New Recipe Blog

Well, my last post generated the most comments then any other blog post. Not neccesarily blog comments but emails, phone calls, conversations etc. Some positive, some negative, some just wanting more info. Some of the comments have caused me to create a new blog. A recipe blog called eatyourfruitsandveggies. A lot of people have requested vegetarian recipes to help them with vegetarian options to feed their family. I only have one post up right now but I am going to get a new post everyday or every other day for a while, at least until I start running out of recipes and can create or find new ones. I would love your vegetarian meal ideas. Please email them to me at jenniterry@hotmail.com. I will try them out and if I like them I will post them. I want everything on the blog to be recipes I have tried and really liked.
Thanks so much!

Protein

As a vegetarian the most common question I get asked is "how do you get your protein?" I will tell you right now that that is the most annoying question you could ask a vegetarian. To be fair I totally understand why people ask that question and I am sure before I became a vegetarian and learned more about protein I asked it too. It seems I have been asked a lot more then normal lately. I feel like it is because of the rise in interest in vegetarianism. I have seen the topic on Oprah and Ellen this week alone. It is on the news and there are more and more books written on the topic. The environmental movement is also making it an issue. So it is just coming up a lot more. When I get asked the question I have to remind myself to stay calm and understanding and I usually give a little answer like "protein is in a lot of food other than meat and besides we don't need as much protein as you would think". That usually answers their question enough to make them happy but inside I am dieing to really explain it well so people get it. So since this is my space, my blog I am going to do it here.
Just like vegetarianism is in the news a lot so is our need for protein. That is why it makes it a confusing thing for people. I think as a country we are currently in a love affair with protein. You know like before this we were in a love affair with "low fat". Snackwells ring a bell? That obsession lead to its own issues. Then big fad diets like the Adkins diet came and changed it to protein. I am not saying they don't work. They do work. The question is are they healthy? If you consider gout, cancer, heart disease, smelly breath, constipation, liver damage, kidney damage, and depleting muscle tissue worth loosing some weight then the diet is for you! The high amounts of protein alone (forget the amount of fat and other crap) are responsible for osteoporosis (animal protein depletes calcium storage), kidney disease, calcium stones and some cancers. Okay, that is a whole other topic. Anyway, so my point is that we are in a time where people think a lot of protein is good. So just simply understanding that the thought that we need so much protein is a myth it will help you understand the relationship of protein and vegetarians a lot better. Did you know plants have protein? A lot of people don't. Grains, legumes and vegetables all have protein. There is a lot of proof that it is better protein too. Easier for the body to utilize. Let alone the fact that when you are eating those foods as protein you are also getting large amounts of other nutrients, fiber and antioxidants that you would not get from meat. The bottom line is that if you eat a varied diet high in vegetables, whole grains and legumes (beans, nuts) you will get more then enough protein. I know this but I decided I would put it to the test. Plus I got curious.
I looked up the daily recommended value for protein. You take your body weight and divide it by 2.2 to get your weight in kg (body weight/2.2=weight in kg). My weight in kg is 59 then multiply that by .8 to get the amount of protein you need in grams per day (wight in kg X .8= protein in grams). So I need 47 grams of protein a day. If you are very active you can use a little more. So if you are active you multiply it by 1.2. That would be 70.8. So I need between 47- 70.8 grams of protein a day. Another point is that there is no proof that if you are really trying to build muscle more protein will help. After a certain point your body can't do anything with it. The highest amount of protein recommended for someone actively trying to build muscle (we are talking body builder here) should ever take is 2.4 times their weight in kg. And even then there is no proof it makes much of a difference. There was a study where they had three body builders on three different protein amounts (.86, 1.4 and 2.4) and there was no difference in the amount of muscle built. Anyway, back on the topic. To see if I ate enough protein with my diet of mostly whole grains, vegetables and legumes I wrote down everything I ate yesterday and counted all the protein using the packaging or using this site and it is awesome because you can change the amounts you ate and it will calculate the new values. Plus I will tell you that I didn't even have protein in mind when I ate. Here is how it broke down-

Breakfast-toast with almond butter spread on it and vanilla yogurt with chopped fresh strawberries and blueberries.
1 slice of whole wheat toast- 4 g
2 T Almond butter- 7 g
6 oz. Yogurt- 7 g
1/2 c Berries- 1 g

Lunch- leftover enchilada pie
1 corn tortilla- 3 g
1/2 c black beans-6 g
corn- 8 g (this one surprised me)
Zucchini-1 g
salsa-1 g
1/2 avocado- 2 g
1/2 ccheddar cheese- 7 g

Dinner- Homemade whole wheat pizza loaded with veggies
whole wheat pizza crust- 26 g
1 oz mozzarella cheese- 7 g
pesto- 3 g
tomato sauce- 1 g
1/4 c cooked Spinach- 1.5g
1 cup mushrooms, olives, pepper- 2 g

Snacks
1 String cheese- 6 g
1 Orange- 2 g
1c pistachios- 26 g

Grand Total= 121.5 grams of protein! Remember I needed between 47g and 70g (121.5 grams is like multiplying my weight by 2). It just shows that if you eat a diet of WHOLE foods you will get enough. Whole foods are grains, vegetables, legumes and fruit. You do not need meat to get enough protein! Even if I don't count all the grams I got from animal protein (cheese, yogurt) I would have 93 grams!

I became a vegetarian for three different reasons, Religion took me so far, health took me further and cruelty to animals took me the rest of the way. When I chose to "try" this diet out two years ago my heath is what kept me at it. I feel so healthy. I have energy, I don't always feel tired, and sick and I think I look better too (better skin etc). I might not be at the weight I want to be at but who knows if that weight is even a healthy weight for me. I know this is kind of weird but one thing I love about it is that I picture my organs, muscles, veins and tissue and see healthy, plump, pink, clean organs sitting in clear fluids. That makes me happy. I guess all those hours in a cadaver lab helps me picture it all but it makes me feel good knowing I am taking care of my body the best I know how and getting more then enough protein in the process. :)

So now you know and you don't need to wonder how vegetarians or even vegans for that matter get their protein!!

Happy Birthday Alex

My little Alex turned 4! I really can't believe she is four. Time sure flies.

Brad started off her special day by making her waffles while I ran to the store for chocolate milk. She loves chocolate milk and would live off of it if she could so it has been banned from our house. She is only allowed to drink it at the grandmas houses. We thought she could drink it on her birthday too. She also requested bacon. Which I also bought! Can you believe it? After breakfast we headed to Boise for a bike ride on the green belt. The weather was perfect. 60 degrees and sunny.

I borrowed a bike from my friend Lyric so I could have Laela on the back. She loved it. Happy squeals and talking the entire times. She would also rest her little feet on my bum. I loved knowing she was right behind me.

Then we headed to the nature center and looked at fish and read about wildlife.

Our friend Caleb and his daughter Evy met up with us too.

Alex requested McDonalds for lunch because she wanted a cheese burger. My kids are so deprived and never eat there. It really would have been fine but there is nothing for me to eat there and I was starving so I kinda talked her into going to Five Guys so I could get a salad at Costa vida. I felt a little bad about talking her out of McDonalds until I saw how much she loved the peanuts. She loved them so much that she didn't even touch her fries or hamburger. That is until we were leaving then she decided she wanted to eat it.

Patiently waiting for her to finish.

We decided to try Spoon Me which is right next door. I really liked it. Alex didn't so much but at least hers was free because it was her birthday!

Then we headed home and had cake and opened presents with some friends.

I forgot to buy candles so we used matches. At least she didn't care. Alex really is such an easy going kid. She is easy to please (which is very nice because someone else in the family whose name rhymes with maiden isn't so much).

She also didn't mind the store bought cake!

She had a lot of help opening presents. She got "what she always wanted" which was a barbie horse. She plays barbie.com sometimes and always end up in the shopping section. She has been looking at this particular horse, dreaming about it for sometime. One time she stared at it for about 20 minutes and when I told her that I needed to use the computer she was heart broken. So I printed it off so she could continue looking at it. She brought it to speech therapy today and told her teacher that it used to be in the computer but I got it out.

Her other favorite present was a doll house from my parents. It is perfect for her because she can sit down and play with something like this for a really long time. She has such a great imagination.

Alex is also wearing her new birthday outfit from Brad and I. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Sunday morning Brad decided to try and get a couple pictures of the girls and I. Non of them turned out great because someone is goofing off or looking away in all of them. I just love these two because it shows how real life is. We all look at blogs of people who only post what they want the world to see. Only writing down the good stuff about their life (I am not saying that is always a bad thing because it is healthy to focus on the positive). But we all know it can get exhausting looking at all the "perfect families" out there. In fact as I am writing this Alex is telling me that she hates our family and trying to bite Ayden. Oh wait she just screamed and they started fighting and now they are both in time out. See the kind of stuff I don't usually blog about. Anyway, back to the pictures. These pictures are only a little example of that. We are all fine in the first picture even though Alex is making a face and Laela is in lala land.

This is the very next picture from the camera...

I can oh so quickly change from smiling to fussing at my child. Probably something like get your hands away from your face Alex. Ayden has a look like "oh no, here she goes". I don't know why but it just reminded me of how superficial blogs can be.

In other news, Ayden is the star student this week. Every kid gets a turn and it is in alphabetical order. She has been really hating that her last name starts with a T because it seems like every kid in her class has already had their turn.

Here are some more of the pictures Kim took of my kids that I wanted to add. Oh man this is a long post and I am exhausted!

Marsha's 60th

A couple of weekends ago Brad and his siblings decided to throw a surprise party for their Mom who was turning 60. Brad's sister booked the cultural hall at the church in Burley (Paul to be exact for those who know the difference) and found a way to get her there for the big surprise. All of her siblings, kids, grand kids (minus one) and great grand kids were there. She was very surprised and I hope she felt loved. The party included a potato bar, very cool slide show put to music of past and current pictures of her and the people in her life that brad made, a Wii tournament and simply hanging out. I really love my Mother in Law. I am blessed with a great mother in law who never questions my parenting or makes me feel inadequate as I hear so many MIL's can do. She is super loving and supportive and only makes me feel like I am a wonderful wife and mom. I think in many ways we are different but over the years we have gotten to know each other more and more and I have really grown to love and admire so many things about her and I feel closer to her all the time. Happy Birthday Marsha! We love you.

Ayden giving her a big hug right after the SURPRISE!

Marsha, her kids, grand kids and great grand kids.

The tree newest grandkids.
Eddy, Laela, Miabella