Time For Eggs
/Sitting at Whole Foods, early on a Saturday morning, Lucas nursing and I'm nursing a grape kombucha. He had become fussy and I carried him for almost the entire shop, pulling my cart behind me as we went. If the isles were wider I wouldn't have annoyed so many people. They aren't and I did. Full cart of food sitting unattended, I feel myself relax as he nurses, I looked up and into a pair of eyes lost in memory.
"I remember, I remember," came from the bright pink lips of a truly quirky woman in her late 60's.
(You know the ones, lots to say and wacky outfits?)
"I nursed my boy until he was 8 months and how I enjoyed those times."
(I nursed Chloe till she was three, not a time to announce that!) I tell her we were both having a snack and taking a break...she continues down memory lane.
"I won't tell my son this, but once we were at a movie and on the screen there was a woman nursing her baby in the background and he turned to me and said, mom, that is how you used to feed me!" Her eyes fill with joy and she asks how old Lucas is.
"You'll never have more time. Don't believe anyone who says when the kids are grown you'll have more time. Your time is now, enjoy it."
She tells me she is meeting a friend from online whom she has never met in person and has dressed in black with a lavender scarf so her friend will know her. "If she shows up."
I thank her for sharing her memories with me, pop Lucas off the boob and go to finish the shop. Sometimes those meetings with strangers stay with me. I keep thinking about her eyes and how much of her past you could see behind the glossiness. I imagine her as an equally quirky young lady dressing for a dance in black and lavender, and bright pink lipstick. But it is the message of time that I think about and the connection as women we have through a nursing baby. In a time when nursing was not popular she nursed her son for 8 months. Those 8 months remain a vital memory for her, as my, well years, of nursing will for me and for my children. As for time, our vow to enjoy our life and our kids more seems to be working, less t.v., less fights, and more fun around here.
Just as there is no other choice than nursing for me, there is also no other choice than filling my cart with whole, organic, and allergy free foods. It comes at a cost...and I can't seem to find a cheaper way of feeding 4 people with really healthy appetites. Luckily, we can eat eggs. I am starting breakfast night for dinner on Mondays. It should be a cheaper meal and offers me enough variety so I don't get bored. Think omelets, hash, Benedict, almond pancakes, muffins, bacon, fruit salad. Since there isn't much time for cooking breakfast in the morning I think this will be fun for the kids.
One of my favorite ways to eat eggs is over-easy on top of greens. Escarole is my favorite but what is in the fridge will do, tonight that is baby spinach. Very kid friendly, I tell them to pretend to be bunnies and eat their little greens.
coconut oil, for frying the eggs
4 -6 eggs
beautiful tomato, sliced about 1/4 inch thick, 1 slice for each egg
4 cups baby spinach
6 torn basil leaves
balsamic dressing
(2T olive oil, 2T balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp agave, salt, pepper)
Divide spinach between two plates. Arrange tomato slices over spinach and add basil. Dress salad. Cook eggs in oil until over easy, place on top of the tomato slices. It's that easy and really tasty for such a simple fast meal.
Monday nights are also dessert night. Today Eli helped me make a raw chocolate cake. I actually didn't want help and told him that sometimes I like to just be in the kitchen by myself. To which he replied, "And sometimes I like to be in the kitchen to help." No one can argue with that! It's our thing to bake together and if he hears the food processor he comes running.
What was I thinking!