I love yogurt. I have since I was a kid. And that was a long time ago. Well, not that long ago. Wait, let's put it this way, when I first started eating yogurt, you could probably have called it hippie food. My parents weren't hippies (born a little before the baby boomers that turned into hippies) but they embraced a lot of do-it-yourself'ish type stuff. We ate peanut butter that consisted of nothing but peanuts and a little salt (try it sometime, it's yummy). We grew all our own vegetables and actually canned them. They made applesauce. I should say my parents did all this, I was a little too young to do any of the actual work. But they were both teachers, so they had a financial incentive to do it all (and let's face it, teachers … [Read more...]
Baby Steps to a Healthier YOU!
Can you believe that we are at the end of March? I feel like the year is flying by and at every turn I’m experiencing major changes. Unfortunately, not all of those changes have been positive as they involve my health. One landed me in the Emergency Room and another resulted in surgery. After having surgery and experiencing a lot of pain and a difficult recovery, I started thinking about my health, my everyday practices, and realized that I need to make some changes myself. I’m working on small baby steps! It’s time to take control back and ensure that I provide a positive example and introduce my daughter to a healthy lifestyle that she will carry through her childhood and hopefully adult years. First, I looked at my diet. My family … [Read more...]
Super Chia for the WIN!
From the moment my daughter was born, food has been an “issue” for her. I was unable to breastfeed but thanks to preplanning research during the “what if” phase of our pregnancy we knew exactly which brand would be best to help her grow big and strong. Unfortunately, she was allergic to it as well as a number of others that we tried. Once we found the right one for her, we stuck with it and were just thankful that it was there to aid in her growth. As soon as we were permitted to add real foods, we jumped at the chance. We couldn’t wait to introduce her to new tastes and textures. We were excited to watch her grow even bigger and stronger. Unfortunately, her little taste buds didn’t agree. I remember going to doctor’s appointments … [Read more...]
Have a Healthy and fun Valentine with Altar’d
Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? We usually do. That doesn't mean we always exchange gifts. More often we try to have a quiet romantic dinner or just spend time together. Sometimes we take a short trip (Ok, we've done that once). Sometimes we are thousands of miles apart (Ok, so technically that only happened once too). Regardless of what we do, Valentine's Day is coming and a lot of people will celebrate it in some fashion. For some that might mean a bouquet of roses or box of chocolates delivered at work. For others it might mean a trip or romantic dinner. Others couples might actually do an activity. For some that might mean eating a whole crate of chocolates that they sent to themselves and binge watching a Scooby-Doo Marathon. … [Read more...]
Nutritious & Delicious, I Promise
Picky eaters. We all know them. We all know them because we are their parents. They are our children. If you are like me you are constantly worried about what your child is eating. For instance, when we let ours buy lunch at school she comes home hungry and heads straight for the chips. If we pack her lunch, then we know how much food she has, so we know she has enough to eat, and we know what's in it. Now there may be a treat or two in it, but there is also plenty of good food. So needless to say, now that we noticed this pattern we try not to let her buy lunch all that often. That also means that we are always on the lookout for more nutritious snacks that we can feel good about and so that she isn't getting bored with what we have … [Read more...]