Picking This Year's Curriculum

Having 4 (soon to be 5) kids, I took on finding the perfect curriculum this year with slightly different than normal standards.  I have high-risk pregnancies, and I know that I will have a c-section which will put me in the hospital for at least a week, maybe more.  To top that off, I anticipate the delivery to be sometime around the week of Christmas and I know that my recovery time is long, probably around 4 weeks.  So, I expect that when I bring the baby home we will be in the midst of a chaotic mess, my husband has already used almost all of his vacation for the year, and I will be breastfeeding a new infant; so I expect that we will take at least a month off in the winter from our general studies… at least those that mom is a huge part of.  With this in mind I was looking for curriculum that was versatile, that the older kids could take on a little faster or alone if they wanted or needed to, something that my friends could jump in and help with or could be done a little at a time.  I wanted to make sure that the kids did not lose momentum and that they were challenged and enjoyed school.  I have to say, as of right now I am feeling like I chose the absolute most perfect curriculum to fit our families needs that I could have!

Life of Fred - Curriculum review

First off I should explain that I could not find this book anywhere local to look at it and decide what I thought up front about whether it was at the level that I wanted, but I made the choice to start with Apples for three reasons:  1.  I have three younger children that will certainly be using this book.  2.  My older children have been taught math in the traditional since with very little application tied in.  3.  To build on a consistent wave length.  

My older daughter has struggled with math forever, maybe struggled is a bit harsh; but when compared to my son she was just not getting it the same way.  She often compares herself to her peers, and she seemed so frustrated that her younger brother was advanced two years past her grade level and was working on more advanced third grade math than she was.  She seemed to just be memorizing a little bit here and a little bit there.  She HATED drill work.  We had tried using an online math curriculum with her which she enjoyed, but if she got just one answer wrong it would set her back a specific amount on her skill test and she had even more work to do.  Last year was hard because we had signed up for that program for a year and she wound up in tears on a regular basis.  

My oldest son is a math whiz, at 6 years old he is working on multiplication; yet I really do not think he understood why he needed all of the information, he processes math like a calculator and just spits out the facts (much like I did).  I realized that while he had a strong understanding of math, I really would have preferred to have a reasoning that made since for why I wanted (not just needed) to learn math.  I believe if I had had a stronger foundation in why I wanted to learn math I would not have lost all interest when I reached math analysis in high school.  

(Both children tested out of theheadoftheclass.com curriculum in September for their grade levels).

So, when I found a little information on Life of Fred books there were many things I saw that I loved about the curriculum.  First, I really liked the idea of the story being told.  It seems like an easy way to interpret how math skills will apply to daily life.  I ordered these books from ztwistbooks.com.  The cost was $16 per elementary book, free shipping!  The books are hardback with sewn in binding and will last for generations!  There are no workbooks to buy, you will not need them.  I would suggest a notebook with loose leaf paper, because at about 4 problems per chapter, it will not take that much paper.  

One could look at the cost of $16 per book and 10 elementary books ($160 for the entire elementary collection) and argue that for one child that is high; however, there are a number of reasons I would argue this.  First of all, these can be used with each of your children, so in my family it will cost me less than $4 per child per book.  Additionally, I do not have any workbook to buy as I would with nearly all other math programs.  This program addresses more than just math, it talks about manners, spelling, times of the year, weather, dressing for the weather, responsibilities, social development, some history, some science, and many other life lessons.  The value of blending all of these lessons into a book is great, and to top it off the books are written in a way that allows the children to read from them themselves and are interesting and entertaining enough that my children frequently choose to read the book on their own schedule.  Yesterday, my daughter pulled it out and was reading it to the kids while in the van running errands and today she brought it to me and asked for me to read it while they folded laundry!  So, while my big kids (6 and 8) are having class and learning, my little ones (2 and 4) are already benefiting from hearing all of these math and life facts.  They will be reading apples for a couple of years yet, but those principles of math and life are already starting to form in their little brains and they will have a very strong foundation to start on!  Having the kids so enthralled in the book has to be a sign that they are enjoying it and definitely going to have it be a strongly remembered part of their education.

In my opinion, I do not want to spend a ton of money on curriculum, especially at the elementary level; but when there is a program like Life of Fred, that will be such a strong asset to my children I would certainly say it is worth every penny.  

**If you buy these books on Ebay, even if they are used, you will probably pay way more than if you buy them used from Ztwist.  I watched them and looked for them everywhere before I made my purchase and the Ztwist site offers the best deal, they are brand new, and they are sent out quickly.  Ztwist is most likely to have the book in stock and has the advantage of selling them for a lower cost because they are the direct sale company :)  I have no affiliation with them.  I ordered on a Friday afternoon and had my books by Wednesday with their free shipping. 

Now, since I have spent such a long time going off on a tangent of all of the wonderful things I have to say about LOF books, I would also love to share my opinions on the things I would have been more intense in looking at if I were going to buy for an older child and not pass the books down…

First, on Ztwist you can review a full chapter from any book that you are interested in.  I would do this.  My older children are far beyond the Apples grade level (though they are still able to listen to and enjoy the material and it is a way to build their confidence and reinforce), if I were only buying the materials for the older children I would have strongly considered looking at a more advanced level.  Secondly, I was really unsure of how long to consider each book to take.   Just yesterday I did find someone who said that each elementary book could take between 6 weeks to more than a year depending on the child.  After seeing my children with the book, I would say we could easily get through a number of the books in 2 weeks at a time, at least until they get caught up to the level of multiplication; however, I would also say that Apples does tie into multiplication some, so it is laying the groundwork and may be more about getting into the style of math education that they are in.  I do love that LOF offers not too much drill and kill at the end of each chapter; however, I would really love to see the option of several different sets of problems so that they could have different questions if they re-read the chapter at a later date.  I may actually create those for my children :)  

Saving for Family Fun, and Giving My Children the Responsibility

I must say that this is unusual, probably border lining on bribing my children, but I am exhausted and I can use every little bit of help I can get with anticipating a baby this winter.  Not to mention, I cannot figure out how this is, but my husband's clothes seem the leak change constantly to the floor, the couch, the laundry... you name it and I will find a few cents there.  Anyhow, yesterday I came up with this simple idea to keep the change picked up, keep the kids engaged in school and chores, and teach our children about money and how saving the little pieces adds up.

So it started with a small bowl of change that I had collected that day and change from my purse.  Anytime the kids complete a large task like rotating laundry, doing a load of dishes, completing their homework, or any worthy random act of kindness they get to close their eyes and choose a piece of change from the bowl and choose whether they want to pocket it for themselves or place it in a tupperware container that goes towards a family activity.

So far it has become a competition in this house to see how many pieces of change they can earn, and to my surprise only my 4-year-old has decided to keep the quarter he drew "because I wanted to buy gum for everyone" while my 8-year-old, 6-year-old, and 2-year-old have all thought it was much neater to watch the money grow faster towards a family activity!  In two days they have already managed to earn and save $5.48 for our family activity of their choice!

I have already noticed the two little ones realizing the difference between the different pieces of money and hoping to pull out the pieces with the larger value :)

What I really like about this is the idea of using change that frequently is overlooked and just given to the kids and letting them earn it.  We did a similar program awhile ago where they could earn things like lipgloss, earrings, matchbox cars, and super heroes; but that got expensive and did not seem to keep them engaged for very long.  With this idea I have heard the kids brainstorming about what they might save the money for and what we could do as a family.  I think they are really interested in the unknown and this just might keep them going for awhile!

Quick and Healthy Apple Preservation

I love to have lunches pre made to where I can just pull them out and put them on the table.  I have seen many tricks to keeping your apples nice and fresh after cutting them from putting them back together and tying them with a rubber band to soaking them in lemon-lime soda.  Honestly I think tying them back together would be time consuming and leave very little you could have pre made and I really don't like the idea of taking something nice and healthy and covering it in artificial ingredients to preserve it :(  

So, for years now I have been using a technique that one of my aunts uses and it is super simple, healthy, and gives NO waste :)  Pineapple juice!  Simply wash your apples (by the way remember apples are on the list of the dirty 12 so try to purchase them organic), slice them to your specifications, and pour pineapple juice over them.  When your done it is super easy to pop the pineapple juice in the blender with some other fruits and veggies and make smoothie pops for later! 

Apple Sandwich

I love to have lunches pre made to where I can just pull them out and put them on the table.  I have seen many tricks to keeping your apples nice and fresh after cutting them from putting them back together and tying them with a rubber band to soaking them in lemon-lime soda.  Honestly I think tying them back together would be time consuming and leave very little you could have pre made and I really don't like the idea of taking something nice and healthy and covering it in artificial ingredients to preserve it :(

So, for years now I have been using a technique that one of my aunts uses and it is super simple, healthy, and gives NO waste :)  Pineapple juice!  Simply wash your apples (by the way remember apples are on the list of the dirty 12 so try to purchase them organic), slice them to your specifications, and pour pineapple juice over them.  When your done it is super easy to pop the pineapple juice in the blender with some other fruits and veggies and make smoothie pops for later!

Back to the topic at hand though, apple sandwiches.  I actually saw got this idea off of interest; but they were made using peanut butter and oatmeal :(  I swapped that peanut butter out with some almond butter and the oatmeal with some flax seed.  I had also considered using sunflower seeds and raisins, but I decided to stick with what I had on hand, chocolate chips.  Anyway, these were certainly loved!

Above are the apples after I finished creating the sandwiches, and below are the sandwiches two days later when I served them for lunch, nice and crispy cold :)  They were a huge hit and really kept the kids full until dinner!

Sweetetti

So, this is going to be pretty short and to the point.  The local Natural Foods had organic sweet potatoes super cheap the other day and my family just loves sweet potatoes.  Ever since about 2 months ago I have been craving everything with tomato sauce on it, ew... I know.  Anyway, I came across the idea of making sweet potato noodles and using with spaghetti sauce.  These sweet potatoes I bought were HUGE by the way.  They were MONSTERS.  I shredded one-third of the sweet potato (using my handy dandy KitchenAid shredder) and called it good.  Then I drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil on top with some garlic and onion powder and covered my nice pyrex container with a lid.  I microwaved them to steam them for about 5 minutes and viola, sweet potato noodles.  We topped them with spaghetti sauce and a pinch of parmesan cheese.
 

Remember how I said that the sweet potatoes were HUGE?  That one-third of the sweet potato was enough for dinner last night and tonight.

So, I topped the leftovers of the sauce and cheese on the shredded potatoes for a fast and easy lasagna inspired dish!

Squashetti

Oh the lengths we go to to make sure that we are staying primal and still fulfilling our love of food.  When we first began the primal lifestyle the cost of food was scary and at times felt boring.  The food made us feel trapped and tied down, but if there is one thing we learned fast it was the more creative you are the more money you can save while still eating healthy.

The love of noodles and breads that were a fundamental part of our childhoods make us think of comfortable and fun times in life.  They are greatly missed so one of the most important things for us was to find ways to continue eating some of our favorites... though they are still a little different, they are some of our children's favorite, and ours too.

Zucchini noodles are super easy to make and when you top them with delicious spaghetti or alfredo sauce, they are certainly delicious!

Zucchini:

1 medium zucchini serves three of my kiddos.  All you have to do is julienne the outsides of the zucchini, not the seeded part (it doesn't cook to the same consistency so I throw it in some smoothies :) ).  Boil some water and toss in the zucchini noodles for about 5 to 10 seconds (blanch).  They should be al dente.


Sauce:

1.  1 jar of italian juice
2.  About 1/4 cup of dried squash (you could add almond meal instead)
3.  2 tablespoons of flax seeds (can omit)
4.  1/2 pound of burger (browned)
5.  2 cans of tomato paste


All you do warm the sauce, place the zucchini on plates, and top with the sauce.  We also like to top with asiago or parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Good Morning Biscuits

Alright, in our house eggs are used a lot... and then forgotten for awhile and gone back to.  I really think that our least favorite thing about eggs has to do with the cleanup.  It seems like no matter what eggs make a skillet unhappy.  The first few come out well and then the pan starts getting egg stuck to it and before you know it I don't want eggs used... period.  

Firstly, we do not buy eggs at the store.  Farm fresh eggs at the store tend to run close to $5 per dozen.  When we started to purchase them I was disgusted; and I am allergic to them so not having them around was A-OK.  Anyhow, now that I have been on the primal diet for long enough, my allergies to eggs and many other primal foods should be cleared up!!! :)  So, my SIL, Anna, lives in a small town and started bringing us eggs (she stays with us two to three nights a week when she comes here for her job).  She even found a second egg farmer this winter as the farmer she was using couldn't keep up :)  


Farm fresh organic eggs now run here just $1.50 a dozen, a huge savings.  If you ask around you probably have local connections to an egg farmer too :)

Anyway, tonight I was going to make a sweet potato and zucchini noodle dish; however, I got exhausted and decided to whip up this simple, quick, minimal cleanup dish instead.


Ingredients -
12 strips of bacon
12 eggs
12 cubes of cheese


Kitchen Supplies - 
1 muffin pan
whisk
mixing bowl
oven


First you preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Then, put the bacon in the muffin pan in little circles of the muffin pan.  My muffin pan is pretty shallow but it shouldn't make a big difference.  After all 12 holes are filled by circling one strip of bacon per muffin cup, place it in the oven.  I did this so that the grease could line the bottom of the cups and the bacon would get more crisp (which always makes me feel like it is more done).  While the bacon is beginning to bake, I crack and whisk 12 eggs in a mixing bowl.  Once the eggs are whisked I cut the cubes of cheese (about 1/4 inch cubes but you can adjust for how much you like).  Then, I pull out the muffin pan, pour in the eggs, drop in the cheese, and bake at 400 degrees for another 25 minutes.  


You may want to adjust your cook times a little depending on how you like your eggs, and keep in mind that eggs continue to cook for about 2 minutes or so after you pull them out, if you leave them in too long they may get too dry! Sometimes we add spinach or green onions, peppers, etc. 


The best part about these eggs are they just fall right out of the pan... look how clean it was after dumping them out!  

This is what the pan looked like right after rinsing!  No scrubbing at all.  I call that primally perfect!

The boys call these Good Morning Biscuits :)

The Primal Effect

Wow... yep it has been a long time since I have been on here.  Mainly because I have been so tired lately.  I am not sure I mentioned this before, but thyroid disorders are extremely temperamental and very hard to keep in balance because (especially with Hashimotos) your body gets used to the new adjustments and then it has to be increased over and again.  I personally feel as if I have been a lot less energetic after going off of the Cytomel and on the Armour.

A couple of weeks ago, I was beginning to feel quite awful again.  Because allergy season has been particularly painful and my thyroid has also had problems I chalked it up to the two of those and we increased my thyroid.  Last week, though, I began feeling very queasy and more tired, so I went to the doctor and I was diagnosed with a parasite.

Introducing Baby H...

I have been seeing the best OB I could imagine since 2003, but unfortunately he stopped delivering at the beginning of the year; so I will be seeing another associate of his that specializes in high risk (Thank God!).  He told me that this is the kind of surprise you can expect after going primal... fertility will really increase.

At my average length for carrying a baby, I would expect a baby near Christmas :)

What things have I noticed different this time?  Well since I am now primal, I cannot turn to my trusty saltines :(  I am super nauseated.... which is a sign of a healthy baby.  Ginger Ale helped the first day I tried... and since then I have just been drinking water, sleeping, and hoping it will get better soon.  I have only really been able to eat grapes and drink water and OJ.  This morning I considered a small glass of diet coke and reconsidered as soon as I tasted it.  Apparently, after going primal, I HATE Coke.

I would love to hear any suggestions about primal morning sickness cures!

Rizetti

I did not feel like going shopping last week, so  I am down to the bare minimums on food this week.  Results?  CREATIVITY.  Today at lunch I scoured through the pantry and fridge and found, well not much of anything :-(
I pulled out the last two chicken breasts and some rice.

I warmed a pan to melt the last bit of coconut oil that was scraped from the jar (by the way they have some at a really great price at Walmart).  I cut the chicken into small chunks added in a little bit of garlic and onion powder and a pinch of cayenne.  Next, I added a tiny amount of sea salt and tossed in the chunked chicken.   I put a pot of water to boil and made two servings of rice.  After the chicken was getting crisp I scooped it out and put in on a platter.  I added about two tablespoons of potato flakes (I knew I needed something to flavor the rice a bit, but still hadn't figured out what to do).  I stirred it around for a minute and remembered we had a can of Dad's Italian Juice, so I added that.  I wanted it thick enough to keep it from becoming soup so I found some of Dad's Squash powder and added about 1 cup of that (it is always a great option because it seems to really fill up the kids and keep them full!).  It turned out great we served it kind of like spaghetti, even topped it with a pinch of mozzarella!

INGREDIENTS:

• Two chicken breasts
• Coconut oil
• Sea salt
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• 1 Quart Dad's Italian Juice
• 1 cup Dad's Squash Powder
• 2 servings of rice
• Cayenne
• Tbsp of potato flakes

Heat about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, sea salt, garlic powder, and onion powder and fry chicken breasts in it, cubed.  Meanwhile, cook two servings of rice.  Remove the chicken chunks and add 2 tablespoons of potato flakes.  Add 1 quart of Dad's Italian Juice and 1 cup of Dad's Squash Powder.  Warm until it is the consistency you like and good and warm. 

Serve layered rice, sauce, and chicken and maybe even top with a pinch of mozzarella. 

I love happy accidents!

Primal Sausage and Gravy

I feel so great being gluten-free and primal, but how I miss sausage gravy.  My father-in-law used to make this delicious sausage gravy and serve it with pancakes and it was so delicious and I missed that so much; so I set out on a mission to come up with a recipe we could use that was similar. 

INGREDIENTS:

• About 1 pound of pork sausage
• About 3 Tbsp of flax seed (milled)
• About 2 cups of almond milk
• Rice flour
• 1/4Potato flakes
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Cayenne
• Black pepper
• Sage
• Add seasalt as needed

First, brown the sausage.  Then, put in flax seed and a few pinches of right flour (this is how my grandma always did it, not really sure why, LOL but it sticks just the same).  Let it sizzle for a few seconds and then add in almond milk, garlic, onion, cayenne, black pepper, and sage (to taste).  Then, add about 1/4 cup of potato flakes and a little rice flour at a time until as thick as you like. 

The potato flakes help hide the grittiness of the rice flour :) 

Schooling My Primal Children

It's amazing to me that with the number of celiac sufferers there has not been any effort to adjust the school systems regulations of food.

Luckily for me I began homeschooling about six months before I became aware of our allergy to gluten and embarked on this primal journey.  I managed to avoid the necessary decision to remove my children from public schools based on their failure to adhere to diet restrictions.  However, in the recent months with our contemplating moving there has been a consideration of placing our children back in public schools.  It was called to attention by a friend of mine that her child is allergic to milk and the school her child attends was notified and failed to comply.  This is a real concern for many parents aware of gluten intolerance.

Then, I began to realize we really could not place our children back in public school.  At that I began to question what people whose children are gluten intolerant generally do to accommodate these issues.  Aside from packing lunches that are acceptable what can we do to make sure that our children are not eating foods that will make them sick? 

Honestly, at this point I am not sure there is much other than homeschooling a child that anyone can do to protect against this.  Of course, parents should inform children and school of the allergens; but as long as government provides foods at the cheapest possible rate regardless of quality (Where did Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution go to anyway?) there will always be high concentrations of gluten in schools.  There is no way that the teachers can monitor each child's food consumption throughout the entire lunch, and children could easily be tempted with those foods sitting right next to them.

There are definitely other benefits to homeschooling my children and I think this is a great opportunity to stay home with them and teach them about health and core subjects together, but it really brought it home to me when I was thinking about it today that until high school I would probably be homeschooling all of my children :-) 

I have a few ideas on how to make this a little easier on everyone:

• Make sure the teacher understands that your child may need to go to the bathroom more frequent or abrupt, and have an established code between the child and teacher to make it less of a distraction or discomfort.
• Be sure to educate your child about why swapping food is not a good idea.  Make sure to let them know about how you balance their diet to help them stay full too.
• Get a list of birthdays and other class events so you can have a special treat ready for those.
• Leave the teacher with some gluten-free snacks and treats that your child can have as a backup plan.

**Remember, a lot of people are not really sure of what gluten intolerence is.  Be sure to share with those who need to know (teachers, nutritionists, and principals) exactly what this is and how it affects your child.  If they are not aware they may not take it very seriously.  Also, make sure to be open and friendly regarding any questions you may receive about it; your child learns from how you respond.

Tell me primal parents what are you doing to address this? 

Here are some pics from our primal park day this week, it was a wonderful social day in the park.  Check out that gorgeous blue sky!  When do you get to see that in Missouri winter?  LOVE IT!  Hope you enjoy!

Chicken and Rice Casserole

Sometimes you really just need a change.  Do you ever find yourself just randomly tossing things together to make something?  I definitely do.  It has been a long time since I had chicken and brocoli caserole like my mom used to make, and unfortunately the ingredients kept me from doing that.  Here's what I found in the kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 carrots
• 1 bag of brocoli
• 1-1/2 cups of rice
• 2 tbsp of flax seed (to thicken)
• 2 cups of almond milk
• 1-1/2 cups of water

• cheddar cheese
• onion powder
• ginger
• garlic powder

I love casserole!  I preheated the oven to 425.  I just put everything in the top list in a casserole dish added a liberal amount of garlic and onion powder in (we really like it and both have a tendency to lower your blood pressure!).  I added some ginger.  (Generally with spices we do a lot of smelling to see if it smells strong enough, LOL).  I baked it for about 45 minutes and then topped with a very small amount of cheese. 

This dish turned out great, everyone loved it, and it was enough to feed our family of 6 dinner and lunch the next day!  Adults added cayenne and aneheim/jalepino pepper.

Polar Plunge

Hey I am supporting the Special Olympics and will be participating in the Polar Plunge.  My goal is to raise $250!  I love making a difference, please help improve the lives of many children!


Want more information, check out my page!

There are many great ways to participate, and for anyone local I will give an added bonus!  If you donate to the cause under me, I will send you a coupon for photography.  Check out the promotion Here!  Also, if you would like to see a sample of my portfolio, you can view that here!

Chicken and broccoli

Thank goodness for having an AMAZING husband!  Although I have really been wiped out for the last few weeks, our food has not suffered because my husband has stepped in and really created some more delicious and new meals.  Yesterday, after beginning a new and increased thyroid regimen, I managed to plug through the day but around 6 p.m. I was out.  He woke me up to a wonderful and different chicken dinner, and the preparation was pretty easy. 

Here's your shopping list:

• White onion
• Rice Vinegar
• Garlic powder
• Poultry seasoning
• Sherry
• Carrot
• Celery
• Sea salt
• 3 chicken breasts
• White rice (1 serving per person)
• Butter
• Broccoli steamer bag

First finely chop about a fourth of an onion and 1 stick of celery.  Warm (on low-medium heat) 2 Tbsp of butter in skillet with 1/2 teaspoon of rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of poultry seasoning, 2 Tbsp of sherry, a pinch of sea salt, carrot, and celery; once warmed add in chicken.   Steam broccoli.  Prepare rice.  When the chicken is fully cooked add in the broccoli and rice.  Stir until even and serve.

This was a great meal, but it ended up being too much food for our family of six (by about 4 servings).

I am giving this meal an 8/10 for prep time, nutrition, and taste. 

Make it hotter with cayenne.  My husband added a tiny amount of A1 for a tangier taste.  The kids loved it as it was :)  If you want to use less sodium, add it after cooking (cooking brings the flavor of salt down).

Primal Chili

We are not really soup people but we LOVE chili.  Bean less chili is pretty much just meat and sauce right?  No, not ours.  It's delicious, filling, and nutritional!  Definitely a family favorite and a quick fix!

 

Shopping list:

• Ground meat (1 pound or more)
• Avocados (2)
• Garlic
• Onions
• Cumin
• Tomato paste
• Dehydrated peppers
• H2O
• Sea salt (the good stuff where you can actually see the minerals)

Brown your burger, with diced garlic and onions add a little cumin and dried peppers.  Dice up the avocados.  Once browned add in a pinch of sea salt and tomato paste and water (to preferred consistency).  Once all is good and hot, add in your avocados and you are done! 

The avocados give a great bean-like consistency full of healthy fats and yumminess!  The avocados also really bring a filling quality to the chili, so this is a great meal that is relatively inexpensive for being primal!

I like it hot, so I add in a ton of cayenne!  We also like it chunky so sometimes we add in tomatoes or chunks of green peppers.

Maybe later I will have about 30 minutes to make some, if so I promise a picture!

Where's your TV

Alright, the modern things we have are pretty much in every home, car, computer, and now even phone that is used regularly.  I am as guilty as anyone carrying around my awfully tempting cell phone everywhere I go.  I love getting quick updates on my friends and having that external connection because I am so bound to my home.  Regardless, people who come over ALWAYS comment on one thing at my house... "Where is your TV."  They ask this question generally minutes after coming into my home.  We have a corner fireplace that looks like it would be the perfect framing for a nice large flat screen TV and it wouldn't take up too much space in this awkwardly shaped "great room;" yet over the fireplace hangs a family picture, the same one that I said would hang over it four and a half years ago when we were still negotiating on the house and I said I never wanted a TV in the living room. 

Nonetheless, when people come to my home that response is the first thing I hear about.  Why do I not want a TV right there near the kitchen where I can watch it while I cook, where people can watch it when they come over, where it is nicely centrally located in my home?  Because I don't want it on while I cook, when people come over, or centrally in my home. 

The heart of a home is the kitchen.  It is where I prepare food for my family.  The kitchen is where I teach my children about what food does for their bodies, about fractions, and where I hear all of their questions.  When I am in the kitchen it is the perfect time for us to interact and learn about one and other, I feel that would be greatly impeded if my children or myself had the television going on.  The kitchen would become a stressful area with too much extra stimulation and distraction.  Preparing food would become a hurried hassle instead of an enjoyed part of our day.  For me, that is enough reason to relocate the TV. 

When people come to visit I enjoy having the time to interact.  I have been to many family member's homes and there is always a TV in the "living room."  Watching TV is not living it is existing to watch fake lives.  I enjoy watching TV, but it just does not fit in well to social experiences as a main event.  As a child I remember being yelled at for "not being a window" at family gatherings where suddenly watching golf right after watching hours of football was essential to your next breath; and I want more for my kids.  I want them to have the opportunity to develop stronger relationships with the people we invite into our home.

Being centrally located in my home is not a necessity because it is not and will never be a central or essential item in our home.

Do you have TVs?  Where is your TV?  Yes, of course we have TVs.  Our big TV is downstairs.  We have had this particular TV for nearly a year.  Our family has maybe used it for about 100 hours this year.  We watch movies on it and play games on it.  It is in a nearly unfurnished room that gives us the ability to have plenty of space to play games and enjoy our family time.  We also have two tiny TVs.  This is great because if we really want to we can take it to any room and watch a TV show or movie, but these are also used infrequently.  We do not buy cable, honestly I would not want to have to police a TV as much as would be required if I had cable available to my children. 

What Parents As Teachers representative said about not having a TV.  My PAT representative said that my children's vocabulary was larger than average children their age.  They work on more abstract and creative things than many of the other children she saw.  My children have a different pattern of development than most of the children that she works with and seem to pick up on understanding language faster.  Their gross motor skills develop rapidly (though generally later) than most of the children she works with.  She said she felt this all was a result of not having extensive amounts of television around them all day long.  They were able to listen more carefully to words because there was not extra noise to sort out. 

Anyhow, I have my reasons.  I know that some of my guests dislike my TV policies, but they work for our family; and how great is it that it already fits nicely in with my newer primal lifestyle.  I'm loving it :)

Please tell me if you have a reason you think it improves family or could be really important, I would love to hear all about what I have not looked at!

The Affects of Thyroid

I saw the wonderful doctor today!  Over the past few months I have kind of been through a whirl wind of energy and depletion.  Before I went on the Primal Diet I was completely wiped of energy.  After beginning it my energy level improved immensely and I began losing weight!  YAY!!!  When I went to see an allergist and immunologist we spoke about my past medical history and he decided we should probably look at autoimmune disorders as a cause for the incredible weight gain and speed I had.  He found that I have hypothyroidism.  It looked pretty mild at first and we treated it with a relatively low dose of Cytomel. 

I began to lose weight even more rapidly, I had energy, I was able to think more clearly and was no longer misplacing myself, and best of all I no longer felt at all depressed.  (Had I not gone to some pretty progressive physicians, I may have never gotten treatment though.)  After being on Cytomel for awhile, I was switched over to Armour thyroid; and within a very short period of time I lost the energy I had built up, got foggy and disoriented, gained a whopping 12 pounds in one week, and I definitely was beginning to feel overwhelmed and depressed again.  Thankfully, today it was decided I most probably have Hashimoto's disease (the most prevalent cause of hypothyroidism), and we are increasing the dose.  It always makes me feel better to know that there is an improvement coming :)

My suggestion is that if you have these symptoms and have not had a lot of luck with physicians or felt a little bit discriminated against due to weight with physicians you have seen, you should search around town for a few very progressive physicians and/or an immunologist or low-carb physician.  Being obese is not always caused by overeating; however, finding a doctor that will look beyond saying eat less and exercise more can be difficult.   


Common symptoms

• Hair loss
• Fatigue/sluggishness
• Cold intolerence
• Confusion/mental fog
• Depression
• Weight gain
• Dry skin
• Puffy face
• Hoarse voice
• Elevated cholesterol
• Muscle aches, tenderness, stiffness, primarily in your shoulders and hips
• Pain and stiffness in your joints
• Swelling in your joints
• Muscle weakness, especially in your lower extremities
• Excessive or prolonged menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia)

So what exactly is Hashimoto's disease?  It is an autoimmunity to thyroid.  Your body will actually kill off its thyroid production by producing antibodies that attack the thyroid.  This process also causes inflammation much like how the body responds when fighting off any infection.

The good news is that after going primal there is a good chance that your thyroid will begin to regulate itself a little bit better :) 


For more information - Mayo Clinic

Promote Family Time

My children and I commonly talk about loving each other to the moon and back.  Yesterday, when I ran out of work early, I decided we should head out on a walk, but when you are getting the kids ready I have found that it just kind of goes crazy around here if we have a predetermined destination... Two want to go, and two almost definitely protest making it a hassle and no good.  So, yesterday as I had in my head I thought we would go to the park I told them we were going to the moon.  That created quite the stir... questions like how we could, why we needed walking shoes, and what kind of outfits to wear... of course we were not going to the moon, but we got creative juices going about what would happen if we were.  That distraction kept anyone from protesting our unknown adventure.  I think we may start going to the moon everyday :)

I have a primal commitment to walk with the kids and spend quality family time everyday, which is really hard in this world we live in today.  Despite being home with them throughout the day, I am working and busy with chores, and trying to fit in time for some of my personal interests (something I spent years completely ignoring as it was not high priority).  A special thank you to Mark Sisson for writing The Primal Blueprint and giving me words to live by in essence.  I needed someone to tell me I had to do the things I enjoy, or I may have completely forgotten what they were. 

On the walk to the park we really had a wonderful chance to enjoy each other, talk, and grow as a family :)  This is my favorite part of everyday.  Learning together and bonding is probably the most important committment I recieved from The Primal Blueprint.  Anyway, here is your reminder:  WALK, PUT TIME INTO WHAT YOU LOVE (even if the dishes slide a few hours), AND PROMOTE FAMILY TIME! 

Tart and Tangy Chicken Salad

So we do a lot of stuff in the crockpot, what can I say I am a BUSY woman. My whole family loves this meal, and my daughter and oldest son love how they can manage to pitch in and really prepare a meal that the whole family loves!

I commonly will purchase the packaged chicken breasts at Sam's, if you poke through the packages they will probably range from about $11 to around $16. Anyway, I used to repackage them into smaller packages, but since we primarily eat chicken and our weeks are so jam-packed, I have begun doing things a little differently these days. Now after I have set up two meals worth of chicken I pop the rest of it in th crockpot, add water and salt (it's best if you actually let it sit in a tiny bit of seasalt and water for 30 minutes before even turning it on. Then, let it slow cook about 5 hours (or until done). This meat is perfect for chopping up or tearing apart to make chicken salad.

How I prepare this for my family of 6:

• 2-1/2 chicken breasts (torn to bite size pieces).
• 1 whole dill pickle diced.
• 2 stalks of celery cut small (or sometimes we just stuff these).
• 1 diced Granny Smith apple.
• GF Mayo from Sams Club until your preferred consistency (about $6, of course it's HUGE).

We usually serve this as a dip using one of the components or GF potato chips we get from Sams.

Our children love this meal, and it definitely satisfies their taste buds! I like to add a lot of black pepper and cayenne to mine, mmmmmmmmmmm Spicy!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes

Alright so, here's the nitty gritty on the pumpkin pancakes.  They are not gritty AT ALL.  They also are not light and fluffy... What are they?  Delicious and filling!  These are amazing, but you must know they take a lot longer to cook up than regular pancakes. 

So how do you make them?  It is really quite simple.  After making the pancakes I listed yesterday we got down to half of the batter, then I added in a can of Libby's Pumpkin Pie Filling (naturally gluten free!) and all spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg (I did not measure or use much of these, just to taste since I did not use eggs.  If you do not feel comfortable doing this but want that pumpkin pie taste Libby's also has an already seasoned can).  Then, you add water a half a cup at a time until it is thin enough to pour and cook. 

Please note, the reason I said these take a long time to make is because they have to cook at a pretty low temperature.  Cook them too high and they stay mushy (my kids kind of like them that way, but not me).  Anyway, there were way too many for us, so there will probably be way too many for you.  I love the KeePeez lids, just popped one over the top and I am ready for tomorrow!

Mom's Better Than Bisquick Pancakes

Congratulations, you've started your primal lifestyle, you can eat meats, fruits, vegetables and nuts and seeds (in moderation). 

It took awhile but about three weeks in I realized that the kids were just not getting fully used to the primal diet, they seemed a little bored and were ALWAYS hungry.  In an attempt to fill them up we decided to occasionally allow some rice to add a little variety.  So, our new policy is that we are hardcore primal every other month and the second month we are primarily primal and ALWAYS gluten-free. 

In an attempt to fill these children up on our third month I decided to hunt for some kind of pancake that would be acceptable.  We had tried to do the banana pancakes and other recipes that we had stumbled on, but they still did not really seem to fill the kids up (a real challenge with three boys!). 

I was feeling creative, and just began tossing stuff into the mixing bowl hoping it would all pan out.  First, I made regular pancakes and then I used the leftovers to turn pumpkin.  I ended up making way too many, but with no eggs it kept great in the fridge and fed us breakfast for three more days!  My daughter called them "Mom's Better Than Bisquick Pancakes." :)

4T of raw sugar or other substitute

3T of baking powder

1/2 cup of GF potato flakes

6T of sunflower oil (this is super cheap compared to other oils we use)

3T of flax seed 6T of water = 3 eggs

1-1/4 cups of milk (I use almond or coconut)

6 pinches of seasalt

Add rice flour a little at a time until you get a consistency you like.

These pancakes cook well, just like a regular pancake.  They are less gritty than other rice pancakes I have had, although there will still be some.  I think if you wanted to add more potato and less rice it would make it even less gritty, but overall the whole family loved these, and they kept the kids full until well after noon!

Sorry, no pancake pics today, the kids ate them before I could get a picture!  Watch for tomorrow when I tell you all about making the leftovers into pumpkin pancakes and how that all turns out. 

I am not really sure that anyone is watching, but if you leave comments I would be glad to have ideas on others interests! I have been trying to plan meals on a budget as going primal has left me with a more expensive food selection and children that seem to have a hard time getting full.  That being said, I plan for the week; so I was thinking I could start posting a shopping list so you can follow me day by day and experience the savings too.  Let me know what you think!

Additionally, these KeePeez bowls I happened on one day in Sams Club are amazing.  I really love them.  They make it easier to store in what I am already using (less dishes for me!) and they stack very nicely in the fridge and to store.  I highly recommend them.

Making it up

Alright, just to get back on track here, I would like to apologize to any of you who have been stopping in to find NOTHING new.  I have been very consumed in myself for the past couple of months and on the road a lot!  As part of going primal I have decided to pursue something that really calls on my heart and I have began a photography business, so I thought I would share a little about it with you.  You can check out my website  here and I will be relocating my blog soon to a subdomain.  Please keep an eye out I have came up with several new meal ideas in the massive amount of traveling I have been doing.  We are still on the primal diet and plan to stay there, but our philosophy is that if we really want something not primal we never stray from gluten-free and I absolutely love Sams Club for this reason!  They have tons of gluten free items!  Cheese puffs (I have never liked these but hey everyone else does), Gluten-free multigrain crackers and chips, and tons of other stuff! 

I love it when places actually carry things we can use and make it easy to find them!  Many stores have began marking their items with labels you can watch for pink ones at Walmart and Natural Foods (one of my favorite stores) has began making them easier to find too! 

Watch here in the next several days for my newer recipes for pancakes, pumpkin pancakes, chicken salad with a spin, and several other new meals that will not leave you wishing for more or break your budget!