Happy Halloween!

Have you ever seen a more accurate pumpkin carving? I haven't.

Read More

Sneaky Green Tip #4

While scrounging in the cupboards tonight, trying to pull dinner together with what I have on hand, I realized a very simple, very yummy substitution that I've never made. So now, I'm sharing my lightbulb moment with you.

SWAP QUINOA FOR RICE!

It's really that simple. While it does take longer than instant rice, 10-15min, it's a higher quality grain. It's also an easy way to add some variety to your family's diet.

Here's what I'm making.

Hamburger Broccoli Casserole

14oz portion Cream of Something soup
1lb grass fed ground beef
1 onion, chopped
6 cups frozen broccoli, prepared
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2.5 cups bone broth
1tsp Italian seasoning
1Tbs liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine 2 cups of the bone broth with the quinoa. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10-15min. Mean while brown ground beef and onion in a medium skillet. When the onions and beef are cooked through drain, and then add the COS soup, spices, liquid aminos, and quinoa. Layer broccoli in bottom of a large casserole dish and top with beef/soup mixture. Sprinkle grated Parmesan on top and bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Enjoy!!

Serves 6

Read More

Football has been ruling my life!

Baby mermaids are the best!

Hello again lovely readers! I know posts have been few and far between over the last 2 weeks, but football was ruling my life. My 7 year old's football team made the playoffs so they bumped practices to 3 times a week, as well as game days. I was eating, sleeping, and breathing football. 

 Halloween is Wednesday, and I am trying to pull together costumes for my 1 and 2 year old. I would love to hear some ideas for {quick & easy} homemade costumes for a girl and boy. I was originally going to do matching witch costumes for myself and baby girl, but I think the time has passed to be able to do that. The 2 year old has no opinion at all on his costume. He loves Thomas and Cars 2, and I asked if he wanted to be either one and I was met with a resounding, "No!" So I'm at a bit of a loss. I think this calls for a Pinterest intervention. :) Last year I managed to put together a last minute mermaid costume for Sissy, and a few years ago I made a super easy SUPER adorable gnome costume for my then 1year old boy.

My green monster and garden gnomes in 2010

So show me pics, give me your ideas, spam me with links for cute, easy, cheap or free homemade costume ideas.

Read More

Five years ago today...

Today is my Luke's 5th birthday. Five years ago today I became a mother of 2. A mama of boy(s), plural. A mother to one blue-eyed blondie, and a brown-eyed brown-haired daddy-look-alike. An entire pregnancy spent in worry about whether I could possibly love another baby as much as I loved my first was put to rest.

He is our chunky monkey, our Lukey Pookey, our Bubby, our Bubba, our funny, sweet, loving, rough and tumble bruiser all-boy 5 year old. We love you Luke!!

Read More

Wordless Wednesday

And then I woke up. And realized I have 4 kids, 7 pets, 1 large messy husband and my house will never be perfect.

Read More

Life Happens

I've been absent for a few days and felt I owed you, the readers, an explanation.

I think it's safe to say that I am a Mommy Blogger. A heroic, albeit underrated, class of bloggers. We fight the battles of daily life, of spilled sippy cups, and potty training. Teething and breast-feeding. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, ball parks, and ballet studios. We wash, dry, fold, and hang our clothes while airing our dirty laundry to you, the lucky and hopefully entertained readers. 

The crux of being a Mommy Blogger is that we are always fighting the battles of daily life. We yearn to be heard, to voice our opinions, and use words with more than 2 repeating syllables. And yet, those spills and mishaps and schedules take precedence over our precious blogs. Our family's need for fulfillment and nurturing ultimately trumps our desire for a creative outlet. 

Last week I was in the ER. Last night my baby girl decided to wake up as I was going to bed and not fall back to sleep until 4:30 this morning. So on two hours of sleep I dressed my big boy, sent him off to school, rinsed dishes, washed laundry, made a run to the store for toilet paper and a new broom, picked the big boy up from school, read 2 books with the kids, dressed the big one for football, sat through 2 hours of football practice with the other 3 kiddos, endured non-stop screaming from baby-girl on the way home, and finally I have spent the last 2 hours with her waking up and screaming, falling asleep, waking up and screaming, and finally falling back asleep.

And now I'm here. My little place. Where I can let flow my creative juices and allow my brain to expand beyond a 7 year old level. And still, I am a Mommy Blogger. I'm smack in the middle of fighting the battle of daily life. You will probably encounter {many} typos. At times I may sound incoherent {because I am}. But I always give to you, my readers, what's left of me at the end of the day or during those stolen quiet moments {when someone is undoubtedly painting my walls with red fingernail polish}. Those are some of my most prized parts. The little nuggets of wisdom that I've gleaned from a day of hard fought battles and harder won wars. My precious time, when I could be snuggling my husband or catching up on episodes of Parenthood. And the private inner me that my children are too young to recognize, friends are too busy to connect with, and my husband is too male to get. I continue to cultivate that part of myself in hopes of helping, healing, and entertaining you. My readers.

So please remember, I am Mommy first. Blogger second.

Read More

Healthcare vs. Sickcare

Credit: Prevention Matters

I feel a bit silly writing about this as I wound up in the ER on Monday afternoon because I was sick. I was under the weather for a few days, but Monday I grew progressively worse throughout the day. I had a horrible coughing fit that led my throat to swell and I was having difficulties breathing. After running the kids to the neighbors house {thank God for good neighbors!} the hubby took me to the ER. Two breathing treatments, 1 steroid shot, and a lung X-ray later they told me I had bronchitis and sent me on my way with 3 prescriptions.

Antibiotics, oral steroids, and a cough medicine.

I hate prescriptions. I know they're necessary at times, but I have really begun to rebel against the Rx. Especially when it comes to my personal health. In much the same way that I feel the difference in my body when I eat unhealthy foods, I feel the difference between the "health" that prescription drugs bring and nutritional holistic healthcare give. There is a sense of overall well-being, health, vibrance, vitality that proper nutrition gives me. Treating a specific sickness with specific drugs fixes the symptoms, but doesn't make me healthier overall. Generally if I'm getting sick, something is lacking.

So now that we're entrenched in cold & flu season, little ones noses are running and being slimed all over their sleeves, how do you beef up your immune system and stay healthy? After all, it's easier to focus on your healthcare now than to deal with sickcare later. Like me. *snort*

• Increase your Vitamin C  We all know about the "recommended daily intake" of vitamins and minerals that are suggested. I also think it's safe to say that most people feel that if they pop a multi-vitamin and meet that suggested amount they are good to go. But did you know that the recommended levels of vitamins and minerals aren't meant to give you sufficient levels for health? Nope. It's only to keep you from being vitamin deficient. There is a HUGE gap between vitamin deficient and healthy. The RDI of Vitamin C is only 75mg. A single cup of raw bell pepper has 195.8% of your RDI of Vitamin C. Although you should be aware that cooking causes a breakdown in C, so it's best to eat raw. Vitamin C is also water soluble, which means your body does not store it for later use, and it's nearly impossible to have too much. It increases iron absorption, is a powerful antioxidant that helps your immune system fight off infection, and helps prevent gallstones! So how much should you aim for? If you're healthy, the Vitamin C Foundation recommends all people over the age of 3 get at least 3,000 mg per day. It's always better to get your vitamins through whole food sources, so here are some of the best Vitamin C foods.

• Buy a Neti Pot  A What?? A neti pot is a container use to irrigate your sinus cavities. Your tilt your head, insert the tip of the pot into your nostril, and the salted water rushes through your sinuses, clearing away dirt, debris, bacteria, allergies, and sickness. It's slightly acidic pH level gives it an antibacterial effect. Seeing as there are a plethora of airborne bacteria that we encounter on a daily basis, and that number only rises during the colder months, daily nasal irrigation with a neti pot is a natural step to add to your heath routine.

• Add a probiotic to your vitamin regiment Probiotics are a way to introduce good bacteria into your gut. They keep yeast levels at a minimum, fight off bad bacteria, and  several studies have shown that probiotics decrease the duration of colds and flu as well as regulate immunity in the respiratory system.

• Wash Your Hands Elementary, right? But the key is actually doing it. We know that when we touch something someone else touched we're touching everything those other people touched as well. {Try saying that 3 times fast} So don't just lecture your kids on the hand-washing routine, but make sure that you're leading the way with your example.

I'm not claiming that if you do these things you'll never get the sniffles, but every little bit helps. And each of these HAS been proven to be efficient in fighting off colds & flu. Four simple, easy, basic steps to take your healthcare into your own hands, before you wind up having to get sickcare. Like me. *snort*

Read More