Catching the Overflow Matthew 12:33–out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks

**Warning: This post contains lots of whining and self pity.  I really should NOT blog when I feel discouraged.  You never know what you are gonna say.  Can you relate, cuz?

I mostly hate going to the grocery store.  Not because I don’t like food, but because I shop for a family of four who have different tastes and opinions about every thing.   It seems impossible to make everyone happy at the same time.  Me…I’m the easiest to make happy.  I know exactly what I want.  Maybe I would have made a better single.

And just forget about staying on a budget.   Mostly I have to choose between having food in the house, or staying on a budget.  I always choose food.  It’s the easier choice, but probably not the wisest.

Even though I make a shopping list (I refuse to go without SOMETHING written down), I still can’t manage to cover all of the necessary food bases.  For example, I nail it in the “what’s for lunch” department, but fail royally in the breakfast category.   Or we have the makings  for one splendid dinner, but nothing else for the rest of the week.  Or, I make 1 or 2 family members happy, and the others have nothing they like.  Waa Waa, go buy your own groceries.

I know, I know, it’s probably all my fault for ever giving the kids options—I should have made them eat what’s in front of them or nothing.   However, that would NOT have worked with my incredibly picky husband’s limited palate–that one can’t be blamed on me.   And, not to brag, but I have an increasingly sophisticated palate.  **I’m laughing at myself here** I buy things like pesto, hummus, red bell peppers, and butternut squash…not to share with my family (because they don’t like any of that) but because I like it.  Me.  just me.   only me. Me. Me. Me.  How ridiculous do I sound right now?!

So for now, I take my headphones, hit shuffle on my Switchfoot playlist and throw things in the basket—hoping I come home with something edible for everyone.

Joy. off I go now.  Wish me luck.  and lunch.  and dinner.  and breakfast.

One of the things I’ve experimented with recently is making soup.   I love soup in the winter when it’s cold outside.  During the Daniel Fast in January, I wanted soup, but all of the canned soups have sugar and other things in them that I couldn’t have, so I had to make my own.   Tomato was my first try and oh my goodness it was yummy!  Chopped onion, garlic, vegetable broth and tomatoes….pureed in the blender to make a nice smooth soup—it was “souper” easy! haha, I’m punny.  Even my oldest declared it was much better than the canned variety–who knew!?  I’ve made it a couple of times since the I ended the fast—just cuz I wanted it.

I also made a Corn and Potato Chowder–what’s a chowder?  I still don’t know.   Basically another blender soup—make it, puree’ it, eat it.  It was pretty good, too.

Below is a picture of the Butternut Squash Soup I made this week.  I roasted the ugly squash thing in the oven, mashed it, then put it in a pot with sauteed onion and garlic, chicken stock and poultry seasoning.   and the again with the blender.   (Between the soup and the smoothies, I think I’ve used my blender more in the last 2 months than in the past 2 years!)  It was delicious–a little sweet even.  and pretty.  I love pretty food.

So, bye bye canned soup.   This is the new way of soup for me.

And in the interest of full disclosure, I wrote this blog post while munching mindlessly on Cheez-Its.  Definitely not a “clean” food.   I’m a work in progress.

What does it mean to “eat clean”? I think to me it just means to eat less chemicals, additives, preservatives, etc.

Take cheese for example. If you buy the pre-shredded kind and look at the ingredient list, you’ll see more than just cheese (or “cultured pasteurized milk”) you also see color additives, potato starch and powdered cellulose (to prevent caking) and Natamycin (mold inhibitor). What is powdered cellulose? What is Natamycin? What is potato starch and do I want it on my cheese? Honestly, I don’t know. Are these things BAD? again, honestly, I really don’t know! But, they are not cheese, and I bought CHEESE.

So now I buy the blocks of cheese. The pro’s? It’s cheaper, tastes better, and it’s healthier. The con’s? Grating can be a messy process, it’s a lot more trouble–you have to really want the cheese, and it molds faster than the pre-grated kind (I guess because it doesn’t have the Natamycin 0_O). But I will persevere…and look for a better cheese grater.

Maybe someday, I’ll buy a cow and make my own cheese. Wouldn’t that be awesome?! No?! Ok, yeah, it wouldn’t.

Oh, I know…prepared foods are soooo much more convenient and they have their time and their place, but in my attempts to eat “clean”, I’ve been reading a LOT of labels. and a lot of labels reveal a LOT of stuff I don’t want to consume.  Have I  mentioned the hidden trans fats everywhere!?  Bad, bad, bad.  Anyway, prepared foods–boxed mixes,  bagged snacks, are finding their way out of my pantry. This is much to the dismay of my oldest who sees that as “we never have anything to eat in this house”.  He doesn’t like to put much effort into anything, especially eating.

The lie of “low-fat”….if you are watching what you eat–trying to lose weight–don’t you always think, “I should get the “low-fat” version–it’s better”?  I used to.   Well, no more.   I never even stopped to wonder how they make it lower fat.  Sure, most of the fat is removed (fat isn’t as evil as we make it out to be either) but in order for the food to still be palatable, the fat is replaced with fillers–mostly carbohydrate based, so you really aren’t doing yourself any favors.  And more importantly, the “low-fat” diet is/was a lie/scientific bumble that I grew up on!  The market, in an effort to “Help” the general public be healthier (I’m sure!) then began spitting out  truck loads of low-fat versions of everything imaginable!  Gee thanks, Nabisco.  and Kraft.  and Hostess.  You really care about me that much??  ha!  Ironically, when the low-fat craze became accepted as truth (around the 1980′s) is when the rate of obesity grew to an epidemic.  Here’s a link to an article if you want more insight.

I’ll get down off my soapbox now.

Wait…did you know that the use of the word “natural” isn’t regulated by the FDA?  Any marketing dude can slap that word on a box and we (myself included) fall for it!  ”Oh, I want that brand, because it’s better…it’s “natural”!”

Ok, I’m done.

LIES!

Ok, now I’m done.

I love oatmeal.   I’ve even learned to love it without the brown sugar. That was a rough process, but banana slices or some blueberries have replaced the sweetener in my bowl.   Over time I’ve also added flaxseed meal to the mix for even more flavor (and fiber!).  My latest addition is quinoa–another grain that adds another 4 grams of protein to my morning bowl.

Cari’s Oatmeal

1/4 cup oats

2 Tblsp flaxseed meal

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup frozen blueberries (fresh are better when in season, but then add them after you cook it)

1/2 cooked quinoa–I’d like to figure out if I can put it in without cooking it first…I’ll try that soon

splash of milk (or water when I’m fasting)

Put the oats, flax, water and frozen blueberries in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high for 2 minutes.  It will look like this. Appetizing, huh?

Stir in previously cooked quinoa.

Add milk and a sliced banana if you want.

Total Calories for this amazing bowl of goodness? 356! Which is a good breakfast number, btw.  Sugar free can taste delicious!

Total fat 8g

Sodium 8g

Total carbs 69g

fiber 13g

protein 11g

Iron 24%