Thinking Outside the Lunchbox: Tofu Dippers
I have goals for this school year. I am determined to have Gigi complete her homework of reading aloud for 20 minutes each night, even though it pains me considerably. She’s a great reader, she just chooses biographies that are about three levels too advanced for her. I had to explain what both “slavery” and “horse liniments” were today. Now that’s homework. I am committed to making sure that Gigi maintains her innocence despite... Read More
Vegan Values: Saag Peaneer
If you are a connoisseur of Indian food, I owe you an apology. Actually, Gigi and Lulu owe you an apology. Good luck collecting that. I had every intention of making an authentic version of saag paneer. Well, except for the fact that I was not going to make my own carefully crafted blend of spices. Two year-old Costco bottle of cinnamon? Don’t mind if I do. And then there’s the tiny detail that my “authentic” saag paneer doesn’t... Read More
Dinner Tonight: Grilled Watermelon Salad
Pea Daddy has this uncanny knack for getting ideas stuck in his head and when he does, there’s no getting them out. He is the definition of tunnel vision. This explains so very, very much: Why he still hasn’t opened his Kindle. We are NOT getting an iPad. Unless, of course, one of us isn’t that attached to our kidneys. Why he has read at least five books on surfing in the last six months, even though he isn’t a strong swimmer.... Read More
Still On The Fly
A few weeks ago, I wrote about our life on the fly. It’s yet another crazy week in the Pea Household, complete with birthday and Father’s Day celebrations, the last day of school, haircuts, Bible studies and phone meetings and culminating with what will surely be the most memorable production of Peter Pan ever. We’re busy. We’re hungry. We’re jealous that Big Sister got her face painted on the last day of school and thus are drawing with... Read More
You Don’t Bring Me Coleslaw Anymore
It was a strange day. And somehow it ended in Pea Daddy buying me flowers for no reason. Or maybe, in fact, for many reasons. While driving today, I called 911 on a couple that were fighting on the sidewalk while their baby watched from her stroller. Mom shoved Dad so hard he came into my lane and I had to swerve to miss him. She’s a keeper. While mailing dough balls today, Lulu looked around the post office until she saw a man getting ready... Read More
A Sweet Celebration (GIVEAWAY)
I joke a lot about how old I am. The number of prunes I eat. The waist on my jeans creeping higher. The “frosted” highlights in my hair getting a little heavier as more and more grey hairs sprout after ballet recital tryouts, chest x-rays and book deadlines. As much as I look back fondly on my 20s, a stretch-mark free mid-section and impeccable bladder control, I have to say, life just keeps getting sweeter. And an early-bird, early birthday... Read More
A Controversial Post
There have been a couple of notable stories in the news this past week that have caused quite the buzz in the vegan community. I’ve written and rewritten my thoughts and opinions on the issues, wavered back and forth on what to say or even if I should say it, and then I just made up my mind. I don’t weigh in on problems. I solve them. Natalie Portman, if you are craving eggs, try this. And for the record, I’m still a fan and you can come... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Mmmm Sauce
At first glance, you’d think I have nothing in common with our friend, Scott. And that’s just how I like it. He wears Nike and I’m loyal to Adidas. He likes Alternative Rock and I can’t even load songs on my iPhone. He enjoys spending nine innings at the ball park, whereas I finish my bag of kettle corn and I’m out. It’s the perfect friendship. Scott can keep right on taking Pea Daddy to the Nike store, Slash concert and Mariners’ games,... Read More
Tofu Love
Whenever anyone tells me they don’t like tofu, I simply say, “Yes, you do. You just don’t know how to cook it.” It’s okay. I don’t mean anything offensive by that. If it makes you feel better, I haven’t the slightest idea how to cook a pot roast. My grandmother is so ashamed. Soy allergies or sensitivities aside, I challenge anyone to make tofu this way and not like it. Gigi likes it (but then again, she eats spinach straight... Read More
Open Kitchen
Did you happen to hear that we went to Phoenix? And that we ate at a restaurant with an open kitchen called True Food Kitchen? And that my new life’s mission is to make everything we ate off of their menu? I really need a hobby. A pedicure, a toothbrush that doesn’t have Snoopy on it, and a hobby. Little travel tip for you: don’t pack clear nail polish with a faulty lid in the same travel bag as your uncovered toothbrush or you’ll wind up... Read More
God Made the Grand Canyon
But He lives in Sedona. When we sat at home planning our Spring Break in soggy January, eating soggy cereal in our slippers, soggy from fetching a soggy newspaper, we knew we wanted somewhere dry. And warm. And for reasons I can’t fully articulate, I wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. I have a deep faith, a faith that has deepened and widened in beautiful layers of strife and renewal in my life. Though I am certainly inspired by all the... Read More
Lessons from the Road: Phoenix Edition, Day 1
It’s a two and a half hour flight to Phoenix. It’s 87 degrees. If you are three and five years-old, having unlimited juice at a pre-flight breakfast buffet is like winning the lottery. But not for the parent on airplane bathroom duty. It’s a two and a half hour flight to Phoenix. It’s 87 degrees. You don’t need eight pairs of shoes. You need flip-flops. Shoes weigh a lot. If you were to, say, remove ten pounds of shoes from your... Read More
Thanks for Asking
If you’ve been reading for awhile, you may have noticed that I almost never post on Friday nights. “What ARE you doing?” you might ask. “Washing your hair?” Yes. “Visiting the elderly?” Yes. “Making your husband and children drive 35 miles to go to your favorite stores in the entire world to participate in one of your favorite activities in the entire world?” Yes and yes. “Is Pea Daddy still sporting that smokin’ stubble…... Read More
Operation Arach-i Freedom
My kitchen window is freaking me out. This guy has been hanging out for the past two weeks. Spinning. Growing. Giving me heart failure. Lest you think he is not that big, think again. It is not merely the sight of Spidey that sends me into a full body shudder. No, what sends me into a complete panic that has me again vowing to switch to decaf is when I don’t see him. You see, in this very window frame we watched sugar ants crawl in all... Read More
Culture Immersion
There are some things you can’t learn about in books. There are just some things you have to experience firsthand. A high school friend of mine got caught drinking and her parents took the unheard of approach of letting her get as sloshed as possible…only to cook her plenty of runny eggs and sausages for breakfast the next morning. That friend was “Becky Connor” and it was an episode of Roseanne. I never looked at breakfast... Read More
Today, More or Less
It was a good day, more or less. Though I could have done with less cats waking me up at 3:30 am puking on my carpet. Yeah, it’s not so fun to have your sleep interrupted, is it Pea Kitty? Anyone want a cat? I’ll pay you more than you can imagine. I could have done with less clouds, shivering girls and blue lips at swim lessons. Though I’ll always take more absolutely fearless jumps! I could do with less talk of Halloween... Read More
Weekend Casualties
This post was almost a casualty of the long weekend. I’m just warning you, I may go Kevorkian on it midway through. I’m surprised yesterday didn’t kill Joey Chestnut. He ate 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes at the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. That’s 5.4 hot dogs per minute. That’s almost eating a single hot dog per 10 seconds. He didn’t beat his record though of 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes. And... Read More
Running Scared
It started out as your typical gorgeous day in Suburbia… then we realized what day it was. Some of us were excited… Some of us were not. The backpack and hydration should have given it away. I had a runner on my hands. To avoid tofu, there was no distance she wouldn’t go… no terrain to rugged. Luckily, I had the manpower to bring her in, and a few tricks up my sleeve. Namely this: Incredible. The makers... Read More
That’s a Wrap!
I’m a lucky lady to have spent Father’s Day with the men that I love. Brother Aaron, Dad, me All of the men that I love. Dad, Papa Oscar (back in his overalls!), Uncle Jeff But our Father’s Day started this morning at home sweet home with the guy that my girls are so lucky to have for a dad. As sweet as home may be, I have a lengthy list of requirements for my next house. They are, in no particular order: An office: when... Read More
Pea Mail: Winging It, Lunch Edition
We are literally pooped and had a day full of errands and laundry (for obvious reasons), so I thought today would be a great day to pick up with Part II of reader Jessica’s question. You may want to see the previous Pea Mail posts to bring yourself up to speed: Pea Mail: Winging It, Breakfast Edition Pea Mail: Vegan to Go Here again is Jessica’s eloquent and flattery-filled question (as all questions should be…): Hey Mama Pea, Love... Read More
Crap Day
It really wasn’t a terrible day. There was just far too much poop involved for my liking. We were supposed to go on a field trip with Gigi’s preschool class to the Enchanted Forest, but it was pouring down rain when we woke up, and this hair-obsessed mother wasn’t about to brave the elements or worse yet, try to convince Gigi to wear long pants, just so we could trudge around looking at 1970′s nursery rhyme characters. Groovy... Read More
Let’s Pretend
Of all the gifts and talents my children have, not to mention all the toys spilling out of their toy boxes and the pyramids of puzzles and board games waiting to topple out of their closets, I am most grateful for their imaginations. Let’s pretend to ride the carousel. You can ride “Brittany Stars” and I can ride “Magical Princess.” Mom will pretend those aren’t stripper names. Let’s pretend anyone can... Read More
Defeating the Purpose
If you are getting married anytime in the near future, just know that no matter what you did or did not register for, you are getting a slow cooker. “But wait!” you are saying, “Crate and Barrel doesn’t sell slow cookers!” It doesn’t matter, you will get one. There are two camps of people in this world: 1) those who think that slow cookers are so amazing that they are lobbying for legislation that would allow them... Read More
Sunday Breakfast
We are always late for church. Our church offers three services: 8:15, 9:45 and 11:15 a.m. You can bet we are always at the 11:15 services…exactly at 11:30. I could blame it on the fact that we refuse to set an alarm on the weekend, but the truth is, we haven’t set an alarm since May 2005. I’m having a hard time recalling at exactly what age I stopped wanting to get up at 4:30 a.m. to watch cartoons. I’d creep into my... Read More
Lots of Estrogen Up in Here
Am I talking about my soy intake or my company for the day? Guess you’ll have to read on to see. I woke up this morning and spent time with this lovely lady and her six-pack. The Body for Life weight workout can be found here. While it’s a great workout for use at the gym, I’m currently shying away from doing it at home because it is based on increasing/decreasing your weight with each set. I only have your basic dumbbells with... Read More
I Am Protein
And Pro-Teen. He’s dreamy. And in third grade. Thanks for everyone’s supportive comments on the new road I’m heading down. Very few of you voted for a one liner about potty training and a vegan cookie recipe, though you’ll probably get that tomorrow anyway, so put on your plastic pants and preheat your oven. As for how this will play out blog-wise, I may return to the food diary format on some days and on others just have... Read More
Rocky Road
I first want to say thank you to all of you who came to my defense on that last post. The hostile comment didn’t make me cry, but all of your kind, sincere and intelligent responses did. I can accept criticism for choices I make regarding myself or even my personal beliefs, but I can’t ever accept being called a bad mom or the implication that I have anything but those girls’ best interests in my heart at all times. Very Palin... Read More
Lingering Leftovers
The first of the many leftovers in this post will probably explain a lot. That’s the leftover (read EMPTY) bottle from our dinner with friends this evening. I was amazed that I was still feeling the lingering effects of a glass and a half of wine with dinner. 14.1%? No wonder I’m wanting to take my shirt off and eat a cheeseburger. This morning I didn’t have leftovers for breakfast (unless you count the day old coffee I chugged... Read More
Irresistible
I couldn’t resist my craving for a green smoothie in a bowl this morning. 3 handfuls of spinach almond milk ice frozen strawberries frozen pineapple stevia 1/2 scoop protein powder cinnamon Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Granola A little trick I’ve been using is to blend my spinach with the almond milk before adding anything else. That way, the spinach gets blended up really quickly and I don’t have to stand there with my... Read More
The Sweet and The Sour
The Sweet: Dressing up for Gigi’s Christmas Program. The Sour: We still had no heat at this point, so our teeth were chattering and we had to wear heavy cardigans to avoid Nipplegate 2009. The Sweet: Absolutely every second of Gigi’s Christmas Program. She entered proudly waving her ribbon. The audience giggled as she placed one hand on her hip and swayed her hips with each swish of the ribbon. She sang her little heart out. And... Read More
Tofu Barbie
Since becoming a parent, I’ve learned that things don’t necessarily have to be all or nothing. There can be a little yin to go with the yang, and that doesn’t make me a hypocrite. I can be a woman of faith, yet religiously watch a slightly foul-mouthed and blasphemous Chelsea Handler. I can eat a tropical breakfast on a chilly December 1st and still call myself a true Oregonian. I can let my kids eat chocolate before 8 a.m.... Read More
There’s No Place Like Whole Foods…
Like me preface this post with a disclaimer: I’m not allowed to drive right now. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be able to blog now, though! Am I right or am I drugged? Everything went just fine this morning and other than a Harley riding, overly-friendly male nurse who asked my sign and what I like to do for fun, the whole thing was relatively painless. I’m just a little sedated and on ice. My personal caretakers/babysitters... Read More
Good Sports
I come from a really competitive family. We would play basketball in our driveway until it got too dark to see the ball, until the neighbors got mad at the late-night dribbling or until someone would come inside crying. I’d say 90 out of 100 times, that someone was me. The other 10 were someone who just looks like me. But it didn’t stop with basketball. I don’t like to talk about it much, but something very ugly happened... Read More
Mind Tricks and Treats
Roaming around the cold streets of our neighborhood, smelling the singed pumpkin from our suprisingly flammable jack o’ lantern and fearing that my children will never go to sleep due to the candy that they are opening and shoveling faster than I can grab it from their sticky paws has made me delusional. First, I woke up this morning and had a cookie for breakfast. In my mind, it tasted like this: But it actually looked like this: A Fitnessista... Read More
A Lack of Supervision
The good news is today was a really productive day. My house is immaculately clean. Well, let’s be honest, my house is no longer Child Protective Services bait. Or is it? You see, in order to get things done, my children are sometimes left to their own devices. After my run this morning, I had a very important phone call, which meant that breakfast had to wait. Don’t worry though, Lulu started bellowing for “Bunny GWAMS!!!”... Read More
Problem Solved
Problem #1: Daddy had a court appearance this morning (he’s a lawyer; he’s not being held in conjunction with a string of liquor store root beer bottling plant robberies), so I had to work out, get Gigi ready for school, get breakfast and be ready to leave by 8:15. Solution: I hit the treadmill at 7:30, was done by 7:55. I scarfed a heated up pear, topped with Kashi Go Lean and Pumpkin Spice granola whilst perfecting Gigi’s flawless... Read More
