December 12, 2007 at 10:50 pm (frustrations)
Well, here we are…smack in the middle of Christmas and Thanksgiving. I try not to worry, we survived Thanksgiving without having to feed the kids a bunch of processed junk. Christmas is right around the cornere though and for us that means at minimum 5 family get togethers. Of those 5 family get togethers, I can only count on two where I know I’ll be able to find food for the oldest (I worry about her the most seeing as she really has a bad reaction to sugar, msg, grains un-sprouted, etc.) One, in fact, I can count on having to watch her like a hawk as there are a couple family members that think their purpose is to tricking her, an almost 7 year old, into eating cookies and such…flat out lying and saying there is no sugar in it. Yeah, looking forward to it. My solutions thus far:
- host the family get together with the biggest offenders
- bring more food to get togethers than normal
- volunteer for food other than relish or cheeses (there is a good chance someone will bring these things and that means even more options!)
- being less strict on it and encouraging everyone to stick with my “sweets” and not the sugar cookies (goodness is that one hard!)
For sweets I’ve been making the Easy Peanut Butter Cookies, Date Nut Balls (dates, honey, pb and nuts into a food processor and rolled in chopped nuts), and merangues. Favorite take alongs have been meatballs, veggie dishes, fruit bowls, and the like. Any ideas are always welcome. It’s gonna be a rough couple of weeks!
I did find ways to avoid the candy trap in stockings, but I did that a few years ago. My kids always get a toothbrush, orange, chapstick, pens, fancy paper, etc in their stockings and love it. I try to pick up little things here and there all year long for them. Even their grandparents have started doing this. It’s very nice to not have a big bowl of candy at the end of it all. The girls usually end up with enough mini-tablets and travel pencils/crayons/markers that it takes them quite a few months to lose them all at Dr. offices or grocery stores. Other neat things they have gotten in their stockings:
- silverwear (usually a character they like)
- underwear (all girls age 7 and under…it’s still fun to get underwear!)
- calculators
- clay
- paints
- music
Once Christmas is done I have two birthdays in two weeks….turning 6 and 7! Better start now trying to figure out cakes and the like. Thankfully we made a HUGE thing of ice cream a couple weeks back and packed it into the freezer for just such occassion. AND, yes there’s more (feeling like an info-mercial here.) We have two vacations coming up. A New Year’s trip to Williamsburg (driving so we’ll take milk, broth, meat, etc with us) and the girls’ Christmas present from their Grandma is a trip to Disney toward the end of January (flying, so I’m in a total food panic on this one!)
Being smack in the middle of Christmas and Thanksgiving isn’t looking so bad right now.
Leave a Comment
July 23, 2007 at 8:34 am (frustrations, learning)
Why is it that when I tell people that we are avoiding wheat, soy, yeast, as well as processed foods, particularly any time of process sugar I get this look. It starts with an “are you seriouse” look, then a “you’ve got to be kidding me” look, and then moves on to a “she’s nuts look” though that last look moves in very fast when I say we consume only un-pastuerized dairy products.
I’m thinking it would be easier to just say that we have an allergy to wheat, soy, yeast, dairy, and processed sugar (corn syrup, fructose, table sugar, etc.) If you put allergy before it will people lighten up a bit? I’ll have to go digging for the deffinition of allergy, hate to lie and I am betting we fit the bill, sneezing and rash or not.
1 Comment
July 16, 2007 at 10:24 pm (frustrations, milk)
Yes, that is right…straight from the cow. To some this evokes looks of horror, green stomach-turning faces, and even accusatory glances. “Don’t give it to the children” or “why would you want to do a silly thing like that” and the ever popular “ohhh, really…didn’t know that was legal.” Guess what…it tastes good! No lactose problems with it (I used to be sensitive to too much dairy so far as digestive and heartburn.) I’ve even fermented and, dare I say it, purposefully soured milk in order to make wonderful smoothies, creams, and butter. Is there anything tastier than raw milk butter with a bit of Celtic sea salt?
We will be going on vacation the first part of September. I am trying not to stress about food. We will have a mini-kitchen where we are staying most of the time, always will have a fridge. What’s a mom to do in a world of pasteurized milk when all she really wants is the real deal with no fuss? It surely isn’t likely to walk into any given grocery store and find raw milk, let alone whole milk that is just pasteurized and not homogenized and ultra-pasteurized. I might be able to settle for just pasteurized. How does raw milk freeze?
1 Comment
July 10, 2007 at 8:27 am (frustrations)
This past week was one of many picnics and meals away from home. Hence ”Bring Your Own Food” was the way to go. It went better as time went on. By the time we hit yesterdays event I felt we were doing good. I had whole grain sourdough bread with me as well as some nut butter, we also took green beans with potatoes in them, meatballs in a tangy tomatoe sauce, watermelon, a veggie tray, and some tiny bite sized cheesecakes made with honey and rapadura and whole wheat crust. The girls felt like they were able to have something sweet as well as a big array of food that they could munch on. Other food that was there that we could eat: fruit salad. About the same as all the other places we went. Not much there to eat aside from what we brought.
I’m thinking a need a bigger car if I am going to have to take the kids, their gear, and a cooler full of food everywhere!
1 Comment
