Tomato, Tomahto...

Well, the harvest has begun. The herb plants on the deck are dooing poorly, but the ones under the deck are enormous. Chives, anyone? Perhaps a sprig of mint? Mezclun is thriving. I need to get it out and put some more down, along with some more radishes. The eggplants are starting to show up- they are so purple and cute! Tomatillos are tiny, but bountiful. The only real disappointments are the peppers, which have good size, lots of flowers, but no actual peppers. I'm hoping they're just late bloomers. Even the cucumbers are looking optimistic this year, but the star, of course as always, is the cluster of tomato plants at the bottom of the stairs. If anything, they're doing as well as, if not better than, last year. This shot is of the tomatoes I picked this week.

Did you catch that? These are just the ones that have come off of the vine since Monday. Wowzers. I've got Better Boy, Early Girl, Roma, and pear (mini) tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes died in an unseasonable frost back in April, but the rest pulled through and are better than ever.
Anyway, I'm having a good time playing around with the veggies, and I'm already scheming for next year. I think I'm going to rent a plot at the community garden for my veggies so I can have enough room to plant some potatoes and big melons. That way I can use the big pots on the deck for the herbs.

Yogurt Part II

So I tried the yogurt yesterday. It was fun to make, pretty easy, and overall pretty cost effective. The recipe from the link I posted yesterday makes half a gallon of yogurt, so it comes out pretty cheap per oz.
Instead of using the store-bought yogurt for cultures, I instead used a purchased culture mix from the health food store. It worked great! I used about 10 grams of culture and it came out just right. I also mixed in some gelatin to give it more firmness, since the mix itself is pretty much the consistency of a yogurt smoothie (which could be cool, also). I put in 6 packets of knox gelatine (the kind that come 4 to a box), but it was WAY too much. I recommend putting in about half of that- 2 or 3 packets. 4 at the most.
For sweetener I put in about half a cup of fructose, and I added about 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract for just a little punch of flavor. It was perfect. It doesn't need much sweetener because the vit. D milk I used was pretty sweet already. It balanced out perfect with the berry compote I had left over from the party this weekend, which I had used to top it.
Despite the fact that mine set up pretty hard, it is quite delicious. It has that rich, creamy flavor that you can only get from real, live culture yogurts. Since I got hooked on this style of yogurt in Mexico some years back I've gone crazy looking for it here in the states to no avail, so I'm ecstatic to finally know how to make it on my own. I'm also thrilled that I can cross "Yogurt Maker" off of my wish list, since it came out fine in the crock pot.
I highly recommend this recipe to anyone who likes the tart taste of real yogurt. In fact, I read that if you strain it through a cheese cloth the solids left over are pretty much exactly the same as Greek-style Yogurt, which is one of the principal ingredients in a lot of my favorite recipes.
So in case you missed it before, here it is again:
Recipe for Crock Pot Yogurt
--8 cups (half-gallon) of whole milk--pasteurized and homogenized is fine, but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized. The higher the fat content, the thicker the yogurt will be. I mixed in some heavy cream with mine (like 2 cups) and it was FANTASTIC
--1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt (you need to have a starter. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter) OR 10 g. freeze-dried yogurt culture
--frozen/fresh fruit for flavoring
--THICK bath towel
The Directions.This takes a while. Start it early in the morning or 5-6 hours before going to bed. The best time to make your yogurt is on a weekend day when you are home to monitor.I used a 4 quart crockpot. Plug in your crockpot and turn to low. Add an entire half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours. Unplug your crockpot and stir gently to make sure there are no clumps on the bottom. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.
When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt and 1-3 packets of unflavored gelatin (optional). Then dump the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.Go to bed, or let it sit for 8 hours.
In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened---it's not as thick as store-bought yogurt, but has the consistency of low-fat plain yogurt.Blend in batches with your favorite fruit. When you blend in the fruit, bubbles will form and might bother you. They aren't a big deal, and will settle eventually.Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. If you added gelatin, this is when your yogurt will finally start thickening up. You can skip this step if you like and just leave your yogurt plain. For vanilla yogurt, mix in 1/2 c. sugar or sweetener and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. I prefer mine this way served with preserves on the side.
Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter to make a new batch, or add some more live cultures to your next batch (can be purchased at most health food stores).
-taken from www.crockpot365.blogspot.com, courtesy of Stephanie O'Dea. Visit her blog for more tips on how to make Yogurt in your crock pot and for lots of other yummy slow cooker recipes.
Happy eating!

Oh. My. Gosh.

My friend Margot tried this out and posted it on her blog. I saw it and nearly wept tears of joy. I've wanted a yogurt maker for eons, but could never justify the purchase when store-bought yogurt is so cheap anyway (despite the fact that by the time it makes it into those little foil covered cups it's lost nearly all it's nutritional value). I am probably going to run out to the natural foods store and buy some cultures so I can try this today.
Without further ado, I present to you all CROCK POT YOGURT!!!! Do enjoy, please.

Come and Knock on Our Door...

Three's Company was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. It come on daytime television after Mama's Family and before 227. Yes. That is what I spent summers doing when I was a kid- watching 1970's sitcoms and doing crafts. Not a lot has changed.
Since I finished my "have to" projects last week I've been keeping myself busy, well, watching 1970's sitcoms and doing crafts. I like Three's Company because it kind of reminds my of my life... imagine if Jack and married Chrissy and Janet had a baby - that's pretty much how I see us... the uptight and neurotic, yet loveable brunette; the crazy and ditzy blonde; the goofy and hilarious dude. Either that or I think of us as the I Love Lucy show, if Ethel and Fred got a divorce and Ethel moved in with Lucy and Ricky. Hmmm... There must be something wrong with me that I interpret my life through the lens of television sitcoms.
Regardless- all that t.v. watching and crafting came in pretty handy this week. Luis's bank branch was due for their annual summer party. Usually, the entire area gets together at a park in Orem (about 300-500 Wells Fargo employees from the Provo/Orem area). They have a huge catered bbq, a prize raffle, and then they take everyone out to the movies. Last year, Luis won a laptop in the raffle. It was sweet.
The thing is, this year the area president for Wells retired and the new dude is way uptight. Furthermore, with all these bank bailouts the heat is really on all sorts of financial establishments whether they received gov't money or not. Wells was not involved in the bailout much. They are one of the top 5 safest banks in the world (the only American bank to make the list, btw, which contains the top Brittish and Swiss banks and some bank in the Middle East or something like that). This is because they are very cautious with their image and spending habits, though, so they sent out orders that there are to be no large public gatherings. So no big summer party.
Instead, they gave all the branch managers $15 a person with which to throw a party and instructions that the money was to be spent primarily on food and disposable supplies- no rented venues or gifts. Hmmm... This is where the t.v. and crafts come in to play.
I got the news on Monday that we were to have the party at our house this weekend. I had about $30 for decorations- the rest was to be spent on plates, napkins, utensils and food. The employees voted and selected to have a traditional Mexican Carne Asada. A good choice, if I say so myself. If you've never been to a Carne Asada, I highly recommend it. Come over to our house on a Sunday afternoon in the summer and we'll be happy to hook you up.
As for me, I got creative, dug through my party supplies (which are rapidly multiplying in number) and this is what I came up with-

Not bad, if I say so myself. The pom-poms were made from tissue paper left over from the Dia de Los Muertos supplies I had laying around. They were fun and easy to make and look like scoops of ice cream hanging from my ceiling. The vases are just regular glassware I have laying around the house. I covered them with matching tissue paper, and filled them either with flowers from my garden or the electric candles I got on sale at Walmart last year (8 for $5! I should have purchased 3 boxes instead of just one... d'oh!). The white table cloths were discarded by the Relief Society 5 years ago because they were very badly stained. They said I could keep them, because they were too ugly to donate to D.I. I worked some stain-removal magic - now they are as good as new. I made the table runner with fabric scraps I had laying around. I used some of the $30 budget to buy a few coordinating prints to fill it out. The leaf-pattern place mats were on sale $1.5o each so I got a few. The paper lanterns on the twinkle lights were purchased with the rest of the budget.
Anyway, it's been a fun project. I think that it turned out beautiful and gave the party great atmosphere. Luis hooked up his computer to the surround sound system and serenaded us with tropical tunes. The food was awesome, too. Ana made a 4 layer chocolate cake with peanut butter mousse, and we had a Cheesecake Factory cake with homemade berry topping.
Food, fun, friends....
Don't you wish you lived closer to me and could come to parties at my house? Thanks Wells Fargo for footing the bill on this one!

It's done.

The final score Camille 1, dirt 0.
I finished the projects today (at least all of the ones I'm going to do this year). I scrubbed my kitchen floor by hand and got in all the little corners, cleaned out the vacuums (like the roller and the tubes and stuff) so they have more suction and then vacuumed all the floors. I also waxed the wood floors and scraped out the moldy caulk from my shower, sanitized it with bleach and lysol (just to make sure the mold was dead) and then re-caulked it. I also polished all the leather couches, which is tough because through some bizarre twist of fate every time I go to purchase microfiber, leather is cheaper- so we have a lot of leather in our house.
The ONLY things left to do are Luis's jobs- dusting the fans and blinds and re-staining the deck. My entire house is both clean AND organized, and it feels great!
Now what to do with the last 2 and a half weeks of summer? Hmmmm.... good thing I bought the Martha Stewart Craft Encyclopedia today (40% off at JoAnns!). I have the feeling it's time to get my craft on.

Acupuncture- why I'm doing it.

Sorry- kinda long, but I have to get this all off my chest. I won't get my feeling hurt if you don't read this one.
So as most of you guys know by now, I've been battling infertility for several years. It's no secret that I have PCOS and that I've had a hard time dealing with the side effects of this disorder- the most prominent of which is difficulty conceiving.
I've tried a lot of things in getting pregnant including but not limited to herbal therapies, Clomid/Provera, Natural Progesterone Cream, and even "relaxing" by quitting work and being a stay-at-home wife (which was like the dumbest idea ever- try trapping an overweight, hormonal, depressed, anxious woman at home all day long with no money and nothing to do except obsess over why she's overweight, hormonal, depressed, and broke and see what happens.... not very relaxing at all... more like Norman Bates crazy).
RANT WARNING: This would be a good time to note that you should NEVER ask a married, childless woman if/when she's planning on having kids because a)there's probably a reason she doesn't have kids b) it's probably a REALLY good reason, and c) she probably doesn't want to talk about that reason. This would also be a really good time to add that if you end up in a situation where a woman confides in you that she *wants* kids but for some reason cannot have them at the present time the ONLY acceptable response is to say that you are sorry, that you care about her, and that you are there for her if she ever needs anything. Offering advice of any sort isn't a very good idea. It just implies that she's doing something "wrong" when she most likely blames herself for her situation already. Also, relating stories of how your cousin's college roommate couldn't have kids until she adopted and then she "accidentally" got pregnant with a "miracle" baby is a bad idea, too. Adoption and all the issues related to that are the subject of another soapbox of mine. RANT OVER.
Anyway, after the huge ammount of time and money I wasted on Clomid 2 years ago, I kind of swore the stuff off. It turns me into a sick, fat, cranky, weepy, sweaty monster. Plus, after doing 6 rounds of the highest legal dose of the stuff I had literally NO response to it other than the previously mentioned side effects. Zip. Zilch. Nada. This is after I signed a waiver saying that I couldn't sue my physician for perscribing it if the Clomid happened to cause ovarian cancer or life-threatening cystic ruptures. My doctor told me that I could try injectibles, but they most likely wouldn't work, and that I should look into Invitro Fertilization.
It broke my heart so badly it's taken about 2 years to get over it. Here's my issue: there are SO many Utah moms getting pregnant in their late teens and early twenties who continue popping out babies, thus producing large families WITHOUT help that the insurance companies here really have no use for us defects who can't make babies on our own. They provide literally no coverage for most infertility-related services. I went in for a diagnostic ultrasound (that really should have counted as a cancer screening), and because they were checking my ovaries it got labeled "infertility" and I had to pay about $250 out of pocket for it. I can't AFFORD injectibles. They involve very expensive specialists, dozens of ultrasounds, expensive medication, and several office visits every month... It would cost thousands of dollars a month every month until I get pregnant or have to quit due to the dangerously high level of hormones in my body. Plus a nasty side effect is that all the synthetic hormones make you gain tons of weight (like in the 40-50 pound range), which is problematic because the more fat you have, the worse your PCOS symptoms get, and the harder it is to conceive...
and if I can't afford that I DEFINITELY can't afford In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).
IVF is not what you think it is. Let me tell you that right off the bat. Most people think that it's some outpatient procedure like that episode of "Friends" where Phoebe becomes a surrogate- that you just go to the doctor, get a shot, prop your feet up for an hour and voilá! Parents!
In Vitro is much more complicated. Basically they start by giving your body shots to completely shut off your hormone production. That's right. They force you into premature menopause. This lasts anywhere from 1-4 weeks. Then, when they're sure that you're not producing any hormones, they give you toxic doses of them to force your body into hyper-egg-production-mode. Then they harvest the egg which involves needles, catheters, and a lot of other stuff in places where you usually want to avoid needles, catheters and a lot of other stuff. THEN, they take a sample of the guy's stuff, wash it to make sure only the highest quality swimmers get put in the petri dish, mix it with the eggs, and cross their fingers that a few of the eggs will get fertilized. If you're lucky enough to have a few fertilized embryos you get to relive the harvesting process in reverse (more needles, catheters, etc.). Then it's just a simple matter of shooting you full of pregnancy hormones to trick your body into thinking it got pregnant on its own. You got that? Menopause, toxic high doses of hormones, imitation pregnancy within a 4-6 week time frame.
The whole process can last anywhere from 4-8 weeks each time around, cost anywhere from $10K-$50K, and... here's the kicker... it ONLY HAS A 2o something percent CHANCE OF SUCCESS!!!! That's right. One out of four women walk away empty handed after all is said and done.
Nuff said.
So before I can even consider the implications of jumping to that extreme I'm pursuing something else, which probably sounds a little crazy to most of you, but which (compared to the alternatives) I think is really promising.
Dealing with infertility and Western medicine, I've always been so depressed. It's such a grim prognosis- "We're sorry Mrs. Farias. You have PCOS. You'll probably develop male pattern baldness, grow a full beard, and never have kids. Oh, and you'll most likely die of cancer, diabetes, or heart disease way before your peers. If you can lose 50-100 pounds immediately you might dodge the bullet, but otherwise there's nothing we can do for you except put you on birth control to manage your cystic acne, which we must admit is looking kind of scary these days. Besides, you should be glad you don't have to worry about periods. Most of the women I talk to tell me they'd rather not have to worry about that mess. I'm so glad I'm a man! Sorry.*"
*This is me paraphrasing a few actual conversations I've had with doctors.
There's nothing Western medicine can do for PCOS except put you on birth control forever and ever in hopes that you might avoid uterine or endometrial cancer (although you'll probably get breast or ovarian cancer) and then pump you full of crazy shit when you want to get pregnant... (btw miscarriage rates for PCOS women are astronomically high, if you can manage to get pregnant in the first place- it's like 1 in 3). In the mean time, your hair falls out in clumps, you grow body hair in places only men are supposed to have it, your face looks like a pizza, and you gain about 5-10 pounds a year until you drop dead of a heart attack or cancer (PCOS also involves a drastically elevated risk of breast, ovarian, endometrial, uterine, pancreatic, colon, and cervical cancers).
I have never been comfortable with this "sorry, there's nothing we can do for you.... next?" mentality. The thing is, in Eastern medicine, hormonal imbalances are considered to be exactly that- imbalances. If you correct the imbalance, you correct the disorder and the patient is cured. Sound too good to be true? Maybe. But here's something to consider. In a study I recently read done by a highly respected acupuncturist/naturopath in Houston, she found that around 70%-80% of her patients conceived within 6 months of terminating their treatments (in many cases the patient stopped treatment only because they found they were pregnant). This includes those who combined Eastern medicine with traditional fertility treatments and those who went with acupuncture and herbs alone. And yes. This is just one study. Yes. There are a lot of holes in that conclusion that could be debated, etc. Yes. Many of these women ALSO took other measures to improve their chances of success. The thing is, the BEST chances you have at conceiving with IVF is around the 40% mark, IF you combine it with things like diet and lifestyle changes AND acupuncture. Still only half as good as the acupuncture statistics.
Besides, I WANT to be well. I want to feel whole and complete. I'm tired of feeling like I'm dysfunctional or broken. If there is ANYONE out there who thinks they can fix me, I'm willing to give it a shot. I was joking around with Luis the other day (only half joking, really) that if there was some study done that said if you traveled to Santoria, swam 10 miles in the ocean, then went back to shore, drank a liter of goat's blood, and then stood on your head for an hour and it had reputable scientific studies performed on it showing it had a 70-80% chance of correcting the imbalance that's causing my PCOS... I'd probably start saving up for a plane ticket to Greece.
Luckily, Traditional Chinese Medicine isn't that drastic. Just regular acupuncture, some diet and exercise modifications, and a bunch of stinky teas to drink. Not so bad, when you compare it to IVF. It's a little pricey, but not any worse than injectibles would be. Also, I REALLY like the idea that aside from the possibility of pregnancy, there is a chance for me to really improve my long-term health, avoid cancer and diabetes, and hopefully not die young. Really, that's all I really want- to be well.
Who knows. You be the judge. But as for me, I'm chosing to give it a chance. Who knows. Maybe it's all a lot of baloney. Maybe it's not. I really hope it's not...
I'll keep you all updated on the process.

Yay!!!!

So I don't have a lot to say- just that Andrei's mom called tonight to talk to Luis about Andrei staying with us for this upcoming school year. If you've been following my blog/life you'll know what a big deal this is for us.
Andrei's mom is not a bad mother, but definitely not a hands-on mom. I have a lot more time to spare and a much less pressing social agenda, so I think he generally does better with us- again not because I'm necessarily a *better* parent than his biological mom but more because I'm simply there all the time (like ALL the time) for him. He's there ALL the time for me, too, which is nice. I highly suggest (moms or moms-to-be out there) that if you don't have at least one son you look in to it. It's AWESOME. I've missed him so much this summer while he's spent the time in NYC with his maternal grandmother -it's terribly lonely around here without someone bugging me 24/7, but we all felt it would be good to give ourselves a break after this school year what with the daily commute to Point of the Mountain, and all the drama at school... plus he's barely met his Abuelita Germania so we thought it would be good to build some connections with that side of his family.
Anyway, as you may know last year Andrei "lived" with his mom but went to school in Provo. That meant driving him to and from West Jordan daily, which just about killed everyone in the process. By the end, we were all so tired he actually spent weeks at a time at our house, but that was stressful, too, because we often had no warning or schedule as to when he'd be here or there- just a phone call at 7 saying to bring him, or no phone call at all signaling that he was to stay with us. He was constantly stressed out not knowing if "[his] mommy wants to see him today," or not.
It was decided that in order to avoid the stress this year, he would attend school in Sandy (did you catch that? Mom lives in West Jordan but the schools there all SUCK and are year-round, so she found a nice school somewhat near to her work and was just going to use a friend's address for registration), and then drive a few blocks after school to stay at a Boy's and Girl's club until his mom gets off at 7.
Jerly called tonight and said she really didn't feel good about this arrangement because a) she'd have to take off work to drive him from school to the B&G Club daily, b) she'd have to return 3 hours later to get him c) he would be *highly* unsupervised during most of that time which usually means he goes off into his own world and wanders around aimlessly for hours at a time d) he'd only have an hour or so after getting picked up from the B&G club to do homework, eat dinner, and bathe before bed and e) his school there starts at 8:30, but she doesn't start work until 10:00, but the school is on the opposite side of town near her work, which causes a huge transportation problem and f) she's considering starting her own business and isn't sure what she's going to be able to deal with anyway.
All things considered, she's thinking that since we have good schools in Provo that he's attended before, he has friends, family, a stable and nurturing home, reliable after-school programs, and since I get off work at 3:15 anyway that perhaps staying with us might *possibly* be better for him than jumping through all sorts of hoops in order to allow him to continue staying with her while still attending a non-scary school.
Of course I'm ecstatic about this because I adore him and he does great in school as long as he's overnighting with us. Also, as much as I want him to have a strong, caring relationship with his mom, she gets off work so late that he barely sees her during the week anyway (from 7-10 pm M-Thurs nights). Aside from bed-time, she really doesn't get to parent him at all. I think that by switching her to the weekend shift she'll actually get much better *quality* time with her, even if the quantity isn't quite as much. They can go to zoos, parks, movies, friends' houses, parties, etc., and if there is a big event here we can always request an extra day so he doesn't have to miss out.
My only real hesitation is the fact that she, although a baptized member of the church, doesn't practice any religion at all nor attend any church. He'll basically be missing church meetings until whenever. I think, though, that if we focus on family scripture study, FHE, and scouting (that's right- he'll be 8 in less than a year!) he can still continue growing up with a strong religious background which is important to all of us (mom included).
So this was supposed to be a short post and now it's turning into a novel. I guess I'll stop here. Anyway, I'm really excited, and we still have to hammer out all the details and nothing's official, and knowing her she could change her mind the minute he steps off the plane from New York and she realizes how much she's missed him... but so far it's looking like she'll drop him off for school Monday a.m. and he'll stay with us until we drop him off in SLC on Friday night. That way overnights stay pretty much equal and nobody has to pay anybody child support, and costs will be split equally (we pay for insurance, she pays for school supplies, sports teams, and clothes).
I'll keep you updated when final details are decided upon.

Summer Projects

I've really done a terrible job of blogging this summer. Maybe it's because I have spent time doing so many of things that I just don't have the energy or motivation during the school year. Maybe it's because I'm trying to take advantage of every last bit of sunlight before it disappears in September. Maybe it's because I've been out at night more (my social agenda is much more nocturnal without a 7 year old tagging along). In any case, here's a rundown of the last 4 weeks or so.
Projects at home: cleaning and sealing grout in kitchen, baths, and entryways; washing windows- interior and exterior; obsessively tending my garden- I think it'll finally be "done" next year; touching up the paint in every room of the house; dusting everything ceiling to floor; cleaning and organizing the garage, crawl space, closets, kitchen cupboards, and office (I've made almost a dozen trips to DI!); embroidering and sewing 12 throw pillows for the media room; staining and building a bench for the entryway downstairs; printing and framing travel photos for the guest bedroom/bath.
Family outings: Manti Pageant (a Farias family tradition since 2002, when Lu and I first began dating); overnight visit from Jenny (my SIL) and Pam (Jenny's cousin-in-law) plus kids; Sister's get-together at Teri's house (we missed Emily, but were glad Sara and Melissa were there); my nephew Sam's b-day party in Orem with Sara's family; movie nights with the Reyes family; girls' night with Ana Farias and Ana Reyes.
Anyway, it's been a busy and fun fun fun summer so far. I only have about 4 more weeks of freedom left, so I'm trying to make the most of them. I only have 1 or 2 more projects on the agenda (staining the deck, building a cabinet for the guest bathroom and a shelf with hooks for the entry) so I'm hoping to get those done next week and then just spend the last 2 weeks or so vegging out and tanning in my back yard.
Sigh. I love summer SO much!

What's a girl to do?

So I'm currently on week two (almost three) of a six week liver detox diet. I'm doing this in support of my sister Emily who is doing the same diet in London as part of the health plan her naturopath has set out for her. I'm also doing it because I've been looking for a reason to stretch my diet to include different ingredients and foods (as part of my new year resolution) in an overall attempt to improve my health.
So far this has been the strictest, weirdest, hardest to follow diet I've ever been on, and I've been dieting pretty much non-stop since I was 6. Seriously. I've done Slim Fast, South Beach, Zone, Atkins, and a million other diets. I've even played around with a few different eating disorders and trust me- exercise bulemia is actually a little easier than this diet because of all the prep work that you have to put in to this. The basic goal of the diet is not really weight loss, but just to detox your system- you know... get out all the yucky gunk that's clogging the pipes. To that end, it eliminates any and all food that could possibly contain allergens. That means no dairy, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, wheat, eggs, pork, beef, bird (unless it's organic), shellfish, corn or corn byproducts, oats, sugar, honey, maple products, peanuts, soy products, and caffeine.
That leaves me with pretty much brown rice, lamb, fish, organic chicken and turkey, quinoa, and veggies to eat. Do you know how many foods contain beef, pork, corn, tomatoes, and sugar? Like all of them! Wheat and dairy are impossible to escape as well. I didn't think that dairy would be as hard to give up as it is b/c I've been off milk for almost 10 years (b/c I'm fully allergic... no, NOT lactose intollerant... ALLERGIC), but I CAN have processed milk products like yogurt, butter, and cheese in small quantities. We've been stretching to find good food to eat and we've had quite a few hits and misses over the past two or so weeks.
Here are the cons:
-I love cheese, which is totally off limits. This is hard b/c most of my MOST delicious recipes are cheese-based.
-I LOVE tomatoes, and my gorgeous tomato bushes are starting to ripen. I have a feeling tomatoes may be the first food to make it back in when I start adding foods back in a few weeks. Also, do you know how hard it is to cook healthy food without tomatoes? They are the basis of SO many delicious, nutritious things.
-I am SO sick of chicken. I never want to eat it again.
-Some of the ingredients are hard to find or a little expensive.
So here's the pros:
-My skin is totally clear for the first time since I went off birth control in 2004
-I have had no heartburn at all, even when eating foods that usually make me a little ill like banana bread (wheatless, eggless, dairyless banana bread, that is) which is a recurring problem for me.
-I have had no gastrointestinal upsets for two weeks, which is the bomb b/c I'm pretty sure I'm developing an allergy to gluten which may be why I'm pretty much constantly sick to my stomach most of the time.
-I have lost 2-3 pounds, which is cool because it's not a calorie restricted diet and I'm eating like a queen but losing weight anyway. It's AWESOME!
-I have broken my addiction to sweets that was the bane of my existance. I cheated once on Tuesday this week, and found the cake I was eating so unsatisfying that I was not even tempted to cheat later on when presented with the opportunity.
-I have learned so many awesome new things that I can use to cook healthier meals for my family long-term, like egg substitutes (flax meal and water works great!), rice flour, and quinoa!
-I have learned how to prepare foods I never even considered using in the past, like lamb. Luis HATES lamb from his childhood experiences in Mexico. However, I grilled some last night b/c we were about to go chicken-crazy and he loved it so much he had seconds.

Anyway, if you want some yummy, easy, gluten/egg/dairy free recipes, give me a shout out. I'm working on typing some of them up for Emily anyway because she's been on the diet even longer than me and is really running low on ideas.

My Country 'Tis of Thee...

For those of you who don't know, the 4th is pretty much my favorite holiday. I LOVE history, especially American history, and the Revolutionary War is one of my favorite time periods to study. I truly believe that our Founding Fathers were guided by Heavenly Father in the establishment of this nation. I also love summer, bbq, parades, and explosions. For all these reasons and more, the 4th is my favorite day of the year.
The only problem is that I am the only American in my family (at least the family that I live with) and as awesome as my in-laws are, I have the sneaking feeling that they just don't "get it." We've never really done anything grand or interesting for the 4th because I just don't have the energy to put something together all by myself. This year was no exception. We did end up going to Freedom Festival for a while and we camped out to watch Stadium of Fire (from the outside), but that was pretty much it.
The coolest thing that happened this year, however, is that Luis spent a large part of the afternoon filling out the paperwork to apply for U.S. Citizenship. So it looks like next year I won't be the only U.S. Citizen in my family. Hooray!

Everything's comin' up Roses

On Wednesday I went over to my friend Sybil's house. We know Sybil and her husband Felix from back when we were working the Salsa circuit really heavily. Sybil and Felix are dancers and were often hired to teach the dance classes at the gigs where we DJ'd. They have a poodle named Bisou who is officially Bella's Boyfriend and more importantly a very cute little boy named Levi. They also have an abundance of roses in their backyard.
A while back we were having a Carne Asada at their house and I commented on how lovely all the rose bushes are, and Sybil invited me to come over and take cuttings from them any time I liked. Of course I couldn't pass this up, so that was the main purpose of Wednesday's visit.
I spent about 2 hours and walked away with about 15-20 cuttings. I stopped at my favorite nursery (Vinyard Garden Center in Vinyard, UT) on the way home and purchased some root stimulator. I was worried b/c I had to leave the cuttings in my truck for several hours while I took care of stuff for Cub Scout Pack Meeting, but as soon as I got home from scouts I put them all in the ground and they are all doing really well, for the most part. I think I've learned my lesson from the summer of roses as far as spacing, watering, trimming, etc. and as of 2 days later only 2 of the cuttings are looking even a little droopy- the rest perky and fresh.
I also realized while I was out working on Wednesday that summer is officially in full bloom so I took a bunch of photos today to document. The veggies are doing fantastic- stars include the tomatoes and tomatillos. The eggplant are starting to bloom as are the hot peppers, okra, and cucumbers. Onions are coming along terriffically and the herbs are doing pretty well. I made a photo collage of some of the better photos for you all to see.

By the way, if you all know anyone in Northern Utah that would like a crap load of giant orange lillies send me a shout-out. I have some bushes that need to be trimmed out or removed because they are out of control huge.

Doodle Doodle...

So I'm making some sock monkeys for all the cute little kids who come hang out at my house this summer (shameless plug). I already sent some to my brother Jason's girls (Maddie and Kayla) when his wife stopped through. They were pink and gray. Melissa is in town right now with her precious little girls, so they're getting tan monkeys.
I was putting the final touches on the last one tonight when Kenley saw me making it, she FREAKED out! She started babbling "doodle doodle doodle doodle" and poking me and pinching me. It took me a few minutes to figure out what she was babbling about but I passed one of the 2 finished monkeys to her just so she'd leave me alone long enough to finish the last one. She played with it for literally a hour and a half. Maybe 2 hours. First she tried to eat the tail, then she played around with stretching the arms out (the socks I used have a bit of lycra so they're stretchy). Then she started playing with it on the ground, making it bounce and dance around. Then she just started hugging it and rolling around with it on the floor while cooing and singing to herself.
By this point it was pretty well established that the "Doodle Doodle" is her new favorite thing. She only stopped playing when her mom put her to bed, and even then we had to send it with her in to the room in fear that she would start throwing a tantrum. When she woke up in the morning, the first thing she said was "Doodle Doodle?" and then played with it again until nap time. We'll have to see how they go over with the other three girls. Luis was joking around that if they like them as much as Kenley I should drop the teaching career and just go into the Monkey Business. That may be stretching things a bit, but I may have found my default kids party gift.
In the mean time, it looks like I have another Doodle Doodle to make.