9 Things I've Learned in 1 Week of Healthy Living

Dear Sweet Hubby and I have adopted a healthy lifestyle, and we've made it through the past week pretty well. We've had a few stumbles but we know that is natural, so we have kept on with our new eating and exercise routine. (Although to be completely honest, I've been doing better exercise-wise than he has. lol.) So, here's some things I've learned this week:

1. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the deal. Before this week, I'd hear that and say "What. Ever." :) But the day I skipped breakfast I shoved 6 gluten free chocolate chip cookies in my mouth before noon. Yep. Breakfast is worth it. 
2. Life without caffeine stinks...the first few days. And there will be stumbling days. I was doing great, until yesterday, when an unexpected call from Dear Sweet Hubby that he needed to be picked up because his brakes went out on the way to work set the "caffeine-monster" to work on my head. :) I wasn't even stressed, but by the time I picked Dear Sweet Hubby up, I had a caffeine-craving from heck. I got a Dr. Pepper. And paid for it. Blech. At least my body isn't in cahoots with my brain on this. :)
3. Trying new foods is essential. I thought I din't like strawberries. Then I tried one while cutting them up for LBB. And bam...I was surprised by how much I actually liked them. Maybe it's me being less picky. Maybe it's me knowing that without candy, my sweet options are pretty limited if I only eat apples. But either way, it's for the best. Fruit is GOOD. Candy is not. :) 
4. Being healthy takes time. Lots more than grabbing a Dr. Pepper and a bag of chips for breakfast. There is meal planning for every day of the week. Making breakfast and lunch when I used to skip them eats up time. And that whole "exercise" thing? I am terrible at slotting time for myself during the day...I let LBB eat up a lot of it. But, it's been rewarding to take 5 minutes before bed to sneak in a few more situps. And throughout the day, I sneak in little things to tone up while I'm doing other things.
5. When you take out the nasty food, you find great substitutions. We loved Dr. Pepper. But...the ingredients label is nothing short of scary. I can't believe I've been dumping that many chemicals into my body. However, just saying we were done with it doesn't make that soda craving go away. So, we figured out a great compromise. Natural soda! Reading the ingredients doesn't make your cringe, and goodness, it is good. We have tried two brands so far...the first one I can't remember the name of (but it was super delicious), and this brand: Boylan Soda. Oh. My. Goodness. Yum. Sure, its a bit pricey, but we decided that Friday night we would get to have an all-natural soda as a treat. So, we buy one 4 pack a payday and still spend WAY less than we did on Dr. Pepper.
6. My dad is right: Hydrate, hydrate hydrate. Water is literally my new best friend. I start feeling a headache? Water. A little worn out? Water. Hungry but craving cruddy food? Water. It's been working so well so far. 
7. Eating healthy gets a bit expensive. I totally should've started this on a payday that wasn't so tight money wise, but I'm glad we did, and I suppose that the money we spent on soda can just go to regular, good food. It evens out, mostly. :)
8. We have decided to reserve eating out for vacations only (and even then we plan on getting food at the grocery store for sandwiches and whatnot.) But here's the funny thing...Burger King's wafting aroma of delicious burgers is never more tantalizing than when you are swearing off fast food. :)
9. Once you read one ingredient label, you become obsessed with all the others. And then, you become shocked at the junk we put into our bodies without even thinking twice. Our new motto: Simple ingredients, delicious food, better life. :)

This past week, while full of challenges, had been very "freeing." We fell better (for the most part, minus this lack-of-caffeine-induced sleepiness) and feel more active. I couldn't be happier that we have decided to live healthier...I want to pass on good life habits to LBB and if he sees us shoving junk and drinking chemical water, what is he going to do as he grows up? 

What have been your "healthy-living" challenges and rewards?

Something I Usually Wouldn't Share

Not many people know about this, but about a year ago, I had the nice treat to get tested for breast cancer. I found a lump, had a mini-freak out, and after a very God-blessed moment, got tested and had the results back within 4 days. There's nothing more frightening than not knowing. Nothing more nerve-wracking than kissing your child at bedtime and not knowing what would happen.

Thankfully, the results came back benign. But what I do have is called a Fibroadenoma. And it likes to linger around...apparently this annoying "benign tumor" feels it's ok to just stay with me. I check everyday for changes, but I still worry. The chances of it turning into anything bad is pretty slim, but, if you know me, you know I usually go worst case scenario. :)

However, I've been doing some research, trying to figure out some natural ways to get this thing to either go away or get smaller. Removal is an option, but it's not a guarantee that another one won't form. My nurse said her daughter was about to have her 3rd surgery to remove a fibroadenoma, and quite frankly, I'm not a big enough fan of hospitals and knives to go through that unless I have to. That core biopsy was enough, thank you very much.

One thing I have found is a change in diet. That means a BIG cutdown on caffeine and chocolate (I type this as I just finished a Reese's Peanut Butter cup and have been sipping a Dr. Pepper.) But, currently I can guzzle down about 4 Dr. Peppers a day (yikes), so even just one is cutting back alot. :) Another key diet factor is MORE fiber, MORE fruits and veggies, and LESS meat. So, after having a serious talk with Dear Sweet Hubby yesterday, we are going to dramatically cut back on the meat we consume in our home...1 night of red meat, 1 night of chicken. And the rest? Vegetarian. (With a few fish nights thrown in.)

This means I have to change my whole way of food thinking. I hate veggies. I only like apples. And, to make the diet even more interesting, we have to keep everything g-free for LBB. :) So, this is a whole new journey into cooking and nutrition. I have to rethink everything I know cooking wise.

But.

I know I have to. I know why it's important. And I know that, while it is a big change, it will be a good change.

So, all that being said, if you have a GREAT vegetarian recipe, please share it in the comments section!!!! I can use all the help I can get!

Gluten-Free Fish Sticks

LBB is piiiccckkkyyy. I can't stretch that out enough.

He won't touch most anything you give him besides fruits, veggies, and the occasional g-free cookie.

But, he does like fish sticks. Score. Except, of course, that the only fish sticks we could find for him that were gluten free were 6 bucks a box...and that box is small. Now, he loved those fish sticks...but currently my budget doesn't.

So, what's a mom to do? I went on a mission to make some gluten-free fish sticks for him. The tough part? I generally despise eating fish, so I had no idea what a good fish stick tasted like. Fortunately Dear Sweet Hubby does. And the best part about these fish sticks? I even liked them. That's how good they are.

GLUTEN-FREE FISH STICKS

4 fish fillets---we used flounder, and picked up the frozen pouch at the grocery store
1/2 C butter, melted
1/2 C corn meal
1 C crushed brown rice cereal
2 TBSP brown rice flour
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

If fish is frozen, defrost until soft enough to cut. (I liked having it still partially frozen. It was easier to cut into strips.)  Preheat oven to 475*F. Cut fish fillets into 3/4 inch strips that are 4 or 5 inches long (think fish stick sized.)

Combine the cornmeal, cereal, brown rice flour, and seasonings in a shallow pie pan. Dip each fish strip into the melted butter, then coat evenly in the cornmeal mixture. Place on a greased baking sheet and repeat for all the other strips.

Place in the oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the fish stick is flaky. Serve immediately, or freeze in a freezer bag to reheat later for a quick meal.
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I hope your family enjoys this g-free, healthy alternative to regular old fish sticks!

Grandma's Refrigerator Pickles

I'm not a big fan of pickles.

But Dear Sweet Hubby is.

And after going through lots of store-bought jars, I decided there had to be a better way. (Have you glanced at the ingredients in that jar? Yikes. I don't think something as simple as pickles should have high fructose syrup listed in the ingredients list. But that's just me.)

Anyhoo.

Luckily, my Grandma had a wonderful recipe for Refrigerator Pickles. And I'm tellin' you...it couldn't get any simpler than this. Not to mention inexpensive. A jar of fresh pickles costs me about $2. You can't beat that!

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES


7 cups washed, sliced cucumbers
1 cup sliced onions
1/2 cup chopped peppers of  your choice (optional)
3 TBSP salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 tsp celery seeds 


Put cucumbers, onions, and peppers in large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Let stand for one hour; drain.


Mix sugar, vinegar, and celery seeds and pour over cucumbers. Transfer to airtight container, and put in refrigerator. Let stand for 3 days before enjoying. Will keep in airtight container for up to 3 months.

The best thing about this recipe? Besides the sheer simplicity and thriftiness? It's just a base recipe. The batch I made most recently I omitted the peppers and celery seed and just added a little garlic powder instead. (Dear Sweet Hubby gave it the seal of approval today...the batch just got done. I practically have to lock these things away until they are ready. haha.)

I've added dill instead of peppers to make dill pickles. There are so many options with this recipe!

Enjoy!

FACT:

Bears eat beets.

(Just a little "The Office" humor for you.)

But, supposedly beets also make good....wait for it....

...dye for Easter eggs.

Who would've guessed.

LBB goes completely berserk shows a slight aversion to artificial dyes, and it got me to questioning how good is it to have your eggs be SOAKED in artificial dye. Not that there's anything wrong with it...if LBB wasn't sensitive to those darn dyes, I'd so be buying the dye kits with the cute little rabbit on them.

But, he is sensitive.

And by golly, sometimes that dye leaks onto the egg itself. And that just can't be good.

So, this year we are attempting to dye our eggs the "natural" way. So far I've made red-purplish dye (using the beets) and blue dye (using red cabbage.) No word yet on how they look on eggs, but sitting in bowl, the colors are beautiful. We use brown eggs, and according to some different things I've read about natural dying, these natural dyes look beautifully muted on them. We're pretty psyched.

What about you? Have you ever dyed eggs naturally? Would you? (And if you want to see the recipe for making the dyes, click HERE.)

I'll let you know how they turned out. :)

Food, Food

We're in the middle of a "food revolution" here in our house.

I told you I'd write at some point about our little family going gluten free, and now's probably the best opportunity. But first off, I do want to say, that wasn't a light decision we made. Secondly, no, we didn't go and get LBB tested for gluten allergies. Frankly, when we stepped out of our doctor's office being told "He's a tough case to crack" in regards to his extreme behavior, we realized it was up to us to figure it out. We were parents that were unsure why our child was acting the way he was, and completely worried, frazzled, scared, and did I say worried?

We didn't know...was it autism? Aspergers? ADHD? His behavior was so far off the spectrum of normal toddler behavior, and we were extremely concerned. He had daily temper tantrums totaling 15 or more...and we're not talking just a brief flailing and whatnot. I'm talking EXTREME temper tantrums. Imagine some WWE wrestler let loose in your house, and you've got somewhat of an idea of the tantrums we were dealing with. He wasn't focusing. He wasn't listening. If you talked to him, he wouldn't look up. He was barely talking, and what he had been saying was the same things he had been saying for months previous. He was EXTREMELY picky. He was aggressive to the point of being uncontrollable. He ran around in hyper-mode from 3:30 in the morning until 10:30 at night, and then waking up in the middle of sleep screaming in terror. When he was happy he was happy, but when he was mad...boy, was he mad. Not to mention, he's a quirky kid anyways, and those quirks were becoming...uncontrollably obsessive. Pretty much anything that would be a normal toddler behavior, he did to the EXTREME.

"He's a tough case to crack."

Not the words frazzled parents want to hear. So, after a few blood work test making sure he wasn't anemic or whatever, we got a phone call from the doctor saying that the tests that were run came back normal. That was it. Have a good day. Good luck.

So. We researched. We prayed. We read articles. We talked to my mom. (Moms are the greatest.)

And we came across an answer that seemed to be dropped right on our laps. Gluten free/casein free. In Autistic and ADHD children, a diet that is GF/CF free can help alleviate their symptoms. Now we didn't know if LBB was either of those, but we did know it may be worth a shot to see.  We talked to my Mom, who is gluten intolerant, and she suggested we go for it. We wanted to see if it would help.

Now, like I said, we didn't take this lightly. There is a whole slew of critics out there that think that if you don't have some dude with a stethoscope around his neck tell you that your kid is sensitive to gluten or has symptoms of autism or ADHD, that your kid is normal and therefore should be on a normal diet and have a normal life. But at this point, we knew SOMETHING was wrong...we just didn't know what. And we weren't going to wait until he was 6 to figure it out (as his doctor said when discussing ADHD.) 

So, we went on a trial experiment to see if it would help. We switched LBB to soy milk. We saw an improvement within 24 hours. Then we made the jump to gluten free.

And goodness, that is when we saw the changes. LBB was 10 times better with 24 hours. Within a week, he was immensely better. Happier, less tantrums, talking more, etc. And now, a month and a half later, we have seen the effects that food can have on a person.

LBB is still his normal quirky self...that's what we love. But now those quirks are enjoyable. They aren't overshadowed by the tantrums and the extreme behavior. He's on a "normal" tantrum range now.

And if we slip up and give him something with gluten, we know it. (It is definitely hard to see your child want something so much and not be able to have it. Sometimes we cave even though we shouldn't.) His mood for the next day and a half will be nightmarish. And his sleep schedule even gets affected. At this point, he sleeps ALL the way through the night, something that wasn't happening when he wasn't G-Free. If he gets a little gluten, you can bet he'll be up the next 2 nights at 3 am.

Ironically, these little reminders of why we went G-Free come up right when I'm doubting myself and wondering if all those critics are right. As if some random person on the internet knows my kid better than I do. So I cave. I let him have a trigger food. And we all pay for it during the next 36 hours.

Food has such a profound effect on us as humans. Naturally, Dear Sweet Hubby and I have been eating G-Free, too. And we feel better. And ironically, the main concern about a G-Free diet, especially with kids, is lack of nutrients, but our LBB eats much better now than he has since he was taken of pureed fruits and veggies.

He's even gained weight since his 2 year checkup. That's saying alot since he was  nearly the same weight at his 1 year checkup as he was at his 2 year checkup.

Interestingly, our switch to gluten-free has sparked a whole slew of food changes...we've become more aware of what goes into our mouths now. Sure, we slip up and have total junk food days weeks. But, on a fairly general basis we've done a good job of staying focused. We pay more attention to where our food comes from. How it was processed. And what ingredients are hiding out on the label.

With all that being said, would you be interested in me posting some of our findings here and there? Sharing GF recipes or whatnot? Let me know...I always love hearing from the people who took the time to read what I write. :)

I Mean It This Time

(Pardon the plethora of blog posts tonight...I've been thinking of all these for a few days now and finally took the time to write them.)

I've been saying for a year or so now that I was going to start eating better. Exercising more than I do (which means...at least once a week should fix that, haha). And cutting out this terrible Pepsi addiction.

So, starting tomorrow after we go grocery shopping, I am no longer going to be unhealthy. I've got a list of foods I should be eating. I'm limiting myself to ONE pepsi a day (because let's be honest, there is no way I can go cold turkey right now...I always end up going a day or two and then having four in one day. Not the best plan.) And I'm going to start getting up and moving more, even if it is just dancing with LBB to his music.

I'm tired of feeling yucky and knowing that it is having an effect on my body. I hate that feeling. So...here's to a new me. :) It's all about mind over matter, and I'm going to try my hardest to be strong on this.

My Little Vegetarian

Much to my hubby's dismay, our LBB has taken quite an aversion to meat. (Dear Sweet Hubby loves steaks, burgers, chicken...you name it.)

And thusly, I've been having a little bit of difficulty finding things to feed him besides pasta, pasta, and more pasta. :) But today for lunch, he finally ate a healthy meal of Strawberries, Rice Balls (I'm going to post the recipe in a bit), and shelled edamame.

It was LBB's first time eating edamame, and to be honest, I wasn't expecting a lot, but surprisingly, he ate! Woo Hoo! Score one for Mommy!

And it's crazy because this little guy can find a tiny shred of pork mixed in with his tomato salsa when we eat at Chipotle! He'll sit there, put the tomato in his mouth, and pull the little tiny nearly invisible piece of pork out of his mouth. Craziness.

So, needless to say, in an effort to eat better, get LBB to eat, and honestly, save some money, we are starting to eat more vegetarian meals. We still have meat twice a week...one night red meat, another night white meat. It's working out pretty well, and we're all learning to get accustomed to new foods.

And here's the recipe for Rice Balls...we made them with our spaghetti the other night, but to be honest, these are delicious even by themselves! LBB and I had the leftovers for lunch today...yum yum yum!

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SPICY RICE BALLS

2 C cooked white rice
1/2 C quick-cooking oats
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 C)
1/4 C dry bread crumbs (although I did increase this to make it all stick together)
1/4 C milk
1 TBSP chopped fresh or 1 tsp dried basil leaves
2 tsp chopped fresh or 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 C wheat germ
1 TBSP vegetable oil

Mix rice, oats, onion, bread crumbs, milk, basil, oregano, red pepper, and egg. Shape mixture into 12 balls. Roll balls into wheat germ. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook balls in oil about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until light golden brown.

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These are seriously so yummy, and so simple to make! The rice does get sticky, and I ended up having to wash my hands a few times in between just so I could roll the balls without having issues. :) But that was my only issue with the recipe, and I've gotta say, Dear Sweet Hubby even loved them...and gave the A-OK for making these the majority of the time when we have Spaghetti and "Meatballs". Yep, they were THAT good.

Muffin Tin Monday and A Very Clean Kitchen

Well, kind of a Muffin Tin Monday. :) I got inspired by all the awesome Muffin Tin Meals on THIS website, and since LBB is extremely picky, I figure this is a good way to mix things up a bit. :) I still need to go to the dollar store to get a 6-tin muffin pan, but for now, LBB had lots of fun using his fun feet silicone cupcake wrappers. We did an Easter theme this week, so we have a Pancake Cross, a stone covering an empty "tomb", watermelon (I needed something to represent His blood to forgive our sins...and the store was out of strawberries. How is that possible?), and whipped cream to represent heaven. :) LBB loved all of it, except for the watermelon, which really surprised me. Last summer he was all about watermelon...today? Not so much.


OK! And onto my kitchen...I am scared to show you the picture of my kitchen before I cleaned it up last night, lest you think I'm a slob or something. (I will admit that I can get a little messy...but not gross messy. Just cluttery messy.) Granted our kitchen doesn't always look this bad: But it does get pretty cluttery. Yikes! Look at the fridge! I don't know how that happened...but, after a little bit of cleaning, reorganizing, and purging, my kitchen turned out like this:

Much better, huh? Yeah, I thought so too! And check out the fridge!!! No piles of paper falling out of the little basket! And we put LBB's fun magnets on the dishwasher. I've got my eye on THIS so that will be going on the dishwasher for him as well since he is learning his letters. Now I just need to tackle the inside of the cupboards, which is a much more frightening task. As of lately, I've just been finding spots to put things in...and sadly, there are no more empty spots to even fit a can in. Sheesh. Sometimes I can be the most disorganized person ever. :)

And a little sidenote...Tot School went great today! That's all I'm going to say for now. You will have to wait until I do our weekly review to hear all the fun details. :)

Terrific Tuesday...

That's the best way to describe today. :)

When I first thought about writing in my blog today, I was going to write about dinner tonight and how I succeeded into "tricking" my little toddler into eating something really good for him. :) I'll start with that, but trust me, the latter part of this post is much more exciting.

As you all know, LBB is a picky little man, not uncommon for his age. I, however, have been on a quest (much like the one in Monty Python and the Holy Grail...you know, coconut shells for horses, french soldiers throwing livestock, and enlisting the help of a man named Patsy to help aid me. OK...none of that is true, but this quest would've been much more entertaining if even one of those things occured. LOL) Anyhoo. I digress.

So, for dinner tonight, I gave LBB a sippy of chocolate milk (hey, don't judge. It was chocolate Ovaltine, so therefore somewhat healthy. I figured it was a nice little treat after 4 shots at the doctors...and I'm a sucker for those big blue eyes of his, so I spoil him a bit.) And then he finally dug into his dinner...Masterful Mac N' Cheese. I got the recipe from the cookbook "The Sneaky Chef" but I really didn't follow it very much. Here is my version:

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MASTERFUL MAC N CHEESE

1 box macaroni and cheese (you can use the Kraft kind, but we splurged and bought Trader Joes Organic White Cheddar and Macaroni)
4 baby carrots, cooked until soft-reserve the water that the carrots cooked in
A handful of bread crumbs (we made our own, and to make it even healthier, I suggest using wheat bread instead of white)

Begin cooking mac n' cheese according to box directions. While water is boiling, place cooked baby carrots in a blender and turn on to "liquefy" setting. Add carrot water as needed until carrots look like baby food. (SHORTCUT: Use 1 jar of carrot baby food) Set carrots aside until macaroni is done cooking.

When macaroni is done, strain the water out and place in a oven safe dish. Mix in milk and cheese according to package instructions, but instead of using butter as box directs, mix in carrot puree. (If you buy the white cheddar like we did, it will turn orange like normal Kraft mac n' cheese.)

Sprinkle bread crumbs all over top of mac n' cheese and place in preheated 400* oven for about 5 minutes, or until the bread crumbs are nice and toasty looking.

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LBB ate this right up...and even I didn't notice the carrots, which is saying a lot since I knew they were in there. I couldn't help but smirk to myself as he gobbled up his dinner. And he even fed himself a few times...fork in the bowl, stab a shell, in the mouth we go! So proud!

But. Onto the more exciting part of this post!!!!

LBB has been contemplating walking for a while now. He walks a bit, realizes he is doing it, then freaks out and won't do it again for a few days.

And then today, all of a sudden, he was standing about 4 feet away from me when I said "Come here!" Truth be told, I was expecting the usual...kneel down, getting in crawling position, and quickly crawl over to Mommy. BUT.

That isn't what happened. LBB walked! "This must be a fluke" I thought. So I set him 4 feet away from me again. And he did it again. And again. And again.

You get the drift. :)

I stood by the Christmas tree about 5 feet away from him, asked him to come over and look at the Christmas tree with me. Instead of walking, he pointed to the radio just as the Toys r Us jingle came on, and started dancing!!!! He placed his adorable little 1 year old hands on his adorable little 1 year old waist and swayed his little hips back and forth, all the while smiling like he was the cutest thing to ever walk this earth (by the way, I am totally convinced he is. :) )

And since then, he's walked to get toys. Walked with his popper toy. And, most amusing, walked to chase Cat #2. I don't think she knows what is about to happen. :)

Homemade Baby Food...take 1

Dear Sweet Hubby and I have been making a few changes household wise with LBB...

One of them is slowly switching over to homemade baby food. Now, not to say we won't use the occasionaly store bought when we are out and about...but forthe most part, we want to be making homemade. So, yesterday, I made my first batch of homemade food for LBB.

We started out with carrots...because, well, LBB adores carrots. I'm not talking a lukewarm love for them...no sirree...this boy appreciates everything carrots have to offer. Sweet taste, bright color, and incredibly fun to blow raspberries with. :)

LBB watched as I made the homemade carrots, something he got a kick out of. I pureed them, put them in his food containers that I had washed from the store, and froze all but one. So...a bag of baby carrots (about $1) yielded...wait for it...EIGHT jars of baby food! Man, think of the money I'll save! And way better for him as well!!!!! (Especially once the carrots in our garden grow...we'll really be in business then.)

Last night, the first jar of carrots was his dinner, and I am very pleased to say, he ate them up. Did the baby bird open mouth pose and everything. :) The boy loved carrots before, but now, it's a darn near obsession! LOL!

Today we made apples...that is what is for dinner tonight. We'll see how it goes. There are so many recipes out there for babies that I am excited to try. I figure a recipe a day and our freezer will be well stocked in no time!