Eating Well. Does that Make Me a Health Food Nazi?!

For a year to a year and a half now, I have been avoiding, as best as I can, canned foods, processed foods, and the like, not keeping it in my house and not cooking with it. Around last January, two of my (nursing) children and I went completely gluten-free, as I had good reason to believe one was gluten-sensitive. Add to that our dairy sensitivities, and we have loads of fun. Not so much. But, I will not complain, because there are people with much more comprehensive and serious dietary restrictions, and I still have access to a variety of foods.

I have to confess that I am a meat eater. Not a die hard eat-large-quantities-every-meal sort, but I do eat meat, fish, and other seafood. Eating meat from animals or sea creatures that were treated decently, humanely, was already on my radar. But, after I commented on a paper at a professional ethics conference this summer, on ethical vegetarianism, my views on the issue became firmer. Though not a convert to vegetarianism, I am not willing to trade the welfare and decent treatment of animals and sea creatures for (saving or cutting down on the) expenses.

I still enjoy food - the presentation, the taste, all of it! - very much.

Here is merely a small sample of what I have made. And some of the recipes might have been before I went with only or exclusively organic, pasture-raised, (grass-fed in the case of cows) animals.

Fruit & Yogurt Smoothie. 

A nice treat in the summer. Or any time. That garnish on top is fresh mango.

Sesame Chicken with Bell Peppers.

This is my gluten-free version. A good friend of mine, who is Celiac, fell in love with this dish at a restaurant, before she found out she's Celiac; and she asked me whether I could figure out how to make it. And so I did.

 

For a Masquerade Tea

And yes, we do have junk food in our home from time to time. Those are chips see at the far end of the photograph and cupcakes in the middle. Those are gluten-free chocolate cupcakes. Also on the table: blocks of cheese, miniature (sweet) peppers, watermelon, strawberries, grapes, blueberries. We were getting ready for a masquerade tea birthday party, celebrating my birthday as well as my firstborn's birthday.

Fried Rice.

I haven't updated my fried rice recipe in awhile, but the above link will do. The version I make now is gluten-free (the soy sauce/tamari sauce is the biggest change in making it gluten-free). And, sometimes the vegetables vary. I might not have been using pasture-raised eggs in the recipe linked above.

 

Japanese Rice Omelet (Omuraisu).

This was another request made. Could I make a Japanese Rice Omelet? Sure, why not. This recipe is gluten-free.

Healthy good can be good and not boring, mmm-kay? And? It can be cheaper than the processed, put-together food or junk food. Fresh fruit and vegetables, especially if purchased in-season, is cheaper than buying junk food or processed food. Here's a helpful article on how to eat healthy for less: How to Eat Healthy for Under $6 a Day. I will add one caveat to that article. Eating humanely treated animals or sea life is more expensive. Personally, if I cannot afford that more expensive meat, then I will not buy it. Since I have been gluten-free, I have craved meat more than previously, perhaps for some of the nutrients in those. So, I will purchase it in smaller amounts, as I can afford it.

Does the desire to eat well, take care of my body, look out for how we treat animals and sea creatures make me a food Nazi?

50,000 words by Nov 25th, when I didn't join until Nov 5th? Send help!

Five days into November, I decided I would try the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), wherein 50,000 words (roughly 200 pages) would be written between November 1st and the end of November. That is roughly over 2,000 words per day.

I have been writing ideas down for a book for awhile, now. So, I tried to convince myself that I wasn't coming up with all new stuff and that somehow this would be doable. Truth be told, I am pretty nervous and STRESSED.

How in the world am I going to get this writing done? I am a single parent of four small children, ranging from 2 years of age to seven years old. Two of them are potty training, so they are on potties every 3-4 hours. The same children also eat 4-6 table food meals a day. I spend 4-5 hours on the road per weekday, getting the older two children to and from school. There's the usual responsibilities: cooking, dish washing, book keeping, washing clothes, buying groceries and other necessities. Oh yes, I probably should eat somewhere in there. I won't belabor you with details of the hectic schedule we keep once the older two are home from school: getting the twins ready for bed (getting them on their potties, giving them table food, putting pajamas on them, nursing them), whilst getting the girls to work on homework, helping with violin practice, and making dinner. Oh, and did I mention that I work? Right now, I am teaching two (college) online classes.

By the time the last two children (the oldest two) go to bed, I oftentimes pass out (and fall asleep), too. Oh wait! I am not supposed to fall asleep when all the children are in bed; I should be writing. Can I write when I have fallen asleep, by process of osmosis?!