Our Story

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Making Salad the Star

Some really exciting stuff is happening in our family, all four of my kids are drinking there green smoothies daily, they are snacking on fruit and some veggies all day, and everyone of them ate salad last night at dinner even Zac!! When I say they all ate salad I mean one that was full of veggies it was the biggest thing on there plate by far and my older two asked for seconds. I can honestly say that it was one of the cheapest dinner's I have ever made for my family.

Salad being the star of our dinner will now be the new norm along with what we're already doing, we have kefir growing, green smoothies, granola, sprouts, no caffiene, milk or pork. And the next step I'd really like to take is making our own sour dough breads to get all the yeast out of our systems.

I can't believe how energy I have especially in the morning, so that's when I try to get the bulk of everything done. I get really tired around 4 pm on since Zac still doesn't sleep. For example last night I fell asleep around 10 Zac woke up at 12, then at 1, I couldn't fall asleep again until 3 because my knees, hips, and back were hurting so badly, then Nate's alarm went off at 4:15 which woke Zac up and he didn't fall back asleep until almost 6 and Gavin woke up for the day at 6:45. That's a fairly typical night for us. But with all that said I can't believe how alert and awake I feel thru the better part of the day, WITH NO CAFFIENE!! It just goes to show how much energy you can have when your feeding your body greens, live enzymes, and other wholesome foods.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Filming yesterday

I LOVE the filming!!! For many reasons one I always feel super excited to continue to try new things and feel better about what we're accomplishing, the film "crew" is hilarious and embraces my family for what it is CRAZY, and I actually get ready:)

My sister Sarah came over yesterday to help watch my kids while we filmed some interviews, and since she was around I had her do my makeup too. Which means she had to bring her 3 kids over too. So we had 6 kids here under the age of 5, fun times I know.

Anyways Kels filmed the outside of house today and the kids got into the car, which is so dangerous and they've been in trouble for it before, so they got me on camera disciplining my children AWESOME:) Also Sarah's 3 year old was dancing like crazy for them it was too cute.

Robyn came over and showed us how to make kefir and she even gave me a kefir grain, YAY!! We also told her what we've been doing and how we've been doing for the last few weeks. I love her enthusiasm!

After the film crew left it was time to take the kids to dance. Just a side note my kids dance an hour away so Tuesday we leave our house at 3 and don't get home til 7 pm. And Thursday we're gone from 3 to 8 pm, luckily Thursday we car pool with my sister so it's only twice a month I drive. So back to the point my kids all grabbed there green smoothies for the drive and Zac drank his whole 1/2 pint of it!!! Also I weighed him and he has gained a few ounces which is huge since he hasn't gained any weight in 6 months!

GAME ON! I know I haven't posted our weight loss for weeks, honestly it's because I wasn't keeping track after surgery. I started keeping track this week again I was 170.2 the last time I posted and am happy to say I'm down to 168.4. a loss of 1.8 lbs. I gained weight after surgery so last week I really weighed 173 making it a true loss of 4.6 lbs. Regardless I'm happy and feeling so much healthier.

I'll have to post Nate's weight tomorrow cause he keeps forgetting to weigh himself before he goes to work.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Granola recipe

I've had so many requests for the granola recipe so here it is.
As Robyn says: it's full of fiber and Omega-3 fatty acids, plus it will totally clean you out! I double this recipe and make it in a big broiler pan with a lid.
Mix Well:
8 C rolled oats (not instant oats, which are a processed food)
1 C raw wheat germ (found in bulk at the health food store, high in B vitamins)
1 C shredded coconut (found in bulk also- not the sugar kind)
1/2 C freshly ground flax seed (grind fresh, in your high-powered blender)
1 1/2 C nuts (walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds)
1/4 C sesame seeds
2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Heat on the stove until barely melted, stirring together:
1/2 C honey (raw)
1/2 C molasses or Grade B maple syrup
1/2 C water
1/2 C extra virgin coconut oil
optional: 1 Tbsp maple flavoring or vanilla

Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until distributed evenly (this takes a few minutes). Bake at 250 degrees, stirring well every 20 minutes for 45-90 minutes or until dry. Keep in the pantry for up to 2 weeks in cooler weather, or in the fridge for up to six weeks.

We add dried fruit and sprouted raw sunflower seeds the day we eat them.

To sprout sunflower seeds, cover 1/2 p. of sunflower seed with filtered water overnight, then drain in the morning. They are now living food with vastly more enzymes and nutrients. Here the link to her youtube video where she makes it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1HUUEuv-QE&feature=channel_video_title

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Giving myself a little more credit

So I've been kind of frustrated that we had such big set backs in the month of March. But I was reminded just how far we've come when I spent sometime at other people's houses over the weekend.

My family was offered crystal light, something that we drank on a daily basis at our house before the start of "GSM" (March 2nd). Aspartame was all over our house in what our kids were drinking and in huge quantities in what Nate and I were drinking. It's nasty stuff and it will never be consumed by our family again.

Also we have stopped consuming cows milk, and for the better part sugar and pork. Nate is really having a hard time with the whole pork thing he loves his Cafe Rio burrito with sweet pork. Which got me thinking you know what maybe we are doing a better job than I thought. In general we are making healthier choices, and doing our best to only take on what we know we will be able to commit to, and change permanently.

At the beginning I thought we will jump in and do it all, then I realized if we jumped in and changed it all at one time it would not be long standing. Also our poor insides couldn't have handled it. We are so excited to continue to look and feel better, and to live the life God intended for us. I really appreciate all your loving and encouraging comments it keeps us going.