Blender Blunder: What Did I Create?!

In an effort to use up the chocolate fondue dipping ingredients I had prepped to take to Girls' Night last night I ended up with some creamy goodness for our family's breakfast this morning. Yesterday I stuffed a bunch of dates with almond butter, cut up a bunch of fruit, and froze banana slices- all for dipping in glorious chocolate. But both the baby and husband were sick so I stayed home to be of service.

This morning I had the brilliant idea to switch up our boring breakfast routine and make delicious nutrient packed smoothies with last night's ingredients instead. Well, we've had a Vitamix for three years now and since I'm not big on reading instructions I just blend away and hope for the best. This resulted in our smoothies becoming thick creamy ice cream goodness!

Our boy is almost 22 months and has never had ice cream. He loves it and got a kick out of how cold it is! My husband and I both devoured it (ours was sprinkled with extra cocoa powder on top- yum!).

Ingredients for 3 full servings of
Banana Date Ice Cream:
-1 cup ice
-2 tsp raw almond butter
-5 large Medjool dates
-3 large bananas
-1 tsp cocoa powder
Scoop into a nice cup or bowl ('cause we should eat everything fancifully!) and garnish with a few banana slices & some cocoa powder or nibs. Enjoy this healthy treat for breakfast lunch or dinner!

Chocolate Pudding

In an attempt to kick my obsessions with milk chocolate and processed sugar I tried a new dessert today. I whipped it up in all of 2 minutes as a treat for Mom and me, and she was NOT a fan! I think it tastes great but she's calling it 'chocolate guacamole.'

Ingredients:
3/4 of a giant Haas avocado (or 1 regular)
2 tsp honey
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Rather than sacrificing any of my dessert to the Vitamix blades I opted to mush it all together myself with a fork. This worked just fine and my 15 month old baby got to lick a tiny bit of it after. He's never had honey or cocoa but so far he's seeming ok with it! I ate some fresh and froze a little. I tried cayenne with the fresh batch- yum! Then raspberries- even yummier! With the frozen batch I sprinkled just a little pink sea salt from Hawaii- yum! I think coconut flakes or even lavender would be good as well. I'll also do my old 'chocolate' recipe again soon with cocoa and coconut oil which was much preferred by my family.

Try your own twist on this recipe and toppings and please share!

Don't Feed The, Uh, Children?

I live in a town full of adorable dogs with their own Facebook fan pages. These dogs skateboard, star in fun parades and costume contests throughout the year, accompany their human parents to fine dining establishments, are blessed by pastors, have beaches named after them, are toted around in doggy strollers, go to doggy day care while their parents are at work, and have owners whipping up homemade gourmet dog food like it's no big deal. Maybe we're such a dogcentric (not a real word) community because Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg were bred here. Anyway, we in Long Beach California absolutely positively LOVE dogs! So much so that we would be flabbergasted at the idea of feeding someone else's dog a treat or scraps without politely asking permission of the owner first, right?

Why, then, is it okay to feed my human child without asking? He could have allergies. We could have philosophical, religious, and health reasons as to why we do or don't eat certain foods. The bottom line is there's a lot more at stake in feeding a human than potentially ruining his shiny coat.

My 15 month old baby eats A LOT. He is well fed. I promise you he is not hungry. He eats at the table, he eats when he's hungry, and he eats foods we deem nourishing. We always enjoy foods together as a family and as a community with our friends, because we think it's important. He is learning that food is good for the body and good for the soul. I grew up with food behaviors that I do not want to pass on to my son such as mindless eating, emotional eating, and eating nutritionally void foods, but that's a whole other post. So it aggravates me when my baby is given snacks the moment we arrive somewhere. It aggravates me when he is fed 'just because'. But it aggravates me most because a lot of the foods being offered (and I know people mean well, they really do!) are not foods we eat.

I'm not trying to be a food snob here. I grew up on disgusting school lunches and junk food, spent time in third world countries where food can be scarce, and have helped at homeless shelters that offer meals to the public as well as food pantries where families show up willing to take whatever is being handed out that week. Yes, sometimes people just need calories to not go to bed hungry. But that is not my reality right now. I appreciate food and am blessed to have things like fresh California produce and farm fresh eggs available to me. Instead of taking food for granted I value it highly as my family's source of vitality.

We respect signs that read 'Do Not Feed The Wildlife'. Should we make a sign for our baby to wear so he gets the same respect as bears and ducks? That would be silly, so instead I'll be the mama bear to my cute little boy cub and roar, I mean ask, that you don't feed him without asking. I know you all mean no harm at all and are offering food and snacks out of generosity, and I appreciate the gesture. I genuinely respect that you are trying to be kind in offering him food. Please, though, respect if we choose to decline.

It's not always "No thank you." Babs that runs The Belmont Athletic Club Childcare shares her snacks with Ari that she knows we love like fresh veggie sticks. The picture here is of our baby with Chef Timothy of Ari's Natural Foods. One week at Farmers Market Chef Tim asked if he could give our baby Ari a treat, and every week since Ari squeals in delight to go behind the booth and taste all of Chef Tim's delicious samples. See, I'm not a mean and terribly uptight mom, just a little uptight and hoping for some respect when it comes to our family's food choices.

Preventative Care

Last week was rough. Tuesday I faced some fears and went to the doctor for preventative measures. What prompted the visit was my desire to stay disease-free and take good care of myself for my own sake and my family. That was a week ago and I'm stuck with this gnarly bruise on my arm from the catheter. I had to 'pump & dump' my breast milk for 48 hours so Baby Boy wouldn't be effected by the iodine used for the CT scan. Watching that milk go down the drain for two days sucked, as did not nursing my baby and missing work for a day of poking and prodding, but at least I know with certainty that at the moment I'm healthy by doctors' standards.

One year ago my 28 year old baby sister was diagnosed with colon cancer. Her fight ended exactly one year later on April 28, 2013. She didn't recognize signs of disease until it was too late. On Tuesday, upon arriving home from a very emotional day at the doctor office I was informed that a dear friend my age has colon cancer. It makes no sense. Healthy young women don't need to get colonoscopies. How could this be?

So although I've never been a big fan of conventional medicine and doctor visits I vow to listen to my body and take action when necessary. This blog will be upbeat 99.9% of the time and I'll get back to pictures of food, fitness and fun. But today I beg you to consider this story and make the vow to take your health into your own hands. Make that doctor appointment today, start eating better, exercising, meditating, or whatever you need to do to be well. And stay tuned for my sister Megan's story because I love to talk about her and it needs to be heard.

Fitness Freebies

Thanks is due to two people for this giant pile of FREE workout shorts that were left in my office today. My boss Josh for Personal Training his client into skinny-dom, and his sweet sweet client for donating her too big clothes to me! This stack of clothes cost a pretty penny and is in perfect condition. Time to start rocking shorts!

Intense InTents: Nassaus Gone Camping

Both my husband and I grew up camping. There were no trips to Walt Disney World, Europe, or even Hawaii in either of our childhoods. We went to Hawaii together for the first time when we were 29 years old! Hubby didn't get a Passport until he was gearing up for our honeymoon, and mine is about to expire. Disneyland was between the towns we were raised in so we both went there a bunch, but the main activity we hold most dear to our hearts as children was good ol' fashioned camping.

Camping is a simple way to bond. You get to (or are 'forced to' if you're a disgruntled teenager) spend every moment together and sleep within inches of each other. You wouldn't dare wander off for alone time because there are always bears, at least where we camp, so you must bond with your fellow campers wether you like it or not. You have to use your creativity and imagination typically because campsites don't provide entertainment...and you may not be able to leave your tent for days depending on the bear situation.

Actually, I believe in the power of camping so much that I suggest couples camp together before committing to each other. Camping brings out your true colors (and smells). For better or worse, it will all be exposed when camping. Dirt + bugs + burying anything that comes out of you + uncomfortable heat or cold - running water - showers - electricity = you in all your natural glory. I've heard folks can get cranky, irritable, and straight up angry when camping. If your prospective mate doesn't like what's exposed, move on.

As a kid I camped with my dad on the beach at Camp Pendleton. I camped with my mom, dad, brother, and sister a ton in our early years up and down the California coastline. My mom took the three of us kids camping any chance she got. We camped in the backyard when we couldn't really go camping. I camped in Mendocino and all over Northern California with my dad, stepmom, brother and sister. As a junior higher I camped with friends at San Onofre. Then I started High School and camped with friends everywhere and anywhere- on Lake Oroville, in country backyards, at parties, at random spots we'd off-road to in the mountains, all along the Fort Bragg area and private beaches that we'd hike into, at swim meets, on rivers surrounding Chico and Paradise, at Lake Almanor, 'Beer Beach', High Lakes, and at music festivals. Then along came my husband and we camped everywhere together along with our friends- mainly Mammoth plus Tahoe, Yosemite, Sequoia, Joshua Tree, Santa Cruz, and many more. Then there were our epic backpacking trips around San Gorgonio, and that one time we went from Mammoth to Yosemite. We REALLY like to camp.

Then along came our baby and we failed to get a camping trip in until just after his first birthday! Bless their hearts, our friends Jon & Stephanie invited us along on Jon's annual birthday camping trip. By the looks of our car you'd think we had five children and would be gone five nights, somewhere five hours away. Of course we have one child and and we're going for one night to a spot about one hour away. But we were super prepared!

We roll up to the campsite and are the only parents amongst almost 20 hipsters. But no worries, our adorable 13 month old charmed the socks right off our friends and friends of friends. We had a blast, the baby had a blast, and our friends had a blast. We played at the beach all day and gathered around the campfire all night. I tried a sip of moonshine and my husband got to smoke his tobacco pipe with the guys. Best of all, we got to stay up late chatting with friends while the baby snuggled off to sleep in the Ergo Baby carrier. Although it was only one night we brought the smell of the campfire back with us in our hair and every article of clothing to remember the wonderful weekend after we'd arrived back home.

Posted are a bunch of family pictures. For some reason no one else was up at 5:30am when we took a walk to the beach.
San Onofre, CA June 1-2, 2013

Super Size Everything

This post is landing in the Food section of the blog because that's where I found these adorable toys- in the 'food' section of the local convenience store. Beanie Babies are cute and lovable, but it seems they weren't quite right as tiny little animals so someone decided to plump them up. Is this so kids nowadays will relate to the toy? A little girl of about 10 years old was at the ice cream counter with her dad and asked him for the 'fat Winnie the Pooh. He's so cute!' Dad gave her the toy and paid for their ice creams.

Why are these toys at the ice cream counter? Why are the toys 'fat'? And why are 10 year olds given ice cream as a regular treat? I don't know how often this particular little girl gets ice cream, but in general it seems that treats are a daily thing for kids. There's nothing special anymore about getting ice cream with Dad when you also get a cookie at school, a treat at your friend's house, and a piece of candy at the bank or boutique when on errands with Mom.

The amount of sugar kids are given on a daily basis, little by little, adds up to a lot. Before you know it your kid might be relating to these cute toys. Are you ok with that?