On (attempting) being a vegetarian…

I said in my last post that I’d try to share a few things I’ve done in the first few days of my Vegetarian Experiment to make things work in this typically omnivorous household.  When I started trying to eat this way, it was the end of the month.  I wasn’t going to be able to go grocery shopping for a few days, so I had to work with what we had in the house.  That meant leftovers, and a few stray vegetables.

The first few days I mostly ate eggs and toast, or oatmeal for breakfast.  Lunch was a PB&J sandwich, or another egg-something.  Dinner had to be leftovers, which consisted of tuna casserole (I called myself a pescetarian at that meal!), and leftover chili (which had hamburger in it…sorry, but I was hungry!).

At one dinner, I made a yummy skillet meal that used up all the stray veggies in my fridge (carrots, a zucchini, green onion, and some cabbage).  Before I added the hamburger for the rest of the family, I scooped out a bowl for myself.  This is one thing I think I’m going to be doing a lot to keep my meals meat free.  Admittedly, this meal was made with beef flavored Top Ramen, which isn’t the healthiest thing in the world (and obviously not vegetarian), but DARN IT!, Ramen is good.  And I bought Oriental flavor (which IS vegetarian) for the next time I make it.

The day after I made the skillet meal, I was able to go grocery shopping.  Would you like to see my produce haul?  It’s pretty fantastic!

Here are my veggies:  carrots (whole and shredded), celery, green onions, avocado, spring salad mix, romaine lettuce, red bell peppers, portabella mushrooms, green beans, alfalfa-broccoli sprouts, Brussels sprouts, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and yellow squash.

And the fruit:  apples, pears, kiwis, tiny oranges, bananas, lemons, limes, and blueberries.

Along with the produce, I bought (or replenished) lots of staples: canned and dry beans, quinoa, tortillas, white and brown rice, breads, cheese, eggs, etc, etc, etc.  And what have I been doing with all of these wonderful groceries?

For lunch one day, I made myself some Crunchy Black Bean Tacos.  They were so delicious, and I don’t usually like black beans!  The seasoning was perfect, and it would be very easy to swap out the filling with some other combinations.  I added some sour cream and taco sauce, and  served it with what my sister likes to call a BAS, a Big Ass Salad. 

Eggs have become a big part of my breakfast menu.  I know I shouldn’t eat a ton of them, but they are an easy source of protein, and they keep me full longer than oatmeal or cereal.  So, until I can get some protein powder for smoothies, eggs will probably be my go-to breakfast food.  Here is a fried egg on a whole wheat english muffin, smeared with some mashed avocado and topped with some hot sauce.

A few years ago, at a crafting retreat with my sisters and some friends, we had wraps for lunch one day that were absolutely delicious.  I never made them after the retreat, although I always vowed I would.  Well, this Experiment seemed like the perfect time to do it!  I threw broccoli, cauliflower, green onion, shredded carrot, sprouts, and red bell pepper into the food processor and gave it a whirl.  I kept going until everything was chopped pretty small.  I put some in a tortilla with some ranch dressing, and it was just as good as I remembered.  I had the same thing for lunch today, except I added black beans, taco sauce, and shredded cheddar.  I also plan to cook this a bit and add it to some quinoa for a quick “fried rice” type lunch.

And the last picture I have are some Baked Egg Rolls I made for dinner last night.  The fuller tray has chicken (for the rest of the family), and the less full tray is only vegetables.  Everyone loved these, and five of us finished off all of them (the youngest didn’t eat any, and the oldest had FIVE!).  I have a few wrappers left, which I hope to use to attempt to make some southwestern style egg rolls.  I’ll let you know how it goes. 😉  I served these with white rice and soy sauce, because the hubby doesn’t like brown rice.  Eventually I will make brown rice for all of us (the kids like it) and make him a separate pot of white.

So, there are my first few days as a vegetarian, in pictures.  Some other points of the last few days that don’t have photos to go with them:

-For breakfast this morning I made a smoothie with vanilla Greek yogurt, a banana, peanut butter, oatmeal, coconut oil, cocoa powder, and agave syrup.  I usually prefer fruit smoothies with spinach added, but I didn’t have spinach, or much frozen fruit.  I will rectify that situation soon!

-For dinner tonight we picked up a few to-go lasagna dinners from a local fundraiser (send those kids to outdoor camp!).  They had a vegetarian option, which was, unfortunately, just regular lasagna with no meat.  It was good, but I wish they would’ve added some spinach or other vegetables to it. 

My daughter kept asking me “Why did you get a vegetarian one?”, since I haven’t really talked to anyone in my family about my Experiment.  I brushed her off, but I suppose at some point I will have to explain my choices to them. But…that’s another post.

-I have been rockin’ the water drinking this week.  At least 64+ ounces of water a day, plus sometimes a Crystal Light Pure Lemonade in the evenings.  Because, let’s face it, sometimes water gets boring. 

I know drink mixes probably aren’t the best thing, but I feel a little better because this brand doesn’t have all of the artificial stuff in it. As for flavors, the Lemonade is very good.  The Grape is yummy, too, but I didn’t really like the Mixed Berry (my kids drank it, though).  I haven’t seen the other two flavors at my store, but I will keep an eye out for them.

I still have a soda everyday.  I just really, really love Dr. Pepper.  I can’t help it.  I feel like, though, that I am doing so many healthy things for my body right now (eating healthier, running, drinking tons more water, cutting out 95% of other sweets), that a bottle of soda everyday isn’t going to kill me (especially since a month ago I was drinking up to three bottles a day).  I figure, once the real training kicks in, for the half marathon I want to do at the end of summer, the desire for the soda may just naturally go away.  And if not, I’m okay with that too.

-I realized I’ve been doing great with the vegetable eating, but not so great with the fruit.  I’ve never been a big fruit eater anyway, a banana here or there, but not much else.  I think smoothies will be my biggest go-to for fruit consumption, once I get the freezer restocked.

-I also made Hummus for a snack.  My youngest daughter told me it “hurt her” when she taste-tested, although I’m still not quite sure what that means.  To be fair, she was tasting it straight from the food processor, and it wasn’t real great that way.  Once I sprinkled black pepper and drizzled olive oil on it, it was much better.  My oldest daughter even had some after she was finished with her dinner.

So, there it is.  My first week as a “vegetarian.”  Sorry if it’s a bit overwhelming!  I know I shared a lot, but…there was a lot to share!

See you later!  I’m headed to bed now. 🙂

Finally on the road again…

And, another two and a half months go by without me posting a darn thing.  Blerg.  Well, let’s try again.

I’ve started running again!  My knee is feeling loads better, and I’m hoping that if I start doing continue doing yoga and strength exercises, it (and my hip) will continue to get stronger.

Wait!  What’s wrong with my knee and hip, you ask?  Well, not as much now as last month. 

I’ve actually had to take the last five months off from running because of lots of pain in my knee.  It started to hurt while I was training for my half marathon, but of course I continued to run on it.  It gave out nine miles in to the race.  I was able to walk/run the last four miles, but it was not a good thing.  I took five months off of running, finally went to the doctor, had an x-ray and MRI done, only to find out it was just tendinitis.  The doctor told me to use compression and anti-inflammatories to help with any pain.  It hasn’t been hurting me at all, which is huge and amazing and wonderful!

As for my hip, I don’t know what happened there.  I sat down cross-legged on the floor one day, and couldn’t put my right knee all the way to the ground.  Not only did my hip hurt, but I had lost all external range of motion in it.  The doctor checked it out, and decided it was also tendinitis.  I’ve been doing some yoga and using my foam roller on it.  It is by no means better, but it is better than it was.  It doesn’t hurt at all when I run, so that’s a big bonus.  It does make certain yoga moves very awkward though…

In other running news, I’ve sort of become a vegetarian.  Well, I’m calling myself a “flexitarian.”  I’m not doing it for ethical reasons, so if I want to have tri-tip or a pork chop when my hubby hits the grill, or chicken wings and salami filled with cream cheese at a Super Bowl party, or a piece of tilapia or some shrimp or tuna, I will.  I’m mostly doing it to see if a (mostly) plant-based diet will help my running at all. 

The thing with running is, once I start, healthy eating kind of kicks in to high gear for me.  Soda no longer tastes super great, sugar cereal hurts my stomach, and chips and crackers just seem gross.  In researching healthier snacks and habits, I came across the website/movement No Meat Athlete.  It is full of information on how to start down a path to healthier, plant-based eating.  So I jumped in and went for it.

I’m not forcing anyone in my family to eat this way.  Jason’s favorite question at dinner time often seems to be “Where’s the meat?”, so I know there is no way he’d jump on this bandwagon.  I’m finding ways to work around it, like adding meat in to a vegetable-laden skillet dish after taking out my bowlful, buying a vegetarian pizza for dinner along with the meatier options, and making vegetarian friendly snacks to keep in the fridge for days when I might choose to skip part of dinner.  I just went grocery shopping yesterday, so we will see how this works in full scale over the next few weeks.

Maybe tomorrow I will share some of the things I’ve eaten the last few days that fit in with my diet choices (diet as in “foods I put in my body,” not “I’m trying to lose weight”).

Sorry if this is a bit jumbled and full of *stuff*.  It’s just been so long…

Isn’t it 2013 already?

Apparently my brain thinks the 2012-2013 school year is over , and that September is already upon us.  In my mind, I’m planning what curriculum we will use next year: what Sonlight cores I will get to experience with the big and the little kids, what math and phonics programs I will use with Zeke and Emma, what other fun things I can find to incorporate in to our studies.

What is it that has me always looking ahead?  How can I be thinking about next year, when I’ve got so much to focus on this year?  We started our homeschool a month late, and we have much to do if we want to be done before the middle of summer.  Instead of planning for next year, I should be better planning this year.

It’s so much fun though, thinking about the future.

I’m pretty set in what curriculum I will use with the big kids.  I know what works, how they learn best, and which publishers Ilike for which subjects.  There’s not much fun in it.  Sonlight is one of the only things that will really change next year; we are using Sonlight this year, but we will get to study a new topic next year (recent world history this year, early American history next year).  Also, our science publisher will probably stay the same (Apologia Exploring Creation), although the subject will change (we are doing astronomy this year; I think I’ll let the kids decide what to study for next year).  Math, Bible, and language arts will all be Christian Light Education again.

Zeke and Emma are where I get to branch out a little.  I don’t know what their learning styles are yet.  At this point they are still so little and eager to learn that I’m excited about what I will get to do with them.  For both, I am planning on Sonlight Core P4/5 or Core A.  Emma will be four years old (a very smart four), and Zeke will be six a few months after we start school (a pretty typical six year old boy).  I’m not sure which will be better for the two of them together.  Math will probably be Math-U-See Primer, either worked together or just for Zeke.  I think both of them will be reading, or close to reading, so we may start working through Explode the Code 1.  I’m not sure what other things we will be using for these two.  It’s exciting thinking and planning for them, though.

I think the reason I’m thinking about next year so much is because I’m looking forward to my kids being another year older, another year smarter, another year more independent.  It’s not that I want my kids to grow up quickly.  Far from it, I’m enjoying having them with me, enjoying watching them be kids.  But honestly, I love having bigger kids.  I love that all of my kids are past the baby and toddler stages, and that Emma has firmly moved in to the preschool stage.  I love the fun and freedom that having older kids brings.  Sure, every age group brings it’s own challenges (hormones, anyone?), but I feel much better equipped to deal with the challenges of a child who isn’t only independent, but has the ability to communicate that independence.

So, I’ll continue to plan for the 2013-2014 school year.  My kids may not even be home with me next year (a private Christian school is another of our schooling options), although I dearly hope they will be.  But thinking about what we will learn will help fill the quiet hours between now and next September.

Back in the saddle….again?!

I’m always coming on here, saying I’m going to start writing more frequently, and then it never happens.  Not that there is anyone reading to be disappointed by my lack of follow-through.  The only one I’m disappointing is myself, I guess.

But, I’ve had this blog for a long time.  I’ve got posts on here dating back to 2007 (imported from my old Blogger site), although I know I wrote earlier than that.  And something keeps pulling me back.  I love to write.  I’m no good at fiction, and I’ve got no use for letters (Facebook and texting, anyone?), research papers, or news articles.  So what’s left for someone who just loves words?  A blog, of course.  And I guess if I love writing, I will write whether there is anyone to read it or not!

Also, I’ve got a lot going on in my life right now.  Homeschooling four kids (grades 5, 3, pre-k, and preschool), managing a home, knitting, running (if the injuries will clear up!), cooking, organizing, a Pinterest obsession, and all the other things that go with being a woman of this time.  I guess I’ve got something to offer to the interwebz at large.  Maybe not anything new, but it’s mine nonetheless.

Also, I use words like “nonetheless.”

So, I guess I will try again.  Let’s see if I can stick with this for more than two days this time!  Keep an eye out for some changes to the look of the blog.  I’m not lovin’ the current vibe, so I’ll be working on it.

If you stumble upon this, I hope you’ll come back to check on me soon!

It’s been a while…

…three and a half months to be exact. 

Life is a little more interesting now, with more going on, so maybe I will post more. 

I’ve started running, I’m still knitting, and I’m hoping to read more soon.  We might homeschool again next year.  The kids are getting bigger.  Life is moving on.

I’ve got more time in my day, although sometimes I feel like I’m doing less with that time than I should be.  Story of my life. 

Hope to see you back here soon. 

WIP Wednesday

Here are the latest projects I’ve been working on.

Some mini-thing things that will have things added later:

*picture and actual descriptions have been removed so that the recipients won’t see them! if you really want to know what they look like, I’ll show you privately.*

And, well, nothing else, really.  I’m trying to get some Christmas presents done, and nothing else is being worked on. I’ve got a few more presents to get make, and then it will be back to my regularly scheduled crafting.

I’m actually starting to feel overwhelmed by the number of WIPs I have right now, even though the pressure is totally self-inflicted.  I think I might frog a couple of them, and just work on the really important ones.  Which would be these:

Sierra’s sweater:

My cowl:

Sierra’s blanket:

And that’s all the yarn talk for today.  Now it’s time to make the littles some lunch!

On my phone!

I’m constantly amazed at the cool things I’m able to do with modern technology (modern makes me sound like I’m 80, and I used to live in the Stone Age). I’m posting from my phone, even though I’m sitting right in front of my computer. But this means I can now post randomness from anywhere. Yay!

Bookfession #790

This is so true for me…

Motivation…

Time for a little honesty…

I’ve been slacking on the school stuff lately.  By default, we seem to have taken a two-week long Spring Break.  I’m not sure what that will do to our finishing date; I’ve got to sit down and run the numbers on it.  What I really need to do is make out a schedule to ensure that we are done sometime before mid-July.

My motivation has been missing lately.  Before our break, we were getting our work done, but it was a struggle everyday.  It wasn’t for lack of having everything scheduled.  Sonlight has everything all written out for you.  The kids know what work they are supposed to do in their individual work (one page of this, two pages of that, etc).  What it really was was laziness.  I was being lazy, wanting to spend my time on the computer.  They were being lazy, wanting to spend their time in front of the TV (following my lead, obviously).  I find myself in a funk these days.  No motivation to do much of anything, not just school.  I waste time on the computer all morning long, and then rush to get all the other house stuff done in the afternoon, leaving little time for kid-centered activities.  Leaving little time for anything really, except the minimum life requires.

To be honest, I’ve been very selfish.  Too much thinking about my emotional/spiritual life has caused me to shut down in other areas.  I’m not sure what to do about this, except pray.  Pray for balance.  Pray for strength.  Pray for selflessness.  Pray for a servants heart.

My life should be my kids, my husband, my home.  Not Facebook, and Ravelry, and the Diaper Pin.  I’ve really been slacking these last few months.

I have an amazing opportunity here.  My kids are with me all day long.  I have a chance to show them what a real adult is like, what they should be striving for as they grow up.  I should be showing them how to love Good, how to be responsible, busy, industrious, kind, loving, patient, healthy, etc, etc, etc.  Instead, all they see is that when you grow up you get to sit on the computer all day, eat crappy junk food, and boss your kids around while not doing much yourself.

What am I thinking?!  Something has to change.  It’s time to get off my butt and get my life, my house, my family on track.

Sorry to get off track.  I started talking about homeschooling, but got distracted along the way.  Guess I just needed to get it all written down, so I couldn’t deny it to myself anymore.

So now what?  Now it’s time to put the computer to sleep and get on with my life!

>The New Schoolroom!

>***You should be able to click on pictures to make them bigger. At least I can, on my computer. Just click your brower’s “back” button when you are done looking at them to return to the post.***

I’m finally posting the promised pictures of our new schoolroom! All of the stuff I’ve ordered in the last few weeks has come in, and things are finally set up the way I like them! I’ve still got some fine-tuning to do, this weekend and in the coming weeks, but this is the basic set-up.

I forgot to get a Way Before picture, when it was still a playroom with a floor covered in toys. All of the toys are currently sitting in the garage, waiting to be sorted, regrouped, and brought back in to the house in mixed and smaller increments. I’d like to put together a smallish box of different toys (a few animals, a few trains, a few Little People, etc), and switch things up every few weeks just to keep the kids interested in what’s in the box. We have enough toys in the garage to start our own toy store, so if I can get things organized out there it’s totally doable. Anyway, back to the schoolroom…..

Here is the first picture. Getting the bare bones of the room in place. We moved the futon 90 degrees (it used to take up that whole back wall), which has made a nice little computer/Mom’s desk area. Those big boxes in the foreground are the kids’ desks, waiting to be unpacked.

Next picture, a few days later. The desks are out and assembled (blue for Sierra, red for Tyner). The cabinet with doors is all put together (thanks Babe!). And you can see the little kids table there by the futon. You can’t see it, but the whole side of the table is cracked where the seam is. I called Step2 and they are sending a replacement tabletop totally free! Great customer service!

A day or two later. I don’t know if you can tell the difference from the last picture, but we switched my desk and the kids’ computer desk around. The original placement was a bit awkward, and this works much better! Also different is my set of plastic shelves that have been moved in to the room and loaded up.

And now for the organize-y stuff! Here is one set of shelves. Close-ups and explanations below.

Top shelf has art stuff, well out of the reach of small hands. Next shelf down is crayons, markers, pencils, etc., and some math games. Below that is the tray for finished work and some stuff for the kids to keep their hands busy with (beads, pom-poms, tongs, lacing cards, etc.).

Next comes Zeke’s set of drawers. These have a Preschool workbook that he likes to write in, some coloring pages, and his Get Ready for the Code book. Next to that is a file crate that has all the big kids’ school papers (completed and still to be done). The bottom shelf has a box that is full of everything we need for science experiments for a curriculum we will be using next year. There is also a bag to recycle paper (too bad we can’t recycle it anywhere locally…).

Next comes the cabinet with doors. This is where I put everything that I don’t want the kids getting in to without supervision.

Top shelf has stickers and a box for tape/glue, my laminator and some files and cardstock. Next shelf is my box (picture below) and a red bucket. This bucket will eventually have beanbags in it, if I ever get off my lazy bum and make some.

Here is my box. It has everything I might need to get at quickly, but that I don’t necessarily need to keep in my desk (I’ve got a smaller box in my desk with scissors, Post-Its [one pad in each of the kids’ colors], pens, Sharpies, etc.). In this box there are lots of pens, tape, extra scissors, different glues, my label maker, calculator, index cards, and more stuff that I can’t really remember right now.

The bottom three shelves of the cabinet hold all of our coloring books and games. It’s not that I don’t want the kids to be able to get at these, it’s just that….I don’t want the kids to be able to get at these. LOL. I want to keep Zeke and Emma out of these so that the pieces don’t end up everywhere. I also want to make sure I know when the big kids are playing a game so that I can make sure they clean it up when they are done.

Here are the big desks. The one in the corner has the kids’ computer. It doesn’t have internet access, and at this point, is strictly for playing CD-ROM games. The math that both kids will be using next year will be done on the computer, so it will be used for that eventually. The drop-down desk is mine. The little pink-lidded box in there is the one I was talking about earlier.

And last but not least, here is the big kids’ workspace. The area on the left (blue desk) is Sierra’s, and the right is Tyner’s. The set of drawers will be used for organizing their work. At this point they go at their individual work kind of willy-nilly. They know what needs to be done most of the time, but I’d still like to get it somewhat organized for them (especially since things will be a little different next year, with more subjects being introduced). Eventually the drawers will be numbered, and each kid will have a sheet hanging on the wall in front of their desk with their assignments listed on it (assignments will be numbered to match the drawers). The hope is to order their work in such a way that both kids won’t need the computer (or Mom) at the same time. Oh, and the little white thing sitting on Tyner’s desk? That’s our little 360 degree heater that we got from Walmart for $15. The insulation’s not so great in this room, but the heater does a great job of keeping things cozy. The heater only lives on Tyner’s desk when the schoolroom isn’t being used. Normally it sits in the middle of the floor.

I’d like to mention lighting. Most of these pictures (all except the first one) were taken at night under florescent lights with a flash. The first picture was taken during the day and shows just how bright the room really is. This part of the house gets many hours of daylight, and the room is never gloomy or dark (unless the weather outside is gloomy and dark ;).

I realize that I’ve failed to mention the enormous brown bookshelf that you can only see in the third picture. At this point it has wooden puzzles on the top shelf (Emma’s favorite thing to do right now is to pull every.single.piece from every.single.puzzle and to throw it on the floor. I thought it best to put the puzzles up high). The next shelf down has some curriculum we aren’t currently using. Eventually I would love for this bookshelf to become a curriculum library (idea stolen from a ‘Pin friend!), but for now it will either be empty or will have other books on it (since our other, big bookshelf is full).

You might’ve also noticed the large cardboard box in the bottom left corner of the full-room shots? That box holds all of our curriculum for next year. All of our history/geography readers, all of our read-aloud books, both kids’ math CDs and reading books, some art books, and Sierra’s Reference Library stuff. Both kids’ Bible and language arts worktexts are in a smaller box next to the big box.

Well, that’s about it. I spent some time in the room this evening, hanging up maps and some posters. Once I get things on more of a routine, and get us all settled in, I will try to share some of our system with y’all (yes, Sisters, I just said “y’all”). Hope you enjoyed the tour!