tierra miguel csa box

today was my first of a two week trial "subscription" to tierra miguel's csa (community supported agriculture) program and i am thrilled (other than the closest drop point being del mar...if i stick with them, i am recruiting 9 members to join so they will make my house a drop point!).  its all just gorgeous.  even more exciting is the fact that i can visually identify all of these (ok i had to cheat on the 2nd root veggie) - a few months ago, i would not have know the difference between kale and bok choy and swiss chard. and now i am learning to cook and enjoy these insanely nutritious green leafy vegetables.  the beauty of the csa box is the planted soil and mother nature get to decide what's in your delivery each week, whatever's ready for the pickin' is what arrives.  and it forces outside your veggie comfort zone. ours used to be green beans, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes.  i love the variety and the challenge of learning about these new veggie gifts from the earth.

turnips, white beets, carrots, strawberries, collard greens,  russian red cale, dandelion greens, red and yellow swiss chard, fennel, broccoli and dill!

memorial day bbq

a perfect day for a holiday - for swimming and playing with friends - for enjoying a delicious potluck (and our first tofurky dogs) - and yes, most definitely for taking time to remember the reason for today. remembering all those men and women who have gone into harms way, all those sons and daughters and brothers and sisters and husbands and wives and mommies and daddies and friends and family members who have put "real  life" on hold, to miss birthdays and anniversaries and home runs and graduations and births and deaths and family dinners and holding hands and hugs and kisses and sunsets and special moments ..... all the stuff that makes up life to do the work of their country, to go in harms way. some of those heroes never get to come back to real life, those who pay the ultimate sacrifice in defense and support of their country's mission. thank you to all veterans who have answered the call of service and thank you to those heroes and their families and loved ones who have given their lives to protect this land we so love. am thankful for my soulmate Marine and so proud of everything he does!

ready for swim team!

my goodness he is so handsome!

lady bug was determined to swim despite the cold water - she was tickled with ever second she spent in the pool!  she was equally tickled with walking around the pool deck with a huge slice of watermelon in each fist.

he found nemo!

tierra miguel foundation and farm

there is nothing better than spending a gorgeous day with your family in the open spaces and fresh air of a farm-especially a biodynamic farm! we were lucky to come across tierra miguel foundation and farm (the proceeds of the premier "forks over knives" in san diego were donated to them. hip hip!) and after our farm tour, it wasn't just their quality produce and charming farm setting that had me head over heels - it was how  they went about it all.  they reach out to the community, creating a space for children to learn about farming, welcoming everyone into their space, a ritual monthly shared potluck, farm techniques that focus on restoring and maintaining soil health, and doing it in a sustainable, non-toxic way. simple. beautiful. nutritious and delicious.  soil health absolutely affects the nutrients in your produce, and it certainly grows a much tastier crop as well.  they provide a beautiful csa which we are lucky to have recently joined (and i will be doing my best to recruit 9 of my best friends to also join so a poway drop site can be created!), a rustic and very real farm setting situated with mountains all around, the most delicious u-pick strawberries i've ever tasted (and three bags to tote home!), beekeeper and local honey heaven, two sweet dogs roaming and romping, worm castings and compost, a farm tour including a meet and greet with their hens and little man harvesting some carrots, a laid back and welcoming atmosphere and a sense of community amongst it all.  we'll surely be going back to visit our new favorite san diego farm.

heading to the strawberry field

what do we need these baskets for?

nibbling on a first straight-from-the-field strawberry - her efforts soon became more enthusiastic. how wonderful to be in a field of beautiful berries that were never sprayed with toxic chemicals.  makes a momma feel so good knowing we can nibble worry-free!

yep-baskets are for suckers. (there's daddy diligently picking berries in the upper right, it was his first time berry picking!)

juicy perfection.

keep those berries comin, momma! when she'd finish one, she'd start to flail her arms and squawk to notify me to pass another her way.

walking back, still munching on those amazing berries.

farm tour: the csa packing room

where it all starts

the lovely ladies of tierra miguel

this is easily my favorite memory of the day - he would have sat in there all day

high fives for jacob - jacob's parents were in the same bradley method childbirth class we took when we were pregnant with petey.  its so fun to see this little guy after watching him grow for a few months in his mommy's belly.

helping chris pull carrots - its a small world, chris just got out of the navy. he was a swo just like me!

open spaces are good for the little boy soul

so what CAN you eat? almond milk

i've gotten so much conversation and so many questions (and so many requests for recipes) on this subject - what CAN you eat as a vegan? - i figured i'd start posting a sampling of our weekly menu to share the love - and the delicious factor. i am SO enjoying this fun new hunt for recipes that rock.  i am also enjoying the empowerment and energy i feel about eating things i KNOW are tasty and are nourishing every little bit of my body.  i'm also pumped that with a few exceptions (more because they are different and not because they aren't tasty...once i get the littles to try them, they gobble up!) everyone has been onboard with the new delicious things we're eating.  i've also found that anything you loved BEFORE making the transition, you can find a delicious recipe for that very thing that follows all your self-chosen dietary rules.  it feels really good to know you are nourishing your body with whole foods from chocolate cake!!!!!

MILK: we have chosen to quit dairy during this experiment, 100% so obviously we needed something to replaced cow's milk for drinking, for cereal, for smoothies and recipes.  we've tried rice milk and almond milk and so far, almond milk is the favorite. not only is it so fast and easy to make but it is sooo yummy and soooo smooth.  you can also buy it ready-made at the store and even in some fancy/fun flavors but i think its much cheaper to make it. i've never tried the store bought version, but i presume like most things, its better homemade.  We tried plain almond milk but decided while we are teaching our palate to think differently about what "milk" should taste like we'll jazz it up a bit and are using a naturally sweetened vanilla flavored version.  The plain milk is perfectly fine in recipes/smoothies and for cereal but for drinking straight from the glass, we prefer the recipe below. 


Vanilla Almond Milk
Soak 1 cup raw, organic (if possible) almonds 8 hours/overnight.
Rinse well and add to blender with 4 cups cold water, 4-6 medjool dates (pitted) and 1t vanilla.
Blend and blend and blend and blend.
Straight through your nut milk bag (so worth the investment if you are doing this daily) or 2-3 times through a fine mesh strainer.  You will likely get some super fine floaties but they're quite tasty actually.
Chill and enjoy.

You will have a big clump of almond pulp left which you can totally add to bread recipes or add to cereal/oatmeal/salads.  Its totally edible and nutritious, just keep it refrigerated til you use it.

What else have we been eating:
Well, we cleared it all out.....all those things from our fridge and freezer and pantry that until otherwise announced are no longer part of our lifestyle.  We want to eat food that nourishes our body, eating with a purpose - for nutrition - so our bodies operate at their optimal levels to give us the most energy as well as the most disease-fighting power possible.  We've both reported higher energy levels among other benefits in the short time we've been going this route.  For now, there's no meat protein of any sort, no eggs, no dairy or cheese and no oil (not even olive oil).  At first I was a little nervous we'd be eating bland boring food and repeating the same two things over and over.....salad, beans, salad, beans. But no, I've come across so many great resources full of fabulous recipes - its actually harder to make my meal plan now because I feel like I have so many options!

***Many of the recipes will be from The Engine 2 Diet book, I will annotate as "E2 Recipe) - super easy and super healthy - and many of them are shared right here on his website, you don't even have to buy the book for the recipes if you want to give it a whirl...although i highly recommend it for all the nutritional information and health benefits outlined in an easy 120 page read. other recommended movies and reads (on my list too): the china study, forks over knives, ALL these books listed on the engine 2 website, food, inc., food matters.  they ALL have one common tune: the source and contents (or lack of toxicity, chemicals, processing, nutrients (based on how they are fed/bred), etc) are incredibly important for your health and YOU have the choice to make simple baby-step changes toward changing your health without doctors and medication.***

what we ate this week:

lots of fruit - more whole fruit, less juice - but the kids are still having half juice half water some of the day, the rest of the day its almond milk or water
lots of veggies - raw, steamed, roasted, sauteed....am loving seeing mr. little man gobbling up raw veggies dipped in hummus
lots of nuts and beans 
lots of hummus - will be trying a new recipe next week, this week was store bought
RIP's Big Bowl - (E2 recipe) i love this for breakfast with a big grapfruit on the side
Protein/Green/Berry Smoothies using No Meat Athlete's Perfect Smoothie Formula
Berry "Chocolate" Smoothie
Steel Cut Oatmeal with protein powder, raisins
Migas Especiales (E2 recipe) - typically they are made with scrambled eggs and are in a tortilla but these are made with soy and are in a warm corn flour tortilla
New York Times Black Bean Burger (E2 recipe not on website) - served on a skinny vegan bun with vegenaise (which tastes the same if not better than mayo in our opinion), organic ketchup
Carrot Cashew Soup (Vegetarian Traditions Cook Book)-oh my was it fabulous!
Amy's Kitchen Frozen Pizza (Vegan-uses soy cheese and rice crust): was tasty in a crunch
Whole Wheat Spaghetti with marinara sauce and sautee'd veggies
Mary's Gone Crackers seed crackers
Lundberg Rice Chips with sea salt & hummus (found at our grocer, not online at link)
sweet potato fries (used to toss in olive oil and salt, but found that you don't need the oil! hip hip!)
strawberry-berry sorbet (sooo easy and delicious as a dessert!) - i recommend putting it in the freezer for a couple hours before eating to get the ice-cream consistency, we just did it in the blender, no ice cream maker.

"add ins" we love for oatmeal, smoothies and baked projects:
hemp protein powder

maca powder (read about it here: http://livesuperfoods.com/maca-powder.html)

cacao nibs (read about it here: http://livesuperfoods.com/raw-cacao-nibs.html)

green vibrance powder

i really love that hummus and salsa and guacamole are on an "all you can eat" level with this lifestyle....as long as they are made with whole foods delicious ingredients and hold all the "bad stuff".

already brewing next week's meal plan and i can hardly wait to see what gem's we uncover!  am particularly excited about our memorial day barbecue pot luck on monday when we can share our tasty goods with friends.

a morning hike

this morning the kids and i enjoyed the perfect weather, the open spaces and slow pace of a walk together at iron mountain. going with no expectations beyond taking a little walk with mother nature made it a lovely experience for us all.  my little man, of course, loved the opportunity to run and point out everything he saw and sniff flowers and kick and carry rocks and climb and touch with no restrictions (except leaving the trail of course). we saw lizards and rabbits and heard critters scampering through the brush and listened to the tall grasses "whispering" when the wind blew through it. he was most awed each time we'd pass a patch of flowering plants and we'd hear that subtle "buzzzzzzzzzz" of bees at work - once we stopped to listen they grew louder and he'd proudly point out each bee in the vicinity, not one bit scared but definitely curious.  all told we were out an hour, walking the entire time but a ten minute snack break near the end when he was getting tired.  looking forward to being able to hike just a little bit further each year.  i wonder when his little legs will be able to carry him all the way to the top!

powell woulfe photography - family photo shoot

this sunday the lovely military wife behind powell woulfe photography captured my children so brilliantly - i couldn't be more grateful!  she was so sweet and so in tune with my young children (of course she is, her life is blessed by her own little) - a fun and effortless photography session at old poway park.  she never stressed about the kids behavior, never asked us to pose them, she just let us all roam and be ourselves and do our thing and hovered, placing herself ever so perfectly to be ready to snap away when the right moment presented itself.  i could tell she was passionate about photography and felt so at home seeing and capturing the beauty of real life moments through the lens of her camera.  thank you, angela for these beautiful memories. i've only seen the two photos below as a sneak peek and already feel completely justified in giving rave reviews! we're dying to see the rest! see more here at her blog.

lulu's barn & foals

our friends out in ramona (the country) invited us out to spend the afternoon with them and their horses. what a treat it was for us to get outside the city, smell those delicious country smells and slow down the pace.  i enjoyed standing back watching our kids just be kids, grabbing carrots by the handful and feeding them to the horses (and taking big bites for themselves...lulu even helped herself to the barley mash which was hysterical to watch), helping mix up the barley mash and rub on those horses. pete was in heaven and adamant about riding the horses (funny since previously he's been terrified and refused to ride them).  then we found the farm machinery - and the horses were history! and then the cat showed up and i had to practically drag him to the van when it was time to leave. there weren't enough kisses or hugs for the cat to make a proper farewell, just one more kiss for the cat momma. my darling boy is an animal lover and i'm so thankful for that. miss betsy took it all in from the baby carrier on my front but by the end demanded to be released so she too could climb on the loader and greet the kitty.