Antibodies & "Real Food"

Check out his bites and scars on his arms!! :(

Today is Antibody day for Jordan... We were so thankful that Susie was able to find the vein in the first shot today! We put some warm compresses on Jordan's arm before she tried and all went well.

The ADF meeting last evening went well. We were happy to have about 60-70 people come out to learn about this hard striving ministry. Ken Fletcher spent the night here. He slept in Justin's room. After we got back from the meeting about ten o'clock last night Dave and Ken stayed up to chat a bit yet. Thanks to Justin all the kids were in bed...:) The Little's were already asleep. I so enjoy my wonderful responsible big brother that he is "sitter"...:) I was so tired after an up at five and down at eleven going all day type of day!

Ken was still here this morning so he joined us for breakfast and Dave came home for breakfast to. I decided to wait to pack lunches until later on so I can keep my sanity during breakfast...:) We had sausage, bacon, eggs, toast, creamed beef, fresh fruit and the big guys even had a piece of pie! We are used to a big breakfast but not always this big...:) We enjoyed more great conversation with Ken before he left. Thanks Ken for making the trip up here, we enjoyed having you.

Dave then took the kids to school for me, which was a treat:) Javon and I had stories before we started our day. Cleaning up from breakfast took extra time then we folded laundry and made lunch to be delivered to the shop and school... It took pretty long to create this dish today. (I don't work efficiently when losing to much sleep, I'm dragging today)

What's in here?? Small tiny baby potatoes, whole wheat pasta, mushrooms and onions all mixed with cream and Alfredo seasoning, Chicken dipped in egg then panko crumbs, grilled/fried in coconut oil and then sauce and cheese to top it off. Broccoli was served on the side.

Meals ready to go... Jenika gets no cheese and no sauce since she likes it better with out it...:)

                        We pressed 72 burgers today!! Jordan's deer meat is where these came from!...

I seasoned these up, added eggs, oatmeal and sauce then pressed em. We love them and they make great yummy juicy burgers. We do prefer to use the deer for cubes but we always do get plenty of burger to! I will freeze these on the tray until firm then vac pack them so they keep great until grilling season. (which seems like an eternity off, yet we miss it already:}) Thanks Jordan for helping supply the food around here! It takes tons it seems to feed these growing boys!!

Last evening at the group meeting a few of us ladies were talking in a smaller group afterwards. We all had growing families and we were comparing grocery shopping, budgets etc. It gets a tad overwhelming here for me at times with all the groceries it seems to take with big boys in the house and I love to hear from other moms with growing children and see how they deal with it!

I often think I'm stocked on groceries now, yet so soon it's time to go for more food!

So often in these small groups when talking about food I can feel like the "odd ball"... We only eat a big cooked supper together once a week, I rarely have processed snacks in my pantry here, people ask me "what do your kids snack on??? I kind of blush and am not even sure what to tell them??:)

 I get the feeling at times people think we are crazy for opting out of the every evening supper together. (I do really believe there is great value in this!) (my sisters think I'm crazy:)) But I get sad at times when I get the feeling people think my kids might be deprived then. I get embarrassed sometimes to even tell people our eating system because "it's not the way we were used to doing it growing up" or I sometimes wonder, Are we doing it wrong.??

 I think many people want to take steps to healthy food yet don't know where to begin. It took years of baby stepping here and I'm still not near where I want to be!

Maybe our way is different here but as my kids are growing up I love to see them really enjoy "real food"! You can hand my Little's those tasty cake thingies or those processed powdered donuts and they will take one bite and won't eat more! Rachel Ann gave Javon a Swiss roll thingy to eat on the way home after picking him up at her house the other day and he took one bite and didn't want more! Sorry Rachel Ann.:) The rest went to some chickens which we passed pecking the ground along the road, I even felt bad for the chickens,,,:)

What do we snack???

I decided after the discussion last evening to take notice what we snack on here??  I didn't really think we snacked that much... This is what I came up with today...

 He asked me for a grape fruit once today. I cut around the edges and he digs out the bites from there. He squeezes out the juice and drinks that in the end then.

I brought out this leftover snack tray from last evening and they picked at this.... He enjoyed the dip but he will eat many of these veggies without the dip. (notice the HE!)

Later on it was these blueberries...

then later this...

And NO I was not making him snack on these things just so I could take his picture! I guess we do snack here more then I realized! Fruit is a highlight for us and now we are starting with the yummy citric season. Justin has apples in his lunch everyday and he will eat himself sick on concord grapes! We all love fruit so I keep lots on hand!

Javon is definitely the easiest one here when it comes to "real food"  I think it's simply because I started learning more about "real food" when he was little and he was introduced to veggies early in his life.

Baby stepping is what works here! Remember the "feet butter" a few weeks ago? Well we are now putting it on the toast and nothing is said about it. Dave got on my case last week for giving them the option (as I was still using store bought butter for them) I told him it takes time, first you introduce it, then you start to use it in some things and just keep trying and eventually they are sold. He says "Isn't that how the devil works?" I gave him the looks and said "don't call me that" we did end up laughing about it...kind of true...:)

We are far from eating perfect "Real Food" all the time! We love sweets to and this is passed down from the Zook side and I'm as hooked as the rest of my clan now!! Javon also had a kid size ice cream cone at Lapp Valley today when we went for milk. (would have taken his picture but didn't have phone or camera at the time:)) I have something baked here almost all the time, sometimes in the freezer for lunches but we still all go for that sweet something after every meal! We are not afraid to splurge on the occasional parties or nights out! We love holiday eating and even the junk that goes with it! Week-ends are often a time when we eat more out of routine and we enjoy this time to!

It takes work, effort and more trips to the store for fresh fruit. Some days I want to throw my hands up and go back to the easy stuff! I have to get creative and I don't always feel like it! I think we have way to many handy yummy looking stuff on the store shelves so I find I'm better off to spend most of my grocery time in the fruit and veggie part of the store! I spend way more time in these aisles then I used to!!

I also like to get the kids involved. Ask them what they might like to try or let them create something of there own? My two oldest can make themselves a killer looking sandwich or wrap or many other things!! They have gotten creative with all sorts of food and I love it! Justin especially! He gets out the onions and pickles and Dave and I often ask him to make us some of what he's having...:)

The kids have there turns to help with the once a week all out meal. They can plan the menu, help prepare and set the table. We go all out on these evenings with a fresh dessert and all. It's often at this meal that I try to imagine doing this every night? We enjoy this time yet I think if we'd do this every night we wouldn't appreciate it as much... We still gather in the kitchen every evening together and we try to prioritize family time sometime in the evening for stories, games and catching up on the day.

No one family does it perfect and we all have our own style. My boys are growing up and I see them appreciate good food more and more. Justin's exact words "we are not freaks":) I have days when I have no idea what I will put in the lunches. My canning helps with this but it still takes the fruit and veggies to balance that all out. I find it takes lots of chopping, washing, cutting and introducing and when this becomes a life style it's not even thought about anymore. I always introduce fruit with breakfast. They don't always eat it but the times they do (which is more often now) makes it worth it.

Supplements??? Yes we do supplement. The kids even if given all healthy food still don't get all they need so we add supplements every morning. More in the winter months. Jenika and Javon now both swallow pills! This was a great thing to them!! (and me!!) It was not forced... just introduced and it makes them feel bigger now.:)

They take krill oil, (omega3's) vitamin C, and a probiotic. We all take the same pills but the Little's just take a smaller dose. Jordan takes a few other ones, to try harder to keep him well. He swallows seven pills every morning without complaining!

This is our style when it comes to food and I loved sharing it with you. It might motivate somebody to start the baby step process journey with me. I find it more fun now that the kids are older and they can help along. They really are not one bit deprived. If they are still hungry after they eat school lunches it's because I'm astonished at how much food they can eat and I just forget to pack the enormous portions. Not because they don't think it's good food...:)

 I have ups and downs and every now and again I find myself in the cereal aisle. (This stuff is just so HANDY!)  We sometimes have the not so healthy waffles with our breakfast. They eat them with cream. (Justin whips the real stuff, we don't even miss syrup!) It's like many other things in life "It takes SELF discipline" Harder for me then the kids sometimes!

Anyway I feel like this is a ~ramlly~ post...:) I'd love to hear how you all do it and since food and fitness have become a passion of mine this is often what I find myself  reading books on or talking to others about... America really is in trouble if we keep eating these poisons in our food! God did not design our bodies to consume this kind of stuff! I want to make a difference for my family if and where I can, even if it takes many more years of "Baby Steps" :)

A few favorite quotes...

Which one of these are you?? I'm not sure about me and my family but I'm striving a number four...:)

Have a great evening... My family went to the chiropractor without me! It's sooo quiet here!!