Success so far with bedtime!

Tonight is the second night Evelyn has gone to sleep without crying. We realized that we needed to lay her down for bed before she got too tired. Now she plays in her crib for about 30 minutes (without a lot of need for attention) and then she just peacefully falls asleep. YES! Let's hope this continues! This is so much nicer than the scream and cry version of bedtime!

Oh No...We Have A Problem...

I realized something today. Something terrifying about my veggie adventure. I'm going to have to start eating eggs. I hate eggs. They are blank chicken periods. I hate them...but they are so full of proteins...and I should eat them. SO I need help. How can I make eggs not gross? Your recipes and ideas please!

Cry It Out?

Ok. There are a lot of opinions on self soothing. This is where your baby learns to calm themselves down when they are upset. I know that my mother's generation is often very pro "crying it out" where you let your baby essentially cry themself to sleep or cry until they are all cried out. This might work for some babies. This might work for your baby. My rule for mothering has been to go with my instincts so far, and my instincts say that this is not an okay thing for Evelyn. We are attempting now to help her set her own schedule. At 3 months, most babies start getting into a routine as far as naps and bedtime go. So, we're trying to lay her down for naps around the time she usually gets sleepy instead of letting her just conk out somewhere. And now the self soothing becomes an issue.

So I'm trying to forgo "crying it out" for my kiddo. Doc and I know this will be a frustrating choice, but I don't believe that Evelyn really cries for no reason. I do think she cries because she is so tired she doesn't know what to do. I remember learning about the Trust vs. Mistrust phase in developmental psychology. I think being there for her when she is upset is important even if I can't really do anything to help her.

Sounds good in theory. Let's see if it works.

Organic Waste

Want to cut down on your contribution to the landfill? Try composting! Take the organic waste from you kitchen (as seen above) and throw it in the back corner of your yard to decompose! You can use it as fertilizer for your garden later! Look at all the waste that DID NOT go into the garbage can from just those three items I made yesterday!

Mango Black Bean Salsa

This was a recipe I found online. It was a HUGE hit at dinner! I made it with the following recipe and it took NO time at all! You can (for you meat lovers) make fajita seasoned chicken to serve with this salsa and it is delicious as well! It's a quick easy summer meal, or a great snack/party food!

Mango Black Bean Salsa Ingredients:

1 mango, cubed

1/4 onion (I prefer yellow)

1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped

1 can of rinsed black beans

1 can of rinsed corn

1 teaspoon garlic salt

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Serve with tortilla chips, use as a taco filler, you name it! Prep time is about 10 minutes.

Additional Notes: I made this at the same time I did the fruit and vegetable salad, so I chopped the onion, cubed the mango, and chopped the parsley all at once to save on cooking time, and then put those 3 ingredients in the refridgerator until I was ready to make the rest of the salsa. I prefer frozen corn so I cooked frozen corn and then rinsed it with the black beans. Walmart did not carry uncooked black beans or I would have made them myself too. This salsa only has 39 calories per serving (without chicken) and makes 8 servings! The image shown is leftover after 4 people at multiple servings.

Fruit Salad

Fruit Salad Ingredients:

1 Mango, cubed

2 Gala Apples

6 Strawberries

2 Kiwi

Lemon Juice

This one is also easy! Peel, dice, and mix! Pour lemon juice in the salad and mix it to keep the apple slices from turning brown! This makes a great dessert, snack, and is wonderful in yogurt too!

Vegetable Salad

Vegetable Salad:


1 Cucumber
2 Roma Tomatoes
1 Organic stalk of celery (smaller than the other ones you buy)
1/4 Onion
1/8 a cup of cilantro, chopped
1/2 container of queso fresco
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper





Rinse, Peel, Cut up, Toss in bowl! Pour olive oil over salad and stir. Salt and pepper to taste, then cover and put in the refridgerator for 30 minutes to let it soak before serving. Will last at least 4 days in the refridgerator if you want to make snack size servings and eat throughout the week. This is an extremely refreshing salad to eat during the summer. It's also veggie! Note: Queso fresco ingredients are : skim milk, salt, enzymes. Yay all natural cheeses!

I'm Going As Green as I Can!

Is it easy being green? Is it easy eating health? Can you, that's right you! Can you do it? Here's the truth. I am not 100% all organic, green, healthy. I'm doing little things that I can to protect my mother earth, live healthier, and promote good habits for my family. So now the blog takes a new shift. Here's how I do green. Let's start with something we all do~ Grocery Shopping! Here is my grocery list; what I bought and where I bought it from. I took my handy cloth grocery bags along with me.

Today's grocery list:

From Wal-Mart:

Non-Perishables:
Black Beans (2 cans) wish I could buy uncooked beans, but working mom doesn't allow for experimenting with that yet
Uncle Ben's Original Recipe Wild Rice
Multi-grain tortilla chips
Kashi Roasted Garlic Crackers

Produce:
Mangos (2)
Gala Apples (2)
Strawberries
Kiwis (2)
Organic Celery
Organic Roma Tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Onion
Cilantro
Lime
Lemon Juice
Potatoes
Frozen Corn not in season yet
Frozen Edamame not in season yet

Deli:
Brie Cheese
Natural Swiss Cheese
Queso Fresco

Extras:
Dove Dark Chocolate Candies (for my post dinner cravings for desert!)
Frozen Orange Chicken "meal in a bag" dinner I'm not cooking from scratch EVERY night!
Chocolate Soy Milk

Non-Food:
Dishwashing liquid

From Harvard Meats, A Local, Organic Butcher:
2 lb Chicken Breast (boneless, skinless)
1 lb Boneless Pork Chop
1 lb Jalepeno Cheddar Cheese

Pros: LOOK AT THAT PRODUCE LIST! I'm doing great this week on planning meals that include fresh produce! Here are the meals on the menu for the week:

Stuffed Bell Peppers
Fiesta Potatoes
Pork and Rice
Chicken, Black Bean, and Mango salsa
Orange Chicken

Snacks:
Cheese and crackers, fruit salad, vegetable salad

Cons:
Ok, I felt really stupid halfway through grocery shopping when I realized that I was using those plastic produce bags. What's the point in cloth bags if you use all of those produce bags? Not doing it next time!

Also, you may be wondering about lunches! Lunches are generally left overs. There are only 2 of us that eat off this food, so there are normally extras.

Walmart Total: $66.81
Butcher Total: $30.56
Week Meal Total (not including our night out with friends): $97.37

Not bad. And affordable. Meals for the week will be posted as I make them. So you can decide. Is it easy? Can you do it?

Taking the Plunge

Alright. I'm doing it. I'm going vegetarian. I've always wanted to try it out but have found excuses not to. So now, starting April 10th, I will refrain from all meats, but will continue to eat milk and egg products. I'm trying this out because I hear you feel much healthier, because I'm sick of the crap we put in meats, and because the farmer's market starts April 10th so fresh fruits and vegetables will be available for me. SO look forward to it! I will be sharing my experience along with recipes and honest reactions from Doc, who is going to ride along with me as much as he can. Wish us luck!