Change has been on everyone’s minds the past few months as the campaigning for the democratic nomination surges ahead. (But I don’t want to talk about that right now. It turns out I have a lot invested in this race, in a whole new way, and I have some not too rational feelings about it.)

So the change rhetoric got me thinking about changes that can be made at home, which got me thinking about my family’s diet.

I try really hard to cook with organic, healthy foods. I use whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and low or lower fat dairy. I try to ensure my family has several servings of fresh or steamed fruits and veggies at each meal. I stock the “snack shelf” in both the pantry and the fridge with fruits, yogurt, and cheese. My kids don’t get chips and candy and other fatty snacks very often at all. We eat fast food and take out less than 5 times a month.

However, I realized we are still not eating very well. We still use meat as a staple, instead of a garnish, and we still eat less fiber and veggies than we should. This means more fat, and less nutrients. Therefore, yesterday marked the beginning of my new plan for feeding the family.

Last night I opened my Vegetarian Cookbook.
I baked an acorn squash sprinkled with cloves and cinnamon in 1/4 of orange juice and 1/4 of water. I made an Arugula salad with Pear slices, lemon juice, pepper and parmesean. I baked a Mushroom Pate, made with Portabella mushrooms, baby button mushrooms, red pepper, white wine, garlic, onion, red kidney beans and 12 grain bread crumbs. All told it took about an hour to prepare. However, I have pate leftovers galore, so it will make me a yummy lunch, and an excellent appetizer for dinner tonight.

Best of all, everyone loved it. Lee talked about how rich and creamy the pate was, and how filling the meal was. Even Monkey and Otter gobbled the pate up, lip smacking the whole way. I mean, my six year old ate something made with red peppers in it!!

My plan? I plan on buying a copy of the Enchanted Broccoli Forest and the Moosewood Cookbook. The I intend to base every dinner on a healthy vegetarian recipe, and to add a garnish of meat to it from time to time. If I can get my family to eat low fat, high fiber vegetarian dishes with just a touch of meat on them, then I will know I am doing my best to feed them healthy and wholesome foods.

I plan on making lots of leftovers, so the complicated dishes can last more than one meal. It will help this be less of a PITA (Pain in the …). Tonight I plan on preparing a wholesome and creamy chickpea based soup.

Num num.

Poor Otter has his eighth tooth coming in today. It’s poking through the gum and causing all sorts of misery.

He is having a horrible time of it. He will cry inconsolably, and when I try to engage him in other activities he will crawl away to the new toy, only to burst into to tears again as soon as he grabs it.

He keeps turning his little sad tear filled face up to me, finger in mouth, drool pouring out onto the floor.

Every time I pick him up, he will lay his head upon my chest and cry, until he gets mad and pushes away.

It’s been a hard morning.

Monkey did the cutest thing she has done in a while yesterday. She and Luke made a snowman over the weekend. The cold snowy weather didn’t last beyond that day, and so her snowman began to melt, as snowmen are wont to do.

Yesterday Monkey went outside to break open some geodes she had found. I was working on the computer and not paying too much attention, but I kept hearing the door open and close. Then I heard this:

Lee: Monkey, what are you doing with that bowl of ice?
Monkey: Nothing!
Devon: Are you trying to keep your snowman alive?

At this point Monkey burst into tears. It turns out her snowman was melting, and she was bringing ice out to spread over him and keep him cold so he would stop. I gathered her up into my arms and talked to her about the transitory nature of snowmen, but she was inconsolable. She cried for over an hour, lamenting the loss of her new winterly friend.

As my mother said later, one must never give one’s heart to a snowman.