Big Changes, New Adventures

Source: absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com via Russell on Pinterest

There are some big changes taking place in our little world right now.

I am excited and a little nervous.

First up - Today is Husband's last day of work at a job he has worked at for the past two years. It was supposed to be "the one" and we were really excited about it when he started. He's learned a great deal in the past two years. It's been tough, though. Really tough. Most weeks he has worked 60+ hours, and that doesn't include the after-hours at home or the weekend hours. He's been one busy guy.

We decided it is time to say goodbye.

Second - New job is exciting. Very exciting. Still a lot of work, but we will be working on it together. We'll set our own schedule and work our tails off. Husband will also be home more. We actually had dinner last night as a family. I've mentioned that is a rare thing around here, and I'm thrilled it will be happening more frequently. Probably on a daily basis!

Third - Sold my car. Decided we didn't need the car payment with the new job, just to be on the safe side. Also, Husband will be based at home. We'll survive with just one car again for now. Best part, got more out of it than we owe. Miss M will be getting her grass shortly. We are all thrilled about this. Oh, and her first bike.

Why the changes? Husband was no longer happy, which was also affecting me, and the kids weren't seeing their daddy nearly enough. All those work hours were stressing everyone out. We are fortunate enough that we can do something about. We will now be in more control of our lives, and we could not be more excited about it.

We have big dreams in this house.
Huge goals we want to accomplish.
We are off on a new adventure.

And we are just crazy enough to go for it.

Have you ever walked away from a sure thing for something you really wanted?
Were you excited, scared, or both?

Out with the pyramid, in with MyPlate

Yesterday, the Food Pyramid was finally replaced with a more useful plate icon. Fruits and vegetables are finally getting more attention as an important part of the American diet. It's great to see a step in the right direction in helping America overhaul our SAD diet (Standard American Diet).

Here are a few of the main recommendations:

• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
• Eat less, avoid oversized portions.
• Eat more whole grains.
• Choose lower sodium foods.
• Drink water, avoid sugary drinks.

Hopefully, this is just the beginning of making changes across our country that is in desperate need of a healthy lifestyle reform. It would be great if high quality fruits and vegetables could become more easily accessible. Everyone deserves to feed themselves and their families well.

Need help remembering what to feed your kids? I ran across these plates from Super Healthy Kids. The sections make it easy to plan a meal for your child. I just wish they had adult ones, too!

What are your thoughts on My Plate?
Did you use the previous Food Pyramid as a guide?
Will you use MyPlate?

Clean that produce! More than a quick rinse.

Mr. T enjoying just-cleaned grapes.

Several years ago when I was pregnant with Miss M, I was sitting on the couch after work watching Oprah. A lovely woman, Sophie Uliano, was on the show talking about her book Gorgeously Green. I was intrigued to hear her talk about so many tips and tricks for healthier, greener living. At the time, green living and organic food wasn't as widespread as it is now.

Sophie Uliano mentioned that she cleaned her produce by spraying a solution on it and then rinsing it off. She shared the recipe, and I decided to give it a try. I now keep it under my sink and use it to clean pesticides and bacteria from my produce. Plain water just doesn't clean as thoroughly. Although, it is better than nothing.

The veggie cleaner spray is a simple recipe using water, vinegar, baking soda, and grapefruit seed extract. Chances are good you have 3 0f the 4 ingredients on hand. Mix them together, spray your produce, wait 5-10 minutes and rinse. So simple! The recipe can be found here.

If you don't have grapefruit seed extract, and are not interested in purchasing it, you can substitute the juice of half a lemon according to Dr. Oz. You can also use an even simpler solution of one part vinegar to three parts water. I just like the addition of baking soda and grapefruit seed extract.

Do you clean your produce? Do you use a cleaning solution or simply water?
Do you think it matters?

It at least makes me feel better because who knows how many dirty hands touch that food before I buy it. Blech. Like Miss M who took a bite out of a bunch of broccoli yesterday at the store. Oy.

Standing at a Crossroads

Source: thegospelcoalition.org via Heather on Pinterest

We are standing at a crossroads, Husband and I.

There are two great roads in front of us.

Both have their fair share of twists, turns, and bumps.

Both show promise, great promise in leading to beautiful places we would like to go.

We have been traveling one for a while. The ride has been long and rough,
but the potential is still great off in the distance.

The other is new and exciting and brings renewed hopes for achieving our dreams,
but it, too, will be a difficult one.

We are not ready to give up on the first, and we do not want to pass by the second.

Neither one is a sure thing.
Both are roads less-traveled.

Can we do both?

Time will tell.

How do you decide between two good things?
Do you pick just one or go for both?

Food Revolution Take 2

Last night I watched the Season 2 premiere of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I watched the first season last year and was pretty grossed out by the kinds of things school kids were being fed. The chicken nugget demonstration was nasty. Ick. This year, I think the pink slime demo topped it. Thinking about ammonia in my food and especially children's food is downright disgusting and oh so wrong.

What are we teaching our children by feeding them this junk? How will they ever learn to respect themselves and love their bodies if we teach them it's ok to stuff them with such harmful food?

Our society is in need of a big wake-up call to not just to take care of our own bodies, but to teach our children to do the same.

Like any change you want to see, it starts with you.

You decide what to feed yourself.

You decide what to feed your children.

You decide what to purchase.

You cast your vote daily with your choices.

What are you going to choose?

Make A Change: Safe food storage containers

One of my goals this year is to make small changes to improve the health of my family and our environment at home. These changes may not be tangible and may be hard to really assess, but I believe small changes over a long time can add up and make a huge difference in the long run.

Ever since learning about the possibility of harmful chemicals leaching out of plastic food storage containers, I've been wanting to switch out all of our plastic food storage containers to safer alternatives. We've been using the cheap take and toss type containers for quite a while. They get little pits in the plastic, get stained, and generally end up looking pretty disgusting.

I've been wanting to buy glass containers for a while, and just hadn't done it yet. Earlier this week I finally made the jump. I bought an 18-piece Pyrex set that I'm pretty excited about. (Dorky, I know.) The containers are made of borosilicate glass, and the lids are made of plastic that is free of BPA, PVC, and phthalates.

There are many other great glass containers and some plastic alternatives that are also free of these harmful chemicals and considered safe for food storage. I am planning on purchasing some plastic containers that won't be used in the microwave once I decide which ones I want. I'll keep you posted.

Do you prefer glass or plastic for your food storage?


P.S. Don't forget to enter the SMM Cosmetics giveaway!