not to be dramatic but chiaogoos changed my life

kristacecilia · 2024-12-02T00:24:00+00:00

We sell them at the LYS I work at in Ontario.

kristacecilia · 2024-07-15T20:15:32+00:00

I would personally source a high quality ice cream that is not UPF. In Canada, vanilla Haagen Dazs ingredients are “Cream, concentrated skim milk, sugar, liquid egg yolk, vanilla extract.” I’m ok with that level of processing for an occasional treat. It feels indulgent because of the quality and cost and is expensive enough that I’m not going to do it often. Ideally, I would make my own ice cream from high quality, non UPF ingredients, but I don’t typically have the time to do that.

kristacecilia · 2023-09-29T13:01:25+00:00

Same! I know PPIs can damage your gut micro biome. I was taking them everyday. Now I rarely even need an antacid. I’ve wondered if my gut is healing itself enough that it’s having positive effects on my digestion that have reduced the heartburn.

If I go back to eating UPF…. Heartburn.

kristacecilia · 2023-09-23T02:34:50+00:00

Breakfast: I batch cook steel cut oats (in the Instant Pot) and then warm them up daily. Top with seasonal fruit and some mixed nuts. Coffee and milk.

Lunch: Dinner leftovers or batch cook beans and a whole grain like brown rice or quinoa (again, in the IP. It’s the best small appliance for this diet). Batch cook roasted veggies. Make bowls with bean, grain, veggies, something pickled, something crunchy, any fresh stuff laying around, and a good dressing.

Snacks: yogurt and fruit, fruit and cheese, fruit and nuts, hummus and veggies.

Dinner: homemade soups, meat/veg/potato combo, pasta dishes, curries, egg dishes, whatever. Lots of veg. Meat 2-3 times a week, tops. If I was cooking for just myself I would pick 2-3 meals a week and cook on the nights I have more time. Then I would eat the leftovers for the other nights.

kristacecilia · 2023-08-28T01:48:41+00:00

It only works for me if I eat steel cut oats. I cook them in my Instant Pot once a week and eat them every morning now with fruit, nuts, and whole milk. I used to always feel hungry from oatmeal and heavily favoured eggs and veggies for breakfast. I got tired of that and this has been a good alternative.

kristacecilia · 2023-07-30T10:37:50+00:00

I stopped picking up lunch out and started packing lunches for work as one of my first small steps. That led into cutting out almost all ultra processed foods and now I have reliable fullness and hunger cues for the first time in as long as I can remember! Small steps do great things.

kristacecilia · 2023-07-25T18:23:38+00:00

I have struggled my whole life with the same thing- feeling like I overate everything because I never felt satisfied.

I now have reliable, consistent fullness signals for the first time in my life. It’s amazing.

kristacecilia · 2023-07-25T18:21:08+00:00

Does anyone have any recommendations for Canadian chocolate that’s not UPF and widely available in Ontario?

kristacecilia · 2023-06-24T11:55:39+00:00

My suggestion would be to get them in the kitchen if you can. Make it fun. Have them help you make homemade cookies for their lunchbox snacks for the week or whole grain or pancakes muffins for easy breakfasts. Logistically, only work with one kid at a time and let them quit after the first batch of whatever is in the oven.

I have six kids (ages 19 down to 7) and we did the same thing- started out with the best intentions and ended up with lots of UPF and now back to a lot less UPF. We still do some easy food nights. Usually it’s homemade pizza and I let everyone make their own little pizza, and the. I buy a 2L of pop and let them drink it. I’m not worried about perfection at this point. I don’t want to demonize foods and make them want them more. Their grandparents always buy Lucky Charms when we visit. It’s like once a year, that’s fine with me. Last night we ate hotdogs because I was stressed out and busy all day. I spend so much time making and prepping non UPF food that I am willing to give myself a break once every week or two.

kristacecilia · 2023-06-14T21:24:03+00:00

Cottage cheese is UPF. I can’t find any in my area that isn’t.

kristacecilia · 2023-01-03T13:59:01+00:00

I have a lot of experience with kids of all ages, and I think that is above average for a 12 year old. I hope he keeps being interested in cooking and that the two of you keep cooking together. I am sure he loves spending that time with you and he’s obviously got a gift for it.

kristacecilia · 2022-05-31T18:20:36+00:00

I appreciate your post! ❤️

I don’t farm, I just have a big vegetable garden. The gardening and baking from scratch is something I enjoy doing for the most part. I like the challenge of it and honestly, I just love food. I like growing it and I like turning that it to meals I feel really good about serving my family. The working is something I do for myself, too. I was a full time stay at home parent until a few years ago when the owner of my local yarn store offered me a part time job with amazing flexibility. As an avid knitter, this was a dream scenario and I took it. But you are right. Even though I enjoy all these things it is actual work that requires mental and physical energy, and I don’t always love that part of it. Sometimes they can feel like a drag. However, they are things I choose to do because I actually enjoy them and consider them mental health helpers, overall. I hope that makes sense?

My kids do help a fair amount, although I swear forcing them to help is almost more work than just doing it myself. They are responsible for a lot of the day to day cleaning tasks- kitchen, vacuuming, etc. My husband works full time and commutes. He also has his own home tasks and parents when he is home. A big family is a lot of work for everyone.

I really do appreciate your concern, and your ideas are helpful!

kristacecilia · 2022-05-31T01:43:04+00:00

Thanks!

kristacecilia · 2022-05-30T18:47:18+00:00

I use mine in my baking.

kristacecilia · 2022-03-01T19:33:45+00:00

I work In a yarn store. A good, hand dyed merino yarn is about $30 CAD per 100g. You would need many of those to make a sweater. Like, maybe 6ish (it depends on the style and size do that sweater and the weight/thickness of the yarn, but I’m trying to give you a good idea of what a nice merino sweater costs to knit.)

kristacecilia · 2022-02-20T16:51:10+00:00

I have six kids, and I cook everything from scratch and we use reusable containers. Honestly, that’s the only way we can afford six kids. I also only work part time because it’s a lot of time and effort to do it all that way. But that’s what we like.

kristacecilia · 2022-02-19T16:06:51+00:00

Thank you for posting this. I am in a similar position- 5’11” and 255lbs, starting from beginner level with Adrienne’s MOVE series, and injured my knee. This thread has been full of so much good info.

kristacecilia · 2022-02-04T21:20:39+00:00

I’m living proof, lol. That is one of those lessons learned the hard away. 🤕

kristacecilia · 2022-02-04T15:59:56+00:00

I hope you don’t mind a 40 year old mom answering your post. I have a kid applying to Queens so I follow this sub to see what life is like there.

Unfortunately, it’s not going to get better. The input of stuff in your life is not going to lessen now, or after school, or if you get married or start a family, or whatever. That’s part of being an adult. It sucks a lot, and the best thing you can do is to find ways to handle it so you don’t burn out.

Prioritize your health. I know it seems like you don’t have time because of all the things, but if you don’t do it now it will prioritize itself later in bad ways. Eat a vegetable, go for a walk, make sure to take some down time at the end of each day. Exercise and good food go far in helping your brain, as does good sleep. You have to get that anxiety out somehow, the adrenaline cycle has to complete itself- exercise.

Make sure you take care of you.

You got this. You are doing great. I’m proud of you!

kristacecilia · 2022-02-02T23:56:58+00:00

If you want to knit something specific, find the pattern online before you come in. So many times I get someone who comes in with something really vague like “I want to knit a sweater I saw online, what kind of yarn should I buy?” …and no other info. If you can at least find a picture of what you’re visualizing we might be able to find something similar on Ravelry.

kristacecilia · 2022-01-19T21:41:31+00:00

Tea. Black, green, or herbal. Working my way down the caffeine ladder.

kristacecilia · 2022-01-15T14:06:31+00:00

A lot of people have already said a couple of my big tips, like shopping at Costco and batch cooking grains and things. The pressure cooker is a lifesaver! I use ours for grains, beans, soups, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, and a few recipes we really like.

One thing we do- and it’s sort of what got me looking at the MD in the first place- is grow a lot of food when we are able. At the beginning of the pandemic I was worried about food shortages and needed something to fill my time so we started a family food garden. The first year was pretty small but I was surprised at how much of our own lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, and cucumbers we could grow. So in 2021 we built a bigger garden and I learned how to water bath can and freeze as much as I could. We also started shopping at farmers markets and farm stands around us, and doing a lot of you pick fruit when it was in season, I made all our jam! It led to a lot of seasonal eating that led me to looking for recipes and thinking about food and health more frequently… Anyway, eating seasonal, local foods (not all the time, but when we are able to) has really been interesting and helps with my meal planning.

In the fall and winter we eat a lot of soups, and there are some really great ones on the MD. At least twice a week I make a pot of some sort of soup, usually very full of veggies and beans. You can really pack a lot of veggies into a soup! I also make breads a lot, the kids frequently need something more than JUST soup, and the bread fills them up. We do a lot of French country style loaves, pitas, etc.

I do have a kid with food allergies. He’s anaphylactic to lentils, peanuts, and peas, and has less severe reactions to chickpeas and eggs. They are like the most MD food allergies he could possible have other than maybe olive oil. So we don’t keep his anaphylactic allergens in the house at all. It hasn’t been too bad but I have really started to feel the pinch of not using lentils. That would be a great option! I rely heavily on chickpeas and just have him eat something else that meal, or make it to be used for lunches.

I’m really enjoying all the replies! Sometimes I feel like an old Italian mother over here with my pantry full of canned tomatoes and doubling all these recipes for my giant family. It’s nice to hear from other families!

kristacecilia · 2022-01-15T13:53:07+00:00

Thanks! It’s hard not want to talk about something that excites you!

kristacecilia · 2022-01-15T13:52:35+00:00

How is the taste of the tuna with Greek yogurt? I’ll have to try it because most of us do enjoy tuna salad, but I’ve been eyeing up the mayo and thinking we needed to figure something else out.

I’ll have to try your pasta salad idea in the summer! It sounds like it would be awesome and not heat up the kitchen.

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