Meal Planning for Lunchtime

Summer's lull of hot, lazy days is coming to an end and I know that soon I will be fighting against busy schedules, endless "to do" lists, and an overwhelming sense of responsibilities that require boundless energy, attention and commitment.  Yes, real life is coming back in full force, and I am doing my best to prepare.


You would think that as a homeschooling family, lunches would be no big deal, and to be honest, and I wish it were so.  However, I think the fact that my kids are used to home-cooked, nutritious food at EVERY meal, means that lunches on busy days are a challenge to plan and prepare.  I mentioned to my husband the other day that our kids are "spoiled" because they don't like simple, normal foods such as sandwiches and soup and Kraft dinner.  Instead, they would prefer Enchiladas, Butter Chicken or Kim Chee Che Gay (Korean soup), with a side of hummus and seasonal vegetables for lunch.  We joked that we should have a "normal" week at home, where we only prepare the standards... tuna casserole, spaghetti, sandwiches for lunch, etc.  We might end up with a full-blown revolt and hunger strike from our children though!


It is also a challenge when simply opening a can of soup in our house equals the expense of opening 3 cans to serve all 8 of us - and besides that, homemade is so much healthier and tastier.  So herein lies my challenge - I would like simple, satisfying, mostly home-made lunches, but I also want to pay attention to nutrition.  In the end, I decided on a fairly simple menu plan (we'll save the exotic foods for dinner), and I have arranged them in a 2 week rotation, to make lunches easy to prepare and plan for.  In the event that my main feature of lunch is lacking nutritionally (usually in the absence of veggies), I am adding either a salad, fresh veggies (carrots, broccoli, snap peas) or a green smoothie to the meal.  All of the meals are easy enough that I could have my 10 or 12 year old prepare them.


Anyway, I thought I would share this idea of a set, 2-week lunch menu plan... and I welcome any suggestions for simple, homemade lunches that I can add to my rotation.  (I've also included the breakfast "menu" that I created, to ward off my kids' daily question "What's for breakfast, Mommy?".)

	B-fst	Cereal	Muffins	Oatmeal	Cereal	Toast/Bagels
1	Lunch	Grilled Cheese &Smoothie	Perogies &Veggies or Salad	Sandwiches &Smoothie	Tuna Macaroni &Smoothie	Breadmaker Bread/Easy Minestrone Soup + Fruit
2	Lunch	Eggs/Toast & Fruit Salad	Pizza (made on bread or pitas, or just a frozen pizza) &Veggies or Salad	Re-fried beans with chips or Tortillas, cheese, sour cream, fresh salsa & Fruit	Tuna Melts or Sandwiches &Smoothy	Calico Beans or Chili &Salad/Veg

Dreaming of Pizza

Food Network is not a good channel to watch if you are on a veggie-juice fast.

On the evening of our third day of fasting, we were hanging out as we usually do, after the kids went to bed and we thought we'd watch some Food Network shows on the computer.  We had already downed our third veggie drink for the day and although I didn't feel hungry since my stomach was full of green juice, I was pretty tired.

We decided to watch a show called "The History of Pizza" and that was a big mistake.  Images of pizza, with gooey cheese and shiny, meaty toppings continually flashed before our eyes, brainwashing us to believe that nothing could taste better in that moment than eating a slice of loaded, greasy goodness.

To cope with our cravings, we began to compose a list of all the foods that we wanted to eat when we were done our cleanse.  It includes: Fried Chicken, Thai Food, French Onion Soup, Pizza (of course), home-made cheeseburgers and maybe even cinnamon buns.

That night, as I tried to fall asleep, I was plagued with images of pizza slices and other fattening foods.  My stomach growled and I just wanted to pass out and sleep so I could begin to countdown another day.

Day 4 was uneventful, but there was a serious lag to my energy.  Gone was the excitement associated with "trying something new" and putting together combinations of green healthy vegetables to create a healthy veggie juice.  Instead, they all were tasting pretty much the same, the only difference being the degree of yucky-ness.  (Some were much more bitter and gag-reflex worthy!)

One of the things we were looking for in this fast was a sudden onslaught of "cleansing".  We had heard tales of people having some intensely gross bathroom moments during a cleanse, and wondered if we also would be participants.  Nothing abnormal resulted - other than a very green colored poop that reminded me of when my kids ate lots of blue icing at a birthday party - only we'd been eating green veggies, not artificially colored icing!
        
I didn't have any more headaches, and I didn't notice anything other than feeling weak.  However, we were counting the days and wondering whether it was profitable for us to continue to... well... starve ourselves.

Reaching Day 5 was certainly a milestone, but that day we began to review our reasons for doing a 7 day veggie-juice cleanse:

1. To blast our bodies with nutritious greens
2. To re-program our brains to desire healthy foods
3. To give our digestive systems a break

Aside from the physical benefits, the bonus is that there is always an enhanced spiritual aspect to fasting because you are denying your body and you are not stuffed with things which are "carnally" satisfying.  It often makes meditation, prayer and hearing from God much easier and was commonly practiced in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

As we looked at all of our reasons for doing this cleanse/fast, we concluded that the results had been accomplished.  Obviously our systems were cleared out.... we had both lost about 6-7 pounds and we no longer had symptoms of detoxing or cleansing as many sources suggested.  Therefore, we deemed it unlikely that we would benefit from the continued low energy - especially with 6 kids to take care of and my husband working full-time!  So towards the end of Day 5 we decided that instead of our usual "bedtime snack" juice of cucumbers, kale, celery, rapini, lemons and green apples, we would have a salad.  We basically were eating the same thing that we've been eating all along except we included a ripe avocado and a tomato.  I also made a simple balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

At first, chewing seemed a little bit foreign, but the flavors were incredible!  The natural fats in the avocado were overwhelming, and tasted so heavenly!  I was amazed how after just two small bowls of salad, my stomach felt full.  And I felt quite satisfied!

To transition out of the juice fast, we decided to spend the last 2 days eating a vegan diet (with no dairy, meat or grains) instead of juicing.  For one thing, it will help us get back into eating real food, and it will also keep us moving slow and steady with introducing things like dairy, grains and meat.

If anything, doing this cleanse awakened my taste buds to all the incredible flavors that are wholesome and natural - no need for processed, junky food!  It will be interesting to see how this will affect our diet longer term, but that's a topic for another blog posting!

Veggie-Porn

My husband and I have been watching a lot of veggie-porn lately.
You know... the kind of stuff where rich, dark soil is cradling a bright orange carrot as it grows happily in the sunlight...  where cauliflower comes in not just white, but shades of green and purple.  And there is always a happy looking farmer, often with his wife and kids, in the rows of vegetables, plucking weeds and lovingly tending their produce.  Then the camera will pan to a chubby toddler with bare toes wiggling in the dirt, and he will be eating a gorgeous, vividly red, ripe tomato - juices and seeds dripping down his chin.

Veggie-porn is the bane of "northern" hobby-gardeners.  For three months of the year, we toil, and attempt to eek a meager, limited harvest from our dry, clay-filled soil; in a climate that is limited in the number of days that a human - let alone a tender young plant - can exist outdoors.  So my hubby and I look to the documentaries on Netflix, typically about sustainable-organic, small-time farmers, and we sigh with envy at the lush greenery in more Eden-istic climates.

One particular documentary was both enlightening and challenging.  "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" wasn't specifically about farming, but about the value of vegetables and fruit and eating a more "raw" diet.  I featured a 40 year old Australian businessman, who was inactive, overweight and battling some rather debilitating health issues involving his immune system.  To make a long story short, he embarked on a 60 day juice fast, to investigate whether feeding his body the micro-nutrients (from raw veggies) that it needed would bring restoration within his body system, allowing his body to heal itself.

As you may very well guess, he lost a lot of weight, improved his energy levels, and was able to completely stop taking medication.  I have to admit, that he looked really amazing, too.  Within days you could tell that his skin was clearer, his eyes brighter, and he literally glowed - looking so alive and healthy.

So... last night my husband looked over at me, and said "What do you think about maybe trying a..."

and before the words could come out of his mouth, I completed the sentence: "Juice fast?!?!"

I was somewhat surprised at his willingness, but then again, we've always been quite adventurous and conscientious of our health - doing our best to take responsibility for how we feel and not jumping on the bandwagon of doing what everyone else does... just because.  We cook from scratch - nearly all the time, and don't eat out very often.  We have a garden, and several times we have grown herbs, wheatgrass and even attempted tomatoes with our own little grow-op in the basement during the winter.

A juice fast or cleanse, however, is something that I've thought about doing for a long time, but it has never been convenient to do.  I've always had my excuses, and they have been valid - 12 years of non-stop pregnancy and breastfeeding can really put a demand on your body.  All the more reason to "re-boot" my body with a super-dose of life-giving greens!

So, we are going to do this crazy juice fast together - all veggies, limited amounts of fruit and no bread, no meat, no sweets... and no coffee!!! (The latter part really scares me!)

What do I hope to gain? For one thing, both my husband and I would like to experience an increase in both energy and mental alertness.  Secondly, from what I learned on the documentary "Food Matters", people who improve their intake of certain vitamins can improve their overall mood and even combat depression.  I'm not saying that I am an unhappy, depressed person, however I would love to feel happier! (This goes hand in hand with the energy levels, I'm sure.)

Last of all, is what I hope to lose, not gain, and that is weight, toxins, and built up "sludge" that might be trapped in my body and slowing me down!  On "Food Matters", there was a religiously dedicated raw-food enthusiast who told of a relative who embarked on a raw-food cleanse. This overweight individual apparently had a lot of "junk" to clear out of his system.  Apparently, eating only green and fresh veggies can have a cleansing effect, causing a massive increase in bowel movements.  Several days into the cleanse, this person apparently had a total of 12 bowel movements and lost 15 pounds in a single day!  Egad!  Talk about extreme cleansing....

The plan is to start our cleanse tomorrow afternoon/evening.  We'll shop for our veggies earlier in the day and have a delicious, nutritious supper of kale, broccoli, ginger, green apple, celery....etc., etc.

Here's hoping I can battle my mind and body and become a happy, healthy herbivore - if only for a week or two!

For further information, check out the following websites:

http://myjuicecleanse.com/

http://www.jointhereboot.com/