Shoppin on a Shoestring

Sunshine and her husband Adriane have three kids, Trent is 12, Justin 11 and Adrianna is 8. Austin is loving all the attention they shower on him. Trent is helping Alex learn the basics of playing war games on the computer. He gets so frustrated, so it is slow going but I think it’s good for him. Trent’s seemingly bottomless pit of patience has been sorely tested.

Justin has autism and he is very communicative and funny. He warmed up to us slowly, but by the end of the day I think he got used to us. This morning he sang good morning to Austin. We both loved it! Trent can be very serious but also has a great sense of humor, he really enjoys his computer games and sharing raw recipes he’s created. He is so enjoyable. Adrianna is a sweet princess. She gets down on the floor and plays with Austin, whether its coloring or playing Bionicles! It’s been nice to immerse in this family and really see what eating “Raw” has done for them and how easy it can and should be. Justin and Adrianna liked the glow stick bracelets I brought with me. They shared a box of them at bedtime last night with Austin and Alex.

Sunshine set up a sheet to show me how to keep track of what the kids and I have tried, and liked or didn’t like. It has been very helpful and simple to do. Yesterday we did a lot of hands on preparing. It was so great because I got to see exactly how something is done and how to tweak it or experiment with different substitutions of ingredients. We had French vanilla ice cream this morning for breakfast. We were going to have it last night, but we all passed out and forgot about it. Alex actually sat down and had a big bowl of it. So that is 3 new things that he has had since we arrived yesterday. The French vanilla ice cream is made of soaked almonds and cashews, agave, vanilla bean, and sea salt. We made up a little impromptu chocolate sauce to put over it as well. It was so yummy!!!!! I bought a little recorder so that I could turn it on when Sunshine is explaining things so I can remember things I might forget later. Alex has been asking for ice cream all day. I’m trying to save it for tonight, but it may not last that long- I love it! Austin tried a romaine salad today with the Dijon mustard dressing and loved it Alex said no thank you. He ate it with olive oil and vinegar dressing.

We went to the big market today and it was incredible. They had a fish section and the boys got to see live lobster, crabs and fish in tanks and were totally thrilled with that. We bought organic bananas by the case for $17. Holey moley! I bought a bunch of seasonings that smelled so fragrant and were very inexpensive- some I can never find without ordering over the internet! I will either ship them home or see how to get them in my suitcase. I took my little recorder with us so that I could squeeze more info out of Sunshine on the drive to and from! Alex went into the last store with Sunshine by himself because Austin fell asleep in the car and I had to stay with him. He seemed extremely comfortable with her because he yelled at her in the store and he generally reserves that for the people he’s known for a really long time. Tomorrow we are going to be in the kitchen most of the day (can you hardly wait?) and by Friday I will be starting my Raw Chef certification meals. I am really enjoying this time and the kids are too.

I made some onion dip and Sunshine showed me how to cut up an onion that makes the perfect size of diced onion with no tears-hmmmm wouldn’t you like to know how to do that? It was made with one onion, macadamia nuts, sea salt and water. It has to sit over night so I will give you an update on what it tastes like tomorrow. We cut up strawberries and poured raw chocolate sauce over them. Yummy!!

I have been pouring over all her homeschool literature and books. I don’t know what next year is going to hold for the boys, but I figure whatever knowledge I have will only help. Sunshine has given me her own perspective to chew on.

This was a rather long post but I had to catch you up because I was too tired to do more than a quickie last night! Take good care and stay tuned for more raw times!