Sunday Song Day: Who "Loves You Full Wherever You Go"?
September has a way of kicking up the winds of change in this house (last year this time, I was changing careers and working them both at the same time for the whole month), it’s always a busy swirl, and this one has arrived with a roar of forward movement that’ll shake up this site.
I started out with 7 day a week PBWF feasting examples, doctor-lead podcasts, and nutritional research essays, and that snapped a lot of souls to attention. I cut back to two days a week (with all the other days crammed into those offerings) so I could navigate a better balance between parenting/home-schooling/house-managing/yard-tending/Board-of-Education/small-business creation, and now that last bit is going to take a larger piece of the pie because thanks to Tara: CRYSTAL AND I SECURED A KITCHEN THIS WEEKEND!!!! <3
This means I need to find extra minutes/moments to dedicate toward creating another website, while now Reeeally getting into the weeds of small business creation! <3
I started sounding this klaxon with the hope of it waking up loved ones to the realities that our diets have drastic impacts on both the environment and our health. I knew folks were likely not aware that switching to plant-based feasting is urged by United Nations (for environmental sustainability/pushing-back-against-climate-change) and recommended by the National Institutes of Health (among others) for optimal health.
A heart-lifting SWARM of souls woke up with that howling, but the common response was something akin to, “I hear you! I’ve looked into it (or tried it and now feel better), and I can’t believe the overwhelming amount of data connecting dietary choices to health and environmental impact… but I just don’t have the time! I wish you could do it for me!”
Those voices went from single digits to well-over 60 in a few short months, and I realized that offering information is only so helpful: stepping out of my writer’s-corner comfort-zone and rolling my sleeves up to DO something with my other skills would be a better use of planetary time/healing right now.
So Crystal and I joined forces to create a meal-prepping delivery service. BOY HOWDY do we both LOVE to eat, but we’ll only do so if it is absolutely delectable, and we spend a lot of our free time making new and better feasting. If you know us, you’ve undoubtedly had our offerings, and you know we aren’t fooling: we make dang good food. Why not share?
It’ll also be simultaneously kind to the environment, your body, and the other species on this planet. Our biggest hope is for more and more people to fight back against humanity’s environmental destruction, and to feel better of body while their doing it.
We realized there are many folks who care, they just lack the resources (time, money, skill-set, etc) to sort out how to transition to PBWFs, and restaurant options can be both limited and expensive (<—as tight budget mamas, our goal is to make this as inexpensive as possible because our aim is to help the planet/you: not stuff our pockets.)
So from here on out, these Sunday Song Day and Recipe Wednesday posts will be condensed and will show only a few special meals (<—This whole website kicked off when a friend asked for examples of daily PBWF eating as inspiration for her own path.)
I’m still going to Mary Tyler Moore the heck out of environmental imperatives and evidenced-based nutrition information (<—because they are interwoven essentials to forward growth!), I’ll still post a recipe a week so you have access to stuff you can do yourself, I’ll just be working harder to make sure we can directly help you out sooner than later, so gonna tone down a bit of this wind. :-) (You can always check out Forks Over Knives or Dr Michael Greger’s “How Not To Die Cookbook” for way more/better ideas! <3).
Continue for: 4 days of a family living by Lifestyle Medicine example (eating well, loving big, stressing less, moving all the dang time <—even this post-surgery Mama) and thriving off Plant-Based Whole-Foods; our first 3 days of remote learning; Seth Avett singing songs that make me think of Ian with a lump-throated heart; and perpetual planetary imperatives.
Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward.
Plant-Based Whole-Food Kiddo Breakfast: homemade whole oat bread (recipe coming up Wed? Does anyone really need another bread recipe??), berry sauce (<—or do I do a recipe for that?), peanut butter, and an apple.
J breakfast: sweet overnight oats, berry sauce, omega sprinkle, banana, almond butter.
I spent the summer home-schooling Q, he got a week of “break”, and then Wednesday we started his district remote-learning. I expected that my days would involve more schooling (summer school had been been a few hours a day), but his kindergarten is full-day schooling, and I’ve now shifted my days to the corresponding realization that a full-day for him is a full-day for me.
The district dropped off a school packet via bus drivers, and Q was eager to fill this whole poster in.
All of us on sandworms again! :-D (Q - graboid, j - Beetlejuice, Ian - shai-hulud)
Q - "When I grow up, I want to be with Aria; and I'll train people on how to ride sandworms, and I'll be the caretaker of the sandworms, and I'll paint and draw at night."
j - "I think you need to list a profession that could actually exist in this realm."
Q - "Ok, then I'll be with Aria, and I'll work at the ZOO, and I'll do painting and drawing in the evenings; and Aria will dance or whatever makes her happy."
<3 <3 <3
Fantastical and Realistic: “It’s our house. See where Papa still hasn’t painted in blue? And here’s me outside riding a graboid.”
Crystal’s PBWF scalloped potato casserole, kale and balsamic tomato, and homemade heirloom marinara.
Dessert: crust bar, overnight oats, berry sauce, dark chocolate sauce.
Curried Summer Squash Bisque, kale and balsamic tomatoes, hemp shake (nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt, paprika, hemp hearts), cornbread, and grated brazil nut.
Plant-Based-Kiddo Breakfast: homemade whole-grain bread, peanut butter, and berry sauce sandwich with an apple.
When kindergarten sends home your son’s name for him to decorate for his distance learning wall, and this is how he does it. :-D <3
Plant-Based Whole-Food Feasting: black rice noodles, green beans, swiss chard, zucchini, summer squash, pickled peppers, sugar-free peanut sauce recipe.
Overnight oats, omega sprinkle, mango, berry sauce, and almond butter,
Evening Love <3
Morning Love <3
(When Ian works from home, this is a frequent morning view: Wicket coming upstairs to greet him, her whole body buzzing with purr-love.)
Thursday: As seen by the bottom corner of his “About Me”: the kid LOVES a peanut butter and berry sauce sandwich, so as much as I offer alternatives there are spats of similar days (another reason the new system will free me up some time. <— How many peanut butter sandwiches do you need to see :-D)
When Ian is at work and Q is in school, he leaves a note to greet Q (because he leaves early enough that Q is still sleeping), and our first one of these since March was this Thursday. Was sad to have a rare morning without Ian, but also good for the heart to see these two back to passing messages back and forth. (Ian leaves some wisdom, Q leaves a drawing. <3)
When your kiddo is too shy to do the dancing alone on-screen, but he’ll do it with you off-screen. <3
Also first time back to dancing since Friday’s umbilical hernia surgery (<—no take-home opiates, last Tylenol was Tuesday <== Plant Strong!)
Remote-Learning: when you learn through one of your kid’s videos that you’re supposed to make some flashcards, so you make some up quick, and then your hyper-exacting kiddo gives you shade about how your dots are “more like ovals” but places them in the correct order, and throws in size-of-toy out of orderly itch. :-D
Plant-Based Whole-Food Lunch Break: black rice noodles, green beans, summer squash, bell peppers, sugar-free peanut sauce recipe.
“Whew! Math is fun!” <—something I never expected to hear out of his mouth. <3
Him = using his 100pack of markers as resistance weight in his PE video.
Me: recovering slowly from surgery and puttering away at cooking tasks. (Cappello Brownies)
The start of refried beans getting made with fresh heirloom (Jasper) tomatoes
Visiting with friends in 2020: when your overnight guests arrive in their own Winnebago so they can sleep in their own space.
Our friend’s Mikey and Gina (and Mario) came over, and we were able to catch up around the fire and soak up time with souls that always make you feel lighter of spirit and heart. Not only is this a lift for us adult folks, Gina is a kindergarten teacher and is especially great with Q. We’re blessed to have the kind of friends that spark up Q’s life with a lot of love, because these times are odd and he so rarely gets to see other kiddos.
Plant-Based Friendly Feasting :-) Eaten Around The Fire—> black rice, ten-minute tomatillo, kale salad, bell peppers, cornbread, queso, taco-style lentil loaf, refried beans, crushed up tortillas, and hot sauce.
Next Morning / “Yeah, but where do you get your protein?” :-)
Breakfast toppings: cashew cream, sweet peanut butter sauce (peanut butter whipped with oatmilk and dates), almond butter, peanut butter, chia, omega sprinkle. (Also, oats are PACKED with protein...but most importantly: lots of heart-healthy fiber.)
Blueberry Oatmeal with a salad bar of topping offerings.
Quill in absolute love with Mikey and Gina’s Winnebago and desperate for us to get one ourselves.
<3
“Come again!”
September CSA colors
September CSA colors
Physical Time / Bonding Time <3
“Could we grow good tomatoes, and a family anywhere?”
I was working through the above golden balsamic tomatoes when Seth Avett’s “Should We Move Away From Here” came on our background mix, and I found myself smiling to it as I often do.
I’ll be the same quiet man
Who wakes too early and drives too fast
Who has his way and wants things to be just so
Who loves you full wherever we go
Always makes me think of Ian. We’ve grown bounds and lived in 5 different places over our 15 years, but through the changes there are core aspects to Ian that have only crystallized. The above are comically similar, but a bit more poignant and worth note: Ian’s keen-and-curious mind, Ian’s overwhelmingly generous heart, Ian’s sense of humor, Ian’s drive to always be better than he was before.
We’ll be the same man and wife
Who live a big blessed life
Who take the hard way to learn all we know
Who love in full wherever we go
Tuesday is his birthday; Thursday is our anniversary; last year was a hiccuping swirl; the last 15 have been swift and tidal; and this year is an absolute swell/roar/tempest of CHANGES, forward movement, and BIG love. The harder things have been, the closer we have grown, and given that our years have now encompassed some weighty calamities, we’re more in tune than we’ve ever been. Days over here are full of love, laughter, learning, and the existential warning-bell that humanity is running itself right over a cliff that will doom our son.
The fierce love I have for Ian and Q is radiating out into extra work to turn the tide of the environmental destruction; because this big love comes with buzzed wide-awake eyes seeing the future that is awaiting Q (and every other species) if I don’t keep on klaxoning on.
Plant-Based Family Feasting / So simple and so good: golden balsamic tomatoes, pesto Ian made, and heirloom marinara.
Ian (dishes), Q (spending every free moment to draw), me (making us zero-waste, plant-based popcorn.)
Here’s some news we should be listening to this week:
“Earth barreling toward 'Hothouse' state not seen in 50 million years, epic new climate record shows”
“The zig-zagging chart (shown above) ends with a sobering peak. According to the researchers, the current pace of anthropogenic global warming far exceeds the natural climate fluctuations seen at any other point in the Cenozoic era, and has the potential to hyper-drive our planet out of a long icehouse phase into a searing hothouse state.”
“How climate change is fueling record-breaking California wildfires, heat and smog”
“In a matter of weeks, California has experienced six of the 20 largest wildfires in modern history and toppled all-time temperature records from the desert to the coast. Millions are suffering from some of the worst air quality in years due to heat-triggered smog and fire smoke. A sooty plume has blanketed most of the West Coast, blotting out the sun and threatening people’s lungs during a deadly pandemic.
California is being pushed to extremes. And the record heat, fires and pollution all have one thing in common: They were made worse by climate change. Their convergence is perhaps the strongest signal yet that the calamity climate scientists have warned of for years isn’t far off in the future; it is here today and can no longer be ignored.”
“The Arctic is burning like never before — and that’s bad news for climate change”
“Nearly half the world’s peatland-stored carbon lies between 60 and 70 degrees north, along the Arctic Circle. The problem with this is that historically frozen carbon-rich soils are expected to thaw as the planet warms, making them even more vulnerable to wildfires and more likely to release large amounts of carbon. It’s a feedback loop: as peatlands release more carbon, global warming increases, which thaws more peat and causes more wildfires (see ‘Peatlands burning’). A study published last month1 shows that northern peatlands could eventually shift from being a net sink for carbon to a net source of carbon, further accelerating climate change.”
“Sir David Attenborough makes stark warning about species extinction”
"I may not be here to see it," he concludes, "but if we make the right decisions at this critical moment, we can safeguard our planet's ecosystems, its extraordinary biodiversity and all its inhabitants."
His final line packs a powerful punch: "What happens next", says Sir David, "is up to every one of us."
What’s the most impactful thing you can do as an individual to help your kin, community, millions of species, and planet? Transition as plant-based as possible.🌎♥️
Why? Plant-Based foods are environmentally imperative 🌎. They also promote ideal health💪 (which takes stress off our overburdened health care system), are inexpensive🙌, delicious🤤, & compassionate. 💕
Why imperative, though? 🤔We’re approaching (& have crossed) climate tipping points that will doom our kin & millions of other species. 😱📣Reducing/eliminating animal products is the *most impactful thing an individual can do* to prevent worse. 🌎🔥
Why? Animal Agriculture creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined, it’s tied to water waste/loss/pollution (<-- freshwater is our most precious resource💧), land loss/deforestation (<-- exacerbates climate change by reducing our ability to sequester carbon🔥🌎), ocean acidification (<-- FYI 50-85% of earth’s oxygen originates from oceanic plankton🌊) & vast species loss/extinction/suffering💔📣🌎
Plus, consuming animal products is tied to increased risk of cardiovascular disease❤️🩹, diabetes👎, cancer👎, and chronic disease👎; whereas Plant-Based feasting is linked to preventing/reversing some of our most common diseases (<— like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer); plus it promotes ideal health & robust strength (ie Olympians, Weightlifters, Endurance Athletes are thriving via PBWFs too). 🎉🙌♥️
What organizations are promoting plant-based diets for best health and environmental stability? National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic, Yale, the United Nations, Harvard School of Health, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Kidney Foundation, even the Parkinson’s Foundation.
We’re all overwhelmed in one way or another, but for the sake of our kin (and the millions of species we share this planet with) we need to start pivoting forward. As someone who once rarely ate green things & used to eat animal products at every meal, I can assure you that is possible, affordable, enjoyable, & purposeful to pivot Plant-Based. In fact, our whole family is now healthier/stronger than ever. 🙌♥️
Anecdotally, our son had failure-to-thrive, was also plagued with perpetual ear-infections/sinus-infections, and had an omnipresent runny nose. What was he eating? Grass-fed milk, organic/antibiotic-free/grass-fed/local meats, eggs from organic-fed/well-loved chickens from a neighbor, every meal came with vegetables, and we limited junkfood. He was healed via a plant-based diet: he’s launched out of that diagnosis and the last time he had a sinus-infection (or was sick at all) was in 2019 when he had some cheese at a school Christmas party. Before shifting to PBWF’s he was sick every month, and how he’s a robust, vital, thriving kiddo. 🙌🎉♥️
If you think any of the above sounds over-reached/absurd/impossible, please go read the links above. I understand the inclination to hackle-raise (<—because I was once totally there) but the science is clear: any step we make forward is imperative (<—and again “STEPS” is the focus. Don’t leap, just start making steps!). It’s as simple as starting with one meal a week and growing from there.💕
We have the ability (deliciously, healthfully, kindly, inexpensively) to *preserve/protect* the planet we share with millions of species & our kin. How are we going to use that power today?✌️🤟🖖
