Kid Food

Let's face it--it is super hard to get kids to eat healthy, clean foods in a world full of Goldfish, PopTarts, cereal, and chicken nuggets! Can I get an "amen"?! I have to say that I was incredibly proud of how well our daughter ate the first year and a half of her life. Being married to a baby doctor, I got kind of the ins and outs of ways to get your kids to eat right. Things like: First food should be a green veggie with a unique taste. Have your kids eat what you are eating. And so on.

Here are some pics of EG in those early, veggie lovin' days:

Yeah, she's freakin' cute. I spent (okay, my husband spent) hours making delicious baby food. She loved it all! As she got older, she still ate it all! Salmon, asparagus, hard-boiled egg whites, peppers, plain oatmeal with chia seeds. It was amazing! Then this crazy thing happened: family. Grandparents, aunts, uncles...I get it. Food makes you cool. My sisters started sneaking E cookies. One of our nephews was having macaroni & cheese and everyone was dumbfounded when we said that E had never had any, so of course, she got some. At first, things were okay. She still ate great with us, but then she would start asking for juice and cookies--things that we never let her have. After my irritation subsided of her now not wanting to eat vegetables or meat anymore, I realized that this is life. Obviously I cannot shelter her from the cupcakes of the world but I can teach her about healthy foods and every-once-in-a-while foods.

Another problem we face with E and food is that she is not able to eat what we eat for dinner anymore simply because she goes to bed at 6pm (yes, go ahead and hate me. Why do you think we have not had another child yet? We couldn't possibly be lucky in the sleep department more than once). She eats her dinner about 5 o'clock and that is too early for B and I, mainly because I'm scrambling to thaw chicken or whatever else I forgot to prepare in the course of the day. Because of all this, I go for convenient, healthy food. If you have young kids and need some fresh ideas for meals or snacks, here are some photos I've taken over the last few days. Yes, I'm aware that I'm not perfect with some of the foods she eats, but I try to do my best with what we have as I'm sure you do. :)

Yogurt, strawberries, cucumbers, red peppers, and canned chicken.

Apple Gate turkey hot dogs (no preservatives, nitrite and nitrate free), pickles, celery, and apples

Banana, minimally processed jerky, and cashews

Scrambled eggs with green onions and chicken-apple sausage, and strawberries

Simple Truth minimally process turkey lunch meat, whole grain crackers, kalamata olives, and cucumbers

Frozen peas, strawberries, string cheese, Apple Gate turkey hot dog

Sunflower seeds, orange bell pepper, kiwi, and Greek yogurt

Brown rice cake with all natural/no sugar added peanut butter, pears, string cheese, and celery

Homemade grain-free graham crackers, cashews, and a banana

Things I Always Try To Have On Hand

Fruit: raisins, dried cranberries, frozen blueberries, applesauce pouches with no added sugar, and whatever fresh fruit that's on sale at the store. E loves fruit so this is not a problem area for us.

Veggies: frozen peas, cucumbers, carrots, celery, pickles, and whatever else that is on sale at the store. Bell peppers can sometimes be a hit. A lot of times E will only eat her veggies if there is something else that she wants more of. I am not above bribery. If you have any ideas of how to get kids to eat their veggies--please share! Or write a book, because you could make millions, I mm sure!

Healthy Fats: peanuts, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds, olives, organic whole milk, non-gmo yogurt like StoneyField, all natural/no sugar added peanut butter, and chia seeds

Grains: plain oatmeal, whole grain crackers (always check labels on these, they may not be as healthy as you think), popcorn kernels for our air popper, brown rice cakes

Protein: Greek yogurt, "Popsicles" aka frozen Greek yogurt in the tubes, eggs, jerky, canned chicken. Sadly, E only likes processed meats like lunch meat, hot dogs, bacon, etc. so I go to the health foods section at the store and read labels. Apple Gate brand is really good as far as the processing and preservatives go.

Drinks: When E is home with us, she only gets organic whole milk with meals and water with snacks. I think she gets juice at preschool with her snack, but rarely gets it at home. Every once in a whole we'll spike her water with a little apple juice or a squeeze of lemon so she thinks she's getting juice. She doesn't know the difference and doesn't get all the sugar.

If you have any ideas for mommy-convenient and healthy foods, PLEASE SHARE! Know that in no way am I trying to come across as "look at how good my

Kid eats" because it is not like this all the time. I'm simply compiling a list that I wish I had when E started eating regular food. :)

Oh yeah, and we go through a crazy amount of Larabars (fruit & nut bars).

Vacation!

Who doesn't love a good vacation, right? My hubby and I celebrated our third year wedding anniversary on the 19th so we decided to get away (childless) for the week. We went to Sandpoint, Idaho to have a little ski vacation at Schweitzer Ski  Resort. This is where B and I got engaged, so the area is very special to us.

We also reenacted our first date to Kootenai Falls in Libby, Montana. Isn't it beautiful? There was a lot less ice and snow than the last time we went. :)

Of course, I had to stop and do a pull up on the bridge. Not as easy as it looks since I was wearing snow boots and there was a few inches of a drop off of that concrete.

The real reason I'm writing about this vacation is because it is really hard to eat well and train while on vacation. Here are a few tips I have come up with to make vacations not completely derail any hard work you've been doing.

1. Pack snacks. I had several Larabars and jerky in my purse for the days that we were traveling as well as any breakfasts or snacks that came up. This helped me to not get too hungry and choose less healthy options for convenience.

2. Pack an empty water bottle. Because of the new rules for flying with liquids, you are often forced to buy spendy drinks or water once you get through the security gates. If you pack your own water bottle, you can fill it up at the drinking fountain for free and not be tempted with sugary drinks. However, disregard if you are afraid of tap water. I am not.

3. Research restaurants. Because of my food intolerances, I was really nervous about going to my old favorite restaurants when I couldn't eat the foods I used to get and love. Looking up menus ahead of time made me feel better about the options (or find somewhere else to eat) and helped me not to *gulp* cave in and get the foods that I knew I'd be paying for later. I was delightfully surprised by all the gluten-free options that were available. 

4. Research places to workout. A lot hotels have a work out room in them, which is always nice to utilize if you're pinched for time. Most gyms allow people to pay a drop in fee to work out for the day. I found a CrossFit box that let us workout a couple of times in exchange for buying their t-shirts, which I was wanting to get anyway. We also did a short hike to the Kootenai Falls, walked from our hotel in Sandpoint to downtown to explore the shops and not worry about finding parking. And, of course, we skied! A lot of times I look up running trails in the area we're visiting because I think it is a great way to explore. We didn't do that this time, but that is always a really fun thing to do. 

And lastly, HAVE FUN!!!

CrossFit: 5 Reasons I'm A Better Human Being

***I promise that all of my posts will not be about CrossFit...most of the time.***

If you are a friend of mine on my personal Facebook page, you definitely know that I started to do CrossFit five months ago.  It kind of consumes my thoughts all of the time, as with most people who start and love CrossFit. I thought about writing this lengthy post about all the things I love about it and how I came about joining a Box, but I'm tired of always being so lengthy and I'm sure you are too!  I'm going to highlight five reasons why CrossFit has made me a better human being:

1. It makes me a cooler mom. E loves it when I practice CrossFittish stuff in our living room like handstands, handstand walks, snatches and cleans with the PVC pipe, goblet squats, handstand push ups, etc. She jumps right in too and tries to do it with me!

2. It has made me more patriotic. Murph was a crazy-hard WOD that led to three tears in my hands during the pull up portion and bruises on my knees from clenching a plate, but when I went home and researched this Murph-guy, the experience was very humbling.

3. It has made me more social. I'm not a super social person, especially since having E, but my morning WOD forces me to talk to people and actually enjoy the company. Being a stay at home mom, that is sometimes my only adult interaction for the day (that includes the nights my husband is home! ;) ).

4. I can see my abs again. I don't know if this actually makes me a better person, but it feels pretty cool! I haven't had abs since I was 14 and I was doing 1000 crunches every day because I read that's what Brittany Spears did. True story! My abs may not be pretty with stretch marks, scars from a c-section, appendectomy, and belly button piercing, and what can only be described as a hernia, but hey, I got 'em!

5. It saves my sanity. E goes to preschool during the time I get to enjoy CrossFit and the hour or two that I have is about me. I'm not just a mom when I'm there but I'm an athlete that sets goals and achieves them. I'm clearing my mind from the stresses of motherhood and really, just life.

Yep, CrossFit kind of rocks my world.