Monthly Archives: February 2014

Breakfast ideas for my Swirlies

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I like to post on FB about my girls. The Swirlies. A lot. They are hilarious….like two little old ladies. And to clarify, their nickname “The Swirlies” came from how I used to call them when they were really small. I’d say “Let’s go girly-swirly-whirlies!” when we were trying to leave the house or if I was trying to get them moving. Then it became abbreviated to “Girly Swirlies”….then just “The Swirlies.”

They, like all kids, have completely different personalities and tastes. Shelby tends to be a picky eater and Sara tends to “graze” where she will snack on fruit, yogurt, cereal, cheese sticks, etc., all day long. My focus since the beginning of this year is to get as much “fake foods”, processed foods, foods with long lists of ingredients that I can’t pronounce, out of our eating. “Clean eating” is what it’s often referred to, but I just think of it as getting as much real, whole foods, onto our plates as much as possible. Doing this gradually, so no one will freak out or rebel in house…I know when I am pushing it too far because I can just smell mutiny in the air when I do (and their dad is usually the rebel leader).

This can be very challenging for most families because the food industry is so clever at packaging foods to make them appear more healthy than they really are. “Health halos” is how Brian Wansink, PhD (“Mindless Eating”, 2006) referred to the deceptively “healthy” packaging of most processed foods (a book that I highly recommend). I fell victim to the health halos in spite of how I always prided myself on being able to distinguish between what is healthy and what isn’t. I found myself eating much more processed food than I perceived. And feeding that to my children. Seeing my 9-year old’s weight go up this winter was the motivation I needed to do something different. Cooking most of my meals at home out of real foods, whole foods, is my focus and I can already tell it’s making a difference in all of us. I’ll blog more on this later, but I just wanted to give a little background on what started us on this whole foods thing.

I cook my girls breakfast at home every day. I am fortunate that my work schedule allows this, I am able to feed them at home each morning and take them to school. I have a go-to list of breakfast ideas that I have to switch up occasionally, depending on the whim of the Swirlies.

Their favorite breakfast right now is homemade waffles. Santa brought me a waffle iron two Christmases ago and it’s been awesome. It doesn’t take long, I use Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Pancake & Waffle whole grain mix and follow the directions for waffles. It mixes up fast and tastes really good. It has whole flax seeds in it, and you don’t get the Omega-3 benefits of flax unless the seeds are ground up. So I always throw a couple tablespoons of ground flax seed into the mix (I keep a package of ground flax seeds in my freezer so it won’t go rancid so quickly), and I use olive oil or melted coconut oil for the mix. If you are pressed for time in the morning, you could make several waffles in advance and then freeze them. My waffle iron is for a thicker, Belgium-style waffle, so I’ve been afraid to freeze them because I don’t know how they will reheat in the microwave. Maybe I should invest in a toaster oven (like I NEED another appliance up in hurr).

I stopped buying what I thought were healthy, whole grain, frozen waffles because of how many ingredients they had, and how much unhealthy fat they contained (trying to get away from soybean oil, and any type of fat derived from corn). Not to mention the ever-present high fructose corn syrup, or one of the many other names for processed sugar.

Pancakes are always another Swirly favorite. I use the same Bob’s Red Mill mix but follow the directions for pancakes. And I change up the flavor by adding mashed bananas, or blueberries, or strawberries, or their current favorite – semi-sweet chocolate chips. Sometimes I’ll make a large pancake for each of them and they’ll decorate them with fruit, similar to the “Create-a-Face” pancake that they serve at IHOP.

I switched to organic maple syrup as well last year. One of my issues is that my 9-year old finds it too sweet, as do I. So I admit I keep a bottle of low-carb pancake syrup on-hand. Lol. I have to figure out something that works besides that because it is loaded with ingredients I don’t recognize. It’s all a work in-progress….

I don’t buy yogurt in a tube anymore. One of my goals with the change in foods is to take alot of the food dyes and processed sugar out as well. Shelby had an allergic reaction to one brand of kid yogurt and I think it was the food dye they used in it that set her off. Any kind of kid yogurt in a tube has a lot of sugar, so I just quit buying it for a long time until they forgot about it. I recently started buying plain, low-fat, organic yogurt and flavor it with maple syrup or sometimes add a little vanilla extract. I have some strawberry puree in the refrigerator that I want to use to try to make strawberry yogurt, but I don’t have any takers, or any enthusiasm, for that idea just yet. Sara is a fan of plain, sweetened-at-home yogurt with homemade granola mixed in.

Eggs are a breakfast staple. They like them scrambled or hard-boiled, with a slice of toast on the side. I started buying whole wheat bread from a local bakery and it was a tough sell for the Swirlies. Although I like it because it is locally produced and only has 5 ingredients (no high fructose corn syrup or sugar, it has honey in it), they didn’t like the coarse, heavier texture. So that same bakery (Great Harvest Bread Co., here in Lawrence, KS) also offers a bread they call Half & Half bread. All the same ingredients but instead of 100% whole wheat flour, they use half whole wheat flour and half white flour. It’s softer and it has a slightly sweeter taste. The Swirlies love it. I’m willing to give a little on the bread so that they will eat something as close to whole foods as I can get it. I always give them some fruit with their breakfast and they always drink a cup of 1% organic milk, Shelby sometimes prefers water.

Sometimes they like smoothies for their breakfast. Shelby is a fan of a smoothie I got from Erin Brown’s Fit Mama Training website (http://www.fitmamatraining.com) called the Green Monster Smoothie, while Sara just likes a banana blended with a cup of milk. I like to give them a smoothie with a homemade, whole grain muffin or donut. The fruit is in their smoothie so I don’t need to serve any additional unless they ask.

They also like to eat toast with different toppings. Shelby has a peanut allergy and I haven’t convinced her of the virtues of almond butter. She was addicted to Nutella, but with the food changes, that was the first thing to go. I made a homemade version of Nutella using fresh ground cashew butter that I got at the Community Mercantile here in town, and blew out my Magic Bullet AND my blender trying to mix it with cocoa powder, coconut oil, and some maple syrup. I like it. It’s sweet and chocolatey without all the sugar and palm oil in Nutella. Shelby tolerates it. I think I need to tweak my recipe next time. Shelby will eat a slice of toast with homemade nutella and sliced bananas on top, Sara will eat a slice of toast with natural peanut butter and sliced bananas on top. I noticed that since I switched breads (I used to buy a low-carb 45 calorie name brand bread), and changed the nutella from store-bought to homemade, that they get full faster. Shelby went from eating 2 slices of low carb bread to just getting full on one.

Cream of Wheat and oatmeal from rolled oats (old fashioned oatmeal) are always good as a back-up plan. They just like them plain, there was a tepid response when I cooked them with diced apples and cinnamon. They will ask for a diced banana in their hot cereal sometimes. I used to throw some vanilla protein powder in their cereal, but I stopped doing that and just find another source of protein to go with it, like a boiled egg or a piece of string cheese. They are pretty good at telling me what they want in the morning.

For my wild rice loving peeps: I am a huge fan of a rice pudding type breakfast. I figured out how to make a hot cereal dish with wild rice when I have the good stuff from Minnesota. I take leftover cooked wild rice, mix it with some almond milk, add dried cranberries, some cinnamon, a little maple syrup, a dash of vanilla extract, sometimes I’ll throw some sliced almonds or pecans in, and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds to warm it all up. It is soooooo good. It’s almost dessert-like. And you can’t get any closer to clean, organic, whole grain than the real wild rice from northern Minnesota.

And I have to give some…so this week I bought them a box of Cascadian Farm Organic Cinnamon Crunch cereal. They really liked that this morning.

Here are some of the websites where I get recipes for homemade donuts, muffins, granola, etc. They have awesome recipes that I’ve tried for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I’m still working my way through their lists.

Real Fit Real Food Mom:  http://www.realfitrealfoodmom.com

*My girls love the recipe for Snickerdoodle pancakes on this site, and the recipe for applesauce donuts.

100 Days of Real Food:  http://www.100daysofrealfood.com

Super Healthy Kids: http://www.superhealthykids.com

So those are some ideas to get started. Look for more posts like this in the future because I always have people asking me for meal ideas. And I’m very thankful for all the moms who blog who have inspired me and helped me learn how to feed my family better.

My first experience with weight loss and RUNNING

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I’m a shawl dancer. I’m friends with shawl dancers. Joe B likes to say that shawl dancers remind him of race horses….that we are kind of high strung, anxious, but fast. A lot of fast-twitch muscles. Lol. So we shawl dancers tend to obsess about being in shape, bringing new outfits out, and trying to maintain a healthy weight. Not so easy at times, especially after “life” kicks in and you start having kids or working full-time. One time I had a shawl dance friend relay her frustrations with trying to get in shape. And she got mad at me for trying to share my story with her and she said, “You don’t know what it’s like to be out of shape because you’ve never had a weight problem.” Ohhhhh, I beg to differ…..

I was a chubby kid in grade school, starting about 2nd grade. I was heavier than most of my peers throughout grade school and high school. Looking back, I wasn’t as big as I felt I was. I was athletic and played sports. But I was bigger than my non-Native peers in the parochial school system I was in and I always felt different. My mom, even though she always worked, cooked at home. We rarely ate fast food when I was in grade school. My dad was a runner. Both my parents played softball during the summer, so we had active role models. We played outside in our neighborhood. Basically, I was in good health growing up, just a little heavier than most. I remember trying different things to “get in shape”…like running with my dad at the track. Or rather, running a few yards, then feeling like it was too hot in my little sweatsuit with the stripes down the sides of the sleeves and legs and deciding to sit down until he was done running his laps. Ever see “The Royal Tenenbaum’s”? I think I dressed like those little boys when “working out”.

My first experience with successfully losing weight was when I was in 9th grade. I played basketball my Freshman year and stayed busy every day after school with practices or games. When basketball season ended, most of my teammates tried out for the volleyball team. My only experience with volleyball was in PE that semester. Our PE teacher was one of JV coaches I believe and she spiked a ball at me during a game in gym class. Instead of trying to return or block the ball, I just got the hell out of the way….like anyone with sense would do. She looked so disgusted with me it was almost comical. And I discovered that it really stung the forearms and my bony wrists to “bump” the ball. Needless to say, that killed any inkling I may have had about trying out for volleyball team. So instead of going to more practices every day after school, I went home.

It took about 2 days to become bored out of my skull being at home every day. And I had a lot of energy because I was used to practicing every day after school. I remember organizing the hall closet, and then doing every single piece of laundry in the house. That took up the first week post-basketball season. Then I needed to find something else to do. So….out of pure boredom, I put on my high-top Adidas basketball shoes and decided to go for a run around the neighborhood.

I kind of liked that….running after school. So I started running more and exploring nearby neighborhoods. I have no idea how far I ran, I think I was out running for maybe 30 minutes at a time. But I did it consistently. I had nothing else to do.

One day when my dad was home from work, he stopped me and asked me, “Shelley, are you losing weight??” He kind of had what you would call an incredulous look on his face. Hard to explain but if you have ever had my dad look at you like that, you would know what I’m talking about. My answer was “Yes, I think so,” Followed by me asking him, “How can you tell?” He said he could see new laugh lines near the sides of my mouth that weren’t there before and that I just looked thinner. Still wearing that same look he asked me, “Well….what are you doing to lose weight?” My answer: “I’m running.”

I can still see the shocked look on my dad’s face. The memory is crystal clear. Remember, I would get too hot and sweaty after part of lap a few years ago. So he repeats and asks,”You’re running. Where are you running? How far?” I tried to explain my route to him. He gave me a piece of paper and said, “Show me.” So I drew out my route.

Still looking like he is having a hard time grasping this new knowledge of his oldest, formerly-chubby daughter, he asked me, “What are you running in?” My answer: “My high tops.” A nice stretch of silence for a few moments, then he said again, “Show me.” So I brought him my basketball shoes that I had been running in. He held them and looked at them for a few moments and asked me, “You are running in these?” Yeppers. The rest of the conversation is a little fuzzy…I just remember that he took me out and bought me a pair of running shoes that weekend.

I think I dropped 2 clothes sizes during that time. That felt great to a high school freshman. I would like to say that I became a dedicated runner after that, but I would be lying. I continued with running, on and off, serious or frivolous, for years. But I always remember my freshman year where I made the connection that consistent running led to weight loss.

My weight continued to go up and down over the years. I have topped out at being 36 pounds overweight (not including when I was pregnant with my Swirlies), and I actually feel blessed that it hasn’t been more than that. There have been 2 more times in my life where I’ve had to lose 32-36 pounds to be healthy and to be able to dance how I would like to dance. Where it’s not hard and I don’t give my weight an opportunity to cause an injury. So yes, I’ve had my experiences with having a “weight problem” and losing the weight. And running was always a part of me losing weight.

I like where I am at now in my life…where my focus isn’t so much on weight as it is on my health and well-being. I know now that weight isn’t the only determinate, or even the most important determinant, of my overall health. That it’s more important for me to know my numbers (blood glucose, blood pressure, cholesterol panel), and to do good things for myself consistently throughout the year, rather than just “getting ready for pow-wow season”. Running has become far more to me over the years than just a means to drop some pounds. More on that in a future post. And I think it’s important to my Swirlies that I have a healthy approach to my appearance and that I continue to stress “health” over weight. I have to go pick them up now, so I’ll try to think of better stuff to write about tonight. 🙂

Welcome to my blog!

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Hihanna was’te! My name is Shelley Eagleman-Bointy. Welcome to my blog, Wozani Was’te*. I started this blog with the encouragement of friends and family, hoping to provide a source of health/wellness information and motivation from an Indigenous/Native/Dakota Winyan perspective. I want to share my personal and professional experiences in the health and wellness arena, and my family’s experiences as we work towards good health (thus the “Seeking Good Health” name for this blog).

I am a mom to 3 beautiful daughters, Samantha (26 – my bonus child), Shelby (9), Sara (7), I have a bonus son in OK, Joey (in his 30’s…lol), and have been married for 19 years to my companion Joe B. We are a powwow family, I have been a fancy shawl dancer since the age of 5. I am enrolled with the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Montana and descend from the Little Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa Indians in Michigan. I am blessed to have 2 healthy parents and an older brother and younger sister. True to our ways, I have countless family, adopted sons, daughters, grandkids, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents all over Indian country. I earned my MSW at the University of Kansas and have worked in the education/public health field for 13 years. My area of interest and expertise is in the field of type 2 diabetes in Native populations, and I currently teach a culturally-tailored diabetes education course at Haskell Indian Nations University.

I love to cook, especially recipes my mom cooked for us growing up. I have taken on learning how to cook our true traditional foods this past winter. I love to run, although my diagnosis of hip osteo-arthritis makes that a little more challenging these days. I love to sew pow-wow outfits for my family and friends, love to bead, read, text and harass my friends, watch movies, and I’m addicted to “Chopped” and cleaning/organization shows like “Clean House” and “Clean Sweep”. I love to Facebook about my favorite subjects….my girls “The Swirlies”, and posting pow-wow results. Lol. I am slowly figuring out Twitter and SnapChat and Instagram. I am determined to start a garden as safe food sources and sustainability is quickly becoming a serious interest.  I am truly a nerd at heart…I get excited about stuff like ordering a break-maker or or a food dehydrator, figuring out a better way to organize stuff, or coming up with a new smoothie recipe all by myself. Finding the time to indulge my nerd-like tendencies is a challenge. And now I’m adding blogging to the mix.

Thanks for reading this….even though it looks like my bio/resume or a match.com profile. Now I have to slow my spinning mind and decide what I am going to blog about first!

*Thank you to Ramey Growing Thunder for coming up with the name for this blog, and to Mike LaFromboise for encouraging me to use our Dakota language for the blog’s name.

Disclaimer: I really have no idea what I am doing, so please be patient with me while I figure out how to add tags, make my page look decent, etc. Pidamaya in advance!