new projects--eating better and trying new grains

I've always leaned a little toward vegetarianism...I love spare ribs and a few dishes like sweet and sour pork or chicken, but often I feel I could take or leave meat. With my daughter becoming a vegetarian and the cost of meat going up, I've already been doing more meatless meals. Now I want to make sure that I get enough protein when I do go meatless. Turns out, it's not that hard for me. I'm not sure my kids are getting enough protein, however. Maybe I should look more closely at what they eat.

For my weight I'm supposed to get 60 g of protein a day. By just taking some food that I eat a few times a week and eating them more often, I should be just fine. A typical day might be, protein-wise, something like this:

breakfast (27 g total):
1/2 c cooked oatmeal (3 g)
2 T pecans (1 g)
1 c milk (8 g)
3 egg whites (15 g)

snack (27 + 14 = 41g):
1 c yogurt (14 g)

lunch (41 + 10 = 51 g):
1 slice whole wheat bread (4 g)
1 oz cheese (6 g)

snack (51 + 8 = 59 g):
2 T peanut butter (8 g)

dinner (59 + 18 = 77 g):
1/2 c brown rice (2.5 g)
1/2 cup cooked beans (7.5 g)
1 c milk (8 g)

So, it may not be too hard.

A great place to go to check the nutrition of a food is:
 http://nutritiondata.self.com

Trying new grains is my new project, now that I'm done experimenting with cheese (though I plan on continuing to make my own butter, yogurt, and sour cream with occasional batches of cottage cheese and neufchatel cheese, but not mozzarella).

I've already made quinoa several times in the past and I grind spelt and kamut to go with my whole wheat flour. I made french bread using teff the other day. I have some amaranth I want to try out, too.

I want to make pita bread as one of my projects. And maybe whole wheat tortillas. I don't like store bought whole wheat tortillas and I have made tortillas with white flour at home before. Maybe I'll grind up some white wheat, spelt, and kamut and see if I like that in my tortillas.

I also really dislike whole wheat pasta...I wonder if I tried making my own if I would like it better. I have a #10 sized can of durum wheat in my pantry that I've never opened. But, I'm lazy, so I don't know how often I'd go through the trouble of making whole wheat pasta even if it did turn out.

I think I'll start with popped amaranth tomorrow.

notes from book about Eve

I recently read a book Eve and the Choice Made in the Garden of Eden by Beverly Campbell. I had borrowed the book, so I couldn't underline things as I usually do.There were 3 quotes I liked enough to make the effort to write down:

p 81

Might there be a symbolic parallel between the two Gardens in which death was the only real choice if souls were to be saved? Eden, where life was inaugurated into mortality; Gethsemane, where the Atonement and the Resurrection made immortality possible.

p 118

Elder Maxwell reminded us, "The only real veneration of Jesus is emulations of Him. Indeed striving to become like Him is a special way of bearing and sharing our testimony of Him."

p 136

C. S. Lewis "The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers...exist for one purpose only--and that is to support this ultimate career."