Our house is not the fanciest. It’s actually probably the smallest of all their friends’. But I hope they have lasting memories of the good times we had and that their lovely mates were always welcome here.

I asked the Universe (aka GOD) for a teaching job. The response was get your resumé sorted. All right already. I´m on it.

We weren’t even at the village and I received a call inviting us to a ‘festa’ in a nearby village. Of course we jumped on it. Our friends always create a good time. This was no exception.

To liven things up they brought a kettle to boil the wine (we bought that at the festa) and after adding sugar we had ourselves a darn good treat.

See what I mean? These people truly ROCK!

I have not been up to my village in ages. If it were up to me I would leave the city every Friday and head up for the weekend. I love it there. But between play-dates, birthday parties, swim and tutoring sessions (yep, now they have that to look forward to on Saturdays;), we just don´t get up as often as I would like.

But Saturday I am driving by the airport, slowing down just enough for my hubby to jump in the car & we are heading up for the night. I want to stay as long as we possibly can on Sunday which means I have to be completely ready for the week ahead. It´s going to be a busy one. The kids will not only have to have all their work done, but I want bags packed and left at the door ready for swim & school on Monday morning.

I am getting my meal plan together so that by the time we leave I have everything here at home that we need. The plan for next week is:

Monday – Pesto Soup with Gnocchi, Beans and Greens I do not add gnocchi. For one, it´s hard to get here and it doesn´t add any nutritional value, so why bother. My kid hates vegetables and requests this meal. It is THAT good. And SO good for you.

Tuesday – Red Lentil Soup with Spinach and Coconut Milk – We are all excited to prepare this for Stephen since he wasn´t around when we first made it last week. Lana has suggested I make it with less water and to accompany it with basmati rice. Can you see why I call her a food critic? I think she´s dead on with her suggestion.

Wednesday- Sushi. We make both vegetarian and California roles. If you can cook sushi rice, you can make sushi. I will show you how easy it is one day.

Thursday – Homemade Tortillas Mexican restaurants stink here in Portugal. A Portuguese friend lived in Arizona and he misses good Mexican. So I am making it for him and his family. This will be my dry run of our family dinner.

Have a great weekend!

Week 2 of the year and I am loving working off of my weekly food plan. I have gotten most of my shopping done on Sunday. My ´plan´is to not have to run out mid week. I actually like going to the shops, but sometimes I don´t have time and then we have a crappy dinner or we get take out.

Today I needed to have a meal cooking for us while the kids were at their afternoon activities. I had the added pressure that I HAD to get to their conferences at 6pm. I wouldn´t normally try a new meal when I wasn´t going to be around to deal with disappointed and hungry children, but I took the gamble…an won.

I had some greens left over from last week that were about to go off. And cooking Indian food as often as we do, I had the spices on hand (highly recommend you make the effort to stock up). I had the coconut milk too in the cupboard. The result was a HUGE success with BOTH my kids. That rarely happens that a meal is met with rave reviews from both of them…So here you are. ENJOY!

Indian-Spiced Slow Cooker Red Lentil Soup Recipe with Spinach and Coconut Milk (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

There is one reason why I serve my family the healthiest food I can. My parents are/were not healthy people. This became very clear to me a number of years ago when my husband and I were filling out forms for our insurance company. I ticked just about every box when mentioning my family´s poor health history. I remember my husband looking at me and I am sure he was wondering if he had possibly made a mistake in marrying me.

You can just accept that as my parents being unlucky. But that is not the case. Every illness, bar my father´s cancer, was likely caused by the fact that they are/were overweight. I recognized that fact at the time, but I wasn´t motivated to do much of anything to change my behaviors as I figured that I was fit enough. About a year later my brother had a minor stroke, I had serious case of Bell´s Palsy and my father had open heart surgery. All in the same month. That was overwhelming. But still I didn´t change anything. It wasn´t until I was in New Zealand and I read the China Study that I thought I should change how I eat. I am not vegan. I have leather shoes and if offered homemade chouriço I will eat it. I also love eggs. But our diet is probably 90% vegan.

There were two points in the above mentioned book that shocked me the most. One was the possible link of the consumption of soy based formula before you are 1 year old to having allergies. (My daughter ONLY consumed breast milk, her stubbornness, not my choice. No allergies. Whereas my son gladly consumed formula and he has a serious nut allergy. Something no one on my family had ever had. Note: our niece in NZ does however suffer from allergies too).

The other thing that was probably the greatest factor to moving me away from meat consumption was the following chart.

There is this one too.

These charts are supported in this Harvard Health link article. It does specify that it is red meat they are talking about, not chicken and fish actually helps decrease the risk.  I am a firm believer that there are tremendous differences in the quality of meat (and other food). Animals raised naturally, with out being fed hormones and served closer to the kill will render a better meat. Simple. What shocked me the most about the above chart was that New Zealand, a country that does not allow GMOs, where animals all graze on green grass and are fed nothing else, has some of the highest numbers of intestinal cancer. Right then I knew something had to give. For no other reason that I wanted to be alive and healthy for my children.

I eat what I eat because I do not want to die or have a stroke. Does this guarantee me good health? Nope. My friend Cathy is the healthiest eater I know and she had beast cancer. But I have to know I tried my best.

I am not writing this to be preachy. Actually I am writing because it is devastating to hear that people I love are getting sick. I do not want that. I want you all (there are three of you reading this:) to live much longer than me. So I am going to start sharing my favorite healthy recipes here. I´ll do the grunt work and sus out which ones are great. And I love you. Period.

Last year our we received the shocking news that our friend Michael was about to die. He survived, but as I have written about here, this survival was met with the challenge of having lost his fingers and feet. But he is here and he still gets to be a father to his young son.

This past weekend I received the news that my other very close friend’s husband is in the hospital with a rare form of cancer. I’m praying again for a miracle. I know they happen. So I’ll pray. They’re son deserves one. The all do.

So you think I’d actually NOT make a cake for your book club meeting that happens to fall on your birthday? The Divergent book club/movie preview meeting/party. Have we met child?

I love that you’re 12 and I’m still able to surprise you. Happy Birthday!!!!

My mom did everything for her children. Period.

I could end the post there because really that’s what she did. People often tell me I am full of energy. Quite honestly I am perplexed by that comment as I know I do so much less than my brother Carlos, or my dad at my age and don’t get me started on my mother.

My parents were up at the crack of dawn. One making coffee, the other getting ready to leave in the dark of morning to drive off to go build a house. My mom worked in a factory until she was injured and could no longer spend the day seated at her job. This lead her to start an at-home daycare. Yet that wasn’t the half of it.

I remember my friend Tommy coming over one day and being shocked that my mother had prepared a homemade soup for the children’s lunch. Tommy, duh! My mother made every meal, every day home made.

Wrap you head around that? Mom, with a job, homemade mealS every day. I don’t have much of a part-time job and that does my head in. That is why on days like today. Days before one of my children’s birthdays for example when I’m cooking (we ate leftovers), baking cakes (true story) & making sure homework gets done that I am reminded of her. You see, every time I go that extra yard for my kids I know I got the idea from her. I remember her waking at 5am one time to knead dough to then make fried dough for an international celebration at school. I remember another time I forgot to tell her I needed an outfit and again she woke at some ungodly hour to make sure it was done.

My kids sometimes are irresponsible & forgetful and this they get from me. If ever they become truly great people, they can thank the people that came before.

Mom, it’s the day before Sophia’s birthday. God, she reminds me of you. Gorgeous, intelligent, head strong & has a great laugh when you can get it out of her. You’d love her. She’d adore you. My kitchen’s a mess. You’d hate that I was sharing anything but the final product. But let’s be honest this wouldn’t be the first time I drive you crazy.

Mom, thanks for teaching me that there is no excuse for not doing all you can do for your kid. I love you. I miss you. Wish you were here to share them. They’re truly the best thing I’ve ever been a part of.

Today I went for a very short jog. At the pace I was going it would be a misnomer to call it a run. But should we ever leave this spot, I hope to never forget just how very beautiful it is here.

This picture looks much darker than it actually is out because the brightness of the sun messed with the light reading.

This one does a better job catching the light. Pretty, huh?