RawTill4 ~ 2 Months + Toddler Din Successes

Happy 2 (dos, deux, zwei, liang <---thank you lady I work with...etc.) Months RawTill4!! Though...shit feels longer, just saying    >_>

Either way, I started this journey the beginning of April as a week long experiment to see how my body would adjust to a drastic change regarding how I consume food. At the time I was drinking at least two coffees a day (acid make me no happy), salads for breakfast/lunch + balsamic vinegar + steamed vegetables, salty snacks up the...up the...the you know...up and stuffs...pretty much my waking moments were composed of thinking about what I wanted to eat while simultaneously counting calories and doing crash diets in order to consume said calories. It was sort of sad actually! I was eating healthy by society's standards but my body was telling me this wasn't working, I was burying myself in a world of packaged goods in the form of salad dressing, coffee creamer, salty snacks, and well, that's about it...but that's all it took for this post-baby making metabolism!

So! After one week on RawTill4 I realized I generally felt better, my portions were back in control, and I no longer craved ridiculous amounts of salt. It just felt...good.

Buzzzzz. Beeeeeep. 2 months have passed. Hi, hey! I've finally semi-accepted my weight/physique sorta/kinda. I've lost a couple of inches and I feel great in regards to energy most of the time (B12 vitamins in use!), so summer is approaching and I dug out the 2-piece for a spin. Felt good. It's odd, how the female brain operates. My husband is my biggest supporter. He met me almost 6 years ago when I was at my heaviest (5'2; 135-140 lbs) and he loved every part of me but it didn't matter. Along  with my own self-deprication, I heard opinions from outside sources stating things like "she will become a marshmallow" or "Rick likes them big" ...haha...as I can look back and laugh, a few statements like those can really hurt, whether or not we like to admit it. And due to the fact that I had struggled with weight paranoia issues for quite some time, these opinions only fueled my general distaste in my physical form. Currently, I'm still 5'2 (yea, apparently vertical growth past 8th grade was not in the books) and remain between 115-118 lbs, but the difference can be found in the lack of bloat. While I'd love to lose another 5-10 lbs, I'm content feeling as though I'm doing everything dietary that I can possibly do. And that is a first for me.

Below are examples throughout my 2 month RawTill4 (carbs at night) food-related experiments

Besides shoving whole food items into my face, I've tried to broaden my toddler daughter's pallet with vegetarian post-work tired brain meal ideas:

What I've learned:

1. Children enjoy any vegetables that are roasted. Any.
2. Children will consume cheese regardless if dairy resides within it.
3. Children consume fruit morning, day, and night because it's sugar and sugar tastes good.
4. Make "mashed" anything and small humans will eat it.
5. Broccoli is great in soufflé form, steamed form not so much.
6. String beans are great, but toddlers with 6 teef have a hard time consuming them, so they tear, suck, and eat the garlic/butter from each piece.
7. Quinoa is awesome. Anytime.
8. Toddlers love different flavors, so add them! Paprika, curry powder, garlic, thyme, sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, cardamom etc. DO it.

Photo One: Baked paprika/sea salt carrots and cauliflower, baked butternut squash, sweet potato mash, and fruit

Photo Two: Quinoa sweet potato parm burger, butternut squash fries, and fruit

Photo Three: Broccoli souffle, carrot coins, butternut squash, garlic butter string beans, and fruit

Lesson to be learned: don't limit your tiny person's diet...they get it, food is great in many forms. Whole foods are great in all forms.

Now on to the summer and VegFest in 2-days! More on that next week...

Vegan Spiced Apple Lentil Muffins ~ Toddler Friendly

Need an easy protein boost for your little one? That's what I was thinking when I realized that raising a child as a vegetarian seems easy, but because of the lack of animal-based proteins, I may be limiting my daughter's nutrition! Bleh :s

So! I'm not a huge lentil fan, but how can you not like those little legumes when encased within a soft, fluffy muffin? Impossible! My first attempt at the recipe using a gluten free oat flour proved tasty, but far too mooshy...as if all the moisture in the world resided in one muffin. So here it is an updated, non-gluten free version!

Recipe Deets (use organic whenever possible!)

1 cup cooked lentils
1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder (I added more and it helped with the muffin's "form")
pinch of sea salt
cinnamon to taste
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup coconut sugar (or any type of sugar)
1/4 cup cocnut oil (or olive oil...adds moisture and flavor)
3 tbsp maple syrup (flavor...so feel free to add less sugar because of the maple syrup)
1 cup shredded apple (1 large apple)
1 flax egg (or reg egg if not vegan)

Preheat oven to 375°

- In one bowl mix wet ingredients, and in another bowl mix dry (other than apple)
- Fold dry into wet
- Add apples
- Distribute evenly in muffin pan
- Bake 20 minutes

The great thing about this recipe is that you can substitute the ingredients in accordance to how much sugar/oil you prefer in your baking.

My tiny lady goes crazy for these things! They are perfect snack sized and packed with protein!

 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star ~ 1st Birthday Party

In celebration of my daughter's 1st year on this Earth, my husband and I threw her a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star party (most favorite song ever...)! Mirabelle made it through one year completely healthy and right on track developmentally (i.e., physical and mental milestones) - so our family is just super thankful and honestly over-joyed with every little moment in time that we share with this tiny lady, and truly love watching her progress and become more and more the person she will grow into :>

I'm going to keep the yapping brief and let the photos speak for themselves!

While we made most of the decor ourselves (i.e., stars, puffs, and pennants), some of the decor also came from my own childhood birthday parties! The glassware, serving bowls, and random decor came from a few places: our wedding decor (which we collected from various thrift stores), wedding gifts, old vases from my grandfather, mini-porcelin dolls from my husband's grandmother, and the gold dinosaurs were re-used from my babyshower (we had bought a bag of cheapo plastic dinos and painted them).

I made Mirabelle's mini-cake and also the 4 layer cake. The icing was made from scratch, as well as the carrot cake cream cheese cookie sandwiches. This helped keep costs down a lot! Though, admittedly, the cost was a bit more than I initially expected yet it all turned out beautifully so I can't complain!

Food + Tableware + Clothing
GF Macarons (vanilla, chocolate ganache, and pistachio) - Posh Pop Bake Shop
Plates, wooden forks/spoons, and cardboard straws - Shop Sweet Lulu
Bunny-shaped Snacks (cheddar, white cheddar, pretzel mix, snickerdoodle, graham crackers, chocolate chip cookies)  - Annie's Homegrown
Mini-cake stand - Homegoods
Tiny Table & Chairs - KidKraft  (gift from my side of the fam)
Mirabelle's Birthday Outfit - Janie and Jack
Mirabelle's Birthday Shoes - Janie and Jack 
My Dress -  Forever 21
My Shoes - John Fluevog (my particular style is no longer available) 

Finally, as a family, our gift was a handmade teepee (my husband picked out the fabric and built the structure, while his mother was the seamstress). A perfect hideaway and future reading spot <3

Now what's next??