• Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Subscribe
  • Writing Services

Get Natured

coffee.jpg

My house is really quiet right now and there is a light rain falling outside. I'll be honest, it doesn't suck! Over the past few months life seems to have gotten busier. Not overtly but more in a things-are-leaking-in-from-all-sides sort of way. The little blocks of time I have for myself seem to have shrunken or, rather, are filled with things that feel more consuming than enriching. Bouncing from dry cleaning stops to meetings to homework to email checking, time has to be well-scheduled and tasks prioritized. I crave big blocks of time for writing and reading and projects and little blocks of time for coffee with friends and quiet dinners with my husband. This phase of life is messy and busy and squeezy but it is beautiful too. My boys still believe in magical things like Santa and still have so many first-times that light up their faces and make them say, "oh guacamole!" (a phrase coined by my youngest). We have done a lot of exploring (my word for 2012) this year and I am very thankful for that. My life is full of "too-good-to-be-trues" and realness too. We hike and laugh and play but we work and complain and run late and mess up the house too.

kids and leaves.jpg

hiking.jpg

To keep healthy meals on the table amidst the "getting real" of life, I have to plan ahead. I have tried all kinds of meal planning- from walking the aisles of the grocery store to find things that look good, to planning a full month of meals ahead of time. I don't like to grocery shop for huge lists of things or go to the store every other day for just a few items. I've found that planning for about a week works well for me. I can pull a plan together fairly quickly and I don't need to shop for hours and hours to pull it off.

jar salad.jpg

For my meal plan, I use a simple printable page (paper, despite my 12 years of IT experience!) that also helps me to build my grocery list. For the groceries, my husband and I share a common list using the Any List iPhone app. That works well for us!

Because I know you're busy too, I am sharing my meal planning template (with instructions), here.

You'll see that each dinner has two lines- one blank and one labeled "kids". I try to give my kids what we are eating most of the time but they are simple eaters and don't care much for sauces and such. While my goal is to cook only one family meal (and to help my kids learn to love a wider variety of foods), I also give them at least one thing that I know they will eat along with the new stuff.

I'll be back soon with a recipe for vegan tempeh wellington!

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
4 comments
Yesterday morning, just before the sun came up, we had a mini storm. It was just a little rain. Just a little thunder and lightening. Just enough to make everything smell fresh for just a little while. I knew it wouldn't last and I knew that it would still be 90+ degrees later on, but I was still tempted to put on a fuzzy sweater.

For now, the forecast remains steady at 90-something degrees for days. As always, though, I am a little sad to see summer go. Not the heat so much as the feeling of freedom and the way that the open agenda urges us to spend more time playing instead of have-to-ing. Fall, though, is cozy and spiced, roasted and stewed, served in a bowl. I am ready to indulge in that (and wear my new, perfectly navy blue, wrappy sweater) too!

This was my first grader's third week of school and packing his lunch has been a little bit of a challenge, though not in the way that I expected. I know there are tons of resources out there to show me how to create virtual habitats with animals made from veggies or little love notes that can be slipped in between containers. My issue is simpler than that. My son has 15 minutes or less to eat his entire lunch before his class is sent out to play. He is more likely to dawdle and daydream than to focus and eat quickly.

Muffins are one of my favorite vehicles for all kinds of nutritious things. I make them low in sugar and add protein to make them extra filling (and to get more calories into a small package for my kids). I also add fruits or even veggies and use whole grain flours in the mix. Here are my favorite muffins for fall with some notes on adding protein to help make them a good choice for lunch boxes and snacks!

1. Kid-tested pumpkin muffins (click through for recipe) 

pumpkin muffins.jpg

2. Cranberry tangerine muffins (click through for recipe)

cranberry tangerine muffins.jpg

3. Pumpkin cranberry "scuffins" (click through for recipe)

pumpkin cranberry scuffin.jpg

4. Spiced maple muffins (click through for recipe)

spiced maple muffins.jpg

Notes on protein: Two of these recipes call for protein powder. You can replace 1/4 cup of flour in the other recipes with protein powder, if you wish. I like Sun Warrior "natural" flavor but you can use your powder of choice. If you prefer not to use protein powders, you can increase the protein content of these muffins by placing the wet ingredients in a blender and adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup of raw almonds and blending until smooth before adding to the dry ingredients. If you choose not to use protein powder in the recipes that call for it, replace the powder with flour in the same amount.

Check out the Get Natured recipes page for more muffins!

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
No comments
c36ad47d6fba295aee628b7bd48f3f3f_8a961f5ca07e03683eb933efc5446e23_1_l.jpeg

Summer will still be with us for another few weeks but fall seems to arrive in spirit a little earlier than in date. My kids are back in school and I'm doing my best to stay organized and remember who needs to be where and when. It is still 95 degrees outside but I can see that the leaves are already turning yellow. When I run early in the morning, I can hear that the morning breeze sounds different too. More rustley and whooshy than quiet.

I did a lot of control freaky pre-planning for summer this year. I had schedules and charts and lists. The kinds of things that I usually stash away and forget about shortly after creating them. You know what, though? It made a HUGE difference! We were able to do more and experience more of what makes summer so awesome. I learned a lot this summer, too, and I thought I'd share a few of those lessons with you before I launch into pumpkins and such for fall.

In no particular order, here is what I now know to be true.

Summer's Lessons

1. I hate the gym. I'm sorry to say it, but I do. I've had gym memberships my entire adult life. Since I was 16, actually. Lately, though, I've found myself dreading going inside. I sit in my car in the parking lot and stall by reading email on my phone or listening to my iPod. It isn't the working out that I hate. It is the whole gym experience- cardio machines, the ridiculous line for spin class, people standing around talking loudly over me, texting, and otherwise annoying every cell in my body. For me, a morning run outside in nature or a workout with my bootcamp/tri training friends is so, so, SO much better.

2. Running and yoga go great together and not just for the one-makes-things-tight-and-one-stretches-them-out reason. When I'm running my brain is working. Ideas pop in and problems are crunched. This is good stuff in moderation but, just like swimming in the ocean, getting stuck in the churn can be overwhelming. Yoga shuts all that spinning down. It makes things quiet and gives my brain (and the rest of me) a chill pill. It is the flat water beyond the surf. Love.

3. At the right time of day our summer landscape is absolutely stunning. I used to think that everything was brown and dead in the heat of summer. Outside around here was not the lush green of late winter but a setting to be approached with forbearance and lots of sunscreen and ice water. This summer I discovered that there is an old almond orchard along the bike trail near my house. In the magic light at sunrise it is take-my-breath-away beautiful. Running or cycling to that special spot has become almost like a morning meditation or prayer of gratitude for me.

4. Homemade no-kneed bread with cinnamon and raisins is easy to make and delicious. We go through a lot of cinnamon raisin bread in our house. I've been wanting to find a good recipe so that we can have a fresh version of the store-bought one that we've been eating. I finally pulled out my copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (that I've had for a few years) and tried a few recipes. My favorite is the oatmeal bread with a cup of raisins and a sprinkling of cinnamon rolled in before baking. The book says that the no-kneed method creates a "custard crumb" in the bread and I understood what that meant after trying the recipes. Breakfast awesomeness.

5. Picnics are even better when they are at unexpected times of the day. We have a lot of picnics and, since they are sometimes spur-of-the-moment, I keep a picnic blanket in my car at all times. My favorite picnic of the summer was at dinner time. We packed up our food and headed out to the lake to eat, play, and watch the sun set. Best picnic ever. Thank you to Melissa of Adventure Tykes for inspiring this idea and for leading my discovery of these containers (also available in orange, pink, and blue)!

6. Homemade "Magic Shell" is really easy to make and tastes like summer perfection on top of banana soft serve. To make "Magic Shell" (makes 2 generous, chocolate-lover servings): put 1/4 cup chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (a little scant) into a microwavable container and microwave 10-30 seconds at a time, stirring often, until the chocolate is melted.

7. Embracing the best things about each season makes me (and my family) happy. This is where my control-freaky planning comes in. I spent some time in the spring thinking about what I wanted to do this summer. I created a summer manifesto and brainstormed a big list of outings, projects, and goals for the season. It was more like a menu than a to-do list and these things made it easier for us to get out of the house and enjoy the best parts of summer. Camping, swimming, bowling, berry picking, beach days, picnics- we did a lot of fun things!

How was your summer?


Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
3 comments
IMG_5308.JPG

We had a great time tent camping in Big Sur, California at the end of June. Here are a few images from our trip!

Getting ready...

IMG_5215.JPG 
IMG_5216.JPG

IMG_5217.JPG

All set up at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park:

IMG_5219.JPG

Fireside:

IMG_5248.JPG 
IMG_5302.JPG

Attack of the marshmallows!

548688_10150911059741935_1764144027_n.jpg

Hiking the Big Sur River:

IMG_5218.JPG 
IMG_5298.JPG

IMG_5299.JPG

and Pfeiffer Falls:

IMG_5295.JPG

A windy beach day at Andrew Molara State Park:

IMG_5291.JPG 
IMG_5294.JPG 
IMG_5296.JPG  
IMG_5300.JPG

Our last stop was a place that I've been meaning to check out for years- Nepenthe. The view beyond the tables is amazing- every table, inside and out, has a view of the ocean. It is gorgeous from every angle!

IMG_5287.JPG

I hope you are enjoying the view from where you are too!


Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
2 comments
photo-6.JPG

Hello! I have officially survived the first full week of summer vacation and I feel like things are going well. I am even discovering new things about my kids- like that they both love bowling! Who knew?!

photo-8.JPG photo-9.JPG

One concern that I had this season was about how I was going to manage finding enough time alone to get my workouts in. After considering my options- either take the kids to the gym with me or get up really early, I decided that I would start getting up early to exercise before my husband leaves for work in the morning. It isn't always easy to get out of bed but, I must say, that I am LOVING this time that I have carved out for myself. Not only do I get the exercise that I need physically, but I also get a little head-clearning "me time".

For the past 22+ years I have done the majority of my exercising in a gym. I am finding lately that I MUCH prefer being outside and away from crowds and annoying grunters and machine-sweat-coverers. Getting my nature fix first thing in the morning is almost meditative for me too. I have loved greeting my days this way!

Some early morning scenes: 

A mama turkey and two babies on the bike trail:

photo-7.JPG

Sunlight and oak trees around 6:30am:

photo-11.JPG

Me as a "biker chick":

photo-10.JPG

There is also something about a morning workout that makes coffee taste even better- cheers!

photo-12.JPG

Do you have an early morning ritual for greeting the day?





Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
3 comments
IMG_4298.jpg

I am in the process of getting organized for summer and, as a part of this giant undertaking, I have been trying to make meal planning a little bit easier for myself. I am not really all that control-freaky about it now, but I would like to be a bit more organized with my sources of inspiration (cookbooks, websites, emails from friends' recipe exchanges...)

Today I sorted through an old email folder labeled "recipes" that contained a ridiculously huge number of recipes that I've never attempted. Big deal, right? Well, some of the emails were dated all the way back to 2007. Either those recipes didn't sound good enough to get my attention over the course of FIVE YEARS (!) or I am just too scattered to remember to look in that folder in the first place.

So, for my own sanity (and so that you can benefit from my hoarding too!), I have pinned as many of those as I could find online to my Pinterest "Food" folder, here. I am still a recipe hoarder, but at least I have more of them in one place!

(PS- I also have many Get Natured recipes, with photos, pinned here).


Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
2 comments
Wow, it has been awhile since I have written a blog post! There isn't an unusual reason for my disappearance. I've simply been swallowed up in the routine of my life at the moment. I have very little time alone to focus on anything creative (or to do any one of about 500 items on a list of things that require any amount of concentration or aloneness...including writing this post, which took three days...)

Days blend together. I drive the same roads. I follow the same schedule. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of comfort to be found in this rhythm. Predictable is manageable and repeatable. On the other hand, though, not venturing out into new things tends to make everything stale. I have no new surfaces off of which to bounce ideas. No new inspiration. Nothing new to reflect on or mull in my mind with the wide-eyed excitement that comes with novel thoughts. Summer is here just in time to mix things up and to send me out to play and explore.

I had an amazing dream the other night. I was in a desert with my husband and our kids and the light was a perfect pinky-gold. It looked like we were walking around inside of an Instagram filter! Each of us had a huge bunch of colorful balloons and we were running over the dry and cracked ground with our bundles and laughing. As we let the balloons go and watched them rise slowly into the sky, I felt more carefree and happy than I have in a long time. The only thing on my mind was that moment- the laughing and the sweet light and the balloons. Nothing was inching its way into the "what is next on my list" slot in my brain. Simplicity.

IMG_3006.JPG

The dream created a strong craving in my soul to have more moments like that. To spend more of my time playing instead of to-do-ing.

So, what am I doing now? I am planning ahead for summer. Fun stuff, projects, camping trips. I also have what some might call a "summer bucket list" but I don't really care for that name as it implies that I will be "kicking the bucket" at the end of the summer. No, I like to think of this more of a manifesto of sorts. Or, at the very least, just a list of things that I want to do this summer.

My summer manifesto:

Screen shot 2012-06-01 at 5.42.34 PM.png

Summer reading:

I loved this book: Mile Markers: The 26.2 Most Important Reasons Why Women Run by Kristin Armstrong


This quote from the book captures a little piece of what spoke so loudly to me from its pages. I love the shift in my thoughts about running that this simple paragraph gave me:

"There is a restless place inside me, and if I don't intentionally access and relieve it, it groans at me, distracting me. There are too many thoughts in my head, too many feelings in my heart, too many things I want to do and say- and if I'm not careful, I can get overwhelmed with myself. Running restores my equilibrium, quiets the noise within, reprioritizes my list, repairs my state of gratitude, and returns me to myself, but a better version, nice and roomy in my own skin."

I will be swimming, biking, and running this summer too. So far I have one 5k run and one sprint distance triathlon on my race calendar and there are a couple more races that I'm considering. This is how I access and relieve my restlessness too!

A little bit of my summer reading list:
  • The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley
  • Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer
  • Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
  • Charlotte Au Chocolat: Memories of a Restaurant Girlhood by Charlotte Silver
I use a private Amazon wish list to keep track of what I want to read in the summer. I do tend to lean heavily into fiction this time of year- it feels so fitting for afternoons at the beach or on the patio.

Do you keep a summer reading list? What are you planning to read this year?

Summer Vacation

While I'm in summertime mode, while I'm reading fiction and dipping my toes in the ocean, I will likely be blogging less. I will share highlights and memorable moments here and there but I'll be taking the pressure off of myself to write for the sake of frequency. I will check in on Twitter and Facebook a little more often and goodness knows that I'll be pinning things on Pinterest!

This is a summer vacation of sorts for me and this kind of unplugging is something that I don't do well or often. I need to focus on my kids and their summer without the sound of my voice saying, "just a minute. Hold on a second. Give me five minutes, please." I need to thin the chatter in my brain that constantly urges me to have good ideas. I need to exist, moment to moment, in my world in this season of downtime. I need time to read and daydream and garden; time to watch honeybees at work with my boys; time to sip cold water with strawberries and mint; time to draw crazy pictures with brightly colored markers that make my kids giggle; and time to gather with friends and talk about good juicy things until it is way too late to still be awake.

shark.jpg

Happy summer!

"Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air." 
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
1 comments
Last week was spring break for us and we were on a week-long RV trip along the coast of Northern California and inland in Southern Oregon. Despite cold temperatures and a couple of rainy days, we managed to see several beautiful places and even take a couple of small hikes in the majestic redwoods near Jedediah Smith State Park.

Headed west through greener-than-green rolling hills:

IMG_4517.JPG

Fort Bragg:

IMG_4539.JPG

Glass beach (this place was literally a dump in 1949. Now it is a state park filled with gorgeous pieces of sea glass):

IMG_4533.JPG

My sea glass finds (I left them there- it is a misdemeanor to remove them from the beach!):

IMG_4527.JPG

Surf's up in Crescent City:

IMG_4545.JPG

Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City:

IMG_4547.JPG

My little "Ewoks" at "Endor" (parts of the Ewok scenes in Star Wars were filmed near Jedediah Smith State Park):

IMG_4548.JPG

The stunningly turquoise-green Smith River:



IMG_4611.JPG

IMG_4640.JPG

These trees don't look big in the photo until you compare them to the size of our RV!:

IMG_4637.JPG

Hiking trail:

IMG_4652.JPG

Eating healthy on our trip was relatively easy because we had an RV (thus a fridge and kitchen). We did, of course, indulge in too many sweets (it was vacation and Easter, after all)! We have been home for four days and I finally made it to the grocery store to restock today. Time to get back on track!

Speaking of healthy eating on-the-go, that is the topic of my latest article in Freeplay magazine. You can read the entire issue, including my article on page 14, here.

freeplay.jpg
Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
1 comments
I have not always been able to cook well. When I first moved out on my own I was completely lost in the kitchen. I would frequently wrap white rice and cheese in a tortilla and microwave it for dinner. Sometimes my roommate and I would make tater tots. Sometimes we would make a weird noodle and lettuce combo that we called "pasta salad". Eek.

A few years later, my mom sent me a gift subscription to Cooking Light Magazine. The magazine was exactly what I needed to get me on the road to cooking real food. I was a little intimidated by the recipes at first, but I followed them exactly and started to have some success with things that seemed fancy to tortilla-microwaving me. The first time that I made an actual meal with more than one thing on the plate, I felt like a culinary rockstar!

These days I cook a huge variety of foods and, even though I rarely follow recipes exactly as they are written, I adore cookbooks. I am also very comfortable with creating meals on the fly with whatever I have in the kitchen (and that happens a lot because I hate grocery shopping and try to put it off as long as I can)!

Among my favorite cookbooks are those written by Dreena Burton. Dreena's recipes stand out to me not only because they are delicious but also because they tend to be much lower in fat and sugar than others. Being a mother of three small kids, she understands the constant pursuit for healthy things that our kids will eat. I can tell that she has given careful thought to adding protein, iron, and other healthy elements to her foods and that fits exactly with how I approach building a meal for my family. Many of Dreena's recipes have become staples in our house and her cookies and brownies are my go-to recipes for times when nothing but a cookie (or three...) will fix whatever is wrong!

Given my love of Dreena's first three books, I was honored and very excited to be given the chance to review her brand new book, Let Them Eat Vegan!: 200 Deliciously Satisfying Plant-Powered Recipes for the Whole Family!



As expected, this book is full of yummy and healthy recipes! We don't have a need to follow a gluten-free diet in our house, but this book does offer many naturally gluten-free recipes as well as alternative ingredient suggestions for others. I love how each recipe has a few thoughts or comments from Dreena and suggestions and tips for serving or slightly changing the ingredients for a different result. It is like she is in my kitchen with me and helping me to decide what to make for dinner!

So far we have tried the Krispie Chip Cookies (of course I started with cookies- ha!)- these are great for all the reasons that I love chocolate chip cookies (who doesn't?!) and the rice cereal adds a really nice crunch:

vegan cookies-3.jpg

I also made the French Lentil Soup with Smoked Paprika, which was the best soup that I have had in a long time! So, so good!

lentil soup-2.jpg

I know that I will be making many more of the recipes in this book and I will share more as I do. I can already say, though, that the book gets two thumbs up from me!

What are you thoughts on cookbooks? Do you have a favorite?


*Legal stuff: I received a free copy of this cookbook to review here. I was not compensated in any other way.

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
1 comments
Newer Posts
Older Posts

About me

About Me

My name is Allison. I am a writer, boy mom, and a nature lover living in Northern California. Read more here.

Categories

  • Kids
  • Nature
  • Running
  • The Winter Project
  • Travel
  • What summer days are made of
  • Yoga

Blog Archive

  • ►  2020 (1)
    • ►  March 2020 (1)
  • ►  2018 (3)
    • ►  November 2018 (1)
    • ►  October 2018 (1)
    • ►  September 2018 (1)
  • ►  2016 (1)
    • ►  April 2016 (1)
  • ►  2014 (12)
    • ►  April 2014 (1)
    • ►  March 2014 (1)
    • ►  February 2014 (5)
    • ►  January 2014 (5)
  • ►  2013 (62)
    • ►  December 2013 (6)
    • ►  November 2013 (32)
    • ►  August 2013 (4)
    • ►  July 2013 (7)
    • ►  June 2013 (8)
    • ►  February 2013 (1)
    • ►  January 2013 (4)
  • ▼  2012 (19)
    • ▼  December 2012 (1)
      • My approach to meal planning and a simple template...
    • ►  September 2012 (1)
      • My favorite fall muffins + protein for school lunc...
    • ►  August 2012 (1)
      • 7 Summer lessons (& homemade "Magic Shell")
    • ►  July 2012 (1)
      • A camping trip in photos
    • ►  June 2012 (3)
      • My new ritual for greeting the day
      • Confession: I am a recipe hoarder
      • Summer manifesto
    • ►  April 2012 (2)
      • Healthy eating on-the-go (and vacation photos!)
      • Let Them Eat Vegan!
    • ►  March 2012 (3)
    • ►  February 2012 (2)
    • ►  January 2012 (5)
  • ►  2011 (63)
    • ►  December 2011 (3)
    • ►  November 2011 (6)
    • ►  October 2011 (4)
    • ►  September 2011 (3)
    • ►  August 2011 (4)
    • ►  July 2011 (6)
    • ►  June 2011 (5)
    • ►  May 2011 (4)
    • ►  April 2011 (4)
    • ►  March 2011 (9)
    • ►  February 2011 (10)
    • ►  January 2011 (5)
  • ►  2010 (120)
    • ►  December 2010 (6)
    • ►  November 2010 (7)
    • ►  October 2010 (11)
    • ►  September 2010 (11)
    • ►  August 2010 (9)
    • ►  July 2010 (16)
    • ►  June 2010 (11)
    • ►  May 2010 (12)
    • ►  April 2010 (6)
    • ►  March 2010 (12)
    • ►  February 2010 (9)
    • ►  January 2010 (10)
  • ►  2009 (13)
    • ►  December 2009 (9)
    • ►  November 2009 (4)

recent posts

Privacy Policy

Created with by ThemeXpose