Father's Day {Down Under}

Tomorrow is Father's day, here in Australia.  You may be wondering about Mother's Day, but it's on the same day as it is in America.  My husband thinks that he gets two days per year now.  HA!  Not that he doesn't deserve it.  He is a wonderful father and husband.  Our son is very lucky.  It's fun to witness what a father should be like. 

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This is a great quote and something that I truly believe. We were married for almost eleven years when our son was born so we had more than enough time to build a strong foundation and bond between us. You can't be the best parents to your child if all he sees is hate between the two people he loves the most. Everything he witnesses in life will shape and mold him, so why shouldn't the relationship between his parents form the most positive memories and experiences of his childhood (even if they are no longer together). That is the greatest of gifts. That is the way to raise a secure child who will become a secure adult.

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy and husband! We love you!

Vegan Update...

Well, my husband has now made it through his first two weeks as a Vegan!  To be perfectly honest I still haven't gotten over the shock of him agreeing to try it.  He's due for a check up and blood work soon, so it should be interesting to see his results.  He has a thyroid condition that requires him to take a daily pill, so he has to go in about every three months or so for blood work.  The last time he was in, the Dr. was not happy with him.  He'd gained quite a bit of weight and had five out of seven markers for heart disease.  Since going Vegan he's feeling much better, has more energy, which has motivated him to walk to and from work, several days per week, and has lost seventeen pounds!  Now, I wish I had weighed myself before starting a couple months ago, because I know I've lost a considerable amount of weight, as well.  In a couple more months I'll share some before and after photos. 

In addition to sharing the news about how well my husband has been doing and how proud I am, I wanted to share a link to one of my favorite recipes.  I found this Vegan Sweet Potato Chili recipe on Pinterest (of course) and it is so super yummy!  I've made it about three times in the past couple months and am planning to make it again tonight.  It's super easy and quick to make.  The only changes I made were using one cup of veg. broth, instead of water, I didn't add the orange zest and I used two cans of kidney beans instead of black beans (I couldn't find black beans anywhere...if I could I would have used one can of black and one of kidney, but the kidney beans were great).  You can also check out more recipes and vegan related things on my board Yummy Vegan.

{This image/recipe can be found at Chocolate Covered Katie}

Another thing I want to do is to start making smoothie bags to freeze for the week.  For the past two weeks, since my husbands been on board, I've been getting up at 6am to make us both our morning smoothie before he leaves for work (he's leaving earlier, now that he's been walking).  It would be nice to get that extra hour of sleep back, although I've been quite productive in the early morning hours.  Even if I do still get up extra early with him, I would still like the convenience of the smoothie bags.

{You read all about making these smoothie bags on Design Mom}

As you can imagine, I find myself at the produce market much more these days, so I'm in desperate need of some new market totes. How cute is this one...


{Find the Vegan Chick Tote at Café Press}

In all honesty, I wasn't sure how this whole "going vegan" thing would turn out for me.  I've never been afraid to try something and then walking away from it when it wasn't the right fit (like when I was 23 and went to real estate school and got my Hawaii real estate license, but only worked as a realtor for a couple weeks...totally wasn't for me!), but this seems to be the right fit.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a Rock Star when it comes to commitment...I'm going on seventeen years of marriage! 

I've also been pretty good with recruiting unsuspecting bystanders into the lifestyle.  Exhibit one and two, the hubby and most recently my Mom, who is now attempting to get her husband on board.  We also bought the Forks Over Knives DVD online for my aunt, who doesn't use Netflix and have sent the Netflix link to my Sister, Cousin and another Aunt.  I really want my sister to give it a try.  Although she's a year younger than me, she's been diabetic for about eight or so years and has struggled with weight issues her whole life.  Also, one of my Aunts is diabetic, and recently had open heart surgery, but is only in her fifties.  With a strong history of heart disease and diabetes in my family, I really don't have much of a choice, even if it didn't feel like such a perfect fit.  Funny, I kind of feel like a cult leader...or am I just another follower?

If I am a leader, perhaps I need to start sporting this t-shirt...


{Go Vegan Multilingual T-Shirt}

 

 

Then I can spread the message to unsuspecting tourists too ;o)

TOMS Vegan Classics...

I've yet to buy a pair of TOMS, but they do have a great One for One philosophy and they have Vegan options.  With this in mind, I went to their site to search for a pair that might catch my eye.  As of now, I think these are my favorite and although they're priced at $54, I can actually think about them as only costing $27, since it's really two for that price, with one pair going to charity. 

Currently eyeing the Grey Ikat Women's Vegan Classics...

and since I have the hubby on board with this Vegan lifestyle (for now, at least) and our son is eating a mostly Vegan diet, I may as well pick some for them too...

Earthwise Fall Green Men's Classics...

Camo Grey Vegan Youth Alpargata...

 

Well, since I mentioned our son is eating mostly Vegan too, I thought I might give you a quick example of what he eats on any given day.  He's turning six on Thursday!

 

-he eats a vegan breakfast of oatmeal w/almond milk and toast w/a little vegan butter and a piece of fruit. (the only switch has been cows milk for almond milk and cows butter for vegan) For lunch I pack: strawberry jam sandwich on whole wheat, fresh strawberries, kiwi, grapes, cherry tomatoes, carrot, cucumber and some pretzels, and an organic juice box or just water in his thermos. If I have any steamed broccoli in the fridge I add that too. (the only change is leaving out his string cheese) He always asks for an avocado when he gets home from school (he's eaten one everyday since the age of 2).  The non-vegan items are in the evening.  He's finishing off a few snacks we had in the house-like little pre-made pancakes, which contain milk/eggs and some of his little cans of spaghetti o's, but he still eats what we make for dinner too.  He loves steamed broccoli, sweet potatoes, green beans, asparagus, squash, zucchini, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pistachios, variety of beans and lentils, whole wheat pasta w/sauce, whole wheat tortillas, flat bread and rice dishes.  He also enjoys a smoothie with spinach, banana, blue berries, strawberries, raspberries, freshly juiced oranges, and coconut water.  He's never been a big meat eater, so that's a non-issue.

 

Now that my husband has been on board for almost a week and a half and it's been about two months for me, I'm going to start focusing much more on cutting down on the fat intake (oils and nuts) and pushing as close to a 100% whole foods lifestyle as possible.  I didn't want to make his transition too overwhelming.  It's worked the best for me to just take the initial plunge and give up the animal products all at once and become vegan and then to ease into the finer points of a plant based whole foods lifestyle.  We shall see.  My energy is still really high, despite catching the awful chest cold that hit our sons school...it cycled through our son, the hubby and now me, but mine was much more mild then theirs.  Hopefully, this new lifestyle is building a stronger immune system in all of us and we can stop catching everything that cycles through Kindergarten.  Fingers and toes crossed.

Bali Dreamin' and Bondi Beachin'...

It's no secret that Bali is number one on my travel list and I'm so excited that we're planning to finally go in April. 

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Our son will be out for a school break during that time, so we'll take our family trip then. 

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We'll probably spend about a week there, so I need to start making my "must do, must see" list.

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Who knows, maybe we'll even see Ketut Liyer, the Medicine Man of Eat, Pray, Love fame? 

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 In other news, we spent the day at Bondi Beach.   

We had absolutely perfect weather, turquoise water, and the bluest sky. 

It did make us a bit homesick for Hawaii and we were wishing that we lived closer than an hour from the beach.

  Our son is definitely a beach boy, through and through!

 

The hubby has also made it through his first full week 100% vegan.  Great job honey bunches! 

Making Over the Hubby

{all shoes urban outfitters, j.crew messenger bag and backpack, etsy lunch tote, gap denim shirt, gap utility shirt, gap cardigan, gap fatigue pants, gap cords, gap jeans, gap t-shirts}

My husband's been doing such a great job dropping the lb's, so once he's finished shedding the extra weight, I think he should be treated to a new wardrobe! Don't think I'll hear any objections!