staybasic
july/august 2013 issue 03
Finding space for simplicity, family and food in our very busy world.
a letter from mia Oh I love summer — later nights with family and friends, swimming, farmer’s markets, and endless picnics! In this issue, you will find ideas for salads that utilize summer’s veggies and are great for picnics, potlucks or to bring to work. You will find amazing kid-tested pudding recipes that are filled with good for you ingredients. You will also meet four amazing women who have made health and happiness priorities in their families and are now sharing their wisdom and products with the world in their own, different ways. We have been evolving StayBasic in our first three issues to give you what you need to create your perfect day, every day—one meal at a time. In this issue, there is a new balance of recipes, inspiring content, and “homework”, so that you can begin to transform your life in easy, doable bits. Enjoy! photos at left by Heidi Murphy at White Loft Sudio
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Questions or Comments? info@staybasic.com
Mia Moran Founder and Art Director
Article Submission Queries articles@staybasic.com
Kate Tirone Senior Writer and Editor CONTRIBUTORS Jenny Schneider Illustrator www.jenny-schneider.com
make sure to sign up at www.staybasic.com to get recipes and tips that we only send out via email
Brianne DeRosa Food Blogger and Coach www.redroundorgreen.com Heidi Murphy Photographer for “A letter from Mia” www.whiteloftstudio.com
HIGHLIGHTS Taylor Wells Author, blogger, yoga studio owner www.pranapoweryoga.com www.super-mom.com Angela Hofmann and Leah Baigell Co-owners of Sprouted Raw Foods www.sproutedrawfoods.com
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CONTENTS Living your best life... every day with Taylor Wells All about salad Picnic essentials In good company: two mamas bring health to the table Not your average pudding: recipe cards Falling on the Mountaintop: setting realistic goals for better family dinners by Brianne DeRosa Yikes! What’s for dinner? A two-part family planning system Take Action! Worksheets, inspirational cards, and a meal planning system
Copyright Š Mia Moran, www.staybasic.com, 2013. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. If you are interested in highresolution versions of anything you see here, please contact mia(at)staybasic(dot)com.
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Living Your Best Life… Every Day Living your best life every day is about feeling good – or how about great? It’s possible! And we’re human, so we all have days when we’re feeling not-so-great; living your best life is also about being at peace with that. If you imagine what your best life looks like, living it means you’re looking for that in every moment – being grateful for that life every day as you create it, no matter what comes your way.
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Recently StayBasic had the honor of interviewing Taylor Wells at her home in Newton, Massachusetts. Taylor is the owner of Prana Power Yoga studios, creator of the blog Super-Mom.com, blogger and columnist for the Boston Herald, blogger on wholepregnancy.org, and author of Create the Best Life Ever (book and cards) – as well as a dedicated wife to her “soulmate”, and mother of five children. The vibe in her house is a refreshing mix of giddy and calm — sparkling ceramic cupcakes and wooden Buddhas.While we spoke, her children where fluttering in and out of the kitchen where we were talking, but respected their mom’s work time. In our interview she was clear, happy, and totally present. Taylor believes you can live your ideal life and make every day “your best day ever” – and she practices what she preaches.
take action! Illustrator Jenny Schneider took a selection of Taylor’s affirmations and made them into works of art. Print them, frame them, hang them... and always stay inspired!
Go to illustrations »
It’s hard for some moms to even find time to shower or put dinner on the table – how can you live your ideal life when you feel overscheduled and exhausted? Taylor notes that a very important step in moving from where you are now to your ideal life is using the power of written affirmations. “Your mind is always moving,” Taylor says, “so it’s important to just catch it” – and move it in the right direction. “I used to write myself little reminders and leave them around the house – ‘breathe’ on the bathroom mirror, ‘relax more, appreciate more, all is well’ in my bag. I’d be feeling overwhelmed and then I’d come across one of these notes.” The messages helped pull her out of autopilot and point her toward the life she wanted: one of happiness, love, positivity, focus, calm, and more. It all begins with your beliefs, what you consider your reality. If you’re saying “I’m exhausted,” you affirm that, and create more of the same. If you catch yourself and affirm “relax more, all is well,” you feel calmer – and you create more of the same. I’ve been using these reminders for about 20 years – in my own life, and to help others,” Taylor says. “Some of my clients needed help creating positive messages, so I’d share my quotes with them, which they’d use in their own daily lives. After seeing how well they worked, I recently developed them into a deck of cards for anyone who can benefit.” Taylor made a deck of cards from her reminders, so other people can use the same messages to guide them toward a more fulfilling and peaceful life. Each card has a quote on each side that helps you focus on what’s going right – to help you see the positive, feel good, move toward your best day, your best life. The cards take maybe 10 seconds to read, but make a huge impact; they literally change your life. For example – what if you unexpectedly get a couple hours free and you go get a manicure instead of cleaning the house? “I think a lot of moms feel guilty all the time, no matter what they do,” Taylor says. “If they work, if they don’t work, if they go to the gym, if they don’t go to the gym, if they get a manicure … but our guilt doesn’t have to do with others; it has to do with us. So I have a new card that says, ‘My happiness is the biggest gift I can give anyone.’” If getting a manicure
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I have all the time that I need. I do things in a relaxed and focused manner. –from Taylor’s Best Life Ever Deck
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Lighten up, laugh more, appreciate more, all is well. –from Taylor’s Best Life Ever Deck
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feels good, do it. Caring for yourself allows you to care for others. “When you’re happy, your family is happy.” Making time for self-care is important – but how can you fit it into your busy schedule? “‘Busy’ is a four letter word!” Taylor laughs. “I use the word ‘abundant’ … and I have a set of Time cards just for moms, including ‘I have all the time I need,’ and ‘I do things in a relaxed and focused manner.’ The Time cards change your relationship to time, and then you actually do really have all the time you need.” And she notes that your kids also pick up on that – how you handle pressure and stress. “I think teaching your kids through your own actions that you have all the time you need is one of the best gifts we can give them.” Should people just use the deck, or write their own cards too? “Wherever you are on the emotional scale, there’s something in here for everyone,” she says, so for many, using just the deck can be enough. “These work for anyone – but sometimes you will want to hand-pick. And I do really believe the more you do this practice, you pick exactly what you need. It’s uncanny.” You can also write your own, using positive affirmations in the present tense. “I encourage people to do whatever feels good – everyone is so different and everyone is always changing.”
buy taylor’s deck
She also notes that one card can speak to someone one way, and the same card can mean something totally different to someone else – and both are right. “One of my cards says, ‘When I’m overwhelmed the Universe is giving me what I asked for, I’m just not ready to receive it.’ We’re all human, we get overwhelmed. But if the card helps you to catch yourself in that moment and say, ‘this is just what I asked for,’ you’ll calm down. Or that card will motivate you to either a) take some stuff off your plate, or b) stomp your foot and say, ‘I’m supermom. I asked for this and I’m ready for it – yes, this is just what I asked for.’ I love that card! It gives me the chills.” Taylor uses the cards every day. “In my bathroom, in my kitchen. And I will pull some randomly and put them out – sometimes I’ll pull one or two and put them on the counter, sometimes I put a bunch out while I’m brushing my teeth so I see them every time I go into the bathroom.” It’s just a part of her lifestyle – and her family’s. “For the kids, it’s having them read the messages, but it’s also that they see me using them all the time – and they see them up on the wall. But I also have paper copies of the cards and put them in their lunch boxes.” She even includes messages in the lunches of her youngest who aren’t reading yet. “Their teachers read it to them. The phrase might not be totally applicable to a three year old, but I’m just always planting the seeds.” And the positive effects on the whole family are noticeable over time. Taylor remembers a time years ago when she felt overwhelmed while preparing for a big trip.
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“Inevitably the day we were leaving, some big thing blew up where I had to take care of things that were completely unrelated. My daughter asked me to take her somewhere, and I said, ‘I’m just so overwhelmed!’ And she said to me, ‘you know, I heard that when you’re overwhelmed you’re getting what you want, but you’re just not ready to receive it’ – she quoted me back to me! And I stopped dead in my tracks. And then I just started laughing and I was totally fine. So the Universe will always give you just what you need.”
take action! Download the 10 cards Taylor has shared with StayBasic. We have sized them just right for your purse or a lunchbox!
Go to printouts »
buy taylor’s book
In her book, Create the Best Life Ever, Taylor talks about her pillars toward living her best life – movement, eating mindfully, her daily affirmations. But as a wife, mother of five, author, blogger and businesswoman – how does she do it? Taylor notes that creating a daily practice is the foundation for all of the other steps you can take toward creating your best life. “I love creating my day every day. But it takes effort; it is a daily, focused practice. I know a lot of parents are just surviving, and they feel overwhelmed – feeling like, ‘I can’t create anything, I’m just getting by.’ I’m creating and manifesting amongst the normal chaos of life. But it’s a conscious decision.” Create a daily practice, no matter now little time you start with. Everything starts with a first step – take that first step and commit to it every day. Then integrate the next step. You will head in the right direction, toward the best life you’ve imagined, and soon you’ll see you’re living your best life every day. And Taylor continues to write her cards according to what is happening in her life now. For instance, she has been writing more cards focused on time. “One of my favorite new cards is not ‘I am caught up on everything,’ but ‘I am always ahead on everything.’ I wrote that because I used to say to my husband all the time, ‘I just want to get caught up! Just clear out the email!’ So one day it occurred to me, just those two words – ‘caught up’ – indicate what? That I’m behind.” Taylor realized she kept affirming she was behind, even as she was focusing every day on catching up. “I used to get up at 4:00 a.m. years ago and just write emails for hours before I started my day, and finally I was like, ‘This is terrible! I have to find a better way.’ So that moment, I wrote: ‘I’m always ahead on everything.’ The next day, within 24 hours, I was ahead on everything – the emails, the blogs, the photo albums online – everything. True story! All I know is that everything came together: the card calmed me down, and then the reality presented itself.” That’s the power of affirmations.
Your thoughts and words really do create your reality. So think big!
Clearing your chakras
An excerpt from Taylor’s book, Create the Best Life Ever:
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I do my best with breath. –from Taylor’s Best Life Ever Deck
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Your thoughts and words really do create your reality. So think big!
IMAGINE YOUR BEST LIFE. What does your ideal day look like? What do you do, who do you spend time with, how do you feel? Take 10 minutes to think about your best life – not what you think it should look like, but your ideal life, no matter where you’re starting from. Get quiet, envision your best life, and write it down. And know that if you can imagine it, you can live it. “Tune in to what the Universe is trying to tell you,” Taylor says. “Everyone has their own calling and needs to trust that.”
Taylor interview at-a-glance
CREATE A DAILY PRACTICE.
FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT.
A consistent daily practice creates a solid foundation for living your best life – Taylor recommends three in particular: movement, connection, and balanced nutrition. For her, these are yoga, meditation, and eating all foods in moderation; for you, they might be a brisk morning walk after the kids head off to school, 10 minutes of silent reflection while the baby naps, and replacing junk food moments with healthy snacks. Begin each morning by clearing your chakras to protect your energy (see next pages), then integrate whatever steps feel manageable for you throughout your day. Most importantly, build a consistent daily practice to support your best life.
“If you’re having a hard time and you pull the card ‘I celebrate things happening easily,’ you might think – but that’s a lie. And I say: fake it till you make it.” Taylor says you might feel like a fraud or a liar at first, but you need to keep practicing feeling the truth in the message. “A belief is just a thought you keep thinking, and you’ve been thinking certain thoughts for 30, 40, 50 years. So just change the thought, practice, and then you’ll feel authentic. Once you remove those old ‘tapes’ playing in your head, you’re just pure potential, because your spirit is limitless.”
CHOOSE YOUR THOUGHTS. As you go through you day, notice whether your thoughts help you move toward your best life – if not, change your thoughts. Taylor’s cards are helpful to catch you in the moment and reframe your thoughts to support you. “One of my Time cards says, ‘Lighten up, laugh more, appreciate more, all is well.’ That’s a great one when you’re dealing with two year-olds wielding lollipops and sticky fingers!” Use her cards, your own notes, or other messages throughout the day to point you in the direction of happiness, calm, peace, and gratitude.
BE BOLD. LIVE BIG. TEACH OTHERS. “One of my cards is ‘Be bold.’ And here’s the deal with being bold: You just have to do it.” Taylor explains that “Be bold” doesn’t mean just go do something outrageous – the message is, go for what you really want, however you want to do it – but do it. Take the first step toward what you know leads to your best life, no matter how challenging it seems. “Don’t think about it; don’t think it through. Just do it, and then let it go. In my opinion, there are no mistakes and there are no decisions – there’s only learning.” And remember, your thoughts, words, and actions are a model for others – when you choose to move toward your best life, you teach your family, friends, and co-workers through your example.
take action with kids Make gratitude boxes with your children. Taylor’s book, card deck and yoga dvd are Directions » available on Amazon.
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Clearing your chakras Not sure what a chakra even is?
An excerpt from Taylor’s book, Create the Best Life Ever: Real Life Stories to Get Inspired
There is a good explanation here »
It’s important to keep your energy clean and clear. Sometimes others may “suck you dry” (unintentionally of course), and sometimes situations or environments drain our energy. That is why clearing our energy is an important tool. Here are five steps to protect your energy: 1
Every morning when you wake up, before you get out of bed, thank the Universe for all that you are grateful for.
2
Close your eyes and visualize your second chakra open like a flower. Perhaps use your hands to mimic an open flower. See the flower (maybe a daisy or any flower with petals) and see its color and texture. The color and texture may change daily.
3
See the open flower (chakra) closing, perhaps using your hands to mimic a flower closing its petals. Once it’s “closed” that chakra is shielded.
4
Move to the third chakra (solar plexus) and repeat steps two and three.
5
Move to your heart chakra and do almost the same things described in steps two and three, except don’t close it. See it open and beautiful. For Moms: If doing all five steps feels like too much at first, begin with the first step and slowly build on the other steps as you feel comfortable. For Kids: Add a gratitude exercise into your day — at the dinner table or tucked into bed at night, have your kids share what they are grateful for.
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Trips to the beach, potlucks with friends, impromptu outings — summer is full of moments for meals on the go. Luckily it is also a time of delicious and sturdy vegetables, legumes, and grains that can be made into quick and yummy salads. These recipes are sure to delight adults, but don’t underestimate kids — hungry at the beach or poolside, kids will try lots of different things.
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Beet and Corn Salad
Ingredients 3 roasted Red Beets diced 3 ears of Corn cooked 3 cups diced Cucumber 1 cup diced Parsley Dressing 4 tablespoons Lemon Juice 2 tablespoons Olive Oil 1 teaspoon Salt (or to taste)
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Directions Wrap beets in tin foil and roast at 350째 for 40 minutes. Roast or steam corn. Let both corn and beets cool, unless you are serving right away. Both can be cooked well in advance. Toss dressing and veggies in a large bowl. Notes Beets also work great raw. You may need to add a bit of maple syrup to dressing to make it a bit sweeter.
Asian Cabbage Slaw
Ingredients 1/2 Red Cabbage shaved 1/2 Green Cabbage shaved Dressing 4 tablespoons of Raw Almond Butter 1 tablespoon chopped Jalape単o Pepper (no seeds) 1 tablespoon Raw Honey 1 tablespoon Tamari 1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar 2 teaspoons Sesame Oil 2 Limes peeled 1/2 cup of Water
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Directions Mix dressing in a high-speed blender, or juice the limes and mix by hand. Toss dressing with cabbage.
Notes Shaved carrots and slivers of portobello also taste great. Cabbage keeps its crunch, so this salad works great if you are packing a picnic.
Bean Salad
Ingredients 3 cups White Beans 1 Cucumber diced 1 Yellow Pepper diced 1 Tomato diced 1 Avocado diced 1 handful chopped Mint Dressing 3 tablespoons Lime Juice 2 tablespoons Olive Oil 1 teaspoon Salt
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Directions Soak beans overnight. Cook beans in water until cooked but firm. Let beans cool. Mix everthing in a big bowl. Notes Cooking a bunch of beans on a Sunday (or free day) is a great thing to have in the fridge to throw together fresh salads all week. This salad is super flexible... any fresh herb would work — cilantro or basil would be great. You can also vary the type of beans and use black beans, French lentils or garbanzo beans. Also any sturdy vegetables would work, just make sure to use a variety of colors.
Blended Salad or Gazpacho
Ingredients 3 Tomatoes cored 1 Cucumber roughly cut 1/2 of a Red Pepper 1 handful Fresh Basil chopped 1 tablespoon Olive Oil 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar 1 teaspoon of Hot Sauce Salt to taste
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Directions Mix all ingredients in the blender. You can reserve a little of the cucumber or tomato to chop and sprinkle on top as a garnish. Notes A pitcher of gazpacho is always a party pleaser. In a jar, gazpacho is a fabulous on-the-go meal, as you don’t even need a spoon! You do need to keep it cool.
Raw Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
Ingredients 2 cups Broccoli cut into small pieces 2 cups Cauliflower cut into small pieces 1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds Dressing 2 cloves Garlic 2 tablespoons Tahini 2 tablespoons Tamari 4 tablespoons Mirin 1/4 cup Raisins Salt to taste
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Directions Mix dressing in blender. Toss with veggies. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds.
Quinoa Tabouli
Ingredients 2 cups Quinoa 2 tablespoons Olive Oil 4 tablespoons Lemon Juice 1 teaspoon Sea Salt 1 Cucumber diced 1 Tomato diced 1 cup Flat Parsley chopped 1/2 cup Red Onion diced
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Directions Rinse then soak quinoa overnight (up to 24 hours). Transfer to a colander with small holes, and let sprout for an hour or so. Use raw or cook as directed. Put quinoa in a bowl and mix with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Let sit for 30 minutes. Toss in remaining ingredients and mix well.
Massaged Kale Salad
Ingredients 1 bunch Kale 2 tablespoons Hemp Seeds 2 tablespoons Dried Blueberries 1 Avocado diced
Directions Rip kale leaves off the spine.
Dressing 1/2 teaspoon Salt 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice 1 tablespoon Olive Oil 1 teaspoon Honey
Massage the kale with your hands. After 2-5 minutes the kale should be wilted.
Cut leaves into half-inch slivers. Put the kale in a large bowl and add half of the salt, lemon and olive oil.
Add the rest of the dressing, followed by the hemp seeds, blueberries and avocado. Notes Massaging the kale is a fabulous way for some very well-washed little hands to help in the kitchen. Cranberries would also taste good if they are easier to find than dried blueberries.
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picnic essentials 1
2
3
5
1 Ball jars make great containers for salad on the go. 2 EasyLunchboxes are great for school and to stack in a bag with multiple lunches. 3 Kids Konserve nesting trio stainless steel containers with leak-proof lids are fabulous for fruit. 4 The Reisenthel Loop Shopper tote bag is fabulous for bringing dishes to a potluck or a family’s-worth of food for a picnic. 5 Leatherman — bottle opener and knife (among other tools) come in handy on the road.
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4
“ To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” – François de La Rochefoucauld
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in good company two mamas bring health to the table
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Angela Hofmann and Leah Baigell are co-owners of Sprouted Raw Foods, LLC, which uses nutrient-dense ingredients – raw, organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds – to create quality snacks and treats that taste amazing. Sprouted Raw Foods are free of wheat, grains, dairy, eggs, and refined sugars, and most are gluten-free – but these ladies believe eating well should be enjoyable, so their focus is as much on great flavors as on wholesome ingredients. I visited with Angela and Leah to discuss their journeys from standard, processed fare to a focus on nutritious, delicious foods, and the challenges and rewards of developing healthy habits in themselves and their families. MIA: I know for both of you that eating healthy and being active are big parts
of your lives. Were you always health-conscious? ANGELA: I didn’t think too much about my diet until I hit about age 40. I would eat a muffin for breakfast and whatever was around for lunch, but when I hit 40 I had some health issues – my digestion wasn’t right, and I just started to feel pretty yucky. I heard a lot about diet and exercise – this is 10 years ago, so everyone ate refined, processed foods and didn’t really think too much of it – but I started doing a lot of research and a lot of reading, and really paid attention to how I felt after I ate something. MIA: 40 does seem to be the age when many women want to make a change.
But I find those who actually change their diets are the ones who are focused on losing weight or toning up, like after having a baby or noticing their metabolism is slower. Women who are stressed, depressed, in a fog, but haven’t changed in weight – they don’t seem to make the connection that eating better can lead to feeling better. Was your weight a factor when you improved your diet, or was it just the health issues? pictured left
Chocolate Ginger Coconut Rounds and Chocolate Orange Coconut Rounds
ANGELA: Well I was never fat, but when I hit 40 I did start noticing, “hmm … it’s not as easy to keep my weight stable.” So I started running and doing yoga, and changed my diet – I really looked at it and how foods affected me. But it was more about how I felt than how I looked. I quickly discovered that gluten, things with wheat, and refined sugar really affected me, and I realized the truth in the saying, “you are what you eat.” I moved my diet away from sugar and refined, processed foods. I also stopped eating regular bread and switched to Ezekiel bread. It wasn’t a big leap, but for my digestion, it was huge. LEAH: I grew up in a health-conscious home. We were the ones growing alfalfa
sprouts, making our own yogurt, eating carob – we were the weird house! We kept kosher, so we made everything – when you wanted cookies, you baked cookies; when you wanted cake, you made it. And we always paid attention to labels because if it wasn’t kosher, we couldn’t eat it. I became a vegetarian
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when I was 10 – which lasted through my early 20s – and in those days, there weren’t options like there are now for vegetarians, so I had to really pay attention to my food. And my mother said, “I’m not cooking for three or four, I’m cooking for one; if you want to be vegetarian, you have to cook.” So I had to learn how to make my own meals, too. And that translated over to when I had kids. ANGELA: It’s the same in my house – if my daughter or son wants cookies or
muffins, they just make them, and they think nothing of it. It’s just how we’ve lived since they were really little. We make pumpkin muffins and banana muffins, things sweetened with fruits – we don’t have refined sugar in our house. We use maple syrup, dates … and it makes a big difference. And it’s easy. It wasn’t hard to make that switch. MIA: Tell me more about your kids – you told me earlier that they eat pretty healthy now that they’re in high school and college, after growing up with health-conscious moms. But when they were young, trying to turn them on to healthy snacks – or just get them to eat their veggies! – what worked and what didn’t? ANGELA: When I first started eating healthier, I tried a number of different
diets. My kids were pretty young then, so it was easy to just say, “we’re having vegetables we haven’t tried – we’re all going to try them together. And this is going to be interesting.” So we started by just eating healthier, less processed foods. And I started making a lot more foods myself at home. LEAH: My kids ate all the vegetables when they were little, then at a certain
point they stopped. But I would make spaghetti sauce and puree every vegetable under the sun. And they ate it. As opposed to giving in to them not liking vegetables and just saying, fine, I’ll just let you eat whatever you want. MIA: I do the same thing – we eat a lot of different kinds of beans at my
house, and I chop very small veggies into them that just become part of the broth. So even though my kids don’t like a head of cauliflower or broccoli stalk straight up naked, they’re getting the taste of tasting the cauliflower or broccoli – and I really think they’ll have a taste for those veggies as they grow. LEAH: I used to make hamburgers and I would throw spinach into the patty.
I would just chop it up and put it in. So they see it, they taste it – sure it’s a little different from somebody else’s burgers, but they get used to it. ANGELA: We also do that with cilantro and parsley and celery leaves – it adds
flavor. So that’s how I look at it. I make beans and put kale in them. And my kids eat it and they love it, because you can hardly taste the kale but they’re still getting it. I don’t consider it hiding or sneaking. I actually think it’s a good thing. MIA: Well it certainly makes things easier for mom – one-pot cooking! But as
a culture we’ve come to think our kids need to eat the whole, plain broccoli.
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There are definitely other ways to develop their taste for vegetables. I know forcing a head of cauliflower on my kids is not going to work! Anything you tried that didn’t fly with your kids? ANGELA: Well, once when I was trying all these types of diets, we did 30 days all raw. That was a killer! My kids drew the line at raw spinach pie – they were like, NOOOO! That was the end of that! But if you don’t take it to an extreme, if you mix things up and don’t try to force them into one specific rule, then it works. When my kids go to birthday parties, I don’t say, “You can’t have cake.” I mean – really? I’m not like that. But at the same time, we don’t have cake just lying around the house to eat all the time. It’s a special thing. MIA: Speaking of cake, your raw treats are awesome. I used to struggle with sweets – wanting the sugar fix, not wanting the fat, feeling guilty after... but I really needed dessert every day. Raw desserts saved me! ANGELA: I know – that question of, how do you fill your body and satiate that
sweet tooth? I mean let’s face it, we all have it. LEAH: Um, I agree we all have it – but I’m going to give Angela the gold prize
here! ANGELA: I do have a sweet tooth, big time! But that’s where these great raw
vegan treats come in. You can eat them and know you’re getting your sweet and you’re satisfying some nutritional needs too. MIA: And you actually feel satisfied. After you’re done you don’t need more
– I mean, you might want more because they’re so delicious! But you’re not going to get to that zoned-out, face-stuffing place that processed snacks lead you. You really do feel satisfied. ANGELA: Exactly. I am someone who needs to just have a dessert every day –
really, not a day goes by that I do not have something sweet. But it’s different from eating emotionally, gorging on a box of cookies. And I know – I’ve been there! LEAH: So this brings up another point – even these raw desserts that taste
great and are healthy, that satisfy you and fill you, the emotional component can be confusing – you want more and you don’t know if you’re full or not. When I was growing up at big meals like Thanksgiving, I would eat and eat, and sit there saying, “Oh my God I can’t move, I know I need to stop but it’s so good I want more!” And I’d just feel awful! And it wasn’t until I was a little bit older, maybe my early 20s, I thought, “I can stop; I don’t have to keep going, it will be here tomorrow.” Something just clicked. MIA: I’ve come to understand the emotional connection more and more, and
it started with just realizing what it was to be full. Eating raw desserts, I just felt more nourished, so it was less about my emotions. I think it would be much harder to say, “OK I really want a sweet so I’ll allow myself to have one Oreo a day.” For me, that would be torture! Whereas when you have a
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hearty, nourishing raw dessert, you satisfy your hunger for sweets and the emotional need for a treat. You don’t overdo – you have your treat and you feel great. ANGELA: Yes; you feel satisfied. Back then, I could literally sit and eat a whole box of cookies – and afterward, I didn’t feel full, and I didn’t feel satisfied. I had to say to myself, “OK, I ate a box of cookies, I’d better stop! I’d better not eat any more for a week!” Now, when I have a raw treat, like one of our fig squares, I feel like, “that was really good, I feel really satisfied, and I am done.” Last night my daughter said, “Mom, I need something with chocolate!” And I had happened to make a batch of the chocolate sauce that we put in our clusters. I said, “Oh honey just go in and get yourself some of the chocolate sauce and stir it up with some nuts or some fruit.“ And she did, and loved it. It satisfied that craving she had.
snacks and treats from sprouted raw foods pictured at right
1 Cranberry Citrus Fruit and Nut Clusters 2 Kale Onion Crisps 3 Flaxseed Smoked Paprika Crackers 4 Coco Nut Bars
visit the store
LEAH: So it’s finding alternatives and having the ingredients available in your
house to do that. MIA: Yes, but even with healthy foods in the house, it’s also important to
know whether you’re even hungry! I feel like as a society we say, “it’s lunchtime, it’s dinnertime, we’re supposed to have snacks at the soccer game”... You just get into this habit of eating at certain times or places, even if you’re not hungry. LEAH: Well this goes back to the idea of listening to our bodies. Not going
by the time clock: “At 8:00 a.m. you eat breakfast, at noon you have lunch – don’t forget a snack!” It doesn’t work for everybody. And yet, a lot of adults are on still that schedule. ANGELA: And some people aren’t morning eaters; I’m not. People say, “You
have to have a really good breakfast.” I always thought, well I don’t! I can have a little water and an espresso, and one little raw cluster, and I’m fine. But then I eat a nice big lunch, and I have a good snack in the afternoon, then I have dinner. MIA: I get that too – “how can you just have green smoothies all morning? Aren’t you hungry? Do you ever eat food?!” I’ve always been a breakfast person, and a smoothie works for me; it’s very nourishing and fills me up. With my kids, two need a full breakfast – fruit with toast or oatmeal – and one has a smoothie with me, then eats again mid-morning. That’s what works for her; everyone’s different. So ... paying attention to your own timing, when you’re actually hungry ... and we talked about knowing when you’re full. Did either of you work on that with your kids? LEAH: Again, it’s starting when they’re young. So from the time I had them,
I said, “there’s always more tomorrow. And if we finish that now, we can always get it another day.” Teaching them from the beginning that you don’t have to have anxiety over it, you don’t have to worry about it. But I think they learn that in the house when they watch how their parents eat. With my younger son, as he would be taking more I would say, “you have to stop for
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five minutes and let your belly talk to you. You can have more if you want in five minutes, but you have to wait.” So it’s teaching them, you don’t have to have immediate gratification. MIA: Like my son; he craves vegetables as much as he craves chocolate – he knows what his body wants. So I trust that. If he is craving chocolate, I give it to him, just like I give him kale or carrots when he asks for those. So for the most part he eats healthfully. But my middle daughter, I have to guide her because she’ll go overboard in one area, like sweets – she takes after her mom! LEAH: It’s hard as parents to watch your kids expand in directions you don’t
want. But you really can’t say NO NO NO! MIA: Right, because that has the opposite effect. LEAH: It’s bringing attention to all of that, being mindful. I really think that
when you deprive yourself or someone else, then they go all the way the other way. I really think you have to introduce the whole world, you can’t just be so narrow. Because it’s when kids bust out that they do not know how to handle it, they do not have the toolkit to work with what’s in front of them, and it’s not healthy. So you have to figure out how to set up a up a safety bubble if that makes sense, where they can go out so far and you can sort of pull them in. It really is paying attention to what works for each person. ANGELA: It’s about finding your own balance and what works for you – and
what works for me doesn’t necessarily work for Leah, or would work for you. LEAH: If you deprive yourself of something, that’s what you’re going to crave
and you’re going to go overboard. If you can incorporate healthy foods into your life, you can find a nice balance. I mean, you’re not going to find ham and processed cheese in my house, but you’re going to find more dairy than in Angela’s house; you are going to find refined flour and sugar in mine, because I do like chocolate chip cookies and I will make them. And Angela will make a different kind of cookie – but I love the things Angela makes. And I make raw snacks for my family, and we enjoy those too. So I think it’s about finding that balance. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, but it has to work for you and your family. ANGELA: I 100% agree. If I eat refined foods, it just affects me very differently
than it affects other people. It’s all about learning about yourself and observing what works well for you; it’s about balance. And even within your family – you can all eat healthy without all eating the same things. My husband can eat way more dairy, and I think, that would just bog me down so badly – although I went out for ice cream last night! It’s OK every once in a while. It’s not a “bad” thing. Someone said, it’s not what you do occasionally, it’s what you make a habit of; it’s how you eat on a daily basis. And if you consistently have a good, healthy base, then I think it’s OK every once in a while to “splurge.”
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It’s not what you do occasionally, it’s what you make a habit of; it’s how you eat on a daily basis.
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mia: I
scored some of the Sprouted Raw Foods very pliable onion bread before a long road trip with my three kiddos from Boston to New Orleans and enjoyed many sandwiches with avocado and tomato, and arugula or cucumber or sprouts — followed by many chocolate rounds! staybasic july/august 2013
MIA: I read an article by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff that made a good point – we’ll
die for our kids, but we’re not providing nutritious food for them, much less teaching them how to cook for themselves. We’ll spend four hours driving to little league games – and yes, exercise and soccer and activities are important – but what are the tools we’re really giving our kids? Food might arguably a pretty important part of their future! LEAH: I was home with my kids when they were growing up, and I brought
them everywhere with me. My kids know the grocery store – they know how to look at things, how to shop, how to pick things up. It’s starting young with them – letting them stir, letting them get dirty, letting them make mistakes, letting them dump salt in and find out that you can’t use a tablespoon, it’s too much, you have to use a teaspoon. MIA: At what point did they start making their own food – that they would
know to make cookies or muffins? ANGELA: I think I started cooking with my kids when they were big enough
to stand and stir. They would go off to elementary school with lunches they made themselves, and people would say, “they make their own lunches?!” But it’s not that difficult for even a young child to get the bread, put some lettuce and tomato and mayonnaise on it, and add whatever. By the time my son was in 6th grade, he was making scrambled eggs and oatmeal for breakfast. LEAH: I didn’t notice it so much in the house because it was just the way we
lived. But out of the house now? I absolutely see what they’re doing, and I love it. Once my older child got to college, I was getting the phone calls: “How do you make that chicken? How do you make this or that?” So he now has this repertoire and he can cook – absolutely. Whatever he wants to make he will, so I’m really pleased. And he has roommates, and he says, “you should see what they eat mom, it’s horrible!” ANGELA: My children are in high school, and each cook dinner once a week. LEAH: That is the best thing she did! ANGELA: It is the BEST thing I did! They each have a night. My daughter
knows Epicurious [a recipe website] inside and out, and my son makes the best hamburger I’ve ever tasted. They both know their way around the kitchen, and it’s really good. MIA: It was so great to talk with you two. My children are young and I see the
benefits that thinking about food plays in our house, so I was really inspired to hear about the changes you made and how your kids are eating now, 15 years later. You made healthy eating a lifestyle for the whole family by living it yourself – and now you’re bringing that to all of us through your company, Sprouted Raw Foods. I love making food but I also love knowing that there is a great snack resource out there when I am having a busy mom moment! Products featured throughout this article, and more, can be found at www.sproutedrawfoods.com.
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Not your average pudding... Remember loving pudding when you were a kid? Here are four pudding recipes that will make you feel like a kid again! They are super-satisfying and really good for you. Did we mention that your kids will love them too? The chia pudding tastes wonderful topped with fruit. The chocolate, lemon, and blueberry can be topped with fruit or something crunchy, like hemp seeds or granola. These three also are fabulous frozen and served as popsicles on a hot August day. Enjoy these recipes in our signature “recipe card� format. Cut them out and fold them in half for a two-sided recipe card. Print them out and put them in a binder, or save them as a pdf on your desktop and start a digital cookbook.
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Chia Pudding ingredients
directions
Âź cup Chia Seeds
Place the chia seeds in a Ball jar (big enough for 4.5 cups of liquid).
1 cup Raw Cashews, soaked for 1-3 hours 3 cups Water 3 Dates 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon Cinnamon a pinch of Sea Salt
Place the rest of the ingredients in a Vitamix and blend on high speed until smooth. Pour the cashew mixture into the jar and shake very well, so no seeds stick to bottom. Place in the refrigerator overnight. Serve alone or with fruit.
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Good for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Sweet & Sour Lemon Pudding ingredients
directions
2 cups Raw Cashews, soaked for 1-3 hours
Place the ingredients in a Vitamix and blend on high speed until smooth, adding more water if necessary.
2 cups Water 1/4 cup Raw Honey 1/4 cup Lemon Juice 1 teaspoon Organic Lemon Zest a pinch of Sea Salt
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Serve alone or with granola and dried fruit. Good for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Creamy Chocolate Pudding ingredients
directions
2 ripe Avocados, halved and peeled
Place the ingredients in a Vitamix or food processor and blend until smooth, using plunger or adding a small amount of coconut milk if necessary.
1/3 cup Cacao Powder 1/4 cup Raw Agave Nectar or Maple Syrup 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract Pinch of Sea Salt
Sprinkle with walnut, hemp seeds or cashew cream — or a little of each! Good for 2-3 days in the fridge.
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Blueberry “Jell-O” Pudding ingredients
directions
3 cups Blueberries, fresh or frozen
Blend in Vitamix until smooth.
7 Medjool Dates, seeded
I sometimes add a ¼ cup of soaked cashews to make it creamy.
1/4 cup Coconut Water
Refrigerate for an hour before serving. Blueberries have pectin in them which causes them to turn solid like Jell-O. You can pour in individual ramekins, pour into a pie crust, or pour into popsicle molds.
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Falling on the Mountaintop
text by Brianne DeRosa
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Setting realistic, achievable and purposeful goals for better family dinners Too often, when family meals aren’t working the way we want them to, I think we reach for what feels like the thing that’s most in our control – the food. We obsess over what we’re feeding ourselves and our kids, we read up on the latest research and trends, and we make goals that may or may not be attainable and sustainable. For example, a mom fed up with hitting the drivethru twice a week with her kids might spend all night on Pinterest gathering healthy slow-cooker recipes, and the next three weeks trying to implement her new crockpot dinner routine, only to realize slowly that the whole thing is falling apart around her because the soccer schedule is crazy, she never has the right ingredients at the right time, the kids are on hunger strike in protest of the new food… There could be a hundred reasons that send her back to the drive-thru, but in truth, the FOOD itself wasn’t really the first thing that needed to be changed. That’s why I’ve created the Family Feeding Ecosystem. It’s a way of looking at feeding your family that takes into account ALL the variables that need to be working well in order to have a relatively successful mealtime routine. Yes, the food is a big part of that, but it’s so much more than just what you’re eating. Laura, a client taking part in my one-to-one coaching service, is a great example of someone for whom the food — as in, WHAT to eat — isn’t really the central issue at all.
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Laura is a homeschooling mom of four kids, ranging in age from nearly two to eight years old, with another on the way. What’s puzzling about her is that she seems to be doing everything “right” in terms of balancing her clearly demanding schedule and feeding her family well – she chooses almost exclusively whole food ingredients, cooks from scratch, limits sweets and refined grains, and serves up produce from her husband’s backyard garden. That’s right: Laura is Supermom. But when I got in touch with her, she was burned out, fed up, and feeling guilty. The stress of cooking, serving, and cleaning up meals and snacks for six people, five times a day, had her stretched so thin that the whole idea of family mealtime was becoming unpleasant – a source of anxiety, not a respite from the day. Clearly, that’s not a routine that’s working for everyone. (Remember the old saying, “If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy?” It goes double for family dinner.) Together, Laura and I figured out that of the five areas in her ecosystem, three were out of balance – causing her to feel all the pressure she was experiencing. And in addition to a bona fide case of what I like to call “Internet Information Saturation Syndrome” and a desperate need for some off-duty time, Laura’s family feeding routine was definitely suffering from food-based issues. The difference between Laura and most people I talk to, however, is that her problem wasn’t mainly WHAT to feed her kids. It was what those choices meant for her sanity.
schedule
food
family dinner
socialization
setting
moon landing
mountaintop
Your “Moon Landing” goal is the best, most idealized vision you can create for yourself. It’s a place you fantasize about being, but ultimately, it’s a place much like the moon — most of us probably won’t get there, and those who do can’t stay there forever.
The “Mountaintop” is the goal you should more realistically shoot for. It’s still a place you want to be, but it’s more attainable. You can make plans to get there and set up base camps along the way. Nobody starts out at the summit, but with hard work, a good sherpa, and a cheering squad, it’s possible to get there — and if you’re lucky, you can even plant your flag, claim it, and find another mountain worth climbing!
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take action! What area can you work on to make your dream family dinner a reality? Worksheet »
When Laura and I talked frankly about her situation, she couldn’t quite figure out why she felt as if she was spending all her time in the kitchen. She wasn’t making elaborate meals or trying to spend hours on a single item. But as I listened to her and tallied up her rough estimates, I discovered that somewhere around four full hours of her day were being spent on prep work, cooking, and supervising mealtimes – and that’s all before the cleanup! With four kids ranging in age from toddlerhood to eight years, plus a pregnancy complicated by gestational diabetes to deal with, if I were in her shoes, I think I’d want to just spread out a tarp on the floor and throw some food in the middle of it. “It’s like running a zoo,” she confessed. In Laura’s ideal world, she’d like to have homeschooling and mealtimes work in harmony with one another, instead of competing for her time and attention. This is what I call the “Moon Landing” goal – the most idealized, picturesque version of family feeding you can possibly envision. In Laura’s moon landing world, she’d take the kids to local farms and farmer’s markets, have everyone behaving beautifully, get them all to learn about their food and where it comes from, bring home some produce, and cook it up together as part of the homeschool lesson. In reality, while she might be able to someday achieve that vision, it’s not something she can get to right now if she plans to continue sleeping and showering; and even if she did manage it, unless she plans to actually purchase her own farm and run it (as if she needs something else to do!), it would be a special occasion, not a daily event.
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We scaled her vision back to a manageable “Mountaintop” goal – something she can work towards and maybe even conquer and surpass someday. Rather than try to attain a goal of having homeschooling and food work seamlessly in tandem all the time, we set our sights on getting the kids more engaged with the food preparation, while reducing the amount of time Laura actually has to spend on cooking during the homeschool day. Because taking time out of the kids’ lessons to make lunch for everyone tends to stress Laura out and really exemplifies the tension between her two obligations (teach math right now? Or cook lunch?), I suggested that she eliminate lunch preparation during the day altogether. Schooling the kids at home doesn’t have to mean giving up packed lunches; in fact, because Laura’s kids often complain about having a one-size-fits-all menu for every one of their meals, letting each of the older boys help to pack his own lunch the night before will also relieve some of the stress of dealing with “I-don’t-like-this” meltdowns. If everyone’s lunches are packed and put away in the refrigerator before bedtime, then Laura will have more time for homeschooling during the day – and the kids will have more responsibility and ownership over their lunch routine. Similarly, I wondered if Laura’s mornings might be able to be streamlined with a quick nighttime prep. I suggested that she think about trying breakfasts in jars for the kids at least a few times a week, allowing them to fill kid-sized Mason jars with oatmeal, yogurt parfaits, or granola and fruit at night so everyone in the family would have a graband-go option to start the morning. The Mason jars would also help Laura minimize cleanup, a big win when you’re trying to keep up with four active kids all day long.
The last item on the list was helping Laura get a handle on snack times. Her family eats two scheduled snacks each day; the morning snack is usually based around fresh fruit, while the afternoon tends to be a grab-and-go item that may be eaten in the car on the way to a swim lesson or sports practice. When I heard her express some guilt about not always having the time to make graham crackers from scratch for her already quite well-fed family, I knew that the afternoon snack was yet another moment in the day when Laura was grappling with trying to find a balance between her desire to feed her children healthful foods, and her need to manage all the other requirements of parenting, homeschooling, and household maintenance. In short, Laura’s homemade graham crackers were a symptom of a highly overdeveloped sense of kitchen guilt.
With these three action steps in place – as well as a plan we devised to curb her Internet Information Saturation Syndrome, and a series of steps to take towards off-duty nights in preparation for the new baby – Laura will hopefully find a way to reclaim some time in her day, as well as her sanity, without sacrificing her nutrition ideals. I’ll be checking back in with her to find out how things are going, and will write an update soon for StayBasic. Brianne Kellogg DeRosa is blessed and cursed with the strong desire to try a little bit of everything in life. Among the things she’s managed to get to so far are writing, singing, performing, educating, advocating, counseling, and of course, cooking. After earning an MFA in Theatre as a playwright and educator, Bri moved to Rhode Island, got married, started a family, and started meal planning. Bri blogs about food and family on Red, Round, or Green; contributed to the “Cooking With Trader Joe’s: EasyLunchboxes” cookbook; is a regular writer for HandPicked Nation; is a proud member of the 2013
Luckily, Laura has a mother’s helper who comes to entertain her youngest children a few times a week. I suggested utilizing some of the mother’s helper time to get afternoon snacks prepped and portioned. With good instructions and a smart mess containment strategy (outdoor “cooking” comes to mind!), the whole family’s snacks could be made without Laura having to be involved at all. Plus, by removing her and the older boys from the picture, her toddler girls will be able to have more freedom to play and engage in food preparation without disrupting school time or having to share jobs and space with their more capable brothers. Letting them get involved in mixing up trail mixes, popping popcorn, portioning pretzels, or spreading peanut butter could help them to feel invested in the family’s routine, while also setting the stage for them to join in with the lunch-packing and breakfast prep as they get older and build more skills.
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cast of Listen To Your Mother! Providence; and has blogged about parenting for Yahoo’s Shine! Network. Her greatest achievements are as a friend, daughter, sister, wife to her college sweetheart, and mother of two busy, breathtaking boys.
Strawberry coconut milk yogurt layered with granola and blueberries.
this page:
Blueberries, peaches and raspberries with layers of cashew cream. left:
get cashew cream recipe here Âť
“ Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.” – Ruth Reichl
Yikes! What’s for dinner?
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a two-part family food planning system
part one
The Food
Things to consider.... What food do I need to make this week? What is in season? What do we need to eat that we already have in the fridge? What do we want to eat this week? Which days do I have limited time to cook? Which days could I spend more time in the kitchen? Which days can the kids help? Which days will I have farm fresh food in the house? What events are happening this week?
tips: You may have family favorites that you like to repeat — this is a good thing! Food does not have to be totally different from week to week. Choose an hour during the weekend where you can sit in your kitchen with a tea or smoothie and make a plan. You can be as flexible or rigid as your personality calls for.
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part two
The Shopping Divide into three categories... 1. farm fresh in the summer a very large part (if not all) of your fruits and vegetables can be local. Meat, fish and dairy can also be purchased at farmer’s markets. 2. cheap Costco or another wholesaler may have organic quinoa and brown rice, the large chain grocery down the street may have the best price on organic bananas. Spend some time analyzing your staples and know the best place to get them for the lowest cost. 3. specialty you can order nuts, chia, or unique ingredients online, your town might have a specialty spice store, you may make a trip to Whole Foods for sesame oil or Mirin.
tips: Its all about knowing what you use and the best places to get them. This process may take some time, so start a note on your smart phone and start paying attention to what you get. A sheet of paper on the fridge also helps. It takes practice, a week at a time.
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Believe you can and you’re halfway there –Theodore Roosevelt
If you can dream it, you can do it. –Walt Disney
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. –Tony Robbins
–Arthur Ashe
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. –Aristotle
The mind is everything.
What you think you become. –Buddha
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. –Leonardo da Vinci
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal. –Henry Ford
The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. –Ralph Waldo Emerson
Action is the foundational key to all success.
TAKE – Pablo Picasso
ACTION This section has worksheets and printouts to help you put your inspirations into action. StayBasic comes out every other month, so take time to do one thing — schedule it and commit to change but don’t take on too much at once.
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10 ways to take action now
1. Make Wish Boxes with your kids. 2. Print out five inspiring quotes, written by Taylor Wells and illustrated by Jenny Schneider, to hang around your house. 3. Print and cut out 10 “pocket” cards to put in your purse or your children’s lunch boxes. 4. Make a commitment to eat lots of salads with late summer’s fabulous vegetables. 5. Enjoy some sweet treats! Make pudding on a Sunday so you can enjoy it for the week; go to staybasic.com and make raw macaroons; or order some treats from sproutedrawfoods.com. It doesn’t have to be hard to be healthy! 6. Get inspired by Angela and Leah’s story and find ways your kids can participate in the kitchen. One day they will be cooking up a storm! 7. Use Brianne’s system to get your family to the dinner table. 8. Find support from family, friends or possibly a coach. 9. Try menu planning for two weeks to see if it helps you to eat better and save money. 10. Write us at info@staybasic.com. Tell us what small changes you will take this month.
Jenny Schneider grew up in Germany, lived a couple of years in Mexico City and landed — finally — in New England. When she is not exploring the world with her family, she loves to be still and make art. Her art is often inspired by her kids, nature, yoga and all that is beautiful around us. She uses watercolor and collage for her illustrations, and acrylics for larger pieces. You’ll find her happiest with loads of paint on her hands. She loves children’s books and illustrations and is writing and illustrating her own right now. People say that her paintings make them smile and we hope they do the same for you.
Wish Boxes: A fun and easy activity to do with your kids! We all have wishes that want to come true. But sometimes we forget our wishes because of a bad day at work, or a bully at school — how do you help your kids, and yourself, to keep the focus on feeling good? Placing a wish in a Wish Box is a fun way to talk with your children about their hopes and dreams, to focus on the positive, and to close each day acknowledging that there are wonderful things to look forward to. Enjoy making your box ... and remember, there are no rules here except to have fun together! Materials: Any leftover container (half a milk carton, tea container, matchbox, shoebox, or you can buy an unfinished wood box at a crafts store as Taylor did, shown here) Any kids’ craft materials you have on hand (writing paper, construction paper, paints, crayons, colored pencils, glitter, stickers) Glue or tape Scissors Your imagination!
step one: Lay out all of your craft materials in an area where you can get messy and have fun. Remember — Mom can make a Wish Box too!
step two: Get creative! Draw designs or scribble on construction paper, cut out and tape to the container; cut out pictures from magazines and glue them on; paint the container in lots of bright colors; or just pour glue and glitter over the whole thing! Remember there is no “right” way to create, so don’t judge — just let the inner artist come out! Step three: Stand back and admire your beautiful and unique work of art!
After your Wish Box is done, keep it on your nightstand or dresser, on the bathroom or kitchen counter — wherever you will see it as you end your day. Each evening, write one wish on a piece of paper, roll it up, and place it in the Wish Box (little ones can also simply whisper their wishes into the box). Then sleep well knowing that you have put your wishes out into the Universe where they can come true!
Lighten up, laugh more, appreciate more, all is well.
I radiate one consistent signal of joy.
Everything is unfolding as it should.
This moment is as it should be.
I have all the time that I need. I do things in a relaxed and focused manner.
Time always works in my favor.
By letting go it all gets done.
I do my best with breath.
Everything is easy for me.
Ease and flow.
schedule Which night can the family eat together? Do you have more than one dinnertime?
food What’s on the menu?
What time is dinner?
What’s off the menu? How many choices are there? Who prepares it? Who chooses it?
socialization
Who buys it?
How do you handle technology, conversation, manners, chores, and distractions at dinnertime?
Take charge of your family dinners.
Focus on one area where you are struggling, or all four. Revisit your plan regularly and evaluate. contact Brianne to ask about her personal coaching services at redroundorgreen(at)gmail(dot)com
setting Where is your meal? How do you start and end your meal together?
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Schedule moon landing:
mountaintop:
obstacles:
steps to basecamp: 1. 2. 3.
Food moon landing:
mountaintop:
obstacles:
steps to basecamp: 1. 2. 3.
Socialization moon landing:
mountaintop:
obstacles:
steps to basecamp: 1. 2. 3.
Setting moon landing:
mountaintop:
obstacles:
steps to basecamp: 1. 2. 3.
Worksheet What’s the plan?
In the breakfast, lunch and dinner columns, write down what meal you plan on making for that day. If you know you will be out for a meal (for example, Sunday at grandma’s house or date night), write that in.
In the snack column, you can write down after-school or camp snacks, or snacks that need to get packed for an outing. I also keep track of things like cupcakes for a birthday or hors d’oeuvres that need to go to a potluck.
You can make meals as simple or complicated as you want to, though I would advise not to create supercomplicated meals every night as you may end up wasting food. If you have a farm share you might choose to have pasta and veggie night, and know that you will use whatever veggies you get with pasta, garlic and olive oil; or you may have a soup night and do much the same. As you write in a meal, also write what you need for it on your list.
The prep column is all about planning chunks of time to eat the way you have intended. For example you may block out a chunk of time on Sunday to bake and chop veggies for the week. Or you may write that you need to soak some beans and nuts on Wednesday when you are working from home. You can also put your shopping day or farm share pickup day here.
You may want to start with the “local” column, so you make sure that you plan the base of your meals around what you can get locally.
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Save any plans you create — put them in a binder or save them as a pdf. Everything good should be repeatable!
click here and sign up to get one month of plant-centered menu plans for september.
created by www.StayBasic.com
Saturday
Friday
Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
Sunday
day
breakfast
make sure to account for everyone’s lunch in your household
lunch
remember you can make food in advance to plan for busy weeks
dinner
A Week of Food snacks
put shopping days in this column too
prep
Date: ____________
Specialty
Cheap
Local
list
To accomplish
great things, we must not only act ,
but also dream;
not only plan, but also believe. Anatole France
Next Issue: Release date September 4 Available on Ipad mia’s summer to-do Inspiration for getting the kids Back to School play with my kids journal and read with my kids take picnics wherever
Simple roasted veggies to enjoy on fall evenings make many salads find time for yoga interview experts create lots of art projects
Expert tips to streamline lunch and dinner
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