BEST SALAD EVER!!!

I know the title probably doesn't bring a lot of flash to this post, but I seriously ate the best salad of my life yesterday. My kids even ate most of it, which was completely surprising.

If you've been keeping up with my sporadic posts, my family participates in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). We get a weekly shipment of fruits, veggies or herbs that are fresh and organic. Yes, I get a lot of Swiss chard that I still don't have a clue how to use (most of it ends up in my vegetable broth recipe). However, most of the time I get the best strawberries, huge avocados, spinach that tastes SO much better than the store kind, and last week I got a huge bundle of basil!

The only issue we have had with joining a CSA is what do I do with this stuff when I get home? The fruit, snap peas or grape tomatoes barely make it home from pick-up, so that leaves lettuce and other veggies/herbs. Yes, salads and veggie sides are a huge part of the week's menu, but fortunately that is changing.

Every year, our CSA (JR Organics) has farm tours complete with customer appreciation lunches. While it was great to visit the farm with the kids, I do have an Animal Science degree and I've spent A LOT of time on farms. I was more interested in the customer appreciation lunch. I wanted them to show me how they can feed over 100 people AND create various things out of their CSA products. They did not let me down; I even bought their recipe book on the way out.

While we were walking around the farm, a booth caught my eye, well, mostly the kids were dragging me towards it because it had free smoothie samples. While the kids were trying to negotiate more samples I was finding out, this couple formed this company to help educate people on how to prepare healthy, in-season foods. They offer a recipe subscription service in which you are sent 5 recipes each week that use in-season ingredients.

I know, I know, why would I pay someone to send me recipes when I can just look them up myself? Go ahead....look them up. Try spending the 2 minutes I do - to open up my email and save them to my computer for later use - to find 5 healthy recipes using in-season ingredients that are also cheap to make.

I call this being efficient, not lazy. I have better things to do with my time than get hungrier searching the Internet for breakfast/lunch/dinner/dessert ideas. I also forgot to mention, they include a shopping list with their recipes, so you could plan your meals for the week this way too!

ANYWAY...I haven't been using their recipes as regularly as I like because sometimes the CSA sends different ingredients depending on crop success. However, I started planning weekly meals for the last couple of weeks and we've been very happy getting out of the meal rut we were in.

Last night I made one of their recipes, called "Peach Basil Salad." As I was preparing it, I was already imagining Little Dude protesting dinner, so I made salmon with it. Both kids ate the salad and actually thanked me for dinner!

Today for lunch I made them PB&J sandwiches and tried to eat what little was left of the Peach Basil Salad. Let's just say, I had to share and ended up making myself a PB&J too. It's amazing how one meal can make or break everything. Before this salad, the kids weren't real excited about salads, because we eat them A LOT. However, now that we know we can add all sorts of interesting things to make it different and exciting, the kids are questioning the recipes on the menu and helping me plan a little.

I figured due to the success of this one little salad, I would give a shout out to "Cooking with CSA!"

Evidently, iron is pretty important

I thought I was getting enough iron in my diet. Oops. What's the worst that can happen? Well, it wasn't the worst, but between the frequent idiot moments and almost passing out as I walked to pick my daughter up from school, I kind of got a wake up call.

If you're new to the blog (Welcome!), I am a vegetarian. Vegetarians need a bit more iron than meat eaters because obviously we miss the iron supplied by red meat. I haven't eaten red meat (except for one horrendous occasion) in about 4 or 5 years, but I evidently got enough in the chicken or pork I was eating. Not to mention, I wasn't that active, so it didn't matter much.

In March, I will have been a vegetarian for an entire year, yay me! In this time I learned that during certain times during a female cycle, you need to increase your iron intake, obviously. Yeah, yeah TMI, get over it. Compensating for this I took a supplement, in addition to my daily vitamin, the week during and prior (my physician told me to, I'm not a doctor, so check with yours before you listen to my craziness). Up until a couple of weeks ago, this was working with no issues.

What changed?

The weather got a bit nicer (I'm in Southern California) so naturally, the kids and I went outside. Princess also decided she was going to hit the 100 mile mark in her school's running club, so we became more active. During running club we were walking between 2-3 miles, 3 days a week. While the kids were in school I began overhauling our sprinkler system, which involved digging some seriously deep holes. I was also going to the YMCA on the occasional rainy day to bike.

I learned today that a normal woman (before menopause) needs around 18 mg of iron daily (men need only 8-10 mg, but that's probably because they don't lose it on a monthly basis). A vegetarian woman (before menopause) needs to take in about 25 mg because she isn't getting her iron from meat sources. Iron from animals is easier to absorb in our bodies than plant iron.

My vitamin provides 18 mg, plus I was getting a lot from my veggie meals. So why did I feel like crap this week? Well, the information that I was missing is:  an ACTIVE woman needs about 33 mg iron.

Since I was being really active (even for myself) I pretty much depleted any iron I had and wasn't replacing it well enough for my activity level. So today when my daughter was walking her 2.5 miles, I barely made it a mile, walking slowly with Little Dude. When Little Dude and I came home, I began working on the sprinklers and noticed that something definitely wasn't right. Did I stop? No. 

I have issues with things not being finished.

Later when we were walking the 1/2 mile to Princess' school and I almost passed out, I finally figured out I didn't feel good. I wasn't dehydrated so I guessed it must be my iron level. I went to my go-to iron recipe and started feeling better halfway through drinking my smoothie. Wonderful recipe for a Gingerbread Smoothie here.

Now I know. Now the question is: does my activity level stay the same and I start eating spinach like Popeye or ease up on the gardening insanity?




I like spinach (and kale).

Full-fledged "hippie" status, here I come!

Since moving to California, my husband and I joke with each other about me becoming a true hippie. He has even stated that California looks good on me. I absolutely love California and I truly hope the Navy allows us to stay here for my husband's career.

I love the season's we have here: summer and rainy. If I really want to see snow, I can drive for 90 minutes to Julian, CA and see snow. If I want to go to the beach, I drive about 20 minutes. For those people out there saying, "I couldn't live without real seasons," you can keep them. I have lived in Utah, Missouri and Virginia. I have also been in North Dakota during "summer" and "fall" (both had snow, so I'm not sure what to really call it).

Due to the "lack of" seasons in CA, I get fresh produce year round! Stick that in your "I love having different seasons" pipe. I get oranges, strawberries and avocados year round, without having to take out loans! Oh, and they're fresh compared to yours!

Now that I am a vegetarian, I love the fresh produce. My kids eat more vegetables than I ever did as a child. I don't think I even knew what kale was until I moved to CA.

You ask, "How are you going full-fledged hippie? Sounds, like you're already there." Ha ha, just wait.

Recently pesticides and GMOs (genetically modified organism) have been in the news with increasing frequency. Several European countries have banned a few pesticides, and they make companies label their foods if they contain GMOs. With our love of corporations and low prices, I don't see the US advancing in this area for awhile. Hell, the FDA allows a flame retardant as a sports drink additive (evidently it allows the beverage to be better emulsified), only because they haven't done enough research on the harmful effects on people.  Um...it's flame retardant, how can that be good for anything involved in the digestive process?

Last night, I actually sat up thinking about how I could start buying from the hundreds of farms I drive by. Where does their food go? Why am I buying oranges from Peru, when there is an orchard 20 miles from my house? Why am I buying lettuce from Mexico, when I know there were tons of farms between here and Monterey, CA?

Price is the answer. When you pay someone a few cents a day to harvest produce, it's still pretty cheap by the time they drive or fly it to the US. The problem is, because they have to fly or drive the goods, the produce has to be picked before it's actually ready. You can't argue on the taste. Pick any tomato out of your garden and compare to ANY tomato in a store and tell me which tastes better! (Oh yeah....it's probably still winter where you are. My tomato plant is 5 feet tall right now.)

The other thought that comes to mind is, what are they using on their fields? In the US we have somewhat strict regulations on chemicals we can use, not the best, but decent. But wait, I'm not buying my produce from the US, remember? Since I'm a vegetarian, I'm now eating more fruit and vegetables than I did before. What if the chemicals used on the plants have an accumulative effect and I'll be really screwed in 20 years? What exactly am I eating, or feeding my kids?

I've looked into buying organic, but it's so expensive in the stores! However, now I'm looking into the possibility of getting a box of fruit and veggies each week from local farms (CSA).  Researching the prices, I found that depending on the size box I order, I will paying about the same or a little less on organic, fresh fruit and veggies than I get from buying them in the store. So what is the downside of this?

These are seasonal fruit and veggies, picked by the growers, so I can't pick and choose my produce. (Some places will allow you to exchange or add-on stuff for an extra charge). Also, in some other places the drive time may effect this choice, however in sunny San Diego, I've got several choices within 10 minutes of my house. It's a 20 minute drive to the military base grocery store or a 10 minute drive to Sprouts, so I don't have to calculate mileage into my costs.

The upside: this will force us to try new and different produce, that we normally just stare at with wonderment in the store. The kids will get to experience the fruit they love in the farmer's markets. Also, some places will allow you to tour and even volunteer on the farm. I can hear a few of my relatives that grew up on a farm, saying, "Seriously? You want to tour or volunteer on a farm?"

Yes, I do. I have an agricultural degree from Mizzou, so I learned the importance of responsible farming. It's not always done, but at least on the CSA farms they are using innovative ways to control pests and fertilize their crops. My kids should learn this and get their hands dirty in the garden....a huge ass "garden."

More importantly, I want my kids to grow up questioning what they are buying. One day they will work hard for their money and they need to question:  is what they're buying safe to wear? Safe to eat? Are the workers getting paid decent wages and are their working conditions safe? (At least in the US we have child labor laws).

No one should settle for something because it's cheap. The more people question ingredients and methods, the better our world will be....for everyone. If you refuse to buy something that uses child labor or uses flame retardant as an "digestible" ingredient, you are sending a message to the company that you won't allow this. It's a small message, however if more and more people stop buying a product, things will change.

Food - I love you, why don't you love me?

I have a love/hate relationship with food. I love it, but it hates me.

"Hi, my name is ME and I am a stress eater."

For some psycho-babble reason, it seems to make things feel better for that split second. I realize therapists all over the world are crying out, "Replace that feeling with something that actually makes you feel good. Activities that make you laugh, blah, blah."

I manage to think long and hard before I stress eat, so I'm making progress. I try my best to drink a large glass of water or leave the room completely; however, sometimes that spoonful of peanut butter mixed with another spoonful of dark chocolate chips just TASTES awesome!

Since I don't enjoy exercising (on purpose), I have to monitor what I eat closer than non-stress eaters do. Plus I have low blood sugar issues and my families genetics SUCK! Due to genetics I now have, and will continue to have, cholesterol problems. Yes, I do realize that a small amount (30 min everyday) of exercise would cure most of my problems, but it's the motivation I lack. Once I'm exercising, I'm fine, I even enjoy it!

Recently, I went full-on vegetarian (okay, so not full-on, I eat fish and dairy/eggs - so I'm a pesky ovolacto Unitarian or something) so that adds another hitch in my food monitoring. Also, since I don't eat meat I now have low iron levels to worry about. Not usually a problem, however being a woman, evidently you pretty much deplete your iron stores on a monthly basis, yay! But how much iron do I need? What if I eat too much iron? Ugh!

This is how I came to have an appointment with a dietician. Other than the fact that I've been monitoring the wrong things and my genetics suck, it was actually a great appointment. If your insurance will pay for it or you have a YMCA near you (ours has a dietician), I recommend consulting with some sort of nutrition specialist. (**For those of you with spelling OCDs: dietician and dietitian are the same thing, I looked it up because Google said I spelled it wrong.)

After browsing through the multitude of handouts, I am actually doing a decent job eating healthy (aside from the stress thing). Getting rid of meat in my diet is actually 1/3 of my battle with cholesterol; dairy and genetics are the other two-thirds. My real struggle comes from the fact that I evidently monitor and eat the wrong fats.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not and never will be a dietician so go see one for yourself, because you are not me and may have different diet and genetic suckage to deal with.

One of the many handouts explained the whole saturated/unsaturated fat business in a way I understand...it had pictures! Plus, I added the all-important arrows indicating what the different fats did to my cholesterol. My dietician helped explain the LDL and HDL thing.
HDL is good stuff, it helps gets rid of the LDL which is the nasty stuff that sticks in your arteries. I'm still lost on triglycerides, but that is because mine seem to be fine so we didn't touch on that.

Basically your natural oils (olive, peanut butter & nuts) help increase your HDL and decrease your LDL. Fried stuff, we all know is bad, but it's BECAUSE it lowers your HDL and raises your LDL. Ah HA! I'm not very good at, "Don't do that, it's bad for you!" I need explanations and reasons for things I should do.

Avoiding fats altogether is bad too (did not know this) because good fats are needed to raise your HDL. If you don't eat them, no matter how "healthy" your diet, genetics come in and have a SUCK parade all over your healthy food.

Now I get to do what I hate to do, count calories! Ugh! It's more the vitamin, fat and iron levels I am monitoring, but I still hate it. If anyone has any recommendations for free apps for an android phone, I'd love the help!

Also, if anyone has any recommendations for vegetarian, healthy snacks that I can use for my stress eating I would love the help! My go-to snack is peanut butter with dark chocolate chips added, horrible, I know...but oh SO GOOD! Working on my stress eating will be a whole different post, so let's not go there!

Being a Vegetarian...Sort of

A couple of years ago I gave up eating red meat due to future health problems.  Yes, I said future.  Both of my parents have high cholesterol.  My father is able to take medication, exercise and eat reasonably healthy and keep it under control.  My mother, on the other hand, cannot take medication due to the fact that it destroys her liver.  So exercise, weight control and eating right, is now her life.  Seeing that I tend to take after my mother in looks and health, I gave up red meat and began my crusade to eat better.  Hindsight, I could have just eaten leaner cuts of meat, but prime rib doesn't fall into that category. 

My husband, bless his soul, gave it up with me.  Being that he was born and raised in North Dakota, I figured this would be similar to banned Geneva Convention torture.  He had bigger issues cutting down sugar, than the red meat.  I, on the other hand, would salivate when we drove by a Carl's Jr or Burger King, where you could smell the flame broiled goodness.  I still salivate when I see a commercial for prime rib...until recently. 

So obviously, going years without red meat, your body does in fact get used to it.  When I say this, I mean all that stuff you hear about vegetarians getting physically ill when eating meat...yep, it's true.  About a year ago, my daughter ate spaghetti at a friend's house.  Within an hour my daughter was violating the bathroom. 

About a month ago we met some dear friends at a Mediterranean restaurant, on a vacation to Utah.  In my defense, the only Moussaka I've ever had has always, (let me repeat, ALWAYS) been vegetarian.  So, about halfway through this awesome dish, I realize there are small crumbles of darkness.  Discussion ensues, yes they are in fact lamb or beef crumbles.  After safely returning to our hotel within a short amount of time, my body evacuated the beef crumbles.  So now, the commercials on TV that I used to enjoy, or perusing the meat section, now has me dry heaving.  It's sad really.

I thought this would complicate meal time in our house, but it's actually made it slightly easier.  My daughter has never been a fan of meat....or cheese (another story), and my son is a picky eater, he'll eat anything but only on his terms.  The only issue is that my husband wants to support me and do this with me; however, he is in the Navy.  You're wondering what the two have to do with each other?  Imagine yourself on a ship for 6 months at a time (or longer) and imagine a limited range of meals if you aren't vegetarian.  So now you have 6 months of salad bar, peanut butter and jelly (if you get care packages), maybe some cereal, etc.  So for now, the kids and the hubby eat meat (pork/chicken), while I nibble on my rabbit food.