Hi, my name is Willow and I blog over at My Own Trail.  My blog, like me, is scattered and long-winded.  I tend to ramble on about the things I’m interested in:  fitness, running, healthy living, food, my family, work, and anything else that I decide is worth writing about.

I have been a regular follower of Maryea’s for quite some time.  I love her blog!  Being a wife and mother of two who strives to live a healthy active lifestyle, I can relate to Maryea.  So, when I read that she is struggling with balancing everything right now, I found myself nodding at the computer screen.  I, too, constantly feel like I’m going in a thousand different directions as I attempt to balance it all.  I think most of us do.

So, I did what anyone who is struggling to balance everything does…I emailed Maryea and volunteered to write a guest post for her blog…because apparently I needed one more thing on my plate.

Seriously, though, I really wanted to write a guest post because I think we, especially women and mothers, tend to feel like we are the only one struggling.  We look at other women and we compare ourselves to them.  We see how much more successful/healthy/thin/organized/etc. they are and we wonder why we can’t be just like them.

The Internet and blogs are great, but they can really exaggerate these issues.  I LOVE reading healthy living and parenting blogs, but I often find myself wishing I had the house/job/life that another blogger has.  But, you know what, we’re all human, and we all have lives and issues that go beyond the computer screen.  We only see one part of someone’s life when we read a blog, and that can be dangerous.  So, I wanted to write this article to bring to light the fact that we all struggle.  We are all trying to make it work in this crazy, chaotic thing called life.

So, how do we do it all?  Well, the first step is admitting that we can’t.  Huh?  Wait a minute…isn’t this post supposed to be about making it all work?  Sure…but, none of us are capable of doing everything for everyone all the time.  There are limited hours in the day and it’s impossible to do everything.  So, tip #1 is about realizing our limitations:

Recognize that you are only one person and you cannot be everything to everyone

This is something I really struggle with.  I have a really hard time saying no, and I don’t like to disappoint people.  So, I tend to take on way more than I can handle.  But, this isn’t healthy.  For the past four years, I have been working on a second master’s degree (because one just wasn’t enough).  In addition to part-time graduate school, I also: worked full-time, taught classes part-time, raised children, helped run a household, tried to find time to exercise and train for three half marathons, and took on a few major projects at work.  Last semester (I work at a college, so I always discuss time in semesters), I took on way too much.

I really felt it, and for the first time I had to let some things go.  It was tough for me, but I felt better once I did it.  I was literally making myself sick with stress and anxiety because my plate was too full.  So, I gave myself permission to scale back and I immediately felt better.  You have to determine what works for you, not everyone else.

Once you determine what things are worth your energy, you have to figure out when and how you are going to do them.  So, tip #2 is:

Make a schedule

I’m not talking about a rigid schedule…unless that’s what works for you.  You just need to figure out how and when you are going to fit everything in.  For example, I know that I want to exercise 5 – 6 days a week.  Since I work full-time, it’s difficult for me to fit it into my schedule.  If I don’t plan for it, I’ll never do it.  I used to go to the gym on my lunch hour.

I scheduled it into my calendar as a “meeting” so that I wouldn’t book other meetings at that time and treated it as a mandatory obligation.   If you’re lucky enough to have a gym at your workplace like I am, this is a great option.  Unfortunately, this arrangement stopped working for me a while ago.  I wasn’t getting enough time at the gym and I was feeling stressed about finding the time to go between meetings and other work obligations, so I had to find a new solution, which brings me to tip #3.

Be flexible

Sure, I just told you to make a schedule and now I’m telling you to be flexible.  Jeez…I’m really being helpful, huh?  However, I don’t mean that you should just ignore your schedule.  Instead, I mean that you should understand that sometimes life will require you to make adjustments to your schedule, either short-term or long-term.  Sometimes you’ll be really busy for a few weeks and have to rearrange your schedule.  Other times, you’ll find that the schedule you created just isn’t working at all and needs to be changed completely.  This is what happened to me a few weeks ago.  I realized that my lunchtime exercise schedule wasn’t working for me anymore, so I changed it around.  Now, I get up really early (between 4:50 and 5:00 AM) so that I can exercise before work.

I leave the house while the kids are still sleeping and get back just as they are waking up.  So, I get to see them and help them get ready for school/daycare, but I also get to exercise for an hour.  Yeah, it’s tough getting up that early, but it works for me.  It might not work for you, so you’ll have to figure out how to arrange your schedule so that it fits in your life.

It’s so easy to get caught up in feeling like there are so many things that need your time and attention, but really, very little is actually that important.  This is why it’s necessary to understand and determine what is important to you.  That brings us to tip #4:

Understand what’s important

This is different than #1 because I’m not suggesting that you eliminate more things from your life.  Instead, you need to really think about what is important to you and worth your time and energy.  This will help you determine what to take on in the future and will help you if you do end up having to eliminate more things from your life.  For me, my family is top priority.

I refuse to take more time away from my kids than I already do because of my work schedule.  So, I don’t take on a lot of obligations that require me to be away from them in the evenings and on the weekends.  That’s my family time.

I also want to make sure I keep my marriage healthy, so I make sure to spend quality time with my husband.  Even if we’re just sitting on the couch watching a funny show or talking about our days, we need that time to stay connected.  A special date every couple of months is also nice.

I also value my friendships and make sure that I find time every few weeks to get together with my closest girlfriends.  Luckily, some of my friends are runners, so I can hang out with them and exercise at the same time…how’s that for multi-tasking?

Health and fitness is also really important to me, so I make sure I find time for exercise and healthy food prep.  Anyway, I could go on and on listing what’s important to me, but that isn’t really necessary.  What really matters is what’s important to you.

Of course, even though we all have priorities and ideal versions of what life should be like, the harsh reality is that sometimes we’re going to get into a phase where it’s just too much.  You might have a new baby that is taking a lot of your time, or be taking on extra work to make some money, or just have a few weeks that are really busy.  Regardless of the reason, sometimes we just can’t do it all.  That brings us to the final tip:

Be gentle with yourself and be willing to let some things go, even if it’s only temporary.

I am very committed to serving my family healthy, whole foods.  I thoroughly enjoy spending time in the kitchen making them healthy, homemade meals.  However, sometimes life is too busy and I have to be able to be flexible.  In those times, I turn to “healthy” convenience foods like Annie’s Mac-n-Cheese or simple meals like sandwiches or scrambled eggs.

I used to get mad at myself for taking the “easy” route, but I don’t any more.  My kids are healthy and happy and a few “quick” meals aren’t going to change that.  They get more time with me during those busy days because I’m spending my limited time with them instead of in the kitchen.  So, give yourself permission to take shortcuts and let some things go.  In the end, everyone will be happier for it.

If you made it all the way through this rambling post, thank you!  I hope my tips have helped in some way.  It’s tough balancing it all.  But, at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is you and your family.  We all have different lifestyles and situations, and what works for one person doesn’t always work for someone else.  You can’t compare yourself to anyone else.  Just be true to yourself and everything will work out.  The world won’t end if you take on one less thing.

Good luck!

Making it work {guest post} is a post from: Happy Healthy Mama

Hi Happy Healthy Mama readers!

I’m Heather from Fit Mama Real Food. So happy to be here in Maryea’s place while she takes some needed time off. While I don’t have any cute kiddos or babies taking up my time yet, I’ll have a little boy here any day! My husband and I are expecting on May 25th, and it seems like time is going by quicker and quicker each day as the due date approaches. There are so many things we want to get done, wishes and hopes of how the house will look… all that kind of stuff. In reality, it really doesn’t matter too much. What’s more important (to me!) is being a bit more ready for the birth event. My biggest athletic event to date. All athletes know how important fueling is, and since birth is a major event, I definitely need to make sure to fuel!

Two snacks I plan to bring along? Cliff shot blocks — they taste so good and when I teach back to back classes they really do keep my energy up!

The other? My favorite energy balls. They’re filled with dates for instant energy + nuts for prolonged lasting energy… cause this ain’t gunna be no sprint, I’m up for the marathon (of all marathons)!

Now if you’re not giving birth, you can totally still make these. They are an awesome pre-workout or mid-workout energy bite. Enjoy!

Almond, Date and Coconut Energy Balls
Makes 6 balls

Ingredients

• 6 dates (about 1/3 cup)
• 1/8 cup almonds
• 1 tbsp unsweetened coconut
• 1/8 tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Soak the dates for 1 hour. After 1 hour add the dates (no water) to the food processor. Pulse 20-30 times until the dates turn into a chunky paste.
2. Add the almonds to the food processor and pulse until the almonds are ground into very small pieces. Add in the coconut and sea salt. Pulse a few times.
3. The mixture should come together very easily now. Form into 6 balls (about 1 tablespoon of mixture per ball). Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge.
4. If you make a big batch keep the extra in the freezer.

Variations

• You can use any nut here that you like… cashew or pecan would have been tasty too.
• Don’t do nuts? Use pumpkin or sunflower seeds instead.
• Some orange zest would add some refreshing flavor to these treats. I will definitely add this next time.
• If you don’t like coconut no worries, just leave it out. You’ll still get the long lasting energy from the nuts.

Thanks Maryea for letting me share these tasty energy balls with your readers! I hope you’ll all stop by Fit Mama Real Food sometime and say hello.

What is your favorite snack for instant energy? Any mamas out there wanna share what they munches on during labor to keep energy up? I’m all ears!

Almond, date, and coconut energy balls {guest post} is a post from: Happy Healthy Mama

I’m excited to introduce a talented new blogger, Joanna, from Midwestern Bite.  She’s a fellow Midwesterner with a great story and an even better recipe.  A dessert with a vegetable as the star?  She’s a girl after my own heart!  Enjoy today’s post!

Hi all, I’m Joanna from Midwestern Bite!

If you’ve been following along with Maryea like I have, you’ve surely noticed she has taken a small step back to focus on her family, admitting she can’t do it all right now. As a new mother and a new blogger, I think of Maryea as Super Mom. I read along as she manages her growing family, their health, her health and her lovely blog. Turns out she is even more the Super Mom than I originally thought! Knowing what you and your family need, weeding out what can take a backseat, is pretty close to having a super power in my book.

With that being said, I feel fortunate to be here in the interim to entertain! The Husband and I have been blogging over at Midwestern Bite for just over a month now and relishing (a little food blogger humor for ya) every minute. I’m not an author, but I write. I’m not a chef, but I cook. Stick with me through a few paragraphs for a healthy, yet decadent dessert!

My “healthy living” journey started a few years back in a doctor’s office. Don’t panic, I wasn’t sick. We were new to town and needed a primary care physician. Just in case. The doctor I really wanted wasn’t accepting new patients, so we picked another doc in the same practice. Looking back, this was probably Strike One.

So The Husband and I trekked to the office for a checkup. Strike Two came quickly; it was for the doc’s bedside manner, or lack thereof. He actually had the gall to inform us that he didn’t handle runny noses, only the very sick. Last time I checked I was still in my late twenties and, well, NOT very sick. Not sick at all in fact, just looking for a doctor who knew my name. Just in case. Two minutes into my checkup and I was already on edge.

I am chatty by nature. He was not. He was serious and businesslike and made no small talk. Twenty minutes in he checked my pulse, listened to my heart and for the first time all visit began actually speaking to me rather than at me. He started talking about a rare heart condition as he listened to my heart for the second time. Maybe I was very sick. I felt my throat tighten.

He typed into the large laptop that hid his face. The minutes ticked by in silence. “Oh, you don’t have that by the way,” he finally said, nonchalantly. Strike Three. “Well you could have mentioned that earlier,” I retorted.

He took a quick glance at me and then retreated behind the monitor, his glasses perched on the end of his nose.

I looked to The Husband sitting in the corner for moral support, then asked the doctor what his medical views were. I was appalled at his response. He explained to me that he only believed in pharmacological solutions to health concerns. He believed that while lifestyle and dietary changes can influence health, people do not have the willpower to maintain those changes over time. Blood pressure, for example, he offered. Lowing salt intake, exercising regularly and choosing high potassium foods can certainly make a positive influence, he conceded, but are rarely permanent solutions and thus a daily pill is always preferred.

Strike Four.

Pretty sure it is three strikes and you’re out. Silly me, I must have allowed the doc up to bat for an extra swing.

My father has had a number of health scares and emergency surgeries over the years, so I am very comforted that modern medicine is there when we need it, because so often we do. The very idea, however, that we are all destined to eat high cholesterol cheeseburgers and salty fries in front of the TV every single night is horrifying, and in this girl’s opinion, completely inaccurate.

I left the office and went for a jog. I started reading labels for more than just fat and calorie content. What type of fat? How much cholesterol? How much sodium? Sugars? What are the ingredients and how many are there?

I did not turn to an all raw vegan diet (not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Jerry Seinfeld would say.) I did not start counting every calorie I ate. I did not stop having the occasional pizza at the local bar and grill. I did, however, stop eating frozen pizza made with “mechanically separated chicken” and a list of ingredients longer than the list of items our Labrador Retriever has destroyed in the past nine years. It’s amazing how when you lower your salt intake, salt seems so much saltier. Same with sugar. I used to be able to polish off an entire corner piece of birthday cake, with extra roses. I still have a sweet tooth, but nowadays I can’t stomach that much frosting.

So… sugar. Let’s go ahead and not talk about it, shall we, and just cook some dessert without it (or with very little of it). Let’s make Mini Caramelized Banana Coconut Cream Acorn Squash Pies, 32 different ways!

This recipe was inspired by a Pumpkin Pie Mousse I stumbled across.

The basic ingredients for my version go something like this:

2/3 cup acorn squash puree

2/3 cup coconut cream from full fat coconut milk

1 ½ caramelized bananas

2 eggs

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon allspice

pinch salt

The optional ingredients go something like this:

coconut sugar

banana chips

roasted acorn squash seeds

unsweetened flake coconut

Can we briefly run through these ingredients for a minute? They do require a little more preparation, but I think it is worth it in the end.

Acorn Squash. It doesn’t come in a can, at least not that I have ever seen, so you’ll have to make your own. My son just started solids so I conveniently have quite a bit on hand. It’s as easy as cutting your squash in half, scraping out the seeds (save them!), and cooking the halves face down in ¼ inch of water for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees. When they are cooked through and slightly cooled, scrape out the insides and puree in your food processor. I think you’ll find it naturally has a much sweeter flavor than other squash.

Coconut Cream. Refrigerate a can of full fat coconut milk and spoon out the cream that has separated from the milk.

Caramelized Banana. Bananas are the key to this recipe and my go-to sugar substitute! When caramelized (sliced in half and sauteed in a light rubbing of coconut oil), they brown slightly, become very soft and taste just like candy!! By themselves these satisfy my sweet tooth.

Eggs. We buy local organic eggs. ‘Nuff said.

Coconut Sugar. Wikipedia tells you all about it here, but the edited version is it’s better for you than traditional sugar. It has a strong flavor, so a little goes a long way.

Roasted Acorn Squash Seeds. I try to use all parts of a vegetable so I roast them at 250 degrees with a little coconut oil and a pinch of coconut sugar and salt for 15 to 20 minutes.

This recipe is pretty simple, really. Blend your squash, cream, bananas, eggs and spices thoroughly. If you have an extra sweet tooth, mix in a tablespoon or two of coconut sugar. If you have three sweet teeth, sprinkle the top with coconut sugar. Pour into four ramekins rubbed with coconut oil. Bake at 350 degrees until set, about 50 minutes.

I actually tried this recipe four ways. Two ramekins with no added sugar inside, two with. I topped one of each pair with a light sprinkle of coconut sugar. My favorite? No sugar inside, sprinkle on top. The Husband’s favorite? No sugar inside, no sprinkle on top. It’s all preference.

But don’t stop there. Banana chips, roasted acorn squash seeds and flake coconut make excellent toppings as well.

How many dessert possibilities does that make then? The Husband says 32. That’s 32 ways I can show that doctor he was wrong!

Mini caramelized banana coconut cream acorn squash pies – 32 ways! {guest post} is a post from: Happy Healthy Mama

A plugged duct or a sore spot on your breast may be the first sign that you are trying to do too much.  You would be well-advised to heed this warning and get lots of extra rest for a few days after you’ve experienced a plugged duct.

-The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

Last week I had my tenth plugged milk duct since Luke was born.  This time, however, the painful red spot didn’t subside after a day.  I felt flu-like symptoms coming on.  I couldn’t ignore the clear warnings my body was sending anymore.  The plugged duct progressed into mastitis (a breast infection).

I am on antibiotics and the infection cleared quickly.  I know, however, that it won’t stay away unless something changes.  On any given day, my list of things to do looks something like this:

• Read scripture/complete Bible Study
• Make breakfast
• Clean up after breakfast
• Get Meghan dressed, teeth brushed, etc.
• Drive Meghan to preschool
• One or more cleaning tasks (depending on the day: dust, vacuum, toilets, etc)
• One or more blogging tasks (answer emails, respond to comments, take and edit pictures, write and edit posts, etc.)
• One or more household management tasks (meal planning, grocery shopping, organizational tasks, etc.)
• Laundry, laundry, and more laundry
• Pick Meghan up from preschool
• Prepare lunch
• Clean up after lunch
• Prepare snacks
• Clean up after snack preparation
• Put Luke down for naps (X 3-4)
• Feed Luke (X 6)
• Play with Meghan
• Play with Luke
• Run/exercise
• Prepare dinner
• Help Tim clean up after dinner
• Bathe Luke
• Bathe Meghan
• Put Luke to bed
• Put Meghan to bed
• Spend quality time with Tim/focus on my marriage

Doing all of these things is so much more manageable when I’m well-rested, which I’m not right now.  Luke is either going through the typical 4-month sleep regression I hear other moms talk about, or he is having difficulty sleeping because of his digestion issues.  (And we didn’t get much insight at his GI appointment, unfortunately)  Either way, he’s up every 2-3 hours at night, which of course means I’m up every 2-3 hours at night.  I’m a sleeper.  I love sleep.  I need sleep.  So my current sleep debt is taking its toll.

I tell you all of this not to complain or as an attempt to garner your sympathy.  I know I’m not the first or only mom who has a lot to do and tries to do it on little sleep.  I will survive.  What I have figured out, however, is that

something’s gotta give.

I wish I could be Super Mom and do it all on a few hours of broken sleep, but I can’t.  So this is my lengthy way of telling you that I’m stepping back from the blog for now.  I just need a little time to get my head above water.

I’m not going to completely disappear and I promise you, I will be back.   For now, however, I can’t put the time into posts that I would like, and the last thing I want is to provide watered-down, not-my-best work just for the sake of posting something.

I can’t say how long this break is going to last.  It may be one week or it may be three weeks.  I hope not longer, but maybe longer.  In the meantime, I will be seeking out guest posters (please email me if you are interested!) with quality posts so there will be some new content when I’m not creating my regular posts.

I will be doing some blog work, but it will be mostly behind the scenes.  I never have time to do behind-the-blog work when I’m trying to create new recipes and write posts, so during this break from that I will get some tasks done that have been on the back burner for ages.  I have a fun blog makeover already in the works, so be ready for a new look coming soon!

My biggest fear is that I will lose you, my readers, by stepping back for a time.  All I can do is hope that you’ll have confidence in me and know that when I come back, I will be able to provide better recipes and better posts.  Thank you for your patience and understanding. I love blogging and adore my community of readers.  I’ll be back soon!

The one where I admit I can’t do it all is a post from: Happy Healthy Mama

Candy.  Junk food.  Treats.  All the sugar-laden foods you only want to  be in your kids’ life on a minimal basis.  I long ago realized that completely sheltering my children from eating these things was not a realistic goal.  When Meghan started preschool this year, it became even more clear how prevalent sugary, processed foods are in our culture, but that’s a post for another day.

Instead of trying to ban all of the unwanted junk from crossing Meghan’s lips, I’ve tried to take a more balanced approach.  I keep the food I don’t want her eating out of our house as much as possible, and try to be relaxed about the food she eats in social situations and at school.  The majority of food she eats is still coming from me, and I’m serving her up healthy, whole foods, so I figured she’d do okay with this method.

Even with this approach, there are times when candy or junk make their way into our house, especially around holidays.  Tim has a bad habit of letting Meghan pick out a “special treat” whenever he takes her to the grocery store.  The bakery at the local specialty grocery store bakes its treats from scratch using quality ingredients, but still, I’m glad he doesn’t take her very often.

Last Thursday, he brought her to the store and she picked out a crazy chocolate chip cookie sandwich.  Look at that thing.  Of course that’s what she picked.  I cut off a fourth of the monstrosity and gave it to her after dinner.

The next day, we went to an Easter egg hunt at a friend’s house and she came home with candy that went into her special bowl where such things are kept (where there was still candy from her Valentine’s Day party at school).  I had also made some cute Easter treats of a more natural variety, so we had treats a plenty in the house last week.

I allowed Meghan to choose one thing after both lunch and dinner for the next few days.  Guess what?  I just took the picture of the remaining 3/4 of that crazy cookie sandwich a few minutes ago, right before I threw it away.  After that first night, even though I offered, she never asked for it again.

The most favored treat, the one she asked for first and foremost until they were all gone, was the chocolate nest with chocolate-covered almonds.  She chose these over the cookie.  Over M&Ms.  Over some weird bunny marshmallows.

I’m not going to say she didn’t like her other treats, because she pretty much loves chocolate in any form and of course she likes sweet things.  But her choosing the healthiest, naturally sweetened treat as her favorite tells me that I am doing something right.  Her tastes buds seem to have formed an appreciation for real food that is sweet, but not sickly sweet.

The most important thing to me is that she came to this conclusion on her own.  I didn’t push the healthier treat on her more than the others or try to dissuade her from eating the cookie or candies.  Each one was offered as a selection choice in a matter-of-fact way.

I think this balanced approach allows her to let her taste buds be the guide.  If I told her that the M&Ms were horrible for her because of all the food dyes that could wreck her brain, she would probably have wanted that treat all the more.  Forbidden fruit.  Doing that would have had the opposite effect and held them high on a pedestal.  The treat that mom cares about.

Meghan is definitely not a perfect eater.  She doesn’t savor her vegetables, to say the least. In fact, most of the time it’s a struggle to get her to eat them unless they are hidden in smoothies, pancakes, or muffins.  This small victory last week, however, keeps my hope alive that she’s heading in the right direction.

I don’t have all the answers when it comes to feeding your kids right.  I’m just an everyday mom on a mission, after all.  Thanks for coming along this journey and learning along with me.

QuQuQuestion:  What is your approach to feeding your kids candy and unhealthy sweets?

A balanced approach to kids and sweets is a post from: Happy Healthy Mama

Sunday

Vegetable Pad Thai from Cooking Light and Thai Meets Salad from Healthy in Candyland.

Tim absolutely loved the pad thai.  I substituted broccoli for the tofu (because I can’t have soy right now) and used buckwheat noodles.  The salad was really tasty, too.  I used green peas instead of edamame and combined the two separate dressings the recipe called for.  Delicious.  It would be a great salad to make for a potluck.   Thanks for the recipe, Candy! Note:  Yes, I slipped up on my no-sugar for Lent with this recipe.  I used a reduced amount of Sucanat instead of brown sugar in the Pad Thai and honey for the salad dressing.  I almost made it the whole way, too!  Grrr.

I offered Meghan plain noodles, broccoli, cheese, and blueberries.  She would not try the noodles, ate a piece of broccoli, and all of her cheese and blueberries.

Monday

Chicken on the grill, barley risotto with asparagus, fresh bread, and leftover salad.

This was a great spring meal.

I offered Meghan chicken, barley with asparagus, and bread with butter.  She ate all of her bread and a little chicken.

Tuesday

Portobello Mushroom Burgers on the grill, simply roasted cauliflower, and lightly fried chickpeas

Actually, the ladies had portobello mushroom burgers while the men had cow burgers. I love easy meals like this with minimal clean up.

Meghan had chickpeas, cauliflower, and blueberries on her plate. She ate up all of her chickpeas and asked for more, all of her blueberries, and no cauliflower.  She didn’t want the cauliflower at all.  She used to love to eat it!

Wednesday

I wasn’t home for dinner on this night because I was doing Easter candy shopping at Earth Fare and then had Bible study.  So I had my dinner at Earth Fare.  I was impressed with all of their healthy options.  I had a vegan stuffed pepper and roasted sweet potato salad.

Thursday

Alphabet Vegetable Soup, bread, and salad

The men were golfing on this day and weren’t home for dinner.  I threw this soup together at the last minute.  It’s funny that this is a “kid soup”, but I love it so much.  I used tiny shells this time because I didn’t have alphabet pasta.

Maybe Meghan would have ate this if I used the ABC pasta.  Probably not.  She has it in her head that she doesn’t like soup.  We eat soup all the time, so hopefully she comes around.  I took some of the veggies out to offer her a deconstructed version of the soup and also a grilled cheese.  She ate her grilled cheese, but not the veggies.  Boooooo.

Friday

Tomato Basil Pasta, fresh bread, and salad

Tim cooked!  This past summer he found an article on how to cook pasta well and wanted to try it.  Ever since then he’ll make his special dish if I ask him to.  This is really more of a summer dish that is excellent when tomatoes and basil are in season, but it was still good nonetheless.

I offered Meghan the pasta, chickpeas, bread with butter,  pumpkin seeds and some of the vegetables from our salad.  She ate her chickpeas, bread, and a few bites of carrot and pumpkin seeds.

Saturday

Jamaican Jerk Chicken on the grill and roasted vegetables

I roasted all of the vegetables I wanted to use up:  cauliflower, potatoes, and yellow bell peppers. Another good, easy dinner.

I offered Meghan chicken, the vegetables, cheese, and blueberries.  She ate her blueberries.  She was not interested in dinner at all.

Now I need to get on the ball and finish my meal planning for the rest of this week.  Any ideas?  Please share!

How dinner went down: April 1st-7th is a post from: Happy Healthy Mama

Egg hunting

Egg coloring

More egg searching on Easter morning

A new bike!

Testing it outside

With Nana and Poppy

Our vegan Easter dinner that included Vegetable Wellington that was made with carrots, leaks, and garlic and a white bean puree

and asparagus roasted with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and finished with lemon zest, along with an unpictured spinach-strawberry salad with poppyseed dressing

Happy Easter, from my family to yours

Scenes from Easter is a post from: Happy Healthy Mama

I see the cutest ideas all over the web before Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter and have great intentions to make things.  Crafty things, baking things, all sorts of things.   Then reality hits and it sinks in that each little “project” will take much longer than it seems and even getting one little thing done will be harder than anticipated.

This little Easter treat, however, is not one of those projects.  This Easter treat is for all you need-a-last-minute-super-quick-but-still-cute-oh-and-can-it-be-healthy-too gals.  These adorable little nests can be whipped up in 15 minutes or less.  If you have guests coming over at noon, go ahead and start them at 11:30.   You’ll be good.

And did I mention that they’re healthy, too?  Sure are.  Tasty.  Healthy.  Quick.  Need I say more?

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Easy Chocolate Bird Nests

adapted from my Pure Joy Bars recipe

Makes 10 nests

1 cup soft pitted dates

1/2 cup almonds

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 tablespoon natural peanut butter

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

candy-coated almonds or other egg shaped candies, preferably naturally colored (I found mind at Earth Fare)

In a high powered blender or food processor, process the dates, almonds, cocoa powder, and peanut butter until they are broken down completely.  Transfer to a medium bowl and add the shredded coconut.  Blend it in with your hands, kneading the mixture to incorporate the coconut.

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and press the center of the ball flat with your thumbs.  Pinch the edges to create a nest shape.  Place 2-3 candy eggs in each nest.  Enjoy!

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I hope everyone has a fabulous Easter!

Question:  Did you make anything fun for Easter this year?  Please feel free to add a link to the comments if you did!

Easy chocolate bird nests is a post from: Happy Healthy Mama

The beauty of the recipe is in not just its delciousness, although it is amply delicious, but in its simplicity.  You can cook barley with just a only a tad bit of stirring and it cooks up in a creamy, risotto-like fashion without all the work.

I ushered the barley risotto out of winter and into spring by adding asparagus and brightening the flavors with lemon.  The result is a comforting, yet light and healthy dish.

My in-laws are in town this week and I knew this one was a winner when my picky father-in-law Jack wanted seconds.   My picky three-year-old wasn’t as interested, but if Jack liked it, I know there’s hope for her, too.

Maybe the picky eater in your life will enjoy this as much as the adventurous eaters!

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Barley Risotto with Asparagus

Serves 4

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 small onion, diced

1 teaspoon diced garlic

8 ounces thin asparagus, woody ends removed and cut into  1-inch pieces

1 cup barley

3 cups vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

juice and zest from 1/2 lemon

In a medium or large sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until it is starting to soften, about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and stir and cook for 1 minute.  Add the asparagus and cook another 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add the barley and stir so it is coated with the oil and allow to cook 2-3 minutes.  Next, add the vegetable broth, thyme, salt, and pepper and bring it to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, cover, and allow to cook for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, remove the lid and stir the mixture well.  Put the lid back on and allow to cook another 15 minutes, stirring one more time during that period.  Stir in the lemon juice and zest and serve immediately.

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This time I served this as a side dish, but if served with salad and maybe some bread, it makes a nice main dish as well.  If your husband is anything like mine, you can add some cooked chicken to his portion like I did last time I made this.  Tim gave it a thumbs up with and without the chicken, but as a main course liked it with the chicken.  How ever you serve it, enjoy!

Barley risotto with asparagus is a post from: Happy Healthy Mama

Guess what?  I’m still tired.  When you have a baby who you are up with 1-2 times a night and are trying to accomplish a few too many things in a day, no amount of meat is going to replenish those stores.  Sleep will.  Maybe next week that will happen.

I’ve had a few requests to include what my 3-year-old is liking and not liking with my meals, so you’ll see some commentary on what Meghan ate this week, too.  She’s like most preschoolers in that she’s predictably unpredictable in what she’ll like to eat from week to week.

Sunday

Mediterranean Lemon Chicken with roasted broccoli, potatoes, and mushrooms.

The chicken recipe was easy and flavorful.  Tim complained because he doesn’t like chicken legs and said it would have been much better with breasts.  It would have been much more expensive, too, honey.

Meghan ate everything except the mushrooms.

Monday

Grass-fed burgers and sweet potato fries.

Burgers are much better with cheese, and I had to have a strange bun because the regular sprouted whole grain buns I get have “soy grits.”  That made me sad.  Loved the sweet potato fries, though.

Meghan has always refused burgers, but I offered her a small mini burger anyway.  No go.  She had sweet potato fries, strawberries, and cheese.

Tuesday

Turkey meatball sandwiches and a salad.

I used Ari’s recipe for turkey meatballs, but to make them dairy-free I substituted a mixture of ground almonds and nutritional yeast for the parmesan cheese.  Tim loves meatball sandwiches (he had his with melted provolone cheese on top) so this was a winner for him.  I liked that there were some veggies in the meatballs, at least.

I served Meghan a meatball, some of the veggies from our salad (bell peppers, carrots, and cucumber), cheese, and a banana. I don’t force her to eat anything, but do encourage her to try one bite of everything she is served.  Soooo, she did take a bite of the meatball, but she spit it out.  She also ate just one bite of bell pepper, carrots, and cucumber.  She ate all of her cheese and banana.  Notice a pattern?   She loves cheese and fruit.  We’re working on getting her to eat a bigger variety.

Wednesday

Leftovers night

Tim had a sandwich with the leftover meatballs (the rest went in the freezer for a future lunch or dinner).  I had some leftover soup I had made for lunches and a salad.

Meghan had a grilled cheese sandwich and some vegetables from my soup.  The girl will still not eat anything in soup form.  I hope she outgrows that aversion soon, because we love soup around here.  She ate a few pieces of the veggies and also a kiwi fruit.

Thursday

Lemon Parsley-Spinach pasta

This pasta dish was so good and easy, I put it on the meal plan again this week.  Two recipes from the Diva Dish on our meal plan in one week!  Thanks, Ari. (Again!)

Meghan doesn’t like pasta except for macaroni and cheese.  Weird, right?  I’ve tried to serve it to her in a variety of ways:  with tomato sauce, with butter and parmesan, with just butter, totally plain.  She just does not like it.  I continue to offer it to her, because, as I tell her, you never know when your taste buds are going to change.  She’s totally allowed to have her dislikes, though.  So I offered her the pasta, plain.  Nope.  She still doesn’t like it.  In addition, I offered her pistachios, strawberries, and crunchy green beans.  She ate everything else I offered her.

Friday

My tired mommy brain got the best of me today.  I was planning on serving a version of this Vegetarian Pad Thai on Friday.  Tim was working from home and somehow I got it in my head that it was Saturday, the day in which I was scheduled to work at the church nursery.  So I loaded Meghan in the car, left Tim home with Luke, and drove the 20 minutes to church to work in the nursery for the 5:00 service.  Oops.  It’s Friday.  Meghan and I ate at Chipotle and Tim was on his own for dinner (he had some pasta).

Saturday

The real day that I had to work in the church nursery.  Instead of eating out again, Meghan and I rushed home after working in the nursery and had a throw-together dinner.  I did make the pad thai on Sunday, so you’ll get to see what I thought of it next week.

Question:  Do you still manage to prepare homemade dinners even when you are having a hectic week?

How dinner went down: March 25-31 is a post from: Happy Healthy Mama