Fruit-Flies. My arch nemesis.

I don't know about you guys, but in my house, I have a lot of fruit. I mean, it's summer time and the fruit is abundant! Yummy, juicy, delicious FRUIT!! Ah, I just eat it up I love it so. Okay, so I said all of that to say this: You know what comes with all that glorious fruit in your house? Fruit flies. Aka the scum of the earth. The dirtiest of beings. The smallest, biggest problem in my home throughout the summer months. Just, ew! Fruit flies are highly frowned upon in this establishment. I really don't understand their purpose at all, but I'm not gonna start asking God silly things like that...I'm just gonna lead them to temptation, and then their demise.

I've seen a few suggestions on ways to attract and ultimately murder fruit flies. All of them are pretty simple, so one day I got so fed up with the little demons that I thought, "Tis time! Let the scheming  begin!" I was dead serious, too. I think I used a British accent in my mind (and possibly out loud as well.) My plan was to try 3 different methods and see which one worked best. And since I had a small colony of the little buggers, I thought I might as well give it my all in an attempt to wipe out the whole population. Muahaha!!

The three methods that I chose to use are as follows:

Phone photography is terrible. Breaking out the Nikon ASAP.

1. The "beer and plastic wrap" method. For this experiment, you take a small container fill it about half way full with a fruity-ish beer and then add a bit of dish soap and swirl it around. Cover the container tightly with plastic wrap and then take a toothpick and poke a couple of holes in it, just big enough so that the tiny vermin can get in and get trapped! Apparently, these things are incredibly dense, and they can find their way into this mixture but they can't find their way out. Works for me! 
2. The "white wine vinegar and dish soap" method. This is pretty much the same as the beer method, just with vinegar. According to Google, fruit flies are attracted to fermented fruits (or fruits that are in the process of being over-ripe.) So beer and vinegar (even wine) are good liquids to use for fruit fly booby traps, because fermentation. You follow the same process as the first method: fill it a little over half full, add some dish soap, and a splash of water, and then cover it with plastic wrap and poke holes. Little dummies, I can't believe they can't figure their way out of this. 
3. The "non-stick spray and a paper plate" method. This one seemed odd, and I didn't have very much confidence in it, but for kicks and giggles, I tried it. So, what you do is take a paper plate and spray it with non-stick oven spray. You go over to the landing zone of the flies and get them all stirred up and flying around. Then, when they least expect it, you take the plate with the spray and start waving it in the area. The flies stick and they can't fly away. Boom! I did this one as I was moving the fruit around in my container that sits on my counter, and I actually landed a few hits! I assured myself that the survivors would be lured in by my other two methods, so I let them escape. 

At the end of the day, the winner is...White Wine Vinegar. There was seriously no comparison! The beer mix had 2 flies in it, though so it wasn't a complete failure. But the vinegar mix had TEN flies in it. TEN!!! I did a fantastic happy dance. I tried to whip, and hurt my nae nae. I'm so glad that I know what to do at the first sign of these critters from now on! All hail vinegar!! ;-) 

Oh, I also left the two containers out over night after I took this photo, and the next day the total count was Beer: 5 Vinegar:14!!!!! I'd love to know any tricks you guys have tried too!! 

All my love, 

Paige xo

Fed Up Challenge! Day 2.

I...have a confession. I messed up! But I can explain! I woke up at 4:00am today because my new puppy had made a (very smelly, disgusting) mess in his crate. So I had to get him out, clean the crate and then clean the dog. All before the sun came up! >.<

So, my husband always makes a pot of coffee before he leaves for work at 5am. I lost my mind, you guys! I just totally blacked out. I'm gonna blame it on lack of sleep. But this happened...

Whoops!!! ;-)

Okay, so I clearly came to my senses before I drank the whole cup, because I took this picture. But that didn't stop me, it was already too late to go back. It's like placing a bottle of Jack in front of an alcoholic. I had zero control! But anyway, here's how the rest of the day went...

Breakfast:

Spinach, feta, mushroom omelette

1 small apple

(and obviously my boo-boo, coffee. Sorry, not sorry.)

Snack:

Cottage cheese 

4 sliced strawberries

Lunch:

Sandwich made with: 

Ezekiel bread, Boar's Head Smoked Turkey, lettuce, spicy mustard and tomato

1 sliced red bell pepper

Handful of grapes

Dinner:

Pan seared scallops

Roasted summer squash

Roasted asparagus with shaved parmesan 

Handful of blueberries for a sweet treat

• Side note: if and when you make scallops, here's a few tips: fill the skillet with olive oil and get your skillet pretty dang hot (medium high heat until the oil barely starts to smoke). Wait to make the scallops until the very last minute, because that's seriously all the time it takes! You pat them dry, season them with salt and pepper and a little garlic powder on one side, then place them in the pan. Watch the clock for 1.5 minutes, flip them to the other side for 1.5 minutes and get those babies out of there. Voila! 

Oh, my. Delicious you guys!! 

The kids were kind of off and on today. I'm almost totally out of fruit, so I'm going to be making a second trip to the store probably tomorrow! But I did what I was supposed to do...mostly! And today, there were no headaches. But I did feel good and I had more energy than usual, which was unexpected since I woke up so early! I'm really liking this so far! :-)

All my love,

Paige xo

Fed Up Challenge! Day 1

Well, I woke up this morning already dreading this for one reason only: I knew I couldn't have my coffee with Splenda and Italian Creme creamer. So that just had me in a bad mood anyway! However, after I put my big girl panties on, I looked in the fridge to decide what I wanted to make for breakfast. I've been on a low carb diet (not very strict) for a long time, so when I opened the fridge and saw that it was full of fruit, I thought seriously about eating every single bit of it until it was all gone! That's the bad thing about low carb, you can't eat fruit. So, I've missed it. A LOT. Eventually I stopped drooling and went to work on the meal:

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs with avocado and homemade salsa 
1 slice of Ezekiel bread
A handful of blackberries (one of my favorites!)
3-4 sliced strawberries

• My kids will eat all of these things as well, so this one was a big win for me. However, Ezekiel bread is found in the freezer section of your stores so once it's thawed out the texture is very different from regular sliced bread; it isn't very soft. It seems better if you warm it in the microwave for a few seconds! Maybe that was all in my mind? I'll never know. But, like I said I've been doing low carb for so long that I was happy to eat a slice of bread, regardless of the texture! And fruit...Amen. 

Snack

Handful of almonds 
Handful of grapes
2-3 cubes of cheese 

• The kids (especially my 4 year old) snack ALL day long. My plan was to just offer them cheese or fruit when snack time rolled around but as the day went by, I realized that I would be out of fruit before the day ended if I did that. So, I caved for them and gave them yogurt (stop judging me) and some crackers with almond butter. I am bound and determined to stick to this, so my snack that I listed above, was different.

Lunch 

White bean, garlic tapenade hummus
2 celery stalks 
Handful of baby carrots
1/2 sliced cucumber 

• I wasn't really all that hungry at lunch time, so I just went with more of an appetizer approach with the hummus dip and veggies. It was still good though! No complaints. My 1 year old had a smashed sweet potato and my 4 year old had a grilled cheese with sharp cheddar that I grated and Ezekiel bread with some grapes. The bread is still an adjustment for him! 

Dinner  

Baked chicken breasts (marinated in Olive oil and spicy brown mustard, salt & pepper)
Sautéed veggies (zucchini, squash, cauliflower, carrots) with Italian seasoning
Brown rice with Olive oil, garlic powder, and chopped sautéed onion

• I totally forgot to add brown rice to the grocery list post that I made yesterday! But that is allowed in small portions. This meal was REALLY good. Both my kids like rice, and my youngest loved the veggies. But again, my oldest insisted upon eating something else: Annie's Alfredo and Pasta (this has about 4g of sugar for a cup of cooked pasta and sauce, so it's not TERRIBLE.) But he's definitely going to be the one that I'm going to have to ease into this change more so than anyone else. At least he didn't eat pizza or chicken nuggets, I suppose. And when he asked for dessert, he was completely satisfied to have strawberries! Yay! 

Overall, I was happy with how the day went. I didn't get off track at all, and I'm really the one who is focused on seeing how this whole "diet" makes me feel. So I'm the test subject, and as long as I stay the course, it'll all be okay! I'll say that I have had a headache today. I think this is just from skipping the coffee that I usually drink in the morning. If I don't drink it at home, I go order an iced coffee from Starbucks. So this was the first full day I've had in a while without coffee/Splenda/creamer. I'm just going to chalk it up to that! If I get really desperate, I may try drinking my coffee black tomorrow, but we will just have to see! I will add that it's nice to go an entire day and know that you've eaten nothing but fresh, whole foods and that your kids have (mostly) done the same. So if for no other reason than that, I'm happy with today!! Also, I'll try to remember to take pictures of the food we eat on Day 2, sorry! ;)

All my love,
Paige xo

Fed Up Challenge! Shopping list.

I watched a documentary on Netflix not long ago called Fed Up. This film discusses the issue of childhood obesity and its causes. Namely processed foods and SUGAR. I watch plenty of documentaries on Netflix. My queue is full of them, and everyone thinks I am super weird. But let me say, if you only watch one documentary in your life, watch this one. Especially those of you who have kids! I thought that I was really doing things right, and buying good foods for my kids, making better choices than just chips and candy, and that I was a step ahead of the game. Nope.

Apparently there is so much sugar in ALL of the foods we generally buy that you wouldn't really even think about. Like bread, for instance. I think of carbs, yes. But not added sugar! I let my kids eat oatmeal quite a bit for breakfast..loaded with sugar! And wow, salad dressings and condiments are probably the most mind boggling. You know how everyone got obsessed with "Low fat/Low calorie" foods? Well, guess what they added to those things when they took out the fat? SUGAR. So, in reality these products are worse for you than full fat options because of the way our bodies process them. Oh! Milk also has about 6g of sugar per 8oz! And, this probably goes without saying, but soda is a HUGE no-no. Even (and almost especially) the diet ones. This film discourages any artificial sugars. Say goodbye to Splenda, and the like! Wahhhhh! How will I live without my coffee, sweetener, and creamer?!?

Apparently we are only supposed to consume 4g of sugar a day to be healthy! This is starting to get tricky, right? At the end of the film they encourage you to take the Fed Up Challenge, which means no processed foods, added sugars, or fast food. It's a 10 day clean-eating challenge, and basically you can only eat vegetables, very few whole grains, fruit, nuts, and lean meats and proteins. All of these need to be organic and with no added sugar or flavors. And you can only drink water. Seems okay. Until you get to the store and start to check labels!! Nuts can have added sugar, deli meat has added sugar, peanut butter has added sugar...forget about yogurt, cereal, oatmeal, and most bread. After reading A LOT of labels and spending about an hour and a half in the grocery store, this is the list that I came up with for good/acceptable foods:

Produce:
Apples
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Strawberries
Blackberries
Blueberries
Grapes
Lemon
Spinach
Salad mix
Avocado
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Peppers
Cucumbers
Celery
Zucchini
Squash
Bag of baby carrots (for dipping)
(Basically, almost anything in this category goes)

Meats:
Salmon
Scallops
Shrimp
Chicken breasts
Chicken tenders
Ground turkey and chicken
 LEAN, SUGAR FREE deli meat (Boar's Head seemed to be the best)

Dairy:
Cottage cheese
Eggs (lots of eggs)
Most cheeses are fine. I went with fresh mozzarella because I can generally eat it on anything.
Block of Monterrey jack (to cut up for snack)
Hummus (check labels!!) or make your own!

Miscellaneous:
Dry roasted all natural almonds
Olive oil/Vinegar (to make your own dressing, add lemon if you like)
Seeds
Ezekiel Bread 4:9 (they also have a few pasta and wrap options if you need those!)
Bags of frozen veggies (for quick dinner sides)


This was just my list that I used on my shopping trip. I'm sure if you put more time and effort into it, there are plenty more options! So, here goes nothing!! Next post will be about my Day 1 meals and how I'm feeling after cutting out the sugars and processed things. I'm excited! Let me know if you're following the challenge along with me!!

All my love,
Paige xo

Oops!! What to do when you over-salt your food.

Today, I decided to make a side dish that I have made 100 or more times before: mashed cauliflower. It's like mashed potatoes but minus the carbs! It's also delicious, generally...unless you salt the ever-loving daylights out of it! Which I did this time. Oops!!

I made salmon, mashed cauliflower, and fried zucchini and squash. Everything was great, other than the cauliflower! I killed it. Not in a good way.

All the pepper in the world wasn't gonna help me this time.

Somehow, my family managed to take a couple of bites of each of our helpings at dinner, but mostly, we didn't like it! However, my one-year-old loves to eat this stuff, so I made enough to last for a day or two. I didn't want to waste an entire head of cauliflower! So, I separated helpings into different bowls and decided to add different things to take the salty taste away. I had no time to go to the grocery store, so I had to turn to what I already had in my cabinets. Which was: NOT MUCH.

My first thought was to add more sour cream. I did that, and it didn't do much! Almost made it worse. So I got creative.

• To one bowl I added, brace yourselves, baby food. The exact flavor was sweet potato. It was simple! I just opened a jar of plain baby food and mixed it in. 
• To another bowl I added a microwavable bag of plain brown rice. This defeated the whole "low carb" purpose of mashed cauliflower, but I went with it. 
• To the last bowl, I added avocado. I know, the color is gonna be weird, but bear with me. 

The common factor among all of these added ingredients is this: they don't have much individual flavor! They need salt, or garlic powder, or any other type of seasoning. They all actually worked out. My personal favorite was the avocado. But if you are not worried about carbs at all, the rice was a great option! Baby food was fine as well, but, you know...it's baby food. The baby food was actually my sons least favorite as well. He liked the avocado (one of his favorite foods!) So he clearly has a very sophisticated palate. Ha! ;)  

These additions are just what I had on hand, readily available in my pantry, so that's what I used. The key (in my opinion) is to just find the most bland food that you have, and mix it. Sometimes in soups, the suggestion is to add cream. In a soup that is fine because the texture is already pretty much a liquid. But in something like mashed cauliflower, I had to think a bit because I definitely did NOT want it to be runny...Ew! So these are the options that I came up with in a pinch! Hope these help! 

All my love,

Paige xo

Better Snacking - for Kids.

I don't know about you and your family, but mine LOVES to snack. My four-year-old will ask for something to snack on about every hour or hour and a half. It's nuts! But here's the catch: He is so picky! I kid you not, this child would eat macaroni and cheese for every meal (including breakfast) if I would let him. And he has a serious sweet tooth. Do you see where I'm going, mommies? FRUSTRATING.

Exhibit A: Eating brownie batter. 

Now, my one-year-old will eat anything placed in front of him. And that includes the cat food, inanimate objects, and chalk. So, I am very blessed that in his case, I don't have to fix specific foods or cater to him the way that I do with my older son, because he eats whatever we eat. Phew!

Exhibit B: Eating chalk.

I got lazy for a time. I was letting my older son eat junk and have pretty much whatever he wanted! After a less-than-perfect dental visit, I decided to get serious and cut back majorly on sugar and on the processed junk he was eating. I got on Pinterest (surprise, surprise) and looked up healthy recipes. Some worked, some failed! Maybe I'll do a post on some of the successful recipes later. But this is about snacks! A lot of the organic, healthy snacks I have tried with my son have been a colossal waste of money. i.e. Whole wheat waffles - yeah right! But I took a picture of my tried and true snack favorites and I'll give a few tips on how and when I use them as well.

I'll start with the most important one (to my son): Annie's Mac & Cheese

• I love Annie's because of the ingredients they use AND because of all the different options they have with snack foods and quick meals. They have vegan, grass fed, organic, and a million different types of cheese flavors and added flavors. So it's easy to change things up. I usually buy the box with 6 individual packets to microwave, because my son WILL NOT eat reheated mac & cheese. He loves them, I love them, and there are no processed ingredients at all. Score!

Next up, Stonyfield yoKids Yogurt

• These things taste SO good. I eat them sometimes (shh, don't tell the kids!) They're a bit pricey, but when you can go on their website and view the source where they got the fruit, I'm in. Again, they have a ton of different flavors and different sorts of packaging (squeeze, "go-gurt", and cups). We also like to throw one in the freezer overnight and then the next day he has it as a popsicle! They have a yoBaby version as well, and my one-year-old loves them. 

Horizon Snack Grahams

• This is one of those "treats" that I have tried many times to find healthy versions, and have failed. Finally, I found these Horizon "snack grahams" aka Teddy Grahams. They have a great chocolate flavor, they don't really taste healthy, but again, the ingredients are great! These particular snacks are made with organic wheat and natural cocoa powder. They are part of an organization which prohibits GMOs, so you never have to worry about that either. I'll give him a few of these after dinner or lunch if he eats all of his meal. 

Fairlife Whole Milk

• I cannot say enough good things about this product! I love it so much. It's relatively new to stores, but now that I've tried it, I'll never buy anything else, even though it is costly. It's "ultra filtered" milk. So their concept was to create a filter that separated the ingredients of all-natural, straight from the cow milk. Those things are: lactose, protein, fat, vitamins & minerals, and water. With this method, they can add or take away whatever they like. So, they take out the lactose and add more protein and vitamins! That way, you're still drinking whole organic milk, but don't have to worry about lactose intolerance and you're getting double the protein of soy or regular milk. Plus, it tastes SO good. And I don't even like milk. I poured my husband a glass of it one morning and he came back to me and said, "What kind of milk is that? It's awesome whatever it is." So, need I say more?  

Silk Chocolate Soy Milk

• I felt like I should place this after the Fairlife milk because this is one of those things that I only give my son once every now and then, whereas he can drink the regular milk daily. I like that it's "plant based" protein, but that's really all that stands out about it other than the taste, it is delicious. It's nice for a treat! However, now that we have tried (and fallen in love with) Fairlife, we will probably buy their chocolate milk version from now on. 

Justin's Almond Butter

• I have a confession...I probably added this to the list because I love it so much, and I eat it regularly. But, I add it to my sons smoothies and oatmeal, and he loves it too, he just doesn't really know it! This stuff is definitely expensive ($11.25 per jar) but there are only four ALL NATURAL ingredients: Almonds, maple sugar, palm fruit oil, and sea salt. Wonderful! Now, most peanut butter doesn't have a ton of ingredients, but the key here is that Justin's ingredients are all natural-organic. 

Greek Gods Honey-Vanilla Yogurt

• This stuff has been GREAT! And the biggest reason why I bought it was because my son loves to eat cereal (yuck!) But as you know, cereal doesn't really fill you up. So he would eat a bowl, then 30 minutes later he was starving. I decided to try this: a parfait with cereal. I layer the yogurt and a bit of cereal, then yogurt, then cereal and give it to him with a spoon. It's way more filling and the yogurt has some good components as well. Granted, this is a sugary meal, but I figure it's better to give it to him this way than for him to be eating 3 bowls of cereal a day and still feel hungry.
• I also want to add Stoneyfield Organic French Vanilla yogurt.  This one has a few less carbs and sugar, so I try to use it when I feel like my son has had a little too much of the Greek Gods yogurt. 

Quest Bars

• These are a new thing I am trying. And so far, I really like them. I started eating them because of their low net carb value, but then I researched the ingredients and saw that it's actually a really good set up. I don't give my son a whole bar, ever. While most of the ingredients are wonderful, it's still an artificial sugar. But, when he is dying for some candy or for a cookie or ice cream, I break him off one of these and it tends to satisfy him. I buy the cookie dough, cookies and creme, and s'mores usually. They're all really tasty! And its better than M&Ms or a Snickers. So, WINNING. 

GoGo squeeZ

• I saved this one for last, because this company has been getting a bit of bad press lately. I'd like to say that I have never had any issues with this product, my kids love it, it has never made them sick. But apparently they have had to do some recalls in the past due to some customers finding mold in their packages. Most people look at this as awful and disgusting, I look at it as unfortunate, but also a good thing because it proves there are no insane chemical preservatives in the applesauce, so it does what food naturally does, it molds. Your responsibility (and really, the responsibility of the stores you are purchasing from) is to check expiration dates! 
• Now that we got that out of the way, these things are so convenient! They also have plenty of different flavors, they are all natural, and they taste great. This is another thing that I like to give my son for a sweet treat. I pack them on road trips, to the pool, and doctor visits. 

My little chef. Who doesn't actually like many foods. 

So, there you have it! These are my staples to keep on hand at all times for my picky 4 year old little monster! We also add plenty of cheese, nuts, and whole fruits, some meats (and when he will have it, veggies too). I'd love to hear your favorites or opinions on any of these products, too!

All my love,

Paige xo

Jax. On Your First Birthday!

Oh, my goodness, my little red-headed angel. How has a WHOLE year already come and gone?? How did that even happen?? I know that is something that all parents say when their kids come along, and they inevitably speed up how quickly time passes. But, I honestly can't believe we are already on your first birthday. I hope that your first year was very special and that you felt all of the love that your mommy and daddy have for you! You are a sweet, funny, loud, squishy little baby...and I think you are perfect.

I love that you sing and jabber every morning when you wake up. Occasionally, you scream. But mostly you sing!

I love to tickle you with my eyelashes, or blow on you and make you laugh. You and Brother have the most precious laughs in the world.

I love that you will eat anything and everything I make for you. Even though it does sometimes get difficult that you sit in the floor and scream at me while I make dinner. I appreciate that you like my cooking! 

I love your sweet, chubby cheeks. I know you've worked hard to keep those cute things plump so mommy can steal all of your kisses! Thank you. 

I love your precious, tiny hands and how they are always grabbing for anything you find interesting. Stay curious, little one. 

I love that you call everything Dada. I mean, it would be lovely if you could say Mama every once in a while. But the way you say Dada is so adorable I can't even be mad. 

I love your scent. Your baby skin is the most amazing smell. Thank you for always letting mommy kiss under your chin, my favorite spot! 

I love the way you love your brother. You'd follow him anywhere, and you prefer that he is the one who helps you learn to walk around. He is also, apparently much better at peek-a-boo than anyone else! He will protect you, and he loves you very much. I hope you always stay close. 

I LOVE you and your brother more than life. I know that sometimes mommy loses my mind and I know that I am not always perfect. But I hope that I've given you everything that you need and especially deserve! You're making time move so fast, but I promise to try to slow everything down more this year and really, really take it all in. I hope you have a wonderful birthday, sweet baby! Can't wait to let you dig into that cake, because we all know that'll be your favorite part anyway. You're such a blessing from God and I thank Him every day for you. 

Sweet as can be, baby of mine...