Food on the Go

Well, it's time to start cleaning out our cupboards and eating strange recipes that we throw together with the remnants of what is on the shelves. Tonight proved to be such a meal. We have lots of grains and flours in the house, and an unusual amount of lettuce left, so we had to improvise, and it turned out spectacular (recipe down below)!

Our son is on a dairy free, gluten free diet, which is not so uncommon to hear these days. More and more people are finding themselves feeling healthier and revitalized by cutting out two of the most the over-processed food items in our nation's diet (also on that list is corn and soy!). We made this switch after noticing that our 4 year old reacts negatively both physically and in his behavior. Needless to say, to truly eat on the go takes some serious planning and sometimes some good old improvisation. I won't go into too much depth there are plenty of well seasoned DF/GF people blogging these days with some wonderful recipes and ideas. The amazing thing that has happened in our family due to this dietary restriction is that we have all begun to eat healthier. My husband and I both grew up in the Midwest eating casseroles mainly comprised of noodles, cheese, and meat. Of course, there was a vegetable on the side, and a tall glass of milk to wash all the gooey goodness down. So naturally, when we began cooking for each other, with neither of us being much of a cook at the time, we ate our family recipes. This included quesadillas (yum...but tummy-ache now!) and boxed, over processed foods. Moving to the West Coast enlightened us a bit to a new way of eating and we slowly added more freshness to the meal and began to experiment with new recipes. But when we found out our son could not have 2 of our favorite foods, bread and cheese, we barely stopped short of having what some may call a cooking nervous breakdown. Thanks to some great blogs (I love Gluten Free Girl!) and a couple cookbooks a distant acquaintance gave us, we forged forward and have proudly become adept at the new world.

So, while we are blessed to live in a part of the country that wholly invites and encourages this 'alternative' diet, we will soon find ourselves in a place that is only slowly warming itself to life without such luxuries as cheap, easy food. I, myself, have found that I prefer to eliminate dairy from my diet, and also most gluten, so for the summer I will be whole heartedly joining my son on his eating adventure...of course there may be a burger AND bun in there somewhere! The greatest challenge I believe we will find will be as we are on the road. Both of our families are in the know now about cooking gluten and dairy free. My mother has already planned to bake GF cookies for her grandson while he is visiting, isn't that what every grandma wants to do? But it will be the in-between state that I am hoping doesn't find us scrounging for food and worried that our little guy is hungry all the time. (Luckily the child will eat anything; we often find ourselves bribing him to eat his meat by promising more vegetables. Not typical for a 4 year old and I love that about him!) The key to this, lots of good lists.

What does excite me is that new places offer new possibilities for food selection. Maybe we'll run across a few wonderful farmer's markets with fresh fruits and vegetables, maybe we'll find an unexpected bakery that carries DF/GF friendly food. Either way, I am looking forward to the challenge and to eating my new salad recipe on the road. Chock full of vegetable protein, fruit, and flavor we can't go wrong filling up on it.

Salad:

Lettuce (we used butter, but I think spinach, romaine, and anything green leafy)

2 Apples, chunked

3 Carrots, sliced

3/4 C. cooked quinoa (I added salt and paprika to the water as it cooked for extra flavor)

Crushed almonds (sliced would be great too)

Lime Cilantro Salad Dressing: Thank you Betty Crocker, but you can use any version you find online.

Here's the recipe as I followed it:

1/2 C. olive oil

1/3 C. lime juice

3 T. chopped fresh cilantro (I used pre-chopped and frozen, then rewarmed)

1 1/2 t. ground cumin

1 t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped (she calls for 3 cloves, finely chopped)

The mix of the crunchy, salty, sweet, and tangy was amazing and actually left me feeling filled up and energized. I'll be posting new food conglomerations that we come up with or come across as the summer goes, it's always nice to freshen one's repertoire with something innovative and new.

Home

As I sit here in my living room, amidst all the boxes we are filling with our books and decorations, I am noticing that our home is feeling less like our home and more like a parking space for our stuff. (And what I notice next is how much stuff we have!) Anyway, it brings to mind a debate that often runs through my mind...is home a specific place or is it a way of life? I waver between two sides of myself on this, the one who wants to give my kids everything and the side that knows that as long as our family is full of love and laughter we are at home anywhere. I know, pretty idyllic, right? We all know those things that give us fond memories of our childhood homes, but I think what we settle on remembering is how our home felt growing up. Was it warm and inviting, or cold, maybe there was a lot of anger or depression that made it feel dark and unwelcoming. Our stuff is only a small portion of creating the atmosphere of our home, the rest comes from the hearts that reside there. So as I de-clutter our home of all the broken, useless, outgrown stuff that we have packed in, I find myself de-cluttering my heart of those same things. Memories of anger or hurt, places I don't naturally want to go to, and that I try to gloss over in everyday life. But I don't really know what to do with all that baggage.

I've been reading the book Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert, and this lovely memoir of her year traveling and doing just that, de-cluttering her heart, has inspired me to embrace the painful parts of life. She writes about embracing the negative aspects of herself, the anger and insecurity, actually welcoming them into her heart and telling them that she has enough love for even them to reside. Now, my physical home does not have endless boundaries for the things of life to fill, but by opening our hearts we can actually take the extra baggage out and instead of working so hard to shove it out the door, we can instead put it in its rightful place...under our love and God's love. That's amazing to me. And that is home to me. A family that can take anger, insecurity, and pain and instead of rejecting it or ignoring it, place it under love creates a home that is beyond walls. Needless to say, I hope our family learns to take steps toward this kind of home this summer while we also begin the search for purpose and place.

Plan for the worst or hope for the best?

As the planning and preparing commences I find myself wondering how does a mother of two put together a summer of outdoor fun and adventure while still preparing for the 'just in case' scenario. My son has a falling all over and getting hurt tendency that makes me a bit paranoid. We spent our last campout we had at the ER where he got his forehead glued back together after nailing it on a rusty iron fire grate. And now we have a wee one just learning to cruise and walk who puts everything in her mouth. SO, what's a mom to do? Part of me would like to just lock them in the car where everything is safe. But I know that would ruin the summer, to say the least. And there is a moment in every person's life when we can choose safety or risks. I think the best thing I'll pack is a pocketful of courage, hope, and faith.

Of course, that's not to say I'm not planning for the worst. We'll have rainy day games and gear, a PDA that can find us the closest hospital to any campground, and a medicine kit that will rival any out there on the market today.

So I guess is comes down to doing a little of both...planning for the worst, but hoping for the best. As Helen Keller so famously said, "Life is either a great adventure, or nothing." I want to raise children who see and live the great adventure of life, who don't just sit back and spectate. For that to happen, my job is to continue to expose them to exploration, let them go (age appropriately), and cheer them on when they show courage and initiative. This summer will test us on this while drawing new traits into each of us. I'm looking forward to the best, but also hoping to find growth during the worst of days.

Packing...

So, we're packing now. Everything we own, except our camping gear and a few items we will send to the curb will be neatly packed into a storage unit for the summer. I'd like to pretend that we will sell it all and live in the reality that we truly have only what we can fit into our car and in the car topper, but who am I kidding...there is too much sentiment surrounding some items and in reality our nomad adventures will end in the fall and we will need the furniture to fill a new home. But it is a wonderful opportunity to excuse ourselves of items we have loathed filling space in our lives. Like the never ending barrage of plastic, cheap toys that routinely overtake our living room. I like to keep things simple, in my dreams even minimalistic, but with my family heritage looming over me, this often feels like I'm swimming against the tide. The tide of stuff washing into and making its home in the drawers and shelves of my life.

And so, that puts us here. Sorting, packing, and deciding what will stay and what will go. The purging makes me a bit giddy, excited for change and ready to move onto something new. It will be hard to leave this place though. A home where my son moved into his first big boy bed, got his first stitches, learned to talk and how to ride a big boy bike. A home where my daughter was born, literally, in our bedroom, and where she has turned into a bit of a cruiser. While the space itself leaves much to be desired, the memories are lovely. Luckily, I get to take the lovely and leave the rest.

The first steps of the big step. A month of camping and visiting family. Another month of just camping. The countdown begins, 5 more weekends and off we go. An ending, a beginning, and a bit of adventure in between. Let's hope the sun keeps on shining.