Seven Quick Takes - Sugar and Wheat Free

I started writing a long post about my family's recent diet changes but it got too complicated so here it is in simple form:

1.
We all got sick several times over the holidays and I decided it was time to make some changes to improve our immune systems.  Having read a lot recently about ways to improve your health through diet, we decided to stop eating wheat and cane sugar for a month.  It should be said that we already don't eat artificial sweeteners so that means we are working with honey, molasses, and our new discovery - coconut sugar.  Coconut sugar can be used in 1:1 substitution with cane sugar though the taste is different.  This is important because there was no way Izzy would go without sweets even for a short time. 

2. 
Wheat and sugar are addictive.  It was really hard to stop eating them and not substitute with something else.  I was craving baked goods non-stop for almost two weeks.  I remember this from going on an elimination diet after Ezra was born.  The cravings are coming to an end and I am beginning to be satisfied after eating simple meals.  I also remember this stage from before.  It feels great!

3.
Izzy will also not go without bread, pancakes, and a number of other things so I have been learning about baking with alternate grains.  Spelt is my new best friend.  This bread is wonderful.  I made a loaf for sandwiches and cinnamon rolls with it.   This weekend I am going to try my hand at making gluten free french bread.  I plant to use this recipe if I can find the dough attachment for our food processor. 

4.
After a couple weeks, we decided that we probably won't go back to eating wheat or cane sugar very often.  Now the question is what to do with the ton of fantastic whole wheat flour and all the sugary items left over from the holidays in our pantry.  They will probably be baked into things that get taken to church but in the meantime they provide quite the temptation.   

5.
Toward the middle of the second week, Bee broke out with rosacea all over her little face and my skin got a little yucky.  We think it was a symptom of detox.  We both got better toward the end of the week. 
Then we took a holiday from our new ways for a weekend due to a family event and a birthday party.  (Because I'm not mean enough to take Phoebe to a birthday party and not let her have the food or birthday cake.)  Her face broke out again.  It seems she has a sensitivity to wheat.  She broke out again this week when my mom gave her some pita bread. 

6.
Speaking of Bee, she is such a good girl.  The ladies at church serve some serious snacks after service and for the last several weeks, my sweet girl has sat and eaten broccoli or fruit while the other kids run around with cake, brownies, bagels, and other things she can't have.  I never really let her have the sweets to begin with, but I'm so proud of how well she takes it when I won't let her have the treats that the other kids get. 

7.
I don't have to wonder what to do with our 7 pounds of sugar because I started brewing kombucha.  So far I've had two good batches and one batch that got moldy.  We don't quite heat our house warm enough to brew effectively in the winter.  I can't wait until it warms up. 

Check out Jen for more quick takes.

Seven Quick Takes - Little Bits of Christmas

1.
Merry Christmas!  The last week was somewhat chaotic and passed too quickly, but we had a lovely time. Before Christmas, the children and I had the flu. This resulted in one more day off work than I planned.  I spent Thursday and Friday in bed with Phoebe listening to music on Pandora and napping.  In spite of all the vomiting, it was lovely and I enjoyed spending time with her while she was more relaxed than normal. 

2.
Sunday was Christmas service at church.  Our community follows the Quaker tradition of not having special services on Christmas Eve so the Christmas celebration was on Sunday with a lunch afterward.  I have to say that I really dislike holiday services at non-liturgical churches. I know people love them, but watching a string of performances, even if I enjoy them, does not help me worship or reflect on the Incarnation.  Call me Scrooge - my family already does.  I did really enjoy the potluck and wish my littles had been feeling better so we could have stayed and enjoyed the company longer.

3.
As part of the aforementioned service, Bee sang "Away in a Manger" with the other littles.  She still wasn't feeling well, and even wearing her sparkly tutu didn't help.   She frowned through the song, which made me a little sad because she loves singing so much usually and she always loves an audience.          

4.
We spent Monday and Tuesday at my parents' house and enjoyed time with my family.  I always wish we could have more time.  It seems that both of the children grew up a lot over those two days.  Probably I just noticed things that I don't usually see because I am at work for most of their waking hours. 

5.
Monday afternoon, my parents, Ezra and I visited my grandfather in the nursing home after we heard he was not doing well and he passed away Christmas morning.  While my mom was originally hoping that he would not pass until after Christmas, I think she ended up appreciating having people around and a lot to do that day.  I hadn't seen him in a while, so I am glad that I got to go say goodbye. 

6.
Ezra started communicating a lot more over the last week.  He holds his arms out to the people he wants, waves hello, and I think he is also signing for milk.  The milk sign looks a lot like a hello wave, but last night I decided they were different.

7.
I came back to work yesterday.  It is more difficult than normal to be here after I spent such a nice week with my children.

More Quick Takes found here. 

Seven Quick Takes - The Maternity Clothing Rant

I promise I will come up with something more substantial to write about soon-ish.  In the meantime, here is what is on my mind today:

1.

I am really not that big yet.  However, most of my normal clothes do not fit me anymore.  I am in that not-fun time during which I am too small for maternity clothes, and yet I am too big for my normal clothes.  I am taking picking up a few things that will also fit me right after the baby comes, but I am having a hard time because I don't want to buy work clothes since I will fit back into my regular clothes by the time I have to dress up every day.  This means that my work wardrobe is shrinking daily.  I will be out of clothes that fit soon. 

2.

Why are 80% of maternity clothes black no matter what season it is?  While I don't mind as much now that I will be big in the winter, it drove me crazy when I was pregnant in the summer and dressed like a crow every day.  It is boring and gloomy.  And I can't find a non-black pencil skirt.  I already have a black pencil skirt.  I loved it last time, I just don't want to wear black every day. 

3.

I will say, that having lots of black winter-looking clothes will help me not have to buy quite as much this go-around.

4.

How on earth can they justify charging so much money for these clothes, cute and non-cute alike?  I can't bring myself to spend $50 on a T-shirt or $250 on a work dress when I am skinny.  There is NO WAY I will spend that much for something I won't wear for more than five months. 

5. 

The above complaint reminds me why I hate all of my maternity clothes.  Since I won't pay for what I really like, I am left to work with whatever I can find on (real) clearance at less expensive stores. And whatever my mom buys me.  I just spent my morning internet shopping.  Most of what passes as clearance for maternity clothes approaches what I will pay for my normal clothes.

6. 

Those of us who are prengant and do not have skinny legs and small breasts, are mostly doomed to looking huge.  (Unless you are willing to pay ungodly amounts of money for your clothes.)  I am curvy and I have big muscles.  The small part of me is in the middle, the part that most maternity clothes balloon around.  Unless the tops and dresses are fitted around my belly, I end up looking fat rather than pregnant.  I remember this from last time.  I won't show pictures.  If I had skinny legs and didn't need to wear a bra, it would be easier to find maternity clothes that make me feel pretty.  Because there are a lot of pretty maternity clothes and some of them are affordable.  They just don't flatter me. 

7. 

I understand that pregnant women who work seem to be in the minority.  It is clear from the volume of cute casual clothes (things that go with jeans and corduroy) and the fact that it is very difficult to find professional pants and skirts that are not black polyester.  Is everyone really okay with spending months only wearing black polyester to work? 


For some non-clothing related quick takes, visit Jen's blog. 

Seven Quick Takes: Update Edition

1. 

A few months ago I mentioned that I was looking for a natural way to color my ever-increasing volume of gray hair.  After posting, I brewed extra-strong sage tea and did my best to spray it on my gray hair.  And it started to work! As long as I remembered to do it every day.  Unfortunately, I do not remember to do much of anything every day.  Most days I successfully use deodorant and brush my teeth, but otherwise not so much.  Needless to say, sage tea is not a viable remedy for my gray hair. 

2.

As a result, I have turned back to henna, but I found a new brand!  This one seems to be much less processed than the brand I formerly used and consists exclusively of powdered henna and indigo leaves.  I used it last weekend, and am much happier about the way the color turned out than with other brands of henna.  It is much more natural looking and makes my hair a lot less brassy looking in the sun (so far). 

I didn't leave it on quite long enough, so I expect that the color will fade in the 4-6 weeks promised by the company.  Since I dont' like to put extensive effort into maintaining my appearance, I usually expect things to last longer than that.  Since I will need to leave it in longer next time and I don't think that it will turn my hair ugly colors, I might use a lighter shade when I buy my next box.  If I had a picture, i would post it.  

3.  

 The potty training battle was nearly over!  After sweet, stubborn, smart little Bee started CHANGING HER OWN DIAPER in the middle of the night, I took a few days off work, brought her to my mom's house, and started boot camp.  That didn't work great, but somehow a week later, she started cooperating.  She now almost always uses the toilet (the big toilet, not the baby toilet) unless she is playing in the yard and too busy to tell us she needs to go.  Since the weather has changed for the worse, we might be done with potty training very soon. 

4. 

However, in the last week Bee has gotten lazy and now she often wets her pants a little before she gets around to making her way to the toilet.  Izzy is not happy with the set back. 

5. 

I finally got Bee to happily wear her brown dress.  Here she is right before her second birthday party looking very pretty in her dress and "hat." 

6. 

Yesterday I pulled out most of the plants that were in my summer garden.  Last year I waited until they were beyond dead and it was probably February before I got around to cleaning everything out.  I am trying to be better this year.  I also have a few fall vegetables growing.  If the weather stays the way it is and doesn't freeze before Thanksgiving, I should have broccoli, beets, lettuce, arugula, and the ever-present chard. 

7. 

Meanwhile, I have to figure out what to do with the remains of my summer crops.  I spent several evenings this week canning pears I bought last weekend, but I feel obligated to find something to do with all the produce Izzy stripped of the plants before I tore them out.  They consist of lemon cucumbers, unripe bell peppers, a million habaneros, quite a few tomatoes, but not quite enough to make it worth canning them.  I am taking suggestions.


For more quick takes, visit Jen's blog.  

Seven Quick Takes

On what I am doing right now...

1.

I am procrastinating writing my sermon for Sunday by writing this post.  I was really excited about it while I was working on it on Monday, but I hit a wall, and I'm having a hard time getting started again. 

2. 

I am beginning to think that my little one will no longer be potty trained.  She has been taking off her big girl underwear in order to diaper herself.  For a while she was proud of the panties, now apparently she takes them off for diapers.  Of course, she always prefers to run around bare-bottomed when she can get away with it.  Izzy isn't a fan of her being bare-bottomed.

3.

I don't understand the recent weather.  It seems that most of the country is enduring unbearable heat while here, it has been unseasonably cool here.  In general, this is a great thing except that my garden is still not producing summer fruits and vegetables.  I am still waiting for tomatoes, squash, and peppers.  It needs to be at least 90 degrees for more than a few days in order for my vegetables to ripen.  In the meantime, I am enjoying cucumbers, eggplant, and the spring vegetables that are still hanging on in the cool weather. 

4.  

We have been super-busy lately.  I have hoped that we could landscape our backyard by the end of the summer, but unless I take a lot of time off work, that isn't going to happen.  I might do so, because I am super-impatient to have a backyard to enjoy and for Bee to run around in.

5. 

Tonight I took Bee out front to play in the grass with her ball.  Two of the neighborhood kids about her age came over and started playing with her.  It the girl next door darts over every time she sees us come outside to play.  Her mother doesn't play with her, and it seems that she craves positive attention from grownups.  I don't always know what to do with her.  She tries as hard as she can to come in the house all the time.  I'd let her in, but I don't know how her mother will feel about it.  She isn't a particularly kind or rational woman.  I know she resents the neighbors showing kindness to her son, so I suspect she won't look kindly on our bringing her daughter into our home. 

6.  

With respect to the neighbor kids, I don't know what to do about letting Bee play with them.  We have been watching the children for three years.  With one exception, they all have habits and manners I don't want my child to learn.  I don't want to isolate her or over-shield her, but I am really concerned about what she will learn from them. I don't think I will let her be around them unsupervised for quite a while.

7. 

 Bee hasn't been going to sleep this week.  Not at nap time, or at bedtime.  It has been exhausting.  Here's hoping that she gets over that soon.  

Off to water the garden now that the sun goes down. . . 

You can find more quick takes here.  

7 Quick Takes (or the early summer of my discontent)

1.

As the title indicates, I have been discontented for the last two weeks, leading me to be antsy, irritable, and generally unproductive.  I blame the fact that I feel aimless at work, but it is really my own fault. 

2. 

In an attempt to improve my discontent, and the general condition of my body and spirit, I have begun waking up earlier in the morning to practice yoga using this.  I found a copy in a used book store about 5 years ago and I love it for helping me put my body back in order.  I am four days in and I already feel better.  

3.

In addition to the yoga, I am meditating on the Lord's Prayer when I am done.  Much like the yoga book helps my body, this is my go-to practice when I find myself having a difficult time focusing my spirit during prayer.  Clearly all is not well when I am busting out all of my tools to fix myself.  

4.

If I have made plans with anyone and forget or end up canceling, I'm sorry.  My schedule for the next month seems to be in constant flux.  My weekends are also a lot more scheduled than I prefer.  It makes me feel trapped to have every day of my week planned for me ahead of time.  Must work on this.  

5.  

I have done more cooking than usual this week.  I like that.  In response, I am contemplating hijacking my husband's mostly inactive blog.  Unfortunately we have similar reasons for not posting.   He doesn't because the pictures haven't been uploaded from our camera.  I haven't because I don't know where he keeps the camera so I can take pictures.  

6. 

I am pleased that summer finally decided to arrive.  The summer plants in my garden have decided to start growing in response to the sudden heat.  This is good since I only had two kinds of spring vegetables.  Bring on the homegrown food!  (And the lower grocery bills). 

7.  

This is funny. 

I was actually at a place where the pledge of allegiance was said Wendesday for the first time in forever.  I opted out.  

For more quick takes, go here.  I finally decided to join in after enjoying others' contributions.