Summer Bucket List

We are about halfway through our summer bucket list which is good because it's almost August! I can't believe it! Making sidewalk chalk paint was on our list. I cannot tell you how much Miss Bella loved it!! Maddie had a friend over and they were doing a project in the back... I guess sidewalk chalk painting isn't cool when you're 12 or have a friend over.
Bella was painting "rainbows" over and over again and kept getting farther and farther down the sidewalk. She also painted a few rainbows for daddy where he parks his car. Sweet.

We Did It

So, we did it! We finished our 10 Day Real Food Challenge. I learned how to make homemade tortillas, awesome chicken stock from the best whole chicken in the crockpot, and spaghetti sauce from scratch. Besides the new foods I made we are on this band wagon for good! Our goal is to continue eliminating processed foods and keep eating whole foods that properly fuel our bodies. During the past ten days we have felt better than ever, had smaller appetites, less cravings, and noticed positive changes in our children's behavior.
Of course we know that we cannot be perfect all of the time, but these are lifestyle changes. We are excited and we are loving trying new things and continuing on this journey of good food!!

Discovery Village

Bella loves Discovery Village in Gig Harbor. Today we met some friends for a play date. They climbed, went down the slide, played vet, grocery shopped, and played in sand and water. So much fun!

First Dentist

Today was Bella's first dentist appointment. The second attempt.... I had to really talk her into getting into the car, she was scared. I told her they were going to look at and count her teeth.. She seemed ok with that. Especially after I reminded her of the magic door she got to pick a prize from when she was all done. We got there and she very tentatively followed the hygienist into the back, turning around several times to make sure I was still there. She made it into the chair and tried on the sunglasses... She even liked the first couple of tools. She shot water and air herself. As soon as they showed her the noisy electric toothbrush she stiffened. She asked me to come sit with her and told them to " put that away.". She looked at both the ladies and said, "I just want my mommy.". They didn't want to push her in any way so she sat on my lap and they wanted to lean us back together. Forget it...
She saw that mask and we started tipping back and she froze. She said she wanted to leave.... So we did. We will try again in six months.
She still got to pick a prize from the magic door and was excited about that. After we left she told me they were "nice ladies.". I hope the third attempt gets us a bit farther.

Zoo

After our Portland Zoo disaster we thought we needed to give the zoo another try.... But just our local zoo. Everyone was well rested and had a great time! Grandma and cousin Peyton joined us. The camel ride was a big hit! Pictures below :

Day 5: Time

We all know that time is so precious and especially when you have kids, it seems as though there is never enough time to get everything done PLUS spend quality time with the kiddos. Eating Real takes a lot of time, effort, planning, and organization. There's no stopping at Subway for a quick dinner so mama doesn't have to cook. Although you can have a burrito bowl from Chipotle because they have hormone free meat and great produce.. A treat this weekend I think.
However I have been finding some things that have been working.. Meal planning first so I don't waste any of this precious produce. I had about 7 tomatoes from my sister so I decided to make spaghetti from scratch. Yes, like I cooked and peeled the tomatoes and cut all fresh veggies to make a sauce. It actually was less involved that I thought and the result was delicious. I have been getting breakfast ready and made the night before while the kids are asleep. That way we can just grab and eat in the morning. Speaking of breakfast I made these fabulous whole wheat banana pancakes from the 100 Days of Real Food blog. I substituted coconut oil for the butter, used oat milk( which is amazing for baking), added some vanilla, and egg replacer... They were so good! I mean really really good! Better than other homemade pancakes even.
So, yes eating this way is taking me some more time and more creative planning, but we are still feeling really great. I wonder if when this is over if I ate something sugary I would feel sick? We are also wondering if Stacy's headaches will get better without sugar?
So here is what we have been eating...
Breakfast: two days of whole wheat banana pancakes with 100% pure maple syrup ( we have been using this for over a year now and it is so much better than that other fake stuff). Also maple syrup and coconut oil are WAY cheaper at Trader Joes than anywhere else.
Lunches: burrito bowls, chicken lime burgers from Trader Joes(freezer), and sunbutter/honey sandwiches
Dinners: homemade spaghetti sauce with meat over whole wheat pasta, and tonight BLT sandwiches and a basil pasta salad
Well it's nap time and I have to get dinner ready for tonight. We are not missing any foods yet and are still feeling very satisfied.

Lemonade Stand

Maddie and her friend decided to try and make some money in the sunshine today! They opened for business in front of our house selling pink lemonade, brownies, and homemade jewelry. So far they have sold 4 lemonades, 3 brownies, 2 pairs of earrings, and a bracelet. They are hoping things will pick up tomorrow ...
Maddie was horrified that she couldn't drink lemonade or eat a brownie... No way! We are committed... It's only ten days right?

Day Three: Entertaining

My great friend Jodi and her two girls were here visiting family from Connecticut... She moved to the east coast when Maddie was six months old and before that we were pretty joined at the hip. Since then we get together yearly and we have a total of five beautiful girls between us! Crazy.!
We had planned a get day for them to come here for breakfast and get our girls together to play. Since our family is doing the 10 day challenge I was worried what we would serve them that they would like. But, it worked out amazingly. I made pumpkin muffins from the 100 Days of Real Food website and they were a hit!! In fact, they were all eaten. We also had fruit, eggs, and bacon. Well of course Bella and I can't have eggs but we had plenty of other things to eat.
It was great to realize that we could serve a great healthy breakfast to friends and we didn't miss any sugar or the boxed pumpkin muffin mix from Trader Joes that I love.
Lunch : today was leftover turkey burgers and cucumber slices
Snacks: dried fruit and rice cakes with sunbutter
Dinner: pork stir fry over brown rice... It was really good and I only used olive oil, garlic, and salt/pepper to season. Even Bella gobbled it down

Both Stacy and I feel great and admit we both have more energy than usual. I cannot believe that I truly feel so different already. If I wasn't experiencing it first hand I wouldn't believe it. So... More energy and less of an appetite, so far I am thrilled with those results!

Day 2: Snacks and Sugar

I realize this blogging may be so boring, but I love documenting our little journey... So here goes:
Yesterday was our first day and I had a big epiphany! I was far less hungry yesterday than I normally am. Shockingly so... Perhaps everyone was right when they say sugar makes you more hungry? I love my coffee and tea in the morning and I like it sweet. Using honey it is still sweet though, and better than I expected. I was surprised that even the plain coconut milk creamer I had been using in my coffee had cane sugar as the second ingredient. So we are on day two and I am thrilled that I have been feeling less hungry and more satisfied than usual. Nursing always makes me so hungry so I admit I was worried.
On to snacks... A few of our favorite that we can have are Trader Joes pure dried fruit bars, freeze dried fruit, and baked potato chips ( they only have 3 ingredients). Bella loves the fruit bars so much and they are great to pop into the diaper bag on the go.
Anyway, This is our menu today:
Breakfast: fruit salad with lemon juice and honey, 1 piece of honey wheat toast with honey, and Trader Joes chicken breakfast sausage
Lunch: Burrito bowls with grilled chicken, brown rice, avocado, and fresh salsa (looks strange and messy but is delicious)
Snacks: banana bread, fruit bars, brown rice cakes with sunbutter or peanut butter for Maddie
Dinner: Mini turkey burgers ( diced red onion, shredded zucchini and carrot, salt/pepper) on Great Harvest buns, salad with homemade dressing, and roasted veggies ( red potato, onion, carrots, and sweet potato)

Day 1

Today marks the first day of our 10 Days of Real Food Challenge. I have planned our menu for the next six days but unfortunately I will need to run back to Trader Joes today because I forgot a few things. I am used to planning our meals and I know having everything on the list is important so this mama of three doesn't have to run back to the store.... Children in tote.
I made the whole wheat banana bread from the website last night so it would be ready for breakfast, and it was great!! You should check out the recipe.... Since Bella and I can't eat eggs I used our egg substitute and it was fabulous. We also can't have regular yogurt so we used plain coconut milk yogurt. The recipe calls for honey and coconut oil... No sugar at all!! My first observation after breakfast....I didn't even miss the butter or sugar.
Today's meal plan is fairly boring because I am bridesmaid dress shopping with my best friend today but this is what I have on the menu:

Breakfast: banana bread, black tea with honey, and fruit

Snack: smoothie with frozen berries, plain coconut milk yogurt, honey, and banana

Lunch: Sandwich ( sunflower seed butter and honey) on honey whole wheat ( we love Great Harvest Bread), carrots, plums

Snack: air popped pop orb with nutritional yeast and dried mango

Dinner: BBQ grilled chicken, grilled asparagus, and brown rice medley

This doesn't seem too different from what we would normally eat except no sugar in my tea and no crackers for the girls

10 Days of Real Food Challenge

I think for the most part our family makes really good food choices.  We eat organically and we have been forced to eliminate many processed foods from our diets due to family allergies.  However I KNOW we could do better.   Stacy and I have been thinking about making some even bigger lifestyle changes and we decided to do this 10 Days of Real Food Challenge.  I stumbled upon this blog one day and this lady was inspiring to me. It's called 100 Days of Real Food...she and her family did this and did it successfully.  The reaped many benefits from doing this and after looking through her blog we got excited! She has worked so hard to make big changes in her family but also spent so much time and energy into her blog and educating people about the benefits of eating real food.  She even has amazing recipes that you can follow.  So.... starting on Monday, June 9th our whole family is doing the 10 Day Challenge.  Here are the RULES:

What you CAN eat:

1. Whole foods that are more a product of nature than a product of industry
2. Lots of fruits and vegetables (we recommend that you shop for these at your local farmers’ market)
3. Dairy products like milk, unsweetened yogurt, eggs, and cheese
4. 100% whole-wheat and whole-grains (find a local bakery for approved sandwich bread and check the Understanding Grains post for more info)
5. Seafood (wild caught is the optimal choice over farm-raised)
6. Only locally raised meats such as pork, beef, and chicken (preferably in moderation)
7. Beverages limited to water, milk, all natural juices, naturally sweetened coffee & tea, and, to help the adults keep their sanity, wine and beer!
8. Snacks like dried fruit, seeds, nuts and popcorn
9. All natural sweeteners including honey, 100% maple syrup, and fruit juice concentrates are acceptable in moderation
10. Also check out the Recipes & Resources page for a more detailed list of meal options including links to recipes

What you CANNOT eat:

1. No refined grains such as white flour or white rice (items containing wheat must say WHOLE wheat…not just “wheat”)
2. No refined sweeteners such as sugar, any form of corn syrup, cane juice, or the artificial stuff like Splenda
3. Nothing out of a box, can, bag, bottle or package that has more than 5 ingredients listed on the label
4. No deep fried foods
5. No “fast foods”

Stacy and I spent the last few days planning out six days of breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners.  I will be blogging what we have been eating along the way and how we have been feeling.  I think this is going to be great!!!  Wish us luck!  Especially because I will be attempting to make our own whole wheat tortillas!  :)

Little Gym

Bella loves her weekly Little Gym so much! She loves her teacher Miss Clairee too. She will ask, "where is my teacher" while we are there. She also never wants to leave when time is up. Her new thing is saying "I'm mad" is she is frustrated, sad, disappointed, or feels bad about something . She looks forward to going each week

Tummy Time

Tummy time...Lily isn't so sure of it.  We usually start off ok....

but end up like this.  Not happy at all.  I just can't help but smile at this little face though....happy or sad.