What Alicia Keys has to Say about Mothering

According to WebMd the Magazine, working moms can relax and take a deep breath because it's really not that bad! Translation, the latest research shows that children of working moms, particularly girls, are more well-adjusted than their stay-at-home peers. Can you believe it? I was just as shocked. The article continues by saying "The British study found that by age 5, children who lived with two working parents had the fewest social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Five-year-old girls whose moms stayed home, on the other hand, were twice as likely to have behavioral problems as those whose moms worked." WOW! What do you think?

Alicia Keys was featured in this months edition of the WebMd magazine and gave awesome advice on mothering and taking care of self: "If you can't love yourself, how can you take care of others? Watching what you put into your body and eliminating anything that could possibly hurt you in any way are extremely important........It's really important to care for yourself first, then you can give your love to everyone else."

Real talk , real advice : ) On to the next one-LOL!

WebMd the Magazine

Breakfast Made Easy and Nutritous

Make breakfast simple and nutritous by always keeping a few staples on hand that make for a wholesome and nutritious option. I learned from my grandmother how to keep the basics on hand: brown bread, eggs, cheese, grits, and coffee. Nowadays, I add a few more of my own flavors with grandma's voice always reminding what to keep on hand : )

I add a little fruit, nutritious juice, some vitamins, a superfood mix, turkey instead of pork for the carnivors, brown bread, brown eggs, a few veggies for a veggie omelet, butter with olive oil, farina instead of grits, and tea. This is of course for a nice Saturday or Sunday breakfast or brunch. I enlist the help of my daughters of course who are becoming little "How to Eat to Live" chefs! I have the youngest who is the "toastmaster" and the oldest who is now the "eggmaster". Breakfast made easy: enlist your children, keep healthy food on hand, a good breakfast menu, good music, good vibes: "Breakfast Made Easy and Nutritious!"

Breakfast Made Easy & Nutritious

Quality In Between Time

Quality time becomes far and few for working parents. However, the time we do have with our children we can maximize those times which make for excellent quality in between time moments. There may be a small sacrifice involved to wake up earlier or a few extra dollars in gas for the week, but isn't it worth it for your child? The quality of time and relationships with our children are priceless, well-deserved, and help to ensure we are raising positive, productive, and successful adults. Here are a few tips to get in some quality "in between time":

-Instead of having your child ride the bus, opt to take/walk your child to school and pick up from school whenever possible. This is an excellent way to get their daily course off to a good start, find out how their day went, have meaningful conversations, learn who their friends are, and build relationships with children. This is also a time to have reflection by way of gratitude and lesson learning. This is not a time to redicule children before they go to school as this may inadversely affect their and your day.

-Before school, wake up 30 minutes early to prepareg and have dinner with your child/children, have the children assist with preparing breakfast, even better, develop a morning routine involving morning prayer, light exercise such as Yoga or stretching, and breakfast. This will be a wonderful addition to your daily routine, helps knock of stress, helps get the day started properly, and promotes another way to have quality time.

-If you have mulitple children, it is important to spend quality time both separately and a family unit. Devise a way to ensure that each child gets time alone with you and time with the family unit. An evening walk every other day or every day can be done with one child or as a family. This helps everyone get some exercise, fresh air, and time to talk.

-Eat dinner together, every night. This acitivty is known and shown to be a positive risk factor for producing positive, productive, and successful children.

-Eat lunch with your child at school1 What better way to show your child you care and love to spend time with them.

-Take your child on a date! Go to the movies, the mall, the farmer's market, ice-skating, a walk in the park, a cup of tea, a museum, or any of your favorite places for a day out on the town.

-Invite your child to your job for a 1/2 day, have them assist you in the office or help you prepare for work.

Lunch Made Easy

Every week we face the challenge of "what to make for lunch". The same 'ole, same 'ole, gets very old, very fast with three children. From a mother's perspective, the goal is health, balance, and quality food that will help nurish the brain, give balanced nutrition, and provide some variety. My children on the other hand want something that is sweet, familiar, and often times popular. All of which compete with my intentions, however we are finding balance as we learn the benefits of good food, learn How to Eat to Live, and strive to make our kitchen a "Kitchen Healing Laboratory". So in essence, my children go along to get along, and along the way they learn that beneficial food does not have to taste bad or bland nor do we have to compromise much as we use various natural sweetners. They know that I strive to buy mostly organic, natural, and unprocessed foods and oftentime they turn their noses up but are slowly coming around to understanding that we MUST put the best, nutritious food in our bodies in order to think our best and function optimally.

As the only vegetarian in the house and one semi-vegetarian (my youngest) and a husband who is transitioning to vegetarianism, grocercy shopping can be quite a challenge. I strive to buy and serve less meat as possible which makes me more conscious to buy food with plenty of protein, not only for myself but to provide an alternative and supplement to meat for my carnivorous family. We are very much a work in progress and enjoying our journey on how to Eat to Live! Along our journey, I will share recipes and lunch box ideas for aspiring families alike. We maintain a household of five mouths to feed and you can be sure that we will be budget conscious, eco-friendly, and delicious! Please feel free to add your ideas, recipes, comments, and insights. Here are a few of our favorite lunch items thus far:

-Half Soup/Half Sandwhich (or either or based on parent/child preference)
-Apple, Kiwi, Plum, or Orange
-Cucumber Salad or Squash/Zucchini Slices with Herbs/Olive Oil
-Cheese String or Yogurt (optional)
-Granola Bar/Mix, Zucchini Bread, Carrot Bread, or Pumpkin Bread
-Water

For Sandwhich Bread (either meat or vegetarian) Food for Life's Ezekiel Bread ($3.98):

-Make a 1/2 sandwhich, if using meat use turkey or chicken made without the use of hormones, preservatives, steroids, and that are grass fed (AppleGate has a good variety) Add premium lettues, light mayo, cucumbers and herb seasoning. If making vegetarian, use light pesto sauce, avocado, premium organic lettuces, cucumbers, sprouts, and light herb seasoning (Yummy!).

http://www.foodforlife.com/product-catalog/ezekiel-49/breads/120C6-organic-sprouted-whole-grain-flourless-bread

Soup (prepare the night before in your crock pot) Make sure to have a good thermos for your children (bag $2.99):

-Prepare lentil soup with green beans, celery, potatoes (optional), onions, carrots, cabbage and herb seasonings

Harvest Fruit ($5/bag):

-Apple, Kiwi, Plum, Grapes, Pear, or Orange

Veggies ($5/bag):

-Cucumber Salad or Squash/Zucchini Slices with Herbs/Olive Oil

Dairy (optional) ($5/bag or box):

-Cheese string or Greek Yogurt

Snack:

-Granola Bar/Mix, Zucchini Bread, Carrot bread, or Pumpkin Bread ($2.99 box)

Drink ($5/24 pk):

-Water

Modify or replace items based on your families and children's specific dietary needs. Also read labes to ensure ingredients are appropriate (i.e., peanut, soy, wheat allergies). Water is the best drink to provde for your children's lunches, this can be in addition to a 100% juice option or 1/2 juice, 1/2 water option. Water detoxes the body, clears the mind, and helps digestion. I try to give my kids 5-6 lunch items (in child-size portions) with the expectancy that they retain 1 or 2 items for emergency or snack as needed. Children should not be "full" from their lunch, but nutritionally recharged and energized so that their minds are ready to learn and absorb proper knowledge and education!

For the week I usually avergae between $35-$40 for lunch for 3 children which averages about $13 per child or $2.67 a day, which is not bad, but striving to get even lower. Buying items in bulk is a cost saver and buying items on sale and with coupons works well also. I shop between Trader Joe's, EarthFare, Whole Foods, WalMart, and Kroger. Each store has deals. Shop around and have a list before shopping to stay on task on on budget (what budget-LOL!).

Lately, I have been cooking meals with my daughters on a regular basis. My oldest has picked up the cooking bug and I am loving it. Subsequently she is also learning more about natural and organic foods and the differences in cooking styles, tastes, herbs, nutrients, food presentation, and is even acquiring a taste for uncooked food (i.e., squash & zucchini with herb seasoning). Clearly we are having some Aha moments in the kitchen as we are transforming our kitchen into a health laboratory.

My daughter Heaven has a strong interest in science and is bringing her scientific knowlege into the kitchen by asking probing questions such as: "will the parsely decompose or break down as it cooks?", "what are enzymes?", and "what are live foods?" By the way, I was stumped on the first question, but stunned nonetheless that the kitchen easily becomes a classroom and a model learning center when the intention of a healthy healing laboratory is met with an inquiring young mind. Every morning I prepare the ritual breakfast and lunches. Now, my daughter has taken on this task lovingly and with enthusiasm. She wakes up along with me to help prepare breakfast and we have since started preparing lunch the night before. We review the nutrition of each meal and the health benefits of eating particular foods. The goal in our house is good health and we know the only way to acheive this goal is by Eating to Live and not Living to Eat! APDTA!

So in our journey we will post our healthy family recipes and delicious lunches on the blog to help our working mothers and loving daughters prepare the best of foods for our families. Check out our first video (our video won't upload, Im still trying)!