Lentil Tacos

I have been trying to eat less meat/dairy lately and tonight I used this recipe for Lentil Tacos for dinner. I have actually had some lentils for a while now and have been wanting to make something with them and this sounded good. Not only did it sound good, but it WAS good! Really really tasty, in fact.

I made homemade whole wheat tortillas (yum!) and we added some leftover black olives, black beans and avocados (because I like to eat avocado whenever possible).  I did use some Daisy sour cream, which is dairy, but at least it's pure and natural, right?

Can I just tell you how amazing it feels to eat good, wholesome food?! My body (gut especially) thank me every time.

I'm not perfect. Trust me. I had some jelly-belly's and a chocolate-mint truffle earlier today, but all things in moderation is such a good motto to live by.

A word about lentils from Worlds Healthiest Foods:

Health Benefits

Lentils, a small but nutritionally mighty member of the legume family, are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber. Not only do lentils help lower cholesterol, they are of special benefit in managing blood-sugar disorders since their high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising rapidly after a meal. But this is far from all lentils have to offer. Lentils also provide good to excellent amounts of six important minerals, two B-vitamins, and protein—all with virtually no fat. The calorie cost of all this nutrition? Just 230 calories for a whole cup of cooked lentils. This tiny nutritional giant fills you up--not out.

Please pass the Lentils!

Beauty

Not so sure about this new blogger set up....Anyway, today was a lovely day. Perfectly warm, but not too hot. I thought I'd share some pictures of the developing garden.  Is it just me or do all gardeners (or wanna-Be's in my case) wander out to the garden almost every day to inspect growth? Maybe it's the novelty of it all still, I don't know, but I sure do love to check on the plants.

They are already looking much better than they did last year. I am still hoping and praying we get to enjoy the fruits of our labors this year. I picked up a couple strawberry plants on Saturday from the Flower Farm, as well as some sweet potato plants that I purchased from a very sun-kissed farmer at the Market. It was a small pot, maybe 3x3 or so, but he told me there were about 10-14 little plants in there. At a buck a piece, no less. I love sweet potatoes, so I went for it. He told me that with all the plants I got we would have (potentially) enough sweet potatoes to store and last us until April! That is, if I don't kill them, which is still quite likely at this point in my gardening career. Hopefully that will not be the case. I even dug in the dirt with my bare hands to plant them. And THAT is a huge step for this gal who hates to get her hands dirty (literally).

I seriously am in love with the Farmer's Market. I get absolutely giddy when I get there. Again, probably the novelty of it...I have only been three times now. I kinda hope I am always as excited about it though. 

I love this time of year! 

I also love learning! Sometimes I get bummed out because I never got my 4 year degree...as if I am less educated or "less" in some way than those who were able to do that (not because anyone has said so, but because of my own insecurities). Although in reality, I have continued my education in a lot of different areas outside of a traditional classroom setting and it's useful, fulfilling, and makes me happy :)

Alaina decided to create a work of art all over her body today before church. Luckily I had enough time to bathe her before we left. It was on her legs, bottom of her feet, hands, and her nose. Lovely, isn't it? 


So, last week on Mother's Day, the Primary children got to sing for all of us at church. Katelyn seems to get a little nervous about doing this, even though she is up there with all of her friends. She didn't want to go, so I bribed her by asking if she wanted to take Alaina up with her. Technically, Alaina isn't old enough to participate yet. Well, it seemed to work, and I enjoyed watching them both and listening to the songs. Alaina just stood there with her fingers in her mouth, but I could tell she was having a good time. 

Today, during church, the choir got up to sing and suddenly Alaina jumped up and said she needed to go up there too! Apparently she thinks she needs to go up whenever a group sings now. Anyway, she stayed put, but during their song, she reached her little hand up, had her head on my shoulder and as she rubbed my cheek said, "It's a celebration. For you." In the sweetest little way imaginable. Oh she makes me laugh.

Just to warn you, I may or may not be feeling a little whiny today. I have mentioned before that last fall after I did my 2nd half marathon, I developed heel pain (I got Plantar Fasciitis) and had to cut way back on running. I did physical therapy for 2 months for my left foot and it has gotten so much better. But I was worried that I was just going to have to find a different physical activity to be involved in, so I tried to keep a good attitude and decided that I could try biking.

So I did the Rage in the Sage duathlon in April. I wished so much that I had been able to run for that one and since my foot was feeling better I decided to sign up for the next Duathlon, which was the Fiasco In Pasco race last Saturday. Run 5K, bike 30K, run 5K. Since the running part was all on trail/bark/pebbles/sand, I figured it would be less impact on my foot and I went for it.

I had already started biking more at the gym since I had to cut back on the running. Then we joined a new gym with classes and I tried out some spinning (cycling class). I tried a road bike, and instantly fell in love. You can really feel the wind in your hair on one of those. I even purchased clipless pedals and shoes for my bike (don't ask me why they call them "clipless" when you are clipping them in).

Justin works with a female officer who generously offered her bike for the race and I tried it out for a ride last week. She is shorter than I am and even though we raised the seat, by about 5 or 6 miles in my back was killing me. Luckily I had a rental bike reserved and I chose to use that one since it was my size.

I enjoyed the race for the most part. I was at the back of the pack on the first run. Honestly, I wasn't sure how much I should push myself because I knew I had a long ways to go, but I managed to run the whole first leg without stopping (I know, it's only 3.1 miles...yeah, yeah, yeah). And go figure, now my right heel has decided it wants to be an issue. I made a good transition to the bike, managed to not get run over or fall over and I thought I was cruising along pretty good. Turns out I was still at the back of the pack, although not last. That is, until I took a wrong turn at the end of the bike course. THEN I was last in. Lame. I was pretty irritated by that (not that I was last, but that I added an extra mile to my course). Again, my lower back was killing me and I just wanted off of that bike so bad!

The 2nd time on the run was a lot slower, which I knew it would be. But I knew I was going to finish that race.  I kept looking behind me thinking that surely I could not be the last person finishing. Well. I was. There was one other gal who I passed the last 1/4 mile (because she had become injured) and her friend dropped out of the race somewhere along the line. But it really doesn't matter. I finished and although I was tired, I really felt pretty good. My muscles weren't that sore in the days following, but my lower back has been in pain. And this week I have been an absolute slug! I laid on my back on Monday and Tuesday as much as possible, yesterday saw the Chiropractor and today decided I HAD to get to the gym. I ran a mile and then did pump class. I felt so, so weak in class. And I got so frustrated with myself that I started tearing up. I shook it off, because seriously, who cries in pump class???? I feel kind of stuck physically. I try to eat healthy, I work out between 4-6 hrs a week, and all I can do is seem to maintain the weight I am at. I just feel like I can't get rid of the squish around my belly and I hate it! Is it aging? Is it stretched out skin, am I in denial?

OK. So boo hoo. I got my whining done.

The good news is that last time I was in Spokane I was able to have my wedding ring sized back down to nearly it's original size. Now I can wear it and not worry about losing it! 

XOXOXO

I have heard it said that this is, "the information age". And boy, isn't that the truth!? With the tap of a finger you can have gobs on this "information" delivered right into your lap in an instant. I just can't decide if this is a blessing or a curse. Specifically, I am speaking of information about health related issues primarily focused around food. I have always kind of-sort of known what was good and bad for me to eat. I grew up with the food pyramid, which has now changed to something else altogether and I'm not sure I even know for positive what it is (although, with a click of my finger I could find out).

When I went through my Gall Bladder/stomach hell two years ago, I started to pay a lot more attention to the food I was eating and I think that was where my journey really began. 

I have come across this quote a couple of times and I like it: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” ~Hippocrates


I feel like I have a good understanding of what is good for and what isn't, but what is really overwhelming about this information age, is that even when you think something is good for you, there is always going to be someone else out there to prove you wrong.  And it will be a doctor with a lot of so-called research and study and data to back it up.


Take milk for example. I grew up with the slogan "Milk. It does a body good." And most of us believe that you need to drink cow's milk so you will get Calcium (and other vitamins). But I have since learned a new perspective on milk: that it does NOT a body good and that it is believed that drinking cow's milk actually depletes your bones of Calcium.


If that disagreement wasn't enough, the newest one I have come across is that whole wheat is bad. What?!? How could this be true??? Everyone knows that you need to eat whole grains, right (unless you are gluten/wheat intolerant or have Celiac disease)? Now, I have just heard from yes, another doctor, who believes that eating wheat is actually contributing to Celiac and other health problems. The wheat he is referring to is the "genetically modified" wheat that we are consuming these days. He says it is very different from the wheat of long ago. I am so curious about what else he has to say, that I am waiting for his book to arrive. And for the past year I have been making all my own wheat bread. What is a girl to do?

Does anyone else feel overwhelmed with all of this information? I know I do. I guess all I can do is keep learning, keep reading (and praying) and then deciding for myself where I want to stand.

Over the last two days, the girls and I got started on planting the garden. We have a small garden, with two raised beds that are about 12'x4'. We planted corn, carrots, pumpkin, cucumber, and 3 tomato plants.  We still have pole beans to plant as well as zucchini, potatoes and herbs. And we may plant strawberries in one of those cool strawberry pots.

It was two summers ago when we put in three blueberry bushes. Only two of them survived and they have tons of blossoms on them this year.

Before living here, we lived in Newport, WA and our next door neighbor had told us great stories about how wonderful the growing season is here in the Tri Cities (he used to live here).  So when we finally got our garden in last year, I was so excited!  That excitement turned quickly to disappointment, when very few of our plants produced anything worthwhile. I don't have a great background in gardening and I felt a little useless and helpless to these plants.

A couple of months ago I got some books from the library about gardening. Justin and I both read, and then read some more. We added compost to our soil this year and a friend of mine (who, in my opinion grows a very successful garden) told me to get some Alfalfa pellets to add into the soil as well.  So, I did that too.

I don't know about anyone else, but I actually said a rather informal prayer, but a prayer nonetheless, that our garden would be fruitful this year.

Besides getting produce from our garden, I am really looking forward to going to the Farmer's Markets this year. I had never gone to one until last summer, and I fell in love! I am definitely an advocate for buying from and supporting local farmers. And the produce I got from the Market, was the best produce I have ever had. FRESH!

I love summer!!!

1st Race

April 24, 2010 "Clot Trot"

(for Hemophilia awareness)

My friend told me about this fun run just at the last minute today, and I decided, "why not?!" Katelyn was so excited! This was her first official "race", you know.  {...I take that back, when I first told her she was going to get to do a race, she almost started crying and said that she couldn't run fast enough. I had to explain to her that even though it is called a race, it doesn't mean she has to try to win...or something like that. After we cleared that up she was excited again.} She practiced her running out in the front yard before we left and then just before the race began, I looked down and there she was stretching it out. Hilarious! She thought of that all on her own.

I let Alaina wear my bib #, but she got to ride along in the stroller. We did the 1 mile route in about 14:30 minutes or so. It was so FUN to get Katelyn involved. She didn't quite understand that it's not a sprint, and got a little tired here and there, but the only thing that matters to me is that she had fun doing it :)

Pictures: Katelyn stretching, my friend Kim and her girls and Katelyn during the run

Metamorphosis

Remember the other day when I wrote about catching caterpillars? Well, I thought for sure they would probably just die in that jar, but a couple days ago, I looked in the jar and saw a brown cocoon! There was only one at the time, and I could still see the other caterpillar, but it wasn't moving. Yesterday I checked again, and the 2nd caterpillar had also turned into it's pupa. I think my neighbor and I are more fascinated and excited about this whole experiment than our kids are (her son is in Kate's class). I even checked out books from the library about Moths and Butterflies, and looked at several websites to see if I could find out what kind it is. I never did find it. Hopefully, I will be able to catch them when they emerge from their cocoons. That would be awesome!

Rage In The Sage 2012

To quote my friend Emily: "Marriage makes you fat." Add a couple of children to that, staying home all day long, love of food, and inactivity, and this is what I looked like at the same event two years ago.

Two years ago I started to run again. I used to run semi-regularly when I was single, but as I just mentioned I just sort of stopped being active. I was never heavy before. Never! Being overweight was a new thing for me, and it was not pretty.

One thing I love about this area is that there are a lot of sporting events you can participate in all year long. But I suppose it is the same for most cities of any significant size. In 2010, I ran two 5K's and did the Duathlon and then devel0ped some lower back issues and stopped running. With the help of a horrendous year of G.I. problems I dropped 25 lbs. In December of 2010, a friend challenged me to train for a 1/2 marathon. I was really nervous. I had 5 months to get ready and I wasn't sure if I could do it. But I did! So in 2011 I dropped another 21 lbs, ran two 1/2 marathons and a RAGNAR relay. Truthfully, I went through a couple burn out periods with the running, but I didn't want to stop. I knew where I had started from and I did not want to go back. In November I started having foot pain, but was able to run with it for a while. I ran the 2011 Turkey Trot 5K and finally finished under 30 minutes (29:30).

The foot pain got worse and worse, so I finally saw a Podiatrist, got an injection and then went on to PT in February. I've been going for 2 months now and I am finally seeing improvement. It has been a long haul. I got discouraged with the foot issue (Plantar Fasciitis), even felt a little "down" about not being able to run, but I didn't want it to get the best of me. I decided that if I couldn't run anymore, then I would just find something else, like biking. Which is why I decided to do the Rage in the Sage again this year, but just do the bike part.

During the 10 miles, I thought to myself a couple of times that I would rather be running, but in the end I really enjoyed myself. My goals were: to not crash, not get a flat tire and not have to walk my bike up any hills. Goals met!



My friend Jen was my teammate. She is 6 moths pregnant, but really wanted to do it. It was a gorgeous day!

this kid

I put on my running music to listen to while I was cleaning up and Alaina immediately ran down stairs to get her "dancing thing" on (tutu). I thought that was pretty cute, but that's not the point of this post.

During my tidying up, and as I was making her bed I discovered I have one of those kids. The kind of kid that always has her finger up her nose. But what's more, is that she is also one of those kids who apparently likes to wipe her boogers on the wall next to her bed.

Here she is smiling proudly next to her collection. When I told her to please stop wiping her boogers on the wall and come get a Kleenex in the future, and when I told her it was gross, she just laughed and said, "it's not gross, it's yummy!"

Oddly enough, she isn't a booger eater. Let's hope it stays that way.

Oh, this kid makes me laugh, even when she is gross.

Yep, I just blogged about boogers. This is our life.