A weekend of Sacraments

On Thursday had dinner with our priest and found out that Chris & I are the new poster children for the Pre Cana program @ Holy Name: Check it out :)

Saturday we went to friends Nicole + Jeff's wedding ceremony @ the Tiffany Celebration Garden:

& Reception @ the Chicago Illuminating Co......(SO MUCH FUN):

& Baby Tristan's Baptism on Sunday:

Parents & godparents

Becoming a child of God 

Playing with fire

besties

Veggie Lasagna

A lot of people wonder what you can eat as a vegetarian, or really, how good any of it can be?
So, I thought it was a good idea to add in some food posts - inspirations, photos, and step-by-step instructions on how to make some yummy & healthy dishes. So get ready for some kick-ass recipes for hungry girls who want to stop cooking crap (and start looking & feeling good!)

First up is my veggie lasagna. This one is seriously so delicious, feeds about 8-10 people, and it's great as a leftover & freezes great too. It's also awesome because you can literally throw anything in the sauce you want. Below is the actual recipe, but you can alter it however you want....if you have leftover peppers, eggplant, scallions, etc. you want to get rid of - chop them up & throw 'em in.

Total prep time: 30 minutes. Bake time: 1 hour

What You'll Need:
- lasagna noodles
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 1 can mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 zucchini
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 pinch brown sugar
- salt & pepper
- 1 pack frozen chopped spinach
- 1 container low-fat cottage cheese
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons basil
- 1 bag (about 3 cups) shredded cheese. I usually use an Italian blend - mozzarella & parm, but tastes good with whatever.

Directions:
1. Cook lasagna noodles & set aside. (You only need to cook 6 noodles).

2. Chop large onion and zucchini.

3. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add in chopped onion, can mushrooms, garlic, & chopped zucchini.

4. Add in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, brown sugar. Salt & pepper to taste.

5. Reduce heat and simmer.

6. Microwave frozen spinach until cooked and squeeze out excess water. 

7. Blend cottage cheese, spinach, 2 eggs, and basil until smooth.

8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

9. Spread 1 cup sauce on bottom layer.

10. Layer noodles, spinach/cottage cheese, sauce, & shredded cheese. Repeat.

11. Sprinkle the top with 1 tablespoon basil and bake for 1 hour.

12. Bon appetit!!

Holy moley, me oh my, you're the apple of my eye

Mother's Day 2011

I had an awesome First Mother's Day. Minus the fact that I missed my best friend's bachelorette weekend getaway in AC. (Love you Laur). But we had an absolutely gorgeous day and all the tulips were in bloom throughout the city - my favorite part of springtime in Chicago B)
I got this coveted new clutch from my darling husband :)
We went to the 9am church service down @ Willowcreek while Honeybunny played with his fellow church babies in Promiseland. The Mother's Day message isn't posted yet, but here's a good one from this year's Family Series for you to see how amazing they are. After the service we picked up Landon only to discover that he graduated from the infant non-crawlers to the infant CRAWLERS. My little baby turned into a crazy mobile child almost overnight....I feel like only yesterday he was our tiny little swaddled burrito, unable to move at all.
The rest of the day was open to whatever I wanted to do. So we went biking along the lake, Honeybunny in tow.

ready to go biking for the 1st time!

Honeybunny holding tight to his frequent rider card

getting situated in his "Tag Along"

& it begins...

A few videos from the start of our excursion:

we biked all along the beautiful Lake Michigan

Buckingham Fountain

takin' 5

stopping to smell the flowers

the view from the planetarium 

A mumma goose with her bebe ducklings on Mother's Day

& the papa

Exhausted after the bike ride, I took a much-needed nap while Chris helped Landon make me the most adorable and thoughtful Mother's Day card ever. I woke up 3 hours later to the smell of my signature thin crust, pepper, onion, & olive pizza from Pat's......

Mmmm.

I love being a mom :)

In Loving Memory of Gayle Annie Bauman

Last month our family suffered a terrible tradegy. My husband's mother unexpectedly passed away at only 59 years of age & only 18 hours before she was alive, happy & healthy, and loving life.

Without a doubt, this was (and continues to be) a very difficult time for us all, not only because she was such an incredibly thoughtful, loving, and deeply faithful woman, but because of the sudden and fast pace it all went down. We had no time for goodbyes. No time to process what had happened. No time to do the stuff we had talked about doing in the future with her.

I remember the first time I told her I was pregnant and that she was going to be a grandma. I was extremely nervous, as it was the first time Chris and I had announced it to anyone yet. But I think it might have been the happiest day of her life.  She jumped across the dinner table and gave me a big, warm, grateful hug with tears in her eyes....She could barely contain her excitement and sheer happiness that night. Throughout my entire pregnancy she was a tremendous source of love and support, and I will forever remember how much that meant to me at such a vulnerable time and when I wasn't receiving that love and support elsewhere. She was always there to help, always asking if I needed anything, to see how I was feeling, excitedly giving me little gifts for baby landon every time I saw her.
But what I will remember most about her is the woman and grandmother she became when Landon was born, and every day thereafter for the next short 9 months before she died. I believe she loved landon more than anything. She was there in the hospital the day he was born, she was there anytime I needed a hand, and she was always overly joyous to help and to spend any time she could with us. Anytime I went anywhere with her she would literally stop strangers to show them landon and just bask in the glory of being his proud grandmother. I will remember her always teaching Landon new things. I will remember that she was the first to have him walking around in a walker when he gained head support. I will remember how he used to sit on her lap and play the piano with her. I will remember how every Sunday she had him she would bring him to church with her and he would accompany her to all her Sunday errands. I will remember how she would jump on every chance to change his dirty diaper. I will remember how she would sing to him and rock him to sleep in her arms. I will remember how when she kept him for a week after our wedding that we would call every night to check in and and she would be in her bed with him, snuggled up under the covers and watching movies with him.

This post simply cannot do enough justice in showing the love and generosity that filled her heart and that she showed us on a daily basis. I am sad that she only got 9 months to be a grandma. I am sad that Landon will never know his grandma, or how much she loved him. I am sad that he only got a short 9 months with her.

Since her death, I now truly understand more than I ever have before that life is so unbelievably short and you really never know when it can be taken from you. She knew how to live, and her life will forever be an example to me as I continue to live the life I have and raise Landon.

Vegetarian & Organic Eating

Okay so I receive numerous comments and questions on a daily basis about why I am a vegetarian. I hope posting this will help answer all the questions, and I hope it will actually inspire changes in your eating habits as well!
I became a vegetarian 4 years ago while I was in law school after reading Skinny Bitch. Through making that decision, I have learned a lot about vegetarianism's connections to health, nutrition, ecology, resource usage, hunger, and the treatment of animals. I did take a year and a half hiatus (where I still really didn't eat much meat at all but it was more a matter on convenience when I started cooking for Chris and for friends) and now I am back on the bandwagon and here to stay :)
First and foremost - there are many scientific, ethical, and environmental reasons to back up my decision to not eat meat, and why I strive to eat locally grown and organic, but the number one reason I choose this lifestyle is because I FEEL better. I feel healthier. I have the energy to keep up after a 10 month old (sometimes two), work, and function when I'm sleep deprived. I feel mentally sharp, leaner, toner, and HAPPIER. I truly believe in the old adage that "you are what you eat" and that what you put into your body 100% affects your outward appearance, mental state, emotional state, and energy levels.
All that being said -- here are the facts:

1. There are over 20,000 different drugs, including steroids, antibiotics, growth hormones and other veterinary drugs that are given to livestock animals. These drugs are consumed when animal foods are consumed. 
2. There are a host of bacteria and viruses, some quite dangerous, that are common to animals. When you eat meat, you eat the organisms in the meat. (Micro-organisms are present in plant foods too, but their number and danger to human health is by no means comparable to that of those in meat). 
3. Cancer prevention. Of all the natural cancer prevention substances found: vitamin C, B-17, hydroquionenes, beta carotene, NDGA, - none has been found to be animal derived. Yet most meats, when cooked, produce an array of benzenes and other carcinogenic compounds. Cancer is infinitely easier to prevent than cure. Soybeans contain protease inhibitor, a powerful anticancer compound. You won't find it in useful quantities in animal based food.
4. Disease Inducing. The correlation between meat consumption and a wide range of degenerative diseases is well founded and includes: Osteoporosis, Kidney Stones and Gallstones, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Arthritis, Gum disease, Acne, Obesity, Intestinal Toxemia - The condition of the intestinal flora is critical to overall health. Animal products putrefy the colon, Transit time - Wholesome food travels quickly through the "G.I" tract, leaving little time to spoil and incite disease within the body. Fiber deficiency - Fiber absorbs unwanted, excess fats; cleans the intestines; provides bulk and aids in peristalsis. Plant food is high in fiber content; meat, poultry and dairy products have none. Body wastes - Food from animals contain their waste, including adrenaline, uric and lactic acid, etc., Excess protein - The average American eats 400% of the RDA for protein. This causes excess nitrogen in the blood that creates a host of longterm health problems. Meat eating also increases the risk of heart disease, the nation's #1 killer.
5. America’s farmed animals produce 1.3 billion tons of waste per year, or 5 tons for every U.S. citizen. And the pollution strength of it all can reach levels 160 times greater than that of raw municipal sewage. This vast accumulation is not neatly contained; manure is the most common pollutant today in America’s waters. Land sprayed with pig excrement is particularly toxic, since pigs contract and transmit many human diseases—namely, meningitis, salmonella, chlamydia, giardia, cryptosporidiosis, worms, and influenza. Manure is laden with phosphorous, nitrates, and heavy metals and emits ammonia, methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, and cyanide. 
6. Approximately 800 million people today live with chronic hunger, and 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes every day. Yet the world cycles nearly 43 percent of all the grain that is harvested through animals to produce meat. No matter the species, feed-to-flesh ratios are inefficient—7, 3.5, 2, and 3 pounds to 1 for beef, pork, chicken, and farmed fish, respectively. Biofuel production with-in one recent year gobbled up 110 million additional tons of grain, raising food prices and putting pressure on the world’s fragile food security. Compare this to the 840 million tons within the same year that was fed livestock instead to world hunger.
7. The senseless waste of the world’s growing meat-centered diet is illustrated by a statement put forth by the Population Reference Bureau: “If everyone adopted a vegetarian diet and no food were wasted, current [food] production would theoretically feed 10 billion people [47.5 percent more people than alive today], more than the projected population for the year 2050.”
8. A male calf born to a dairy cow—what’s a farmer to do with this by-product of the milk industry? If he is not kept for breeding stock or immediately slaughtered or factory-produced for meat, the calf will be raised for fancy veal. To this end, he will be locked up in a stall and chained by his neck to prevent him from turning around for 16 weeks until slaughter. He’ll be fed a special diet without iron or roughage. He’ll be injected with antibiotics and hormones to keep him alive and to make him grow. And he’ll be kept in darkness except for feeding time. The result: a nearly full-grown animal with flesh as tender and white as a newborn’s. 
9. I won't even get into all the horrific procedures and practices of the mainstream livestock farms but please visit factoryfarming.com and spend a few minutes reading through the eye-opening and truly inhumane treatment of these animals as well as firsthand testimonials of what goes on in these slaughter houses.
10. To choose industrial meat is to support a system that long ago put family farmers out of business. Essentially, it is only the big players—those who bought into factory systems—who are feeding America. Yes, we do have lower prices at the retail level. But ultimately, what is the real cost of cheap meat? You need to factor in the $20 billion per year in government subsidies to commodity farmers, higher medical costs attributable to excessive diets, antibiotic resistance in emerging bacterial strains, a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, the inordinate amount of oil needed for petrochemical fertilizers, dwindling aquifers, zoonotic diseases, and the list goes on.
11. Why choose organic? Some of the 'healthiest foods', i.e., the foods highest in essential nutrients and are familiar, affordable and great tasting, are the same foods that are artificially, chemically, synthetically and genetically produced. As a result of this, the human body is not only being robbed of the nutrients it needs to sustain itself, but it is also being exposed to dangerous chemicals that can cause serious harm. Organic foods must, by law (WSDA) (USDA), be produced without use of pesticides and other synthetic chemicals such as those which are easily detected on conventionally grown fruits, vegetables and grains.
12. Whole grains (versus processed white bread) offer vitamins and minerals, plus high levels of antioxidants and other healthy plant-based nutrients. Whole grains contain protective antioxidants in amounts near or exceeding those in fruits and vegetables. They also provide some unique antioxidants not found in other foods. White bread is made from refined white flour containing several unwholesome constituents and very little in the way of nutrients and dietary fiber, essential for a healthy digestive system and a stable metabolism. Why? Refined white flour is produced from the whole wheat grain which is then subjected to the refining process which removes all traces of the husk, or bran and along with it all the goodness contained in the grain. It is then bleached using chemical bleaching agents which contain chlorine and dried in kilns at high temperature to kill any remaining beneficial constituents. Then they even add gluten, sugar, and salt. 
13. Studies have shown that eating more whole grains may help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. New studies published in 2005 and 2006 show that whole grains may lower triglycerides, improve insulin control, help in weight management, and slow the build-up of arterial plaque. 
14. By buying organic/locally produced foods, you are keeping local farms viable; you are not contributing to the environmental and social costs of the worldwide transport of foods or supporting a system based on the exploitation of third world labor. 
15. Organic Foods Taste Better. Taste is hard to quantify, but science does tell us that organic foods do have higher levels of vitamins, minerals and beneficial nutrients than conventional foods. It only makes sense that food grown in soil that has been nourished and cared for is more nutritious and will end up tasting better.

I think most people understand all this but they continue to eat that way anyway because of a "convenience" factor or the "cost" factor. But it is really not difficult to prepare meals with tofu, or other sources of protein for the rest of the gang. (You'd be surprised how much protein is in other foods outside meat). It's not hard to cook meat for others while you just eat the pasta, salad, veggies, or whatever else. There are lots of delicious vegetarian plates at a restaurants. And you will find that a lot of time substituting for a non-meat meal tastes the same as it would had there been meat in it. (e.g.,  pasta with a marinara sauce instead of a meat sauce, or a bean burrito instead of a beef burrito, etc.)
It does not cost more to buy fresh produce, but going organic can be more expensive and budget constraining. The way I look at is is, would I rather pay a dollar more here and there and feel better, know what's (and what's not) going into my body, and enjoy tastier food, or save a little bit of money for food grown with pesticides and hormones and steroids and spending potentially hundreds of thousands on medical bills? View it as a wise investment in your lifestyle and overall wellbeing and happiness. Moms -- start now so you can introduce these habits and practices to your kids!!!

Can't afford to buy all organic? It's okay - I can't either. But I found a list of the top foods you SHOULD purchase organic here (also tells you the fruits and veggies with lowest pesticide levels that you can feel safe purchasing conventionally grown).
To find a farmer's market near you visit this site.

dancing landon

9 months old, doing "the wiggle"