I have had another successful day. It is very tempting to grab a little bit of sugar from the kids' Valentines stash at this point. When I needed something of a different taste I grabbed a prune today. I have to say that the longer I go in this the more disappointed I'm becoming. I don't feel a change in energy and my clothes aren't fitting any looser. With 13 days left I am wondering if there are any changes that are even happening. But I will stick with is in case something is just not visible yet. It doesn't help that my ankle is still not better and it has turned super cold again. I made an appointment for an injury screening at Athletico tomorrow to see if things are worse than I originally thought. I continue to have pain at the front of my ankle and could barely walk last night. Today I have used a combination of the ace bandage and air cast to get me through the day. If I walk with my ankle nearly locked I don't experience pain. But this is very difficult to do for any amount of time and the muscles quickly tire. So we will see what a professional has to say.
Not much exciting went on today. I didn't have a ton of work, so I nearly finished it before going grocery shopping. I finished up this afternoon as I was given a new mentor on my team. I found some time to make sweet potato chips. They didn't some out as crispy as I had hoped. So I think I will try baking them in the oven next (I had used the dehydrator.) I am considering trying to make some dried fruits, maybe some bananas or something. These could be really good to pack for our plane trip this summer and/or even for the kids to take in their lunches for school.
Breakfast: Eggs fried in coconut oil, beef jerky, orange
Lunch: Leftover offal meatloaf, cauliflower, sweet potato fries
Dinner: Meatball stew new recipe from Frugal Paleo Cookbook over zucchini noodles (kids had corn based pasta). This meal took a lot longer to prepare than I thought it would, but everyone loved it and both kids have declared they want it for lunch tomorrow. So this will go into our rotation for days I have more time to prepare a meal.
Time to go put together a library list so Carolyn can have some new things to read!
By eating healthy foods, including eliminating wheat and most grains, enjoying time outside without gadgets, and teaching our children about the world, we hope to raise our children to enjoy life and be free of physical maladies. Follow us on our journey towards general health and a sense of well being.
Showing posts with label Snack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snack. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Overcoming Perfectionism
We noticed when Carolyn was very young that she had a tendency towards perfectionism. She doesn't want to try new things and is constantly nervous that she's going to get something wrong. We often think that the reason she didn't speak until 18 months was she was afraid to say something improperly. Where did this come from? We really don't know, and I don't think it could be learned at such a young age.
I read a book this past week with ideas for how to help your child overcome these tendencies and a big part of it is to identify an perfectionist tendencies in yourself. I've never considered myself a perfectionist. Yes, if I'm going to do something I think it should (needs to) be done well. But since reading this book I've been keeping an eye on my own actions to see if I am forcing any perfectionist ways onto the children.
Lo and behold, we set out to make cheese crackers this last Friday and I found myself needing to hold back. I let the kids help with grating the cheese, although they struggled to do it very well. I used the mixer to put everything together. And then we started to form the crackers. To avoid the mess of last time, we decided to just make balls. They should all be similar in size and smooth balls, in my mind. But allow a 3 and 5yo to participate and they will not come out that way. I had to resist picking them up and rolling the balls just a touch more to be smooth. After all, lumpiness wasn't going to affect the final taste. I let the kids just put their work down on the pan, moving them only to assure they didn't bake together. When Carolyn decided to move on to cheese sticks, we had some issues with the appropriate thickness and I did step in to assure they were thin enough to cook properly. But in the end, the kids got in some great fine motor work and we have a wonderful finished product that is very yummy and healthy.
I will keep watching for my own innate perfectionist ways. It can be hard with kids this age to not correct mistakes, since I like to use them as learning opportunities. But I did learn from the book how to word my responses to their accomplishments to diminish the drive toward perfectionism. I think this was a useful book to read just before Carolyn starts kindergarten. I hope that by carefully crafting my responses I can diminish Carolyn's drive towards perfection and foster a new desire to try new things. I encourage anyone reading this with small children to take a look at themselves and see if you are conveying hidden perfectionist messages toward your child. There's enough competition in this world, let's make sure we are showing our children that as long as they try their best, it's good enough for us.
I read a book this past week with ideas for how to help your child overcome these tendencies and a big part of it is to identify an perfectionist tendencies in yourself. I've never considered myself a perfectionist. Yes, if I'm going to do something I think it should (needs to) be done well. But since reading this book I've been keeping an eye on my own actions to see if I am forcing any perfectionist ways onto the children.
Lo and behold, we set out to make cheese crackers this last Friday and I found myself needing to hold back. I let the kids help with grating the cheese, although they struggled to do it very well. I used the mixer to put everything together. And then we started to form the crackers. To avoid the mess of last time, we decided to just make balls. They should all be similar in size and smooth balls, in my mind. But allow a 3 and 5yo to participate and they will not come out that way. I had to resist picking them up and rolling the balls just a touch more to be smooth. After all, lumpiness wasn't going to affect the final taste. I let the kids just put their work down on the pan, moving them only to assure they didn't bake together. When Carolyn decided to move on to cheese sticks, we had some issues with the appropriate thickness and I did step in to assure they were thin enough to cook properly. But in the end, the kids got in some great fine motor work and we have a wonderful finished product that is very yummy and healthy.
I will keep watching for my own innate perfectionist ways. It can be hard with kids this age to not correct mistakes, since I like to use them as learning opportunities. But I did learn from the book how to word my responses to their accomplishments to diminish the drive toward perfectionism. I think this was a useful book to read just before Carolyn starts kindergarten. I hope that by carefully crafting my responses I can diminish Carolyn's drive towards perfection and foster a new desire to try new things. I encourage anyone reading this with small children to take a look at themselves and see if you are conveying hidden perfectionist messages toward your child. There's enough competition in this world, let's make sure we are showing our children that as long as they try their best, it's good enough for us.
Monday, February 27, 2012
S is for...
Today we did the letter S. Watching the minds of both kids develop is so awesome. We made scrambled eggs for breakfast. Carolyn helped cut up the mushrooms and then both kids helped put the veggies into the pan. Then they each even helped stir a little. They love helping in the kitchen and I think it gets them to eat a little more as well. While we were eating, Carolyn asked how much bacon I had made. I took the opportunity to work on her elementary math skills... 3 for mom, 3 for Carolyn, 2 for James = 8 pieces. She thinks it's so cool to work on things like that. And as a former physics teacher I love taking simple things and turning them into learning moments. We then read all 4 of her S books from the library and wrote her S list. Her vocabulary is quite large.
James has is own development milestones he's working on. I think he may be ready to get rid of diapers soon. I'm letting him lead, but hoping that the signs he's showing aren't just a passing interest. May even have Jon pick up some underwear this weekend when they go shopping.
Dinner tonight was a pork stir-fry. No real recipe and I have to admit it wasn't a huge hit with the kids. I wonder if it was too many different items. Marinated pork pieces all day in terriyaki sauce. Cooked that in coconut oil and then added red and yellow pepper slices, 1/2 onion slices, 3 mushrooms sliced, and leftover peas and green beans from last night's dinner. Put the lid on to soften all the veggies. Served it over quinoa for the kids and Jon, had mine plain. After dinner each kid had an apple to try and fill their tummies.
We took a look at kindergarten readiness lists tonight. We do that now and then just to reassure ourselves that Carolyn won't need preschool. We looked at Wheaton's list, since that's one of the towns we're considering moving to. Carolyn can do everything on there, except write her name with just the first letter capitalized. I'm confident we can work on that in the next year. It's awesome to see her develop and us never have to really teach her anything but be able to do everything. She's really working hard on reading too, I wouldn't be surprised if she's reading before Kindergarten. Lately she's been really into writing though. I need to pull out the letter pages I printed in August.
We also tried the bagel recipe again from a couple days ago. This I used 5 eggs and coconut oil instead of applesauce. Came out much better from my view and both kids gobbled them up again. I assume they'll request them for breakfast as well. Feels good to feed them things I now is doing good things for their body. It'll be interesting to see their height and weight growth at the doctor over the next few months.
James has is own development milestones he's working on. I think he may be ready to get rid of diapers soon. I'm letting him lead, but hoping that the signs he's showing aren't just a passing interest. May even have Jon pick up some underwear this weekend when they go shopping.
Dinner tonight was a pork stir-fry. No real recipe and I have to admit it wasn't a huge hit with the kids. I wonder if it was too many different items. Marinated pork pieces all day in terriyaki sauce. Cooked that in coconut oil and then added red and yellow pepper slices, 1/2 onion slices, 3 mushrooms sliced, and leftover peas and green beans from last night's dinner. Put the lid on to soften all the veggies. Served it over quinoa for the kids and Jon, had mine plain. After dinner each kid had an apple to try and fill their tummies.
We took a look at kindergarten readiness lists tonight. We do that now and then just to reassure ourselves that Carolyn won't need preschool. We looked at Wheaton's list, since that's one of the towns we're considering moving to. Carolyn can do everything on there, except write her name with just the first letter capitalized. I'm confident we can work on that in the next year. It's awesome to see her develop and us never have to really teach her anything but be able to do everything. She's really working hard on reading too, I wouldn't be surprised if she's reading before Kindergarten. Lately she's been really into writing though. I need to pull out the letter pages I printed in August.
We also tried the bagel recipe again from a couple days ago. This I used 5 eggs and coconut oil instead of applesauce. Came out much better from my view and both kids gobbled them up again. I assume they'll request them for breakfast as well. Feels good to feed them things I now is doing good things for their body. It'll be interesting to see their height and weight growth at the doctor over the next few months.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Feeling Better
I honestly am starting to feel better. No headache this morning, and James slept much better last night. He was up around 1, nursed, and put himself back to sleep after rocking for 2 minutes. I think he had a bad dream because he wrapped his arms around my neck and wanted to rock upright. What an improvement though! Something really cool is that I'm no longer starving when I wake up in the morning.
I got caught up with work yesterday, so didn't have a chance to post about lunch, snack, or dinner. So I'll combine them all here this morning.
Lunch:
Tuna salad - tuna, mayo, celery
Cheese
Carrots
Apple
Almonds
I hadn't planned to have the almonds with lunch, but Carolyn insisted. She didn't seem interested in eating much else. Glad she likes them, but they're expensive so we need to ration until I find a cheaper source! We'll find out today if she truly didn't like the tuna salad or just wanted the almonds.
Snack:
Green pepper slices
Almonds
1 piece of chocolate
The kids had their snack while I was tutoring. Carolyn was super hungry because she didn't eat much for lunch. I told her that she needed to eat more for lunch in the future because she doesn't get to spend all afternoon eating.
Dinner:
Chicken
Tomato Paste 6oz
Tomato Sauce 14.5oz
Garlic - 3 cloves minced
3 T water
2 t oregano
1 t sugar
Mozarella cheese
Frozen green beans
Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. Combine other ingredients except cheese in a bowl and then dump over chicken. Cook on low 4-6 hours. Too much longer and this will burn. Remove chicken and stir in cheese until melted. Serve with veggie side.
Both kids were a huge fan of this as usual. Carolyn was asking for her noodles, since we haven't had any in quite a while. I will need to find alternative ones to keep everyone happy. I also need to find a cheap source of almonds and a way to grind them in order to make some baked goods. The trickiest part of this whole change is going to be staying in budget each month, at least until we get settled into the new routine.
I got caught up with work yesterday, so didn't have a chance to post about lunch, snack, or dinner. So I'll combine them all here this morning.
Lunch:
Tuna salad - tuna, mayo, celery
Cheese
Carrots
Apple
Almonds
I hadn't planned to have the almonds with lunch, but Carolyn insisted. She didn't seem interested in eating much else. Glad she likes them, but they're expensive so we need to ration until I find a cheaper source! We'll find out today if she truly didn't like the tuna salad or just wanted the almonds.
Snack:
Green pepper slices
Almonds
1 piece of chocolate
The kids had their snack while I was tutoring. Carolyn was super hungry because she didn't eat much for lunch. I told her that she needed to eat more for lunch in the future because she doesn't get to spend all afternoon eating.
Dinner:
Chicken
Tomato Paste 6oz
Tomato Sauce 14.5oz
Garlic - 3 cloves minced
3 T water
2 t oregano
1 t sugar
Mozarella cheese
Frozen green beans
Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. Combine other ingredients except cheese in a bowl and then dump over chicken. Cook on low 4-6 hours. Too much longer and this will burn. Remove chicken and stir in cheese until melted. Serve with veggie side.
Both kids were a huge fan of this as usual. Carolyn was asking for her noodles, since we haven't had any in quite a while. I will need to find alternative ones to keep everyone happy. I also need to find a cheap source of almonds and a way to grind them in order to make some baked goods. The trickiest part of this whole change is going to be staying in budget each month, at least until we get settled into the new routine.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Getting Creative
Looks like this change is going to push my creativity for the kids. Instead of being lazy and giving the kids the bag of pretzels for a snack, I'm going to have to help them find something. Not really a big deal, but definitely need to get a little creative to get them to think past pretzels as a snack.
Today we did Ants on a Log - celery, peanut butter, and raisins. Each child ate 2 "logs". While it proved quite messy, they both enjoyed something different.
It will be nice, of course, after I go to the store and buy more veggies, to just send them to the fridge to grab a container of precut veggies. And once I find some softer nuts, perhaps cashews, we can include those as well. Looking forward to having an excuse to add some different types of foods into the rotation!
Today we did Ants on a Log - celery, peanut butter, and raisins. Each child ate 2 "logs". While it proved quite messy, they both enjoyed something different.
It will be nice, of course, after I go to the store and buy more veggies, to just send them to the fridge to grab a container of precut veggies. And once I find some softer nuts, perhaps cashews, we can include those as well. Looking forward to having an excuse to add some different types of foods into the rotation!
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