High Maintenance Mom

I had gum surgery 10 days ago and am still recovering. In my quest to find things I can eat (drink?), I've been revisiting many of the foods we gave to our kids when they were younger. My favorite appliances, not including the TV/TiVo which provided entertainment for three days of icing my face, have been our Waring Bar Blender and Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender. I use each of them at least once a day. I started with smoothies and from there have been looking for additional nutrients in a blended form - much like I did for my kids. One of the challenges I face is that I can't digest dairy foods or handle lots of sugar. Many smoothies, puddings, and soft comfort foods contain a lot of sugar so I've had to work hard to find things that won't make me miserable. Below are a few of the foods I've been eating. The next post will cover other comfort items...

Ever since my kids have noticed other kids drinking sugary substances, I've been looking for low sugar alternatives. My ideal fluid comes in a bottle so the kids feel like they have an adult drink and it tastes a little sweet but without too much sugar. I thought I had engaged on an impossible quest until we found bot fortified waters. My kids love them, they have less than 10g of sugar per bottle, not per serving, and they are fortified with vitamin B. They are currently available from Whole Foods. Grape and berry are my kids' favorites flavors - I like the orange one too.

Prior to kindergarten, I had considerable say in what my kids ate. Now that B is at school and after school for 10 hours a day (yikes, it's painful to write that), he trades food, eats crappy snacks, and has started to get awful stomachaches. We are seeing our pediatrician next week and have been asked to keep a food journal. I have also been trying to buy more natural versions of the snacks other kids have. Snikiddy Grilled Cheese Puffs are one of his favorites. He gets a snack that looks like his friends' snacks so maybe he won't want to trade food as much...

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are enjoying the weekend. We went camping, where we took our holiday picture, and returned to a traditional Thanksgiving meal prepared by our friends at Whole Foods. I missed the smell of turkey cooking in the house but I made the HMM cranberry jello and the kids still love it. Although I haven't completed a full workout yet this week, I've been trying to fit in small amounts of exercise and stretching whenever possible. Here are a few links to previous exercise posts for quick activities to add to your day: Stretch of the day plus yoga, standing with a neutral spine, Evening leg lifts, How to Exercise While Recovering From Caesarean Birth, Workout routines for your iPod or MP3 player, and You may be exercising more than you think... (some research shows that thinking you are exercising more really does make a difference so congratulate yourself and keep up the good work!).

The recent recall of Veggie Booty an all natural, vegetarian snack made of puffed rice and corn (this one with spinach and kale) made me furious. Yes, furious! I am pregnant and have a 20 month old and do everything I can to eat right for my unborn child and buy foods that are good and fun for my toddler and my husband. So, I go out and buy organic this, all natural that and sleep a little better at night.

Our preschool does not allow peanuts, I don't eat dairy, and lots of our friends' kids have severe allergies to soy, dairy, nuts, eggs, and wheat. It's a lot to keep track of as a parent, especially if you haven't needed to watch labels in the past...

An article in the Wall Street Journal today summarized recent studies on getting more nutrients out of vegetables. The exciting results show that many nutrients in vegetables are fat soluble so they are not absorbed in your body unless you eat the vegetables with a little fat. Of course the article suggests good fats like avocadoes and olive oil, which is good to think about for our families...

It's hot here in Northern California and I have to be a little more creative with our food choices since our doctor wants the kids to gain some weight. More on that another time as I've spent quality time in Whole Foods buying the highest fat food I can find only to have my husband and I eat it. "Don't like that", says N. "It's a cheese puff, everyone likes cheese puffs, try one", I say wondering what I'm doing. This evening we had toast with cream cheese, frozen bananas, and a fruit smoothie. I've also put most of their lunches in the freezer so they will stay cool until lunchtime (at school)...

I've been traveling for work a lot in the past few months and have been trying to find a way to eat the same types of food I eat at home. Taking food on the plane and then going to a supermarket when I land has been working well for my past three trips. Because I eat every two to three hours and I try not to eat refined flour or sugar, having my own food during workshops is important...

I try and buy organic when I can. This, of course, is not as often as I’d like/feel I should. Part of it is that the local Safeway doesn’t stock any organic produce. Since it’s the only store within walking distance (and I’m loathe to get in the car on the weekend if I don’t have to), it’s where we usually shop. If I have my act together I try and stop by Whole Foods (sort of, kind of on the way home) or Trader Joe’s (not on the way to anywhere), but both require more effort and planning. I was inspired to make that effort more often, however, when I got this email: