Brooks' 1st Birthday

Brooks turned 1 on August 26th. Yes, I know- two months ago.

Our family and friends came over and helped us celebrate. We had tacos, cupcakes, cake and slushies. Brooks got many 'toddler' toys which has been fun. A scooter, a sit and spin, toy cars, dump trucks and a push tricycle (I will explain this one with pictures).  I had lots of fun with the decorations. My ideas came from links from The Shipley's blog from when their little boy Eli turned 1 in February.



I started back at school-commuting to A&M this fall, Brooks is walking and making messes and Key is applying to Law School. We have been busy around these parts! Here are some pictures from Brooks' Birthday Party.
 Like any good mom, I did not take ONE picture. not one. So I got these off of my mom's camera. So frustrating.

 

 

This is the pushable tricycle. He LOVES it.
(I wrote this post oner a month ago, and it has been sitting as a draft. Brooks has grown leaps and bounds since these pictures. Also, this tricycle you see here? Its definitely not as shiny.) 

For all you baby mommas

You dont have to be a baby momma to read this post.  I have only just run into an issue with having time to work out since I have had a bebe.

I am a runner. I like to sweat  buckets when I work out. I like to get my heart pumping. It makes me feel good. But it is too hot out there right now and I miss lifting weights.

I have a little munchkin to take care of, and since living in the boonies, the closest gym is 25 minutes away. I LOVE going to the gym,  but for now, my living room must be my gym. Also, its cheaper.

Key bought P90X over a year ago, and I was very pregnant when he got it. I said, after Brooks was born, I am going to do it! Well, it kicked my butt, so I just decided to run to stay in shape. Brooks was a champ in the jogging stroller. As summer rolled around it was too hot. My poor baby came home more sweaty that I was. So I stopped running. lame. I tried P90X again and like it, but it took up too much time. (I fit my work out in while Brooks is napping. This is also when I do the bulk of my household chores) So I only did it once or twice a week. I promise I have a point to this story. Just wait. I saw a friend who looked amaazing. I asked her what she did. Alont with running and biking, she does workout videos. I told my mom about it, and last week, my mom purchased them from target when she saw them on sale. Then I stole them from her. One was The Biggest Loser Cardio Max. The other was Yoga Melt Down.

LOVE THEM.

They were $10 each. Thirty minute workouts. You can go longer in the biggest loser when you work up to it. The point is, these workouts are awesome. You should try them.  Do not be discouraged. I could not even do the "easy" yoga workout all the way through for the first week. Now I can do it all, although I have not moved up to the "hard" workout. 

In addition to the great workout, it's only 30 minutes long! Woo! It is way more do-able than an hour+ workout for this season in my life.. Go out, buy these DVD's, or Netflix them (or any other workout video) move the furniture, invite some friends over and work out! It's fun! I promise.

Country Potato Soup. Make it now. Then eat it.

I know, I know... Potato Soup is not healthy. Especially this version. But it is too yummy to not share. I made it last week after I was given a bag of potatoes.

It is a copycat recipe of La Madeline's Country Potato Soup. For real, it tastes like the potato soup from La Madeline's. Favorite. Scrumptious. Delightful.  

Country Potato Soup

you will need:
1/8 cup butter, unsalted
2 leeks, thinly sliced (white part only)
1 large yellow onion, sliced 
1 1/2 quarts of chicken stock
4 large peeled potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
salt, to taste
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup heavy cream
cheddar cheese, grated
bacon, cooked and diced


what to do with it:
Melt butter in large pot. add leeks (I had to ask a grocer what the heck leeks were the first time I made this soup) and onion and cook until just translucent. no not brown the poor things.

Add the chicken stock, potatoes, salt and fresh thyme. dont skimp on the thyme. its what makes this soup awesome.

Cook over medium heat for about 40 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Add the cream slowly and bring to a boil.


Voila! Toss some cheese in you own bowl, sprinkle some crunchy bacon pieces on top and enjoy.

Family Pictures

We drove up to College Station a few weeks ago, and had our family pictures taken by Ryan Price.   Ryan and his wife did an amazing job. Sara (Ryan's wife) was responsible for making Brooks smile. she was successful. They made us look good.

Here are some of my favorites that Ryan took before the rain came.

Yeah, I know. Its a lot of pictures.  Now I have to decide which ones I want for our house.

Brooks is 9 1/2 months.  I can not believe we have an almost one year old! What a fun year it has been! He is officially fulling up on everything in sight.  Today, he pulled up on the tv and highchair. Two things that had given him trouble before. A few days ago, he mastered the toilet. He has been trying that one for a while, but has not been able to pull up. I was cleaning around the house the other day, and was walking from room to room.  Sweet little Brooks was trying to keep up with me, but once he was in the bathroom he had stayed put for a while. When I made my way back into the bathroom, he was standing at the toilet, with his hand swirling all around. Thankfully, I had just just scrubbed the toilet. Still gross, but that fact made me feel a LOT better about Brooks' new accomplishment. Oh little boys.

Quinoa Vegetable Soup

Hi Folks,

I made Quinoa Vegetable Soup on Monday for lunch. Key ended up not coming home for lunch that day to try this yummy soup.  But that night, he came home, "doctored" it up, and loved it. Right honey? Right.

He pan seared ribeye steak, cut it into small pieces and added that.  Also, he seasoned it up.  Men. I cant help you out with what he seasoned it up with, because I was outside giving riding lessons. So, go with whatever tastes good to you.

I used the box of Ancient Harvest Quinoa.

It's the box second from the right. "Traditional" Quinoa.

The recipe I followed is on their Website.

I did some tweaking. But the recipe is as follows:

Quinoa Vegetable Soup

4 cups water                                            2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup quinoa                                           1 Tbs safflower oil
½ cup carrots, diced                                 ½ cup tomatoes, chopped
¼ cup celery, diced                                   ½ cup cabbage, chopped
2 Tbs onions, chopped                               1 tsp salt
¼ cup green pepper, diced                            parsley, chopped    

Sauté quinoa, carrots, celery, onions, green pepper and garlic in oil until golden brown. Add water, tomatoes and cabbage and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes or until tender. Season to taste and garnish with parsley. Serves 4-6.   This is a very basic recipe for quinoa vegetable soup. For variations try adding some of your other favorite vegetables, chopped and sautéed.   Quinoa can be a welcome addition to just about any type of soup

I had most of these veggies in (my mom's) garden, so it was super yummy using home grown tomatoes and green pepper, especially.  The quinoa expands and fluffls up in the soup almost like barley or rice would.  So the measly ole 1/4 cup that you use, goes further than you would think.

I also added peas to my soup. Key does not like peas, but I did not have cabbage, So I figured that I needed to add something in its place.

It was super duper easy to make, light on the tummy, healthy and most of all, yummy.

Enjoy!

Checking In

We have had a busy start to this summer.  I started this post a week ago, but never finished it. sorry!

Confession: I had brownies during the 7 day challenge.

and they were really yummy.

But other than that, I did pretty darn good on the 7-Day No Sugar Challenge. No sweet tea, no cookies, and no chocolate morsels with kettle corn popcorn.  To help curb the craving, I ate a lot of fruit this week. The best? Juicy watermelon and ripe, sweet pears. (If you live anywhere NEAR Hempstead, TX., go to Dolorio's market in town. By FAR the best watermelon I have ever had. And I have had many watermelon in my day.) I also had strawberries, apples, raspberries and blackberries. The only problem I ran in to, is when I did not eat a balanced dinner, I got hungry late at night (which I normally do not do).  This is when my sugar craving is the highest.  So I ate some almonds to try and fill me up.  Nuts are a great snack. Pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews and sunflower seeds.  

I have not been as good about completely cutting out sugar this week as last week.  But I want to get back on it.

I STILL have not made Quinoa. I have the recipe and ingredients to make it.

Today is Key's cousin's Wedding Day! Congratulations Roby and Julie!

Breakfast

Since I am asking so much of you when I ask you to join me in the challenge to give up sugar, here are some suggestions of WHAT to eat.

We will start first, with breakfast.

I love a high protein breakfast.

My favorite?

Scrambled eggs with spinach, tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.

Eggs are such a good source of protein.  This helps keep you full longer than a bowl of sugary cereal.  You can put anything you want in your eggs, well.. almost anything.  When I went to Kirby and Charlie's (love them) for breakfast a few weeks ago, she had some bell pepper, onions and tomatoes in the scrambled eggs she made. Right Kirby? And of course, free range eggs are best. I am kind of obsessed with Yonder Way Farm, although I have YET to order my meat and eggs from them. It will happen soon, and they have a drop in Katy, June 17th!

If anyone is eating gluten-free, I really want to try some gluten free pancake and muffin recipes. As of now, I am happy with my egg breakfast.

***I want to clarify, that the list of sugars below are not all bad. They only explain what each for is. I am using honey, stevia, 100% molasses and maple syrup for sweeteners.
This week, my cousin AJ,  who is also doing the No Sugar Challenge is coming over, and we are going to make some recipes. We are going to start with some healthy snacks such as granola, and some dinner recipes. First on the list will be quinoa. I will let you know how it goes, and maybe even use pictures to describe the process.

Happy Eating :)

i'm kicking my addiction

Sugar, Sugar, Sugar. It is everywhere, and it tastes so good.

This is a really hard thing to post about.  Because once I write about it, it is out there, and people will be watching me. like a hawk.

I am cutting out sugar from my diet.

My mom started this a few weeks ago (how are you doing mom?). I told my cousin AJ about how I wanted to cut out sugar from my diet for 1 week. I said this to her as we were on our way to starbucks.  So I jokingly and sarcastically said, "Oh, I'll start tomorrow!" The next day, AJ said, OK, lets cut out sugar for one week. I will do it with you. Thanks to AJ,  I am now excited about this. (kind of)

I have cut out sugar ONE time in my life. I made it for about 5 months. One day decided to reacquaint myself with my old friend named chocolate, and BOOM. Sugar addict again.

I truly believe that sugar is an addiction.

And unfortunately, sugar is in SO many things that we eat.

Sugar found in its naturally occurring form in foods like fruit and grains, is good for us to eat. Unfortunately, the standard American diet consists of processed, nutritent deficient foods which contain a daily average of 20 teaspoons of additional refined sugar. TWENTY.

This is from an article I read from Dr. Mercola. It gives an overview of some different forms of sugar.

• Dextrose, fructose and glucose are all monosaccharides, known as simple sugars. The primary difference between them is how your body metabolizes them. Glucose and dextrose are essentially the same sugar. However, food manufacturers usually use the term “dextrose” in their ingredient list.
• The simple sugars can combine to form more complex sugars, like the disaccharide sucrose (table sugar), which is half glucose and half fructose.
• High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose.
• Ethanol (drinking alcohol) is not a sugar, although beer and wine contain residual sugars and starches, in addition to alcohol.
• Sugar Alcohols like xylitol, glycerol, sorbitol, maltitol, mannitol, and erythritol are neither sugars nor alcohols but are becoming increasingly popular as sweeteners. They are incompletely absorbed from your small intestine, for the most part, so they provide fewer calories than sugar but often cause problems with bloating, diarrhea and flatulence.
• Sucralose (Splenda) is NOT a sugar, despite its sugar-like name and deceptive marketing slogan, “made from sugar.” It’s a chlorinated artificial sweetener in line with aspartame and saccharin, with detrimental health effects to match.
• Agave Nectar falsely advertised as “natural,” is typically HIGHLY processed and is usually 80 percent fructose. The end product does not even remotely resemble the original agave plant.
• Honey is about 53 percent fructose, but is completely natural in its raw form and has many health benefits when used in moderation, including as many antioxidants as spinach.
• Stevia is a highly sweet herb derived from the leaf of the South American stevia plant, which is completely safe (in its natural form). Lo han (or luohanguo) is another natural sweetener, but derived from a fruit.

Do you want to know what our sugary sweet friend does to our bodies?

For one thing, it prematurely ages you.

Refined sugar is used in most processed foods and is very damaging to the immune system. Only two cans of soft drink containing 24 teaspoons of sugar can lower the efficiency of your white blood cells by 92%. This can last for up to 5 hours.  White blood cells are an imrtant component of your immune system. If you are exposed to a virus or bacteria after you have a couple of cokes, your immune system has already been hit by sugar, and may not be able to defend you against the intuder.

High sugar intake also causes blood sugar spikes which can lead to an overworked pancreas and adrenal glands. These vital organs become exhausted trying to balance our blood sugar levels.  Eventually, a high sugar diet can lead to type 2 diabetes, chronic fatigue, hypoglycemia and early menopause. Who whats that?

Here are other "to the point" facts about sugar.

1. sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body causing chromium(needed for sugar metabolism) and copper deficiencies and interferes with the absorption of calcium and magnesium
2. sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function
3. sugar FEEDS cancer cells 
4. sugar can weaken eyesight
5. sugar can cause your saliva to become acidic, tooth decay and paridontal diseases
6. sugar can sause autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, asthma and multiple sclerosis
7. sugar assists the growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)
8. sugar can lower your vitamin E levels
9. sugar can increase your blood pressure
10. sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children
11. sugar can interfere with your absorption of protein
12. sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy
13. sugar can cause eczema in children
14. sugar can cause headaches
15. sugar can cause depression
16. sugar is addictive

And there is so much more.

This next thing I am about to say deserves its very. own. special. line.

According to Dr. Mercola:

"And now most infant formula has the sugar equivalent of one can of Coca-Cola, so babies are being metabolically poisoned from day one if taking formula."

Did you read that? 


No wonder there is an obesity epidemic in this country.


There are various names for hidden sugars on nutrition labels. Some include: glucoamine, dextrin, dextrose, cane sugar, cane juice, brown rice syrup, xylitol, monosaccharides... and the list goes on.

Sugar isn't so sweet after all.

So, I am on a mission to cut out these refined sugars. Refined sugar is without nutrients, meaning that your body has to take nutrients from its reserves in order to metabolise the sugar. So not only does it lack life sustaining nutrition, it robs you of it.

My advice?

AVOID ALL PROCESSED FOODS. Sugar is added to soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit juices almost all processed foods, even if they aren't sweet. Bologna, pretzels, worchestershire sauce, ketchup and cheese spread.

Since I LOVE sweet things, the alternatives I am going to use are honey, stevia and fruit for when I get a sweet craving.  The best way to eat fruit is with a protein because is still is sugar, just "good"sugar with nutrients.  Also, avoid artificial sweeteners. They are not safe. I will repeat this many times.

I hate artificial sweeteners

If the food you are about to eat wasn't around a thousand years ago, you probably don't need it.

7 Day Challenge: No Sugar

Who's in?

Throwing you a bone...

I was getting complaint(s) (from my mom) about not updating my blog enough.  It hasn't even been a week, no one wants to read what I have to say every day. She does.


I have been contemplating what my next topic will be.

-eggs
-nitrates
-pesticides (organic foods)- i just read an article about how pesticides are linked to ADHD
-great, easy, healthy snacks


But in the mean time, here are some pictures we took over the weekend. It had just rained, so the air was clear, and everything was so green. If only our little boy would smile for the camera.

Brooks is almost 9 months old!  It's true what they say, time sure does fly!

Lemons with a Purpose

I want to blog with a purpose. So many of you share your gifts and talents with us. You show us how to make crafty things, save money, and organize our home.

I want to share my passion for nutrition and fitness with you! I hope you are excited. I want to help, and encourage all of you by sharing recipes, and fitness tips.  For women especially, weight control and body image is a thought that dwells in our minds.  I want you to be encouraged.  Being healthy is not about looking like a supermodel.  Good news right?

When I told my mom about what I wanted to do with my blog, she said, "If you are going to share healthy food recipes, I am going to make a blog and share DESSERT recipes!" Since it seems like many people have been passing along their favorite dessert recipes with me lately, I will have to share some of those too :) 

I believe in the more natural approach to health and nutrition.  The new trend is bombarding us with how calories, fats and carbs are BAD. Well, I dont agree, and neither do our bodies.  We will get to this in the days to come.

But first,  this is my new obsession. lemon water... with stevia. aka: lemonade.

We know that water is important. We learn this fact in kindergarten.  Water is essential to our health, but lemon water is even better!

 I drank lemon water all day while I was pregnant to aid in ridding my body of bacteria. Lemons act as a natural agent that prevents sepsis (harmful bacteria).  At restaurants, I used to pass my lemon along to my neighbor, or just place it on the table to be unused, or heaven forbid, given to the next customer who ordered water.  But now, I squeeze it into my water.  I do not put the actual lemon IN my drink, as it can have harmful chemicals and rat poo in the peel, unless you wash then thoroughly. Yuck.

Lemons have many health benefits. Mixed with hot water, lemon water can cure many digestive problems such as

• nausea

• vomiting

• heartburn

• constipation

It can relieve hiccups, and when taken every morning, can act as a tonic to the liver, helping it to stimulate bile production.  Bile helps digest food that we eat.  Lemon water can help dissolve gallstones.

Because of its high vitamin C content, it can help prevent and treat many infections, hasten wound healing, and bring down high fever.  Lemon juice can also relieve symptoms of asthma, tonsillitis and sore throat.

Lemon also acts as a diuretic.  This is good news for people who experience more than their fair share of urinary tract infections. (me).  It helps flush out bad bacteria and toxins, like I said before.

Is this convincing enough? I also read where lemons help improve memory storage and recall, treat depression, and are a GREAT cleaning agent.

To make your new drink an even better one, add some stevia!

My favorite is by Truvia.

Before you turn you nose up, stevia is very good for your health, and is a waaay better alternative to sugar than equal, sweet N low, or splenda. Yes, I said splenda.

Click here to read bad things about Splenda

Like I said before. I believe that the more natural, the better. The only sweeteners I have in my house are sugar and stevia.  We are trying to transition to mainly truvia, but my husband is the biggest sweet tea fan there is.  Stevia doesn't quite cut it for him.  So we are trying to do the un-sweet tea thing when we have tea. 

When life gives you lemons, stick them in your bra!

just kidding... you should make lemonade.

Study Break

I have a lab practical tomorrow for Anatomy and Physiology that is going to eat my lunch. I found out today that I need to make a 92 on this thing. Yikes. Looking at these pictures of dead cats in the lab manual is confusing because I can't get my bearings straight. Where is up? Down? Stomach? No- that is the liver. So, I am currently You-Tubing cat dissections so I can study in an interactive way. Yummy.  It is helping. All of the sugar however, is not. I have the jar of nutella with in arm's reach, and my third glass of sweet tea in front of me. Sugar and studying have always gone hand in hand for me. My poor teeth are going to rot out of my head if I do not graduate soon!

Focus, Brettney.

I ended up HERE, blogging, because.. well.. we live in the country and it takes a while for the videos to download.

Meanwhile, I wanted to share a picture of our little guy, Brooks. He is 8 months old. oh, how we love him so.

 

ok, so I decided to share two pictures. I kinda like this little guy

You know finals are coming up when...

-You have done all of the laundry

-You vacuum under the couches

-Make random food from a cookbook that didn't turn out so well

-Bake bread for the first time. that takes some serious hand and wrist muscles

-Start a blog!

Yep folks, here I am. And in case you were wondering,  I did do these things on the above list today. Ok, not ALL of the laundry.