Heard at My House--The Violent Vegetable Edition

Setting: Eating supper with the family. Menu? Chicken, Toasted Quinoa Pilaf, and steamed Brocolli.

4 year old daughter: If I shoved this brocolli in my eye would I die?

Daddy: Um. No.

Daughter: What would happen to me?

Daddy: You'd probably say "ouch" and take it out of your eye.

Daughter: And then would I have to go to the Doctor?

Daddy: Not likely.

Mommy: How far in are we talking about shoving it?

Daughter: But I wouldn't die?

Daddy: No.

Daughter: Okay.

(Mental note: See? Veggies are good for you.)

Foodie Fridays- Iron Man Edition

Over the years I have been proven to not be an Iron Man. I don't mean those athletes of superhuman strength and endurance that can swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then still run a full 26.2 miles marathon in less than the maximum allowed 17 hours. No, no. Clearly, I am not one of those.

I simply mean that over the years, my blood has spoken against me and stated my weakness that I am low in iron. It isn't a big deal. It is not "an issue". It has not been the thing that has prohibited my being a high performance anything. No. I just go through phases when I am a little more fatigued than normal, and a little more lightheaded than normal. That's all.

So what's a girl to do? Well one easy thing is to take a good iron supplement. For quick results, I've always liked Floradix or Floravital. Tastes good: works quickly. But for a more long-lasting, store-building-up kind of supplement, I go for the little green pills: Ferrous Gluconate. But don't listen to me about these thigs. Go talk to you doctor.

What I can tell you that I do as a general rule of thumb is to up the iron content in my menu. I know, I know, the richest dietary source of iron is Beef Liver. This will not be a post on how to cook Beef Liver. Just sayin'.

But here is the deal: While meat is clearly an excellent source of Iron (the Heme kind), don't forget to count the high iron foods in the vegetable world (the Non-Heme kind). For ideal absorption of the irons (Heme and Non-Heme) you should eat them together. So don't think you are getting the best iron by eating a steak if you aren't eating some leafy green vegetables with it. And don't think that only eating kidney beans is best. Throw some ground beef into your chili for maximum benefit.

Also, a trick with any iron intake is to make sure there is Vitamin C to go along with it to help your body absorb it. And also, to make sure there isn't a lot of caffeine to go along with it, because that will hinder the absorbtion. So if you drink a coffee with your Beef Liver, the iron ain't gonna help you as much as you hope.

So say you are wanting to eat less meat, but are worried about iron. Let's look at a completely "Non-Heme" iron day and see if we can get enough iron. Well, here might be a typical day's worth of food in my house and the approximate iron counts. "They" say that as a primarily vegetarian woman in my 30's I should be getting 33mg of iron a day. Let's see if we get there.

Let's say for breakfast I have a bowl (1 cup) of oatmeal (10 mg) with a banana cut up on it (.31mg) and a cup of blueberries thrown in (.41mg). I drink a little OJ with it for the vitamin C.

For lunch I have one of my favourite soups. In my bowl there is a cup of lentils (6.6mg) and 1/2 cup spinach (3.2mg) and a whole lot of tomatoes (at least .33mg) but they are there more for the vitamin C then the iron. I will probably have 2 slices of whole wheat bread as well (1.8mg)

Then for supper, I might have a vegetable stir-fry. 1 cup of Brown rice (1.0mg) 1 cup broccoli (1.2mg), 1 cup of bok choy (1.77 mg), a handful of snowpeas (2.46mg) and 1/2 cup tofu (3.4mg) with a handful of sliced almonds on top for crunch (1.05mg)

Grand total? 33.53mg. We did it! We met the vegetarian's daily recommended amount. If you are a woman who does eat meat frequently you only need 18mg of iron a day. Not too shabby.

Plus, think about all the other fabulous benefits to those foods! Low fat, high fibre, phytonutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals...and DELICIOUS!!!

Now don't get me wrong. I would not turn away a piece of grilled chicken from my stirfry or a meat ball from my soup, but if you are looking to eat less meat more often but worry about the nutritional consequences, worry no more. I won't even bother to calculate out how much protein this day had. Or how few calories :-)

So enjoy your Beef Liver. I'll have an extra serving of Vegetarian Chili. (and then I'll have roast beef tomorrow just because it tastes good!) ;-)





(Awkward Disclaimer: Of course, just like I am not a doctor, I am also not a nutritionist. So if you are unduly fatigued or lightheaded or anemic, please go see your doctor. I can give you recipes for yummy, iron rich food: that's all!) :-)

Heard At My House

Setting: Mommy in bed 'sleeping in' until 7:00am (ahem). The bedroom door creeps open as her 7 year old and 2 year old sons peek to see if the clock says 7:00 yet (indicating 'get out of bed' time.)

2 year old son: "Mommy is still in there. Shhhhhh."

7 year old son: (after climbing back into bed, begins to sing) "Ding dong the Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The wicked Witch. Ding Dong the wicked Witch is dead."


Boy, I sure hope for his sake that that song choice was just a really, really unfortunately timed earworm.

Wow-ful Women Wednesdays

Battling Depression Part Two

As time went by, and the darkness didn’t lift, I found myself in a place of desperation. My husband, shortly after the birth of our fourth daughter and approximately 9 months into my depression said to me, “Will I always have a wife who is depressed?” He said it not in an accusing way, nor in a frustrated way: he seemed to be simply trying to prepare himself for what the rest of our lives (and therefore, his responsibilities) might look like. And in that moment I knew something needed to change. I didn’t know what, and I didn’t know how, but I knew, with newly found resolve, that I could not carry on like this for the sake of my husband and children. My husband was (and still is) a very hands-on dad, but he did have a full time job and it was unreasonable for me to expect him to pick up all my pieces too. But where to start? I continued going through the motions of parenting and daily life, and I continued willing myself to get better. I’m sure you can imagine the level of success that brought.

The turning point for me was in June of 2002. During the quiet prayer time at our church’s ladies’ retreat, I read a verse that I am sure I had never noticed in my bible before that day.


Please read Part Two of my Heart of the Matter series here.

Heard at My House -- The Existentialist Edition

A: I just don't know what I'd feel like if I wasn't a person.

Me: Sorry. What?

A: I mean, if I wasn't me, and I wasn't someone else, and I wasn't a thing. I just don't know what that would feel like.

Me: Okay. You need to explain that a little more. Do you mean, like if you were some other person?

A: No. Like, I just think there is a person for everybody.

Me: Do you mean, "a soul for every body"?

A: No. I guess...well, I don't know...I mean...

Me: Do you mean, if your dad and I didn't have you would you still be somewhere else?

A: I don't know. I just mean if, I just...Well, I don't know how I'd feel.... Oh, I don't understand what I mean either.


(mental note: I'm not sure which of my university studies would have been more helpful in this conversation: Psych 020 or a reading of Waiting for Godot.)

Wow-ful Women Wednesdays

There are some singers that make me want to either be a better singer or to just duct tape my mouth shut and never sing again. These two women from this family are two such women. There is a "je ne sais quoi" about their voices that just haunts me. So beautiful. Of course the production quality of this video and the instrumentation and the harmonies, and women playing the double bass, and brothers who can sing....It all adds up to a significant stirring for me. As such, I'm posting 3 videos today of the Franz Family. I know the first song is a Christmas song, and I know it is January, but is there really ever a poor time to remember that Jesus is Emmanuel - God with us? Didn't think so.

Enjoy.



A little extra dose of Blue Grass:



And then this: *sigh*

Foodie Fridays

I'm not a cheapskate. Okay, well, maybe a little. I like to think I'm frugal, not stingy. So when I find a good deal on food that stretches the budget, but also tastes delicious and isn't radically unhealthy, I get pretty excited.

I would love to be one of those coupon ladies. You know, you lucky American readers of mine, you seem to have a 4 for 1 coupon plus a double coupon day at any store you like! (insert jealous sigh here) Unfortunately though, it does seem that most of those coupons are for Pop Tarts and marshmellow cream which don't count as food in my books and aren't really on my weekly menu. Alas, perhaps Coupon menu planning wouldn't work for me anyhow.

But I digress. Thanks to Martha Stewart's magazine cover this month, I've been drooling over the thought of roast chicken. There are myriad ways to roast a chicken and every one looks better than the last. My bright idea was to buy two roasters this week and cook them simultaneously, thus ensuring a meal plus leftovers.

Twas not to be, fair reader. It was not to be. You see, I got looking at recipes and realized that a 3 pound chicken is expected to feed only 4 people. That would never do. Now we aren't really 'big meat eaters' so I figured the two chickens I meant to cook would do us a meal with maybe enough leftovers to add to a pot of soup. Not bad. Off to the local supermarket I went in search of the plumpest, cheapest chickens I could find.

Well, the cheapest two ended up being the ONLY two left in the store and they were going to cost me nearly $20! This did not sound like a deal, but I had it in my mind that it would be worth it.

But then....OH BUT THEN I rounded the corner and found the turkey section. Dear lovely overlooked-at-Christmas Turkeys, I am so glad to have found you! I put back my chickens and selected a $22 turkey that was nearly 2 pounds more than the two chickens combined and brought it home to my happy kitchen.

Last night I roasted the turkey. I rubbed pesto butter under and on top of the skin, and placed a juiced lemon in the cavity (if you don't juice it first it makes for an overly lemony gravy. Not interested in that. So juice that baby and save the juice for something else.) For supper last night we had a typical roast turkey with gravy and mashed potatoes. Yum.

Then, as I was cutting up the rest of the meat for our leftover meals I decided that I would make a turkey pot pie casserole with the leftover gravy and a few cups of cut up turkey and some frozen vegetables. I assembled it and put it directly in to the freezer for some night I don't have time to prepare a meal.

Then, I made a stunning broth out of the bones etc. and used another few cups of meat and the broth in the best turkey noodle soup of my life! (Recipe to follow!) It was enough for lunch today (with a few of the kids eating more than one bowl) with more left over for tomorrow.

Then, there are still another 3-4 cups of meat that I intend to make a pasta dish later this month.

I don't know about you, but feeding 9 people at least 5 meals out of one $22 turkey sounds like a pretty good deal! Imagine if the turkey had been on sale?! (My eyes will be watching the flyers a little more closely for them now).

Anyhow, I just needed to share with you that happiness of my grocery shopping. I know some of you will relate to my glee over the whole matter :-)

Now for the soup recipe! (Brace yourself for a whole lot of non-specifics!)

For the Broth:
Turkey bones, skin etc.
Enough water to cover
1-2 tbsp peppercorns
2-3 tsp dried dill
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 carrots scrubbed (not peeled) and cut into thirds

Bring to boil. Then simmer for 2 hours or more. (Less time works too, but the flavour won't be as concentrated. More time works better if you have the time to spare)

Strain, discarding solids. Use immediately, or freeze for another day.

For the Soup:
3-4 cups cut up cooked turkey
1 red onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
a good sized shake of Epicure pesto seasoning (or a couple spoonfuls of prepared pesto)
a good shake of celery seed (I would have used fresh celery, but I didn't have it)
2-3 cups cooked penne (or other noodle as you like)
Broth to cover ingredients in pot (add water from the cooked pasta if necesary)

Saute the carrot and onion in a splash of oil. Add turkey, seasonings and broth. Bring to a boil. Then simmer until carrots and onion are cooked. Add noodles. Add salt and pepper to taste. Try to restrain yourself from eating 3 bowls at one sitting. :-) (Will freeze well).

Yum! What do you do with leftover turkey?

Wow-ful Women Wednesdays

Some days it is just good to be reminded there are bigger issues in this world than the little nothings that I deal with. And it is good to be reminded that the best way to get over my troubles is to reach over to help some one else.

Compassion Bloggers

Did you know that it has been a year since Haiti was devastated by its earthquake? January 12, 2010. The devastation was well reported and documented and mourned. But what about now, a year later? What is happening in Haiti? What is being done to help those people recover?

Compassion Canada President Barry Slauenwhite will be on 100 Huntley Street on January 12th to give a report on how Compassion International is making a difference in Haiti.

They are doing a good work. But the job is not over yet. For more information on how you can help with the current needs in Haiti please spend some time at the Compassion Canada Website. And of course, if you are not yet sponsoring a child, there are always children who you could help set free from the grip of poverty.