Role Model

I know this is not health/fitness related, but I have been thinking about this a lot. Although I think happiness is a huge part of health. What type of person do you want your children to look up to? I do not know about you, but there are a lot of "role models" out there that I do not want my children to even see let alone look up to. Obviously my ideal role model for our children would be us, their Mommy and Daddy. Right now at such a young age this is true, but what happens when they get older? I most certainly do not want them looking up to Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus. That would be horrifying if they were my children's role models. So what do you look for in a person that makes you think yes he/she would be an excellent role model for my children? I think honesty, hard work, dedication, kindness, loyalty, and fairness are just a few of the qualities I would like in a role model for my children.

I will never force my own beliefs on my children. Yes their Daddy and I are both Christian, and the hope is that they will be as well. However, I cannot force that belief on my own children. I can raise them and teach them the things that their Daddy and I believe in, but in the end it is their own decision to make. Also their Daddy is a Republican (although he says he leans more to a Libertarian) and I am a Democrat (yes I am a Liberal Christian we do exist :) ). So which way is right for our children? Well again that is up to them. All we can do is share with them what our beliefs are and teach them right from wrong. When they are older they can make those decisions for themselves. I think that is one thing that is wrong everyone has their own beliefs and gets so upset when someone else  does not believe the same way that they do. Well I am just as entitled to my beliefs as you are, and I am not changing yours so why try to change mine. The same thing is true with my children. I may disagree with some decisions they make in the future, but those are their mistakes to make not mine. I have definitely made some mistakes in my past.

Ok so I got a little off topic there, I tend to do that a lot. So how do I make sure my children are surrounded with the role models I would like them to be. I think first off it starts at home. Their Daddy and I need to make sure we are displaying all the qualities we would want them to be surrounded with. Also the people that are in our lives and have contact with our children should have those same qualities. I can say that I think my husband and I and our family and friends all have those qualities. I would love for any of my family and friends to be a role model for my children. One important thing I must mention here is that I do not have all the same beliefs as all of these people, but I love the fact that our children are surrounded by a diverse group of thinkers. They can be exposed to other views on things, and know that there is nothing wrong with them if they do not agree with us, and that we will still love them. Because we love each and every one of the people that I would love to be their role models. Even the one's we disagree with :)

As far as "famous" people go I honestly cannot think of a lot of people I would want my children to look up to. Can you? Please leave me a comment with someone you would want your kids to look up to. So how do I "protect" them while not sheltering them? I do not want them to live a life where they do not know anything other than what they were raised with. I think it is important that they know about other cultures, religions, lifestyles etc...(Yes that is the liberal in me speaking :) ), but I also do not want them exposed to too much. It is a fine line. Whoever said this parenting thing was easy was a liar. It is tough everyday to keep our kids safe and innocent as long as possible while still trying to teach them right from wrong. Here is an example when the school shooting at Sandy Hook happened my oldest son was in kindergarten. Obviously this terrified me since most of the children were kindergarteners. I vividly remember hysterically crying when I picked my son up from school that day. He said Mommy what is wrong. I could have easily told him nothing Mommy is just upset and shielded him from knowing about that, but I told him what happened. To me with him being in the setting 5 days a week that this happened in I thought it was important that he knew. We explained what happened, and what he should try to do if he ever hears anything like that happen at his school (that is probably one of the hardest sentences I have ever written. I am crying just thinking about that). Yes it may have been too much to tell our 5 year old about, but we thought it was important for him to know. There are lots of things in this world that I shield them from. It is a tough decision everyday to decide what we should expose them to, and what we should not expose them to. In the end only you as parents can make that decision.  See I am getting off topic again.

Anyway I think in the end what I am trying to say is try to surround yourself with people you would want your children to be like. If there is a person I would not want them to be like then I do not have them around my children. We cannot control our children's lives, but we can try to make the best positive influences that we possibly can. Raise them with the beliefs and values that you see fit, but in the end realize they are their own person and they should be able to make their own decisions just as you have. I'm not saying those decisions won't break your heart sometimes, but just love them and be there for them when they need you always.

I hope I did not ramble too much for all of you. I would love any insight, tips, comments you may have. I am perfectly fine if you disagree with me. Tell me about it. As I said we are all entitled to our own opinions. I would love to hear yours.

Fabulous Friday

So today's post is a continuation of yesterday's post. Since it is birthday week this week I thought why not keep it going :) I posted the other day about my daughters birthday. I was so much happier this year with everything. I felt so much better about myself. It was indoors so it was not 100 degrees like last year. Also most importantly my mom was there at the party and not in the hospital!!!! From the moment I found out I was having a girl I knew I was going to name her Callie, I have wanted that name since I was 16. I have also loved the movie Mary Poppins since I was a little girl. I have loved watching it with my own children. My baby girl loves the movie. So a Mary Poppins party was practically perfect in every way. It was honestly one of my favorite parties I have ever done for my kids. My other two favorites were a golf party this year for my oldest son, and a fall festival I put together for my younger sons second birthday. I knew as soon as I found out I was having a girl I was going to do her second birthday as Mary Poppins. I mean what is cuter than a sign that says superCALLIEfradgalisticexpialiTWOcious!! Most importantly she had an amazing time at the party, and I think everyone else did as well. I am so happy looking back on the photos from her party. Here are a few of my favorites.

Throwback Thursday

We just celebrated my daughters 2nd birthday the other day (I wrote a post about it), and I started thinking about her 1st birthday. Her party was one of the worst moments of my life. I was overjoyed that my baby was turning one, and I will forever remember that day for that. I tried my hardest to focus on that, but there was a lot of other stuff going on as well. There was some personal family things happening that made that day miserable for me. I found out in the middle of her party that the doctors thought my mom may have cancer. This was quite possibly the worst time to find this out (as if there is ever a good time to find this out). That moment will forever be burned into my memory as one of the worst moments of my life. I remember standing on the front porch (luckily the party was in the backyard so none of the other party guests knew what was going on). Then I just remember falling to the ground crying and screaming when I was told this. I was finally calmed down some, and slapped a smile on my face to enjoy the rest of the day with my daughter. I had a fake smile on my face for awhile. I tried my hardest to just focus on her and be happy. It was her day after all, and not fair at all what else was going on that day to her. I do not think I will ever tell her everything that happened that day. All I want her to remember and know about is that we all celebrated her and how wonderful she is. Luckily she was 1 and had no idea what was going on. I will always remember my baby's first birthday party as a way to celebrate her and her first year of life, and I try to never remember everything else that went on that day. We later found out that she does not have cancer. Looking back on those pictures I remember the sadness I felt that day, and the happiness for my daughter. The latter is what I try to focus on. I also was very very unhappy with how I looked. It was about 95 degrees that day, which made it even more miserable that day. I was so much happier at her birthday party this year.

 

 

I am so glad that I have these pictures so that I can remember her special day celebrating her, but I hate looking at myself in them. 

Workout Wednesday

When we hear our favorite songs on the radio we all feel like dancing. This is very normal, but did you know it is a great exercise? One thing that is great about it is that you are exercising without even knowing it. You want to burn some great calories? Crank up the music and dance around the living room for an hour. You will have definitely broken a good sweat doing it!

So what are some of the benefits of dancing, other than it being really fun. Exercise increases the level of brain chemicals that encourage nerve cells to grow. And dancing that requires you to remember dance steps and sequences boosts brain power by improving memory skills. Have you seen some of the dances they do on these shows like so you think you can dance or dancing with the stars? They have some pretty intricate moves they have to remember. Also have you noticed how in shape all of the dancers are? Obviously they are doing something right. Whether it's ballet or ballroom, clogging or jazz, dance is great for helping people of all ages and physical abilities get and stay in shape. There's even chair dancing for people with physical limitations. A 150-pound adult can burn about 150 calories doing 30 minutes of moderate social dancing.


Dancing helps:

strengthen bones and muscles without hurting your joints

tone your entire body

improve your posture and balance, which can prevent falls

increase your stamina and flexibility

reduce stress and tension

build confidence

provide opportunities to meet people, and

ward off illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis, and depression

All of those benefits sound great to just be able to dance around my living room for awhile. I'm not saying stop all of your other cardio, but this is a fun and easy cardio routine that anyone can do.


There are also a lot of dance related fitness classes. These are a lot more intense than just dancing around your living room. I have never taken any of these classes, but I have heard a lot of great things about them. I do have the zumba game for the Wii. Let me tell you after about 30 minutes on there I am dripping sweat for sure. So go grab your dancing shoes and burn off some calories tonight!!

Tasty Tuesday!!

Since I was a kid I would eat pretty much everything. I have never been picky. I am lucky that two of my children are the same way. I mean they will enjoy a piece of sushi with me, and some veggies with hummus, while drinking  kale smoothie. It is awesome!! Unfortunately my husband and my oldest son are not this way. They are two of the pickiest people on the planet. It sometimes makes it difficult especially when you want to get healthy stuff in them. So how do I make sure that the two picky eaters in my life get the good stuff like us non-picky people? The answer I put the healthy stuff in with their favorite things. Now my husband knows I do this so I am not revealing some big hush hush secret. Sometimes, however I can fool him, and sometimes he can tell right away. It is all just a matter of tweaking the recipes. I have previously shared my way to get some veggies in with meatballs. We had those last night with quinoa pasta in fact, and they were yummy. So here is another recipe that you can get some more healthy stuff in those picky eaters.

If your family is anything like mine then they love enchiladas. It is seriously one of my husbands favorite foods. He would be happy if I made it twice a week or more. The problem is between the sauce and all that cheese it is so fattening. So here is a "lighter" version that I use. I still use it as a "special" meal and not a once  week meal. The big thing is to make your own sauce and not use the sodium ridden canned sauce, which I know is much much easier. I like my enchiladas with the red and green sauce mixed together. You can choose just one of the sauces if you like that better. I used all fresh organic ingredients in these.


Lightened up enchiladas

Red sauce
1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp minced onion

1/2 tsp dried oregano

21/2 tsps chili powder

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp black pepper (ground)

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp parsley (dried)

1/4 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup red bell pepper

1/4 cup diced yellow squash

6 ozs no salt added organic tomato sauce

11/2 cups water

Put your tomatoes, squash and red bell pepper in the food processor. In a large saucepan heat up the olive oil. Then add the garlic and onion. Saute for about a minute or two. Then add the rest of the ingredients, including the tomato, squash and bell pepper except the water. Mix it all together in the pan and add the water. Let it come to a boil. Then reduce it to simmer and let cook for about 15-20 minutes.

Green Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced

1 pound green tomatillos, husked, washed and sliced into quarters

1/2 to 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed (depending on how hot you like it!)

1 large poblano pepper, seeds removed and cut into large chunks

1 avocado

1 c spinach (you can use kale as well)

juice of 1 lime

handful of fresh cilantro

4 cups no salt added vegetable broth

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. While the onions and garlic are working, throw the tomatillos, cilantro, jalapeno, poblano, avocado, spinach or kale and lime juice into the blender. Blend on high speed until smooth, adding the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to get things moving. Pour the tomatillo mixture in with the onions and garlic. Add the vegetable broth, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer on low heat for about an hour to thicken the sauce. If desired, blend with an immersion blender or throw the mixture back into the regular blender for a smoother sauce. This sauce takes a little longer to make, but it is worth it!!

Enchiladas

2 lbs organic boneless, skinless chicken breast (you can also do turkey, beef, tofu, beans, or no meat at all)

1 tbsp. coconut oil

1 tablespoon chili powder                                                    

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder                                                    

1/4 teaspoon onion powder                                                    

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika                                                    

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin                                                                     

1 teaspoon black pepper

red enchilada sauce
green enchilada sauce
About 2-4c (depends on how cheesy you like it) cheese (whichever kind you prefer. I like organic cheese and will shred it myself. Seriously don't buy the already shredded. I used to, but no longer do. Also I get full fat cheese and not the low fat or fat free. That is just full of chemicals.)

40 fajita size tortillas (whatever kind you like, homemade (I will post that recipe another day), whole grain, Ezekiel, corn, flour)

Preheat the oven to 375. Heat up the coconut oil in a large saucepan. Then add the chicken (or whatever meat you prefer. If you are doing just cheese you can skip this step) and cook probably about 10 minutes or so. You want to try to shred the chicken as much as possible (if you have done a ground meat you don't have to worry). Drain the meat and return to the pan and add all the spices to it with about 1/2c water. Let the meat simmer for about 5-10 minutes or so. I usually use 2 big cake pans for my enchiladas. The good thing about this recipe is you can cut it in half and have less or easily double it for more. You should have plenty of leftovers. If you do the 2 pans you can have one for dinner and freeze the other one for an easy meal another night.

In your cake pans cover the bottom with some red and green sauce (if you are just doing one sauce then cover with that one sauce) take your tortilla and fill with the meat and a little bit of cheese (not a whole lot because you will also be topping it with cheese. Of course if you are doing just cheese you can add a little bit more). Then roll up the tortilla. Repeat this step for the remaining tortillas. I can usually get about 20 tortillas in one pan. After rolling them top with green sauce and red sauce (or whichever you choose). Top that with as much cheese as you would like then top again with the sauces. Bake for 30 minutes. You want the cheese to be melted and your tortillas to brown a little. You can cook less time if you would like because your meat is already cooked so you do not have to worry about that, or more time if you like your cheese melted a little more. You just judge how you like it.

This recipe is a little time consuming, which is another reason why I do not make it all the time. As you can see with all that cheese it is definitely not an everyday kind of meal. The leftovers you can freeze or eat the next day for lunch (which I think is usually better after it has sat a little while). I like to top mine with a little full-fat plain Greek yogurt, salsa verde, black olives and avocado and tomatoes. You can serve with some Spanish rice and/or black beans, but as filling as it is you really do not need it. See how many vegetables we got in there, and your picky people won't even be able to tell.

* I made these last night, and I realized I didn't have a picture on here of them. So here is what he finished product looks like. I topped mine with spinach and arugula, black olives, salsa, avocado, plain Greek yogurt and I had black beans topped with the same and watermelon. It was delicious! My picky hubby said today that he was worried we would eat them all for lunch, and there wouldn't be any left for him. Try them and let me know what you think.

Motivation Monday!

While I was doing my workout earlier I kept thinking oh this is too hard. I do not think I can do anymore. I pushed through and kept going. Guess what I was able to finish. I did not die, and my body did not give out. It was my mind that was saying I couldn't do it. Not my body. That is what we have to learn to move past. Our bodies will keep going long past our minds say. So when you are doing your workout keep going. You can do it! Your mind is telling you to stop, but your body will keep going.

Happy Birthday!!

I just wanted to wish my beautiful daughter a happy second birthday! We had a fabulous Mary Poppins birthday party for her over the weekend. A great time was had by all. I even ate a piece of birthday cake. It was delicious! I still managed to get into "onederland", 199, for the first time since almost 10 years ago. I have decided I will not weigh myself again until my birthday , September 29.

Anyway to the important stuff. She is the most amazing, sweet, kind, loving, playful and sassy little girl. She knows what she wants and will not let anyone tell her otherwise. She rules her Daddy and her two brothers. Whatever she says goes. She is 2 going on 15 for sure. She is such a little girly girl. She loves shoes, purses, dancing, singing, spinning dresses, dolls, and reading. She also loves to play with legos, cars, balls and playing in the dirt. I cannot wait to see what an amazing little woman she turns into, but for now I would like time to slow down. I cannot believe she is already 2. Happy Birthday little lady Mommy loves you!