Priorities, priorities, priorities!

Being a work at home mom, I tend to overwork myself, even when I know it’s unhealthy for myself. Many moms I know tend to put themselves at the bottom of the family totem pole, and I am guilty of that. VERY GUILTY. It’s only when mom gets sick or has a nervous breakdown does she truly realize that she is the nucleus of the family. Without her, things just don’t run as they should. But when she’s overworked, stressed, and has a terrible sense of self, how well can she run that family even when she’s getting by? Not very well. This is the lesson I learned this month.

My son got a cough, then my husband, then me. It was bad-it was more than a cough or a cold. This one led to some respiratory issues and it lasted about 3 weeks before showing any signs of going away. Previous to me getting the bug, I’d been overworking myself with my job, my freelance jobs, guilting myself over housework, guilting myself for not doing my best as a mom, feeling depressed and then feeling guilty about that, trying to fit in laundry and dishes, guilting myself for being unhealthy, dealing with the stress of a difficult teenage girl, a very difficult two year old going through the terrible twos, and an otherwise easy middle son who was feeling ignored and slipping at school. My job and getting more freelance work was something I felt was for myself, and necessary, as working from home hasn’t matched up my old income from working for a corporation yet. But, it was starting to become an escape, and not a healthy one. Finally my mind and body had had enough of my crap, and my immune system shut down. I got that virus and ended up having to go to Urgent Care. I couldn’t breathe or sleep for 3 nights. Truth be told though, I hadn’t been able to sleep right in a long time, and not just because of a nursing child. My mind was riddled with stress of all kinds. The pain in my chest started more mental and emotional than physical, but it was manifesting itself into the physical and grown into pain in my digestive area and then acid reflux. So when I got sick, I realized what I had done to myself.

So shifting my priorities now. Taking care of my health and making sure I eat right again. Being active again-starting a little slow because of the weight gain that all the cortisol from the stress had caused. Reconnecting with the kids-and they in turn have reciprocated my efforts and have been helping me with the housework more, without me having to nag half as much. I even reconnected with my daughter after having been disconnected for about 6 years now (that was a BIG one). Rocky even sleeps through the night! He even had his first 2 night sleepover at the grandparents’ house which was a miracle! I’m not going to say all my problems are solved but they never will all be solved will they? It’s all in how I handle it-and I know if I want to avoid another WORSE physical breakdown, I need to keep my chin up and remind myself why I’m staying at home in the first place. I could get more work done easier in an office, but the reason I decided to stay home and work from here is to be here for my family. And I have to remember that to be truly HERE for my family, I need to take care of myself, too.

April 23, 2014 0

Growing Wheatgrass

At the Farmer’s Market, we tried a shot of wheatgrass from one of the vendors. She kept telling us how great the stuff is for teeth and gums, which of course made us look right at her mouth. Her teeth and gums looked really healthy! Her skin also looked very clear. You could tell she wasn’t wearing much makeup at all if any. I’ve been reading about growing wheatgrass for a while now, so we ended up buying some seeds from her that were already sprouted. Only $4.50 for a giant bag! I planted quite a bit, but still have a lot left! I need to make more growing trays. Anyway, this is my first time growing this, and I created a makeshift tray out of some leftover tomato plastic containers from Fresh N Easy:

I cut them in half and then poked holes for drainage:

My second tray ended up better.

Filled it with rich soil and compost that i had mixed together earlier. I added water to make sure it was a nice moist mixture, kind of like brownie batter!

Originally I placed too many seeds…

The tray on top of the other half to allow for drainage…

Pretty wheatgrass trays all in a row…

Watered it, and the drainage system looks like it’s working well…

Covered them up for the night…

I’ll post progress pics of success or failure. 🙂

February 16, 2014 0

Oatmeal flax meal chia seed chocolate chip recipe

With a picky toddler, a nine year old boy, and a teenage girl, I need snacks around the house that are both healthy, filling, and inexpensive to make. Even using organic ingredients, this recipe is still very budget friendly-and it makes a lot! About 4 dozen cookies depending on how big you make them! When my toddler refuses to eat anything else in the house, he will never refuse one of these nutritious cookies.

Prep time: 30-45 minutes
Cook time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use organic)
1 cup of rolled oats
1/2 cup of flax meal
1/2 cup (or more if desired) chia seeds
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions;

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, oats, flaxseed, chia seeds, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.

Beat butter and sugars in a separate bowl with a mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, approximately 3-4 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and beat well. Reduce mixing speed to low and add flour mixture gradually until just combined. Hand stir in chocolate chips. You may want to add nuts, too!

Drop heaping tablespoons full of the dough into your parchment lined cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let cookies cool 3 minutes on cookie sheets and transfer to a rack or separate plate to allow to cool. Enjoy!

January 17, 2014 0

Toddler Garden

My mother in law brought me 3 of these little garden fence things from the 99 cents store. Instead of using it for my garden, which wasn’t working, I created a space for Rocky to have his own little garden to learn about how things grow. The dirt was packed solid so I made sure to turn it and add compost until it was ready to plant seeds. His big brother, CJ, helped me plant lettuce and garlic. I can’t wait until the little sprouts start growing! I know Rocky will love it!

January 17, 2014 0

Gardening, Great Ideas and Great Neighbors!

I thought I’d share this very simple yet cool idea:

And our neighbors brought us a bunch of produce from a friends local garden! All organic and the biggest chard I’ve ever seen! We had to wash it in the bathtub and use the baby tub to hold them all!

And lastly, a cute pic of some pickins from our own little garden that went into our dinner last night. This morning we took the recyclables again and got free organic produce from the Farmers Market. I’d love to hear from others who find ways to get free or inexpensive organic produce!

August 10, 2013 0

Free Organic Produce

We took the recyclables to the can bank and got half of our organic produce free at the farmers market! I’m set for fruits and veggies for the week!

August 3, 2013 0

Italian Sunday

Creating your own marinara sauce is very easy and customizable. Just make sure you make this on a day where you will be home for the majority of the time. This is why this has become a Sunday tradition for us. We start the day with coffee, breakfast and slicing up raw tomatoes! We spend Sunday as a day to refresh, renew and prepare for the coming week and the smell of homemade marinara throughout the day is extremely comforting!

Here’s the basics of creating a good marinara sauce. Please edit to your likings and make this sauce your own!

1. Chop up 3-4 lbs of tomatoes. (We get them cheap at the farmers market by grabbing the super ripe tomatoes they want to get rid of) the riper the better!

2. Sautée 1 chopped onion and minced garlic (we use a lot but put in as much as you’re comfortable with) in extra virgin olive oil and a bit of butter until they are both soft.

3. Add any dried herbs you’d like such as rosemary, oregano, thyme. Add salt and pepper and stir everything together.

4. Deglaze the pan by adding either water, wine, chicken broth (we didnt have any of these so we used about half a can of Sapporo instead!)

5. Add the tomatoes to the pot.

6. Add more olive oil and herbs and stir it up!

7. Switch your heat to low ad cook it down for at least 4 hours, stirring throughout to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

That’s it! Enjoy!

July 28, 2013 4

Farmers Market and Still Life

Healthy eating is a very high priority in our household. With the current issue of GMOs in food these days, we choose to buy almost 100% organic and non GMO foods. I know what you’re thinking, it’s expensive! Let me tell you, we are definitely not rich (yet) and I have to make each paycheck stretch. But where there is a will there is a way! I actually end up paying less for healthy options most of the time than the norm. Coupons, clearance items, farmers market/local produce, and cooking majority of our meals at home make this possible.

I’ll delve into more of that in later posts, but for now check out these beautiful pictures of organic grapes, mini peppers and red green beans! These will be incorporated into a still life painting!