First Family Camp Out: Frenchman's Lake

Being up in Reno has opened up some new possibilities for us that we hadn't considered very much living in Las Vegas. We decided it was time to try camping. I haven't been camping since I was probably 15. Eddie has been more recently, but we'd never planned to go as a family. Nate was so excited about camping even though he's never been because he knew there would be a tent, hot dogs and marshmallows involved. He asked us every day for a week if we were going camping today.

On Friday night after spending most of the day getting camping gear loaded in the van and prepping food, we had a thunderstorm complete with marble sized hail sweep in for about 2 hours very suddenly. This was going on at the same time as our 100 degree temperatures. Well the storm came and went, trashed our garden, and threatened our camping trip. Luckily Saturday was clear so we drove up to Frenchman's Lake around 1pm. The nearest town is Chilcoot, CA if you want to find it on a map.

We were lucky to find a campsite that was a short walk to the lake, close to a bathroom and had many trees for shade. We had driven by some others that were not any of these things in the beginning so I'm glad we found this one. It was pretty warm, but really not too bad in the shade or at the lake. We set up our tent and everything and then went to the lake for about an hour and a half.

Funny picture of Phantom getting his ball out of the water.

After the lake we came back and got busy building our campfire so we could start dinner. Nate loved it. Nate had a hot dog, of course, but Eddie got creative and cooked onions and peppers with sausage and beans on the grate. It was really yummy. After dinner we roasted marshmallows and Eddie made hot chocolate in about a minute on a little backpacking burner he has (not for backpacking, but he keeps it in his 72 hour kit). We all agreed that everything tastes better cooked on a campfire. 

We brought some papers we needed to shred and burned them instead. 

Phantom loved hanging out and chasing squirrels and digging holes.

Enjoying some hot chocolate by the fire.

After dinner we walked up the hill behind our campsite and could see out over the lake. It doesn't get dark until after 9 pm so we had a late night since we wanted to be able to sit around the fire in the dark. Nate was a tired little guy to begin with (no naps is not going very well right now) and he was really tired by then so that meant he was a wild and crazy kid. We finally settled down in the tent after 10 pm. Nate slept with me (which means I really didn't sleep much) and Phantom slept on Nate's pillow and sleeping bag. Hmm a little backward I think.

We had an early morning since I couldn't seem to stay asleep on the edge of the air mattress so when I got up everyone else did. It was pretty chilly so we bundled up and made some hot chocolate while we got the fire big enough to cook bacon. We had breakfast, hung around for a little bit and packed up. We were home  around 11 am. We all napped after lunch today, and we are all still pretty tired. We'll definitely have to get to bed a little earlier tonight.

Wearing Eddie's beanie since I hadn't thought to bring them for Nate and I.

We are going to try to do at least one more camp out this summer and possibly make a trip up to the cabin in Idaho.

On a side note, Nate is obsessed with the Magic Tree House books right now. They are easy chapter books that were really popular when I was teaching. I got the first one from the library and we read it to him. I also got the audio books so he listened to the first book. Ever since then he's been pretending to be Jack, the main boy character. He's been dressing like Jack and wearing a little backpack around and writing down things in his journal like Jack. It is so funny. We've now read the second book also, and he's been listening to the audio books non-stop. He even requested quiet time early so he could go in his room and listen to the stories. I love this crazy, book-loving kid.

We've been having Nate "read" some very simple books that have a picture and a word since he was picking up sight words on his own without us even working with him. He likes to read to us at night now after we read a few books to him. He can read on, off, cat, Nate and Mom without picture clues. He surprised us this morning and spelled Mom from memory this morning while he he asking Eddie to write words in the dirt while we were camping. If he decides he's not interested in reading we'll back off. He doesn't need to read yet, but if he wants to we'll work with him. I'm going to introduce some phonics using a program called Zoo Phonics and see if he likes it or is ready. If not we'll stop for now.

Nate and I are taking the week off from play dates to slow down, catch up on stuff around the house, and just breathe. We've been so busy that we both need a break to recharge. I'm looking forward to the break. In just over a week Mom and Dad will be here and my birthday is next Sunday. Fun times ahead.

Our Food Journey Continues Part 1

My family's quest for knowledge about how to eat and live so we can lead happier and healthier lives is constantly evolving. It feels like we are in a state of rapid change lately because we have been reading and watching documentaries about food and health on a continual basis for the last 6 months or so. We haven't quite gotten to the point where we are ready to set the cruise control for a while and just do our thing. We are getting close, but not quite. Luckily in all of our learning and forming of opinions about food, my husband and I pretty much agree. That makes mealtimes much simpler around here. And luckily our son has an adventurous spirit when it comes to food and will try many different things (most of the time, he is 2 after all). We are still eating real foods as much as possible, but we are changing our thoughts about what real foods will make it to our table and into our bodies.

My Personal Journey (or experiment on myself)

About 10 or 11 years ago I was seeing various doctors to find some answers to some stomach problems I'd had for several years. I never did find an answer and eventually gave up on test and test telling me there was nothing wrong (the usual story right?) to deal with things on my own. However, there is one thing a doctor mentioned that has recently resurfaced in my mind: I may have a wheat allergy. I honestly don't recall how the doctor came up with this. It must have been a blood test. So for about 2 or 3 weeks, with my mom's help, I went on a wheat/gluten-free diet. It was tough and I didn't feel any better so I stopped and didn't think about it again until just recently.

I still have stomach issues to this day. Nothing major, but it's gotten annoying after this long. It would be nice to feel good on a more regular basis. In all my reading I kept coming across mentions of symptoms from food allergies/sensitivities like stomach distress, low energy, anxiety, depression, skin issues among other things. I have many of those issues to some extent so how could I ignore it? That with the mention of a possible wheat allergy years ago made me start thinking that maybe I do have some food sensitivities I am not aware of and are affecting me. Heck if I can change the way I eat so I can feel better overall I'm all for it.

So that it how I decided to given the gluten-free diet a try again after all these years. I thought about it for months and decided just to go for it. The only reason it took me so long to start is because I love bread! How could I give up bread? Giving up bread (in my mind) would be harder than giving up refined sugars (which I did months ago with only a few exceptions on occasion). I have been cutting back on the amount the bread I ate for several months now, but boy did I love the 5 ingredient whole wheat bread from Bountiful Baskets. I did a few days and then we had a get together for my birthday and I ate a tortilla and some cake (even though I'd bought myself a gluten-free cake from the same bakery). Then the next day, July 7th (my actual birthday), I started up again and haven't stopped since. So that is 10 days now.

I decided that for the start of my experiment of not eating wheat/gluten I would avoid any gluten containing ingredients. I want to see if this is enough for me to feel some difference in my overall health. Perhaps if I just have a slight sensitivity it will be enough. If down the road I feel like I need to be more extreme then I will make a point to avoid food that could be cross contaminated. It seems that practically every package of anything is also made in a facility with wheat including the restaurants where I've had gluten free meals these last 10 days and the gluten-free cake. Avoiding all cross contamination would be much harder so I'm trying the easier route first.

So after 10 days am I feeling fabulous? No, not yet. I think I am feeling some good changes, but I think I need to stick to it for a while longer to really know. Plus, I need to make sure I am very knowldeable about gluten containing ingredients so I don't accidentially eat it because then I won't really see if it helps.

I just read a book called Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis that goes into detail about what wheat is, how it effects your body and how to cut out wheat from your diet. It was very interesting and informative, but Dr. Davis recommends cutting out wheat for everyone, not just people with an allergy or sensitivity. I think he has some interesting points about how wheat affects our bodies, but I will leave it up to you to decide if he is an extremist or if he has a good point.

I will post more about how my experiment in cutting wheat is changing the way we eat at home and some other interesting ways of eating we are exploring in the second part of this post. I will also include more gluten-free information in future posts.

A Feast for the Eyes and Mouth

When I put this plate of food on the table I just had to snap a quick picture because it just looked so good. Even better, it tasted good too.

I bought these gorgeous and delicious Okinawa/purple sweet potatoes at a farmer's market in town and tossed them with some lemon/lime butter after cooking them.

Salad with whatever we had in the fridge.

Indian chicken salad that we've made so many times, and I posted about before.

Super easy, real food that was perfect for a hot summer day. Of course we went back for seconds and have been eating leftover. Yum! Yum!

Movie Review: Forks Over Knives

So after hearing people mention Forks Over Knives a few times I figured it's probably another good food documentary that it wouldn't hurt to watch.We've watched King Corn and Food, Inc, the two documentaries that spurred us to make some bigger changes in the way we eat and think about food. We've also watched Food Matters and Hungry for Change, which lined up nicely with our way of thinking. I thought this documentary would be somewhat the same.

Here's the description from Netflix: Focusing on research by two food scientists, this documentary reveals that despite broad advances in medical technology, the popularity of animal-based and modern processed foods have led to epidemic rates of obesity, diabetes and other diseases.

To me the main idea of the movie was if you eat animal based foods like meat, dairy and eggs it is going to kill you. Well that's a little extreme dont you think. Of course within minutes I could tell my husband wanted to start screaming at the TV that what they were saying was wrong. I was feeling the same way, but I wanted to see where this show took us. It got worse as it went on. Of course we are not vegan, which was the lifestyle being promoted. Although we do not agree with the vegan lifestyle that is not why we were so irritated. Everyone has their own way of eating. It's their choice.

However, the way the information was presented was very limited and biased. There was maybe one or two mentions that processed food is a problem and plays a large part in the health decline in the US and around the world. The people in the documentary made it seem that the increase in consumption of meat, dairy and eggs was the reason for the increase in obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

They interviewed and followed the progress of a few people that had many health problems including diabetes and switched to a vegan diet that is based on a whole food, plant based diet. So lots of whole fruits and veggies and it looked like pasta and other whole grains. These people started off overweight and on several medications, and when they switched they saw drastic results. Yes eating lots and lots of whole fruits and veggies instead of processed foods full of artificial ingredients and little nutrition will have an amazing effect on your body, but I've read many stories of people with the same amazing results and they still ate meat products. Problem was they didn't talk about the switch from eating processed foods and the effect that had on their improved health. The focus was just on meat.

I'd have to watch Forks Over Knives again to really give a more detailed description of the wrongdoings, but why put myself through the misery of watching it again.

My husband and I feel that this documentary was simply trying to win people over to a vegan lifetyle with scare tactics and partial information. An unsuspecting person might be terrified of meat after watching this, but I hope everyone would do a little more research before making any big changes in how they eat. This documentary would have been greatly improved if there was more of a focus on how processed foods play such a large part in destroying our health and how one can change that to support a healthy vegan lifestyle. Just my opinion. Watch it (or not) and make your own opinion.

If you've seen it please tell me what you thought. Of course we watched this documentary  with thoughts of delicious grass-fed beef on our minds, so we are definitely biased towards eating meat. :)

Can Fast Food Be Real Food?

Ever since my family made a commitment to cut out as many artificial ingredients as possible in our diets, we have eaten at restaurants, especially fast food restaurants less and less. We never ate a lot of fast food compared to most people, but we are trying to make better choices when we do eat outside of the house. I have to say though that we do eat at some places that we know aren't meeting our real food standards, but not too often.

I just came across this blog post by Food Babe on 100 Days of Real Food (2 bloggers I admire). Food Babe has done several investigations into what is actually in the food at some popular fast food restaurants. This one is about Subway.

Read At Your Own Risk: If you want to remain blissfully unaware of what is actually in the food at Subway do not click on the link.

Food Babe Investigates: Is Subway Real Food?

Now I've never been a fan of Subway or Port of Subs anyway, but I have eaten there on occasion and I know family has eaten there too. Now no one is going to drop dead instantly from eating at Subway, but the point of trying to avoid artificial and chemical ingredients is that we don't need these ingredients in our food (and they sure taste better without them). I personally can't imagine all of this artificial "food" is good for our bodies and what scares me are the long term effects of constant exposure. Be aware of what you are eating and decide what you want to do based on what you know.

I'm on the lookout for better choices when it is necessary to eat fast food. I'll keep you posted on what I find. Happy Eating!

Book Review: Skinny Chicks Eat Real Food

Skinny Chicks Eat Real Food: Kick Your Fake Food Habit, Kickstart Your Weight Loss
by Christine Avanti, CN

Photo from Goodreads.com

I came across an ad for this book in a magazine and the words "real food" caught my eye. I've been on the lookout for more books about eating real food so I wrote down the title and requested it at the library. This book, as it states in the subtitle, is about weight loss, but there is so much good information for anyone interested in eating real food whether they are doing it to lose weight or not.

The book is 289 pages including recipes and appendices at the end. I found the reading quick and enjoyable (Christine Avanti's personality definitely comes through) all while being very informative. I'd say this would be a good book for people that are new to the real food idea and people like me, who have read and learned a good deal about eating real food already. I still learned some new information and partway through reading decided it was a good enough resource to actually shell out the money to buy it.

The book is divided into 3 sections:

Part I: Addicted to Factory Food explains what type of food most Americans are buying and the processes they go through in the factory. It also touches on why people have certain cravings and are addicted to food. There is also a chapter dedicated to sugar and another to fats. Very informative section, especially for people new to the real food idea.

Part II: Real-Food Recovery talks about making the switch from factory food to real food. There are also some tips on how to fend off the cravings and people that offer you factory foods that you are trying to avoid.

Part III: Real Food in the Real World gives some great tips about shopping for real food in the grocery store and at farmer's markets. It also talks more about the weight loss plan and gives some sample menus. There are also enough recipes for every meal of the day for several days.

One part of the book that I really liked were the profiles on several different real foodies that have blogs and other resources to check out. Being a blogger myself I was excited to see Lisa Leake from 100 Days of Real Food in there as well as several other people that I want to go check out. I think reading blogs from regular people that are trying to do the same thing you are trying to do is so helpful and inspiring. It makes it all seem doable.

I will be passing this book on to someone else (and then asking for it back so I can use it as a reference). I hope you find this book helpful too. 

What Am I Reading?

This is currently what my stack of books looks like on my night stand. I just can't read fast enough. I've just finished Clean by Alejandro Junger, in the middle of Skinny Chicks Eat Real Food by Christine Avanti, and will be starting Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Food Rules by Michael Pollan is missing from the stack because I read the whole thing last night and during breakfast this morning and gave it to someone else to read already. Of course there is one non-food related book in my stack for a little break for my brain.

What are you reading?