loved them, and Jack finally tried one tonight and liked it as well! So that recipe is a keeper, and I'm thrilled.

I made ours with 3/4 cup raw almonds and 1/4 cup raw walnuts in the food processor until powdered, then added in a cup (combined) of mejdool dates and dried apricots. Once it was sticky enough to stay together, while it was still processing, I added in sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, and vegan chocolate chips.





I'm looking forward to making this again and trying out different combinations! The freeze-dried strawberries from Trader Joes are calling my name...

Nate's Newsletter, Four Years Seven-ish Months

Dear Nate,

Another late newsletter, another attempt to redeem myself. In my defense, you aren't changing as much, month to month, as you did when you were little - there's not always an amazing transformation to write about. But you are so special, and so particular, that I want to make sure to keep writing down the things you're doing and learning and saying to us.

You are such a mix: 2/3 of you is sweet, considerate, thoughtful, caring, concerned, and the other bit is moody, prickly, solitary, independent. Sometimes you're ripping a toy out of Jack's hand, and sometimes hunting one down to help him cheer up when he's upset. A month or so ago, you told me you wished we could always have a baby Jack's size in the house. Then you said you want him to stay two forever. I told you I did, too, and you said "Yeah, because I love him!" When he tried to crawl up onto "your" recliner the other day, you put down a hand to pull him up, and you guys shared it for the whole movie.



You are coming out of a full-blown obsession with death, now just a passing interest. It has been troubling and hard to answer your questions about death, especially with the sadness and fear you've shown about it. More than once, when we've talked about your Grandma Fredi, you've actually cried. You feel her loss as keenly as if you'd known her and loved her. We've had to stop joking about Daddy being "old" because it has sent you into long crying spells where you talk about how when Daddy dies you "won't ever see him again." It was so heartbreaking.

I wish I was a believer. I wish I had a strong, sure path to show you. The best I've been able to do is to tell you that Daddy and I will always be with you, every second of your life. That even when we die, we're with you. The first time I told you this you cocked your head to the side, considered it, and amended it with "until I die, right?" Ugh.



The sadness and fear has mostly passed, and now you ask more practical questions. A few days ago in the car on the way to school you asked me "When we all die, does the world end?" It was 8 in the morning. I am prepared for questions about where babies come from, but these death ones throw me off my game. I think I told you that when Grandma Fredi died the world kept going, and it would after we die as well. But when we have children we live on in them, just like Grandma Fredi lives through us. You seemed okay with that explanation.

You and I are having a lot more fun these days - I've gotten better at handling your pricky times and you're having less prickly times. I've been stressing the word "agreeable" with you, making sure to praise you every time you demonstrate it. It's gotten predictable enough that now, when you say "okay" to a request, you look at ME and grin and sing-song what I've been saying: "That was very agreeeeeeeable!"



There's another thing you've been doing that I'm having a hard time putting words to: you don't like me to get mad at, or discipline, anybody else. You rush to their defense immediately. One time when we were driving your friend Leo home from Pump It Up, I asked him not to talk rudely to Jack; you immediately jumped in with "He was just joking!" (He wasn't.) And when I harshly scolded Jack for leaving the house without me, making him cry, you asked me to stop, saying "But you're making him sad!"



Last week when I picked you up at school, I asked you what I always do: what was the best part of your day and what was the worst? You told me that the worst was that Leo says he's not your friend anymore. When I asked why you told me that at recess Leo and Gabriel were planning to chase and tease another little boy, Matthew, so you "told on the teacher."

You are all heart. I prayed that you'd be a man of character, and you're already showing more than I could have dreamed of.



This past weekend I took you and Jack to Charlottesville for Uncle Fred's 80th birthday. At night the three of us shared a bedroom; Jack in the crib in the middle of two twin beds. I got you tucked in and got into bed, and after it was dark and quiet for a few minutes you said "I love you Mom." I hope I never forget.

I love you.
Mama