Finding the Balance

Two feet firmly planted on the ground, or so it would appear.  At the very moment this picture was taken, yes, I felt very grounded and balanced.  But in a moment's notice, it can all change, right?  I know this for a fact now, thanks to many things that have happened over the past 7 months.  I mean, I guess I actually already knew it, but the past 7 months have made it painfully clear to me. 

Change is not always welcomed nor is it something we can always have control over.  What we can control is how we react to that change.  That is something I have not been controlling very well lately, and I have decided it is time to change that.  Yep, the time has come. I am breaking out the BIG GIRL PANTIES!!!!!

Okay well maybe not this big of Big Girl Panties, but you get the idea.  But there are a few changes that are going to take place in my life.  I am not going to spend an entire post writing about all of them at one time.  There are probably 3 major changes and I will talk about each of them on separate posts.  So, here goes:

Number one is taking back control of the food that goes into my body.  I have really slacked up on my eating habits of late.  Winter is usually filled with comfort foods to begin with, but then you throw in some sadness and depression, a heaping measurement of grieving and you have yourself the perfect recipe for how to gain an unwanted 10 pounds and that feeling of sluggishness (is that even a word?).    Being able to plant veggies and having access to fresh food daily always makes it easier to eat better.  That is why i love Spring.  The whole renewal and fresh beginnings thing is sweet.  Even though I am not a vegetarian and certainly not close to a Vegan, (hello?  have you heard me talk about my CHICKIES and my fresh EGGS?) I am all about eating a ton of fresh locally grown, preferably organic fruits and veggies.  If not from my garden and property, then from some place real close by.  A vegetarian lifestyle lends itself so freely to Spring/Summer eating.  It's easy to not want to bog down my gut with meat, but not so easy to not bog down my sweet Robby's gut.  He is a meat loving, eating, craving kind of farmer guy and there is NO changing that, and I don't want to.  But he plays along with me and eats all of my crazy concoctions, okay maybe not my green juice and smoothies, but everything else and I just give him his meat right along side of it all.  It's a Win-Win situation:) 

Right now I am following along with this e-course put on by the amazing Heather Bruggeman.  This is the course

This is one of the best e-courses i have ever taken.  So much material to print off.  I have a binder filled already with amazing recipes, pantry organization tips, food storage and prep tips, whole food eating, buying and preparing tips.  This could not have come at a better time for me.  A time when my head has felt so clouded and foggy with negative feelings, emotions and thoughts.  I have gone off of my anti-depressant medication and feel better equipped to deal with life's little struggles and curve balls.  I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and he told me he felt I wasn't depressed, just still grieving and that that was okay and perfectly normal.  Cool, sounds good to me, I'll take it.  I may not be following this to the T, as i do like my eggs now and again, but for the most part I am. 

I was asked by a great friend to make some Vegan dishes for her for a lunch she was having last Sunday.  Some friends were coming in from out of town and they are hard core Vegans and have some unusual food allergies too.  I was honored that she asked me to do this for her and met the challenge with gusto.  I came up with 4 Vegan dishes and from what she reported back to me, they were all a huge success.  Cooking is my way of showing my love to people.  I didn't know the people I was cooking so specifically for, but I know the person who asked  me this favor, and so much love was poured into those 4 dishes and I think it showed. 

Fresh herbs from my garden used in the dishes.
Cilantro, spring onions and chives.

A spicy Indian Inspired Fresh Pea Soup.
I loved this soup and will make it for us.
Lots of nice kick to it and so fresh tasting!!!!

Fresh pineapple used in a Pineapple Rice recipe.

Individual Multi Grain Basil Bread rounds.
Used fresh basil from the garden for this vegan bread.
Very dense but oh so yummy and tasty bread.

Surprisingly enough I did not take pictures of everything I made, hmmmm, don't know how I made that mistake.

So yes, my feet are getting firmly planted on the ground.  I may strike a Tree Pose every now and again and then I will only have one foot planted firmly on the ground, but hey, that just means I am even more balanced than I thought, right?  Tomorrow I will explain another change I am making to keep that balance. 

What can you do in your life to maybe make things a little more balanced for you?  They may be real subtle changes or major life altering ones.  Care to share?

Another way i balance myself!!!
Feet are not anywhere close to be firmly planted on the ground,
but I am BALANCED!!!!!

What I Have Been Waiting For

Okay, so had I known or believed years ago that eating the way I am eating now could make me feel so much better, I would have changed a long time ago.  And then again, maybe I wouldn't have.  Clearly I wasn't ready for this change because I didn't do it sooner.  Eating whole foods, mostly raw foods, no sugar or processed foods and no dairy has made a huge difference in how I feel.  I have so much energy, am sleeping so much better, get to visit the bathroom more often than once every 4 days (sorry but this is a huge accomplishment for me),my skin looks better than ever, the whites of my eyes are clearer and my yoga practice is getting easier and easier.  I didn't think I could ever give up candy and sweets, but so far I have done really well with it.  Now I am sure I am going to have some slip ups, but what matters is I let that slip up happen and then move on in the next minute.   With the help of my new friends at http://www.crazysexylife.com/ and especially Sasha fromhttp://blyssfulhealth.blogspot.com/ I have found so many new recipes and inspirations.  I am obsessed with reading more and learning more about healthful eating and ways to prepare food.  I can't get enough information and am like a sponge soaking it all up.  For once, I feel this is truely a lifestyle change and not just a fad I am trying once again.  As long as I keep feeding Robby some meat with each meal, he eats anything else I place in front of him.  But who knows, maybe in time he will come around too.  He has agreed to drink Soy milk, so who knows.  I know he is happy to see I am off of my depression meds and doing well on my own and no longer need my diuretic to keep excess fluid off since I have cut out added salt.  It is such an amazing feeling to be in charge of how I feel, and not have meds that do that for me.  It helps too that my mood is now pretty consistent because my sugar levels are not spiking and plunging causing me to spike and plunge. 
So, all in all, my journey to become a better person both inside and out is a huge success so far and only promises to get better.  Can't wait to see where I am in another month.
Okay, time for bed. Goodnight all and Namaste!!

It's the Little Things

So, today I picked up Evan and Trevor for my weekend.  And to my wonderful surprise, Reed said he was going to come up too because he didn't have to work until Sunday and wanted me to cook some good food for him :)    I was so happy.  Once I got home with the boys, I made dinner for all of us and Reed arrived about 10 minutes after I got home.  I tried eating dinner too, but my tooth is still hurting too bad to eat solid foods, so Reed said he wanted to help make me a smoothie to drink.  We had so much fun.  I showed him how to use my new juicer and we made fresh orange juice, spinach juice and green apple juice for the smoothie.  Then Reed combined the juices with strawberries, banana, Rice Protein and Ground Flax seed.  All that got blended in the blender, and it was delicious.  It was so much fun talking nutrition with Reed and Trevor and seeing how interested they were.  And they both loved the smoothie that I shared with them and could really tell the difference in using fresh, organic produce and fruits to make amazingly nutritious and delicious meals. 
Ever since my babies were born, I have tried to feed them the best, most healthy food I could.  I breast fed each of them for about the first 24 months of their lives, and made homemade baby food for them or fed the Earth's Best Organic baby food if I was somewhere that I was not able to make their food.  As they grew, I tried my best to make healthy meals for them but I was usually met with the question of why they couldn't just have chicken nuggets like their friends or fish sticks.  But I didn't give up, I continued to try and introduce them to different things.  I am pretty sure my kids were the first kids in Loudoun County schools to bring Hummus for a snack at snack time.  Sure, they were asked what the heck they were eating, but they loved it and I loved that they loved it.  In the summer's,  I would plant veggie gardens as organically as I could, berry plants of all types and the boys would be right beside me helping out.  The first year I planted a green bean tee pee, I don't think a single green bean made it in the house because they loved sitting in that tee pee of beans and picking them off the vines and eating them raw right there.  What a great feeling. 
Of course, as time went on, I lost out some to Taco Bell, happy meals, pizza hut and other fast food dynasties.  And I won't lie, being a soccer mom with 4 kids playing and trying to find a way to get food in them quickly on the road, I succumbed to the dynasties and pulled right up to those drive thrus.  I wasn't happy about it, but also could not get myself organized at all times to pack healthy snacks and make fresh sandwiches to take with us.  Luckily, my kids have always been extremely active and that quick food did not stay in their bodies for long, but still longer than it should have been.  Shame on me.
Now that my boys are all turning into young men, it warms my heart that they once again want me to make meals for them from scratch, can't wait for my husband and I to put our garden in, enjoy picking fresh figs off our fig tree and eating them and love that there are so many wild edible berries and fruits growing on our property.  It would seem that the value of fresh, local food that I started to instill in them at birth, has stayed with them all these years, and now is almost as important to them as it is to me.  Sure they are going to stray and go for the easy, greasy foods that all teenage boys crave at times.  But maybe, with enough delicious fresh smoothies and juices and home grown veggies, fruits and meats, they will choose the easy, greasy route less often. 

I know the Italians have always been known for their love of cooking for their families and loved ones because it was their way of showing love.  I don't have any proof at all that I am Italian, but I most certainly have that trait.  It is truly the little things in life that make me my happiest, and providing healthy, nourishing meals and foods for my family is certainly one of those little things.  Now if I could just get them all to do yoga with me, hahahaha.