Over the last several months, I’ve been on a mission
to ensure my family eats healthier, exercises, and uses our brain cells more.
So, my resolution this year was to find various ways to achieve all of the
above. First, I had to start with myself. I mean, how else do you advise or
teach others something is good for them, unless you do it yourself, right?
Well, so I began with exercise. I started off
working out, at home, three to four mornings a week, for only 10 – 15 mins at a
time. (I have children who require micro-managing.) I asked around and two of
my friends, Candice M and Janine, who have multiple children, like me, and
amazing bodies (unlike me) suggested pilates. I’ve been on a pilates kick since
and LOVING it!
Next was changing our diet. If anyone knows a
Nigerian, you know we like to eat good food, so no bland or grainy nasty stuff
for us! So, how to incorporate my love for spicy, tasty food into this new
lifestyle of ours was going to be a trip. I mean, I’d seen recipes online that
people swear by but look like terd. (Sorry, but that’s what it looked like to
me.) The recipes contained little or no salt, and in the case of sweets, no
sugar. Uhhh…not so appealing. So, I turned to my friend, Meghan, on a play date
and inquired about her diet. She gave me some tips, and I’ve been running with
them since!
My children LOVE homemade chicken tenders. We’ve
attempted fast food with them on days we’re in a hurry, and they’ve not eaten
anything but the French fries or food from Chick-fil-A. So, I decided to find a
healthier alternative to my usual fried or greasily baked tenders. That’s when
I found the following (http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/tender-chicken-nuggets-2), which is a new favorite.
Last week, I made lentils for the first time, after
trying my friend’s (Grace Olakonu), and it looked umm…interesting but tasted
AMAZING! Mine came out quite interesting, certainly nothing like hers, but with
some personal tweaks, I was able to make the yummiest meatless tacos I’d ever
had. Lentil tacos are what’s up, for real! My husband and children were asking
for more, picking off the lentils that had fallen out of their hard tacos off
their plates with their hands and gobbling it up.
I ran out of pasta sauce the other day and wondered
if I really had to take all three children to the store to get it. After I
considered the pros and cons, I decided against it and took to the internet,
where I found a very easy recipe (http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-speedy-spaghetti-sauce-56260?mode=us&scaleto=4.0&st=null)
that got my children wanting it for dinner on Tuesday and Wednesday with their
turkey sausage.
After that great experience, I took it up another
notch…homemade black beans. Since the beginning of the year, I got our family
on a bean kick. We do vegetarian chili, meatless quesadillas (we used to add all
kinds of stuff to ours), etc. Unfortunately, I had not considered the
preservatives and poison (from the aluminum) that the canned stuff was exposing
us to with all our extra consumption. So, last night, I attempted a simple
recipe I found online and made just a few adjustments. OMG! This morning, I
could have eaten all 6 ½ cups of the beans by myself! The children were licking
their fingers, and I had at least a cup inside my one quesadilla, with less
than 1/3 cup of shredded cheese. Yes, it was that good! (Try it: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/sidevegetabledishes/r/Easy-Homemade-Black-Beans.htm)
Over the years, I’ve tried ALL kinds of banana bread
recipes and always had one trouble or the other – too dry, not cooked in the
middle, burns way before the given cook time, etc. However, on Tuesday night, I
decided to give it one more try. The recipe (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/classic-banana-bread-10000000549764/)
I found seemed real easy, so I decided to double it, and that was a good
decision on my part, as I found out later. My children and I have been finding
any reason – breakfast, snack, treat, dessert – to have some. It will
definitely be added to my recipe rolodex. (Yes, I'm SO telling my age here.)
Being a lover of ice cream, one who had more than a
serving a day throughout college, I had to find a healthier alternative. That’s
when I went on a little search for simple and easy recipes, and I found
homemade ice cream sandwiches (http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Low-Fat-Ice-Cream-Sandwiches-Recipezaar?columns=4&position=10%2F35),
which my children and I can’t get enough of; although I use light whipped cream
instead of Cool Whip. Just made some this morning for later, as well as a
chocolate cake for my husband before he went to school this afternoon. Yep,
chocolate cake (http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/11/06/one-minute-chocolate-cake/)
that only took maybe 8 minutes to make but that got me a big kiss before he
left!
My daughter and I were bored after ‘slaving’ over
the cake while the boys played around and made some yummy chocolate crunch bars
(http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/07/01/healthy-homemade-chocolate-crunch-bars/),
so they’d be ready for dessert by lunch. I’m not a dark chocolate fan, but they
were licking their fingers and didn’t even realize I had not added any sugar to
it.
Well, for those who think eating healthy will be a
major sacrifice, like I used to, please believe me when I say, I totally
understand, but it DOESN’T have to be that way. Cooking, baking, and tinkering
in the kitchen is now one of the ways I relax, de-stress, and go on a personal
adventure. Have fun with it. You win some, and you lose some. Just have fun
with it, and realize that with each new adjustment in diet, substitution of
junk, you are making your family so much healthier.
Take it from me, kale, chia and flax seeds, almond
milk, lentils, etc. were all foreign to me this time last year, but now, they
are staples in our home for shakes and so much more. I have much more energy
than I’ve had in a long time (and all I have for breakfast 5 – 6 times a week
is a homemade vegetable and fruit shake). It’s a new world for me, so I’m still
learning a lot, but I just wanted to encourage all the moms/dads and single
ladies/men out there that the saying is true, practice DOES make perfect (well,
or at least better). Please try something new and share!
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