johncsnider

Tip 1: Baby carrots are already cleaned and cut. Tip 2: Make an extra bag of each meal for yourself. Whether it is in anticipation of a new baby or just needing some time off of cooking, here is how I just stocked my freezer with freezer meals with the help of friends (because I was way to shy to do this alone). What are Freezer Meals? Freezer Meals are meals that have already been prepped and are sitting in your freezer ready to be eaten. They could be raw ingredients ready to be dumped in a pot or slow cooker or they can be completely cooked and just require a reheating. Step 1: Get Friends I was way too intimidated to do freezer cooking by myself. In fact it seemed like all the planning that was required would take more time than making the meals and I don't have a lot of time.  I asked a group of friends and found that several friends were also in need of this type of meal help. Plus it is the winter and we are all bored of our own cooking. Step 2: Decide on some standards We h...

I have only had one New Year's Resolution in my life and it was to not use any canned food for a year back when BPA was first linked to so many health issues. My solution to cans was so well integrated into our lives that we never missed cans and still rarely use them. So after that very successful resolution a few years ago, I forced my husband to do a 2014 resolution with me. We are going to read two books together and have a book club style discussion about them. He made the mistake of asking for my health coaching help with his dental issues. I know that as his wife, I can only coach him so far so he needs to read the facts for himself. This is what we are reading: Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition, 2nd Edition by Ramiel Nagel This book also covers how to stop dental decay while pregnant and how to prevent children's teeth issues. It is a win-win for both of us to read! Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing by ...

Do you wonder why my family doesn’t get the flu? Here’s my secret recipe. Mainstream medical professionals all agree that the flu shot is safe for pregnancy women. While I was pregnant with my second baby in 2009-2010, it was during the swine flu scare and I had chosen not to get the flu shot. My caregiver tried all sorts of things: “You won the giveaway, it is free!” “No thank you”. It is always questionable as to how much the flu shot works and I personally didn't feel right about injecting merc ury ( Thimerosal, found in some flu vaccines)  and  formaldehyde  in to my bloodstream that would then go to my baby. So how is it that I have three germ carrying kids and have not had the flu in 9 years? Well 9 years ago, I was going through a transitional time and I was eating so much processed foods. This was just a year after I had been living in Africa, eating mostly unprocessed foods, and was exposed to plenty of Vitamin D daily. Now my body for the first time in several ...

I don't judge. You made your own decision based on their own knowledge or were forced to make through adoption or your own health. If you are still pregnant or struggling with breastfeeding, please read everything and don't be shy to ask for help. You want the best nutrition for your baby because what you feed your baby will affect them and their longterm IQ . What happens if you eat cake for dinner versus a well balanced meal? Babies get their first exposure to taste and nutrition while in the womb. They eat what their mom eats. Their nutritional habits continue to form by your food choices now that the baby is born. Think how you want your child to eat when they are three years old and what steps do you have to make in order to make that happen? It is overwhelming to stand in the infant formula aisle. How do you know which infant formula to buy? What is the difference between ingredients? Why are there such price differences? Is generic really the same as non-generic? Can yo...

As parents we all want to see our children reach their highest potential. We know that we cannot protect them from every danger, toxin, and heartache. We all want to make the decisions that will have the best long term outcome on our children. Some moms and dads have known the secret to a higher I.Q. for thousands of years. Yet it comes as a news-breaker in papers such as the NYTimes when JAMA Pediatrics, a major mainstream medical journal, publishes a study about it. The World Health Organization recommends doing this for at least 2 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends doing it for at least 1 year.  Breastfeeding 1+ years WILL increase your child's I.Q. (for those who have already chosen the formula path, have adopted, or have serious medical issues I am in the process of writing a post on how to pick the healthiest formula so check back and don't feel left out!) Below is the latest study including the results and conclusion (the important part). ...

Dear friends and family, I had [am about to have] a baby!  Yay!  I have no clue how my baby will act from day to day.  Maybe I had a caesarian and cannot even get out of bed alone. Maybe my baby is an innately easy baby that lets me rest or get things done while he/she sleeps. Maybe my baby is super fussy and only naps while having skin contact with me, nursing, and marching up and down the stairs at the same time. We all have different experiences so please help me on my journey and don't judge me. It used to be that "it takes a whole village to raise a child" and then we all moved away from our families and started working outside the home. In India family takes care of the older kids and home chores for three weeks after the baby is born. I don't live in India and I don't have a village of relatives helping.  I don't live in Europe where spouses get paternity leave.  Some women need help after the first baby and some don't need it until their third. Her...

Today at our community pool I saw a new mom with baby #2 and she was in Survival Mode and didn't know it.  I went "missing" for quite a while after baby #3 was born.  To outsiders at the preschool I was completely on top of it being early or just in time for drop offs and pick ups with kids that seemed happy.  On the inside, I was in Survival Mode. Survival Mode is when it takes every ounce of being just to keep the family boat afloat. When you are in "go" mode from the moment you semi-wake until the moment you hope to sleep. This is often brought on by bed rest, morning sickness, pregnancy fatigue, post-partum recuperation, or a fussy baby.   REMEMBER THAT THIS IS JUST A PHASE AND ALL PHASES PASS.   Here is what Survival Mode looks like for me: At least one kid awake and hanging on me from 5am - 10pm. An infant that doesn't nap unless sucking on me and rocking at the same time. (This only lasted the first four months until I was able to "aid...

Not a Pre-Planned Birth During this blogging experiment, I have been planning and awaiting the arrival of Baby #3. She was due 8/24/12. Like my other babies, that due date came and past. My other two births were pushed along before my body went into labor. For this birth, I was worried that my husband would not be able to make it from work in time. My last labor was only 3 hours and I was thankful that we lived near my husband's work. Now we are in the suburbs and my hospital was even further away (a two hour trip from his office to the hospital). I could use a closer hospital but there is nothing closer that has midwives. So I tried to "plan" the birth! The day before my due date, my husband took the day off and went to my midwife appointment with me. We hoped that she would strip my membranes and send me into labor. Unfortunately the baby was not low enough yet and she worried that the cord could get in the way. So instead we had a "date" and went out to lunc...

Post-Partum: My Dream Freezer image: Southern Living I am counting the days until my baby decides to arrive. In the past two months, I have tried to overcook meals when I could. Half of my freezer is now filled with yogurt containers filled with leftovers and ziplock bags of veggie burgers and marinated chicken. A quarter of the freezer of it is now filled with frozen Trader Joes food that my husband had a blast buying last weekend. We usually don't buy pre-made foods but I am predicting that I may not want to eat my own cooking and that restaurant delivery gets old after a while. It will be nice to have a variety at my finger tips. During my past pregnancies I was not so concerned about stocking up food. Thankfully, my mom visited to help with the transition of each birth. It is the time AFTER she leaves that I plan for. For baby #1, it was only my husband and I who had to eat and we didn't care if we ate the same food for days. For baby #2, we left the country so soon after g...