Tag Archives: health

Unintentional Treat for the Kids.

11 Dec

I was recently approached by another mom, from Positively Kids, wanting to do a raw food challenge.  Since I’ve been working on regaining my healthy eating and not grabbing handfuls of fish crackers and the other ‘kid’ snacks that manage to find their way into my house, I accepted.  We (like everyone else!) have been super busy with all of the holiday planning and celebrating, so I really need to head to the grocery store and load up on more items for this raw eating endeavor, but did already have a good amount on hand to start right away.

It does take a bit of prep and planning, but for me, prepping food satisfies part of the craving.  It’s all part of the eating experience.  Taking the time to cut, slice, shred and prepare causes me to think more about my food choices and what I am feeding myself and my family.

I started out really simply with fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds.  The other day I was trying to think of something to prep for the next morning and decided to try these oat cookies.  When the kids saw them, they were begging for them!  Looks like this will find its way into our morning rotation…or even as an after dinner treat – which is what my 3-year-old just requested.oat cookies

This recipe is the amount I would eat for breakfast.  Truth be told, I just eat it by the spoonful out of the mixing bowl, but it will make about 5 cookies.  Feel free to double or triple the batch size to suit your needs.

 

Oat Cookies

1/4 cup oats (I did use rolled oats which are not raw, but need to get to the store for raw oats this week)

2 TBL natural nut butter – use whichever type you prefer

1 tsp raw honey

Mix together, cover and let sit in the refrigerator over night.  If you are planning to make cookies, roll the mix into a tube shape with parchment or plastic wrap before placing into the fridge.  In the morning, use a sharp knife to slice.  Cover any unused portions and store in the refrigerator.

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Cookies…It’s what’s for breakfast!

20 Nov

Don’t get me wrong, my kids are great eaters, but sometimes it’s helpful to make something sound more exciting than it really is.  I discovered this when my middle-little was about a year or so old.  That is when I started serving waffle cookies.  What are these little treats?  Absolutely nothing more than plain and simple, regular whole wheat waffles.  Because she heard cookie, she was hooked!  She will often eat them without syrup or any other topping, just holding and eating it…like a cookie.

Now, I have fallen victim to a few Pinterest-fails.  When I tried the individual baked oatmeal, it wasn’t a total disaster, but I had a heck of a time peeling them out of the muffin papers.  The other day my niece said she was eating 2-ingredient cookies; just quick oats and bananas.  I thought – c-o-o-k-i-e-s!  I won’t have to peel the wrappers off and what kid wouldn’t like breakfast cookies?!

I didn’t use quick oats and I also like to add flax seed meal to these types of recipes, so I fiddled around and came up with these, which turned out to be VERY kid-approved!

Keep in mind, these are not going to taste like the oatmeal cookie recipe that comes on the oatmeal container, but you can eat these knowing they are a guilt-free, healthy breakfast and are even good on-the-go.

Please don’t hate on my ingredients; in a perfect world everything would be organic, maybe even grown at home, free of any controversy, totally perfect for the world brands.  I don’t know if there are any specific issues with these brands, but feel free to use whatever brands you care to.  The only thing I would say is, make sure not to use quick oats, in my opinion, things turn out a little too gummy with them. 

Breakfast Cookies

1 cup oats

2 very ripe bananas, smashed

¼ cup flax seed meal

A big handful of raisins

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup milk (I use regular, but use almond, soy, etc., if that’s what you use)

Mix all ingredients together and spoon out on a cookie sheet.  Because there is no oil in the cookies, I placed them on a piece of parchment that I spritzed with vegetable oil.  Bake at 350F for 15 minutes, flip the cookies and bake for an additional 7 minutes.   

Makes 12 cookies

Note:  If you need to hide veggies in order to get your kids (or you) to eat them, I would add shredded carrot or zucchini to this recipe.  I’ll update this page once I try it.  My guess at this point would be to add about ¾ cup of either shredded carrot or shredded zucchini.

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A Morning for Me

7 Nov

I mentioned in a previous post that I finally admitted to myself that I need to plan for some time for me, a time to recharge.  Day one of this new focus began on Saturday morning.  Everyone was awake; the little ones were being fed and were to be left in the capable hands of my wonderful hubby.  I took a quick shower, put on some comfortable clothes, pulled my hair back and headed out for MY morning.  I was on the way to Total Woman Gym and Day Spa in Mission Valley for a massage.  It has been quite a while since I had a massage, thinking back, I think it was shortly after my son was born…and he just turned 6!  Since that time I have had two more babies and I’ve acquired a very bad case of what I call mommy-back.  I’m constantly hunkering over to nurse the baby, carry the baby, change the baby, you get the idea; I carry a lot of stress in my neck and shoulders.

Since I pulled into the parking lot a bit early, I decided to take a non-rushed moment to check emails and take a quick peek at my news feed; after all, this was MY morning!  I was not about to rush this brief hiatus from my normal responsibilities.  A moment later, I got out of my car and thought, no one can see the mess of crumbled fish crackers, kids’ shoes, toys and any other number of junk items now floating around my car – I’m on a “me” day (or morning, at least)!  I walked into the lobby and asked for directions to the spa, they pointed me toward the elevator and I thought; no one knows I’m a crazy, stressed out mom of three…I may be able to pull off just being a normal person on the way to the spa!  Then, I looked into my purse, only to discover a diaper.  Yes, that’s my reality!!  Thankfully, it was clean!

I really was able to leave all of my normal stress aside as soon as I entered the building.  Though Total Woman Gym and Day Spa is also a gym, the entire facility has a very spa-like feel.  The lobby is very well appointed and one of the first things you see is the grand, sweeping staircase that leads to the gym.  This trip, I wasn’t there to work out, I was ready to be pampered; so I headed straight to the day spa!  I checked in at the spa reception desk and went into the locker room to change into the robe and sandals that were waiting for me in my locker, before heading over to the client room to wait for my massage therapist.  My therapist, Rebekah, came to greet me and asked if there was any particular spot that was bothering me.  I mentioned that I tend to carry stress in my shoulders, and she did a wonderful job utilizing trigger point release to alleviate the tension.  It was an amazingly relaxing massage and I was truly pampered!  As the massage was ending, I was already looking forward to my next visit!

In addition to the great staff, a HUGE plus for me was how spotless the entire facility was!  I’m a bit of a germ-freak, and this place scored big in that regard!  Also, when I was booking my appointment, they inquired if I would need to utilize their Kids Club.  I had already made plans to have hubby take care of the kids this time around, but it’s great to know that they offer a safe place for my kiddos while I get a bit of pampering!

Use of the gym does require a membership, but the full service day spa is open to the public.  If you are interested in trying the gym, sign up for a one day VIP pass and give it a try!  If some pampering is what you need, call the spa and schedule a treatment; you’ll be glad you did!  It really was an exceptional way to start my weekend!

*Total Woman Gym and Day Spa provided my massage complimentary. Opinions are my own.

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Needing Balance…figuratively AND literally!

29 Oct

I am living my dream!  I have a wonderful husband, three beautiful children (ages 1, 3 & 6) and I am lucky enough to be able to stay home with them – it’s not easy, we sacrifice some of the things we would like in order to afford it, but it is what we want for our family.  I love knowing that I am able to make breakfast for them every morning, walk the oldest to and from school and I’m right there if they need me.  The trade-off with this is that I don’t always allow enough time for me.  I don’t get a lunch break, I don’t get breaks, I don’t have that alone time in the car driving to or from work.  Please don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining!  I love what I do and wouldn’t trade it for anything!  However, I have recently come to the realization that I need to balance things better, to build that “me time” into my day.

I like order.  I like lists.  I like a plan.  I turned 39 this summer and my plan is to start my next decade in the best shape of my life.  I have always been active, I’ve never had a problem with my weight, but after three pregnancies, I can see a few places that could use some work.  I also don’t feel my fitness level is where it should be, just walking isn’t cutting it.  That was my plan, but this final year of my 30s is not starting out according to that plan.  After all of the craziness with having three kids at home with me all summer, I was looking forward to back-to-school and getting back into a health and fitness routine.  With back-to-school, comes creepy-crawly little germs and I ended up hacking for 6 weeks; I tried to convince myself that all the coughing was working out my abs!  It was tough just walking up the stairs, so my usual walks were out of the question.  Now that I have recovered from that, I was once again readying for my return to fitness and the other morning I woke up with vertigo.  COME ON!  I’m just getting ready to turn 40; my warranty can’t be expiring yet!  I am working with a doctor to treat the vertigo, but I realize that with each day that passes, it is one day lost in my plan to get in shape.  These set-backs weren’t written on a list or scheduled on the calendar!!  Don’t they know I need order?

I’ve been researching different fitness programs and have found one that really interests me.  I’ve already started following some of their eating recommendations and am really enjoying the recipes they provide.  I will post more after I begin the program.  I am looking forward to getting started and sharing my progress and results!

If you have any recommendations for how you successfully make time to focus on yourself, please share.  I’d love the input.

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