Thursday, April 18, 2013

More plants please....

This winter I've done alot of research into nutrition & it is changing the way we eat.  We still push the SONIC button sometimes when schedules get crazy & I haven't prepared well, but for the most part we are trying to eat meals packed with plants!!

This is the inside of Wayne's lunch quesadilla before I put it in the skillet.  I forgot the olives, even though I had pulled them out of the refrigerator & had them sitting on the counter, isn't that always the way?
I added refried beans, spinach & sliced avocado, plus his favorite habanero hot sauce.  He is happy without the cheese, so I don't even add it. There's a thousand options for packing a nutritious quesadilla & it's so great as a lunch food or before game snack.

This is our new breakfast.  We basically cram every whole grain we have in the house, some nuts, plus tons of fresh fruit into one bowl, stir & eat.
This bowl has one whole banana, golden raisins, fresh blueberries, pecans, uncooked old fashioned oats, all-bran, ground flax seeds & chia seeds.  Tony adds a little peanut butter or milk to his. This one bowl is packed with essential nutrients, plus it keeps us filled up for & ready for the day!

The cool thing about eating this way is that your body really does begin to crave these foods over the less nutritious choices.  Keep watching for more things we try & love.



No Cable

I statused several months ago on Facebook that we were turning in our cable box.  Since that time I have been asked almost daily how we do it.  I get lots of comments from people about how they would love to be able to do it themselves, but they just don't think they could.  Truth is, we haven't missed it.

Even though we don't have "programmed/advertised" entertainment coming into our home, it certainly doesn't mean that we are living a life without screens.  In fact just the other night, all of us were busy entertaining ourselves on our own personal screens while we are also watching the NCAA tournament games.  Jamilyn & I were both on our laptops. I was blogging & she was on Twitter/Facebook. Tony was on his tablet reading through my Facebook feed about the game while Wayne was playing games on his iTouch.  We were also having great conversation about the game, because it was exciting.  When a game gets exciting enough, all the screens get laid down!

A normal night for us usually consists of some sort of scheduled practice/lesson/group.  We have three teens right now, one in college & two living at home.  By the time we get through baseball, cheerleading, guitar lessons & homework each night there is very little "down" time to be had.

Truthfully we do alot of just hanging out and talking about our days, our plans & such.  This is my FAVORITE way to spend time. And since we also farm, there's always some work that can be done if too much free time exists.

We adore a night where we can be home long enough to watch a great movie, but that doesn't happen very often.  When we do find small bits of time to watch something, we chose something quick from Netflix, like an old "Malcolm in the Middle" episode.

We certainly don't live without screens or entertainment.  What we do live without for the most part is being inundated with commercials & staring mindlessly at "whatever" is on tv just because there's "nothing better on."  We seem to be much more mindful of our decisions to chose entertainment & not just be lulled by the choices of others. It works for us.