On Life As A Picky Foodie

Dear Friends;

I was recently reminded in a very real way of how important health is.  If we don’t have our health, nothing else matters.

At 2:30 on Christmas morning, my baby girl woke up screaming.  When I reached over to pick her up, her skin was burning hot and she seemed uncomfortable being touched. 

For the next eighteen hours, DW and I sponged her down, we sang to her, we read every book over and over in an attempt to get her temperature down and make her comfortable.  She was terrified, and when her fever shot up to 40.5 Centigrade (105 Fahrenheit), so were we.  We didn’t eat, we barely spoke.

It was Christmas, but the gifts we had bought for everyone, the food I had cooked for our family meal – suddenly none of it mattered.  The only thing we could think about was getting her well again.

Today, almost a week later, she is back to her self.  She is squawking, chirping, singing, happily eating her apples, oranges and broccoli.  And although neither DW nor I are particularly superstitious, we are knocking on so much wood, I’m starting to see grooves in the furniture.

Over the past seven months, I have questioned everything: Am I overdressing her?  Am I under dressing her?  Am I feeding her too much?  Too little?  Am I starting solids too early?  Too late?  Is she happy?  Am I a good mother?  Is she learning all my bad habits? 

But that day, watching my baby girl in pain, I didn’t doubt or think or analyze.  I simply did.  And feeling her settle in my arms offered a little bit of comfort. 

So here it is, dear friends, the dawn of 2011.  May it be happy, fun-filled, fulfilling, a good laugh, inspired, inspiring, beautiful, surprising.  Most of all, may it be a healthy year for you and your loved ones.

Be well and enjoy

Gabriela

P.S.  Have I mentioned green smoothies before?  Here is the one that has kept me going this week:

Juice:
1 bunch kale or cavalo nero
2 beetroots

Blend the juice with:
2 bananas
1 Tablespoon almond butter
1 T Dr. Schulze's Superfood (optional)
raw honey (optional, to taste – add 1 t at a time as the bananas make this very sweet)

The smoothie tastes very “green” so only adventurous souls should venture here, but it’ll give you energy for hours and hours. 

Dear friends;

This is the story of a little blue hat.  This little blue hat has flecks of brown and grey and beige.  It’s a soft hat, one that looks comfortable, comforting and warm.  The blue in it brings out the colours in my daughter’s eyes. 

Every night, we pull it over her head and my baby girl now knows it’s time for bed. 

This isn’t just any little blue hat, no. 

It’s the little blue hat knitted especially by Auntie V. 

When I told my family I was pregnant, my daughter’s Auntie V immediately got to work on a hat for our unborn child.  There is so much love between those stitches!

So every night, Vida smiles when she feels her little blue hat being pulled over her head.  For our part, we know it will keep her warm because her Auntie V made sure of that.

This holiday season, why not give something you’ve taken the time to make yourself?  Even a card that wasn’t composed by others counts. 

Or here’s an idea: what better way is there to tell people how much you care than with delicious, nutritious food?

Like a sweet, green smoothie.  Here’s a holiday treat to help get those greens into your loved ones (I know it’s not quite a hat, but while I’m only just learning to knit, I’ve got blending down to an art)

Green Holiday Smoothie (vanilla)
(serves 2)

Combine in the blender:

-  1 ½ cups coconut water (you can use plain water if you so desire, simply adjust the sweetness accordingly with some raw honey)

-  3 kale leaves, stalk removed

-  1 banana (peeled)

-  2 satsumas (peeled)

-  2 T almond butter

-  ¼ t cinnamon

-  1/8 t vanilla powder

blend well until smooth and the colour is uniform

The coconut water is full of electrolytes.  The kale – do I really need to talk about the kale?  The banana’s got potassium, the satsumas will give you Vitamin C and help your body with iron absorption.  The almond butter has Vitamin E, good fats, and protein.  The cinnamon is warming, the vanilla soothing and calming.

Now bring on the holidays!

Happy Chwanstmukkah everyone

With love

Gabriela

P.S.  On Life As A Picky Foodie Newsletter is taking the month of December off!  See you all in 2011!