Early Birthday Celebration

Quick post to show the special weekend going on here. Three of Saeed's family members are here as well as Anahita and Shirin's family. It's part birthday celebration and part family reunion.

L => R:  Shirin, Anahita, Saeed (sorry your eyes are closed), Gabriel, Hotan, Parvin, and Haydeh. Parvin is Saeed's sister, Haydeh is her daughter, Hotan is Haydeh's sister's son, and you know the others. And where were the boys?

They had their very own table. Note the Persian sofreh (tablecloth) and the two little mouths full of Persian food.

We celebrated a very special birthday to Shirin and Anahita! I never buy a "real" cake (I'm always trying to do something healthy) but I didn't have time to bake. It was really funny when Tita said, "Mommy! You got us a real cake?"

Earlier in the day Cyrus completed (with a little help) his first 100 piece puzzle that Haydeh bought. He is a true puzzle master.

Sorry no more pictures... too busy. Maybe tomorrow!

October Is...

... many things - my daughters' birthday month, breast cancer awareness month, but also Vegetarian Awareness Month. Yesterday was World Vegetarian Awareness Day. I have blogged a lot about this in the past, so let me just remind you that the purpose of establishing this awareness is to promote the joy, compassion and life-enhancing possibilities of vegetarianism (according to the North American Vegetarian Society which founded the day in 1977.)

Why is this important? Because a vegetarian diet --

• reduces of the risk of major killers like heart disease, stroke and cancers while cutting exposure to food-borne pathogens.
• offers a viable answer to feeding the world’s hungry through more efficient use of grains and other crops.
• saves animals from suffering in factory farm conditions and from painful slaughter.
• conserves limited freshwater, fertile topsoil and other precious resources.
• preserves irreplaceable ecosystems, such as rain forests and other wildlife habitats.
• and mitigates the ever-expanding environmental pollution of animal agriculture.

For those still not interested there's not much more to say other than to watch a few movies (like Earthlings and Forks Over Knives) and see if the information doesn't compel you to at least entertain the idea of eating a more plant-based diet. Maybe you could start with every Monday being meat-free, or maybe only one meal a day would include animal products. It's not as hard as you think and the benefits are great.

Obi's A Drawer Kind Of Guy

 If Obi hears you open a drawer he'll be in it before you have a chance to close it!

My shorts/sports bra drawer.

I came out of the shower to find him in my bathroom drawer.

Or in a cat carrier that was momentarily set down. And there have been times I couldn't find him at all...

... but he can enjoy the usual places as well, such this... enjoying the sun and breeze near an open window in a chair covered with a flannel sheet.  What a funny little guy.

Eastern Kingsnake Sighting

When walking the other day I saw a squashed snake at the side of the road. Snakes don't have a very good chance at survival in our subdivision do they? This one looked like it had gotten run over by a car. I took its picture not to post but so I could identify it and it was definitely an Eastern Kingsnake.

My go-to site for snake identification is The University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. In addition to a list of snakes in my state, it has tips for how to remain safe around snakes.

So I'm happy to say that the Eastern Kingsnake is a "good" snake to have around. It is a constrictor and is resistant to the venom of pit-vipers which it readily eats (copperheads, cottonmouths, and rattlesnakes.) It will rattle its tail, release musk, and bite upon capture, but it is not venomous.

I think if I am the true animal lover I claim to be I need to study this list so I can protect wonderful animals such as this. I admit that my initial reaction to snakes is fear, but I commit to working on that.

(pictures courtesy of the above mentioned Savannah River Ecology Laboratory)

The Thrill Of Victory, The Agony Of Defeat

The defeat part came first. I was so psyched about running at Winthrop Lake. It was a gorgeous day although a bit hot and humid. On my treadmill I can jog (without stopping) the equivalent of the perimeter of the lake 2 1/2 times, but today I could only make it around the lake 1 1/2 times before having to stop and walk. Perhaps it was a combination of things - the heat (I use AC on the treadmill), humidity, the inclines, and the fact that I didn't have my iPod music (Offer Nissim music here and here) urging me on. I will try it again and eventually I shall conquer; I love a challenge.

So I brought it indoors in the form of cooking vegetarian beef stroganoff. Shirin has made it for us before and this dish was one of the few things I liked when I was little.

The main ingredients:

I washed and cut 1 lb. mushrooms quite small.

Also cutting small, I diced one medium onion and sauteed it in olive oil. To this I added 3 gloves of crushed garlic and the mushrooms. When the mushrooms were half cooked I added the **meatballs** and cooked for about 15 minutes. I removed all of this from the pan.

I forgot to take a picture of the next step but I poured the mushroom broth in the hot pan, added some unsweetened soymilk, black pepper, and then a generous amount of **nutritional yeast**. Stirring nearly constantly for about 15 minutes this thickens like gravy. I added back the onion, garlic, mushroom, meatball mixture and let it simmer.

Of course whole grain pasta is the carb of choice for stroganoff.

At the very end I added some frozen peas. To keep them green and tasty I didn't cook for more than maybe two minutes. I remember too many mushy dark grey peas in my life.

Meanwhile I baked fresh Brussels sprouts, cloves of garlic, and sliced onions (I had initially typed gloves instead of cloves and ions instead of onions and I can't stop laughing) on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet.

A sprinkling of fresh parsley and it's time to eat! Nooshi Joon!

A Zen Kitty Moment

I can get very distracted by the kitties when they're being cute. Recently I was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast when I saw Chappu and Tippy on the cat tree together.

 Sweet little Tippy seemed to enjoy the rocking Chappu's rhythmic licking caused as the cat tree swayed gently back and forth a tiny bit.

But I wonder if for cats, hearing someone nearby licking causes them to begin grooming as for humans hearing a yawn causes us to yawn. It was a very Zen moment for me, watching both kitties groom with the sound of the fountain gurgling gently in the background.

After a lengthy bath it was time to sleep, Chappu on the tree...

...and Tippy on the kitchen table.

Cyrus' 4th Birthday - May 2012

Better late than never, right?! In some way posting events late is nice in that I get to relive my memories of happy days.

Somewhere behind that hot potato is a birthday boy.

While Cyrus checks out his new book, Herb The Vegetarian Dragon, Kai steals Baba's watch.

He also got this book which I've forgotten the title of, but it's about a girl who's science projects runs into problems when her robot grows huge and begins to destroy a city.

He also got some very cool blocks that teach math concepts. It takes a penguin, rabbit, ladybug and frog to equal a giraffe. The numbers are on the other side.

Kai enjoyed them too as just blocks.

The next day we just had fun...

 

... and celebrated Mother's Day. I got two nice paintings, some nice smelly soap and candle from the Farmer's Market, and a cat nip toy which you will see again at the end of this post.

I had no idea that my grandson (Kai) was so advanced as to have his father read him Battle Royale.

Cyrus sneaked up from behind and planted a wet one!

Outside we saw these crazy bugs. At first I thought they were little red flowers...

... but instead masses of bugs coated everything, even a neighbor's bike. I think they're actually really cool looking.  (click to enlarge.)

Back inside Satin found a warm body to snuggle against.

Back home Chappu enjoyed the cat nip Mother's Day present I got!

Kai read this book out loud.

Fall off the bridge and you burn in the lava!

Pure child abuse. :-)

A Rainy Day In July

These videos are from a visit we took to Athens in July. I just uploaded the videos and enjoyed watching the kids play in the rain all over again.

Kai was doing some serious practice on his surgical skills while Cyrus was doing some serious practice on his patience skills.

Cyrus showed off his scary green fangs.

Cyrus took this picture of Kai "grabbing his bottom" to gales of laughter.

This was the weekend we brought Asali to Shirin. She was adopted a couple of weeks ago by a very nice couple in Athens. Thank you Shirin. Thank you nice couple.

There's Oatmeal In There Somewhere!

During the cold months my mom fixed me oatmeal every morning (cold cereal reigned in the summer.) I was an awfully picky eater but I loved oatmeal. She cooked it on the stove (did they even have instant oatmeal back then?) and sprinkled it with something called 'Concentrate', wheat germ, and sugar. I don't know what Concentrate was but it came in a shiny small gold box and looked like miniature cereal flecks. It must have had some healthful property she read about. Back then sugar wasn't the bad nasty it is today and she let me sprinkle the entire top layer with it. Yum.

I'm back to eating oatmeal every day and have been for quite a long time. It is touted as a healthy cholesterol-lowering whole grain and I still love it. What is different though, is all the other stuff I put in it. The volume of "other stuff" is larger than the volume of oatmeal!!  So move over Liselotte's oatmeal for Ingrid's oatmeal:

• thick cut rolled oats
• soymilk
• protein powder
• wheat germ
• ground flax seeds
• walnuts
• frozen berries
• sometimes cinnamon

This breakfast keeps me full for many hours because of the low glycemic index and amount of protein and satisfies many nutritional requirements:

• whole grain (complex carb)
• protein
• vitamins & antioxidants
• folate
• iron
• omega-3 fatty acids
• fiber
• probiotics
• all essential amino acids

A little note about cinnamon - there are four basic types of cinnamon: Vietnamese, Chinese (cassia), Indonesian, and Ceylon (true) cinnamon. What is commonly available here in the U.S. is cassia cinnamon which is fine to eat with normal (occasional) use. It, unfortunately, may be somewhat toxic in large amounts so if someone is using it daily for health the true cinnamon from Ceylon is advised. I have been unable to find true cinnamon anywhere locally, not even at Earth Fare. The labels on the containers do not let you know which type is inside so I've actually contacted the companies and they are all cassia. Interestingly all the cinnamon in Great Britain is true cinnamon from Ceylon, but here in the U.S. - no. As with anything nowadays it is possible to order true cinnamon online and I plan to do so. One of its properties is to lower one's risk of type II diabetes and we have diabetes on both sides of our family, so it seems like a wise thing to do.

Chief Leaf On Head

Saeed has a very intimate relationship with the trees in our yard. I LOVES them. I'd hate to be between him and a tree because I would definitely be in second place.

The other day he came in from working in the yard with this adornment:

He had no idea it was there and even when I told him, "Do you know you have a leaf on your head?" he said "Good." He kept it there for the rest of the day.

OK then.