It is Wednesday again and you all know what that means. It is Change the World Wednesday. http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/2011/11/change-world-wednesday-ctww.html
This week I just copied down the challenges here. (Yes I cheated but at least I gave the credit where credit is due. )
MONTH-LONG CHALLENGE: This month make note of the electricity (Kilowatts) used in your home (find this number on your electric bill, by reading the meter, by using a home electricity monitor, etc.). Then, spend one month reducing that number by 10%. In December we'll come back and report on our success including the actions we've taken to reduce our usage.
There are several ways to cut energy. Here is an article from Mother Earth News that has great tips. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/Save-Money-On-Energy.aspx?utm_campaign=Green+Energy&utm_medium=email&utm_source=iPost&utm_content=07.24.09+GEGH
We also have a contest in the house to see who can turn off the most light switches at a time. While this makes my daughter mad my 7 year old son will go thru the house turning off everything not just lights if no one is near it. If someone is in the kitchen cooking and they leave the room for a minuet he turns off the light. Some times being the little boy he is he even turns off the light while my daughter is still in the kitchen.
WEEK-LONG CHALLENGE: This week, eat Vegan for one entire day. That means, for one entire day eat only plant-based foods ... no meat, poultry, fish, dairy, etc.
This one is not to hard to do around here. We have been slowly going vegetarian/ vegan. My son told me he would be a vegetarian as long as he could have his meat. (yes I secertly laughed at him) But that being said when I cook all vegetables and then cook Hubby meat for dinner Wesley will pick the vegetables every time. he problem he would have going vegan is the cheese, milk, egg, and yogurt. Bekka and I chose to go vegetarian/vegan due to health issues. We are both diabetic and I have some other health issues that require low sodium and extra minerals. The only reason I am not totally vegan is the cheese issue. I have only been eating low fat ricotta cheese lately since it is low in sodium but I need that extra boost of calcium.
The best way to get your children involved in going vegetarian/vegan or just eating more vegetables is to get them involved. I let both of my children go shopping with me. They are always happy to try something new if they picked it out. I also get them involved in cooking. Bekka loves to play mix and match stir fry. She takes what ever we have on hand and comes up with some sort of stir fry. Wesley is getting involved too. We have the wood heater going so he has a frying pan he uses and he plays with vegetables and fruit. Some days it is not all that good but at least he is figuring out what goes with what. The other night he made a yogurt and fruit salad. He took Trix yogurt, apples, and grapes and mixed them together. This would have been great until I bit down into a piece of garlic. Today he experimented with garlic butter. We had asparagus (ok that was good), raw coconut (it was ok) and pomegranate seeds (not to great but not to bad either.) He feels great accomplishment in this. I do not let him waste food he just gets a little piece of something to try out. He is exploring flavors, textures, and different combinations.
It is helping so far in my swelling and blood pressure. I am waiting to see how it effects my blood sugar. Rebekka's blood sugar has stabilized and they have taken her off one of her meds since we have started going mostly vegetarian. Yes there are a few slip ups. I am only human but it is an on going process and I am working hard at it. I have eaten meat for over 35 years. Now only if we could get hubby on board and then I would not have meat in the house at all.
I almost forgot that Our friend SmallftPrints from the Change the World Wednesday Challenge gave me this great site on Vegan cooking. http://www.veganwolf.com/keep_on_hand.htm
1 comments:
When I became vegan, I was a pretty devout meat-eater. And truly, I didn't think I would like a vegan diet or that I could really do it. My hubby wanted to try it because he kept hearing how healthy it is. So I agreed to do it for 30 days (a person can do almost anything for 30 days, right?). Well, I've never looked back and I've never missed meat ... and no one was more surprised about that than me. I don't have any scientific evidence for this but I have a feeling that things change inside our body when we give up animal products and those changes cause us not to crave meat, dairy, etc. After awhile, I started eating cheese again ... I'm not sure why ... I suppose it was just easier to eat out or at other people's homes when I included cheese. But I noticed that I started to feel bad ... and I started to gain weight. So, I'm back to being vegan and feel so much better. Here's the good news ... diabetes runs in my family but my doctor checks me often and my sugar levels are perfect. So I think that you and your daughter will notice some real improvement in your health.
It's so great that you encourage your kids to cook and try out different flavors and combinations ... they'll grow up enjoying food and knowing a lot about it!
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