The Old Folks Home

[Arielle]

Sorry I've been MIA here. I've had the coughing cruds all week thanx to my allergies and my energy has been non existant. Maddy's Godmothers gave us a smoothie maker and we've been making smoothies near bout every day. I know winter is a wierd time to make smoothies, but they help my sore throat...and the extra vitamins don't hurt either. Yesturday we made peach ones. Maddy is a very good "smoovie" maker.

It's been nothing but wet and muddy here in East Tennessee. My poor chickens are not happy. I'm not happy and DH is exasperated with the lot of us, lol.
I did get out of the house last week. We went to a Christmas party at the fairy Godmothers' house. I got a wooden chicken that says "Kitchen closed, this chick's had it" and a huge box of chocolate cherries....yum! They got Maddy a Sophia the 1st doll. She carries it everywhere now.

I'm beginning to suspect that my littlest rooster, Cricket is actually a bantam. He hasn't grown an inch, and he seems to exist outside of the pecking order. The other chickens, except Dottie, completely ignore him. Oh...and he's actually clucking now instead of peeping.

Oz...the kids are beautiful. The piglets are cute, too.

I wish we would get some snow here...it would sure look nicer than all this mud.


Blueberry "smoovies"


Me and 2 of the babies


Maddy and her Sophia.

Drink up!!!


We eat a LOT of icecream in the winter here, not just in the summer.

Iused smoothies to introduce my kids to "other " foods to stretch their thinking about food and what is healthy food. Instead of yogurt we have tried ricotta -- that is a grainy; cottage cheese-- a bit sour but can leave chunks which challenges visually . .

At this point I would love to have one of those high tech juicers that keeps the fibers in the mix. A great way to get every nutrient out of quality food.

I have thought of adding low fiber young tender letuces and see if the kids notice. I usually make a concoction without telling them and wait for a reaction. If it is truly horrid? Well that's what chickens are for!!

 

[chickadoodles]

The kids or the pigs?

ha ha ha pigs. All my kids are grown.... Thank GOD! But love the 10 grandchildren we have and another on the way! YEA!

 

[tnspursfan09]

I'm lucky with Maddy. She's one of those strange kids who seem to prefer healthy foods. She would choose green beans over cake for dessert. She has never liked chicken nuggets and wouldn't touch chocolate until she was 3. She will try anything once...but if she doesn't like it we don't make her eat it. We lucked out on the smoothie machine; I worked for 10 years at the most amazing little coffee house/cafe (owned by Maddy's fairy Godmothers) called the "Cranberry Thistle." The girls (they are sisters) retired and closed the Thistle 2 years ago and we got a lot of the equipment. Our machine is the big, heavy industrial type...it can pulverize anything.

These 2 ladies are the most amazing folks I have ever met. My role models and support system all rolled into two very loving and interesting southern women. Born and raised in Knoxville, they moved back to East TN from Baltimore when Ms. Jo's husband died. Her husband worked for the NSA. Ms. Nancy and her husband Joe, who was Maddy's Godfather till he passed last winter, packed up Jo and they all moved back to Tennessee and opened the Thistle. There they met a shy basket case who could barely leave her home without having a panic attack. They suggested that I work part time at the cafe, to get me out of the house and out of my comfort zone. Ten years later and I can't imagine my life without them. No amount of medication or therapy could do what these fine ladies have done for me. They enriched my life beyond measure. I'll always miss working at the Thistle, but I'll cherish Maddy's "Fairy Godmothers" forever.

And I ramble...

 

[ozexpat]

Drink up!!!


We eat a LOT of icecream in the winter here, not just in the summer.

Iused smoothies to introduce my kids to "other " foods to stretch their thinking about food and what is healthy food. Instead of yogurt we have tried ricotta -- that is a grainy; cottage cheese-- a bit sour but can leave chunks which challenges visually . .

At this point I would love to have one of those high tech juicers that keeps the fibers in the mix. A great way to get every nutrient out of quality food.

I have thought of adding low fiber young tender letuces and see if the kids notice. I usually make a concoction without telling them and wait for a reaction. If it is truly horrid? Well that's what chickens are for!!

The only thing you get is lettuce tasting juice and a bit of vit A. better off throwing in single baby carrot than a whole cup of lettuce.

I could think of a million things i would rather drink than lettuce.

Call me old school but I still ike to chew my veges.

 

[ozexpat]

I'm lucky with Maddy. She's one of those strange kids who seem to prefer healthy foods. She would choose green beans over cake for dessert. She has never liked chicken nuggets and wouldn't touch chocolate until she was 3. She will try anything once...but if she doesn't like it we don't make her eat it. We lucked out on the smoothie machine; I worked for 10 years at the most amazing little coffee house/cafe (owned by Maddy's fairy Godmothers) called the "Cranberry Thistle." The girls (they are sisters) retired and closed the Thistle 2 years ago and we got a lot of the equipment. Our machine is the big, heavy industrial type...it can pulverize anything.

These 2 ladies are the most amazing folks I have ever met. My role models and support system all rolled into two very loving and interesting southern women. Born and raised in Knoxville, they moved back to East TN from Baltimore when Ms. Jo's husband died. Her husband worked for the NSA. Ms. Nancy and her husband Joe, who was Maddy's Godfather till he passed last winter, packed up Jo and they all moved back to Tennessee and opened the Thistle. There they met a shy basket case who could barely leave her home without having a panic attack. They suggested that I work part time at the cafe, to get me out of the house and out of my comfort zone. Ten years later and I can't imagine my life without them. No amount of medication or therapy could do what these fine ladies have done for me. They enriched my life beyond measure. I'll always miss working at the Thistle, but I'll cherish Maddy's "Fairy Godmothers" forever.

And I ramble...

its a lovely ramble

 

[Arielle]

I'm lucky with Maddy. She's one of those strange kids who seem to prefer healthy foods. She would choose green beans over cake for dessert. She has never liked chicken nuggets and wouldn't touch chocolate until she was 3. She will try anything once...but if she doesn't like it we don't make her eat it. We lucked out on the smoothie machine; I worked for 10 years at the most amazing little coffee house/cafe (owned by Maddy's fairy Godmothers) called the "Cranberry Thistle." The girls (they are sisters) retired and closed the Thistle 2 years ago and we got a lot of the equipment. Our machine is the big, heavy industrial type...it can pulverize anything.

These 2 ladies are the most amazing folks I have ever met. My role models and support system all rolled into two very loving and interesting southern women. Born and raised in Knoxville, they moved back to East TN from Baltimore when Ms. Jo's husband died. Her husband worked for the NSA. Ms. Nancy and her husband Joe, who was Maddy's Godfather till he passed last winter, packed up Jo and they all moved back to Tennessee and opened the Thistle. There they met a shy basket case who could barely leave her home without having a panic attack. They suggested that I work part time at the cafe, to get me out of the house and out of my comfort zone. Ten years later and I can't imagine my life without them. No amount of medication or therapy could do what these fine ladies have done for me. They enriched my life beyond measure. I'll always miss working at the Thistle, but I'll cherish Maddy's "Fairy Godmothers" forever.

And I ramble...

But what a lovely ramble . . . you have great friends there! ANd you are right . . . true friends are worth far more than any medication.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
As for the juicer-- just one more way to eat vegies!! Hide the vegies in a fruit smoothy!! like to eat my vegies too. Brussel sprouts for breakfast and lunch today!! Along with home made avodado salsa. My kids often have meat and veg for breakfast; or sometimes a salad. Kids will eat the tips off the steamed asparagus, and I get the rest that is tough-- a lot of volume for very few calories.

My kids will eat a lot of salad if they can get 15 minutes of computer time for every salad they eat!! That was my push last summer to reduce computer time and increase eating vegies. It worked.

 

[tnspursfan09]

Nancy's husband Joseph used to work at a max prison in Delaware. He lied about his age to get into the army during WWII. He was also in Korea and part of the MASH unit that the tv show was made after. At the Cranberry Thistle he baked the most wonderful cakes. His halloween costume every year was the same thing. A back t-shirt that said "I know where the bodies are buried." He and Nancy had one child. They lost him and their only grandchild in an arson fire that was never solved. Jo and her husband never had children. I became their "daughter" and my family became theirs. They even talked me into going to Harrah's with them one weekend. What a blast that was. I listen to them tell stories about their past and think that even at 49 I am still just an egg who has so much still to experience.

 

[tnspursfan09]

As for the juicer-- just one more way to eat vegies!! Hide the vegies in a fruit smoothy!! like to eat my vegies too. Brussel sprouts for breakfast and lunch today!! Along with home made avodado salsa. My kids often have meat and veg for breakfast; or sometimes a salad. Kids will eat the tips off the steamed asparagus, and I get the rest that is tough-- a lot of volume for very few calories.

My kids will eat a lot of salad if they can get 15 minutes of computer time for every salad they eat!! That was my push last summer to reduce computer time and increase eating vegies. It worked.

We ate a lot more salads and veggies last year because the garden did so well. I think I ate my weight in cherry tomatoes straight off the vine.

 

[ozexpat]

As for the juicer-- just one more way to eat vegies!! Hide the vegies in a fruit smoothy!! like to eat my vegies too. Brussel sprouts for breakfast and lunch today!! Along with home made avodado salsa. My kids often have meat and veg for breakfast; or sometimes a salad. Kids will eat the tips off the steamed asparagus, and I get the rest that is tough-- a lot of volume for very few calories.

My kids will eat a lot of salad if they can get 15 minutes of computer time for every salad they eat!! That was my push last summer to reduce computer time and increase eating vegies. It worked.

My kids are young and I have not got to keep them indoors like winter here but....

My kids get a meal. No choices. No bargaining. 30 minute time limit. One time they hit the time limit, The meal was removed and served next sitting. No problems ever again.

They love veges, devour tropical fruits, eat minimal starches and lots of protein. They will try anything but keep it simple. A limit of three jelly beans or a square of chocolate when its offerred - just a taste.

Nutrition is not that complicated. We are all blessed with the availabilty to access fresh produce all year around. Fresh and simple.

I dont bargain with food. No food rewards, no rewards for food. No food obsessions. There are way too many fun things to do and places to explore to get bogged down with lettuce.