Butternut Squash Soup *A WHOLE family friendly recipe for Thanksgiving*

I'm not going to wax philosophical on the meaning of Thanksgiving today..

It's the one day a year we don't need some weird keyboard warrior to remind us to smile at our significant other as he watches football on the couch. It's the day we don't get frustrated at the dog for being under our feet or our sister for bringing that musician boyfriend nobody can seem to get behind.
It's the day you invite the vegan cousin for dinner... knowing you're going to have to watch him glare at the turkey and remind you that it once had a brain and a mother.

The newly converted Buddhist/Artist/Dog Groomer/Theramin player/Splashing Hands Instructor brother will sit next to your lawyer friend who couldn't get home for the holiday.
And everyone will hate something on the table and something on the tv. Everyone will tell you why the last election was rigged or right and everyone will roll their eyes as 3 different denominations insist on leading the prayer over the meal.
And everyone will leave without a hint of animosity at the diverse table of gorgeous souls who had one thing in common: Everything to be grateful for.

So thank you for reading <3 Thank you for opening your hearts...
And thank you for leaving me the turkey leg ;) The wishbone is all yours. I couldn't hope for another amazing thing this year...

So. What are you going to feed your vegan paleo diabetic celiacs with peanut allergies this year?

How about some Butternut Squash soup?

Easy Peasy. Ready??

I very large butternut squash. Peeled, seeded, and cubed.
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped

4 or 5 carrots, cleaned and chopped
4-6 cups of veggie stock (depending on your desired consistency and # of folks to serve)
Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove OR curry powder... if ya wanna schmancy it ;)

Preheat oven to 400. You have the option of tossing your cubed squash in olive oil and salt before spreading in an even layer on your cookie sheet (I don't prefer to cook with olive oil.. but that's a whole nother post... here I would use butter or bacon grease depending on my desired flavor)
Roast for 30-40 minutes until a fork inserts easily.

Toss your onion into a large hot pot with some kind of fat (butter, olive oil, lard, tallow, bacon grease....) until onions have softened. Add carrots and any other veggies you want to use. Butternut squash has a very rich flavor, so this is an ideal place to sneak cauliflower or any extra veg into your family's dinner without any complaining ;)

Cook until you have reached a pretty uniform tenderness and add your veggie stock. Obviously, you can use beef or chicken stock here as well, but we're being vegan today ;)

 

 

Add your roasted butternut squash to stock and cook until your liquid has reduced by about 1/4. Add whatever spices tickle your turkey and hit the whole thing with a stick blender or slowly add to a food processor until you've reached your desired consistency =)

Serve it up to your colorful collection of loved ones and enjoy one last silent night before the next of the holidays hits ya between the eyes ;)

 

 

It's the end of the world as we know it... and I feel fine

December 21, 2012.
I'm sure you're aware of the significance of that date.
It's only an approximation, of course... but that's the best anyone can hope for, really.
The day the world as we know it.... ends.
That's it.
The Mayans aren't the only ones who have cleverly (if somewhat cryptically) informed us of our impending upheaval.

Nostradamus.
The dreams of Daniel.
Revelations made to John the Apostle.

We've known about this for centuries.. and yet, was there any way to prepare?
No.
When your world changes, you can't be ready.
You just have to change, too.

I've spent months preparing for this.
I know I've done everything I can.. but on at least a daily basis I take inventory.
Where can the supply be supplemented? Do we have a decent supply of food? What else can help in the transition??
All the supplies in the world aren't what I need.

I do my pushups against the wall or up the stairs. It's getting harder with my expanding belly. I can barely bend my arms before my belly brushes ground.
I do pushups with my legs on the couch.
I swim to keep my heart healthy enough for the exertions before me.
I use the abductor and abductor machines to keep my legs strong.
Reverse crunches. Squats. I don't use weights anymore, but I stay strong.
I keep myself well fueled.
You never know when everything could start... you never know when life as we know it will begin to change.

I check our supplies again.
Onesies. Check.
Tiny jeans. Check.
Tiny hoodies with dinosaur spikes down the back.. Double check.
We still need to make a final decision on those cloth diapers and make that initial investment.. but again. All the supplies in the world won't prepare us for the end. For the beginning....

When the day comes and the world is changed.. all we'll be able to do is stare in awe at the tiny wonder that will save us. Save us from not knowing what we're capable of. Save us from having no place to put all of the good we have cultivated in our 60 combined years of life..
All we can do is embrace the new world that will be handed to us.
And all I can think is... it's going to be a Good life <3


Paleo Pasta

This isn't really a recipe.. just an idea =)

I found one of those amazing little gadgets that you find now and again that makes you wonder how you ever cooked without it.. Simple thing, really.. it's a julienne peeler...

 

 

Inexpensive... INNNNNNVALUABLE!
I've been making everything with it.
I Julienne Zucchini and yellow squash for a pasta dish and serve it with Vodka sauce (recipe soon!)
I Julienne carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, peppers and toss them with some chicken base and crushed red pepper for some spicy chicken lo mein..
It's my new favorite toy =) =)



Last night, I made spicy beef stir fry.
Happiness <3 <3

I would love to hear about some of your favorite gadgets and what you do with them!!!
Feel free to leave a comment or message me directly with any thoughts or suggestions!!!


Enjoy the end of the world, my sweet ninjas!
I know I will <3

PaleOmaha.. A safe place to lay your fork. Part Uno.

PaleOmaha.
Pronunciation: Pale Eee Oh Maha.
Definition: Places in Omaha where you can find absolutely delicious fare without making yourself sick eating some glutenous mass because you didn't want to be a bother =)

That's right. I love eating in a restaurant. It makes any day feel a little special.. let someone else prepare something beautiful and bring it to me. Go home and not have to wash dishes.... All a recipe for a great night!
But The Caveman is incredibly strict about his Paleo ways.. which is understandable.
When he makes the decision that he wants something bad for him, he goes for it.. but for days after he's lethargic. Down. Bloated. He coughs incessantly and has to use his inhaler again. His stomach aches constantly and his skin gets patchy.
He doesn't decide that he wants gluten very often at all.

This makes restaurant dining a BIT tricky. Not terrible.. but a challenge. So for the last year, I've been cataloguing places we can go to find something that will still be enjoyable to eat, excellent service, fun atmosphere, and Paleo Approved =)

Ready? Let's go!


                                           Manila Grill

                                            108th & O st
                                           (402) 339-2606

 

 

 





My dinner... Lots of veggies and beef in a delicious tomato based sauce.
I LOVED it.. very satisfying.

 



Caveman's dinner..
Beef in a Mirin and Bay sauce.
He liked his a lot, but mine was CLEARLY the better order ;)

 

                                          
The atmosphere was comfortable, not fancy. It was lovely, considering we were unfamiliar with Filipino food and wanted a low pressure dining experience. I assume it was the owner's family who came in and seated themselves at a nearby table.. 12 or so people, loud and boisterous.. asking how long we had been dating, if we wanted to try some of this or that, making recommendations on the menu. One of the children came and sat at our table with us because he found Abrabacon so amusing.. (Imagine that! A 5 year old finds Abe amusing.. will wonders never cease!)
We felt included and welcomed. Even aside from the food being incredibly satisfying, the place is a treasure. Highly recommend!

 

                                                                            Kona Grill

                                   
                                           295 North 170th Street 
                                                (402) 779-2900

 

 

What? Sushi??? Raw fish and rice?????
Here's the thing. You have to ask VERY nicely and they may or may not charge you a dollar extra per roll, but you can have your rolls wrapped in Nori (Seaweed) and then a layer of cucumber or avocado rolled over the outside. Adds the healthy fats your body loves and makes you feel more satisfied after fewer rolls =)
Delicious. I love this place, but it is a little 'Chainy' for my personal pleasure... I'm quite certain you can con any kind sushi chef into making this alteration. Give it a try! You will not be sorry..

In addition, Kona has many delicious entrees that can easily be made suitable.. You can simply ask for additional veggies instead of rice or noodles on each dish, mashed potatoes, or a salad to substitute the offending side =)
                                                    Outback Steakhouse
 


Ok
I LOVE seared Ahi. LOVE IT.
This appetizer plus a side of seasonal veggies with butter comprise one of my favorite dinners.
First.. always ask if it's butter or margarine.
Cuz. Seriously.
Then, take your time as you let the spice blend come together on your tongue.
Happiness <3

A steakhouse tends to be a pretty easy bet// a steak slathered in butter with veggies/
Sweet potato with cinnamon and butter.
Abe likes to get a salad topped with cottage cheese instead of dressing... dressings are usually made of ridiculous amounts of soybean oil...So there you have it, my darling dolls. Part one of my Paleomaha series. Check back for more delicious dining destinations soon!

<3

Giving up. The Very long beginning of a VERY long love story

We are constantly reminded that nothing good ever comes easy..
But the notion that nothing good comes without hard work gives us the false impression that just because we've worked very hard for something, we can never let it go. We can't give up something we've given so much to...


Long way around the story is this...

When we found out we were expecting, we were obviously overjoyed.
We started planning immediately.. should we move or just renovate? Should I look into starting a home daycare so I can stay home with the baby, or should I just find work and try to schedule myself for when Abe isn't working? Should Abe keep fighting, or is that bad for our dynamic?

We giggled as we waited for our ultrasound tech to come show us pictures of our tiny miracle.
We held hands as she poured the warm gel over my flat stomach and we both stared intently at the monitor...
The tech frowned. Reached her free hand up to stroke her own round, pregnant belly and pursed her lips.
Finally, she brightened and I breathed a bit easier.
"Ok dear.. do you see what I see on the screen?" She chirped..
I don't see anything....
"Exactly. It appears you have had a miscarriage. We'll give you some pills to help you expel the remainder of the failed pregnancy and you guys can talk with your doctor about when you can try again." She smiled and nodded her head enthusiastically. I felt Abe's hands shaking, but couldn't bring myself to tear my burning eyes from the screen. The empty screen..

Can we...? If I finished my sentence, I was going to cry. I wasn't ready to cry. I wasn't ready to be done being this baby's Mom.
I pointed at the *otherrrr* ultrasound device. The really invasive one.
She seemed a bit put off by my insistence, but acquiesced.
A moment of looking and she triumphantly announces her original assessment was correct.
I still can't look at Abe.
Instead, I continue to insist. I take matters into my own hands and position the device myself..

A moment later....
The tiniest kidney bean flashes across the screen.
Tiny.
If it wasn't the very face of hope and love, I might not have recognized it as a reason to stop.

That was our son.
Now I cried.
This tiny little bean was the reason our hands, sweaty and trembling, were still clinging for one another. He was the reason those hands would search for one another so many times over the next several months..

From that moment, I began to plan in earnest. We discussed baby proofing. What to do with our two 70 lb dogs. I did a real inventory of my diet to find I was only averaging about 1000 calories a day (before the morning sickness came... ) so I needed to revamp my intake.

And then I woke around 4am feeling odd.
My mind consoled.. it's just menstrual cramps. Don't worry.
A groggy trip to the bathroom would verify this and my sleepy mind brushed it off.
Once my head rediscovered the pillow, the weight of the situation began to bear down.
Menstrual cramps. I'm 4 months pregnant.
The contractions came for the next 2 days. Call after call to my doctor begging to know what I can DO... how can I make it stop?
He calmly.. sadly... told me all I could do was rest. Get some sleep. Drink plenty of fluids.

That's not a THING.. that's not DOING something. I will do 1000 pushups if you tell me my baby is ok.
I will read all of the books again. I will sing the national anthem. I will vacuum the dryer vent... but give me something I can DO that will fix this!

Just rest.

Abe sat beside me on the couch. He stared at me.. hoping he could make the baby feel loved enough to stay. He didn't speak except to tell our son that while we were excited to meet him.. not yet. Please not yet... I'm going to be such a good Dad, but you won't know if you don't stay! I'll buy you a bike! I'll teach you to play basketball.. I'll even let you win sometimes.. just don't go.

I rested like it was my job. Called all of my yoga clients and studios and told them I was under the weather and needed some time off.
Abe fed me like he was trying to insulate our son. If there is enough food in there, maybe he'll get lost and not be able to find his way out?

About a week later, we finally got the clear. He was safe. His heartbeat was strong. I needed to be more careful about physical activity and dehydration, but otherwise...

At this point, I began getting a lot of negative feedback. I was being told I wasn't happy enough about being pregnant. I was told I was too vain. I was told I was gaining too much weight... not enough.
I got to hear from 2nd sources about how I didn't deserve to have this baby.
How many people wanted babies and I wasn't even trying and one just got handed to me... and now I wasn't even happy about it.
I only tried once to discuss the truth of the matter to one of these people before giving up.
I didn't have the energy to waste on someone else's negativity. I haven't spoken with her since and I'm amazed at how little I feel the loss. How little pain it causes once you've lost respect for someones opinion. That was my first lesson in giving up something I had nurtured. Something I had loved...
It was going to be the first of many.

I decided to stop lifting. I always got a few scattered contractions when we bench pressed, so I put it away.
I cut my 5 miles a day down to 2. The summer was hot and I couldn't risk dehydration.

LockeYoga was really picking up.. in one week, I got 11 calls from brand new clients. As tired as my swelling body was, I had worked really hard to get to this point. Figuring early pregnancy fatigue was a fine thing to muscle through, I took client after client. Accepted a position at yet ANOTHER studio. Volunteered to teach a few scattered classes for an office full of very overworked caregivers.

During each class.. one or two contractions.
After... sporadic contractions for a few hours.

I asked my doctor if it was safe and he assured me it was not only safe, but incredibly good for my little one. Always happy to do what's best for him, I continued accepting positions.

At about 5 1/2 months.. the contractions changed. My belly would be completely flat for hours and I would sweat and sometimes see a few stars from the intensity.

Then I began to dilate.

The nurses at the doctors office said he would call me back. They never gave him the message. I called again. He was gone for the weekend. I called the on call doctor. His nurses assured he would call back. 8pm... they told me to go to the ER.

I was sent back to the couch for the weekend. Tears dripped off my chin for days and I couldn't eat because of the pain. Walking became a challenge.. not because of the discomfort, but because of my crippling fear that the upright position would make things worse.

Again, come Monday evening the pain had decreased significantly.

Those days on the couch forced me to truly examine my energy expenditure.

I have spent 4 hard years building LockeYoga.
In the early days, I missed my fair share of meals because of how tight money had become.
I had to rebuild my client base when a rival told several of my clients that my certification was fake. That I had injured a client. That I was overweight and unqualified to teach anything about a healthy lifestyle. Untrue as it was, people's faith in you is fickle and they moved on.
I stayed up nights designing programs to incorporate a wheel chair for a client with advanced MS.
I cried when, for the first time in 4 years, he stood behind his chair to hug me. The only standing he had done in that time was to move himself from the chair to the bed.. with the help of several rigged bars.
I struggled with a program for a girl with a severe spinal cord injury. A couple with Parkinson's. A mother with 3 children. An obese woman who only wanted to be able to one day paint her toenails again.

 



My several group classes comprised 50% of advanced yogis and 50% newcomers. Watching them shift in beautiful rhythm from a lunge into Goddess... hands to the ground and in unison fly into crow... Nobody knew who had never tried before, other than the giggles and cries of victory as they realized their body's true ability..

I thought of how much I had given to this thing I believed in so much... that had finally made me believe in myself.

I used my remaining time on the couch to make 2 online posts and about 2 dozen phone calls.

4 years. It took me 4 years to create something out of my investments, sweat, and passion.
It took me about 20 minutes to shut the whole thing down.

I stopped teaching in September. Completely stopped.

It only took me 5 minutes of knowing I was this perfect human's mother to know I would give up anything to know he was safe.
It took only an hour of being stubborn and forcing my body to submit to something it was resisting to realize how easily he could be taken away.

I have switched health care providers from our OB to an amazing midwife with an incredible support staff.
We have re-prioritized the people in our lives and therefore cut out a significant amount of negativity.
We have painted our nursery and spent hours jabbering at the fluttering mound that blocks my view of my toes.
We all want to believe in something, but we have to allow ourselves to accept it when it's in front of our eyes.
If we ever saw a real dragon... we would call it a lizard.
If we saw a fairy, we would know it was just a bug.
And the day I found faith again, when I found something to believe in- when I saw the face of love.. I only thought it was the face of my son peering back at me through a black and white screen.


 

Quick check back..

33 weeks and counting!

 Hey guys!
So the whole.. being pregnant with a superhuman thing is hard work! A little exhausting, but I just wanted to send you a quick note =)
I have a whole new enthusiasm for making allergen-free foods fun... I recently found out one of my favorite humans alive is dealing with autoimmune issues and is beginning a gluten free adventure =) So I'll be extra sure to post more frequently. And for now.. I dunno.
You guys wanna see how fat I've gotten???
You DOO??? ;)
It's hard to give you accurate estimates on how far along I am in each as we have 3 due dates...but I'll give you my best approximation ;)




10 weeks
 

12 weeks

11 weeks






 

 



14 weeks
 

15 weeks

 

 

16 weeks

19 weeks




23 weeks + Bed Head =)

25 weeks


 

27 weeks

29 weeks
 




31 weeks

  

See you soon, my little love!