Yes, I opened my cafe. Finally.

Now, I spend my mornings, my days and my nights working on it. Plus weekends and holidays.

I am coming up with the nicest recipes though, that I will share on my blog.

I buy organic for many reasons. There are fruits and veggies that will not be affected in the taste region but I still buy them organic because of ethical issues. Yes, I know banana’s will come from Third World countries, but is that a reason they should be living with pesticides around them? You know, a lot of these farmers are actually getting paid more per pound of organic produce.

I buy diary only organic and grass-fed because here, nutrients do differ. But they didn’t show that on the B***hit show. I order all our milk and cheese supply from a small grass farmer. Same with eggs – no corn feed.

All our meats now come from small farms with only grass-fed and milk fed animals. So we buy less, a lot less meat in order to afford it. But my hubby agrees with me and started eating smaller portions. He lost weight and feels great.

The show brought a good point that organic in a mass market is completely different that what organic is considered in our minds and by small farmers. Now, you have to be an organic locavore and support small and ethical farmers. Nice description, but this is how our government allowed big farms to change the laws around.

Last weeks of healthy Vegetarian Twin Pregnancy

I spy on my own blog. Yes I do. It is so interesting to see what people are searching for. Lately I noticed a lot of searches for vegetarian twin pregnancy. Let me tell you – I searched the web, books, magazines, etc. I don’t have any friends that are vegetarians, so support couldn’t come from there. I did get a lot of heat for not consuming dead animal carcasses while pregnant with my twins. And the stories of horror that I heard.

I am a very strong person, but when everyone jumps on you with dark tales of sick children and dieing mothers, anyone could buckle under that pressure. My suggestion: retreat into your peaceful place and keep reading.

First of all, just like any pregnancy, twin pregnancy needs a lot of protein, especially in the second and third trimesters. Have you noticed how many women refuse to eat meat during the early pregnancy? Is anyone calling them vegetarian? No, they are special, they are nauseous, so it’s ok. But, if you make a strong stand – then you are sick in your head. Anyways, back to the diet and nutrition.

My biggest issue was tofu. I couldn’t look at it, smell it or eat it. Forget about drinking it during the 9 months (sorry, 8.) Minus tofu and meat, get’s harder to get all that protein. When you research books you will find that twin pregnancies need to get almost double of protein of the regular pregnancy. I calculated the norm of 120-140 grams per day. It’s crazy numbers! My eyes were jumping out: what a girl to do?

Meet protein shakes. Yes, the body builders best friend now is your meal 4 times per day. You heard me. F-O-U-R. Oh well, don’t listen to me. The best number of protein I got was 110 grams, and that day I was ready to barf shakes. Here is how I did it:

Breakfast

2 eggs with whole wheat toast, butter or margarine spread, salsa, whatever else you want to take with your eggs. Oh and cheese, yum.

1st Snack

1 scoop of protein powder, 1 cup soy milk (I masked it with fruits!), 1 cup of frozen fruit

2nd Snack (yeah yeah yeah)

Fruit and nuts

Lunch

1 Cup of steamed brown rice

2 veggie burgers

2 cups of steamed veggies like broccoli, cauliflower or any frozen veggie mixes

3rd snack

1 scoop of protein powder, 1 cup soy milk, 1 cup frozen fruit and agave syrup to sweeten

Dinner

I love Annie’s Burritos, so a lot of times I will have a burrito with 2 Tbsp. sour cream, half a cup of salsa, and freshly mashed avocado

4th snack  – if needed!

Another protein shale with fruit

Weekly share from Annie's

Apparently it is now an official word – Locavore (Merriam Webster added it this year.) Myself – I don’t really think I am a True Locavore. Yes, I belong to a local organics buying club and source all my fruits and veggies only through there. But living in Florida, summers would be really boring trying to survive off Florida bounty.

Anyone living in South Florida can tell, trying to find a CSA is impossible. Maybe for people that live down there in Redlands and Kendal is fine, but for us folks more up north – there isn’t anything. The movement itself is bringing the light to this issue. Maybe that’s why Annie’s Buying Club started: to help people like us that want to do the right thing but can’t. In order to be a locavore there have to be farms. Around me, farms used to be here 10, 20, 30 years ago everywhere and plenty. Now, we are laying down in front of bulldozers in order to stop housing development in Everglades.

I am glad that someone like Annie cam around and started this club: putting in her knowledge, her time and her money to bring us all together for such a noble and healthy cause.

My urge to everyone living in South Florida and the Keys, go to www.anniesbuyingclub.com, read up and sign up. The shares are beautiful, the price is way cheaper than in leading organic supermarkets, and you can be a part of civic movement that is sweeping USA.

Fresh corn

I am a member of an organic fruits and vegetables buying club. Somtimes, it forces me to use veggies in creative ways in order to avoid spoilage. Not sure if all of the sudden I eat less veggies (hello, what kind of vegetarian am I?) or I am just so used to salads, that I let everything else go to waste.

The following recipe was born out of my love for soup and the need to use corn. I am tired of corn on the cob, of fresh corn in a salad. So here is an easy and creative way to use up whatever fresh sweet corn you have in your fridge.

It all started with me ordering a first ever restaurant meal just for the girls (ok, and me). Their first 3 cheese Mac & Cheese. Those twins had their forks ready to stab me if macaroni wasn’t traveling to their mouth at a speed of light! And all of the sudden, my Bonus baby decides to turn purple and red and purple. I lost the count of different shades: it was a 4th of July fireworks display.

I was expecting, well, a little surprise in there. We rush to a restroom and of course, there is no changing table. But hey, for someone who decided she should write a post about different ways to change a baby with no table and help, I figured, I can handle it. And I did! Until, that is, I saw that she was covered in breakfast, lunch and dinner all the way to her chest. Not literally but actually. Sorry to gross anyone out, but that baby went straight into a sink and she got a bath. In a handicap restroom, in a restaurant, in a mall…While trying to juggle her so all that wonderful corn, peas and sweet potato hash doesn’t get onto my brand new (how stupid!) shirt. Ah, if only I could film myself, trying to lavirate Bonus baby between hands and knees, trying to dry her and dress her so that she wouldn’t touch the icky floor.

When I emerged 15 minutes later, I demanded a nice Patron shot. Silver I said, chilled, not stirred.

Yes, motherhood has its curve balls. But as long as there is tequila, I will have the imagination and patience to deal with it.

Travel Mammas

For all of you traveling Mommas out there, check this site out www.TravelMamaS.com. It’s a great place to read up and get ready for your trip with little ones. I wish I would have found this site before my trip to Europe, it sure would have helped!

So last week, I decided to reach out to iShape again. Well, now it is called Shape Diet Plan and it is a free subscription. It looked the same as few years ago, although the exercise plan was removed. I found it separated on their web site, but you cannot integrate two together. On the meal plan, I chose a vegetarian option. It calculated that I will loose 32 pounds of fat in 6-9 months. That’s a nice steady loss that is recommended by doctors and nutritionists.

I got ready, printed my shopping list and ran to Wholefoods to load up on missing items. A few days later, I was loosing weight, going to the gym (yes, I am back!) and motivated. Second week into the plan I started doubting it. All I kept seeing were bagels for breakfast, pita pockets for lunch, etc. I am not used to eating so many refined carbs anymore. My breakfast previously would consist of oatmeal and berries or egg-white omelet with tons of greens and toast; lunch would be a veggie soup, brown rice, steamed veggies and tofu. And now, it’s bread bread and bread. All my veggies and fruit are waiting for their turn.

After realising that Shape Diet Plan is still stuck in the area of refined carbs ( I don’t care that they write whole wheat -  to me it’s same crap) I decided to dump it and return to my own pastures, that are greener, fresher and cleaner.

I will put my own menu together – I will keep you posted!