Life, Gluten Free

Ring in the New Year!

If you do your research, you will find that most people agree that new year's resolutions fail because the person has set their expectations too high or have made too many resolutions at once. I have a different take on this and a solution to the dreaded new year's resolutions.

Most resolutions are to change something that you don't like about yourself, for example, to lose weight. Instead of thinking about what you don't like about yourself, find ways to appreciate who you are. Think about how you might could improve yourself, in a positive way.

If you do feel that you need to trim down, restructure your words, they make a powerful impact on how you feel about yourself and how you feel about whether or not you will accomplish your resolution(s).

For example, test out these two sentences and take time to notice your emotions:

"I am very overweight. I don't eat right and I need to lose weight."

"I am at my proper body weight. I am eat nourishing foods and my body image reflects that."

Take time to realize what you want and act as if you already have it. Don't be your own critic. Instead of feeling bad about yourself and judging yourself, appreciate who you are. A lot of good things can come from that.

This year, we are going to be focusing on things that we can do to improve ourselves and our relationships. We are going to be careful to not focus on the negative, but rather think of what we can do in a positive light, instead of bashing ourselves because of our self-perceived weaknesses.

We are also going to be watching Louise Hay's movie You Can Heal Your Life.

Beyond that, here are a few tips on some resolutions you can make to help the environment:

1) Use reusable bags. Keep extras in your car for the times that you may forget to grab them on your way out. Don't limit them to just grocery shopping, use them for all your shopping trips.

2) Use biodegrable trash bags, like these: 

- Eco-Smartbags Biodegradable Trash Bags.

- Perf Go Green Kitchen Bags With Handles.

- Seventh Generation Trash Bags.

3) Use cloth diapers and cloth wipes. We use FuzziBunz. If you don't want to purchase specific cloth diaper wipes, you can simply use wash cloths. We have a mixture of cloth wipes and regular wash cloths.

4) Use reusable water containers like Sigg or Klean Kanteen. 

5) Recycle! Make sure your recycling container is larger than your trash container. We have that option in our city, and we have the smallest trash container instead of the largest.

May you all have a blessed and positive New Year.

-heather

Coconut Porridge

This is a tasty morning breakfast porridge and it helps to sustain you until lunch time. Coconut is filling and cinnamon helps to regulate blood sugar levels.

This porridge is also a great idea because it can be kept in the fridge for easy access, and it tastes great both hot and cold!

The recipe is from this book by Bruce Fife, ND: Coconut Cures: Preventing and Treating Common Health Problems with Coconut.  

My mom shared this recipe idea with me. She changed it slightly from the original one, adding a healthy dose of cinnamon.

Coconut Porridge
NO: gluten, dairy, eggs, soy

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups water

1 1/4 cups dried finely shredded coconut (unsweetened)

1/2 cup raisins

1 tablespoon molasses (or honey, as in the book)

1/2 teaspoon of a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom (or just ground cloves, as in the book)

Preparation:

Heat water in sauce pan until it boils. Add coconut, raisins, molasses and spice. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 8 minutes or until the raisins are soft and plump. Serve warm or chilled.

You can also top with sliced fruit.

enjoy!

-heather

Happy Holidays!

She was so excited to have her own bike! It was too cute!
 

And she was really excited about the keyboard from Grandma. 

But then it was nap time.
 

Good thing too, because after her nap, we had relatives from out of town. 

Sophie wasn't sure at first, but then she started to feel more comfortable.

I knitted that scarf for her! (above)

From our house to yours, we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year! 

-heather

Chocolate Fudge with Sunbutter Swirls

Chocolate Fudge with Sunbutter Swirls 

NO: gluten, eggs, soy, dairy, nuts

It was always a tradition when I was growing up, to make fudge when it snowed. Now, you might think that we were essentially drowning in fudge, but that was not the case. We lived in a place where it didn't snow much. So even though it snowed maybe 1/2 inch, at least we had my dad's fudge to look forward to! He made amazing chocolate fudge and peanut butter fudge... 

Lucky for me, Enjoy Life Foods sends out a newsletter, and this time they had a recipe for fudge. I tweaked it a bit, because I don't use brown rice syrup or canola oil.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Sunflower Butter

1/2 teaspoon sunflower oil

1 teaspoon honey

2 - 10oz bags (3 cups) Enjoy Life chocolate chips

1 1/2 teaspoon sunflower oil

Preparation:

Grease an 8X8 pan. Set aside.

Add sunflower butter to a separate bowl. Mix with honey. Mixture will thicken.

Add oil to sunflower butter and honey, mixture will thin out. Set aside.

Create a double broiler by placing a bowl in a pot with water. Add chocolate chips and oil. Turn heat on low to medium, the water will heat up and the chocolate chips will begin to melt in the bowl.

After the chips are melted, pour them into the greased pan and spread evenly.

Using a spoon, dollop the sunflower butter mixture on top of the chocolate. Use a fork to swirl the sunflower butter around the chocolate mixture.

Cover and put in the refrigerator to cool. This may take several hours or even overnight.

Before serving, take out of the refrigerator and allow the fudge to come to room temperature (leave the lid on). Cut into pieces and serve!

**You can use coconut oil or oil of choice, you do not have to use sunflower oil.

We had it today, on Christmas Eve! I am going to make another batch and use coconut oil instead of sunflower oil. You can also top the fudge with shredded coconut.

Recommended brands of Sunflower Butter:

Once Again Organic Sunflower Butter

SunGold Natural Crunch SunButter Sunflower Seed Butter

enjoy!

-heather

Gluten-free Products Spotlight, Holiday Edition (Week 6 - last one!)

Homemade is best, but sometimes you need something already mixed together that is "quick and easy," which is what we needed right now too. Since we have some family coming to visit for Christmas - and it was late notice - we've been trying to get ready for their visit. We are going to make pumpkin bread, but we decided to buy some mixes to make a few things as well. Because everyone needs chocolate, we picked out the Bob's Red Mill GF Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix. We also liked the sound of the Bob's Red Mill GF Cinnamon Raisin Bread Mix so we grabbed that one as well.

Be sure to check out Rachel's post at The Crispy Cook, and Kelly's spotlight posts at The Spunky Coconut.

This is the last post in the holiday edition! It has been fun. I wish you all a very sincere Happy Holiday's! See you in the new year!

-heather

Think Baby Stainless Steel Dish Set GIveaway

This is an awesome dish set that is lined with stainless steel. The entire set is free of BPA, PVC, Phthalates and Melamine and Lead!

Win it! The Soft Landing is hosting a giveaway for one Think Baby Stainless Steel Dish Set.

-heather

BBQ Tempeh & Beans

BBQ Tempeh & Beans

NO: gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts

Ingredients:

1 large onion

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

6 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon molasses

1 tablespoon mustard*

1-2 cups of cooked pinto beans

grapeseed oil

salt to taste

Preparation:

Chop onion and saute in grapeseed oil.

When onion is fully cooked and translucent, add crumbled tempeh.

Continue to cook, stirring in tempeh. 

Cook for approximately 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring.

Add pinto beans.

Stir in vinegar, ketchup, mustard and molasses.

Add salt if needed.

Serve warm!

*For mustard, I used organic horseradish mustard by True Natural Taste. You can use mustard of your choice.

-heather

Well, that was hard.

 

Parenting isn't always easy. I just thought I'd let you know.

A baby is a blessing. <-- that's true

A baby grows into a toddler. <-- very true

There is such a thing as terrible two's. <-- well, maybe

I don't like to use the label terrible two's, because it seems demeaning to me. This is just a developmental phase that a child goes through, kind of like teenager years.

I wasn't a difficult teenager.

Ask my mom. I'm really serious.

My parents actually raised me in an attachment parenting style, they just didn't know it was called that.

I was respected, trusted and nurtured. So, I didn't rebel. 

Really.

Positive - or - attachment parenting doesn't mean that your toddler or child will never get upset. But it means that there will be fewer issues. Your child will learn to manage his or her emotions.

Today was a tough day. We have been inside a lot lately because of the cold weather. Sophie didn't want to go down for her nap. She was overtired and got to the point that she really didn't know what she wanted.

I decided to take her upstairs, she had to take her nap soon, as it was getting too late in the day. 

She wasn't sure at first, but she cooperated. She really was tired. I gave her a dropper of Valerian Super Calm by Herbs for Kids. She nursed, and within mere minutes she was fast asleep.

A part of attachment parenting, is knowing that your child has reached his or her limits. Then you respond in a loving and understanding way. After all, we have all been there... We have times when we are really tired but just - for whatever reason - can't relax and wind down.

-heather

Airfree P1000 Review

Airfree is a company that makes air purifiers that are maintenance free, worry free, and filter free.

That might sound too good to be true, but it's not.

My daughter suffers from indoor allergies such as dust and dust mites, as well as food allergies. Her doctor told us she really needed to have an air purifier, a really good one.

I wasn't sure how we were going to do that, since really good air purifiers come with a really high price tag.

I did my research and I found that the Airfree air purifiers reduce mold, dust mite allergens, pollens, pet danders, bacteria, viruses, among other indoor pollutants. 

Someone told me that I should ask the company and see if they would donate one for me to try for Sophie. I decided to ask. And they said yes. However, they said that the retailers are the ones that donate products, but they were willing to make a special exception.

And I am very thankful that they did.

After about 4-8 weeks, we began to notice a difference. Her symptoms have improved. I would highly recommend this. It makes no noise, and it has a nice blue light (that you can dim).

How does it work? 

Airfree uses heat instead of UV light or ozone. Airflow is achieved through air convection generated by their patented Thermodynamic Sterilizing System that sterilizes the air at high temperatures.

Check out their web site for more information. Be sure to click on the Strawberry test.

I want to give a big thanks to Airfree. Thank you for your kindness!

-heather

Positive Parenting

she loves to help :)

When I was pregnant with our daughter, my husband and I already knew some things for sure (though not her gender, we waited until the birth to find that out).

We knew that we were going to parent her in a positive way - ie, attachment parenting.

And that no matter what, we would always love her. We want her to be who she is and feel confident being herself.

And yes, no spanking. or threatening. or demeaning her.

It wasn't until I got some books that I knew our philosphy had a name, attachment parenting. This phrase was coined by Dr. Sears and his wife.

When Sophie was still around 8 months old, I had purchased a book on Amazon called:

The Discipline Book: How to Have a Better-Behaved Child From Birth to Age Ten 

When I received it, I thumbed through it lightly and put it aside. I guess I felt like I really didn't need to read it then.

But yesterday, I just got the book out of the garage and started reading it.

It made me feel good, because I felt like it was validation that I was already on the right track with her.

I already knew, through reading other books on positive discipline, that when your child is doing something they are not suppose to do, you say something like "no don't do that" and if he or she doesn't stop, then you need to remove them from the situation.

Not forcefully, not meanly. Just gently. 

So yesterday, when Sophie attempted to play with the LED christmas lights - regretting my decision to buy them and put them up - I gently plucked her up and set her down else where. She quickly became engaged in a different activity, with no grunts or screams. I reinforced my "no" by removing her from the situation.

And the other day, we were at a thrift store, and she started trying to get an ornament out of a package that they were selling, I told her no, but her attempt was continuous. I took her hand away, and she growled at me. I decided to use another positive discipline technique:

Remove from situation and replace with something else.

I took her and showed her something else that was safe to look at, and she was fine.

Sometimes it takes a few more minutes, sometimes just mere seconds, but positive discipline is worth it. You feel more connected to your child and your child learns to trust you. 

And they learn to manage their emotions. This is another hot topic, how to raise a child with a high EQ. But more about that later :)

After reading part of that book last night, it gave me an inspiration to start blogging about our positive parenting experiences so be sure to check back for more on this topic!

-heather