Life on the Fringe + Recipes

I'm a pendulum swinging from one extreme to another.

It looks like Claire has some food sensitivities, so we're putting her on a GF/CF/SF diet. (That's gluten-free, casein[dairy]-free, soy-free, for those of you who aren't weird diet savvy.) It's rough. For breakfast and lunch, the rest of us eat the way we usually eat, and for dinner we're GF/CF/SF. I've had to add eggs and more meat to our lives so Claire and the rest of us don't starve. We haven't had a gluten-free day yet, because Claire is a scavenger and cleans up after Damon and Anne if I don't do it fast enough, but she's been dairy-free for about a month, and we've seen some definite improvements in her health.

We're also supposed to limit her refined sugars, so here are some dessert recipes that aren't exactly healthy for you, but healthier than real deal.

Strawberry Ice Cream

2 cans coconut milk (full fat: I like Thai Kitchen brand)
2 1/2 C frozen strawberries
1/2 C agave nectar or honey
1 T vanilla (most vanilla extracts have gluten in the alcohol, so be careful with this one)
1 tsp lemon juice

Blend all ingredients in a blender, and pour into you ice cream maker (check what your capacity is-mine can only hold half of this recipe). In 20 minutes or less, you'll have a pretty darn good treat. I'm something of an ice cream connoisseur, so you can trust me on this one.

Black Bean Brownies

Now this recipe is for kids/people with undiscerning taste buds. My kids devoured it, but the fact of the matter is it tastes like black beans. That's not a flavor I like in my brownies.

Pre-heat oven to 350.

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 eggs
3 T oil
1/4+1 T cocoa
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C agave nectar or 3/4 C sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda

Blend everything until smooth in a blender and pour into a lightly greased smaller-type pan--maybe 8x11 or 8x8? I used a 2 1/2 qt souffle dish. Bake for 30 minutes or so. There should be cracks on top and a tooth pick should come out clean.

skip this one--you'll be bored, guaranteed

This is Damon's last week of school. He's excited. I was his soccer team's assistant coach in April and May, and I'm ashamed that I don't have a single picture to post. We do have video footage, but I haven't had any luck uploading videos. He had a good time, but he's more into socializing with his teammates than actually trying to win games, so watching was frustrating at first, until I learned to calm down and control myself. During his first game I was swearing under my breath, which is ridiculous! It was a first grader's soccer game, for crying out loud! What's wrong with me? One major thing that's wrong with me is that I don't know the rules of the game. So, when the kids weren't chasing the ball, I told the 15-year-old referee I needed a time-out, and she gave me one. I explained to the boys that they were supposed to try to score goals, and they couldn't do that if they were all stopping at the center-field line. They did better after that, but I found out later that there are no time-outs in soccer. I say that's dumb, and that you can do whatever the ref let's you get away with, like calling time-outs when there are no time-outs allowed. Overall, the kids were lucky they had me. The head coach was a good guy, and he actually knew how to play the game, but he wasn't any good at yelling at kids. I am. And I let those kids know where they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing. I was hoarse after every game.

Claire took creative momement dance classes from January to April, and once again, I only have video footage. In April the entire dance ensemble performed in the opera house. It was great. I wish I could figure out how to upload video so you can see it. The best part wasn't captured with the video camera, so I'll tell you about it so I don't forget: there was one number that all the dancers performed in (ages 3-30 something). A girl was asleep dreaming, and the rest of the dancers were part of her dreams. The little kids were dressed up like monsters. It was darling. Near the end, the older dancers were lined up facing the audience and they were lifting the little kids up and putting them down one by one, passing them down the line. You should have heard Claire's delighted laugh as she was lifted up and down and passed from person to person--it was the best thing ever. She has a great laugh.

Claire and Anne are taking a little dance class together this summer--they've only had one class so far, and if it's any indicator of the future, Anne will be the class miscreant. She's really great at not following directions and being a pill.

blah, blah, blah plus successes and failures

My dad says the word "vegan" gives him a stomach ache, so I'm not going to use it anymore. Instead, I'll say "eating healthier." Really, I'll never be v****, because I don't think it's necessary to completely eliminate animal protien from your diet. For one thing, plants don't have vitamin B12, which is essential. That's why we'll always eat beef--good source of B12 and good things like iron, and I have a really good, inexpensive source of it ;-)

Furthermore, in the China Study, they refer to this rat experiment where half the rats were fed a diet that was 20% animal protien, half were fed 5% animal protien, and they were all injected with a toxin that induces cancer. All of the rats on the 20% diet got cancer, none of the 5% rats got it. So, the 5 percenters didn't have to be v**** to be healthy, just 'eat but very little meat,' like Eliza R. Snow said.

So, here's how eating went down last week with the help of my new cookbook, V****omicon:

Damon stopped crying because we don't have any real milk, but he's still not happy about it, and doesn't eat cereal anymore because soy/almond milk taste funny.

Claire finally tried almond milk and likes it! I was afraid she'd never eat cereal again. (I love cereal--my mom was a saint for making us a hot breakfast every morning, but I can't handle that much cooking. Getting one meal on the table a day that's not peanut butter sandwiches makes me a hero in my own mind.)

Anne is an eating angel. She tries almost everything I make (even the eggplant dip!) and often likes it (even the eggplant dip!). Bless her little heart.

Here are some of the recipes we tried and how we liked them:

Broccoli-Potato Soup with Fresh Herbs, page 138--yuck. No one liked it, even though I tried to salvage it by adding cheese. It calls for mint, which is just a weird herb for potato soup in our opinion. Plus, we're used to potato broccoli soups with butter/milk/cream/all three, so it's hard for a v**** soup to compare.

Mexian Millet, page 118--My brother Lex even thought this one was all right, and had two helpings.

Nachos with refried beans, guacamole, and cheese (will we ever be able to live without cheese?)--the only 100% successful meal of the week. Don't need a cookbook for that one.

Pumpkin baked pasta with carmelized onion--I thought it was delicious, Jake thought it was weird, the kids wouldn't touch it. First thing I've ever made with tofu that tasted good. But no one else liked it, so I'll probably never make it again.

Potato and Mushroom Blintzes--not bad, but WAY too labor intensive. If I'm going to spend that much time making something, it better be fantastic. It wasn't. And soymilk gives a strange flavor to crepes, in case you care to know. And I ruined the mushroom gravy that was supposed to go on top. Apparently apple cider vinegar is a poor substitute for white wine. Be quiet. Don't look at me that way. I'm sure you do stupid things, too, sometimes. Claire ate the crepe part, Damon hated the crepe part and wouldn't try the filling, Anne (whom I thought was my best eater) wouldn't try it at all.

So, there you have it. It's been a rough week due to some other things going on in our lives, and I'm wiped out. If things don't improve dramatically next week, I might consider bagging this new diet, or at least get milk for Damon.

If you've stuck with me this far, you must have too much time on your hands.

Cute Kids and Adventures in Flexitarianism

Here's Damon ready for Crazy Hair Day at school. Anne put on my glasses and said she's ready to go to the beach. Hear that, Aunt Wendi? Don't forget to plan our day at Bear Lake, just as soon as the temp gets out of the 50s.

It was a beautiful day today (too cold, though) and Claire said, "The flowers opened and the tulips bloomed for joy!" Random, but cute.

This atrocity is roasted eggplant. Who knew something so beautiful and purple outside could be so repulsive inside? I blended it (after the picture) with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and cumin for pita dip for dinner tonight. I'm guessing I'll be the only one who eats it.

Anne's Birthday

"Anne, what do you want for your birthday?" I asked last month.
"Pwesents," she said.
"What kind of presents?"
"Ones with wed wapping papow."
I love it when kids are so easy to please.


Damon and Anne painting her pinata:



Some of the guests at Anne's party, held at Grandma and Grandpa F's house:

Thoughts on Food

I read too much and that's a fact. Recently I read The China Study by some guy who's probably never heard of the Word of Wisdom, yet wrote a whole book with scientific studies supporting it. So now I'm making some radical changes to the way I feed my family: we're slowly eliminating animal based foods and processed foods from our diet (except beef--what do you think I am, a heretic?).

About a week ago we had our last gallon of milk. Last night we ate our last egg in what might be our last batch of chocolate chip cookies. (I don't really mean last--we'll still eat stuff like that for birthdays and when we're guests at other people's houses.)

I think our cheese will hold out for a few more weeks, but we're down to our last few sticks of butter. I'm pretty sad about that. Hot, homemade bread will have no meaning for me anymore. Unless I find out how to make those fancy Italian breads you get at Macaroni Grill and dip in olive oil. Then we might be saved. If something as good as that bread can be made without butter.

Thanks to my mom we've been trying some new vegetables: tomatillos=good, Swiss chard=blech. I took a bite of raw Swiss chard. It tasted the way cow manure smells. It was better cooked with apple juice, garlic, and onion, but it still had a hint of dirt flavoring. No doubt it's very good for you--anything that colorful and that disgusting must be, right?

random quotes

Damon, sounding a little too expectant: Mom, if you and Dad die before we grow up, how big of a fortune will we get?

Claire on Jake's birthday: Dad gets the first [actually "feast"--insert 'ee' for 'ur' and 'oy' for 'ore' sounds] piece of birthday ["beefday"] cake, because he's older than all of us.

Anne while pointing to my nose: You have a big nose, and Dad has a big nose, and we have little noses.