Sunday, February 28, 2010
A Staycation Kind of Day
Today we were not intent on eating at the house today or at least preparing meals where we would have to clean up afterwards. It was a family day out. Our first time at the Fun Depot which is a local religous based fun center for children. We were feeding Ife french fries on the merrygoround Our darling son Ife had such a great time there playing very hard and throwing a terribly temper tantrum by the time it was for us to exit. We got a couple movies for rent from our local superstore.One for Ife (Dora) and one for the parents (that's us!). The movie was okay with a little bit of very bad acting here and there. But guess what? This was a movie with an apparent religous theme. However, dinner was great. I dropped off Ife and Lola at the house while I made a food run. First I went by the Mellow Mushroom to get a large 16 inch vegan pizza with tempeh and mushroom toppings Afterwards I stopped by the French Broad Food Coop to get a single serving salad with annies goddess dressing. By the time I came home Ife was napping giving Lola and me a litle bit of couple time for dining. Ife soon awoke to his share of pizza, yummy tomato and vegan coconut milk mint chip ice cream. Yes, today was a good day!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
After Illness, Dinner with Gusto!
Ife gobbled up two bowls of dinner with gusto. It was a full regular meal too! This consisted sauteed tempeh, bok choy and potatoes covered in a red beet spicy tomato sauce. This is a great sign of progress since Ife had gotten sick Tuesday night. Oh boy...! Tuesday was the pitts. He seemed fine up until around 10:00 pm. I started with a cough. A couple minutes later another cough which Lola had noticed and stated her concern. Illnness had ensued within one hour of the first cough making our night very difficult. Ife was throwing up mucus in 10 to 30 minute intervals and he was feeling miserable. We all had about 2 hours total sleep each.
We thought that the rice water was a sure remedy for his as we had tried it on a previous occasion and it was very productive then. Not this time. Everything and the kitchen sink we utilized with no success. Every tincture, herb, electrolyte drink, rice water, probiotics, etc. By 8:30 the next morning I had called his doctor and they said he should come in. Whilst driving with my fingers crossed I could not help but to think of the horror of giving him anti-biotics. Well, the doctors said it was a passing virus and a possible ear infection and it should be over with quickly so there will be no need for antibiotics. Hallelujah! He's already on the mend and very active.
Ife is such a great child and he is full of compassion and goodness. It is by God's grace that we are blessed to have him in our lives. He wants everyone around him to feel good and he's aware when people are sad or hurt. He often says with sincerity, "feel better".
We thought that the rice water was a sure remedy for his as we had tried it on a previous occasion and it was very productive then. Not this time. Everything and the kitchen sink we utilized with no success. Every tincture, herb, electrolyte drink, rice water, probiotics, etc. By 8:30 the next morning I had called his doctor and they said he should come in. Whilst driving with my fingers crossed I could not help but to think of the horror of giving him anti-biotics. Well, the doctors said it was a passing virus and a possible ear infection and it should be over with quickly so there will be no need for antibiotics. Hallelujah! He's already on the mend and very active.
Ife is such a great child and he is full of compassion and goodness. It is by God's grace that we are blessed to have him in our lives. He wants everyone around him to feel good and he's aware when people are sad or hurt. He often says with sincerity, "feel better".
Friday, February 19, 2010
A Friday to Forget
It would be hard for me to not mention the emotional and epic rock slide that had occurred throughout the entire day. This morning was a $35.00 parking ticket, and dropping a case (glass) of liquid on my wife's foot(owwweee!), and many other things falling through the cracks. (sigh) Let's stay focused.
Today, Ife and I had gone to our fav play museum at the Diana Wortham Center; The Health Adventure. We frequent this place three to four times per week on average because there are many fun things to do in this safe and secure location. The staff here are very friendly and all treat Ife like a VIP/celebrity. We had gone over to the grocery store play area where various fake food stuffs are such as vegetables, fruits, eggs, milk and meat. All of a sudden Ife asks me "what's this daddy?" "That's a cucumber" I had responded. "What's the daddy?" "That's an eggplant" "What's this daddy?" "A peach". I think this is the first time he had questioned me with such an eagerness to know the names of the types of food there. And then "What's this daddy?" I paused as I was thinking about how I should answer this one. He was holding a peace of roast beef. Being perplex I felt prompted to call my wife at her job for some advice about how I should respond. She said that I should tell him the truth and to say "that was part of a cow that had gotten hurt and it's very sad. That cow was a baby at one point and had a mommy and a daddy that loved her just like you." I had chosen to be oblivious to the fact that one day he would know that some people eat meat. Well, today was some day.
Today, Ife and I had gone to our fav play museum at the Diana Wortham Center; The Health Adventure. We frequent this place three to four times per week on average because there are many fun things to do in this safe and secure location. The staff here are very friendly and all treat Ife like a VIP/celebrity. We had gone over to the grocery store play area where various fake food stuffs are such as vegetables, fruits, eggs, milk and meat. All of a sudden Ife asks me "what's this daddy?" "That's a cucumber" I had responded. "What's the daddy?" "That's an eggplant" "What's this daddy?" "A peach". I think this is the first time he had questioned me with such an eagerness to know the names of the types of food there. And then "What's this daddy?" I paused as I was thinking about how I should answer this one. He was holding a peace of roast beef. Being perplex I felt prompted to call my wife at her job for some advice about how I should respond. She said that I should tell him the truth and to say "that was part of a cow that had gotten hurt and it's very sad. That cow was a baby at one point and had a mommy and a daddy that loved her just like you." I had chosen to be oblivious to the fact that one day he would know that some people eat meat. Well, today was some day.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Deal Finder: Veg on the Cheap
The The French Broad Food Co-op, where I work has many good deals.
1) Muir Glen 28 oz. canned tomatoes, regular price $3.39 each, on sale $1.99.
look for $1.00 off coupons on some of the cans too!
2) Imagine select 32 oz. soups, regular price $4.89, sale price $3.29.
Look for the 75 cent coupon on the shelf.
3) Whole Soy 6 oz. yogurts, regular price $1.19 each, look for slightly expired yogurts
marked down to 59 cents each.
P.S. Most Coops in the U.S are part of the Coop Advantage program meaning that you can get the same sales prices on the same product from any coop. The French Broad Food Coop is located at 90 Biltmore Avenue, Downtown Asheville, NC. There phone number is
(828) 255-7650
1) Muir Glen 28 oz. canned tomatoes, regular price $3.39 each, on sale $1.99.
look for $1.00 off coupons on some of the cans too!
2) Imagine select 32 oz. soups, regular price $4.89, sale price $3.29.
Look for the 75 cent coupon on the shelf.
3) Whole Soy 6 oz. yogurts, regular price $1.19 each, look for slightly expired yogurts
marked down to 59 cents each.
P.S. Most Coops in the U.S are part of the Coop Advantage program meaning that you can get the same sales prices on the same product from any coop. The French Broad Food Coop is located at 90 Biltmore Avenue, Downtown Asheville, NC. There phone number is
(828) 255-7650
No high chair complaints tonight
When Ife saw that the dinner included noodles and tomatoes, he climbed right into the high chair! Ife happily sat in his high chair and ate two helpings of noodles with diced tomatoes, vegan cheese and frozen peas. He asked for the famous tomato song:
"Tomato, tomato
You are red
You are round.
I cut you up to eat you up
You come from the ground.
YUM!"
"Tomato, tomato
You are red
You are round.
I cut you up to eat you up
You come from the ground.
YUM!"
Monday, February 15, 2010
Dinner Tantrum!
I ate dinner to the accompaniment of a blaring radio and Ife's screams of displeasure that threatened to drown out the radio. He needed to nurse, not eat dinner. I finished my meal thinking that he'd calm down and eat something at any minute. It took him a little bit to get him back into eating mode. First I held him and let him see himself crying in the mirror. Then we sat quietly and nursed. Finally, Ife polished off his dinner of tofu-stuffed ravioli topped with chunky tomato sauce with string beans on the side. Dinner was NOT a Martha Stewart moment.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Cream of Broccoli Soup
Cream of Broccoli Soup
One large head of broccoli
one medium potato
one yellow onion
two carrots
1/2 inch fresh ginger
four cloves of fresh garlic
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp tamari
1 cup of rice or soy milk
1 tbsp miso (thick)
1 can of coconut milk 2 tbsp agave
dash of pepper
Cut all vegetables into large pieces. Add ginger, garlic and two cups of water.
Place in a large pot.
Cook until all vegetables are tender.
Blend cooked vegetables with one cup of rice or soy milk.
Blend until smooth.
Return mixture to pot.
Add all remaining ingredients except for miso.
Cook 10 to 15 minutes on medium heat stirring occasionally.
Turn off heat and the add miso.
Serves six hungry Vegans. Enjoy!
I forgot to get the coconut milk and couldn't find any pepper. It turned out the only rice milk we had contained vanilla. Still it turned out well. I
Ife was squirmy and wouldn't sit in his seat. I let him sit on my lap, figuring the extra attetion wouldn't hurt since he has a cold and it teething again. He ate all his soup as did Jonathan and I.
I sometimes wish I was the kind of Mother who could make these kind of healthy from scratch meals every night.
One large head of broccoli
one medium potato
one yellow onion
two carrots
1/2 inch fresh ginger
four cloves of fresh garlic
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp tamari
1 cup of rice or soy milk
1 tbsp miso (thick)
1 can of coconut milk 2 tbsp agave
dash of pepper
Cut all vegetables into large pieces. Add ginger, garlic and two cups of water.
Place in a large pot.
Cook until all vegetables are tender.
Blend cooked vegetables with one cup of rice or soy milk.
Blend until smooth.
Return mixture to pot.
Add all remaining ingredients except for miso.
Cook 10 to 15 minutes on medium heat stirring occasionally.
Turn off heat and the add miso.
Serves six hungry Vegans. Enjoy!
I forgot to get the coconut milk and couldn't find any pepper. It turned out the only rice milk we had contained vanilla. Still it turned out well. I
Ife was squirmy and wouldn't sit in his seat. I let him sit on my lap, figuring the extra attetion wouldn't hurt since he has a cold and it teething again. He ate all his soup as did Jonathan and I.
I sometimes wish I was the kind of Mother who could make these kind of healthy from scratch meals every night.
Friday, February 12, 2010
On September 7, 2007 at 12:40 am, Ife Gabriel La Fey-Daniels came into this world with both hands raised. Since then he has faced life and the food he loves with the Same exuberance. As when he was a newborn, his favorite food is "nursies". Much of the time while writing this blog Ife will be nursing, Lola(mom) will be dictating and Jonathan (dad) will be typing.
We arrived home from work today and asked if Ife needed a potty-check, his response was "avocado snack" so we gave him some avocado for starters. After a shower bath Ife was ready for dinner. It consisted of; some soup with beans, broccoli, potatoes noodles and of course frozen peas to help it cool down. Ife asks for frozen peas at about every meal. He even tried to get me to put them in his tea. He loves frozen peas so much he often request the frozen pea song. I didn't know one so I made it up.
Frozen Peas
Frozen Peas
You are little and green and round
And oh so cold
I got you from the freezer
You cooled down my food
Eat it up
Eat it up
Yum yum Yum!
Dessert was some Turtle Mountain Mint Chip coconut milk ice cream and tension tamer tea and banana. We like this kind of ice cream because it is vegan, has no sugar and is delicious! All the food was organic, which is better for our family and the Earth.
After tea and dessert we are all in our pajamas watching his favorite cartoon video "Dora the Explorer" . As I lay here in bed typing this , Ife has surely interrupted the process of us all falling asleep by exclaiming "potty check!" This is an inconvenience of a potty trained child that we chose to deal with as it takes up to forty-five minutes of him sitting on the potty and one of us reading three or more story books to him. Much to our chagrin, there are times when he gets up from his potty check with an empty potty. After a long day of being over spent and exhausted, there are sometimes that I wish he that he were in diapers! :-)
Ife's wisdom for the day, "Bring the church home."
We arrived home from work today and asked if Ife needed a potty-check, his response was "avocado snack" so we gave him some avocado for starters. After a shower bath Ife was ready for dinner. It consisted of; some soup with beans, broccoli, potatoes noodles and of course frozen peas to help it cool down. Ife asks for frozen peas at about every meal. He even tried to get me to put them in his tea. He loves frozen peas so much he often request the frozen pea song. I didn't know one so I made it up.
Frozen Peas
Frozen Peas
You are little and green and round
And oh so cold
I got you from the freezer
You cooled down my food
Eat it up
Eat it up
Yum yum Yum!
Dessert was some Turtle Mountain Mint Chip coconut milk ice cream and tension tamer tea and banana. We like this kind of ice cream because it is vegan, has no sugar and is delicious! All the food was organic, which is better for our family and the Earth.
After tea and dessert we are all in our pajamas watching his favorite cartoon video "Dora the Explorer" . As I lay here in bed typing this , Ife has surely interrupted the process of us all falling asleep by exclaiming "potty check!" This is an inconvenience of a potty trained child that we chose to deal with as it takes up to forty-five minutes of him sitting on the potty and one of us reading three or more story books to him. Much to our chagrin, there are times when he gets up from his potty check with an empty potty. After a long day of being over spent and exhausted, there are sometimes that I wish he that he were in diapers! :-)
Ife's wisdom for the day, "Bring the church home."
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