summer solstice

The first day of summer was extra special for our family this year! We welcomed our daughter, Rose Catherine, into the world. I've been really busy just trying to get used to having three kids under the age of 4! Therefore, I didn't really make any plans for the summer... we've just been hanging out in our backyard, going to the pool and taking it easy. I didn't want the pressure of having to rush out of the door every morning to drop the kids off for an activity. I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing summer. Our family is headed to northern Michigan tomorrow for our first little vacation. I'm really excited to relax and I'm also hoping I can read a few books - any suggestions?

I hope you all have a relaxing summer as well :)

unnecessary sugar

Another post about sugar, I know...

My girlfriend and I were talking this week about how the kids get sugary snacks at preschool. This week, my daughter came home from preschool and told me she had "ariel's". I had no idea what she was talking about and after a little investigation, (finding black cookie crumbs all over her bow that she had chewed on) I figured out they had given them Oreo cookies for a snack. OREO COOKIES?!?!?! How is that a snack? I was actually kind of pissed. Granted, I am really pregnant and maybe overly emotional, I just don't understand why they can't have a healthy snack.

Another girlfriend of mine has kids in a different school and they have a no sugar policy, which I love. The question is, how do you institute that policy? I feel like I want to do something, but I don't know what and I don't want to offend anyone, but if my daughter comes home with partially hydrogenated cupcake frosting all over her face one more time, I might lose it!!!

What are your kid's schools policies on snacks?

lunch break

I've been trying to get my kids to eat more whole foods and less macaroni and cheese, pizza, grilled cheese, etc. I found a cute idea from a blog for a ready made snack tray to keep in the fridge. I prepared everything last night and ended up letting the kids pick a few different things for lunch today. The snack tray consists of cut up bell peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and celery sticks and a few hard boiled eggs (all organic of course!) I also always have a bowl of cleaned and cut up strawberries in the fridge.

The kids each had a hard boiled egg, some cucumber slices, some strawberry slices and some celery sticks with peanut butter. The kids ate everything! I think it was a novelty for them to get to pick from the tray - it made it fun.

Here's the snack tray...



I think it's a great way for adults to snack too!

sugar free ideas

There is so much research lately about how bad sugar is, and not just high fructose corn syrup, but regular old sugar! Combine that with the latest research on food dyes and I'm pretty much anti-candy (I was before anyway, but this solidifies it)! Of course, my kids ate way too much candy on Easter, but they really don't eat candy otherwise. I also try to limit their general sugar intake... like sugary oatmeal, yogurt, etc. Luckily, they don't have an expectation that they are getting dessert after every meal. If they're still hungry after dinner, they can have something sweet, but I've come up with a few sugar free options and I don't mean fake sugar, just sugar free.

Last night they had the Trader Joe's greek yogurt with strawberries and honey drizzled over it - they were skeptical, but they ate some of it!

My latest favorite is a new gluten free/dairy free recipe I made up -

- 1 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/8 cup honey
- 1/8 cup maple syrup
- 1 TBS grapeseed or olive oil
- 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt

Mix everything together, roll into 2 inch balls and press down a little bit, bake on parchment paper at 350 for 8-10 minutes - you don't want them to get too brown. They taste just like peanut butter cookies!

Another favorite for the kids is apple slices with peanut butter dip (tablespoon of peanut butter, little bit of honey and some almond milk to thin it out)

Obviously, if kids have sugar every once in awhile, it's not a big deal. I just cringe at the kids that eat candy and drink pop everyday!

quick post!

Once again, I am too busy for this blog. Hopefully after April 18th (whatever happened to April 15th?!) I will have some more time. I just wanted to post this quick link for an amazing gluten free banana bread.

Also, turns out that it is dairy free too - bonus! I literally could not believe how well it turned out - delicious! I used Bob's Red Mill GF flour mix. I'm sure you can use whatever GF flour you have.

Looking forward to spring, but not all the pesticides that are being sprayed in my neighborhood. I asked my doctor what his opinion is on spraying your lawn and he said "Absolutely not!" Pesticides cause cancer, thyroid disorders, etc... So, do your research before you start spraying your lawn and house for pests!

Gotta run - tax season is calling my name :(

oh, my poor kidneys

Why, oh why, do I have to have kidney problems when I am pregnant? Seriously, I'm looking for advice. Last weekend, I woke up at two in the morning to a weird stomach ache, which then turned into a painful cramping, which led me to the hospital. Since I'm 6 months pregnant, I was whisked up to the maternity floor and diagnosed with a kidney infection. A week of antibiotics later, I am better, however, I fear that I am going to have a kidney stone attack.

When I was pregnant with my son, the same thing happened. I woke up in the middle of the night, went to the hospital and found out I had a kidney infection. Fast forward to three weeks after my son was born - I'm having a kidney stone attack that was more painful than his birth! So, you can see why I am fearful that I will have another attack in the future.

I have been drinking straight cranberry juice and eating cranberry pills, I don't even know if this will help prevent a stone?

Any advice?

Thanks :)

best thing since sliced bread

Oh, bread... How everyone loves thee. My husband, however, has that unfortunate little disease called celiac - you know, the one where if you eat bread you're stuck in the bathroom for a long time?! It took forever and a day for him to figure out that gluten was the culprit, however, as soon as he eliminated it from his diet, his life changed. At first, gluten free feels overwhelming and unpractical! However, it's been 5 years or so, so we're pretty used to it and luckily, it seems like the rest of the world is starting to catch on. They even have a large gluten free menu at The Hill!

There have been a couple of products that are really great and I just wanted to share.

First, we recently discovered Udi's Gluten Free Bread. To say that this bread is good is an understatement. It is definitely the closest thing to real bread that we have tried. My husband remarks that you don't even need to toast it/turn it into a panini to make it taste good. They also sell pizza crust, muffins and bagels.



Have you ever tried to make any of those casserole recipes you had growing up? For example, Chicken Divan, one of my husband's favorites. Well, it virtually impossible when you have to use a non-condensed gluten free cream of mushroom soup and then attempt to thicken it with cornstarch and Campbell's has wheat flour in it, not to mention monosodium glutamate and soy protein. You can imagine the excitement when I found Pacific Natural Foods Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup. Not only is it gluten free, but it's organic and doesn't have all the gross ingredients that Campbell's does!



Pizza - such a pain when you are gluten free - sure you can make it at home, but don't you miss ordering pizza?! We have found Passport Pizza , Buddy's Pizza and Uno's Chicago Grill all offer gluten free pizza. Passport Pizza even makes gluten free breadsticks!

These are the three recent finds for us that have made a big difference. Please let me know if you have any other questions about gluten free products and hopefully I can help! Happy eating :)