Feta Friday Giveaway Sponsored by Carrots n' Cake

Morning blog friends. Let's start the morning off with a not so fun mommy moment that happened yesterday. Mr. Man, Bean and I went up to Poughkeepsie to have dinner at his Grandparents house. Miss Bean was ready for a nap so we headed out. 10 minutes into the trip we heard what we thought was the noise of her making a you know what. We weren't completely sure if it was actually a full fledged one since she has been experimenting with making noises these days. Miss Bean was fussy as could be and wouldn't settle down so, when Mr. Man went to pick up a bottle of wine (our favorite Yellow Tail the "purple" label), I went into the back to see if I could calm her down and she could take a nap for the remainder of the ride. Hello nasty smell. AND you got it ALL over the place. Thank goodness for the piddle pad by Summer Infant Poor which I bought the last time we had a little disaster (Mr. Man's fault, but he will NOT take credit for it). Poor little lady......she showed up to Baba Ray and Great Grandpa Meyer's house in only a onesie.

Jen and I did Mud Pond this morning--two miles in less than a half hour. When I got home showered. On my way to Brett's office I stopped at The Freight House Cafe in Mahopac (behind Solon Uccelli's) and bought a Farm to Cup fresh juice. Delicious!!!!!--Thank you Donna for you marvelous creation.

Now for a blog giveaway. Please visit Tina at Carrots n' Cake for her Feta Friday Giveaway.

Naptime Chef and Babble.com

Don't forget to visit The Naptime Chef on Babble.com and read her post on how to make The Easiest Tomatoe Tart in the World.

Apple and Carrots oh my....

After a crash course in jucing from Mrs. F it was finally my turn to fly solo. The goal was to recreate the Apple/Carrot juice that she taught me. My jucier of choice is the Breville Juice Fountain Plus.

The steps are as follows (this is for one serving of juice):

Step one: Cut Wash and cut 1 Organic Granny Smith apple and 4 Organic carrots. While the Juice Fountain Plus you do not have to peel the fruit, but you may do so if you choose.

Step two: Make sure you have the juicer set up correctly. Do not forget to put a plastic bag in the container that collects the pulp. I promise you it will make your clean up a breeze.

Step three: Place fruit in juicer and watch the magic happen.

Step four: Enjoy! And for the record ----you just consumed 4 carrots and 1 apple in a tasty drink. Kuddos to you. :)

For any of you who skeptics I even got Bean and Mr. Man in the action. Instead of milk mouths they had carrot mouths. It was too cute!

In the words of Kris Carr of Crazy Sexy Cancer "Make Juice Not War."

Peace out blog friends!

Carrot and Granny Smith Apple Juice

4 Organic Carrots
1 Whole Granny Smith Apple

Great Taste No Pain

As mentioned in my Hello World post, for over 30 years I have dealt with GI issues. The ONLY time I wasn't in a constant battle with my GI tract was when I was pregnant with Bean. While I did have morning sickness, during pregnancy I really didn't struggle with any other issues (at least when it comes to my stomach). Fast forward postpartum.....they came back.

When completing Nancy DiCioccio of Putnam County Boot Camp, she counsels you on nutrition. BUT, as she puts it, "there is no 'one size fits all' approach to food/diet. You need to experiment and find what works for you and YOUR body." That being said one of my issues is the amount of acid in my system. After speaking to her about this issue she suggested trying out the concept of Food Combining.

Food Combining stresses the importance of not mixing carbohydrate rich foods with protein rich foods in one meal. This allows your body to digest food in a more "comfortable" manner. Many people following a Raw Food based diet follow these principles as well. The plan the was suggested to me by Nancy is Great Taste No Pain by Sherry Brescia.

Starting mid August I am going to test out the Great Taste No Pain plan and report my findings.

So, anybody going to join me on this adventure? If so, please comment and indicate when you will be taking the plunge.

Making the "Real Thing"

I was always a Quaker Instant Oatmeal fan until I started reading the blog Kath Eats Real Food. Yes, as a mother of an 11 month old you would think I would rely on the quickest method to getting breakfast on the table. We all know that making/eating your own breakfast with an almost toddler is a miracle in itself. :) Blog readers, I PROMISE that making the "real stuff" is worth the time and effort. When making it and having to feed Bean at the same time I usually put the ingredients in the pot and prep Bean's food while I watch the pot. The method I follow is Classic Kath's Oatmeal. The beauty of this method is that you can change the ingredients based on your personal taste. Today I made oatmeal with bananas and some dried cherries and a sprinkle of coconut. Typically, I use a nut milk in my oatmeal, but I have to go to the grocery store and didn't have any. I must say I prefer the taste when it is made with milk. If you are using milk, especially a nut milk, you can nix the sweetener.

Banana and Dried Cherry Oatmeal

1/2 cup gulten free rolled oats

1 cup H2O

1/2 banana chopped

handful of dried cherries

squirt of aguve

sprinkle unsweeted coconut

Bean and I had a playdate this afternoon with Mrs. F and Munchkin. The two girls had a ball!!! As always the floor was a mess, but all that matters is they were entertained. Mrs. F gave me a crash course in juicing since Mr. Man bought me a jucier 3 years ago and it has been in the box ever since. We made organic carrot and organic apple juice. Munchkin LOVED it Bean....well we know how that goes :-)

On a funny Bean note look what the lady did this morning. She adored getting all the toys off the shelf, but once she was done she couldn't figure out how to get back down. For the recored I promise I didnt' put her up there.

Fried Bean

As mentioned this morning the plan was to go to Brewster and see what they had at the farmers market. Mission accomplished......I can't even tell you how hot it was. Poor little Bean was wearing a black outfit and sitting in our black City Mini by baby jogger (by the way by far the BEST stroller out there). I get the bad mommy of the day award. At the market we picked up the following: kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, and pickles for Mr. Man. The vendor suggested that I try Massaged Kale Salad. The one I am going to try is by food52.



When we got home from the market it was lunch time. Bean couldn't get enough of her egg yolk, organic white cheddar cheese, and organic strawberries. As you can see she ate most of it before I was able to take the picture.

I had a salad for lunch. It included spinach, the egg white from Bean's yolk, blue cheese (was some still left and I am on the mission to finish things), blackberries, mini peppers, cucumber (from Wednesday's visit to the market)and on top Mary's Gone Crackers crackers. Of course I had a raspberry and lime seltzer.



I have been making a conscious effort to eat with her because from what I have read it helps develop health eating habits. Doesn't always happen, but it was fun doing it today!


Off to put Bean down for a nap.

Colors of the Rainbow

Sorry for the late post (finally published it this morning). The hubby came home while I was cooking dinner and I got distracted. A good distraction I must say. :)

Jennifer and I did Mud Pond this morning. What a beautiful path. I have done the Rt. 6 off Buckshollow in Mahopac before, but all you see if back of businesses. The Mud Pond entrance is beautiful. We did 2 miles in a half an hour. Jennifer and I are getting ourselves ready for a 5k. This will be my first. The 5k we are doing is September 26 and is called the Tunnel to Towers Run/Walk.

So now to eats:

Breakfast:
1 Fage plain Greek yogurt with Bob Red Mills gluten free rolled oats and blackberries (they had a sale at Stop & Shop music to my ears)

Unfortunately for some reason it did NOT hold me over so I ended up having a mini Cashew Lara bar.

Lunch:
Hubby and I went out of a date (or at least of "work" date-hey these days I have to get what I can. :)Most important thing was we spent some alone time together.)

Had calamari as an appetizer which I shared with Mr. Man (aka Hubby). As a main dish I had roasted chicken. I only ate part of it because I was full from the appetizer....this is progress! Also skipped the rice and beans and only had a few of the fries.

Snack:
Plum from the farmers market Bean and I went to on Wednesday.

Dinner:
Had the left over chicken from lunch and did eat the rice and beans. Nixed the fries. Now to a recipe:

As a veggie I made Dinosaur Kale with Rainbow Swiss Chard and Spring Garlic.
At the farmers market I was talking to one of the farmers at Ryder Farms in Brewster, NY. She taught me a trick which is pretty self explanatory, but was very interesting. When choosing a type of swiss chard to purchase there is a rainbow of colors. I didn't know which one to choose, but she told me that with all veggies the color indicates one of its nutritional values. For example dark colors indicate that they are high in antioxidants and a more green veggie indicates there is more chlorophyll. I decided on the red red swiss chard.

Here is what I did:
First I chopped up 3 leaves of Dinosaur Kale and 2 leaves of Swiss Chard like so



Then I chopped up whole spring garlic head. Now that might sound like a lot of garlic, but spring garlic is much milder than the traditional garlic you get that the grocery store. I have just started using spring garlic and prefer it to the ones I usually get.



The method:
Preheat a skillet with 1 TBS of EVOO and spring garlic. Wait until garlic gets golden in color. Add greens and 4 TBS of H2O. Stir and cover. Watch the pan so the greens do not burn and add water if necessary. Finally add the juice of 1/2 lemon and then serve.

I ate the whole thing and loved every moment of it. I hope you do the same.

Bean and I are going to the farmers market this morning (keeping my fingers crossed-welcome to life with a baby.....the dictate the schedule) and will share my finds with you tonight (time permitting). Tonight we are off to have dinner with new friends we met. Can't wait for Bean to be entertained by two four year olds and an 16 month old. :)

Have a great day blog world friends.



Rainbow Swiss Chard/Dinosaur Kale (serves 1)
1 fresh spring garlic head
3 leaves dinosaur kale
2 leaves swiss chard (I had red)
4 TBS of water
Juice of 1/2 lemon.

I Gotta Feeling

It is amazing what a little internet research can do. After joining The Couch to 5k program on Facebook I found a website called MapMyRun. It is a really neat website that allows you to create and track your own runs. This morning I challenged myself to a 2 mile run. The ONLY thing that kept me going was my iPod (kudos to my husband buying this for our 5 year anniversary). Never thought that I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas would be the ONLY thing that would keep me going. I learned a lesson.....driving something is easier than running it. Left the house by 7:20 am and was back by 7:40 am. Not too shabby in my opinion. Tomorrow off to jog with Jennifer-Mud Pond.


Food Intake:
Breakfast: Tried to eat a protein shake, but doubled the recipe for the hubby to share-Not a good idea the shake was HORRIBLE!
Ended up eating half a bagel with cream cheese (other half for the husband)

Lunch: 1 Blue Moon beer (didn't finish the whole thing); Ruben without the dressing and salad without dressing
Unfortunately this meal didn't agree with me and I was sick that afternoon.

Dinner: 1.5 Stew Leonard's Naked Buffalo Chicken Sausage with spinach, blue cheese, cucumber, celery, peppers.

Off to bed......

Hello world

Hello world, it is nice to meet you. After reading healthy lifestyle blogs for the past year I realized it was my turn to take a shot at it. I have tried blogging in the past, but never found a subject I was passionate enough about to keep me committed. For over 30 years I have dealt with GI issues that haunted me. Instead of viewing eating as a way to nourish my body it was a constant battle to figure out what will give me the best bang for my buck (high nutritional value and low GI distress). The ONLY time my GI track liked me was when I was pregnant with "Bean".

Additionally, I knew that "Bean" needed a good example of someone balancing sensible nutrition with sensible exercise. Since my husband just started a new business and was feeling pressure left and right, healthy eating went down the drain. That being said, someone had to take on the challenge and be an example for her. I was up to the challenge.

So, welcome to Health, Happiness, Hamstrings (aka exercise). Join me for my journey to find a blance of all three.