Second Wind

Its been awhile, I know.  And I harbor no pretensions that anyone will actually stumble across this blog accidentally after over a year of no posts.  But before you get all judgy, don't forget I've been a little busy chasing toddlers and having babies and moving across the country! 

Anyway, my main reason for this post is that I've decided to do NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this November, and what better way to get creative energies going than take 5 minutes to revive my good old blog?  Ok, yes, the main reason is actually to procrastinate.  I'm already 6,000 words behind for the month!  Plus, I still harbor the hope that one day I could become a pinning sensation that is so out of control blogspot crashes and I have to add one of those little "pin it" buttons at the bottom of my blog.  A girl can dream, right? 

Even if that never happens, tonight I have a REAL treat just for you, that random person that stumbled across this blog accidentally while googling a CS Lewis book.  Hopefully you like food, at times like to cook, and often don't have time to do it, because this recipe is the easiest one I have ever made, and had my husband raving and 2 year old popping chicken pieces like they were animal crackers.  It took 4 ingredients and about 10 minutes of prep time and no ingredients of questionable integrity.

 

 

That's right, Swiss cheese, Balsamic vinegar, Italian style breadcrumbs, and chicken tenderloins (I used frozen from Trader Joes).  Pull the chicken out of the freezer the night before and defrost in the fridge.  About 40 minutes before dinner, I put 8 in a gallon sized zip lock bag and pounded them flat (I guess about 1/4 an inch?).  I added 1/4 cup of balsamic (that's a lie, I usually eyeball, but I made sure all the chicken was coated but not drowning in it) and let it sit in the plastic bag for about 5 minutes while I chopped the swiss cheese into small, 1 oz-ish chunks.  Wrap the chicken around a chunk of swiss and roll it in the bread crumbs.  Place in baking dish and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until the juices run clear.  That's it!  (And if you don't like it--not like you wasted too much time!)

 

My husband graciously sat there while I grabbed my camera.  Seriously?  You are taking a picture of my plate?  But considering the relatively short wait for a delicious dinner, I don't think he minded too much.  Try it out!  I hope you like it!  The bitterness of swiss cheese was really well balanced by the sweet and tangy balsamic, but if you can't handle that, a provolone cheese would probably work really well too.  Enjoy your dinner -- and the extra time to write!

 

PS--this post was 466 words...can that count? 

Think you are Eating Smart? Maybe Not!

For a long time I've been eating organically (when possible) and trying to limit processed foods. Ever since I found out there was possibilities of pus and blood to be found in mainstream milk, I was set on a path to really examine what is really in my food and where it comes from. Robyn O'Brien addresses another concern that I had never even thought about as she looks into why certain chronic illnesses wrack Americans at a higher rate than any other nation when we also have access to some of the best healthcare professionals in the world! Since my son and 2 of his cousins have been dealing with food allergies since infancy, none of whom have a family history of food allergies, I was really interested and concerned by her research into the food industries and some very dangerous trends that are affecting our families.  Take a couple minutes and check it out!  Also, her website is here, and it has a lot of very simple first steps, and takes a very overwhelming and complicated topic and breaks it down to a very managable lifestyle for the average consumer.

Giving Up a la Mom

I mentioned several posts ago that my body is a temple.  One thing I've discovered since becoming a mom--its certainly not a temple to me!! A lot of things go missing from your temple when you have a child--some things obvious, others not so obvious!

You start losing things with the pea still in the pod: curves in the right places, sleep, bladder stamina, lung space, and comfortable positions to sleep in.
Later, once the baby is out, you find you've lost some more things: sleep entirely, bladder control, personal time, showers, abdominal muscles, and that thick, luscious hair you developed while pregnant.

The one thing I was excited to hang on to was that super-boosted metabolism I developed while cooking the little bun.  At least for a few months anyway while breastfeeding.  A ravenous appetite and finally no limitations to what I can have!  Or so I thought....

Then Ezra decided to develop persistent stomach issues.  How did we discover this?  The way you discover a lot of problems with babies--poop.  I won't go into details on what it has looked like, but basically I have spent the last 3 months with my nose buried in dirty diapers, gooey, smelly, sometimes fizzy diapers.  Ugh.  If that wasn't enough to kill an appetite, the diagnosis: food allergies.  Most likely culprit? Milk proteins.  So I had to eliminate dairy from my diet.  Along with dairy went its likely partner in crime--soy.   Giving up dairy and soy was pretty killer--they are in EVERYTHING.  And I LOVE ice cream.  And cheese.  And chocolate (did you know there is soy in almost all chocolate?  I almost wouldn't have survived if not for Seattle-made Theo Chocolate bars, which at $4 a pop are a rare but worth-while treat!)

Unfortunately, dairy and soy were an improvement but not quite enough.  So that mean TOTAL ELIMINATION.  No, I haven't quit eating entirely.  But total elimination means giving up all 8 major food allergens, dairy, soy, wheat/gluten, eggs, peanuts, nuts, fish, shellfish.  Once symptoms disappear I can slowly add them back in, one at a time, minor offenders first.  So I've done it--for the past 2 months.  Yes, this makes me an awesome mom and no, I won't let Ezra forget it.  But it is so hard!  I am hungry all the time!  And I just want some cheese, please.  I have no idea what an emulsifier is, all I know is that I can no longer eat it, and it is in a lot of yummy things!  And eating out has become such a chore, where I have to talk with managers, scour menus, and even after all that work Ezra often still seems to react to something..  What does that leave me you ask?  Rice.  And meat.  An hours to shop, prepare, and cook from scratch.  I'm back in Mauritania and I can't even throw in a Maggi cube for flavor because many spices have soy as a stabilizer!!

I guess this is one way to lose the baby weight.