It’s Easter week and we couldn’t be more excited about all the fun easter traditions our family has in store from dying eggs to hunting for them. On this Monday we wanted to share these Easter egg terrariums from The House that Lars built. Man oh man these are just so cute! Later this week we’ll be offering some fun eco Easter diy’s of our own so stay tuned! For now, enjoy creating these terrariums with the kids! (fun classroom project too!)
With spring just around the corner, we’re on the hunt for fun food ideas for dinner parties this spring and summer with friends. Not only are these few ideas fun for the kids, they’re fun for us adults too!
These baby carrots “planted” in hummus pots are the perfect spring treat. I don’t know about you but hummus and carrots is a quick go to snack for me and this just makes the snack super fun for kids! I love this simple, tasty idea.
These roma tomato, cheese and green onion “flowers” are darling! Originally from polish blog, Biblia Smakow we found this cuteness through Raw Foods Revolution. Here’s how to pull these fun flowers together:
13 large cherry or small Roma tomatoes
14 stalks of green onions or chives for the stems
200g farmers cheese or cottage cheese for filling (or you could use goat cheese, egg or chicken salad)
1 cucumber
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Salt and pepper
Puzzle sandwiches! I LOVE this idea! So easy and can be done with your child’s favorite sandwich. Wouldn’t it be fun to have an entire tray of “puzzle pieces” for your party goers to choose from!? We just think this is so cute.
Stay tuned for some more fun food ideas!
This past Christmas my husband gifted me with a gift certificate to a local yoga studio for mama and baby yoga classes. I was still pregnant at the time and the idea of a healthy physical activity to do with my baby girl seemed so awesome. My daughter is just now 4 weeks old and I can’t wait until she’s just a bit older so we can enjoy something so wonderful together. If you’re curious as to what the benefits for your baby might be in doing yoga I came across these and wanted to share.
If you’re new to yoga or aren’t quiet sure if it’s “you” I say give it a try! There’s nothing quiet better than instilling a positive idea of health and fitness in your children plus you get to do it together! Has anyone done mama and baby yoga classes and what was your experience like?
We’ve been on a real juicing kick at our house lately and so I thought I’d share a little bit about why we’ve been juicing and a few favorite recipes. First of all, we had to really examine what types of vegetables and fruits we were juicing since I am currently breast feeding. We started juicing lots of green veggies ( spinach, cucumber, kale ) which are known to not only provide incredible amounts of beneficial nutrients but are also known to detoxify the body. As good as they tasted and are for your body, I noticed after just a day the green juices were upsetting my baby’s belly. Because of their detoxifying abilities what was left in my breast milk were some of the not so great toxins. Since then we’ve switched to juicing mostly fruits which not only taste delicious but like the veggie juices are just so dang good for you. If you are thinking about juicing I’d definitely do a little research on the effects juicing certain types of foods can have on your body. It can be quiet a shock to your body if you are going from a not so great diet to home made juices. They are so great for you but initially you want to be careful and make sure you know what you’re getting into. Here is a favorite we’ve been enjoying a ton lately:
Apple, Lemon and Ginger Juice
3 apples (any kind will do)
2 lemons
1 small piece ginger root
*Make sure your fruits are clean, and cut in halves or thirds. Follow the instructions in accordance to your specific juicer. We use a hamilton beach juicer and really like it.
Just the other day I took my daughter out for her first walk and instead of dealing with a clunky stroller, I wore her with the Moby Wrap. I always thought I would love wearing my baby and boy was I right. Her snug little body, safe and warm pressed up against my own was the perfect first walk experience. I’m excited to try our Moby in different ways and I’m also excited to use my Ergobaby Carrier once she’s a little bit bigger. I highly recommend wearing your baby if you have not tried it yet. It’s easy, warm, safe and just plain fun. Aside from the Moby and Ergobaby I’ve heard great things about the Sakura bloom sling and the Maya Wrap. Is there a brand I’m missing that I should definitely be checking out?
Back in my college days, those days of living independently for the first time, I shopped solely based on how much things cost. I rarely read labels, had probably never eaten anything termed “organic”, didn’t seek anything local out and mostly lived on carbs- maybe a few veggies and fruit from time to time. In hindsight, I can’t believe I felt okay and appeared healthy. Now, years later, after living in various cities, watching one too many food documentaries and seeing the organic / local trend grow we are much more apt to spend a little more money on quality, natural foods than less money on processed, factory produced things. We realized that after making the decision to want to eat “food” (not chemicals) we noticed our portions became smaller -in a good way, (not so glutinous) and we seemed to have more energy and felt better overall in our every day lives.
I think often times people who are not used to shopping organic assume that it’s SO much more expensive, when really, it’s not. Sure, some things, like a gallon of skim organic milk or the meat you would normally buy are more expensive but there are ways to cut down on your grocery bill and still eat healthy foods.
1. Think about what you can take out of your current diet / grocery trips. Do you really need the frozen dinners or soda? (I understand too that giving up some of the things we are used to eating and drinking is a challenge but I think you will find that even just after a few weeks of eating less processed, sugar filled foods it will be come like second nature) In our house we drink water, buy one sugar less juice and organic skim milk.
2. Think about eating less meat. I’m not here to make a case for becoming vegetarian, but I am aware that organic meat is much more expensive than non organic. When my family decided to make the switch to organic foods we simply started eating less of it because it is expensive. We noticed that we started eating more vegetables and fruits to make up for the lack of meat. Seems like a pretty good trade off to me.
3. Cut coupons. Most people assume you can not use coupons on organic products but you can! Sites like Organic Deals has just what you’re looking for!
4. Talk to your family about the changes that are going to happen. Get the kids involved in picking things out and helping cook in the kitchen. Having them feel like they are a part of something new for your family will make for a smooth and healthy transition over them feeling like you are simply taking things away.
I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of Nature Vs. Nurture. How much life experience influences personality over someone just being a certain way from the moment they were conceived. As my husband and I are expecting our first child, we talk about this often. What kind of parents we want to be, what kind of experiences we want to give our children- idea’s that are quickly followed up with, “well, we may have to change plans as we go depending on what type of children we have.” My husband is reading a book on this very topic called Origins- How The Nine Months Before Birth Shape The Rest of Our Lives. It’s so interesting to read and hear how much of human personality and characteristics are already set in place without having a single ounce of life experience. Sure, we still want to offer our children all the things we hope to- unconditional love, support, encouragement, travel, a nice place to live etc, and while I am now convinced each person is unique from the moment they are formed, I do think these types of emotions and life experiences play a role in shaping what type of adults they will be.
Over the past several months we’ve been making a conscious effort to eat more greens. There are so many nutrients and benefits to eating those leafy greens, the effort in putting kale, spinach and the like in our normal evening meals has been well worth it. We’ve found that you really can put kale in anything! Finely chop it and put it in your normal morning fruit smoothie or spaghetti sauce. Mix it in with your salads raw and you won’t even notice it or cook it with a little garlic and olive oil as a delicious side dish. We’ve been feeling great and feel good about eating something that really does provide our bodies with such incredible nutrition.
This portobello mushroom and kale stroganoff recipe’s from Bev Cooks is one of my favorites!
* 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 portobello mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed and sliced into 1/2 inch strips
* 1 Tsp smoked paprika
* 1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 cup vegetable (or chicken) stock
* 1 Tbs. tomato paste
* 1 bunch chopped kale
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/2 bag egg noodles (probably 2-3 cups)
* 1 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt) (or you can use a little less if you get the creaminess you like) (I used maybe 3/4) (okay bye)
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the onions and sauté for about 4 minutes, or until they start to soften. Add the garlic and mushrooms; season with the smoked paprika and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté another 3 minutes, until the mushrooms have softened and are darker in color.
Lightly dust the mushroom mixture with the flour and toss to combine.
Add the stock and the tomato paste. Stir to sort of dissolve the paste. Add the kale and the bay leaf; simmer 5 to 10 minutes.
In the meantime, cook the egg noodles in boiling water until it reaches al dente, maybe 5 minutes. Drain and add to the mushroom skillet.
Add the sour cream and stir to combine. Hmmmmm, creamy. Remove the bay leaf and dig on in, y’all.
We recently got into Earth Mama’s lip balms and have to say – they are just wonderful! There’s no season where our skin and lips are drier and finding products not filled with chemicals to help soothe cracked skin can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. My personal favorite is the Lavender Meringue! Your lips will thank you, I promise.
