We’ve been dormant for a while over here. In the months that have passed, I have been frustrated with my health, then resigned to my body’s food reactions, and then proactive once again in trying to solve my ongoing issues. Enter my new naturopath. I randomly chose a new clinic out of the phone book, based only on their proximity to my home. I met a lovely naturopath who took one look at my symptoms and asked, “Have you ever heard of SIBO?” The answer was no, I had not. Apparently my answers to her questions and the complaints I presented with totaled nine out of the top ten SIBO symptoms.
So – what is SIBO? Small intestine bacterial overgrowth. Specifically, bacteria that should be in the large intestine has somehow migrated up into the small intestine, and is feeding on things it shouldn’t be feeding on. One of the hallmarks of the disease is that you lose more and more foods from your diet – in my case (in order of food elimination) – dairy, gluten, soy, nuts, eggs, strawberries, avocado. Every time you eliminate a food the bacteria have been feeding on, they move to another one. Thus the vast assortment of eliminated foods.
For me, the question of whether I had SIBO resulted in doing a test, which confirmed I had both types. I have likely had this for the duration of my stomach problems – 25 years, give or take a year or two. Step one in treatment was – keep eating the way I was, but while doing so take a rotating variety of herbal antibiotics for six weeks. Step one was fine. Step two however……I am not a fan. Ha. Step two involves a fairly limited diet, and for me, the hardest step by far was the elimination of all sugar. ALL SUGAR. Did you know bacon has sugar in it? And lunch meat? And sauces, and ketchup, and salad dressings, and everything in the world??? Seemingly so, anyway. Also, most starch is gone from my diet. This diet can last three months to a year. I am four months in, and while I have seen significant improvement, I can just tell my body is not ready for the cessation of this eating plan quite yet. The goal of the diet is to starve off any of the bacteria that weren’t killed off by the antibiotics. One happy side effect (for me) has been weight loss, and because of this, coming off blood pressure medication. Another plus is that I have been able to eat eggs and nuts again – well, almond flour, anyway.
Going forward I’m going to share some of the recipes that have worked for me. If you are a person with SIBO and want to share tips, or just commiserate with me, please comment! If you think you might have SIBO, go get it checked out. Here is a page with great information: https://draxe.com/sibo-symptoms/
The diet I am following is by Dr. Alison Siebecker, one of the leading experts on SIBO.
A couple of months ago I was contacted by a representative from Enjoy Life, who wondered if I would like to take part in a product sampling, and a campaign called #SpringFreely. Of course I said yes! I waited in anticipation, and at the end of last week a box was delivered to my door. In it was a box of brownie mix, two different types of cookies, a small mason jar, mini chocolate chips, a recipe card, and a seed packet for dill. I added a couple of items of my own – the decorative flowers, the CocoWhip, and some coloured organic coconut.
After waiting for a day when Kate and the kids were available (she’s WAY busier than I am), we finally got together to make our dirt cups. And although she didn’t make it into any pictures, my Mom was also there, so this was a four generation endeavor!
*It is my opinion that, when assembling edible goods with a toddler and a four year old around, you should also have a dog. My dog Toby saved me a LOT of floor clean-up work.* Ha, ha.
I made chocolate pudding that morning, so we would be set to go when they got here. Our first step was to stir some dry brownie mix and mini chocolate chips into the pudding, to created a textured “dirt”.
Baby girl was just enjoying life in the background, and sneaking cookie pieces.
Next we put our “dirt” in four small mason jars.
Now for some gritty texture. We put a few of both kinds of cookies (Vanilla Honey Graham and Double Chocolate) into separate Ziploc bags, and used a cup to bash them into pieces. That was fun! We finished off the smashing of cookies with our fists.
We layered light crumbs, Cocowhip, dark crumbs, more Cocowhip, and coloured coconut, to simulate grass growing. Lastly we topped them off with a flower, for springtime!
Those crumbs – you don’t even know how many were on the floor. 🙂
A happy boy with his creation!
And finally, just so nothing would go to waste, Jackson consented to clean up the leftovers. As you can see, just because Enjoy Life products are free of the top eight allergens does NOT mean they lack in flavour. Children don’t eat what they don’t like!
Oh – and look at that – my Mom DID make it into a picture (see below). Not that she’ll be happy about it, but we’ll leave it, and maybe she won’t notice. Ha, ha.
Thank you, Enjoy Life, for including us in this product campaign. We loved it, and we would be more than happy to help spread the joy of your products and sample in the future!
At the end of last week, I got my hands on (and by “got my hands on” I mean, saw it at Costco, grabbed a copy greedily, hugged it, and did a little happy dance) the new cookbook put out by the mother/daughter team of Kelly Childs and Erin Weatherbee, owners of Kelly’s Bake Shoppe and Lettuce Love Cafe in Burlington, Ontario. I love to go to Burlington and walk the pier and waterfront area, ending up, of course, at Kelly’s Bake Shoppe for a treat to eat, and some to bring home. If you’ve never been, check out the blog post we wrote here, when we were chosen to feature and review them on our blog.
Because I am on their mailing list and follow them on Facebook, I knew this cookbook was coming. I was excited, but also wondering….would they really share some of the recipes that they had perfected…..recipes that had made them famous? Well, let me tell you – they did! It is entitled Made With Love, and from the helpful notes and pictures, it truly was made with love. There are a great variety of recipes, from smoothies and juices, to savory dishes and desserts – actual duplicates of things they sell in their restaurants! I’m excited – can you tell? 🙂
Here’s a link to the cookbook: http://kellysxo.com/made-with-love-cookbook/
I made the difficult choice of what to bake first, and I chose the Ginger-Chocolate Cookies. They turned out exactly as shown in the book’s picture, and were given an enthusiastic two thumbs up by everyone from my four year old grandson to my mom, whose age will not be published. Ha, ha.
Next I recreated my chocolate potato cake, and used the Chocolate Ganache featured in the book. This is the same ganache used to fill their cupcakes and ice their fantastic brownies. It turned out perfectly as well.
And finally, for supper last night I used the recipe for Sweet Potato Quinoa Burgers. The flavour of these was great, and they held together amazingly well. They were quite yummy, with a lovely blend of spices to perk up the flavour of the sweet potato. The exterior became crispy as I prepared them in a thin layer of garlic olive oil in a pan.
That’s all I’ve had time to test so far, but I have no trouble in believing that each recipe will be equally good.
Hi all! I missed posting last week – oops. Last week was incredibly busy for me, as I had the privilege of being involved in our church’s Easter production called The Rock. It was a one hour original play with music and drama, and was just so fun to be a part of! I played K2 – the second keyboard, responsible for all string sounds. In case you want to check it out, I will post the link here. It’s probably not what you think of when you think of a church play, so check it out.
Anyway, hours and hours of practice led to very little cooking or baking time. There was NOTHING original going on in the kitchen. Ha, ha. Something that I also did that week, and the week prior, was to cut out most of the sugar in my diet. Sugar suppresses the immune system, and I wanted the best shot at staying healthy for our five performances. And now, I think I want to keep sugar out for a while to give myself the best shot at not being embarrassed around the pool this summer. 🙂
This week’s post will be a healthy little veggie burger. This recipe is heavily based on one by Angela Liddon – Oh She Glows – with a few changes to make it one that I can eat. They hold together really well, and I’m wondering if they might even hold together well enough to put on the bbq this summer.
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed plus 3 tbsp. water
1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup grated sweet potato
1 tbsp. dried parsley
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, plain or toasted
3/4 cup gluten free oats, processed into flour
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
Mash the beans into a paste. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Adjust seasoning to your own taste.
Shape into patties with your hands. (7 or 8). Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350* F for 15 minutes. Flip over, and bake for 10-15 min. more.
(picture below is missing two patties – hubby grabbed two before we took a picture)
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In honour of the day, I’ve made myself a green smoothie for breakfast.
For those of you that suffer from multiple food sensitivities/allergies, as I do, you know there are some days that you can’t even look at food. As much as you try, there are days when your belly goes into overdrive, for no particular reason. It seems that, as careful as I am, from time to time something sneaks into my food that I am sensitive to, throwing me off for days. Does this ever happen to you? Please tell me I’m not the only one…… 🙂
Anyway, on those days, I find a good option for me is a smoothie. I can still sneak in a lot of nutrients, and the BlendTec breaks everything down for me, so it’s easy to digest. I can take sips through the day and before you know it I’ve “eaten” some fruit and veggies.
I borrowed heavily from Angela Liddon’s Tropical Green Monster Smoothie recipe for this one, switching up some things for personal taste. Check her out over at Oh She Glows. Her recipes are awesome!
I used to make this when I babysat my grandson, so in his honour, we’ll call this one…
Jackson’s Green Smoothie
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1/4 cup curly parsley
1 inch piece of fresh peeled ginger
Throw all the ingredients into a high powered blender (I am fortunate enough to have a husband who agreed with me buying a BlendTec- when I found one on sale). Set to Whole Foods and let ‘er rip!
It’s Friday!! It’s March Break (next week)!! So many good things about today!
What better to celebrate all that good stuff with than a peanut butter cup? Well, in this case, a pretty darn close in taste “peanut butter” square. 🙂
(The square in this picture is sitting beside an Alice Collection tea cup from Steeped Tea filled with Chocolate Earl Grey tea. I sense a chocolate theme starting for today….)
1 cup allergen free graham wafer crumbs (I use these)
2 cups icing sugar
Melt the margarine and SuperButter together in a microwave. Do it in 30 second increments, stirring to combine. Stir in the graham wafer crumbs and icing sugar until well combined. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 x 8 pan.
Before I begin today, I want to start by saying that I know that there are many single dads, stay-at-home dads and just dads in general! However, when I write posts like this, I write from the perspective of the mother and do not try to constantly write “mom/dad.” I am writing from my perspective and I know that many will relate to my stories, but some won’t – moms and dads included.
I have a unique perspective…at least I like to think so! I know what it’s like to be a working mom (outside the house). I know what’s it’s like to be a work-at-home mom. I can relate to stay-at-home moms, but some things are a lot different for me because I am running a business as well. I will not pretend that one (working mom, WAHM, SAHM) is more difficult because I know that being a mom is hard no matter what you “do.” It’s fun, exciting, tiring, difficult and wonderful all at the same time!
Okay, let’s begin.
As a parent, there are so many moments that stand out in the life of your kids. Moments that make you say, “Thank you God for protecting my child!” Moments that, when you look back, make you say, “How did I make it through?!” Moments that cause you to laugh until you cry because seriously…is THIS the life of a parent? You think to yourself, “My friend just went on a business trip to Europe….and I just scooped poop out of the bathtub.” (Though, we must not forget about the many, many women who are thinking, “I am traveling alone for business and she just got to snuggle her baby to sleep.”)
I was doing my glamorous work-at-home job today, like everyday, and I had the house semi-quiet as my son was at preschool. I had a coaching call scheduled with our Sales & Field Development Manager for an hour this morning, and I thought to myself, “Piece of cake. One’s at school, the other is self-entertained. I got this.” My baby, now a year and a half, was quite jolly this morning, so I let her play for awhile and then put her in her chair and let her watch some Paw Patrol on my lap top. She was especially thrilled, as we typically only turn on shows on Saturday. I wasn’t terribly pre-occupied or trying to multi-task…a quiet moment.
I don’t have an office, and I needed to keep an eye on my child, of course, so I was camped out in the living room. We have a cut-out design in the wall overlooking the kitchen, so I could walk around the room watching her and chatting as needed. After awhile, I started hearing noises that I was not expecting, so I carefully continued with the call while tuning my ear in my baby’s direction. I heard the mouse click…and click…and click…and quiet giggling. I started wandering over to the kitchen, all the while trying to not lose my concentration or become dis-engaged with the call.
And this is what I found…
The girl has got some upper arm strength, it seems! As well…she was not very remorseful. 🙂
This is what it’s like being a work-at-home mom or a stay-at-home mom.
And these are the moments that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine posted a link on Facebook to Tasty’s Facebook page, with a video and recipe for granola bars. They looked good, and I’m glad I printed the recipe out that same day, because Tasty posts so frequently that I can’t find it anymore! I was able to revamp it for my allergies, and was able to use a couple of my new favourite products in them as well. Win/win. The only concern I had was whether they would hold together well, and as you will see in the pictures, they do.
Melt together coconut oil, brown sugar, honey, and SuperButter in a saucepan. Cook on medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Fold in oats and cereal. Put into a parchment line 8 x 8 pan, flattening slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and press down to help them stick to the bars. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or so before slicing.
As someone with eating issues – as in, there are a lot of foods that my body really hates and reacts strongly to – it is always exciting to find a new product that tastes good and is something I can eat. Really – I have such simple desires……….food that I can eat. 🙂 Enter SuperButter. First off, I love the name. It’s like a superhero of food. One of my favourite “butters” is Sunbutter, which is made of sunflower seeds. This product ups the ante and uses sunflower, sesame and flax seeds. Here is a quote taken directly from their web site:
We heard your requests and concerns from the beginning! SuperButter Premium Seed Butters are not only free of major allergens, but are also made in a facility that is free of peanuts, tree nuts (including coconut), dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish. There is no chance of cross contamination – these eight major allergens are never allowed to enter our plant.
That makes me do a happy dance. There is a guarantee that none of my allergens are in it, and cannot ever be in it. Knowing this, my next step was to get my hands on some and taste it. I was able to get all four flavours: Original Creamy, Original Crunchy, Vanilla Bean and Chocolate. My husband and I sat down with some spoons (many spoons – no double dipping here!), and tasted.
Original Creamy – as stated, nice and creamy, and had a nice, nutty taste without having any nuts in it.
Original Crunchy – same flavour as the creamy, but with some texture.
Chocolate – hello, allergen free Nutella. 🙂 It’s almost a subtle hit of chocolate, but it’s definitely there. Yum.
Vanilla Bean – probably the favourite for both of us. You get the hit of vanilla taste almost as an after-taste, and then – hello vanilla.
Having assessed the product and found it much to our liking, I decided to use it in a recipe, so here you go –
SuperButter Drops
1/2 cup butter or margarine (whichever fits your dietary needs – both work fine)
1/2 cup non dairy milk (I used flax beverage)
1 3/4 cups sugar (I used organic)
1/2 cup cocoa powder (or cacao)
3 cups oats (make sure these are gluten free)
1/2 cup smooth SuperButter
Combine first four ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in oats and SuperButter. Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Refrigerate until set.
As you can see, these were lovely, and shining with chocolate goodness. I haven’t been eating much sugar lately, so I found them a little sweet, but my husband assures me they are just fine.
I am trying to ‘have it all!’ I have two beautiful, incredible children that fill my hubby and I with so much joy! They love each other, they have fun together and they are such good friends! While we have plenty of parenting moments that cause us to sigh and cry, we have an absolutely wonderful family.
I have a thriving, exciting, and delicious business! I am constantly looking to innovate and find new ways to conduct my personal business and help service my customers, but I am also working with 300 team members to help them do the same. I love our team meetings, training and the creativity that is shared among members. And again, while the business, like any, has bumps in the road and difficulties to overcome , this business is an incredible blessing. I have so many amazing opportunities to meet other entrepreneurs and business woman, earn incentive trips and awards. Most recently, I was chosen as 1 of the 20 finalists (out of 17,000 members) in the Mompreneur community. I cannot wait to see where this business takes me next!
I love working out, playing volleyball, volunteering with events at my church, mentoring high school girls and being present in my community.
So, how does an entrepreneur, a businesswoman with a family, or a mom trying to homeschool, etc. – how do we accomplish what we need to do in our 24 hours? I would love to hear from you! For now, here are my thoughts on our time…
1. Network with like-minded moms or entrepreneurs
For myself, I know that I cannot do it all. And while I still try….I fail, and I have to come back to the reality over and over again that I will need help. I rely on my network to help me find events, give referrals, or even trade services! Just today, in fact, I had my friend Craig from Shineco Cleaning Services come over and help me with my carpets and stairs in exchange for some of my business services (aka. delicious tea!). We both had a service the other was looking for and we could collaborate with each other to get it done!
Ps. I highly recommend Craig, of course! He does professional work, is friendly and great to work with on the job, and the proof is in the pictures – check out his work!
2. Multi-task….wisely!
I am the queen of multi-tasking many times to my own demise. I will “multi-task” by catching up on my favourite show while working only to realize that I need to triple-check all my work because I am not paying attention. That kind of work is not productive, efficient or helpful to your business.
The kind of multi-tasking that works for me are things like:
-Exercising while listening to a company conference call
-Catching up with a friend while packaging tea samples
-Bringing samples and information while I do errands to share as I go
-Inviting team members to my parties to train on the job
3. Schedule what’s important
As much as it sounds very boring and ‘adult’ to ‘pencil in’ coffee with a friend or a date with your spouse, scheduling has been key to helping my business and life run successfully. I need to know exactly what my calendar looks like – when is my free time to play with my kids, when are my conference calls and coaching calls with team members, when is my personal time, etc.
Personally, I like my online calendar best – I plug in everything on my computer and it syncs to my phone. However, you may prefer a day timer and that’s great – do what works!
Now, saying this…I completely missed an appointment at my chiropractor’s this morning because I forgot to look at my calendar. So…yeah. Oops!
I know that I need to work-out, and I love playing volleyball, so I plug into my calendar specific times every day to make it happen. I don’t just rely on free time to pop up and allow me to go do this. My husband is my number one supporter and dates with him are so important to me! However, with our family, miscellaneous activities for both of us, his work and my business, if we don’t plan dates, they aren’t going to happen. Just last week, we were trying to find a time to do something very simple – eat food and watch TV – and we kept failing to make it happen! I had a fundraiser meeting one night, he had a migraine the next night, then I had volleyball…life goes by too fast to just hope that you can accomplish all that you want!
4. Make S.M.A.R.T. goals for both the short- and long-term
Have you ever come across the S.M.A.R.T. system for goal setting? If you haven’t, you need to take a look at this video that explains it quite well.
When you have both short- (monthly) and long-term (yearly) goals, you can work daily with specific action steps knowing that you are on the right path to achieve what you want to achieve. When you work spontaneously, randomly or frantically, you will get exactly those kinds of results.
Random Actions = Random Results
It’s truly as simple as that.
We all know – 24 hours goes by in a flash. Days turn into weeks and weeks into months and we sit back and wonder –
Why am I not progressing in this area of my life?!
I did that recently. I looked at myself in the mirror and thought – have I given up? When did I stop working out? When did I stop making this a priority?
I have had two beautiful babies and my body does not bounce back well (weight-wise) from having babies. My pregnancies are amazing, I feel so incredibly healthy and I truly love the entire process. Afterwards, though, it can take a toll on my weight. I love working out, playing sports and being active, but somewhere along the way as I had these babies, launched my business, maintained two jobs (for two years) and did all the mom and wife things, I stopped planning to work out, scheduling it in my day, or setting goals for my physical activity.
Ps. No more!! Thanks to an amazing challenge from our founder, Tonia, I am back in the habit and so happy to be pushing myself in this area! Follow me here and I will cheer you on in your own journey!
So, my question for you is this – what are your goals and how will you achieve them? How will you use your 24 hours a day to maximize the opportunities that you have?
lovelifetea 