A cut above the rest

As noted on my last post we have been doing some research into food and chemicals/hormones ect.

Perfectly timed, last week someone knocked on our door to ask us if we wanted a sample of ground beef. The next night they came back and we liked what we heard. We wanted to do some more research on the company first and talk to my parents as well as I felt it was something they would like as well. 

Once we sat down with my parents and went over all of the information again we decided that we were going to order. What they do is you order a whole YEARS worth of meat, veggies, fruit ect and they deliver it all at once. Then you can pay for it how ever you want. All at once, monthly, bi-weekly and weekly. The plan that we are on will allow us to have the meat for 4 nights a week (which is more than we eat meat now). I am excited for this and nervous all at once because it will be important to balance the meat out so that we don't run out before our year is up and to make the rest of the items we eat fit into a lesser budget because we will have to pay for the meat. We decided to give it a try for a year and see how it goes. Of course, I will keep you updated with the progress. I am excited about the quality of the meat and feel good feeding that to Rylee, and of course us.

Tomorrow is my husbands 27th birthday -- I just realized it's his golden birthday! Tonight we are having my family over for dessert and I am making his favourite meal...nachos...for dinner. 

Short post today! Until next time!

Fruits and Veggies

I have been doing a lot of reading lately on chemicals in food, hormones in meat, and all that fun stuff. I am shocked at some things I didn't know, like how bad storing and heating your food in plastic containers is for you. Granted I don't plan on going completely nuts as I know I will never be able to remove all of the chemicals/hormones without driving myself insane, but if I can remove even just a few I will. We switched over to glass containers for our lunch last week. I'm not quite sure how this will work when Rylee is in school -- but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I have known for a while the low calorie food that I am eating is full of chemicals, so I've been trying to change it over slowly, to foods that are more natural, even though they are higher in calories and cost. Things like yogurt for example. The yogurt with the least chemicals, highest fat, highest calories is also the most expensive. So this change has not been easy! I've definitely been taking more care to actually read the ingredients instead of just the calories, fat, fiber ect. 

For a number of months now I have not been buying certain fruits like grapes, blackberries, blue berries ect because no matter how much I wash them I can not get the awful pesticide taste off of them which leave my mouth feeling disgusting. I sure as heck was not going to be feeding that to my little girl either! 

I saw on Pinterest and then again on Facebook about soaking your fruits and veggies in the sink with 1 part vinegar to 10 parts water. Then rinsing them off and letting them air dry before storing them in the fridge. It says to keep berries in an uncovered glass bowl, apples in the fruit drawer not in a bag ect. It also says not to wash lettuce until right before you are ready to use it.

So I decided last night to give this a try. I bought some grapes, strawberries, and blueberries, along with my other usual fruit/veggies. I tasted them once I got home and instantly could taste the pesticides that left an awful taste in my mouth just as I had before. So I let them soak in vinegar and water. After rinsing them very well and air drying them I gave them a try. SO MUCH BETTER! I could still taste a tiny hint of it, so next time I would let them soak longer in hopes to remove the last little bit but I can't tell you how pleased I am with this result for such little effort. I know I am not fully removing the chemicals since they also go IN TO the fruit, but I feel much better knowing I am at least getting the majority off of them. This should even be done with organic fruit, because there are still preservatives that are used that are not healthy for you.

Along with this research I have been doing I've also been trying to come up with some new, healthy, no to low chemical food ideas for Rylee. So far my list is pretty good, but I can always use new ideas! If you have any feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a facebook message.

I am having some mama friends over this afternoon and we are going to talk about gardening as I would love to use the back space in our backyard to plant a huge vegetable garden this summer!!! I will probably start slow with a few easy vegetable until I get the hang of it the add a few more items each year.

Motherhood

It has been a very coldddd week here - temperatures reaching -40 with wind chill. It is the coldest it has ever been here as long as I have been alive. We have been spending a lot more time indoors to prevent Rylee's little skin from getting harmed or her getting sick. I have had some time to do some reading as I recently learned that I can download library books on my iPad. It has been nice to do some reading again which I haven't done in a while. I am really trying to enjoy the last few months of my maternity leave with Rylee and getting in some alone time as well.  





This morning, hubby, Rylee and I went for a quick states run. I needed to get my wedding ring checked and I wanted to get some stuff for Rylee that I have been having a very hard time finding here. I also wanted to go to Hobby Lobby to start collecting some items for Rylee's first birthday party which will be coming up soon! Here is what I have so far:

Rylee has been a lot more active lately, walking around all the time with our fingers, doing an army crawl, pulling herself up on furniture and in her crib so I have really been starting to look into baby proofing the house. I have put plugs in all of the open outlets, we have a stove lock (and will get a fridge one), and we already have baby gates. We keep a close eye on her, but that doesn't mean something can't still happen very fast. I have been doing some research on some things that we need to do in order to baby proof -- including securing all of the book shelves, and dressers in case they topple over on top of her.

I still look at Rylee in awe. I still can't believe that my husband and I created that and in my tummy none-the-less. Even during her worst moments I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love her with every fiber of my being. It is a very hard feeling to put into words as there are just no words that do it justice. We are a little family!

Today I started thinking of all the things I am looking forward to doing with Rylee as she is old, such as picnics, girly days, taking her to the Toronto Zoo, and some day Disney world. I am so lucky and blessed to be given the opportunity to be this beautiful little girls mom.

As most moms do I worry about things that could happen to her. I don't worry excessively or play the "what if" game but I am accutely aware of the fact that we never know how much time we have here on earth. Maybe I am slightly more aware of that because of my job, but I think it is a natural feeling in most moms. That doesn't mean I'm going to bubble wrap the whole house when she starts walking, never let her play on the play ground equipment, or keep her from driving (although I would do all of these things if it wasn't being overbearing). Of course as moms we want to protect our babies but we also need to respect that they need to make mistakes, scrape their knees, and learn how to deal with not always winning. I think that it breaks the hearts of moms every where when this happens but I also think it makes us strong too.

I am quite off topic when it comes to my blog, but I just am so thankful that I have this chance. What can I say?! I love being a mom! I think it was something I was just meant to do.
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I have made some yummy dishes lately:

Grilled Ceaser Salad (pinterest)

Pepper Bruchetta (the movie Julie and Julia)

Cream Spinach and Tomato Pasta (pinterest)

Homemade egg salad which I added avocado to 

And I will leave you with this picture of Rylee. This is what happens when we start to wipe her mouth and hands to signal the end of the food. Too cute!

                   

Oh! I almost forgot! I shared one of the new Tim Horton's Red Velvet cupcakes with Sean today and its was pretty good I must say! I was, however, disapointed in the small amount of frosting in it. By the looks of it there should be the amount that would be in a fruit explosion muffin, but there is only a VERY small amount. It could also just be the one we had.

2014 Goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2014 is here! I won't lie and say I saw it come in because I was in bed at 9:45 (I tried to last later honestly I did) and slept right through the entry of it - but that doesn't mean I will sleep through the rest of the year!

I know that making resolutions are very cliche and I really am not one to make resolutions but I am VERY pro goals. I love making new goals, reaching them, changing them as I go along and everything in between. I also love fresh starts, and there are two times a year that tend to be "fresh starts", September and New Years.

It is also the beginning of the first quarter of the year and I am a numbers person and like things to be even so the first of each quarter is also a good time to look at things and set some goals as well as monthly goals.

I do have a few goals that I will share with you:

1. Sean and I will be consumer debt free by the end of this year, possibly sooner, but our goal date is December 31, 2014. 

2. Get back to my goal weight.

3. Rank advance with my company.

I also have two more goals that are private and I don't care to share them on here (as much as I love you all)! 

Goals are great and all but if you don't break them down into a plan and small steps you will NEVER reach them. I have broken down each of my goals and made a list of what I need to do to reach them. I will continue to assess these goals on a monthly basis and change the plan as need be. I think the first of the month is a good time to do so. I have put this in my calendar so that I will remember to reassess them.

I also plan on watching this video often as it is a great reminder to reach for something greater: Motivation Video. 

I have also decided that I need to give up pop, for a few reasons. 

1. I don't want Rylee drinking it and don't feel that it is fair to drink it in front of her when she isn't allowed to have it.

2. There is nothing and I mean NOTHING good for you in pop - both regular and diet pop are FULL of chemicals and sugar and garbage your body does not need. 

I don't drink pop often, mostly when we go to a restaurant, but I was planning on giving it up anyways so I figured I might as well pick today to be day 1. When I am craving something with carbonation I will drink our energe drink which tastes similar to pop but is GOOD FOR ME.

I hope you make some goals to better your life in any way and more importantly make a step by step plan exactly how you will reach them.

Happy New Year again everyone.