Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Easy Vegan Dinner - Spaghetti with Mushrooms

So, I'm not necessarily adhering to a vegan diet, but I'm making baby steps and am trying not to waste any food that I've already bought.

Spaghetti with whole mushrooms

Tonight, I'm making an "easy" dinner. It's easy to make and easy because the kids all like it.

Ingredients
1. Box of sliced or whole mushrooms
2. Jar of spaghetti sauce (your choice)
3. Box of Pasta (your choice)
4. Olive Oil
5. Red pepper flakes

I saute the mushrooms in olive oil with red pepper flakes. I used to only put a few pepper flakes in the pan for fear that my kids wouldn't like it. However, now I'm much more generous with the pepper flakes and no one has complained!

As for the spaghetti sauce, I'm a mood buyer, If I feel poor, then I buy the cheapest sauce on the shelf. If I feel like I have extra money, then I might buy an organic jar of sauce. I dump the sauce and the mushrooms into the sauce and turn the heat on low. I like to the heat to be low and slowly cook the sauces, because I believe it helps the mushrooms blend into the sauce better. Plus, I don't have to worry about the sauce splattering around the range.

My pasta changes depending on my mood. I love the Barilla pasta with the extra protein. However, it's not necessarily my children's top choice. Anna loves bow tie pasta. The boys love angel hair - not whole wheat though! So, I mix up the pasta I buy to try to make the kids happy

Enjoy this simple vegan dinner and mix it up to please the loved ones in your life!

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Veganism: Day 1

Good morning!
It's Wednesday, February 1st. It's going to be a good day...at least I'm going to do everything I can to make it a good day. How? I'm going to stay positive and do what I can do to be healthy.

So, what lesson to I want to teach my children today? That when things might seen a bit crazy, slightly depressing, that you can choose to be in control. You can choose to smile. And, of course, the obvious one, you can choose to love.

Today, I will eat vegan. Whether it is determined that I have cancer or not, eating vegan is the healthiest way to eat. I will be doing something positive for my body, the environment and the cows!

For breakfast, I'm going to have oatmeal. For lunch, I am going to eat a salad. Dinner seems so far away; however, I plan on making spaghetti with mushrooms and carrots in a tomato sauce. My husband and kids will like the dinner and that will make me happy!

Anna, Liam, Owen and Gavin, you might be upset that I am going vegan. You might not know (yet) why I am going vegan. However, at the heart of the matter is that I love being your mother. You four are the best gift your father and I ever got. Not a day goes by when I do not feel so grateful that you four love me as much as I love you.

Here's to our new journey!
Love,
Mom

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Breast Cancer and Vegan

So, I haven't been fully honest and since my kids don't know this blog exists yet...here goes.

I have an asymmetrical mass in my right breast. I do not know if if is cancer yet. I'm still holding out hope that it's benign, but sometimes waves of grief roll over me and I get really sad. Sad for what might be and sad for what I might miss. It will be the second time in three years that I've been seriously ill. Is that all my kids are going to remember from their childhood?

Should I adopt a vegan diet? I'm not sure. I was actually vegan for 10 years from 25 to 35 years old. That was when I was single and lived alone. I didn't have to make food for anyone else. I did not have kids to consider or a husband, or grandparents who might think I'm starving my kids.

Ok, it's actually an easy decision. I know all the benefits of a vegan diet. It's good for your heart, colon, great for fighting cancer. It's also really good for the environment...not to mention the animals.

Tomorrow, whether I have cancer or not, I'm going to go back to being Vegan. Tonight, I'm having potatoes au gratin and a salad...almost vegan! My husband is not feeling well. I've learned that is not the time to start a conversation that he might not be so willing to have!

When I was vegan before, these were my favorite vegan books (some are updated versions):
1. Veganomicon
2. Vegan 101
3. Gaia's Kitchen

I'm very excited to try out the Vegan Casseroles cookbook. I love baking casseroles, because I can prepare all the dishes while the kids are at school.

I'll let you know tomorrow what I eat and make for the kids.

First Things First....LOVE

First things First

LOVE

I have always told my kids and have always believed that love is the most important thing in the world. It was one of the first words my children learned.

First Words:
Gavin - hot, because we were at my parents' house a lot and they had their gas fireplace on. We needed to teach Gavin not to touch the fire place

Anna - cookie. Well, like most kids, Anna likes cookies...still does!

Owen - car. Unfortunately for my face, Owen love Matchbox cars...he really liked throwing them at my face!

Liam - Ma. I'd like to think he was really saying Mom!

It's hard not to get caught up in money. We need money for everything...even going to the beach, at least in New Jersey! I'd love to have an updated kitchen, a bigger bathroom for the kids, and at least a month a year (a week at a time) where I do nothing but sit on a beach in 80F weather. All of these things cost money...oh wait, the kids want to play tennis, soccer, baseball, dance, go to birthday parties and have their own birthday parties. All of which cannot be done without money.

But when it comes down to it...why do I have my embroidery business...get up at 6am to work on my orders, because, because of love. I love my kids (& my husband). I want them to be happy. Making them happy, makes me happy. What would all this be, if it weren't for love?

We talk every night at dinner with our children. We don't repeat the same stories every night, but we do often talk of love. The love that brought Brian and I together. The love we have and had for a family. The love that will live on past our existence on earth.

There is a saying that there is no love like the love of a mother. As a mother, I believe this to be true. However, admittedly and obviously, I have never been a father, so how am I to know how a father feels. I do tell my kids that no one will ever love them the way I love them and I believe that everyone on this planet can say that, because we are all different.

Regardless of whether I love you more than your father, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, partner, and children, regardless of whether I am near or far or dust in the ocean, I love you, Brian, Gavin, Anna, Owen and Liam. I hope that you always remember that I taught you how important love is and that you aren't scared of it and run from it. Your hearts are pure...let the love flow freely to and from your heart.

Your loving mother,
Laura

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

My Beach Days Have Changed Forever

Good morning!

Another beautiful day is unfolding in front of me. The skies are the color of my sea-blue fleece with clouds that look like the pillow I wish I had. Liam is dressed and riding his tricycle on the deck. Owen, only wearing his boxers, and Anna in her "princess" pajamas are playing house with a giraffe blanket, stuffed lion and baby lamb in the kitchen. Gavin is zooming his blue boat all over the dining room table. (I probably should stop him, but our table already has track marks, so what's a few more - besides, I'm enjoying the solitude).

Low Tide Waves

A wonderful thing happened on Sunday, Gavin learned to boogie board. As my husband was running to Bay Head (5+ miles), I drove and decided to take the kids to the beach while we waited for him. In the past, Anna would jump waves and Liam would join her after awhile. Gavin would chase the waves with Owen either following him or Owen would bury his legs in the sand the way his Aunt Michelle taught him.

During the preceding trip to the beach, Gavin tried to body surf - incorrectly after the waves break. It was fun to see him becoming comfortable with the ocean. After all, I body surfed when I was pregnant with him, until I scraped up my belly and my doctor told me to stop.

However, a trip to our local Shop Rite has changed my beach days forever. Gavin was with me and he saw a boogie board. Just like the ones his older cousins have. Shockingly, on his first try he said, "Mama, may I please have a boogie board." Shocked that he didn't demand, whine or cry. I bought him the $7.99 board.

On Sunday, Gavin carried his boogie board to the beach, while I herded Anna, Liam and Owen across the street and to the beach. Before I could even take off my cover-up, Gavin was in (IN) the ocean. For three hours, Gavin rode waves, bobbed up and down over waves and even got pummeled by a few. I saw was my little water-loving baby growing up right before my eyes. Gavin is only 4 (his birthday is September 22). His fearlessness (yikes) coupled with his determination to master activities played out right before my proud eyes.

Boy Boogie Boarding (not Gavin)

After being tossed feet over head by a unexpected big wave (it was low tide), I rushed to Gavin. "Are you ok?" I asked him and feared that he'd look up at me with tears trickling down his face.

"That was great!" he beamed and scanned the beach. "Where's my board? My board."

I walked into the water and retrieved his board. "Here it is," and he snatched his board from me.

"Thanks," he said already racing into the water.

Is This My Future Little Boy?

I know that I'm not alone in feeling proud and happy when our children grow up and conquer new activities, while at the same time feeling sad and overwhelmed. I no longer feel comfortable taking the children to the beach by myself. Owen tries to do whatever Gavin does. Without a boogie board, Owen attempted to run into the ocean, only to be knocked down by the waves and wait for my rescue. Anna and Liam have a good amount of respect or fear of the ocean and stay safely in the receding wake. However, they both have a tendency to slowly meander away from me.

As with the case with all children, as they grow out of one phase where you'd fear for certain calamities they enter a new one. Now that Gavin has been swimming for two years and can swim the length of an Olympic-sized pool, I no longer worry about him drowning in a pool (don't worry, I still watch him like a hawk). However, now I have to fear that his pint-sized body will be washed away at sea and that terrifies me.

I wish everyone a wonderful summer full of new and old adventures,
Laura

My Book at Amazon: Five Strands of Hope

Here are links to previous blog posts:

90% Divorce Rate for Parents of Triplets

I'll Have Another

A Mother's Fears

The Strongest Women

The Loneliness of Having Triplets

Natural Remedy for PCOS

I nfertility and Alcoholism

Acupuncture Improves Your Chances

Stress Kills Your Chances

It's Not Your Lifestyle: Male Infertility

Grasping at Straws: Laptops Damage Sperm

Fresh vs Frozen Embryo Transfer

Premature Babies Twice as Likely to Suffer Mental Disorders

Does IVF Increased Your Breast Cancer Risk?

Friday, June 15, 2012

Smoking's Bad: Article about risks to Unborn Babies

It shocks me that an article titled Mom's Smoking Tied to Dangerous Gut Illness in Preemies (HealthDay) needs to be written in the first place. I'd like to think that everyone in the United States already knows that cigarettes cause a whole host of serious health problems from the smoker, the person who is near a smoker and, of course, an unborn child.

The study found that mothers who smoked while pregnant raised the risk that if their babies were born prematurely, the babies would develop a serious, life-threatening bowl disease known as necrotizing enterocolitis. This disease destroys the that lines the sides of the intestinal walls.