Being "those people" - whole food eating on vaca!

My family and I recently went on a sort of mini vacation to a water park themed hotel for a couple of days. We had a blast.  We were water logged, exhausted, and happy by the end of our stay.  However, the trip to provide the challenge of what to eat while we were there.  Of course, there were all kinds of restaurants in and around the hotel.  And, of course, none of these touted a "whole foods/paleo" menu.

We had to decide how rigid we needed to be with our family's eating habits - would we be "those people" who go on vacation and bring their own food?  If it were just my husband and me, I think that we would have "cheated" and not felt too bad about it.  (He did, after all just take me out for my birthday recently and we both enjoyed stuffing our faces with whatever we wanted!).  But, the bigger question revolves around our oldest son who has been diagnosed with Autism.  The paleo diet has helped him in ways we never dreamed.  If you don't know him well, he can basically pass for a "typical kid" - which is a far cry from where he was when we started.  So, for us, sticking to the diet has larger implications than just whether or not our stomachs might feel icky for a day or two.

So, yes- we were "those people".  We brought an entire cooler and food bad with us and used the hotel room's fridge and mircowave to heat up our meals.

What does a family of six take for quick, reheatable meals for their vacation?  Well, here's what we had packed for our water park loving fuel:

- Lots of various nuts and fruits
- Shepherd's pie (basically meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top)
- "Kid Chili" (browned hamburger then simmered in spaghetti sauce, with a little extra tomato sauce and some chili pepper and paprika added in)
- Cauliflower soup
- Oven roasted brussels sprouts and bacon

We did do one "cheat meal" which included getting some hotdogs (no buns!) for the kids to eat in the car after leaving the hotel.  Hey, we're not that crazy. :)

Until next time, my friends.... Live well!

Becky

Thoughts from my thumb

No, my thumb isn't thinking.  I am thinking about my thumb.  Weird, right?  Keep reading...

So I recently injured myself during one of my cooking adventures.  I literally took off part of my thumb while chopping an onion.  Yeah, I know - I'm super coordinated and graceful and all that....

Anyway, as my thumb healed, I was struck by how all kinds of healing can be very similar.  Sometimes in life, we have other types of wounds - wounds in our hearts.  These can be just as painful (sometimes more) than being physically hurt.  It seems to be that the healing process for bodily injury and the wounds of our heart have a lot in common.

- At first, my thumb hurt so much that I just kept it wrapped up all the time.  I didn't let any air get to it at all because even that increased my pain.  When I finally took the bandage off a few days later to let my doctor check on it, it smelled terrible.  Seriously - really bad.  Have you ever had an experience that hurt so much that you could hardly even think abou it -  let alone talk about it?  To bring it out into the open seemed like it would be so painful that you weren't sure if you could stand it?  And all the while, it's there under the surface, hurting and stinking.  It's super hard, but true healing can't happen until the wound has been allowed to see the light of day.

- Just days after I hurt myself, I was ready to be done with the whole thing.  I really wanted my thumb to be better.  I knew that it would eventually heal, but I also knew that this would take time.  But, I didn't want it to take time - I wanted the use of thumb back, and I wanted it NOW!  I didn't want to have to keep taking medicine every few hours just to take the edge off.  I wanted the pain to go away and stay away.  The doctor told me, "It's going to have to heal from the inside out, so it'll be like this for a while."  Right....  The hurts of our hearts also have to heal from the inside out.  And it takes time - more time that we would like usually.  Once we've allowed our wound to be aired out, we want relief.  Maybe we understand it won't be instant relief, but we sure don't want the pain to last any longer that it absolutely has to.  But you can't cheat pain.  And you can't cheat time.

- As my thumb was healing, it went through various stages of looking "okay" to looking "wow- pretty gross".  It's not like it started out bad and just kept looking better and better.  It would look better, then worse again, then better again.  Our other pains are like that, too.  Some days we take a breath and think "I think it's getting better."  Other days, the pain is ugly and overwhelming again.  Healing is not a straight path.

- The night that I injured myself, the ER doctor told me "That part of your thumb and fingernail won't grow back."  Yes, it's a small injury (and I don't want to make it seem like I've lost a limb or something), but still - part of me is now different than it used to be.  When painful things happen to us, it's natural to want to "just go back to normal".  We wish we could erase the pain, "move on", or "get over it."  The truth is, painful things change us.  We can't go back to how life was before it happened.  We are different now.  It doesn't have to be a bad thing or a good thing - it just is the way it is.   

 - Update!  So, I started this blog post a couple of weeks ago.  My thumb still looked really bad and was obviously missing part of itself.  Well, the healing has continued and I'm happy to report that things are looking better than I'd imaged they would.  My thumb in "rounding out" nicely, so it no longer looks flat on one side.  And the nail is actually starting grow back.  So here's the thing - the above paragraph is no less true - pain changes us.  AND sometimes it doesn't change us as much as we thought it would.  Sometimes, the part of our lives we thought we wouldn't get back, ends up unexpectedly returning to us. 

I'm glad my thumb is healing.  It's so amazing to have the use of it back again.  Although, I was getting pretty good at the "pointer finger - middle finger  claw grasp".  :)

We all have our pains and hurts that we carry around with us.  This is just the stuff of life.  My prayer for all of you is that you give your hurts a chance to heal.  Nothing is hopeless.  It may not be a walk in the park, but it's not hopeless. 

Until next time, my friends........ Live well

Becky

Something new... Baked Salmon!

We are not fish eaters at my house.  Andy's motto when it comes to seafood is "If it's from the sea, it's not for me."  I grew up with my dad saying "When they find a fish that tastes like steak, I'll eat it."  The only "seafood" I used to eat was fish sticks (heavy on the tartar sauce) and popcorn shrimp (heavy on the breading).

But I'm always hearing how good for you fish is.  Several of the blogs that I frequent have a whole section on sea food recipes. So, I decided that maybe I'm missing out.  If nothing else, fish really is healthy and it gives a little bit of variety to a meat-heavy diet.

This week, I decided to jump in with both feet and try a salmon recipe.  This Lemon Dill Salmon was very easy to make.  The hardest part was wrapping up the parchment paper the right way.  It definitely looked very "professional". 

I had a taste test as soon as I took them out of the oven.  I can't tell yet if I like it.  It's just different.  I think my taste buds were wondering "What is this?" and weren't sure what to make of it.  I still might end up drowning it in tartar sauce, but that doesn't take away from the nutritional value, right?

Then, to be on the safe side, I tried this new Sweet Potato Chili.   

Disclaimer:  The picture from the website loods about 100  times better than my picture, so don't let mine deter you!

 I didn't have avocado to top it with, but still scooped myself a bowl for lunch today.  My taste buds knew exactly was to do with this one - rejoice!  It was awesome!!  I had to hold myself back from eating about three helping right then and there.  I might have a new favorite.

I'll have to let you all know how the fish-eating works out this week and how much tartar sauce was used :)

Music of the week:  My wonderful husband made a Pandora station for me that was based on Tub-Thumping (after he got done mocking me).  I enjoyed Matchbox 20, Bare Naked Ladies, Goo Goo Dolls, Wallflowers, Third Eye Blind, and so many more!!  It all brought me back to days of singing at the top of my lungs in the car with friends, sunny days at the pool, backstage before a show, and the days of not knowing just how good I really had it.  It was a fun day :)

Until next time, my friends..... Live well.

Becky      

Fail!!

So, in keeping with the "soup for breakfast" thing I've had going, I decided to try a new one.  This one is Orange Carrot Ginger soup, from the Vitamix recipe book.  The color looked nice and bright.  I thought "It seems like those three things wouldn't go together, but sometimes surprising combinations are really good.  Why not try it?"

Well, I'll tell you why not.

It was easy enough to make.  Just throw everything into the blender and away we go.  As I was blending, I thought a few times, "Wow - that's kind of more yellow that I thought it would be."  I checked the picture in the book and guessed it wasn't that off, so let's keep going.  After it was finished, I took a sample bite. My first thought was,  "That's interesting."  I took another bite.  It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great.  I figured I'd still eat it - since I went to the trouble of making it - but I probably wouldn't make it again.

The next day I warmed it up for breakfast and sat down.  About three bites in, I just couldn't do it anymore.  I keep trying to find the words to describe how this tasted.  The words "too bright"  keep popping into my mind.  I know that doesn't give you much to go on.  I'll just say my initial thought that those three foods don't seem like they go together seems to have been correct.

Thankfully, I had some back up chocolate chili in the freezer.  :)

After that fail, I really wanted some comfort food of things that I KNEW would go together.

Enter "Paleo Apple Crisp"

- 3 apples, cored and sliced
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 cup crushed cashews

1.  Throw the sliced apples in a baking dish
2.  Sprinkle with remaining ingredient
3.  Bake at 350 for about 30-45 min
4.  Be comforted

I'm not sure if this really counts as a "recipe" because it's just throwing stuff in a baking dish and then in the oven.  And also a word of caution - go easy on the brown sugar.  It's still sugar.

Music of the week:  Just the sounds of our busy life.   I've been cooking with lots of other stuff going on the last couple of weeks - so no music to share this time.

Until next time, my friends..... Live well.

Becky

Beautiful Chaos (Plus Chocolate!)

After dinner at our house is often a busy time.  Usually, Andy and I are doing what we can to clean up dinner, catch up on laundry, rotate kids through baths, or maybe even have a little bit of conversation.  The kids, on the other hand, are typically running full speed through the house engaged in a host of imaginative activities.  On any given night at our house, you might experience:

-  A real life version of temple run -  kids running, jumping, sliding, anything to "avoid the monkeys and get the treasure out."
- Various versions of "Who Let the Dogs Out", "We Will Rock You" and "What Does the Fox Say?"  (of course, they only know a couple lines of each song, so it's just those lines - over and over and over)
- Ninjas, princesses, monsters, detectives, heroes, cowboys and girls, and almost any animal you can think of (and maybe some you wouldn't think of )

- My kids' version of the Olympics, including "running the course of 1,000 deaths" and "climbing the tower of fire"
- Family games (some favorites are Quarriors, Flashpoint Fire Rescue, Forbidden Island, Hey That's My Fish, and Pokemon)

- Real life version of Pokemon or Skylander battles (complete with never-seen-before powers)

There are days when I think "It's going to be so nice when the kids are older and the house is quiet."  The other day, I was home alone for a bit.  And the house was quiet.  And I really missed the craziness.  I realized that, while a break from the chaos is great now and then, I think I'm really going to miss the loud, busy, never-know-what-to-expect part of my life that my young kids provide.  Where else can I get all of that imagination and energy? 

Don't get me wrong - a quiet evening at home still sounds good some days.  Sometimes I'm downright desperate for one.  But I also don't want to miss out on the enormous blessing I have at this moment - this part of my life that I only get to live once.  Right now, my kids actually LIKE being at home and playing with each other and with mom and dad.  I know that's not going to last forever :) 

So, I'm working on savoring the moments - the noise, the wackiness, the creativity, the mess.  There will be a day when the kids are grown, my house is quiet and clean, and I'll be glad to remember these days when imagination overflowed, when I had all manner of "visitors" grace our home, when I couldn't walk into a room without stepping on a toy.  I will be glad that the walls of my home and heart have known laughter, learned from conflict, and experienced worlds beyond my own imagination.

In the meantime, a girl's just got to have some chocolate to get through some days!!  I found this recipe for Fudge Bombs - and it hits the sweet spot!  

Another bonus - they are a cinch to make.  Except for the part where I was getting out the aluminum foil and the little tabs on the box didn't hold, sending the roll flying out onto the floor......

Oh well - bring on the chaos!

Music of the week:  Simon and Garfunkel  - how can you go wrong with that?

Until next time, my friends...... live well.

Becky

All I need... Reflections from Sunday

This week the sermon at my church was on Mark 10:46-52.  In this passage, Jesus heals a blind man.  The main point was this: Jesus was the answer to this man's problem, and He is the answer to our problems.

So, I got to thinking.... sometimes the things that I think are my problems, really aren't problems at all. There may be things in my life that I would give my right arm to change - and they aren't going to change.  In my all-too-often narrow view of things, this makes them a problem.  And while it's true that there might be uncomfortable, painful facts about my life -that doesn't mean they're a problem.

The truth is, I really only have one problem.  And it's a big one.  It's one I can't solve.  The problem is this:  I am a sinner who will one day stand before a Holy God.  This is one meeting that I can't cancel, and no amount of rationalization/explanation/justification on my part can take away the fact of my sin.  I cannot solve this problem.

God knew that I couldn't solve this problem.  He's known it from the beginning of time.  That's why he sent The Answer.  Jesus is what solves this problem for me.  He washes me clean and makes me holy so that, when I do stand before the Father, I can stand with confidence that my sin is no more.  Jesus solves the unsolvable problem.  He answers the deepest need of my soul.

This is a truth that I find such freedom and comfort in.  It's not about me and what I do, earn, or accomplish.  I don't have to "try hard to do good".  A couple of years ago, while having a "moment" and grasping my inadequacy of fixing myself, I grabbed some paper and a pen and starting writing:

"Every time I come to the end of myself, I find Jesus.  And when I turn around and look back, I see that it was Him all along - He has always been woven through and is the cord that has never broken, even when all the other strands are frayed and cut.  There is Jesus, holding it all together, loving me and bringing me along to the end of myself so that, finally, I can rest in the One who has already completed the work that I could never do.

It hurts to come to the end of myself - to feel my life being stretched and pulled so that strands are taught, and fray, and snap.  The unraveling of my strength is painful.  But eventually there comes the moment when I am thankful for it.  I am thankful to know that I can't hold it together, because trying to was killing me.  I don't have to hold on to the broken, twisted strands.  I just have to hold on to Jesus.  He never breaks, never frays.  So, it hurts to come to the end of myself, but that's when I see my Savior and truly find my life."

Please understand that I am not trying to make light of the many horrific problems that occur in our world.  I am not saying that the ONLY need we have is to have our sins forgiven and to enjoy a relationship with our Savior.  What I am saying is that, when we understand how our biggest problem has been solved, our deepest need met, we are then free to serve others and meet the other needs that exist.  When I am no longer motivated by guilt or obligation, I can truly be motivated by love to see the needs of those around me and demonstrate Christ's love by working to meet those needs. 

What I am also saying is that, when I realize how my biggest problem is solved and my deepest need is met, the other things in my life that I might complain about as being "problems", don't seem so problematic anymore.  They might still be painful, but who said pain is always a problem?  Sometimes pain teaches me things that comfort could never show me.  Sometimes pain gives me compassion and empathy for others.  Sometimes pain chisels away my self-centeredness, making room for grace and mercy. 

I am truly, literally, eternally grateful that God saw my need, reached down and met me where I was.  And, I am grateful for the reminders that He is all I need.

Until next time, my friends..... live well.

Becky

Baby it's cold outside...

So, I'm realizing that I don't feel motivated to write a post until I have some kind of title for it.  Huh....  I've always been kind of a "big picture" person (or at least, not a detail person), so maybe I need my "big idea" before I can move forward.  I think this makes sense because it's also how I process information.  Tell me your point up front, and then let me use that framework to hang all the other stuff on and I'm good.  What's that you say?  You want me to get to my point?  Well, I guess it's only fair.....

It's been crazy cold and snowy here.  It seems like it's been forever.  We have Polar Vortexes dropping down from wherever they come from, my kids have had six (Count'em SIX!) snow days already this year, my poor husband is beginning to have a traumatic response to seeing snow shovels, the air has that dry-cold-take-your-breath-away feeling when you walk outside, and our yard is nowhere to be seen underneath giant snow piles from the snow from the driveway.  And it's only the beginning of February!  Spring can't some soon enough.

But it's not spring.  Not yet.  (sigh)  One thing I talk a lot about in my job is the idea of acceptance.  You might not like it, you might wish it was different, but in order to do what you need to do - you have to accept that it is the way it is.

So, in the spirit of acceptance, I decided to make something this week that helps warm me up from the inside out when I eat it - Chili.  And not just any chili.  Chocolate Chili.  Yes, you read that right.  Chocolate chili.  I know it sounds kind of gross, but it's awesome.  This week, I made a double batch and froze half.  I'm expecting that winter will be around for a while yet, so I'll need more again soon.

And, just for fun and because they're delicious, I made these stuffed mushrooms. 

Music of the week:  "10,000 Reasons" by Matt Redman.  It came on my Pandora station at least 5 times and I just never got sick of it.  It's still in my head and I really don't care.  Such a great song.

Until next time, my friends.....live well.

Becky