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What we are eating this week.

After months of procrastination, I finally got us all in to get our labs checked. After a 2+ years of eating vegan, I wanted to make sure none of us were ‘deficient’ in anything. Intellectually and intuitively I am certain that eating this way is what health really looks like in its broadest meaning, but even the strongest of us can fall prey to second guessing.

I can now officially report that we are mostly not deficient, lol.

We don’t take supplements because, honestly, we can’t remember to and I’m a little skeptical that all they make for is expensive pee.

My hubby could use a titch more B12, my kids were pretty rock solid, and despite all my long distance running, my iron and B12 are great. And, if I do say so myself, I have the most stunning lipid profile I have ever seen.

So we will carry on! Here’s what’s on the menu this week:

Tuesday – Rabbit and Wolves Bang Bang Broccoli, Minimalist Baker Notuna Sandwiches

Wednesday – There’s a food truck in town called Red Fish Blue Fish, they make an amazing fish chowder, we take out the fish and use chickpeas … so good on a cold fall night!

Thursday – we be heading out to Bin 4 for veggie burgers with my Dad!!

Friday – Red Thai Coconut Curry

Saturday – Red Kale and White Bean soup from How Not to Die and Sesame Turmeric sweet potato fries from No Meat Athlete

Sunday – I use a multigrain crust from Bubby Rose’s and the pesto sauce from PlantPower Way and a cashew cheese sauce to make homemade pizza, and probably some brussels sprouts roasted in the oven

Monday – we’ll be in Vancouver at Lana Del Rey!! Favourite vegan places there so far are Heirloom and Meet.

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Many questions about britches.

I have always lauded those around me for keeping me ‘in check’ – making sure I was never too big for my britches so to speak.

I still believe this to be important.  I would like to think it has made me kind and thoughtful in what I do and aim to achieve. I would like to think this has enabled reasonable priorities and perspective – it lends one more to the pursuit of general-ism and a broadness of scope if one doesn’t subscribe to the thought that they could be the ultimate authority in any one thing.

Furthermore, it’s obvious to me that I don’t just hold myself to this – humility may just be the distinguishing trait as to whether I consider you friend or foe.

Yet, I’ve been wondering lately, is there a risk to keeping oneself too “in check”? Is ambition necessarily a four-letter word? Can one have freedom from pride – and thus, humility – but also be able to celebrate one’s wins? If we are to push ourselves to our limits, strive for the unlikely, reach for the stars, be all that we can be, and so forth, is it not healthy and a bit of self-care to sit back and enjoy the odd achievement? In this ever complex world, where landscapes are saturated with voices screaming their messages, how does one share their ideas without a dash of assertiveness and a hint of hauteur?

Do I want my girls to ever question if they are too big for their britches – I don’t think so.  Do I want them to be humble?  Do I want them to listen?  Do I want them to have the ability to hear an argument and change their stance, if appropriate?  Absolutely.  Non-negotiable characteristics in my mind.  Do I want them to believe in hierarchy?  In dutifully earning one’s spot at the table instead of claiming it?  I don’t think so.  Would it be different if my children were male, not female?  I don’t know.  Are there times in life where ambition should be tampered in trade for humility?  Interesting thought.  Do you need to learn humility before ambition?  Tough to say.

Will – when I’ve exerted it – has oft lead to backlash and an immediate need to self reflect. Am I being too brash, too “difficult” – too big for my britches? Does this contemplation lend itself to further achievement or detract from it? Is the perceived backlash an indication of what growth my audience needs to do or what I must do?

It is more than obvious that I have more questions than answers. One point for humility I suppose. Yay me. But when one is in their forties and starting to speak and at times get listened to, it feels paramount to get to the bottom of this. So, as I walk forward in the various spaces of my life I will continue to mull this over and over.  I hope that in the important moments I find the right balance, or even better, the proper imbalance.  If I have successfully learned humility, I hope I can enter my season of ambition with grace.  I mean really, most britches are stretchy these days anyway right? 😉

~ xo J

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You MUST.

Now, I haven’t made any demands yet, but that is going to stop tonight.

You must make this.

It is heaven in your mouth.

The Amazon is on fire, eat your damn broccoli.

[photo cred: Rabbitandwolves.com – the pinnacle of vegan deliciousness]

Vegan Bang Bang Broccoli
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My Mom

I am so grateful for every member in our twisted little family (and don’t you worry, I will celebrate you all in due time), but today let me introduce my mother – the original secret badass.

It wasn’t until I become a mother myself that I truly got it. And as each passing stage of my kids’ lives float by, I find myself increasingly in awe.

I did well in school. Often I trotted home tests with scores of 98 or 99% and oft they were received with ‘and where did the other 1% go?’ Not in a pushy way, not in a punitive way, and not really ever in a way that made me feel anything but, ‘hmph, ya, where did that 1% go?’ Enter not settling. Enter not limiting what you can achieve.

I did well in sports for the most part. Most of them didn’t come naturally but I held my own most days because it was known that not going to practice or not trying was simply not an option. Not in a pushy way, not in a degrading way, just in a way that you knew – you were going. There was only ever one sport where I excelled and I did so quickly. She saw that. And then she proceeded to devote her weekends to it; she towed a bloody horse and trailer – by herself! – all over South Eastern Ontario most weekends of the summer. My God!!! I am seriously challenged even getting my children into a booster seat and getting them twenty minutes down the road to gym on time! And, my mother is like me (well, duh, vice-versa). I really love my down time – I like to exercise, soak in warm baths, sip long glasses of wine, and, decompress. I’m not sure if you’ve ever had three children in six different sports, one of which is horseback riding, but there is not a lot of decompression happening there. Never once do I ever recall hearing her utter a complaint or even insinuate one. Enter devotion. Enter calm confidence.

Refusing to settle, pushing past limits, utter devotion to family, and a calm power. My mother. She is a role model that any young woman would be lucky to have. And what is most astonishing is that she is so having had so little time with her own. We rarely discuss this (again the no complaining thing) but, mom, oh man does that add to the awe.

The Polaroids of her that flash through my memories are of a woman running down a cottage trail singing the Pointer Sisters, a completely unfazed woman up at 4am trotting off to another sporting event with the perfect (and by perfect I mean completely un-perfect) bagel sandwiches in tow, a woman in a PhD cap, a woman at midnight running down a finish line way too far in the distance, and ever the face that always drew all the tears out when I’d been just barely holding it together. There, of course, were other times too. Times of excruciating vulnerability. But she always rose; usually to much higher than where she had been before.

So today, on her birthday, let’s raise a glass (I suggest of a glorious full bodied wine) to my mother. She’s a badass. May someday I be one too. I’m so excited to try.