Who’s This Jamie Oliver?

I am up before the sun.  I would not have minded sleeping in later.  I did sleep well, but by 5:55am I was awake.  I didn’t want to be.  I checked on my son, who was half way sleeping on his bed.  He kept doing that last night.  I tucked him back in and then tried to go back to bed again.  I remember a professor who keeps posting and giving us wrong information and is pissing me off.  I think I need to speak with my academic counselor about the situation.  Her misinformation and then WAITING past the deadline to answer me about it caused me to miss an assignment.  Then she stupidly asks me why did I miss that assignment a few days later.  If my son hadn’t been sitting next to me I would have spew worth a whole list of profanities at the computer screen when I read her message.

Anyways, that thought kept me from going back to sleep.  My coffee just now finished brewing!  I love my coffee. 

So I kept reading about some Jamie Oliver on everyone’s OpenDiary.  I don’t watch too much tv and had no idea about this guy and his new show.  Since I love to cook and have following Dr.Oz’s book, I figured I should look this guy up.  I was able to watch the first episode online at his website.  WOW!  He has such a good heart, so much compassion, composure and patience.  He is someone I can get behind.  He had a real presence.

I laughed and I cried watching it.  I had my headphones on so my husband had no idea what was going on.  I am going to add this show to my DVR list.  

Nathan teases me about how often I go to the grocery store.  It feels like it is almost everyday.  It isn’t that I am forgetting something.  Well sometimes it is.  It is mainly because I buy fresh fruits and veggies and such as we need them. I do not think that you can just shop once a week or every two weeks, and still have fresh produce that lasts.  I buy what I need for a couple of days for meals at a time.  Now this isn’t great for allowing me time but it is healthier and better for my family. 

I feel for the people in Huntington.  Being told what you have been doing isn’t best for you and your children is a lot to accept.  Being told that just because something appears to be easier doesn’t mean it is or that it is good.  There are simple healthy meals not made from processed and pre-made food.  My son’s favorite breakfast is yogurt and fruit.  It is easy and good for him.  Some days he will wants some cereal and fruit and even that is good for him.  Yes I will make eggs and bacon some days.  We also love pancakes and french toast.  Those meals take more time and aren’t served everyday.

I have found sometimes keeping it simple, is healthy, fun and delicious. 

Also I know how hard change is.  If you have been told this is acceptable and have done it the same way all the time, being told that isn’t right can be upsetting.  Of course you can become defensive.  Who wants to feel like a fool or feel like they are being put down or made fun of?  Even though the changes are being brought to you in a non-offensive and not in a demeaning way, you can take things the wrong way.  It happens!  So seeing people disagreeing with Jamie isn’t surprising. 

I still can’t get over potato pearls…………….  I understand dried potato flakes that you mix with milk, and butter.  For those such as my mother who make horrible mashed potatoes.  I love her but she has limited skills in the kitchen.  She knows her weaknesses and would do her best.  What got me was that potato pearls looked like white paste and what they use to put in frozen tv dinners, like the 1970’s HungryMan Fried Chicken and mashed potatoes meal!!!!  Ok I dated myself but you get my point. 

Recently I dvr’ed a few episodes of Penn and Teller’s BullShi!.  The show is humorous and sometimes outrageous.  I watched their episode on Organic Foods.  Yes this is controversial.  Lately controversy has been surrounding me, so why not keep it going. 

Anyways in my quest to eat healthier, prepare better meal and enjoy what I am eating, I have tried many different things.  For one year we ate only free-range meats and tried a lot of organic fruits and vegetables, unless we were out and/or visiting others.  I wasn’t trying to be a die hard fanatic.  This wasn’t a religious choice for me to eat this way.  My husband and I wanted to try this out.  We ate well, the food was good.  I had fun trying new recipes and found a love for Ahi Steaks and for scallops.

I can’t really say I was healthier for this.  My personal experience reflected no change.  My husband and I got the swine flu, ended up on medical leave due to anxiety and depression, worst allergies in years and didn’t lose any weight.  In fact I gained weight.  I don’t keep a pike up junk food in my house.  I don’t eat when I am stressed and depressed.  My problem has been I don’t eat when I am stressed and depressed.

Basically I began wondering what was I doing wrong.  Perhaps I was expecting too much, perhaps I was being unrealistic.  After all shouldn’t I feel healthier and be healthier?

By the time my Wedding came up last year, it had been a year since we started eating organic foods and free range meat.  It was at this time we stopped.  No not all together stopped but we were going to figure out how to eat.  I wasn’t going to start buying junk food and shoving chicken nuggets down Kyle’s throat.  I hadn’t given up on my quest to eat healthier.  I just figured it was time to try something different.

A few months later, the new year started.  I was determined to make changes in my life and learn who I am.  After all for over 35 years, I had lived and never been a mother.  The time I was married, was hell.  I had stopped doing things I use to love.  My life was my family.

In three years I went from a single mom, wondering what this world held for me, to a happily married woman with a very precious son.  My focus was on raising my son while falling in love with a wonderful man.  I didn’t have as much time for myself.  I was working and at first alone in raising Kyle.  It was exhausting but I wouldn’t take any of it back.  I was happy. 

I wander off track a bit.  Now that Kyle is older and wanting to play on his own, I have more time for me.   Plus I have nate here to help and spend time with Kyle too.  Right now my me time, consists, of school, because I went back to college, reading, gaming and vegging out.  I wanted to find books that inspire me.  I wanted to build a new website.  My goal is to have this site up for 2011 up and running.  This is not an over night project and I won’t rush it.

I tried several diet books and reviewed recipes.  I wa

s tired of the "replacement" foods diets.  Replacement bland curds and soy gels in your favorite meals does NOT taste the same.  I want to find meals and foods that are healthy, delicious and not too time consuming to prepare.  Apparently I am expecting too much, or that is how it has seemed. 

Dr. Oz has made some good sense to me.  I am not trying to recreate my "favorite meals", with tofu or artificial sweetners.  I am learning better ways to prepare my meals.  I am learning how to proportionate my meals throughout the day better.  This makes more sense to me.

I have also lost weight and dropped dress sizes.  I do feel better.  I have more energy.  I haven’t been as sick or for as long. 

I am not going to quote fact or statistics.  I am writing about my own personal experience.  This is my own personal quest for a better me.  A better me, means I am better for my family. 

I hate gimmicky diets and trend diets.  I just want to know what is healthiest for myself and my family.  I hope within a year I will have more answers.  That is my desire and my goal.