A Few Blessings of Gestational Diabetes

Making healthy eating habits is a constant battle. First we are battling our taste buds. Next we are battling manufacturers and what they put in foods, or even food recalls because of contamination. Eating out can be difficult because you are never going to eat as healthy as you would at home because restaurants have to turn a profit!  They just aren't going to use organic products because they would have to charge you a small fortune to eat at their restaurant. We are battling busy schedules, budgets, reading labels...you name it! Throw children into that mix and it is an overwhelming maze of solutions.  Over the years, I have become more and more picky about what I eat. I had gestational diabetes with my second pregnancy which was challenging, but actually ended up being a huge blessing because it taught me the importance of a balanced diet. I ate so many salads when I was pregnant and breastfeeding, and now my son loves to eat salads! He eats about one a day! It really was a wake up call for me that I needed to make exercise and healthy eating choices a priority in my life.  Not that I was that terrible of an eater, but I definitely had room for improvement.  These are some of the adjustments i made...

#1. Start the day off right! Do not eat boxed cereals...They aren't good for you. Instead I typically have two of the following:

These Two:
Organic Oatmeal (either steel cut or old fashioned oats) with cinnamon, chia seed, shredded unsweetened coconut, coconut sugar (tiny amount to sweeten), berries or apples, and 1/3 of a banana chopped, and almond milk

1 scrambled egg (with pepper, turmeric), topped with avocado and salsa

Or These Two:
Smoothie made with a cup of dark greens, frozen pineapple, frozen mango, 1/3 banana, frozen berries, a little bit of chopped cucumber, chia, hemp seed, almond butter, organic pea protein powder unsweetened from Trader Joes, almond milk.

Avocado Toast--1/2 of an avocado on toasted Ezekiel bread, with a little bit of butter, salt and pepper

#2. Eat 2 healthy snacks a day at least. One in between breakfast and lunch and one between lunch and dinner.

#3. Eat 4 servings of veggies and 3 servings of fruit each day. I usually eat 2 dark green salads a day. One at lunch and one at dinner.

#4. Instead of regular pasta, we use Pow! lentil pasta and mix in a little bit of Trader Joes quinoa pasta.  Everyone in our family likes it! Lentil pasta is very high in fiber and protein which keeps us fuller longer.

#5. Every meal is balanced. I have my veggies, fruit, protein, carbs for all of my meals, instead of being carb heavy which is what I used to do.

#6. Avoid boxed crackers, cookies, chips, etc. And if you are craving one of these things, eat one if they are already in the house.  If not, the self control needs to kick in when you are at the store.... I like making homemade popcorn at home because it is amazingly good and filling! You'll never miss the chips.

#7. Limit sugars. Craving something sweet? Drink tea.  Sometimes I just want something sweet in the afternoon and I've found if I make tea and sit and enjoy it outside I'm refreshed and I have forgotten all about the cookie... (I usually add almond milk and a bit of honey)

#8. Still craving something sweet? Keep a dark chocolate bar on hand. I'll sometimes have a little square or two and that helps with sugar cravings too. Make sure the chocolate is not high in sugar though!

#9. Exercise! When my kids were really little, I had zero time to myself to exercise. So my solution was to wake up and do it right away. I honestly complained all of the time about having to exercise so early, but a little 30 minute video and I was feeling great!  Now I still do videos, but I've also added running in. There is no greater feeling then about an hour after you are done running. You will feel cleansed from the inside out!

#10. Go to the doctor every year for your check up! And if necessary, take your Hemoglobin A1C test every year! You will see the fruit of your labor when your numbers drop from making healthy choices! It is great accountability.


Put simply: exercise, eat wholesome, balanced meals, limit or avoid if possible: sugar, caffeine, alcohol, etc. And most importantly, be thankful to God for every day! We are not entitled to any day of life. Each day is a gift. God deserves our best efforts in all things, especially our hearts and our bodies. "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16

The Best Family Friendly Furniture

I tell my husband all of the time, how thankful I am for certain pieces of furniture in our home. Before having kids, I had no idea how long we would be keeping our furniture, nor did I know the importance of durability! These are a few of my favorites:

The EKTORP sectional from IKEA. I have this beige cover shown, as well as a white cover.  I get comments all the time about how amazing it is that I have a white couch. We have had our couch for 10 years! Such a great decision. I wash and dry my covers in my washer and dryer. It takes several hours to remove, wash and dry the cover and cushion covers, but it is so worth it! I have had my white cover for 8 years and it is still in great shape!  Such a great buy...especially for new parents! Here is a link:http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S99129136/

Next, the IKEA Lohals Rug. This rug has outlasted every other rug in our home. We have had our current rug since 2013. Looking at it, you would never know all that it has been through! Very durable and I love the look. Another great purchase! Here is a link: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50277393/

And my last piece is going to be my entertainment center...aka our vintage buffet. I paid $25 for this beauty in 2011 and it has been such a gift! It is made of solid wood, so it is easy to paint. I love changing things around the house so I love being able to easily change the color. Its great for storage and it is extremely durable.  Great buy! (This pic is when I first painted it black with crystal knobs. It is now an antique white with gold nobs.)

These things have been put to the test day in and day out. Spilled on, jumped on, barfed on (sorry gross but true)...and you would never know it. Kids always help us set our priorities straight, thankfully! In these pieces, style met practicality, otherwise these would have been long gone. 

Dinosaur Birthday Party

For the last year, my oldest son has been begging for a dinosaur birthday party. Most dinosaur parties I've seen are for very young children so I really had to get creative for this party.  It was his 8th birthday and he probably won't be having too many more parties so I really wanted him to have fun and make long lasting memories.

We had this party on a Friday afternoon right after school so I wanted to make sure they had filling food to eat.

Party Colors were Black, Green and Natural Brown Paper. I used black tablecloths and I found a great camouflage role of gift wrap at Homegoods that I used to top the cake and food tables, as well as one of the eating tables. I found lots of clip art on the internet for dinosaur decorations and cupcake toppers.

The Menu:

Deceptively Delicious Mac N Cheese (my son's favorite) Link below. 

http://jessicaseinfeld.com/recipes/macaroni-and-cheese-with-butternut-squash 

( I sub the organic brown rice and quinoa noodles from Trader Joes, and if I don't have cream cheese, I use a spoonful of sour cream instead). Parents appreciated that this had veggies in it! ;)

Bean and Cheese Burritos

Organic Green Grapes

Organic Veggie Cups with Carrots, Grape Tomatoes, and Cucumbers

Hummus (from Trader Joes)

Pirates Booty 
Goldfish

Trader Joes Lentil Dip and Tortilla chips  

Here is a link to the recipe: https://www.traderjoes.com/recipes/appetizers-sides/1-minute-lentil-salad

This is always a hit!! You can pair it with crackers, pita chips, or tortilla chips (which I used for this party).

Drinks:

Ice Water

Sparkling Water

Honest Juice Boxes

 My go to recipe for amazing chocolate cupcakes:
Martha Stewarts One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes (from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)
(*When I make these, I use all organic ingredients and fair-trade cocoa powder. Also, I sub coconut oil for the vegetable oil, and instead of salt, I use sea salt*)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 large whole eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups warm water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Into the bowl of an electric mixer, sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; add the eggs and yolk, the milk, oil, vanilla, and warm water. Beat on low speed until smooth and combined, about 3 minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool slightly. Invert cupcakes onto the rack; then reinvent and let them cool completely, top sides up.

Once they are cooled, I frost the cupcakes with Martha's Fluffy Vanilla Frosting:
https://www.marthastewart.com/341903/fluffy-vanilla-frosting

I used these natural parchment cupcake liners for the cupcakes, purchased from Target. Here is a link: PaperChef Natural Baking Cups

Dinosaur Head made from boxes, duct tape and brown paper. The teeth are made from poster board and I stuffed some black paper in his mouth.

Entertainment consisted of:

(While eating)

Build A Lego Dinosaur--I put some Legos on one table and added some pics of easy lego dinosaurs to make for inspiration

On the other table I put a dinosaur coloring roll and crayons, markers and colored pencils to get creative. The kids loved this! https://www.amazon.com/Color-ON-Group-Activity-Dinosaurs/dp/B003G9SKWM

Next we had a dinosaur egg hunt in the front yard. I bought some dinosaur skeletons and made some eggs following this you tube tutorial. Super easy and they blended in perfectly because they were made from dirt in my yard.

I purchased the dinosaur skeletons from Amazon. Here is a link: https://www.amazon.com/Pixnor-Assorted-Dinosaur-Skeleton-Figures/dp/B01B7MLIXW/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1515001353&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=dinosaur+skeleton+figures&psc=1

And here is the you tube video I used to make the eggs: https://youtu.be/5y9Eo9-Hmss

The kids got super dirty digging for dinosaur eggs. They took it to a whole new level so prepare for LOTS of dirt!

And then the last thing we did was a Dinosaur Exploration Tag Game. The kids each dressed up as either dinosaurs, dinosaur explorers, or dinosaur protectors.
The dinosaurs wore these hats (from Dollar Tree):

The dinosaur explorers wore these hats (from Dollar Tree):

And I made some binoculars out of paper towel rolls to go with these. 

And last but not least were the dinosaur protectors. We tied a green thin piece of material around their heads to make them look like ninjas, and they carried dino slings that looked like this:

We had a tent set up in the front yard  and the goal of the game was for the dinosaurs to make it safely in there. The dinosaurs would go and hide, and then the explorers would try to find them and keep them away from the tent, so that they could learn about them. The protectors job was to sling shot these small dinos at the explorers to stop them from taking the dinosaurs.  This game was the highlight of the party. There were some tears over kids not wanting to be explorers, but the kids had so much fun just running around all over the neighborhood!

And for party favors....Each child got to adopt a dinosaur to take home. (Purchased from Dollar Tree)

Again, another low budget party that forced me to be creative, and as a result made lasting memories we will never forget!

Coffee Love

When I was 16, I had my first iced blended mocha from It's A Grind with some high school friends. I'll never forget how much I loved those. And then when I was 18, I started working at a coffee shop called The Daily Grind.  After a couple years of working there I became a store manager which was challenging as a college student trying to juggle both working and school, but seriously, I experienced so many life long gifts working there. One of those gifts, was my love for coffee! It actually made me a really picky coffee drinker which is a good thing. The owners of The Daily Grind were particular about small batch roasting and it paid off.  They served fresh, quality coffee.  As managers, we had the privilege of watching this process, done by our distributer Caffe Calabria, located in San Diego. Back then, working those early mornings, I was an espresso drinker. I remember how much I treasured my drink every morning, running around serving customers and working with such special people.  But once I stopped working there, I began drinking regular coffee, and saved espresso drinks for special occasions. And now, I can't even drink full espresso or  coffee, I always do at least 1/2 decaf because I can't handle the caffeine.  Nevertheless, I still LOVE coffee. There are a couple of coffee shops that have become my favorite coffee date destinations. Not only do they serve delicious coffee, but I was inspired as soon as I walked in!

This one my cousin told me about a couple of years ago. Its become super popular and if you visit, you will see why. Its in downtown SLO, so if your are in the area, check it out! They set the bar high!

Scout Coffee Co.
1130 Garden Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

http://scoutcoffeeco.com

This is a pic of their Honey Tea Bowl (to go). I have also had their espresso drinks and tried their HoneyCo Coffee Roasters Coffee Beans. Yum!



The next place opened a few months ago and is located in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach.  This is a new favorite!

The Merchant
4121 Long Beach Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90807

https://www.themerchantlb.com

Coffee date at the Merchant LB. Pics of our espresso drinks: Cappuccino and Latte.



And if you are ever in Mammoth Lakes, we really liked this place:
(Unfortunately I don't have a pic because we were on our way out.)

Black Velvet Coffee
3343 Main Street, Set. F
Mammoth Lakes, CA

http://www.blackvelvetcoffee.com


I'm still looking for more amazing spots and I'll post them as I find them. Cheers!

Cars 3 Birthday Party

This year one of my little guy's asked to have a Cars 3 birthday party. His birthday is in September so we typically have pool parties for him. This was his 5th birthday so we wanted to make all of his dreams come true, which included having a bouncy house, of course! Everything I do is on a tight budget, which forces me to be even more creative. Another special detail of his birthday was making it as healthy as possible. Kids birthday parties can be so tough because of the amount of junk that they consume.  And I honestly think they wouldn't miss the sugar if it wasn't there to begin with. So, for this lunchtime party we served a veggie taco and burrito bar.

I bought all of the food from Trader Joes. We made homemade black beans and 1 full bag of sprouted organic california rice (highly recommend!). The rest of the menu consisted of:

Organic Wheat and Corn Tortillas

Taco Shells

Organic Tortilla Chips

Organic Tomatillo and Roasted Chili Salsa

Organic Sour Cream

Shredded Mexican Cheese

Canned Refried Beans

Organic Romaine, Spinach, Kale, Tomato, Cucumber Salad

Organic Carrots and Hummus

Watermelon and Cantaloupe

Drinks:

Sparkling Water

Ice Water

And a few juices for the kids (They actually didn't drink many of them!)

And Snacks:

Homemade Organic Popcorn (made on the stove in a pan)

Pirates Booty Bags

Goldfish Bags

  

And for dessert:

Homemade Organic Simple Yellow Cupcakes from Martha Stewart, I made them with all organic ingredients.  (I added red sprinkles in the batter to make them "funfetti" like.)  And then i make her fluffy vanilla frosting with organic butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla (But I don't put in all of the sugar). For guests that wanted ice cream I bought a few small pints of Humbolt Organic Vanilla and Mint N Chip Ice Creams.

Heres a link to her cake recipe:https://www.marthastewart.com/971882/simple-layer-cake-vanilla-frosting

And here is the simple frosting I used, adapted to my taste: https://www.marthastewart.com/341903/fluffy-vanilla-frosting

I used free printables for a lot of my decorations. Just cut, paste, print and then cut out with scissors.

 Mac was not hard to make and not expensive--No more then $5.

 My son loves to sketch and color. So I decided to make the favors reflect his interests and hopefully the parents appreciated a favor they wouldn't throw in the trash! Just a simple notebook and colored pencils. Colored pencils were $0.50 each. Notebooks were $0.28 each. And I tied on an organic Trader Joes lollipop as a little treat to take home.

 Race Car Flags Made out of scrap materials. I couldn't find checkered material so I used a sharpie and made my own.  I tied the flags to a rope for more of a pool party look.

 I reused a few of my decorations from my previous parties (red and white felt circle garland), and just a couple of other things. We had such a fun time at this party. I couldn't have done it without help from my mom, mother-in-law, and especially my sister helping me in the kitchen, food prepping and cleaning up! And my sister is a Nutritionist and gave me a few ideas for my taco and burrito bar! Check her out and Eat Clean with Sarah! https://www.eatcleanwithsarah.com  She is also on Instagram and gives lots of recipe ideas that will inspire you.

A few of my other favorite party details:

I love Paperless Posts for free party invites. Their website is easy to use and I love their invites.  https://www.paperlesspost.com

I researched many bouncy house companies, and chose Cindy's Jumpers for our bouncy house. I have used them a few times, and they are a little more then other places but i have always had a great experience.
https://cindysjumpers.com

For simple party supplies, always check your local dollar tree or dollar store first. I can't tell you how many times I have visited party stores and walked away empty handed. You can't beat $1 for party supplies.

For party music I borrowed some Cars 1 and 2 soundtracks from our local library. And for the Cars 3 music I just bought a few from iTunes.

And if you are feeling frustrated because you are on a tight budget, be thankful. Its going to force you to be more creative and your party will have a more personal feel.

All of the kids including my sweet birthday boy had such a fun time at our party!  So many wonderful memories were made! And I felt great from the food we ate as well!

School's Out For Summer Pool Party

The last two years, we have had a pool party on the last day of school inviting school and neighborhood friends.  It has made so many wonderful memories for us. The kids dream about it for weeks, and its just been a great way to kick off the summer! We live on a tight budget so I make a lot of the decorations to keep the party expenses low, which means planning early. We have been so blessed in our community with so many wonderful friends and I really wanted to capture that as the heart of the party.  I love this famous maritime quote and it fit perfectly as the party theme:
"Here's to tall ships. Here's to small ships. Here's to all the ships on the sea. But the best ships are friendships. Here's to you and me."
 



The red and white circle garland is made from left over felt that I had from other projects. I just used a glass to trace circles on felt, cut them out and then sewed them together. Very inexpensive but adds a lot of character.
We served snacks including homemade organic popcorn and served an ice cream bar for dessert. The ice cream bar was the highlight of the party and it consisted of Breyer's Natural Vanilla with homemade chocolate syrup and a variety of toppings for dessert, including homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Friends also brought snacks to share and toppings for ice cream.


The goody bags were full of water balloons, a water gun, salt water taffy from Trader Joe's, and side walk chalk. I picked up the stripped bags and "ahoy" tape at Target.


This party cost less then $100 total and many sweet memories were made.

A New Season

It has been years since I have taken the time to write. For the last couple of years, I have been struggling to be creative. My mind has been void of any inspiration.  Pinterest didn't help. Magazines didn't help. Talking about what to do next with friends didn't help.  But God is constantly teaching me new things, and sometimes He needs us to slow down, listen to Him, follow Him, and then at just the right time...He gives us EXACTLY what we need.  God is in the details and they all matter!! From the big details like our friend and family relationships, to the old refrigerator in our kitchen that drives us crazy or the many people we run into throughout our days...you name it. There is always a lesson to be learned. And when you chose God's will in your life, you can't go wrong. Everyday is a gift--whether it is a hard, frustrating day, or a wonderful and joyous day--He loves us! He is always with us. He has wonderful things planned for us! We just need to humble ourselves and talk to Him. And then realize that every gift, inspiration, love, person...everything is from Him. 

So here is to a new season! A new year! And remembering just how wonderful the God of the universe truly is.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13