My kids just ate brussel spouts and didn't even know it.

I know all about how eating healthy can heal the body and I stay on point for a big part of my life.

But, getting my kids to eat the right things is sooo much easier said than done. Their school provides free breakfast and free lunch for everyone. It is some program with no kid goes hungry and it last for about 3 years, I am pretty sure we are on the last year for the program. I feed the kids breakfast at home but there is still food for them at school that they grab. The free lunches just saves us tons of money so we just let them get that. I am pretty sure I will be starting to make their lunches on tuesday when they go back to school

Their eating sucks.
 Miss Ava just finished her 3rd round of antibiotics for strep throat and I am pretty sure it is not gone yet....I am fed up with the way they eat and starting tonight we are cutting tons of things out of their diet. Since they have a few more days on their fall break it will be easier to monitor what they eat. I have giving my kids fair warning that we were changing the way we eat. For example, last week we finished off the last of the sweet cereal and we are not buying more.

This has been a battle for a long time, Jerry thinks it is fine to have it just on the weekend and I want it gone forever. I am fine with a balance but it seems that there is always something sweet to eat and it blends right into the weekend with crap cereal. I think he is seeing the need for change.




I wanted to start our healthy eating asap. I do not want to take Ava to the dr one more time. I want to heal her with prayer and food. Tonight's dinner was the start of that. It was a soup packed full of nutrients.
I made a soup because it is one of the easiest ways to get veggies into my kids.  I had left over chicken and homemade chicken broth in the fridge. I also found some Brussels spouts and had an idea. They are packed full of vitamin C and we need that right now.
I already took some onions, garlic, and bell peppers and sauteed in a dutch oven. I chopped off the end of the brussel spouts and tore off the top leaves. I, then chopped them in half and threw them into a food processor and added a bit of olive oil.

I pulsed into it was fully chopped and threw it into the dutch oven and sauteed and stirred into all heated through. I also add one sweet potato and salt and pepper. When it was all heated I threw in about 6 cups of broth and brought to to a boil until potatoes were soft.
I transfer it in batches to my vitamix and pureed until completely smooth. -be careful b/c the steam will be very hot-

In another dutch oven (bc I still had un-pureed soup in the other) I added about 2tbs of butter, a bit of diced white onion, and diced one white potato (this was simply for texture in the soup) and stirred to heat up.

All the pureed soup got poured on top (through a strainer) and again brought to a boil to cook the white potato.

When fully done I added the already cooked (left over) shredded chicken. Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, herbs, and/or old bay seasons to your tasting

I also took some gluten free bread and toasted it and chopped to make homemade croutons.

Gabi went to the grand parents for the night but all the other kids ate it all!! I told them I don't even care if they eat the chicken and potatoes in the soup but that they had to drink all the broth. 
This may be a tiny step but I am happy we are moving in the right direction. I will be updating here on how it goes. Ava and kori will no doubt be my most challenging kids. They are extremely picky eaters and veggies are far from the "yes" list.
Pray it goes well...mmmmkay

A look at the Turney's on the Biltmore Estates.

Miss Gabi, my sweet first born is almost on her own and it breaks my heart. Soon she will be in college and fall break vacations will not work with her school schedule. This could be her last one with us. I pray it is not.

Caleb, my first son. He is the person who taught me about unconditional love from a male. He is one of the funniest people I know. His ability to mimic accents and sounds is like no other in our family. He should definitely seek out a job using this skill

Kori, is the most detailed person I know. Her ability to notice things around her and her creativeness is beyond what I could ever do. She sets goals for her self and hits them. I see a bright future for her.

 Caden, my little miracle surviving twin boy. He is the sweetest talker, he tells me daily how amazing and beautiful I am. If a flower is called wonderful, he responds.."like my mommy" What a gift he is to my sou.

Ava, the cream of the crop, is the perfect add on to our family. She is loved by every single one of us and has a sense of humor to match all of ours. She has big dreams of dancing, singing, and being a gymnast one day. She will do awesome at all those things.
So blessed God gave her to us after 2 losses and major health problems, she has changed us for the best.

 
Jerry, my sweetie of 20 years. We are so different and the enemy likes to get it my thoughts and wants me to focus on all those ways. But, when I remind myself that his differences are the very things that I totally suck at and would never thrive at, I am reminded at how blessed I am. God always knows what he is doing when he places you with someone. You will be very different and that is so together you can fill in each others weaknesses and together, with God, can be a strong force. 

We all had a really good time at Biltmore today....except for the end when I thought kids might be lost and spent forever looking for them...and didn't have cell service to call and check. They were not lost...I was apparently.


 These two pictures here are from the gardens. There were tons of mums here.

 And one final shot of the full Turney crew.