Easy Peasy Pudding

Veronica's teacher emailed me to say that next week they are having an end-of-school party, and she would be serving dirt cups. She said she wanted to respect our "diet" and what sort of accommodations could she make for Veronica.


I thought that was very sweet of her. Even better is when she emailed me two hours later with a link to coconut milk pudding, and asked if she could make that for V. You know your kids are at a great school when an overworked, unpaid teacher is researching pudding recipes for a student's crazy diet.


The recipe called for two hours of prep and cook time. Two hours?!  Yikes. I told Mrs. Kind (she fits her name well!) I would make the pudding and send it in next week. Then I decided I just don't have two hours to spare these days, so I was in a pickle.


About an hour later I was checking Facebook and my friend Tammie just so happened to post a link to quick and easy Primal pudding! That, my friends, is Divine Providence. ;)


I realized I actually had all the ingredients on hand, so I tried it out for dessert tonight in hopes of her liking it well enough for next week's party.


Here's the link: Yummy Primal Pudding


It's basically raspberries, lemon, vanilla, avocado, honey, and water. Blend well. Refrigerate for 20 mins. (I did have to add about a tsp of maple syrup because the raspberries (to me) were too bitter.) And serve. 


I made whipped cream using heavy whipping and a smidge of maple syrup, blend in a blender, or a Magic Bullet (which works wonders! It's the one kitchen gadget we bought from an infomercial, and it actually as great as it appears on TV) blend for about 30 seconds.


Top the pudding with the cream and enjoy!


It even passed the kids' taste test!

Still Traveling

I meant to check in last night, but I was just too tired, oops. 


Yesterday we started with a hotel breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, and yogurt. Of course it wasn't the type of yogurt you really should be eating, but it was grain free, and it was fun for the kids. So there ya go. 


Then we headed to the zoo. Oklahoma has one of the coolest zoos ever (actually, it's ranked as Third in the Nation). I grew up here, and it was cool back then, but there is so many new things, it was like a whole new experience. If you're ever passing through Oklahoma, check it out!


Anyway... we walked around the zoo for five and a half hours! The kids really loved it. And I loved the fact that I was out moving despite missing my Wed appt at the gym. We even got a bit of sun, but nothing more than a light "kissing."  I guess it's true that you are less prone to sunburn when you eat healthier. I have to admit I was skeptical of this claim*, but I am a believer now! I have some very Irish skin and it has always burned within about 20-30 minutes of being outside (in the dead of Summer, I have been known to burn in 10 minutes flat!). And while it is barely Spring, I should still be much more burned than I am now after five hours of being in the sun. Works for me!

The problem of lunch time arose while we were at the zoo. And the kids were starving after walking so long (this was about midway through our walk), so we found the cafe and sat the kids down. So we had three choices: All Beef Hot Dog, Hamburger, Chicken Breast.  We went with the hot dogs (w/o buns) and a side of fresh fruit. It wasn't really enough for the kids to fill full, but it was too expensive to buy as much as they really wanted, so we settled for just what they needed. Tom and I skipped lunch at this point. 

Then Tom left for a radio gig, and I continued on with my girls and some other family members. After a few more hours the kids were about to drop from thirst, so I looked for water, but kept running into soda machines instead. At one point there was a Coke Machine (no water) and a Powerade machine... so I went with the Powerade since I remembered a commercial saying it was pretty good for you. Shoulda known. The SECOND ingredient is corn syrup! UGH  I would have been better off getting them a Sprite.  I told them to enjoy the heck out of it since this wouldn't be happening again. Interestingly, after they each had some of it, there was more of a "you finish it... no, you!" type instead of the usual "give it to me! No, I want it!"  So I suppose the one upside to this is that they are beginning to realize on their own that they don't like this junky stuff. 

So we left the zoo. And went to hang out with my grandparents:

This is Mana (Barbara) and Papaw (Jim) Richard. And they are pretty awesome. They have 3 children, but 23 grandchildren, and... uh... something like... 30 great-grandchildren. They know it all! 


By 5pm I was starving since I still hadn't eaten since breakfast. We packed up the kids, and met the grandparents, one aunt, a cousin, and another second cousin at the local Chinese Buffet restaurant. It is really high quality food and a huge selection. So we were able to stay Primal quiet easily. I had roasted chicken (no MSG), green beans, beef and broccoli. And some cheese cubes.  The kids had a lot of the same, but I did give them some rice since they had been so active during the day. I don't know what Tom had, but it was Primal.  Now in interest of full disclosure, we did allow the girls to pick one dessert from the dessert bar (they choose a brownie). Why?  Like I tell my kids "Because I'm the Mom, and I said."  


So we had a very full day, and still managed to be (mostly) Primal. So it can be done people. hehe


I wonder what food adventures we'll have today.....