mamaguru

Bollywood at the Library

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:42:00 -0400

Bollywood at the Library:

A little known fact: Miami has an amazing library system!

Gingered Lentil Sprouts

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:47:47 -0400

Gingered Lentil Sprouts:

How to Sprout Lentils

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:19:03 -0400

How to Sprout Lentils:

Healthy eating is simple and cheap. Check out this quick and easy tutorial for sprouting lentils.

Dog Update: Betsy Ross is no longer our dog. Jack has assumed...

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:57:01 -0400

Dog Update: Betsy Ross is no longer our dog.

Jack has assumed ownership and renamed her Betsy Banana Tickle.

Max’s Fifth Trip Around the Sun!

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:29:46 -0400

Max’s Fifth Trip Around the Sun!

Things I Ought to Have Known

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:00:37 -0400

Before I was Rebecca Cofiño, I was Rebecca Harmon.

You need to know that to understand this story.

Ten years ago I drove across the country by myself, from New Orleans to Spokane, Washington. I made a few pit stops along the way: White Sands, the Grand Canyon and even Las Vegas.

When I arrived in Las Vegas, the sun was setting. It’s a place I never had much interest in seeing, but it was on my way, so I decided to check it out. I’m not a gambler, but I did try it out for the five hours I was there, turning $20 to $120 and ending at $95. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This story is about sunset on the Las Vegas strip.

I was driving down the famous strip in my silver VW Beetle containing all my worldly possessions. While I drove, the sky was burnt off its pink glow and the lights brightened in the falling darkness. I had no idea where I was I was going. Suddenly, I saw this:

How had no one ever told me that Harmon Avenue was a major intersection on the Las Vegas strip?

Was I the first from my father’s side to visit the casinos in the desert? Had no friend ever looked up on a wild weekend and seen an interesting bit of trivia?

I fumbled in my backpack to get my camera so I could snap this picture. Remember, no smart phones ten years ago. I accidentally sliced the middle of my thumbnail with my razor while fishing around for that camera while driving, so let me share another a useful bit of trivia with you. There is a CVS at the very end of the strip.

Thank God.

What brought this memory to mind?

Well, Max just got a new dinosaur book and look what I found?

REBBACHISAURUS (re-BACK-eh-SORE-us)

Come on, people! Tell me these things!

I ought to have known that I was named after a giant, gambling, African dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period who, of course, was vegetarian.

Now, what else am I missing?

A Whole Hand

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:16:45 -0400

Dearest Max,

This is the truth.

This is the way things happened today.

Throughout the morning I gave you the countdown from five years ago:

You were still inside my body and Mommy and Daddy were in the tub.

Finally it was time to push you out, and I roared like a lion.

I had to get out of the tub, and the midwives helped me to the bed.

At 11:11 you came out of my body and the midwife held you up. I didn’t know who you were until that moment. When I saw you, suddenly I knew you and I exclaimed, “It’s a boy! I love my baby boy!”

And then I had to explain happy tears to you, because there you were eating lunch after building Lego trucks and playing putt putt golf with your little brother, and I have been there to witness every single moment of your incredible life. Mother’s Day always dances around your birthday and some years it even tangles up, which is fine by me because your birthday marks the day I became a mother. You made me a mom and I will always be astonished and grateful for that. All of this wells up inside me and spills out as tears, smiles, kisses, and wistful looks that see past, present, and future at once.

Fifteen minutes later we head to school to tell the world, your class, that you are five. On Friday I told you that you would never go to school as a four year-old again. You are beyond excited. You are the last in your class to turn five. As I drive the commute I have come to loathe, we pass by the House of Babies, the birthplace of you, your brother, our family and in so many ways, even myself. We blow kisses and wonder if another baby is being born there today.

Right now. At this moment.

As we wait for your teacher, another mom rushes towards us and asks us if we’ve seen the sun today. There is a rainbow circling it. We call you over and the brightness is blinding, but I share my sunglasses because you have to see it.

There is a rainbow around the sun, exactly five years after the moment you were born only a few blocks away from the place where you were born.

This is the truth.

There is poetry in this world. There are mystical birthday presents from the universe. There is joy which cries.

All of this is for you, my darling boy.

And this magical day began in darkness, when you were invited to cuddle with your parents inside our bed, and you matched my fingers and then your father’s.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

A whole hand!

We are just as proud and as stunned as we were five years ago the moment you entered our lives:

my son, my sun.

All my love, all your life,
Mama

A happy Mother’s Day indeed!

Sun, 12 May 2013 07:43:43 -0400

A happy Mother’s Day indeed!

Found Wishes

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:14:22 -0400

Last month we stumbled upon an arbor with wishes at Fairchild Tropical Garden. Were they written for the new year? A special event? I don’t want to know.

Keep mysteries alive.

Keep wishes dangling from secret coves.

That’s the world I want to live in.

Mother's Day Card

Mon, 06 May 2013 22:52:10 -0400

I just ordered the cutest customized photo card for my mom for Mother’s Day from Walgreens. I used a template with flowers growing and photos of myself and the kids. I wrote a personal message too.

It was $1.99.

But they have a special for 30% off, so with tax it was $1.50 .
It’ll be ready in an hour.

Aren’t regular cards $3.99 or more these days?

ATTN: Dads! How to Plan the PERFECT Mother's Day

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:36:06 -0400

ATTN: Dads! How to Plan the PERFECT Mother's Day:

You know how men often complain about women expecting them to read their mind?

Well, they’re right.

That’s why I wrote this post which explains exactly what women really want on Mother’s Day. It’s not expensive or difficult. Here’s my annual advice to dads so they can make the mother of their children happy on Mother’s Day. Please share.

Six years ago…Reader, I married him!

Sun, 05 May 2013 07:44:13 -0400

Six years ago…Reader, I married him!

Beyond Baby

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:56:16 -0400

When Max was three days I old I took him on our first real walk together, around the park at the end of our block. He weighed 6 pounds and 8 ounces that day. No wrap or stroller, I cradled him in the crook of my neck. One teenage boy noticed us on his way to soccer practice.

Look at the baby! His friend was uninterested and unimpressed. Look! I’ve never seen such a little baby before!

He’s three days old, I beamed with pride.

Wow!

It was an evening in mid-May in Miami, which meant the park was packed at sundown, a relief from the heat. I remember seeing kids play at the playground, parents pushing babies in bucket seats on swingsets. I had a thought I knew was wrong, Those other parents think their babies are little, but they aren’t really. They’re already big. My baby is the babiest baby of all.

Of course, I realized that the playground parents had gone through the newborn stage and were light years ahead of me in terms of parenting, but there was something inside me that wanted so strongly to hold onto the preciousness of that moment: the first few days of a new life.

Babyhood is beautiful! A lot is written about poopy diapers and sleepless nights, but mothers know that those are truly inconsequential details when compared with the earth-shattering joy a new baby brings to a family. Every day offers something new: a smile to be amazed by, a first giggle, the funny discovery of hands.

At the same time, each milestone that marks a beginning also marks an end. Babies grow remarkably fast. Once a baby can crawl, he’ll never be content to bat at a mobile on his back. Once he can walk, forget life on hands and knees. Once solid food is grasped, nursing falls by the wayside (usually, I know and respect different choices).

As eager as we are to get to the next stage of development, it’s hard to let go of the baby we so love. This is especially true for second children. My mom jokes, With the first child, you eagerly cheer their first steps. With the second child, you knock them down. There is a sense that you don’t want to rush through the best time of life. Babyhood is fleeting.

Now I am a mom at the playground. One child rides on his tummy on a big kid swing, the other child is learning to pump his legs to go high. Who knows what newborns are being carted around the park? I’m caught up in my own life and rarely notice.

Friends who have children younger than mine often remark that my kids are so big. I smile, knowing that they don’t get it. They won’t get it until their kids reach the same age. Three year-olds, four year-olds, even five year-olds, are still very little people. When I need reminding of this, I just look at a single body part: an elbow, a shoulder, an ear. They are still tiny.

But it’s OK that they’re growing. I am firmly out of the baby and toddler stage of parenting. My kids are preschoolers with kindergarten on the autumnal horizon. My time with babies is over. I don’t even feel a twinge of sadness about that, because the truth that the mothers on the playground know is this:

It gets better.

Babies are wonderful, but they are also generic.

A baby could be switched in a hospital nursery and no one would be the wiser, but there is no way you could ever pick up the wrong kid from school. Those milestones which delight us are really just rites of passage every person on earth experiences. As children grow, they become more and more themselves. Every day, every year, they come into their own more fully.

Even though the love I felt for my children at birth consumed and overwhelmed me, it’s really nothing compared to my love for them now as distinct individuals.

My love for my four year-old is not the love I feel for my firstborn son. It’s specifically for Max who is thoughtful, observant, artistic, athletic, sensitive, inquisitive, pathologically helpful with an engineer’s mind set to building.

My three year-old gets love not for being my baby, but for being Jack, a reliable clown who lives on his emotions, has a wild sense of humor, a deep love of dogs, and a creative imagination that spins elaborate, spellbinding stories.

And we are just getting started.

The end of babyhood marks the beginning of selfhood.

It is humbling and exciting to see a little one create and reveal his unique identity. It’s much more thrilling than watching him roll over for the first time!

Those inconsquential details I mentioned at the beginning, sleep and poop, well, it’s nice to be done with that, too. It’s a welcome relief to have the ability to break a routine without having a meltdown, to move through a crowd without a stroller, to stop acting like a Sherpa for every outing. An exhilarating freedom comes with a child’s independence.

I also get to reclaim some of my identity that got lost in round-the-clock parenting. I can get out of the house without guilt and pursue my other passions. I can also share parts of myself with my children, like yoga and cooking. Although I happily relinquished much my life to focus on being a mother, becoming Rebecca again is quite refreshing. It’s a different version of Rebecca and it’s fun to redefine who I am as a mother and a woman.

Once babies stop being babies, the real adventure begins!

All the playground moms know that.

I Lost 10 Pounds This Month!

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:13:14 -0400

It had to happen.

Day-after-day, year-after-year, the same problem weighed on my heart: I felt bad about the way my body looked.

For every one pound of extra physical weight, I carried 100 pounds of spiritual weight. When I got dressed every morning, I never felt a lightness of spirit in getting ready for the day. It was an exercise in camouflage that never really worked. There was angst, shame, frustration, confusion, a touch of self-pity and then…

boredom.

Plain and simple, it dawned on me that having the same problem all the time was incredibly stupid and boring. I mean, really, how much longer did I want to make faces in the mirror before plastering on a fake smile for the world? Wouldn’t it be at least more interesting to take control, and move past this speed bump?

And so, I did.

The month of April was a time I set aside to focus on myself. I had a short window when holidays and responsibilities were at a lull, so I staked a claim for myself.

I didn’t cheat once.

Although there were times when my heels dragged a bit, I was just so ready for a change that it wasn’t too hard to stick with the plan. It was a gift to myself and it had an expiration date.

May is a busy celebration month in my home, which will be immediately followed by summer vacation, a new school year, the farmer’s market reopening, the holiday season…. Knowing that I had a finite amount of time to really focus on myself enabled me to get down to business without any hand-wringing. Of course, I plan on losing a bit more weight and I know I can’t do that during only one month in a year, but I got a great head start, and firmly implemented some excellent habits that will serve me well.

How I Lost 10 Pounds in a Month

1. No sugar or sweeteners.

Sugar is addictive. It operates the same way as heroine in our brains. Freeing myself of my sweet tooth made life easier than parceling out small portions. I got it out of my body and my head. I didn’t place a limit on fruit, because no matter what current fad diets say, fruit is healthy. If I wanted a something sweet, nature supplied it, and that was that.

2. No dairy or gluten.

This had more to do with trying to relieve myself of some chronic pain. I will reintroduce these foods now and see if they cause an allergic reaction in my body.

I did find myself making some creative culinary choices. When I made my family pasta, I had roasted sweet potatoes or zucchini with sauce for my meal. I also used lentil flour quite a bit and developed a deep love of papadoms heated in the microwave. Instead of cooking eggs in butter, I used avocado oil, which is unusual and delicious. It was fun to play in the kitchen again.

3. Greens 2-3 times a day!

I wanted a nutrient-rich diet. Usually breakfast was a fruit and veggie smoothie with an egg on the side. A few days a week, I sauteed spinach and mushrooms and put a poached egg on top with fruit on the side. For years my lunch has been a big salad. Eating so many plants felt great! It’s a wonderful energy boost. Vegetables are always the foundation of dinner.

4. Exercise 10-12 hours a week!

This is key. I jog almost every morning. Two weeks in, I added interval sprints which really helped. I also do a light barbell routine for my arms and an ab and leg video for toning on alternate days. Yoga has become an evening ritual, which is strange because I love a morning practice, but it fits better into my schedule in the evenings. On the weekends I swim a mile in a lap pool.

5. Replace TV with reading books about health.

In the past I’ve read fitness magazines to keep me motivated, but that never really worked. They offer so many different programs, that I always second-guessed my plan. This time I read books about diabetes, sugar, wellness, allergies, you name it. This reading constantly confirmed that I was making great choices for my health. They also shared horror stories about people who did not make healthy choices, adding fuel to my fire.

6. Up protein.

Eggs, nuts, beans, tofu, quinoa and seafood played a more starring role in my diet. Most of those are plant-based proteins which also provide excellent fiber, vitamins and minerals. I made sure to include a small serving of protein in every meal, and also ate a few nuts whenever I was hungry. This kept me feeling strong.

That’s it.

It’s simple and a lot of hard work. Every choice I made I knew was good for me in both the short term and the long term. My plates were full of colorful, healthy food, and my days were full of movement.

I have about 15 more pounds to lose. I probably can’t lose another 10 pounds in May, because the closer I get to my goal, the more stubborn my body will cling to the weight. That’s OK. I have more ideas to shake things up, and a realistic goal of losing 5-7 pounds.

Most importantly, I’ve lost that heavy feeling of failure.

I look and feel great!

It’s been a long time since I could say that.

Art of Storytelling Festival

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:17:43 -0400

Today is the 13th Annual Art of Storytelling Festival put on by Miami Dade Public Library (truly an excellent library system). Not only was it a free fun event in downtown Miami, but they also secured free parking for attendees.

We had a blast!

We met Alice in Wonderland, Don Quixote, a man on stilts, and a juggler.

The kids got the usual swag: books, pens, beach balls and pamphlets galore. They had fun drawing their own book bags at the craft table.

We ran into some of our best friends and enjoyed a giant puppet show about lazy dinosaurs and survivalist ants.

They had glow-in-the-dark and shadow puppet effects.

We caught a storytime and ate a picnic in the shade where Jack looked up at the giant skyscrapers reflecting wandering clouds, convinced the enormous buildings themselves were moving.

Sounds like there’s a storyteller in our family.

Great job, library! Mucho gracias!

Does Coffee Really Give You Energy?

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:57:44 -0400

The quick answer, of course, is yes.

Everybody knows that.

But popular wisdom wasn’t good enough for me. I hail from Washington State, the birthplace of Starbucks, Seattle’s Best, Tully’s and thoseands of other charming American coffee houses. When I return home for a visit I make the rounds, sharing a cup of joe or cappuccino with everyone I’ve ever known.

Seriously. All we do is drink coffee in various locations. My husband teases me about this.

I’m on a health kick right now. Basically, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. I conducted a grand experiment of extreme wellness, which I’ll share another time. One of the first things on the chopping block was coffee.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think coffee is bad for your health. There is ample scientific evidence of its benefits when consumed in moderation. (Hey, what’s that?) Besides, it’s a staple in most traditional cuisines which indicates transcedent healthful properties.

My break-up with coffee was much more personal.

First of all, I was drinking too much. About 4-5 cups a day. I didn’t drink that much for the caffeine boost, in fact, some of it was caffeine-free. I just really love the flavor and use it as a distraction when I want to mindlessly eat.

My problem was that I wanted to return to a natural state of health and energy. I wondered if coffee truly gave me extra energy, or did it just shift my energy around, giving me extra energy at 8 am that was meant for 10 am? The constant stream of coffee in my system could block my notice of this.

Was drinking a cup of coffee akin to stealing from Peter to pay Paul?

This was important because I was taking a sleeping supplement to help with my insomnia. I wanted to rid myself of that, and return to my natural state. Perhaps getting rid of coffee would enable me to feel naturally energetic in the day and sleepy at night? What a concept!

A few other things about coffee bothered me too. I prefer mine with milk to cut the bitter edge, but I wanted to cut dairy out of my diet. For the past few years I have used commercial almond milk, but as its popularity has grown, I have noticed more unnatural processing. Homemade almond milk just doesn’t have the same body to work in coffee. It’s much better cold with granola.

Also, coffee plays the role of connector in my diet. It’s great with morning toast or a piece of chocolate or an afternoon pastry. I wanted to eliminate those food, so saying adios to coffee first made that easier.

I packed up my coffee maker, and promoted my blender to the counter top, at the ready for daily smoothies. I rediscovered my love of tea. I ate the healthiest diet possible, exercised, meditated, took energy boosting B vitamins and CoQ10. Six weeks passed.

Does Coffee Really Give You Energy?

The long answer is the same as the short: yes it does!

Once I was completely over withdrawals and embedded in a healthier lifestyle, I still felt an energy slump that just wouldn’t go away. I also noticed a slight depressive tinge to my mood. After a month and a half, I decided to drink a cup of coffee: instant energy and happiness.

This stuff is great!

But I don’t want to let it take over my life again. Green tea, chai and chamomile are back in my life to stay. My reservations about coffee as a connector and my dairy dilemma remain. My blender is not going to move an inch. Breakfast smoothies are the best! Coffee gets to enter my life twice a day: a morning brew and an afternoon treat. I freshly grind my coffee and use my old French press.

It tastes divine.

Ask Mamaguru: How to Stop Monsanto

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:23:21 -0400

: I just read your post on Monsanto and this really concerns me! What can we do to ensure that we are not eating Monsanto’s food? This is horrible.
Sincerely,
Jillian

A.: It is horrible. This is a tough question to answer. Although I strive to be positive and proactive, when I think about the seemingly unlimited power and resources that Monsanto has, as well as their extensive track-record of wins in court, I’m not sure that we can stop them. I’m not even sure that we can completely avoid their food.

If you don’t buy every food item organic and don’t ever eat out at anything but organic, farm-to-table restaurants, you will consume some amount of Monsanto products. Right after Monsanto’s big legislative win, Whole Foods announced that they would start carrying some Monsanto products. That’s how pervasive they are. Monsanto is akin to the lionfish invading Florida’s water; with no natural predators it has taken over and destroyed the native environment.

But we can’t just surrender. It’s vitally important to stop them. Here are my ideas:

1. Boycott the products you can.

Most people cannot buy everything organic. It’s just a sad truth. The first place to splurge on organic foods is with corn and soy, as those are the most dominant and destructive Monsanto products. The GMOs in corn cause the bellies in mice to literally explode. The human counterpart is that the cells that line our bellies also rupture into fissures, hence the rapid growth of leaky gut and autoimmune diseases. Draw a line to never consume these crops or their by-products.

After corn and soy, try to avoid the dirty dozen (the foods with the most pesticides). Consider joining a CSA to get lower cost organic produce from local farms.

2. Go meatless or at least stick to wild game and grass-raised animals.

All conventionally raised animals are fed and full of Monsanto corn and soy. This includes farm-raised salmon. Going meatless is the best choice for your health and the environment. If you choose against that, you should only eat wild-caught animals and flesh from small farms which use traditional grazing methods. Some people buy half of a cow and freeze the meat.

I choose nuts and beans. No matter what you do, everyone needs a plant-based diet. Meat should be properly portioned as a garnish while vegetables fill your plate.

3. Be a single-issue voter.

Monsanto will not be stopped through boycotts alone. Monsanto has deep pockets and controls both major political parties. If stopping Monsanto and taking back our food supply is important to you, then vote your conscience rather than for the lesser of two evils. Write to your elected officials and tell them why they lost your vote, and how to win it back. If enough people do that, there will be political change eventually.

Support campaign finance reform too, as that would drastically lower Monsanto’s ability to buy votes.

Finally, on the political front, oppose all farm legislation. We think that it helps small farmers, but it actually hurts them. Farm bills offer massive subsidies for corn and soy, which makes junk food cheap and forces small farmers to sell their land to large conglomerates who work with Monsanto. Without these subsidies, farmers could and would make better crop choices. They would return to traditional crop rotations and biodiversity, which naturally keeps pests away.

4. Educate your friends and family.

Monsanto gains power through our ignorance. If people truly understood who they are and what they do, there would be deafening outrage. Consider subscribing to a facebook or twitter feed from an anti-Monsanto group and share their links and memes on your social media sites. As far as Monsanto is concerned, our ignorance is their bliss. Don’t forget regular face-to-face talk too. This is the sort of topic that gets people riled up at our government’s lack of responsibility. If we want real change, we need voices and voters on our side.

5. Start a revolution: plant a garden and cook your food.

The most revolutionary thing you can do today is to plant some seeds and help them to grow. Even in a small space, even without a green thumb. Plant and learn. When you opt out of the system in even a small way, you take back power and control of your food supply.

Listen, I’m a terrible gardener. My gardens have been murder fields of fine vegetables who deserved a better life, but every year something new grows. Every year my thumb turns a bit more green. It’s a learning process that is interesting, challenging, and fun. I get cheap (almost free) organic veggies as a reward.

The best way to improve the quality of your life is to learn how to cook. It’s a skill like any other that requires some attention before mastery, but anyone can do it. Once you know how to make a feast from raw ingredients, you are set free. You don’t need to rely upon manufactures who do business with Monsanto. Plus, it will taste better.

Now tell me, do you have any other ideas to stop Monsanto? Please share them. We are in this together.

Fun Garden Facts

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:49:32 -0400

Fun Garden Facts:

Fun trivia for gardners. Did you know the Supreme Court actually ruled on whether a tomato is a fruit or vegetable?

White Sands, New Mexico

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:14:00 -0400

Happy Earth Day!

One of the very best ways to help our fragile planet is to simply fall in love with it. Exploring earth means developing a relationship to the land, water and air we all depend upon for life. Once you’re in love, doing right by her isn’t a sacrifice at all.

It’s a pleasure.

Here is one of my favorite spots on earth: White Sands, New Mexico. I had only a vague knowledge of this national monument before I took a detour on my way to hike the Grand Canyon. I’m so glad I back-tracked a bit to see it, because as it turns out, it was even more amazing than the Grand Canyon.

I kid you not.

White Sands is a National Monument located in southern New Mexico and consisting of 275 square miles of white gypsum sand dunes. It is the largest gypsum dune field in the world. The sand is pure white and glistening. Visitors can choose several different hikes, including a wheel-chair accessible route. I did them all.

My favorite was a seven mile loop in the dunes. There wasn’t any plant life on that hike. Because the dunes constantly shift with the wind, the trail is just marked by little flag poles which appear every so often. There were many moments when I couldn’t see the next marker. I was utterly vulnerable and had to keep moving forward, reminding myself that I had signed the ledger indicating my name and the time I began my hike. A park ranger would come looking if I didn’t sign back in safe and sound. Still, my vulnerability, my smallness in this vast pure white desert surrounded by the very distant red rocks of a clay desert, was absolutely thrilling. At the half way point, I slowly twirled in a circle and then looked up in the sky and said out loud, to no one but God,

This is me on planet Earth.

I have never felt so singular on this blue planet bursting with life. Before the moment I gave birth to my first child, standing in the middle of the white gypsum sand dunes all by myself was the most spiritual moment of my life.

On this day, when everyone is talking about green, I am transported back to miles of nothing but sparkling white sand.

Pure.

As all of earth should be.

With not a soul around, my shadow served as my self-portrait. Something to hold and say, I was here, as the wind whisked my footprint away the minute I lifted my foot.

Earth Day Snack

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 09:33:09 -0400

Earth Day Snack: