Everyone has an opinion about what the very best exercise is. But no matter the opinion, everyone agrees that exercise is a must for everyone. No matter age or physical ability, EVERYONE should get some kind of exercise. So here are some tips when choosing the type of exercise that is best for you.
Everyone has that one thing they can’t cook. That thing that no matter how simple it is, no matter how closely you follow directions, you always fail. Right? Or is it just me? So I admit, there are actually two seemilgly simple things I just can’t make. One is rice. I truly feel like the laws of physics defy themselves when I try to make rice. Luckily, I solved that problem with a rice cooker. Done.
Cooking fail number two: a whole chicken. I can make turkey with no problem, but no matter how long I keep a whole chicken in the oven, it comes out raw in the middle. I don’t get it. Luckily, I found a solution to this problem too: the slow cooker. Not only does cooking it in the slow cooker ensure I can actually cook said chicken, but it always comes out moist and is so easy to put together. And I can come home to the smell of dinner and a warm, hearty meal. I will never try to cook a chicken in the oven again.
They are all generally around the same size, but I always try to buy the biggest chicken I can. This way I know I’ll have healthy leftovers during the week for salads. I would tell you how best to slice this chicken, but slicing is not an option. It basically just falls off the bone when you try to pull it out.
For my daughter’s last birthday, she asked for a “Fancy Nancy” birthday party. This was the first real birthday party I’d ever thrown for a little girl. I couldn’t use my Star Wars or Superhero parties my son had requested in previous hears as a reference since they’re just not fancy. We needed fancy!
It’s kind of ridiculous how much I love breakfast. It’s really my favorite part of the day. So I’m not going to have a tiny breakfast that leaves me hungry an hour later. I’m going to eat a hearty meal that takes at least 15 minutes to eat.
This is my go-to breakfast. I eat it at least three times a week. I feel guilty calling this a recipe. It’s more of a delicious hodge-podge of things thrown together. I’ve listed approximate measurements for the ingredients, but I don’t measure. I just add the amount I feel like at the moment. I also change up the ingredients based on what I have on hand. I generally add zucchini, but I was out this day. So the point is, add what you have and what you like. This recipe looks very different for me than it does for my husband.
I sautee 2-3 cups veggies in avocado oil. This may sound like a lot, but because veggies have so much water, this shrinks down as it cooks, especially if you add leafy greens.
I also try to pick an array of colors. Vegetables get their colors from the vitamins and minerals they contain so if you eat more colors, you get a bigger variety of health benefits.
I always add one half an onion and one clove of garlic, but then it’s open to whatever sounds good. I often add zucchini, peppers, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes spinach and kale.
I heat a pan with 2T avocado oil and add all the veggies except the garlic, cherry tomatoes and kale, seasoned with a good amount of salt and pepper. I let this cook until I see charring on the onion and peppers. This takes about five minutes. Then I add the garlic and tomatoes and let this cook for another minute. Then I add the leafy greens and let them wilt down for another minute or two.
Scoop this all into a bowl and then add more avocado oil to the pan and fry two eggs.
Once the eggs are done, put them on top of the veggie mixture. The veggies taste fabulous on their own but when you break the egg yolks over them, it’s heavenly.
If you make this, breakfast is likely to become your favorite part of the day too.
A few weeks ago I was in a home decorating store. I saw some beautiful, brightly colored candle pillar stands and wanted them for my fireplace. I had visions of myself sitting on my couch in front of my fireplace, looking like the cover of a magazine with my beautiful candles. Then I looked at the […]
Two weeks ago, my husband was gone for an entire week. Things started out fine but by Thursday, I was more than ready for him to come home. I pride myself in being a strong, capable woman. When it comes to being a mom, I feel like I’m fairly resourceful and know what to do in certain situations, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t days I want to run for the hills screaming as I go. After spending the early part of the week screaming and fighting, the kids finally came down with a nasty cold Thursday. This was somewhat comforting to know that the reason they were acting as though possessed with demons was because they were getting sick, but it didn’t make things easier. I was still left with two grumpy, sick kids who stayed up all night crying about being too congested to sleep. This is hard as a mom because you feel so helpless. It’s hard to see your kids suffering and not be able to change it. It’s hard to try to explain that the crying is going to make the congestion worse (one day my kids will realize I’m not actually an idiot). And it’s hard to be a happy, compassionate mom when functioning on no sleep and having to run around getting juice and tissues, while listening to the theme song from Superman cartoons for 8 hours straight.
On Friday night, by the time I filled them with ibuprofen, stacked pillows on their beds, filled up humidifiers and oil diffusers, stocked them with water and tissues, I was ready to collapse. And while I don’t condone drowning your sorrows in comfort food, that’s all I wanted to do. I wanted to eat ice cream under a blanket and watch chick flicks until one of my kiddos woke up complaining of congestion. So, that’s what I did. Only I did it a in a healthy way. So now to the point of that rather long, extremely fascinating story: I made this healthy ice cream. I could indulge and feel zero guilt. And making it through that week without having a nervous breakdown or buying a pint of Ben and Jerry’s kind of made me feel like Super Mom.
After my son was born, my husband and I decided it would be the best fit for our family if I quit my job and stayed home full-time with my son. Yes it would mean a lot of sacrifice, but I wanted to be the one to take care of my son 24/7 (though that […]
We’re not fancy people in our house. We spend Sunday afternoon in sweats, we spend more money on books than I do on make up, we eat every meal on mismatched plastic plates, and I have on several occasions walked into a store before realizing I was still wearing slippers. So the fact that I would take the time to make this “fancy” dish for a random Tuesday night dinner, shows how easy it is. I’m always trying to mix up how we eat our vegetables so we don’t get bored and this method is easy enough for any weeknight but still makes us feel “fancy.”
It’s as easy as sticking everything on a skewer (or a long toothpick) and drizzling it with vinegar and salt and pepper.
Depending on the size of the basil leaf, I either wrapped the leaf around the tomato or just layered it. It really doesn’t matter which you do. I also tried them with half a cherry tomato and a whole cherry tomato. Because my mouth is smaller, I preferred the tomatoes cut in half. But my sweet husband, who has a rather large mouth (I mean that in the best way. I really do love you, honey!), did great with the whole cherry tomato. It’s just a matter of what you like best.
I used fresh mozzarella balls because they are so creamy, but feel free to cube up a brick of mozzarella instead. It will be a bit harder and the flavor is a little stronger, but I’ve used both with great results. I didn’t list exact measurements, but one package of basil (purchased with the organic herbs in the produce section) made enough skewers for four of us.
Maybe one day I’ll serve these at a PTA dinner party, on a china platter, while wearing a pink cocktail dress. Until then, we’ll stick with our plastic plates and my over-sized Yoda t-shirt.
While I know my kids love each other, there are times it’s hard to remember that. Valentine’s Day is a great time to remind them of that love. The best way to love someone more is to serve them. These adorable service mailboxes help them do just that.
My 5-year-old loves to play in the snow. She wants to sled, build snowmen, make snow angels, shovel, etc, etc, etc. And she has more snow stamina than I do. After about half an hour I’m totally done and want to come inside and heat up a rice sock. She stays out until she can no longer feel her hands. Oh to be five again. Every time she comes in from a snow extravaganza, she declares she needs hot chocolate. After all, nothing warms up cold feet like drinking hot chocolate. At least that’s what my daughter tells me. Since I’m not a big fan of the ingredients in packaged hot chocolate, we started making our own. Luckily, it passes my daughter’s after-snow hot-chocolate requirements.
For basic hot chocolate, just whisk together the almond milk, cocoa and sweetener of your choice. For my kids (including my husband), I always use the honey instead of stevia. I always use stevia in mine.
Start on the lower end of measurements and add to your tastes. I use a full tablespoon of cocoa while my daughter prefers two teaspoons. You can always add but you can’t take away.
To make life more exciting (because now that I’m a mom in my 30’s, new hot chocolate flavors really does qualify as exciting), try these variations.
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