Don't over think it.

As Mothers and Mothers-to-be(and Fathers and Fathers-to-be), we are constantly overthinking.

Recently, a friend asked me if coconut milk was bad for her child because she had read on the internet that there may be some properties associated with the fruit and packaging that are harmful.

First of all, coconut milk is not bad for you or your children.  It comes from coconuts. Enough said.  Maybe try to find a BPA-free can, maybe try not to have it everyday, but don't STRESS about it.  If your kids like it, it's better than pop. They probably won't want it in a month.

This conversation led to us agree that the internet is the best and the worst thing that has happened to us, because we have so much information at our fingertips...but it can be way too much, and very hard to process what is legitimate and what is malarkey.

Here is my philosophy on nutrition, especially when it comes to our children (and unborn children):

Don't over think it.

Are your children getting all the vitamins and minerals they need? Are they drinking enough milk? Should they be drinking milk at all? Are nitrates going to eat away their insides? Am I killing them slowly with chicken nuggets and milkshakes? Are they going to turn inside out? STOP. Don't over think it.

Look at your children's diet in an entire week, not a day. Are they eating some vegetables on most days? Do they have fruit sometimes?  If they ate a hot dog on Saturday and you panicked and gave them donuts before swimming lessons because you forgot your healthy snack at home, CALM DOWN and don't over think it. They will be ok, trust me.

That being said, I am a Nutritionist.  I don't give my children the traditional treats of cookies and cakes very often.  We do not have pop in our house and I don't ever buy hot dogs. When I do give my kids treats, we usually bake them together from scratch, and we use alternative flours, natural sugars like honey and maple syrup and the other ingredients are not usually found in a regular chocolate chip cookie...but it IS a cookie. And it tastes good, so my kids could care less.

Try not to look everything up on the internet.  There is nothing wrong with being educated but there are always going to be two sides...just think about eggs.  They're good for you, they're bad for you, they're good for you, they're bad for you...what do YOU think?  They're EGGS. (P.S.  They're good for you.)

Of course, none of this applies if your child has an allergy, severe deficiency or intolerance...you know what works best for your family.  I'm just trying to alleviate some Mommy-guilt and stress from your life.

My stress-free approach is this: our family lives by the 80/20 rule. I'm sure you've heard of this before-eat healthfully 80% of the time, and you can live a little 20% of the time.  The ratio wavers, but we try to stick to this principle.  This goes for kids too! You're serving healthy food at home, you pack healthy lunches and always have something on hand if they get hungry so you don't have to resort to fast food.  You're doing awesome!  You can't control everything and you shouldn't have to!  Let your kid be a kid.  Sugar is part of the ride. Bad food is part of it too. There will always be a friend of theirs that gets a "better" lunch and your child...yes, YOUR child, the one that "really likes" broccoli and thinks ice cream is "gross" will be asking for cookies and cakes in their lunch before you know it.

You are not stunting their growth, you are not ruining their eating habits for life. In fact, teaching them to make healthy choices is our job too.  They need to know what is good, what is bad, and how to balance the two. Children are resilient and amazing little creatures that keep growing no matter what we feed them, so relax and know you're doing the best you can-you love your kids more than anyone else and you're going to do what is best for them.

Please do not use this as an excuse to give your kids CRAP for dinner all the time, but letting your children have treats keep things fun and easy.  Besides, whatever "treats" are is up to you!  It's a pretty big deal to have hot chocolate in our house, and they're still getting the good stuff from milk!

Children have been growing on bad food, barely any food and absolute swill for centuries. I remember eating boxed mac and cheese with hot dogs, white rice and canned soups growing up and I'm still alive and I can make good choices. I have not been ruined and I have fond memories of food and my Mom cooking dinner for our family. Some of my favourite memories are of my brother and I making cookies with my Mom in the kitchen, licking the beaters and getting a bellyache.  The thought of never giving my children that experience(ok, maybe not the bellyache), to save them from the sugar, is just selfish and I would never take that away from them.  I bake healthy stuff with them, but sometimes there needs to be birthday cake!

But enough of my ranting.  Stop feeling guilty! Don't stress, it's not worth it.  Eat together as a family.  Be a good example. Don't over think it.  You're doing an awesome job.

Chocolate Bee Pollen Bites

Bees are incredible creatures.  Not to be confused with nasty wasps (I hate those guys!), bees are wonderful creatures that are essential to our existence.  Bees are responsible for 80% of pollination. 80%!  Pretty much if you're eating fruit or veggies, you have bees to thank.  So, thank you bees.  I'll still run away screaming if you come near me, but thanks.

Bees also create honey(duh)-which is an amazing superfood.  It's antiseptic(reduces possibility of infection) and antibacterial(kills bacteria) among many other amazing properties. Healing yourself naturally never tasted so good! So it was no surprise to find out that there is yet another reason to love bees.

Bee pollen. Bee pollen is my new obsession.  It is SO good for you.  I should say that if you have intense seasonal allergies you should probably test out a little before diving right in-just to be safe.  But for the most part, bee pollen is crazy good for you.  It's the most complete food found in nature and can increase energy and stamina.  Sound intriguing?  I know! Check out this article  for all the important blah blah blah.

I'm trying to find ways to fit it into my food everywhere!  You can't cook it(well you shouldn't), so there goes a bunch of recipes. You can put it on whole grain toast with some nut butter...I usually whirl it into my morning smoothies, along with chia seeds, kefir, flax seed oil and some greens.  Talk about energy!

I wanted to find another way to weave this powerhouse into my day.  Protein bars/balls are a great way to keep things raw and are a perfect pick-me-up in the afternoon.  Here is my recipe for delicious chocolate bee pollen bites!  They can be made into bars or balls, but I was lazy and made a big tray of them.  Like most of my recipes, it's easy to throw together.  I don't like anything with too many steps because I'll most likely have to stop what I'm doing to change a diaper, clean a spill or unstick someone's something-or-other off of someone's else's thingamajig.  It happens.

Ingredients:
2 cups walnuts

3/4 cup cocoa

Heaping tablespoon bee pollen + more for dusting

2 1/2 cups pitted dates

1/4 tsp Himalayan pink sea salt

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup hemp seeds

This is a very forgiving recipe.  If you don't have that many walnuts, replace with pecans.  If you don't have sunflower seeds, use chopped almonds. If you don't have Himalayan pink sea salt, well, shame on you. Kidding. Yada yada yada, you get the idea.

Using a food processor (oh yes-you need a food processor), grind up the walnuts until they are really crumbly.

I clearly forgot to do step one before adding the rest of the ingredients in this next picture. They turned out fine. Add cocoa, bee pollen and salt. Grind it up until blended! While the machine is running, I added the dates one at a time.  Then I could monitor the stickiness.  Once it gets to a point where it sticks together in your hands, it's good. Turn the machine off before testing...I feel like I should mention that.  You can use a few more or less dates but I found this amount worked well.

I mixed all that in with some sunflower seeds and hemp seeds for some crunch.  You could add chia here or flax or nothing, whatever you have on hand!

I smushed it into a 7 x 11 pan and pressed down really hard.  Left it in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes to let it really set up and voila!  Cut it into bars and it was great all week!  This recipe is really good to freeze too so you can wrap half and leave it in the freezer if you're not going to eat it...but man, everyone in my family LOVED these. They do NOT taste like brownies. My kids made that very clear, but they still inhaled them.

Let me know what you think!  They're chocolatey, sweet and packed with energy.  And with no added sugars-these are a great snack for adults and kids. Enjoy!

Raw homemade strawberry jam

As you know, I have three kids.  So I am not very extreme when it comes to dietary restrictions.  I'm not trendy either.  I believe in eating healthy whole foods 80% of the time, including everything, omitting nothing. I am fortunate because my children have no allergies and my husband and I have no sings of any intolerance so we don't have to cut anything down or out of our daily diet.

There are a few exceptions, obviously.  I have nothing "white" in my house.  This includes white pasta, white bread, and white, refined sugar. Occasionally I will buy things that have refined sugar in them-but this is very rare.  I try to stay away from packaged foods as much as possible but come ON.  You have to live too.

Let's talk jam. Peanut butter and jam. Jam thumb print cookies. Toast and jam. Jam is delicious.  You know why?  It's full of sugar.  Delicious refined white-from your lips to your hips in a bad way-sugar.  There is usually more sugar than actual fruit in typical jarred jam off the shelf.  And if you read some of the labels, it's GLUCOSE-FRUCTOSE which is really, really bad for you.  This stuff goes straight into your bloodstream, spikes your insulin levels and then just sits in your body making fat.  This is the sneaky stuff that puts on the pounds, one tablespoon at a time.  I know-you're thinking, come on, a tablespoon of jam?  But if you take out that tablespoon of sugar from your morning yogurt, jam, bread and juice...you've saved yourself a buttload of calories.  Seriously...a buttload.

ANYHOO-Problem solved!  I have a jam solution! (and for you crazies out that that don't want to cook any of your food, it's also RAW) This jam only has three ingredients.  Three.  And you can pronounce all of them.  It's wonderful.  Shelf life is pretty low (about the same as fresh strawberries), but it's so easy to make you can make it in weekly small batches.

Here there are:

Strawberries, about 1 cup.
Honey, 1 tablespoon (preferably raw, but you know...what you HAVE) or some other natural sweetener
Chia seeds, 1 tablespoon

Mind blown?

Some of you are probably thinking "Ch-ch-ch-chia seeds?"  And yes!  Those seeds.  Now, don't go out buying the Garfield Chia head. Chia seeds are becoming much more widely available and for good reason. These little seeds are like scrub brushes for your digestive system, cleaning up everything along the way to keep your insides all shiny and new. The reason is these little wonder seeds are SUPER absorbent.  Drop a teaspoon into a glass of water and watch how they gel up.  They do this for your insides as well (so keep that in mind and drink a lot of water when consumed on their own).  I have a teaspoon or two a day.

Now that you know the ingredients, I should probably tell you how to make this jam.  It's really complicated so pay attention.


Clean the berries and cut the stems off.
Put them in a blender (I use my magic bullet).
Add a tablespoon of honey, or more-depending on the sweetness of the berries.
Add a tablespoon of chia seeds.
Blend.
Leave it in the fridge to set up overnight and enjoy with your toast the following morning.

TADA!

Amazing, right?  This jam tastes so fresh and wonderful-I know you'll like it.  And no refined sugar or junk in there.  It'll last the week (if you don't eat it all in a day) and then you can make some more! YUM!

I've gotten wicked reviews at home from this jam-my kids were SILENT.  And there was nothing left on their plates.  Best review ever.  Have a happy day!

The Perfect Mother

There is so much controversy these days regarding "The Perfect Mother". The "Pinterest" Mom, the stay-at-home Mom, the working Mom, the breastfeeding Mom, the attachment Mom, the non-attachment Mom...etc.  You probably think this is another post about a Mother saying how difficult it is to attain perfection, how I make mistakes, how I try to live up to the hype, but simply cannot. Woe is me. Wah wahh.

Well-surprise! I'm not going to say that at all.  In fact, quite the opposite.  I am going to tell you something SHOCKING.  I am the PERFECT MOTHER.  That's right, you heard it here first.  I'm absolutely perfect.

Let me toot my own horn.  My kids rock.  Obviously.  That goes without saying.  What?  You feel the same way about your OWN KIDS?  Man, that's weird...because how could your kids be anywhere as close to as good as mine?  Oh yah-because you're looking at them through your rosie pink Motherly glasses.  And to you, they are the perfect little humans you created.

I remember being pregnant with my first child and having a horrible nightmare.  I gave birth to my baby and when they put it (we didn't know the sex and my dream didn't help) in my arms, it was...HIDEOUS.  I mean really ugly.  From that point on I was terrified that when I finally gave birth in real life, this thing would be something I just couldn't possibly love.

Well surprise again!  THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE.  Once this baby boy was placed in my arms, I couldn't believe the amount of love I felt...not to mention how ridiculously beautiful he was.  And after having two more children, it's confirmed.  You can't think your own children are ugly.  It's actually physically impossible. Not that anyone could think my kids are ugly because they are stunning, but y'know.  I guess I'm slightly biased.

I am the perfect Mother because my kids are alive every single night.  That's right-EVERY NIGHT.  Take that! I am the perfect Mother because they wear clothes everyday...ok, well, SOME clothes  (possibly clean!) every day.  I am the perfect Mother because my kids have some sort of food AND liquid EVERY SINGLE DAY.  I mean it. Hard to fathom, I know.  But mostly, I am the perfect Mother because I am THEIR Mother. I am the perfect Mother for MY children. There is no one else who will love them more than me.  There is no one else who will think about them more than me...oh dear I hope not.  It would be disturbing if some stranger thought about my kids as much as I did.  Yuck.

And just as I am the perfect Mother, so are you.  All the Judgy-McJudgersons out there, making soon-to-be Moms feel guilty, just know that as soon as you have that baby in your arms, whatever you do is RIGHT. May not be right for everyone, but screw em.  You're that baby's Mom so you instantly know best.  My advice?  Go with your gut.  Stop reading books and just be the Mom that you know you are.  Don't try to change to become something you're not.  There is nothing wrong with trying something new or trying to be a "better" Mom for your kids.  But please don't try to be perfect, just to appease someone else.  It won't work and it's not worth it.  No more guilt, no more judging.  Just be Mom.  Because being your kids Mom is the best!

P.S.  Your kids won't remember anyway.

Lemon Poppyseed Yogurt muffins

My kids love to help me bake.  On a cold, cold day there is nothing better than cuddling up in the kitchen and making some muffins.  Mind you, "helping" in the kitchen usually means a BIG cleanup afterwards and eating half of the batter, but that's half the fun and I would rather they help me than be underfoot.  And I believe doing this with them creates a healthy understanding of food and gives us an opportunity to discuss where it comes from.  Love it.

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  We do not have any "white" products in our house. No white flour, no white sugar, no white pasta, no white rice or bread.  My kids don't know the difference and I like it this way.  So I substitute whole wheat flour (among others) in all my recipes and usually a cleaner sugar as well (As clean as possible...treats are treats).  This recipe is AWESOME.

 The kids love these muffins and no one knows they're a healthier version of the cakey, cupcake-like muffins that you usually find at a coffee shop.

This made 24 mini muffins and three regular muffins.  Could make 12 big regular muffins.

• 1-½ cup Flour, Whole Wheat
• 1/2 cup Organic cane sugar
• 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1-½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 pinch Salt
• 6 Tablespoons Coconut oil, Melted And Cooled
• ¾ cups Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• Zest from 1 Lemon 
• Juice from 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
• 2 whole Eggs, beaten
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Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line muffin pans with 12 paper liners(you CAN grease them like I did, but I find they are a little sticky). In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Form a well in the center and set aside.

In medium bowl, stir together the coconut oil, yogurt, vanilla, zest, and lemon juice until thoroughly combined. If it's REALLY thick, you can add a little water (by the tablespoon) to lighten it up.  Pour the liquid ingredients into the well of dry ingredients and stir to blend until batter is moistened. Fold in the eggs as best you can without completely mashing the batter. I let my son stir and if I let him continue, these would probably be little rocks.   Divide the batter evenly among the muffins cups.

I baked the mini muffins for 10 minutes and the big ones for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for a couple of minutes then transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. Like I said before, they were a little sticky and I had to nudge them out with a knife.  Worth it!  Once completely cooled, store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

After two days they're edible but....they might need some help.  From like, honey...or butter...and then the whole HEALTHY part is pretty much gone. I would make them when you know they're going to be eaten within a couple of days.

And TA-DA!  Fun in the kitchen on a cold cold winter day.  And now we can all eat muffins!
Enjoy!