Dolly Mama Strikes Again!

Since I know you're all checking in here every day wondering, "What on earth is Dolly Mama up to?" I thought I'd have mercy on you and check in.

I'm on one of my healthy food kicks. My kids kind of cringe when this happens. My oldest son still has nightmares about the time when we kicked all sugar, meat, dairy, and white flour all at once. The first meal of that regime was hummus on whole wheat bread with sprouts. He was *not* a happy 6 year old......

Thankfully, I'm a little more balanced and a lot more busy this time around, so we aren't having any radical, hard-core changes. I'm trying out a new philosophy. Instead of focusing on all the stuff we can't or "shouldn't" eat, I am just working on incorporating more of the things I want us to be eating. The idea is that eventually the healthy stuff could dominate the diet. What I'm trying to do is include more raw foods in our diet, and to gradually cut out sugar.

So, I've done some revamping of my kitchen. I have all this mighty-fine healthy food equipment, but none of it was in an easily accessible location. So, I've switched around things in one wall of cabinets, had my husband drill some holes for power cords, cleared clutter, etc. Now I have my Excalibur Dehydrator right where I can get to it all the time, right behind a cabinet door. It's all plugged in and ready to continuously churn out goodies like cookies, breads, and snacks that are all made with raw ingredients, and dried at such low temperatures that they retain their raw food nutrients! The big hit of the day was Chili Lime Un-corn Chips, which are kind of like tortilla chips with gusto. They are really good. (Thankfully! It was kind of a lot of work to make them. Good thing it made a big batch.)

I cleared a similar space in the same wall of cabinets to make a home for my wheat grinder and Bosch mixer. This is my bread making station. I never have to get these items down from the shelf, as they are all plugged-in and ready to use right there.

My next project for that wall of cabinets is going to be clearing one shelf for sprouting. Until I got interested in raw foods, I had no idea that you could sprout grains and use them to make all sorts of things, without cooking all the the live enzymes out of them. Very interesting. But, again, when I am sprouting large quantities of a variety of grains, it can easily take over my counters with rows of colanders. They need to go away behind closed doors as well. And they will, as soon as I can deal with all of the stuff that is in that section of the cabinets.

Our newest member of the healthy-lifestyle appliances is our Green Star Juicer, which we just got last week. This is something I have been thinking about for a long time, and we finally had the opportunity to get one. It has a perfect spot on our counter in a narrow section that wasn't ever used for much, so it's not in the way, yet it is convenient to the sink and fridge. I am really enjoying this juicer. It's very quiet, simple to use, and easy to clean. We have been juicing things like apples, carrots, zucchini, celery, and dark green lettuces. It's a great way to get the health benefits of a whole bunch of veggies in one compact shot. Plus, I can get the kids (and, heck, myself!) to consume stuff that we normally wouldn't. Stuff with lots of good-for-your-body stuff inside. yay! The juicer can also be used to make a lot of additional things besides just juice. Tomorrow I am planning to make some bread, bread sticks, and crackers with it's help. (Plus the dehydrator.)

I made a frozen pie from all-raw ingredients today as well. My ever-sceptical kids gathered round this gorgeous confection trying to find the catch. "What's in it?" they'd ask with a tint of hopefullness in their voice. They wanted to eat it, but they were afraid. Afraid of the health, I guess. My daughter said, "I think it's VooDoo pie!" Alrighty then.

But, hey, my daughter is one of the most dysfunctional, picky eaters out there, and she tried about 5 new things today, and actually liked some of them. So, Mom, good news! Booboo will now eat tomato, zucchini, nuts, sesame seeds (lots of calcium), and a few other things. This is major progress. I consider it an extra success if she will try something new and like it. (but, SHHHH about it! She has no idea what's in the chips she liked so well. No need to alert her to the fact that she ate vegetables...)

I wish I could show you some pictures of all these great treats and kitchen revamps, but my digital camera is MISSING! Do you know where it is?? My guess is that it has run off with the two missing birth certificates.

I got an email from the preschool teacher today. She told me that there had been two false fire alarms at the school today. She had come to the conclusion that it was caused by someone in her class, but she wasn't sure who. When they were playing in the gym the alarm went off and she whirled around to see who was pulling it.....and there was my son Doodles... hanging off of the fire alarm handle. Yep. That's my kid. (It's always the firefighter's kids that are doing stuff like this, isn't it?!) She gave him a stern talking-to about not pulling the fire alarm handle, which may account for why he has been going around the house with a guilty look on his face, telling me, "I pushed the button." This kind of thing doesn't surprise me one bit.

Doodles is my child who, when 1-2 years old, would:
-- run to the oven to fling open the door when it was in use (HOT),
--then when shooed away from there, climb up on the kitchen table where he would spill some juice or milk, and lay down in it and swoosh his arms back and forth, pretending to swim in it,
--from there, stick his entire hand in an unattended jar of peanut butter, lick it off, and share with the dog by allowing her to also lick peanut butter off his hands....
--from there, he'd get his hands washed, run to try to throw things into the toilet, throw things over the railing from upstairs to downstairs, and on and on and on he went.....

And all of this was while I was pregnant and trying to homeschool. Ha! Can you imagine the agony and insanity?!

In short, he was a Very Active Child. (can I get a witness?! Sooz?!)
Thank the Good Lord, he is now much more civilized. I think the worst is over. As long as we can get the fire alarm pulling to stop.

I had a plan when my 6th baby was born. I started telling him in sweet whispers that he was going to be a good boy for mommy. He was never going to do naughty things like Doodles did. No sirree, only good and sweet behavior from the baby. Or else!

And, you know what? So far, it's working. Squiggy Magoo is a very sweet, smart, active but not Too Active kind of an almost-2-year-old. This is a blessing I do not take lightly.

As for my New Year's Resolutions, I'm doing well on some of them. Every time I stoop over to pick up a toy off the floor, or put a CD or DVD back in it's case, I'm silently congratulating myself for not being a lazy sack of crap. The food goals are working out well, as I already reported. I worked out a grand total of ONCE this year, which is possibly once more than last year, so it's better than nothing.....but not by much. I don't know *how* I am ever going to fit a 45 minute workout into my life. It seems like far too much time to give. Maybe if I get a full-length mirror I will be more motivated...?

How about you all? Making any progress on your resolutions? Any that you've already flunked out on?

So, that's where it's at here in Dolly Mama's life. Would you like to come over and have some Chili Lime Uncorn Chips with me? Or maybe you'd prefer a slice of VooDoo pie...