It's Sunday afternoon. My son and husband are playing Lincoln logs in the library, my daughter is asleep on the couch, and I'm engaged in my Sunday ritual, cooking for the week.
Everybody who knows me, knows that I spend Sunday afternoon cooking for the week. Sometimes the weekly chore can be stressful or dreaded, but some days like today, when the house is peaceful, and it's too hot outside to do anything else, I find it to be relaxing. Either way, it's a necessity.
During the week, we get home around 5:15 with the kids. They're tired and hungry and so are we. During the week, even take-out seems like a hassle, so I want to have meals ready in the fridge that I can just warm up in the microwave and eat. There's also health reasons. I want to be able to feed my kids wholesome food like my mom did when I was growing up. During the day, they're at school, and I can't control everything they're putting in their mouths (though I do send organic milk for their lunch). So I take breakfast and dinner seriously.
Menu planning can be a challenge. To make it easier, I break it into the food groups, old school style. I want to make sure my kids have some whole grains, veggies, and lean meats. Of course they drink a glass of milk with their meal as well.
When it comes to veggies, if I was just cooking for my husband, cutting up a salad or making a stir fry would be the easiest answer, but my kids are a bit picky. I've found that the frozen steam bag of veggies are my best bet. There are a lot of varieties available. My kids like the broccoli with cheese sauce. That adds a little fat, but at this age, I want them to eat their veggies and start enjoying the taste. My son recently ate homemade stir fry veggies without complaint. The best thing about steamed veggies, is the ease, it's just a matter of heating it up in the microwave.
Grains are easy. I make brown rice in the rice cooker the night before and reheat it. I also boil a variety of whole grain pastas the night before. Sometimes, I serve this with good quality store bought sauce, but sometimes, I just toss with olive oil, Italian herbs, and crumbled cheeses. You can mix in the same types of things with rice and make a quick pilaf.
For meat, on Sundays, I usually serve baked fish. I also cooked a big pot of chicken curry, make a shrimp stir fry, and one beef or goat dish. Besides Sunday dinner, I usually try to have three complete meals ready. That takes me to Thursday, when I usually have leftovers. On Fridays, we do the occasional take-out, or I feed the kids snacks when they get home and cook a fresh meal.
The chicken curry is done, now I must get back to my Sunday ritual.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Making lists
We've all heard about working mom guilt. I've always felt the discussion around that was a little over the top. I remember watching some news magazine show on TV, and one mom confessed that she stayed up late at night making cookies from scratch, because "that's what moms are supposed to do."
I never felt the need to do stuff like that (unless on a Sunday afternoon, the kids and I decide to make cookies together). Maybe part of the reason is that I was a stay at home mom before. There's no magic formula that once you stay at home, you'll become some sort of Stepford wife. And the truth is, I don't feel the need to be one. In my own crazy way, I do what I need to. My kids eat home cooked meals, I managed to keep the house from falling apart, and on the weekends we go out and enjoy time together. I see my kids are happy and they're healthy. I do not have working mom guilt.
There is one thing, and of course you knew a caveat was coming didn't you? I constantly beat myself up every time I forget something regarding the kids. Now I'm not talking about big things like their birthdays. But as any parent of school age kids know, schools constantly have programs, and YOU have to remember to send stuff with them to school.
Last week, I forgot to send my son a lunch. Summer camp normally provides it, but they wanted parents to send a sack lunch so they could have a picnic outside. The teacher said the school would give my son lunch. And then yesterday, I remembered at the last minute, I had signed up to bring shredded cheese to my daughter's class for a project. So I had to run to the store, pick some up and drop it off (all before 8am).
I have a planner, but sometimes, these things fall through the cracks. I hate it when I say, oh I forgot, the look the teachers give me. It makes me feel like I'm a negligent mom, or irresponsible. Or maybe that's just my own version of working mom guilt coming through. But guilt isn't productive. It's something paralyzing. So I continue making my to do lists, and trying to keep everything on track.
I never felt the need to do stuff like that (unless on a Sunday afternoon, the kids and I decide to make cookies together). Maybe part of the reason is that I was a stay at home mom before. There's no magic formula that once you stay at home, you'll become some sort of Stepford wife. And the truth is, I don't feel the need to be one. In my own crazy way, I do what I need to. My kids eat home cooked meals, I managed to keep the house from falling apart, and on the weekends we go out and enjoy time together. I see my kids are happy and they're healthy. I do not have working mom guilt.
There is one thing, and of course you knew a caveat was coming didn't you? I constantly beat myself up every time I forget something regarding the kids. Now I'm not talking about big things like their birthdays. But as any parent of school age kids know, schools constantly have programs, and YOU have to remember to send stuff with them to school.
Last week, I forgot to send my son a lunch. Summer camp normally provides it, but they wanted parents to send a sack lunch so they could have a picnic outside. The teacher said the school would give my son lunch. And then yesterday, I remembered at the last minute, I had signed up to bring shredded cheese to my daughter's class for a project. So I had to run to the store, pick some up and drop it off (all before 8am).
I have a planner, but sometimes, these things fall through the cracks. I hate it when I say, oh I forgot, the look the teachers give me. It makes me feel like I'm a negligent mom, or irresponsible. Or maybe that's just my own version of working mom guilt coming through. But guilt isn't productive. It's something paralyzing. So I continue making my to do lists, and trying to keep everything on track.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
I'd rather be sleeping (i.e. workout woes)
As I mentioned in my first post, I often think that if I had more time (or if I quit my job), I'd go to the gym every day.
It's hard enough with two kids, a full-time job and a long commute to work out regularly, let alone every day. Living in Houston makes it even harder. The food is cheap and good, and walking is minimal. When I lived in Washington DC, I walked 15 minutes to and from the train every day. I'd throw in 1/2 hour walk during lunch, and I never had to join the gym. But Houston is different. I drive to and from work and though I walk during lunch, my desk job keeps me glued to my desk otherwise.
My goal this year has been to get to the gym at least three times a week. Actually for the most part, I've been able to do that. I should add that I actually haven't lost any weight yet, but I knew that I wouldn't lose weight going just three times a week. But my goal is to work towards a healthier lifestyle. Now half way through the year, I've decided to kick it up notch and try to work out four times a week.
This has been a challenge. I'm used to going to the gym during lunch and prefer that. It gives me a break from sitting. But my work schedule is unpredictable, and I never know if something will pop up and prevent me from going. So I've started waking up a bit earlier than usual and heading to the gym in the morning. It's been good. The hardest part (and this is so hard, really hard, in fact the biggest hurdle) is not hitting the snooze button and getting out of bed. Once I do that, the rest is pretty easy. Ofcourse, it's only been a week. We'll see how it goes.
It's hard enough with two kids, a full-time job and a long commute to work out regularly, let alone every day. Living in Houston makes it even harder. The food is cheap and good, and walking is minimal. When I lived in Washington DC, I walked 15 minutes to and from the train every day. I'd throw in 1/2 hour walk during lunch, and I never had to join the gym. But Houston is different. I drive to and from work and though I walk during lunch, my desk job keeps me glued to my desk otherwise.
My goal this year has been to get to the gym at least three times a week. Actually for the most part, I've been able to do that. I should add that I actually haven't lost any weight yet, but I knew that I wouldn't lose weight going just three times a week. But my goal is to work towards a healthier lifestyle. Now half way through the year, I've decided to kick it up notch and try to work out four times a week.
This has been a challenge. I'm used to going to the gym during lunch and prefer that. It gives me a break from sitting. But my work schedule is unpredictable, and I never know if something will pop up and prevent me from going. So I've started waking up a bit earlier than usual and heading to the gym in the morning. It's been good. The hardest part (and this is so hard, really hard, in fact the biggest hurdle) is not hitting the snooze button and getting out of bed. Once I do that, the rest is pretty easy. Ofcourse, it's only been a week. We'll see how it goes.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Cleaning up the water in my home
In my pursuit of improving my life, one of my goals has been to improve the quality of my home. This includes making sure the house is safe and limiting the amount of indoor pollutants. Water plays a big part in that. For years, I've used a filter for drinking water. But a New York Times article published almost a year ago, made me think that maybe I needed to do more.
Regulators have been neglecting the enforcement of clean water laws, according to the article. So what to do? Well, I wasn't sure, so I procrastinated. Then, about a month ago, we got our drinking water quality report. The water quality report lists a number of substances that are checked for. It also lists the level of each substance, the range detected and if the levels are in compliance.
The substances I looked at were lead, nitrate, nitrite, and E. coli. I was happy to see that everything was in compliance. Most people should get a similar report, but if you can't get one, you can also call your municipal district and ask for one. Another place to get information is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Information System. Here, you can search for violations.
Another source of information is water testing kits. These kits can test for various chemicals and are pretty easy to use, so I've heard. I have actually not used one of these tests yet. (Like I said, the article came out a year ago and I'm just now looking into the water in my own area.)
After you have this wealth of information, what should you do? Like I said, our water is under compliance, but it's not perfect. For example for lead, our value was .0039 mg/L. It needs to be under 0.015 mg/L. So like I said, the water's not bad, but it's not perfect. For our drinking water, our fridge has a filter in it, which needs to be changed every 6 months. We're pretty happy with it; I can taste the difference from the purified water and the tap water.
Next on my to-do list is to get filtered show heads. Especially since my three year old still tries to drink bathwater. I've seen some at the home improvement store that can be used as a hand held shower, which is good for us because I could use that to bathe the little one as well.
The other option is a home filtration system. While there are certainly many pros such as having fewer filters to buy, there are two major reasons I decided against getting one of these. One is a high up-front cost. The other is that the water has to go through the pipes in your house after being filtered. If you have corrosive pipes, those sediments are still getting in your water. I'll give an update once the filters are installed.
Regulators have been neglecting the enforcement of clean water laws, according to the article. So what to do? Well, I wasn't sure, so I procrastinated. Then, about a month ago, we got our drinking water quality report. The water quality report lists a number of substances that are checked for. It also lists the level of each substance, the range detected and if the levels are in compliance.
The substances I looked at were lead, nitrate, nitrite, and E. coli. I was happy to see that everything was in compliance. Most people should get a similar report, but if you can't get one, you can also call your municipal district and ask for one. Another place to get information is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Information System. Here, you can search for violations.
Another source of information is water testing kits. These kits can test for various chemicals and are pretty easy to use, so I've heard. I have actually not used one of these tests yet. (Like I said, the article came out a year ago and I'm just now looking into the water in my own area.)
After you have this wealth of information, what should you do? Like I said, our water is under compliance, but it's not perfect. For example for lead, our value was .0039 mg/L. It needs to be under 0.015 mg/L. So like I said, the water's not bad, but it's not perfect. For our drinking water, our fridge has a filter in it, which needs to be changed every 6 months. We're pretty happy with it; I can taste the difference from the purified water and the tap water.
Next on my to-do list is to get filtered show heads. Especially since my three year old still tries to drink bathwater. I've seen some at the home improvement store that can be used as a hand held shower, which is good for us because I could use that to bathe the little one as well.
The other option is a home filtration system. While there are certainly many pros such as having fewer filters to buy, there are two major reasons I decided against getting one of these. One is a high up-front cost. The other is that the water has to go through the pipes in your house after being filtered. If you have corrosive pipes, those sediments are still getting in your water. I'll give an update once the filters are installed.
Friday, July 9, 2010
No time for a big change.
"Oh, if only I had more time I'd change my life for the better," many people say. Or in my case, as my friend and I were discussing the other day, if we quit our jobs, we would go the the gym everyday, cook made-from-scratch organic food, have the cleanest houses and beautiful gardens. I'd also write that novel, which would undoubtly become a best-seller and eventually be made into a movie. These are the thoughts that run through my mind many times a day.
of course, there's a slight chance (ok, a big chance), I'd spend any extra time watching daytime television. I don't know why people make these grand goals and then fail to achieve them or even start working towards them. We all do that at the begining of every year. But the subject of this blog isn't to delve into why we fail to achieve our goals, it's about looking forward.
A couple of years ago, I heard about kaizen. It's a Japanese term that calls for small continuous improvements. It's a business term, but I thought, "Why not use it in my everyday life." In fact, until recently, I had a sticky note with the term on my desk (it was removed to improve air quality in the office, but that's a subject of another post).
So, in the name of improving my self little by little (I'm not writing my novel yet), but I decided to start a blog and chronicle little changes I've decided to implement to improve my life. I hope to give readers ideas they can use and hope you all can give me ideas/suggestions as well.
of course, there's a slight chance (ok, a big chance), I'd spend any extra time watching daytime television. I don't know why people make these grand goals and then fail to achieve them or even start working towards them. We all do that at the begining of every year. But the subject of this blog isn't to delve into why we fail to achieve our goals, it's about looking forward.
A couple of years ago, I heard about kaizen. It's a Japanese term that calls for small continuous improvements. It's a business term, but I thought, "Why not use it in my everyday life." In fact, until recently, I had a sticky note with the term on my desk (it was removed to improve air quality in the office, but that's a subject of another post).
So, in the name of improving my self little by little (I'm not writing my novel yet), but I decided to start a blog and chronicle little changes I've decided to implement to improve my life. I hope to give readers ideas they can use and hope you all can give me ideas/suggestions as well.
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