Our friends and family know we don't watch TV. We don't own one, the kids only get shows when someone is sick, and we really keep technology away from our kids in general. To us this is normal, but sometimes we forget how extremely abnormal it truly is. Our kids know nothing different, and as parents we've adjusted and really forget at times what the norm is. It isn't until someone new hears we don't allow screen time, that brings us back to reality and how weird we really are. So what do we do in the morning? How do we get ready? What do the kids do? Don't they wake up whining? The answer: We basically enjoy time together as a family Mornings start with Danny waking up first, doing chores, making a fire, and getting ready and getting some work done before everyone wakes up, if he's working from home. He kindly brings me a cappuccino and wakes me up at the time he would typically head in to work. Baby usually gets up with me and we head down and snuggle up on the couch by the fire. The other boys come down, hopefully a little later. More often than not, they're already up, e waiting for the approval to come down, and they snuggle up by the fire too. Everyone just spends time watching the sunrise, chatting and snuggling up under the wool blankets and enjoying the wood stove. I'll admit, I'm the one who struggles the most at waking up. I wish it wasn't such a struggle for me not to be a grumpy tired bear in the morning, but I definitely have to remind myself I DON'T want my boys remembering mom greeting them with a grumpy face each morning. Unfortunately, I have to get the daily mental pep talk from myself, but the wake up time with coffee on the couch helps me ease into the day myself. Since, I'm not the most motivated person in the morning, the boys know I will agree to a pre-breakfast of bananas and peanut butter or apples and dates. They'll then run and get their plates and dish up their first snacks of the day. I don't care to eat breakfast until nine or ten so their first breakfast gets them going until I basically make brunch. This all may sound fake, but its normal life for us. The boys all like their morning snuggles. They've never known anything different. Come summer the fireplace is replaced by sitting out on the patio, usually with their own cappuccinos. I don't play music and never was one that can handle morning shows. Our days start as slow, quiet and snuggly as I can make them. And let's face it, I'll happily give up some "Me time" if it means there's no annoying kid shows running in the background.
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So what do you guys eat?! A common question we get asked when someone hears of all the intolerances my kids have. At first glance it seems like we’re extremely limited, no dairy, gluten, sugar, preservatives, dyes, additives...did I forget anything?! The reality is we actually aren’t that restricted, but most kitchens don’t have the right ingredients that allow my kids bellies to not get sick. We have dairy, lots of dairy, but it’s all raw and unpasteurized. We eat gluten, but only Einkorn and it’s typically sourdough. I never use active dry yeast. We eat sugar, but it’s honey, maple syrup, maple sugar, or coconut sugar. We eat preservatives, good old non-iodized salt, and we aren’t scared of our sodium levels. The chemical, non-foods don’t make it, but we actually don’t miss out on much, we have just learned to source better options that don’t leave us with crying, crampy, rashy kids. The thing is, it’s pretty easy to be all free of the stuff listed above and still not be getting the most nutritious diet. While gluten, sugar, and dairy free options are all the rave, it doesn’t mean a product is still providing good nutrition and not adding to gut irritation. It took time, trial and error, and lots of reading to find what works for our family. Having a very sensitive child prevented cutting corners and finding processed food alternatives. It was a headache but also a blessing, especially now being on the other side, with symptoms, doctors visits, and sick children being a thing of the past. When you start the journey it seems exhausting, hopeless, never ending, and completely blind. Doctors don’t know much other than prescribing medicines these days, unless you’ve managed track down rarity. We were told so many conflicting things, blamed, guilted, shamed, ridiculed, or just told to give up. Some cared, many didn’t, and the ones that did care were at a loss. Those days seem a long time ago. We don’t plan to go back to our old ways of eating, it wasn't really food to begin with. We take our health seriously. Almost to the extreme, although a typical doctor or nurse would probably argue differently, and most people would be shocked how we live. We have fat, salt, eggs, meat, and eat our veggies right out of the garden not bothering to wash off every speck of dirt. BreakfastEggs with meat and veggie
Special Treats
LunchLunch doesn't get much planning. Its whatever is easy and preferably not what we had for breakfast.
DinnerThe key to varying up dinner in my opinion is having sauces and sides to easily swap around. There are decent bottled sauces but they're also super easy to make. First I'll list the typcial dinner entree options:
SidesSides can be super simple and its always a good idea to keep some easy ones on hand
SaucesA good sauce makes all the difference. Some are bottled and easy, others need a little more effort but I'm not one to spend hours on a sauce. We will have one or two homemade sauces in the house which typically get added to more than one meal. A sweeter sauce like a cranberry may be added to pancakes or toast. Chimmichurri on eggs or soup. If someone in the house isn't quite excited over a prepared meal, having a sauce or two available usually can adjust the flavor to meet something more to their liking. To buy:
SnacksI think snacks are where people really feel the kicker of eating healthy. Most snacks are trash and we'd all probably be better off adjusting our snacking but habits are hard to break. My kids snack plenty and sometimes a good snack keeps the peace in the house. We go through a jar of peanut butter a week around here
SweetsI make a sweet usually once a month, and I'll be honest, the key word here is MAKE. Since the boys can't have cane sugar, everything must be homemade. I've found how to make almost everything we'd want, except for a few things like croissants. When we first changed from cane sugar, I remember thinking stuff definitely didn't taste as sweet, but now I prefer the lighter sweetness and typically cut the sweetener in each recipe by at least half. We've noticed that even when others make sweets using sweeteners the boys can have, Danny and I are overwhelmed by the amount of sugar. Our sweet tooth has really become less. The good news is your body does adjust! You slowly need less sugar and your tastebuds learn to recognize smaller and smaller amounts of sweetness and you're perfectly content with it.
Below is a list of our favorites, but again these all are made from scratch. We just use coconut sugar in place of white sugar, einkorn flour instead of regular flour, and raw milk instead of pasteurized
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