Caprese pasta

I know... this is my third food post this week.  But, with the crazy holiday schedules coming up and all the uber decadent and indulgent food, I think it is important to mix in lighter and healthier recipes whenever possible.  This caprese pasta is so easy to make!  Let me know what you think if you try it!
Make any kind of pasta you like.  My son chose penne for us.  While the pasta is cooking, slice cherry tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.  Take a couple fresh basil leaves and roll them up before slicing.  This gives the basil a ribbon effect.  Once the pasta is ready it is time for plating.  First, put the pasta on the dish.  Second, arrange slices of mozzarella on top of the pasta.  Third, sprinkle tomatoes and basil on top.  Lastly, pour balsamic vinaigrette on top of everything and you are ready to eat!  You could also add blue cheese crumbles on top as well if you want a little extra bite. 

It is red, green, and white.  That makes this a holiday pasta dish right?  Let me know your favorite holiday pasta dish!

See you soon!
Love always

Soupy Sundays - Holiday twist

I love the holidays!  I love family and food.  Combine the two and I am set!  Making these holiday meals usually takes lots of time prepping and cooking.  Spending all that time with my family is great!  But, sometimes during a busy week or at the end of a busy holiday weekend you really want the coziness of a holiday-style meal without all the mess and fuss.  This meal is easy, delicious, and lasts for multiple meals!
In a crockpot, place your chicken or turkey breasts and thighs.  On top of the meat pour a can of golden mushroom soup.  Then take a bag of stuffing, any kind you like and mix it in a bowl with either a cream of soup or a golden mushroom.  After it is completely mixed, pour it on top of the meat on one side.  Then add frozen green beans to the other side.  Again, pour a can of cream of or golden mushroom soup on top of the green beans.  If you want you can stir those as well, but I usually stir them throughout the cooking process.  I usually am running late, so I like to cook this on high for 4 hours.  And then you just wait for the crockpot to work it's magic!

I also love fried onions on top of my green beans.  Yum! 

Do you have a meal that you just love eating, but wish it was easier to make on a regular basis?  Would love to hear it!

See you soon!

Love always

Avocado Breakfast

Usually during the week I am a grab and go kind of breakfast girl.  But on the weekends, breakfast is my favorite meal that I love to slow down with.  It also looks really fancy if you want to impress guests for brunch.  Just don't tell them how easy it was!  The smoked salmon, avocado, egg combo is salty and creamy... just delicious!  I suggest getting large long avocados as the "well" seems to shrink with the addition of the smoked salmon. 
While heating the oven to 350*, cut your avocados in half and remove the seed.  Place avocados hole side up on a aluminum covered baking sheet.  place smoked salmon in the "well."  I really like smoked salmon, so I use a little extra.  After pushing the smoked salmon down, crack one egg in a bowl and then pour it into the avocado "well."  It will overflow, but please don't worry.  Just try to keep most of the yoke in the "well" and the white on top.  This is when the size of your avocado is most important.  Place in the oven and cook until the egg is done to your preference.  I like mine a little runny to dip my toast into. 

What is your favorite weekend breakfast?  Do you like runny eyes for your toast?  So yummy!!  Would love to hear if you enjoy this delicious meal!

 

See you soon!

Love always

Fitness Update: Braving the Spin

After a couple months getting my footing with the Barre Pilates class I have been taking, a friend of mine convinced me to take a spin class with her.  Well really she said "I took this class with you and now you have to take a spin class with me."  hahaha  I know what a bunch of you are thinking.  I am clumsy walking on a good day.  How would I ever walk away from a spin class in one piece.  My only hope was that the class is on stationary bikes. 
One of the aspects of Barre Pilates I love is the easy gear.  During the warmer months I would show up in flip-flops.  The mat and bands are all provided for me.  This is not the case for spin.  My friend was so happy showing me her cool spin shoes that were made to clip right onto the bike and special spin shorts that contain extra cushion in the tushy section for a more comfortable class.  She then informed me that my bum was probably going to be quite sore tomorrow. 
And in comes the doubt.  Was this actually going to be a fun workout or a form of torture?  I was really starting to get concerned.
We were among the first people into the spin room.  After deciding on bikes, I opted for one near the fan, I learned that not only does the seat move up and down and forward and back, but the hand part moves multiple ways too!  It was starting to become overwhelming and then the instructor came in.  She took extra time to make sure I was comfortable and correct in my pose on the bike.  After ensuring that I was secure she also told me a little about the class.  She showed me different techniques she would be calling out to the class.  She started going over the jumps.  Yes, you heard correctly.  Spin class is about doing jumps and sprints on stationary bikes. 
Thankfully one thing I have learned about group fitness classes is that the instructors are there to facilitate the push, but also offer easier alternatives to make everything doable even for a beginner like myself.
The spin class lasted for 1 hour.  It was such a rush!  The instructor choreographer the "ride" to go with the music.  We did sprints, jumps, hills, and long climbs all based on the resistance we set on our own bike.  It was great.  I felt the cardio burn and the sweat, but had a blast learning something new.  The jumps are no joke!  They are timed like dance moves and are quick and controlled.  And they really work your legs!
I am so glad my friend pushed me to take the spin class with her.  I plan on joining her again next week.  It was such a different class, but I loved the challenge!
And yes, in case you are wondering, my bum killed the next day. 
Have you ever taken a spin class or ever thought of taking one but got too scared?  Do you have another cardio class you love that you think I should try?  Would love to hear from you!

See you soon!
Love always

Real life, Real food - Our Lifesaver!!

While looking for my beloved time savers, I found our actual life saver.  If Zoe is having a toddler moment and doesn't really want to eat or we are having a busy day running around and I want to ensure she is getting carbs, I almost always turn to this product.  This product is so easy for Zoe to eat.  It has 33g of carbs, 4g of protein, and 20% of Iron.  And after much build up, the product that we live by is, drum roll please...  Beech-Nut Just apple and red bean.

Along with being a great baby.  As Zoe grows up, this product will grow with her as well... everyone loves applesauce! 

As always, I am not a nutritionist or have any type of medical degree.  I am just a mom trying give my kids the best and as normal as possible lives they can have.  Hope our discoveries help other families get closer to that goal as well. 

Do you have a "go-to" product that your family lives by?  Would love all help we can share!

See you soon!
Love always

Real Life, Real Food - Drink It Up

All moms worry about what their kids are eating and drinking.  As a mom of a child with CHI I worry about nutrition and carbs.  Adding the complication of anemia and I am basically a crazy person for labels.  With all of this in mind, I found an easy and yummy way to insure Zoe gets all the carbs and nutrition she needs.  Our answer is drinks.

After Zoe has her iron medicine, she can not have dairy for 2 hours to help with absorption.  So we had to find a new drink for her morning and night time bottles.  We could use juice, but both nutritional and carbs are lacking.  Finally we found Naked Juice.  Many of Naked Juices are dairy-free and all of them taste great.  Zoe's favorites are Green Machine and Peachy Almond.

Hope this helps you get nutrients (and carbs if your little one needs) into your little loves.  Do you have any tricks?  I would love to hear.  All help is great!

See you soon!

Love always

Soupy Sunday's Veggie Soup

Nothing warms me up on a cold autumn day than soup.  I love making a huge pot and eating it for the whole week.  It also freezes well.  Being super lazy, this helps me make healthier choices when I am hungry and in a hurry.  If you would like to try it, here is how I make my veggie soup.

Ingredients:
1 yellow onion
1 bag of small yellow potatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can northern beans
3 boxes vegetable broth
1 bag frozen green beans
1 bag frozen corn
1 bag Manishevitz Vegetable Soup
Mini pasta

The best part about this soup is how easy it is to change and add anything.  Instead of yellow potatoes you could add russet or sweet.  If you like other beans or veggies, throw those in.  Please make this your favorite veggie soup.

First sauté the onion in your soup pot.  After that add the rest of the ingredients except the mini pasta. I love mini pastas.  I think they are so cute!  Let the soup heat up and meld into yumminess.  After a bit, add the pasta to boiling soup.  After cooking for the amount of time to cook the noodles, enjoy!

I love mine with lots of pepper, so it actually looks like this. 

Would love to hear if you like try the soup.  If you also like soups, please let me know your favorite!  Always looking for new recipes to try!

See you soon!

Love always

Scheduling Motivation

With the start of a new week I have set myself a new goal.  No more excuses.  I have told myself this time and time again.  So I had to think "what is different this time?"  How can I make this stick?
Hopefully I have found a way around my excuses.  My new motivation is scheduling!  The rest of my life is crazy scheduled between my husband's work and band, Skyler's school, homework, and extra-curriculums, Zoe's doctor appointments and play dates, my parents, and life's errands and responsibilities.  I just need to start making working out and my health a responsibility as well.
This week is going to be my planning time.  I am going to figure out walking with some other moms I have been walking with, figuring out what group fitness classes I want to take and then I am going to schedule them into the family calendar.  I am going to make mommy unavailable for set times each week.  Fingers crossed!
Have you ever tried this?  I sort of feel anxious taking this time for myself.  Would love any encouragement you have!  Please leave a comment below.
See you soon!
Love always

Anemia

As I mentioned in a previous post, not only does Zoe have CHI, but she is currently overcoming Anemia.  While on this journey three things have really helped.
The first is to understand what Anemia is.  The type of Anemia Zoe has is iron-deficiency.  According to her doctors, Anemia (iron-deficiency) is on the rise for babies between 9-20 months.  Preemies and babies who drink more than 24oz of milk (at Zoe's age) are also at higher risk.  Preemies are born with less iron and milk actually blocks iron intake.  Milk also fills babies up so they have less room to eat potentially iron-rich foods. Zoe was preemie at 33.5 weeks and drank too much milk.
To add to Zoe's complications foods high in iron are not usually high in carbohydrates.  Thankfully the team working and helping Zoe is amazing.  Doctors call frequently to check up and one doctor actually stayed on the phone with me to brainstorm foods that Zoe would like that would support sugars and iron.  I hope everyone finds such a supportive team.
The second is to not blame myself.  As parents we want to protect our kids.  In this pursuit, we will stumble at times.  My stumble was focusing so hard on carbs that I overlooked other nutrients.  As a new mom with a CHI baby, I am learning that all foods are not created equally.  I have to remind myself that my intention was to protect Zoe from low sugars.  I can't carry around guilt for an accident.
Thirdly, drink water.  This goes for everyone.  I know this sounds so crazy, but it is important.  Keeping yourself hydrated will help keep you healthy and strong so your focus can remain on life.  I always try to keep water with me.  Especially my lemon water.  I also started giving Zoe water.  Everyone who heard she was taking iron warned me of two things: black poop and constipation.  And yes, the black poop is no joke.  When I was pregnant my doctor reminded me all the time, hydration helps with constipation.  I think giving her a little water throughout the day really helped combat the constipation.  Please consult your Pediatrician before offering your child water.
I hope maybe these insights into our Anemia journey help.   Did your child overcome or is overcoming Anemia?  Did anything really help you?  I would love to hear!

What do I do now?

Being a mom and trying to add cardio to my life is so difficult when hurricanes decide to dump meters of rain for days on end.  As you know from one of my previous posts, I love taking walks with my kids.  They both love looking at nature and I think it is great for kids to be outside as much as possible.  But this weather is making excuses so easy!
For the past few days I have been relying on my Fitbit to keep me going.  I have the Flex and I love it.  Not only is it great that I can change the bracelet to match my outfit or day, but I can also keep track of how many steps I take each day.  I find that being able to look and see that I have only stepped 1,000 steps or less than a mile really motivates me to get up and move.  I try to find different ways to move whether it is cleaning, doing laundry, or playing a more active game with the kids.
I also really love the competitions on Fitbit!  I am a competitive person, so seeing my husband ahead of me in steps really makes me want to get up and move.  Thankfully he is layed back enough to not mind my victory dances.
The only thing I wish was available is a stroller option.  Fitbit figures out steps by movement, so pushing a stroller is not always picked up.  Maybe it could be another option with the hands.  A person could choose between dominant, non-dominant, and stroller.  I am sure there are other times in life that a person walks a bunch, but does not move his or her arm very much.

Do you have a fitness tracker?  Does it have a stroller option?  How do you like it? Please leave comments and let me know.

See you soon!
Love always

Challenging Myself

The other day I challenged myself to overcome one of my greatest fears.  For me, it is starting something new and venturing into the unknown.  Even when I was younger I had this fear.  As a swimmer, I was always the last person to jump into the pool for warm-up.  I knew that I was dry and warm on land and that jumping into the pool would make me cold and wet.  The hardest part of practice was just starting.
After talking about trying to get back into shape by walking and watching what I am eating, I decided to try a group fitness class at my gym.  The class I chose was a barre pilates class.  Not only have I never taken a group fitness class, unless you include swim practice, I have also never learned barre or pilates.  I have heard all about how amazing both exercises are and how they will help me get into shape by toning up and working on flexibility. 
Even after walking in and starting the class I was still nervous.  I felt very self-conscious.  What if I messed up or couldn't even do the moves?!  I think I was also the largest person in the class.
While watching myself for 45 minutes in a mirror didn't really help me feel better about my size, but I did feel better about me at the end of the class.  I didn't do all the positions correctly and I couldn't do all of the moves, but the instructor was so helpful and encouraging.  She always gave alternatives to the entire group as an option for everyone and would explain the movement again if I was having difficulties.
The ladies in the class were also wonderful.  After the class most of the ladies came up to me and gave very encouraging comments.  "That was a great first day!"  and "You did great!"  were a blessing to hear when I felt everything but great. 
So happy that I went to the group fitness class and learned some barre pilates.  I know I am going to feel the workout tomorrow.  Hopefully I will make this a weekly adventure.
Do you have any of these fears?  Have you tried to overcome them as well?  How did you feel during and afterwards?  If you also are doing barre, pilates, or both and want to share your experiences with me I would love to hear!  Also would you like to hear more about my journey to getting back into shape?  Would you like to join me?  Maybe every week we can check in and encourage each other? 

See you soon!

Love always

Quick waters

I love flavored water.  But as a mom, I have no time to cut fresh fruit and remove all of the seeds to add to my water.  I have come up with a couple of easy shortcuts to make flavored water easier and faster for a mom on the go whether it is to work or after kids.  

Lemon water is full of health benefits.  It helps with detoxing and cleansing our insides.  Lemons are also the hardest to prep for water.  One time I actually counted 17 seeds in 3 slices of lemon!  Thankfully I found Minute Maid 100% Pure Lemon Juice.  I really like that it is just lemon juice and water and the bottle is 7.5fl oz.  This size makes it last longer and is more cost effective than those little lemon juice bottles in the produce section.  Also, this juice comes frozen and lives in my fridge, so I think it stays fresher longer.

My next shortcut is for anyone who likes fruity waters.  We always keep frozen fruit in our freezer.  These double in use for waters and smoothies.  Skyler loves berries in his water.  He also loves really cold water, so the fruit doubles as ice cubes to keep the water extra cold for him.

On my Pinterest page I have a whole board on different combinations of fruit and herbs to help give inspiration to try new flavors.  Do you have a favorite combo I should try?  Please let me know!  I love trying new ones!  Also, if you use either of my shortcuts, please let me know.  Would love to hear if they help you too!

See you soon!

Love always

Real life, Real food

One of the biggest parts of my day is trying to feed Zoe.  When she was born she was diagnosed with Congenital Hyperinsulinism.  While she does take medicine to help her body balance sugars, we also watch carbs to balance as well.  I sometimes joke that she could live off pizza and birthday cake and be great.  I feel like I am learning nutrition (and a the rest of a medical degree) by fire.  As a mom we always want the best nutrition for our kids while saving time so that we might be able to sit down and enjoy the meal with our loved ones.  I love short cuts! If you have any for the kitchen please share! Here are some of my short cuts that I use for Skyler and Zoe for a usual breakfast.

Both of my kids love eggs.  While Skyler usually has scrambled eggs on the weekend, we always have the Eggland's Best hard boiled eggs in our fridge.  The are so useful!  For school days I send them in Skyler's lunch bag.  He will not eat sandwiches and there is a no peanut or sesame rule at our school, so these give him great protein that he will actually eat.  These are also easier for Zoe to eat.  She is not a huge fan of scrambled, but loves eating the same as her big brother.

With the eggs Skyler had a bagel with cream cheese.  This is also a staple in his lunch bag and an all time fave.  Bagels are a little chewy and thick for Zoe, so she eats a slice of buttered toast.  Pepperidge Farm breads have above average amounts of carbs and taste great!  We love the honey wheat. 

We finish off breakfast with watermelon, another good carb for Zoe, and blueberries.  I know this might not be the most nutritious breakfast or very large.  I am not a dietician.  I am a mom feeding her kids.  Maybe my shortcuts help another mom? Or maybe you have a shortcut that will help me?  Have a great morning!

See you soon!
Love always

A little pamper

With the changing of seasons my skin becomes so dry it is pretty painful.  So, last night I decided to pamper my skin with a Karuna face mask.  I used the hydrating, serum-infused cloth mask.  

My skin is pretty sensitive to products, but I love this mask.  It smells so light and relaxing.  I could really feel it moisturizing deep down.  The instructions said to wear the mask for 10-20 minutes.  I ended up wearing it for about 20-25.  When I took it off my skin felt almost plump from the added moisture and so much better!

Afterwards I moisturized with myFirst Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream Intense Therapy.  Such a great moisturizer.  I love how versatile it is.  I can use it anywhere on my body that feels dry for some extra moisture.  

Do you have a favorite sheet mask I should try? Or a moisturizer that helps you get through the dry autumn and winter? I would love to try it!

See you soon!
Love always

Working it

The reality of all mommies is getting back into shape.  I will be totally honest and admit that I wasn't too motivated to work out at first.  I was more focused on the health challenges of Zoe and exhaustion.
But recently I have been trying to slim down and get my energy back.  A couple days a week I do meet with other mommies in the community to walk and motivate each other.  My favorite cardio is taking walks with Zoe.  She drinks her bottle and looks around oooh and aaahhing and things she finds interesting.  Skyler loves rocks and it seems Zoe is amazed by leaves.

She totally does not appreciate the effort.

But she loves looking around.  Especially at Mommy!

Today I walked 3 miles in about 50 minutes.  Each mile was about  17.5 minutes long.  Not my fastest, but still a good time.  I wish FitBit had a "pushing stroller with toddler" exercise function.  It is definitely a great workout!
Listening to music is a must while walking.  I feel like I walk longer and faster to the beat of the music.  Spotify has some great playlists for cardio. I found one that is cardio for bpm and it is so helpful to keep my pace going!  Do you listen to a fave song?  Any tips for keeping the motivation going?
See you soon!
Love always

Hello!

A little about me.

I am a stay-at-home mommy.  Our almost eight year old, Skyler, is in his first month of third grade.  Zoe, our twenty month old is learning and growing every day.  I never realized how true it was until Zoe was born, but siblings are so different! Even their pregnancies we're day and night.  Skyler is blond hair, golden skin, perfect health, and bursting with energy.  Zoe is dark hair, olive skin (my husband's Italian heritage), always in and out of doctor offices, and so happy and chill.
Zoe has congenital hyperinsulinism or CHI for short.  Basically her pancreas produces insulin nonstop.  This, as well as being six and a half weeks early and having pulmonary hypertension in the NICU add up to many challenges in Zoe's life.  While taking her blood sugars multiple times a day, I often think "my poor baby," but seeing her infectious smile reminds me that if she can smile and laugh while living through this, I can too.
I hope this gives you a little intro into my life.
See you soon!
Love always