Vegan Challenge

Our family has decided to challenge ourselves this summer, similar to what we did in 2009. Last summer we chose to do a 7-day technology free week. No tv. No cell phones. No internet. I think I like depriving myself of things, it is fun. :)

This summer, we are again canceling our cable indefinitely. I can't do without all technology due to my business, but I want to stay off facebook and not watch tv, etc. There really is no need for these things anyways, and summer is a perfect time to cut back or give it up entirely and spend more time with family!

Our big challenge for the summer is to try to go vegan for 30 days. Now that we feel it has been fairly simple to go vegetarian (giving up all meat), we are going to take that one step further and cut out dairy and eggs too. This might have to be a 90/10 situation where if we are eating something one time and it has one teeny tiny ingredient we are not going to stress about it. But, for the majority of the month we are going to try to avoid all animal products. Plus, to make it even more challenging, we also avoid soy in all products. This is an ingredient I've been staying away from for a while. If you pick up any processed food in your house, it probably contains soy. If it is a conventional product then the soy is most likely genetically modified. Also, soy can mimic estrogen in your body. Did you know that soy formula is banned in some countries? I have read that a baby that drinks soy formula is taking in the equivalent of several birth control pills every day! I do not like to eat things that mess with my hormones, just like I don't put things on my skin that mess with my hormones. A lot of "fake" meat, cheese and milk products contain soy.

I do not want to replace animal products with processed junk food products. The goal is to find healthier options, eat more vegetables, grains and nuts. Whole, raw, organic food is always our goal!

You are probably wondering why. Yes, we all care about animals and that is a great reason! My main reason is to see how we all feel! I have heard that if you go vegan, even for a few weeks you won't want to go back. Maybe we will feel so fabulous getting all that cheese and butter out of our systems that we will want to incorporate more vegan meals into our normal routine. We'll see.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is not working out very well for most people. We are striving to try something different.

It is a challenge.
It is an experiment.

Wish us luck!

Easter with the O'Brien's

Food Revolution

Before we cancel our cable again, I decided I had to check out this new show- Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

"Welcome to the world of American school food, it's shocking!"

Jamie Oliver is a british chef who has decided to come to the US to try to change some of our eating habits. This first episode was focused on children and school lunches. He visited Huntington, West Virginia, the "unhealthiest" city in the US.

When he arrived and went to a local Elementary school he was met with some very defensive and offended lunch ladies and some students who were being served PIZZA and CHOCOLATE MILK for breakfast!

Everything the school served was processed. His message to the parents of these children: "If I were you, I would be really pissed off!"

The head cook Alice Gue said "He's thinking we should do more 'fresh', there's no way".

Jamie went to a local church to finally find one person in the city who was on his side.
"How we treat our bodies matters to God... Honor God with your body". The pastor Steve Willis explains to his congregation that the CDC reports Huntington as the most obese city in the world. he can go through the church directory and point out person after person who has diabetes, other diseases, recently had heart attacks, etc.

The end of the show cut off due to the breaking news on the healthcare bill, but I set the DVR to record the entire show on Friday on ABC.

Spring is here!!

Amy Butler

I had the pleasure of meeting the very famous Amy Butler!

She is an artist who designs fabrics and sewing patterns. She just so happens to be from right here in Central Ohio, but her fabric is sold worldwide.

She visited a local fabric store and I was able to go with my mom and meet her! I even bought one of her books to have her sign it!

Snow Days!

We are enjoying our FOURTH snow day of the year today!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy V-Day!

The girls have "crazy" hair for Awana tonight!

Corey's craft project! :)


Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Corey and I celebrated on Saturday by going to the #1 ranked vegetarian friendly restaurant in Columbus. It is called Dragonfly and we went for their lunch buffet. Really, the buffet was the bread, soup and salad, then you still pick your entree. It was very good, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good the vegan items were also. Corey tried the "Mac & Cheese" which was actually couscous. I tried the Vegetable Risotto. It was Yummy!! Very expensive for just lunch, but we really enjoyed it and it was nice to have a quiet meal, just the two of us!


Corey at Dragonfly