Mama Kate » Nutrition

Raw Food

Katie — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 02:26:54 +0000

This one should be good. Super good.

Photo by catsper

CHOICES of Lafayette is

GOING RAW!

Ready for the growing season? Well, we are! We are happy to be hosting a raw foods presentation and demonstration on Monday, April 18th at 5:30pm at the Tippecanoe Public Library in downtown Lafayette to show our enthusiasm for fresh foods! With the Farmer’s Markets, your own gardens, and CSA’s on their way in, NOW is the time to start thinking about how best to use all that wonderful food. Many people are curious about raw foods for increased energy, detoxing and an all-over health boost. This presentation will cover raw basics and give you simple ways to incorporate raw foods into you and your family’s life! As always this is free and open to the public, we are looking forward to seeing you there!

RSVP, if you would like!

Raw Foods

Katie — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:59:03 +0000

So, we’ve been doing a raw foods diet. Well, John has. I’m 100% on some days and more like 50% on others. The whole thing started with the weight loss challenge going on where John works. If he loses the most by April he has free health care coverage next year. That might be the best prize you could ever possibly win! I’ve always wanted to try the raw foods diet because I know how amazingly good it is for you. It just makes sense to me. You lose so many nutrients with cooking, that raw just seems to be the better option, if you are going for optimum nutrition. But! It’s not the most exciting way to eat. Sometimes you just want some cooked potatoes. Especially during this time of year. We really should be doing this diet in a more appropriate season, but the challenge is over before summer even starts! So, here we are in the tail end of winter eating salads and fruit all day long.

Some of you have become intrigued by all of this, so I thought I’d share the oh-so-exciting meals we’ve been consuming. I’m trying really hard to balance everything, and I hope I’m doing an ok job.

First of all, here are the staples:

Spinach – we use this in every salad, not only because spinach rocks, but it has a descent amount of protein content.
Arugula – not sure what nutrients this holds, but it tastes amazing.
Apples
Bananas
Blueberries
Pomegranate
Avocado
Almonds
Soy Milk – not sure if that’s considered raw, but we are going with it! Plus, we still do Kefir smoothies, so diary is out and soy is in!
Granola
Soy Yogurt – again, not sure about its “rawness.”
Peanut Butter

So, what do we eat?

Breakfast has been 2 key meals that really haven’t gotten old:

Yogurt with granola, strawberries, and blueberries
Apple, Banana, and Flax seeds (soaked overnight) blended to make a sort of oatmeal looking dish. With cinnamon and nutmeg.

Lunch / Snacks:

Spinach and Arugula salad with avocado, pomegranate, sunflower seeds, strawberries, blood oranges, and blood orange juice squeezed for the dressing.
Celery and Peanut Butter
Almonds
Apples and Peanut Butter
Broccoli Salad I’ve found quite a few recipes on Gone Raw.
Hummus with Red Peppers

Dinner:

Pesto with whole grain pasta (Pasta was cheating … meh)
Guacamole with chips (I cheated with the chips, John did not, because he is hard core!)
Zesty Lime Corn Salad
Spinach Salad with any variation of fruits and veggies, nuts or seeds, and any citrus juice from a lemon, lime, or orange (we’ve done it all!)

And things I want to make:

Overall, we are eating really good stuff. That plan is to stick to mostly raw for a month or so, and then add in a warm meal for dinner. It’s pretty easy to get used to eating like this, so the idea is to stick with this even after the challange. But, we won’t be so strict!

Kefir & Painting

Katie — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:29:42 +0000

I finally made it over to my Mom’s house and EVEN remembered to get the Kefir my Aunt left for me. My Aunt visited from Louisiana over the 4th of July holiday and was nice enough to bring me a start of Kefir. I had no idea what it was, but was interested because it’s healthy. Simple enough, right? She made a few different “smoothies” with various fruit combinations, and it was glorious. I really enjoyed them! After she left, I was to take some home for my own Kefir making, but managed to forget to bring any home the next few times I would visit at my Mom’s house. But! This past Monday, I remembered the Kefir! I’ve not learned everything there is to know about this stuff, but I know enough to be very excited about the health benefits from using it. It is an amazing probiotic that has too many health benefits to count, so I’m in! Anything that boosts the immune system is great. So, I had my first batch of Kefir ready to use this morning, and I decided to document the process.

First, you start with a tablespoon of Kefir grains. (I started with a bit more. Whatevs.)

Put the Kefir in a 20 fl oz glass jar and fill it 2/3 full with milk.

Let the jar sit at room temperature anywhere from 12 to 48 hours. (The longer it sits to ferment, the more sour the taste) As the mixture sits, it ferments and creates more Kefir.

It had been about 18 hours for this batch to sit. I haven’t explored new recipes, so I just made a smoothie similar to the ones my Aunt made.

I drained the liquid part of the Kefir mixture into the blender. What is left over in the strainer is the Kefir to save for your next batch, or to separate and give to a friend. This website breaks it down simply with instructions for making your Kefir and storing it.

Use the left over Kefir however you choose; I just put mine back in the jar with more milk for tomorrow. For the current batch, I added some strawberries and blueberries and blended them in.

Behold, a delicious and super healthy smoothie!

There you have it.

…

I’m also working on this painting. Every time I see my Aunt she encourages me to start painting again. I did quite a lot of painting in highschool, then stopped. John also thought I should start up, again. So, I’m taking their advice. I plan to start with duplicating photos we have of the boys and family. Here is my first (unfinished) project. (I WILL finish it, Zach!)

More About Food

Katie — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:11:03 +0000

As Spring has sprung, food has been on my mind quite often. With gardens popping up everywhere–including our yard–and with the Farmers Market opening day fast approaching, I can’t help but let food consume my thoughts. In our garden we have all the early spring stuff already planted–broccoli, carrots, spinach, arugula, kale, cauliflower, beans, peas, onions, and lettuce–and tonight we will add in some tomato and red pepper starts around the border. I. can’t. wait. for. tomatoes. seriously. Last night my lovely grandmother, who gardened most of her life, gave me a lot of things to make our gardening endeavor quite inexpensive. Thank you, Grandma! I’ve now got everything I need to can all of our produce at the end of the season, except the know how. So, learning about canning is something on my list of things to do this summer.

More food references: watching Food Inc. on PBS last night. Wow. I knew about the crazy industry treating animals in ways I can hardly think about without tearing up, but seeing this film and being reminded of it was something I was in need of. Seeing these poor animals and farmers being brought into this horrible machine of get-the-most-food-by-any-means-necessary-for-big-profit totally sickens me. And seriously, I want to cry thinking about it. So, I try not to, but I do act on my feelings. We already have cut meat out of our household, but we do eat it when we are out. Now? After watching this film and seeing not only the horrible treatment of the animals, but these messed up, money hungry, and also GIGANTIC companies running the “food show”, I really want no part of it. I want nothing to do with a company that treats animals this way. I want nothing to do with a company that treats their employees this way. (I’m referring to the companies rallying Mexican immigrants to the U.S. to work for them, and then turning a blind eye when these fine folks are getting arrested for illegally being in our country! Infuriating!) And, I really want nothing to do with a company selling this crap they call “food” to consumers. So? No meat for me. I don’t even want to buy anything in a box after seeing this movie! Veggies all around for me!

Oh, and one more thing! Check out the Eating Locally page I added to another website I write for with great ways to eat local and organic food. (For the Lafayette/West Lafayette folk, of course!)

Eat Local

Katie — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:20:51 +0000

I know you may have already seen this post here, but I need to get anyone and everyone in the area excited about this meeting so they will come! It’s truly going to be a great meeting with tons of information and resources for eating nutritious locally grown food. So, I’ll give you the details one more time … And remember to invite friends and family!

CHOICES Natural Parenting Network is happy to be hosting a presentation about the many benefits of eating a whole, naturally grown and local diet.

Monday April 19th at 5:30pm in the

West Lafayette Public Library

Abby Abbott-Rider from Thistle Byre Farm will be giving an informational presentation on the subject of finding local food and their nutritional value. There will be a resource handout designed to help you find area farms, CSA’s, Farmer’s Markets and Community Gardens.

Please Join us, this is a FREE presentation open to the public!

Better In The Landfill Than In My Kid’s Stomach

Katie — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:53:14 +0000

Candy. The amount of candy that has entered our household since Jackson came around is amazing. I don’t remember having this problem before having babies, so I guess that having kids means candy suddenly becomes abundant. There is candy at every holiday, every birthday party, every get-together, and it all ends up at our house! And once it gets to our house, it just sits there. Occasionally, one of us will grab something out of the mound-o-candy, but mostly, it’s left untouched. Then, after looking at it and cursing the fact that it even made it into our house, I decide to just get rid of it. I go through my “Purging of the Candy” ritual, that seems to happen way too often. I feel like I’m being wasteful, but I would rather just get this stuff out of our house. Jackson SERIOUSLY does not need to up his sugar intake. He goes crazy on candy! He’s got enough energy as it is. The last thing he needs is a sugar rush, and the last thing we both need is the crash. So, to just avoid the mood roller coaster all together, I try to get the candy out of our house. And, I don’t even feel right about giving it to someone else. The only place it belongs is in the trash. It’s so wasteful, but I really feel that candy is better in the landfill than in my son’s stomach. It has crossed my mind to take each piece of candy out of it’s wrapper for recycling. Maybe I’ll take a picture of that when the next candy purge comes along.

Herbs

Katie — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:31:00 +0000

I finally finished my Introduction to Herbology course!! I started it at the beginning of the summer, took a long break to focus on working at the farmer’s market, and just now sent in my final exam and project. Yay! I am studying Natural Health at Clayton College of Natural Health. I started 2 years ago, and I have been moving pretty slowly through each class. With the new change in my life from full-time employee to stay at home mom, I plan to give more focus to my studies than I have in the past.

I learned quite a bit from this class about herbs and ways to use them. There is so much to remember and learn about each individual herb, I am glad I have these two wonderful books to reference in time of need. The books for the course are The Way of the Herbs and New Age Herbalist.

I just ordered my books and study guide for my next class, Introduction to Homeopathy. I have a vague idea of what homeopathy is, so this class should be pretty interesting.

Not sure what I will do with this degree when I finish, but I will at least learn how to keep my family naturally healthy. Hopefully I will gain enough knowledge to teach others.

triple cheese burger

Katie — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 23:19:00 +0000

I am ridiculous. I know that fast food is horrible for me and the baby, but this pregnancy is forcing me to eat it! I’ve been craving the most unhealthy food ever known to man. It’s a huge struggle to ignore these awful cravings.

My last pregnancy was not like this. I ate healthy the whole way through, never had any bad cravings … except for the week straight of only wanting hot dogs. That passed quickly, though. I wasn’t really moody, and I wasn’t always asking my husband to help me with projects.

This pregnancy is more like the cliche pregnancy. I crave food that will in no way nourish my baby or me. I crave chocolate quite often … and in the real world of me with no child growing inside, chocolate and sweets are never on my list of things to eat. I also was previously vegetarian, and reverted back to the dark side of flesh eating right after the first trimester was over.

I can’t seem to get through a day without asking my husband to come “assist me” with some average thing like taking the laundry back to the bed room, or to put the pans away in the cabinet. He’s been so wonderful about all this, by the way.

And the moods. Yay. I’m normally a pretty level gal, but this baby is making me emotional. I’m taking things the wrong way constantly, and having a really hard time calming down. If I get to an angry or worried state, it’s difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

BUT OTHER THAN THAT … things are great! This new baby has inspired me and driven our family into a new direction. I can’t wait to meet him!