Book Review #30



This was our book club pick for this month. All I can say is THANK YOU KARIANN!! This book should be required reading for every American. It was life changing. I loved it. I have since scoured the Internet trying to learn as much as I can about Operation Redwing and it's heroes.

This is not the kind of book I would normally pick up and read. In fact, I had it on the counter and when Tyler came home he thanked me for picking him out a great book from the library. He couldn't believe we were reading it for book club. He even proudly been told the guys at work what book his wife was reading. They were impressed too. I thought this would be a "guys book" but it isn't. It is a book for every American...man or woman...conservative or liberal.

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com

In June of 2005, Luttrell led a four-man team of Navy SEALs into the mountains of Afghanistan on a mission to kill a Taliban leader thought to be allied with Osama bin Laden. On foot, the team encountered two adult men and a teenage boy. A debate broke out as to whether the SEALs should summarily execute the trio to keep them from alerting the Taliban. Luttrell himself was called upon to make the decision. He was torn between considerations of morality and his survival instinct, and he points out that "any government that thinks war is somehow fair and subject to rules like a baseball game probably should not get into one. Because nothing's fair in war, and occasionally the wrong people do get killed."

Luttrell opted to spare the Afghanis' lives. About an hour later, the Taliban launched an attack that claimed nearly a hundred of their own men but also the lives of all the SEALs except Luttrell, who was left wounded. Not long after that, the Taliban shot down an American rescue helicopter, killing all 16 men on board...But if nothing is fair in war, neither is anything foreordained. Luttrell was found by other Afghanis...Once again, Luttrell had to rely on his instincts...Luttrell trusted the man and his colleagues, who took him back to their village, where the law of hospitality -- "strictly nonnegotiable" -- took hold. "They were committed to defend me against the Taliban," Luttrell writes, "until there was no one left alive."

This book took hold of me and still hasn't let go. I was unable to put it down. It was heart-breaking, inspiring and unfailingly patriotic. I am so glad that I read this book and got a glimpse the kind of people who have answered our country's call and who fight for freedom. God Bless the United States Armed Forces and the men and women who serve!!

United States Navy SEAL Philosophy

"In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our Nation's call; a common man with uncommon desire to succeed. Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America's finest special operations forces to serve his country and the American people, and to protect their way of life. I am that man.

My Trident is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the heroes who have gone before, it embodies the trust of those whom I have sworn to protect. By wearing the Trident, I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day.

My loyalty to Country and Team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans, always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others before my own.

I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.

We expect to lead and be led. In the absence of orders I will take charge, lead my teammates, and accomplish the mission. I lead by example in all situations.

I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish the mission. I am never out of the fight.

We demand discipline. We expect innovation. The lives of my teammates and the success of the mission depend on me — my technical skill, tactical proficiency, and attention to detail. My training is never complete.

We train for war and fight to win. I stand ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals established by my country. The execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required, yet guided by the very principles I serve to defend.

Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed. I will not fail."

I rate this book: EXCELLENT!! A must-read for every American.

May the heroic acts of the men of Operation Redwing never be forgotten.

The Shiner





Kameron got his first black eye yesterday. Guess who gave it to him? ME!! His loving mother. The guilt...

Little League starts this week and Kameron is a little nervous to be playing coach pitch for the first time. And...since we have had nothing but blizzards and rain around here he hasn't been practicing very much. So this week he has been kicking it into high gear to get ready for baseball to start on Friday. He was a little rusty.

Yesterday our family headed to the park to play a little baseball and to give Kameron a little practice. He did fantastic. He's got a great arm and he's a good little hitter but his catching needed a bit of work. Tyler and I were both working with him...he was fielding grounders like crazy and doing pretty well with his catching UNTIL...a pop fly hit him in the eye...which came from none other than his own mother!! Ugh. I feel horrible.

This morning on his way to school he said "I can't wait to tell everyone that my MOM gave me this black eye!!" I told him to be sure to mention that it was an ACCIDENT and that it came from a baseball...two important facts. Who knows...no calls from CPS yet. He thinks he looks cool though. He said "Do you think people will think I'm a boxer?" Umm...sure? I guess I'm out of the running for mother of the year.

Dinner Alert: Curried Lentils over rice with pita bread, homemade tzatziki sauce and hummus.

Who Knew?

That's really all I have to say this Monday morning for various reasons...

1.) Who knew that it would still be snowing on April 21st.

2.) Who knew that I wouldn't be in hysterical tears about it...I am close...but hanging on.

3.) Who knew that I could've just eaten LOTS of sushi on Friday night and would be craving it
again by Sat. morning. (We tried a new place... Blue Fish...delicious)

4.) Who knew that my introvert husband would take to karaoke like a fish to water. After YEARS
and I do mean YEARS of him flatly refusing to participate and sitting on the sidelines as
I of course screeched away he sang not one, not two, not three, not four but FIVE songs and I
had to drag him out of there. It must have been the great friends we were with...although I
have always found that drunks at the bar are very appreciative of bad karaoke. Remember the ol' days when the only place you could sing karaoke was at the bar? Nothing gets the blood pumping like chugging a coke and sing your heart out. Thank goodness now Mormons can
sing away without having to enter dens of iniquity. ;) Now if only there were good places to
play darts, pool, and trivia for prizes.

For posterity...Tyler and I sang:

• Somebody by Depeche Mode
• Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash
• Fire and Rain by James Taylor
• Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Land Down Under by Men at Work (this was Tyler's "man duet" with Jason)

We are also going to be buying our own karaoke program as it was such a hit we MUST have some karaoke joy at the lake this summer.

5.) Who knew that after working for DAYS on turning my blog into a blurb book that Tyler would
some how lose the file JUST BEFORE I was going to send it off and that I would not be
homicidal...but an eerie calm instead? Weird.

6.) Who knew that someone with chewbacca skills would actually have a venue to perform them for a crowd but Sat. night at the roadshow they wanted people who could do chewbacca imitations to come up on stage to compete for a prize. You don't know how badly we wished you were there Kirk. Your imitation would've slaughtered the competition!!



Dinner Alert: Tonight we are having leftovers but here's what we had for dinner last night. It was so so good...and a new recipe.

Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Asparagus, Peanuts and Eggs

Rice Noodles (width of Linguine)
5 T. vegetable oil
2 T tamarind concentrate
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 T sugar
1 t. red pepper flakes
2 lbs asparagus cut into 2 inch lengths
4 green onions, chopped
2 large shallots, minced
6 garlic cloves
6 eggs
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
lime wedges for garnish

Cook rice noodles and rinse with cold water. Transfer to bowl and toss with 1 T of oil to coat.

Mix tamarind concentrate, soy sauce, sugar and pepper flakes. ( I ended up doubling this because I like it extra saucy.)

Heat 1 to 2 T of oil and stir-fry the asparagus until tender. Transfer to a bowl. Add another 1 T. of oil and stir-fry the onions, shallots, and garlic until until light brown. Crack the eggs into the hot skillet and stir-fry until set.

Return to pan, noodles, asparagus, sauce, peanuts. Toss and stir-fry until everything is cooked. I also added a handful of peanuts (not chopped) and splashed on some more soy sauce. Garnish with more green onions and lime wedges. Squeeze the lime wedge on the bowl of noodles.

Then for dessert we had: Almond Agar with Strawberries (A Thai dessert)

This was a HUGE hit with the family. Agar is like an Asian Jello except that it is made from seaweed I believe instead of from hoofs (like Jello...which I love and eat all the time regardless). When I was at the Asian Market on Friday I picked it up just to give it a try.



My Aunt Margaret is Indonesian and she used to make us agar eggs for Easter. She would blow out real eggs and fill the shells with several different colors and flavors of agar. You would peel the shell off and inside would be a striped jello-like egg. This was the most amazing thing ever to me as a child and so delicious.

Anyway...I made the almond flavor agar and then chilled it in a 9 x 13 pan. Cut it into cubes and topped it with fresh strawberries mixed with sugar.

It was really good. The flavor tasted like strawberry shortcake minus all the fat and guilt. I will totally make it again. There wasn't a speck of it left over. We scarfed it down!!

Milestone

Reilly has hit a ballet milestone. Gone are the leather single-soled ballet shoes. Baby shoes according to her.





She has now moved onto the split-sole canvas ballet shoes...which are the precursors to toe shoes.





Exciting!! While she was getting fitted at the dance shop the sales girl said "Bye Reilly! I guess we will see you in about eight weeks for your toe shoes fitting." Reilly nearly flipped out with joy. She talked to her main dance instructor for confirmation. It looks like all systems are go and after her 2 week ballet workshop in June they should hand her the ballet holy grail....pink satin beribboned toe shoes!!

I was a tad less excited as the precursor ballet shoes required SEWING! I had to sew on those cris-cross straps. Thank goodness I have learned to operate my sewing machine. Plus toe shoes require sewing so I guess it's good practice. I also found out that the going rate for toe shoes is around $100 bucks and they end up going through about 2 pairs a year. Luckily next year Reilly will spend half her time in the split-sole slippers and half in the actual toe shoes so we should only have to buy one pair for next year. BALLET IS EXPENSIVE!! What were we thinking? She could've played Rec. soccer and we could have had a house in the Bahamas!! Just kidding.

Look who was drooling over those new ballet shoes:




Ballerina number 2. Ailey can officially start ballet in the fall but we might make her wait another year. She is VERY petite and she would probably have to wait down the line to move up as her bones and muscles mature anyway. I'm not sure how well that's going to go over with her though.

Dinner Alert: We are going out for Sushi tonight can't wait!!

But here's what we had last night. So good!! It's one of our family's favorite meals but it's farther down on the vegetarian spectrum. I'm not a huge fan of "fake" meat. I'd rather just not eat it at all...although Morning Star has some good "sirloin-style" burgers, sausage patties, and mini-corn dogs. But if you don't try to make the pecan patties a meat replacement and just eat them on their own and not as a "meat" I think you will like them. This same recipe minus the gravy makes amazing "burgers". Add a little caramelized onion and blue cheese or Havarti...slap them between a hamburger bun...yum!! The patties may need a little more salt and pepper after they are browned.

Pecan Patties with Mushroom Gravy and Mashed Potatoes (recipe from a vegetarian blogger)

1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 ground pecans
1 onion finely chopped
3 eggs
2 t salt
1/2 grated sharp cheddar cheese

Mix all together and let sit for 10 min. for liquid to absorb. Form into patties. Brown on both sides in a skillet. Put browned patties in a 9 x 13 pan.

In a bowl mix 1/2 envelope of Lipton Onion Soup
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 a container of sour cream

Add sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and onions to the sauce. Spread over the patties. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. The gravy is delicious over mashed potatoes.

A Geriatric Birthday

Many years have passed yet my sentiments are still the same!!

A momentous day has occurred...my friend Tiffany has turned...36!! Holy crap! We are approaching middle-age. In honor my elderly friend I will continue the tribute I started last year with...dum da da dum... Kris and Tiffany: BYU Year Two. What mayhem and angst will our two erstwhile heroines find themselves in now?

After freshmen year was over Kris went back to Houston to work for the summer while Tiffany stayed for Spring Semester. Tiffany moved out of the dorms and lived off campus for spring semester at Liberty Square. This was a good opportunity for Tiffany to get a "feel" for off-campus life and then she and Kris could decide where to live for the next year. We had two opportunities: Our friend, Vicky had a house that her parents purchased...downside... it was shabby and not necessarily befitting two fabulous girls such as ourselves. Our friend, Heidi had a cute townhouse that her parents purchased. Hmm...we decided on the cute townhouse.

Tiffany had a great spring and met lots of great guys only to go home for the rest of summer and spend it hanging out with cute Air Force Academy Cadets (for whom she had a great weakness). While Kris had a lame summer and slept on Kirk's bottom bunk. Woohoo!!

Finally the end of August rolled around and it was back to BYU for another year of fun. We moved in with our friends from the dorms Heidi and Jennifer.

Here's where we lived: Chatsworth #7

Off campus living was much more exciting than dorm living. New people, new ward, OLDER MEN!! We learned that our ward directory was our life line. That thing was thumbed through more and pondered over way more than our school books ever were. We learned that boys would peruse the ward directory and then give you a call to ask you out with the sad and pathetic line "I saw your picture in the ward directory and wanted to know if you were free on Saturday night?" a hush would fall over the apartment and the girl on the phone would hiss "Get me the ward directory!!" to see if the "would-be-suitor" was actually "date- able". This worked well for Tiffany who had a cute ward directory picture...Not so well for Kris who had a hideous ward picture.

Our boudoir:

My side

Tiffany's side: I don't know why this is the only picture I have but as long as her dolls are represented I'm OK. ;)

Tiffany was still writing to her missionary, Bryant...I think or was he home by then? Aaron and I had broken up and he was on his mission. Here's the missionary I was writing too.


Tiffany you KNOW you have missed this picture!! I met this particular missionary, Chad, whilst he was serving in my ward in Houston over the previous summer. (Disclaimer: I did NOT take this picture). He was quickly transferred...shocker. But we did end up dating after he got home until Tyler wooed me away from him.

Tiffany was scoring in the dating department. She never lacked for hot men. As I think back: Dave T., Doug, Bobby and many many others come to mind. Tiffany would be picked up by hot Doug in his BMW and I was picked up by his friend, Cliffy, on his moped. So sad.

We learned that good roommates were hard to come by. Most were duds. We had to stick together against that crazy that we lived with. In one year we cycled through: Jenn of the jerky boyfriend, Stephanie "The Topper" and Ann and Elizabeth also known as "the stub" and the "phant". Not to mention our beloved Adelheid.

That year was truly a learning experience. We learned many important things. We learned that we would get REALLY ticked off if our roommates never did the dishes or took messages, we learned to mark our food with our names and write threatening messages on them to discourage the gluttonous boyfriends of our roommates, we had to guard our tampons with our lives...not to mention our girl scout cookies!! We learned the art of dating for food. "Hmm...you want to go out on Friday? Hang on. (quick check of the fridge) Where did you say you wanted to go? Olive Garden? Sure pick me up at 7pm). We learned that ballet would not be a career in our futures. We learned that the gas station by the stadium sold hot dogs for .14 cents. (Who needs food when you need cute clothes?) We learned that Hart's drinks were sweet nectar. We learned that, yes...Alisa R..., Crystal Light is a food group.


We learned that while we were regular attendees at the first ward of Kiwanis (park that is) that wouldn't necessarily get our ecclesiastical endorsements signed...time must be allotted for actual church attendance and the occasional appearance at ward prayer.



We learned that our neighbors "The Ompaloompahs" (girls so fake-baked that they were orange) SERIOUSLY bugged us. We learned that even on such paltry diets of cereal, ramen, mac and cheese, jiffy muffin mix, and instant mashed potatoes we still needed to exercise and so we were regulars for YEARS at the 5:30 pm aerobics class at The Palace taught by Candice. We OWNED the classic workout look of: jog bra and J.Crew boxers. Oh yeah.

Some highlights or lowlights... but never to be forgotten moments:

1.) Our three date Valentines Day.

2.) Kris getting yelled at by the bishopric for paying tithing in change. What the heck? Money is money!! :)

3.) Kris getting unfairly fired from Western Watts and Tiffany quitting and walking out with her in a gesture of loyalty and solidarity. (They actually called my house the other night wanting me to take one of their surveys. As if!! I'm still bitter.)

4.) Falling in love with our French Professor...Monsieur Wimmer.

5.) Acting out Wayne's World in French for our class and for the sheer pleasure of amusing Monsieur Wimmer. (Everyone had to do a presentation on how to do something in French. People did presentations on "How to bake a cake" and "How to tie your shoe". We apparently did a presentation on "How to look like complete fools" as we came running in as Wayne and Garth.
"Le monde de Wayne!! Le monde de Wayne!! Vive la fete!! Excellente!!" We did amuse Monsieur Wimmer AND got a good grade.

6.) Kris and Heidi found an herbal weight loss supplement (I can't remember the name...it started with an E and you could buy it at the mall) through their manicurist who was a consultant and Kris dropped to the skeletal weight of 107 lbs and Tiffany threatened to call Kris' mom and to tell her that Kris was on drugs. It was an herbal supplement but it was basically like speed. You lost weight but with bad side effects like fainting.

7.) After Kris' paychecks from waitressing at the Torch continued to bounce our heroines needed to find gainful employment. They found some. But it was our deepest and darkest secret never to be mentioned to anyone. We were .... janitors... at the Marriott Center.


Oh Schmello!! He found out our deepest and darkest secret. A secret we swore to keep for all our days. We had convinced everyone that we had early ballet practices that required us being on campus by 6 am or earlier. But that crafty Schmello knew we were full of it and used to interrogate us regularly about what we were really up too. He broke me...much to Tiffany's wrath!! He had evil ways that Schmello!!

8.) Tuesday night visits from Kyle. Regular like clock work for my whole BYU career Kyle came to visit me every Tuesday night (and many weekends too). He was a man of honor. An amazing guy from the dell who promised my mother that he would keep an eye on me. That he did. But I didn't have friendship on my mind!! ;) How many visits to ZCMI did we make to visit Kyle while he was working? Like the sands of the sea.

Kyle making me dinner

9.) The traumatizing Rob


Great boyfriend to Kris during the school year and stinking cheater over the summer. Kris shed way too many wasted tears over Rob and he received many a lamblasting by Tiffany!!

10.) Tiffany got Lillith the SuperBeatle. Sweet freedom. We had a car to use.

AND...We met a bunch of crazy-never-to-be-forgotten characters:

"Krissy, you say you like OMD? I toured with OMD Ya'll!!

The dark and brooding Mr. Morey...smokin' hot!

Cliffy, Tiffy and Greg

The Gar-Bear

Nothing says terror like Mr. Thompson unexpectedly appearing at your bedside

Sweet Blake

Dave phonetically spelled

There you have it. Our second year at BYU. I would call it our sophmore year but as Tiffany well knows we were like four year freshmen. Wait!! That was just me. We did study...some. Not enough in my case as was pointed out to me by my very irriate mother who threatened me with having to come home and having to sleep on Kirk's bottom bunk again.

Happy Birthday Old Friend!! I love and miss you!!

Dinner Alert: French Toast with scrambled eggs and fruit. Not too exciting.

Freak of Nature No More


It has FINALLY happened...Kameron lost his first tooth. He was starting to get a complex. He is seven and a half after all. First grade was nearly over and it still hadn't happened. They were even doing math problems and graphing each student and how many teeth they had lost and Kamers was one of two who hadn't lost a single tooth. Those suckers were in firmly too. They weren't even slightly loose. But then suddenly it happened...a loose tooth. Kameron wiggled and wiggled and wiggled that poor tooth until it was hanging by one pulpy little strand. He refused to let me pull it out for him. Even though I have YEARS of experience. I told him to call his aunts and uncle for references. Even Reilly gave me her seal of approval. Eventually we wore him down and I popped that tooth right out. He didn't feel a thing.

He was so excited to leave his tooth out for the tooth fairy. Would you believe that flighty little flaky thing FORGOT HIM! The nerve!! He woke up crushed and slunk into the bathroom in tears where Tyler was getting ready for work. Luckily Tyler has the hearing of a bat and told him to run because he heard the flapping of tiny wings. Kameron ran for his life to his bedroom. Tyler told him not to open his door no matter what. That lame tooth fairy was late but managed to arrive just in the nick of time!!


We aren't fans of the tooth fairy at our house. She constantly forgets to come. She jips the kids. When Reilly lost her first tooth at 5 years old she was left a whopping 35 cents. Reilly went to school the next day and one of her classmates had lost her first tooth the same day and was left $4. Could she PLEASE be more consistent? We've had to call to complain NUMEROUS times. She's doing better at bringing a dollar a tooth...in change of course! Now if we could just get her to show up when she is supposed too! Lazy lame fairy.

Once she upped her payment per tooth Reilly felt that this could be a real money maker. So she attempted to extract her tooth before it was loose. I had no idea what she was up too when suddenly I heard a crash in the bathroom. She was unconscious and on the ground with a tooth in hand. She had fainted dead away from the pain but that tooth was out. She only got a quarter for that tooth because "you don't pull teeth out before they are ready" (That's the Tooth Fairy's Golden Rule). She takes after her father who as a child...much to the horror of his parents...pulled out four teeth in one night (they were loose though) for some quick cash!

My first tooth came out when I was 4 1/2 years old. It was loose and my grandpa pulled it out "old school style". He tied a string around it and tied the other end of the string to the door knob and slammed the door. I'm still traumatized by that...could that be where I get my fear of loud noises? You don't want to be anywhere near me at the Provo 4th of July parade when that cannon is booming...let alone a balloon pops. Eek!

So congratulations to Kameron!! He lost his tooth and isn't a first grade freak of nature anymore!! He demanded I post about his glory. Kameron's Grandma, aunts and uncles...show him the love. He wants comments. :)

AND...DINNER ALERT:

We are having burrito bowls for dinner. That's the fancy way of saying "rice and beans". Whenever people ask what we are having it seems I always say this because we eat it at least once a week. It's tasty!! My kids love it. Tiffany...this could be the dish for you...mexican and simple.

In a bowl layer:

rice
refried beans (we add hot sauce)
grated cheese
tomatoes
green onions
avocados
cilantro
sour cream

Basically anything you would put on a burrito. It truly is heavenly. Serve it with corn bread and fruit and voila you have a cheap and tasty vegetarian dinner.

It Ain't All Tofu and Salad




I have wanted to write this post for a long time. I know there are lots of you inquiring minds out there who want to know "What do you guys eat?", "Do you eat a lot of tofu?", "Is Tyler OK with just eating salad?", "Why are your kids vegetarians are you and Tyler aren't", "How do your kids get enough protein" and a slew of other questions. I am going to answer them all.

I usually describe me and Tyler as being 95% vegetarian. We eat a vegetarian diet 95% of the time. I have since learned that there is actually a word for this...we are...drum roll please...flexitarian (carnivores with vegetarian inclinations). Our kids on the other hand are 99% vegetarian...and therefore qualify as vegetarians.

Why?

Are we health nuts? No. Are we animal lovers? No. Do we want our kids to learn a healthy way of eating and become critical thinkers about what they are putting in their mouths? Yes. Do we think a vegetarian diet is the healthiest choice. Definitely. If you ever did much research on the meat industry I think you would seriously reconsider all the meat you eat too. Scary stuff.

How it all started.

If you would've asked me when I was younger if I ever thought I would eat a vegetarian diet I would have laughed in your face but then I married a diabetic and became a mother. Things changed quickly. Just by being married to Tyler I had to rethink how I cooked and what we ate...especially early on before Tyler got his pump and he had a much harder time with his blood sugar control. His pump has changed our lives and we can eat normally again. When Reilly was about 18 months old she got really sick after eating a hot dog...about that time mad cow was all over the news...and we decided to try at meatless diet for her. Things went great. She thrived. We had a two year old who begged for VEGETABLES!! How cool was that? I got tired of fixing a vegetarian meal and a non-vegetarian meal every night so we just started eating more and more vegetarian meals and guess what? We liked it! We felt much better, had more energy and were full and satisfied...without meat.

Then Kameron was born and he had a milk allergy. I was told to go off all dairy while I was breast feeding. I did and we tried being vegan (no animal products...including dairy). This was very difficult. After Kameron was weened we went back to our mostly vegetarian diet. It just suits our family so much better. BUT...if you ever read much research about the dairy industry you would seriously rethink how much dairy you eat. Scary stuff again.

Since then we have never looked back. I rarely buy meat. I cook a meat meal maybe once every two weeks (for Tyler and I) and our kids don't eat any beef or poultry. They do eat fish and eggs etc. So that's why I say they are 99% vegetarians. Also- I will use chicken stock etc. in recipes... that's not that big of a deal to us...but in almost every recipe vegetable stock works wonderfully as does cream of celery soup to replace cream of chicken. Tyler and I will usually eat meat if we go out to dinner...if we're going to eat meat it better be good! You'd be surprised at how often we find ourselves raving over the baked potato when we are out for a steak dinner. No joke.




Is Tyler OK with eating salad all the time?

He rarely eats salad. There are tons of great recipes out there. Salad is usually not on our menu.

Do you eat a lot of tofu?

Nope. I buy it occasionally but it's not a staple. We do love and eat A LOT of tempeh (a block of fermented compressed soybeans.) It is fabulous. I'm not kidding. You should try it.

How do your kids get enough protein?

There is such a thing as a vegetarian food pyramid to follow if you need it. I've been doing this for nearly 11 years and am great at food combining to make a complete protein. Our pediatrician is A-OK with it and even comes to me for recipe ideas for her vegetarian daughter. Our kids take a multi-vitamin and things have worked out fine. Kameron is on the skinny side but that is genetics...not meat.

What do you guys eat?

Funny you should ask... at the bottom of all my posts I'm going to say what we are having for dinner. This should ease your curiosity and will inspire me to be a more creative cook.

What is the upside of a vegetarian diet?

Cheaper grocery bills, kids that love fruits and vegetables (our kids even love Brussels sprouts), kids who have experienced palates (even Ailey will eat spicy Thai food), kids who are critical thinkers, and kids who early on have to stand up for our family's beliefs even when they seem strange (not a bad thing given our religion!!)

The downside?

Happy Meals!! You don't know the lengths I've had to go to to get a fish fillet put into a happy meal. But if you are lucky enough to live in Seattle (which we don't) you can get a veggie burger put in your happy meal. How cool is that? Also- people think we are crazy. Oh well. And...it sometimes stresses people out to have us over for dinner. Cook your meat...we are OK with it and our kids love to eat the side dishes. Not a problem.

What happens if your kids want to eat meat when they get older?

When they are teenagers if they want to eat meat that's their decision. We will have tried to teach them how to eat a healthy diet without a taste for meat and if they do decide to eat it they will at least think about what they eat (hopefully they will do that in all respects) ... and not just eat things because they are there.

There it is. We are weird I know.

What's for dinner?

We are having a REALLY good dinner tonight. This is one of my favorites and since it is still COLD here it will hit the spot.

Aunt Margaret's Hot and Sour Soup

1/2 onion (chopped)
2-3 garlic cloves
1 to 2 T turmeric
1/2 cup sliced almonds
salt and pepper
1 T vegetable oil
3 cans broth (chicken or veggie)

In a blender with enough water to get it going blend the onion, garlic, almonds and turmeric to make a paste. In a frying pan heat the oil and cook the paste until it browns. Add salt and pepper to taste. In a stock pot heat the broth and blend in the cooked paste.

In a bowl layer: (You want you bowl to be nearly full)

Rice (cooked)
chopped boiled eggs
sliced almonds
bean sprouts
chopped green onions
chopped cilantro
shredded chicken (optional)

Ladle the broth over the rice and all the toppings. Squeeze approximately a tablespoon of fresh lime juice onto the soup and add hot sauce to taste. I prefer the Asian hot chili sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This is seriously SO GOOD! I crave it. My Aunt Margaret is Indonesian and is an amazing cook. I like my soup with LOTS of almonds, cilantro and lime juice. I will probably serve fruit to go along with it.

So that's what we are having for dinner! What are you having for dinner?

Book Review #29




I am on a golden roll of amazingly fantastic books!! East of Eden by John Steinbeck was our book club pick for this month. I almost didn't read it. You see, it's an old friend...and I ALMOST didn't re-read it... and that would have been tragic.


East of Eden is an epic story about good and evil. It tells the story of two families: the Trasks and the Hamiltons. It spans 3 generations and retells the Biblical story of Cain and Abel set in the Salinas Valley of Northern California.


Perspective...life experience...testimony. Do they change who we are? Do they change our world view? Most definitely. The first time I read East of Eden I had just turned 17 years old. It was summer vacation and I was looking for a good book to read. This book had such a powerful impact on me that I clearly remember where I was when I read it (laying on the couch in our living room) and the feelings it provoked. At this time I had only the smallest fleeting shadow of religion and virtually no knowledge of the Bible, and not much interest in philosophy. This was about 4 months before Stacey and I met the Nolan sisters and I returned to church. The discussion between Samuel, Lee, and Adam about the story of Cain and Abel was so profound to me that I began scribbling in the margins, underlining/highlighting things, and actually "pondered" on the nature of man. I grabbed my scriptures untouched since my baptism and turned to Genesis and began to read. God works in mysterious ways...and the spirit recognizes truth. Free will...of course...that made sense to me. "Thou mayest..." I had no understanding of Mormon Doctrine and Free Agency. But something rang absolutely "true" to me...that we have a choice and it is that choice that defines who we are. Powerful stuff for a religionless, scriptureless, self-involved 17 year old.


Fast forward 18 years and what a difference those 18 years have made. What a gift it was to read this book again farther down the road of life. At 17 years old I identified with the rejected child and at 35 years old I felt more the emotions of a parent who doesn't ever want her children not to feel loved and accepted. When I came to the chapter on the discussion of Cain and Abel I wasn't blown away by the "truth" of "thou mayest..." I felt more like..."Yep! That's how it works". But I was struck again by how powerfully important free will is. Isn't that why we fight for freedom and for the freedom of those around us? Without freedom there is no free agency and without free agency there is no plan of salvation. It IS the oldest story...it is what we fought for in the premortal world...and it what we continue fighting for today. Freedom...choice...free agency...the ability to do "otherwise".

At 35 years old I am much more knowledgeable of the scriptures and what is the major theme of the Old Testament in particular? Choice and consequences. Simple huh? Not only that but as is pointed out in the Introduction of East of Eden written by David Wyatt that the Bible "Has only one set of first parents but many Cains and Abels: Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, the Prodigal Son and his brother, Satan and Christ--in each one of these twosomes one is somehow lucky, or better, or preferred." (pg. xxii)

Steinbeck says: "The greatest terror a child can have is that he is not loved, and rejection is the hell he fears. I think everyone in the world to a large or small extent has felt rejection. And with rejection comes anger, and with anger some kind of crime in revenge for the rejection, and with the crime guilt--and there is the story of mankind."


Some are put off by Steinbeck and his details and descriptions. I have criticized him myself while reading Grapes of Wrath. I felt like...come on...enough of the scenery let's get back to the story but in East of Eden I loved his details and descriptions. Steinbeck was also criticized by reviewers by leaving the story every so often for his monologues. I must say that at 17 years old I too found it annoying but at 35 years old I loved it. You see I have since developed a deep love of philosophy, politics, and history. I am continually reminded that history repeats itself. Each generation is always surprised that we feel and can relate to the same things as generations past. Many of Steinbeck's monologues that were relevant to the story which takes place in the late 1800's and early 1900's were also applicable to the time Steinbeck wrote the novel, the 1950's, and are still relevant today in 2008.


I particularly loved this quote:

"I don't know how it will be in the years to come. There are monstrous changes taking place in the world, forces shaping a future whose face we do not know. Some of these forces seem evil to us, perhaps not in themselves but in their tendency to eliminate other things we hold good...when our food and clothing and housing all are born in the complication of mass production, mass method is bound to get into our thinking and to eliminate all other thinking...has entered our economics, our politics, and even our religion, so that some nations have substituted the idea collective for the idea of God. This in my time is the danger. There is great tension in the world, tension toward a breaking point, and men are unhappy and confused. At such times it seems natural and good to me to ask myself these questions. What do I believe in? What must I fight for and what must I fight against." (pg. 131-132)


Steinbeck wrote that he worried about his monologues and commentaries that "...had he not too often stopped the book and gone into discussions of God knows what. His only answer was 'Yes, I have. I don't know why. Just wanted too. Perhaps I was wrong.' " I don't think he was.


If it isn't blatantly obvious I LOVE this book!! One of my all-time favorites. Steinbeck is a genius and this book is his crowning glory. I love books that you come away from still have you thinking...for days...weeks. Was Adam Trask like what the original Adam would have been like if he had never fallen and only Eve did? WHY was Cathy the way she was? Are monsters born or created? What happens to Cal and Abra? What happens to Cal's children? Does the cycle continue? Is the cycle broken? Why is there only one lovable woman in the story?


READ THIS BOOK!! If you've already read it...read it again.

I rate it: EXCELLENT!!