10 Healthy Foods My Toddler Will Eat

Penelope is a mildly picky eater.  She wont eat everything that is put in front of her like she did when she was a baby (we did baby led weaning), but there are still plenty of healthy and nutritious things she will eat.  

Here are her Top 10:


1. Eggs.  Scrambled, fried, hard boiled, or raw in her smoothie.  She eats about 2 to 3 eggs a day.


2. Steak.  She is not a fan of chicken, but she will eat an entire steak for dinner.


3. Hotdogs.  I know this may be questionable, but I personally think it is fine.  I buy organic with no nitrates and I peel the skin.


4. Smoothies.  She gets a smoothie most every day.


5. Fruit.  She loves apples, bananas and all kinds of berries, frozen and fresh.

6. Almonds.  She likes almonds and pecans.  I soak them and dehydrate them to make them easier to digest and give her about a handful when she wants them.


7. Cheese.  I wish she would eat raw cheese, but I have not found a flavor that she likes. She will only eat mossarezzla string cheese.  Which has some protien and nutrients in it, but because it's processed it really lacks the vitamins and nutrients of raw cheese.  But I figure it's a better snack than chedder bunnies.


8. Raw Milk.  Once I night weaned her, she started requesting cow's milk.  I give her about 2 sippy cups full of raw milk a day. I made the mistake of letting her have some Horizon Organic vanilla flavored milk at Starbucks one day and now I have to put a bit of it in her raw milk.  So I mix about an ounce of the Horizon vanilla in with her cup of raw milk.


9. Fish Nuggets.  When she was  a baby she would eat baked salmon, but not anymore.  I found some wild caught, Alaskan fish nuggets that are Gluten Free and she LOVES them.


10. Brocolli. Sautéed in a ridiculous amount of butter.  She will eat like 2 cups worth when I fix it.  But it has to be fresh, she wont eat it heated up the next day.


She also loves to eat soup, and on occasion: bacon, sausage, butter straight with a spoon, yogurt bites with probiotics, guacamole (but not avocados) Go Raw granola bars (sprouted and soaked grains) and the random vegetable other than broccoli, asparagus and corn mostly, and the occasional organic Elmo cracker or veggie sticks chips.

What does your toddler's eating habits like?  Is there anything you wish he/she ate?  I wish Penelope still ate fried bananas!  Oh, and liver pate. She used to love her some liver pate, now she hates.  :(



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DIY Baby Infiniti Scarf

I was so excited when the cooler weather arrived because Penelope and I love to wear scarves.  Last year she wore a scarf of some kind, pretty much every day.  

As I started pulling out her scarves, I noticed a couple of things.  The original one I made, was a regular, long rectangular scarf.  It was from an old American Apparel scarf of mine, that I cut in half and gave to her.  But this regular scarf did not stay on well, while out playing, only her No Sew Baby Cowls did. 


But when I looked at those, I realized that with just a little bit more effort I could make a better one.  I still love these cowls, and if you don't have a sewing machine or much time, MAKE THOSE,  it is far more important for your kid to being wear a scarf than to be wearing a perfect one.  They are ridiculously easy-just cut off the bottom of an old t-shirt/dress and bam, you have a scarf.


But if you have a sewing machine, some basic skills and a few minutes, try it this way for an updated, and little bit more refined look.  


And making this version of an infinity scarves, with fabric rather than a t-shirt, gives you much more options with colors.


I also didn't like how all her No Sew Baby Cowls were different widths and lengths, some looked better on her than others because of that.  So I picked the one that fit her body best and measured it to create the new version.


The first thing I did was sew the ends together, of that very first scarf she ever wore, and turned it into an infinity scarf.  Less than 30 seconds, and DONE!  Just sew the ends together and cut off any excess fabric with pinking shears.  Then place your stitching in the back when you put on the scarf.


To make this type of scarf with fabric, cut one piece 40x10.  Then sew the short ends together to make a loop.  Pick a type of fabric that does not fray like a jersey or a flannel.  And you are done!

I also wanted to make a fuller, warmer version as well. 


I cut two rectangular pieces of red chenille, 40x10.


Then sewed them together, right sides facing, along the long side. 


Then I turned it inside out, and that gave me a long tube.  Then I sewed the ends together, to make the scarf.  


There a couple of ways to do this, I choose to do a French seam to give the scarf a finished look, but I am still a pretty basic sewer, and I am sure there is a million other ways to do it.  Here is another great Infinity Scarf (for a Mama) tutorial.


And that is it.  The whole project will take about 15 minutes, from cutting to sewing.  


Now, go make your little one a scarf and keep the flu and colds away this winter season!!

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Pumpkins!

I don't have a Pinterest board to share today, but thought I would share some pictures of pumpkins that I took when we went to the pumpkin patch this year.


I am gonna try something new this year and put out all my Christmas decorations a week or two before Thanksgiving.  I am also going to try and have all Christmas shopping done and wrapped before Thanksgiving as well.  Last year felt so overwhelming and rushed, I want things to be a bit more relaxed and calm this year.


So I am enjoying the pumpkins and pumpkin decorations while I can!!  When do you put your Christmas decorations out?





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My New Glasses!

This week I was lucky enough to be sent a pair of free glasses from 1800specs.com, and they far exceeded my expectations.


When I was contacted about this sponsorship gig, I was little apprehensive at first.  All the glasses I have ever bought in my lifetime have been from an eye glass store, where I spent hours choosing the right frames and then having said frames fit to my face.


I went way out of my comfort zone by picking glasses before I tried them on (but they have a great shipping/return policy), but I hit the nail on the head. 


I also went way out of my comfort zone in the style I picked.  These glasses are a bit funky for my taste, but I really like them.  What do you think?

I haven't had them very long, but so far the cuteness has made me wear my glasses more, which is great.  I am supposed to wear them while reading and working on the computer, but I am a lazy, lazy woman about some things.


The whole ordering process was very simple.  I called my eye doctor and got my prescription and entered it into their online ordering form.  I had no idea that you could do this and that there were other options for buying glasses!!


I suggest doing what I did.  Pick your glasses first, then open the order page and then get on the phone with your eye office.  I was able to ask person on the phone for details so I could simply fill in the blanks.


And the best part, is that these glasses are CHEAP.  Way cheaper than something you would find in a brick and mortar retail location.  1800specs.com does not have the exact selection that my eye office does, it has less designer brands, but I am thrilled with my Nicole Miller glasses I got from 1800specs.com.


So huge thanks to 1800specs.com for my new glasses!

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Flank Steak Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes

After I organized my deep freezer, I thought it might be a good idea to bunch recipes together based on what cut is nearest/easiest to pull out.


So these are both recipes for flank steaks.  If you wanted to, you could use a chuck roast or other type of cut.


Since I bought 1/8 of cow, all my meat is already frozen.  So this time all I did was chop the veggies, add the ingredients and put them in a bag by themselves.  For those of you who were worried about putting raw meat (read the comment section) in a bag with veggies, this eliminates that.  On cook day, you dump in the meat first and then your bag of veggies and seasoning.  Or another reader suggested bagging the meat in a small bag and then putting it in the larger bag with the veggies.  


I don't think there is any problem putting meat and veggies together, because you immediately put it the freezer and when you take it out you immediately cook it.




Peanut Stew:

Flank Steak, enough for 4 to 6 servings (1-2 pounds, depending on your family)
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons of minced fresh ginger
1/2 of a head of cabbage chopped
4 sweet potatoes chopped
1 can of tomatos with liquid
1 cup chicken broth
salt
cayenne pepper


Add day of:
a bag of frozen peas
1 cup peanut butter


Chop all vegetables and assemble all ingredients into plastic freezer bag, except peas and peanut butter. Day of cooking, dump everything in the main bag into crock pot/slow cooker, and set to cook on low for 8 hours.  Add the bag of frozen peas and peanut butter the last thirty minutes of cooking.


Flank Steak Fajitas:

Flank Steak, enough for 4 to 6 servings (1-2 pds, depending on your family)


1 large onion, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
2 red peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chopped tomatoes
chili powder
cumin
coriander
salt
lime juice


Chop all vegetables and assemble all ingredients into plastic freezer bags. Day of cooking, dump everything in the main bag into crock pot, and set to cook on low for 8 hours.  Serve with tortillas, shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream and salsa.


Check out my other Slow Cooker Freezer Meals and other recipes here.


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Deep Freezer Organization Tips

A couple of weeks ago, we bought a 1/8 of a cow.  It was a big ass cow.  Our 1/8 was 99 pounds of meat.
We split the cow with several other people and my friend did all the organizing and picked the meat up from the butcher, which was so helpful.


We paid $324 for 99 pounds of beef.  That includes all the butchers fees.  So it came out to be $3.27 a pound.  And if you buy grass fed, organic beef from the grocery store, you know that is an AMAZING price.


We mostly got ground beef and chuck roasts, but we did get several steaks and ribs.   I am very curious to see how long this much meat lasts us.


When we got the meat home, my deep freezer looked like this:

NOT OK, in my organized OCD home.  Something had to be done, not only because it makes my skin crawl, but when you have organized home and know where everything is, you save time, eliminate stress and have more time for fun stuff.  


Organizing things happens to be fun for me, but I digress.


I decided to organize my deep freezer like it was organized when it was full of breast milk (at the peak, the deep freezer and our inside fridge freezer were full to the MAX).  


My husband, the Engineer (also a bit OCD), had the genius idea of putting the bags of breast milk into plastic containers and sorting them by month.  Then placing them in the deep freezer oldest at top (to be used first).


So I did the same thing this time, but organized it by cut.  So all my ground beef is one container, all my roasts in another etc.  I labeled all the containers and made an inventory list.  I will be able to glance at the list and know when I am getting low.


I have all my bags of slow cooker freezer meals in there as well, and I just lay them flat where I can.  Then I have odds and ends (salmon, pastry dough from Miami to make empanadas, etc).  I also put all those small odds and ends  into a container, so I don't have to pull out 50 million things looking for what I need.

We also have a fridge in the garage, with a freezer.  It houses all my homemade stock.  And our freezer in the house, stores all my frozen fruit to make Penelope's smoothies, her smoothie jars themselves and the random pint of ice cream for my husband (I am a cookie girl).


What is your best freezer organizational tip?  I am always looking for ways to take my organization to the next level! 





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Why 11.11.11 Is a BIG Deal!

Are you wondering what all the hoopla is about for the date 11.11.11?  Other than the fact that it is Penelope's second birthday?  :)  


It is an auspicious day to say the least.


According to Numerology, 11 is a Master Number, representing the fulfillment of the soul's striving and mastery of a type rarely seen on earth.  It reflects the transformation of the physical into the Divine.


According to Yogi Bahn, it is also the day the Age of Aquarian begins.  You know, the age people started talking and singing in the 60's.  Well, it will be here soon.  Just fyi, the Age of Aquarius is also know as the Age of Information, when information is available to all, in turn aiding in healing and transformation. 


11.11.11 is an opportunity to really feel the Divine Spirit alive within you and in your life.  An opportunity to connect to it more easily.  There will be a massive influx of Light on this day, and many people will be meditating and doing yoga simultaneously.


I am pretty excited about it!


If you would like to participate, here are some websites that are doing global meditations:


One Breath, One World


Era Of Peace from 11:00-11:11a


If you are local, Abundance Wellness Center will be hosting some free yoga classes as a way to celebrate.




Here are some ideas about how to make your day more special, sacred and connect to this energy and light:


1. Meditate or go to a Yoga class.  If you have never meditated before, try this one.  Super easy.  If Meditating is not your thing, go to church and spend some time in prayer.


2.  Be mindful as you go about your day. Note every action and thought, try not to be on auto-pilot.


3.  Be self reflective.  Look back over the last couple of months or even the past year.  Think about the times you were your Best Self and the times you were not your Best Self.


4.  Make an intention to connect deeper with Divine/Spirit and your Authentic Self (the REAL you, beneath all your fake social masks that you have built up over your life, to help you cope with trauma from your childhood or from any period in your life). 


5. Make an intention to have all your actions come from the Light of God/Universe.  I think the term "What Would Jesus Do?" is so lame and misrepresented (but stemmed from a good place), but maybe come up with your own Heart's Question/Deepest Question.  


I hope you all have a wonderful Spirit-filled day on 11.11.11!! I am so looking forward to spending this day with my daughter as we celebrate her birthday, I am not sure what we are going to do, but it will be a day filled with Love and Light.


What are your plans/intentions?





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