Supplements?

Last night I was speaking with a group of amazing mom's and they asked me to do a blog on the supplement piece of my talk from last night so I am going to do so. I do believe that we do need supplements due to the modern day farming practices and our environment which makes it nearly impossible to get all the nutrients we need out of food exclusively! I do believe that you can OVER due supplements as well. As always you just want to keep balanced!

A few things that I look at when picking out supplements is that they are from quality sources and that they are whole foods. Our family has a daily regiment of supplements that we take. Everyone takes EFA (essential fatty acids)- fish oils, a multivitamin, vitamin d3, and calcium. I have found that fish oils, multis, and it d3 have been pretty easy to find, but I have struggled finding a good quality calcium supplement that is kid friendly and free from artificial sweeteners. I will share with you what we do as a family and then you can consult with a natural practitioner as to what would be the best fit for the nutritional needs for your family. (For contact information for some awesome, qualified, and amazing practitioners go to www.kingdomkidsnutrition under the resources tabs for docs in MN we have worked with).

My favorite multi vitamin that my kids take is the Innate Children's Multi Vitamin, they are whole foods, very tiny, easy to swallow, and they only need to take 1 a day.

As for fish oil I am very particular, quality is everything!  My favorite chewable it Nordic Naturals- DHA for Kids or also called DHA Jr.. They are very small and taste like strawberry. All my kids have loved them! I also use a specialized fish oil for some of my kids that struggle with attention issues, that one is by Natures Way and is called EFA Blend- Eye Brain Formula. *NOTE with fish oils make sure to pay a little bit more for quality as bad fish oil is very toxic and will do more harm than good. Invest in quality like Nordic Natural (one of the best rated)- Natures Way is good, as is Metagenics, it is well worth it. I am sure there are more good ones out there, these are just the ones I have experience with. Make sure to do your research on this one and don't buy a cheap over the counter variety.

Calcium as I said has been a bugger, for chewable. I currently did find the Parade calcium that is sweetened with xylitol vs. artificial sweeteners. However, it does have traces of milk in it and the traces turned out to be a bit too much for us to handle. For the short time we took it, my kids loved the taste! Now we just use a powder, more of a crystal type calcium that I just put in smoothies now by Nutritional Dynamics.

The vitamin d3 we take is in dropper form. Each one of my kids takes a different amount based on their individual needs (established by our practitioner). I just put the drop or drops into a small amount of water, organic apple juice, or smoothie and down the hatch it goes.

So, each day this is what I do to ensure that my kids get their nutrition needs met as well as keep their immune systems strong and healthy. I also tend to make a smoothies most mornings for them, in which I put in a scoop of vitamin c (buffered form from Thorne Labs) powder,  just for good measure!

Tomorrow I will be blogging on MY MEDICINE CABINET!  I will discuss natural things I use to keep our immune systems strong as well as treat many of those icky symptoms if they try to invade!

Homemade Laundry Soap

I have always had an urge to learn more about cleaning products and them chemicals that are in them. However, with all the food stuff I have not had time to really dig into cleaning products. Lately I have slowly began to look into things that would be more cost effective and truly chemically free!

I began this journey late in the summer when my friend gave me a recipe for homemade laundry soap. I bought the ingredients not really knowing what was in them but figured it was better than a "Tide" type laundry soap, that is loaded with multiple harsh chemicals. When I made the soap one of the ingredients smelled strong and was suspicious of chemicals, but again I thought better than "Tide".

Well, last week I ran out of my homemade laundry soap and researched the bar soap that I had used that "smelled" like there were chemicals in it and I was right, there were a bunch. So, I did a little more research and found out that I could use a glycerin based bar soap and use the same recipe and then it would be truly chemically free!

SO....here is the recipe I used.
I bar of glycerin soap, grated (we used a lilic scented one)
4 c. Water
1 c. Super Washing Soda (NOT BAKING SODA)
1/2 c. Borax
5 gallon bucket

Boil the 4 c. of water and add grated soap, melt fully! Fill 5 gallon bucket 1/2 way with hot water- tap water is fine it does not need to be boiling. Pour super washing soda and borax into the 1/2 bucket of hot water and stir. Pour in melted soapy water and stir. Fill the rest of the 5 gallon bucket with hot water and stir. Put lid on and let sit for 24 hours. Stir and use a funnel to pour desired amount into a storage container (I use my old laundry soap bottle- I bottle up small amounts to keep in my laundry room and keep the rest in the 5 gallon bucket until needed).

I now have chemically clean clothes at a fraction of the price of the laundry soap I was buying that was suppose to be "safe" but had lots of ingredients that I could not read. So, I am now happy with my laundry soap. This was a super fun thing to do with my kids, they just love melting, mixing, and bubbling! Hmmmmm, what next?

10 Tips To An Easy Healthy Lifestyle

Free event tonight!!!! Join us tonight for the first meeting of Mom's Nutrition Network! We will be discussing 10 Tips To An Easy Healthy Lifestyle. This is a free event and it begins at 7pm! We will be meeting at 12101 Nicollet Ave. Burnsville, MN. Hope you can join us! Pass on the information to anyone you think would benefit from joining us!

How To Find The Time To Eat Healthy!

Today I was trying to figure out how I have made eating healthier relatively easy. Of course the first thing that came to mind was menu planning, that is hands down the most time saving and efficient thing that I do that makes eating healthy affordable and simple!

The other thing that I realized that I do is that I prep one day ahead. What do I mean by that? Well, today when I got up there was a defrosted roast in my refrigerator ready to go in the crock pot and the bacon was also defrosted in the fridge for breakfast. I was ready to get cooking for the day. By 9am I had breakfast, lunch and dinner ready to go! How you ask.

For breakfast I diced up some potatoes and sweet potatoes, tossed them in olive oil, and put them in the oven to roast, I then diced up various veggies (onion, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, peapods, carrots) and sauteed them up. I began the bacon in another pan. As all my breakfast stuff was cooking, I put the roast with some veggies in the crock pot with some spices and water, and wahla dinner was done! I packed lunch for 3 of my kids that had school today, so I just made up an additional lunch for my five year old as well (he thinks it is pretty cool when he sits down at the table on Thursdays and I put a lunch box down in front of him for lunch). After everyone had eaten breakfast I was doing dishes and began to think about tomorrow. I looked at my menu and decided we were going to have a citrus chicken for dinner and muffins for breakfast- no prep is needed for muffins. So, I went out to the freezer and got out a chicken. It is now finishing defrosting in the fridge tonight so it is all ready for dinner tomorrow. So, I find that I am now thinking a day ahead, which makes meals so much easier. I can think about what we have planned for family activities, pick a meal that will fit the evening's plan, and then get any items that need some prep work done early.

Another example was a few mornings ago I was doing breakfast dishes and I was thinking tomorrow night is dance night so I am going to make chili. I took out the beef to defrost and I measured up my dried beans and put them in some water to soak for the day. That night I boiled the beans for a bit as I made and cleaned up dinner. The next morning I sauteed up the beef, tossed it in the crock pot, added some tomatoes, seasonings, and the beans (that I had prepared the day before) and let it simmer all day long. It was delicious. That night all I had to do for dinner was whip up a batch of corn bread and scoop up the chili.

So, start to think ahead a little bit and see how much easier life is! If you do not menu plan begin to do so, it is a life saver!

Two Little Chefs, 1 Yummy Dessert!

(This yummy cake recipe came from the website www.www.nourishingmeals.com a great resource for healthy eating!)

Chocolate Layer Cake

Serve this beautiful cake as a birthday party treat with the vanilla frosting below, topped with gluten-free sprinkles. This recipe can also be baked in a 9 x 13-inch pan, or even made in a bundt pan.

2 cups brown rice flour or sorghum flour
½ cup tapioca flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum or guar gum*
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ cups boiling water
1 cup prunes
½ cup virgin coconut oil
1 cup maple syrup or agave nectar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch cake pans.

In a medium sized bowl place the brown rice flour, tapioca flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and sea salt; mix together well with a fork or wire whisk.

Place the prunes in a small bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Let stand for about 10 minutes.

Place the prunes and water into a blender or Vita-Mix and add the coconut oil, maple syrup, water, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla. Blend until very smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well, though be careful not to over mix.

Immediately pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for about 25 minutes. Let stand for a few minutes in the pan and then gently invert onto a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before frosting. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com


*Update 7/2011: The xanthan gum in this recipe can be replaced with 1/4 cup ground chia seeds. Add the ground chia seeds to the blender with the warm water and soaked prunes. I also added an extra 1/4 cup of coconut oil. The combination of both of these ingredient changes made the cake a little denser and more fudge-like.

Sugar-Free Vegan Frosting

This easy-to-make frosting can be made pink with the addition of a small amount of fresh, raw beet juice. A few teaspoons does the trick. I take small, peeled chunks of raw beets and squeeze them through a garlic press to get the juice out.

2 cups organic palm shortening (Spectrum)- I used coconut oil instead as I do not like palm shortning
1 cup arrowroot powder
1 cup agave nectar or maple syrup
4 teaspoons non-alcoholic vanilla
2 teaspoons almond flavoring (non-alcoholic)
2 to 4 teaspoons beet juice (optional)

Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and whip up with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. This can be made a day ahead of time, stored at room temp. Just re-whip before frosting the cake.

Valentines Day Red Food & Fun Meal Ideas

The day began with a bust of excitement as I put on the Valentines Day table cloth. I love holidays, any excuse to celebrate and have fun! We started the day off with a protein packed coffee cake with "red" apple slices. It was so delicious and the apples went awesomely with the apples! Here is the recipe:

This recipe was given to me by my friend Jill, I think she got it from the Spunky Coconut cookbook, a cookbook I am definately going to invest in!
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Place the following in a food processor:
2 cups room temp cooked beans or cannelloni beans (I use dry ones and soak and boil them- quick tip you can used canned drained beans as well)
6 eggs
3/4 teaspoon liquids vanilla stevia
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey
Purée well

Melt 1/4 cup coconut oil
In a separate bowl mix the following:
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp soda
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder

Turn on food processor on low and pour in melted coconut oil, then add dry ingredients, mix until smooth.
Pour batter into 9x13 inch greased pan

Crumble Topping:
3 cups walnuts- chopped fine
2 tsp coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 tbls cinnamon
Spread the crumble over the top of batter use fork and swirl the topping into batter then pat topping down
Bake for 25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean)
ENJOY!

*NOTE: Excuse the ziplock bags in the photo I know they are not healthy I am just building up my portable lunch containers.

LUNCH consisted of spaghetti (in the thermos), strawberries, cherry tomatoes, and dark chocolate with flecks of real raspberry in it!

I will be posting later as we finish our sugar free, grain free, vegan cake (dessert for our big Valentine's Day dinner) Our dinner is going to be a grain free/cheese heart shaped pizza with salad topped with poppyseed dressing, purple onions, and diced strawberries! Watch for photos and recipes later tonight or tomorrow morning as I have a date with my hubby tonight!
Happy Valentines Day!

8 Guidelines for REAL Healthful Food

Today I was reading an article by Dr. Mercola and found the following except very helpful. The article was about MAP which is a process they are using with both conventional and organic produce to extend shelf life. As always the information was a bit overwhelming, but it was very informative. At the end of the article Dr. Mercola gives some great uplifting ideas to keep our food as healthy as possible in our crazy world! If you would like to read the article in its entirety go to: (cut and paste the following into the address bar)

articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/08/that-isnt-wax-on-your-organic-apple.aspx?e_cid=20120208_DNL_art_1

Eight Guidelines for REAL Healthful Food

In your search for healthy food to feed your family, here is what to look for, whether you're at the grocery store or farmers' market. Foods that meet these standards will almost always be a wise choice:

Grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers (organic foods fit this description, but so do some non-organic foods)
Not genetically modified
Contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs
Does not contain artificial anything, nor any preservatives (for fresh produce, you can now add the presence of MAP coatings or 'edible packaging')
Fresh (if you have to choose between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional produce, the latter may be the better option)
Did not come from a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO, a.k.a. factory farm)
Grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the outdoors)
Grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of environmental pollutants)

Another tip he had was grow your own, and soon here in MN we can begin that process once again! To get a jump on it start an herb garden in a sunny window!

How to make this meal... when you are gone all day!

I knew today was going to be a crazy day as I had a meeting at work in the morning and was working in my pre-school son's class all afternoon. I had to get up, get everyone ready (including myself), get breakfast made, lunches packed, and have a dinner plan ready as there was a quick window of time for a family dinner, before off to church. So, how did I do it?

Well, it began last night. Before bed I took a trip to the freezer and took out steak (grassfed) for dinner, chicken chili (a left over from last week) for lunch, and bacon (pastured) for breakfast.

I got up one hour earlier than normal (6am) and began cookin'. I dumped the chili into a pan to heat, filled 2 thermos with boiling hot water, I made up a batch of muffins (they went with the bacon for breakfast), I mixed up a batch of corn bread (that went with the chili). I tossed them both in the oven and jumped into the shower. After the shower, the muffins and corn bread were done, I took them out of the oven. The chili was hot so I put it in the thermos and the rest went in the crock pot to keep hot for everyone else at home. As the corn bread and muffins cooled, I put on the bacon and mixed up the steak marinade. I placed the stead into a glass pan and poured the marinade over the meat, popped the top on the pan and placed the steaks in the fridge for the day! The bacon finished up frying and I served up breakfast, muffins and bacon, with our traditional morning smoothie (packed with superfoods, vitamin c, flax oil, and fruit). I packed up the lunches corn bread and all! The kids went off to school, I went off to my meeting.

We all got home about 3:45pm and I tossed in 7 potatoes and 1 squash. An hour later I took the steaks out of the fridge, tossed them in to broil (about 7min each side), put some greens in a bowl (tossed in some dressing) and sautéed some green beans as the meat cooked. I served up steak, baked potatoes, squash, green beans, and a salad for dinner!

A great day of eating with a bit of planning ahead and getting up a little earlier than normal! It can be done and quite easily I might add! Happy cooking!

A Manly Tea Party- Bedtime Snack with a Flare!

Tonight's bedtime snack just must be on record. I was home with three of the boys and one of our girls. They decided to have a tea party for their bedtime snack. So, I asked the boys what they wanted with their tea and they replied hot dogs. My daughter (the master tea party hostess) was appalled! She decided to sit on the other side of the table. I honored their request and got out two (grass fed, 100% beef) hot dogs and cooked them up. I boiled up some water, got out the tea cups and saucer and within minutes I was serving up some peppermint tea and hot dogs! Not only did I find humor in the choice of menu, the conversation that followed had me in stitches, internally of course!

The conversation went something like this: (the 8 year old is my son, the 9 year old my daughter)
My daughter and I were conversing in our English language, and my son says, "Do you have to talk that way for a tea party?" of course our answer was, "Yes!" He rolled his eyes and took a sip of tea and a bite of hot dog.

I went to the sink to begin washing up some dishes and I hear my daughter say, "Don't burp at a tea party!" A chuckle from my son bubbled up from the table.

"Pinkies up!" My daughter continued to coach the boys on a socially expectable tea party. "I don't like pinkies," my son mummers under his breath.

Then from the silent 5 year old (a boy as well) I hear, "Everyone, let's do cheers!" A cheers among them broke out. Then it was silent as everyone was munching and sipping.

Then my exasperated daughter says, "Can you at least be a LITTLE polite." In which both boys burst into laughter and I look at the table and they both have their legs crossed and feet "ON" the table. All I could do was laugh and my daughter joined in!

What a way to end a day! Joy filled the air, tea and hot dogs filled their tummies!

Have a great night and have fun with food and your kids! Share your stories with me in the comments on how you and your family have had fun this week!

Healthy Lunchbox Ideas!

Well, as two of my children have began school I have been hard pressed to figure out how to send nutritious (grain free) lunches was a challenge. So, I did my fall back and made a school lunch menu! Menu planning is what makes my life so much easier and my grocery bill smaller. The lunch plan that I came up with is below. I hope it give you some good new ideas. After you read the ideas see below for notes and recipes!

*Hamburger Rice Hotdish, celery with peanut or sunbutter topped with either crasins or raisins (wrap the in wax paper to contain mess), apple sauce,carrot sticks

*Grassfed Hotdogs, cherry tomatoes, "cutie" oranges, cucumbers sprinkled with sea salt, pea pods, banana, blueberries

*Soup n' Salad, organic grapes, almond joys, freeze dried bananas, lettuce with peanut butter or sunbutter wraps

*Quinoa n' Black beans, power bars, orange, freeze dried mango, almonds and apricot, and carrot sticks

*Flax Cracker Stackers: flax crackers, meat, and goat cheese (usually goat gouda in chunks), kiwi and strawberries, fresh raw green beans (cleaned and ends clipped), cashew and craisin

**NOTES: To keep food hot make sure to get a good stainless steel "THERMOS" brand (is the one I have had the best luck with in the past. To decrease your use of plastic bags and plastic containers check out www.planetbox.com they have awesome options for lunch boxes!
Make quinoa and black beans and hamburger hot dish is large batches and then freeze in lunch portions (for me I freeze it in 2 portions: 1 for each child). Then night before you are sending it to school you just take it out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning heat up the thermos and then heat up meal, put it in the thermos and you are ready to go!

***Recipes:
HAMBURGER HOT DISH
Ingredients: *1 lb. grass fed ground beef (fried)
1 c. diced celery
1 c. uncooked brown rice
1 c. water
3 T. Tamari gf soy sauce
*gravy: use drippings from frying the ground beef. Scrape as much "stuff on bottom of pan" loose as possible (this gives flavor). Add 1 1/2c. water. Add 3T. coconut milk creamer original. In a separate cup mix 1/2 c. water with 2T. arrowroot powder until dissolved. Use a whisk and pour arrowroot mixture into gravy to thicken, heat until it begins to thicken and then remove from heat. (This sounds hard but, after you do it a few times it is very simple!)
Directions:
Get a 9 x 13 glass pan. Dump in beef, celery, brown rice, water and Tamari. Mix well. Add gravy and mix well. Put in the oven for at least 1 hour on 350 degrees. Depending on the type of brown rice you use can vary the baking time, some rices take longer than others!

QUINOA AND BLACK BEANS
3/4 Quinoa
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 Chopped Onion
3 Cloves Crushed Garlic
1 1/2 c. GF Chicken Broth
1 c. Frozen Organic Corn
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper (optional)
Sea Salt (to taste)
2 (15oz.) Cans Black Beans (drained and rinsed)
1/2 c. (or more) Chopped Fresh Cilantro
Directions: Soak quinoa for 5 minutes in cold water and drain. Heat oil in sauce pan on low. Saute onion and garlic until tender. Add quinoa, broth, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Add frozen corn and cilantro. Serve over brown rice, top with Tofutti sour cream and salsa.

POWER BARS:
Ingredients:
2 c. almonds(raw)
1/2 c. golden flax meal
1/2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 c. almond butter
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 coconut oil
1 T. vanilla
maple syrup to taste
gf/df dark chocolate chips (optional)
Directions:
In food processor put almonds, flax meal, coconut, almond butter, and sea salt. Pulse until chopped fine and mixed. (Set aside) In a small sauce pan melt coconut oil. Stir vanilla into coconut oil. Pour oil mixture into food processor and pulse to a course paste. Add maple syrup to taste. If you want to add chocolate chips (totally does not need it) stir them in. Pour into a 8 x 8 glass pan evenly. Put in refrigerator until firm. Cut into granola bars and enjoy!

Here is a jump start into healthy lunch box meals. Keep an eye on the blog as I come up with more ideas to send to school!