Licking Life's Plate
How can I find time to work out when I have small children?
What are some of the benefits of working out, even if I am of average height and weight?
Is it alright to exercise because want to look and feel good for my husband?
This video is in response to Frances, a lady who wrote to me after watching my previous video, Exercise: A Mom’s Motivation to Begin.
When you’re shopping with five small children, the trip can often be deemed successful if you leave with the bare essentials on your list, nothing in the store gets broken, there are no potty accidents on aisle five and nobody gets injured in the parking lot on the way to a car. (Thanks again, Stranger Who Saved the Day, for the bandages from the glove box of your NRA tagged pick-up when Micah’s pinky fingernail was ripped clean off, in the pouring rain, by the wheel of a shopping cart.)
Just because you can’t predict what’s going to happen with all of the variables present (um, that’s a euphemism for children), it doesn’t mean that you can’t try to have some semblance of order.
Here are my three shopping rules:
1. Reverse single file. This means to form a line behind the parent-in-the-lead in reverse age order. This way, the oldest child (my Thomas is eight) can help keep an eye on the middle children and is bringing up the rear so that we don’t have any stragglers. Especially on smaller aisles here in Japan, where two people are the equivalent of a road block, in this formation we can maneuver quickly and without crashing into any old ladies. If someone wants to look at something, they can ask me and we’ll go over and look together. If Tom is with me, especially in very crowded places, one of us will lead and the other will bring up the rear. ( You might laugh and call me militant, but have you ever lost a four year old on the subway in Tokyo? Yeah. Thought so.)
2. Hands behind your back or in your pockets. I inherited this rule from my father. He is a woodworking artisan. When my siblings and I were young, my dad used to take us with him to art shows and antique stores while he met customers and solicited new business. He knew the shop owners and, so long as we promised to obey this rule, they’d let us into their stores even when there were “No Children Under Age 13 Allowed” signs posted. (Oh yes, these signs do exist!) This rule works just as well in an aisle of glass jarred condiments as it does in a curio shop. If one of my children would like to touch something, they can ask me for help and we can look at it together… after I peek at the price tag first!
3. Ninja Stealth Mode. My kids came up with this name. It means to be quiet in the store, and to walk in a way that no one can hear you. This is the shopping version of The Quiet Game. If you aim for total silence, you’ll probably end up with “indoor voices”, which works just fine. (The children are convinced that no one can see or hear them while they’re in Ninja Stealth Mode. If you tell them otherwise, I’ll have to kill you.)
Being respectful of the store and other customers is something many adults have never learned. It’s important to teach children how to behave when they are young so that when they’re old, they’re only playing Monkey in the Middle if they can afford to buy every item on the aisle!
Humor aside, please don’t drag your children along on “shop until you drop” excursions or be insensitive to your children’s basic needs while you’re out and about. If a long days of errands simply cannot be avoided, be sure to plan for snack and potty breaks. You may be able to survive 10 stores in a row without emptying your bladder or stopping at the vending machine for some juice re-hydration, but your dear children cannot. In my post about biting, I addressed how unmet physical needs can contribute to bad behavior. The same ideas apply here.
By the way, there will be times that you’ll follow all the rules and you’ll momentarily lose a child or someone will steal a pack of orange Tic-Tacs. These incidents make for tender teaching moments for the whole family… not to mention great blog fodder. Remember: God is merciful, and He’s still in charge even when you kid yourself and think you have it all together, but don’t.
What are you tips for shopping with children?
Photo credit: “Just Sayin'” by Divine Harvester
This week, the tables at the local Japanese farmers’ market are overflowing with fruits, vegetables and especially garlic. My friend Atusko’s landlord is a farmer, and he gave her a bag containing 100 single cloves of garlic “seconds” that he could not sell. She passed the garlic on to me and it inspired tonight’s dinner.
With the autumn breeze dictating a sudden wardrobe overhaul, the season’s first steaming bowl of chili was like a promise of warmth on the cold nights to come.
Layers of flavors meld together for satisfying bite and a lingering, medium-spiced aftertaste. Red table wine brings out the hues of the tomatoes and beef, cumin seeds and crushed red peppers offer added mini bursts of flavor, and large chunks of garlic take the spotlight as they are slowly simmered to soft, mellow perfection.
My serving of Garlic Harvest Beef Chili was placed next to a paddle of rice and topped with shredded sharp cheddar, a dollop of real sour cream, and enough cilantro to make it obvious that fresh herbs make my heart sing.
Sarah’s Garlic Harvest Beef Chili
Serves 12
15 minute prep time
1 hour 15 min stove-top cook time
2 lbs London Broil, cut into 1 cm. cubes
2 medium onions, chopped
100 whole, peeled cloves of garlic (I cut some mutant cloves down to normal size!)
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp kosher salt
26 oz. can of tomato sauce (I used Hunts Garlic & Herb)
30 oz. of diced tomatoes (or two, 15 oz. cans) with juice
5 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp oregano
1 heaping tbsp cumin powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup dry red table wine
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup masa harina
water to make masa harina slurry
Steamed rice (5 cups dry)
Toppings (optional – see below)
Toppings:
Sour cream, sharp cheddar cheese, chopped fresh cilantro, and a bottle of hot sauce for the daddies and the shirtless egg-muscled sons who are trying to impress them
Directions:
Prepare the rice in a way that it will be done at the same time as your chili – about 1 hr 15 minutes. (I love my Zojirushi rice cooker because I can prepare the rice way ahead of time and it will keep the rice warm for whenever I need it.)
In a Dutch oven, sauté the onions and whole garlic cloves in cooking oil until soft. Add the cubed beef and cook until browned. Stir in salt, spices, tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine and water. Stirring occasionally, simmer, partially covered, for an hour or until the beef becomes tender.
Mix a little water with the masa harina to make a slurry (if you do not add water, you’ll have masa chunks in your chili… yuck.) and stir the slurry into the chili. Cook for another five minutes until the chili thickens slightly.
Place a scoop of rice and then add a serving of chili next to it, overlapping the rice slightly. Down the middle, sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Top with a dollop of sour cream. Sprinkle with cilantro (and hot sauce if you’re a show-off).
Will you share your favorite autumn dinner recipe with me?
* * *
If you love chili and are hungry for more…
Chili Nation is my favorite chili cookbook. The recipes are easy to prepare, yet please the palate of a chili enthusiast. The authors chose recipes from each state, and the very interesting story behind each recipe is recorded in the book. A few years back, the men in my husband’s Bible study took turns making a different recipe every week and brought them to share. All were excellent! My staple weeknight chili recipe from Chili Nation is the Tigua Indian Definitive Bowl of Red. It’s a spicy beef chili without beans. It gets its deep reddish color from several tablespoons of chili powder.
(Oct. 22 Update): Random stuff about grapefruit:
Did you know that grapefruit are hesperidia, or an elongated type of berry?
Parts of a Grapefruit: Accidental Hedonist | Citrus Fruit Biology (< -- cool food blog, BTW!) Grapefruit were historically called, One of the Seven Wonders of Barbados and in 1753, were thought to be the “Forbidden Fruit” in the Garden of Eden.
Washing some medications down with grapefruit juice can kill you!
Grapefruit Recipes:
75 Grapefruit Recipes from Just Fruits
Grapefruit Chiffon Cake from Gourmet.org
…and a bazillion other facts and recipes (including making your own grapefruit “tea”) from Martha Stewart (I’m not ashamed… I love her!)
UPDATE: A winner has been selected! Contacted the winner, waiting to hear back :)
Dear Readers,
I’m excited to announce that my promised monthly giveaway contest officially begins with this post! (If you’d like to be the first to read new posts and to learn about contest updates, please subscribe to my feed.)
Why I am I doing this? Why am I being so generous? Because there are way too many awesome things here in Japan to hoard to myself. I had to find a way to share!
Barring unforeseen circumstances, I will announce the giveaway contest rules along with the details of a corresponding-themed prize package on the first of each month. I may throw in a pack of Japanese candy or some random things into the box at last minute, so please let me know if you have any special requests and/or food allergies.
The winner will need to provide their mother’s maiden name, social security number, and a valid US credit card number + three digit secret code. JUST KIDDING! I will, however, need their name and mailing address which will be kept strictly confidential.
If they’re agreeable, I’d like to interview the winner and feature them in a future post. I would consider including links in the post to the winner’s blog, favorite cause, home business, etc.
Winning contestants may not enter my subsequent monthly giveaway contests for a year following their win. In other words, if you win in September, 2009, you can’t enter again until October, 2010.
September Contest Rules:
Name my mid-90s Toyota Estima Lucida minivan.
It’s a 4 WD tank, deep eggplant/plum in color with a grayish blue interior. (Color update, Sept. 2, 10 a.m. viewed in bright sunshine: The color is really weird. It’s kinda black, but it has these flecks of sparkle in the paint that make it look brownish/purple. ) The steering wheel is, of course, on the right. It has moon roof over the front seats and a large sunroof over the back passenger seats. The sliding passenger door takes a little oomph to open. This van seats eight, including the driver. Although it’s not too sleek, this van gets us to where we need to go. We use it to travel through the mountains, in all kinds of weather, while the kids (okay, and sometimes me, too) sing at the top of their lungs to Weezer. While we haven’t had any food spills to add extra character, the van does contain a lot of sand at the moment from frequent trips to the beach this summer.
September’s Prize:
An Automobile-Themed Care Package
-One portable, two-person picnic-sized tatami mat with a built-in floral carrying case. (See the photo with Tab for size of the mat unfurled.) Store this mat in your car for impromptu picnics and to impress your friends.
-Car wash cloth
-Car dust cloth
-Red, stainless steel travel mug
-“Deep Forest” laser carved air freshener “Please enjoy a fragrant time with this wood air freshener.”
-“Baby On Board” “I Am Safety Driver” sign
-“Maternity On Board” “I Am Safety Driver” sign
Items will be wrapped in Japanese newspaper.
Have fun! Tell your friends. Send me a gmail @mrsalbrecht if you have any questions or suggestions for future contests/prize packs. If you’re new here, check out the Welcome!
Leah’s Usagi-chan involuntarily played in a mud puddle yesterday.
She’s all cleaned up and, hopefully, will be dry before Leah’s bedtime tonight…. or else I’m in a heap of trouble!