He cares

I had a neat, little lesson learning experience this weekend. I was going by myself to the Post office to deliver photo orders. As I got out of the car, I had the distinct prompting to ‘check for keys’. Like an idiot, I assumed that I had them in my purse, and that there was nothing to worry about. I locked the car, shut the door, and promptly locked my keys in the car.

I realized this as I was inside paying for my packages. As I dug around in my purse searching for keys, I thought to myself, ‘Oh, man, that was the spirit prompting me. Why didn’t I listen?’ I laughed at myself going back to the car, peering in the window, and seeing the keys inside.

I called Shaun, and started walking towards the library. It was a beautiful day, and I really didn’t have far to walk. I looked at the trees, and the gorgeous clouds surrounding the brown mountains that are growing on me. (Not a fan of desert beauty, but it’s fun to find beauty in everything. At least, I’m trying:)

I was so thankful that my legs worked, I could walk far, and my body was in amazing shape to do so. For that short walk, I had time to reflect on how many things I was blessed with.

I though about Heavenly Father, and how He cares so much about his children. He cares about the little things in our lives, and wants to help us always. Even something as small as locking your keys in the car. I mean, that’s not a huge thing in the eternal perspective, but it matters to Him. It’s so neat to be reminded about that.

Lesson I learned; when the spirit prompts you to do something, for heaven’s sake, don’t assume you’re smart and know all;  just act on the dang prompting!

What I’ve learned: White sugar

Ok, here we go! Quiet time now, so let’s see how much I can write down. The food posts are starting today, and I’ll attempt to hit the big one; refined white sugar.

Before July of this year, I had no idea about the ‘poisonous effects’ of this stuff below, this stuff that we all love to eat, including me, especially at lots of activities at my church. You guys remember all the sweet recipes I would post on FB. Now, I’m going back to some of my white sugar recipes, and tweaking them to be processed free.

I studied about refined sugar from a lot of health sites, Livestrong, organic food blogs, but the most detailed and accurate source of knowledge I found came from Dee Mcaffrey, and organic chemist and nutritionist, who lost 100 pounds from eating processed free foods, and kept if off for 20 years. She is a former sugar addict, and went back to school to learn about the body’s chemistry relating to food. She has a great website, Processed Free America. 

I'm going to share some tidbits from her book, ‘The Science of Skinny. Start understanding your body’s chemistry, and stop dieting forever.’ I like that last line. It seems we live in a nation that is full of dieting, all sorts of diets. Wouldn’t it be nice to not diet to lose weight and be healthier? Totally possible.

Chapter 4 is a super chapter of information! Here goes:

“Seductive and sweet, refined sugar is more a drug than it is a food, it is a poison. Aside from quickly adding pounds of fat to our belly, butt, and thighs, sugar interferes with many body functions and slowly and deleteriously robs us of important nutrients. The result is a myriad of complications and degenerative diseases such as allergies, arthritis, gallstones, colitis, depression, gout, diabetes, hypoglycemia, heart disease, osteoporosis, obesity, and cancer (particularly breast cancer and colon cancer) to name just a few!” Page 49

How sugar starts out:

Before sugar becomes the white sugar we all know, it starts out as Sugarcane, a plant similar to bamboo.

“Sugarcane is brimming with vitamins, minerals, fibers, enzymes, and phytonutrients. If you walked into a field of sugarcane and cut off a piece to chew on, not only would you experience a yummy, sweet, yet dark flavored treat, but you would also get nourished. Sugarcane is rich in the minerals calcium, copper, and zinc. In addition to vitamins and minerals, sugarcane contains a high concentration of phytonutrients, antioxidants, and numerous other health-supportive compounds. The refinement of sugarcane removes all of these wonderful nutrients, leaving a nutritionally empty substance.” P. 49

Dee then goes into great detail of the steps of refining the sugar. I’ll let you read the book on that, because it’s a lot to write down.

Sugar depletes calcium:

“Although most people don’t understand their body’s nutritional or digestive requirements, our body knows what it needs. That’s why raw sugar cane is brimming with enzymes and nutrients. By contrast, refined sugar is devoid of nutrients and the built in enzyme systems that exist in raw sugarcane. So when you eat a cookie made with refined sugar, your body freaks out. It knows that to properly digest the sugar, it needs these missing nutrients and the corresponding enzymes. Therefore, your body is forced to adapt by pulling stored nutrients (especially calcium) from your bones, tissues, and teeth, just to digest the sugar you just ate. This is called leaching. The depletion of calcium leads to a whole host of health problems, including obesity.” p. 58

Sugar and cancer:

Dee talks a lot about insulin and the job it does in your body, fructose that goes directly to your liver to be stored as fat, and about insulin resistance leading to the development of heart disease. Lots of details to read, but here’s a snippet:

“In his April 13, 2011 New York Times article, “Is Sugar Toxic?”, Gary Taubes writes, ‘One of the diseases that increases with obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome is cancer. The connection between obesity, diabetes and cancer was first reported in 2004 in large population studies by researchers from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. It is not controversial. What is means is that your are more likely to get cancer if you’re obese or diabetic than if you’re not, and you’re more likely to get cancer if you have metabolic syndrome than if you don’t.. Cancer researchers now consider that the problem with insulin resistance is that it leads us to secrete more insulin, and insulin (as well as a related hormone known as insulin-like growth factor) actually promotes tumor growth.’”

“In 1920, Otto Warburg, a German biochemist and Nobel Prize winning doctor, discovered that normal cells get their energy for reproduction from oxygen, while cancer cells reproduce by fermenting glucose (sugar). In other words, cancer cells require sugar to perpetuate their growth. When you eat sugar, you are actually feeding cancer cells. Additionally, if your don’t eat enough Life Force Energy foods loaded with cancer-fighting phytochemicals, it is almost certain that the stage is being set for cancer to develop in your body.” p 61

Learning this really made me go ‘wow.’ I don’t want cancer in my life. No one does. It’s a heartbreaking, horrible way to die. My mom had it, Shaun’s mom passed away from it, and just about everyone has a loved one who has had cancer. It’s awful. I thought to myself, “I don’t want to see Shaun getting chemo some day, or me. I just don’t want that. Let’s see if I can reduce the cancer buildup in our eating.” So, I challenged myself to see how we could eat sweets that wouldn’t damage our bodies, these wonderful bodies that Heavenly Father gave us that we only get once.

How to get the sugar out of your life:

I became a food label detective, constantly checking the ingredients for sugar. Sadly, it’s in nearly all processed foods. Here’s a list of other types of sugar on ingredient labels to watch out for:

• Agave
• Barley malt
• Beet sugar
• Maltodextrin
• Brown sugar
• Cane sugar
• Cornstarch
• Corn Syrup
• Corn Syrup solids
• Crystalline fructose
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Glucose
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Maltose
• Organic Cane Sugar

P.64

To name a few!

Once I learned the damaging effects of refined sugar, I wondered “What can I use for sweeteners?” I still love sweets, but no longer had the desire to eat refined sweets. Here’s good alternatives:

• Stevia
• Raw honey
• Pure Maple Syrup
• Unsulfured Blackstrap Molasses
• Brown Rice Syrup
• Organic Whole Cane Sugar
• Coconut Nectar and Coconut Crystals

p. 65-71

We’ve been happily using Grade B maple syrup from Fresh and Easy and Trader Joes, Raw honey, and my main straight swap for white sugar is this:

I get it from Fresh and Easy, but go to Azure Standards online to see bulk deals on ‘safe’ sugar such as this, Sucanet, Rapudura, and more. I need to do that.

So now, I have fun finding good sweet recipes that don’t damage. I’ve found 2 great cookie recipes, some wonderful pancake recipes, and at the moment, an awesome BBQ sauce. Darn refined sugar is in nearly all the condiments I used, so I’ve been making things from scratch. Ketchup is awesome. I post pictures on Instagram of my food quests. Look me up as ‘erinhatch’, and ask to follow me. It’s fun.

There’s always two parts to eating processed free; Part 1, what you do at home, and Part 2, eating out of the home. We hardly ever eat fast food anymore. We do occasionally eat at restaurants, (still love BJs:), but we notice more how we feel after we eat processed junk. It’s harder for your body to digest the food.

Ok, kids are up. Look how much I wrote, woo! Enjoy the food posts:)

Family pictures 2011 and an update

We recently got our family pictures done, but before I post those, I want to post our pictures from last year:) I’m a terrible slacker, and needed to do that a long time ago. My dear friend Celise Salmon took these for us, and I think she did a fabulous job! It’s definitely not easy to get my guys to hold still for very long, but we did it.

Wow, looking through these makes me reflect on so much that has happened since those pictures. Here’s the update since the crazy and emotional time of Shaun’s job loss.

Shaun was out of work for about 4 months. Seeing your dear sweetheart stress over paying the bills with no income is the worst. It’s scary, and a huge test of faith. Yet, we were so blessed to receive so much kindness and help from friends and family during those months. It was an enormous blessing. Shaun worked every day on sending out resumes, learning how to do good job interviews, and doing a few interviews here and there. The waiting was hard, but the time we got to spend with Shaun was priceless. Going from only seeing Shaun on Sundays to seeing him everyday was absolute heaven for the kids and I. He now works only 4 days a week, and that is much better.

• We did our best to stretch our dollars. We tried using home made laundry soap for awhile. For some reason, all the recipes I tried of soap never seemed to get our clothes quite clean. Instead of switching back to Tide, which is great but also expensive, we went with a big generic powder box at Costco. Works fine.
• We slowed down. We took more walks. More park days. Shaun got  to know the lifestyle at home more. We cut out the Direct TV, and other bills, and did our best to squeeze. I have to say this; I love not having TV channels. The commercials are gone. No channel surfing. Whenever I go to some one ‘s home and the TV is on, it just seems so loud to me. We do Netflix now. Its great!
• In this last year, we were able to cut the car debt. With the blessing of tax return, we purchased a used Honda Odyssey mini van. It’s a smaller change from the big Armada, but it’s so much more little kid friendly. Whenever I push the button on my keys, the doors magically open, and I think my car is some super James Bond car. I love the opening doors. Another blessing; Ethan can get into his seat and buckle himself. I would practically cry tears of joy over this. Before, I had to climb into the back of the Armada to buckle him in. It was the equivalent to climbing Mount Everest. Super hard. I love my mini van so much, and it’s paid off!
• Learning how to budget and keep track of the expenses better. We use a few apps on our phones that are awesome; Accounts and Grocery IQ. Accounts means we can both make notes of what we spent in what account, and share it with each other. Totally up to date on our expenses. Same with the grocery list. They synch with our phones. Excellent.

There’s lots more, but I need to go make breakfast. Losing the job was a big, scary, and faith testing change, but it was meant to be. Heavenly Father knows what trials to send to his children. He knows the bigger  picture. He was watching out for us, through many angel friends. Everything is getting better and better. It was hard to learn that way, but we definitely learn from our hardest trials.

New adventures

This darling kid. This strong willed, big hearted, adventurous son of mine, who sometimes makes me wonder if I can do this mom stuff or not. We all know that some parenting days can just knock you out. They come and go. The next day, you try to pick yourself up out of bed, get on your knees and pray, and look for the sun coming up that gives you strength to try again. You count your blessings that you’re alive to see the sun, and feel the cool, welcoming fall air, and have another day on this earth. You try to talk a little slower to your kiddos, hug them more, and slow down to question their motives of their strange antics before you jump to conclusions.

We recently had Ethan tested through the school district for any autism/aspergers syndrome, and other things they test for. Thankfully, he has no autism in him at all. They said he is one smart kid, and can do things that Autism kids cannot, and there’s nothing to worry about there. They did say he qualified for a special ed pre-kindergarten class, due to an emotional delay/behavior issue stuff.

Even though we are still homeschooling, we felt prompted to go ahead with this class for the rest of the school year.  I want to learn how I can help him at home, and I’m sure he will benefit from this class, too. I met his teacher this week, and she’s just an angel. So kind, patient, and offered some good advice to help at home. She saw Ethan on one of his hard days, and understands a little more.

One neat thing about his little class is that a bus comes to take him to and from home, with only the kids in his class. That’s very convenient for me, but the bummer is that pickup time is 6:30am. I laugh, because before this class, I wanted to get back into early rising again. Well, now I have to get up at 5:30, get breakfast ready, get him up at 6, somehow get him to eat enough to last till 10:30 (no food at class), get him dressed, teeth, hair, hugs and prayer, and get out the door at 6:30. It’s a little rough, but I have no room to talk. So many of my friends have to get up early, and get their kids ready for school. I have great respect for them.

I actually have liked the early rising again. The night before, I soak some oatmeal or flour to make pancakes or oatmeal in the morning. (Soaking helps to make him more full, absorb nutrients, and break down phytic acid which block your body from absorbing the nutrients from the grain, just incase anyone’s wondering:) I put my iphone in the dock, turn on the Mormon channel app, and listen quietly to some great show or music. It’s so peaceful, even though its so gosh darn early!

When Ethan is gone, I get to spend special time with Kevin. We do some school, cook in the kitchen, play with Brooke, put her down for a nap, and play in the garden. It’s been lovely.

Here’s us on the first day!

In the meantime, the garden has been doing splendid.

Massive grape tomato plant, Juliet!

One more thing; this sweet friend. I don’t know what I’ve done in this life to deserve such love and help, but she has literally taken me under my wing and helped me through the whole Ethan testing/special ed class. She continues to pack up her kids, come with me to anything school related for Ethan to support and help me, and has been such an angel. She’s his former sunday school teacher, and has such love for him. She runs her own prechool academy at home, and is simply a genius. Each time I go to her home, I take pictures of all her organization, books, school supplies for ideas at home. I’m such a nerd. I’m so thankful for her kindness she’s shown to me.

Ok, time to tackle the day. I’ve wanted to blog here for awhile, and I accomplished that goal, yea!

Our little, tiny, short but wonderful getaway

Time to get caught up on the blog again!

For about a year or two, I’ve wanted so badly to have a little getaway, a second honeymoon or something, with my sweetie Shaun. Just something with no kids, some special time, and a chance to nurture our marriage and help it grow. I think you definitely need those, and the daily routine of life can be wearing.

My biggest hurdle was who could stay with our kids. Who could handle being around our big dogs? Who didn’t have a family of their own to take care of? We don’t have any family close by, most of my babysitters are great youth from church, and my dear friends nearby have their own kids to take care of. At times, it just seemed hopeless and an impossible dream which would make me cry, having to shelve the idea and try not to see pics of other friends on their vacations and such. I tried my best to think good thoughts, and get through the constant daily routine of the same thing every day.

When Shaun is off, thankfully he works less than last year, we do try to go places with the kids in town, do some fun activity, or something to help break up the monotony. I have learned and seen that when you don’t go on a yearly vacation out of town, it can really work on you mentally, emotionally, physically, oh man. It’s hard, and I know I’m not the only mother out there who desperately sees the need for a family vacation, but I’m glad it has motivated me to think of a way to make a vacation happen for our entire family next year. Just gotta start saving some pennies in a wiser way.

Anyways, I saw an opportunity for our getaway, and I decided to work hard and make it happen. That’s what I'm learning over and over again, if you want something bad enough, you have to work really, really hard to get it. Really hard. Shaun has a great friend named Kyle who comes to stay with us for a visit here and there. He is not married, and is great around the kids and dogs. The kids love him. When I heard he was coming, I begged him to watch the kids for a night so Shaun and I could steal away at a nearby hotel. There really was no other person who could do this that I could think of. It wasn’t hard for him at all, and it worked out perfectly.

Everyone survived fine, as you can see:)

 

Here’s one picture I took of us at the pool

I can’t even begin to tell you how absolutely wonderful it was to getaway for only about the late afternoon till the morning. It was so short, but it helped greatly. I found a good deal online for a one night stay, was able to get it, amazingly kept it a secret from Shaun until I got him in the car to drive us there. He turned his head around to back up the car, and saw a suitcase in the back seat, and really started wondering what was going on. Go, me!

It felt so cool to go check in, get our little room with a super snazzy bathroom, and head down to the pool. I’m such a water girl. I need my pool time on any vacation. The best part at the pool was just floating around with Shaun, and being able to lay on a lounge chair for as long as I wanted, not needing to get up and take care of anyone. Oh, the little things!! So wonderful.

We enjoyed the big Jacuzzi, ate a nice dinner of mexican food, saved the lefotvers to eat in bed the next morning, and then it was time to go home. Even though we were so close to home, it did feel like a tiny, little vacation, and it was perfect. I’m so thankful that for the first time in 6 years, we finally pulled it off.

Ever since then, we’ve been trying to adjust back to reality. It’s been hard. Every time I get on the freeway, the hotel is right there, and I see the pool area where we frolicked. I just want so badly to do that again, and we will sometime soon, thanks to Kyle, but I know I need to focus on the kids, continue to help and understand Ethan, and snuggle with all of them. Brooke is finally crawling!! At one year, it’s about time, but I’m sure glad she’s doing it. She gets into the dog food and water bowl often. She’s too quick, the little stinker:)

PS: I rented the main food book I learned from again, and will work on writing those food posts I really want to do for your guys. Just got a little busy with mini sessions in the photo business. Grateful for work, but trying to balance everything, again!

So, that’s our story for the week. Nice, huh?

Blessing counting

Oh, how I’d love to be that blogger that puts out a little happy post three times a week. It’s dedication that I just can’t seem to reach. Perhaps it’s the consistent need of raising the kiddos, survival mode during the afternoons, and just trying to remember my head on my shoulders. Yet, here I am, trying to write because I really do enjoy this blog of ours:)

Ever have one of those days, or weeks, when it seems your not doing anything right? You try to accomplish good, but you say the wrong things, or do something stupid, make more mistakes trying to learn and grow, and basically you just want to go back to bed and not face the world? Yea, those are humbling times. Combined with the whole family catching a cold, it can really help you to remember to slow down, pray better, and be very gentle on yourself.I think that’s the best part, remembering to be gentle on yourself. Us girls sure can struggle with that, but times like these do make you count your blessings more, and that’s a good thing.

I was so blessed to attend Time Out For Women last weekend, a big warm fuzzy conference with great talks and moving music. It happens every 2 years here, and I love it. It was a nice mom break for me. Sweet Shaun was home with the kids, while I was away for a day and a half. So thankful.

Here’s my sweet friends and I. I’ve know these gals since I was 15. They are such an inspiration to me, and I love them dearly.

Sweet Heather. We grew up in the same ward. I remember going to weekly church activities with her, and laughing at her funny brother’s sense of humor. Now, we’re moms with kids. Wow:)

Jericho Road, fun mormon boy band. Last time I saw them perform, it was 2001 at Ricks College. Holy crap, where does the time go?

One tid bit of notes from Julie De Azevedo Hanks:

Honor your emotions-It’s ok to feel mad and sad. That doesn’t mean you’re not Christlike.

Investing in your own growth-It’s not being selfish to spend time on yourself and your passions.

Celebrating the good in you-Acknowledging your god given strengths is humility.

Another great thought from Emily Freeman:

When was the last time you had an answer to your prayer? If not in the last three days, you need to change the way you pray.

Good stuff, huh?

Here are a few more blessings:

These no bake cookies. It’s my second cookie recipe I’ve found that is a healthy alternative to regular cookies. They passed the test, and they taste great! Recipe here.

Getting dirt, a lot of dirt, for the garden. Such a great thing!! Ethan sure enjoyed playing in it for a bit, which called for an early bath that day:)

The blessing of finally being able to own this book. It will be a great help in our school adventures.

For boys and their enthusiasm with the outdoors, and more dirt:)

For a friend who inspired me to get a bread maker for dirt cheap at Deseret Industries. The boys wanted to cook stuff in it, and got their play food out. Good times.

The joy of seeing it work, ha ha!

• For a washer and dryer that works
• A home to have the sick kids rest in, books to read to them, and Netflix to find fun shows
• For the newly acquired knowledge of soaking grains, and making oatmeal that really fills up the kids!
• For friends who are forever being kind to me, sharing things with me to help the kids, and who may not know just how incredibly thankful I am for them.

Those are just a few of my blessings. For those who are reading this, please know that I look up to you, and I thank you for your example. I read your blogs, and see your presence at church, outdoor activities, and Facebook. I learn so many great things from you all, and just wanted you to know that. Thank you, friends:)

My food learning journey

So, in the past month and a half I’ve learned a ton about food. A lot! It started with chatting with a friend who mentioned to start avoiding ‘the whites’, white flour and white sugar. Which began the research on those items, leading me on a huge and exciting journey to learn more about nutrition, how our food is processed today, and what causes cancer in our bodies.

I love to learn. I wish I had this passion when I was in college, but I have it now. I love technology, books, and youtube. We are so very, very spoiled today with the ease of learning through technology! When I research, I dig, search, gather information from lots of places, analyze, talk with others, process it in my mind, pray, and try to walk away with a better view on things. Well, learning about food changed our lives. When I learned one new thing, I wanted to learn more. I went from topic to topic, and was amazed at the discoveries. I listened to podcasts, and read a little bit each night. I had many moments of ‘Holy crap! Do other people know this??’ Well, yes, if they do the research.

In short, we are doing the processed free way of eating, and eating along the lines of Weston A. Price. Whole foods, nutrient dense foods, vitamin and enzyme packed goodness. It’s a big undertaking, yes, but so very worth it. It wasn’t too hard for me, because I love to cook and already do a lot of preparing meal from scratch. We’ve made, and are still making little changes to our food, and the way we prepare it.

That’s the key. If you want to change your eating, don’t get overwhelmed and try to change too much at once, because there’s a lot that needs to be changed:) Just do one change at a time, and do what you can comfortably do. I’m crazy. I changed about three things at once, the white flour and sugar, and the cooking oils. I just got really excited from what I learned, and knew we could do it. Don’t be crazy like me:)

Besides learning about traditional cooking and such, there is one lady who taught me the most important things I never knew I’d learn, and her name is Dee Mccafrey. Her website is Processed Free America,  and she has seriously done her homework. She’s an organic chemist and diet counselor.

Back in the early 90s, the poor babe was 200 pounds and only 4’ 10. She was on a hike one day with her school class, and it was there she realized that she needed to change her life or she would die, from her health, eating habits, and weight. Previously, she tried many diets, but no success. The weight would come off, but come back with cravings and such.

The first thing she did on her journey was cut out white flour and white sugar. In 30 days, she lost 20 pounds. After walking for exercise, and going processed free for a year, she lost 100 pounds, and has kept it off for 20 years. She maintained her weight, awesome.

In that journey, she went back to studying and gained insanely important knowledge about our health and food. Her story intrigued me, and I read her recent book, this one:

Oh my goodness, if there is one book you read about food, read this one. It’s an easy to understand, and very well written. She shares her story, and then teaches us about the food we’re eating, how it affects our bodies, and how to make changes to improve. It’s fabulous.

So basically, I’ve learned so many great things, and I wanted to share them in some blog posts, a food series. For anyone out there who cares, and who is curious. The things I’ve learned are concerning, and exciting. I just want to write them down. I will say that after I learned about our food, and made the changes, going into a grocery store has never been the same. I  just become a TON more aware of everything. I became a food label detective. Many times, people pass me in the aisles as I stand there holding something in my hand, and reading the label. Actually, I don’t shop much in the middle of the store, just the perimeter now. Everything has changed, and it’s wonderful.

I’m hoping to talk about these things in their own post:

• Refined, white flour
• Refined, white sugar (I never knew that overconsumption of white sugar, which is in nearly every processed food,  sets the stages up for cancer in our bodies. Can’t wait to discuss that more.)
• Refined vegetable oils (My favorite discovery so far! Free radicals, wow.)
• Canola oil
• Agave nectar
• Salt
• High fructose corn syrup (who’s bright idea was this??)
• Lacto fermentation (Really old and cool way to get probiotics in our bodies, which fight cancer)
• The movie “Food inc”
• Coconut Oil (Oh, my love! The best stuff ever!!)
• Healthy fats (Guess what? Butter, whole milk, and cream don’t make you fat. Sugar and fructose does.)
• Making cream cheese and whey (You need whey, and other items, for lacto fermentation.)
• MSG (Highly not good)
• Sodium Nitrate (Big cancer causing factor)

These are what I hope to cover, when I can. Trying my best to blog with family life and such. Thankfully, the kids slept in this morning so I could write this:)

Thanks for taking the time to read my little blog. I’ll do my best to share what I’ve learned:)