MoxiArchive - FEBRUARY 2010

Viva Vegetarian Chili - 1 February 2010
Viva Clean Chompers - 3 February 2010
Bullies - 5 February 2010
Frosted Flakes - 7 February 2010
You Bet Your Bulgur - 9 February 2010
Valentine's Eve - 13 February 2010
Turning Nine - 15 February 2010
Fighting Cooties - 18 February 2010
Chapstick - 20 February 2010
Mommy You Are Different - 25 February 2010
A Saturday Lunch - 27 February 2010

27 February 2010

A Saturday Lunch

My family had the privilege of dining this afternoon with a 91-year-old veteran named Phil Dreiseszun. My husband met him as a patient in the emergency department months ago and we have finally had an opportunity to sit down and get to know him.

As a young man Mr. Dreiseszun was a soldier in the army; he trained to be a navigator in B-17 bombers. On one of his first WWII missions his plane was shot down by German anti-aircraft missiles. The soldier next to him was shot in the chest just above his parachute pack. He slumped over dead onto Mr. Dreiseszun, who had also been hit (in his parachute pack) but didn’t know it at the time. Because their plane was on fire and had lost an engine, the pilot issued the order to evacuate the aircraft, so the eight men left alive onboard prepared to jump out after kicking the floor door open. My mom, kids and husband were transfixed in rapt attention, ready to hear the rest of this story, but we had to wait until he finished his soup.

The food was great, and we made small talk until I finally told him, “I’m still in the airplane, waiting for the parachute.” He laughed and continued his story, talking plainly about jumping out of a burning plane somewhere over Germany into enemy territory at 27,000 feet (without oxygen – never having taken a practice jump!), about being tossed around with the high winds under a shot up parachute for 25 minutes on his way down to earth, about being knocked unconscious by the force of his landing and waking up with a German soldier pinning him down to the ground, and about being taken prisoner of war where he remained for 22 months until liberation just before the end of the war in the Spring of 1945. The story grew more impressive with each detail; it’s amazing that he survived to tell the tale at all. At one point the waiter and restaurant owner came over to check on us and they, too, stood, silently listening to his tale.

He is the sole living member of his squadron, and the number of these vets is dwindling ever downward. After lunch I asked if he’d consider coming to my kids’ school to speak about his experiences and he politely agreed. He is a very active volunteer in the Waco community. He is independent and sharp as a tack; I can only hope to be half the person he is at that age. Later today his wife will be released from a rehab facility and his plans are to care for her at home with the help of his son. We should all be so lucky! We will film his talk and post it afterward; I want to share this remarkable person with the world.

Father Time is not always a hard parent, and, though he tarries for none of his children, often lays his hand lightly upon those who have used him well; making them old men and women inexorably enough, but leaving their hearts and spirits young and in full vigour. With such people the grey head is but the impression of the old fellow's hand in giving them his blessing, and every wrinkle but a notch in the quiet calendar of a well-spent life. ~Charles Dickens

25 February 2010

Mommy You Are Different

As we enjoyed lunch together the other day my kids and I heard a song on the radio by Lady Gaga. My son told us that his good friend at school thinks that Lady Gaga is hot. (Oivay – that word again!) I did not bat an eyelash. I love these candid conversations; they offer me a glimpse into their lives at school.

My daughter told him she thought that was funny, because people in her class think that Lady Gaga ‘had a gender change – yup, she’s really a boy’. My son’s eyes grew wide. He asked me if that was true. I told him I had no idea, but it didn’t really matter to me. I don’t remember when I learned about gender reassignment but I’m pretty sure it was WAY after the 5th grade. We agreed that Lady Gaga makes good music and that she is very unique, no matter her gender.

We talked for a moment about how being different can be a good thing, and that it’s nice to have the freedom to be different, and how many people don’t enjoy such freedom.

“You are very different, Mama,” came my son’s reply.
I wasn’t sure where this was going, but I was going to wait patiently to hear his observation.
“What do you mean, Rene?” I asked him, ready for the bad news.
“You embarrass us all the time, you are always happy, and you don’t care about shoes AT ALL, that’s how you’re different.”

Phew, was all I could think. It could have been worse. Anyway, I’m not always happy. And I do care about shoes, a little. I’m pretty sure I do embarrass my kids, but it seems like that goes along with the job description of being someone’s mother.
I enjoyed our lunch together that day, just chatting and eating. You could say that it made me very … happy.

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~Abraham Lincoln

20 February 2010

Chapstick

My son likes to sing, and he sings constantly - especially when we are in the car. Often he is singing without even knowing that he is singing, it seems.

Usually he changes lyrics to tunes he already knows, but occasionally he makes up the words and the tunes. My husband captured a short clip of him singing about Chapstick while we were driving across town the other day.

His song that day was brought about by my use of lip balm. My son detests lip balm of any type. When his lips are extremely chapped and bloody I’ve been known to make covert missions into his bedroom late at night to apply ointment while he sleeps.

He then segues into a Napoleon Dynamite reference, I think. It’s very stream of consciousness – as you will soon see for yourself. Sing a song if you’re in the mood, or put on some beautiful music you haven’t heard in a while and enjoy it.

He who sings scares away his woes. ~Cervantes

18 February 2010

Fighting Cooties

Getting my kids to wash their hands regularly is not really a battle, per se, but it is something I still have to remind them to do. Fortunately, I am a believer in the power of cooties; exposure to germs makes our immune systems stronger, right? Well, in theory, anyway.

My daughter has recently recovered from a four-week bug that was diagnosed as ‘bronchiolitis’ – of which I had never heard before now. It is a progression of upper respiratory infection, and symptoms include respiratory distress, fever and a hacking cough. As her ‘cold’ (as I first thought) worsened and her fever spiked over 101 degrees, she was given a dose of antibiotics to take. They did not resolve her symptoms, but her fever went down just under 100, where it stayed for another week.

We returned to the doctor and she was given a breathing treatment, she had a chest x-ray taken, blood drawn and a urine culture. Thank goodness her lungs opened up following the treatment, allowing her to breathe more freely. Although the doctor had heard ‘crackles’ in her lungs, the x-ray was clear. Blood work revealed values indicating a viral infection. It was a doozy of a virus, that’s for sure.

She is better but still recovering. The whole four-week ordeal has made me realize how far gone are my days of fretting over every cough, sneeze, or funny looking poopy diaper. These days when she is that sick I consider things like MRSA lung infection, of which a local 12-year old girl died two years ago. Someone once told me ‘Small kid, small problems. Big kid, big problems.’ I’m more and more inclined to agree.

Check out this article from Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal about holding off on antibiotics:

Sickness comes on horseback but departs on foot. ~Dutch Proverb

15 February 2010

Turning Nine

My son turned nine the other day, and it is yet again another powerful reminder that the innocence of his youth is slipping farther away. One consolation is that Rene is a very young nine; he still plays with his Lego and Playmobil toys for hours at a time on the floor. He still asks for help buttoning certain shirts and blue jeans. He still indulges me from time to time by sitting on my lap or letting me carry him a short distance. His sister, on the other hand, is more like a 37 year old woman trapped in a ten year old’s body. Rene keeps all of us young at heart, though, with silly antics - like making fart sounds with his hand under his armpits and knees. He can be a lot like Beavis and Butthead at times; he inspires levity.

On the eve of his birthday I was tucking him into bed, looking at his hands and feeling his soft cheeks. He asked me what I was doing and I explained to him that I was just enjoying the fact that he is still little, that one day he would have rough hands and razor stubble and hairy armpits.
“I don’t want to grow up. I always want to stay like this.”
I felt emotional but suppressed my urge to cry. He was quiet for a long moment, and then said, very seriously,
“Mama, I don’t want you to die.” His eyes welled up with tears.

We talked for a while about growing up and getting older, and I assured him that all of the lentils and vegetables and exercise would surely keep me kicking his butt for many years to come. We laughed and tried to guess when he might be able to outrun me in a race. It won’t be long is my guess, but I’ll give him a run for his money as long as I am able, and I hope that is a long, long time. For now I’ll enjoy his ninth year of life, one moment at a time.

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

13 February 2010

Valentine’s Eve

Valentine’s Day once meant planning an elaborate, romantic meal for my husband. Preparation required several days’ worth of perusing cookbooks and procuring exotic ingredients. Honestly, I don’t really miss the stress, but the romance? A little. Okay, a lot. It’s not so much the food I miss, but the long and intimate meal together. It was as if nothing else in the world really mattered but that very moment in time.

These Valentine’s days I most look forward to either sleeping in late or going to bed early, or if I’m really lucky, doing both on the same day! Maybe I’d feel more romantic if I could get out of my fleece Hello Kitty pajamas, but they are so warm and comfortable. On a cold winter night the fleece sheets and pajamas together are pure nirvãna.

Okay, so where does that leave me for Valentine’s Day this year? It won’t be a romantic day, but it will be full of love and gratitude. I won’t make the mistake I made once many years ago when my husband and I decided to go see a movie on Valentine’s: Dead Man Walking. That was a really bad idea. I don’t think I spoke the rest of the evening after that. Maybe this year we’ll just watch some of the Winter Olympic games instead, and share a simple dinner with our two kids, and then go to bed early. Ahhhhh, I can hardly wait!

Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. ~Kahlil Gibran

9 February 2010

You Bet Your Bulgur

We all know by now that we should eat foods that are fiber rich and reject all refined foods. One easy substitution is eating brown rice in place of white rice. Brown rice tastes great, but it takes at least three times as long to cook, so that detracts a little in the convenience department for most people. When we eat rice and beans at our house (which we do at least twice a week), we eat brown rice; my kids love it.

Another easy substitution for a rice-like carbohydrate at meal time is bulgur. Bulgur is a what’s left behind after wheat has been streamed, dried and crushed. Originally from the Middle East, it’s thought to be over 4,000 years old. Prized for it’s long shelf life and high nutritional content, it’s often referred to as a perfect food (www.sunnylandmills.com).

Bulgur takes much less time to prepare than brown rice. It also has more protein and twice the fiber of brown rice, and fewer calories. Some people promote bulgur as a weight loss food because it is so filling. To prepare bulgur all you have to do is let it sit in some hot water for about 15 minutes and it’s ready to serve.

I use bulgur in my chili recipes, but you can also use it in soups or as a side dish. It’s delicious pared with sautéed greens. The New York Times recently ran an article about it, which you can read about here. Look for bulgur in the bulk foods section of your local grocery store, or in any health food aisle or store. You’ll be glad you did!

The greatest wealth is health. ~Virg

7 February 2010

Frosted Flakes

Our pantry is stocked with several different kinds of cereal, most of them made by Kashi (read: healthy). Most mornings before school my kids eat a bowl of cereal or a bowl of oatmeal. They long ago stopped asking for sugary cereals that line the grocery store shelves, knowing that the answer would always be ‘NO’. I do allow them to choose from the few healthy cereal options on the shelf. We read labels looking for sugar content, in particular, and try to stay below six to eight grams. It’s harder than you might think!

A few years ago I decided that as a special treat my kids might enjoy choosing a box of cereal – any cereal – for their birthday. My son, who just turned nine, began planning his cereal purchase a week before his birthday. It’s one of the things they really look forward to. Earlier this week we spent a good 20 minutes on the cereal aisle before he settled on a large box of Frosted Flakes.

This box will last about a week, and I know that my kids will relish every bite. More than just learning about indulging only occasionally, I hope that the label reading habit sticks with them. While I was watching my son scan the cereal shelves, I was myself overwhelmed with the choices, and by how many of the cereals are utterly void of nutritional value.

As I walked through the store with the cereal in my cart, I realized that I was feeling ashamed – as if people might judge me for the giant box of Frosted Flakes sitting for all to see in my otherwise empty cart. My ego was hard at work again. Who the hell cares about the Frosted Flakes in my cart?! Wow. And who knew what a simple trip to the store for birthday cereal would bring.

Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold. ~Judith Olney

5 February 2010

Bullies

By Guest Blogger: Celia Pérez

When people get bullied, it leaves a hole in their heart. It makes you feel lonely and unwanted. If you are bullied several times, after a while you can become coldhearted. You may stop having friends and become a bully yourself. Believe me, I’ve dealt with several bullies, and it’s no fun. This a story of one of the times I was bullied.

Unfortunately, our bus had assigned seats, and I was assigned to sit with a bully and a friend. So eventually an argument started. Not like a physical fight, but one of the worst kinds of fights. A mental fight. A mental fight is when you call names or criticize each other. It started out pretty dull, but then it got really heated. Kylie, my friend, was doing her best at not hurting anyones feelings. But the bully was not. She hurt both of our feelings.

The reason I call this girl a bully is because she was always very mean to me. At lunch she used to shove my food down the table and tell me, “That’s where I’M sitting.” I would move down to get away from her until one day I stood up for myself by telling her to move herself on down the table. She didn’t like that, so later that day on the bus she told me that I was as fat as the Grand Canyon. It hurt my feelings and shocked me. It shocked me because she actually used a metaphor. But it left a big black hole in my heart. I started to cry and Kylie was simply staring at the bully.

When I got off the bus, I did not look at the bus driver because I was still crying. As usual, my mom was waiting for me on the front yard. The dogs came running to meet me, but I didn’t run to meet them. My mom saw my tears and asked me what was wrong, and so did my brother. I didn’t answer. It was too painful. My mother tried to soothe me, but I couldn’t stop crying. For the next few weeks, I felt lonely and sad. I couldn't deal with the other bullies at my school. They were all known for being mean and unkind. And I still wouldn’t tell what had happened because I was afraid it would make the situation even worse, and I couldn’t stand to think that they would be even more mean to me.

The worst thing about this particular bully was that she was in my class. I could not feel happy when she was around, which was all of the time. At recess I would sit alone under my favorite tree. I had one good friend who sometimes sat with me. It made me feel a bit better.

My mom kept talking with me everyday, and I finally told her what had happened. She was very understanding. My brother said that if he were there, she would have had a black eye. That made me laugh. It was the first time I’d laughed in many days. It felt good. But I STILL had a hole in my heart, and it has never really gone away, but it is getting better.

I believe that when a bully tries to give their anger to me and I choose not to accept it from them, then their own anger is returned to them. I have to make the choice not to receive the anger in the first place. That is what I have learned from being bullied at school. Now I stand up for other kids I see being bullied, too, and that feels good.

3 February 2010

Clean Chompers

I had my teeth professionally cleaned today, and it’s one of my favorite preventive personal maintenance routines. Dental appointment have not always been so enjoyable! The advent of Glide dental floss many years ago revolutionized my oral hygiene routine and my biannual dental cleaning and check-up. My teeth have very little space between them, so flossing can be a very frustrating experience – and it always was, until I found Glide. No more shredded floss and purple fingers! Now I can’t really remember the last time I had a filling or any major dental work done.

Before Glide was purchased by the makers of Crest, I think I wrote the company a letter of gratitude when it first came out. That’s how happy being able to floss my teeth initially made me. Now you can find generic Glide-like floss at Target, so they’ve got some competition. All I know is that my mouth is happy and clean, and my dentist doesn’t make much money on my visits because I never have to have any work done.

Besides screening for oral cancer and helping you keep your natural teeth in your head longer, regular dental check-ups and cleanings can actually help you stave off heart attacks; gum disease has been linked to heart disease. You’ll suffer less bad breath and keep your smile looking its best, so don’t delay making an appointment for your check up. And don’t forget to buy some Glide floss and USE IT!

Every tooth in a man's head is more valuable than a diamond. ~Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, 1605

1 February 2010

Viva Vegetarian Chili

While it’s still cold outside I will be making and eating vegetarian chili. This recipe from Molly Katzen (The New Moosewood Cookbook) is one of my favorites. I use black beans in place of kidney beans, and if you’re pressed for time use canned beans. You can add semi-sweet chocolate for a richer flavor and frozen Morningstar soy crumbles if you’d like a more meat-like consistency. It’s dense, filling, and packed with flavor, fiber and protein. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Note: Pre-soak beans! 4-8 hours

2 ½ cups dry kidney beans, soaked
1 cup tomato juice
1 cup uncooked bulgur wheat
Olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
6-8 large cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp basil
2 tsp chili powder
1 ½ tsp salt
Black pepper and cayenne
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 14 ½ oz. can tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste (half tin)

Place soaked beans in a pot, cover with water, and bring to boil.Partially cover, and simmer until tender (75 min). Watch water level during cooking, adding more if necessary. Strain.
Heat tomato juice to boiling. Pour over bulger in a small bowl, cover, and let stand 15 min. Add to beans.
Heat olive oil in a medium-skillet. Add onion, garlic, carrot, celery, seasonings. Saute over medium heat for 5 min. Add bell pepper and saute until all the vegetables are tender.
Add vegetables, tomatoes, and tomato paste to the beans. Simmer on lowest heat, stir occassionally, for 20-30 min. Taste and adjust seasoning. Top with cheese or sour cream and chives.