The Secret In the Sauce

You are going to be so excited today because I have the solution for your picky eater problem.But then again, you might not like it. To be honest, I didn't like it at first either. It took some getting used to which is funny because it is terribly simple. Are you ready for it? The solution is this... Let It Go. That means no fighting, coercing, bartering, yelling, tears, tantrums (yours as the parent of course), forcing - none of it. You prepare the picky eater's plate the same way you do anyone else's plate. Then they simply have the option to eat, or not to eat - that is their question. Some people have the 'No Thank You' rule which is simply that they try a bite of everything on the plate and if they don't like it they may be done with their meal after a polite 'no thank you.' If dessert is being served that evening, anyone who finishes their meal may participate. Easy as that. Now, I recently read an article about meal-time battles and the a...

Ladies, when stress hits, nothing sounds better than a sweet treat, yes? There is actually some science behind this as stress triggers different areas of the body and brain which creates a deficit that needs to be filled. I couldn't tell you at the moment the exact process that happens without pulling out one of my books, but it is a natural reaction. So, you aren't just imagining that you are a stress-eater - most women are, it's a biological process. This makes it even tougher to turn down sweets when we are stressed and the big problem is that most of us face stress daily if not multiple times a day. This means that we need to consciously seek other means of managing the stress. On this one particular day, however, I discovered the true power of a cookie. Before I go further, it is always helpful to remember that we can counter-act the sugar we eat and its effects by having a healthy fat prior to consumption or a little garcinia cambogia to help inhibit the absorpt...

So, here is the thought for the day - learn, embrace change and evolve. What I've found in my constant thirst for knowledge in all things healthy is that new information is constantly being brought to light. What was once good, may now actually do harm. There are two results for every study done and they often contradict each other; it makes it tough to sift through and find the truth sometimes, eh? That's when you go with your gut until you find something more definitive. Let's take a look at the 'low-fat' or 'no-fat' craze. Fat is the culprit behind fat right? No. It would seem likely but not true. In all actuality, is fake and processed foods and overdosing on sugar that is making us fat and sick. I was going through a stack of old magazines and cutting out recipes and came across an article titled, "Live Wise."  It had five tips to kickstart your nutrition goals. The second tip was : Choose fat-free milk instead of whole milk. Ironical...

I admit, I've been putting off my blog - it's just been that 'one more thing' nagging at the back of my mind giving me anxiety. I've also just been working on calming my totally frayed nerves. I don't know how Christmas break was for all you parents but I personally almost didn't make it. I love all my kids and thinking about each one of them individually creates mostly happy thoughts and feelings. Together however, is a totally different state of existence. Let me put it to you this way - Preston is a carbonated canned beverage and my littlest man likes to shake, shake and throw the 'Preston soda' until he explodes and goes all over the place (and it didn't take much). And my toddler is a literal whirlwind of constant activity until he just collapses. I'm getting a headache just remembering the break. I can't believe I didn't take up some addiction or binge diet over the last two weeks; it's a miracle. And now, here I am and I...

Greetings my friends and happy holidays! Tis the season for insanity, late nights and short tempers (where's the Valium?!). I have been consumed with my family, carpools, book reports, mounds of dishes and laundry, gift-brainstorming, parties and cookery. That has been plenty to keep me riddled with anxiety and exhaustion and none of which has included any of the 'elf-on-the-shelf' antics or gingerbread house or snowflake crafts - that may have done me in. Living in the swirling vortex of Christmas and regular life has also inevitably pushed my blog and all my grandiose plans for it to the back burner (or more accurately to a Bunsen burner in the garage). Well, I'm good with that. While we are on the subject of time, blogging and family, I have a few things to say. I love blogging and I love hearing from people that stumble upon my humble little site. It's nothing fancy, profound or professional; the photography among other elements ...

This recipe has to be an all-time, kid-winning favorite. This was the one meal my brother and I looked forward to the most; it probably had the most requests and disappeared the fastest from the table. I hadn't had sausage rolls in probably twenty years until a couple of months ago when I dug up the recipe from my mother and it was an instant success with my kids (and from the standpoint of ease in the kitchen for the chef, a hit for me as well). There are two ways to make these and these days I opt for the healthy version because at most it takes only ten more minutes of my time. The way my mom used to do it was buy Rhodes frozen French dough loafs in the freezer section at the grocery store. To my chagrin, Rhodes hasn't jumped on the happy bandwagon and dumped the high fructose corn syrup in their recipe quite yet. I just can't bring myself to buy them with an obesogen being the third ingredient on the list. Bah. So, I attempted these making my own bread dough and the...

It's four o'clock. My toddler has been happy and playing nicely all day. At 3:45pm MST, that all goes to hell. The door opens and Preston walks in - immediately the energy shifts and cue the circus music. It wasn't bad energy; Preston was quite happy actually. Those two boys just feed off of each other, one things leads to the next and then there is screaming and crying and mass hysteria. My head starts to throb and I start to panic realizing that it is only Monday. My husband had the day off and we spent the morning running some errands. At about 3:43pm he comes into the office and says that he is going to go for a bike ride; when he gets back he'll clean the windows and do some other stuff. I was good with the bike ride but as he started talking about his other chores and the screaming started two minutes later I held up my hands - "Really? You're going to wash the windows at 5:30 tonight?" His response in a very cheery tone: "Or you can do it some ...