Strawberries

The grandson is a big fan of strawberries. At dinner tonight we had strawberry spinach salad. Yum! The grandson decided he preferred his strawberries straight from the package without all the embellishments.  He started saying straw-ber-ries over and over again as he ate them one by one. It was so funny the way he was saying it, with his tongue wiggling all over his face, so I decided to make a video of him. Of course, then he just started being silly, but I love the surprise ending of this little movie.

Last month when my sisters and I rendezvoused in San Diego for a week, the woman in charge of restocking our breakfast each morning at the motel was very friendly and told us she was going to Carlsbad to pick strawberries for her anniversary.  Since we were planning a trip to Carlsbad too, we decided that sounded like a fun adventure.  The daughter, the son-in-law and the grandson accompanied us to the strawberry fields.  We (read Kathy) paid a premium price for the berries and the experience, but it was fun.

Carlsbad Strawberry Fields - April 20, 2012

and we picked some very, very delicious strawberries that the grandson called pineapple about half the time.

Green Smoothies

At our last Relief Society Enrichment Meeting one of the sisters and her 3 little girls taught us how to make green smoothies. The main ingredient of this drink is green vegetables (they used mostly fresh spinach in theirs, packed to the top of their blend-tec blender). They also added a few frozen berries, frozen bananas, an apple, some kale and water. Everyone in this family, except the baby, drinks one of these concoctions every morning before breakfast. The girls each drink a pint and the parents drink a quart each. The mom says then she knows her family has gotten their minimum fruit and vegetable intake taken care of for the day. We were all given a sample taste and I didn't think it tasted half bad, but I was pretty sure it would be a tough sale with my family members.
After the youngest son donated blood I was looking for a good way to rebuild his iron. I joked that if he didn't figure out something healthy to eat I was going to make him drink green smoothies. He surprised me by saying "You make it and I'll drink it." So, I made it. I followed the same basic recipe that we received in Enrichment, minus the kale and the apple, which I didn't have. I also added a quarter of a lemon, peel and all, because the actual recipe we received at Relief Society included one. This is what it looked like when I handed it to the son.

This color is suppose to be purple, but it doesn't really look purple to me.
This was the son's face after the first drink.

He drank the entire glass, commenting non stop, "I can't believe I'm drinking this even though I know what's in it." "This looks like the scum we cleaned off of the bottom of our swimming pool." "This doesn't taste nearly as bad as I thought it would." When he finished he informed me that I was making him a green smoothie every morning from now on
and I have.
I have done a little experimenting with different fruits and we both have decided that we like the pineapple, strawberry, mango, papaya frozen mix from Costco the best. We also like it a lot better with frozen bananas than fresh ones. I can live without the lemon, but the son insists it is the key ingredient. This combo actually does make a very green smoothie.

This is the son's special green, green smoothie glass. It doesn't quite hold a quart, but I'm still thinking it's better than nothing. The son believes that this "radioactive green" smoothie must enhance dormant super powers. I guess we'll find out sometime if that's true. Now I need to start experimenting with a wider variety of green veggies and convince the rest of the family that they are really missing out on something wonderful. It actually tastes pretty good if you don't look at it while you're drinking.

Today I am thankful for

all my past experience with copy machines, paper cutters, packing tape and laminators. It came in handy today.
99 degrees at 6:00 PM.
a dinner date with my hubby.

One year ago today - How to Build IKEA furniture

Chinese Cultural Center

Today I went on a field trip with the oldest daughter's Second Grade class to the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix. It was a warm day and it was a sit and wait, listen and don't touch kind of field trip which was hard for the kids. We toured a Chinese Garden and an Oriental Grocery Store. We did learn some interesting tidbits about Chinese culture and we were treated to Chinese food at the end, which was very good.

The children were asked to "dress nicely" for this field trip. It was interesting to see the different interpretations of what "nicely" meant.


We learned that different things are carved on the roofs of the buildings to protect them. Here is a dragon that protects from evil spirits.

These are sea creatures that protect the buildings from fire.

These statues represent the things that we need in life. One has water and the other is holding a flower to represent beauty. There were other ones but I don't remember how many, perhaps 10. Some of the other needs were food, music, and education.

The circular doorway behind the statues is to walk through. The Chinese try to avoid sharp edges because they represent knives or death. I think it is called a moon gate maybe.

This pond was full of lots and lots of fish, great big ones and little, teeny tiny ones.

More statues. I think the first one represents an emperor and I'm not sure what the other ones represent.



The Chinese make their bridges crooked so that if an evil spirit is chasing you he will get confused and loose his way.


The gardens were very beautiful but the Second Graders and I would have enjoyed having some time to explore them a little more.

Here we are sitting outside the grocery store waiting for time for our tour. The books made good fans since it was very warm.

They also made good shields so we couldn't be seen when we got our pictures taken.


A few of us actually read them.

And finally we got to line up and go inside where it was air conditioned.

The most exciting part of the grocery store was the fresh fish swimming in tanks. There was quite the variety, but the smell was a little strong for some of us, especially the pregnant teacher. We also got to see 1,000 year old eggs and a large variety of beer in the cooler we waited in line for our food next too. We got our food from a food court in the grocery store. It was very interesting trying to help the students select fried rice or noodles and 2 entrees from a selection of items they couldn't recognize and that all looked a little strange. Most of the kids stuck with a type of chicken (like orange chicken without the sauce) and egg rolls. A few chose duck and really liked it. I wasn't that brave and stuck with my old favorite Sweet and Sour Pork and some green beans.

It is always fun to get out of the classroom and do something different, but I wouldn't say this was my favorite field trip of all time. I think I would like to go back sometime with the hubby and just check out some of the stores and visit the garden at a more leisurely pace. Oh, and buy a couple of those 1,000 year old eggs perhaps.

Pima Tacos

This morning I got a phone call from my sister-in-law inviting our family to her house for dinner. About a year ago one of our nieces committed suicide leaving behind 4 children between the ages of 11 and 2. She had kind of distanced herself from the family and her children a few months prior to her death and the children, along with the father of the 2 youngest, were living with this sister-in-law when this all transpired. The father of the 2nd child eventually decided he wanted his daughter (who is 10 now) to come and live with him. She wasn't excited to be separated from her siblings and this turned out to not be a very positive situation in a lot of ways. This sister-in-law went to court to get custody of this child and today she came back home. She loves Pima Tacos and so we welcomed her back with food.

My oldest sister-in-law showing off her popover patting skills.

The hubby can cook with one hand in his pocket.

The kids waiting patiently to partake.

Today I am thankful for

dinner cooked by someone else.
my vacuum.
relatives who work hard to make life better for the kids we care about.
the chance to watch things grow in the fields around my in-laws homes. Right now it's a crop of wheat.

Just for Me

During my early teens I babysat frequently to earn some spending money. My going rate was 25 cents an hour and I remember getting paid 50 cents an hour once in a while and thinking I was rollin' in the dough. I had several families that I babysat for regularly, but there was one family that I tended more than any other. I enjoyed their kids a lot and was always happy to be at their house. I think perhaps one of the reasons I liked babysitting for this family were the food perks that were included. The mom always made sure the cookie jar was full of fresh chocolate chip cookies every time I came. She made a point of telling me they were there "just for me" so I didn't even feel bad about eating them. This mom would also prepare a shepherd's pie and leave it in the oven or the fridge if I was going to be there during the dinner hour. This was 'just for me" as well. Her kids probably got tired of shepherd's pie, but I never did. This was a treat that we didn't have at my house and I enjoyed it every time I ate it. I guess that is why shepherd's pie is close to the top of my comfort foods list still today.

This dish never fails to bring happy thoughts with each bite. It's amazing how a little hamburger, tomato sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes and cheese can do that!

Today I am thankful for

a woman who knew how to make a 13 year old feel special.
things I learned from babysitting that have helped me care for my own children.
a husband who goes with me on errands.

Milkshakes and Movies

The oldest son had some oral surgery done yesterday. He had 2 spots in his mouth where there were holes in his bone and they had to cut his gum and fill the holes with cadaver bone. He has been spending a lot of time sitting on the couch with an ice pack held to his mouth.
I stocked up on lots of soft food for him to eat during his recovery and he has been using this as a good excuse to consume a few milkshakes as well.

Today he decided to host a Mighty Ducks Movie Marathon. Somehow I was sucked into the excitement of the event and spent most of my day keeping him company. It had been a long time since I had watched one of the Mighty Ducks movies and I can now say I've watched all three of them in about 5 hours. The sacrifices we mothers have to make for our children.

Food Affection

Last time I was in Utah my sister-in-law made the comment that a lot of my blogs and the blogs of my children seem to include a great number of posts concerning food. Unfortunately, I had to agree with her. My family seems to have a strong affection for food. I like to use the excuse that I only take pictures of the family when we are eating out, but that really isn't totally true. It just seems like many of our memories and activities center around food. Each year when we visit Utah, I'm afraid our agenda is based more on where we are gong to eat than what we are going to do. I realize this is a problem and I have tried to change at times, but it is a hard habit to break.
I have been doing some sorting and organizing in my bedroom recently and I ran across my life history that I wrote for a Genealogy class I took at BYU. It was somewhat discouraging to realize that this "completed" personal history, that was written in 1983, now has more missing years than recorded ones, but that's beside the point. I read the first page and immediately figured out where my food affection came from. There was a paragraph with some memories my dad had written of my birth and this was part of his description of the hospital where I was born "the cook who worked in a rather large kitchen on the ground floor fixed excellent meals and mother always enjoyed her stay which generally lasted four or five days." There it is. My birth was celebrated by my mother with delicious hospital food and my father associated my arrival with that memory. It appears that both of my parents would have had a lot of food posts as well if blogs had been around in 1959. Apparently it's a genetic thing.

The Fruits of Fall

What a wonderful time of year to get to come to Utah! Today mom and I took a ride out to Santaquin and visited a few fruit stands. I bought some apples and peaches and nectarines that were probably growing on the tree yesterday. Then we drove out to Genola and behind West mountain to see all the fruit orchards and the trees still laden with fruit. We followed a tractor pulling a wagon full of peaches to the stand for a couple of minutes. I feel bad for city kids that think that fruit just comes from a store.

When we got back to mom's house I went out in her back yard and picked some tomatoes and some summer squash out of her tiny garden. Yum! Yum! Eating what I'm suppose to on my diet is going to be so much easier with all this bounty. I am so blessed.

Food

Food has been on my mind a lot the past few days.

I suffer from Fibromyalgia.
It stinks.
I wouldn't wish this disease on my worst enemy.

Once in a while I get really tired of feeling yucky
and decide that I am going to be more proactive
and do something about it.
I start reading books and looking for possible solutions.
This usually leads to feeling worse instead of feeling better.
There are so many unknowns associated with this illness
and it affects people in many different ways.
Most of the suggestions in most of the books
end with the disclaimer -
this has been proven to help in
about 2% of the subjects who tried it.
2% isn't very high, but I guess if
I were in that 2% it would be worth it.

The past month I have been reading a book entitled
The Fibromyalgia Solution
by David Dyland.
A lot of what he has to say makes sense to me.
One of his opinions is that the symptoms of Fibromyalgia
are made worse by certain foods and food allergies.
His suggestion was to go on a 3 week elimination diet.
The idea is to eliminate ALL the foods
that might possibly be increasing the problem.
It's a pretty long list.

I decided that I needed to
at least put his theory to the test.
Of course I couldn't do it during my birthday month
so I decided to wait and begin
after my fast on September 7th.
I knew I was going to need all the help I could get
so beginning with a fast made sense to me.

For the next 3 weeks my diet consists of

Fresh Fruit - except citrus and strawberries
Dried Fruit - unsweetened in limited quantities
Fresh or Steamed Vegetables - except corn and peas
Chicken (not processed)
Turkey (not processed)
Fish (wild only not farm raised)
Nuts and Nut Butters - except peanuts
Seeds
Beans, Lentils and other Legumes
Wild or Brown Rice
Quinoa, Millet, Amaranth and Buckwheat
Rice or Almond Milk (w/o sugar)
Water
Vegetable Juice (except carrot)
Coconut, Palm or Olive Oil
Spices - except red and black pepper

Now, perhaps you can guess
that this is not the way I usually eat.
Where's the Diet Coke?
the Chocolate?
the Dairy Products?
the Bread?
the Red Meat?
the Oatmeal?
the Eggs?
Pretty much where's anything
that sounds remotely exciting?

This has been kind of hard for me.
I have dreamed about food the last two nights.
I have been having a bit of a
"poor me" attitude today.
Life is so hard and I can't even eat anything good.

I decided to clean out my e-mail box
to distract myself from wanting to eat.
While I was deleting messages after messages
(Let's get rid of chocolate and
unread messages all at the same time.)
I ran across this e-mail I received a while back
from one of my friends.
It really helped me to put things in perspective.

It's entitled a Week's Worth of Food

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week $341.98

Italy : The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27

Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53

Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

Bhutan: The Namgay family of S hi ng khey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum o r $5.03

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

All of the sudden all that food
I get to eat for the next 3 weeks
looks pretty darn good.

After 3 weeks I get to start
adding food groups back
one at a time.
If I don't have increased symptoms
after a couple of days
I can keep eating that group
and add another.
Some "food" groups are
suppose to never get added back.
I bet you can guess which ones.
Hmm,
I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

For now I'll just work on appreciating
what I have.

Today I am thankful for

an abundance of food.
Friends who send me e-mails to remind me how blessed I am.
Possibilities.

The thing I learned today was the origin of the cliche "Going Cold Turkey" which means to quit something abruptly. This expression originates from the goose bumps and pallor which accompany withdrawal from narcotics or tobacco. One's skin resembles that of a plucked, cold turkey. I am feeling a bit cold.

Frogs don't like orange peels.

Today in nursery one of the kids found a finger puppet frog during snack time. I put him on my finger and proceeded to provide some snack time entertainment. I did a lot of talking which got giggle after giggle out of all 6 of the children. Then they started to offer the frog some of their food. He was a fan of goldfish, oranges, cheese and strawberries, but he did not like the orange peels. Of course, once he showed his preference all of the sudden a couple of little boys got great delight out of trying to feed him orange peels in a number of creative ways. It was very entertaining.

I think it is so interesting that at 2 and 3 these little children of God already have their own unique personalities. They are so much fun to be around and have such a desire to learn new things.

Our lesson this week was "I am thankful for my ears". My oldest daughter and her husband laugh at the lesson topics we teach in nursery, but I think they are very inspired. I am indeed thankful for my ears. I would miss so much if I couldn't hear. Things like those endless giggles at the snack table and nursery singing time with musical instruments. Or perhaps the fart that just "accidentally" escaped from the 12-year-old neighbor we were driving home from church. Those sounds are much more enjoyable when they come from someone else's son. However, the thing I would have missed most today was my 22-year-old saying "I sure wish my brother would come home. Things just aren't the same when he's not here." That I would have never believed if I hadn't heard it with my own ears!